ANIME WINTER 2013 FINAL THOUGHTS PART 3
Apr. 26th, 2013 08:25 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gem2nikiLet's see if I can do this shorter!
I had more previous review on
Fall 2012 First Impressions
Winter 2013 First impressions
More 2-cour series that ended and one I watched on the side.
Ixion Saga DT
Shirokuma Cafe
Ginga e Kickoff
Sacred Seven
Ixion Saga DT (17-25)
The comedy of the season where it just makes fun of cliché situation in anime, game, and fantasy genre. It's Gintama style comedy (meaning it can get dirty haha) While it didn't seem to have a plot, it did have an overall goal that was concluded at the end. It's not how they ended, but the journey they went through that was entertaining. Some memorable episodes was how they fit a karaoke episode in a fantasy anime lol. The music is run by tiny people! It was hilarious how much Erec wanted to sing, but never got the opportunity to with his men hogging over the mic. Then when he finally gets to sing at the ending credit, they just cut him off! XD While I felt like earlier some jokes drag way too long, I think it found it footing in the second half. The strong point I felt was the characters. They're just so ridiculous with their quirks that you feel like you already know them. Even tho we don't quite know their backstory, they do make fun of it by giving us fake ones XD There was that one episode that felt like it was set 70s TV cop/detective drama. Like how did they put that in near the final episodes??? Its not a deep series, but the ending does have a bittersweetness to it. I will miss its silly gags and parodies every week.
Overall: Stupid fun times~ Doesn't take itself seriously. Self-aware how its a ridiculous series. BALLS!
Shirokuma Cafe (43-50)
Like Ixion Saga, its a light series to watch weekly that isn't too deep or heavy. Also funny enough, a lot of the cast of Ixion are in here too XD Shirokuma Cafe is just a very charming slice of life. You really get to know the characters and their relationship. Shirokuma seems like the most mature, but he keeps bothering Grizzly-kun during his hibernation and always pulls out his pun dress up scenes. Panda-kun is self absorbed and pretty mean spirited around Penguin-san. Penguin-san seems to be the butt of the joke on everything and has weird hobbies he wants to show off but nobody cares. Its these type of traits that's just entertaining on a week to week basis. There were some really sweet and touching episodes in the later half as well. One very memorable one is Full Time Panda moving to Singapore. I didn't think I would cry from this series, but man, that was a great episode T_T;; It really went all out for the feeling when someone you know is gone without pulling its usual comedy. Shirokuma Cafe is not a kiddie show even with all those animal. It's Josei. And you could totally feel how well they handle the characters complexity in relatable situations like when Shirokuma has a fever or Llama-san reminiscing his old town. I think this show is pretty recommendable to non hardcore anime fans. Who doesn't love cute animals? XD
Overall: Relaxing anime to watch at the end of the day. Heart warming, Funny. Loveable and trollish characters in a slice of life.
Ginga e Kickoff!! (34-39)
It's finally done! It took forever for the subs to be released for the final few episodes. This is an excellent sport anime about soccer. It's more realistic compared to a lot of shounen sport anime, but its not boring to watch! The characters are just adorable, design and personality wise. I really like the triplets~~ Ryuuji of course stands out most to me, since he seems the most calm and mature, but is obviously still a child XD Mostly well animated and lots of nice dynamic poses. The show isn't afraid to make the characters lose as it part of building a strong team. The games doesn't drag too much. They'll skim over unimportant matches or just really focus on certain aspects of the matches. I really like the character interactions with each other and their coach. If anything I would like to see them off the field some more to just see what they do on their off time like that one training episodes at Reika's mansion. The ending is a little bittersweet as well since it was the last time they will play together as a team since everyone goes on their own path. The 1 year later epilogue was a nice touch! Can we have teenage Predator team in another season? *W*
Overall: Fun sport anime. Very cute character designs. Triplets are so worth watching for.
Side Anime
Sacred Seven (1-12)
The series looks spectacular (or ridiculous however you see it), but the story itself is kinda underdeveloped. They introduce a lot of interesting things like the sacred seven, but never really goes into depth with it. There was a nice character development with Alma and Ruri that doesn't feel too cheesy or forced. Though there's this relationship with Wakana that I kinda wish was also developed more as possible romantic interest (considering how well Alma interacts with her). Most of the characters are likeable as well. Its funny how two of the classmates are swarming over the butler, Kagami, rather than our main lead. Knight, you have to watch the movie since it added more background to his character. Which felt like it was unnecessary to separate and could have been in the TV itself. It made the tension between Kenmi more understandable when we see the importance of the brother Hung to Knight and Fei. The movie itself is a weird, missing scene compilation that doesn't really act as a stand alone movie. More like here are several scenes in Knight's Point of View with some slight recaps from the TV series. There was also the Arukune girl who is just there to fight and doesn't really have any significant contribution to the plot.
The standout for the series is its animation are definitely worth watching for the sakuga. It also has an awesome soundtrack. I was really addicted to listening to "Stone Cold" from the opening. The show has a unique visual that you wished the story had more pizzazz to it. It played out too safe. There was way too many flashback moments when Alma has final made his resolve. I get the point already, only a couple of minutes you already just showed that! The ending was pretty lackluster. There was this weird thing where the final boss is defeated but than Fei ends up being the final obstacle, enabling Knight to get a more pure power back. The last episode felt like everything happened too quickly. We only really understood Kenmi's goal near the end, but there was a lack of development why he felt that away. He was just too one-sided evil. If they were going to push evil, I kinda wish it was on Gurren Lagann level where it just gets more epic.
Overall: Underdeveloped, wasted potential. Likeable casts and spectacular visuals and soundtrack.
I had more previous review on
Fall 2012 First Impressions
Winter 2013 First impressions
More 2-cour series that ended and one I watched on the side.
Ixion Saga DT
Shirokuma Cafe
Ginga e Kickoff
Sacred Seven
Ixion Saga DT (17-25)
The comedy of the season where it just makes fun of cliché situation in anime, game, and fantasy genre. It's Gintama style comedy (meaning it can get dirty haha) While it didn't seem to have a plot, it did have an overall goal that was concluded at the end. It's not how they ended, but the journey they went through that was entertaining. Some memorable episodes was how they fit a karaoke episode in a fantasy anime lol. The music is run by tiny people! It was hilarious how much Erec wanted to sing, but never got the opportunity to with his men hogging over the mic. Then when he finally gets to sing at the ending credit, they just cut him off! XD While I felt like earlier some jokes drag way too long, I think it found it footing in the second half. The strong point I felt was the characters. They're just so ridiculous with their quirks that you feel like you already know them. Even tho we don't quite know their backstory, they do make fun of it by giving us fake ones XD There was that one episode that felt like it was set 70s TV cop/detective drama. Like how did they put that in near the final episodes??? Its not a deep series, but the ending does have a bittersweetness to it. I will miss its silly gags and parodies every week.
Overall: Stupid fun times~ Doesn't take itself seriously. Self-aware how its a ridiculous series. BALLS!
Shirokuma Cafe (43-50)
Like Ixion Saga, its a light series to watch weekly that isn't too deep or heavy. Also funny enough, a lot of the cast of Ixion are in here too XD Shirokuma Cafe is just a very charming slice of life. You really get to know the characters and their relationship. Shirokuma seems like the most mature, but he keeps bothering Grizzly-kun during his hibernation and always pulls out his pun dress up scenes. Panda-kun is self absorbed and pretty mean spirited around Penguin-san. Penguin-san seems to be the butt of the joke on everything and has weird hobbies he wants to show off but nobody cares. Its these type of traits that's just entertaining on a week to week basis. There were some really sweet and touching episodes in the later half as well. One very memorable one is Full Time Panda moving to Singapore. I didn't think I would cry from this series, but man, that was a great episode T_T;; It really went all out for the feeling when someone you know is gone without pulling its usual comedy. Shirokuma Cafe is not a kiddie show even with all those animal. It's Josei. And you could totally feel how well they handle the characters complexity in relatable situations like when Shirokuma has a fever or Llama-san reminiscing his old town. I think this show is pretty recommendable to non hardcore anime fans. Who doesn't love cute animals? XD
Overall: Relaxing anime to watch at the end of the day. Heart warming, Funny. Loveable and trollish characters in a slice of life.
Ginga e Kickoff!! (34-39)
It's finally done! It took forever for the subs to be released for the final few episodes. This is an excellent sport anime about soccer. It's more realistic compared to a lot of shounen sport anime, but its not boring to watch! The characters are just adorable, design and personality wise. I really like the triplets~~ Ryuuji of course stands out most to me, since he seems the most calm and mature, but is obviously still a child XD Mostly well animated and lots of nice dynamic poses. The show isn't afraid to make the characters lose as it part of building a strong team. The games doesn't drag too much. They'll skim over unimportant matches or just really focus on certain aspects of the matches. I really like the character interactions with each other and their coach. If anything I would like to see them off the field some more to just see what they do on their off time like that one training episodes at Reika's mansion. The ending is a little bittersweet as well since it was the last time they will play together as a team since everyone goes on their own path. The 1 year later epilogue was a nice touch! Can we have teenage Predator team in another season? *W*
Overall: Fun sport anime. Very cute character designs. Triplets are so worth watching for.
Side Anime
Sacred Seven (1-12)
The series looks spectacular (or ridiculous however you see it), but the story itself is kinda underdeveloped. They introduce a lot of interesting things like the sacred seven, but never really goes into depth with it. There was a nice character development with Alma and Ruri that doesn't feel too cheesy or forced. Though there's this relationship with Wakana that I kinda wish was also developed more as possible romantic interest (considering how well Alma interacts with her). Most of the characters are likeable as well. Its funny how two of the classmates are swarming over the butler, Kagami, rather than our main lead. Knight, you have to watch the movie since it added more background to his character. Which felt like it was unnecessary to separate and could have been in the TV itself. It made the tension between Kenmi more understandable when we see the importance of the brother Hung to Knight and Fei. The movie itself is a weird, missing scene compilation that doesn't really act as a stand alone movie. More like here are several scenes in Knight's Point of View with some slight recaps from the TV series. There was also the Arukune girl who is just there to fight and doesn't really have any significant contribution to the plot.
The standout for the series is its animation are definitely worth watching for the sakuga. It also has an awesome soundtrack. I was really addicted to listening to "Stone Cold" from the opening. The show has a unique visual that you wished the story had more pizzazz to it. It played out too safe. There was way too many flashback moments when Alma has final made his resolve. I get the point already, only a couple of minutes you already just showed that! The ending was pretty lackluster. There was this weird thing where the final boss is defeated but than Fei ends up being the final obstacle, enabling Knight to get a more pure power back. The last episode felt like everything happened too quickly. We only really understood Kenmi's goal near the end, but there was a lack of development why he felt that away. He was just too one-sided evil. If they were going to push evil, I kinda wish it was on Gurren Lagann level where it just gets more epic.
Overall: Underdeveloped, wasted potential. Likeable casts and spectacular visuals and soundtrack.