If that last scrap wasn't any indication, I started going to the school's weekly anime club, watching stuff. It's just something to do, really. I know a few of the people there from current or past classes. Blah, blah.
At the beginning of the semester, we previewed a bunch of shows and did a vote on which 4 shows we would watch the whole semester. I showed up late that day and barely saw anything except for the last 3 previews.
One caught my eye. Something in the future with some kid riding around some city vandalizing stuff with an unlimited supply of basketballs while being chased by cops in robots. Oh, and apparently the NBA plays with robots, too. If anyone can tell me the name of that show, I'd be grateful.
Anyway, the 4 shows chosen were: Sengoku Basara, K-On, Bakemonogatari, and Umineko no Naku Koro ni.
Midterms have passed, so after watching 7 episodes of each show, I thought I'd give my take on each of them.
Sengoku BasaraI think Capcom owns this. From what I've seen, it takes place in feudal Japan with two warring groups having to team up in order to fight an even larger threat: the Demon King Nobunaga! (He's always Satan whenever I see him in fiction. I never read up on the guy, but I'm assuming the real Nobunaga was like Hitler or someone.)
Anyway, this one is the only ACTION anime that we watch. You know, the insane attacks (a dude freakin' fights with 3 swords in each hand, holding them with his fingers instead of his palms), and nuclear grade explosions. the kind of stuff that most people think of when you say "anime".
On the red team (watch the opening) there's some guy with tridents (I think) who constantly gets beat up by his boss when he says or does something rash or stupid. There's also a green ninja dude on their side.
On the blue team there's the guy with the swords named Masamune (yeah), he wears an eyepatch, so he's nicknamed the "One-Eyed Dragon" (obviously not intended for American audiences to make immature jokes about), his adviser is some guy, who clearly has some importance.
Neutral characters include some lady who controls her own army, and her female ninja side-kick (who's obviously exists for fanservice).
The Demon King has tons of minions, but the only important ones are some effeminate Sephiroth looking guy with a scythe, and the Demon Queen, who sports a MINIGUN!
The show is ok. It's nothing that stands out, but it's watchable. Only thing that bothered me was when one guy suddenly appeared inside a mech suit (!!!) but afterwards, I accepted it.
It's art style (as with most anime), is incredibly bland. You could swap cells from this with MANY shows and you'd have to be told the difference. The faces aren't anything original, but at least you can seperate who from who within the show.
K-OnI've heard about this show. Never gave it any thought. It's about some school girls and their band. That's kinda it.
There's the leader, the violent one (who hates horror movies), the quiet one, and the loud one (who pesters the violent one).
I don't care for this, really. Sure, it's got some funny parts, but I honestly don't care about any of the characters, nor their music (which is bearable).
However, this show has an art style that stands out while still following anime tropes. That said, this show really shows the sin most anime's share: EVERYONE HAS THE SAME EXACT FACE! The only way to tell the difference is their hair! The only character remotely distinguished is the blond girl, thanks to her thick eyebrows.
BakemonogatariNow this show, I hate.
It's a supernatural themed show about some dude who heals like wolverine thanks to at one time being a vampire. He doesn't really have any goals. Insane stuff just seems to happen to him. In the first episode, he discovered his classmate weighs as much as a sheet of paper, and in order to keep him quiet, she threatens him with ALOT of sharp school supplies (So you weight as much as styrofoam, so what? It's odd, sure, but is it really something that serious). In the end of the confrontation, she uses a stapler on the inside of his mouth. (The stapler suddenly becomes a motif for the entire show.) Later on, they become a couple (!!!) even though she still threatens him with more sharp objects from time to time.
The show doesn't really seem to have a direction, really, but that's not the main reason I hate it. I hate it for it's constant cuts. I'd love to find a scene where we don't have jump cuts, cuts to photographs or objects, cuts to a single colored screen with text on it usually of a single word that only flashes for one second, or a two second close up of an eye for no decent reason. If the characters are talking, LET THEM JUST TALK! I know they're boring characters, but trying to give me a seizure with a closeup of a sewer cover followed by "black scene", followed by a close up of the dude's eye, followed by "red scene" is not gonna make it any better for me. It just makes it worse.
Even cuts aside, the environments also try to be surreal. The entire world appears to be deserted whenever the main character is annoyed by the little ghost girl who constantly mispronounces his name. His girlfriend lives in a small house inside a construction site. And any cars that appear seem to be the clones moving in a congested line. They obviously aren't on Earth.
Art style? Bland as the first. But it's not like I expected anything else.
Umineko no Naku Koro niThis show caught my interest the most...to a point. I was surprised by the Square-Enix logo.
A rich guy is on his death bed, so his descendants arrive to his island to decide how they'll split his money (He doesn't have a will?). But once a storm traps them on the island, things turn around once 4 people get murdered and have their faces mutilated.
Things get crazier when the murders turn out to be sacrifices to resurrect the all powerful witch, Beatrice (the rich guy loves him some occult, and apparently that's how he received his wealth).
This show is the first time I've ever seen animated child abuse (taken seriously). The mother of bratty little Maria clearly crosses the line (and no one else wants to get involved for the sake of morality, and instead choose the "not our problem" card). But once her mother is one of the first sacrifices, the little brat starts exhibiting some truly creepy behavior, talking about how no one can stop Beatrice and the like (not to mention a damn scary grin). She starts writing satanic symbols and laughs at the murders, and yet no one catches on.
As the murders continue, only 4 people are left, Battler a red haired guy who constantly denies the supernatural (even when he sees it in front of him). George (yeah) some dude with glasses who was dating the maid before she got her face torn out. A blond girl, and the little demon Maria, who was previously LOCKED IN A ROOM WITH THREE OTHER PEOPLE AND WAS MIRACULOUSLY UNTOUCHED WHEN THE KILLER SLAUGHTERED EVERYONE ELSE, AND YET NO ONE GREW SUSPICIOUS.
At last, the final sacrifices were complete. Battler, armed with a shotgun tries to confront the witch and then...Everyone's sitting around a table sipping tea, talking about how they got the bad ending, with the maid and androgynous butler (who I just today discovered was a dude, despite being voiced by a woman (I'm watching it in it's original Japanese, mind you.), people who were the FIRST to die, chiming in comments.
WHAT JUST HAPPENED?! I looked it up, this show was based on a game, which explains the bad ending. It's actually pretty funny, but it threw me for a loop.
However, Battler realizes that Beatrice sent him into limbo or something and then demands that she shows herself (while becoming a Phoenix Wright impersonator). She obliges. Despite everything that happened, Battler doesn't believe in the supernatural (yeah). For her own amusement, Beatrice decides to bring Battler back to the beginning to break his iron ignorance and we start seeing flashbacks that flesh out the characters (living and dead). As well as show which parts in time Beatrice used her influence to bring the events in motion.
I'm kinda wierded out by the whole restart thing (still am), but this is my favorite show at the club.
Art style: BORING. It doesn't blend in with the others, but there's another breed of generic anime. Maybe there's a list out there that shows all the different breeds of anime.
Anyway, this has gone on long enough.
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