Mhmmm I owe you guys an apology since I wasn’t able to post anything for the past couple of months and you already know the reason is school ,school and school. I still owe you reviews for the spring and summer shows and I’ll work on them little by little and most probably I won’t review all the shows I’ve watched during those seasons instead, I’ll just review shows that I think would need some reviewing. My vacation is coming to an end so expect that those reviews would be released slowly. I’ll make it a goal to review 1 show per week (oh gosh wish me luck *smacks self because of lack of time management skills*).
So far the shows this season is really good specially with much anticipated shows like Fate/Zero, Guilty Crown, Shana and Persona 4. Still, there’s these shows that seems interesting at first but when you watch you’ll find it disappointing but surprisingly from all the shows I’ve picked up there are only few shows I have issues with.
I’ve listed the shows I’m following this season and it’s arranged according to my rating of the shows so far.
Kyoukai Senjou no Horizon
Mobile Suit Gundam AGE
C³ CubexCursedxCurious
Ben-To
Shakugan no Shana III Final
Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai
UN-GO
Persona 4 The Animation
Guilty Crown
Fate/Zero
Mirai Nikki
Title:Kyoukai Senjou no Horizon
Genre: Action, Fantasy
#12 (Watched 2/13 ep) = 6/10
Summary:
In the far future, humans abandon a devastated Earth and traveled to outer space. However, due to unknown phenomenon that prevents them from traveling into space, humanity returns to Earth only to find it inhospitable except for Japan.
To accomodate the entire human population, pocket dimensions are created around Japan to house in the populace. In order to find a way to return to outer space, the humans began reenacting human history according to the Holy book Testament. But in the year 1413 of the Testament Era, the nations of the pocket dimensions invade and conquer Japan, dividing the territory into feudal fiefdoms and forcing the original inhabitants of Japan to leave.
It is now the year 1648 of the Testament Era, the refugees of Japan now live in the city ship Musashi, where it constantly travels around Japan while being watched by the Testament Union, the authority that runs the re-enactment of history. However, rumors of an apocalypse and war begins to spread when the Testament stops revealing what happens next after 1648.
Taking advantage of this situation, Tori Aoi, head of Musashi Ariadust Academy's Supreme Federation and President of the student council, leads his fellow classmates to use this opportunity to regain their homeland.
Impression:
My least favorite of the shows I’ve picked up this season. In the first episode, we were briefly introduced with the cast of characters and then the entire episode was spent with the students chasing their teacher across town. I have to admit that the fight scenes was quite interesting but its not enough to make things interesting. For one I am very confused when I watched the first two episodes since they’ve thrown jargons at my face and so far I still don’t know what the show wants to achieve. This show is just crazy but very imaginative I give it that since in the cast there’s a ninja, a angel, a fallen angel, a blob and a whole lot more but I wonder how would those things fit the story (well I’m not sticking around to find out). The concept also of medieval Japan coupled with high tech technology was also a nice touch that somehow reminds me of Hyakka Ryouran’s setting. I’m not really into shows that throws a LOT of incoherent stuff at the start of its run since the purpose of the first couple of episodes of a series is to hook your viewers by gradually introducing the world not bombing the viewers of monologues that doesn’t make any sense.
In terms of animation, I think its just so-so nothing really impressive and its not that horrible. The OP and ED song is your mediocre j-pop. Overall, this is your average ecchi, fanservice anime. I won’t be watching the rest of the series since I’m not really impressed with the first two episodes so this is considered DROPPED.
Title:Mobile Suit Gundam AGE
Genre: Action, Mecha, Sci-Fi
#11 (Watched 3/- ep) (6.5/10)
Summary:
It has been a few hundred years since humans began to live on space colonies. In A.G. 101, an unknown enemy (UE) "GAFRAN" suddenly attacks one of the colonies "Angel". A long war against UE has begun.
In A.G 108, seven year old Flit Asuno lost his mother when UE attacked his colony "Ovan". His mother left him a memory unit "AGE" which had stored data of an ancient mobile suit Gundam. In A.G. 114, Flit completes the Gundam AGE and counterattacks against GAFRANs.
Impression:
Well as expected, this series has a unique setting for a Gundam franchise since instead human vs human conflict they turned it into alien vs human but that ends there. Oh come on this is just full of shounen clichés. A teenage boy pilots a robot because he’s the only one available to pilot it and surprisingly he already know how to pilot it. All the robots of the military had been blown up but his own robot is a bit sturdier. I can go on but it’ll just take up some space and time so all I have to say is this show has that ‘been there done that’ feel to it. I’m also quite annoyed with the characters seems they seem like an idiot just to make the protagonist stand out that he’s smarter than the rest. The girl is also useless. She keeps on following the lead male even if its dangerous. Sigh, there has to be a limit to how cliché a show can be right? So I hope after a couple of more episodes the story might get more interesting to cover up some of its dullness. I don’t really care about the characters since they bleed of mediocrity so you can’t really feel emotions behind their actions. On another note, the action is really impressive but some of the gundam’s pose looks like a rehash of the previous gundam shows and the design of the UE looks like the mobile suit used in the Gundam 00.
The animation is also fine nothing really impressive. I just hoped Sunrise make another Gundam series that uses the animation in Tiger & Bunny….that would really look impressive (imagine a 3D version of the gundams just like the suits in Tiger & Bunny….awesome!). The start of the OP song really give the series a kiddie feel to it and somehow it doesn’t fit the feel of the Gundam franchise. The ED song on the other hand is quite nice but not really impressive. I still have hopes for this series so I’ll have this one on my ON WATCH list.
Title:C³ CubexCursedxCurious
Genre: Action, Comedy, Ecchi
#10 (Watched 4/- ep) (6.5/10)
Summary:
From the light novel series written by Minase Hazuki, comes a story of love, action, and comedy. Yachi Haruaki is a high school boy who is naturally resistant to curses. After his father sends him a mysterious black cube, Haruaki awakes to find a nude girl named Fear standing in his kitchen. She’s the human form of the cursed black cube – and an instrument of torture! Utilizing her special abilities, Fear fights alongside Haruaki to defeat other cursed instruments and their owners.
Impression:
I almost drop this show because the first episode follows the usual harem formula. A girl moves in the guy’s home and the guy was tasked to take care of the girl. The girl is a your mediocre tsundere who is a bitch at first but then softens up to the guy eventually. Sounds familiar right? But at the end of the second episode the said mediocre tsundere suddenly went psycho and WOW that was surprising and something different at the same time so I ended up picking up this show. I never expected that a harem show like this would deliver good action and interesting story about cursed devices. Its entertaining and I want to see more of Fear’s psycho mode but the drama is hard to take in since it seems like the show isn’t taking it seriously or maybe they just don’t have time to develop the characters. There are a LOT of things that doesn’t make any sense like who are those people who are after Fear, what are the reasons they are after her even though they also use cursed devices, who the hell is Haruaki really and let’s not forget his mysterious father who sent a dangerous device to his son or even the fact that the antagonist likes to be naked and show off her garterbelts. I’m not hoping much that I’ll get some answers but I wish they would answer those things.
I don’t know if the animation is stylish or what but I’ve got to admit that it was actually stylish in certain scenes but most of the time it seems like it just want to imitate Shinbou’s style. I love the facial expressions btw since its very dynamic and THAT crazy look just looks awesome. The action is nicely done and I like it that they don’t hold back with the gore. I like the way Fear’s hair color changes from cute blue then to dirty blue with bits of red here and then since it made her look more sinister. The OP song is nice but it still hasn’t grown on me. I like the ED song a lot. You know me I’m such a sucker for slow songs like that. The performance of Tamura Yukari as Fear (Nanoha, Steins;Gate) is really commendable since she could switch her voice effectively from the cute one to the crazy (I love that crazy voice). I’m not expecting much from this series but I’m hooked with the crazy Fear and the action that is surprising good so I’m gonna keep this on my ON WATCH list.
Title: Shakugan no Shana III Final
Genre: Action, Comedy, Romance, Supernatural
#9 (Watched 3/24 ep) (7/10)
Summary:
Continuing from the events of the last series (Shakugan no Shana II), both Shana and Kazumi stand at their respective locations waiting for Yuji to meet with one of them, only to discover that Yuji has disappeared, with not even the slightest evidence of his existence left behind. All is not lost however, as the letters the two of them sent to him still give hope of Yuji's continued existence. As Shana and company search for answers on Yuji's whereabouts, they soon find the truth staring back at them when Yuji reappears in front of them as the leader of Bal Masqué. Left with little choice, Shana must now confront her most unlikely adversary on the battlefield in her toughest challenge yet.
Impression:
Finally after 3yrs of waiting we got a sequel of the popular Shakugan no Shana franchise. My first reaction with the first episode is “What the hell happened to Ryuuji’s hair?!”. I had a lot question marks on my head since the first scene in the first episode is Shana facing a long haired Ryuuji and there’s seems to be a war. What the hell happened to Shana and Ryuuji that they have to battle each other? Then it replayed back to what happened at the end of season 2 where Ryuuji was suppose to choose Shana but it turns out he disappeared leaving both girls heart broken. If the WTF moments on the first few minutes of the series is an indication of what to expect on the future episodes then I’m excited. Though so far I find the show a bit slow specially that it is mainly focused on Shana training and the long haired Ryuuji leading the Bal Masqué then the recap at ep 3. Well maybe I’m being impatient here but I can’t blame myself since this show made me wait for 3 years. I can’t wait for the 4th episode since finally Ryuuji and Shana has seen each other again and I hope Ryuuji would explain what he’s doing merging with one of the powerful King of Guze, the leader of Bal Masqué to top that. I think he just want to change Shana’s fate as a flame haze.
The animation has slightly improved from the previous seasons and that fire is still nicely animated. The OP song is nice and kinda makes me excited to watch the episode but I’m not a fan of the voice work…still its really catchy. The ED song is decent but its your typical J-pop. Well I love the first two seasons so of course this one’s on my ON WATCH list and hopefully it’ll end the series in a high note that everyone would remember this series for the years to come.
Title: Ben-To
Genre: Action, Comedy
#8 (Watched 3/12 ep) (7/10)
Summary:
Sato Yo is a high school boy who likes SEGA games. One day, he enters a grocery store to buy some food for dinner. When he tries to take a bento box, he loses consciousness. He comes around to find all the bento sold out. He notices there is a war game going on at grocery stores and players called "Wolves" compete for the half-priced bento. Yarizui Sen, the leader of the Half-Pricer Club, forces Yo to join the club and he enters the bento war.
Impression:
The thing that hooked me with this one is its action and its ridiculously funny story. Come on who would have thought that watching a bunch of people fighting (I mean literally fighting) for half priced bentos would be this fun to watch. It might be a harem but heck its very unique specially the premise (just read the summary) but to some it might just look ridiculous since to be honest I find it ridiculous during the fall preview. Another thing that caught my attention is how the main guy has some attitude compared to other protagonist of your usual harem shows that lacks some character. It seems like there are a lot things to look forward to this series not only the action but the possible romance that might pop out between the ‘Ice Witch’ Sen and the future guys who would challenge You. What makes this show fun and relatable is the fact that its approach is very down to earth and its exaggeration to people’s reaction during a half price sale. It might have been a bit exaggerated but that makes it fun but sometimes I really think that if people in real life could fight each other for half priced items they would certainly fight to the death.
The animation is fine since nothing really stands out about it. I like how they animated the fight scenes since its really engaging and well choreographed. The OP song has a nice shounen feel to it but otherwise there’s nothing really impressive with it. The ED song is also the same its just so-so. I’ll be keeping this in on my ON WATCH list
Title:Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai
Genre: Comedy, Romance
#7 (Watched 4/- ep) (7/10)
Summary:
Hasegawa Kodaka has transferred schools, and he's having a hard time making friends. It doesn't help that his blond hair tends to make people think he's a delinquent. One day, he runs into his bad-tempered solitary classmate Yozora while she's talking animatedly to her imaginary friend Tomo. Realizing that neither of them have any actual friends, they decide that the best way to alter this situation is to form a club and start recruiting.
That is how "Rinjinbu", The Neighbours' Club, was formed, a club specifically designed for people who don't have very many friends. As other lonely classmates slowly join their little club, they'll try to learn how to build friendships through cooking together, playing games, and other group activities. But will this group of relationship-challenged misfits really be able to get along?
Impression:
This series is one of my guilty pleasure shows just like Mayo Chiki last season. I just can’t believe how hilarious this show is! Some people might relate to the show since this one is about making friends. Surprisingly this series shows why some people don’t have any friends even popular people like Sena could also feel alienated because she is far more superior than the rest and that some people like Kodaka are being judge before people even knew him and there are also those that doesn’t know how to befriend someone just like Yozora. Well look at that, comedy aside this show does tackle some serious things too. The best thing about this series is its characters since just on the first few episodes you’ll learn to love them. Somehow you might find similarities between this series and The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya with that making a club with questionable goals but that ends there since Yozora is not that eccentric like Haruhi and they are forming a club just to make friends. As episodes goes by the Neighbor’s club steadily gains some members and who would have thought that this group of people who have difficulty making friends would find friendship among themselves. This show is really hilarious since as this club try to develop friendship among the members they try various methods like playing Monster Hunter using the co-op mode and some eroge and by just watching the characters interact with each other, I’m also having fun too. Eventually, the other characters will open up with Kodaka too and show their hidden feelings, that is so interesting to watch. There’s enough material to keep me watching like the way Yozora and Kodaka knew each other which was implied at the end of ep 3 so yep I’m keeping this one on my ON WATCH list.
The animation is just so-so as expected for shows like this but heck the character design is an eye candy. The OP catches the quirkiness of the show and I had fun listening to it. The ED song on the other hand is also fine and like seeing Yozora and Sena rocking it out.
Title: UN-GO
Genre: Mystery
#6 (Watched 3/11 ep) (7.5/10)
Summary:
"UN-GO" is a full-fledged detective story about a detective and handsome boy combo who tackle the world's most difficult crimes together for reasons of their own. The profession of private detective fell out of favor long ago, and yet, that's how the young man, Shinjurou Yuuki identifies himself. With his superior deductive powers, Shinjurou solves various challenging cases. Meanwhile, Inga, an attractive young lad, serves as Shinjurou's "buddy". But contrary to his cute looks, he's a sharp, arrogant rogue. Why Inga sticks with Shinjurou is as yet unknown. The setting of the story is a postwar, future Tokyo that still bears the scars of war. Ruling the land is Media King Rinroku Kaishou, who through politics and industry has the communications infrastructure under his thumb. Kaishou has used a clear head and the massive amount of information at his fingertips to lead to the solution of a great number of cases. But there's an underside to Kaishou's brilliant deduction work, which is that Shinjurou Yuuki, "the Last Great Detective", is the one who actually uncovered "the truth" in those cases. However, the public doesn't know this and thus refers to Shinjurou as the "Defeated Detective". Still, Shinjuurou, together with Inga, can't help but search for the truth.
Impression:
I loved the murder mystery genre so as expected I like this series. The episode started with your typical murder in a room full of people but at the end of the episode the famous information analysis supervisor, Kaisho Rinroku tries to solve the case. Our lead detective Shijuurou then butt in and announced that the analysis of Kaisho is incorrect. Then here comes a lady who could ask questions that anyone couldn’t refuse to answer and with the confession of the culprit, Kaisho Rinroku’s deduction was proven incorrect but unfortunately since since the culprit is being backed up by the government and doesn’t want the truth to be revealed to the public so, the truth has been covered up by Kaisho’s deductions. Poor Shinjuurou, so the reason that he is being called as the ‘Defeated Detective’ is because the government keeps on covering up the truth. That premise is really interesting specially the part that murders related to the public interest since the government kept on covering it and together with the post apocalyptic setting, this series definitely has a lot of potential. Though I’m having issues with this series being episodic with different cases each episode that doesn’t contribute much to the overall story. I still don’t know where the series is heading whether the story would be focused on Shinjuurou solving murders or are the writers planning to tie everything else together. So far everything had been interesting and I hope we’ll get answers on how Inga and Shinjuurou met so me to found out I’ve put one on my ON WATCH list.
The animation is fine and as always there’s nothing impressive with it. The OP song is nice and catchy I could find myself listening to it casually and I like how the opening animation is in synch with the song. The ED song is WAY better than the OP and I really like it (I wonder where could I find a full ver of that song). The ED animation on the other hand is really stylish and I love the colors used, those could make one awesome wallpaper.
Title: Persona 4 The Animation
Genre: Adventure, Mystery, School, Sci-Fi, Supernatural
#5 (Watched 4/- ep) (7.5/10)
Summary:
Persona 4 takes place in the same universe as Persona 3 in a rural town named Inaba. There have been mysterious murders occurring whenever there was fog after heavy rain. There were also rumors about a channel on television airing only at midnight called Mayonaka TV, during which it is said that one can see his/her "other half" when staring at the TV screen.
After hearing about a recent unsolved murder which occurred during the fog, the characters—the main character, Chie, and Yōsuke—discuss how each of them had attempted to watch the mysterious TV channel and witnessed the murder victim. The protagonist later realizes that during midnight when the channel is on, his body can phase into his television set as a gateway to enter another world infested with shadows.
After discovering this, they all decide to explore. When first completely entering the world, dazed and confused, the main character meets Teddie. Mayonaka TV and the town murders seem to have a connection. The murder victims may be merely victims of Mayonaka TV. Everyone decides that they will together try to solve the mysterious murders by exploring the hidden world of Mayonaka TV.
Impression:
Like I said on the fall preview that I haven’t played the persona 4 game but I have an experience playing persona 3 portable so somehow I’m quite familiar with some of the elements present in the game. To my surprise some game elements is present in the series like the BGMs, monsters, “Burning Up” scene, calendar day changes, attribute screen and emotion icons surprisingly all of those work out with the style of the series. So far, Persona 4 is being episodic with every addition to Yuu’s party and currently I’m not too happy with it since its full of friendship clichés. I hope after Yukiko’s addition we’ll finally focus on the murder mysteries again and who is the person responsible in bringing people inside the other world. I find Yuu’s character bland that he is being overshadowed by the other characters. I wonder if its because of his attributes being in the lowest level but eventually he’ll have more emotions, I hope that’s the case or else he’ll be one bland protagonist.
I love how this series uses solid colors and crisp lines so that made the characters stand out from the background. I also love the fight scenes during the first two episodes since it was really engaging but so far I think the animation in the action scenes are being lazy and there’s little variation on the attacks. The original OP song and the OP song on the first episode is both catchy as expected with a persona series and the opening animation is also stylish with the introduction of the characters and their cool poses. I love the ED song too specially the rap part and when I read the lyrics, I like what it conveys to its audience. I would still watch this hoping that it won’t go downhill in the future eps. (ON WATCH)
Title: Guilty Crown
Genre: Action, Sci-Fi
#4 (Watched 3/22 ep) (8/10)
Summary:
The story takes place in Tokyo in 2039. After the outbreak of the unidentified virus "Lost Christmas" in 2029, Japan has been under the control of a multinational organization called GHQ. Ouma Shu is a 17-year-old boy who has a psychic power in his right hand. He can use the power "Ability of King" to extract tools or weapons from his friends. He has been avoiding making trouble for others but his life changes when he meets a girl named Yuzuriha Inori, a member of a resistance guerrilla group called "Undertaker", whose members pilot mecha weapons to fight against the government.
Impression:
Best part of this series is its dead drop gorgeous character design and animation and also its jaw dropping action. Who am I to say no to that interesting post-apocalyptic setting, that very captivating Inori, that mysterious Power of Kings that could change the world, that mecha and military action and that BGMs…I am so in! Though I have to admit that there’s that feeling of de ja vu since some concepts of this series is really similar to Code Geass and there’s that formula of wimpy guy acquires powers then meets one gorgeous girl. I don’t have any problem with that since I think despite those things, the execution and direction is well done so at least maybe with those it’ll cover up some of its flaws and keep things interesting so that viewers would come back for more. Another problem of this series is the plot holes that keeps on multiplying as another episodes pass by so I hope this series would do some interesting explanations and revelations later on. I know some of you guys got annoyed with the fanservice but sorry guys I have to admit I enjoyed it and it had pushed a lot of good buttons on me. If the series isn’t trying to be light hearted it uses a tasteful approach on fanservice but during the light hearted parts it doesn’t detract from your ‘accidentally grope chest’ scenario. I had no issues with that since honestly there’s no harm in teasing the viewers for a bit right? Specially when the character design is really sexually appealing.
As for the characters, so far Shu haven’t pissed me off with his wimpy side yet since he’s surprisingly cool during certain instances. Unlike some wimpy guys like him, instead of accepting a life changing offer he declined and that’s interesting since I think I haven’t watch a series where the protagonist declined a life changing offer. Most appealing character (IMO) this season is Inori. DAT outfit, DAT face,DAT cute voice, DAT tilt of her head, DAT very sensual Void extraction, DAT emotionless exterior…gosh she’s such an eye candy. For me she’s one mysterious character, I wonder what is her part in all these since even though she’s expressionless, she really strong and that adds another appeal to her character. I really want her expressionless exterior to crack as she gets close to Shu little by little (if the concept art is an indication, then that might be a possibility). Gai on the other hand is the very calculative leader of the Undertakers. His trust to Shu’s capabilities baffles me….I wonder if he already calculated everything or he’s just crazy risk taker.
I like the OP song of this series so much as expected since I'm a fan of Ryo. Its really catchy to boot coupled with an awesome opening animation I’m totally sold. The ED song is a nice ballad and I like it a lot though it’s a bit sad that we still don’t have the full ver of this. Oh the BGM is also nice specially the ones they used during the comedic parts of ep3 when it was played at the right time that adds to the ridiculousness of what’s happening on screen. During action scenes, the BGMs also makes things more exciting that you can’t stop looking at your computer screen.
Well, the show isn’t perfect but heck its exciting, interesting and pulls of good cliffhangers so yep yep this is on my ON WATCHlist.
Title: Chihayafuru
Genre: Drama, Sports
#3 (Watched 4/25 ep) (8.5/10)
Summary:
Chihaya is a lighthearted tomboy, who's not especially good at anything in particular. Her dream has always been for her sister (an aspiring model) to become the number one beauty of Japan, or perhaps of the world. But then one day she meets someone who tells her that a dream is something that should concern only herself - and something she has to work hard for as well.
At the same time, Chihaya discovers a passion for the old Japanese game hyakunin ishhu, also called "karuta".
Impression:
The edge of this series is the emotion it tries to convey since with just 3 episodes it had successfully fleshed out its characters that you’ll pity them and even get pissed at them. I don’t even know what Karuta is before watching this series but the show was able to introduce us to the game without using a lot of game technicalities. Its nice to watch Chihaya having her own dream instead of her dream for her sister. I love how this suppose to be sports themed anime and has a romance in it and were having hints here and there that there is a possible development between Chihaya and Taichi even though Chihaya is so dense. Taichi sure has a chance to swoon Chihaya while Arata is still not yet around though, I don’t know if Chihaya still has feelings for Arata. With the hint of romance I’m already sold but when I watched the Karuta tournament I think it’s a really cool game specially when a lot of memorization is needed when playing the game and the way it was animated it was really exciting.
This is one of the series this season with jaw dropping visuals. Its like I’m watching a live action drama but with more creative camera shots and more dynamic facial expressions. They also used CG here and it has a nice effect with those cards flying around. The OP song is nice but it seems like I’ve heard something similar to this. The ED song is a nice ballad and somehow it sounds sad. I have to praise the use of BGMs here not only is it played during the right scene it also adds more emotions to the show and hooks the viewers to watch what’s happening to the show more closely. It’s a bit surprising I’m picking up a sports themed show but if its exciting, has great visuals, characters, story and romance then I am so in. (ON WATCH)
Title: Fate/Zero
Genre: Action, Fantasy
#2 (Watched 5/13 ep) (8.5/10)
Summary:
War of the Holy Grail - Pursuing the power of the "Holy Grail" which grants a miracle, this is a contest in which seven magi summon seven Heroic Spirits to compete for it. In that battle whose conclusion was postponed three times, now, the fourth war commenced again. Entrusting their dearest wish of victory, the magi joined the battleground called "Fuyuki", but amongst them, there was a man who was always alone, and could not find out the meaning behind his fights. His name was Kotomine Kirei.
Not comprehending the guidance of fate, Kirei was lost, and had kept questioning. Why someone like his was given the Command Seals. However, the fate of his fights crossed Kirei's path with a nemesis by chance. That person is - Emiya Kiritsugu. A man who was sterner than anyone else, more merciless than anyone else, and who sought the miracle of the Holy Grail.
Merely recited in fragments in Fate/Stay Night, this is the Fourth War of the Holy Grail 10 years ago. The truth which unfolded behind the battle between Shirou's foster father, Rin's father, and the younger Kotomine Kirei, is finally revealed...
Impression:
What’s really interesting about this series is we’ll get to see the parents of the characters from FSN and we even get to meet again some familiar servants and see them in a new light. Seems like the 4th Holy Grail war is much more interesting than the 5th because not only was it exciting, it's also very twisted and the heroes this time are either very likeable, completely crazy or just simply a badass. I’m really quite confuse on who will I root for since I like almost all of the servants like Saber, Rider, Lancer and Berserker but I wonder what’s on their Master’s minds and even some of them are morally ambiguous like Kiritsugu and Kirei. In the current episode where all the servants met in a battle field, gosh I really don’t know who’ll I root for since all of them have different agendas and their masters have different plans too. I love how this series build up its story in the first few eps., which has really superior story telling, and then WHAM! They thrown one awesome fight scenes where you know anyone and everyone could die.
The characters are really dynamic in this show. They have their own personalities that made them stand out among the characters this season. I like how Saber’s bold attitude could be shown in full force here unlike in the 5ht Holy Grail war where Shiro kept on protecting her even though she’s his servant. That boldness and honor in Saber’s personality is contrary to her master Kiritsugu since he doesn’t follow the rules that the magus has set for the war but instead he uses assassination and dirty tricks to kill his opponent so I wonder how these two personalities would work out. Rider is like a really awesome father figure to the wimpy Waver and somehow they really fit each other’s character. Both Tokiomi and Gilgamesh are very ambitious but what sets them apart is if Gilgamesh is arrogant with that high and mighty attitude of his, Tokiomi never lets his emotion interfere with his plan and he analyzes the playing field before attacking. We also saw Rin, Sakura and Illyasviel’s smaller selves here. Gosh I never thought that Sakura experience such horrible childhood and the fact that Shirou battled the real daughter of his foster father, quite surprising indeed.
Ufotable has set a HIGH standard for other studios out there. Their animation has a movie like quality like their Kara no Kyoukaimovie series. It’s already the 5th episode but still the animation is still movie quality. I really like how they used CG for Berserker’s animation it was really jaw dropping. Sure Guilty Crown and Chihayafuru also had top notch animation but heck you could see already that they’ve lowered the quality of their animation in the current episodes unlike Ufotable’s Fate/Zero which is very consistent. Gosh the fight scenes are well animated up to every frame and wow was it well choreographed. Its really hard to take your eyes off the screen.
My my, what’s not to praise about the sounds in this show. The OP and ED song are really catchy that I found myself listening to it while I’m working or studying. The BGMs by Yuki Kajiura doesn’t disappoint she’s still as impressive as ever and the tracks definitely adds the right atmosphere to the series.
Would you look at that I’ve bombarded this one with praise so of course its my ON WATCH list.
Title: Mirai Nikki
Genre: Action, Mystery, Psychological, Thriller
#1 (Watched 4/26 ep) (8.75/10)
Summary:
This psychological thriller, based on the manga written and illustrated by Sakae Esuno, is about Yuki, a loner who's not very good with people. He prefers to write a diary on his cell phone and talk to his imaginary friend, Deus Ex Machina – The God of Time and Space. However, Yuki soon learns that Deus is more than a figment of his imagination when he makes Yuki participate in a battle royale with eleven others. The contestants are given special diaries that can predict the future, each diary possessing unique features that give it both advantages and disadvantages. Within the next 90 days, the contestants must try to survive until there is only one left standing. The winner will become the new God of Time and Space.
Impression:
What makes this show awesome is its suspense and very interesting and original premise. This show is just insanely awesome with loads diverse characters including those crazy ones and it also has a Battle Royale feel to it. Its very interesting to watch the contestants try and kill each other using different kinds of future diaries and they could even team up with each other to cover up each diaries’ weakness. We also have interesting bunch of characters like Yukiteru who is very wimpy and yet he’s very interesting to watch since he really acts scared and pathetic. Then here’s the yandere Yuno who is very attractive but the other side of the coin is she’s a stalker and a psycho. She’s really unpredictable since her motivation comes from protecting Yukiteu at all cost even the death of people around her. There’s a budding romance at the start of the series but with one sudden exposition, doubt started to creep into Yukiteru and Yuno’s relationship.
The animation isn’t really as impressive as most of the shows this season but what makes up for it is its direction. With just the right shadows, lighting and camera angle they were able to make the atmosphere eerie. The CG used in this series looks cheap but still despite that flaw this show is freaking awesome. The OP song very disturbing and it definitely sets the disturbing mood of the series and couple it with those disturbing opening animation its down right freaky. The ED song is not as crazy as the OP but still it fits the series. The ED animation is very clever as it subtly introduce the other diary owners.
Interesting story, at the edge of your seat suspense, crazy characters, blood and gore…What’s not to like? Well if you like disturbing series like this then you have to pick this one up its just so F—ing awesome. Did I for got to say its effing AWESOME specially Yuno? (ON WATCH)
Whoa definitely LOTS of shows to enjoy. I hope you guys liked my first impressions.
until then…
~ja
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