The New TV Season!
Oct. 7th, 2005 01:54 pmYesterday marked the opening of the Fall TV season in Japan, and already I've had a chance to watch a few of the new animes. Here's my opinion of three of them. Note that I watched these raw. My Japanese was good enough for conversational speech, but when the topic became highly technical I missed a lot, so my knowledge of what's going on may not be the best.
Cluster Edge
I so wanted to like this show. The previews looked wonderful and the technology and setting are something for which I'm a bit of a sucker, with the end of the airship era, the start of the modern. Throw in the fact that the storyline featured a cast of handsome young men pining for each other and I would be so there! This was the show I've been waiting all summer to preview.
( But... )
My Otome
My Otome is the successor (it's not a sequel) to Mai Hime, which I had really enjoyed. My Otome is set in a completely different universe, with a different (but somehow vaguely similar) plotline. The really brain-damaged aspect to this is that several of the characters are being completely recycled-- some voice, same look, but otherwise completely different roles. Poor Natsuki, who in the last series spent a lot of time avoiding being sexy spends this episode trying to be "official" dressed in a corset. I feel sorry for seiyuu[?]Chiba Saeko-- does she really need the paycheck that badly, because it sounds like she's actually trying. The reserved and professional Shizuru is now a kick-ass magical girl, along with Akane, who now deploy from the car from Big O, now painted white and with special ejector seats for mahou shoujo. Mashiro, who was a calm and wise invalid in the first series is a wisecracking recalcitrant, and very active princess. Kaiji-sensei, the teacher with the role of greek chorus in the original, is now Kaiji-sousha, commander of a military force (and still doing the as-you-know speeches).
It hurts my brain. It's all wrong. It's just plain stupid.
( But wait, there's more! )
Aria
On the other side of the fence completely from all that absurdity comes this tiny little gem of a series that, frankly, I can't believe made it into production and I'm so happy it did. Our main character is Akari, a girl from Earth who's taken up residence on the terraformed water world of Aria and makes her living as an undine, the pilot of a gondola, for a little touristy corner of the world that looks a lot like a rebuilt Venice.
( Inexplicably, I like it. )
Cluster Edge
I so wanted to like this show. The previews looked wonderful and the technology and setting are something for which I'm a bit of a sucker, with the end of the airship era, the start of the modern. Throw in the fact that the storyline featured a cast of handsome young men pining for each other and I would be so there! This was the show I've been waiting all summer to preview.
( But... )
My Otome
My Otome is the successor (it's not a sequel) to Mai Hime, which I had really enjoyed. My Otome is set in a completely different universe, with a different (but somehow vaguely similar) plotline. The really brain-damaged aspect to this is that several of the characters are being completely recycled-- some voice, same look, but otherwise completely different roles. Poor Natsuki, who in the last series spent a lot of time avoiding being sexy spends this episode trying to be "official" dressed in a corset. I feel sorry for seiyuu[?]Chiba Saeko-- does she really need the paycheck that badly, because it sounds like she's actually trying. The reserved and professional Shizuru is now a kick-ass magical girl, along with Akane, who now deploy from the car from Big O, now painted white and with special ejector seats for mahou shoujo. Mashiro, who was a calm and wise invalid in the first series is a wisecracking recalcitrant, and very active princess. Kaiji-sensei, the teacher with the role of greek chorus in the original, is now Kaiji-sousha, commander of a military force (and still doing the as-you-know speeches).
It hurts my brain. It's all wrong. It's just plain stupid.
( But wait, there's more! )
Aria
On the other side of the fence completely from all that absurdity comes this tiny little gem of a series that, frankly, I can't believe made it into production and I'm so happy it did. Our main character is Akari, a girl from Earth who's taken up residence on the terraformed water world of Aria and makes her living as an undine, the pilot of a gondola, for a little touristy corner of the world that looks a lot like a rebuilt Venice.
( Inexplicably, I like it. )
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