Row Row Fight the Power

The new season is here, and it’s rocking you like a hurricane tropical storm. A handful of new premieres to go through tonight including Kill la Kill, Infinite Stratos 2, Kyoukai no Kanata, and Coppelion. Sit down, strap in, and shut up.

 
 

 

Infinite Stratos 2
“The difference between IS and DxD, is that Issei is a motherfucking man about the womens. Ichika on the other hand is very dull.” –@tldranimu
Ah, Ichika and The Jelly Factory 2: More Houkis Poukis. An excerpt from my final review of the first season:

Considering the scope of the original novels, I didn’t expect great things of Infinite Stratos. It was a harem, a harem with humanoid robots, and when you consider the conversation Chifyuu had with Tabane at the end, you probably would be quick to invalidate the entire plot of this series, but really, the plot of this series is Ichika is the biggest pimp who doesn’t even know his own pimp-master power. That’s why we call this Infinite Jelly because you’re jelly he has them all around his finger. The whole class.
–https://tldranimu.net/2011/04/02/stimulating-wouldnt-you-say/

The sad fact is, IS will probably not be anything more than the sum of its parts, it will still be Ichika being a pussy about five girls advances, and some other nonsense involving powered battle suits. As I mentioned in the sub-quote, what seperates IS from DxD is that Issei is a motherfucking man who lusts for the girls and isn’t afraid of anything. Ichika on the other hand has five good-looking girls who can command fucking mobile suits and want his junk, but stands there like an idiot and goes ADUHDERPSHAPDEEPDURR. Yet they still want his junk. I know Mary Sue fanfiction is a fucking joke, but can I have a fucking harem? I DID ONCE IT WAS BAD. (I actually did, I fucked it up. =( )

Now, I am a pretty simple guy, so I can probably watch this season and enjoy it at face-value, but that’s about as far as it’s going to go. They got the pool episode out of the way early enough for some PLOT to come in, an unknown IS user who seems to be after another IS, likely. Then there was that mess in the beginning with his sister or something. But in the end, I fully expect from IS what I expect from DxD, only it won’t be a Gentleman’s Monday, it will be something more akin to Tea Time Friday, starring Cecila and her Delicious Blue Tears.

First Rating: 7
Sub Group: FFF

Kill la Kill
“I feel like I’ve been hit by a bus. It was amazing.”
The first thing that went through my mind when I started Kill la Kill was that this was some pretty janky animation. It immediately reminded me of the sort of nostalgic pre-2000s style of anime, but with a modern twist that made it feel more like Gurren Lagann (obviously) or Lupin the Third: Mine Fujiko to Iu Onna. Of course, rose-colored nostalgia goggles just don’t work in this day and age, especially on the younger crowd in anime who has never seen anything earlier than Lucky Star and believes KyoAni invented anime. Once KLK started moving, it felt like an episode of Abenobashi Mahou Shoutengai meets Star Driver meets… well… anything?

The basic premise is Matoi Ryuuko begins attending Honnouji Academy with the specific purpose to find whomever killed her father with a “scissor blade”, and suspects student council president and ruler of the school Kiryuin Satsuki of having knowledge about. Being the school’s most powerful figure physically and politically, she employs students equipped with special uniforms known as “Goku Uniform”, which enable the user powers beyond normal abilities, and range from one to three stars. Those with the most are part of the “Four Divine Kings” who carry out Satsuki’s will. Ryuuko then encounters a special uniform that chooses her to bind to and enables her to fight on par with those wielding the Goku Uniforms, and her official mission is to bring Satsuki to her knees and learn the truth of her father.

“My name Is Ryuuko, you killed my father, prepare to DIE!”

At the risk of turning this show into another Shingeki, it’s a great concept, and as one of my friends put it, it needs more burning. It’s probably the extreme opposite of what Kyoukai no Kanata is doing with a not-so-similar namespace. With GL’s director calling the shots, it’s going to probably maintain this fast pace, sacrificing any moment that might slow it down and maybe tell us just what the fuck is going on at times. GL at least did that much from time-to-time to give us a reason to like Simon after Kamina’s death, so it stands to reason that for this show to succeed, we’re going to have to see more behind Satsuki besides her man-ish exterior.

First Rating: 8
Sub Group: Horrible

Kyoukai no Kanata
“If this makes #kyo_kai the best show of the season, we have a huge problem. With everything.” –@tldranimu
KyoAni is known for doing KyoAni things, like K-ON!, so for them to go outside their comfort zone and suggest a supernatural show in order to prove to us all they can be a JC STAFF, SHAFT, or DEEN, makes us who are used their shit pause for concern. Fortunately those fears were slightly alleviated as it turns out they’re not abandoning cute girls doing cute– oh she stabbed him with a sword… made of her blood… oh.

Basic premise here is Kuriyama Mirai is a short, glasses-wearing, “spirit hunter” who is shunned from circles because her clan developed unusual powers to form swords with their blood, atypical to other methods of hunting spirits. Kanbara Akihito is a half-human, half-youmu, who is essentially immortal, and becomes the target of Mirai’s fascination as she tries to repeatingly stab him to gain confidence in her abilities. Not interested in feeling the pain of being stabbed constantly, Akihito tries to open dialogue with her and convince her to stop.

It’s no surprise to me this show reeks of KyoAni’s Hyouka, even with a direct mention of the Classic Lit. club. There are also servings of Chuunibyou and Haruhi, and pretty much everything KyoAni has ever done ever spread all over this show. They know what buttons and levers in your head to push and pull to achieve maximum moe with as little effort as possible. Their visuals are stunning, their transitions are fluid. It’s like executing a flawless preparation of a cake using the finest ingredients and then handing it over to a five-year-old to decorate. All your friends will laugh and say it’s cute because a child decorated it, but you paid top-dollar and put forth extra time to make the inside the best ever. KnK will dazzle the stage with cute-as-buttons Mirai and Kyon Yuuta Houtarou Akihito, but it’s going to stumble around in a story that pretty much spells SAVE ME FROM MYSELF in a style only KyoAni can manage.

But I’ll still watch it. Because I have shit taste.

First Rating: 8
Sub Group: UTW

Coppelion
“Otherwise known as Nuclear Protest: The Anime”
It’s no surprise after the earthquake and partial-meltdown of Fukushima in 2011 that Japanese folks are concerned about nuclear power. I don’t want to delve into the politics of the matter, but it’s pretty obvious this show is a vehicle for the anti-nuclear movement there that has been growing since the accident. Certainly a show about post-disaster conditions in a major city tend to mimic real-life events. Japan really is kind of screwed with nuclear disaster, both by the US intentionally and by Mother Nature unintentionally. Not the best way to live.

What bothers me about this show is the animation. The backgrounds look incredibly detailed and articulate, no doubt to draw focus to the state of the city in a state of disrepair and disuse after the accident, but the girls themselves just don’t blend in with the backgrounds at all. They come off way too outlined in some scenes and almost stick completely out from the background like they were trying to do a stop-motion animation using cutouts and backgrounds. Other scenes look okay when they thin out the outlines, but it feels rushed and sloppy. I’m not sure how this show will pan out really. I guess I expected more from the studio that did Seitokai Yakuindomo.

First Rating: 6
Sub Group: Horrible

---

More coming soon, including Outbreak Company and Golden Time, along with Valvrave and Freezing Vibration soon. Stay tuned.