Sole Heater

A pile more of first looks for the season, including Soul Eater Not, Hitaugi no Chaika, Inugami-san to Nekoyama-san, Black Bullet, No Game, No Life, and Dragonball Kai. Things range from “Pretty good” to “Eh, it placates my eye-holes”.

I mean, not much does that these days.

Soul Eater Not!
“Back when Sid was a man.”
If you’re a Soul Eater fan, the first thing you’ll need to discard is the feeling you had watching a sort of slapstick gritty show with a TMR-powered OP and sarcastic, wry, awesome-as-fuck Maka. It sadly does not come close to the sort of feeling they got from the first show, and rightfully so. It aired around the beginnings of the revolution, and was riding Bleach‘s bleach-stained asshole for all it was worth back then. No, Soul Eater Not! isn’t just a side-story, it’s a side-story that exposes the original cast’s softer-side before the toil-and-trouble the war would bring them, and instead focuses on Harudori Tsugumi, a halberd weapon trying to control her shit while attempting to court meister Tatane Meme after their meeting, and drawing the attention of Audrey Anya Hepburn, otherwise known as Azuki Azusa in a Bones show. All of the major cast members make cameos to remind you that they’re there, but clearly this is before Maka and Soul went hunting and fucked it up.

So if you’re concerned about moeblob Soul Eater, you might want to skip the show, but I think it will be interesting enough to keep on. Especially if they figure their shit out and go balls deep.

First Rating: 7
Sub Group: Horrible

Hitaugi no Chaika
“Giving Wolfwood a run for his money”
So while they’re trying to bring back Soul Eater into modern relevance, Bones is also trying to spin a novel tale of a magical sniper girl and two rogue siblings in some world where such concepts are a thing. Surprisingly, for a first episode, if it maintains the momentum it carried through the episode, it might not be bad. What’s painful though is it feels like they put a little more quality in the production than they did with Soul Eater, and I have to imagine Soul Eater has more financial support. Go figure.

Chaika-speak though. Oof.

First Rating: 7
Sub Group: Horrible

Black Bullet
“Bean sprouts. Serious business.”
The apparent difference between The Walking Dead and Black Bullet, or maybe every disaster anime, is that apparently no one in TWD thought to build a giant fucking wall around a city to keep the fuckers out. Here, giant monoliths apparently protect the town somewhat from a plague that turns people into monsters. Unless you are a female fetus in your mother’s womb, then you apparently are born with super powers but resign to the fact that you’ll slowly spin into chaos before someone puts a bullet through your head. Tall order. Nevertheless, Enju puts the cute spin on being a superpowered little girl whose partner and forced-boyfriend Rentarou is looking to extract revenge for everything. Then there is Kisara, who runs the agency, but also seems to be pretty dense about things. As novel adaptations go, the jury is hung on the outcome, but from I’ve seen so far, it ain’t half bad. It’s no Noragami though.

Starting off with an unimpressive ripoff setting, the show serves corny dialogue full of moldy clichés, and reeks of the false sense of grandeur like a 14 year old’s first fanfic. Hell, that’s what this whole thing basically is: A god damn fanfic if I ever saw one, a class far below even the LN trash tier.

-First Impressions on Black Bullet, Ishhuukan Friends, Mahou Shoujo Taisen, Mangaka-san to Assistant-san to, and No Game No Life

See, this is why I like Game of Thrones. Even the most skilled fanfiction writer looking to Mary Sue themselves into the universe can’t escape the fact that the universe was made to kill them off. Your only hope is to write your way into a casualty loop where you kill George R.R Martin, and everything resets back to the first book.

I mean, that’s what Haruhi’s Crazy Eight was about, right?

First Rating: 7
Sub Group: Horrible

Dragonball Kai: Majin Buu
“Smoking just totally kills Bulma for me.”
I know, Dragonball Z, right? Truth be told, being among the first dozen shows I watched long ago, it’s something I loathe and like at the same time. I loathe it because it’s everything wrong about the anime fandom and is indirectly responsible for a great number of shows after it that raised pleb’s power levels. But in of itself, as a show, it looks fantastic remastered and in HD. But really, the fact that they condensed everything down to less episodes, less fluff, and just the good stuff, that really is what makes Kai worth watching, especially for anyone who has somehow not seen any of it. I actually never got past the Cell Saga myself, so I am sort of going into Buu solo, though I’ve seen some highlights. Plus, no shitty dub. The best.

First Rating: 7
Sub Group: ?

No Game, No Life
“In a row?”
Did you ever wish your little sister would be a shut-in with you and play games all day?

Yeah, me either.

Madhouse’s latest experiment in novel conversion painfully reminds us we’re still waiting for a second season of Mondaiji, while also reminding us that Log Horizon’s second season isn’t until the fall. Suffice to say, for an opening episode, it was quite good decent, albeit rushed a little. I mean, they go from being the talk of the town, to winding up in another world, but that’s okay, they’re FUCKING LEET GAMERS, so they pretty much assimilated the rules and executed them within the hour on some rich girl, and are already making out fairly well despite having no working knowledge of the world outside their room. Sure, I’ll buy that. It’s only a cartoon.

But considering there was a little bit of hype going into this show, I am reluctant to jump on the train that normally heads to that black hole universe that contains SAO and Space Dandy, among other horrific American pleb animes. So while I am expecting some decent fare with it, I’m going to need some more of that sweet tit-age to at least make it be considered as a desert on my Spring menu.

First Rating: 7
Sub Group: Horrible

Inugami-san to Nekoyama-san
“GARBAGE DAY?”
As soon as I noticed the file size was 40MB, I knew I was getting a short sale out of this show. Now, that doesn’t always mean it will be bad, as Onee-chan ga Kita was last season, but look at this animation, man.

When you have three minutes, it better be the best fucking three minutes of your life. Otherwise, you’re just one of those guys who gets off, zips up, and leaves the magazine behind in the bookstore bathroom without even washing your hands.

First Rating: 6
Sub Group: Horrible

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The final show to preview is Mekaku City Actors which premieres later in the week. Also, if any of you will be at PAX East in Boston, I will be lurking around with my wife on Sunday and maybe standing in an impossible line or two. Feel free to be awkward with us. Just look for a fat guy with a neckbeard.

Oh wait…