Four Minutes

Three more shows to preview, Himegoto, Hanayamata, and Sabagebu!. At the rate this season is playing, I might just have to pick up Sailor Moon Crystal after all, cause this shit is really just treading water now.

Himegoto
“Hayate no Gotoku called. They want one-half of this crossover back.”
There is never much to say about four-minute shows, because often they aren’t really made to leave a lasting impression on you, with notable exceptions. Himegoto is basically a Hayate no Gotoku, except the crossdressing is retained throughout. That was one of the funnier bits of Hayate, to be honest, but it was never taken farther than it should, which is why it remained funny. Much like dropping water pans on people’s heads. Funny, until it’s done way too often.

But what I find I like in four-minute shows, is that I don’t have to watch it embarrass itself for another eighteen minutes. For a show like this, that probably didn’t have enough material to stand on, that’s probably fine. It’s much like the fifteen-minute shorts you get with Adult Swim cartoons, thank god. Any more, and you probably would actually remember what was on while you were too fucking high on weed and Taco Bell that night.

First Rating: 7
Sub Group: & and TrapSubs

Sabagebu!
“Guns don’t kill people. Bad comedy does.”
After C3-bu, among so many -bus, we’re really starting to come to the part where yet another fucking airsoft hobby adaptation is probably stretching it. C3-bu tried to mix K-ON! with something grittier like a shooting sport, but the two together don’t stroke many folks. I mean, people who don’t enjoy music can at least respect those who play in-between their tea. The only fans you’ll get here are gun enthusiasts and the sort of people who fly LIVE FREE OR DIE flags in Connecticut and still vote for Democrats.

Where this show breaks down for me is mainly in the scenes where your WISE-CRACKING COMMERCIAL VOICE-OVER GUY reminds you that all of this is for play-play, everything is IMAGINATION, and that you shouldn’t take this show seriously. Oh, excellent, now that you’ve told me not to fucking bother, why should I? Because if you’re not going to take yourself seriously, why should I?

Now I can’t really say much about this show from its source standpoint. Certainly not as much as the next guy. I even live in the state now known for the worst school shooting ever, and the highly-controversial gun laws that followed. Despite being a state home to some of the oldest gun manufacturers in the world, there really isn’t a market for shooting sports or airsoft play outside of a few clubs and ranges. It’s one thing for C3-bu to at least take up the stance that you are playing a game, with rules, and etiquette, like any other organized sport. Sabagebu! seems to be the polar opposite, where you’re playing for the raw thrill, and somehow, you are magically accepted for being a gun-toting maniac by a bunch of other girls. Serious Mary-Sue fantasies there.

But you know, I’ll stick around a few episodes and see what happens. Not like there is a whole lot this season to work with.

First Rating: 7
Sub Group: Anime-Koi

Hanayamata
“That is NOT New Jersey, I don’t even care what you think.”
Look, Japan, let me teach you something about regional behaviors of the United States. People from New Jersey? Predominately assholes. Are you from New Jersey? Deal with it. Your Governor is so fat, he’ll need two White Houses when he takes the presidency in 2016.

Hanayamata though… well… it looks to be a yuri-swirl, but not the good kind in a waffle cone with sprinkles. No, this is more of DQ Blizzard, the quiet-pace variety, where the main character bites off more than she can chew with an American import who isn’t here to learn how to drift, but instead to get people to dance, like some kind of Kenny Loggins playing Footloose on repeat.

My tolerance for yurishit does tend to be higher than my tolerance for yaoishit, or tangents thereof. So even though this is not of the AKARIN variety, I’m slightly interested to see where it goes. It may also just be me being incredibly masochistic and just filling the slot with anything I should instead be filling with Steam games I haven’t finished.

First Rating: 7
Sub Group: Horrible

Two more premieres at the end of the week, and the season is in full swing. Are you entertained yet?