One-Eye Fight

Well the new season has begun, and it’s actually coming out of the gate pretty hard. Today I’m taking a look at Aldnoah Zero S2, Shinmai Maou no Testament, Saenai Heroine no Sodatekata, Absolute Duo, and Yuri Kuma Arashi. Hold on to your butts.

Aldnoah Zero
“Making the impossible possible.”
If we remember the last episode, and if you don’t, they’ll show you again, we ended the first season with a couple of boots to the head.

httpss://twitter.com/tldranimu/status/553986306049855488

Don’t come crying to me I spoiled it for you. You know goddamn well how space opera works.

As for this episode, I laid out a few hillarious predictions the other day, and for the most part, the set-up is there. Inaho becomes Space Jesus with Asseylum’s blood, Slaine becomes a Char without a mask, and Asseylum is on ice for now. Otherwise, the rest of the episode was the sub-plot to The Blues Brothers, getting the band back together.

Strap in folks, the train is heading for the wreck.

First Rating: 7
Sub Group: Horrible

Absolute Duo
“Nanoha has bunny ears, and isn’t afraid to use them.”

It seems a little Soul Eater to me, and being an LN adaptation, not sure if want. 8-bit’s record on that is Oh-for-Infinite Stratos. However you have a director responsible for Nanoha StrikerS and the Nanoha movies. Troublesome.

Not only do they have Nanoha’s director, they have Yukari herself voicing the costume-rabbit instructor. What more can you ask for?

httpss://twitter.com/tldranimu/status/553715306469007362

As for its Soul Eater-like qualities, it’s hitting that mark so far, though it lacks the charm Soul Eater brought to the table long ago, before the age of moe. What could sink this one quickly is if they turn this into a harem-obsessed Infinite Stratos-like show. From the man who brought you StrikerS, this might hurt.

First Rating: 7
Sub Group: Chihiro

Yuri Kuma Arashi
“Well now you’re putting the whole station in jeopardy.”
Hillarious Anchorman references aside, this show is weird. Like, super weird.

httpss://twitter.com/tldranimu/status/553988142584582144
httpss://twitter.com/tldranimu/status/553988284557557760
httpss://twitter.com/tldranimu/status/553991740747968513
httpss://twitter.com/tldranimu/status/553993877028614144

I’m going to go on the fact that Funimation, in its ever-present ability to remain relevant, really whipped up a frenzy here with Frontier Works to go after SHAFT’s seat of crazy visuals and shit that makes no sense. You have Sailor Moon-like faces and characters, playing to the tune of Sakura Trick’s profound yuri, with a bear-versus-human Shingeki-style conflict going on in the background. I feel like I am taking crazy pills here. But then there is the “court case” and events of the end, and that seems to lend credit towards my Shugo Chara prediction.

Maybe I should find someone who actually get high to watch this and see what they think.

First Rating: 7
Sub Group: Horrible

Saenai Heroine no Sodatekata
“How games are made.”
I’m going out on a limb and assuming that Saenai-Subs was either a joke sub, or a one-man venture. The amount of localization-translation and use of the word “normalfag” is usually a pretty good indication I am not dealing with the usual suspects.

httpss://twitter.com/tldranimu/status/553968659685965824
httpss://twitter.com/tldranimu/status/553970021148680192

Hopefully I don’t have many tone police among my readers/followers, but referential humor was hard to pass up with a show that focuses on characters making a visual novel. When you consider the cultures are vastly different between US indie gaming and Japanese doujin circles, it’s pretty obvious I am shittweeting a joke. My official position on Gamergate is pretty well known. It’s fairly neutral, because I am not a dickhole. Feel free to challenge it there.

As for Sodatekata:

With the director of Usagi Drop and Ore no Kanojo to Osananajimi ga Shuraba Sugiru, this has a 50/50 chance of being decent, depending on how they work with the premise of comics and such.

You can see definite signs of both in this show, and being that I wasn’t a big fan of the latter, the obvious signs pushed this down a little for me. It’s too plain, too generic, and too ham-fisted with its attempts to shove romantic love comedy in a small space, especially from the very first episode. I don’t have high hopes for this one.

Will have to update this when I get an official sub. But you can stick around Saenai-Subs. I am sufficiently amused.

Edit: I did find Horrible’s version, as they went with the shorter “Saekano” title for their torrents. Annoying. I guess I don’t pay attention to translations much, so it’s amusing how I noticed this time around with someone who isn’t CR or the usual groups. Guess I need to break out this image again:

First Rating: 6
Sub Group: Saenai-Subs

Shinmai Maou no Testament
“A Gentleman’s Winter”
This show is really trying to gun for FULL METAL LEWD this season:

httpss://twitter.com/tldranimu/status/553701743973130240
httpss://twitter.com/tldranimu/status/553703538648682498

Clearly the director for this show, and his one-episode stint on Highschool DxD, learned enough to bring the wow-factor to this show. But one of the things that made DxD great was a non-whiny male lead, and a level-headed competent cast. Haven’t seen enough here to pass judgement there, but the set-up looks pretty promising. For those of you who think I am a shitlord for enjoying the male gaze, I got nothing for you. I watch a lot of shows of various genres, sometimes you just need a fanservice show to relax at night.

httpss://twitter.com/woxxy/status/553312944457793537

Good point.

First Rating: 8
Sub Group: FFFyuu

Plenty more coming in the next few days, including Dog Days and KanColle. But to end, have a few tweets from this week’s Log Horizon and Cross Ange

httpss://twitter.com/tldranimu/status/553957991738011648
httpss://twitter.com/CirNobar/status/551714377641246720
httpss://twitter.com/tldranimu/status/553964360276905984