Sabagebu!

I feel like this show maybe flew under the radar for a lot of people, I haven't really seen a lot of buzz about it on the internet, so I'd like to take a minute to talk to you all about Sabagebu!

Point of fact: I thoroughly enjoyed the first episode of Sabagebu!  It delivered the slice-of-life with a healthy spoonful of absurdity that I was hoping to get out of Stella-something-or-other-C3bu.  Sabagebu! is the "K-On! with assault rifles" I've been looking for (for those of you that don't get what I'm talking about, K-On! was an anime slice-of-life comedy about a light music club in a girls' school.  The description doesn't do it justice, but I thought it was absolutely charming and hilarious).

Sabagebu!, named after the "Survival Games Club" (SABAibalu GE-mu BUkatsu, see?), is a colorful trip into the world of airsoft tomfoolery and doofy antics of its members, created by Hidekichi Matsumoto and brought to us now by studio Pierrot+, the same studio as the dark, graphic Tokyo Ghoul.  Now that's juxtaposition for you.

Quick synopsis: Momoka Sonokawa transfers to a new school is making her way when she catches the attention of Mio Otori, who tries to get her enrolled in her club, the titular Survival Games Club.  Momoka refuses, thinking she's above all that weird crap, but after Mio feeds her poisoned bread (not kidding), she's in.  Hilarity ensues.

This show is bizarre.  To expound, it lets its freak-flag fly and is absolutely hilarious.  There's a strange platypus creature that nobody seems to feel the need to address, a shop owned by Japanese Arnold Schwarzenegger, and a bit about a girl avoiding being noticed because she was wearing a ghilliesuit in school, just to name a few of the gags the first episode had to offer.

There's really nothing I find wrong about this show.  It's not really serious, so if you need that, than Sabagebu! is not for you.  But if you want a light-hearted comedy, or maybe need something that's funny and doesn't take itself too seriously to take the edge off from this week's Tokyo Ghoul, than this is just the show to do it.

Sailor Moon Crystal

Alright, I guess I really ought to talk about this one, as much as I really would love to avoid it.

Chances are, if you've been alive at any point in the past fifteen or so years, you've at least heard of Sailor Moon (Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon).  It's one of the classic icons of anime, one of the most popular series worldwide, and put magical girls on the map.  In my life, Sailor Moon was enjoyed during its hayday by middle and high school girls.  That being said, I never drank from this particular punch bowl.  I was much more into Gundam, Dragon Ball, and Outlaw Star.  So Sailor Moon was largely lost on me during that time.

So, skip time forward, I'm in my twenties, and anime and manga is more readily accessible to anyone with reliable internet.  And the strangest thing happens. Sailor Moon starts trending with my friends on Facebook, and not just with late teenage and twenty-something girls, but with twenty-something guys, too.  It was the damndest thing and I couldn't really make heads or tails of it.

So, you can imagine the collective brick-shitting that the internet underwent when the series reboot, Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon Crystal, was announced.  Well, Sailor Moon Crystal is here at last, so I thought I'd take a look and see what all the fuss was about.

I'll save you from any unnecessary suspense: I was largely unimpressed with SMC.  It was just...exactly what I expected.  It followed the old magical girl setup.  Audience meets girl, Usagi Tsukino, an average middle school girl just going about her life.  She meets a handsome stranger and a magic talking cat, Luna, who gives her her mystic amulet and tells her that she has to fight evil.  There's also some mysterious evil master that's...doing devious things.

So, with the guidance of her talking head, Luna, Usagi transforms and fumbles her way through her first fight against some villain.  And there's Tuxedo Mask who...despite wearing literally the same clothes from earlier that day, still manages to hide his identity.  I know the whole superhero-domino-mask thing was never really plausible but...just damn.

I wasn't kidding about LITERALLY the same clothes...>__>;;

So the first episode is over and I'm left wondering what all the fuss was about.  I won't say that the first episode of SMC was bad, but it wasn't amazing by any stretch of the imagination.  So I figure I'm not going to be continuing, and then I see more of my friends giving rave reviews of episode 2.  So I thought I'd give it another shot, maybe episode 2 was where it really gets good.

Same result.  It was okay, but not something I'd write home about.  I tried, my friends, I really did, but I just can't see what all the hype is about.

The way I see it, it's probably something similar to what went on with My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.  That was another reboot of a show for little girls that twenty-something men lost their shit over that I just couldn't get into.  To be fair, though, I would pick Sailor Moon Crystal over My Little Pony in a heartbeat.  Good god, I would pick waterboarding over My Little Pony...or being in the room with a brony.

But I digress, Sailor Moon Crystal was alright.  It was good, but didn't blow me away.  It's had a major visual upgrade from the original, which is cool, though there were some CG segments that were a little heavy-handed from my perspective.

To put a finer point on it, I would recommend Sailor Moon Crystal to people who liked the original.  Unfortunately, like with Persona 4: The Golden Animation, those people don't really need me to tell them whether or not they should watch this show.  However, unlike P4:GA, Sailor Moon Crystal is a legitimate remake and covers all the information, so no one who is new to the series will feel left behind.

So, if you were ever into Sailor Moon, or ever WANTED to be into Sailor Moon, that I'm very pleased to say that SMC loses none of what made the original series what it was.

Persona 4: The Golden Animation

Whoa, boy...this is a complicated one, but I feel like I need to talk about this before any more weeks go by.

As I explained in my Summer preview post, Persona 4: The Golden Animation is something of a second season or, more accurately, a retelling of a previous series (Persona 4: The Animation).  Truth be told, it's the anime of Persona 4: Golden, the PS Vita port of the PlayStation 2 game Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4.  See, look, things are already getting complicated.

So I've been religiously watching P4:GA, now into it's fourth week, and have come to a very...involved...opinion of it.

Short version: I love Persona 4: The Golden Animation, but I would absolutely not recommend it.  NOW LET ME EXPLAIN!

As I've previously stated (several times), P4:A, that is to say Persona 4: The Animation (not to be confused with Persona 4: Arena...we'll acronymize that using its Japanese suffix 'The Ultimate' as P4:U) has already come and gone (you can catch it on Hulu if you like, I recommend it) with a 26 episode run in 2012 and, with the assistace of one movie, The Factor of Hope, covered all of the core plot.  That being said, I went into P4:GA under the assumption that it was going to cover it all again, but with the addition of the new content that came from P4G (that's the Vita game...yikes this is turning into a labyrinth already).

Well...I was half right.

As it turns out, P4:GA focuses only on the additional content and pays no nevermind to the the central overarching story, the P4 part of P4G.  Well, that may be a little unfair of me, it gives it a passing nod in the first episode and then abandons it in episodes 2 and we haven't really heard from it since.

I'm not kidding, folks.  Characters are just showing up in P4:GA and we're just expected to be okay with that shit.  Allow me to put this in a bit of perspective for you.

***CAUTION: HERE THERE BE SPOILERS***

Let's make an example out of Kanji Tatsumi, my favorite character in the game.  Now, in the story, Kanji doesn't join the Investigation Team until after he's been featured on the Midnight Channel, preliminarily investigated, kidnapped, faced his Shadow, and then saved by Yu and the gang.

In the original anime (P4A), this takes 7 episodes, after which time we know who Kanji is, know what his deal is and have a general idea of who the hell he is and what his role in the group is.

In P4:GA, he just...shows up in episode 2 with no...anything!  He's just there, and nobody addresses it.  AND THEN THEY DO IT AGAIN WITH RISE IN EPISODE 3!

To this end, I have come to the conclusion that P4:GA is very much a companion series to P4A.  It's for people, like me, who have seen the original show or have played the game.  It's for people who already know about the Midnight Channel, the murders, the Shadows, the Personas, and like it.  And, honestly, those people don't need my recommendation, they're going to watch this show or not no matter what I say.

And to the others, who wouldn't know...well, it would just be an exercise in confusion, so to them I say, watch the original and then come back to it.  Without going into an instance-by-instance explanation, the show plays like a New Game + anyhow (let's just say that the Hero, Yu, makes choices in the show that would only be accessible in the game on a second playthrough)

Which brings me to the first thing I said about this P4:GA.  I absolutely love it.

Because I've already played through the game, thrice, and I've already seen the original series.  What I wanted out of this show was to explore all of the new and exciting bits that I've only experienced one-and-a-half times now (I'm currently working on my second playthrough of P4G).

I wanted to relive the Okina station event, the beach event, the concert, and the Winter break ski trip.

I wanted to meet Marie again.

And that's really what P4:GA is about: Marie.

Marie was an entirely original character introduced in P4G, she was one the defining aspect that changed it from a simple port to a completely new experience.  And P4:GA is ultimately about her journey.

Without giving too much away, I'll just say that Marie is very connected to the other world, the fog, and...all that stuff.  In short, Marie is a big deal and has been featured in every episode so far, even appearing in events that she was absent from in the game.

To put an incredibly long opinion short: do not watch Persona 4: The Golden Animation if you are new to the whole universe of it.  It will not make any sense if you have not played Persona 4, or at the very least have seen Persona 4: The Animation.  That being said, I'm finding it wonderfully enjoyable and an absolute treat, so you should make the effort, go the distance, reach out to the truth, and get yourself caught up.

Rail Wars!

...I can't believe I'm saying this, but Rail Wars! was actually...pretty alright.

For those of you who didn't read my summer preview post from a few weeks ago and don't understand the apprehension, I was basically trolled into watching Rail Wars! and was more than certain it was going to tank.

Well, I've gotten the first episode under my belt...and it held water.

Originally a light novel series by Takumi Toyoda, Rail Wars! (full title: Rail Wars! Japanese National Railway Security Force) is, apparently, pretty popular in Japan, as it has its own manga adaptation, an anime series (of which I am thusly reviewing), and a PS Vita game to be released in Japan this November.  Japan...really likes trains.

Granted, the premise is still laughably ridiculous when you first look at it, a show about train security officers.  It's just a short step away from a series about mall cops, kinda.  But then you watch it for a half hour, and it's basically a cop show...that happens to take place on and around trains.

What I found while watching the first episode of Rail Wars! is that it's actually quite a fun show, so long as you're more invested in the characters and their zany misadventures than the trains and plot (so far...it's a lot of train crap which I don't find terribly interesting).  At least...that worked for me, I'm sure there are some train enthusiasts out there who think I'm being closed minded and don't have good taste.  To those people, I say don't judge me and go back to playing Ticket to Ride.

What I mean to say is that the characters are quirky and fun and watching them interact is enough to give this show a passing grade for me.  There are four main characters who get together early on at their...train school, and through a series of montages we see that each one has their own strengths and they all balance each other out into a well-rounded team.  One's good at running, CQC, athletic type stuff ; one can recite train facts and rule ordinances off the top of her head; one is a like a female John McClane, good at guns and fighting but kind of a loose cannon; and the main character has the leadership and decisive thinking to bring them all together.

While not exactly the same, it reminded me a lot of the scene in 21 Jump Street where Schmidt and Jenko's relationship begins to blossom.

So they get together and bust a theft in the first episode, get fired from the academy and then join the railroad security.  So my best guess as to what the rest of the show has in store is going to be a series of railroad based mysteries and whatnot.  So, Rail Wars! didn't exactly set my world on fire, but it certainly exceeded my expectations

Tokyo Ghoul

Right then, got a lot of shows to talk about, so moving right along: Tokyo Ghoul.

The second show this season with the capitol city of Japan featured prominently in the title, also a strong second for "front runner" this season amongst my fellow anime pilgrims.

Tokyo Ghoul is the animation of the dark fantasy manga series with the same name by Sui Ishida.  It takes place in a modern day version of Japan (and probably the rest of the world) where flesh eating "Ghouls" are a known threat.  They don't come out and say "hey, we're ghouls and we want to eat you", but the Tokyo PD also aren't going around saying "animal attack".

No, ghouls are a real problem.  Their attacks make the news and there are doctors trying to study them.  However, ghouls aren't like zombies, they're just like humans at a glance until they ghoul out and get pure black and red eyes.  They just...happen to only be able to eat human flesh (and, incidentally, coffee), have super strength, toughened skin, and super powers...like blood tentacles.

*CAUTION - THE FOLLOWING SECTION CONTAINS SPOILERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!*

*YOU COOL WITH THAT?  OKAY, COMMENCE SYNOPSIS*

So anyways, the story starts with Ken Kaneki, who's only real character trait is that he reads.  So he goes on a date with this girl, turns out she's a psychopathic, binge-eating ghoul (*gasp*), 

Oh, just down this dark alley?  That's not suspicious

she tries to kill him, there's a horrible accident where she dies and he just gets hospitalized and in a case of life-or-death, a doctor has to swap some of Kaneki's organs.  He wakes up and has one crazy ghoul eye.

He gets his eye under control, goes home and finds out he can't eat anything without throwing up, has an episode in the streets, and has a lot of trouble coming to terms with what he is becoming.  He meets the nicest ghoul in the world, gets into a street fight, is saved by a waitress from earlier in the episode (turns out she's a ghoul, but not a psychopath), and she jams some human flesh down his throat.  And that's episode 1.

It wasn't too bad, really.  I think Tokyo Ghoul's strongest asset is how dark and fucked up it is (guess you kind of have to be when your genre is "DARK FANTASY").  There's lots of blood, squishing sounds, and a really apt metaphor between screwing another man's girlfriend and eating his food (you'll get it when you see it).  However, I would not say that gratuitous darkness equates to being a really great show, a mistake many people seem to make.  I mean, I thought Attack on Titan was only okay, as opposed to Suisei no Gargantia, a decidedly less dark show from the same season.

Maybe it's just not really my speed, I dunno.  I just prefer not to have my spirits crushed at every opportunity.

That being said, Tokyo Ghoul keeps its shit in check (as much as it can without losing it's "dark fantasy" street cred) and is a really solid show.  I'm interested to learn more about ghouls and their society (did I forget to mention that there's apparently some kind of ghoul government or something), I really like Touka (the waitress) who is a BADASS, and I'm genuinely invested in Kaneki's personal development.  Right now he's just kind of pussyfooting around being a ghoul and how that's bad, but we shall see, won't we.  The Hulu image for this show has Kaneki with a Hannibal Lecter style mask on, so here's to hoping he becomes some kind of ghoul vigilante or something.

Tokyo Ghoul is getting into it's third week, so it won't take long to get caught up if this seems like your bag.

Tokyo ESP

It's been a big week for me in terms of show watching.  Me and my gang of ne'er-do-wells threw down on the first episodes of 8 different shows.  Most of them were on my list from last week, but a few snuck in there that I hadn't planned on watching.  However, rather than do a massive batch of mini-reviews, I'm going to spend time talking about each of them in detail.

So without further ado, let's start with Tokyo ESP.

Tokyo ESP is originally a manga by Hajime Segawa, and it's about--you guessed it--Espers, wielders of varying paranormal abilities.  It was animated by the people at Xebec studios and, to their credit, it looks MARVELOUS.

As I said in my preview post, this was the show I was most looking forward to, and I was not disappointed.

The episode starts off on Christmas Eve and the National Diet Building (Japan's House and Senate, for those who were thrown by the misleading name) comes floating over Tokyo, a radio broadcast from a terrorist organization announcing that the reign of Espers was beginning, and a shit-ton of baddies with really cool powers doing bad things.

So, yeah...you got me Tokyo ESP, I'm on board.  Now, a lot's going on, but we--the viewers--really aren't being told a whole hell of a lot about what's happening.  My theory is that we're experiencing a kind of flash-forward, that this is a sneak peek at events that will be unfolding around episode 6-10...or something.  Further evidence of this presents itself as everyone keeps talking about a "white haired girl" (Shiroi shoujo: lit. "white girl", lol) in the same way people talk about Batman or Superman.  That being said, I expect the next couple of episodes (the start of the series proper) are probably going to be a bit slow, and I couldn't be more excited for it.

So, the first episode winds down with a lot of carnage, shit comes to a head, the White Girl appears (sans pants), and the episode ends.  I am, DOWN with Tokyo ESP, hot damn!  I will say, part of what I love about it is that it's not afraid to have blood and violence, but doesn't feel obligated to be over-the-top like, oh, say, the latter episodes of Attack on Titan where people are being kicked into red mist or bitten in half without a second thought.

Consider this a hearty recommendation for Tokyo ESP which is getting into its second week of airing.  I plan to be following this show with religious fervor.  It was--

Damn.  Good.

Summer 2014 Anime Preview

I realize that I've been...a little negligent with this blog recently.  I would apologize, but I haven't really been watching a lot of anime recently.  No lie, folks.  But here's the good news, with the frankly oppressive heat in my neck of the woods, Summer is upon us, and that means a fresh, new anime lineup (among other things).

However, I would like to break protocol for a brief tangent here.  BBC America has been running their new show The Musketeers for three weeks now and it's SUPER good.  The first season's already had it's 10 episode run on BBC proper so if you don't feel like waiting...you know...there are ways of watching this show.  It's just great, quality television if you're into that sort of thing.

Anyways, I recently scouted the Summer Lineup at http://static.neregate.com/2014/06/neregate.com-Summer-2014-Anime-Chart-v3.jpg 

Among the admittedly staggering number of options this season, more than a handful of shows have caught my eye, or the eyes of those I directly associate myself with.  I can't promise I'll watch all of these shows, but if you're looking for a recommendation based on book covers and the judgements formed therein, you've come to the right place.

First, I think I'll touch on the returning favorites.  I told myself a while ago that I wouldn't do "second seasons" on these kinds of posts, but I figure a recommendation to pick up a second season is a retroactive recommendation for the original, so before we touch off on the new stuff, let me introduce the reigning champions.

The first local favorite to be making it's triumphant return is Sword Art Online.  I'll admit that I was not one of the pioneers of this show.  I didn't watch the original japanese run and only ended up seeing the first season little over a month ago dubbed on Netflix.  So sue me.

I showed up late to the Sword Art Online party, and partied my ass off with this show.  The first season was amazing, so my cadre and I are super pumped for Sword Art Online II.

Since this preview box provides literally no synopsis, I'll give a brief rehash.  Sword Art Online is about a guy's adventures in "full-dive" MMORPGs (virtual reality.  You literally go inside the game).  The first game, the titular Sword Art Online happened to be created by a mad genius with a god complex who turned the game into a literal reality for the players, and lives were on the line.

Now Sword Art is back, and I am personally going to jump on it so hard it's going to need back surgery.

Moving on to our second returning favorite: Space Dandy 2

If you've been keeping up with this blog, you'll know that I absolutely loved Space Dandy in it's first 12 episode run.  I love each of the characters, it's wacky self-parodizing nature, the art, the animation, the ridiculous premises, and it being simulcast in both Japanese and English.

I cannot overstate how highly I think of Space Dandy.  It's just a great, great show.  Super fun, super funny.  Watch it if you haven't and join me for season 2.

Now, I knew about this next one a long time before I even looked at the chart, but it's finally here, the remake of Sailor Moon, the original Magical Girl

Understand, I have never personally seen enough of Sailor Moon to say I've ever actually watched it, so a lot of the hype was largely lost on me.  But, a lot of my friends are really into it who you wouldn't think would be and my fiance has always wanted to watch, so I'll be along for the ride this time around.

Finally, before we get onto new shows, I'd like to address one final returning show.  Well...more like the anime adaptation of the port of a game which has also had it's own anime adaptation.  I am, of course, referring to Persona 4: The Golden Animation

P4:GA is the anime for Persona 4: The Golden which, as I said, is the PS Vita port of Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4 (originally on the PlayStation 2).  I am a bit of a Persona fan, and 4 in particular, and The Golden had a bunch of additional content that I really loved.  Now, I've already seen Persona 4: The Animation, but only managed to snare part 1 for my collection, so I'm very excited about P4:GA because it's the game I love, with the amazing extra content, and another excuse to give Atlus ALL my money.

And so, with all of the rehashes and revisits out of the way, we can finally address all of the virgin territory that placed between the 6 and 10 on Danny's excitement graph.

First up is Tokyo Ghoul

Seems to me like a zombie show, and I was about to overlook it, but the whole "identities masked in mystery" thing caught my attention.  Are they...like...normal people who need to eat flesh?  I dunno, but I'll check it out.  If it's weak, I'll bail, but a friend of mine has already posted the opening to her Facebook, so I'm guessing that I will at least leave this show with moderate satisfaction.

Next we have Rail Wars

I'm going to be completely honest with you, folks, this show made it onto my docket as a joke.  When I read the premise, my eyes almost rolled out of my skull.  This smacks to me as one of those attempts Japan occasionally makes to turn something completely mundane into something interesting.  I'll get back to you after I've watched episode 1, but prospects are not high on this one.

Moving ever onward, we come across DRAMAtical Murder.

I blame this one on my fiance.  I'm not closed minded or anything, but "boys-love" really isn't my shtick.  But hey, could be eye opening for me.  It could be awesome, I don't know.  Like a...gay Sherlock Holmes or something.  Whatever, I'm down, we'll see where this goes.

This one will come as a shocker, but I am actually responsible for Sabagebu!

Reading the synopsis, I figure it might be like K-On! meets The Hunger Games.

Wait...this sounds familiar.  Oh yeah, that's almost exactly what I thought about blah-blah-blah C3 bu from a year ago, which I totally bailed on after...what...2 episodes?  Whatever, I won't get fooled again.  It gets 2 episodes to impress me and then we're done.

At this point of the blog, we reach the first new show that I'm really excited for, Tokyo ESP

Yes, it's got a crazy premise, I'll give you that, but that's also how Gravity Rush started, and I love the ever-living crap out of that game.  If my instincts are right about this show, I think there will be superhuman streetfights about, so I'm strapped in for Tokyo ESP, and here's to hoping it doesn't go all "gravedigger show" on me (high expectations met with...utter disappointment, you might remember also from a year ago).

Last on the list, we come to Seirei Tsukai no Blade Dance.

If you have trouble finding this one (after it airs, of course), try switching the words "Blade Dance" in your search for "kenbu", that might yield better results.  Anyways, Seirei Tsukai, based on the premise alone, seems like it's going to be a fantasy-harem-comedy(?) [<- I'll hedge my bets on that last one].  All in all, I'd surmise it as a "Fantasy Infinite Stratos".  Sidebar, Infinite Stratos is pretty good...and funny.

And those are they.  Granted, there are a ton of other shows coming out this season, so if there are any other shows that catch your eye that you want me to check out, feel free to drop it in the comment section or what have you.  I've got a lot on my plate this season and I can't wait to hit the trail again, watching new shows, spreading the hype on great shows, dropping the hammer on shitty ones, and generally speaking embark once again on this crazy wild journey called life...with anime.

Thanks for reading, have a great Summer Season, folks!