I have mixed feelings about this one. First of all, the humor is pretty good. You have to be in the right mood for it though, since it’s fast-paced and the jokes are probably funniest if you’re ten years old (I’m a child at heart). The scene of Harumi running away was especially hilarious. Perfect choice in music.

On the flip side, the main character, Enma, has to have one of the most annoying voices I’ve ever heard. He just doesn’t seem to articulate properly. I should point out that it’s the character, not the voice actor, who’s done a number of good roles.

Also, I can’t figure out what the show’s target audience is. They have humor suited for kids, and then they put in the sagging old lady, the enemy’s lance, and flipping people’s skirts. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised…

A Channel is next in the long line of shows about cute girls doing cute things at school, with its main differentiating feature being that the girls’ sexuality is more explicit. I don’t consider being about cute girls doing cute things to necessarily be a negative: I enjoyed Lucky Star, K-On, Manabi Straight, and Hyakko. But A Channel has a few issues.

1. The art. The huge heads, eyes and shiny cheeks aren’t working too well in my opinion. The characters look more like monsters than cute girls.
2. Bland characters. We have the airhead, the normal girl, the glasses girl, and the stalker. I doubt that any of them will develop beyond this mold. In K-On, Yui is an airhead too. But she can actually be really enthusiastic and do well when she tries. Her airheadedness is complemented by the rest of the cast, particularly her sister. The character in A Channel is is just an airhead for the sake of being an airhead, so that we can laugh at how dumb she is.
3. It’s not funny. Maybe it’s just because I’ve seen the same jokes done before a million times. I was paying more attention to the show’s music than what people were saying. I’m not sure if it’s because the music didn’t fit well or because I was bored.

I never imagined I’d be saying this, but SKET Dance actually managed to make Ookami-san look good in comparison. The premise is basically the same— it follows a club that’s purpose is to do favors for people in the school. The first episode started with them doing a favor for a transfer student.

The characters are bland shounen stereotypes. The punchline of every joke is people YELLING REALLY LOUD, because that’s really funny, HAHAHAHA. I don’t think I managed to crack a smile the entire episode. The music is terrible and completely misplaced. I think it’s supposed to make the characters look cool or something but they just seem like idiots.

As for the “mystery”, it was way too obvious. But it gives our heroes a chance to prevent bullying, the true enemy for heroes of justice! Really, it’s these club members who should be the bullies’ targets. If I went to this school I would join in. The guy with the hat and goggles, and the guy who speaks through a laptop are just asking for it. And what in the world was with that guy’s goggles mode power where he overheated and came up with a plan? He’s putting on more airs than Victorique, except he’s a complete moron.  Obviously, I’m not planning to continue watching this.

Steins; Gate looks like it’s going to be awesome as long as it doesn’t pull another Chaos; Head. But given that the staff has a much better track record this time along, I think they should be able to avoid that. The character designs are less ridiculous as well which is promising. I’ll confess, there’s nothing I love more than a good conspiracy theory: two of my favorite books are Foucalt’s Pendulum and the Illuminatus trilogy. Steins; Gate seems poised to deliver.

I’m already sold on the main character Rintarou Okabe. He’s a self proclaimed mad scientist who’s clearly insane, but there also seems to be some truth in his delusions. His fast-paced thinking and dialogue keep the show fresh and interesting even when he’s just giving a monologue in his lab. I’m not quite sold on Mayuri yet— she seems a bit too cute and cheerful, but that probably only means she’s covering up an even darker secret.

As for the mystery, mixed-up memories and cellphone messages from the future, I have no idea what’s going on, but that’s how a good mystery should be. I’ll definitely be blogging this series unless the next episode is a complete disaster.