Category Archives: Reviews

Ikoku Meiro no Croisée Review — B-

Reviews,

Yune, a young girl from Japan, comes to work as an apprentice in a sign making shop in Paris. She helps out at the shop and makes friends with the neighbors. We get to explore some of the cultural differences between France and Japan.

First of all, this series is downright adorable. Yune is ridiculously cute, as is everything she does. This is coupled with some beautiful animation, so if you like cute things, this is the show for you.

The episodes are, for the most part, entertaining. The creators manage to come up with a variety of new situations to place Yune in— getting robbed by the orphan boy, becoming lost in the neighborhood, and playing with her neighbor Alice. The characters on the main cast are compelling and likable. Alice begins as extremely irksome, but wins the viewer over as her sister and background are introduced.

But on the negative side, Ikoku Meiro is more fluff than substance. Many people may not see anything wrong with this, but I prefer shows with a bit more depth (or humor in its stead). There’s some tragic backstory about Claude’s past and Yune’s sister, but it doesn’t really go anywhere, and just serves to add a tiny splash of drama. Likewise, the cultural differences tend to be superficial. One episode about how the French look down on the poor and the Japanese love them and are charitable had me especially rolling my eyes. Furthermore, the cultural differences are largely forgotten for the second half of the series.

So if you go into Ikoku Meiro expecting a cuteness overload, you won’t be disappointed. If you’re looking for more, well, don’t set your hopes too high.

  • Plot / Script – C – Script is decent, but the story doesn’t really go anywhere.
  • Characters – B – Yune is cute.
  • Production – A – Very pleasing to the eye.
  • Overall – B-

Recommendations – Aria, Usagi Drop, Kamichu

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Tiger and Bunny Review — B+

Reviews,

In Tiger and Bunny, a group of superheroes defends the city from criminals, but with a twist— the heroes compete for points on a reality TV show. Our hero, Kotetsu, is a middle aged man, a single father whose daughter doesn’t know he is a hero. He gains a new partner, Barnaby, who he begins to fight crime with. But the crime may reach deeper than he believes…

Much of the show is spent developing the individual heroes. Everyone except Rock Bison gets their turn in the sun, and in general, the show does quite well at it. Blue Rose is a bit frustrating, as she’s in love with someone twenty years her senior, but it isn’t too much of an issue. Kotetsu in particular stands out. He’s kind of a loser, but is very personable, and his kindness and commitment manage to earn everyone’s respect. His occasional bursts of idiocy manage to keep things entertaining as well.

The rest of the show is spent unearthing a criminal conspiracy surrounding Barnaby’s past. It was suspenseful, with many twists and turns, and thoroughly satisfying.

The ending was a let-down, as the creators were absorbed in advertising the sequel, but otherwise Tiger and Bunny was one of the most solid series of the season.

  • Plot / Script – B – Compelling, with many twists and turns.
  • Characters – B – Kotetsu is one of the best characters of the year, although the others were somewhat lacking.
  • Production – A – Very consistent.
  • Overall – B+

Recommendations – Starship Operators

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Hanasaku Iroha Review — B

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Ohana’s mother falls deep into debt and runs away from home with her boyfriend. Ohana is sent to the Kissuisso, an inn run by her grandmother, who she has never met. Her presence meets with harsh resistance from the other inn residents. Will Ohana be able to fit in to her new lifestyle?

Hanasaku Iroha can be great when it wants to. It’s had some of the best drama of the year. There are a few excellent dramatic arcs, in particular: the first few episodes, the middle episodes, the one Yuina episode, and the ending.

But the problem is that for the rest of the time, the creators of Hanasaku Iroha don’t try to make it great. The other episodes are episodic and meandering, focusing on a character or two. They’re enjoyable, but don’t pack nearly the same impact the more dramatic episodes do. It becomes yet another show about cute girls doing cute things, when it could have been so much more.

As for the characters, I loved how the show explored Ohana’s family and their relationships across three generations. Her grandmother was a particularly memorable character. Ohana herself, though, was not terribly interesting, although her cheerfulness kept things fresh. Her boyfriend was even less memorable. Minko, one of Ohana’s friends, was particularly annoying: she kept throwing these giant fits over nothing, the show would make a big deal of how she changed and grew up, and then she’d do the exact same thing a few episodes later.

Overall, Hanasaku Iroha is excellent when it focuses on the drama, but merely average for the rest of the time, when it’s all about cute girls doing cute things. Those episodes hold neither the charm nor the humor of, say, K-On.

  • Plot / Script – B – Mixed thoughts. Fabulous for the dramatic episodes, but quite weak in the rest.
  • Characters – B – Excellent characterization with Ohana’s family, but weaker with Ohana herself and some of the side characters.
  • Production – B – Consistent, detailed animation. Nice landscapes in particular.
  • Overall – B

Recommendations – AnoHana, Sora no Woto, K-On

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No. 6 Review — C-

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No. 6 began quite promisingly, with Shion abetting a wounded fugitive on a stormy night in the dystopian city of No. 6. Shion is caught, and his family is placed in internal exile. Later, he witnesses some mysterious deaths by bees, and narrowly avoids death himself at the hands of the city. He escapes with the help of Nezumi, the boy he saved many years ago, and they begin living together in the slums outside the city.

Unfortunately, once they leave the city, everything goes downhill. Shion becomes a housewife, and they spend the next six episodes doing nothing in particular, hanging around in the slums. I guess you could claim that they’re “developing” the characters, but when both of the characters make me want to wring their necks, this isn’t really a positive thing. Shion has the emotional stability of a five year old girl, and both Shion and Nezumi are bishounen who act like they’re a seme and uke taken out of a yaoi doujinshi. Plus, the entire script reads like the lines from a bad play. I’ve been told this is part of the charm, but I don’t get it.

For this entire time, the creators more or less forget about the city of No. 6. Warning: Spoilers Ahead. They seem to realize this around episode 9, and send Shion and Nezumi to talk to the underground guru who tells them everything about the city in an extended monologue. It turns out there is a giant fairy rainbow bee who is possessing the girl who wants Shion’s sperm, who has been thrown into prison by No. 6. The city of No. 6 kills babies and old ladies, and has piles of dead bodies hidden beneath the floorboards. So Shion and Nezumi must defeat it. Then the final episode comes along and makes the rest of the series look like it made sense.

No. 6 follows in the lines of Fractale and [C] as bad noitaminA sci-fi shows. All three of them had their own flaws: Fractale had no idea what it wanted to do, [C] was utterly nonsensical, and No. 6 had two conflicting visions of where it wanted to go (as a romance and dystopian thriller) and ended up going nowhere at all.

  • Plot / Script – D – Overdramatic, reads like the script of a bad play, and they forget about the titular No. 6 for half the series.
  • Characters – C – Inconsistent and obnoxious, especially the leads.
  • Production – A – Bones does know how to make things look nice.
  • Overall – C-

Recommendations – Fractale, C (if you actually liked this), Shangri-La, Innocent Venus

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YuruYuri Review — B

Reviews,

With both YuruYuri and Nichijou airing, this season has been a great one for comedies.

YuruYuri follows in the footsteps of Azumanga Daioh, Lucky Star and K-On in chronicling the lives of a group of high school girls. The main variation on the theme in YuruYuri is the abundance of explicit yuri elements. That isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

When watching a comedy, there is only one question that matters to me: is it funny?

For YuruYuri, I can say yes. The jokes are generally fresh and funny, the pacing is tight and upbeat, and the characters are unique. Kyoko, in particular, is a joy to watch— she is always full of surprises. Akari’s eternal invisibility is amusing, as are her opening eyecatches, and Chinatsu is downright evil, which makes for some good fun too.

On the negative side, one joke in particular goes a bit too far— the nosebleeds. When Kyoko and Ayane do anything suggestive, Chitose takes off her glasses, puts on her yuri goggles, and bleeds out her nose. Her visions were funny, but after twenty or so times it was a bit much.

Otherwise, it was a great comedy— funny, fresh and with characters who can keep your attention. Assuming you don’t mind the yuri, of course.

  • Plot / Script – B – Consistently entertaining and funny.
  • Characters – A – I loved Kyoko especially.
  • Production – B – Who cares as long as it’s funny.
  • Overall – B

Recommendations – K-On, Lucky Star, Softenni, Saki

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