Astarotte no Omocha is about a succubi princess, Lotte, who lives in a magical world. She employs a human, Naoya, in her harem so that she can gain magical energies by drinking his juices when she becomes an adult. Naoya also happens to be the father of Lotte’s step-sister who moves in with them at the castle.

I wasn’t initially impressed by Astarotte no Omocha, but I decided to continue watching it. The people who’d read the manga seemed to be saying that the story became something touching involving family as it wore on. Even if it didn’t seem great from the get go, everything was done passably well. The characters and premise were… unique, to say the least, and the story could have had some potential.

Unfortunately, the rumored touching story never materialized, and it turned into a rather unremarkable harem show. I suppose the story did involve family… as in, it tried to develop a romance between a little girl and her stepfather. There are different cultural norms and all, but I feel like I should draw a line somewhere. The touching part of the story, I guess, is about Lotte growing up and becoming a woman… or not, as it is revealed in a bizarre anti-climax in the final episode where it turns out that everything was a misunderstanding resulting from a mosquito bite.

In addition to the problematic story, at least half of the show’s “jokes” surround a little girl not wearing underwear. To make matters worse, the lead character is a little girl voiced by Rie Kugimiya. Lotte is a vast improvement over both Rose from Dragon Crisis and Aria from Hidan no Aria, but still, she’s annoying. The other characters seem like they could be interesting, but never really get a chance to shine. Most of Lotte’s castle staff end up becoming glorified errand boys.

With all that said, if you can look past the premise and the plot (or lack thereof) Astarotte no Omocha isn’t terrible. For one thing, I wasn’t bored while watching it. The show managed to mostly keep my attention, and it used its time effectively. The stories are somewhat episodic in nature, and each of the shorter stories were interesting, even if everything didn’t come together as a whole.

But Astarotte no Omocha also isn’t particularly good. And herein lies the crux of the problem: the show lacks ambition. The creators seemed to set out to make a passable story, not an excellent one, and they succeeded. There were no real risks taken: everything is done by the book. I’d much rather watch a show like [C], which at least had some interesting ideas, even if it did end  in a spectacular explosion of nonsense. Astarotte no Omocha takes the safe path, and ends up the lesser for it.

• Plot / Script – 5 / 10 – Unambitious, although the script kept my interest.
• Characters – 5 / 10 – Only the three main characters really get their turn in the spotlight… and all that comes from that is learning that one doesn’t like wearing underwear, one isn’t sure about whether or not he should date his stepdaughter, and the third is a loli voiced by Rie Kugimiya.
• Production – 6 / 10 – Average, like everything else.
• Overall – D-

Recommendations – Hayate no Gotoku, other Rie Kugimiya series if you like that stuff (Shakugan no Shana, Zero no Tsukaima, etc.)

While Ganta is sitting in class, drearily staring out the window, a man in red clothes appears before him, floating in midair. He breaks through the window, and kills all of Ganta’s classmate. Ganta is accused of the crime, and sentenced to prison in Deadman Wonderland, a prison which doubles as an amusement park where spectators watch death row inmates compete for a lease on life. Ganta soon learns that he has become a Deadman, who can activate powers using his blood, and must fight against other deadmen in underground fights to survive.

The world of Deadman Wonderland is cruel. All the characters have to deal with unbelievable shit. In just the first episode, the main character’s entire class gets murdered, he is sentence to death, and his defense lawyer turns out to have been the prison warden. Body pieces get chopped off like nobody’s business. Ganta is forced to fight in death matches, where if the loser survived they play a penalty game of losing a body part by roulette wheel. It’s a dog eat dog world.

With the shounenesque superpower and tournament setup, I was initially worried that Deadman Wonderland would devolve into some sort of power leveling competition where the power of friendship won. Fortunately these fears were completely unfounded. The games to stay alive are forgotten after the first few episodes. There are the underground battles, but the focus isn’t really the fighting but the characters: there’s some drama surrounding both of Ganta’s matches, and he ends up befriending both of the people he fights. The real foci of the show lie in revealing the secrets of the prison and showcasing the inhuman cruelty of both the prisoners and management.

Deadman Wonderland has some strong characterizations: Ganta’s fellow prisoners are twisted beyond belief due to their environment, but still maintain some level of human decency. Shiro and Hummingbird, two of the female characters, initially seem cute and innocent, but their darker sides are later revealed. Some of the strongest characters, from my perspective, are the show’s villains. These guys redefine what it means to be evil. Especially the promoter who acts as Ganta’s defense lawyer, he is messed up beyond belief.

Unfortunately, Deadman Wonderland’s biggest weakness is its protagonist Ganta. In a show filled with ridiculous levels of cruelty and badassery, this guy is just pathetically weak. And to make matters worse, he spends half the show whining about how weak he is.

Aside from Ganta, though, Deaman Wonderland made quite a strong showing. It had some great characters and explored the depths of human darkness. It really needs a second season though— let’s hope it gets one.

• Plot / Script – 9 / 10 – Excellent dark setting.
• Characters – 8 / 10 – Ganta is pathetic, otherwise interesting.
• Production – 8 / 10 – Serves its purpose, not stellar.
• Overall – B-

Recommendations – Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood, Higurashi, Mirai Nikki (manga, but getting animated in the fall, can’t wait!)

The premise of 30-sai no Hoken Taiiku is that a god comes down from heaven to help a thirty year old man graduate from virginity. Given the questionable premise, the half length episodes and the animation that looked like it was done in Flash, I initially skipped over this show, but decided to give it a shot after hearing good things.

From the description, I expected this show to have its head in the gutter the entire time, but it surprisingly didn’t. It does have some jokes of that nature, but most of the more explicit content is bleeped out in some amusing applications of censorship. I am saying that it wasn’t too bad in the same season that I watched Hen Zemi though, so your mileage may vary.

The show is quite funny, and a great deal of the humor is of the absurdist variety: epic battles against the dorm master and Virgin King, love confessions piercing a robot’s barrier shield, traps, and random cosplay. The shorter episode length prevents the show from losing its punch or focus.

Don’t mistake 30-sai for anything other than a comedy, because you will be disappointed. The romance, characters and story are mostly just a plot device to bring out the laughs. Not to say there’s anything wrong with that. Definitely do NOT take anything this show says as some form of “advice”.

In conclusion, 30-sai was funny, but not hilarious, and it probably won’t be remembered well a year from now. Still, it’s worth a watch if you’re in the mood for some quick laughs.

• Plot / Script – 7 / 10 – Has its funny moments.
• Characters – 6 / 10 – Not really the focus of the show.
• Production – 5 / 10 – Serviceable animation, but you have to be able to look past that if you’re going to enjoy this show.
• Overall – C-

Recommendations – B Gata H Kei, Hen Zemi

Note: I’m still away and not posting on new shows, I’ll be back on Wednseday.

Kazuma and his brother, Ayumu, move from the countryside to the big city. With his urbane cultured ways, Kazuma is popular among the hicks in the countryside and becomes a pimp. He adds the Clumsy Glutton, the Childhood Friend, the Tsundere, the Onee-Sama, the Girly Tomboy, the Spunky Girl, the Reporter Girl, and the Trap to his harem. Gotta catch ’em all.

This was as generic as generic galge adaptations come. The protagonist is a boring loser, who just happens to trip over and accidentally kiss the lead female when he meets her. The first episode was almost funny because of how closely they stuck to the book. I already said all there is to say about the female characters in the last paragraph. To top it all off, the protagonist ends up choosing the most generic of a generic lot.

We have a beach episode, hot springs, shrine maidens, crane games, the whole shebang. The only variation on the usual theme is that the the protagonist’s little brother is hotter than all of the girls.

I’m not really sure why I bothered watching this, since I knew I would hate it from the get-go. Too much time on my hands, I guess. If you’re as sick of bad galge game adaptations as I am, then stay well clear of Hoshizora. I would place it on the lower end of the spectrum in comparison to other shows of its very selective genre.

• Plot / Script – 4 / 10 – Completely generic.
• Characters – 3 / 10 – Copy-pasted stereotypes.
• Production – 6 / 10 – Not the weakest part.
• Overall – F

Recommendations (if you didn’t like Hoshizora) – Sola, True Tears, Kimikiss

Note: I’m still away, and I should be back a week from today.

Hen Zemi follows a university seminar “studying” abnormal physiology. To pass the class, they need to do abnormal activities and write reports on them. It uses an arc format, where they explore a few activities at a time. As some examples, we have using a naked person as a table, earwax and sweat fetishes, secret recordings, 11-dimensional chess with second hand kisses, and plenty of sadism and masochism. I have no idea why their professor has a job.

Be warned before watching: Hen Zemi is disgusting. It goes past every social taboo, and then barrels through several more you didn’t even realize existed. It is not a show for the faint of heart.

Hen Zemi has its funny moments, but it mostly keeps your attention by being so disgusting you want to look away but can’t. It certainly does manage to keep your attention though. No one could accuse the characters of being boring, and the topics of each episode are certainly… creative.

I didn’t enjoy the TV show as much as the OVA, mainly because it was longer and less tightly scripted. Still, the episodes are half length, so there isn’t even much time to waste. Twelve half-length episodes was probably the perfect length for a show like this- full episodes would have been too much to handle at a time, and it ended right when the shock value was beginning to wear off. Another issue is that the animation is downright terrible, although honestly, I would prefer not to see most of this with better quality.

Hen Zemi isn’t a masterpiece, but it isn’t all that bad either. Take my rating with a grain of salt, though, because how much you enjoy watching Hen Zemi will largely depend on your tolerance for sexual deviance. Hen Zemi will be able to keep your attention— the main question is whether you want it to or not.

• Plot / Script – 7 / 10 – Relies on shock value more than anything.
• Characters – 7 / 10 – No one could accuse them of being boring, but they aren’t deep or anything and  there isn’t anyone you’d want to know in real life.
• Production – 4 / 10 – Atrocious animation, but that may be a blessing in disguise.
• Overall – D+

Recommendations – Koe de Oshigoto, Seitokai Yakuindomo

Note: I’m still away on a trip, and will be back to a semi-regular schedule next Wednesday.