Softenni Review — C+

Reviews,

Softenni is Xebec’s latest seasonal offering of fanservice. It’s about a group of soft tennis players who are aiming for the Wimbledon. Needless to say, they don’t make much progress, but instead get caught up in bizarre situations such as riding giant bears, wrestling whales, riding bouncy balls while wearing neko-mimi, and getting launched into the air like rockets by soft tennis balls. There’s also a ton of fanservice.

From the perspective of a plot and character development, there’s basically nothing (well, aside from the last episode, which was more of an afterthought and also the worst episode of the show). Most of the characters are one trick ponies. Kurisu wears costumes and is really good at tennis. Chitose is ridiculously weak, but becomes a monster when food is involved. The ghost girl talks to ghosts (she was introduced in one of the last episodes, so I have no idea what the point of even adding her was). Eli speaks “English”. Massage boy gives massages. The list goes on.

But the focus of this show is on the comedy and the fanservice, and it does a pretty good job at both of these. Its sense of humor is quite random, but I found the show funny most of the time. Softenni has ridiculous soft tennis matches reminiscent of Saki’s Mahjong, yuri implications, hunting and gathering, delusions, cows, and more.

The fanservice is rather bizarre, which at least made it interesting enough that I could sit through it. My favorite parts were everything involving the national champion (cat ear girl shown above) and Asuna’s delusions. She’ll misinterpret things to have sexual innuendos and put sparkles and lipstick on everyone.

Softenni won’t be remembered for a great story or characters or… well, anything, but it was still a fun watch. It’s definitely a vast improvement over Xebec’s recent offerings in this genre, such as MM, Rio, and Ladies vs Butlers, in that it’s not only an excuse for fanservice. (It’s still mostly an excuse for fanservice though.)

  • Plot / Script – 8 / 10 – Humorous and kept my attention.
  • Characters – 7 / 10 – Quite shallow, but fun and entertaining.
  • Production – 7 / 10 – Nothing special.
  • Overall – C+

Recommendations – Saki, Tantei Opera Milky Holmes, Galaxy Angel

Oretachi ni Tsubasa wa Nai Review — B+

Reviews,

In the biggest surprise of the spring season, I actually enjoyed Oretachi ni Tsubasa wa Nai (We Don’t have Wings). In my initial preview, I called it “terrible even by the already low standards of perverted harem shows.” I decided to drop it after a little girl started making dirty jokes and showing people her underwear. A few weeks later, I decided to give the second episode a shot, and I was hooked. So what happened?

The first episode was indeed terrible, and my opinion of that hasn’t changed. I was a misguided attempt to hook the viewer and introduce all of the characters at once, through heavy use of fanservice. But from the second episode on, things really get going.

First of all, the dialogue, scripting and pacing in this series is spectacular. It doesn’t feel like a moment is wasted, and the conversations are always witty, informative and non-repetitive. This show just has a ton of energy behind it which transfers over to the viewers. The excellent dialogue in turn results in strong characterizations, especially the male leads. The supporting cast is extensive and well-developed as well. Also, the fanservice in this show is quite creative and random. This is the kind of fanservice I can live with.

Many shows of this ilk suffer from the weak male protagonist syndrome, where the male lead is a loser who is surrounded by a bunch of interesting female characters who are in love with him for no apparent reason. Oretachi does not suffer from this problem at all: in fact, I would argue that the male characters are more interesting than their female counterparts. They’re assertive, witty and suave, which is quite a change from your usual harem protagonist.

Last but not least, the creators managed to arrange a harem where the main character has mutual romantic interests with multiple girls while not being an indecisive man-whore. They deserve mad props just for this. I won’t spoil it, but suffice to say that you’ll be quite confused for the first half of the show trying to figure out what’s going on, until everything just clicks. Interestingly, one of the main characters doesn’t even make an appearance until the fifth episode. In this regard the creators managed to introduce some element of a mystery into the show as well.

Oretachi ni Tsubasa wa Nai comes highly recommended for its intense and original script, its strong characters and its all-around uniqueness and creativity in the rather stagnant harem / galge adaptation genre. Don’t be put off by the first episode like I was (actually, you might want to just skip it).

  • Plot / Script – 10 / 10 – Fast-paced and witty.
  • Characters – 9 / 10 – Superb male leads in a genre dominated by terrible ones.
  • Production – 8 / 10 – Nothing that really stands out, either positive or negative.
  • Overall – B+

Recommendations – Ichiban Ushiro no Daimaou, Durarara

Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae wo Bokutachi wa Mada Shiranai Review — A-

Reviews, ,

Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae wo Bokutachi wa Mada Shiranai (We Still Don’t Know the Name of the Flower we Saw that Day, or Ano Hana) begins with Jinta, a hikikimori and soon-to-be high school drop out, meeting the ghost of the girl he loved as a child, Menma. In a fit of youthful passion, he told her she was ugly and ran off, and she died before he could meet her again. Menma’s return leads Jinta both to reunite with his other childhood friends in their efforts to grant Menma’s wish so that she can be reincarnated, and to confront their own pasts.

Ano Hana’s greatest strength lies in its impeccable characterizations and emotionally charged script. All of the characters are both sympathetic and deeply flawed. Each of them gets their chance in the spotlight and makes strides towards overcoming their weaknesses, although no one fully resolves all their problems by the end of the story. The side characters also have a chance to shine, particularly Menma’s family. The story is quite emotional, with many tearjerk moments. Expect to cry multiple times while watching Ano Hana.

For me at least, part of the appeal of Ano Hana is the nostalgia factor. As high schoolers, Menma’s friends have a chance to return to their secret clubhouse and to trade Pokemon. I had my own trip down memory lane and returned to the secret clubhouses of my past. Mine was inside a pine tree, so I wasn’t quite as spoiled. (Back in my day, we walked ten miles to school through the snow everyday and it was uphill both ways… but I digress.) It makes for an interesting setup to see high schoolers interacting with their friend who hasn’t grown up and is still a child.

I don’t particularly have anything negative to say about Ano Hana: it perhaps didn’t have the most ambitious plot, but its superb execution and characters more than make up for this, and the simple story becomes one of its strengths, with only eleven episodes to spare. Ano Hana, for me, was the highlight of the season, and it comes highly recommended.

  • Plot / Script – 9 / 10 – Moving, emotional script.
  • Characters – 10/ 10 – Consistent and believable characters with depth and multiple facets, memorable interactions between them.
  • Production – 9 / 10 – Above average, enabled me to become engrossed in the story but did not overshadow it.
  • Overall – A-

Recommendations – Asatte no Houkou, Welcome to the NHK, Haibane Renmei

C: The Money of Soul and Possibility Control Review — D+

Reviews, ,

[C] tells the story of Kimimaro, a college student who is invited to the Financial District, an underground world where entrepreneurs and their Assets fight one another for money, with their futures as collateral. It’s a unique and creative premise, and one that should have made for an engrossing story: but unfortunately, the setting is never developed fully, resulting in inconsistencies and a crippling reliance on deus ex machina.

[C] makes heavy use of economics jargon, but it doesn’t have much meaning attached. Let’s take the titular C as an example: it ends up being a name for the wave of economic destruction following the collapse of the economy in a financial district. And the creators take the wave part quite literally, as it takes time to travel to its destination. What the wave is or what it does is never really discussed, aside from it destroying the economy. Then when the wave reaches America, the creators decide to give America “super entrepeneurs” so their head clown bounces the wave back to Japan (no I am not making this up). Then when it gets to Japan the second time it has no effect because the Yen is now worthless. If you think this doesn’t make sense because I’m taking it out of context, I can assure you that it will only make less sense once you’ve watched the show.

The second biggest problem I had with [C] is that half the show is dedicated to the main character getting lectured about which is more important: the present or the future. I found this dichotomy mind-boggling: you can choose one or the other? Needless to say, all of this “deep” philosophical discussion was lost on me.

[C] also suffered from a general lack of focus. We started out focusing on Kimimaro’s school life and the girl he had a crush on, but then they more or less forget about her. There are several random side stories about weekly battles and people losing their future, which were some of the best episodes, but they added little to the main characters or the story. There’s lots of Kimimaro getting lectured about the present or the future being better than the other. Kimimaro’s asset begins to become more human. Then she falls in love with him (one of the worst, most underdeveloped romances I’ve seen) and turns out to be his sister. There’s something about his dad once being an entrepreneur too, but that’s swept under the rug. Nothing really ended up coming together. The creators had a bunch of ideas, but didn’t follow through with them or seem to know where they were headed.

The last problem I’ll mention is the characters. The side characters are fine, but the three lead characters— Kimimaro, his asset Mashu, and his mentor / rival Souichiro— are shallow and annoying. Mashu just sits around inside a credit card for three quarters of the show. In the first episode, they focus on Kimimaro’s need for and pride regarding money, and he seems like an interesting character. But then they ditch all that and make him as generic and lifeless as possible. Basically all he does from episode 2-9 is listen to people lecture him, until in the second to last episode he makes a decision and chooses the future (whoo!). As for Souichiro, he’s consistent, but consistently dull. He mostly just lectures Kimimaro about why the present is the best, and walks around handing out bundles of cash to politicians.

I found [C] to be a disappointing addition to the noitaminA timeslot. I’m not alone in my disappointment, but other people loved it (with reservations) so you may still want to give it a shot.

  • Plot / Script – 6 / 10 – Lack of depth, total reliance on deus ex machina.
  • Characters – 7 / 10 – The three main characters are shallow and annoying- the others are ok (probably since we see less of them).
  • Production – 8 / 10 – Unique style in the financial district, but the animation quality is inconsistent.
  • Overall – D+

Recommendations – Eden of the East, Stein’s; Gate, Noein

Ano Hana 11 — Making Jinta Cry

Ano Hana,

In an unexpected twist, it turns out that Menma’s wish was to make Jinta cry. I didn’t see that one coming. What a mean bully! (she’s so cute though, so we’ll forgive her!)

This last episode wasn’t quite as strong as the previous one, but that’s a difficult standard to match. It was a good conclusion, which managed to wrap everything up nicely. My only quibble is that it was a bit too head-on. For a series which has been strong at the interactions and gradual growth of relationships between characters, this episode wasn’t the most subtle. There was also a bit too much wailing and bawling for me. Still, overall a superb episode.

Most of the crying did pay off, as all of the characters managed to reconcile and become friends once again. One of the parts I enjoyed most was observing the renewed friendship between Jinta and Yukiatsu. Yukiatsu confessed his jealousy of Jinta, Jinta confessed his wanting to keep Menma to himself, and Yukiatsu called Jinta the leader once again. It’s somewhat surprising in retrospect that Yukiatsu managed to be both a crazy crossdresser and one of the most sympathetic characters.

The creators also did a nice job of brining the high tension down a few times during the episode. Jinta commenting on Anaru’s double eyelash was so out of place I couldn’t help but laugh, and I found what turned out to be Menma’s wish hilarious. The wish was a great fit though, and tied everything together: Menma, Jinta’s mother, and Jinta’s own growth. I suppose it could also explain why Menma could only speak with Jinta, although I don’t think any explanation is necessary. Menma’s cards were also quite touching, especially the one for Jinta.

Ano Hana ended up being a worthy successor for Hourou Musuko’s noitaminA timeslot. It’s been one of my favorite show of the season, along with Hyouge Mono. Next season the timeslot will be hosting shows from Bones and Production IG, so I have high hopes.