Winter 08 Season Start Commentary

Author: nova

Since we’re almost halfway through January and the new season has gotten well started, I think it is now my turn to stick my spoon into the season commentary-pot. I wasn’t expecting much of the previous season but it turned out to have a bunch of quite nice titles – and I hope this will be the case with this season as well.

H2O ~ Footprints in the sand

Every season needs a clear eroge-adaptation and H2O fits the bill just right – whether this is a positive thing remains to be seen. The unusual opening with a girl being beat to shit by a bunch of guys surely is an original approach to start a show but as for now the loathing by most of the other characters towards this girl remains as the main reason to keep watching. The OP song is just excellent, but unfortunately otherwise the show’s technical merits are hardly worth mentioning. Both scenery and character animation is disturbingly bad at times. This being said however it doesn’t seem like the series is going to sink into the same depths as Da Capo, so I shall keep watching. In any case, expect a BAWWWY love story with a mystery twist, pretty much the standard stuff. Also, OMG LUL DANCING HORSE MEN!

Spice and Wolf

Undeniably one of the season’s most interesting titles, Spice and Wolf is based on a well rated novel and even Imagin at the wheel I’m looking forward to a great story. Technically the show isn’t anything spectacular but at least not doesn’t make me turn away from the screen in disgust. The story is something fresh and for once takes place somewhere else than in Japan which is always a positive thing – too bad for all the weeaboos out there tho, go choke on your pocky! Unless Imagin deliberately attempts to screw things up, Spice and Wolf should emerge as one of the better shows of the season. That being said, I have to confess that I’m probably the only male on the planet who doesn’t find neither Horo or Chloe especially appealing. If Horo is the sole reason to keep watching like some have claimed, the show is definitely going to be dropped from my schedule.

Zoku Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei

The world’s most negative homeroom teacher, Itoshiki Nozomu, makes a glorious return as SHAFT presents us the second season of SZS. Those unfamiliar to the series, Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei is an absurd surreal comedy with very dark humor. Not many TV-shows are known to make humor of unhappy girls starving for attention enough to self-mutilate and attempt a suicide but ZSZS does just that. I loved the series from the first five minutes onwards and as difficult as it may be to follow, this is a show that makes the best use of SHAFT’s talent in dynamic visuals and twisted presentation.

True Tears

Ready for more Sad Girls In The Snow? Better be, because following in Key/KyoAni’s footsteps in the art of weepy romantic drama/mystery stories comes True Tears, a show that appears to have the balls to take a bold direction of not introducing any mysterious elements in the storyline such as foxes in human shape or alternate dimensions which seem to be the industry standard in this genre. The first episode seems decent and I have to give my compliments to P.A. Works for good visuals, although character animation is somewhat blocky when it comes to movement. The show features some nice CGI-work as well which seems to have become the new fad in this genre – it’s nice to see people in the usual “view down on people walking to school in the morning” actually moving instead of being the usual static bitmaps, even just as not-so-detailed CGI-models. Technically everything is fine and dandy, but how the actual story turns out remains to be seen. The show seems to take its time and isn’t introducing a huge bunch of people at once; also, I’ve noted female characters to be much less moe-blobby than what today’s standard appears to be, which is kind of refreshing to see too. If the show indeed understands to stay away from mystery/supernatural elements, it might as well prove a good match to Clannad.

Persona – Trinity Soul

Surely one of the most anticipated shows in this season, Persona starts off with thrilling atmosphere and I’m definitely tuned in for moar. Technical merits of the show are notable, especially vehicles executed with CGI work quite well and overall the animation is way above average. I’m not familiar to the games aside from some basic knowledge on the Persona-universe, so I can’t really say if the show is doing right to its origins. However I’m convinced that Trinity Soul has very high chance to emerge as the best show of the season.

Rosario to Vampire

Now here’s a series I’m probably going to have a hard time deciding whether I like it or hate it. A school romance comedy in which a human dude ends up attending a school for monsters and befriends a hot vampire chick isn’t exactly the most fresh idea ever, but somehow it seems to work. The first episode introduces a good setting for comedic happenings but the later half is unfortunately spent with drama that doesn’t really fit in the picture, at least as early as in the first episode. As for technical side, character animation is inconsistent at times but overall graphical work is colourful and fluid.

Gunslinger Girl – Il Teatrino

Since other bloggers have already said pretty much everything there is to say about this show, I’m not going to waste my breath on this one. Ten-penny animation budget and unnecessary moefication with an OP sequence that only managed to make me nauseous. I will tune in for a few more eps but if it doesn’t show any signs of getting better, it’s definitely off my list.

There you have it folks. I wanted include Aria the ORIGINATION, I really did, but unfortunately Crystal Nova is probably still busy working on the flashy karaoke effects. As for Minami-ke Okawari, I didn’t enjoy the first animation of the series so it’s going to be highly unlikely that the second one will do any better. Nova’s done for now, so until next time…FALCON PUNCH!