Quicker first impressions: Kobato., Sora no Otoshimono, The Sacred Blacksmith, Kimi ni Todoke, and Sasameki Koto
Posted: October 11, 2009 Filed under: Uncategorized 10 Comments »Apparently, my last post was too long. And by too long, I mean “wow, this post took me like two hours to type up, and I was planning on taking twenty minutes.”
Kobato.
Thank God I don’t read summaries before I watch shows (though I probably should have before plunging into the shithole that was Miracle Train). Had I known this show was shoujo, I probably wouldn’t’ve given it a chance.
My history with shoujo shows has been something like: emo vampires + unimpressive guys changing into random animals + Miracle Train + Mecha Mote Iinchou.
But this show was different. Sure, as 2009digitalboy says, “…everything in it has been done a million times,” but hey, I haven’t seen much shoujo (mostly to avoid emo vampires and ugly talking train stations), and since the dojikko nature isn’t exactly for sex appeal (as opposed to shounen, where the clumsy things are often accompanied with ten thousand panty shots), there’s a different feel.
And talking of “feel,” this anime felt like my favorite manga:
Maybe it’s the innocent/naive nature that Kobato shares in common with Yotsuba? I don’t know, but while I was watching this episode, I kept thinking back to Yotsuba. It’s a lot harder to like Kobato (given that she’s not a six year old with green hair), but hey, it helps. (It’s like how I keep thinking “Mushishi” while watching Natsume Yuujinchou.)
tl;dr I liked Kobato.
Sora no Otoshimono
CLICHESCLICHESCLICHESCLICHESCLICHES
That pretty much sums up this show. The angel is not attractive in any way, shape, or form, I found the male lead to be one annoying bastard, and the moral of the story was… wait, why is there a [cliched] moral in episode one again?
But I liked the show. I must be a total retard. This episode was 100% shit, and the show will probably continue to be shit until that blue haired girl comes in, because she looks cool.
But I liked the show. So in order to please my moronic side, I have placed this show under “The Good” over there –>
but I actually suck. A lot. So much that the entire episode shows how much I fail. I hope that I can do what I do in the OP soon, but people would probably scoff and say 'fat chance, fanservice girl.' Come to think of it, why is my armor fitted around my boobs? Do they have to make new armor if my boobs grow?"
The Sacred Blacksmith
Cecily Cambell, knight from the Knight Guards of the Third Independent Trade City, reminds me of Yoko Littner for some strange reason.
Things in common:
- Red hair
- Emphasis on boobs
- Character design
Things that don’t match up:
- Fighting skills
- Degree of coolness
- Length of speeches
- Weapon strength
- Boob armor
- Attractiveness
tl;dr Yoko is better, and Cecily’s boob armor isn’t exactly a smart idea.
I like this show, but that could just be me liking the character designs.
Kimi ni Todoke
Speaking of character designs… Kimi ni Todoke has thoroughly repulsed me with its ugly characters and excessive shoujo sparkles.
Excuse me, but all this glitter is crowding up the screen.
The plot is nothing really interesting either. If you want a “weird face = hopeless relationship” plot device, Ryuuji of ToraDora is a lot better than Generic Female Lead of Kimi ni Todoke. The characters are pretty much archetypal, nothing new. In fact, I think that this whole show is just one big pile of generic shoujo.
Kobato is loads better than this.
Sasameki Koto
Oh look, another show about lesbians.
I got bored after five minutes.
I love it how you seem to be waging a civil war against yourself. i often feel the same way about new season shows..
Eh. I can’t really tell if it’s the show that’s good or my brain that relies too much on visual goodness most of the time. Come to think of it, first impressions don’t really tell much about shows for me, except in some extreme cases (like Miracle Train… ugh!).
So you don’t like Letter Bee or Sasameki Koto, but you like Tatakau Shitshow, The Shitty Blacksmith, and Shitty no Otoshimono? BAH.
When you see Blaacksmith 2, be ready to drop it. I too thought ‘its not bad’ after episode one nad then ep 2 I was like ‘it’s terrible.’ I will concede that Railgun is OMGtehbestshowevar, but you’ve given up on my other two favorites of the season.
Sasameki Koto is way too slow for me, and Letter Bee is just a turn off for some reason (much like TM 8.0 of last season).
Blacksmith and Sora no Otoshimono are pretty much iffy at this point – I’m basing their “good” ratings off of character designs and amount of attractive females.
However, I’m not giving up hope on Armed Librarians. That first episode was incredible, and no matter how much I lol’d at “Tatakau Shitshow,” I’ll probably watch it ’till the end.
TM8.0 redeemed it’s beginning 3 episodes with greatness throughout.
I read the TegamiBachi manga and I must admit it isn’t the best thing. All you see is this kid crying and his partner Niche showing her ass.
That’s right, there is a girl who pretty much moons the reader every other chapter. And as a man who’s not fond of ecchi, it gets annoying.
When Cecily gets useful, that’s when I start watching.
I think Kobato and Yotsuba has kind the same drawning style. Maybe thats why I like it.
[…] Sacred Blacksmith : Started out well, but as 21stcenturydigitalboy said, the second episode was a total piece of shit. I couldn’t believe how bad it […]
But Kimi ni Todoke is <33 ;___;
Sure, it’s filled with ‘shoujo cliches’, but just because something is “generic” (which is also highly subjective, as it will depend on how much of the said media we’ve consumed to even conclude what is generic or not) doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy it for what it’s worth. And forgetting all this ‘generic shoujo’ talk, all we really have here is a sweet feel-good romance series, less funny and ‘exciting’ than ToraDora perhaps, but thugs my heartstrings like no other.
But heh, what am I doing explaining this to a ‘shoujo hater’ >_>
You think Kobato is shouko?
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