Spring 2009 Anime First Impressions: Part Two
Posted: April 7, 2009 Filed under: Uncategorized 5 Comments »
Part Two.5 (Part Two somehow wormed its way out of this post into a separate post: Saki 01) of my Spring 2009 First Impressions: Higepiyo, Asura Cryin’, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Shin Mazinger Shōgeki! Z-Hen, Basquash, Dragon Ball Kai, and Phantom.
Higepiyo
Who knew a single 5-minute-long episode with such unique art could be so funny?
Higepiyo, the chick that never changes expression while doing human things, much to the amazement of the humans around him… it sounds like one huge boring anime with no point whatsoever.
And that may be the case. Higepiyo looks like one great idea for a short series, but to have it maintain the same level of “lol here is a chick with a beard reading the newspaper” humor for 43 episodes will be tough, if not impossible.
Win?
Asura Cryin’
Basically, shit happens, more shit happens, and suddenly, we find ourselves watching the scene above: a fire magician guy, a “good” clad-in-white guy with guns, and a “bad” clad-in-black woman somehow holding up a gun without touching it (psychic powarrrz) stuck in a deadly “don’t move, or we all kill each other” triangle.
I originally wanted to watch this (it came in third on my Spring 2009 anticipation scale behind Shangri-la and K-ON!) because of the cute ghost girl, and the summaries I read hinted at a sweet romance (and with a ghost girl, that’s quite the twist there!). What I got instead is the biggest genre and theme masher I’ve seen to date (besides parodies like Hayate).
Asura Cryin’ = priestesses + magicians + mecha + ghost girl + school life + “mafia” + gang wars + action + comedy + romance (?) + a whole lot more.
Yet does this mean that it’s a bad anime?
Hell no, it just means that it’s got a lot to work with! (aka “I like this anime”)
Win.
Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood
Well, I must confess that I’m an FMA noob. In fact, I’ve yet to see FMA, Death Note, and Bleach, the three most popular anime on MAL. I guess that makes me out of the loop, no?
Actually, I have read some random FMA manga (there’s sometimes nothing to do at a library, and the libraries I’ve went to have shitloads of FMA manga for some reason), and I know about the storyline and such. However, seeing as I’ve not watched any of the original FMA, I’m not in any position to make comparisons between FMA and FMA2 (and FMA manga version).
Basically, this episode was okay. Average.
The “short” thing – it’s annoying as hell. I mean, even if Al needs to be introduced as the younger brother, I doubt that he needs to be introduced in this same fashion thrice. If this becomes a recurring gag (which, by the looks of it, it will), it’s going to be a long road ahead.
Edward’s character was portrayed very well in his “I’m going to own the Ice Alchemist” scene at the beginning, as well as throughout the entire episode. I got the impression that he’s a loving older brother who feels remorse over what he did (and that event wasn’t really explained that much) and who is trying at all costs to get his younger brother’s body back, even if it means rushing headfirst towards the enemy (aka becoming headstrong).
Besides him, I didn’t really get much character out of the cast. Major Ahogestrong seems like your run-of-the-mill stripper (notrly), and Al just plays the younger brother role.
Win.
Shin Mazinger Shōgeki! Z-Hen
WHAT THE HELL?
This feels like watching TTGL’s 26th episode. It doesn’t make any sense at all, and I met 100+ characters in the span of 20 minutes. My god, I hate this anime.
What do they expect?
“It’s quite obvious that any hardcore fan would remember everything that happened, even after 20 years!”
NO. I’m no hardcore fan of this series, but I can attest to that.
There are way too many things wrong with this scene.
- You are not an everyday, normal boy!
- Shounen right from the start. Only boys should be watching this show!
- Don’t look over to your left, I’m right in front of you!
- “Get ready to enter the world of Pokemon!”
Epic fail.
Basquash
My god, that’s some awesome art.
Basketball Sasquatch = Basquash? More like Basquatch!
(no, but really, is that where the title comes from?)
So basically, Bigfoot basketball in a world where people try to go to the moon.
?!?!?!?1/1 much?
Still, this is one awesome show. The humor strikes home, the art is excellent, and the story is incredibly interesting (even if it feels a little stereotypical).
Epic win.
Dragon Ball Kai
No, it’s not very awesome at all.
DBK 01 rushed through things. Heavily.
It’s like watching Dragon Ball… except all squeezed into five minutes.
Which, I guess, is okay for DBZ vets, but for newcomers, it’s a no-no.
The art hasn’t changed much, which is nice, actually (except for Bulma’s not-very-womanly figure).
However, I watched DBZ with english dubs (as I’m sure many have), so Goku’s female voice is not appealing at all. With his manly voice, Piccolo is a thousand times more gar than Goku will ever be.
On a whole, a good blast from the past… but not my type.
Fail.
Phantom ~Requiem for the Phantom~
This felt like some crappy FPS to me. I honestly don’t like this kind of “dark” anime, the noiresque kind of anime.
Lol@useless scene shown above.
I think I’ll keep watching Grayer than GRAY if not only for the gun wielding maid.
I’ve got nothing else to say, and this is the end of the post, so by-
Normal.
As in, normal —> 
ok so i got bored at barnes and nobles today and went back through the first 12 volumes or so of FMA and ill say that if they follow the manga astutely and accurately then i will be pleased, but so far the new FMA is about a 7/10 compared to the original just with new art.
and you better get used to the chibi jokes and the major armstrong stripping and the colonel mustang wet match/useless in rain jokes, they are running gags and honestly i havent gotten tired of them, i like being able to laugh right alongside the teary eyes that comes with the manga.
also im sooo glad you like basquash, caugh me completely by surprise and im loving it so far, asura cyrin not sure whats gonna happen with that, im getting the same feeling i did from that as i did from kurokami, starts good then goes into a failboat. as for phantom, im hooked, ill watch it, it feels like gunslinger girl + noir so im all for it. 10 to 1 you’ve probably seen neither so this series may bore you a bit
OH!! and watch valkyria chronicles, its cool. i expected it to blow ass since its based on a video game but i really like it, its like a fantasy WW2 setting/tactics and im thinking i may have to start Code Geass soon since im liking the whole tactics thing, still undecided yet. im watching shangrila later and dont watch pandora hearts, shitty art, storyline is hard to catch onto, kinda convoluted. thats it for me.
——>FMA NOOB<——-watch S1 before commenting on S2
Ugh, I dislike running gags like that a lot.
Basquash is quite unique, and Asura Cryin’ has the upper hand over Kurokami in multiple aspects : actual noses, a lot of genres to work with, etc. Still, I’d have to agree – it could turn into something really bad. I’ve seen a few episodes of GSG, but it’s on hold now because I got bored.
Code Geass doesn’t really feature “tactics” – it’s more of a “genius who can do anything” kind of deal. I’m watching the first episodes of all of the anime this season, so I’ll have to watch Pandora Hearts anyway. 😛
Nah, I’m going to watch S2 first, since that way, I have a fresh look at it and no biased opinions (everybody’s watched S1, so I don’t want to be repeating the same things, lol).
I’ve watched “Shin Mazinger Shougeki! Z Hen” for the first time and was shocked …
My first taughts:
Where is the Storyline?
How old is the Director?
This is my second Anime to drop from the start for this season.
Heheh, yeah.
It’s a remake (kind of) of a very old series, maybe 20+ years old or so.
[…] Higepiyo talked, I knew that my prediction had come true… Higepiyo looks like one great idea for a short series, but to have it maintain […]