12 Days of Anime #11 – Sometimes, It’s Really That Bad – Pupa.

Sturgeon’s Law states simply, “Ninety percent of everything is crap.” And well, it’s certainly true of anime. We have certainly had shows this year with promise that simply fail to add up to anything meaningful (Kyoukai no Kanata / Beyond the Boundary, see episodic write-ups), shows that just don’t know what to do with all the material they do have (Toaru Hikuushi e no Koiuta / The Pilot’s Love Song, see episodic notes), or shows that didn’t know what to do with storytelling and contained poisonous subtext (Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei / The Irregular at Magic High School, see episodic notes, see editorial on its subtext).

Behold Barney the censored smudgy purple monster thingy. Scary.

But if 90% of everything is crap, then not only is the average thing crap, but being crap is being average, and nothing out of the ordinary. But every so often comes along a show that fails on every single account, that you’d be hard pressed to find a single positive thing to say about it. This year, we’ve had such a show, and its name was “Pupa”. Yes, indeed, the sign was on the wall, with a name all too similar to “poop-ah” as some people referred to the show (not really, but they certainly should’ve). This show was terrible on all fronts. How terrible? That I dropped it 12 minutes in.

Winter 2014 Anime Mid-Season Impressions

So, another season of anime reached its half-point and it’s time to watch my mid-season impressions, where I talk a bit of the show and rate it. Shows will be listed in order of my enjoyment of them. I’d summarize my thoughts on this season as “Shows just good enough to not drop, and Fall 2013 carry-overs”. There’s a lot of half-assed plot-progression, a lot of tired shows this season. There’s action, and there’s comedy, and there’s next to nothing else. It’s as if everyone is keeping their energies for Spring. Fall 2013 shows carrying over had more or less been saving this season, honestly.

I’ve decided to only cover shows I’ve watched at least 5 episodes of (with two exceptions), as I’ve given a whirl to plenty of shows I then dropped. This is aimed at helping people pick up shows, so continuing shows from Fall 2013 aren’t included, but for the record? Kill la Kill, Nagi no Asukara, and Log Horizon are all making very strong showings, and I’m a few episodes behind on Samurai Flamenco.

Shows covered, in Alphabetical order: Buddy Complex, Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai! Ren, Gin no Saji S2, ‘Inari, Konkon, Koi Iroha’, Nisekoi, Nobunagun, Noragami, Pilot’s Love Song, Pupa, Pupipo!, and Sekai Seifuku Bouryaku no Zvezda.

Got Me Hooked:

Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai! Ren / Chuunibyou 2nd Season

Rikka, afraid of being left behind.

First of all, this show had been somewhat disappointing. I’ve hoped we’ll get a couple already in a relationship, but 8 months later Rikka and Yuuta had their first kiss, on the cheek. Well, the show is still endearing, and I really like the cast. We’ve had a couple of filler episodes, but it’s indeed better to shove them early so they won’t get in the way of the actual plot later on. Romantic advances? Facing your own self? One can only hope. Nibutani does serve to showcase how Rikka is accepted by others, for being herself, whereas Nibutani’s attempt to not show her true nature only backfire.

Episodes Watched: 6/?

Current Grade: A. One of the fillers bored me, but the other had me laughing and smiling.

Write-up Status: Short notes, longer thoughts now and then, moving to just watching and enjoying it.

Winter 2014 Week 5 Overview – (Anime Power Ranking)

This week I actually wrote as close as you’ll get to editorials on several episodes, so just head to the main post to see my thoughts on the shows that interest you, and how they stacked up this past week.

Anime Power Ranking is no longer held, so here are the shows I’ve watched this past week and how I order them. Each link leads to my episodic write-up of the relevant show. Since I missed the post on Saturday, and all the shows from last Thursday to yesterday are in one post, there’s no relative placement this time around.

(Shows Covered – Nagi no Asukara, Sekai Seifuku (Zvezda), Nobunagun, Chuunibyou Ren, Kill la Kill, The Pilot’s Love Song, Log Horizon, ‘Inari, Konkon, Koi Iroha’, Nisekoi, Tokyo Ravens, Noragami, Buddy Complex, Pupipo! and Pupa)

1) Kill la Kill Episode 16 (+4)

There’s tension, and then there’s Mako.

Winter 2014 Week 4 Overview – (Anime Power Ranking)

(Shows Covered -Nagi no Asukara, Sekai Seifuku, Nobunagun, Gin no Saji, Kill la Kill, The Pilot’s Love Song, Log Horizon, ‘Inari, Konkon, Koi Iroha’, Nisekoi,  Tonari no Seki-kun, Tokyo Ravens, Noragami, Buddy Complex, and Pupa)

This week I actually wrote as close as you’ll get to editorials on several episodes, so just head to the main post to see my thoughts on the shows that interest you, and how they stacked up this past week.

Anime Power Ranking is no longer held, so here are the shows I’ve watched this past week and how I order them. Each link leads to my episodic write-up of the relevant show. Since I missed the post on Saturday, and all the shows from last Thursday to yesterday are in one post, there’s no relative placement this time around.

1) Nagi no Asukara Episode 16 

Winter 2014 Anime Season Overview Week 2 – Thursday through Saturday (Anime Power Ranking)

(Shows Covered – Kill la Kill, Nagi no Asukara, Gin no Saji 2nd season (Silver Spoon), Log Horizon, Nisekoi, Sekai Seifuku  – Bouryaku no Zvezda (World Domination – Zvezda Plot), “Inari, Konkon, Koi Iroha”,  and Pupa)

Anime Power Ranking is no longer held, so here are the shows I’ve watched this past week and how I order them. Each link leads to my episodic write-up of the relevant show. You will notice half the shows do not have descriptions, these appear in this post, covering the Sunday-Wednesday shows, while this post describes the episodes that aired during the latter half. The numbers in parentheses are where a show’s episode placed compared to its placement last week.

Now, I have too many shows, so I’m going to be dropping shows each and every week until I’m fine with the amount of shows I have left, so keep reading for summaries of new shows, how the shows stack up against one another, and which shows had been eliminated!

Winter 2014 Anime Season Overview Week 1 – Thursday through Saturday (Anime Power Ranking)

(Shows Covered – Buddy Complex, Kill la Kill Episode 13, Nagi no Asukara, Samurai Flamenco Episode 12, Magical Warfare (Mahou Sensou), Gin no Saji 2nd season (Silver Spoon), Log Horizon Episode 15, Nisekoi, Sekai Seifuku  – Bouryaku no Zvezda (World Domination – Zvezda Plot), and Pupa)

Anime Power Ranking is no longer held, so here are the shows I’ve watched this past week and how I order them. Each link leads to my episodic write-up of the relevant show. You will notice half the shows do not have descriptions, these appear in this post, covering the Sunday-Wednesday shows, while this post describes the episodes that aired during the latter half.

Now, I have too many shows, so I’m going to be dropping shows each and every week until I’m fine with the amount of shows I have left, so keep reading for summaries of new shows, how the shows stack up against one another, and which shows had been eliminated!

Winter 2013/4 Season Expectations and Write-ups

A new season is coming up, so once more I look at the incoming listing of pain and suffer anime and choose what to watch next. The list will cover how likely and what form of write-up I’ll give each show, and how interested I am in it currently. I mostly went by random internet chatter, RandomCuriosity’s preview post, and the Neregate’s chart, I don’t really watch previews, which bit me in the ass with NouCome/Yuushibu last season, so let’s hope we don’t get a repeat this season.

I’ll give my current opinion on the shows that carry over. Show-names with a strike-through means I don’t plan to pick the show up, but wanted to discuss it. Interest scale is out of 3 stars.

Sunday:

Nobunaga the Fool – Sci-fi, over the top historic figures who fight, an anime-original which always is promising… I’m so ready. Also made by people who make good-looking shows.
Interest Rating: 3/3. I want this.
Write-up Potential: Dunno how far they take the ideas, post-episode notes with a chance of being upgraded.

Space Dandy – This show has hype riding in its wake, with Watanabe Shinichiro who is best known as the director of Samurai Champloo and Cowboy Bebop at the helm. The show seems to go over-the-top, with a womanizing, alien bounty-hunter dandy-man at the helm. It seems really weird and over-the-top, so it could really go anywhere, but we have to trust in Watanabe.
Interest Rating: 2.5/3. It has hype surrounding it, it has pedigree, but it’s weird, so we’re going to have to see where it goes. Anime-original as well.
Write-up Potential: Potential for in-depth episode write-ups, but it’s always nicer to watch a spectacle without pause, and this is going to be a spectacle.

Buddy Complex – Sunrise, the studio behind most mecha, returns for another mecha story, about clashing super-powers and the power of friendship. Looks interesting enough.
Interest Rating: 1.5/3. Will give it two episodes.
Write-up Potential: Post Episode to not at all.