Toshiyuki Kato is probably one of the most versatile directors out there. He’s the genius behind Full Moon wo Sagashite and yet he also did its polar opposite of Ginga Densetsu Weed. Heck, he even worked on a few episodes of Simoun! For Code-E, he goes back to his slice-of-life roots, when he, combined with Simoun’s director Junji Nishimura, he delivers a charming love-triangle about a girl who can disrupt electrical equipment when startled.

The thing I like most about Code-E is the direction, interestingly enough. Every episode follows about the same pattern: the first major part of the episode is fairly dull, where the different characters are fleshed out. Then, when the end of the episode comes near and the climax starts, the production-values increase, a catchy tune starts playing and the entire anime becomes ten times better in just about every area. It’s here where the characters will connect with the viewer, and turn out to be pretty touching.

There isn’t much that this anime did wrong, actually. The only “real” flaw is that the major bad guy is the only underdeveloped character of the cast. But then again, we never see him much anyway. The biggest problem with Code-E is that it’s held back by its premise. It’s enough to be fairly satisfying, but it couldn’t really have reached the epic heights. I’d like to see this as an exercise in storytelling by a bunch of talented writers, and if you asked me, they succeeded, though I’d rather have seen them handle a storyline with huge potential like Simoun. Ah well, perhaps their future projects will arrive next year. It’s definitely going to be something to look forward to.

While it’s not the most neglected series of the season (that title goes without a doubt to Tetsuko no Tabi), the fact remains that it’s one of the more under-looked ones. The characters are touching and fun to watch without getting boring, the climaxes are exciting, I like to call this a success of an anime. Just be careful that the character-designs take a while to get used to. Especially that one particular male character (you know who you are…). In two weeks, the timeslot is going to be taken over by Mokke, and I’m already looking forward to it. With such a mediocre-looking season ahead, there’s a good chance I’m going to end up blogging it.

Whoa! This episode is THE climax of El Cazador, and I’m not sure why, but it was absolutely cheesy and I absolutely LOVED IT.

I think we can thank the huge focus on both Ellis and Nadie for this. I seriously must give Bee-Train credit in developing its characters so that they can even be awesome with plot twists as cheesy as we saw in this episode. I mean, in the end, Rozenberg did everything not for revenge, but because he LOVED Ellis. You can’t get cheesier than this, but somehow I ended up loving it. :)

Still, there’s another thing I love about this series: it’s so delightfully down-to-earth. It’s an adventure-series, but for once the fate of the world doesn’t have any part in the climax. This is just a small part of the world that tells its story: the story of the artificial witches. The entire series also has only a few recurring characters in the same style of Noir, and somehow this causes this series to become incredibly focused, with excellent results if I say so myself.

And Lilio! She did have a role after all, although the reasons and background for it aren’t clear yet, we should see these in the next episode, which should be a full aftermath. I personally like this, in this way, the ending isn’t going to be rushed at all, and I’m actually looking forward to it, especially now that Rozenberg is DEAD. I’d love to see how Ellis and Nadie spend their lives afterwards. The most awesome thing would be if the creators pulled a Simoun: show all the characters, X years after everything. (note I didn’t watch the next-episode preview).

Blue-eyes also turned out quite interesting, and I liked how she was able to save Ellis, after she was shot down by Nadie. It seems that she has been unconsciously holding back her powers, which is why they didn’t want to work.

Overall, I’m never sure what to think of endings, and often my mood with them is as random as can be, especially compared to the rest of a series, but I’m definitely enthusiastic about El Cazador’s one! In any case, I adored this episode. Especially Rozenberg’s end was magnificently directed.

Ah, Lucky Star. You’ve been one of the most popular series of the past Spring-season, along with Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann. Throughout 24 episodes, you’ve shown us the antics of a bunch of random schoolgirls and an in-series TV-show called Lucky Channel. The potential is there, but there has to be a problem with a series when only the first and the last episode turn out satisfying. And the first episode was helped by the surprise and freshness, and the last episode probably also got helped by the relief that the boredom would finally be over.

The start is indeed good, though. It features a classic scene in which characters keep talking about food for 10 minutes and manage to make it funny. I was about to declare this series the first success of Kyoto Animation. But then a rather jarring problem rises: as the series progressing, I kept feeling more and more that I’ve seen the scenes used before. Seriously, Lucky Star just keeps reusing its dialogues and scenes, turning it more repetitive with every episode. One major plus of the series is its realistic dialogue, it’s just how real girls would be talking, but if they keep talking in the same way about the same things, the result can only become boring.

Thankfully, after the second half a new wave of previously unmentioned characters gets introduced to add some variety to the show, but even they can’t save this series and soon they themselves turn dull quite soon. It’s also beyond me why it took one of the main characters (Kagami) sixteen episodes to mention that she’s got two sisters.

The characters would have been perfectly fine if there was any character-development, but there just isn’t any. You can just as well watch the episodes in any random order, since the characters never develop anyway. They’re just the same at the end as they were at the beginning. A notable exception is the Lucky Channel, though. For the first three quarters of the series, it’s even more boring than the regular characters, but then the characters start to change with actually satisfying results. I’d just wish that KyoAni would have bothered to end their story, but the way it ends just leaves a bad taste your mouth.

And I haven’t even talked about the most jarring flaw of Lucky Star of all: the countless Haruhi-references. Seriously, you’d be lucky to run into an episode that doesn’t have any of them. One of the main characters (Konata) is a female Otaku, so you can expect lots of merchandizing, but nearly all of these merchandizes are about other KyoAni-shows. Only once in a while you’ll spot a reference to an anime that they didn’t make, and if you’re lucky it won’t be milked out like a dead cow (I’m talking to you, Legendary Girl A). I’ve got nothing against references to other shows. Heck, Ooedo Rocket is currently doing an excellent job with its Full-Metal-Alchemist references, but in Lucky Star it reaches the point of shameless propaganda.

In terms of production-values, you don’t have to expect much as well. The soundtrack consists out of a few decent tunes that become stale after a few times listening, and the character-designs are more meant to attract the moe-loving crowd than to be realistic (would you believe these girls are seventeen and eighteen?!). They’re decently animated, though, but I’m in no way inclined to declare Kyoani as the “animation gods” after watching it.

Overall, the reason you want to watch this are the cultural references. They’re the only thing not messed up in this anime, and are quite realistic and interesting to watch. But seriously, Azumanga Daioh does the same job, and while it wasn’t perfect either, it did remember to develop its characters. If you want to watch an otaku, then Tetsuko no Tabi is a better choice, and if you want high-school antics, Shinbo’s shows of Pani Poni Dash and Sayonara Zetsubou-Sensei are way more satisfying.

I’ve got a few announcements to make with this post, but they’ll follow after I’ve sung some praises of the charming OVA of Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou and its continuation: Quiet Country Cafe that got aired five years later. And really, it can’t get more slice-of-life than this. Throughout the four episodes, we get to see an excellent balance between ordinary activities of our main character Alpha and two or three events that majorly alter her life.

Not only that, but the OVAs also shine in originality. The setting is the Japanese countryside, somewhere in the future, with Alpha being a robot. It’s an age where robots have been able to perfectly emulate the emotions and weaknesses of humans, and where the entire country of Japan has fallen apart into small provinces. A lot of previous urban areas seem to have been flooded, and something happened to Mount Fuji to blow off a major part of its height. It’s a shame that we don’t get any extra information on it, because I would have loved to see more.

But yeah, the real star of this OVA is Alpha herself. This series differs from usual slice-of-life series by showing her alone most of the time, doing things like getting up, cooking, just sitting randomly. This works great along with the side-characters, who sometimes pop up, and yet find enough time to develop. I especially liked the old guy, who defies the clichés of the perverted geezers and turns into a nice, down-to-earth owner of a small gas station.

Regarding the bad points, well, this is another manga adaptation. While you usually don’t notice anything of it, the fact does remain that a few side-characters are underdeveloped. There is one particular naked girl who shows up in one scene, does nothing, and then leaves without leaving a single trace. I still don’t understand why the creators let her in that scene anyway; it’s just good for some cheap fanservice. I also would have loved to se a few more of Alpha’s money problems, to add to the level of realism (that already is quite high, actually).

Overall, Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou is an excellent recommendation for slice-of-life fans who are looking for something quick to watch. It may not be perfect, but it manages to stay heart-warming throughout the entire four episodes of both OVAs.

Okay, so now the announcements. First of all, those who look in the side-menu will notice that this is my 150th review for this site. Next up are going to be the Ghibli-movies, though it may take a month before I’m going to start with them. We’ve reached the end of another season, and I’m about to finish more series than ever. For this and the next week, I’ll probably be too busy to write reviews for them to check out any movies, and once that wave is done, the new season will be starting, which is going to keep me busy as well. It’s definitely going to be fun, but I don’t think I’ll be able to handle movie-reviews at the same time. ^^;