Kanokon

Xebec has really fallen. Once they were a studio that brought quality-series like The Third and Hitohira, though this season their only focus seems to be fanservice. Really, I don’t know what’s left to say about these series in which the male main character suddenly gets loved by a bunch of beautiful girls for no reason. They’re bad, and just depend on their fanservice to make as many otaku buy their DVDs as possible. At least, I have to give this series credit that the dialogue seems a bit more inspired than usual series of this kind, but that’s to be expected with this being based on a light novel.

Blassreiter

To be honest, this episode didn’t give me any reason to condemn this series as an utter failure. There were a few problems here and there, where the animation looked rather unnatural, but overall this turned into a very capable action-series. And therein lies the problem, though. It’s been a really long time since I watched a “good” action series, and something really has to be wrong when the most satisfying action scenes I’ve seen for the past year came from Power Puff Girls Z. Action-series like Devil May Cry, who had great first episodes also turned out to consist of nothing but fillers, and while Gurren Lagann was entertaining, it still wasn’t really what I was looking for. Blassreiter definitely has the potential, but I first want to see whether it won’t screw up its future episodes before I get my hopes up too high.

Kamen no Maid Guy

Well, it’s a good thing that this seems to be a season of shoujo anyway, so I didn’t have any big expectations for this series. I maybe chuckled trice during this episode, which is way too little for a good comedy. This series really seems to try too hard, but all it does is waste a lot of energy on fanservice jokes that get boring really fast. I don’t even mind the bad animation, but there’s so much you can do with a concept of a GAR maid with a mask, and this series seems to choose the most predictable route through lots and lots of fanservice. I’m going to give this series one more chance, to see whether it’s perhaps like Muteki Kanbanmusume, though for now I won’t recommend this one.

As a continuation to Mahou Shoujotai, Studio 4C brought out a six-part OVA called Arusu the Adventure. There are a few things you should know before watching it: it’s in no way as epic as the original series. Everything about Arusu the Adventure is light-hearted, and if you were put off by the childish moments of the original series, then you certainly won’t like the OVA. Arusu the Adventure has no main storyline, and instead is a string of standalone episodes, all dedicated to either flesh out certain points of Mahou Shoujotai, or showcase some more cultural habits in the world of the witches. Ever wondered where the dragon house came from? Or the background of Grand Master? Well, this OVA provides the answers.

The best parts of this OVA, however, are the stunning visuals. Mahou Shoujotai already looked absolutely gorgeous, but Arusu the Adventure looks even better, and it made perfect use of the experimental nature of the series. Throughout the six episodes, the creators keep changing from one art style to the other, and each and every episode, no matter how strange they may look, turns into a visual feast. The soundtrack also got updated with a few new tracks, and they too fit this series perfectly.

Standalone, Arusu the Adventure isn’t anything special, but it does contribute to my most favourite series ever and for that I’m more than willing to call it a success. The storytelling may be very sloppy at times, but this is a perfect OVA to watch if you want to relax, as opposed to the chaotic nature of Mahou Shoujotai, and it still shines in terms of graphics, music and creativity. I’m really looking forward to find out Studio 4C’s next work. Pleeaase let it be another tv-series!!!

Ah, and so it’s finally ended. With this, after 52 episodes of 10 minutes, or 26 episodes of 20 minutes, whichever way you look at it, Mahou Shoujotai is now really over. This episode was like the others: light-hearted, yet strangely compelling. And finally Alice plays the part of main character again. And is it me, or did this episode feature some brand-new tracks of soundtrack?

I’m going to keep this entry short, because everything I wanted to say about this series has already been said in my entries of the previous five episodes, and I still need to write a spoiler-free review about this one. I do want to say, however, that the graphics for this episode yet again looked awesome.