One of the more unique series that started airing in the past winter season (not that that says much since more than half of them were sequels, but okay) was Genji Monogatari: an adaptation of a novel that’s about 1000 years old by now. While that sounds a bit strange at first, the unique flavour comes from the director Osamu Dezaki, who managed to turn this series into a feast for the senses, although it’s obviously not for everyone.

Genji Monogatari is romance. It’s about a prince called Genji who ends up screwing countless of women, call him the Japanese version of Don Juan if you want. This anime stands out because of its specific style of storytelling: the pacing is kept tight, with a lot of focus on emotions and bringing these out of the viewer and the characters. The animation is full of visual effects, and overly present filters and sparkling overlays, sound effects are either overly present or kept completely quiet, depending on the situation. And in the end, it works: although only 11 episodes, Genji Monogatari is a consistent emotional ride from start to finish.

But yeah, the style of this series is a double edged sword, because as easy as it is for some to like it, it’s also a style that’s very easy to dislike. The character-designs are nothing like your average bishie or moe cute girl, so if you absolutely need those in your anime, you’re going to find a hard time liking this series. The visual effects can also very easily become grating if you’re used to quiet and simply drawn series.

Still, I personally liked this series a lot, even though I’m not easily impressed by romance shows. A glorified harem show it may be, but the visuals, fast pacing and the fact that in eleven episodes, many years pass that allow us a great look at a period of Genji’s life set this series apart from all the others. If you’re looking for something different (and know Japanese or Chinese, since it’s probably going to take a while for this show to get subbed) then this here is a pretty good recommendation.

Short Synopsis: Genji and Murasaki finally hook up together.
Episode Rating: 8/10 (Excellent)
And so another series has finished. While a straightforward ending (it basically involves Genji being down because of the sin he committed, him being attacked by a bunch of bandits and finally his realization that Murasaki is ‘more’ than a younger sister to him), it was a very effective one, and just like any other episode of this series an emotional ride.

It’s a shame that this one never got subbed, but then again that was to be expected considering how little attention Osamu Dezaki’s previous work (Ultraviolet) received. It’s a real shame, because this guy really knows how to make optimal use of visuals and sound to tell a story. And I really have to say that each episode of this series was effective, and set out exactly what it wanted to do.

In any case, I’m looking forward to the next instalment of Noitamina. I have absolutely no idea what it’s going to be, since I’ve been avoiding all spring previews in order to not get too hyped about it, but it’s probably going to be something completely different again. In any case, thanks for all the tips and corrections from those who read the original novel.

Tytania had some massive expectations working against it when it first aired. It’s supposed to be the spiritual successor to the Legend of Galactic Heroes, one of the rumoured best anime ever made (yeah, yeah, I’m going to watch that one some day). These are expectations it obviously couldn’t live up to, but if you watch it as a regular series, then it’s got quite a few charms.

Tytania is a Space Opera, but instead of going for the flashy overpowered mecha action scenes, it’s got a completely different focus, and instead becomes some sort of political thriller. It’s basically a man vs. empire type story and most of the series is dedicated to making it seem plausible why such a huge empire is able to fail such a seemingly simple task of capturing rebels. Corruption and inner-coutry politics for a large part of this series’ themes, and those who are looking for action are going to be disappointed.

What’s interesting about this show’s characters is that nearly every member of the cast is flawed. There are no mister or miss perfect here, everyone hast at least something of a vice or so, ranging from lazyness to incompetence, a temper or just plain insanity. This is exactly what makes this series so interesting to watch, seeing all of these flawed characters grow and develop (or refusing to develop) but it also makes for a bunch of really boring opening episodes. Seriously, in the first ten or so episodes hardly anything happens, and the show is just establishing the setting that it takes place in.

But what a fascinating setting it turns into. Series about politics always need a while to warm up a while, but when they do you, they create deep and multi-layered countries full of inner struggles where mots people care more about their own agenda than anything else, and in this series a lot of detail went into explaining how exactly the almighty Tytania Empire is going to fall apart.

The show does have its issues, though: the big focus is really the setting and characters, but the storyline is a bit buggy here and there, and one of the most grating flaws is tha the creators like to insert plotholes here and there to keep the story going. The animation is also… unorthodox to say the least. The CG spaceships really don’t look well, and characters are very often deformed when they speak. In exchange though: there is lots of movement in this series: characters’ chins move when they talk, and the show isn’t a collection of still frames, so the creators definitely get credits for trying. And either way, you have to admit that the characters look very stylish and charismatic.

It’s not the most solid season, let alone is it a question whether a second season is going to come along in order to animate the rest of the novels that this series is based on, but nevertheless it’s a fun watch for those who want something different from hand to hand (or mecha to mecha) combat. You should often take this show with a grain of sand, but it raises many good points and the characters are definitely fun to watch.

Short Synopsis: We all know what’s going to happen: the end of Zalish.
Episode Rating: 8,5/10 (Awesome)
Call me crazy, but this was actually the best ending I’ve seen this season. Okay, sure it cheated a bit with a second season still somewhere unannounced, but it did exactly what it has been building up to. It’s an awesome ending that really made me hungry for that second season. Hurry up and announce it!

And sure, Zalish may not have been the brightest one around, but he did die like a real man. I mean, come on: it took a small army just to take this monster of a guy down: he was drugged, confused, lost his guns and yet he kept fighting like some sort of angry bear or something. It’s a shame to see one of the most GAR characters in this series die like that, but it was an excellent death.

And ZOMG, Ajman actually did something. We finally get to look a bit into his head, and learn how the guy is incredibly afraid to lose Tytania. That’s going to work well with Idris, isn’t it? In any case, I’m not going to hype myself too much for that second season since it hasn’t been announced yet, and there’s no certainty that it’s even going to come, so I’m just going to enjoy it if it airs.

And really… why the heck is the narrator one of Ajman’s maids?

Short Synopsis: Rika dies again…
Episode Rating: 8,5/10 (Awesome)
Now THIS is more like it! This episode forms such an incredible contrast to that very silly first episode. This was exactly that paranoid atmosphere that that first series was so incredibly good at. Ah, the idea has so much potential, I’m really glad that it got the chance to be animated into an OVA.

So, what basically happens: Rika gets into an accident, and dies, reincarnating herself again into a different dimension. This dimension lacks Irie, Takano and Keiichi, leaving her as just about the only main actor left. There is no Oyashiro-Sama, no string of deaths or the plan to kill Rina, no Hanyuu, even. Instead, many characters once dead are now alive, Satoko hates Rika now because the two of them grew up much less together and the construction of the dam hasn’t been stopped. Oh, the potential!

I absolutely loved this episode, especially considering how that pool episode pretty much made me lose my faith in this OVA. Still, in the end it proved to be just another light-hearted intro before the real meat of the story begins. I really liked how we, along with Rika, were basically thrown into the complete dark of what was going on. I’m especially looking forward to Rika, meeting her mother again. I’m not sure whether she actually realized that her parents are still alive (she probably had enough on her mind to care about the parents she hardly even knew). Suddenly, I’m a whole lot more positive to seeing Shion no Ou’s director taking charge of this. :)

The Sword of Uruk is the continuation to the surprisingly good Aegis of Uruk, which aired last year. It left us with quite a cliff-hanger, and it’s in any case worth the watch to see how everything plays out in the end. There are quite a few surprises along the way, but somehow the Sword just doesn’t have the charms of of the Aegis.

But before that, you really have to admire the time that went into developing the background for this series. Six months have passed since first season, and this shows in the character-development. The setting, which sounded so innocent and playful in the first season develops into one of epic proportions, and this really is a series of plot twists. For a fantasy series, the plot’s been quite complex and imaginative, which is something I can really enjoy.

However, at the same time I just don’t feel the things that made the original series great. The Aegis of Uruk was a very varied series: there was an excellent combination between silly adventures, character-development and plot. The Sword of Uruk is much more formulaic, though: the first five episodes or so are silly adventures, and after that the comedy stops completely to make room for the ever increasing drama. It just doesn’t feel balanced at all.

the first season had lots of interesting sites to explore, but only one episode of the second season really made an impression on me like the first season did: the house of the dead. This show succeeds more than ever as a fantasy series, but as an adventure one, it fails to impress, which is a bit of a shame, considering the first season. The ending especially shows this, as it’s a bit too much of a formulaic cheese-fest.

Still, there’s lots to like left in this show. The characters still are as charming as they ever were, especially since they already had a season’s worth of development on their resumes and the animation looks as solid as ever. The second season definitely stands out for different reasons than the first one, but it’s still pretty impressive, although not the charming series it once was.

One thing that I noticed after having watched lots of different anime is that gets harder and harder to find series that seriously surpass their own genre. Nevertheless, here is one such series: Kodomo no Omocha is without a doubt and by far the best shoujo romantic comedy I have ever seen. And in fact, aside from Nodame Cantabile I can’t think of any romantic comedy that made a bigger impression on me. I’m still amazed at how this series doesn’t just evade just about every pitfall that so many others of its genre fall in, but it manages to be consistently awesome for no less than 102 episodes!

Both in the romance and comedy department, this series delivers. The comedy always feels fresh, and the show exactly knows when to stop repeating its jokes in order to prevent them from getting stale. What makes the comedy especially enjoyable is the incredible amounts of energy that went into it. Sana surely is someone with at least some form of ADHD, but because of her incredibly bubbly personality the show stays fun from beginning to end. The side characters are also absolutely wonderful. I especially liked Sana’s mom and her antics.

The biggest fear you’d obviously have for such an incredibly long series is the tendency of those series to delve into long, long strings of fillers, but his show manages to avoid that very nicely. There are only about six pure fillers throughout the series: three recaps (which you can pretty much skip without any consequences) and three episodes which take place in some sort of bizarre parallel universe of the series. The latter belong to some of the funniest episodes of the entire series.

The rest of the series is divided in about ten arcs, of around ten episodes each, keeping the content from dragging on for too long. Every single arc has a different focus, but all of them contribute to the development of the cast. Even the most insignificant-seeming episodes have their purpose of fleshing out and bringing the cast of this series to life. The creators make excellent use of foreshadowing and flashbacks, and one particular thing they like is introduce one plot-line that only becomes important many episodes later.

In any case, the result is about 100 episodes worth of development put into the cast, and while the pacing of the drama and romance is pretty slow, the very fast paced comedy makes sure that the series never drags on. The show never forgets that it’s supposed to be a romantic comedy, and therefore maintains an excellent combination between funny and serious scenes: it knows exactly when to be funny and when to leave the jokes for a different time. In the end, the series comes together wonderfully, and the final arc of the series is definitely one of the best of the entire series, with a very satisfying ending.

Watching this series really made me wonder why there are so many other similar shoujo romantic comedies which completely miss the mark or have so much trouble to even fill 26 episodes. The only shows that I can think of that can even remotely remain funny through that airtime are Skip Beat and Perfect Girl Evolution. Apart from that, nearly every other shoujo just seems like an uninspired copy of this series. This series has more ideas stuffed into only 13 episodes than others in 26 of them.

Anyway, enough ranting. The only downside to this series appears in the fansubs, which pretty much belong to the worst subs I’ve ever seen, aside from Coalguys, perhaps. Lines are wrongly timed, badly translated and some are even omitted. There are also about ten episodes in which they for some reason completely change the names of the characters to their English counterparts. And while I can understand that this might be an attempt to make the show more accessible to western audiences, however:
1) Then at least be consistent in this and don’t introduce this halfway and give up just as easily.
2) You really know that things are going wrong when a guy named “Takeshi Gojo” turns into “Wootsie Woosie”. Seriously, who found that a good idea?

Still, that’s what official releases are for. For me, Kodocha stands on top of the shoujo genre, and it has been standing there for more than ten years by now. The sheer amount of creativity fully make up for the huge length of this series. Some of the jokes were utterly brilliant, the wide ensemble of facial expressions has been just priceless, and the cast of characters is just wonderful. Akitaro Daichi seriously is one of the best comedy directors out there. Speaking of which, what has he been doing for the past few years? It’s about time he came with another series, isn’t it?

Short Synopsis: Zalish gets into trouble.
Episode Rating: 8/10 (Zalish = GAR)
Ah, who am I kidding? This show rocks. Just ignore my whining for the past few episodes: if it’s indeed true that we’ve only reached the halfway point of the original novels, then there’s plenty of chance that the creators are willing to animate the second half into some sort of second season. Especially after they went through the trouble of getting the director of LOGH back to the director’s seat.

And seriously, this episode rocked. This show really is at its best when two prominent characters face off against each other. The prison escape was nice and all, but it just didn’t have the flair of Alsas’ big scenes, and this episode reminded me why this series is so awesome. A lot of build-up went into this, but it was a lot of fun to see Fan take care of the very badly prepared Zalish, and seeing Zalish in his turn pwn everyone with his monstrous strength.

But yeah, this is really the fun of tactical warfare: being able to think outside of the box, and make excellent use of your surroundings and abilities in order to take care of your enemies. It’s really episodes like this one that make all the build-up worth it, and it shows so much promise for the second season, in which the amount of battles only is going to increase.

My only complaint here is the use of guns there… while I admit that it’s pretty impressive for Zalish to scare his enemies so much that they become too afraid to use their guns, it still feels a bit unrealistic there…