Little Busters! - Episode 1

Kyousuke is back!  I have no idea what that means!  It must be important though, because it's followed by an exclamation mark!  Just like the title to the series!  Little Busters!

Anyhow, after a long, long wait, Little Busters is here in animated form (albeit produced by J.C. Staff rather than Kyoto Animation who tend to tackle Key visual novel adaptations), and it seems that the return of Kyousuke from job-hunting in Tokyo has caused a fair bit of chaos around his school, the kind of thing which his mere presence seems to introduce.  It isn't Kyousuke who is our protagonist however but a boy named  Riki Naoe, whose connection to Kyousuke we learn via flashback - after losing his parents, Riki was plucked from his depression by a group of kids which called themselves the "Little Busters", a group headed up by Kyousuke and with a notable (although not entirely accurate) goal of vanquishing evil and fighting for justice.

While reminiscing about those days, Riki suggests that the gang should do something to celebrate those old times - a sentiment that Kyousuke agrees with, suggesting that the group sets up a baseball team for no readily apparent reason beyond his idiosyncratic whims.  Thus, the stage is set for the group - to find the additional people (girls of course, this is a visual novel adaptation after all!) required to form a team.  Can they find them?  Of course they can, but expect some comedy and heart-felt back stories along the way.

It's always difficult to tell exactly where any Key adaptation is going earlier on; as per the visual novel formula, everything starts off as full-blown comedy before we get to the heart-wrenching emotional stuff later on.  As a result, this is a pretty solid opener for Little Busters - uneven animation admittedly (that slideshow of a flashback was painful to watch), but a decent core of comedy even if it didn't land a hit with every gag and a quick and easy way of laying out the characteristics of its main group of characters without having to work too hard to do so.  We'll be able to fathom more about the series once it introduces its female cast properly no doubt, which could well be the first of Little Buster's "sink or swim" moments - at least there's no immediate threat of drowning at this juncture though.

Space Brothers - Episode 27

Space Brothers just keeps on trucking as it enters what is effectively its third season - but is Nanba about to throw his hopes of becoming an astronaut under a proverbial juggernaut?

It certainly seems that way as he decides to ignore the advice of others and approach Azuma at the supposed after-interview party (which is, of course, the actual part of the selection provess)  -a gambit which looks to have failed as his attempts to engage Azuma in conversation are deflected with ease.  Azuma does, however, have a single question for this would-be astronaut - a question once asked to Azuma himself by none other than Brian Jay.  "Are you prepared to die?"

It's an answer to which Mutta has a surprisingly honest answer after initially choosing to bluff his way through it, and an answer which will surely strike a chord with Azuma himself given both his own experiences and his time with Hibito.  There's little opportunity to mull over this and what it means for Mutta's place in the selection process however, as it's time to move to Florida to watch the shuttle launch and, first and foremost, say au revoir to Hibito and the other astronauts before their final preparations for take off.

Thus continues Space Brothers' insistence on being a slow and steady series - although I was expecting some potential for major drama from Mutta and Azuma's meeting it passed by without any fireworks before shifting our focus elsewhere thanks to the imminent shuttle launch.  Slow-going it might be, but its blend of strong characters and the "space exploration is awesome" vibe carried by the series always seems to manage to stop its pace from feeling overly glacial, especially as the tension begins to be subtly ramped up thanks to Hibito's situation.  It probably shouldn't still be so fascinating as we reach towards the thirty episode mark, but Space Brothers is still keeping me hooked rather tidily.

Hidamari Sketch x Honeycomb - Episode 1

Anyone who follows my online persona around will probably not need to be told twice of my love for all things Hidamari Sketch, so am I pleased to see it return for a fourth season this autumn?  You bet I am!  As Honeycomb begins, we find Yuno feeling a little homesick - not for long though, as she's soon surrounded by the comforting sounds of her current home.

There is one oddity at Hidamari Apartments however, and that's a commotion coming from Sae's room - it seems as if she have guests, but just what is going on?  Instead of just straight-up asking, Miyako decides to try and find out using other means - an ultimately fruitless effort that nonetheless does eventually lead to Sae and Hiro introducing some of their classmates as they prepare for a senior class trip to Hokkaido.

With the entire senior year off on their trip (and very much without Yoshinoya in tow), just who is going to take on the role as "leader" of Hidamari Apartments?  It certainly isn't likely to be Miyako, and despite Yuno's assertion that it should be Nori it seems that she ultimately becomes the "mother" of the group - the go-to person when problems of a culinary nature occur in Hiro's absence, even if nothing can save Nazuna's attempt at stew.  Meanwhile, the senior girls are enjoying culinary delights of their own, taking in Hokkaido's local foods such as..... err.... omurice.

So begins a pretty solid start to Hidamari Sketch x Honeycomb - a few funny moments, the relaxing sense of fun which this series has always held and a lovable bunch of characters, worked into an ever more grandiose (for want of a better word) visual framework as SHAFT's production budget increases every series.  Hidamari Sketchis back, and I won't hear a bad word said about it, even if this isn't one of its classic episodes.

Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai! - Episode 1

I would imagine we all have recollections of getting too wrapped up in our own imaginations over the course of our childhood, imagining perhaps that we really did have superpowers or some other delusions of grandeur.  It seems that for some, however, those delusions (or "chuunibyou" to use the Japanese term from this show's title) take rather longer to dissipate.

For Yuuta Togashi, the start of his high school life is a perfect opportunity to leave those delusions behind him, with a fresh start away from his embarrassing junior high turn as the self-professed "Dark Flame Master", complete with dark coat, bandaged arm and huge sword that he carried around everywhere - indeed, such is his desperation to leave those days behind that he's attending a high school well away from any of his former classmates.

Any hopes of normality are quickly dashed however, as he finds himself sharing his new school and class with a girl who he quickly diagnoses as the delusional type of which he is so familiar - the trouble is, she's already latched on to his past as the Dark Flame Master thanks to a careless moment on his part, and she seems thrilled to be able to regale somebody with her tales of the Wicked Eye which she keeps "sealed" beneath an eye patch.  Despite her claims of keeping this vast power in check, Rikka Takanashi (the girl in question) is ultimately a rather helpless young girl, and no matter his intentions Yuuta soon finds himself looking after her in pretty much every aspect of her life, whether it's escorting her home or helping her move boxes into the apartment one floor above his own.  Is this the blossoming of a beautiful friendship, or is Yuuta simply lumped with helping out a crazy girl who should know better?

In comparison to a lot of Kyoto Animation's output, this opening episode of Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai certainly feels a little different from the norm to some extent - a little more suggestive in tone in places, and with a plot that feels lifted straight out of an otaku-pandering light novel... ostensibly because that's exactly what it is (albeit a novel selected and published by KyoAni themselves prior to this adaptation).  Its humour also feels as times like it draws its train of thought from Nichijou which would be rather worrying quite frankly, were it not for the fact that the show's first online-only "Lite" episode seemed far more well-developed in comedy terms.  On the flip side of that negativity, the show looks nice enough (albeit not in Hyouka territory) and it's quite hard not to like Rikka for all her foibles, while there's a feeling that there may be some hidden depths to the series further down the line in Rikka's case to boot.  For now though, this feels like just another series without anything to really mark it out from the crowd aside from some decent production values - a rarity for this studio, as there material normally makes you sit up and take notice even when it isn't necessarily to your tastes.

Joshiraku - Episode 10

The episodes of Joshiraku just keep on coming - worse (or rather, better) still, they simply keep on getting better too.

Episode ten begins with the gang pondering Halloween - while Marii predictably gets short-changed when it comes to receiving treats, thoughts soon turn towards what other American days of celebration might end up making it over to Japan, and more importantly how to make Halloween seem more Japanese in spirit than the more traditional concept of "trick or treat" - a discussion which somehow ends up with our rakugo group turning into a death metal version of Houkago Tea Time.  No trips to England for these performers though...

We hit the street once again for the second segment of this episode, this time paying a visit to Kabukichou; a place which, despite its name, actually has no kabuki theatres whatsoever, and seemingly never has.  While changes to the area have seen it become safer and more sedate than it perhaps was in the past, it seems that Marii would rather see it return to a more dangerous state filled with gun-toting yazuka for some reason.  Finally, we rather ironically shift from talking about sweets earlier in the episode to talking about dentists, from Marii's refusal to visit one to Kukuru's success in depressing a dentist by mentioning health insurance.  A couple of twists later we're talking about earthquake warnings and personalising the earthquake alert tone (I'm all for emergency warnings brought about by kittens mewing) before returning to dealing with Marii's tooth problem in an impressively convoluted way.

I feel like I've probably said this before, but I'm going to draw a line in the sand here and say that this was by far the funniest episode of Joshiraku yet - hilariously self-referential and more than willing to poke as much fun as possible out of other anime series... oh, and the PS Vita of course, but that's a joke that writes itself.  Every segment of this episode had some wonderful laugh out loud moments, and these late episodes almost feel like the series is finally settling down and really finding a rhythm and focus for its comedy that it perhaps lacked before.  Then again, maybe it's just because I've understood more of the references in the past couple of instalments... either way, I'm increasingly realising that I'm going to miss this series when it's all over.  Still, at least you haven't been cancelled, right girls?

Shin Sekai Yori (From the New World) - Episode 1

The juxtaposition of needless and almost surreal violence in what appears to be a present day city against a group of children playing a seemingly harmless game out in the country is our unsettling introduction to Shin Sekai Yori, another of my picks for the autumn season - as opening scenes go, it certainly seems to set the tone for what is to follow.

As we move into the episode proper we're introduced to a world one thousand years in the future from the present day, and more specifically a girl named Saki Watanabe as she undergoes what seems to be a very important rite of passage - the blossoming of a supernatural power (conveniently known as a "Power"), which she then has supposedly sealed and presented to her once more as part of a religious ceremony before allowed to move forth to a new school and a so-called "Unified Class" - a place to hone and perfect the use of these powers.

As a late bloomer, this progression means that Saki finally gets to catch up with a number of her former school-friends and classmates from elementary school; a mixed blessing in some cases, but overall a decidedly happy reunion as she goes about learning the ropes in this new establishment.  However, it seems as if Watanabe can't quite focus entirely on her future, as her mind is wracked with memories - possible sightings of an urban legend known amongst the kids as "The Trickster Cat", and overheard snatches of an argument between her parents that suggest something far more sinister is at work than mere graduation and education.

With all of this to lay out, Shin Sekai Yori's opener is very much about scene-setting and world-builder - something which it tries to do with suitable panache and smart use of its colour palette, and something which is largely succeeds at.  There can be little doubt that we've been planting into an intriguing world by this series, with supernatural elements on the one hand and conspiratorial murmurings on the other - until we get a feel for how those two concepts mesh together into a coherent story however, I'll simply say that this series looks to have plenty of potential and nothing more.

My Little Monster - Episode 1

It's new anime season time at last, and there's no shortage of goodies to choose from this autumn.  My first pick for the season is a little bit of shoujo, courtesy of Brain's Base's adaptation of Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun, or My Little Monster if you prefer Crunchyroll's title.

Our protagonist for this series is Shizuku Mizutani, a serious girl (to the point of being nicknamed Dry Ice) with only one thing on her mind - studying and studying hard to achieve whatever life goals she has mapped out for herself.  This is in stark contrast with the occupant of the seat in class next to her - or at least it would be if they ever turned up, something which Haru Yoshida hasn't done since picking a fight on his opening day.  These two chalk and cheese characters are forced together when Shizuku is bribed into taking some class notes to Haru - next thing she knows, Haru is kidnapping her at every opportunity while referring to her as his friend, a concept of which he seems to have a rather confused idea.

When Shizuku stands up for Haru against some of his other supposed "friends", it seems that she steals his heart in the process - after confessing his love to her, one month later we find Haru back at school and following Shizuku around at every turn.  Given his rather... "wacky" way of thinking about and handling things, this causes nothing but trouble for our protagonist, and between one thing and another she tells Haru to get lost.  This is exactly what she needs to return to her studies and claim her place at the top of the class in her mid-term exams... this isn't enough to make up for what she quickly realises is missing from her everyday life - in short, she misses Haru, and things only become even more complicated from there.

If you're used to slow-paced, slow-burning romance-led series like Toradora or Kimi ni Todoke, then be prepared to fasten your seatbelt for My Little Monster's opener, because a lot happens.  A ridiculous amount, in fact.  Although this leaves us with a first instalment that feels rushed and compressed to the point where it could almost be a single episode one-shot OVA, it's also rather refreshing to watch a shoujo series that isn't incredibly ponderous and shy about its romantic angle - by the end of this episode we're left in no doubt as to everyone's feelings, and we have a male lead who is more than forward enough to avoid the whole "will he or won't he" rigmarole that has become the norm in this genre.  That aside, I also hugely enjoyed both of the show's main characters throughout this episode - Shizuku is well-balanced between self-centred and focused student and genuinely nice girl who has never had a chance to shine, while Haru's lunacy is broadly endearing even though his character archetype has been done to death and no male lead is ever going to get bonus points for threatening to rape someone in my book.

With so much covered in one episode, the only real question is "where do we go from here"?  I genuinely hope that the show's plot doesn't stagnate at this point and continues to keep at least a respectable pace, but provided it can accomplish that I get the feeling that this series could be a whole lot of fun with a bit of heart to boot.