[Categories: First Impressions and Retrospectives]
Autumn season first impressions part 1
The daily flood of posts is going to ease up a bit now as I sort out some ‘real life’ stuff and work on the Wordpress 2.3 upgrade (which is going to take a bit longer than you might expect, for reasons that will become clear when it eventually does happen). As I pessimistically predicted, this season offers slim pickings for shows that revolve around sci-fi, drama or a sense of maturity or seriousness. Be warned that I may be a bit judgemental and scathing with some of these - it is after all a mere ‘first impressions’ effort rather than a bona fide review, so don’t take it personally, ‘k? Anyways, here’s the first part of the run-down.
Myself;Yourself
Not sure why I checked this one out…maybe it was the first to go online or something. Either way I was *hoping* for some wistful slice of life/nostalgia stuff; sadly the truth was disappointing. It certainly looks pretty enough - if the production values are maintained later on it should be alright. The problem is what seems to be a harem setup with the stereotypes that go for ticking all the fanboy fetish boxes - it just smacks of writing that is at best formulaic and at worst downright lazy. I don’t mind the harem genre per se - I read the Love Hina manga from start to finish and really enjoyed it - but it’s so busy in pandering to the stereotypes that it forgets there’s a story in there. After the lead guy returns to his old home town he sort-of meets an old friend who glares angrily at a distance before walking away, who is presumably the token tsundere; it gets worse when he meets another old friend who he scarely recognises - namely because she now wears glasses and has enormous breasts. Yep, it’s the meganekko with the infuriating high-pitched voice who falls over a lot. Yawn.
Not a good first impression
Things didn’t bode well with the predictable hide-the-removal-box-full-of-porn gag either, but the last straw for me was when it failed to take the nostalgia idea and run with it. I was actually quite optimistic when he started wandering around, noticing how things had changed because it felt like a lead-up to something touching and meaningful…only to realise that this isn’t geared to viewers like me at all (who are, to be fair, in a minority anyway). Next!
Blue Drop
An odd one, this - it combines themes of invading aliens, Mysterious Pasts™ and, oddly, an exclusive all-girls high school (complete with the obligatory yuri overtones). The overall piece didn’t quite ‘work’ straightaway for me, and it took some thinking to figure out why. The ‘mystery’ aspect is a common one so there’s the risk of guessing ahead and spoiling it for myself when the big revelation comes; the lead character isn’t too likable either. The problem is, we don’t learn enough about her character for her less engaging traits to be justified.
Mysterious girl…with seagulls, obviously
Still, it’s the most intriguing of the bunch if you discount the yuri subtexts and potential problems with Gonzo’s handling of the visuals (if the first ep is anything to go by they should be fine but that’s not necessarily a guarantee). I think I can stick with it for the time being, as long as it doesn’t overdo the ‘deep and serious’ thing without a decent storyline to back it up.
Mokke
A lot of my hopes were riding on this one, what with it being adapted from a manga serialised in Afternoon (home of Genshiken and Mushishi) and the promo art promising more Studio Madhouse gorgeousness. The comparisons with Mushishi are fairly justified actually, plus I detected echoes of My Neighbour Totoro too - you have your two sisters, the rural setting and the folklore side of things, although the supernatural creature this time around is anything but fluffy and harmless. It’s a nice mixture actually - the whole look to the show is very picturesque with dashes of comedy, but it goes really serious and quite scary with absolute ease. Fascinating.
When you find the one you’ve been looking for
There’s the mild frightening stuff but it also hints at a sadness-tinged background, which I’m hoping will be followed up in subsequent episodes. Overall the whole affair is really sweet and often whimsical, fortunately in a good way; I really enjoyed watching the way that the bond between Shizuru and Mizuki was portrayed, and even the music is pleasant (the op theme is a bit ‘meh’ but there’s a fair chance it’ll grow on me). It’s not going to be an earth-shattering piece of action or drama but it could be a surprise hit. It also proved to be a really therapeutic way to unwind after a rough day. I think I’m going to really like this one.
Posted on October 14th, 2007 @ 12:10 pm
“the lead character isn’t too likable either. ”
thank you!I swear i was starting to get mad at her,why doesn’t she just tell people “that girl tried to strangle me”?
Posted on October 14th, 2007 @ 12:16 pm
@totoum: Exactly! If someone was tring to kill me I think I’d go further than throwing flowers at them…like, the whole goddamned vase?! Blue Drop does have potential, but I’ll have to watch another episode or two before I’m convinced.
Posted on November 25th, 2007 @ 11:36 am
Thanks for reminding me to watch Myself;Yourself again - the girl with the apron and glasses is cute!