My second and final batch of first impressions for this season. The only show left I kinda care about is Hetalia, and that’s been cancelled thanks to a group of whining Koreans. OK, a lot of whining Koreans. But enough of that, onto the actual post!
My Rating System Explained!
A = If you watch anything this season, watch this
B = Very good, sometimes surprisingly so.
C = If you have the time, you should check this out
D = Not my kind of thing, I won’t be watching this
E = Bad. Very bad, ignore this show
F = Frustratingly awful
Asu No Yoichi
You know, considering this is a basic harem in every sense of the genre, I actually kinda enjoyed the first episode of Asu no Yoichi. It managed to be funny in a very simple way, such as running up the down escalator. I mean, it’s not like this is a masterpiece in comedy or anything, but it just gets those jokes it puts in right. You’re not exactly rolling on the floor or anything but I can guarantee you will be grinning for most of the episode. They even keep from flaunting fanservice!
It’s a lot like FUMOFFU in the way the main character is a fighter tossed into ordinary society and you’re left to watch the consequences. What it lacks is a strong female character, a Kaname so to speak. The lead is a poor mans Sagara (ok, he’s not a soldier, he’s a samurai but it’s the same concept) but none of the 4 women have shone yet. I’ll have to give it another episode to see if one of them become a worthwhile character, or else if this becomes another crappy harem
Rating: C+
Kurokami
Sunrise had a fair amount of respect to re-earn after the dire Sora Kake Girl but they certainly achieved some of that with Kurokami. I’m not exactly sure what is going on or what the plot is as of yet but in my experience that’s generally a good thing. It means the show has enough faith in it’s story not to reveal everything to you right at the start.
Kurokami spent an awful lot of time just setting the mood, which is something you can do if your animation quality is this good. Then there was a kick-ass fight with great music, then finished off with a big shocker moment right at the end which left you a bit dazed leaving the episode.
But the sign that this show had already left it’s impact on me was the next day. Someone said to me ‘hey Scamp, were you in town yesterday? ‘Cuz I coulda sworn I saw someone who looked exactly like you’…
Rating: B+
Ride Back
There has been enough hype around this already so I’m not sure how much I can exactly add but I’ll do my bit anyway.
For about half of the episode there wasn’t exactly much interesting happening in Ride Back. I spent most of the time admiring the pretty animation (good old Madhouse never let us down there anyway) instead of listening to what the characters were saying. Besides, there’s always a slight worry that any anime who tosses around sakura petals everywhere might be trying to be too artistic for it’s own good.
But then the robot motorcycle came into the fore and the rest of the episode went by in one giant, fanboy blur of “I want one, I want one, I want one”.The Ride Back is just fantastic! It’s unlike most mecha’s, this bike has a believable quality to it, so that it’s not outside the realms of possibility that this thing can’t be built. It can be built! Don’t ruin my dream…
Rating: B
Munto TV
Well, the most I can say about this is I’m glad someone came up with a shorter name. I can’t think of anything else good to say about it though. It’s not like it was bad anything. It just didn’t give me a hook or any reason to continue to watch this. It seems to be aimed at 10-13 year old girls so they can have a crush over Munto (who looks like a rejected Yu-gi-oh character design).
But there just isn’t any reason to watch this. Considering this is Kyoto Animation, the animation is fairly poor. None of the characters are very interesting. When I sit down to watch something I (metaphorically) say “entertain me”. Munto failed this very basic test, and I’m fairly easily entertained.
Rating: E
blindability
Brian
Poro
jGLZA
Loba
TeamZer0
thaivuN
Bokutachi no BLOG 
I can tell you’re the type of person who judges an anime based off of the first episode. That’s BAD. Usually it takes a few episodes for the story to kick up. For example, Ride Back’s story began getting really good on episode 4. Sore Kake Girl began getting interesting on episode 2 and more so with episode 3.
When one judges anime, its good to watch 5 episodes to allow the story to kick up. If you don’t give it at least that much, then there’s no point in watching it.
After a long time of watching anime, I’ve learned to trust my first impressions. I used to keep watching bad shows but they never got any better. If you really don’t like episode 1, then I can probably guarantee you that you won’t like the rest of the series. I might pick up stuff like Munto again if it starts to get really good reviews (I did that with Ga-Rei-Zero) but for the most part my first impressions rarely let me down.
Yes, Ride Back has gotten fantastic since episode 4 but you kinda always knew it would be heading in that direction, although I didn’t expect it to get THAT good. Sora Kake Girl on the other hand…you’d have to stand over me with a chainsaw to get me to watch any more of that rubbish.
*Wipes sweat from brow*
Thank the Lord you’re not an executive for a Japanese broadcasting company
LOL! Cheers for that Qchan.
Munto is great! B
Episode 7 of Munto got better. Something about Munto (the character) got more maturity and depth. What irritates me is that the first six episodes were copypasta from the OVA. I’d say that you could start at episode seven, which explains the whole premise of the series, and not miss ANYTHING except the way that Munto has become more kingly-like after watching Gass sacrifice himself.
The girl (can;t even remember her name) is still too submissive for my tastes. I’m looking forward to the last two episodes.
…
Yes. I’ve heard that it is a 9-episode series. And they used the first six precious story-telling slots to rerelease the OVA in widescreen. Munto could have been so much better. But if you’re bored, the last three episodes should be okay. I like the voice acting, at least.