Kids on the Slope

Last year, Tenzuka Productions brought us a lovable slice of life anime that followed the story of Kaoru, an honours student who suffers from Social Anxiety. When he moves to Kyushu and starts attending Higashi High School, he meets the notorious "bad-boy" Sentaro and together they form a bond through their mutual interest in music.

When Sentaro helps Kaoru loosen up and be more comfortable around other people, relax and start to enjoy life, Kaoru soon realises he has developed feelings for Sentaro's childhood friend, Risuko. Sentaro introduces Kaoru to the world of jazz where they play in the basement of Ritsuko's father's record shop. Going from classical to playing jazz turns out to be quite a learning curve for Kaoru, but determined to rise to the challenge Sentaro sets before him, he soon feels right at home playing music his family would be horrified to know he performed.

With friendships growing, Kaoru pursues his love for Ritsuko while Sentaro takes an interest in Yurika, a senior from a prestigious family they meet on the beach one day. But regardless of what feelings they may have towards the girls, winning their hearts would be anything but easy, especially when Ritsuko implies that her interest in Sentaro goes beyond childhood friends, and Yurika ends up falling for Sentaro's best friend and fellow jazz player, Junichi.

The anime is set back in the era when jazz was at its peak and vinyl was still a popular format, and if that didn't place the setting firmly in your mind, then mention of the Sound of Music being newly released during an episode of the show and the song, My Favourite Things, being all the rage at the time. I found it quite interesting to hear the famous song performed by the characters of the show, and was also pleased to see the mentions and tributes given to famous artists like Art Blakey, Bill Evans, Chris Conner, and even some rock slipping in there with mention of The Beatles. The setting and depth to the show is quite amazing. And so is the background to the characters, especially the support character, Junichi, who by the end of the show becomes quite the central figure in one of the story arcs.

While the protagonist, Kaoru, still leaves much to be desired in the ways of character development -- by giving us glimpses into the expectations placed upon him by his family, and the social criticism given by his sister, which is never really integrated fully into the story -- we see much going on in Sentaro's past and how it effects Ritsuko. By several episodes into the story, we start to see that Sentaro's reputation as the local "bad-boy" is misplaced, and in reality he struggles to take care of his big family in his father's absence, taking on the role of caring for his siblings while his father works abroad.


While the characters certainly act realistically in the show -- none of the over exaggerated shyness and comedy you would typically find in a romantic anime -- I couldn't help but feel a bit cheated on the outcomes of the story arcs, leaving me wanting more, and knowing I wasn't going to get it. While the show had a lovable ending, I felt that it could have done with an extra 12 episodes and gone much further with Kaoru and Ritsuko's relationship and how it effected Sentaro. I also couldn't help but feel sorry for Sentaro throughout the story when his interest in Yurika, and later, Ritsuko, met with complete rejection. There were also moments when Kaoru annoyed me, especially once Ritsuko realised her true feelings for him, yet his response to her advances ended up being quite bitter. Once again, the reactions and development of the story felt natural and well written but I wasn't satisfied with the way it ended. Saying that, I've yet to be satisfied by any romantic anime to date, and that appears to be an issue I'm never going to win.

Overall, Kids on a Slope is definitely one of the better anime of last year, and certainly worth watching. It also features one of those musical intros that are so catchy you can't help but listen to it all the way through every single episode.

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Say, I love you

There are a few anime music intros that have made me want to listen to the entire song every single episode. Say, I love you, is one of those intros. It's not often that a song and intro sets the scene so well and matches the characters and story of the anime perfectly. When the song first starts, and the intro does that blur effect, you get a real feel for the romantic tone of the anime. Unfortunately, that's where the positive side of the anime ends.

Say, I love you, is your typical clichéd teen romance drama, akin to the dreadful shallow characters that was Twilight. The story tries to delve into a plot revolving around school bullying and the troubles school kids face when dealing with social expectations placed on them by others, but unfortunately, the main couple of the show, Mei and Yamato, leave much to be desired in the way of character development. Thankfully, we see the supporting characters, Aiko and Megumi, filling in the gap and giving us a true glimpse into the horrible mentalities of the "popular" kids in school. Megumi's story is certainly the plot to follow for this show, rather than the protagonists.

At the beginning of the show, we are told of Mei's past, the bullying she suffered, and the betrayal of people she considered her friends, which drives her to give up on making friends altogether and cut herself off from the world. This seems to work well for her, and in the first episode we are shown Mei as a character who doesn't need friends, strong enough to go at things by herself and just get on with school life, regardless of what anyone thinks of her... until she kicks Yamato in the face and que "love at first sight" entrance. After this point, Yamato pressures her into being friends when she doesn't want to be, going so far as to give her his phone number. But when a stalker starts following her home from work, instead of calling the police, which would be the sensible thing to do she instead calls the guy she didn't want to be friends with to come save her, and in doing so, he takes liberties with her vulnerability by stealing her first kiss.

I would like to think that Mei gets stronger, and that she is able to deal with her issues that stop her from making real friends, but in the end we are treated to the typical plot of a female character who changes herself to suit the guy she likes for no explainable reason. Mei's love interest in Yamato is completely unfounded, no reason given, and comes across as the average YA "he's so perfect" trope that has many viewers shaking their head in dismay. Unfortunately for Yamato, he comes across as an inconsiderate emotional blackmailer. His character truly does reflect Edward from Twilight, and it is made worse when every mistake he makes is forgiven without any argument from Mei because he is just too perfect in her eyes to do any wrong. What happened to the Mei we met in the first episode? He has turned her into a weak character that lacks any mind of her own, instead deferring to other people's opinions on how she should act. Her character instead of growing, actually gets worse as the episodes go on, and even by the last episode she is still the awkward shy mess she was back in the second episode. One day, I'm ever hopeful I'll find a romance anime that actually progresses with the relationship beyond a kiss or heartfelt words. When the first episode started with a kiss, I thought this might be the anime to do that, but as the episodes came and went, and no more progress beyond that was made I lost hope. We saw more progress in Aiko's story than the main protagonists.

We can at least be thankful for Nagi and Kei, who come along to help Mei open up by sharing their own similar experiences with her, and for the most parts, their stories tend to be stronger than Mei and Yamoto, even though they are only minor characters. In fact, Kei's background is the only glimpse we get into Yamoto's character to make us think there might actually be something behind that superficial exterior he exudes, but it is gone within one episode and never mentioned again. Which is a complaint for much of the story; every problem is solved far too easily with none of the expected drama that should go alongside it. The anime was trying to be "lets all be happy" so much that it lost any credibility to the problems the characters faced.

The real depth to the show comes from Megumi, the amateur model who buys people's friendship with money. Her story provides insight into the true nature of the superficial-popular-girl-type character we often see on TV when her whole world implodes on her when attempts to win Yamato's affection away from Mei, as well as that of Yamato's friends who befriended her, backfires on her and she ends up loosing everything and discovering that she had no friends after all. The consequences of this story arc drive her into a psychological breakdown that ends up being far more interesting of a story than the romance between Mei and Yamato.

Overall, I was hoping this show would be better than it was. I still found it entertaining enough to watch the entire series, but was left at the end thinking, 'That's it?' when the outcome of the show was no real different to any other romance anime, and possibly in a way, worse. Read More →

First Impressions of the New Season

The Winter 2013 season has begun and the first episodes of several shows are available for public viewing. While the season has shown a weak start so far, full of 5-min shorts that leave people desiring anime shows with more meat, we can be glad to see the return of Blast of Tempest and Psycho-Pass which are strong anime carrying over from the previous season. We can only hope that the season strengthens as it continues.

First up is Amnesia, which on paper sounds like it is going to have some considerable potential to become a good story this season. The concepts look promising, the animation is beautiful, especially the detail they have gone into with the clothing and eyes, but there is also something different about the world and culture the story is based in. With the introduction of a floating spirit creature and the mention of some kind of special ability using their unique eyes, I can't help but think we are going to be treated to a unique and refreshing twist on Urban/Contemporary Fantasy. The show is also a reverse-harem, which is a rarer genre than it should be. My only complaint so far with the show is the incessant telling. I felt like I'd slipped into an educational show preaching to me about mundane activities that I really had no interest in knowing in detail, or how the writers felt they needed to explain every emotion and detail to us as if they thought the audience wasn't intelligent enough to pick up on the clues themselves. I hope that as the episodes continue they learn to trust the audience more and tone down the telling.

Vividred Operation has us venturing back into the magical girl genre but with an added sci-fi twist that gives it a feeling reminiscent of Eureka Seven AO, just without the need for mechs. We are introduced to the main protagonist, Akane, who has a fear of heights, yet seems destined to take on a role that requires her to face her fears. While the flashbacks showing where her fears came from makes for a deep character background, I couldn't help but feel they threw away the chance to build upon her fears too easily; she appeared to get over it within the first episode. We can only hope that her fears relapse in following episodes and that it continues to be a struggle for her, making her character feel more real. This anime shows potential but I couldn't help but feel I'd rather have mechs than a spiritual successor to Strike Witches. Even so, I believe this anime will be a strong contender for the season. The characters are well designed and thought out, the animation is good, and the musical score suits the scenes perfectly, although they could do with focussing a little less on the characters' posteriors - they are only fourteen after all. I wouldn't go so far as to call it ecchi, but it is borderline and I feel quite unsuitable for the age the characters are representing, and it gives me the creeps a little each time one of those scenes screens. At least the clothing transformation scene typical of magical girl anime doesn't focus on the breasts, it's only saving grace. Overall though, it appears to be an anime well worth watching.

Next up is the ridiculous childishness that was the first episode of Da Capo III. I know the anime series is popular but I felt like I was watching an immature kids show that had drifted into the ecchi harem genre. Every chance the artists got, they had to include scenes with bouncing boobs. The sexual jokes were very overdone, even for an ecchi. While the mystery of the island was interesting, and might provide enough reason to watch another episode, I can't help but feel the story is lost beneath the stupidity of the characters and their childish dialogue. The dialogue especially grated on me when the writers felt the need to include a piece of dialogue from every character in the scene, skipping from one to the next showing their responses to a certain piece of dialogue from another character. The first time it happened was funny, but when they continued to repeat the pattern it just became annoying and stilted.

I'm not entirely sure what to make of Maoyuu Maou Yuusha yet. The concept of the story has the potential to be good, and the world design should certainly interest fans of Fantasy-themed anime, but the ecchi component that was made so prevalent in the episode felt completely out of place. I can understand the sense behind a political marriage between demons and humans, but professing it to be more than that, love at first sight even, and the childish reactions of the "Demon King" destroyed any sensibility and made it into a comedic situation that ruined the potential the anime has to take a good long look into the effects war has on nations and the motivations behind it. The story has a lot of potential, but I fear they are going to waste it chasing the naive and weak protagonist uncomfortable with becoming romantically involved with the excessively developed and attractive girl who likes him for no apparent reason trope. Saying that, we did get some glimpses into her past, and it showed the potential for there to actually be some depth to her character, but perhaps they would have done better to actually tell us her name first. I ended the episode seeing them agree to form a relationship to bond the nations together when they didn't even know each others names and instead just referred to each other as "Hero" and "Demon King". That along with the sexual jokes ruins any credibility the story could have had.

Zettai Karen Children: The Unlimited treats us to a dark action story that would suit fans of fighting-themed anime. I see it as Code:Breaker meets X-men, with characters that come across quite similar to those of Code:Breaker with very similar powers, yet their existence is common knowledge and just like with X-Men, it shows us the reaction the rest of the world has to their powers. The characters appear solid and well thought out, the story has potential, yet I found the abilities of the protagonist excessively overpowered. I do worry that the show will turn into the "lets get beaten up by the bad guy of the week until I am forced to release my full powers and instantly win" trope. The animation is well done, and the backgrounds of the characters might just well continue to surprise us as they did in the last few minutes of the first episode. The show certainly takes a much more mature and serious spin when compared to the original series that was released back in 2008. I believe though that the anime will be one worth watching.

Ninjas are back with Senran Kagura, and so are bouncing boobs. The combinations should be any ecchi fans dream anime. Unfortunately what makes ninjas great is lost beneath the childish portrayal of the characters, with the protagonist being made into a hopelessly ditzy girl who makes the early days of Naruto look like a master shinobi. With the exception of Yagyuu, the antagonists of the anime have more potential to be entertaining characters than the girls we are supposed to be rooting for. The script and plot leaves much to be desired, but the last few minutes of the episode hint at possible improvements to come, so this anime might need a couple more episodes chance before being dismissed completely. I just hope Katsuragi gets over her breast groping fetish already, it's incredibly irritating and out of place. I don't hold out much hope for Senran Kagura being any good, which is unfortunate, because I believe many anime fans would love to see an anime about Ninjas compete with Naruto. This won't be that anime.

In Hakkuden: A Strange Tale of Eight Dogs of the East we are introduced to three characters who are the sole survivors of a village that was burned to the ground, and each one of them gifted with some special ability that sets them apart from the other people in the community where they sought refuge, trying to hide from their past. The premise of the story is interesting and has some potential, but I found the episode too rushed, as if they were trying to fit several episodes worth of plot into one 25 minute slot. This served to make much of the episode feel like a series of random events. When the episode first started I was a bit put off by the talking animals, felt the Lord of the Lake and the frog a bit much. I didn't mind Murasame once I understood a bit more about him, but wondered why they even thought of including that algae eyeball creature. When this show was labelled as Shoujo, there was a big scare that, considering the protagonists are two male characters, that there would be a boy love theme as the main focus  of the story. Having watched the episode I found no evidence to suggest they would take that direction with the show, but not having read the manga it is adapted from, I cannot say for sure that it won't include anything like that at all. But at this point I'm certain you will find a stronger BL theme in Da Capo III than this. Overall I feel the anime is worth watching, but I just hope they slow things down a bit now that they have introduced the characters and background.

But the best episode of the week has to go to Kotoura, which has come out starting very strong with a heart-wrenching emotional plot, driven by deep characters that, in the style of last season's Chu-2, soften the darkness in the background with light humour. The anime takes a good long look into the effects having the ability to read minds has on the life of the protagonist and her family, the way it effects friendships, the harm knowing everybody's inner thoughts does. The animation style is a bit below-average, but the story should more than satisfactorily make up for it - although the style of animation does suit some of the very strange glimpses Kotoura gets from the mind of her hopelessly stupid friend, Manabe. So far, Kotoura is easily the anime of the season to watch out for, and I can only imagine the insane hilarity Manabe is going to get Kotoura involved in as the series progresses and he helps her to deal with the darkness of her past.

Keep an eye out for more detailed reviews of this seasons anime as the stories progress. Read More →

From the New World

Following the outbreak of uncontrollable psychokinetic powers that nearly destroyed the world, a secluded set of villages are recovering from the devastation by separating children from the rest of the world and teaching them to control their fledgling powers. When their powers manifest, they go through a trial to test their ability to use the powers referred to as 'Cantus'. If the child succeeds in passing the trial, they are reunited with friends and family who went before them in a special school designed to train them in how to use their cantus. On the surface, the village appears to be a normal, every day community, with people living out their ordinary lives with the assistance of their cantus, but in the background lies a mystery hidden behind lies and deceit, not the least being; what happens to the children who don't pass the trial, or the ones whose power never manifests?

Many rumours and tales surround the secrets of the villages - secrets that only the adults seem to know and are deliberately keeping hidden from the children. These rumours set our protagonist, Saki, and her classmates on an adventure with the sole purpose of discovering the truth behind the rumours. What they uncover will be far beyond what they ever expected.

I have one word that sums up this anime, and that is: strange.

From the New World is a dark anime reminiscent of M Knight Shyamalan's The Village, driven by the series of clues that lead us through a deep and complicated mystery that keeps us wondering just what is going on until the very end. Half the reason for this is the random, completely implausible, and disjointed plot arcs that tend to make very little sense in the overall scope of the story.

We are first introduced to a worker race of ratmen who assist the adults of the village in menial duties, foraging and dealing with complicated matters discretely when the limitations of the adult's cantus doesn't permit - like the suspected murdering of innocent people. One limitation of the cantus is that they cannot use it to harm other humans. The first quarter of the show throws Saki and her friends right into the middle of a battle between queerat tribes for no apparent reason other than to show us a bit of the world outside their village.

During their adventure that sees them caught up in the queerat war, they find one of the many creatures that the tales speak of, which appears to be some I-Don't-Know-What-Like glowing creature. The tales say that whoever sees one of them dies, but then, the question is raised; then how did the tale come to exist? Using their cantus to capture the creature, it is discovered they aren't just any normal animal, but some sort of cybernetic animal that acts as a computer AI  to access a library containing forbidden histories of the world. Not only is the creature one of the strangest things I've ever seen in anime, it's physical design is completely illogical when taking into consideration its intended purpose.

Having learnt what they shouldn't have, the next major complaint I have with the show is when the children are taken captive by a mysterious man who has cantus powers far superior to their own. He seals away their powers, preventing them from using their cantus permanently. The only way to get their cantus back is to return to the village and recover their diaries, which have recordings of the process they went through in the trials when their powers first manifested. But by the time they return to the village to recover these diaries, Saki's older, narrators voice tells us their powers came back on their own, as if that part of the plot element was completely brushed aside. If their powers came back without the diaries, then why mention them in the first place? This is only but one of the illogical plot developments in this series.

Following this narration scene that dismisses their sealed powers as nothing important, the story skips forward two years, totally dismissing the fact that they were scared out of their wits with what the adults of the village would do to them knowing they had discovered part of the forbidden knowledge; which ended up being nothing at all. No, in fact, the village council wants to reward Saki, who is constantly going out of her way to uncover truths and pry into things she shouldn't by making her the next in line to take over the head position of the village council. Why they would ever want such a rebellious child who is determined to destroy everything the village has worked towards I can't possibly understand.

The next strange plot development I can't understand in the show is after they have skipped forward two years and it shows the relationships Saki and her friends have developed. At the beginning of the show, we are given the hint that Saki is secretly in love with her male friend Shin, but come this stage in the story, it is revealed her other male friend, Setarou is actually gay, and in a relationship with Shin. I was completely surprised by this unexpected development which seems to serve no other purpose than being a complete shock tactics twist with the purpose of causing controversy, which becomes even worse when it is also revealed that Saki herself has formed a lesbian relationship with her friend, Maria.

These relationships appear to last only a matter of a couple of episodes before they are nearly forgotten about and Maria starts encouraging Saki to pursue a relationship with a newly introduced character even though they are supposed to be together. Scenes involving them walking through the school show practically every single student involved in some form of relationship with another student, over half of them being same-sex, which can only lead me to suspect there is some strange genetic bonding and manipulation of feelings going on behind the scenes. On several occasions it is referred to as animalistic relationships and compared to monkeys. I can only suspect this is some sort of political statement made by the writer to support such relationships and was completely unnecessary for the story - hence how easily they where thrown away. Either way, I found these developments hard to deal with because they destroy any potential romance story that could have developed as the episodes progressed. Honestly, before I found out that Setarou was gay, I was suspecting him and Saki might at one point end up falling in love, based on the way the first part of the story was going. No way that is going to happen now.

There are many other strange twists that seem to have no apparent reason, from killing off characters unexpectedly and then forgetting about them shortly after, to having characters running for their lives out of no fault of their own when they'd spent years prior in what appeared to be complete safety.

To add salt to the wound, I am at a complete loss at the writers need to make the queerat races so childishly annoying in the way they act and talk. Their incomprehensible nattering continues to grate on my nerves.

Unfortunately for the writers, it is safe to say this anime is one that deserves to be passed by and forgotten about. The only reason that kept me watching as far as I did, was the intrigue of the mystery that, even though I know the answer to, continues to interest me enough to wonder what they are going to do about it. But seriously, this anime barely makes any sense at all and I'm afraid I have to rate it as one of the weakest anime I've watched this season. Read More →

Robotics;Notes

Based in the year 2019, Robotics;Notes follows the story of Kaito Yashio and Akiho Senomiya who are the sole members of the Central Tanegashima High School Robotics Club. Akiho is determined to live up to the expectations of her older sister by finishing the large-scale robot her sister started back before she graduated from the school after founding the original robotics club. While Akiho seeks funding to continue her project, Kaito spends his days hanging round the club hanger, not helping in the development of Akiho's robot, but playing a popular mech fighting game, Kill-Ballad, which is based on the fictional anime, Gunvarrel. The fictional show itself serves as inspiration for Akiho, going so far as to codename her project, Gunbird-1 - a robot from the anime.

While the robot looks very little like the real Gunbird-1, Akiho finds encouragement from the relucant Kaito's unexpected and heartfelt support, as well as that of her other friends who over time join the club to help finish the project in their own unique way. Her work is not without merit, which is soon recognised by the company behind the fictional lollies, Space Candy, run by a man who will come to coin the most catchy saying of the entire show: Impact! You only have to take notice of anime forums around the world to see that this word is on the tip of every robotics fan's tongue.

Robotics;Notes is the third anime to be adapted from the series of visual novels produced by 5pb Inc, and follows in the wake of the smash hit 2011 anime sensation, Steins;Gate. While not quite living up to the success of its predecessor, the anime has shown itself to be a much deeper story than previously expected. With its foreboding of apocalyptic disaster, we can surmise that what starts as a simple school robotics club might well be the only thing standing between the Earth and certain annihilation.

Robotics;Notes is full of humour and lovingly crafted golden moments which you would come to expect in what we thought was going to be a slice of life anime, but it has a serious side that is slowly creeping in from the background, directed by the artificial intelligence program, Airi, who reveals herself to Kaito, along with a secret NASA doesn't want the world to know. It doesn't seem surprising at all that an anime skirting around the possibility of a worldwide apocalypse would show its face in a year that is already full of doomsday, end of the world, predictions.

I have quite enjoyed the show so far, although I liked Steins;Gate better, but I am sure we are going to be in for a real treat as the story leaves behind character introductions and humour in favour of the real meat of the story. Read More →

Psycho Pass

Psycho-Pass is an anime that started off mediocre and uninspiring. But as the episodes have gone on, I've started to see something in it; a jewel that is slowly being polished into a series that just might be worth watching after all.

The anime is based in the near future, following a similar story to the movie Minority Report, where it is possible to measure a person's mental state, personality and the probability that a person will commit crimes. This is called their "Crime Coefficent" level and is monitored by "Enforcers" working for the Safety Bureau's Criminal Investigation Division. Enforcers use weapons called "Dominators" that read the target's mental state and determine how serious of a threat the perpetrator is. The weapon has two modes, stun and lethal, and will automatically switch between the modes when the target's level gets too high.

The anime follows the story of Akane Tsunemori, an inspector fresh out of training who is placed in charge of a group of Enforcers, ensuring they follow the rules and stay in control of their own mental state. She takes an interest in Shinkya Kogami, who used to once be an inspector, but when his own Crime Coefficent level grew too high while investigating a difficult case was demoted down to Enforcer and treated like a latent criminal - like the other Enforcers, who are all latent criminals, given the chance to redeem themselves by working for the police instead of committing the crimes they were predicted to do. If her curiosity develops into something more we can only theorise, but as the episodes continue, I wonder if Akane will turn out to really be the perfect, high-scoring, 'model citizen' they all believe her to be. It will be interesting to see if she goes the same way of Shinkya Kogami.


The concept of this anime is brilliant, and is what made me start watching it. At first I was put off by the below-average anime quality. They could of at least made the characters look pleasing to the eye, but I suppose the artists were going for a more average, realistic look - which that did achieve. Animation style aside, the story has enough going for it to make me continue to watch.

Unfortunately, the gem I now see in it only became apparent about four episodes into the anime. The first two episodes were a real struggle, dealing with dark situations, weak characters, unexplained plots and ridiculous arguments that just ended up being a waste of time and over dramatisation. This was solved by the story starting to actually go somewhere productive and become serialised series from one episode to the next, forming a long story arc revolving around virtual reality hackers and crime bosses.

The strange, lackluster animation continues to grind on me but I suspect we are in for a very big surprise in the episodes to come that will leave us wondering just where this show came from - very much what happened to the hit TV Show Fringe - the first season barely had any story, yet halfway through the second season the viewers' eyes were opened to an amazing development in the characters and story. We might just be in for the same evolution with Psycho-Pass. I am very curious to see if the anime lives up to my hopes in the weeks to come. Read More →

K Project

K Project is one of those anime where you just don't know quite what to make of it. On the one hand, it has some of the best animation I've seen since Guilty Crown, but on the other, it's story is dragged down by a couple of weak and annoying characters that ruin the potential it has to be entertaining.

In the first episode we are introduced to an alternative reality of Earth where cities are controlled by gangs - referred to as clans - that harness supernatural powers - Auras - from one of the seven 'kings' who lead them. This concept interested me greatly, and in the first episode we were treated to a taste of what kind of battles we could expect between the clans in episodes to follow. Most of the battles tend to revolve around everyone's favourite skateboard riding punk, Yata - a follower of the Red King - when he uses both Aura, and skateboard to fight against members of the opposing clans. His scenes tend to display a level of animation not often found in anime, including panoramic views of him grinding down rails, jumping stairs and dodging pedestrians as he races through the city, intent on chasing down the man who murdered a member of his clan. He uses the scrying ability of a fellow clan member, Anna, to help him track the murderer who they know as the 'Colourless King'.

Meanwhile, it appears the Red King is a ticking time bomb just waiting to go off and repeat a disaster of the past which saw an entire city levelled to the ground. To counter this, he puts himself into custody of the Blue King, in the hope that when the time came, Reisi will be able to stop him.

All of the above makes for an intriguing storyline, and to this date, scenes involving both the Red Clan and Blue Clan have been very entertaining. Unfortunately, what comes next destroys all that potential.

The Red Clan are not the only people after the murderer. We are also introduced to Kuroh of the Black Clan, who is sent by his master to find and kill the Colourless King, and he does, but the result was not what he was expecting. Yashiro, a normal school boy, is believed to be the murderer because of a video recorded by the victim that places him at the scene of the crime. The only problem is, he has no memory of the event, or any knowledge of the Colourless King. For all immediate impressions, he isn't the guy they are looking for, but Kuroh is not so easily convinced. Believing he might be trying to trick him, Kuroh demands proof, and accompanies Yashiro everywhere he goes, even moving into the same house with him, until Yashiro can convince him he isn't the murderer.

For the most part, the above concept is not bad, but then came episode 2. What makes it bad is the contribution Yashiro's cat makes to the situation. Yes, his cat. Neko for some unknown reason is not a normal cat, she appears to be a magical creature that can shift into human form, yet still insists on acting like a cat, which makes for some rediculous scenes than go way beyond fustrating. Episode 2 had to be some of the worst anime I've watched this season. Thankfully, it has slowly started to improve as episodes go on. Neko is extremely overprotective of Yashiro in the most annoying fashion, including screaming at the top of her lungs at every opportunity she gets. But hey, at least you get your typical 2012 anime ecchi moments because of her. Although, be warned: if you're uncomfortable around yaoi plot elements then be weary of the direction this show might possibly head. There does appear to be a very femminite relationship forming between Yashiro and Kuroh. I'm not saying the series contains yaoi, but I wouldn't be surprised if it suddenly came up.

Overall, the series has potential, and a good story does appear to be forming, slowly, but at the same rate, we are losing the effort put into animation as the episodes go on. Very little panoramic style animations are used past the first episode. Consider it a kind of bait and switch, draw us in with the pretty animation, then switch to a totally different story than what you were expecting, which I believe will be the general consensus going from the first episode to the second.

The Red Clan's story provides me with enough depth and entertainment to keep watching, and I must admit, the story about Yashiro's possible false memories interests me. I only wish they'd find a way to kill off Neko, then I could be happy with the anime.

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Btooom!

This year has provided us with a reoccurring theme of online gaming based anime. First we had the superb Accel World, then it was the masterpiece which is Sword Art Online. Now comes Btooom!, but straight away I am put off by the strange name alone - named after the sound a grenade makes when it explodes, which is the whole premise of the story. Btooom is a first person shooter style online game where players can only uses grenades to kill their opponents. Unfortunate name aside, there is an interesting premise to the story that saw me watching the first few episodes, in the hopes that it might have a good plot.  Unfortunately, I'm not entirely convinced yet, but have kept giving the anime more chances to impress me. I'm still waiting.

The anime follows the story of Ryota Sakomoto, who is one of the top players in the world, but during the course of his rise to fame in the virtual world, his real life suffers. He lives at home, leeching of his mother who is constantly attempting to push him to get a job, and often finds himself lashing out violently in response to her pressure. As a consequence to his violent behaviour, he is unknowingly signed up to an experimental game that sees him kidnapped and sent to a deserted island, where the people stranded there are forced to play a very real version of the Btooom game, with fatal consequences.

Equipped with only a pouch full of grenades  he must kill other players to collect eight gemstone-like tokens, which will buy his freedom off the island. While alive, the gemstones act as a form of radar, capable of sending out sonar pulses that detect other players when they move, allowing players to track and use strategies to trap their opponents. Once dead, any remaining grenades the player had then belong to the victor, replenishing their supply, except every player has different types of grenades. Some explode on impact, while others have timers, even more work like mines, and explode when a player comes in contact with them. The nastiest form of grenade I have seen so far would be the poisonous gas type, that kill any player, or even wildlife, that is exposed to it.

My biggest complaint with the show so far would be the stupidity of the main character. He is supposed to be this elite player in the Btooom! world, yet when faced with a real life version of the game that works identically to the virtual game, he seems to forget everything about how to play and fumbles around for several episodes, trying to get a clue about what he is doing and going so far as to almost kill himself when he activates one of his timer mines, not understanding what it was, only at the last second throwing it away and discovering it was a grenade. It gets worse when, faced with his first enemy fight, he doesn't understand at all how a timer grenade works, even though he no doubt would have used them many times in the virtual game. This issue makes for a serious disbelief in the intelligence of his character and harms the story for me. Five episodes in, he is still learning things about the game and island that should have been obvious to an elite player of the game. I'm afraid the personality of the main protagonist leaves a lot to be desired.

Another failing point for me with the show would be the depraved sexual content. It's not sexy, its cruel, and disturbing. The main issue comes in the form of the secondary protagonist, Himiko, who so far has existed for the sole purpose of giving the writers an excuse to include distasteful sexual abuse. It starts with the reason why she is on the island. Back home, she invites three of her classmates to a friend's house party, where a famous rock band are visiting as guests. Come the night of their 'party' and she is running late, while the other girls have gone ahead of her. Upon arrival at the house, she finds her friends in the middle of being raped by the members of the band after they were drugged. When they attempt to do the same with her, she abandons her friends and runs away. The girls blame her for what happened, and as punishment, sign her up for the experimental game on the island. That's only the beginning though, and gets worse when a grotesquely obese player catches her, and proceeds to try rape her. My biggest problem with this situation is how helpless the writers make out Himiko to be, and not just here, but all her scenes except for possibly one. She pretty much just lets the rapist molest her, only stopping him when he is about to do the final deed by triggering one of her timer bombs. She would rather die that let somebody rape her, and hopefully take the rapist with her.

Unfortunately, it doesn't end there either. Fast forward to the next episode and you have her facing off against our main character, Ryota, who ends up knocking her unconscious. We are then treated to a very uncharacteristic change come over him, when he suddenly turns into a pervert and is about to remove her underwear and rape her himself when she starts to come around again. Comments he makes like 'but she smells good' just make it worse, and seriously, she wouldn't smell that good in the first place. They are on a stranded island, it would be hot, they would be sweaty and in desperate need of a change of clothes. If anything, they would all stink, bad.

It's pretty clear that she is supposed to be his romantic interest in the story, but so far, he is off to a very bad start in my opinion. Thankfully, he comes to his senses after that and decides to protect her instead, but from that point on she is a broken and troubled character, who can't trust any man, certainly not him. Although there is a positive spin the writers can put on this, which I can see is the angle they are taking, and that is to show the effects of rape in such difficult situations on the human psyche. In that respect I guess they are doing well, but the whole concept of women being raped just so 'something bad' can happen to them is a tired and cliché plot device that should really be left behind. As a writer myself, I can be sure that it is a plot element best avoided if you don't want to alienate a large portion of your potential audience.

Unfortunately for Btooom! the writers wanted to put their viewers through an even worse situation when they introduce the psychologically damaged Kosuke Kira and his paedophile father, who over the episode featuring him proceeds to abuse the boy through very distasteful methods. Once again, the writers use this as an opportunity to show the psychological effects such actions have on Kosuke, to the point of it turning him into a woman killer before arriving on the island. Because of the abuse, he is a sadist, which reflects in his personality on the island. Hopefully, future scenes involving Kosuke might not be so bad, after how the episode ended.

In the end, this show has several weaknesses that hinder its potential, and pushes an archaic impression of women's ability to defend themselves, falling back on the flawed concept that they need men to save them. It unfortunately makes for a frustrating story that has yet to show any true plot developments. The story might be brutal and sometimes painful to watch, but it has potential, there is no denying that, and when battles do happen, they are typically quite entertaining, which has been enough for me to survive watching it so far. But, if it keeps on going the way it is, this is an anime I will likely drop.

If you want to watch an anime based around an online game, you're better off watching Sword Art Online.

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