Early Impressions - Fall 2014: Rage of Bahamut: Genesis

9 times out of 10, whenever I see the words "Based on the best-selling trading card game" in the synopsis for an anime I immediately move on to something else.  It's no secret that I'm not a fan of those types of shows.  If I were into the card game they were based on that may be a different story.  Rage of Bahamut: Genesis is the exception to that rule.

Thus far it has been the biggest surprise of the season.  I generally make use of Anime News Network's handy seasonal preview guides to weed out the shows that I feel are not worth my time.  I have a bad habit of trying to watch far too many shows at once so their guide is a very helpful tool in deciding what I should focus on.  I was extremely surprised when I saw how highly rated this show was by all the reviewers so I had to check it out.  I was not disappointed!

The show is a fairly traditional fantasy story.  Not much has been revealed so far.  All I know from the first episode is that in the past Bahamut was pissed and set about destroying everything and everyone (as he so often does).  The main heroes are two bounty hunters Favaro, the lovable rogue, and Kaisar, a noble pretty-boy who has fallen on hard times due to something Favaro did that has yet to be revealed.  The production values are easily the best I've ever seen for an animated adaptation of a trading card game.  This is thanks to the amazingly talented Studio Mappa (Terror in Resonance, Kids on the Slope).  The music is a bit generic but fits the show well.  If I didn't know about the card game I would have thought it was just an exciting new fantasy series.  Admittedly I don't know anything about the card game so I don't know how many references may or may not be present, the one fairly obvious nod seeming to be when bounty targets are captured they are turned into stone cards.  I will definitely continue watching this show, it has the potential to be one of the best fantasy anime in recent years.  With the talented staff it has I have big hopes for this show!

You can find it streaming on Funimation now and Hulu starting next week.  Feel free to leave a comment below!

Early Impressions - Fall 2014: Cross Ange: Rondo of Angel and Dragon

Giant Robots - Check!
Dragons - Check!
Half-naked girls - Check!
Melodrama - Check!
Tragedy - Check!
Borderline rape - Check!

If you're into that stuff you'll probably love this show!  Otherwise I recommend avoiding it.  I may watch another episode or two just to see how screwed up things become.  If it becomes spectacularly bad it may be worth finishing.  I'm not gonna bank on that though.


You can find it on Crunchyroll.  Feel free to leave a comment below!

Early Impressions: Sword Art Online II

It's finally time to talk about the second season of Sword Art Online!  I had intended to talk about this one sooner but the show had a fairly slow start so I didn't have much of an opinion on it.  Now that I'm six episodes in I feel I'm ready to talk briefly about it.  Before I talk about season two I feel I should state my opinion of season one.  In short, I loved the first story arc but felt that the second story arc was completely unnecessary and ultimately tainted my enjoyment of the show.  I connected on an emotional level to the romance between Kirito and Asuna during the Aincrad story arc because I have had online romances in the past.  It made me somewhat nostalgic and they did a good job of getting the viewer to care for them.  I would have been happy if they had ended the series there, but they didn't.  In the Fairy Dance arc things just got corny.  All I could think of when it started was that the tagline for that arc should have been: Sorry Kirito!  But your princess is in another VRMMO!  It also introduced a couple things that were never in the first arc and, sure as hell, did not need to be in the series at all; incest and repeated sexual assaults on Asuna.  It ruined the show for me and made me somewhat afraid of what season two may hold.

Well, so far so good!  It has been one year since the events of SAO.  This season finds our hero aiding in a government investigation in which a person in the real world was murdered from within the game by a mysterious player known only as Death Gun.  Kirito is skeptical that this is impossible.  Which I find to be somewhat hilarious given his status as a survivor of a game in which that exact thing happened...  This time he is entering the world of Gun Gale Online, a VRMMO shooter in which some of the best players in the world compete for cash and fame.  Shortly after entering the game he befriends one of the top players, Sinon, who has her own dark past outside of the game.  Rather than do something different and make Kirito use a gun like everyone else in the game they conveniently have lightsabers so he can still dispatch his enemies with a sword.  Aside from the slow start (episode 4 is completely unnecessary) I'm enjoying this season thus far.  I really hope that the creepy otaku fetishes don't sneak their way into this season at any point.  It's just not my thing.  Fingers crossed!

Available on Crunchyroll, Hulu, and Daisuki.

Sinon (Left), Kirito (Right).  No, Kirito is not a girl in this game.

Early Impressions: Aldnoah.Zero

It's time to talk about an anime I mentioned in a previous post, my runner-up for best new show of the 2014 Summer anime season, Aldnoah.Zero! This show is being helmed by another dream team consisting of Gen Urobuchi (writer of Fate/Zero, Madoka Magica, Psycho Pass), Ei Aoki (director of Fate/Zero, Wandering Son, Garden of Sinners), and Hiroyuki Sawano (Kill la Kill, Attack on Titan, Blue Exorcist) composing the music! Aldnoah.Zero takes place in an alternate present where mechs are commonplace in the military and humanity has colonized Mars. During the colonization a powerful technology known as "The light of Aldnoah" was discovered thus allowing Martian technology to far surpass that of the lowly "Terrans." After an act of terrorism the Martians have the excuse they need to flex their proverbial muscles and invade the planet Earth.

I can't help but notice the strong similarities between this show and Code Geass in regards to the plot. I loved Code Geass so I have no problem with this. It helps that the main character doesn't seem to have any type of superpower like Lelouch, it makes the story more human. My only complaint is that the main character, Inaho, is comically devoid of emotion. In one scene, as he notices a missile fly past his group of friends, he calmly suggests that maybe they should think of moving. It's REALLY weird. Maybe his lack of emotions will become a plot point in future episodes but for now it is just strange. Regardless, I am hooked on this show! It is off to a great start and I highly recommend giving it a shot!

It is available via Crunchyroll.

Early Impressions: Terror in Resonance (Zankyou no Terror)

This title is officially my favorite of the current season! Aldnoah.Zero being a very close second. Terror in Resonance (Zankyou no Terror) is the newest work from the dream team of Shinichiro Watanabe (Cowboy Bebop, Samurai Champloo, Space Dandy), Yoko Kanno (Wolf's Rain, Cowboy Bebop, Escaflowne), and animation studio Mappa (an offshoot of Madhouse [Hunter X Hunter, Redline, Ninja Scroll]). The production levels on this show are as superb as one would assume with a pedigree like that! The very basic premise centers around a pair of teenage terrorists and a female high school student they manage to rope into their twisted plot for revenge. Why they are willing to go to such extremes is the big mystery thus far. This show may be hard for some people to watch, especially those affected by the 9/11 attacks and/or the Boston bombing. One cannot help but draw correlations between this series and those tragic events.

If that is not an issue for you then there's no reason you shouldn't give this show a chance. It has its own twisted style that sucks you right in and has you on the edge of your seat in a desperate need to learn more about these disturbed individuals. What trauma could have been inflicted upon them that would justify this level of retaliation??? It's a question that I can't wait to learn the answer to!

It is simulcasting on Funimation for subscribers with the free streaming popping up on Hulu a week later. Check it out!

P.S. I haven't forgot about SAO 2, I'm just waiting to see a couple more episodes. It has started off rather slowly. Keep an eye out for it soon!

Early Impressions - Summer 2014: Sailor Moon Crystal

Just finished watching the premier of Sailor Moon Crystal. While I don't have the nostalgia factor that many of my friends do for Sailor Moon, I found it to be a pleasant little show. It has solid production values and good pacing. I already like it better than what I've seen of the original series (about 12 episodes). I don't love the original but I certainly don't hate it either, it makes for good background noise. Thankfully Usagi is nowhere near as obnoxious in Crystal, that is the one thing I don't care for in the original series. Crystal seems to have found a much better balance between the comedy and main plot line. Admittedly I have never read any of the Sailor Moon manga so I'm not sure which is more accurate (I would assume Crystal is).

In summation: Sailor Moon Crystal is a must-see for fans of the original. It has the potential to be a "gateway anime" for a new generation of fans that will ensure this title remains important to the medium. It is streaming on Crunchyroll, Hulu, and NicoNico.

Next up: Sword Art Online II