Spring 2011!!

I know I'm usually slower than the other bloggers when it comes to reviewing the new anime season but this time round, I'm super duper late. Arggh... Gintama' has already started!!

I'm going to quickly write this, watch Gintama' and then write my first impression on Gintama'! Anyway, Spring 2011 is one of the most jam-packed season I've ever seen! The lineup is filled with many different kinds of anime to cater for different tastes. Personally, I'm very happy and excited about this season!!

1. Gintama'

I was super sad when it ended last year! Now, I'm super happy that it's back!!

Watching? Of course!

Release date: 4th Apr 2011 (It has started already!!)


2. Deadman Wonderland

Igarashi Ganta has been convicted of a crime that he hasn't committed, and sent to a new, privately owned and operated prison, where the inmates are the main attraction in a modern day twist to the gladiatorial coliseums of ancient times. Throw in a healthy dose of weird little girl, some new-found super powers, and a little conspiracy theory, and you have Deadman Wonderland.

I love the manga and I seriously hope the anime will do it justice!

Watching? Definitely Yes!

Release date: 16th Apr 2011


3. Ao no Exorcist

This world consists of two dimensions joined as one, like a mirror. The first is the world in which the humans live, Assiah. The other is the world of demons, Gehenna. Ordinarily, travel between the two, and also any kind of contact between the two, is impossible. However the demons can pass over into this world by possessing anything that exist within it. Satan is the god of demons but there's one thing that he doesn't have, and that's a substance in the human world that is powerful enough to contain him! For that purpose he created Rin, his son from a human woman, but will his son agree to his plans? Or will he become something else...? An exorcist?

I love the manga too and have been faithfully following it since it's serialization in JUMP SQ.

Watching? Definitely Yes!

Release date: 17th Apr 2011


4. Toriko

In a world where the taste and texture of food are very important, there is Toriko, a hunter of precious foods. Toriko is a man with inhuman skills who captures the ferocious, evasive and rare animals to complete his ultimate dinner course. His partner, Komatsu who is a chef, is a weak timid person who was inspired by Toriko's greatness and accompanies him on all his journeys on his quest for the full course of his life.

When Toriko was first serialized JUMP, I was quite turned off by the character designs (big muscular guys are not my type) and so I didn't start reading until recently. Surprisingly, the story is interesting and the battles are pretty exciting too. Also, the food in the manga looks appetizing enough to make me feel hungry sometimes.

Watching? Yes!

Release date: 3rd Apr 2011 (Aye.. is the collaboration episode with One Piece considered as the first episode?)


5. Sket Dance

The manga focuses on the misadventures of the "Campus Support Group" or "Sket-Dan", of Kaimei Gakuen. "Sket-Dan" is a club devoted to solving any problems brought to it by the staff or student body for the general improvement of campus life. Due to its general lack of meaningful assignments, it is treated with widespread contempt and only has 3 members.

Another JUMP adaptation!! Sket Dance reminds me a little of Gintama as it's also about helping people and it's full of parodies and humor. Sket Dance is also full of dialogues and in order for it to be successful, the seiyuu's performance is crucial. Gintama's seiyuu have done a great job so far and I hope it will be the same for Sket Dance.

Watching? Yes!

Release date: 7th Apr 2011


6. C: The Money of Soul and Possibility Control Top

The Japanese government was rescued from the brink of financial collapse by the Sovereign Wealth Fund. For its citizens, however, life has not improved, and unemployment, crime, suicide, and despair are rampant. Kimimaro, raised by his maternal grandmother after the disappearance of his father and the death of his mother, is a scholarship student whose only dream is to avoid all this and live a stable life. One day, however, he meets a man who offers him a large sum of money if he'll agree to pay it back. From then on his fate is radically altered as he's drawn into a mysterious area known as "The Financial District."

It sounds very interesting!

Watching? Yes!

Release date: 14th Apr 2011


7. Sekai-ichi Hatsukoi

Onodera Ritsu has just transferred from his father's publishing company to Marukawa Shoten. Assigned to the shoujo manga division, he crosses path with the person he'd least expected to meet. Takano Masamune is the editor-in-chief of the division Ritsu's been assigned to, and the two get off on the wrong foot right from the very start when Takano unexpectedly kisses him. However, there is more than what meets the eye: Takano is actually Saga, Ritsu's senpai and high school love.

It's from the same mangaka who wrote Junjou Romantica. More precisely, Sekai-ichi is a spin-off from Junjou Romantica. Frankly, I never did quite get into Junjou Romantica as the manga has too many volumes and I'm too lazy to start reading it. (I prefer short Yaoi manga.) As for Sekai-ichi, I'll watch the first few episodes and see if I like it and can follow it.

Watching? Likely!

Release date: 8th Apr 2011


8. Yondemasu yo, Azazel-san.

Akutabe is a detective who summons devils to solve the troubles of his clients. One day, a low class devil Azazel is summoned by Akutabe and is used harshly by him and his assistant Rinko.

It's a comedy and seems fun to watch!

Watching? Likely!

Release date: 8th Apr 2011


9. Gyakkyou Burai Kaiji Hakairoku-hen

Adaptation of the "Chika Chinchiro" and "Pachinko Numa" stories from the Tobaku Hakairoku Kaiji manga.

The first season was ok for me. I will give the second season a shot and see if it appeals to me.

Watching? Maybe!

Release date: 5th Apr 2011

Bakuman

My relationship with Bakuman is one full of love and hate. Bakuman shows exactly how the manga world works but... in the process it... we are being put through the dumb relationship between Mashiro and Azuki. It's plain obvious that Ouba sensei is no good at writing romance and I hate most of the female characters he come up (both in Bakuman and in Death Note).

Anyway, a second season has been confirmed and it will start at the end of this year.

Plot: (8/10) – Good
Bakuman is about Mashiro Moritaka (Saikou), an average 9th grade student but talented artist, and Takagi Akito (Shuujin), an elite 9th grader and aspiring writer. Takagi is the one who convinces Mashiro to join him in becoming the greatest mangaka Japan has ever seen. Mashiro agrees because he wants to become a successful mangaka and then marry the girl of his dreams, Azuki Miho.

Bakuman is very educational as it shows us exactly how Shueisha Jump editorial department works. It also depicts quite realistically the struggles and problems face by mangaka. I especially like how the last 2 episodes depict the stress face by the editors and mangaka while waiting for the serialization results.

One of the bad things about Bakuman is the romance. Though it's not exactly the main focus and probably only took up less than 20% of the air time, it's more than enough to irritate me.

Characters: (6/10) – Fair
There are more characters I hate than like in Bakuman. The only characters I like are Eiji, Fukuda and Hiramaru (appeared in the last 2 episodes and will appear more in season 2). I hate ALL the female characters in Bakuman and I don't really like the 2 main characters too.

Here are some characters I like:

Eiji - I love his passion for manga and his eccentric personality.

Fukuda - Though he's arrogant, he's really cool, kind and charismatic! He's my favorite character in Bakuman!

Hiramaru - He's not properly introduced in the anime yet. He's eccentric too and I find most of his actions very funny.

Here are some characters I don't like or hate: (I don't usually do this but I need to rant it out!)

Mashiro - His motivation of becoming a mangaka turns me off.

Takagi - I'm ok with him but I remember how he explicitly talked about how smart girls are actually stupid because they forget how everyone hates smart girls, and that if they were really smart they’d purposely act stupid so that boys would like them more. Hmm... Should I hate Takagi or the guy who came out with this line!?

Nakai - I hate him!! You will know why in season 2.

Miyoshi - She has the talent for Karate but decides to give it up so that she can become more girly and likable, and also have more time to bother Takagi and Mashiro. WTH!? As a girl, I can't agree with this! =.=

Azuki - She's the "smart" girl Takagi was talking about. =.=

Aoki - She's probably the worst female character. In the anime, except for being a snob, she hasn't done anything that makes her very hateful. You will see more of her hateful acts in season 2.

Art/Animation: (9/10) – Very Good
As expected, the art is good. It's pretty cool that Obata sensei can draw in different art styles for the different manga inside Bakuman.


Music: (9/10) – Very Good
I like all the theme songs, in particular the Opening Theme "Blue Bird" by Kobukuro and the 2nd Ending Theme "Genjitsu to iu Na no Kaibutsu to Tatakau Mono Tachi " by Takahashi Yuu.

Enjoyment: (7/10) – Fairly Good
There are moments (manga making related) where I truly enjoy Bakuman. There are also moments (romance related) that I simply can't bear to watch.

Overall: (7/10) – Fairly Good
In my opinion, Bakuman is an over-rated series. There's a lot of hype over the manga and I can sort of understand why as this is the first manga that talks about manga making. Though I think the concept behind Bakuman is good, the execution of the story and most of the characters are not very good.

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Hourou Musuko

Overall, I think Hourou Musuko is a well-written series but there were many times, I got irritated by some of the characters' actions. I do understand their action as I think I might have behaved like how some of them did when I was in middle school. =.= However, it's painful to see them being self-centered or wishy-washy and it made me feel bad for some of the things I had done when I was a teenager. =X

Plot: (9/10) – Very Good
The story is about a young boy named Nitori Shuuichi who wants to be a girl, and his friend Takatsuki Yoshino, a girl who wants to be a boy. The series deals with issues such as trans-sexuality, gender identity, and the beginning of puberty.

There are some differences between the anime and manga. The most obvious difference is that the anime omitted the first 4 volumes of the manga and decided to start with volume 5. This is a bold and yet good decision made by the animators. I'm not saying the first 4 volumes of the manga is no good but I think if the animators were to animate the story faithfully from chapter 1, the anime will end up being too long and it might get boring for some people.

Characters: (9/10) – Very Good
Though it's not easy to write a story about the growing up pains and problems teenagers face, the mangaka of Hourou Musuko did an amazing job. Characters in Hourou Musuko are easy to relate to as they are people you can find easily in middle schools.

As much as I like the character developments, I can't say the say for the personalities of the characters. However, I think characters like Takatsuki, Chi, Anna and Maho are pretty cool.

Art/Animation: (9/10) – Very Good
The animators did a Fantastic job in making the characters look so pretty in the anime. The art in the manga is only average but the art in the anime is very pretty.

Music: (9/10) – Very Good
The Opening Theme "Itsudatte" by Daisuke and Ending Theme "For You" by Rie Fu are really nice.

Enjoyment: (8/10) – Good
The pacing may seem a little slow but it's just right for this series. I like how it slowly but nicely developed the story and characters.

Overall: (9/10) – Very Good
This is not a series for everyone. If you like a realistic anime about the problems teenagers face during their growing up years, this is the perfect series for you. However, if you have problems with trans-sexuality, gender identity and cross-dressing, then I think it's better if you skip this.