Welcome to another installment of first impression, if you missed my previous one, it is here. This season has its ups and downs, but I'm really liking what has come out so far despite my tongue and cheek header picture. So as always, lets get to my medley of first impression.
Maoyuu Maou Yuusha
Maoyuu Maou Yuusha takes place where a war has started between humans and demon. In order to stop the threat of what is the Demon King, the kings of the humans gathered a party of heroes to fight and defeat said demon king.
The only hero in the party we are introduced to is "Hero", who look very similar to Saito from Zero no Tsukaima. We also get a very kind greeting for the "Demon King", Maou who is actually a female. As far as what it setup in this anime, I can see it going into more detail, than whatthey laid out in this episode, about the affects of war. Right now this one is one series I'm keeping my eye on for its war discussion and the good amount of comedic relief for a fairly serious topic it is covering.
Ore no Kanojo to Osananajimi ga Shuraba Sugiru
Eita the main character to this very bright anime, Ore no Kanojo to Osananajimi ga Shuraba Sugiru, such a long ass title, is a guy who is focused on getting into the National University School of Medicine. As a result, he study nearly every hour he is awake. Later on we find out he is anti-love because of his parent and that is when Masuzu comes into this weird breed of romantic comedy. She is popular at the school for being the most beautiful and she also happens to be anti-love as well.
Oreshura is somewhat interesting for the main characters stand on love in a romance, but it's quiet obvious that he will be developing feeling for Masuzu, that may or may not be returned. We also have a non-traditional female protagonist that isn't super sweet, just very manipulative. So right now, this is an interesting one, however I'm going pretty curtain this will be a predicable series that won't surprise be, but I will remain open to this anime.
Senran Kagura
A story about five shinobis in training, Senran Kagura is a modern interpretation of the ninja/shinobi era. Because Senran Kagura was basically introducing the characters and the setting there isn't much to the story to explain beside every shinobi has large breasts.
I would consider this anime to be very stereotypical of what people would consider an anime, at least those on the outside looking in. I don't expect much from Senran Kagura, because for the first few minutes alone I can see it is very pandering to the audience. With moderate amount of violence and a side of jiggly gelatin jugs throw in. This kind of stuff wouldn't bother me if there was some story to pick the series up from this kind of fan service, but its only the first episode with nothing to go off of at the moment. However, the one redeeming quality for it was when the sensei of the girls had his "sexually comedic scene" with the phallic shaped sushi, at least it tells me the is self aware of what its doing.
Amnesia
Waking up from what appears to be a fall on the job, the heroine, never named, is suffering from amnesia. She meets with a sprite names Orion who explains what kind of situation she is in and basically, the heroine has to stitch her memory back together, by talking to the people around her, all while not telling anyone she is suffering from amnesia.
Right off the bat with out watching I thought this might be based on Amnesia: The Dark Descent, but surprised to find out it was another game named Amnesia. With that side note out of the way, as of right now I'm actually quite intrigued by the way this anime is setup. You don't know anything about the main character and basically are relying on her to figure out what is going on in parallel with yourself. With all the 'pretty dudes' around her we can see this is a reverse harem, which I don't mind since so far the setup of the plot is interesting enough to stick with.
Tamako Market
Tamako Market revolves around a small market of people that really love their mochi. Tamako is the daughter of a mochi maker and there is a competing mochi shop across the road, who is the family of Tamako's childhood friend.
When it comes to art style and exaggerated not so cute cuteness, Tamako Market reminds me of K-On without the music, aka the only thing good about the series. However, digging further into this anime, it seem like the focus is more on a talking bird, Dera Mochimazzi, that is the character with the most character in the series. Basically this anime is something that can be change pretty quickly over one character; if Dera leaves I don't have much desire to continue Tamako Market, but there are several episodes to prove me otherwise.
GJ-bu
Good job club or Gj-bu for short, is another slice-of-life comedy that only really had character introductions in this first episode. So this is mainly about the people and how they live life, rather than any kind of overarching plot.
GJ-bu reminds me of Sket Dance with the art style of Lucky Star. I actually enjoyed Sket Dance, but not so much with Lucky Star, so this one is a mixed bag for me. For the first episode it kept me entertained enough to not want to drop it right away, and the character are actually some what interesting ones. So I'll stick with this one for the time being.
Chihayafuru 2
Second season of Chihayafuru, still a story about karuta and the struggles of what its like to play competitively. This season feels like it is focused more on the relationship of the characters, and with addition of the new female, Sumire, it solidify my point even more.
I've never been all the interested in sporty anime, but Chihayafuru was something that drew me in despite that. The mix of intense karuta 'battles', the not so in your face comedy, and the hint of romance really is a nice contrast which continues this season. This was one of my top anticipated anime this season and so far, and I'm not disappointed.
Kotoura-san
Kotoura Haruka has suffered a lot because of her ability to read mind, resulting in her not trusting people to stick around. However she meet a boy that doesn't seem to want to leave her as quick as possible, named Manabe Yoshihisa.
Right from the beginning, this anime get heavy fast and it actually made me care for Haruka faster then any other anime I've watched. It is quite interesting that Kotoura-san would get to some of the heavier part so quick, rather than shifting later on. I see a lot of promise in this anime, but I just hope that it doesn't end up like Tonari No Kaibutsu-kun, where it starts off amazing and ends mediocre.
Sasami-san@Ganbaranai
Sasami Tsukuyomi is a hikikomori that pretty much depends one her older brother, who is obsessed with her (siscon). Sasami basically views the outside world though her brother and lives on her computer observing the world.
The main thing that attracted me into watch this anime was the art. It is very bright and has a lot of smooth, fluid motions. After actually watching it, I noticed its subtle humor, that I always like seeing in any kind of show because it is harder to pull off these kinds of joke very well. I'm really digging this anime so far it is quirky, quite beautiful, and I had no idea what was going on half way through, mainly rocket tits.
Boku Wa Tomodachi Ga Sukunai Next
Boku Wa Tomodachi Ga Sukunai Next, Haganai NEXT for short, is the continuation of what is the friendship club, but in the translation case, it is The Neighborhood Club. Basically everyone in the club has a hard time making friends and the club serves as a platform to make it easier to get a friend for their members.
We are back with the rivalry between Sena and Yozara, and the quite obvious push from Sena's dad and Stella to get Sena and Kodaka together. To be honest, it is a lot of of the same, which is why I say continuation, but I still enjoy the comedy and chemistry between characters. If you like the previous Haganai, you will most likely enjoy this one as well.
