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Will not finish Rating
Elfen Lied (TV) Bad
What happens when you combine generic romantic comedy, bloody ultra-violence, syrupy moe of the more nauseating variety, and loli-flavoured sexuality on the one hand with delusions of artistic sensibility and a hackneyed sci-fi plot on the other? You get a mess, that’s what – a mess called Elfen Lied. A doomed attempt to combine the basest pandering to every fetishistic desire of the mouth-breathing, basement dwelling, socially incapable otaku contingent with pretensions of narrative depth, this show is, at best, faintly embarrassing and, at worst, queasily uncomfortable to watch. The blood and guts content, while profuse, is curiously bland (as is the profligate gratuitous nudity), none of the characters is very sympathetic – or at all well developed – and the romance and melodrama isn’t at all engaging. The production values aren’t at all bad and the show’s not unwatchable (in a so-cheesy-it’s-almost-amusing kind of way) but that’s about as close as I can come to an endorsement.
Ga-Ra-Ku-Ta: Mr. Stain on Junk Alley (TV) Decent
Girl's High (TV) So-so
An adaptation of the High School Girls manga that manages to amplify all of the problems inherent in its source material whilst simultaneously failing to emulate its strengths. The characters and the situational comedy are compelling enough that it remains quite watchable and, indeed, moderately amusing but I’m left, nonetheless, with the feeling that more has been lost in the translation from one medium to the other than was strictly necessary and whilst the manga was capable of appealing to males and females, teens and adults, the anime seems much more focussed on the horny male teenager demographic. That’s not a good thing (at least not if you don’t fall into that demographic and have some appreciation for the original version) – and the bargain basement animation doesn’t help matters.
Noir (TV) Bad
Unappealing characters with horribly ugly character designs, insipid voice acting, nods to sixties spy films that are barely skin deep, tedious dialogue, glacial plot development and implausible storylines…Noir is like how-not-to-make-girls-with-guns-anime-for-dummies. Something might have been salvageable if not for the fact that the show entirely squanders what could have been its two biggest (and possibly only) strengths. Firstly, for an action show, Noir is decidedly lacking in excitement, tension and threat. The violence is completely bloodless (it’s Hollywood style carnage without consequences) and cartoonish with droves of faceless minions gunned down en masse to no great effect and the viewer is never left in any doubt as to the outcome of the battles. That’s fine in a light-hearted show but in something that sets itself up as having grit and depth, it’s poison. Secondly, the show’s French setting could have provided an atmospheric backdrop and an opportunity to wander down paths less travelled in the world of anime. Here too, it falls flat on its face. Aside from the occasional crude visual cue, the setting could be anywhere. Anywhere in Japan that is. The French protagonist is in no way culturally (or linguistically) differentiated from the Japanese protagonist and the setting is squandered – not only does it not add anything to the atmosphere but the production team’s obvious lack of familiarity with the locale and its culture actively hinders the viewer’s already perilously thin suspension of disbelief.
Peacemaker (TV) Weak
A deeply irritating teenaged protagonist (complete with spiky hair and a will to improve himself and overcome all obstacles on the quest he lives for) lots of fights and a really annoying mascot animal (that appears to have snuffled in from another anime with a completely different visual style) mark this as yet another tedious shônen epic – albeit a rather nicely presented one. Fairly overt BL elements and the protagonist’s unbelievably effeminate companion (who somewhat resembles Michael Jackson around about the time his nose started to fall off) along with some rather uncharacteristic (for a shônen action show) dialogue and exposition maybe indicate that the makers hoped to bulk out the audience by appealing to the fangirl demographic. Personally, I can’t think for the life of me why anybody, regardless of gender, would want to immerse themselves in this entirely disposable effort. The art’s pretty good, as is the animation and everything’s kept moving forward at an acceptable pace but there’s no shortage of inherently better shows that can make the same claims. None of the characters is particularly appealing and the plot, based on the first volume, is a recipe for ennui.
Shin chan (TV) Weak
This is frantic, puerile, ugly, infantile and generally stupid – and intentionally so. I don’t have a problem with that. Unfortunately, it’s an only occasionally funny show and given that its whole appeal (or lack thereof) rests on the quality of the gags, the show is left without any real redeeming features to fall back on. There are a few laughs but not nearly enough to be worth the time required to watch it and the dub-only English release, while understandable, doesn’t help to endear this series to me.
(The) Tower of Druaga: The Aegis of Uruk (TV) Weak
Having watched the first episode when it was broadcast online by Gonzo, I’m not much interested in watching anymore. An anime based around a computer game (rarely a good sign), the first episode is a weak parody romp featuring a team of adventurers on a D&D style dungeon jaunt – it’s rather like Rune Soldier only with all the charm removed and a lot of gags that feel like slightly dodgy knock-offs from an unused script for an episode of Excel Saga. I hear that subsequent episodes move in an entirely different direction – if I ever bother to watch any more of the show (unlikely) I’ll update this write up accordingly. On the basis of the first episode alone, however, it’s all pretty shallow and the art and animation are very much of the cheap and cheerful variety.