Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu - Episode 1

Awr, man… I was determined not to like this!

Calling a spade a spade (because, y’know, it is), Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu is grade-A manufactured rubbish. Ever since reading about the show’s original premise, it was painfully obvious that this anime would be constructed meticulously from well-known tried-and-tested components with the aim of checking every tick box on the anime fan’s wish list. Clumsy, moé, sweet, gentle, good-at-everything, admired-by-all female lead who loves Akiba’s produce as much as we do? Check. Dweebish, uninterested, dorky-yet-assertive male protagonist? Check. Every frame’s a fanservice frame!? Check. Reason for aforementioned cute female lead to rely upon aforementioned boring guy? Check. It’s all there, laid out like a delicious smorgasbord of 2D niches ready to be devoured by a pack of salivating otaku with thick-rimmed glasses and pockets stuffed full of Suzumiya Haruhi bunny-girl figurines. Yeah, really. More…

Zero no Tsukaima: Princess no Rondo - Episode 1

So the long awaited Zero no Tsukaima series three finally shows its tsuntsun much less deredere face and, after the let down ending of the previous series, the pressure’s certainly on for it to live up to the awesomeness of those better early episodes. My initial take on episode one of Princess no Rondo, was to be honest, fairly mediocre.

It seems that the classic Zero no Tsukaima formula is still suffering from the same old problems of series two – namely too many characters and too fast a story. In that short twenty-five minutes alone, we learned that (spoiler alert here) Saito is no longer bound to Louise by contract (rune markings, Familiar-hood, whatever), Louise is not the only Void magic user and Saito has competition from another Void familiar himself. Oh, and that elf from series two – you know, the one that essentially ruined the entire series’ credibility and reputation – she has a known name. And address. Seriously guys, whatever happened to pacing? More…

Kurenai Initial Impressions

After the brain deadening slew of fan service and school-yard anime that have so far dominated this season, I was quite happy to stumble upon the excellent Kurenai. Initially, I became interested in the show after watching a clip from the psychedelic opening animation. Other people were saying good things about the first episode, so I gave it go myself and, I’m glad to say, was pleasantly surprised. More…