I’ve finally tried out all the new fall series I was interested in. Good thing too, as the fall season is more than half over. O_O
First, the continuing series. I’m still watching Naruto Shippuuden, Valvrave the Liberator S2 and Kuroko’s Basketball S2. Kuroko’s Basketball is the biggest joy of my anime-watching life right now – it’s just that good. =D
I dropped Meganebu! The series was too silly, or perhaps its brand of humor just wasn’t compatible with my own and I didn't understand it.
So, on to the ones I’m still watching, roughly in order from okay to good to the best.
I still don’t quite know what to think about Kill la Kill. The art style and character designs are jarring and unpleasant, and there aren’t any likable characters. But it is a dystopian world where the women appear to be more kick-ass than the men, which is pretty funny – so I’ll stick with it.
Galilei Donna features another dystopian – or at least oddly different – future world and an engaging action-oriented story, so it’s still on my watchlist.
A sports anime about a young pitcher from the countryside who is chosen to attend a big-city baseball training academy, Ace of the Diamond has been a nice enjoyable series so far.
All you have to say is “post-apocalyptic Tokyo” and I’m there. ;-) Coppelion’s characters are just okay and I haven’t watched many episodes yet, but the sci-fi type setting already has me hooked in.
Vampires and spirit swords and (as always) high school boys and girls who get caught up in supernatural warfare… It took me four episodes to decide whether Strike the Blood was too derivative to continue watching. It finally came down to the flirtation and romantic tension between the two leads Kojo and Yukina to tip the balance in the series’ favor. Sometimes it’s the small things that do it. :)
Finally, the two new series I’m enjoying the most.
Golden Time, about three law students and what I’m assuming will become a love triangle at some point, is a lot of fun. Banri Tada becomes Mitsuo’s friend on the first day of class. Neither young man realizes yet that Mitsuo’s childhood friend and stalker Koko Kaga has also enrolled at the school. The opening credit sequence seems to imply that Banri and Koko will pair up which seems unlikely given Koko’s total obsession with Mitsuo, but I guess that’s why it’s called a romantic comedy. Added in to the mix is that Banri lost all his memories in an accident. :-0
The set-up is different and refreshing and I have no idea what will happen next as I’m watching each episode, which is great.
Okay, no one is talking about Samurai Flamenco this season. No one seems to know it exists. So let me send some love its way and tell a little about the story and why I’m enjoying it so much.
Beat cop Hidenori Goto (Tomokazu Sugita) spends his days bored out of his mind in his police koban. One night he comes across a naked man shivering in an alley. The man is Masayoshi Hazama (Toshiki Masuda).
Hazama, a handsome but ditzy guy, works as a model because as he puts it: “I have no skills and can’t do anything else.” His agency pays for a glorious penthouse apartment, but Hazama is subject to receiving unannounced visits there from his tiger of an agent, Ishihara-san.
Since childhood, Hazama has been a huge fan of superheroes in anime and manga. He’s recently decided to become a superhero himself by dressing up in a costume and going out at night to see that justice is done. Starting small by going after teens who litter, Hazama goes for broke one night and chases after a man who takes Goto’s umbrella from the restaurant they were drinking at. Unbeknownst to Hazama and Goto, the chase is captured on video and posted online the next day—and goes viral.
Now everyone knows about the new hero, the masked man who calls himself “Samurai Flamenco.” But who is Samurai Flamenco? Everyone in Japan wants to know...
Samurai Flamenco is blessedly about adults. Both Hazama and Goto are in their 20s, Ishihara has a flirtation going with the producer of one of the variety shows she books Hazama on, and Goto is in a long-distance relationship with a woman. The relationship consists of the woman staying over once a month at Goto’s apartment and then they text each other the rest of the month. Hazama and Goto go to izakayas and drink. It’s just nice not to watch stories set in high schools all the time, you know?
And the leads, Hazama and Goto, are a lot of fun. Goto is one of Tomokazu Sugita’s straight-man foil roles. In other words, we hear his sardonic inner monologues as he bemusedly watches Hazama do dumb-but-brave things and it’s funny as hell.
I don’t know where the story is going or how it will wind up, but Samurai Flamenco has been a great ride so far. =D
