Musings and Reflections – Winter 2019 Week 0

     A new year, a new season, a new hope. The last winter proved to be incredibly rich with a number of great shows that could be enough for the entirety of a pretty decent year. This time I’m not as optimistic, but the selection is still varied enough (even with the heap of second seasons and stuff). I guess I’ll be rather cautious this time but at least one show should be definitely good. I hope.

Boogiepop wa Warawanai

     Yeah, Boogiepop. A famous light novel series that will try its best to rekindle the passion about the franchise. And I say it has a pretty great chance to do so. Why? As someone familiar with the source material I can vouch that it’s pretty good. Urban supernatural stories with otherwise very grounded realistic characters are simply fun. Another great news is that the director is Shingo Natsume at Madhouse. While we probably shouldn’t expect another instance of Natsume’s Phone-Book of Friends a la One Punch Man, the man has everything to make this anime great. Sure, some may say that it could end up being another anticlimactic bore like ACCA, but I liked that show, so either way I’m optimistic. Even if more than I should.

     Enjoyment expectations 80%

Sword Art Online: Alicization

     Yep, continuing with this one. And I don’t expect it to be any different from what we already got. Endless exposition scenes, very few instances of kinda spectacular fights, and the continuation of Kirito and Eugeo trying to understand what’s going on. Hopefully it will take them less than the whole season to accomplish that. Though knowing that there’s still 3/4 of a year worth of SAO still left, I doubt that Kirito will remember that Asuna is impatiently waiting for him in the real world. At least maybe no other rapey-faced villain will appear.

     Enjoyment expectations 40%

Piano no Mori 2

     I hope that somebody responsible did figure out the issues the production of the first cour had. I probably shouldn’t expect much improvement over the perfectly accurate (props for that) but still incredibly jarring CG fingers of the pianists. The overall aesthetic also felt rather uninspired, so the only reasons for watching remain two – I’m a completionist so I do want to know how everything ends and anime about classical music are very rare, so I don’t want to miss the chance. I’m not the biggest fan of Chopin (though Kai undoubtedly is) but good piano music always should be appreciated no matter what. So yeah, not the highest expectations, but some expectations nonetheless.

     Enjoyment expectations 55%

     Mob Psycho 100 and Kakegurui should be big enough. I haven’t been that interested in their first seasons, so that puts a stop sign before the second ones. Though at least about Mob Psycho I feel more than curious. Tate no Yuusha no Nariagari some may praise based on the source material, but I see nothing but a usual isekai, and one with not the highest production values, though Kinema Citrus hired Kevin Penkin for the OST, so at least that should be great. Still not sold on the show though. Yakusoku no Neverland gets me cautious by being a Shounen Jump title (that’s not my cup of tea), and the character designs seem off somehow. For anyone interested in a decent harem I can recommend Gotoubun no Hanayome, as I’m reading the manga. It’s not anything groundbreaking, just some usual but fairly solid harem story. But I don’t think the anime will be that different from the manga so I won’t gain anything by watching it. Also,  best girl Miku (mark my words) in my head possesses a lower and softer voice – that of Miyuki Sawashiro, Maaya Sakamoto, or, as a matter of fact,  Inori Minase, who got the role of Itsuki.

     Dororo is the only show apart from those three above that I have more serious thoughts of watching. Osamu Tezuka’s manga works on me sometimes, and sometimes it doesn’t, but I have some confidence in MAPPA’s production and the (almost) historical setting.

     Yeah, everything else just doesn’t seem that interesting – it’s a rather meager sight after the lush performance of the last Winter – both story- and art-wise.

     On second thought, there’s one other show that seems interesting, though for entirely different reasons. It seems like GoHands didn’t die out after the disaster of Hand Shakers. I’m tempted to say that it’s unfortunate. And, what’s more interesting, they don’t seem to have learned anything. I’m all for unique artstyles and original anime, but W’z (whatever that means) seems like a cousin to Hand Shakers – the art is precisely the same, which forebodes the clash between 2D and 3D, obnoxious filters and color palettes and sickeningly rotating camera movements. Don’t forget the OST made of only one track that is used for any kind of situation. And the story doesn’t seem to be any better. The premise, according to ANN, is such:

     Yukiya is about 14 years old. He spends his time DJ-ing alone. Due to his father’s influence, he’s listened to house music since he was young, and he uploads videos online. He wants to convey something to someone. He wants to be recognized, and become important. But getting hurt is scary. One day, while trying to get more views, he does something that can’t be undone. And he sees a live broadcast from “that world.” Yukiya believes he can’t do anything alone, but that he could accomplish something if he were doing it together with someone else.

     I couldn’t even choose a single quote from that – every single sentence screams “teen edge” and “let’s make the synopsis so vague that we could make a show about whatever”, which is ridiculous. I don’t know if it’s better to cry or laugh looking at that pile of “something” and “someone”. A bot could write a better synopsis. Anyway, it seems even crazier than Hand Shakers, so if anyone is ready for “so bad it’s good’ kind of show, be my guest. Unless it’s so bad, that it’s so good, that it’s gone full circle to being so bad. Whatever.

     What do you think about the new season? Is there anything else worth watching that I overlooked?

 

Posted by Aldael on January 4, 2019

https://aldael.wordpress.com/2019/01/04/musings-and-reflections-winter-2019-week-0/