Today we continue our review of the winter 2015 anime season with reviews of Aldnoah.zero 2, Junketsu no Maria, Drrrx2, Dog Days”, Parasyte, and The iDOLM@STER: Cinderella Girls. And tune in tomorrow for a finale that we’re approaching a little differently!
The iDOLM@STER: Cinderella Girls
The iDOLM@STER: Cinderella Girls
stardf29 – 8/10
The original iDOLM@STER anime started off slow but ended up really good; Cinderella Girls keeps up the quality of the original while having a stronger start. The first seven episodes are especially strong, with a good plot line that explores a lot of both the excitement and disappointments of entering the entertainment industry (as well as providing me with plenty of blog material). The character focus episodes that followed were all very solid, too, if not as strong as the show’s first quarter. The development of the producer character is yet another strong point that this show has inherited from its predecessor. Overall, this show looks to be every bit as good as, if not better than, the original iM@S anime and I am definitely looking forward to the second half this summer.
Aldnoah Zero 2nd Season
Aldnoah Zero 2nd Season
Japesland – 5/10
Sigh. Aldnoah Zero really should have just stopped while it was ahead. At episode three it had setup an exposition that was not particularly original, but well-crafted. For the first three weeks I had anticipated it to be anime of the year, hands down. Skip forward to the end of season one and my hopes had been completely dashed. However, given its massive cliffhanger ending, I decided to give the second season a shot, on the off-chance that they would not exploit its tropes. Unfortunately, I was yet again let down. I predicted nearly every occurrence and was equally disappointed by its undeveloped ending that pulled cliches from every other comparable fiction. At the very least, by season two I had expected this so I was able to partly enjoy it as nothing more than a dumb mecha, but that is the only reason to watch Aldnoah Zero.
Durarara!!x2 Shou
Durarara!!x2 Shou
Annalyn – 7/10
Durarara!! has a lot of characters, and its story is told in a disjointed manner. As a result, if you want to keep track of anything that’s going on, let alone remember any names, it’s much easier to marathon it than to watch an episode a week—this was true for the first season, and it’s just as true for the second. There’s just one tiny problem: this is a TV show. You’re supposed to be able to watch an episode a week. I tried to do it this season. Instead, I saved the last four episodes for this week. While I liked the fights as much as usual, I couldn’t remember why everyone was fighting. The ending included a couple exciting surprises, which are meant to keep us in suspense until Durarara!!x2 Chapter Two begins in July (ha! as if I have that long a memory). Since this is only the first half of Durarara!!x2, I’ll overlook the lack of resolution in the last episode. Despite my complaints, I do find the stories and characters intriguing, and I can’t get enough of Heiwajima Shizuo’s mad fighting skills. Plus, in this season, we’re exposed to a few of the characters’ families—for example, we finally learn more about Shizuo’s relationship with his actor brother. The first season piqued my curiosity about him, so it was nice to see him actively present on screen. Overall: Durarara!!x2 is fun, but it doesn’t translate well into TV format, and splitting this season’s two cours like this only worsens the disjointed feeling.
Maria the Virgin Witch
Junketsu no Maria
Kaze – 9/10
This is a very heavily biased score that I otherwise would never give. “Objectively,” I think Maria is maybe a 6/10. But what can I say? The addition of Christianity into this anime was beautiful. Not perfect, but very impressive and magnitudes better than any other anime which usually use Christianity as a bad plot device. Unlike those, Maria tackled Christianity and the Catholic Church head on, using quite accurate portrays to present questions against faith and life as a believer. It has some fan service and typical anime tropes mixed in that arguably lower the quality of it as a commentary on religion, but in my view, that raises its value because it isn’t forcibly putting Christianity first. Rather, it is truly an anime through and through that just so happens to depict Christianity in a well-researched and fair manner, making it something that anime fans and Christians alike can appreciate.
Dog Days”
Dog Days”
stardf29 – 7/10
As a whole, Dog Days has always been less about being a serious, intellectual show and more about just being a ton of fun. The third season expands upon the worldbuilding of the setting of Flognarde, and in doing so further evokes a sense of wonder and adventure. This is the kind of fantasy show that makes me go, “man, I wish I was there”, something I think more fantasy stories should aspire to. The season did have its weak episodes and maybe a bit more fanservice than some might be comfortable with, but it was still a wonderful watch, and I most definitely would welcome a fourth season. If you are up for some pure escapist fantasy, or want to watch a show that is just plain fun, the Dog Days series is definitely one worth checking out.
Parasyte: The Maxim
Kiseijuu: Sei no Kakuritsu
Japesland – 5/10
Parasyte, as a concept, is not my cup of tea. Much of its atmosphere reminded me of Death Note, a show which has gained enormous, and somewhat mainstream, popularity, yet I also do not particularly enjoy. However, thanks to several recommendations, I decided to give the series a shot, and I’ll be darned if I wasn’t a little pleasantly surprised… until about halfway through when it began to fall apart. The only thing the series really had going for it was its overarching plot, due primarily to weak characters and weak production values (particularly animation). By the point it had started to slow down, it had already pulled an Attack on Titan and screwed up its previously passable pacing in a superb world. It still packed a pretty powerful punch from time to time, but overall the quality showed extreme levels of inconsistency. I cannot recommend Parasyte.
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Look forward to tomorrow’s finale of our winter 2015 review!