Spring anime season 2014

A look at some of the more interesting shows from the new season.

Blade and Soul
Blade and Soul
Blade and Soul:
This is the first one I looked at. It’s set in a world in which an Empire is taking over surrounding territory, for agricultural purposes. There are soldiers in odd-looking costumes, some odd-looking weapons (some of the soldiers appear to have sub-machine guns, which seem out of place in this fantasy world). There is a lot of magical violence. The lead character, Alka, is an emotionless killer and member of the Sword clan, hunted by the Empire for killing her master. In short, it’s the usual sort of just-watchable rot that one expects from a game-derived fantasy. On the other hand, the character designs of the women are so gorgeous that one doesn’t care what the rest of the show is like.
I have now watched three episodes. The action continues to be unreal, with a high death count, but it remains prettily if undemandingly watchable.

Magica Wars:
In the first episode a cute magical girl fights comical monsters and has trouble with the police. It’s generic, but amusing, and it lasts only a few minutes.

Mushi-shi:
If you like slow-paced, atmospheric stories about the traditional Japanese supernatural, this is for you.

No Game No life:
A NEET (shut-in) brother and sister conquer the world of electronic gaming as the mysterious group Blank, and are then invited to come to a world where everything is decided by games. After a few encounters they start to feel that this bizarre world is more to their liking than our own. This show is rather better than I feared and looks like it might develop into some sort of fantasy quest. The second episode develops some character relationships.

Chaika – the Coffin Princess:
The eponymous princess is first seen lugging a coffin through a wood. The refugee princess talks foreign and has some surprising gadgets in the lid of her coffin. She meets two Saboteurs, a brother and sister. There are vigorous action scenes and little tedious explanation. This looks like the best show of the season so far. Action continues in the second episode, with some reveals.

Dai Shogun – Great Revolution:
The anti-hero, Keniichiro, has easily defeated all the other thugs in Nagasaki, rather to his disgust, when the police start to pursue him for a series of sex murders committed by a woman. Also in the mix are period-style giant robots which saw off Perry’s black ships. With lechery, murder, semi-nudity and robot violence, and not a single child character, this show has a distinctly adult feel. The character designs are distinctive too, but there is not much movement in the animation. This is fast-moving and funny, and seems worth a second look. In the second episode, Keniichiro tries to lose his virginity with foxy young tart Chihiro.

Nanana’s Buried Treasure:
High school boy Juugo is consigned to Nanae Island, an artificial island supporting many schools and colleges. His landlady turns out to be a sexy drunk (I’m sure I’ve met her already in a recent anime), and the room he non-refundably rents turns out to have the ghost of a murdered girl in it. The opening sequence is of an Indiana-Jones style treasure hunt. Juugo discovers that the ghost, the eponymous Nanaha, was one of the founders of the island, and left behind various treasures, not all of which have been found. Average animation, but interesting enough. In the second episode, more characters appear and it is turning into more of a detective comedy.

Ishuukan Friends:
For once, a show that isn’t offensive or unwholesome. The male main character wants to be friends with the quiet, stand-offish girl in his class, but she refuses. It turns out that she has a memory defect, and during the weekend forgets about anyone she has met in the week. The writer, Suga Shoutarou, also worked on Uchouten Kazoku. There are some pleasant character designs. There are no big surprises in episode #2.

Mekakucity Actors
Shintarou is a late teen shut-in who had his computer infected by an AI/virus sometime ago and now lives with the AI who presents itself as an annoying teenaged girl named Ene and who inhabits all of his electronic devices. One hot August day Shintarou damages his keyboard, and because a holiday is coming up he has to go buy one from a shop.
At the store he is caught up in a terrorist attack, but some kids cause a commotion, allowing Shintarou to plug Ene into the store’s network. An odd show that seems worth another look.

Ping Pong the Animation
One might expect that ‘Ping Pong the Animation’ would be just another sports anime in the vein of ‘Baby Steps’ or ‘Haikyuu’.
What a surprise then to watch the first episode and find something more like a sports anime version of ‘Aku no Hana’ . The character designs are quite aggressively crude and ugly, and the narration deadpan and sardonic. Two friends, Smile and Peco, are the best players in their high school ping-pong club, and resented by their less skilled seniors, who are drawn as much bigger than Smile and Peco. The team captain has an antler-like hairstyle. Smile never smiles, while Peco, rated the better player, is cocky and extrovert, and skips practice to play at a private club, where he humiliates an adult player.
They check out an imported Chinese player who trashes Peco.

There is no clear front-runner yet, and some much-anticipated shows turned out to be a let-down.