Autumn 2014 – First Impressions (Part 3)

This post reviews: Inou-Battle wa Nichijou-kei no Naka de, Amagi Brilliant Park, Nanatsu no Taizai, Akatsuki no Yona, and Trinity Seven.

I am unsure if I will include any of the ‘undecided’ anime in my Weekly Anime posts until I agree to pick them up for good. This should quicken the process in which the first one comes out, though you can probably still expect it to come out weeks late like everything else here.

Watching:

Amagi Brilliant Park

Kyoto Animation hasn’t made a good anime since Hyouka. Will Amagi Brilliant Park break this negative trend or mediocrity for KyoAni? Maybe. There’s a chance, but nothing I’ve seen so far warrants listing this anime among KyoAni’s top tier anime. However, this will probably my favorite KyoAni anime since Hyouka aired in 2014 due to a handful of reasons.

If the first episode of Amagi Brilliant Park is any dependable gauge for how the series will perform, then there is no question I will be entertained. The comedy in Amagi Brilliant Park was outstanding, frequently producing a smile or laughter. The effectiveness of the comedy can be derived from two main aspects: the content and the delivery of the jokes. The decrepit and decaying amusement park, with a list of problems that never stops growing, was a constant source of delight (for me) because of how awful and disappointing everything was. As for the delivery, Isuzu’s deadpan technique worked wonders when combined with the outrageous theme park, and her style reminds me of Senjougahara from the Monogatari franchise, a character whom I am extremely fond of. The remainder of the cast played well, too, with Seiya and Isuzu having flawless chemistry and the minor characters contributing when necessary, such as the four elemental fairies. And though I hardly ever care about the plot in comedies, I am actually absorbed in this story and about how Seiya plans to save the dilapidated amusement park. As for the art and animation, Kyoto Animation has always been one of the more dazzling and impressive anime studios, and you can see the superb quality and detail in Amagi Brilliant Park.

However, I do have some concerns with Amagi Brilliant Park moving forward, specifically with how they improve the theme park. Although I expect a similar level and style of comedy throughout the series, I did find a primary source of delight from this episode being directly caused by how rundown the park was. I mean, once they improve the rollercoasters, the mascots are competent and the park is making money… the content of humor from the first episode will be completely gone.  Another potential problem is that the anime felt more like Chuunibyou Demo Koi ga Shitai! than Nichijou.  One of those is one of my favorite comedies, and the other isn’t.  I’ll let you guess which one is which.  Still, I have confidence in the anime, and am looking forward to more Amagi Brilliant Park this season.

Undecided:

Inou-Battle wa Nichijou-kei no Naka de

Another comedy anime, Inou-Battle wa Nichijou-kei no Naka de barely accomplished the primary objective of keeping me entertained, but failed to satisfy me in a number of other areas. Of course, I’ve always claimed, ‘if a comedy can make me laugh, why not keep it?’, so why the contradiction here? Inou-Battle wa Nichijou-kei no Naka de felt fine as a basic comedy anime, but it was lacking in other essential categories, especially in terms of its characters and its story. Additionally, the humor, for the most part, was broad and rudimentary, never really building on itself or working with its characters to create complex jokes on its situation. It’s another anime that’s too focused on the main character’s chuunibyou and other anime stereotypes, so I’m unsure if the comedy will continue on this trajectory. In fact, I’d say the comedy failed until Student Council President Kudou showed up. She’s really the only character I immediately liked, which doesn’t bode well for the anime when she’s not on screen… which probably will be most of the series. At least the art and animation are stylish and pleasing, so there’s no problem with how the series looks. The visuals of the superpowers were perhaps the most impressive, though I found the consistent art style throughout to be charming. As for the setting, I found their situation to be amusing. I found the idea of a world where the characters develop superpowers and use them to play with each other (rather than fighting evil people) to be unique and appealing, so I was taken back a bit when the series hinted at the story being about the literature club fighting other people (besides Kudou) and learning the origins of their superpowers. To summarize, I am a bit torn on the series, and I want to see if the series can make me smile or laugh when Kudou isn’t on the screen. If the anime can manage to amuse me or even interest me with its main cast, then it should be worth picking up for the season.

Akatsuki no Yona

Shoujo romcoms are often a weakness of mine, so it might be surprising to see Akatsuki no Yona here in this section. The primary reason is that the first episode doesn’t feel indicative of the rest of the series, since it was building the foundation for Yona, Hak and Yoon’s characters before the Kingdom of Kouka was turned upside-down. Or to put it simply, the next 11 episodes aren’t going to be about Yona living as a spoiled princess in her comfortable castle. Really, I have no idea what the dynamic or story of the series will be from episode 2 onward. However, I do have a great understanding of the characters, the setting, the style of humor, the romantic interests and the visuals. Each of these categories is at adequate or above, though none are notable or extraordinary at this point, so there are no issues there if I do continue this anime. However, I am uncertain about how the rest of the series will play out and whether I find issues with the characterization, the story, or any other aspect of the series. I was pleased with the first episode, but I don’t feel as though the first episode represents the rest of the series, and I can’t be sure if I’ll enjoy Akatsuki no Yona based on this one episode. If I enjoy the second episode, then I feel confidence that I will enjoy the anime as a whole.

Dropped:

Nanatsu no Taizai

With a surplus of fantasy anime this season, it’s no surprise that one or two would be cut. However, even if there were no other fantasy anime this season, I would not be watching Nanatsu no Taizai. The issues with this anime stem from a few key areas, such as the unlikable main character, Meliodas, the lackluster setting, the unimaginative story, the woeful writing, and the awkward groping (and here I thought anime was done with stupid groping scenes). In fact, the art style, which I found to be subpar, was the best part of this anime. I really could not find a single aspect about this anime that made it worth watching. Not a single positive to take away from this first episode. Well, I suppose I did find one afterwards… that I don’t have to watch Nanatsu no Taizai anymore.

Trinity Seven

With a surplus of fantasy magic/superpowers anime this season, it’s no surprise that one or two would be cut. However, even if there were no other fantasy magic/superpowers anime this season, I would not be watching Nanatsu no Taizai Trinity Seven. The issues with this anime stem from a few key areas, such as the unlikable main character, Meliodas Arata, the lackluster setting, the unimaginative story, the woeful writing, and the awkward groping (and here I thought anime was done with stupid groping scenes). In fact, the art style, which I found to be subpar, was the best part of this anime. I really could not find a single aspect about this anime that made it worth watching. Not a single positive to take away from this first episode. Well, I suppose I did find one afterwards… that I don’t have to watch Nanatsu no Taizai Trinity Seven anymore.