Hello everyone, my name is Quan and I have been watching a lot of anime recently. I mean just last week I finished both Mekaku City Actors and the second season of the moe-blob fest K-On!!(that is, with two exclamation marks.) Now for my quick thought on both shows, I will say that I appear to be one of the only people in the entire world who really enjoyed 'Actors', even with the convoluted plot. As for K-On!! it was pretty much torture until episode 21, where the whole 'conclusion arc' started, where the show actually became pretty emotional and did a lot of things right with the execution.
This week I also caught up on Sword Art Online II(more episode reactions coming for that!), Aldnoah.Zero, the third book of The Legend of Korra, and the second season of Rooster Teeth's and Monty Oum's little anime hybrid: RWBY, Volume 2 finally started airing. But for now, I'm going to be talking about two shows that I recently started watching, and had been waiting for the right moment to do that for a long time: Eureka Seven, and Toradora! At the time of this post, I've watched the first 10 episodes out of 50 of 'Eureka', and the first 5 episodes out of 25 for Toradora! Ironically, this means I'm exactly 20% through each series, so I thought now would be the perfect time to give my first thoughts on each anime, and where I think I should keep my expectations for the rest of the show. Now let's start with Eureka Seven.
Eureka Seven was produced by animation studio Bones, the people who brought you Fullmetal Alchemist, Soul Eater, Ouran Highschool Host Club, and RahXephon. Basically, a lot of good stuff, and while they have been slightly going downhill over the past few years(though some would argue Noragami has returned them to their former glory), the fact remains that Eureka Seven was pretty much produced during the height on Bones' years, and is often praised by many an anime fan.
By the first ten episodes, what I gather is that it is a romance/mecha/action/coming of age type thingy, that I can say I have high expectations for. Our hero Renton Thurston(who I swear for all the world looks exactly like Albert from Gankutsuou) is a fourteen year old kid, living a dreary life with his grandfather, working at their mechanic shop, One day though, a mysterious girl named Eureka lands in their shop with an mecha aircraft named an LFO for a quick repair...with a string of military forces a few hours behind her. After the military destroy the shop and Renton's home, in the midst of the battle, the grandfather gives Renton the mysterious "Amita Drive" and tells him to install it into Eureka's LFO. After the "Amita Drive" basically ends the battle as it releases an enormous amount of power, Renton is invited to join the group of anti-military mercenaries that Eureka belongs to: Gekkostate.
Now the show has been pretty basic so far if I had to admit it to myself, but what I like so far is that these first 10 episodes feel very the setup of everything. It's clear that the members of Gekkostate and Eureka's pasts are much more important than their leading on to Renton, and some kind of grand mystery is starting to unfold, especially after the cliff-hanger that episode 10 left me with. The characters only look they'll get more complex as time passes, as well as the scale of the entire series. Basically, I'm really excited to see where the series will go from here, but whatever it is, I think I'm going to like it.
Now Toradora! is very much a different thing entirely. As I've said, time and time again, I don't usually like slice-of-life/school anime, but for now, Toradora is doing alright. First however, we must talk about the technical shenanigans. The show was produced by J.C Staff, you know, those people responsible for like every anime ever, however, their highlights include A Certain Scientific Railgun, Shakugan no Shana, Revolutionary Girl Utena, and Little Busters! The anime was originally created by Yuyuko Takemiya, and if that names sounds familiar, you're not insane, she was also responsible for the creation of the semi-popular romance anime that came out a few seasons ago: Golden Time(which was also produced by J.C Staff), a show I actually really enjoyed, though that just might be because it took place it college rather than highschool.
Speaking of highschool, lucky me, that's where Toradora's story takes place. It's a brand new year for our main character Ryuuji Takasu, who's pretty much over the moon, because this year he's in the same class as his best friend Yuusaku Kitamura, but also the girl he has had a long hidden crush for: Minori Kushieda. As Ryuugi tries to get closes to Minori, he also bumps into another classmate on the first day: the short-tempered and the oh so tiny Taiga Aisaka, who promptly punches him in the gut and walks off. However, for better or worse, circumstances soon draw Ryuuji back to Taiga, where he learns that she has also had the short end of the stick(get it?) with her own long undisclosed crush on Kitamura. Even though Ryuuji has nearly had it up to here with Taiga's difficult personality(ok, I'm done now), he agrees to help her win Kitamura's heart, as long as Taiga agrees to help him get to know Minori better, who Taiga is a best friend to. As the pair try to overcome their shortcomings towards each-other(seriously, I swear that was the last time) they learn truths about themselves, their crushes, and their classmates, which will determine everyone's true feeling towards each-other.
Now for five episodes, Toradora! as I've said, has been doing alright. Even though most of our characters seem like typical archetypes, their fun to watch, and that's all you can really ask for in this kind of series. The show can keep its character interactions and comedy where it is, but I will be expecting a little more from this series down the line; character development, namely, and maybe some unexpected plot-points, because currently, the show is very predictable. I'm pretty sure I know exactly who is going to be with who at the end of the series, so some snags in my expectations would be nice. Currently though, Toradora! really hasn't shown me much, and could go either uphill or downhill from here very easily. We'll see I guess. We'll see shortly............(sorry)
Goodbye for now guys.
How about check out my other First Impression on Mekaku City Actors? Click here.
Or click here for my review on Kanon(2006).
Or maybe follow on Hummingbird: http://hummingbird.me/users/QReviews
Now the show has been pretty basic so far if I had to admit it to myself, but what I like so far is that these first 10 episodes feel very the setup of everything. It's clear that the members of Gekkostate and Eureka's pasts are much more important than their leading on to Renton, and some kind of grand mystery is starting to unfold, especially after the cliff-hanger that episode 10 left me with. The characters only look they'll get more complex as time passes, as well as the scale of the entire series. Basically, I'm really excited to see where the series will go from here, but whatever it is, I think I'm going to like it.
 |
| The cast of Toradora! From left to right: Taiga, Ryuuji, Kawashima, Minori, Kitamura |
Now Toradora! is very much a different thing entirely. As I've said, time and time again, I don't usually like slice-of-life/school anime, but for now, Toradora is doing alright. First however, we must talk about the technical shenanigans. The show was produced by J.C Staff, you know, those people responsible for like every anime ever, however, their highlights include A Certain Scientific Railgun, Shakugan no Shana, Revolutionary Girl Utena, and Little Busters! The anime was originally created by Yuyuko Takemiya, and if that names sounds familiar, you're not insane, she was also responsible for the creation of the semi-popular romance anime that came out a few seasons ago: Golden Time(which was also produced by J.C Staff), a show I actually really enjoyed, though that just might be because it took place it college rather than highschool.
Speaking of highschool, lucky me, that's where Toradora's story takes place. It's a brand new year for our main character Ryuuji Takasu, who's pretty much over the moon, because this year he's in the same class as his best friend Yuusaku Kitamura, but also the girl he has had a long hidden crush for: Minori Kushieda. As Ryuugi tries to get closes to Minori, he also bumps into another classmate on the first day: the short-tempered and the oh so tiny Taiga Aisaka, who promptly punches him in the gut and walks off. However, for better or worse, circumstances soon draw Ryuuji back to Taiga, where he learns that she has also had the short end of the stick(get it?) with her own long undisclosed crush on Kitamura. Even though Ryuuji has nearly had it up to here with Taiga's difficult personality(ok, I'm done now), he agrees to help her win Kitamura's heart, as long as Taiga agrees to help him get to know Minori better, who Taiga is a best friend to. As the pair try to overcome their shortcomings towards each-other(seriously, I swear that was the last time) they learn truths about themselves, their crushes, and their classmates, which will determine everyone's true feeling towards each-other.
Now for five episodes, Toradora! as I've said, has been doing alright. Even though most of our characters seem like typical archetypes, their fun to watch, and that's all you can really ask for in this kind of series. The show can keep its character interactions and comedy where it is, but I will be expecting a little more from this series down the line; character development, namely, and maybe some unexpected plot-points, because currently, the show is very predictable. I'm pretty sure I know exactly who is going to be with who at the end of the series, so some snags in my expectations would be nice. Currently though, Toradora! really hasn't shown me much, and could go either uphill or downhill from here very easily. We'll see I guess. We'll see shortly............(sorry)
Goodbye for now guys.
How about check out my other First Impression on Mekaku City Actors? Click here.
Or click here for my review on Kanon(2006).
Or maybe follow on Hummingbird: http://hummingbird.me/users/QReviews
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