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「An alien on the planet」
I had a feeling that Togashi Yoshihiro’s decade-old sci-fi comedy would be in the running for the funniest show of the new year, and after this first episode had me laughing just as much as the manga I skimmed through, I’m starting to think it may just come out on top. While Mitsudomoe Zouryouchuu and Kore wa Zombie Desu ka bring the slapstick laughs, LEVEL E focuses on humor of the deadpan variety, and I like it!
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「はい、魔装少女です」 (Hai, Masou Shoujo Desu)
“Yes, I’m a Magic-Equipped Girl”
Masou-Shoujos. Zombies. Necromancers. Pantsu. Talking crawfish. At this moment in time, if I had the power to do so, I would make every single person in the world watch this show. If not for the previously mentioned reasons, maybe just because of how ridiculously awesome this show is.
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「さらわれた少女」 (Sarawareta Shoujo)
“Kidnapped Girl”
So Taiga’s been trapped in a box for about a couple years, and it caused a little memory alteration due to the brain damage she sustained from being in a coma for so long. Somehow the box she was encased in let her jump the dreams of Ryuuji’s to find the right one, and she somehow confused this Ryuuji for him. Will she find the right Ryuuji? Will this replacement be enough? Dragon Crisis. The unofficial secret sequel of Toradora.
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p>「兄と妹のヨコシマな日常」 (Ani to Imouto no Yokoshima na Nichijou)
“A Brother and Sister’s Wicked Days”
The romantic comedy that plays up the incestuous angle without being incest is surprisingly more entertaining than its manga counterpart. I attribute that primarily to Kitamura Eri bringing out all the perverted silliness in Takanashi Nao, along with with relatively high production values on ZECXS’ part. With Inoue Marina as the childhood friend rival Tsuchiura Iroha, who’s slated to arrive next episode, things should get even more out of hand… in a good way.
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「魔王拾いました」 (Maou Hiroimashita)
“Picked Up a Demon Lord”
There are really only two things that set Beelzebub apart from the waves of shounen series out there. One is the off beat humor, and two is that it doesn’t exactly take itself very seriously. It’s like Three Men and a Baby, except with only one man, and the baby will one day destroy humanity. It’s also kind of like Gintama. Yeah. It’s that kind of show.
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「狙われた子供たち！日本滅亡カウントダウン！」 (Nerawareta Kodomo-tachi! Nihon Metsubou Kauntodaun!)
“The Targeted Children! Countdown to Japan’s Destruction!”
A series that needs no introduction, we are finally graced with the second season of everyone’s favorite comedy, Mitsudomoe (Zouryouchuu)! After a whole season without Hitoha’s evil look, Futaba’s ridiculous love for boobs, and Mitsuba’s stuck up attitude, I was so excited to finally be reunited with my favorite trio of siblings. But instead of giving me a triple dose of Marui madness, I get a full episode of the Gachi Rangers!
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「Untouchable Queen」
If you were only expecting big-breasted girls getting their clothes torn up in battle, you only have part of the picture for this adaptation of Dall-Young Lim‘s manga. Not only do the Void Texture “stigmata” embedded in their bodies regenerate their clothes, the female warriors known as Pandoras have to cope with getting their limbs chopped off, throats slit, and eyes gouged out too.
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「黒い死神は金色の妖精を見つける」 (Kuroi Shinigami wa Kin-iro no Yousei wo Mitsukeru)
“The Black Reaper Finds the Golden Fairy”
Set in a fake nation smack dab between almost all that is Europe, a made up school with made up char- oh wait, did I go too far? Let’s just say it’s not a high school in Japan. I don’t know who or what was more serious about mysteries in this production, but someone out there wasn’t kidding around when they wanted to adapt GOSICK. The story does not wait for you, the characters do not wait for you, and you will get a mystery in the first episode, like it or not.
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「夢現」 (Yume Utsutsu)
“Half Asleep & Half Awake”
Hello ladies and gents. Look at Madoka, now back to Merry, now back to Madoka, now back to Merry. Sadly, it isn’t Merry, but if you ignore the Shinbou and SHAFT and purely look at the story, it could be like Merry. In all seriousness, they’re obviously both completely different shows. However, one thing does link them, and that is the theme of dreams. Dreams can make interesting concepts, and if you’ve never imagined such a thing, a certain movie proved it can be quite the plot device. Yumekui’s spin on it might not be as mind bending, but dreams becoming reality can be a scary thing.
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「夢の中で会った、ような……」 (Yume no Naka de Atta, You na……)
“As If I Met Her in My Dreams……”
From the great people at SHAFT comes an original work that looks like it’s going to blow my mind away. After being pleasantly surprised with their work with Soredemo Machi wa Mawatteiru last season, I was ecstatic to see that SHAFT was going to put out their own original series. While it is a “Mahou Shoujo” or magical girl show, I dove in head first, ready for anything.