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「運命のふたり」 (Unmei no futari)
“The Destined Pair”
Sometimes, it doesn’t matter who the studio is, who the voice actors are, or what the pedigree behind a show is. All it takes is for a series to feature some of my favorite genres (like BRAVE10’s Sengoku era swordplay) to guarantee that I will be giving it a chance.
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「男子高校生と放課後、スカート、怪談、同伴少女、文学少女」
(Danshi Koukousei to Houkago, Sukaato, Kaidan, Douhan Shoujo, Bungaku Shoujo)
“High School Boys and After School, Skirts, Ghost Stories, a Female Escort, the Literature Girl.”
I don’t often try to force a new show on readers, but if you’re not watching “The Daily Lives of High School Boys” even after all the good things I said about it in the Winter 2012 Preview, you should start asking yourself why. “Do I not like good shows? Do I not want to watch the funniest show of the season? Do I not want to laugh until it hurts?”
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「きょぜつ色のクッキング」 (Kyozetsu-iro no Kukkingu)
“Rejection-Colored Cooking”
Two episodes later, I’m not so much impressed by Manglobe’s adaptation of Mashiro-iro Symphony as I am intrigued by how it has all the makings of just another high school romantic comedy, yet always seems to stop a step short of actually becoming one. It’s very odd I must say, because as soon as it looks like things are going to fall into an overused trope, the characters prevent that from happening.
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「天を契んだ日」 (Ten wo Kizanda Hi)
“The Day I Made My Mark in the Sky”
As per the promo video, Maken-Ki kicks the fan-service into high gear with its busty female cast and frivolous use of panty shots. While that was pretty much expected, it looks like I’ll have to retract my statement about the “goofy” character designs as they’re a lot better than I thought.
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「ましろ色の出会い」 (Mashiro-iro no Deai)
“Pure White Encounter”
Well, it sure didn’t take long for me to get an answer about whether Manglobe would make a difference in an adult visual novel adaptation. The short answer is yes they do, at least visually.
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「迷宮にひそむ契約」 (Meikyuu ni Hisomu Keiyaku)
“The Contract Hidden in the Labyrinth”
There weren’t any real surprises in the premiere of Sunrise’s original puzzle series, but the studio delivered the premise they described and made it pretty interesting to boot.
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「真剣で私にかかってきなさい!!」 (Maji de Watashi ni Kakatte Kinasai!!)
“Come at Me Seriously!!”
Rather than a premiere, the first episode of Majikoi looked like a finale. They skipped opening sequence, featured nonstop action for a good twenty minutes, and ended off with scrolling credits in the sunset.
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「布団に移るものを知らない」 (Futon ni Utsuru Mono wo Shiranai)
“I Don’t Know What That Thing Moving About the Futon is”
Well if this first episode was any indication, it looks like I wasn’t too far off the mark about how Cube x Cursed x Curious (a.k.a. C Cube) would tread into romantic-comedy territory more than anything else.
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「千房 離反す」 (Chifusa Rihansu)
“Chifusa Defects”
If I’m not going to give this anime an impartial and unbiased first look, is there anyone else out there who will? Chances are no, so if you’re still interested in hearing me out, bear with me for a moment before jumping to any predetermined conclusions. Strap yourself in. This is a long post.
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「ようこそ閃学園へ！」 (Youkoso Hirameki Gakuen he!)
“Welcome to Hirameki Academy!”
Going in, I would say my highest expectation for R-15 was that it would be a guilty pleasure. And after one episode, I can safely say that expectation was met, and possibly exceeded.