So we’re up to ~episode six in most series, which is the halfway point for the Fall season (though not necessarily the halfway point for each show). I figured I’d check in and talk about where I am with each show these days.

• Bamboo Blade: Miya-Miya owns the ass of every female character this season, hands down. Then again, it’s not like she’s up against a lot of competition. Status: Watching regularly.
• Blue Drop: The pacing is sooo slow, it took until episode three or four for anything to actually happen. But the promise of lesbians keeps me going. Status: Watching regularly.
• Clannad: I maintain that this show would be so much better if they would just ditch Nagisa entirely. Beyond that, I’m liking it better than I expected to. I do still wish that anyone looked somewhat close to how old they actually are / sound…but eh. Status: Watching regularly.
• Dragonaut: The Resonance: I can’t explain why I keep watching this show. I’m not really fond of the art style, the plot is pretty mediocre…and yet, I keep watching. I blame the boobies. Status: Watching regularly.
• Genshiken 2: Ogiue’s Sasahara x Madarama FTW. That is all. Status: Watching regularly.
• Goshuushou-sama Ninomiya-kun: GOOO REIKA! GO GO GO! Mayu’s cute, but boring. Status: Watching regularly.
• Jyuushin Enbu: Story-wise it’s gotten better, but the art and animation are still incredibly mediocre compared to FMA, and the characters aren’t as cool either. Status: Watching every so-often.
• Kaiji: I’m interested in seeing where this goes, but running out of space on my anime plate for watching it. Status: Dropped for watching later.
• Kidou Senshi Gundam 00: Major improvements in terms of developing characters, but I think I still like the ending theme better than anything else about the show. Status: Watching regularly.
• KimiKiss: I like this show, and I think it’s because it’s a dating sim but not one that focuses on one guy and a dozen girls, but rather a group of friends (male and female) and their love lives. Status: Watching regularly.
• Kodomo no Jikan: Epic yet uncomfortable win. But I’ve ranted about this show being undervalued as mere pedo fodder enough, so suffice to say Status: Watching regularly.
• Majin Tantei Nougami Neuro: I would totally be watching this show IF ANYONE WOULD FREAKIN’ SUB IT. I’ve actually already seen people cosplay from the manga, and yet no one will sub the anime? Am I missing something? Status: Watching…if it ever comes out.
• Minamike: I like the show a lot, but almost all the comedy comes from either crazy middle sister Kana, or crazy Kana-like characters (Chiaki and Haruka each have a classmate with a similar dynamic). And Kana is never given the opportunity to have any redeeming features. Hmph. Status: Watching regularly.
• Moyashimon: This one’s a little behind, but I like it…though the agriculture 101 bits can be a little dull, the rest of the batshit insane stuff makes up for it. Status: Watching regularly.
• Night Wizard: I’m getting a little tired of Eris being the sweet, cheerful, flock-of-birds attracting Mary Sue, and annoyed at Renji being the show’s whipping boy with, like Minamike’s Kana, no real opportunity to redeem himself. Status: Considering dropping.
• Prism Ark: …One episode was really enough. Status: Dropped.
• Rental Magika: It got so boring in episode three I just couldn’t continue. Status: Dropped.
• Shinrei Kari / Ghost Hound: I still have some issues with the art style, but the pacing has picked itself up nicely and I’m curious to see where it’s going. Status: Watching regularly.
• Shion no Oh: Mmm, delicious trap, must eat. Status: Watching regularly.
• Shugo Chara! Mmm, delicious magical girl, must eat. This is probably one of the more solid shows of the season, IMO, though it’s obvious not for everyone. Status: Watching regularly.
• Suteki Tantei Labyrinth: Looks cute, but pretty dull– I’m more interested in the dolls than in anything to do with the main character. Status: Dropped.

Posted by gia in Commentary, Fall '07 Series • Comments (8)

• Title: Prism Ark
• Studio: Frontline
• Genre: Fantasy

Ratings (out of 5):

• Story: ♥♥

• Animation: ♥♥♥
• Characters: ♥♥
• OP/ED Themes: ♥♥♥
• Overall: ♥♥ (Bleah!)
  

Thoughts:
Oof. Prism Ark’s first episode opens with the main couple about to share a smooch, when a baddie shows up and a big freakin’ battle ensues. During the battle, in which we are introduced to a half-dozen other characters of varying inspidness, the audience is also forced to endure some seeeerious explication. First, a history of the worldsetting, and then an extended series of flashbacks involving the female lead’s past with the male lead, who apparently dyed his hair and changed his name, or something.

It oddly feels as though the series is a sequel to something, and that the first episode is recapping that first thing. Except, uh, it’s not.

So I think what happens next is we jump back to a time inbetween the childhood seen in the extended flashbacks and the present. After spending some time there we eventually get back to the present…but will the “present” prove to be close to the end of the anime, or will there be a whole other arc after it?

All in all, the timing is just plain way off. “In Medias Res” is a Latin phrase that means “in the middle of things,” and it’s a common literary technique– that is, starting the story in the middle, covering backstory as necessary, and continuing through to the end. The result is that the viewer is drawn into the action directly and becomes interested in the rest.

It’s tricky to pull off if you have extended backstory like Prism Ark, but some shows do it well. Fullmetal Alchemist opens with a 2-episode “present” arc, then jumps up into a whopping 7-episode flashback (eps 3 through 9) before returning to the present and continuing through the end. But you’ll notice that they spent a full two episodes drawing the viewers into the character and the story before explaining the rest. Prism Ark is nowhere near as careful.

On top of poor timing, boring exposition, and kind of stupid flashbacks, the show has pretty dull, stereotypical characters (including the aforementioned baddy, a nun named “Sister Hell,” and no, I’m not kidding), not to mention mediocre animation at best.

Posted by gia in Commentary, Fall '07 Series • Comments (3)