This is no Ghibli, boy. No Ghibli.

Yamakan, NoitaminA, original story, etc. The buzz surrounding this has been pretty significant, and with good reason. If you’ve ever wondered what a full anime series made by Hayao Miyazaki would be like (and who hasn’t?), you’ll get a reasonably good idea after watching Fractale. However, even the grandmaster who created Princess Mononoke had a few duds like Castle in the Sky, and this series unfortunately leans a bit more towards the latter in terms of quality. Even so, it’s still quite enjoyable.

Clain is growing up in a world run by the Fractale supercomputer. It provides for everyone’s livelihood, regardless of whether they actually work or not, in exchange for “praying to the day star” a few times each day. It also allows everyone to interact with others through holographic avatars known as ‘doppels’ without leaving their homes. Unlike most people, Clain is quite fond of wandering around and one day he rescues a mysterious girl who is being pursued by a rocket zepplin.

More hikikomori paradise after the break! Continue reading →

My exposure to the work of Shinbo Akiyuki has been admittedly limited. I’m familiar with his comical work like Pani Poni Dash! and Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei, but have mostly glossed over his more serious stuff. Of his recent shows, I’ve only seen Dance In the Vampire Bund, which I have extremely mixed feelings about. Although I like Shinbo’s unique directorial style, I felt he went overboard in Bund, to the point that his surrealist camerawork and constant dramatic eye zooms actually disrupted the narrative. Because of that, I was a bit apprehensive going into Puella Magi Madoka Magica. Fortunately, it seems like Shinbo has learned his lesson, and is playing to his strengths while eschewing his vices. Thanks to awesomely avant-garde visuals, solid directing and a compelling story that establishes its characters flawlessly, Madoka may be the best new show of the winter season.

Pink-haired schoolgirl Madoka Kaname has been having strange dreams lately, featuring a mysterious magical girl fighting in a post-apocalyptic hellscape. She doesn’t let this dampen her spirits though, and lives a comfortable life with her stay-at-home dad, successful businesswoman mom and baby brother. However, her life is turned upside-down when the girl from her dreams, Homura Akemi, transfers into her school and gives her a cryptic warning to stay out of magical affairs. Upon hearing a psychic cry for help from the familiar Kyube, Madoka is drawn into a new world of witches and mysterious powers.

More after the break.

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Hey, have we mentioned he's Canadian yet?

After the Iron Man debacle, I can’t say I was looking forward to Wolverine. After all, it was being made by the same studio (Madhouse) and had the same art style that Iron Man used. And to top it all off, the promo wasn’t exactly flattering in terms of animation quality. On the other hand, there were some things that gave me a little hope. Most importantly, the director was different. Also, near the end of Iron Man‘s run, Jon pointed out that it behaved like a brainless action movie. While that doesn’t work so well for a story that features Tony Stark, there are plenty of fun Wolverine stories that are stupid action plots. If Madhouse decided to go as crazy with Wolverine as they did with Highschool of the Dead, maybe it could actually work.

Unfortunately, the first episode was noticeably worse than Iron Man‘s (which was at least above average), and I have my doubts that it will get better from here.

Check out my detailed thoughts after the break.

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Just one of the things Infinite Stratos copies from Love Hina.

I was a little skeptical of Infinite Stratos just from the short description on Cart Driver’s season chart. Mecha are neat and all, but the no-boys-allowed rule seemed like a flimsy attempt to force a harem situation. Plus, the description of the main character’s friend made her sound like a generic tsundere. On the other hand, the director (Yasuhito Kikuchi) also worked on Macross Frontier, a show which managed to take a pretty traditional love triangle and make it interesting (even if Sheryl is clearly better than Ranka). So, hey, it could be good, right?

Unfortunately no, it isn’t. At all. Virtually everything in this show is profoundly disappointing, and the only thing I liked barely got any screen time. I’ll break it all down for you after the jump.

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She's more worried about her head being uncovered

This is probably as good a time as any to mention that I kinda have a thing for toned female stomachs. My best friend growing up was the only other person I’ve ever known who shared this interest, but now I can add a third person to our club: Yamauchi Shigeyasu, the director of Dream Eater Merry. He’s obviously not shy about it, since I’m pretty sure Merry’s bellybutton had more closeups than her face. As much as I appreciated the attention to detail on this part of her character, I was still primarily interested in what was going on everywhere else. Fortunately, I wasn’t disappointed.

Fujiwara Yumeji has recently been having dreams in which he is pursued by a gang of bipedal cats through what looks like New York City from An American Tale. They finally catch up to him but retreat after a rooster crows, signaling they’re “out of time,” but promising to bring their boss to meet him next time. The next morning, he uses his ability to see multicolored dots by looking through his fingers (I never knew this was a special thing because I always see that sort of stuff when I press on my eyes like that) to try to predict what type of dreams his friends will have that night. After hanging out with a slightly creepy teacher and talking about writing novels, he heads home and has a forceful encounter with a strange girl who wanders off after she loses her hat.

More tummy after the break!