Wakaranai

Rating:    

‘The flock of panties have returned!’ sums up this bizarre but frivolously fun episode of Sora no Otoshimono. They’re back by popular demand! Well, maybe not, but I have to say I didn’t expect them to make a comeback after their teary departure only a few episodes ago. When peace-loving Tomoki opens his window to take in the tranquil morning, he is soon mobbed by the returning panties. And that pretty much sets the tone for the remainder of the episode; much like their departure their arrival heralds an episode overloaded with underwear and pantsu-related humour. Only this time they stretched the ridiculousness to a new peak of absurdity - including exploding panties, and porn magazine defence pantsu-robot. As a self-prescribed pantsu-fanatic I am always delighted with the prospect of such an episode. Unfortunately, I was let down in a couple of ways. The main problem was that, despite being drenched in epic quantities of panties, there was very little in the way of girls wearing any. You know, actual fanservice, like panty-shots and girls undressing. Somehow pantsu strategically distributed around a house just isn’t as exciting. There was enough hotness for the episode to pass, but for an episode with a premise like this in a show that relishes its ecchi status, I expect a little more.

The other problem I had was a shortcoming in the humour department. I can’t really put my finger on why I found the previous pantsu-saturation episode more entertaining (and titillating) than this one, but it lacked that usual oomph that Sora no Otoshimono had. The jokes kind of fell flat. The episode was still fun from a fanboy perspective, but it didn’t have that Seto no Hanayome-esque edge of riotousness. By the time Tomoki was fighting his way through the projectile-pantsu onslaught of his own robot creation I was leaning more towards cringing rather than laughing. I think my issue with the episode boils down to it just being a bit too silly without having the sharp humour or self-ridicule to pull it off right. On the upside, the production on the show remains consistently great, and it was still pretty enjoyable even if it wasn’t as funny or fapworthy as it could’ve been. As a bonus, the long-awaited Nymph finally made her entrance (although it was a fleeting cameo in the epilogue).

✘ I felt they kind of undermined their own plot, thing though it is, by having Icarus spend the day with Mitsuki while her master, Tomoki, was delegated the punishing task of fighting his way out of his explosive house. It calls into question whether her loyalty to her master is conditional or by her own choice. Anyway, I thought she was connected to Tomoki by her chain (even though it’s invisible), so he surely could summon her and use her powers to get out of the situation. Unless I missed something it just seems like a bit of a lazy way to write this little sidestory. I mean, they don’t have all that much of a plot, it couldn’t be too hard to stick to what they’ve established..

♡ The best fanservice moment came when Mitsuki took Icarus underwear shopping. The underwear she picked out for Iacrus really WAS super-cute and fitted her angel status perfectly. The wings on the bra and panties are lovely!. I thought that scene was cut a bit too short (extension saved for DVD releases perhaps). I wanted a good look at Iacrus wearing them! Well, that might come later in the series. Mitsuki is good at picking underwear for others, she should refine her own choices a bit. Her striped panties this episode were and improvement, especially the pink-striped ones (sadly now-deceased ;_;). Lucky Tomoki got a mouthful of them..

♡ Mitsuki ended up in a nopan predicament yet again! Poor girl ^^ We don’t get any good flashes, sadly. For those who’ve seen how GAINAX played the nopan episode of Abenobashi for maximum eyecandy should agree.

✔ Finally! Nymph! And her role is kind of interesting. She might mix things up even more than I thought. I wonder if she will be an addition to Tomoki’s pet angel collection, or perhaps she has a different master? I’m intrigued. And the scene where she appeared definitely had an air of mystery to it.

✔ Have to admit I loved the boner gag at the end. Something had to ruin his hero status. Poor Tomoki got a crushing Mitsuki-chop. His body is just being honest!

✔ I really appreciate the fact that each episode has its own ED relevant to the episode. It’s something anime should do more often as it’s a last bit of fun to finish the episode off with instead of the same old song. Also, I have to say Tomoki has an enviable dirty magazine collection.

 

Rating:    

There’s no denying the fact that Sora no Otoshimono deserves the label of ‘ecchi series’, and it doesn’t stray far from the standard magical girlfriend/servant formula. What’s great about the series is that it revels in its genre. There’s no pretence at being a drama or action series with some fanservice thrown in - it’s all fanservice, and very very good fanservice at that. From what I’ve seen so far it is the best ecchi series I have seen in a long time, because not only does it let loose an unyielding barrage of panty-shots, dirty jokes and partial nudity but it does so with disturbingly good production values and with a frenetic and sharp sense of humour akin to comedy anime Seto no Hanayome. The tone of the service is also especially racy, because counter to the norm the male protagonist actually has a very strong pervert mindset. His subconscious raises havoc this episode by wishing away his classmate’s panties and then later handcuffing her, rendering her totally at the mercy of the wind! I hope for more sexy situations like this in future episodes.

The music and animation quality are exemplary for this type of series, and the visual humour motifs such as the frequent use of chibis gives the show a very fun and quirky look. The type of fanservice is geared more towards the crowd who appreciate cute/moe girls rather than the traditional style of huge-breasted women in a perpetual state of undress. Fans of the latter can stand by the likes of Queens Blade *shivers*. But for fans of the former, this is one of the hottest series around, and it fends off monotony and mediocrity with fun characters, a brisk pace, a good sense of humour and vibrant production qualities. Superb mindless fun!

♡ I should say that this was the ultimate nopan fiasco! There’s something about the scenario of girls getting stuck without underwear that is massively hot, especially when it gets them into increasingly embarrassing situations! Just the thought of them not wearing any is better than actually showing it! And here it happens on a school-wide scale! *nosebleeds* This beats Natsuki’s nopan adventure in episode 4 of Mai HiME and the classic pantsu-swapping episode of Strike Witches. Though it might have trouble topping the episode Arumi spends not wearing any in Abenobashi!

♡ It may have been the ultimate episode for no-panties but it could also be the ultimate episode for panties in general! Although other anime have managed to rack up a pretty massive volume of panties in a single episode, I think this episode tops them all when you combine all the underwear Icarus stole and the vast quantum of pantsu she later purchased. And it’s always great seeing such a wide variety. Personally I was disappointed in Tomoki’s final choice. The white, frilly ones were superior. But at least it’s an upgrade from Mitsuki’s original selection. It’s almost as bad as Misaka’s taste in underwear!

✔ I’m consistently surprised by just how shiny and polished the animation work on this series is. The soft shading on the cels really makes the show look attractive and the animation doesn’t seem to falter at all. It’s unusual to have an ecchi show look this good, but it really does make a difference, elevating it above it’s competition!

● Unlike last episode I’m kind of surprised Tomoki isn’t making good use of the wish powers granted by Icarus and the card. Unless I’m missing something he basically has the power to do whatever he wants. I mean, so far he’s done some pretty great things (peeking, panty-theft, etc), but I’m surprised he wants to go back to his regular school life. He could be ruler of the world by now! I guess he really does love peace and quiet ..

● I quite like all the characters we’ve got now, but I just can’t wait for the second ‘angel’ to come along, the blue-haired, lolirific and aptly named, Nymph. Hopefully she gets into some exciting ecchi situations too.

● The ED is gloriously strange. It flutters between retarded, funny and sentimental leaving me totally confused and unsure what to think of it. Flying pantsu. Is this awesome? Y/N.

● Did any one else get entranced by Sugata rhythmically shaking that pigeon at the start of the episode?

● Mikako is great as the classy girl with a perverted mind. I love her comments about other people’s “interests”, her commentary on the panties Mitsuki was trying on, and her reaction to having her pantsu stolen was great - she seemed strangely happy!

 

Rating:    

Yoku Wakaru Gendai Mahou continues to firmly tread the path of mediocrity. I freely admit to deriving quite a bit of entertainment from the first three episodes, as far as a casual anime like this goes, but now that the series is trying to have a plot it’s becoming pretty clear that it doesn’t have one, or at least not a very good one. The premise has a few hints of ingenuity in the interesting interpretation of magic in terms of ‘code’, and hence overlapping it with programming and digital devices. But it has really failed to capitalise on that, resulting in magic that isn’t particularly magical nor very detailed in terms of the code or programming. The actual story behind the series is really yet to materialise, and after 5 episodes you have to expect that the storyline might at least be able to grab your attention if not make sense (especially when it isn’t really episodic either). Sadly this isn’t the case (although I do find the time-travel aspect kind of interesting). In some cases, strong character development, or effective use of fanservice can remedy a complex absence of plot. Certainly, the only reason I’m still watching Yoku Wakaru Gendai Mahou is the same reason I was attracted to it in the first place - the moe-moe character types and appreciable fanservice.

The fanservice is still there, but even that can’t remedy the shoddy script writing that goes into this series, turning its potentially very cute characters into one-dimensional puppets who shuffle flatly from scene to scene, undermined by cliché dialogue and unbelievable or often downright nonsensical behaviour. These girls don’t seem to have any realistic human personality traits at all; the lovely character designs are wasted! The other problem is the weak production values, which were very evident last week, but continue to pervade this episode. Movement is avoided seemingly at all costs, and when the characters are granted movement it often appears jerky. The scene of Koyomi running from one of the perverted orphans pantsu-monsters is the best example of the cheap animation. I wish I could forget that. This episode didn’t have any huge flaws like that, but I wish it was better.

I’m not dropping this series, because the attractive designs and occasional moments of panty-shots or nopan eye-candy make it a passable anime to watch casually. And despite their poor characterisation, the girls still have their adorable moments. I love Yumiko in loli-form so much more - she’s more stubborn! It seems she’s destined to be a nopan character at all ages though, she’s been sans panties every episode! Still, loli-Yumiko seems to have gotten used to it a bit XD. The scenes between her and Koyomi are my favourite parts of the series - their interactions have the most ‘character’ of anything in the series.

 

Continue reading Yoku Wakaru Gendai Mahou 5

WIN Ranking based on entertainment value
1. CANAAN
2. Umineko Monogatari
3. NEEDLESS
4. Zan Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei
5. Spice & Wolf II
6. Bakemonogatari
7. Yoku Wakaru Gendai Mahou
8. Tokyo Magnitude 8.0
9. Fight Ippatsu Jyuden-chan-
10. Aoi Hana

 
Highlights
 
 
NEEDLESS ep. 4

➨ NEEDLESS truly deserves its reputation for being a crazy and hilarious series. Every episode is like a highlight reel itself, each scene packed with muscle-bearing shounen super-powar battles, uproarious humour or semi-naked Eve. But the best part of episode 3 was the totally surprising revelation that Blade is a lolicon, and a shameless one at that! The adorable, and secretly villainous Mio-tan tapped into that one unfortunate weakness of his plant herself amongst the heroes. I can’t say I blame him! On the other hand, it’s good that he has comrades willing to drill, pitchfork, shoot and fisticuff the hell out of him if he crossed a line!

Zan Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei ep. 4

➨ Kaere once again fulfils her role as the fanservice appointee for Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei. In this beat, which came out of nowhere, she has the role of a perverted bombshell tutor who revels in ecchi play with her student. The scene really came out of nowhere, and was funny as well as sexy. It’s a kind of hands-on learning approach I can approve of. I also love all the new and interesting ways they find to give us a panty shot. It’s hard being a panty-shot character! Still, I wish some of the other girls would chip in a bit more with the fanservice! Mind you, there was a glimpse of naked Maria..

CANAAN ep. 4

➨ Episode 4 was a key episode for CANAAN’s character development, and culminated in this riveting confrontation with her long-time nemesis, Alphard. This scene was great in a number of ways. It genuinely showed how lethal and confident the seemingly untouchable Alphard is. And it also showed that CANAAN isn’t quite as untouchable as first thought. Seeing CANAAN utterly outplayed and thrown into emotional distress like that was definitely a defining character moment. Most importantly, the scene had real energy and tension. You really get the feeling that the next time they meet it’s going to be a real clash between titans. The animation in this series continues to impress - not the detail put into the guns. It’s reminiscent of Bebop-level quality.

Yoku Wakaru Gendai Mahou ep. 3

➨ I checked out this series on recommendation but as soon as I read one of the subbers comments which mentioned ‘nopan’ I was already committed! It’s turned out to be a very enjoyable series, if only for the moe characters and fanservice. To make up for the general lack of a good story, the fanservice has been very good. Instead of just the usual panty-shots and loss of clothing routines, we get subtle tentacle rape, and nopan moments. The fact that this series had had two nopan episodes (where one of the characters spends a significant portion of the episode sans underwear) is quite an achievement - especially when you note that there’ve only been 3 eps in total! They must be going for some kind of record. In typical magical girl style, Yumiko is approached by an evil monster, which proceeds to erotically restrain her with tentacles - fade to black. These particular monsters might well be Orphans from Mai Hime because when we come back we find out that they’ve made off with her panties (Shimapan, NICE!). For the rest of the episode she has to fight to get them back, whilst trying to maintain her dignity. Truly, nopan is a great form of fanservice. Just the knowledge that they’re not wearing anything underneath makes everything they do much more erotic. Nice and breezy!

Bakemonogatari ep. 4

➨ I’ve had a few things to say about Bakemonogatari, but let it never be said that it isn’t highly surprising. After two weak efforts at any OP, the third attempt yielded awesome results. This is an awesome OP, with a frenetic song and fittingly colourful and energetic animation. In this rapid-fire minute we gained a life-time supply of concentrated Mayoi cuteness . Until now I hadn’t thought much of her design, but this OP showed her in a new light, of intense sweetness. Also, an interesting snippet I stumbled across in regards to this OP:

The director for Mayoi OP, Itagaki Shin also wrote on his Anime Style article that his OP job “was so sudden he can’t gather many animators” is also somewhat disturbing. http://bit.ly/188QHC

 
This is just what I was after! Following the action-packed and emotional storytelling of the last run of chapters, this chapter delivers some medicinal character development of the fun kind; it mainly tells the story of Misaka and Kuroko’s punishment duty for staying out past curfew - cleaning the school pool! Apparently risking their lives to try and save the academy city isn’t a good enough excuse for this particular dorm mistress (hell, she might even be tougher than God). I enjoyed their suffering though, because laidback private time between Biri-biri and Kuroko is always bound to be interesting.

It’s a good look at exactly where they stand with each other, and really helps clarify their relationship to me whilst also delivering some good laughs. Going beyond Kuroko’s predictable advances, we actually get to see the unrequited lover become dejected by Misaka’s cold treatment towards her when she notices how warm and friendly she is to everyone else. While I can’t help but empathise with girls as cute and honest as Kuroko, I’m also surprised by her lack of social awareness. She feels depressed because she thinks she’s of no use to Misaka, but she should really take not of the fact that Misaka often acts coldly towards her because Kuroko is often attempting to lustfully ravage her - which is just a constant source of annoyance for a disappointingly uninterested Misaka. And when she misinterpreted Misaka’s comments about them being together as roommates as a confession of eternal ‘partnership’, you just have to facepalm. Despite her diligence and aptitude in everything else she’s lost in her own yuri world when it comes to Biri-biri, which is a cute part of her character but certainly doesn’t do her any favours.

Misaka’s practised ability to avoid Kuroko’s lesbian traps and assaults is really funny, but I did find the extent of her indifference here a bit saddening. Even when Kuroko was upset, Misaka didn’t really seem to react as a best friend would. She responded without much affection at all, simply saying that they’re always together. But I suppose it’s a part of Railgun’s tomboyish nature not to be emotionally close to other people in the way girls often are. It’s a shame though, because I always saw her and Kuroko’s relationship as slightly less one-sided in terms of affection, if not romantic desire. But I guess you have to be tough when you’re dealing with someone as perverse as Kuroko, who, in one chapter alone, tries to give Misaka a spiked drink, wants her to wear a school swimsuit, and ultimately steals her underwear! Judging by the diagram showing Kuroko’s failed attempts, it looks like these two regularly have a lot of fun in their room and in the showers which I would love to see too!

The chapter also through in a bit of extra wrap-up for the story arc by revisiting some of the dejected people who used the Level Upper and seeing their change. But the main attraction was the interactions between the two main maidens of the story. I quite liked the introduction of the other side character who Misaka saved from a group of insistent guys. She seems pretty infatuated with Biri-biri too. I wonder if it could lead to a minor rivalry with Kuroko?

This was definitely the highlight of the chapter! Finally, Kuroko’s powers are being used for their full potential! Actually I’d seen this technique in a doujinshi before “pantsu GET!”, but never thought it would come up in the official manga! Kuroko has so much gall to pull something like that off (pun not intended), and then to critique Biri-biri’s taste in cute, childish panties! Very few could get away from a stunt like that with their lives. Nopan Misaka is enough fanservice for a whole volume; she’s so cute trying to push her skirt down, blushing! <3. Unfortunately we don't get to see the item, because Misaka's pantsu are like an enigma. But, using Kuroko's comments, we can imagine.. I had to love Kuroko's masochistic enjoyment of Biri-biri's lightning-based punishment, prompting a great punchline from an onlooker "girls are scary too..".

Now the extent of Kuroko’s transgressions failures are exposed!

I’ve been a Negima fan for quite a while now (as I’ve iterated many times in older posts). Because I’ve run out of ways to describe why I enjoy it so much without resorting to whacky metaphors and latin phrases I’ll just briefly say that I love its mix of fanservice, mahou shoujo/shounen fusion, moe, ecchi, yuri, and even the occasional moments of GAR (this is the manga that proves 10 year old boys can be both GAR and the alphamale of an extended harem). The character designs and general artwork, courtesy of Ken Akamatsu and his army of assistant sketches are beautiful. Most importantly, Ken Akamatsu and I share a genuine affinity for the same kinds of moe, as well as a keen interest in the noble panty-shot. Unfortunately I have an annoying habit of falling behind on it. Actually that’s not quite true – I was never truly caught up because I originally set about trying to only read the volumes I purchases, despite them being a good 5 or more volumes behind the Japanese releases. But after an American exchange student I met spent a good solid hour explaining the plot that lay ahead I couldn’t resist. I’ve been slowly reading online scanlations, but it’s time to get serious and get up-to-date! At the same time I might be able to entice a few roaming, like-minded moe fans into reading it!

Phase 1 220-229

This is essentially a 9 chapter action sequence, which sounds pretty long, and, in fact is quite long. But it’s refreshing to finally get not just Negi but the whole group of characters back in action again, the club-Negi ALA ALBA~ team reunited and freshly trained-up to kick some ass and flip some skirts. I have to say, I’m kind of sad that the magical world arc has ended up heading toward a fighting tournament setting so quickly – I wanted them to make more of a big deal about the fact that Fate (the villainous character not the metaphysical excuse) split up the group and threw them into the wilds of the dangerous magical world to fend for themselves. Those were some of the most interesting chapters of the whole manga, seeing how everyone reacted to that and went about trying to survive. But that was all resolved fairly quickly, except for Yue’s amnesia story – she’s now found Negi but hasn’t rejoined the group. The plot now is actually kind of boring when you boil it down – it’s basically just ‘Fate wants to destroy the magical world, what are we going to do?’

But the magical world offers plenty of pretty distractions, from the usual bouts of fanservice and blushing girls to some really interesting scene designs and art. I love all the designs Ken Akamatsu has pulled out of his hat for this arc, from airships modeled on fish to badass dragons and exotic rainforests. I always knew he was a god when it comes to costume designs, but I didn’t expect his talents to extend to fantasy world design. At the moment it feels a lot like an adventure story, with a vague but exploratory story direction. These latest chapters mark the third bout Negi and friends have had with the lethal Fate Averruncus and his band of mercenary mage girls. This time he attempts to trick Negi into a magically-bound verbal contract while the split-up group is assailed by his powerful assistants.

Haruna, Nodoka and the ineffectual loli-Chiisame are attacked by a crazy violin woman. This action scene is actually pretty cool because of the abilities of Haruna and Nodoka. Nodoka can read minds, and Haruna can draw things into a physical form. Neither of them are attack mages so it was interesting seeing them use their powers to try and escape, like Nodoka piloting Haruna’s hover thing and anticipating their foes attack velocities. And Kotarou gets to make a cool entrance to save them, showing off his newly learned skills.

In the meantime, just when the ineffably adorable Konoka manages to convince Rakan to help Negi fight fate, they are interceded by two of Fate’s cutest fighters. I actually really like the nekomimi girl’s design (surprise surprise). Well, that was a bad idea because the pervert Rakan immediately flips their skirts and steals one of their panties (because he reckoned black didn’t suit her). Luckily the other girl was already boldly going without them, so, as Chamo puts it, we end up with a pantyless duel! Pantsu is great but nopan takes things to a new level of nosebleed-worthiness as shown by Strike Witches episode 7 and Mai HiME episode 4. ~suzushi . Although the nopan action doesn’t beat Asuna’s stint from volume 4 where she fought a lengthy battle without wearing any.. Chamo and Rakan make a devious team – Konoka was as embarrassed as the girls being victimised.

The absoloute highlight of these chapters came when Setsuna got pulled into her own battle with an old foe. The blonde girl of dubious psychological soundness challenged her way back in the Kyoto arc, when she was also working for Fate, and is now back to prey on Secchan once more. Psycho lesbians are nothing new to anime, but there’s something especially awesome about the way this girl teases Setsuna. For the first time in a while Setsuna gets her game on and transforms into her battle costume, which, and I know this is a pretty bold statement, is my favourite costume design in all of anime and manga. Partly because Setsuna is one character I’m powerfully moe for, and also because the costume suits her perfectly (especially when she’s in nekomimi mode). It’s part maid, part kimono, part angel and all win. It’s basically the ultimate in moe, down to the ribbon on the back of her hair, and particularly if, like me, you have a thing for girls with wings. But basically I finally get to see Setsuna getting victimised as the volume cover promised, and it’s been a while since I got a decent amount of Setsuna service! I love her shorts too, because they’re a little ‘ornate’ and feminine, quite unlike Biri-biri’s. Secchan’s cuteness is extraordinary! As for the yuri, I guess I’ll have to enjoy this while I wait for the manga to really touch base with Secchan and Konoka (other than a few cute moments, they haven’t had any intimate character development since the Kyoto Arc!).

On the other side of town, negotiations break down between Negi and Fate and they launch into their own fisticuff, with a lot more dark magic and considerably less nudity. Negi has recently followed in the footsteps of Evangeline rather than his father in trying to master dark magics. His trip to the darkside has been kind of interesting, but he just looks a bit stupid in dark mode. Still, and the fact that I’m making this observation proves just how shounen and power-levelly Negima has become, it’s cool that he can actually fight toe-to-toe with Fate now. He’s come along way since the Kyoto arc, in which Fate was only defeated by a surprised attack from the super-powerful Evangeline herself. I did recently go back and reread that volume, and I unfortunately have to admit that it was more interesting than where we’re at now. Not only was there more nopan action, but Negi was still an underdog of sorts back them, and we all love to see Negi struggle.

These chapters were fun overall though, with a lot of action and an acceptable level of fanservice. The next lot of chapters all have Rakan in the title, which, through sheer power of intuition, leads me to believe that they may well feature Rakan pretty heavily. This is not really a good thing because Rakan, aside from his perverted tenancies, is a highly uninteresting character.