Spring 2015 Anime Season: First Impressions

First Impressions: Spring 2015

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It’s spring, and amidst the pollen and allergies we find a new season of anime waiting for us. I have to admit, there isn’t a lot of a shows that reached out and grabbed me this season. There are a few shows that I really would like to see, but many others on the list of new shows just don’t look that good. This list will probably be a little short compared to others, but let’s not waste any more time. These are my first impressions of the spring 2015 anime season.

Shokugeki no Souma- Shokugeki no Souma is a shounen battle anime about food and cooking battles. We follow a young cook who lives and works with his father in a specialty of the day shop, basically a local diner. Every day he tries to defeat his father in cooking battles, and has lost almost 500 times. But one day, his father is called away to help a friend, and the main character is forced into the real world by having to join a world class culinary academy. His father basically tells him that if can’t graduate from this school, which has a 10% graduation rate, then he has no hope of ever defeating his father. This is a straight up shounen anime, almost exactly by the numbers except exchange fists for food. I read the manga that this show is based on, and I really like it. I like cooking competition shows, so this whole manga hits that part of my brain that likes those. The food looks really amazing, in both the manga and the anime, and while the story is kind of normal shounen competition story, it is really fun. But there is a large problem with the show, and that’s the fan-service.  I’ve mentioned before that I don’t hate fan-service in and of itself, but it is usually a crutch for lazy writing. Instead of adding to the story, they show boobs. This show uses its fan-service primarily during scenes where some of the characters are eating food and have insane over the top reactions, usually having a hard orgasm with the amazing food. And those reactions get really funny, or really creepy, but they are always fun to read. But there is so much unnecessary jiggling and boob shots so far. While I know they are not the focus in the manga, they still have sexy shots a lot but they do get toned down or at least become ignorable over time, I fear the anime will focus on the TnA instead of the food. I like this show, or at least the manga, and I am very excited to see some the cooking battles that go on as the show goes on. If you like shounen anime or in the very least likes food, I recommend this show, but for now you have to get over some really intrusive fan-service. 

Dempa Kyoushi- An otaku/NEET is forced to get a job by his sister who looks uncomfortably like the little sister from My Little Sister Can’t Be This Cute. He becomes a teacher because apparently before he was lazy he was an insanely great scientist who made the basic blueprints and discovered the physics for a dimensional door that will be built when the technology is advanced enough. The teacher can only do things when he is actually motivated to do them, calling it something like YD, so at first he is lethargic but once he sees a young girl who wants to be a voice actor being bullied, he steps up and defends her, going all out to stop the bullying. This is an almost stereotypical teaching drama, like GTO or the newer Assassination Classroom, in where an oddball teacher is really great at protecting and educating his students to be good people, even if he doesn’t teach them math and other stuff. I have to admit the first episode really surprised me. When I first heard about this show I thought it sounded cool, but was causes because anything involving otaku as main characters are either really pandering or really sad. And then when I started the first episode, the first thing we are shown is his little sister, wearing short jean shorts and swinging a bat at him like a stereotypical little sister. Like, she looks exactly like the sister from My Little Sister Can’t Be This Cute, and that is usually not a good thing. And it doesn’t help that her voice actor is less than great. Like, I feel bad for saying that, but the actress playing her is just not good. She sounds stilted and it really takes me out of the show. But once she was out of the show, it got really good. Once the main character has a chance to shine the show really picks up and it is fun. I like him teaching and interacting with the students. I think I really like this show. I at least plan on keeping up with this show for a while, and seeing how it plays out. A great first episode doesn’t mean anything if the rest are terrible. But for now, I plan on keeping up with this show. I like Japanese teacher shows, and this is could be a really great addiction to that genre. 

Plastic Memories- Have you ever seen Blade Runner? Add in moe girls and some dumb comedy and you have Plastic Memories. Robots with souls exist, but only have a working lifespan of 9 years. There robot brains cannot handle the amount of memoirs they get past that time and start to malfunction.  In order to prevent this, after their 9 years a special task force comes in and removes the robot, decommissioning the bot. The main character is a new person to this field of work and is partnered with a robot girl, and together they try to peacefully decommission the robots who have reached their time limits. Already I know this show is going to be emotionally manipulative because why else would they give him a robot girl to work with and presumably fall for if she isn’t going to be reaching her 9 years soon, especially since in the first episode she has shown fear and trepidation about going through the process, meaning dying herself. But I am not sure that it will be able to pull off the emotional payload properly. It will be ham-handed at best. I might watch the next few episodes, but I honestly don’t really care about this show. It will probably be a drop after a little while. 

I would just like to point out this eventually happens in the manga. I want to see this in the anime.

Uta no Prince-sama Maji Love Revolution- The third season of one of my favorite music anime. This time there seems to be more a focus on the mentor characters from the previous season, as they are now being added to the main characters ever growing harem. The plot, as it were for a show about showing off handsome men singing, is about our main band STARISH wanting a chance to sing in the opening ceremony in the Olympics when Japan hosts it. But the big boss man doesn’t want them to try unless they can create a revolution. So basically they need the girl to write them a song or something. By the third season I think I can figure out the formula of this show. But I don’t watch this show to see whether or not they will achieve there current goal, because we all know they will make it with the power of love and music’s. I watch it to see how crazy this show can get. I honestly love the energy and fun this show has, and I plan on watching this show to completion. This show is honestly just fun and you should be watching it. 

Baby Steps Second Season-The return of the sports anime about a young guy who kind of falls into and falls in love with tennis and takes it step by step in order to achieve his new dream of going pro and living off playing tennis. I love this show, it is so satisfying to see Eichiro bash his head up against a wall for a while and finally break through that wall and learn and get better before finding another wall and bashing his head up against that one for a while. I’ve already said a lot about this show when the first season came and out and finished a while back, and to be fair the second season so far is more of the same, just in America right now, and that won’t even last forever. But I really like this show, and if you watched the first season you have to continue and watch this one as well. 

Show By Rock- A shy girl wants to join her schools light music club, but can’t muster up the 

courage. One day, when psyching herself up to do it the next day, she decides to relax with a mobile game and gets sucked into a world of chibi animal people and rock and roll. She turns into a cat girl, and when a popular band are forced to fight some giant negasound monster or something, she uses the power of her talking guitar to fight the beast. She is then scouted by a low level band made up of other animal eared girls and decides to join this band who is signed with a company run by an egg. This show is absolute madness and I love every second of it. Nothing about this show is explained. It is just a girl who loves music give the chance to play in a rock band and also she must fight monsters with the power of music. Also her guitar is voiced by the same person who does Arakita, from Yowamushi pedal, which is just cool. I have no clue what to expect from this show other than rock battles and animal girls and insanity but I love it. I will watch this show all day long.

I might like music anime a bit too much, cause I love this show.

Ame-iro Cocoa- A micro-series about hansoms men who are involved with a café. The strangest thing about this show is that all the characters look like they’re from an older show. Like, the character design just looks like it’s from the late 90s for some reason. Other than that this show has nothing so far. It is just handsome men being handsome with each other. 

Hello! Kin-iro Mosaic- A sequel to the cute girls being nice to each other anime Kirino Mosaic. The show is about a girl who loves western culture who when she was young made a good friend with a British girl, and years later, when she entered high school, that British girl is now going to high school and living with her in Japan. Also the British girl is a total weaboo and the Japanese girl is a total teaboo. Also all the girls are lesbians. This is a hugely harmless show about nothing but I like shows like this so I will watch it. 

Hibike! Euphonium- The latest show from Kyoto Animation, this time returning to the idea of a music club. In middle school a girl plays euphonium in her school brass band, and they just miss going to their equivalent of Nationals. She feels fine with it, but a friend is angry and frustrated and believed they could go the whole way. Cut to a year later when said girl is in high school and thinking of not being a part of band this year, but is drawn in through her friends and the fun people in the club, with the exception of her friend from middle school who she accidently slighted. Now they shoot for nationals, though the main character is hesitant the entire time. This is a classic KyoAni show. Like, I almost want to say this is a return to form, both in the positive and the negative. I really like all the side characters so far. The girl named Emerald and the vice-captain of the club are honestly just incredibly fun as characters, I wouldn’t mind a whole show with both of them. I have a bit of a fear of the show going the K-On route, with the show being about girls eating cake and not playing music, but as far as the first episode shows I think this will have a tighter connection to band, and in the very least music. I plan on keeping up with this because I watch way too many KyoAni shows as it is, and I have hopes for the show as it is. Plus it’s a music based show, and you know I love music based anime. 

Best character of the season. Hands down.

Ore Monogatari!!- My Love Story is about a massive, gorilla of a man with the sweetest heart. Thought-out his whole life every time he has fallen in love with a girl it turns out she is in love with his best friend, who is a traditional good looking guy, though the friend has never gone out with those girls. As they enter high school, on the train to school, the main character spots a train molester and saves a girl from him, and that girl enters his life. He falls for her hard, but soon believes that the girl is actually in love with his friend. But he decides that he will not allow any feelings he has to get in the way and will help his best in any way to get these two crazy kids together. The show is super adorable. It is this great big guy who just wants love and is super sweet and deserves to be happy, meeting his perfect girl and deciding to help her out of his love for her, and not expecting anything back. It is a romance narrative that for some reason hits me right in the heart. Also, a bit a spoiler, the girl is obviously super in love with the gorilla guy, and he is just not allowing himself to see the possibility. That might hit a bit close to home for me, and just makes me even more invested. Outside of the main character being a gorilla style character the show is a typical shoujo anime, but that isn’t a negative for me like it would be for some people. If you don’t like shoujo sparkles and misunderstanding plots, you might want to avoid this show, but if you love super cute things and people finding true love you should watch this show.

Punch Line- In a world of super heroes and ghosts and other random stuff, there is a guy who, whenever he sees woman’s underwear, he gains super powers for a sort time. But if he sees woman’s underwear for a second time in a row, a meteor will destroy the earth. Also, he has been taken out of his body by an evil(?) spirit and is not a ghost. He must find a sacred book in order to return to his body, but even as a ghost if he sees woman’s underwear twice a meteor will destroy the earth. But as a ghost he can go back in time and avoid the things that lead him to seeing the woman’s underwear. This show is pants on head insane. It is honestly just stupid and crazy and has a toku hero/magical girl who rides a cool motorcycle and fights with an iron bendy straw. Like, the action sequence in the first part of the show, which has no bearing on the show at all as far as I can tell, was amazing with some great action and cool lines and a metal bendy straw! But it is a show about panty shots. I have no clue if I want to keep up with this show. I watched the first episode because I heard how just insane this show was, and it is just crazy. But being crazy isn’t always enough to draw me in permanently. I think I will give it another few episodes, but unless it can do something other than gratuitous panty shots and balls to the wall madness, I might have to drop it. 

Ninja Slayer From Animation- Once again Studio Trigger saves anime. Let me tell you the insane story behind this show. From what I know, a few years ago a couple dudes on Twitter in Japan starting translating an American book. The book was about a ninja who only kills other ninja, and is all about honor and ninjas and sushi and other Japanese things. The book was basically inspired by really bad 90’s anime that got brought over to anime that was full of over the top violence, fan-service, violence, really bad interpretations of Japanese stuff in order to make Americans think it’s cool, and violence. It turned out the book never existed, and was just a funny joke about some of the stuff American weebs think is real from older anime. But then made a real book about the adventures of a ninja who only kills ninjas for revenge and honor and has nothing to do with real ninjas. That book has inspired Ninja Slayer From Animation. The show proper is about a world where ninjas run rampant and kill whoever they want. Also the ninjas look nothing like real ninjas. After two ninjas slay a man’s family, and almost killing him, but before they can the spirit of the ninja inhabits the man and he kills the two men, and swears to kill all ninjas with his ninja powers. He then steals some sushi and kills another ninja. This is the greatest show ever made. The animation style is a mix of Inferno Cop’s paper craft style and actual animation that looks straight out of the 90’s, which is amazing. This show is basically Inferno Cop, one of the greatest shows ever made, but more Inferno Cop and with ninjas. Seriously, go watch this show, it is so much stupid fun. Before any two ninjas get into a fight, they must greet each other properly, or else they have no honor. The bad guy is 20 feet tall and looks like the King Pin from Marvel Comics but more muscle bound. The hero robbed a convenience store in the first episode. For sushi. He allowed his victim to give their honorary death haiku. This show is insane and wonderful. Watch it.

This is the best part of the opening theme.

And that is the 2015 spring anime season. There is one more show I’m waiting for, but Digimon Adventure Tri won’t be out till May I think, so I will have to wait for it. But outside of that, this season looks like a lot of fun. There is a ton of music based anime, and even a show that is a spiritual sequel to one of the best shows of all time. I might be watching less, but hopefully the quality will just as high. So until next time, keep on watching. 

Seriously watch Ninja Slayer From Animation. YEART!