Tokyo TV Anime, Winter, 2011 - Tuesday
Selected New Show Comments
Rio Rainbow Gate : C-
I've seen pachinko machines that have been based on anime (Urusei Yatsura, Lupin III, Fist of the North Star) but this is the first time I've heard of the other way around. Rio is a "goddess of victory", a dealer at a casino. Her presence brings good luck to the other gamblers. It's a T&A series that features over-the-top head-to-head gambling matches with a fair amount of silly magic effects thrown in. Rio is kind of a super woman, with mad martial arts skills along with big breasts and a cute face. Unfortunately, the story isn't interesting enough to justify watching this.
Freezing : C-
Freezing is based Japanese manga written and drawn by two Korean manwha artists (manwha is the term for Korean comics). I've never been a fan of manwha, which has always struck me as testosterone-driven and having stiff character poses. If I don't know it's manwha, I do have a tendency to be more tolerant of artwork that I consider "un-manga-like", but not if I know that it's not Japanese in origin. Anyway, Earth is invaded by aliens, probably leftovers from Level E, and genetically-altered big-breasted women, called "Pandoras" and their big-muscled male partners, called "Limiters", fight back. The series is based at an academy for training the Earthling fighters, and is mostly just an uninspired school-girl rivalry storyline. Got to wonder why the women's battle costumes feature flimsy clothing and dresses that show the panties underneath during combat... The production qualities are good, but the catfight cliches making Freezing not worth watching for me.
Jidou Sports : C-
Simplified-design animals compete in various sports events for slapstick effect. Only worth watching if you like mixes of SD Gundam and Wacky Races.
Kore wa Zombie Desu ka? : B+
I translate this as "Is this a zombie?", but the wiki page uses "Are you a zombie?" This is another light novel, that has been given 3 different manga adaptations. What we have here is a high school harem comedy involving a zombie, a necromancer, a cosplaying witch and a vampire ninja. Ayumu was the victim of a serial killer, and was brought back to life by Eucliwood Hellsythe. He's currently trying to find out who his killer was, and surviving the murderous onslaughts of the women that start gathering around him. The story is a little slow in taking off, but it is funny often enough to justify continued monitoring.
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