Summer 2009: GA Geijutsuka Art Design Class, Kanamemo, Sora no Manimani, Tokyo Magnitude 8.0, Yoku Wakaru Gendai Mahou

Praise Heathus, I’m finally at the end of the new anime shows for this season.  I’m not going to bother with Ippatsu or Element Hunters since they look seriously boring.

GA Geijutsuka Art Design Class

Most anime series derived from 4koma formats lose my attention pretty quickly, but GA is informative and funny at the same time.  I haven’t been in art club since middle school, so it was interesting to hear the different uses and qualities of art supplies.  You’d never guess that by my description, but it’s just something you have to see to understand.  The five main girls don’t really stand out on their own, but their personalities mix well to create good dialogue.  Undoubtedly, the funniest part of the episode was the Power Ranger-esque sequence where they tried to help a student with her assignment.  GA is like Hidamari Sketch with more energy, which will probably help it gain a wider fanbase.

Kanamemo

Wow.  This had a lot more adult humor than I expected.  Some of it is bordering on annoying, like the drunk girl who loves to feel up boobs.  That’s funny the first and second time around, but it’ll just get stupid if she does it throughout the entire season.  The little girl is pretty much a poor man’s Becky from Pani Poni Dash, but I like her sass.  It’s kind of cool that they have a legit lesbian couple though.  No watching an entire season of flirtation for two girls to just be friends, and these two don’t flaunt their relationship either.  Kanamemo had me actually laughing out loud a couple times, so I’m gonna check out more episodes.

Sora no Manimani

The main female character is one of those generic over-hyper girls who has a sentimental moment three times an episode so that viewers don’t kick her to the curb.  As long as she calms some of her shit down, I’ll be able to handle her.  I like that the main male character straight up told her off when she tried to act like their friendship was all roses and honey.  But apparently he’s a tsundere (or masochist) for her and they’re pretty much on the road for a relationship.  The art and plot are okay, so hopefully this show will step up it’s game.  Oh and the little astrological symbols in the credits were cute.

Tokyo Magnitude 8.0

I’m not going to judge this series too deeply since the first episode was mostly a prequel to the earthquake even happening.  Of course it has a supernatural spin with the quake happening at the exact moment the main girl wishes that something bad would happen.   She’s up there in the anime hall of fame already for “Pissiest Attitude”.  I felt bad for her brother who was just trying to make her happy, and I hope that he survives.  He’s in the OP so there’s a good chance that he’s fine.  Not so sure about their parents.  The earthquake itself was well animated, and seeing that is one of the few reasons I will not live on the West Coast.

Yoku Wakaru Gendai Mahou

Ehhhhh, this one is really bordering on being dropped.  Nothing but high pitched magic girls, a generic villain and typical fanservice tactics.  I dunno if the raw I watched was weird, but the audio and animation seemed off, too.  I like the idea of computer code and magic being mixed, but the rest of this show is so baseline.