Kamisama Kiss Season 2 Review

Kamisama Kiss Season 2 Review

Warning: The following review may contain spoilers. If you wish not to know some events in the story, or simply don't wish to find out what happens in the series, please leave the page, since I don't want to damage a watching experience for you.

Also, this will be a review of the 2nd season of Kamisama Kiss, and not of the whole show.

With that said, thank you, and onto the review:

As some of you may know, one of my favorite shows that I watched last year was a show by the name of Kamisama Kiss. Overall, this show was a blast to watch, and I had so much fun while doing so, thanks to the characters and humor. The OVA's still need a viewing, and I hope to get to those before the new ones for a arc in the manga come out sometime in the fall.

When I found out a second season was greenlit, I was so excited. What was going to be adapted this time? How many episodes were there going to be? What will happen to all of the great characters that are in here?

Good news is, after watching a couple of 2nd seasons that suffered from a weaker one after the 1st, this one doesn't. So yay for no Second Season Syndrome! Not only is the humor just as good, but we also got some new character development to see who may have needed it. And some of it was fairly interesting.

Though there some mild issues that I had, such as other characters not having as much development as others (one almost borderline generic), and the second arc feeling a bit slow paced at parts, this was still an amazing second season, and I can't wait for more Nanami, Tomoe, and Mizuki! :3

Story

The story for this season is essentially split into 3 arcs, with 2 of them containing 5 episodes each. The last one only lasts 2, thus making the episode count 12, instead of last season's 13.

The 1st arc revolves around the yearly gathering of the gods in Izumo, in which Nanami is selected to go to by Otohiko. He was a very disappointing character in the 1st season, and though he doesn't get that much development in this season either, he does become more entertaining. But it's not easy, Nanami first is administrated a test in which she must look after a shikigami. After it successfully hatching on the 1st night, even though it was supposed to take 7 days, it's time to deal with a spirit that is in Nanami's school library. Which involves her naming this monkey shikigami, Mamoru, which means to protect. She goes to the assembly with Mizuki accompanying her (though Tomoe arrives later) and is assigned a mission by Okuninushi,  the Assembly's leader. This involves her getting trapped in the Netherworld when Kirihito, the man Akura-oh is currently residing in, is thrown into the gate, and Nanami goes after him. They met in Episode 2, and Nanami wonders about him, as he is super mysterious. It's not that she has any feelings for him.

After Izanami, the goddess of the Netherworld, imprisons Kirihito, Nanami decides to go rescue him by tricking Izanami by "eating" the food of the Netherworld. Tomoe is able to break off the rock that covers the boarder after a little scuffle with the war god, but has to return to his yokai form in order to do so. Okuninushi imprisons him because of this, but Tomoe is freed after he becomes her familiar again. Mikage makes the cameo during the final day of the Assembly, and finally appears to Nanami.

The 2nd arc involves development on Kurama's past, as well as a collection of new characters. After Nanami arrives home from Izumo after a girl's day with Himeiko, she walks into a crow tengu named Botanmaru. Botanmaru, who can't fly as he hasn't been able to learn yet, is looking for Mr. Shinjiro, who we find out is Kurama. Botanmaru ask Kurama to return to Mount Kurama, as it's in a iffy state since the Sojobo has been ill. As of right now, Jiro is leading the mountain, and is very intimidating and scary. As we try to learn about the Sojobo's condition, and the gang breaks into the defense of Jiro's house, it's time for barrier spells, and soul hunting!

The last mini arc involves Nanami turning back into a child. this is a great way to view her past, and see why she's been so wary of men since her childhood.

So overall, I really like what happened in these 12 episodes. It gave off new chances from some old characters to shine, and it also has some entertaining new ones. Each have their own special funny moments, such as Nanami trying to hold off on going to the bathroom after arriving on Mount Kurama, until Tomoe breaks it to Suiro. There's also some great altercations between Tomoe and Mizuki that are always entertaining, and not annoying.

One of my slight problems with this series is the 2nd arc. This arc manages to adapt Date A Live pacing, where at some points it goes super fast, and other times moves at a snail's pace. This was my only issue with the story though, but beyond that, I always like what Kamisama Kiss brings to the table.

Moving on to the characters now:

Characters

The characters that we were introduced to in the 1st season are just as good as before. Tomoe starts to realize more of his feelings for Nanami, Nanami managed to make a couple of weird decisions that made me scratch my head, but still is a likable lead. Kurama gets some awesome character development, and makes me care for him more, as his childhood wasn't easy. Poor Mizuki gets shoved to the side most of the time, and I wanted to see more of him. Favorite character obsession strikes again! And Akura-oh gets some development into why he is here now, and how he plans to get his real body back.

But today, I'm going to talk about 3 new characters that make a appearance in the series that I really liked, (well, 1 more since we have to talk about the weakest character for me) first starting with Yatori:

  

Yatori was a former servant to Akura-oh in the past, when he was known as Furball. He was constantly ignored due to his bad order, and for his looks. His past hasn't been fully explained yet, but it does involve inhabiting another body, much like Akura-oh.

Akura-oh forgets about Yatori when he shows up at Kirihito's house (I mentioned earlier that Akura-oh is now in Kirihito's body), and asks him for a deal. While Akura-oh plans to stir up something within this deal, Yatori ALSO wants to stir something up as well, as he knows that Kirihito is actually Akura-oh, and while I do forget the reason as to why he wants to stir things up, I can think of 2 things. Is he plotting against him because of mistreatment or does he simply want more attention? ;) We shall wait and see.

In the 2nd arc, he "serves" under Jiro, manipulating him so that he could gain control over the Kurama mountain. He was also the person responsible for sealing up the Sojobo's soul, after tricking him with a letter believed to be from Shinjiro, that resulted in the Sojobo getting emotional, which left no defenses for him. However, his plan fails after Nanami gains control over the area with her newly crated barrier again evil.

So overall, I found Yatori to be very entertaining. He's kind of like those two Varugas from Karneval, however unlike them, he is actually competent, and knows what he wants and how to get it. Though he hasn't been able to get it just yet, we'll see what happens as he continues to pull strings, all for the satisfactory of his former master, Akura-oh.

Let's talk about the leader of the Divine Assembly shall we?:

Okuninushi was mentioned before in Season 1, where he lent Narukami his Lucky Mallet, which can shrink or grow any object. He is a Wealth God, and besides being the head of the Assembly, it's also held in his shrine. He is quite famous due to this.

His personality is very dramatic, flashy, and he manages to over-react a bit, but he is pretty charming. He can also come by unannounced at various moments of the anime. He is naturally charming, which attracts attention to the female gods, and Otohiko. However, he doesn't plan on giving back feelings, and doesn't think that yokais and humans should fall in love. 

Though he doesn't have a lot of development, I found Okuninushi to be a very interesting character. I liked his role as the head of the Divine Assembly, and he does things with appropriate reasons. If more seasons come along, hopefully he gets more development, as he has a lot of potential.

Suiro's now up:

Suiro is one of the more prominent tengus that lives on Kurama Mountain, and is first seen in a flashback talking to Botanmaru about Shinjiro, but is first seen by Shinjiro (Kurama) in a illusion (unknown who casted it), but then makes his own physical appearance. He is much loved by his clan, as he is very kind and respectable. He is also really good at playing the flute.

When Shinjiro was young, he would always go to Suiro for comfort and protection when Jiro would be mean to him as he couldn't fly. Eventually, Jiro got word of this, and got sick of it. He then forced Kurama into a crevice that had Raijiuyu. Jiro then forced Shinjiro to fly out of the cave himself, or the Raijiuyu would eat him. When Suiro went to save him he was struck by lightning, therefore losing his wings.

Suiro is probably one of the sweetest anime characters I've seen as of late, You can see just how much he cares about Shinjiro, and he's very welcoming. Though he can't necessarily look at women at first glance, and this irritates Nanami when she first arrives until she yells at him, but it's mainly due to the fact he doesn't know how to treat one. It's understandable, considering women are banned from setting foot on the mountain, but whatever. He's still really sweet, and has a kind heart.

Last but not least, Jiro. I don't care about him. And much like Origami back in my Date A Live review, I'm not going to show a picture of him. Not because he's forgettable, but he's just simply a bad character.

Jiro is currently the 4th chief of Kurama Mountain, and is a pretty tough leader. He is quite merciless and has banished many tengu due to the fact that they are not strong enough. He also wants to be the leader of Kurama Mountain because he is very strong, and due to the fact he wants power.

So GUESS WHAT BOYS AND GIRLS! HERE WE ARE WITH ANOTHER STEREOTYPICAL VILLAIN! The good news is that at least he manages to soften up after meeting Nanami, but it doesn't help the fact that he's a weak character.

Other new characters that we get to meet are the actual Kirihito when he was first sent into the Sprit World and encountered Akura-oh, the Sojobo, Mamoru, Nanami's shikigami who can also transform into a child, the Goddess of the Netherworld, and her cat assistant.

Animation

TMS Entertainment returns to animate this season, and they also famous for producing animation for Sonic X, Cardfight!! Vanguard, and Bakugan Battle Brawlers.

Overall, the animation for this series has not changed. It is around the same quality as the 1st season, and there isn't any dips, or well shown improvements. Some of the animation directors and staff did add some new touches, such as dot eyes in Episode 1 when Mamoru hatches. But other than that, it's still fairly consistent, and great to look at.

Sound

The score for this series was once again composed by Toshio Masuda, who has also done the scores for anime such as Excel Saga, Naruto, and Ai Yori Aoshi.

To be honest, the OST wasn't anything special this time around. There weren't really any new pieces that caught my eye, and it mainly focused on tracks I've heard before. Which were still nice, but I wanted some new pieces. I did like Suzuko Mimori singing the 1st season opening though, that was nice.

The voice work for this series is just as good as its first. With some stand-out performances with unknown voice actors to me, along with some great performances from veterans, it's definatley something to look forward to.

Like Death Parade, this season also got a Broadcast Dub from FUNimation for their winter season. Though I haven't watched as much of it as Death Parade, it's just as good as the 1st season, though has a couple moments here and there.

New highlights to join the awesome family this season in Japanese are Daiki Yamashita, Naoko Matsui (as Onikiri), Yasuaki Takumi, Shotaro Morikubo, Hiro Shimono, Daisuke Hirakawa, Ayaka Saito, Yuko Sanpei, Megumi Iwasaki, Yuri Amano, Kazunari Takeda, and Shuta Morishima (as Kikuichi, though he's also hilarious as Isobe).

Verdict

Finally like Haganai Next, another second season that's just as good as the first. Though it had a couple of minor problems along the way, I still enjoy Kamisama Kiss for what it is overall. I'm really happy that I discovered it, and have really enjoyed it along the way. Hopefully, we have many more adventures to come.

Rating: 10/10

Positives:

Great story.

Fantastic characters.

Good animation.

Awesome voice work.

Interesting new character development.

Overall, a joy to watch.

Negatives:

None major.

Death Parade Review

Death Parade Review

Warning: The following review may contain spoilers. If you wish not to know some events in the story, or simply don't wish to find out what happens in the series, please leave the page, since I don't want to damage a watching experience for you.

With that said, thank you, and onto the review:

During an anime season, there will be a few shows where I go, "Oh, this looks interesting." but in the end, I'm not fully motivated to watch them. Reasons could be for time, elements that make me uncomfortable, or just the main theme not being for me. Death Parade was about to become one of those series, however, I still was planning on watching it, but just at a later time.

However, a close friend of mine online recommended this show to me, so I was thinking "Hey, maybe you can watch it now, considering all of the Winter shows you've dropped recently." So I started to watch it, and was hooked almost immediately.

To say this show was amazing is a bit of an understatement. This show is pretty flipping fantastic, and is one of the best animes I've seen in recent months. Not only does this leave you on the edge of your seat at moments, it also managed to keep me interested in what was going on. The characters as a whole are great, and overall, I had a lot of fun.

Let's start off with the basic premise, and then move on to some other details in our story:

Story

When two people die at the same time on Earth, they are sent to mysterious bars run by arbiters under the guise of bartenders. The arbiters' purpose is to judge the two souls, and find out which one will be sent into reincarnation, and who will be sent into the void with their memories. However, the guests don't know why they arrived at these mysterious bars, nor do they know that they're dead. During the games, lost memories are recovered by the players, secrets are revealed, and a whole hell of a lot of interesting twists and turns await. 

The story follows an arbiter named Decim, who runs the bar Quindecim, whose own role in judging changes when a mysterious black haired woman arrives at the Quindecim with no memories of how she got there, but only knowing that she has died. Due to this, Decim wipes out her memories so that she doesn't remember her name, or how she came here. Because of this, she is now working in the bar as an assistant.  


But later on, the plot becomes more than just about the games and the people playing them. We also get to find out more about the arbiters, and what their purpose is. We also get to find out some very interesting plot twists that may have your heads churning.

So overall, I was very impressed with the story. Though the game scenario does get a little bit repetitive, there are new games every single time, and each of them are filled with fascinating reveals, and new information that compelled me to be drawn into the situations that were going on. But my favorite episodes were the ones that didn't focus on the game factor, but rather on the characters. Learning new information, and seeing these interesting characters interact with one another was highly enjoyable.

Not only that, but this show put me into full emotion mood. It wasn't as serious at Angel Beats, where I actually cried at the ending, but it was still a lot to handle. Sadness, anger, happiness, wistful, they're all there. And each emotion is done perfectly, unlike other anime who try to be dramatic, and it just doesn't work.

I'm going to move on to some of the characters. 3 that are more a part of the main cast, and 1 I just enjoyed because of reasons.

Characters

The majority of the characters in this anime are pretty much unique in their own way. Some of them don't get the developing eye as much as others, but these 4 are the most interesting. Also, we have another villain who isn't stereotypical, but suffers from poor development.

First up, the leading man:

Decim is a dummy created by Nona to serve as a arbiter. However, he is a special case. Nona actually implanted him with human emotions because she was tried of having arbiters only judging one way. She wanted to see what would happen if she had an arbiter who had these emotions so judgments could be more fair.

Decim, like most arbiters, doesn't have a lot of emotion. He resides on the 15th floor as the bartender of the Quindecim bar. which is one of the bars that oversees the Death Games. He is very polite, and manages to actually be very sweet for a emotionless person.

There's not too much to describe about Decim, but he does change throughout the series. He gets more emotion, and thanks to Onna, he gets a broader understanding on how unfair some of the judgments are. Though he doesn't have many personality traits, I still do like Decim. I think he's very sweet, and does have a better heart than Ginti, another arbiter we meet that isn't emotionless, but is very aggressive.

Next, the woman of mystery:

At first appearance, we don't know much about this girl. We know that she has long black hair, her temporary name is Onna since she forgot her own name, and she already had knowledge that she was dead when she entered Quindecim. At the beginning of the series, she is asked to become Decim's assistant after she wakes up from a sleep, due to Decim wiping her memories and all.

At first glance, I got worried that this girl wasn't going to be a good character. But as we progress, it turns out that she was. She's assertive, knows right from wrong. she's sweet, and also helps Decim realize some things. Oh, and we do get to find out her name at the end of the show. But I won't tell you that. ;) It's a secret.

You've probably noticed that these characters don't have a lot of traits that I can talk about. They're more simple characters, which do work in some cases, this series being one of them.

Nona's turn:

Nona is the boss for the majority of the arbiters, though Occulus is the boss of bosses. She oversees the games, and lives on the top floor of the world, being the 90th. At times, she can be a bit forceful to Decim when he forgets things sometimes, and often acts very dreamlike. She does have more depth than at first glance, though.

Like I said before, Nona created Decim because she was tried of having only one way to judge. Being an arbiter herself, we can assume that she's lived here for a long time, and has seen several souls being judged. It's interesting hearing her take on the issue, and I fell in love with her as the series went on. Especially with her confrontation with Occulus in the final episode.

Now onto a character who isn't explored, but just happened to brighten up the screen whenever he was on:

Clavis is the elevator man. He is the one that our characters call on whenever we need to travel to floor 15 and such. He also manages to get me in a better mood whenever he appears. 

I watched this series with a friend, and he pretty much fell in love with Clavis. I like him too, mainly because whenever in a dramatic situation, he always seems to brighten up the scene. I do wish we had more development on him, mainly on why his eyes are closed all the time. It's a common anime stereotype these days for a closed-eye character to have secrets.

We also have the guests who play the Death Games. Each of them are unique, and some of them are connected in pretty interesting ways. Each of them have different personality traits, and don't feel like the same character repeated over and over. This was great, as I don't think any of us were in the mood for Deeply Sad Over Life Person #1,000. Some of the guests you end up rooting for, and others you want to kick into oblivion.

Other characters include Ginti, an arbiter who lives on the 20th floor with his bar Viginti, and was made around the same time as Decim. He is very aggressive, and has a rude temper. Quin is the former bartender of Quindecim who now works at the information bureau. Castra is a woman who wears a skull helmet, and she oversees deaths around the world. She also decides what souls the arbiters get. And last but not least, we have Oculus, the alleged god of the world, who in his free time plays galactic pool. He is also the least interesting character out of the show, for development reasons.

Animation

The animation for this series was done by Madhouse, who are also know for their animation efforts towards Highschool of the Dead, No Game No Life, and Cardcaptor Sakura.

Out of all of the Winter 2015 anime shows I've seen, this series has my favorite animation out of all of them. Not only does it have vibrant colors, it also pays attention to facial expressions. Some of them do express regular emotions, but Death Parade happens to show off a unique light to some of them. And they mainly have to do with grief from our players.

Compared to the animation of Kamisama Kiss 2, where the animation is on par with the 1st season, this animation clearly shows something more in my opinion. And though are some issues, such as Decim's hair style changing in between frames in Episode 10, it's fairly consistent.

Sound 

The score was composed by Yuki Hayashi, who also composed the scores for DRAMAtical Murder, Blood Lad, and Diabolik Lovers.

The OST for this series is actually pretty good. So far, I'm liking each of Yuki Hayashi scores for the shows I've watched where he composes. While Blood Lad was mainly relaxing, and DRAMAtical Murder focusing more on the electronic side of things, Death Parade manages to blend these two really well. One track in particular has electronic elements, but most of them use piano, which makes it feel all the more relaxing.

My favorite track is the next episode preview music, much like DRAMAtical Murder. I just found both of these songs to be really enjoyable, and creative. Take a listen to Death Parade's:

As the time of this review, Death Parade already has a dub. Thanks to FUNimation, they have been able to produce dubs for shows that are currently airing. After doing this to Laughing Under the Clouds and Psycho Pass 2 in the Fall. they are producing 10 dubs for 10 shows that aired in the Winter, which is a huge increase. I have been able to watch some snippets of the dubs, some ranging from great, to "Yeah, this needs more work. Well, let's wait for the box sets to come out Lord knows when!" :D

When I watched the clip that FUNimation uploaded for this show, as it's one of the 3 that is airing on their subscription network known as Dubbletalk, I was a little worried. Not that the dub was horrible, but Alex Organ managed to blow Eric Vale and Trina Nishimura completely out of the water. And out of the clips they released, it was almost the weakest (that goes to Tokyo Ghoul season 2). But then again, that might be because that show is simply one I don't care for. Oh well, moving on.

Needless to say, it's unfair to judge a dub IMO just based on a clip. So, I made it a priority to watch the 2nd episode when it was released at the end of February. And it was freaking awesome! I have to say, despite a couple of weak patches here and there, the dub for this show is pretty much FANTASTIC! Almost everyone gives some of their best performances in either a while, or overall in what I've heard from them. The original Japanese is still really good as well, and the parts that manage to falter a bit in English are better here. But, we just need to wait for the final release of the English dub to see if things are correct or not.

Highlights in the original Japanese are Tomoaki Maeno, Asami Seto, Rumi Okubo, Yoshimasa Hosoya, Koki Uchiyama, Ryoko Shirashi, Ryoka Yuzuki, Junji Majima, M.A.O, Masakazu Morita, Atsumi Tanezaki, Mamoru Miyano, and Ikuko Tani.

Highlights so far in the English dub are Alex Organ, Jamie Marchi, Jad Saxton, Robert McCollum, Zach Bolton, Anastasia Munoz, Morgan Garrett, Micah Solusod, Bryn Apprill, Monica Rial (who has perhaps my favorite performance out of the series thus far. SLAY GIRL SLAY!), Josh Grelle, and Kent Williams.

Verdict

So yeah, if it isn't obvious enough, I freaking love this show. This has been one of my favorite shows in recent months, and I can see a ton of people enjoying this one.

If you haven't seen this show, or are curious to watch it, I say go for it. Just be careful not to find spoilers past what I've given you, and you're good. ;)

Score: 10/10

Positives:

Engaging story.

Interesting characters.

Fantastic animation.

Great score.

Overall, very fascinating and fun to watch.

Can be a little funny at times.

Great in both Japanese and English.

Plot twists are executed well, and not poorly.

Negatives:

None major.

Winter 2015 Anime Season Wrap-up

Winter 2015 Anime Season Wrap-up

Warning: The following post may contain spoilers from the shows I watched from the Winter 2015 anime season. If you wish not to know some events that take place, or simply don't wish to find out what happens in the series, please leave the page, since I don't want to damage a watching experience for you.

Also, the pictures for my special posts are chosen at random. Whenever people think of Winter, people think of Christmas. So, lucky I had this Code Geass picture on standby.

Let's get this post started. shall we?

So, for the new year, I decided on doing a special post to wrap up each anime season. I will be talking about the shows of my interest that I followed during the season. Some were dropped, some were kept with, and others still have yet to be completed. As of this review, I have watched 5 anime shows that premiered in the season, and have only finished 2.

Overall, this season of following anime was a little weaker for me. In the Fall, I only really followed 2 shows, as most of them weren't really interesting. Others I saved for later, such as Trinity Seven, and I still have a couple I want to watch. Same goes for the Summer 2014 season, which has been probably my favorite thus far since I started following new shows. And, it was also the 1st.

So, keep in mind that these are my own opinions. You're welcome to like any shows that I didn't. So with that said, let's start with the bottom of the pile. My Dropped shows.

My main rule for animes that I don't complete is to watch it halfway, and see if it gets better. But, there were some exceptions to the rule with this season.

#1

Absolute Duo.

First thing to mention, the opening for this show is kick-ass. It's very edgy, is nice to jam out too, and Konomi Suzuki's voice has always managed to steal the show for me. But in the end, the show itself wasn't as strong as I hoped.

When this anime was first announced, I was kind of excited about it. Not only did this show sound promising, I thought this could be fun to watch. When PV's starting coming out, I was looking forward to it. Not as strong as others from previous seasons, such as DRAMAtical Murder, Gugure Kokkuri San, and Madan no Ou to Vanadis, but I was still looking forward to it.

After the 1st episode, I felt a little underwhelmed. Some of the events that happened were a little interesting, sure, but I wasn't invested into the entire episode. The next episode was fine, but it didn't really do anything again. Episode 3 was a slight improvement, while Episode 4 downgraded. And then, the next 2 convinced me to just drop this show, and go do something else.

Also, besides being the only show I dropped halfway, this is also the 1st show in which I've ever yelled at my computer. It's hard not to get vocal when you notice far too many cliches.

The 1st thing that should be brought up is that Absolute Duo doesn't really bring anything new to the table. Its story is pretty much piled with overdone tropes that you've seen in countless other anime, except done better in said other anime. We have zero to no development on the actual plot, the main male being a special snowflake, what else is new?

And to also have this face most of the time while watching this anime is a pretty bad sign:

Now onto Absolute Duo's 2nd problem. The characters. Besides 2 characters that I managed to like, the other characters really don't do anything for me. Most of them have less depth than wooden signs.

Tor is pretty much your stereotypical main male protagonist that has a special ability, girls fall in love with him, and blah blah end of story. He does have some interesting qualities, yeah, but it's not a lot to make him stand out. Tomoe only has 2 filters, one being boring as f**k, and the other yelling "You pervert!" at the top of her lungs whenever Tor gets in a misunderstanding. Miyabi is there only for her ginormous tits, and literally nothing else. Tora is there just to fill in childhood friend territory, and is just as pleasing as watching paint dry. Julie and Rito are the only 2 characters I cared for, and that's pretty sad.

Lilith on the other hand, is a special case.  Because she is the worst character of this anime IMO, and that's because she doesn't know the word no. The only reason why she transfers to the academy in the first place is for Tor to be in her Duo, as he is an Irregular, and she is an Exception, and he refuses the first time. Well that worked great! Because, man! This bitch is desperate! She even goes to great lengths to take him from school to go to an amusement park, and he STILL refuses due to being in a Duo with her. So, she decides to throw a competition named Survive. She not surprisingly loses the battle due to a interesting strategy.

To be honest, Lilith just got SO intolerable in the 5th episode. Look, I understand that you and Tor could both work well together, as you both have unique Blazes. HOWEVER, when he already has a Duo, you can't just think he's going to open arms and run over to you. That's against the rules, and just because it doesn't apply to you, that should not mean you keep asking him about it. And don 't declare him your fiancee either!

When she got shot in the arm in the 6th episode, I was overjoyed. Yeah, overjoyed. And I shouldn't feel that way unless the character is a villain.  But Lilith deserved it because she was annoying to the nth degree, and constantly got on my nerves. This anime ranks with Trinity Seven on how a harem can go wrong, though this managed to top it in annoyances.

Also, the Broadcast Dub for this series is also a little disappointing. Though we have some great voices, the dub overall is mainly average, with a couple of miscast people. 

Okay, done with my rant. Overall, I'm giving the first half of Absolute Duo a 4.5 out of 10. It was originally a 3.5, but I decided to bump it up 1 because there were some moments I enjoyed. However, other anime viewers, including me, are getting fed up with these light novel adaptions which bring nothing creative. Though Bladedance had some tropes, it was still highly enjoyable. And while there were some here, it was just average overall. Moving on.

#2

Sengoku Musou.

Well, here goes to show that I now know  how some people feel when first episodes get confusing. This is another one of those re imagining shows of famous Japanese samurai warriors. Sengoku Basara is another example of this, and one that is highly praised. This show seemed interesting for me off the bat because of the reason listed above. Also, the story seemed at least a bit informative, even though it's nothing original in the slightest. Also, Daisuke Ono.

So, when I actually started watching this show, imagine my surprise when the 1st episode started with something totally random. And no, not in a comedy regard, but in a mission regard. This mission had my eyes wide the entire time it was on, even though some moments were enjoyable. The second episode, on the other hand, had me doing this:

WHAT IS GOING ON? WHAT IS HAPPENING? WASN'T THIS PERSON ALIVE LAST EPISODE? WHAT DID HE DIE FROM? WHO'S LEADING THE TROOP NOW? WHY IS THERE A REBELLION OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT? WHAT ABOUT THE TWO BROTHERS? WHY IS ONE GUY'S HAIR MULTICOLORED ONE MINUTE, THAN BROWN THE NEXT? I'M SO CONFUSED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So yeah. This is a bad example of a show that just jumps into a story headfirst, leaving you no time to react. Another show that managed to tweak history a bit that I watched was The Ambition of Oda Nobuna. Even though I knew almost nothing of the show when I first started watching it, I was at least still able to understand what was going on, and the story moved smoothly. This series, on the other hand, just gave me a mind f**k. So much so that I stopped after 16 minutes of Episode 2.

Overall, I'm giving Sengoku Musou based on its first 1 and 1/2 episodes a 3.5 out of 10.

Alright, now on to my least favorite series that I viewed during the Winter season:

#3

The Testament of Sister New Devil.

First thing to start off with, this anime set a record for me, as this is the 1st ever anime I've ever dropped after 1 episode, and that's something I don't ever do. However, the 1st episode of this anime was pretty awful, but I'll explain that later.

Back when the first PV debuted of this show, and I saw it after a cross country practice, I was pretty hyped for this show. I knew that it was going to have fanservice, since the person who wrote the light novels also wrote the LN series Aesthetica of a Rough Hero, This series also is known for being very fanservicey, and was also adapted into an anime in the summer of 2012. From what I have seen from the show, it does look good beyond the fanservice, but I'm worried it's going to suffer from Ikki Tousen Great Guardians syndrome, where the story isn't going to get good until about halfway in. Also, Akatsuki kind of sounds like a d**k.

And hey, the opening is perhaps one of my favorites of the season. Besides the nudity in the actual one, but the song is pretty good.

So, even with some precaution, I managed to enter the 1st episode with a clean state. And for a 1st episode, this anime pretty much fell flat on its face.

For the 1st half of the episode, it's pretty much Basara meeting his new "stepsisters", with Mio being somehow in middle school, and having boobs that are actually bigger then her head. And they move on their own! Because f**k psychics, am I right? 

The next morning, Mio wakes Basara up? How? By grinding on him on top of his bedsheets of course! But why? Because hey, who wouldn't want a hot stepsister waking you up by grinding on you? Right? Right? *gags* Then, when she finds one of Maria's erotic games bashed in the covers, and then while trying to get it back, Basara falls on Mio, and they land of the floor. She slaps him and calls him a pervert. Because anime cliches, yeah, that's why! After saving Mio from those stereotypical background guy creeps, Basrara's dad leaves on a business trip. Plot convenience! And now, it's time for the dramatic reveal! DUN DUN DUN!

Part 2 is the reveal of Mio and Maria's identities, with the former actually being the daughter of a demon lord, and the latter being a succubus, and her guardian. And this is where the episode starts going downhill. Not because of this reveal, but what happens after it.

So, Maria casts a spell on Basara to try and make him leave the house, and to forget about what just happened. And this is where I'm going, "HA! This isn't going to work. Because DUH!" And it doesn't, to the surprise of no one. But why it didn't work is the thing that really set me off.

The reason why the spell didn't work on Basara is because he actually has Hero powers. So that's why he wasn't affected by the spell.

...............................................................................................................................................................

In my opinion, this felt VERY anti-climatic. Yet again, we're faced with a very stereotypical main male lead, and he has a special snowflake ability. Well, that's just dandy. And it's announced just right out of the blue. At least with Tor, we had some sort of an idea before we came in. In here, it's just thrown at us, and we're supposed to accept it just like that.

So after this, Mio and Maria escape from the house to reevaluate their plan. Pretty soon, a monster comes after than, and sooner or later, Basara comes to their rescue. Because, they're family.

And looking later on into the series, I'm super happy that I dropped it. While this show could be interesting, it's all washed away by some pretty disgusting scenes I've read about, and seen. For example, there's this scene in the bath where Maria asks Mio to give Basara a back rub, with boobs included. Apparently, there was cake involved, and Maria somehow dropped it on the floor. It also got on Basara, so how do we clean it off him? Do we use water? OF COURSE NOT! What were expecting, a cute boding moment? Instead, Maria and Mio LICK it off, which causes Basara's inner sex drive to come out. At the end of it, it is revealed to all be a dream.

I'm sorry, but HOW IS THIS FUNNY? This is more disgusting than anything. Just, blech. I would rather see Asia in a naked apron, Jonah in his bathing suit from Jormungand Episode 9. Heck, even a yaoi fanfiction with a Fairy Tail male o**y would sound much more satisfying then the fanservice that this anime has. IT'S ALMOST A HENTAI! 

Oh, and I did this when I found out it was getting a second season:

It's fine if you're a fan of this series. I don't have anything against you. But seriously, there are more shows that need second seasons rather than this one. But then again, considering the very high preorder sales, there's a reason why. But still, what about a season 2 of Karneval or Blood Lad?

Rant mood off now. Overall, I give the 1st episode of this anime a 3.5 out of 10.

Now, onto the shows I finished:

Death Parade and Kamisama Kiss 2.

How's this for ironic? These shows actually had little to no problems. Both of them were really enjoyable, and I would recommend them to everyone. Well, you probably would want to watch Kamisama Kiss season 1 first.

Death Parade manages to be very interesting. At first, the game concept may seem a little repetitive, but later on, character interactions, and some pretty interesting twists help set the stage for a dramatic finale.

Kamisama Kiss Season 2 is just as good as the first, so yay for no second season slump. Even though one arc's pacing was a little too slow for my liking, we get some new character development to characters that needed it.

Also, both of these shows are a part of FUNimation's Broadcast Dubs, and both dubs are impressing me so far. I still need to see more of Kamisama Kiss's though.

These two series will also be my next 2 reviews, so stay tuned. ;)

Let's move on to the show I'm interested in watching:

Cute High Earth Defense Club Love!

You know, this show just sounds like a ball. It mainly focuses on magical boys, which I haven't seen before, and there are promises of yaoi jokes and what not. These sound super entertaining, so let's hope they don't get old.

And also, it's another parody anime. So let's see all of those magical girl series parodies come to life! I'm not expecting anything remarkable out of the character (the pink haired one's my favorite so far based on looks alone) But hey, comedy!

Maria the Virgin Witch.

To be honest, I don't really know what interested me into this show. I also have no clue on what this show's about, but what I do know is that it's historical, and has comedy. So overall, another interesting show to add to the lineup. I'm watching this next, alongside with Cute High Earth Defense Clue Love, and Kuroko no Basuke, which is my first 12+ episode series in a while that's not airing, AKA Sailor Moon Crystal.

And it's another Broadcast Dub title too. It's not as good quality wise, but some of Artemis's lines are hilarious. "There's no more battle in the south now that I've pleased their southern battlefields." *giggles*

World Break (Seikan Tsukai no World Break).

Despite Ayana Taketatsu having one of her worst voices yet based on the PV alone (her screeches sound like nails on a chalkboard, it's that bad),  I'm looking forward to watching this. Well, only the 1st episode as of now, since I've heard this anime isn't really special.

This also had a Broadcast Dub, and it is directed by Tyler Walker, AKA the director of Fairy Tail. Let's just hope the staff puts in more effort into this then in the last half arc of Fairy Tail, plus some horrendous clips I've seen on Youtube. Which includes one of the worst background voices I've ever heard in a dub.

But still, hoping for the best, and the worst.

Yurikuma Arashi.

Besides the show's very odd opening, I've been interested in watching it ever since the Life Bears seiyuus were announced. Also, this show actually manages to look very interesting, and the director has been praised a lot for his work, so why not start with his latest?

Even though there's yuri in this show, and I'm not that big of a fan of yuri, I'm still going to give this show a chance. After all, it isn't fair just to judge a show based on one element, right?

So, looking forward to watching this, and interested to see what path it takes. Also interested in the Broadcast Dub, since the voice of Panty & Stocking are the voices of the bears in English.

The Rolling Girls.

The main reason why I want to watch this series is because it's a anime original story. Anime original stories often are pretty good adaptions, and they can be pretty unique compared to most LN adaptions we get nearly every season. Also, this comes from a highly praised studio known as Wit Studio, who also did Attack on Titan.

I'd watch Attack on Titan, but considering how overrated it is over here with Sword Art Online, I'm not going to be watching it any time soon. Also, I'm not a big fan of gore, and people are calling it the best anime ever made, though that's the only series they watched. *shakes head*

But regardless, it sounds pretty enjoyable, and the voice of Chiyo is the main character. So, why not, right?

And like some of the other shows, this also has a Broadcast Dub. So, looking forward to check that out as well.

Alright, that wraps up my Winter 2015 Anime Season Wrap-up. What were some of your favorite shows this season? Any shows you disliked? Every season this year will have a wrap-up, so let's see what animes some of us have in common, shall we?