Summer 2010 – First Impressions (Asobi ni Iku yo! & Sengoku BASARA Two)

I think that this is probably it for my ‘First Impressions’ of Summer – Asobi ni Iku yo! & Sengoku BASARA Two are the final two I was planning to sample.  As for what I’m blogging this season, the only series that’s appealed to me is Shiki (which is another two cour show) as for the other show – it all depends on second episodes so nothing is set in stone; it’s a toss-up of Kuroshitsuji II and Occult Academy at the moment!

Asobi ni Iku yo!

OK this was marginally better than I was expecting. I liked the pre-credits sequence with the girl attacking a ship in a super-spy type way, but once they introduced the neko-mimi alien and loser male lead it was downhill into familiar ecchi territory It’s quite clear that the source material is a light novel as things are fleshed out well and there definitely is a plot here; it’s just stretching the realms of probability that the loser male not only suddenly acquires a hot neko-mimi alien girlfriend, but is also already surrounded by women who have ties to secret military and terrorist agencies! Is the bloke some sort of magnet for girls with guns?? I would have been somewhat interested in the series if it continued in the vein of the pre-credits stuff, but bouncy half-naked alien and dull cardboard cutout male lead scuppered any shred of interest I may have had.

Production is decent – pretty old school generic character designs, but a least they’re drawn well and consistently. Animation is smooth, although direction is fairly run of the mill. Nothing much to complain about, except the amount of focus on T&A, but hey that was to be expected really. No complaints about voice acting – it’s all fairly generic and unremarkable. No OP this episode, ED was just one long panty-shot with an unremarkable song.

Overall it wasn’t as painfully terrible as I was dreading – thats’s not to say Asobi ni Iku yo! is good though! This premise has been done to death and there’s nothing new here – if you like this kind of series though, I’m sure this will be right up your alley. As for me – dropped!

Sengoku BASARA Two

I seemed to spend the duration of this episode with a stupid grin on my face. Sure I had no notion what was going on and there are way too many names that I’ll never remember in a month of Sundays; but the episode itself was so much fun I don’t really care! The plot has always been the weakest aspect of Sengoku Basara – I still couldn’t tell you what the first season was all about; but this is a show where I don’t care about plot or how historically accurate things are, because I’m just entertained by the GAR and action from start to finish! Call me shallow, but hey I love how OTT and stupid this series can be, and all the elements I loved from season one are present and accounted for! OYAKATA-SAMA!!! YUKIMURA!!

The animation is still as crisp and impressive as the first season. The direction is snappy and interesting and the fight choreography is every bit as flashy and fun as I remember (although it lacked the art-shift S1 had during power-ups). The star-studded cast is back for this second series, with the addition of Akira Ishida and Ryotaro Okiayu in the antagonist roles. Ryotaro Okiayu isn’t a patch on Norio Wakamoto, but hey those where really big shoes to fill so I’ll cut the bloke a break. Brilliant soundtrack is back in full force too. OP by TM Revolution randomly appeared in the middle of the episode this week, not as immediately catchy as S1’s OP with the dancing samurai, but still a decent high energy track.

So yeah I had fun and will definitely be keeping this series on (was there ever any doubt!?).