Spring 2012: First Impressions (Medaka Box, Acchi Kocchi & Natsuiro Kiseki)

Every time I think I’m getting somewhere another bunch of shows come out!  Anyway next on the chopping block is gainaxing boobs, moe blobs and bitchy girls………Medaka Box, Acchi Kocchi and Natsuiro Kiseki.

Medaka Box

I had concerns about this before I went into it, but it actually wasn’t as terrible as I was expecting……although that’s not to say Medaka Box is any good, because it’s not.  It’s saving grace is that the episode was so fast paced that we were not allowed any time to dwell on how shallow and dull this premise is.  Dialogue is motor-mouthed, but lacks the usual flair we’ve come to expect from NisiOisin and the characters have the depth of a teaspoon, but everything moves quickly with lots of energy so it’s easy to get swept along with things.  Medaka herself is like a sociable version of Haruhi – irritatingly perfect at everything but with this desire to only do good for other people instead of Haruhi’s determination to make the world revolve around her.  This makes Medaka less interesting because she has no discernible flaws meaning she’s very bland.  Her childhood friend side-kick is a touch more interesting due to his inferiority complex, but I’m being generous there.  I’d agree with other people’s impression that the premise of Medaka Box is very similar to Sket Dance, but without the comedy element.

The animation is bright with constant movement (hello gainaxing boobs) which was great for distracting your attention away from how bland the rest of the show is, however I am not fond of the character designs at all (why is Kamina in this show??).  Voice acting is reasonable, as is the music.

I can’t be bothered with Medaka Box, even though it was nowhere near as awful as I was expecting, it still isn’t good enough to warrant trying another few episodes. Not even my legendary tolerance for shounen rubbish can compel me to stick this out.

Acchi Kocchi

This.  This is the kind of thing my nightmares are made of.  I can not stand these s’life shows were absolutely bugger all happens.  I don’t mind if the characters or writing is charming enough (Kimi to Boku is just about getting by on that), but Acchi Kocchi has neither.  The characters are literal moe blobs – shapeless brightly coloured creatures with zero discernible personality and huge soulless eyes……..terrifying.  The writing is as bland as cardboard, we have the characters go to school, attend class, have lunch & go to the arcade.  Amazing.  I just don’t see the appeal here – what am I supposed to be interested in, because it sure as hell can’t be the strange purple haired thing that can’t seem to form coherent sentences and sprouts cat ears randomly!

As I’ve said, the character designs terrify me, and the actual animation is nothing spectacular either.  The OP is a prime example of why some voice actors should not be allowed to sing and the ED is basically an advertisement for nendoroids. I WILL NOT BUY YOUR CREEPTASTIC MERCHANDISE!

So yeah…….not liking Acchi Kocchi much.

Natsuiro Kiseki

And to complete this triumvirate of meh, Natsuiro Kiseki.  What was the point of this show?  I have absolutely no idea what it is meant to be about.  About six minutes in when sporty orange haired girl, and snobby blonde haired girl started bitching at each other I about gave up any hope of this show being worth watching.  At that point I didn’t even know the girls names, why the feck should I care if they are fighting?  Why were they fighting anyway?  There was something about tennis, a flashback to a giant rock and vague mentions of idols……I have so idea why anything was relevant or why I was meant to care.  And then there was the ending were there was suddenly magic.  Heck fire in some alternate dimensions where the girls beat the shite out of each other and we’ve basically got Black Rock Shooter all over again! Urgh!!!

On the up side the animation was pretty nice to look at.  However the voice acting was kind of irritating given the four girls have like one personality trait each and they play those up to 11.  The OP & ED were quite nice though, but we already knew Sphere could sing.

Another one for the dropped pile – I have no patience for watching any more.