Autumn 2013: First Impressions – Gingitsune & Phi Brain S3
Okay then onto Natsume wannabe & puzzling awesomeness – Gingitsune & Phi Brain S3.
Gingitsune
Gingitsune wants to be Natsume Yuujinchou and it just fails to reach that level. The show is nice enough I suppose in the classic youngster sees youkai that no one else can see kind of way, but I found it hopelessly boring the majority of the time. There just isn’t anything to really set Gingitsune apart from other shows of its ilk, and I just couldn’t get invested in it. The kitsune – Gintaro – is kinda fun, he’s this big, gruff centuries old creature who suddenly has to deal with a stroppy teenage girl, but he is just as prone to fits of moodiness as she is – got some amusement out of that, but that’s about as far as my interest went. Ginitsune isn’t bad, it’s just unremarkable and I have very little patience for the unremarkable these days.
Production is middle of the road too – all pretty solid looking (although I can’t say I’m fond of the character designs), but there is no flair to the direction or anything that really makes the series stand out. Overall Gingitsune is just ‘meh’ – passable and I suppose it could be somewhat endearing if I gave it a few more episodes, but I’m just not interested enough to do so. Dropped.
Phi Brain S3
Ah here we go – now this got my attention right from the get-go! I love Phi Brain, it is a ridiculous show (god I love ridiculous shows!) stuffed full of BL shipping opportunities and laughably grandiose puzzle solving antics topped off with fantastically stupid names with a star-studded cast…..I just love the show to bits. This season looks set to focus on Kaito & Rook’s mentor Jin, who has been sidelined quite a lot in previous seasons despite being pretty interesting. We also get a new antagonist in the shape of a pink haired girl – *GASP* an actual woman who can solve puzzles!??? this goes against everything that Phi Brain has taught us over two seasons – women in this show are physically incapable of doing puzzles! Anyway we also get two other characters with awesome names Mr Enigma & Mr Whodoneit……I am being completely serious. Have I mentioned how much I love this show??
Yes so, production looks to have been stepped up again – or at least this first episode looked pretty awesome. The OP continues Phi Brain’s run of really good and well animated OPs, but that ED…….oh god I nearly died laughing. A really upbeat seiyuu number with the cheesiest pictures ever – genius! So yes, I’m going to be one of the elite few who will be watching a third season of Phi Brain – I feel sorry for those of you that are missing out on the fun.
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Caraniel's Ramblings 
Gingitsune just doesn’t have the sort of gravitas I want from a show of this genre. The designs a re all too childish, which makes the show come off as a comedy … Without really being funny.
Shows like Mushishi or Yuujinchou can pull it off because the artwork really seems to suggest the show is worth paying attention to.
This is it exactly! The blobby character designs really work against the atmosphere it desperately wants to create.
I’m with you in thinking that Gingitsune was ‘meh’, inoffensive and boring. The return of Phi Brain, on the other hand, is always welcome. 😀 (I lost the plot when Whodoneit’s name was mentioned – the character names from earlier series were funny, but his is on a whole new level). 😛
Whodoneit is a fantastic name – surprised it’s taken them three seasons to pull that one out!