Anime Preview: Spring 2008 First Impressions – Batch 3

This is the 3rd and final batch of my quick first impressions on some of the series for this spring 2008 season. Dozo! ^^

In this batch: (1) Real Drive; (2) Himitsu – Top Secret; (3) Nijuu Mensou no Musume; (4) Toshokan Sensou; (5) Crystal Blaze.

——————————————

(1) Real Drive (aka: RD Senno Chosashitsu)
More info – Official Site

- It’s futuristic sci-fi and it involves diving. The introduction part was a little bloody with the cord tightening around the researcher. As expected of Production IG, they did a good job with the animation. There were also some nice sparring moves coming from Sota and the andorid, Holon. We get to meet Haru and Eichiro doing a little research at the sea. Haru does the diving while Eichiro does the data collecting on their boat. As Haru is going into the depths of the sea, a mysterious phenomenon occurs which he describes like “the sea is burning.” Flash forward to 50 years later. Haru has aged, and apparently he recently just woke up from a coma that has been brought about by the “burning” phenomenon years ago. Later in the episode, the burning incident happens again. There’s this girl Minamo who seems to be able to sense this occurrence before it actually happened. I’m curious why Haru aged while Eichiro seems to have not. There were a bunch of terminologies that I wasn’t able to keep up with. Um, so basically, I barely understood anything after watching the episode. ~LOL. Considering it’s Masamune Shirow behind this, I guess the technicality and heavy dialogue is not surprising (he was also behind Ghost Hound), but still I think I can say that it wasn’t what I expected it would turn out to be. That aside, I thought the beat and pace of the ED ["Katahiza no Yogore" by Last Alliance] was good – I loved the song! ^_^

• Watch it? I’m curious enough, so yes, I think so. I’ll just marathon it later when it’s over though, or maybe watch it while the spring series that’s high on my priority list hasn’t got a new release yet. xD

——————————————

(2) Himitsu – Top Secret (aka: Himitsu – The Revelation)
More info – Official Site: Manga, Anime

- The OP ["Kokoro Film" by ALvino] sounded okay. I’ve never read the manga or anything, so from the images I’ve seen, I’ve always thought Maki was a girl (^_^;). Since I was anticipating that he is a she, imagine my clueless “Eh?!” when I heard his voice . But he really does look like a girl, doesn’t he? Not that I mind though, I was just surprised. xD Anyway, I really don’t have much to say. It’s an interesting premise for a series, which reminded me somewhat of a couple of Philip K. Dick’s work (Minority Report, A Scanner Darkly) that I’m familiar with. Taking out the brain and scanning it for memories regarding the case and whatever else, as usual, poses a number of ethical issues. Um, the ED sequence… is there some sort of yaoi in this series somewhere? O_O

• Watch it? Most probably not or maybe, perhaps, possibly marathon it later.

——————————————

(3) Nijuu Mensou no Musume
More info – Official Site

- I kinda like the OP ["Kasumi (Mist)" by 369 miroku]. It sounded familiar to me, but I guess it just sounds like a song I’ve heard before somewhere. So this guy, 20 faces, reminds me somehwhat of Kaito Kid from Detective Conan, most probably because he’s also a thief who wears disguises. At first I thought the little girl, Chiko, was your usual rebellious brat. Apparently, she has a pretty good reason to be since her aunt and uncle (her supposed guardians) are trying to poison her in order to get her parents’ fortune that she inherited. It turns out that their butler is actually 20 faces under one of his disguises. He comes to Chiko’s aid and asks her if she’d rather run away with him, to which she gladly agrees. Naturally, a hero has a villain. Enter the crazy and weird bad guy who calls himself Tiger, who is after the treasures that 20 faces has stolen. Oh, and 20 faces and his group’s vehicle is a blimp. Yes, a blimp. I wonder how they manage to stay hidden from the cops with such a conspicuous ride. Good job in being able to hide it. Maybe it’s stealth? .

• Watch it? Marathon later or watch it while the other series on top of my watchlist have no new releases yet.

——————————————

(4) Toshokan Sensou (aka: Library War)
More info – Official Site

- I liked the OP ["Atashi no Machi, Ashita no Machi" by Hitomi Takahashi], it had a nice melody to it. Ah, but I liked the ED way more ["Changes" by Base Ball Bear] – it sounds awesome! Moving on, thanks to TSHNN, I finally get to watch the series that I’ve been looking forward to this season! The introduction makes it look quite serious with the soldiers and all, but it’s really not. Well, not that much. There are some serious moments but also a bunch of LOL moments. Oooh… a kind and mysterious savior who steps up to defend Kasahara from the evil clutches of the Media Betterment Squad ! Basically, he’s Kasahara’s inspiration in joining the Library militia (she calls him her “prince charming”). Enter Doujou, her superior officer whom she just can’t seem to get along with (think Lovely Complex – thanks to usagijen for pointing out that reference in one of her earlier pimping entries). I find Kasahara a bit impulsive and the acting-before-thinking sort of person, but this is most probably brought about by her strong sense of justice and her kind heart. I find Doujou to be quite quick-tempered and bossy, but despite this exterior he also has a good heart and good intentions for being that strict, I guess he just isn’t able to express it in a more gentle way. LOL. Speaking of which, big ouch for the slap he gave Kasahara. He acted rashly, but it was brought about by her carelessness. He was just worried about what could’ve happened, and he did seem to worry about going a bit far on that one and hurting her(but of course he won’t be apologizing directly about his actions towards her, it’s not his chara! xD). There are also several other supporting bishounens characters who give out support and advice to Kasahara (sometimes even Doujou). I love the love-hate sort of relationship and countless bickerings that Kasahara and Doujou has! Ahem, so enough babbling about that. Naturally, the animation is good – it’s Production IG, so you can’t expect anything less in that department. It has some action, a bit of drama, with a dash of romance and comedy… How can I resist? ^_^

• Watch it? Yeah!

——————————————

(5) Crystal Blaze (aka: Glass Maiden)
More info – Official Site

- The OP and ED have a jazzy feel to it, not sure if it fits the atmosphere of the series, but I guess to some extent it does. The introduction highly suggests that this is going down the mystery, supernatural road… with guns. I found it a bit dragging to watch the first half adding in those 2 girls who I somehow find annoying. The second half wasn’t so bad, it was less so since that was when the action started and the 2 main characters are introduced. To make it short, the detective guy , Shu, is hired to take care of and protect the mysterious girl, Sara, who seems to have been under some sort of research (she could be an alien or a weapon, for all I know). So anyway, I think that’s where the story begins.

• Watch it? I don’t think so.

——————————————

If for some reason you’re curious which ones I’m watching this spring ‘08 season, feel free to check out My Anime List (since I’m too lazy to re-type or copy my watchlist here xD)