Friday, November 25, 2016

FIF Special Feature-Second Impression Friday Part 4


It was an age undreamed of for the Anime Corner: an age when, for some reason (fate? Destiny?), I decided to look at the first episodes of several series…all pertaining to Magical Girls.  Some were favors for friends, others were ones I had honestly been meaning to get to for a while.  So what have I done with these shows since?  Let’s find out in the “dramatic” conclusion to this month long First Impression Friday Special.

 
And if you missed any previous parts, they’re all here for ya


Part 2: http://gundamanimeblog.blogspot.com/2016/11/welcome-back.html


 
#20-Fate Kaleid Liner Prisma Illya 2wei
Wow did Prisma Illya surprise the heck out of me.  For a premise as silly as giving the femme power houses of Fate/Stay Night a Magical Girl Makeover, this went better than I would have expected.  Illya’s pretty likeable and her friendship with Miyu is a beautiful story.  Factor in some intense new arrivals like Kuro (Illya’s sister) and the Terminator like enforcer, Bazzet, and the action quota for Season 2, believe it or not, surpassed Season 1 by miles.  The humor amongst Illya, Miyu, Kuro, Rin, Luvia, and even Shiro was spot on and very heartfelt.  Illya’s classmates…I still don’t care about them, especially the wild card Tatsuko.  Fate Kaleid Liner Prisma Illya 2wei did the impossible and managed to maintain my interest in this overall Cardcaptor Sakura meets Fate/Stay Night premise and even leave me close to tears a couple of times.  This could very well be the unsung hero of the Fate franchise.

 

#21-Beyond the Boundary
I didn’t continue.  Again, time is my enemy and if I don’t continue right away, I might not be able to go on.  The interest was there in Kuriyama and her quest to become a true slayer of demons.  I do miss her and owe it to her alone to finish this series.  The rest of the cast around her…not so much.  Someone please tell me Akihito gets more interesting down the line?

 

#22-Revolutionary Girl Utena
This one I chose not to pursue right now because of accessability and mindset.  Deep tales rich with hidden artistic messages and a very existential approach are just not my thing atm.  I did like what I saw though and still think the school teacher is crazy for not seeing how much Utena rocks that male uniform.  I hope Anthy gets a bit more bearable and isn’t just more of a damsel in distress.  May come back to this one but for now, it’s on the far back burner.

 

#23-Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic
So turns out im actually really bad with a lot of these (incase you hadn’t noticed).  I liked the first episode of Magi but never continued past it.  Guess I’m just not in the mood for Anime Arabian Nights…even if their Aladdin is ten times more entertaining than the guy playing him on Once Upon a Time right now.

 

#24-Magical Girl Raising Project
I stuck to my word on this one.  When I discovered the full length premise, I backed off.  I’m just not in the right mindset to experience another Magical Girl bloodbath.  Seriously, when did Anime decide to go all Watchmen with how the world of Magical Girls actually should be?  I mean yeah, the Sailor Senshi died plenty of times in Sailor Moon but nothing like what happened to Madoka Kaname and what’s probably coming the way of the MGRP crew.  Another time maybe?  I’m still keeping my ear out for the friend who tuned me into this one to hear her final thoughts.

 

#25-Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit
Balsa is cool, don’t get me wrong.  But the story seemed to grind to a snails pace after the third episode.  By Episode 6 (Where I think I stopped) Balsa was still recovering from her wound while everyone just sat around dolling out exposition.  I need a bit more speed in a story like this.  Which is a shame cause this show looks gorgeous as hell and being a fan of Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex and Eden of the East, I know Kenji Kamiyama is an amazing storyteller.  Maybe I just like his scifi more than his fantasy, idk.

 

#26-Fate Kaleid Liner Prisma Illya 2wei Herz
Yep, I got through this one too.  My feelings towards the third season of this series were pretty mixed.  Unlike the second season where they moved the drama to the first half, the humor took over the first six episodes completely.  You had the typical harem Anime beach adventure, chock full of funny cheap shots at poor Shiro and Tatsuko trying to get her friends arrested for simply breathing (seriously, she’s a menace to society who is going to get them all life in prison for something stupid one day).  A lot of it was fun though, including an episode that focuses on revealing certain “interests” to friends and dealing with how they may or may not accept you.  When the action got going…it was good but my problem was the arrival of a certain character I LOATHE with a passion, AND they turned him into an equally annoying child.  Still, it wasn’t enough to turn me off from this series and you can bet that, quite possibly, a first impression of Fate Kaleid Liner Prisma Illya 3wei may not be so far away from appearing on this blog.

So…should I just say Fate Kaleid Liner Prisma Illya 3wei is first official First Impression feature when we get back to normal next week?  Fret not, I’ve got a couple of other titles to close out 2016, besides Illya’s fun spin off series…including one that may be my boldest risk yet since Free (but we all know how that turned out). 

FIF gets back to normal next week, see ya then everyone and thanks for tuning in.
 

No comments:

Post a Comment