Otaku Digest – Horror/ Comedy/ Slice of Life

There really is no rest for the Otaku – so much anime and not enough time. Welcome to another instalment of Otaku Digest. This week will conclude my binge watching of first episodes from anime this season and so will begin my countdown of the top 3 anime from 2014, but for now we dive into the worlds of Kiseijuu: Sei no Kakuritsu, Orenchi no Furo Jijou and Yuuki Yuuna wa Yuusha de Aru.

Kiseijuu: Sei no Kakuritsu

Kicking things off this week we have action, horror and drama anime series Kiseijuu: Sei no Kakuritsu or Parasyte – the maxim – which first aired on the 9^th of October. Based on an Earth that is now host to the alien parasite creatures. They are silent, arrive in darkness and have a hunger for human flesh. They descend and must take control of a human host in order to survive – but once they have they can take on any shape they choose, winged demons or monsters with giant teeth. They choose to conceal their true nature however behind the average faces of humans – no one knows or sees them coming, except our protagonist, Shin a once ordinary high school student is facing an epic battle for control of his own body against one of these silent parasites – can he keep control long enough to warn all of humanity of the horrors of what is out there.
These type of anime are usually not my sort of thing – I am not a horror person, never have and never will be. Saying that this anime had a really interesting premise in that although it was the typical parasite and host scenario it made it interesting to actually create a relationship between the two although they are sharing the same “body” so to speak. The visuals are considered horror but there was nothing hugely horror about them bar the heads morphing into disfigured jaws – I think I mainly feel this was just because now Shinichi’s hand where the parasyte has taken hold looks very phallic at best. It can be quite distracting from all the things going on when his had looks more like a more private male region. Something that did stand out to me about this show is its use of music – there is a nice balance of classic/acoustic and techno/dubstep. They utilise the tonal differences of the different music’s to fully highlight the events of the anime. I also found out while watching/researching this anime that there was also a live action movie made based off the manga of this anime – worth a watch to see how they illustrate the humans morphing.
Will I Continue to Watch:  Yes – The story is interesting with semi-horror visuals (although more phallic hands and I don’t think I can watch anymore)

Orenchi no Furo Jijou

Next up this week is the short tv series Orenchi no Furo Jijou. A comedy and fantasy anime that first aired on October 6^th – due to this anime being a tv short the episodes are short only lasting 4 minutes. The anime revolves around a average high school student names Tatsumi who lives alone. That is until one day when a very attractive merman called Wakasa decides to move into the bathtub of Tatsumi’s house. Both men clash due to Wakasa being on the self-centred but is cute and Tatsumi is a busybody with a cool attitude.
Since this show was so damn short there was not a whole lot to review and I refuse to review more than the first episode but I have to ask – your show is four minutes long why in god’s name have you an intro song? Is there much need for that? Really? This short tv series is complete man service – it features mainly features two handsome men taking bathes together while one remains nude from the waist up. There was nothing major bar man service in the first episode, a tiny bit of exposition for the characters who are not much to begin with. Keep them short so watchers don’t know you have lack of a story.
Will I Continue to Watch:  No – I would hope more happens in this series but I am not holding out much hope.

Yuuki Yuuna wa Yuusha de Aru

Finally we have the slice of life and school anime Yuuki Yuuna wa Yuusha de Aru or Yuki Yuna is a Hero which originally aired on the 17^th of October. The anime is set in the era of the gods in the year 300. Yuuna Yuuki is an average second year middle school student and she is a member of the “Hero Club”. Club activities include dealing with a mysterious presence called “Vertex”. It is up to Yuuna and her friends to become true heroes in order to protect their world.
I have said before I am not big on the slice of life anime – I find that they move far too slow with no massive stories of development but given that there is somewhat magical under tones to this gave me some hope that I may actually enjoy it. I did enjoy the characters in this and how they portrayed the relationships between the individual members of the club especially the relationship between the sisters, the caring older sister and the adoring younger sibling. The fantasy/magical element definitely added some extra drama to the show that made it far more enjoyable to watch as it was unlike other anime this season solely based on a school club and their everyday activities. Also for a slice of life anime there were some interesting and nice visuals – in particular the world the girls are transported to, it was so vivid and colourful it reflected the narrative perfectly. Then came the best thing I have ever seen – it became a magical girl anime, transformations and all! A perfectly placed twist just at the end of the episode.
Will I Continue to Watch: YES – That magical girl twist basically solidified that I will continue this anime regardless if I wanted to or not.

Céire Ní Dalaigh