Otaku Digest – Sora no Method/Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu/Donten ni Warau
Another week down and needless to say another week of amazing anime viewing. This week’s line up is Sora no Method, Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu and Donten ni Warau.
Donten ni Warau
Up first is historical action anime Donten ni Warau which originally aired on the 4th of October. In the eleventh year of the Meiji era, where the government has forbidden anyone to carry a sword so anyone known as a samurai are becoming a dying breed. Inevitably due to those who were unhappy with the implementation of the changes in Japan there was a rise in the crime rates. The solution? An inescapable lake prison, with no other access other than by the water, the three boys from the Kumo family are assigned to passage the criminals across. Is this all they were up to?
Never has a fan been so intimidating! In a time where it is illegal for anyone to carry a sword it is understandable that they would need to find a new weapon. Although it starts off a bit on the boring side with quite a bit of explanation of the series – even though it is interesting it dragged on a bit much for my liking. The Kumo brothers themselves are interesting enough – each having different traits attributed to them. The eldest being a bit of a flake, the middle brother has a constant drive to compete and be better than his older brother and the littlest of the three being the adoring cutie of the family. From the first episode the anime seems to be quite interesting as we dive more into the individual brothers and the prison that they transport criminals too. The best part for me about this episode was the classic animation style, it was really lovely to watch. The pristine historic looking backgrounds across the amazing set landscapes while the character design stand out in their own merit. A beautiful watch even if at times it turned to the boring side of the narrative but giving it the benefit of the doubt this was only the first episode.
Will I Continue to Watch? Yes, it is worth giving a chance even if just for the beautiful animation.
Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu
Next up is Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu – an action, fantasy and comedy anime. Centring on a first year high school student named Mitsuka Souji who has an almost strange admiration and love for the “Twin tails” or pig tails style. One day a mysterious young girl appears to him granting him the power to fight monsters by giving him the power to transform into TailRed, the twin tails warrior. Along with his friend Tsube Aika who can transform into TailBlue in order to protect mankind and fight for peace on earth.
First off the entire basis of this anime is the main character Mitsuka’s obsession with the pigtails hairstyle. Although comedic in its stupidity it is quite the stupid premise to even start off with. I will say in its defence it does utilise the cutesier elements of it extremely well even if they do border on fan service at times. Although I was quite interested to watch this anime for its fantasy almost magical girl elements I feel like it relied more on cheap laughs than actually utilising the fantasy elements. I mean really? Attacking people because of their “Twintails”? That’s what you are going with? Giant dinosaur beings that are obsessed with Twintails and need the power of the Twintails. I won’t lie I really felt like turning this off half way through. Needless to say the animation in this anime was flawless from the techno-fantasy aspects of the Twintails armour to the darkness of the dino-like baddies, but not even great animation can save a lacklustre narrative.
Will I Continue to Watch? I am 50/50 – I would like to give it a chance due to its magical girl elements but am not prepared to deal with a terrible story.
Sora no Method
Last series for this week is Sora no Method or Celestial Method – a fantasy based anime, also known as “Celestial Method”. The focus here is in the wish a few girls is realized a winter’s day when the landscape of a town is shift and changed. Now there is a huge round saucer in the sky.
Cute, Cute and more Cute. That is the main way I can describe this anime, it is dripping in all things cute! That opening theme only sums up its utter cuteness, with a theme tune that truly sums up the easy going, bright and again cuteness of the episode. Despite its terminal cuteness it does not dive in instantly and give a big explanation of why there is now a giant saucer in the sky or even who this strange girl who randomly turned up in our main characters room is, which I really appreciated. It gives little glimpses into the different characters and the small town they all live in but also into the past. Only little looks into their pasts when they all made the wish. I loved how mysterious Noel’s character is – she and the saucer are connected and there is that small reveal of her “promise” at the end of the episode but I cannot wait to see how much more she has to offer the series.
Will I Continue to Watch? Yes! The show is interesting in its characters and mysterious storyline.
What’s your thoughts on this week’s anime? What have you been watching? Let us know in the comments!
