Otaku Digest: Logic Divides Even Goddesses
Hello one and all and welcome to our first February instalment of Otaku Digest! Whether you are celebrating it as Deadpool month or the month of Valentines it does not really matter since we are still wading our way through the anime winter season here on Otaku Digest.
In saying that, next week (aka Valentine’s Day) will be dedicated to just that, but fear not, it will not be overly smoochy and romantic, especially considering I think it has been re-dubbed Deadpool day for 2016. However, back to this week! Without further ado we have this week’s anime line up to feast upon. This week’s anime are Luck & Logic, Koukaku no Pandora and Kono Subarashii Sekai ni Shukufuku wo!
Luck & Logic
Kicking off our week is the fantasy and action anime Luck & Logic which also has an anime short airing this season (but that is for another day and another Otaku Digest instalment). Luck & Logic first aired on January 9. Taking us to the time of L.C. 922 where now people are facing an emergency, in this anime there is a land of legend called Tetra Heaven where there has been a war waging for a hundred years but has now ended, leaving the gods who were defeated in search of somewhere new to live. What do they find, but the human world known as Septpia, which they go on to attack.
In this world, there is a special police agency called the ALCA who have been set up to combat any attacks from the angels or gods and must defend the cities whether they want to or not, these are known as Logicalists. Depending on the Logicalist skills, some can begin a trance with a god and actually stand a chance in going against them. We meet Yoshichika Tsurugi, a civilian who lacks logic; he spends his days happily living with his family till he is caught in an attack where he meets an angel called Athena, and this chance meeting changes both their lives.
The very first sequence in this anime was outstanding; it was slow but the build-up was exceptional. Something that I actually enjoyed about this episode is the fact it’s not just another school recruiting special young people to an academy, as these young people have no choice once they are chosen or identify their logic and they are instantly recruited into the ALCA and made fight to protect their given cities. It is an interesting take on the typical school or fantasy anime trope that has become the norm, but this is done in such a way where it is as if these young people’s childhood is being ripped away from them and they are forced into a new type of adulthood. This entire episode was engaging and action packed from the very start with some interesting characters that I cannot wait to see more of.
Will I Continue to Watch: Yes, please! I need more of this!
Koukaku no Pandora
Next we have Koukaku no Pandora or Pandora in the Crimson Shell Ghost Urn an action, ecchi, sci-fi and comedy anime adapted from the manga of the same name that originally began airing on January 8. We all know that natural disasters can happen at any time but imagine living in a time where they are happening at a far more frequent level; cyborgs and autonomous robots have entered the market after the advancement of technology, sparking a massive competition between world powers to gain control of this technology and resources. The divide between rich and poor only grows larger as time goes on. We are in a time of transitional limbo where the well-off walk about in a trance of self-indulgence not seeing the bigger picture. The anime shows us the story of how two cyber-enhanced girls meet within this world of true indulgence and true poverty.
With a mouthful of an English title like that, this anime would want to be worth the weight of its title. Now before I get into the usual rant, I am not against fan service in anyway shape or form but if you are going to open an anime by panning up a large breasted woman I am not going to take your anime 100% serious from the get go. However, I will give the full episode the benefit of the doubt, as always. I have to admit the series began to win me over with the entire cyborg premise but other than this something I found both off-putting and brilliant is the use of comedy in this series. Where the interactions between the two cyborg girls is utterly adorable at times and there is genuine comedy, other parts leave you really wondering what on earth is going on in this episode, for example where was that one woman wearing a bunny suit as she uses a mecha to fight? Then the episode lost me again when it decided to take a Chobits idea and run with it. I have to admit this is where I drew my line in the sand with this show.
Will I Continue to Watch: I can see it going somewhere but it’s not for me.
Kono Subarashii Sekai ni Shukufuku wo!
Last up this week is Kono Subarashii Sekai ni Shukufuku wo! or KONOSUBA – God’s blessing on this wonderful world! This is a fantasy, comedy, adventure, shounen, supernatural and romance anime adapted from a manga of the same name that began airing on January 14. This anime centres on a hikikomori (shut-ins obsessed with their anime, manga and video games) called Kazuma Satō. His brief life is snuffed out after a traffic accident (or it should have been). Instead he awakes with a beautiful girl who calls herself a goddess. She says to him that she has good news and asks whether he’d like to go to an alternate world. However, there is a catch! He must choose only one thing to bring with him. He responds that he will bring her. He is then transported to this alternate world where his adventure to vanquish the demon king begins, but first he must find shelter, food and clothing. He soon regrets his choice of bringing the goddess as she causes him one issue after another. Will he complete his great adventure or lose to the demon king’s army?
Some of these titles blow my mind, but the premise to this series intrigues me since it is a similar premise to No Game No Life in a way. Only a few seconds in to the goddess’s character introduction and I could already tell I hate her, not even that she is clearly enjoying every second of Kazumo’s agony (which usually would be fine) but her character is just annoying. I understand why he chose to take her with him but at the same time you cannot help but pity him as you just know she is going to be the biggest pain in his butt out there. Something that was interesting is that they truly built this anime like a game; there was even a random pause scene thrown in there for good measure. This episode felt like an anime version of an rpg style game, which meant a lot of explanations about how to be an adventurer and how the world works. This episode managed to do it in an entertaining way since most of it was Kazumo and Aqua competing against one another.
Will I Continue to Watch: Surprise of the week – yes! I really enjoyed the whole thing!
