Random new fall shows - part one

Despite Macross Frontier being a disappointing anime, it did have a high quality soundtrack. I think Macross F was trying to appeal to the younger crowd. Not exactly kids, but younger than the Gundam and Code Geass crowd which accounts for the less than stellar resolution to a perfectly interesting beginning. The 14(?) new, original songs by Yoko Kanno were the highlights of the anime. I was hoping a full version of Maaya's Aimo was on the 2nd OST, but nada. We do get the full version of Anata no Oto and Yousei. I tend towards preferring Ranka's songs to Sheryl's. I find Sheryl's voice can get grating like Britney Spears; not that this is totally negative. They both have dance-worthy, catchy music. Ranka's music is on the cute and sweet side. I like the Neko Nikki song the best out of all the songs in the show.

Speaking of Maaya...
Maaya Sakamoto's Ame Ga Furu PV is out for her new single. It is the ending to Kurogane no Linebarrel. It's the only appealing thing about the new show.


Kurogane no Linebarrel 1! Looks like standard Gonzo fare.

- Mediocre-to-poor animation and production
- Totally cardboard cut-out characters
- Dull done-before story
+ Decent ending song by Maaya Sakamoto

Quick summary ~ A boy who is the class-punching-bag has a mech and naked girl fall on top of him. He gets new powers to fight some sort of evil.

Quick impression ~ Yeah, it is legally free to watch on crunchyroll, but who would want to? It's perfectly awful.

New fall anime - part two

Tale of the Abyss 1! based on an RPG? The bad thing about old world fantasy is that everybody and every place has an odd name..that I immediately forget.

+ Bump of Chicken's Karma is the opening song (PV here)
+ Attractive characters
+/- Decent animation
- Have I seen this before?

Quick summary ~ Luke, a red-haired noble in a faraway land, was kidnapped in the past and has no memory of that time. There's a prophecy about a boy with red hair having power and bringing prosperity and a prophecy about destruction. In the first episode, we have Luke and C.C. Tear, random female sorceror?, accidentally being transported across the land.

Quick impression ~ It kinda reminds me of Scrapped Princess with a heavier RPG feel. The creatures look like cast-offs from Digimon. It does leave an impression of having a straightforward, interesting story, so I might watch a chunk of this later on in the season. Tear has the nice power of paralyzing people with a song.


Vampire Knight: Guilty 1! Guilty of what? Horribly butchering the original manga's artwork? or of presenting angst that is even more boring than normal angst? Or trying to be scary and sexy when the characters are too dumb to accomplish anything remotely more complicated that standing around staring vacantly through windows? This has the same production quality as the first season. Ugh. Like the above show, I might watch this in chunks this season or drop it all together. I'm curious to see if the eyepatch guy kills everyone off and marries the headmaster, but I suspect I'd get more of that kind of action from the yaoi anime later in the week.