It’s not exactly the most auspicious way to start the season, but let the madness begin…
To be blunt, the next Trigger series I like (hopefully it’s Kiznaiver) will be the first. Little Witch Academia was pleasant in a tissue-thin way, but this studio has done nothing to impress me. And the next Imaishi Hiroyuki series I like will be the first since Tengan Toppa Gurren Lagann. Either he’s totally lost his magic or my taste has really changed, but for me, the Imaishi act wore thin a long time ago and it’s just getting more grating all the time.
Uchuu Patrol Luluco is the series he’s chosen to write and co-direct this season, and at 7:50 I think it’s about three minutes too long. If you’ve seen anything Imaishi has done starting with Panty & Stocking you know the drill here – a lot of manic noise that amounts to little, juvenile fanservice, and whatever passes for science-fiction in Imaishi’s mind these days. It’s not terrible but it’s not really funny either, and like most of what Trigger has done (apart from LWA, which was externally funded) it looks cheap. I’ll watch one more episode since the real plot doesn’t seem to have started yet, but this looks like a throwaway.
One might reasonably wonder why Imaishi would choose to make this series as opposed to something meatier and full-length. Maybe he really hates Kinznaiver’s premise, but it’s interesting to note that Trigger’s publicity department has been stoking rumors that Imaishi is going to do either another TTGL series/movie, or at least something TTGL-like. I love TTGL and it doesn’t strike me that it needs a sequel (are they going to cash in on every classic Gainax property?), and more importantly I no longer trust Imaishi not to fuck it up. But I suppose one could optimistically say maybe that would snap him out of his creative coma. Space Patrol Luluco sure hasn’t.
iblessall
April 1, 2016 at 5:54 pmTTGL’s Imaishi elements were in sync with the everything else about the show, but nothing he’s done since that I’ve seen has had the same sort of substance underneath the style to give the aesthetics a feeling of weight. But I’m in agreement with your thoughts on Trigger—I feel like we’re always collectively excited to see what the old Gainax guard at Trigger does, but to date I’ve never felt they’ve given us anything that’s ever really lived up to our hopes. A bummer.
Dop
April 2, 2016 at 1:20 amI agree that even with the show’s short running time it’s still too long for what it is. If it was shorter and ran at the same breakneck pace of something like Teekyuu then that might be an improvement. I’ll probably give it another episode or two but so far not impressed.
gilraen_tinuviel
April 2, 2016 at 5:06 amI’ve felt it was very tasteless. I’m quite old comparing to standards in the anime community and form time to time I feel it, like here. I know somebody could tell about me “The old lady, who yells at clouds, wants to ban fun!”, when I’m sighting and shake my head in disbelieve but I’m really too old to have fun at expense of 13 years old girl – with sexual jokes. I couldn’t believe they made a joke about her magical transformation using her pulled out vagina as a barrel’s gun. Jeez, I feel it’s a malicious humour.