Kakuriyo no Yademoshi – 01

While the first episode of Kakuriyo no Yademoshi was certainly pleasant, what I found myself musing quite often was just how derivative it was.  I mean, a human teenager who can see spirits, abandoned by her mother and taken in by her grandfather who’s just died – now that’s a chestnut.  I do like the template generally speaking and I try not to get too fixated on “originality” when looking at a new show, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t thinking about it.

I guess what it comes down to is that if you’re going to take on a premise this familiar, you need to do something fresh with it or execute it with real snap.  So far, I wouldn’t necessarily say Kakuriyo is accomplishing either.  It looks pretty good (with Gonzo these days, it’s a wildcard), though the director seems oddly fixated on the heroine’s mouth.  It’s pleasing to the senses and chipper, and I like the fact that Aoi is a college student rather than a high schooler, but I found myself kind of bored by the end.  None of the characters had anything distinctive that made them pop, and the dialogue is fairly rote.

I suppose this could be first episode jitters, and once we settle into daily life in the hidden realm Kokuriyo no Yademoshi’s hidden charms could emerge.  It feels like a hybrid of Natsume Yuujinchou and Kamisama Hajimemashita without the pathos of the first or the kawaii/sensuality combo of the second (and the sharp writing of either) but again, I’ll give it at least one more episode just based on my affection for the genre.

Gundam Build Divers – 01

To be honest, while it flies in the face of general opinion I like the “Build” subset of Gundam better than most of the more “serious” incarnations.  Most Gundam tends to be kind of ponderous and self-serious to me, while the GB shows are more irreverent and fun – especially “Try”, for me had a tone was snarky tuned to a perfect pitch.

There’s a pretty standard template for the “Build” series – protagonist who’s a 13 or 14 year-old boy, best friend with a polar opposite personality, sexy onee-san (or MILF), mysterious (usually white-haired) magical girl.  It’s very clear that the folks who run the franchise know exactly who they’re targeting, and they’re very good at it.  As a result there is a sort of “extended commercial” quality to some of this material that can be off-putting, though I don’t normally find it over the top (and I didn’t with Divers).  It can never be doubted that the main job of a “Build” anime is to sell model kits.

The other issue which I have is that on its third incarnation now, that very specific formula is starting to make “Build” feel a bit repetitive.  Maybe Divers will have something new to offer, a refresh – it wouldn’t shock me, and if it does that’s going to make a big difference as to whether it will be able to hold my interest for a full cour.  Apart from that, this premiere was pretty much exactly what you’d expect, for better and worse.