Gleipnir – 01

To be honest, I was pretty much expecting to hate Gleipnir.  And I did, so no news flash needed.  But I was still driven by curiosity to try and figure this series out.  Why are one of the most ambitious young studios in the game, Pine Jam, and talented director Yoneda Kazuhiro attached to this adaptation?  Surely there was something in the source material I wasn’t seeing – some sort of hidden depths or endearing qualities?

As it turns out, no there isn’t – not by all evidence from the premiere.  This series is every bit as banal and cliched and mean-spirited as you’d think from sampling the manga.  My guess is that it simply comes down to the fact that anime aren’t produced by studios or directors, they’re produced by committees.  And if Pine Jam and Yoneda want to work (as of course they do), most of the time they have to take on whatever crap those committees are willing to bankroll.  Thus we get Gleipnir, the anime.

The end result is a series that has a really interesting look, peppered with interesting cinematography and dripping with style.  That all of it is wasted on such a nauseating story is a real shame, but that’s what letting production committees run the industry will get you.  Gleipnir was probably the second-most interesting premiere of the season visually after Yesterday o Utatte, but I’m glad to wash my hands (for the full 20 seconds, and under the nails too) of it.

Tsugu Tsugumomo – 01

Listen, I’m never, ever going to make the case that Tsugumomo is dignified or groundbreaking or brilliant.  It’s ecchi and absurd and far from averse to tropes.  But somehow, I still find it fun.  I guess it’s the definition of a guilty pleasure, because it’s not a show that I’d go around bragging about liking.  But I do kind of like it, at least enough to watch it (as I did the first season).  And “Tsugu” actually looks like it’s working with a much larger budget, at least so far.

One of the reasons Tsugumomo sort of works for me is that it’s unpretentious about what it is, in much the same way as To LOVE-Ru – arguably even more so.  But the premise is also fairly well-developed and the series is nicely-plotted.  I also find the characters quite likeable for the most part, including Kazuya – he’s not dumb, and he’s not passive.  He’s just a kid whose lot in life is the very definition of bad luck (the whole “cursed children” thing), and makes the best of it with both resignation and resolve.

This season finds Kazuya, Kiriha and their circle forming a “Troubleshooting Club” to deal with the amasogi (mischievous or evil tsukumogami) his presence attracts.  That has potential for some good entertainment, and their first “case” is a hilarious take on the old underwear thief trope.  “Take them off, put them on – make up your mind!”  The punchline here is a suitably lowbrow sight gag that does justice to the joke, and that’s something Tsugumomo delivers pretty reliably.  That’s why I watch it, pretty much – it’s dumb without being stupid if you know what I mean, and as tropey as it is I think there is a certain niceness to it.  When you need to escape for 22 minutes – and don’t we all at the moment – IMHO you could do much worse.