Jouran: The Princess of Snow and Blood – 02

Sometimes you get those series that you want to like more than you do.  And Jouran definitely falls into that category for me.  There are a lot of things about it that look good on paper, and some of them even look good on screen.  But while it’s not a disaster or anything, it just isn’t doing anything for me at the moment.  I find it dangerously close to boring and frankly a little silly.

One issue, to be certain, is that no character gets any exploration beyond the most superficial level.  Sawa was wronged, she wants revenge.  Elena can’t stand Sawa.  Tsukishiro smirks a lot, and Asahi is a moeblob whenever the scene calls for it.  It all seems to be going through the motions, and most of the attempts at stylistic flair – like the poetry – come off as pompous and even unintentionally funny.  The premise itself is kind of interesting, but the execution to me (including the visuals) is very indifferent.

The more I think about it, it goes past that first sentence.  Not only is Jouran a series I feel I should like more than I do, it’s a series I somehow dislike more than I should.  I can’t say it’s bad but so many elements here just kind of annoy me.  I’ll give it another week to convince me I was wrong – what with a serious shift in the plot happening this week, maybe that will improve things.  But I can’t say I’ll be expecting that.

Edens Zero – 02

So do all the characters in Edens Zero look like a specific avatar from Fairy Tail on purpose – like, is that an intentional thing?  Or is it just a mangaka same-face scenario?  Obviously Happy does, they didn’t even bother to change his name or homeworld, but I’m not sure what I’m supposed to be seeing with the others.

Apart from that, Edens Zero is fine.  I don’t find myself as interested as I was after the first couple episodes of Fairy Tail but honestly, I’m not sure if I’d be as interested if I was watching those for the first time now either.  There were some amusing bits here, like Shiki excitedly calling out the gender of all (almost all) the (mostly) humans he met on his Happy rescue mission.  And all the characters are likeable enough to be sure.  I’m not especially wrapped up in any of them or the premise, though.

If there was a twist here, I suppose it’s that Happy is an android.  This happens as the result of an accident, but we don’t get an explanation of why he now looks just like he did when he was a real Exceed.  We also meet who may be the series’ official villain, Erza Elsie (or at least one of them).  Or maybe Edens Zero is the sort of series where a villain is just a friend you haven’t won over to your side yet?  Maybe we’ll find out next week.