Spring 2012 Impressions~ Part I

I will be doing the first impression of the Anime of Spring'12 up till the 3rd episode.

It will be going according to the Spring 2012 chart, so first of all in this season, there is quite a number of short productions. The shows that I did not watch includes Ozma, Saint Seiya, Hiiro no Kakera and Kimi to Boku and some of the children Anime so I will be skipping them. Also, there has been no sign of Koiken! even though it was released about a month ago, probably because it is via cellphone distribution.

Uchuu Kyoudai is a Seinen, Slice of Life Anime with slight Sci-Fi element and Space as the main theme. If you have watched the trailer, you would have roughly an idea on what this Anime is about. It started off with a unique introduction of the 2 brothers. 

Mutto, the older brother, was born on the day of Agony of Doha where Japan lost its chance for its first appearance in the world cup.   

His little brother, Hibito was born three years later where Hideo Nomo, a pro Japanese baseball player threw a no-hitter that led his team to a victory.

 On the day where soccer player Zidane headbutted an opponent during the world cup, the two had a special encounter. They are doing their usual exploring of the forest where suddenly, Hibito spotted something. He ran off to tell Mutto and dragged him towards that something. To their amaze, it was an UFO. At that point, the 2 of them made a vow, to become an astronaut when they grow up. 

Few years later, Hibito became an astronaut. Mutto however, have just been sacked from his automobile work for headbutting his boss. The story continues with Mutto jobless and trying to find a job. His news on headbutting his boss have reached miles and no one is willing to employ him. Hibito upon hearing the news from his mother asked her to do something for him. Weeks later, Mutto received a letter from JAXA and to his amaze, he was accepted as one of the candidates to be an astronaut. Apparently his brother knew he have what it takes to be accepted and asked the mother to send his resume to JAXA. 

The next episode continues with Mutto visiting his aunt for advice. He decided to go for it in the end. For the next half of the episode and episode 3, we see Mutto undergoing all the physical, mental and written examinations. He meets Makabe Kenji, and Itou Serika as well as a few other candidates during the examinations.


Overall, I personally feels that Uchuu Kyoudai is definitely a good series if you are in for the plot. To spoil a little, something will happen in the near future (probably in episode 6 or 7) and the series will start to be even more interesting, if I am not wrong. This series is aim towards a more mature audience, but nevertheless, if you liked series like Usagi Drop and Mushishi which have a deep storyline, you should watch it.
My rating for the series is currently a 7/10. There is also a live action movie for the series which I personally feels that after watching both the trailer for the live action and the TV Anime plus the Anime itself, the live action version will probably be so much better.

The second series for the day is Shiba Inuko-san. It is a 3 mins production and honestly, it isn't worth the time. To tell the truth, I have no idea why someone will even produce this. But nevertheless, it is a comedy(I dont find it funny at all) and a cute series if you are bored enough to watch it. It is about a girl who looks like a Shiba Inu(She is obviously a dog in my opinion.), and her daily school life.  My rating for it is unfortunately a 3.7 and I will be dropping it. 

Up next, Yurumates 3D. No, it is not in 3D. Have no idea what the 3D (3Dei actually) means but probably the room number or something. This is also a 3mins comedy but it is so much better than Shiba Inuko-san, in my opinion. 
Yurume (a loli that is actually 18 years old) came to Tokyo with hopes of being accepted into a local university. She moves into an apartment call Maison du Wish which is totally different from what she have imagined. There, she meets her crazy apartment-mates who have all failed the entrance exam.
Though there is not much plot, it is still funny at some point and my rating for this is a 5.4/10.

The next series is Zetman, which I personally feels it is one of the series that deserves a spot on your watchlist. Though that being said, it is adapted from a 177 chapters manga into a 12 episode anime. From what I have heard, most things have been changed except the major events, encounters and characters. Also, if you have read the manga, it is full off graphic violence and sexual explicit scenes, so it is not suitable for the young(though so far there hasn't been anything too explicit in the TV version). 

Zetman is an Action Sci-fi series with quite some psychological elements. The story so far, skipping the intro, says that there is a boy name Jin who lives in the 'undertown' with his 'grandpa'. He would head off to play justice with his friend, Kouga and his sister often. 

One day after coming back from saving a women in their usual patrol, he find his entire 'town' massacred. His grandpa dies and he is took in by the women he saved previously. Sometime later, the culprit who massacred everyone in Jin's 'town' appeared. It is then Jin's power awakened. He managed to defeat him but fainted right after. 

The next episode started with a time skip and Jin once again saw his childhood friends. Jin later went to investigate an arson. He saw a 'player' and the 'player' went straight to attack Jin when he noticed Jin's smell. This time Jin fully transformed into the ZET(or did he)! He fainted again right after he defeated the 'player' but this time due to an explosion.

The third episode started with Jin in an enclosed room with a one way view-port. There he saw a Zet prototype holding his aunt. He was anger that the Zet prototype killed his aunt and transformed into Zet. According to the people outside the room who are experimenting on Jin, the Zet which Jin transformed into isn't the completed form. Skipping the rest of the episode, in the end, Jin finds out that what he saw then was just an implanted vision. He was told the truth and given a choice to live as a human or become Zet to fight the 'players'.



From the plot description of ANN, it seems that there will be another one like the ZET. I am guessing the ending would either be them fighting each other or working with each other.
If you have not read the manga, you would probably feel that this is an awesome series. My score for the series is a 7.8/10 since I did not read the manga. It is action-packed and if you enjoyed Blade, Deadman Wonderland, or other 'dark-themed' action series, you will love it!(provided you did not read the manga)


I did not watch Queens' Blade Rebellion(lol. >/////<), nor Naruto SD or Ginga e Kickoff as well, so I will be skipping them.

For Gakkatsu, it is also a short production. It is a 5mins comedy. The art is similar to that of Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt. 
In the first episode, we learnt about the existence of Ulnar Styloid Process! (I never knew that little bump on my wrist had a name! Awesome!) The class president however rejected such a scientific name and request for a more sweeter and cuter name from the class.
Gakkatsu gets much hilarious in the next episode as we find out the reason why guys doesn't want to use the toilet bowl in school and the solutions to it.
In the 3rd episode, the class of Gakkatsu were visited by an extraterrestrial life, as they discuss what aliens are here for? Invasion? or trying to befriend Earthlings?
The point about Gakkatsu is that there will definitely be an interesting debate happening within the short 5mins. Out of all the short productions I have watched this season, it is probably one of the best (besides the ongoing Poyopoyo Kansatsu Nikki and Recorder to Randoseru) and the most educational. My rating for it is a 6.2/10. 


パートワン！