Binan Koukou Chikyuu Bouei-bu LOVE!

A question I’ve seen pop up quite a few times is “why are there no magical boy series?”. Ignoring that the male equivalent to mahou shoujo is superhero tokusatsu à la Kamen Rider or Super Sentai, I guess it’s because there’s no real way to do it without it coming across as self-parody? Especially if you try to stick to standard mahou shoujo conventions – I mean, could you imagine a male Precure? Ok, scratch that, I just remembered the episode of DokiDoki Precure! where Sebastian becomes a Precure. Could you imagine a male Precure done seriously??

Given that, the obvious solution to doing “mahou shoujo but with boys” is to go full-on parody. Enter Binan Koukou Chikyuu Bouei-bu LOVE!, which I’ll just be shortening to Bouei-bu from here on out. While it wasn’t clear before airing – I picked it up for the absurd novelty of the premise – Bouei-bu is a straight up deconstruction parody of the mahou shoujo genre, with a heaping dose of bishounen anime thrown in for good measure. As a budding fan of mahou shoujo, this was right up my alley! What’s more, it’s directed by Shinji Takamatsu, director of Gintama and Daily Lives of High School Boys, noted funny shows with parodic elements. Can’t complain about that.

“Love is over!”

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Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso

For those of us who have watched Nodame Cantabile there’s a shared sense of despair that there will never be more, despite the existence of as-yet unadapted manga content. We fell in love with Noda and Chiaki as their unconventional, classical-music backed relationship grew over the years, so it’s understandable that Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso would draw our attention come the autumn 2014 season.

Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso – or Your Lie in April – positions itself similarly to Nodame Cantabile, being broadly about romance between classical musicians, with key differences. The characters are substantially younger – middle-school aged, as opposed to being university freshmen – and tragedy and drama play a central role in the narrative. Indeed, the initial premise is that Arima Kousei – a young piano prodigy – had a mental breakdown during a recital after his mother passed away that left him unable to hear his own playing. By the time the series begins, he hasn’t played for two years. He’s depressed and numb – albeit comfortable, in a quiet sort of way with his friends – and this threatened to remain the case had he not met Miyazono Kaori, a free-spirited violinist who takes it upon herself to pull him back into music.

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Spring Anime Season 2015 Plans

BLOODBORNE HYPE.

I am so mad that the UK gets it last. I won’t be able to play it until tomorrow, as of writing ;_;

Red is not Bloodborne, Orange is not Bloodborne, Green is not Bloodborne

Anyway, damn has the winter season been spectacular! Between Parasyte, Death Parade, Yuri Kuma Arashi, Durarara!!x2, JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure and, of course, Shirobako we have been spoiled for high quality, extremely entertaining anime. And that’s only the more-or-less universally acclaimed shows that I’m watching! Things like Maria the Virgin Witch have been getting a stupid amount of love, and there’s still a clutch of decent shows that haven’t been getting as much love, like Rolling Girls or Your Lie in April.

Best season of anime in a long while? Yeah. You know what, yeah. That’s not implausible. It’s downright probable. When people look at past “best seasons”, they’re usually dominated by one major show that goes on to become a classic backed up by a handful of decent shows; I can’t recall a season that was this consistently excellent across its series. It’s unreal, and so, so good.

The upcoming spring season pales in comparison. Still, there’s some stuff to be pretty excited for.

• Arslan Senki
• Denpa Kyoushi
• Hello!! Kiniro Mosaic
• Hibike! Euphonium
• Kekkai Sensen
• Lupin III
• The Disappearance of Nagato Yuki-chan
• Ore Monogatari!!
• Owari no Seraph
• Plastic Memories

I don’t know why I’m watching any of them when I can just be playing Bloodborne instead, but whatever. Here’s wot I think about them.

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