A new season is upon us. Nobunaga the Fool is the only thing that remains from the winter season, and I added a magic show and two humans vs. monsters shows to my watch pool. Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei is the magic-based show, although some of it looks more like tech and there are also ninjas. Black Bullet is a human vs. monster show that isn’t future-based, while Knight of Sidonia is a space mecha show against weird monsters.
Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei, Ep 1
(Watch on Crunchyroll)
I didn’t expect this show to be in a future where magic is a technology… a warfare technology. The first episode had a lot of characters and I couldn’t remember half of their names. It also had nice fight sequences.
Looks like the Shiba’s sibling relationship is full of innuendo. Mostly because Miyuki is a bit too much into her brother. Tatsuya is a bit less of a siscon. The two are 11 months apart, but they enrolled the same year into a magical high school; I’m not sure how that works exactly. The sister is in the honors student class 1 group, called Blooms. While the brother is a in class 2, the irregulars, called Weed.
The show doesn’t hide the fact that the brother is a slacker. Very good at analyzing and martial arts; he apparently sucks at practical spells, but I do not believe it; there are too many hints that he is overpowered.
This episode focused mostly on Tatsuya, so we mostly know his three new friends in the Weeds, as well as seeing the tension between the Weeds and the Blooms. I have no idea where this is going, but the opening sequence suggests explosion and fights. This gets more episodes viewing from me.
Captain Earth, Ep 1
(Watch on Crunchyroll)
On the Dark Side of the Moon, there is a big ominous crystal. Not hard to find your evil faction. Our MC is also a super computer game player, which is sort of amusing. He also has lots of monologues about feeling different. Going by some flashbacks, he probably is. His dad dying while saving the planet with something called an impactor seems to be important, too.
Three months before his father died, he met with two kids. It seems like these two kids were supposed to drive what he borrowed in this episode: the Earth Engine. The organization his father worked for might have some secrets too, the kids don’t look normal and have weird powers. I will say that this was a long launching sequence.
We didn’t get much exposition this episode though, more like hints. There also appear to be lots of different factions at work. I guess everyone has its own reason for wanting to save the planet… or destroy it.
Overall, this seems to be a classic “walking in your father’s footsteps” and becoming a hero show.
Nobunaga The Fool, Ep 13
I really wonder what is going to happen to Ichihime and Mitsu, they clearly love each other, but now Ichi is going to Caesar. Himiko’s pet is kind of creepy too, doesn’t have anything to do with Ichi, but I had to say it.
This show needs more Knights of the Round Table. I like hearing talk and plot. Looks like they are going to invade the East now. This should be fun.
Well, some Knights might be invading, but Nobu decided to invade the Star of the West Star. Using the regalia, they upgraded Himiko’s sky ship to become a spaceship. The thing I don’t get is that Jeanne’s Regalia isn’t part of those from the East which are all elemental: water, air, earth, fire and lightning. Kenshi has earth and Himiko probably has water still.
Black Bullet, Ep 1
(Watch on Crunchyroll)
I’m not sure what I just watched here. This show is like a weird zombie pandemic show with Loly and no undead. Gastrea are some sort of monsters that infect humans that incubate into more Gastrea. And the only people able to stop them are young girls with super power called Initiators who are handled by Promoters (and in the case of the main character, that’s a kid too). Even his agency is run by a kid.
Typical Japanese shouen manga stuff, I guess.
Knight of Sidonia, Ep 1
(Watch on Netflix, sometime this summer…)
Disclaimer: I’ve seen a few people complaining about the CGI in this show, I personally do not mind it one bit.
Having said that, this was a typical start for a mecha show, once again, it raises more questions than it answers. It also gives a good run down of the important characters and how they will interact from now on. I do love how it shows a space colony as a not-so-clean place, though. It feels sort of like the Alien movies and not like Star Trek in terms of looks.
I also found quite a few things rather creepy all through the episode. The leaders are called immortals. People do not have gender until they decide to have one. The Gauna are big monsters with tentacles made of plasma that fall apart if you pick their brains. I’m quite intrigued about where the plot is going, so I will keep watching this.