Wednesday, January 15, 2014

First Impressions: D-Frags Ep 1-2, Magical Warfare Ep 1, No-Rin Ep 1, Hamtora Ep 1-2, Wake Up, Girls! Ep 0-1


D-Frags Ep 1-2: Hazama Kenji tried to be a delinquent in his school with little results. When he saved the Games Creation club from a fire, the members led by their leader, Shibashi Roka forced Kenji to be their member. (After putting a black bag over him and tied him to submission)

He later got suspended from school after entering the female locker room by accident and learn that there is another Games Creation club which is supposedly the real one led by Takao. Kenji also learn about the history between Roka and Takao and tried to patch up with them. However Takao challenge them to see who can get the most customers during the cultural festival...

If you like crazy humor show like School Rumble then you will enjoy D-Frags! Already the first episode has me laugh in stitches and a pretty good seiyuu cast to go with it. Hanazawa Kana who voiced Roka was simple genius as she can play dead-pan one moment and psycho Yandere the next. The second episode which introduce Takao voiced by the lovely Itou Shizuka played a Tsundere with a large rack to go about it. She tried to convince Kenji about Roka and her crazy members but instead backfired due to her indecisive character. This is one of the funniest shows I watch so far for 2014 and hope for more as the series continue to air.


Magical Warfare Ep 1: Takeshi found a girl named Mui who claimed to be a magician. She accidentally fire a shot at him and the magic residues turned Takashi into a real magician with the power of Evade magic. His friends, Isoshima and Ida also got turned into magician after Mui's chasers led by her brother attacked them. After chasing the attackers away, Mui brought them to a mirror which is a portal to the world of magic which is in ruins...

A very interesting story about magic as there are rules on the do's and don't. Takeshi got evade magic which is pretty useful since he can anticipate attacks however I am sensing that his bad relationship with his younger brother will be the focus point in the future. Mui told them about her brother, Tsunagshi who has been brainwashed by a group called the Ghost Trailer and bringing Takeshi and company to the magic world will mean they face them sooner or later. But for now, Takeshi has to learn how to use his magic in a magical academy. (Sounds like a particular magic school from a famous author I know of)


No-Rin Ep 1: Kosaku is a big fan of popular idol Kusakabe Yuka. When Yuka announced her retirement all of a sudden, his life went crashing down. However his luck change when his class has a new transfer student Kinoshita Ringo who is actually Yuka. He decided to find out her reasons for her retirement...

If you didn't watch the prologue of this show, you might think you are watching a cop-out of Silver Spoon as Kosaku's school is an agriculture school that deals with farming. The first 15 minutes was to establish Kosaku and his friends, Minori and Kei who stay in the same dorm together, their "rivalry" with the animal farmer class led by Kochou and their totally unstable teacher, Becky Sensei who is in desperate need of a man.

Kosaku was so distressed about Yuka's retirement that he cover himself in a Yuka comforter case and his friends, Minori and Kei have to drag him to class. But with Ringo aka Yuka in their class, Kosaku is now having the best chance to learn more of his idol up close but it seem that Ringo is already giving a bad vibe with her mono tone and unfriendly spectacles...


Hamtora Ep 1-2: In the year 2014, people with special abilities are called Minimum Holders. Nice and his friends formed a private investigation agency called Hamatora in the bar they hang out in. They handle 3 different cases in the first episode but found all to be interconnected. All of them defeated the bad guys with their special powers-Nice has super sonic speed, Murasaki has super strength, Birthday can control electricity with a stun gun and Raito can see weak points in a person.

The next episode they were hired to find a missing teacher but learned he was murdered and his brain was removed. The teacher was also a Holder and a glory seeker who misled his students he is a kind person. Several bombings were also connected to the teacher and Nice and company found out a student who can accelerate time is responsible for it. Although they defeated the culprit, they were informed by their police contact, Art that a serial killer is hunting Holders for their brains...

It reminded me of Getbackers with the two men crew but Nice and company are more comical and always broke. So far the episodes are interesting with some investigation in it although not as good as some of the better detective shows like Detective Conan. Anyway you watch this show to see their powers not for the cases and the first episode's case was pretty dumb when you find out what is really going on in the end...


Wake Up, Girls! Ep 0-1: In the city of Sendai, talent scout manager, Matsuda was ordered by his boss, Tange to search for girls to form an idol group. After much effort, he gathered six girls to form a group. When he saw an another girl, Mayu who has amazing talents and charm, he immediately asked her to join them. However Mayu refused which later Matsuda learned she used to be the center of a famous group called I-One but retired for reasons unknown before they were famous.


Matsuda managed to convince her to join the group which she finally did however Tange left the country with all the money and they could only perform in a small stage in the park. But the group make an good impression and a producer, Sudo was interested in them. His first order, however was to have the girls wear bikini suits...

From Idolmaster to Love Live and now Wake Up, Girls! created by Tatsukono Production (Yes, the group who did Gatchaman and Speed Racer) Episode Zero was a 55 minute movie that introduce all the girls who come together to become a group called Wake Up, Girls. It was pretty interesting as the seven main girls each have their own personalities similar to Love Live.

Mayu who is the main lead has a bad past in her previous group and reject anything idol-related. Her classmate, Airi who is filled with drive, learn from Mayu about singing and dancing. Minami is a talent singer who won several competitions, Nanase is the leader has experiences in modeling, Nanami is a bit of a snob but talented in singing and playing the piano, Kayu who is the oldest and has been job hopping and Miyu who work in a maid cafe and is popular with the customers.

Although Tange took their money and left the country, leaving Matsuda to handle the girls. He refused to give up on them and after much persuasion, a producer Sudo was interested in them. But seeing he want the girls to wear bikini suits could might lead to some bad and embarrassing moments in the next episode. However I want to see the girls make it like how I have been cheering for Idolmaster and Love Live in my other reviews. So most probably I will be doing Wake Up Girls as a Quick Pick when the next episode come.

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