Belated spring ’13 anime reviews – Gargantia, Karneval, OreImo 2, Hataraku-Maou-sama! (plus Little Witch Academia)

Hey all, sorry for the brief hiatus, but the Anime Expo excitement is over and I’m now ready to resume regular blogging =) To get myself caught up, I first want to post my reviews of the recently finished spring anime I was watching: Suisei no Gargantia, Karneval, OreImo 2, Hataraku Maou-sama!, and I also threw in Little Witch Academia since I watched that within the past few weeks as well. I know these shows are old news now since everyone has moved on to the new summer ’13 anime, but I still wanted to write up my thoughts about them XD…


Suisei no Gargantia

I enjoyed Gargantia from beginning to end. There were some parts I wasn’t thrilled with, but in general I liked every episode and felt that it did an excellent job telling a complete and interesting narrative with a developed world and cast of characters in just 13 episodes. You can’t waste time when you want to tell such a relatively complex story in a one-cour series, so even though some parts of the show were filler-ish (people point out episode 5, but I think one breather episode is acceptable), the majority of it moved the plot along yet it never seemed rushed. Plenty of time was taken to show Ledo’s development in particular, how he went from a stone-hearted soldier to really assimilating into the humanity of Gargantia and truly realizing how he’s changed in the final battle against Striker. Ledo, and in turn the viewer, learning Gargantia’s culture and meeting its people in the early episodes, foreshadowing about the whalesquids and Hideauze in the middle episodes, then finally the big shocker about the origins of the Hideauze leading up to the final confrontation with Kugel/Striker – it was all well paced and engrossing. A lot of one-cour anime falter when they have such a largely fantasy-ridden story and setting, usually rushing at points and leaving plot holes unexplained. But I didn’t get that feeling at all with Gargantia. I really felt it did an excellent job pacing itself between developing its characters, its plot, and its setting.

And as for what I can say about those elements…they were great. I knew there was gonna be some twist with the whalesquids and Hideauze, but I couldn’t predict what it was exactly, so when I found out I was completely left in suspense. Thanks to Production I.G’s high-budget animation and the show taking its time in the early episodes, I really got a feel for what life is like in Gargantia, which was not only fascinating but also made me care about events in the show all the more. Being the main character, Ledo obviously got the most character development, but the others weren’t cut short either. Even side characters like Ridget, Bellows, Melty, and Bebel had time to be in the spotlight. And even though I have trouble feeling anything about mecha, I’ll have to admit that Chamber was pretty awesome in the final episode. Unfortunately there was one character I couldn’t stand and that was Pinion. He was already annoyingly arrogant in the beginning, but when he went on that barbaric whalesquid massacre, then completely turned his back on Gargantia and the people who care about him, even declaring he’d attack them, that went too far. The show tried to make it seem like he had a change of heart and was gonna be all cool and self-sacrificing in the end, but that doesn’t erase his brutal and treacherous behavior from before. A whalesquid killing your brother can only buy you so much forgiveness for your actions.

Besides having a great story, setting, and characters, what also made Gargantia a joy to watch for me was all the philosophical and other deep themes it touched on: following doctrines vs freedom of ideas, nature vs technology, logic vs emotions, how far will people go for the sake of survival, even inducing an unnatural evolution upon themselves…all very thought-provoking themes that I enjoyed pondering as I watched the episodes. Series that delve into heavy topics like these are ones that I like to watch multiple times as I get something new from them each time. Though the ending did leave me wondering, now that Ledo knows the truth about the Hideauze and has no hope of ever going back to his home in space, will he be forever haunted by the knowledge that humans and Hideauze are still waging a war out in space and there’s nothing he can do to stop it?

So yeah, I thought Gargantia was excellent. There were a few things I didn’t like, but 90% of it I did like and thought was very well made. Great animation, great music, a well written setting and well paced plot, good characters, and very interesting themes to think about. I can’t say for sure yet, but I have a feeling it will be among my top favorite anime for 2013 ;)


Karneval

While I praised Gargantia for being able to portray a satisfyingly fleshed-out fantasy setting, plot, and characters in just 13 episodes, I unfortunately cannot say the same about Karneval. When I reviewed the first two episodes, I knew the series just kind of threw us into the fray without explaining anything about the show’s fantastical world and vague plot, but I figured all would become clear eventually…but it never did. The main problem with Karneval is just that – it explained very little about things that went on, even big things. Why was Karoku kidnapped by Kafka? Why was he being kept in a mansion and why did Eliska have a thing for him? Speaking of Eliska, she and Tsukumo seemed to know each other but how/why? Why were there two of him in the end? How did Nai gain human form? What are all the fantastical animals seen in the show like and how do they fit into the world? How exactly is Kafka structured and how did the Varuga come about? How does the magic that Cicus uses work in their world? What’s the relationship between Circus, the government, and society? Or really, what is society even like in the show’s setting? The European-style setting looks interesting but we see next to nothing of it throughout the show, so it’s hard to be invested in a conflict when I don’t know how it’ll affect the show’s world. So many things were just terribly vague, like how magic is used in the world and how the world itself is structured in terms of government and people’s social status, or just not explained at all – I can’t say I know much more about Karoku, Kafka, Circus, or the show’s setting than I did in the first couple of episodes.

Another problem with Karneval is that it had no direction. There was a lot of foreshadowing and ambiguous subplots being thrown about, but then the show would focus on pointless things, like the terribly purposeless and unentertaining episode 7 and helping a random kid we’ll never see again in episode 11 (seriously, how did no one tell him that his mom was dead?) The majority of the other episodes were just taking out Vagura and learning a bit more about Nai and Gareki. Despite all this sinister foreshadowing about Kafka, the Vagura, and Karoku, it just ends with Karoku in a coma and Gareki going off to school…no resolution about Kafka, Circus’ situation, or anything else. And amongst all this, we have a bunch of characters like Eva, Jiki, and Kiichi who get practically no screentime. I had to laugh in the last episode during Azana’s freakout because it was made to be so dramatic, but I barely knew anything about his character and his relationship with Akari, so how could I be invested?

The only good things I can say about Karneval is that the character designs were nice to look at, the main characters who had the most screentime – Nai, Gareki, Yogi, and Tsukumo – were fairly likable, and the show threw around some interesting fantasy elements. There were also a few dramatic or funny scenes that worked well. But in the end, with little plot direction, a far too vaguely defined setting, and a flimsy narrative structure, if any structure, it was a really unsatisfying anime.


OreImo 2

Because I’ve already written a couple of posts about the first season of OreImo, I’ll try to focus on just the content of the second season here. Since Kirino’s whole secret otaku thing was mostly what the first season was about, season 2 focuses more on the characters and their relationships. And anyone who’s seen the show knows that their relationships are not exactly…normal. It might be best if I go through each episode in brief.

The first two episodes, which I discussed already, were average OreImo fare. Episode 3 that dealt with Saori’s backstory was great and one of my favorites. After how mysterious she seemed in season 1, I was waiting to find out more about her and I wasn’t disappointed. I was glad to know that the show can get away from the otaku and sis-con stuff once in a while and have an episode dedicated to simply developing a character. Episode 4 with Ria coming to visit just seemed like an excuse for more fan service for Kyousuke’s harem and didn’t lend much to anything since she was never heard from again. The next couple of episodes with Kirino and her “boyfriend” revealed more about the ambivalent relationship between her and Kyousuke, which I know makes some people cringe because of the huge incestuous hinting (which I’ll get to later). The following few episodes where Kuroneko and Kyosuke briefly become a couple were pretty good, mostly because Kirino acts much nicer to Kyousuke than she ever did before, and it was interesting to see that Kurnoneko’s ultimate plan was for Kyousuke and Kirino to get along, even if she was manipulating him to do so. I felt like the show was trying to have Kyosuke come to some kind of resolution with each of the girls who have feelings for him before the grand finale of the series, first with Kuroneko and then with Ayase in the following couple of episodes. I could never figure out Ayase’s relationship with Kyousuke – she physically abuses him maybe even more than Kirino, she yells at him claiming he’s sexually harassing her and then gets upset when he doesn’t sexually harass her, she adamantly claims he’s a lolicon and a pervert…but after all that she’s actually in love with him? ~_^ I think there was some kind of rage against Kyousuke in the fandom when he turned her down at the end of episode 12, but I didn’t think it was that bad. No sense in going out with her if he’s realized he doesn’t feel that way for her (I guess his dating Kuroneko helped him realize who he really loves), and like I said, their relationship always struck me as kind of bizarre so I wasn’t exactly cheering her on.

And then we come to the concluding episode, where we find out exactly why Kirino came to hate her brother so much. For those who may remember, I couldn’t stand Kirino when I first watched OreImo. She was better in this series, but still, her physical and verbal abuse of her brother who’s been nothing but selfless towards her was frustrating. And now that I know where the origins of that hatred came from – it’s more like a burning resentment actually – I see the series in a different way. Despite its creepy lolicon and incest tones and its rather perverse humor of a nice guy getting abused by emotionally unstable girls, on another level the show offers a fascinating psychological journey into the weird psyche of a brother and sister trying to cope with chaotic feelings for each other. The relationship between Kirino and Kyousuke is a shining example of “love-hate” and it’s interesting to see the subtleties and not-so subtleties of how it develops throughout the series, especially when you know where it originated from.

Just because a show deals with a relationship that’s taboo (sis-con and lolicon) doesn’t automatically mean it can’t be well written. For all the feelings of frustration it brings out, I found Kirino and Kyousuke’s relationship complex and interesting to follow. Even though we don’t see any solid changes in the characters by the end of the last episode, there’s enough hinting that now that Kirino understands her feelings for her brother better, they’ll both be able to be more normal from here on. Whether they’re both truly in love with each other despite being siblings, or whether they’ll be able to fall in love with someone else eventually when they grow up now that their brother-sister relationship is patched up, is hard to say. But I find the latter outcome more believable ;)


Hataraku-Maou-sama!

When I reviewed the first three episodes of Maou-sama!, I thought it did a good job of mixing its comedy and fantasy elements. As the episodes went by however, they got increasingly less funny, but they still had enough funny moments to keep me invested. When the show really tried to shift to drama, such as in episode 4 when we learn about the tragic fate of Emi’s father, and the first big battle arc against Lucifer in episodes 5-6, I think it managed to do well with the tone change. We got to see how characters like Emi and Chio would react in dire situations rather than just comical ones, so that of course made them more appealing. The series never achieved quite the level of humor it had in the first few episodes, but it still had plenty of funny moments and I found the characters increasingly more likable. Ashiya’s seriousness about his duty coupled with his haplessness was always hilarious, the rivalry/friendship between Emi and Chio was surprisingly well done in my opinion, and even Suzuno eventually grew on me even though I wasn’t sure what to make of her when she first appeared.

While I think Maou-sama! has good things going for it, there were some things I took issue with. One thing that bothered me is how they allowed Lucifer/Urushihara to live with them even though he had tried to kill them. I guess I can sort of understand since nobody has enough magic to return to Ente Island and they didn’t know what else to do with him, but still, I would have kept him in prison-like confinement somewhere and not at their apartment where he’s using up their hard-earned money. But even worse than that, in the last episode after Sariel/Mitsuki did such horribly sadistic things, instead of destroying him or sealing him away somewhere, after he ends up in the MgRonalds freezer and they can’t send him back to Ente Island…they just let him go back to being the Sentucky manager without any further issue. And the way he was hitting on Mayumi after getting out of the freezer made him seem like a comic relief character even though he was just torturing people an episode prior…sorry, but I can’t be that forgiving XD And one other problem with the show that may or may not be important depending on what you’re looking for, is that we hardly know anything about Ente Island. What is the nature of the war between the Demons and Humans? What exactly is society like there and how does the Church work? What kind of magic, monsters, and other fantastical things go on there? Besides some brief flashbacks we know next to nothing about Ente Island nor Sadou and Emi’s life there. I would have liked to have known more, but I guess it didn’t matter that much to me in the end since the focus of the show was about them growing accustomed to the human world.

As a whole, for the type of story it had and the small amount of episodes, I think Hataraku Maou-sama! managed to put together a decent story and cast of characters. While it suffered a bit in the fantasy area, it did well with its slice-of-life comedy and drama. The characters were fun and I liked them more by the end than I did at the beginning, which is always a plus. The show ended on the typical “return to the status quo” note that a lot of anime with more original source material do, but I still felt somewhat fulfilled despite unanswered questions still lingering. I can’t say it was a fantastic show and I won’t be too disappointed if there isn’t a second season, but I thought it was a decent watch nonetheless.


Little Witch Academia

I heard about Little Witch Academia through people praising it on the blogsphere and Twitter. I usually don’t care to watch one-shot anime shorts like that, but figured I should watch this one since one episode isn’t any big commitment and the series did get quite a bit of promotion at Anime Expo, with Akko’s seiyuu, Megumi Han, being a guest of honor and the episode itself being screened at the con.

So I watched it and…I only thought it was okay. I didn’t think it was downright bad, I just didn’t think it was anything so special despite all the hype. The setting of the magic school, the characters’ personalities, the way magic and fantasy elements were portrayed – nothing about these were things I hadn’t seen before in a lot of other anime or even in other fantasy stories. Actually, I couldn’t help but feel like LWA was like an anime magical girls version of Harry Potter, with the characters being students at a school of magic, even echoing exact things in Harry Potter like broom flying lessons and a magical sorcerer’s stone. Maybe if more episodes are made and the magical world and characters are fleshed out more, it can create unique and memorable twists on the genre. But for one episode, there really wasn’t anything about the world or its characters that stood out to me.

And the other thing I had a problem with was the whole conflict with the dragon. First of all, I assume the teachers knew what kind of creatures were in the dungeon, since it was one of the tasks the students had to pass. So why would they have such a catastrophically dangerous monster like that dragon even in there? And if they thought sealing it would be enough, obviously it wasn’t if one of the students easily broke the seal. And also, this may sound strange, but I kinda felt bad for the dragon. It was just minding its own business and then Diana started bullying it, then it got mad and grew gigantic (I would get mad too!) and then Akko killed it in a rather unpleasant way. The show tried to make the destruction of the dragon, as well Chariot destroying that whale-like monster in the beginning, all pretty and whimsical, but it was honestly just painful…being blown up from the inside out? Yikes! It seemed like the witches were the ones invading the monsters’ territory and selfishly killing them rather than the monsters being the instigators. Again, maybe if more episodes come out it could flesh out the exact relationship between humans and monsters in the show’s world. But for one episode, I was rather confused about it.

I will give LWA one amount of praise in that its animation and character designs are really good. Very fluid and very nicely balanced between dark and fantasy-laden together with cute and pretty. Even though I didn’t really enjoy its substance I at least enjoyed watching it from an animation perspective. There’s currently fundraising going on for its sequel, which I’ll watch despite not being thrilled with the first episode. I feel it can get better with more material so I’m certainly willing to give it a chance.

—–

I’m currently in the process of getting caught up on the new summer ’13 anime, so I plan to have my first impressions post about them the week after next, or the week after that. But my post for next week will be my full coverage and photos of Anime Expo. See you then! =)

No Comments… read them or add your own.

  1. jimmy says:

    “people point out episode 5, but I think one breather episode is acceptable”
    Episode 5 was one of my favourites – it was well-written and effectively conveyed the pace of life, character relationships aboard and Ledo’s assimilation into Gargantia. The show overall I found was kind of like Psycho-Pass – really solid and interesting, not entirely consistent but good overall. I rate it 7/10 on MAL and rank it as my number three anime of the season.

    Oreimo was okay. I guess I just didn’t feel the relationships were that well-written, whereas the first had some better humour and parodies of existing franchises. The core story is solid, but more of the second season was propped up on ‘meh’ material. Look for the finale in 38d 42m, according to Mahou Showtimes.

    I didn’t really enjoy Karneval but I had to give it some credit. It was overall decent, if there were some weak moments… like the plot… I found the characters and their relationships convincing enough, and grew to love Yogi’s consistent charm and friendliness.

    Maou-sama gains my vote for number one anime of the season. It hit consistently with humour and impressive storytelling, last episode aside. A solid, great comedy, I give 7/10.

    I understand your criticisms of Little Witch Academia, but to me they were trivial before the fun and quality and style and utter charm of the short. I’ve given it 8/10 and its forthcoming sequel $320.

    (In case you were curious, my number 2, also with 7/10, is Aiura, the “moe short”. I fell in love first with the backgrounds and then the voice acting, animation and characters all at once. The last episode just beautiful and simplistic. Truly a quality series. Along with Inferno Cop and Teekyuu, both fantastic comedies, it’s my highest-rated series of shorts.)

    (My bottom show is Cyclops Shoujo Saipu, which had entire episodes at a time with no actual humour. When there were jokes they were puerile garbage. 2/10, worst anime I’ve seen from the last couple of years.)

    • Yumeka says:

      Yeah, I thought episode 5 of Gargantia was a nice break episode where nothing really plot-driven happened. I heard complaints about fan service in it, but I didn’t feel that way. Sure, maybe the outfits Amy and the other girls were wearing were a bit revealing, but it was part of the performance they were putting on and there was nothing unusual about Ledo getting turned on by it =P

      Yogi was my favorite character from Karneval too =)

      There’s gonna be another episode of OreImo?

  2. Artemis says:

    I totally agree with your reviews on Suisei no Gargantia, Karneval, and Hataraku Maou-sama! (no comment on the others since I didn’t watch them). It’s such a shame about Karneval since I really wanted to like it, but I’m glad now that I decided to drop it after a few episodes – most people are saying the same sorts of things as you. Gargantia and Maou-sama ended up easily being my favourite shows of the spring season, although as you pointed out, I also think the funniest moments in Maou-sama were in those first couple of episodes. There are a lot of people saying there might well be a second season – if there is, I’ll definitely be watching. :)

    • Yumeka says:

      Yeah, it’s always a shame when you want to like an anime but it just can’t live up to its potential. Karneval was like that unfortunately =/ I’m actually surprised I didn’t end up dropping it too – I thought about it at some points – but I guess the things I liked about it were enough to keep me watching. It was still the series I least looked forward to watching every week =P

      If Maou-sama! season 2 ever comes about, I’ll be checking that out too =D

  3. Cytrus says:

    I think you went far deeper into witch-monster morality than the writers ever intended you to xD. I have this kind of reaction to shows which use mind-control for light comedy (Tsuritama, Henneko etc.). I’m so appalled at the moral implications of the characters’ “silly” actions that my interest in a show immediately wanes, whatever its other merits xD.

    • Yumeka says:

      LOL, yeah, I’m sure I’m thinking deeper about Little Witch Academia than the writers intended. I tried to tell myself that but I still couldn’t help feeling the way I did when I watched it XD

  4. Kal says:

    I really liked Gargantia as well. The characters were interesting (even Pinion was ok for me), the whole setting was very interesting, the clash from one culture to another was done well, and even the end was good. So for 13 episodes, it did really great. The only “flaw” I saw, was a drop in anime quality in the last few episodes. The mechas were still computer generated, so they looked well, but the character drawings were not so good in some panels. But that is minor. In general, it was a great show.

    Did not see Karneval, and by the looks of it, I’ll pass it up :P

    Oreimo was still very interesting. Sure it has lots of “cringe” moments, but it was still interesting. As you mentioned, the main focus is on their relationships, and that came out really well. Kuronekos Arc was the best for me. It was really well done, and the feeling in their relationship was expressed pretty well. The thing that I did not like as much, was the whole turn to a harem anime. I mean, the first season, we had the same one guy, lots of girls, but I did not feel it as a Harem. Only Kuroneko seemed a bit interested. But this time around, it seemed everyone was in love with Kyousuke. It’s still a pretty interesting show, and as you mentioned, it tackles some difficult and taboo subjects in a decent way. So it was an enjoyable series, even with the more uncomfortable parts.

    Hataraku Maou Sama, was really, really good. It did start at a really fast pace, and then slowed down more, but I totally agree about the character development. It was done really, really, well, and they were all a lot more likeable in the end, than at the beginning. Even Chiho, which was one of the weakest characters to me, turned out pretty interesting. In general, it was great. The whole turn of “enemies into friends” was ok I guess, simply because of the light-hearted nature of the series. Suzano really caught me off-guard as well, I had no idea how she fit into things when she arrived, but also turned out to be interesting. Hopefully we’ll another season where we get more information on the politics of Ente Isle (there seems to be a lot going on there). Overall, great show.

    Didn’t see the witch academia, may check it out. Overall, the season was pretty decent. I also watch the Hayate cuties, which was pretty decent. It went back to more of what it originally was (except the last 2 episodes), so it was fun. I also saw Yahari Ore no Seishun Love Comedy wa Machigatteiru, which I thought was ok as well, even if they left some issues unresolved. It was a good season over all. Not so sure about this season coming up, but we have to wait and see.

    • Yumeka says:

      I agree that this second season of OreImo had an unnecessary focus on harem antics, with all the girls – Kuroneko, Ayase, Kanako, Manami, even that one-shot girl Ria – having their turns at Kyousuke. Like you, I really just enjoyed the arc with Kuroneko as that seemed the least contrived. And everything with Kyousuke and Kirino’s relationship of course.

      Glad to hear your liked Maou-sama! so much ;) I agree that Chiho at first seems like the typical genki-girl love interest, but she also had funny, strong, and cute sides to her, so that made her all the more likable =P

      After my negative feelings towards the previous season of Hayate – Can’t Take My Eyes Off You – I didn’t care to watch Cuties. May check it out one day, but not sure XD

  5. CoolCARTGuy says:

    Suisei no Gargantia was the strongest anime this past season hands down, IMO; my biggest complaint lies with how some characters – particularly Amy and Bellows – were handled. I don’t feel Amy’s character was fleshed out nearly enough to justify her status as a main character and Bellows just abruptly disappears after Episode 8, with only maybe a line or two afterwards; it feels like the writers didn’t know what to do with some of the characters they started out with in the beginning. Despite this flaw (among others), I loved the show for its gorgeous animation, intriguing setting, and likeable characters (except for Pinion).

    The only other seasonal anime I followed with any regularity was Attack on Titan, which I found to be pretty good (especially the music; more rock-oriented than pop). I watched Yahari Ore no Seishun Love Comedy wa Machigatteiru, but lost interest toward the end.

    • Yumeka says:

      I can sort of agree with what you said about Amy and Bellows – how they had a lot more focus in the early episodes but were sort of forgotten in the later ones, but I feel that was an unavoidable result of how the plot was moving. The story about Ledo, the whalesquids, Hideauze, Kugel’s scheme, etc., needed all that focus in the later episodes to be effective, so it couldn’t take more time for all the side characters. But because the series did dedicate a lot of time in the early episodes to showing us the culture and people of Gargantia, I didn’t feel short-changed when it shifted to the main plot later on.

  6. chikorita157 says:

    To me, I was disappointed with Ore no Imouto as it focused more on the romance aspect which gave a false sense of hope as I wanted either Ruri or Ayase to win… But then again, maybe I set my expectations too high considering that the title of the show is the big elephant in the room. But shipping aside, besides a few episodes, most of it was disappointing to me as it doesn’t have the same feeling that made the first season great. Maybe if it handled the harem thing better (aka having each girl win) or forgotten about it completely and just jump to what they originally have planned, maybe it would be better for me. But as it’s stands, it’s probably one of the disappointing shows for me for the Spring.

    As for Gargantia, it’s an excellent show as the setting and premise was very enjoyable.

    • Yumeka says:

      Sorry you ended up disappointed with OreImo. I can at least agree that it wasn’t as good as the first season since it moved away from the “closet otaku” focus, which I liked, and towards the harem route. I wouldn’t have minded seeing Kyousuke hook up with Kuroneko, but I could tell even from the first season that it would ultimately go back to KyousukexKirino, or at least leave the girl he ends up with ambiguous.

      Glad you liked Gargantia though =D

  7. I was going to post a comment here sooner, but I only finished Karneval a few days ago and wanted to finish it before I read this post. XD

    I read somewhere that someone reviewing Gargantia said it “just missed greatness.” I know what that person meant. For me, the one thing that would have made Gargantia perfect was deeper characterization. The plot moved fairly slowly, but I was okay with that because the story was told in a clear way and did actually move forward. I just would have been happier with more involvement between the characters, which would have led to more of the characters’ depth coming out. The characters all seemed to stay at arm’s length from each other, physically and emotionally for the large part. (As characterized by that typically Japanese moment at the very end where Ledo and Amy run towards each other and then… stop dead about two feet from throwing their arms around each other. XD) And probably because I watch a lot of shonen, Pinion didn’t bother me at all. He reformed enough for me at the end.

    Oh, I so agree about Karneval. Good performances, but the execution of the story was a mess. I thought it rallied in the final 2-3 episodes to have a pretty good ending, but it lacked focus in nearly every episode before then. What I did really like were the strange creatures like the little sheep in top hats and rabbits, and more than anything else, the incredible prettiness of the production designs and characters.

    I thoroughly enjoyed Hataraku Maoh-sama and would definitely be up for another season. I also thought they handled the switching from comedy to drama and back to comedic scenes very well. I guess because I saw it as straight-up comedy I didn’t have a problem with Lucifer or Sariel (I especially thought turning Sariel into a lovesick little guy at the end for Maoh-sama’s MgRonalds boss was hysterical). I really liked Emi and even Chiho (and you know I usually don’t care for moe girls). Just a fun, fun show. =D

    • Yumeka says:

      I agree that Gargantia could have had more character depth. But for just 13 episodes, I personally thought it did well enough to keep me invested and distract me from thinking about everything that could have been better. But I do admit that I felt the same way about that scene with Ledo and Amy at the very end XD

      LOL, it’s funny how we each have the characters we’re more tolerant and forgiving of than others. Like I said, I had issues with Pinion, Lucifer, and Sariel…likewise, I’m sure there are characters I tolerate well but you can’t stand XD

      Awesome to hear you liked Maou-sama! so much. And you even really liked Emi and Chiho? Nice!

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