First Episode Review for: Uta No Prince-sama

Summary : Giant Music school where all the members of a popular boy band fall for a new arrival, much jealousy and social awkwardness result

Animation : Bright and saturated colours, I can feel my monitor heating up trying to show them

Plot Potential: This one looks like it will be a mixture of misunderstood love and burgeoning feelings, with a climax of the main characters being forced to choose what they want and own up to their love in public

Characters: Stock characters so far, both for the boy band members and the female protagonist, but we will see if they grow.

Music: The music feels like it’s from a real boy band, so not quite my taste but good if you like that kind of thing.

Reminds me of: Yamato Nadeshiko Shichi Henge

Overall: Visually a treat, I would have still put it down as a “only watch it if I come across it”, but the “Oo Oo” from the other end of the table looks like this another one that will be popular with the ladies

Disclaimer: These are mini reviews of anime that are fresh out in Japan and are not licensed in the UK, buy them once they have been licensed or at the very least buy the merchandise, remember if the anime makers make a loss, THEY WILL STOP MAKING ANIME!!

First Episode Review for: Penguin Drum

Summary : A loving and quirky family of 2 older brothers and their younger sister (no parents), is thrown into chaos when the sister is given months to live…. enter the super penguins

Animation : Very bright and ‘primary’, tiny bit rough around the edges but it looks like that was done on purpose. The representation of stuff such as crowds and train travel is an unusual and pleasant touch. (such as flying station signs to denote train travel, and the picture below for crouds )

Plot Potential: I have no idea where it’s going plot-wise but quite frankly it’s original and fun enough not to need one at this stage

Characters: Well done writers, there is nothing particularly original about these characters, but they feel fresh and new

Music: good catchy music, not quite “buy the album”, but I definitely turn up the sound on the credits

Reminds me of: Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi

Overall:Madder than a sack of ferrets, and twice as entertaining, judging by the laughter coming from the female contingent of the room this one’s a winner

Disclaimer: These are mini reviews of anime that are fresh out in Japan and are not licensed in the UK, buy them once they have been licensed or at the very least buy the merchandise, remember if the anime makers make a loss, THEY WILL STOP MAKING ANIME!!

First Episode Review for: No 6

Summary : Future post-world utopia (with a dark underside), 2 boys from very different ends of it meet and to both of their surprise get on well

Animation : Beautiful, rich and subtle tones, that has that “can’t wait for the HD version” look about it

Plot Potential: This one is all plot, with well-thought out nice touches e.g. minor character behaviours and building names, not much has been revealed yet but very promising

Characters: Hmmm, very generic characters so far, none that pique my interest, but they may be using the plot to grow them as personalities. However the interaction between the 2 main characters is already surprising and worth watching

Music: nice stirring stuff, particually in the opening credits

Overall: This looks like a complex one, as you’re shown about 20 charaters in the opening credits and in the first episode only see 3 of them, definetely one to watch

Disclaimer: These are mini reviews of animes that are fresh out in Japan and are not licensed in the UK, buy them once they have been licensed or at the very least buy the merchandise, remember if the anime makers make a loss, THEY WILL STOP MAKING ANIME!!

First Episode Review for: Mayo Chiki!

Summary : Story of a normal Japanese boy going to school, …..wait for it…. except his mother and sister are wrestlers, he gets nosebleeds whenever a girl touches him and the girl he fancies at school turns out to be a sadist with a transvestite butler

Animation : Clear and pleasant to watch, nothing special but heads above western quality

Plot Potential: I don’t think the plot is going to be anything groundbreaking but it’s strong enough that if you are not watching for 30 seconds, you lose what’s going on, I do however think it will be funny

Characters: Not bad for a school harem anime, the butler and sadist rich girl are different enough to stand out

Music: OK, I’m not skipping over the opening/closing tunes, nor am I looking to buy them

Reminds me of: MM!

Overall: I really enjoyed this, and can’t wait for the second one, BUT it does have quite strong sexual overtones that suddenly hit about half-way though (this is a habit of anime, some of which do this kind of stuff half-way though the series, meaning the dubbing/editing people have to get creative {see the neon genesis evangelion ‘crying’ scene }, making it unsuitable for preteens.

Disclaimer: These are mini reviews of anime that are fresh out in Japan and are not licensed in the UK, buy them once they have been licensed or at the very least buy the merchandise, remember if the anime makers make a loss, THEY WILL STOP MAKING ANIME!!

First Episode Review for: iDOLM@STER

Summary : A fictional documentary about idols, 1st person from the reporters view point, thought you don’t hear the reporter talk (the rest of the characters do)

Animation : very nice, that kind of animation where the backgrounds are actually more detailed than the characters

Plot Potential: good, very much along the line of a reality TV show done with anime;

Characters: The first episode was all character introductions, so they are going for that angle and they have really tired with them , full marks.

Music: Strangly enough, not up to much, felt very ‘stock’

Overall: not quite my cup of tea (not a fan of reality TV or soaps) , but if you do like them then give it a shot

Disclaimer: These are mini reviews of anime that are fresh out in Japan and are not licensed in the UK, buy them once they have been licensed or at the very least buy the merchandise, remember if the anime makers make a loss, THEY WILL STOP MAKING ANIME!!