Join us as we view new pilots this season. See where they fit on the highly-scientific Rock-or-Suck Scale… FAIRY TAIL SEASON 2 -- BLACK BULLET -- THE COMIC ARTIST & HIS ASSISTANTS -- ONE WEEK FRIENDS -- MUSHI-SHI: THE NEXT CHAPTER -- BRYNHILDR IN THE DARKNESS
The ‘Gundo,’ or whatever it was, might be one of the stupider items of
Stereotypical Anime. It’s almost like the creators stumbled across the original
DJANJO movie and thought the whole gunslinger-dragging-a-gattling-gun-along-in-a-coffin
gimmick could be so much better. What if it were a high-caliber, magic-enabled
sniper rifle that can blow a rabid unicorn apart into a graphic pile of guts?
It just… doesn’t… fit in this world. At all. And that’s a bit of
stumbling block, because the world of this show’s actually a pretty good one.
Sometimes, I wonder if the humanity in the voice performances, or the
body language of the character animation, really go a lot farther in
determining whether I’ll like a given series. When outré ideas become as cheap
a currency as they are in anime, it really is the emotional stuff that carries
the value. Our n’er-do-well rogue might have had some of the most on-the-nose
lines, and everything about Chaika is Stereotypical Anime at its most grating,
but I still wanted to follow them from their respective intros onward. There’s… just… chemistry there? Or an
X-Factor?
Whatever it is, this has been the most promising pilot of the season,
so far. It might be a whole universe away from PRINCESS MONONOKE but,
nevertheless, that was the best comparator I could think of while watching. We get dropped right into an immersive fantasy world, our leads are
quickly established as imperfect, and dire stakes are established that
immediately need to be taken care.The show even establishes this great group dynamic between Chaika,
the thief and his sister in the space of one episode. Most other shows take
five episodes to do that. I call that a successful pilot.
I just hope we have more duels with invisible swordsmen next episode,
and less mantra-enabled killshots.
Watch "The
Girl Who Bears the Coffin" and decide for yourself.
About the Author
 | Tom Pinchuk’s a writer and personality with a large number of comics, videos and features like this to his credit. Visit his website - - tompinchuk.com - - and follow his Twitter: @tompinchuk |
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