March 28, 2004

Pros and Cons of Pretear

The first episode of Pretear came free with a recent issue of NewType-USA. I watched it over Christmas vacation, and it seemed alright. It’s typical magical girl anime, a Sailor Moon rip off, but there are lots of bishounen who take the place of the usual Sailor Scouts. I rented the first DVD from Netflix – and by the fourth episode I was pleasantly surprised that I like the show. It’s not great by any means, but it is surprisingly likeable. I’ve broken it down into a list of pros and cons.

Pros Cons

* Only 13 episodes!

* Non-stop pastel backgrounds are kind of grating.

* Cast of cute boys introduced in the first episode, so you don’t have to wait for 20 episodes to meet all the characters.

* Light sexual innuendo (compared to Tokyo Mew Mew, there’s less, but more innuendo than Sailor Moon).

* Peripheral characters are mostly very likeable, including the butler and the protagonist’s father.

* Way un-funny step-sister, and second, not funny but not likeable other step-sister.

* Wacky plot elements include, “the red snow of doom” and “the princess of destruction.” That’s so awesome.

* Costume changes are a bit excessive – there are 7 different hero costumes for the protagonist to change into, probably 8 when she reaches her final princess phase. That kind of annoyed me about Card Captor Sakura as well – a different costume every time, is that necessary?

* I like all the “Leaf Knights” except one. I kind of dig that they’re different ages. Granted, that means four of them are mid-twenties and the other three are cute little kids, but whatever – cute little kids, casting spells, that’s pretty good.

* The one Leaf Knight I don’t like is entirely too excessive of a character design.

Of course, I’ve also been watching other anime. Gilgamesh and Hunter X Hunter are downloadable shows. Gilgamesh is dark and post-apocolyptic and sci-fi, with clones that have crazy powers. I think Noah might like it. Hunter X Hunter is a ridiculous show about hunters who are really rangers. It’s a show little boys would probably like a lot, and it’s not entirely unwatchable.

What IS unwatchable is Rizelmine, which I downloaded based on this ANN news item about popular anime in Japan. I’d heard of most of the other titles on the list. Wow! Rizelmine SUCKED! It was almost totally unwatchable. It’s even more unbearable knowing that Rizelmine is not an original show at all. It’s just one of dozens, possible hundreds, of shows about non-human or semi-human girlfriends in love with a guy who doesn’t want to marry them. Why did this work so well for Lum and Video Girl Ai but sucks so much in every other iteration? Chobbits and Steel Angel Kurumi are terrible shows, and Tenchi Muyo isn’t very good either. But it keeps coming up, again and again and again. I read a sample of manga called “Pita-Ten” that was, again, the magical girlfriend sent to marry some poor kid. It must’ve been popular, there’s an anime series of it too.

I’m horrified to think that somewhere in Japan, even now, an animator or a manga-ka is laying awake at night, trying to dream up a cuter, more annoying demi-human girl to stalk some new version of Tenchi. What’s worse is the couples are getting younger. Rizelmine is after a sixth grader, and the PitaTen characters aren’t in Junior High yet either. At least Chobbits is after a college boy, even if the robot girl looks about 16.

I guess this brings up interesting twists on age-of-consent laws. Is it OK or legal to boink a robot who was built last year to resemble a 12-year-old? What if it’s a shape-shifting alien? We’d better come up with some legislation on this soon.

Posted by erin at March 28, 2004 03:14 PM

Comments Individual Archive Index

March 29, 2004 11:40 AM, said:

What were the names of those other series you were recommending to me? I think N mentioned Neoranga at one point... I should have been taking notes.

March 29, 2004 11:41 AM, Eugene said:

Ha, I probably should have left my name. I'm sure you've recommended anime to a lot of people!

March 29, 2004 06:36 PM, Erin said:

Well, you've seen my chart, right?

http://www.erinfinnegan.com/anime

March 30, 2004 11:20 AM, Eugene said:

Oh yeah, I have seen that. But how up to date is it? You were telling me about some really new stuff.

BTW, what is "Kuragami Orange Road"? Sounds interesting. :P

March 30, 2004 11:26 AM, Erin said:

What, did I spell it wrong?

Yes, the very newest stuff isn't on there yet. I should make a list I guess.

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Pros	Cons
* Only 13 episodes!	* Non-stop pastel backgrounds are kind of grating.
* Cast of cute boys introduced in the first episode, so you don’t have to wait for 20 episodes to meet all the characters.	* Light sexual innuendo (compared to Tokyo Mew Mew, there’s less, but more innuendo than Sailor Moon).
* Peripheral characters are mostly very likeable, including the butler and the protagonist’s father.	* Way un-funny step-sister, and second, not funny but not likeable other step-sister.
* Wacky plot elements include, “the red snow of doom” and “the princess of destruction.” That’s so awesome.	* Costume changes are a bit excessive – there are 7 different hero costumes for the protagonist to change into, probably 8 when she reaches her final princess phase. That kind of annoyed me about Card Captor Sakura as well – a different costume every time, is that necessary?
* I like all the “Leaf Knights” except one. I kind of dig that they’re different ages. Granted, that means four of them are mid-twenties and the other three are cute little kids, but whatever – cute little kids, casting spells, that’s pretty good.	* The one Leaf Knight I don’t like is entirely too excessive of a character design.