Review: Cute High Earth Defense Club LOVE! – Ep. 1

If you are an anime fan you have likely watched Sailor Moon or some other magic girl show. If you have ever enjoyed one, watch Cute High Earth Defense Club LOVE! If you thought magic girl shows were silly and needed to be mocked, watch Cute High Earth Defense Club LOVE!

If you just need a fun show, watch Cute High Earth Defense Club LOVE!

Can you notice a theme here?

Cute High Earth Defense Club LOVE! is a new magic girl show. With the only catch being that the characters are boys, not girls. Every other rule applies. Weird animal that can talk and knows what is going on appears, this time being a pink wombat. Wonderfully elaborate transformation scenes for each character happen right as the fight is about to begin. And the power of LOVE wins the day. It is everything you would expect in a magic girl show. This makes it marvelous.

So we have five boys who fit a random generality. One loves animals, one is a giant flirt, one is great with money, etc. These boys are in a school club that is built around avoiding being in a school club. They are all generally lazy when it comes to this part of their lives, even though all of them spend a lot of time with their general pursuit. These boys meet a talking pink wombat, who generally harasses them until the monster of the week shows up. The wombat then grants each boy magic powers and the show is off and running.

And that is the episode. Introduce characters. Pink wombat arrives. Monster arrives, powers are granted, and then fights. By the time each boy says their Princely LOVE name and transforms, you will be completely sold on this show. If you are not, please seek immediate medical help. There is something severely wrong with you.

I really don’t want to spoil much here, but seeing the characters reactions to every magical aspect of the show made for so many laugh out loud moments. We always see the protagonists freak out a little when meeting the magic, but this felt like a “realistic” response to it all. Not that the show didn’t move past just parody. There are some good character moments outside of the cliché magic girl plot points. The monster was very well done, and tied into the random conversation the show started off with.

I love this show already and have only seen the first episode. If you need a good laugh, watch it now.

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Score: 5/5

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Studio: Diomedéa Publisher: FUNimation

Review: Cross Ange - Episode 1

This show somehow ruined the high concept mechs fighting dragons. Yes, that's right, there is a way to ruin giant robots fighting large dragons. It all starts with mecha fighting dragons. Sadly the fight is a bit over done in 3D animation that would have been amazing to look at a decade plus ago but is really just out of place with the rest of the animation. For good measure we get a few random ass shots of the main character while she fights the dragons, to illustrate her strength and poise under pressure. The dragons are defeated and the day is saved.

Flash back to a few months ago, Angelize (or Ange, aka our main character) is playing lacrosse and is bad ass at it. She is so great that not only is her team cheering her on, but her opponents are saying how amazing and spectacular she is. With both sides right behind her, she wins the game and the peasants rejoice.

Besides most excellent lacrosse skills, Ange is also a princess. Tomorrow is the day she will be crowned Princess Awesome Pants and be given a real voice in the politics of her society. On her way back home she runs across a crowd that are in panic. Since they must not have seen her impressive lacrosse game she goes to investigate.

A small child is being imprisoned by a squad of police/military goons while holding back a crying and frantic mother. Ange, being the voice of the people and rationality, explains to her handmaiden (and the audience) the toddler is a norma, an inhuman beast who can't use magic thus meaning they need to be shunted away from awesomeville. Now, Ange is a compassionate woman. So she goes up to the grieving mother and tells her that maybe she can have another child and get it right this time.

I  must stop the plot summary and mention this important fact. All normas are female. Probably because men can't wear the thongs and ass-less pants required to fight dragons. Now back to this thing we call plot, already in progress.

That night Ange is narrating why all the normas should be just killed outright instead of the humane treatment they get now, being taken from their homes forever. Just as she is about to go full Hitler, her mother shows up, half naked in white. The two have a bonding moment, and besides the outfit choice, is probably the most humane any character comes off in this episode. We get to the big day finally and Ange's brother pops up, reveals that Ange is a norma and his despicable parents (the king and queen) have been hiding it. Ange escapes thanks to mom, mom is killed, and Ange is sent off to loserville. The brother takes time to give an evil villain speech about repopulating the royal blood line with her. It is super super creepy and beyond creepiness adds nothing to the plot.

Ange continues to bitch and moan about being royalty even though she is a prisoner. She is bound and verbally assaulted. Then some other random woman shows up, smacks her around, strips her, and shoves some kind of tube up her ass. According to Wikipedia, it is done to implant her with devices and such she will need to work mechs and fight dragons. Why we needed to see her get stripped and implanted is beyond me. And why the camera had to be angled in the same fashion it would for a porno, taking time to linger on her exposed curves further escapes me. We end with Ange on the floor naked covered in bruises and cuts crying. The montage of other women is shown, most of them are half or completely naked and none of them seem to be happy about it. Finally the credits roll.

So in summary, the main character is perfect in every way, but also annoying, bratty, and genocidal. The animation is okay at best. The plot is nearly random in its delivery, yet still allows for a few gratuitous shots. The villain is skeevy, plotting an incestuous affair at best and rape at worst. And it ends with the main character we have absolutely no reason to sympathize with being humiliated and objectified in as sexy of a manner as possible.

Just avoid this show. It is trash. There are better shows with mechs. There are better shows with dragons. There are better shows with ass less pants. Have some respect for yourself and go watch any of those instead.

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Score: 1/5

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Studio: Sunrise

Review: When Supernatural Battles Became Commonplace #1-3

When Supernatural Battles Became Commonplace. Let that title sink in. It sets a lot of expectations, you expect super powers, you expect fights, and just from how it is phrased, it probably won't all be super serious. This anime delivers on all fronts, and then ramps it up another notch. We start with a normal day for the literature club. Andou, the lone male of the group, acts out a “training exercise” as each other club member shows up. How would they react if his arm is suddenly imbued with magical fire? This short segment teases each character's personality and how they interact with Andou and each other. After everyone is collected, Andou starts to explain how maybe he will have super powers, maybe they all will. Then a huge white light appears and consumes them all.

Six months later, they all have powers, and are completely well-balanced. They are still the same characters as before, they just have powers. Thankfully this is the monthly power check time, so we get a peak at what each character's power set is, and Andou is kind enough to narrate it all to explain the depth of the abilities.

After the danger room scenario is through, the class president arrives and the first supernatural battle is set to begin. What follows is one of the most inventive and logical fight scene I have seen in a long time. Expectations are met and also toyed with, and I can't even remotely do the sequence justice without spoiling it all. Needless to say, it is wonderfully done and is character driven, masterfully animated, and also hilarious. Which really explains the series thus far. The story seems to know what the audience is expecting from the series, and gives you what you are expecting but also tosses curve balls at you.

These curves are subtle spins to the left when it was expected it would spin right instead. The mysterious figure isn't tied to the secret origins of the group, but instead to one individual and understands Andou more than anyone else. Jokes are made at the expense of what one would expect from an anime with super powered high schoolers, yet also some of the tropes are touched upon.

While the cast is one male lead, and four females, it isn't a harem show. And while Andou has been the focus thus far, it is because he fully believed in super powers before they ever occurred, and thus far is the main character. Each other character has a unique personality and set of traits. While they start off as the possible love interest, the naïve one, the stoic but young child, and the tough guy, they are so much more. Tomoyo Kanzaki is also a bit of a chunibyo, but nowhere near as much as Andou. She plays along sometimes, but also takes care of the group frequently. Sayumi Takanashi has two black belts, but also loves reading and there are hints she is a fan of romances. Chifuyu Himeki is the stoic child, who also uses her stuffed animal to talk to Andou when she is upset with him, whining and crying like the child she is if the stuffed animal is taken away. Hatoko Kushikawa thus far has the least growth, but it is only three episodes, she did tell a wonderful tale of her past though which does show there is more than just a polite naivete.

In three episodes the characters have been introduced, a love story has blossomed and ended, and a mysterious stranger with clues to a dark past have appeared. Yet also there has been creative uses of supernatural powers, character based comedy, and just a well written anime. If you are wanting a light-hearted story that is smart and funny, When Supernatural Battles Became Commonplace is the show for you.

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Score: 5/5

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Director: Masanori Takahashi Studio: Trigger