A Story of Fan-service, Parodies, and Star Children, Oh My

Posted on by Karandi
Conception Anime Episode Review Title Image

Conception Episode 8 Review

This anime has never hidden what it is and I don’t really think it needed to. Right from the beginning the dubious nature of Itsuki’s quest to woo the Star Maidens over in order to make Star Children through a love ritual is as in your face as it can be and despite it not actually involving sex it is about as borderline as it can be. Throw in Mana’s character who is a non-stop parade of lewd sex jokes and references and essentially this anime was very up-front about what its focus was going to be.

Conception Episode 8 Itsuki and Sue

Still, in earlier episodes I felt there were some elements that were curious enough or interesting enough to warrant sticking around and further investigation. The overall presentation wasn’t great, some characters annoyed, and Mana was simply toxic, but the basic idea of being summoned to another world to rid it of impurities through a ritual and then fighting through different levels in a labyrinth had potential. To put it simply the balance of things that made me curious vs those things that made me roll my eyes was good enough that I stuck around. In a show like How Not To Summon a Demon Lord that ultimately paid off. Master of Ragnarok on the other hand was a failure.

So where does Conception fit in?

Well, it is hard to say given it isn’t finished yet and potentially, it could still do something with the ideas it laid out early on but has yet to really capitalise on. In fact, maybe episode 8 is just the low point before the thunderous final and I’ll look back at this post and realise that this was a by-product of weekly watching and personal prejudices against reality TV shows and that a thin parody over the top of the format didn’t make this episode any more watchable. 

Conception Episode 8 The Bachelor

Note: Just playing out the tropes of something isn’t necessarily parody. Small exaggeration of those tropes doesn’t make it necessarily parody either. It kind of just makes it an emulation of the original and if you aren’t fond of the original, unless the parody is actually highlighting a specific issue or idea, basically you are stuck with something else you don’t like.

But basically, this episode brings the worst of Conception to the forefront, while ignoring most of what makes it occasionally interesting and curious. Itsuki particularly has what is left of his character butchered through the attempt to fit him into the mould of the protagonist of an episode of The Bachelor and I was one finger snap away from terminating the viewing then and there.

As it was, I did skip forward at multiple points in the episode, which is something I almost never do on something I haven’t watched through once. Second watches sometimes have sections where I will skip forward if there is a particular scene or moment I’d rather not endure a second time. But first watches are usually safe from this kind of treatment with the understanding that if I dislike something enough to want to skip forward it is probably time to let it go.

Conception Episode 8 Itsuki and Sue

And then, just as I was more or less determined to end the viewing on this and maybe pick one of the shows I put on hold back up, they get back to the idea of the labyrinth and give just the tiniest faint hope they might address it. Not to mention, I’ve watched 8 episodes of this and I kind of want to get to the end and do a season final review. There definitely comes a point in the season where dropping something feels like a defeat and that the time will be completely wasted if you don’t get to the end.

That said, I can’t say I’m particularly looking forward to the next episode. I just kind of want this one to be done.

Gamers Episode 11: Let’s Go On A Double Date

Posted on by Karandi
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Review:

This episode of Gamers begins where the last ended with Tendou and Uehara not wanting to think Amano and Aguri are cheating but not sure what else to think. In desperation, they come up with a plan of attack.

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It is actually a little more sensible than some of the other plans these characters have hatched during the course of the show and we end up with the main four visiting an amusement park that is clearly modelled on some RPG. Amano is right at home and he and Tendou seem to be reconnecting. Unfortunately, the gods of plot coincidence decide that we need one more wrench thrown in the relationship works and Konoha overhears their plans and drags Chiaki to the same park to meet up with everyone.

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Ultimately, this is quite a fun episode. While no one directly addresses the misunderstandings, spending time together rather than speculating about what is going on seems to bring Uehara and Aguri back together naturally, and Amano and Tendou also seem pretty solid by the end. Chiaki isn’t giving up but she isn’t actively trying to get in Amano’s way. It almost seemed like a final episode but apparently there is one to go and I’m just keeping my fingers crossed it isn’t a beach or pool episode but all things considered I’d probably bet it will be.

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Gamers Episode 7: That’s What I Like About You

Posted on by Karandi
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Review:

This episode saw the ongoing misunderstandings continue to fester but rather than wallowing on that note for the whole episode we get to go on a date with Karen and Amano which is both adorable and hilarious. It culminates with them admitting to the other what they admire about each other and to be honest this episode did a lot to clear up my own thoughts about this show.

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While this isn’t the show I though it was going to be after the first episode and given it has continually veered off of any projected plot I’ve considered, there’s something utterly charming about Amano (even though he’s beyond socially awkward and just a little bit pessimistic). Seeing him on the date this episode really just reinforced how much I like seeing this character continue to push outside of his comfort zone even as there are some points he refuses to compromise on.

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While it is inevitable that we’ll have to have all of the character misconceptions either cleared up or blow up at some point, right now this episode was just light hearted entertainment as we watch Tendou over think playing in a pool (though her version of the couple splashing each other with water seemed infinitely more fun than what the other couple were doing) and Amano just second guess everything.

I’m going to just admit I really am loving watching this. It would certainly be easy to pick fault with it as a show, but it leaves me smiling each and every week and I’m still absolutely digging the game themed music that permeates the episodes.

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The Laughing Salesman Episode 10

Posted on by Karandi
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Review:

Story one follows a guy who right from the start walks into his own catastrophe by first falling ‘in love’ with a girl in an image, secondly by dismissing her friend as serving only the purpose of making her prettier, thirdly by dating said friend in the hopes of getting close to the first girl, and finally by taking advantage of the friend after being warned to not get her hopes up. Even if Moguro hadn’t delivered his just deserts this guy kind of had an unhappy ending coming.

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That said, the second story this week was kind of heart breaking. Focussing on a lonely man, Moguro takes his phone and puts a service on it that sends him messages from his ‘grandchild’. While at first the old man dismisses it he slowly becomes attached.

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While he does do something stupid later on in the story, I couldn’t help but think about the number of old people who find themselves in a position where they don’t really have any family or anyone to look out for them and they kind of are alone. A service like the one on the phone isn’t exactly an ideal solution given its entirely fake, but certainly some method of helping them forge connections would be needed.

Once again however, whether they are asking for trouble or not, both characters this week ultimately fall victim to Moguro’s brand of healing and his mocking laughter. Another fairly standard set of stories but I’m continuing to enjoy this series in a very low-key manner.

The Laughing Salesman is available on Crunchyroll.

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Kiss Him, Not Me Episode 12

Posted on by Karandi
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Kiss Him, Not Me Episode 12 Review:

This one I am happy to see Kiss Him, Not Me finish.

I’m going to take the positive from this series. She didn’t change. Her fundamental character stayed completely stagnant so at least it isn’t one of those stories where the girl utterly transforms herself because of the guy/s in her life.

Of course, that means we watched 12 episodes with absolutely no character development from our fairly one dimensional protagonist while the other characters around her at times looked like they were making progress before they also regressed to their basic natures’. Oh well. This final episode at least has all the characters confess and they all get to go on a date before Serinuma turns the lot of them down because she realises her true love is the anime character she liked before any of this happened. Great. Done. Just need to review the series now and I can move on.

Kiss Him, Not Me is available on Crunchyroll.

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Kiss Him, Not Me Episode 2

Posted on by Karandi
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Kiss Him, Not Me Review:

I’m not going to bother levelling my overall criticism of the premise of this show every single week so if you want to hear that check out my thoughts on episode 1.

Episode 2 brings us more of the guys pursuing the girl and it becomes even clearer that only one of them has any interesting in Kae as a person and that is the third year who is part of the history club (yep, I still don’t know the guys’ names except for Nana which stuck for some reason during the early part of this episode). I started to look it up and then realised it will be more fun if I just let myself get surprised when I finally remember their names.

That said, the guys continue to pursue her even though they regularly find things about her that they do not like. Then she smiles and they just keep going after her. I’m not sure if this is more offensive to the girl or to the guys.

Probably my criticism of this episode is that it seems to go on for a very long time. We have the boys reacting to being given anime key-rings, Kae’s ridiculous attempt to learn soccer in a week, the soccer game, planning summer vacation, cramming for an exam, the study session, and then the summer vacation beginning and yet none of this seems to have any pace.

It just seems to go on and on and on. Individual moments and lines and some reactions are funny or cute or sweet (or annoying because while they might be setting up Nana as a bad boy type mostly he’s just coming off as a complete jerk who ought to be cut loose if Kae had any backbone as a human being), but these individual moments aren’t enough to really overcome the general feeling that while stuff is happening it isn’t amounting to much.

But on a positive:

Kiss Him Not Me

Lots of sparkles.

So clearly still watching this despite my misgivings and while it isn’t amazing it is perfectly watchable. Part of me kind of wants to go back to Momokuri though.

Alright, well and truly over my 100 words so done.

Kiss Him, Not Me is available on Crunchyroll.

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Kiss Him, Not Me Episode 1

Posted on by Karandi
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Kiss Him Not Me Episode 1 Review:

Here’s a two speed review.

Number 1: This is horrendous portrayal of any kind of romance or characterisation. The fat girl wearing glasses can be nice (or the butt of your jokes) but you don’t even recognise her once she loses weight (and how does weight loss allow you to stop wearing glasses?).

More importantly, her ‘friend’ then advises her to hide who she is on the date (with four boys simultaneously) because if her boyfriend found out she was an otaku it would over. This is an absolutely terrible premise for a story and for a group of characters. Avoid at all costs.

Number 2: The premise is everything I just said above and yet this episode itself is kind of fun. That may actually be worse because it is kind of normalizing the above attitudes and playing them as acceptable but I did not actually hate this first episode.

I hated the idea of this story but the delivery was not bad. It’s kind of pretty and even though the set up for the characters is bad, as individual characters they actually look kind of interesting (though in a first episode we’re still kind of generic kind of way). Will I make it through a whole season of this? I’d say probably not, but I’m at least up for watching the next episode. Advice: Don’t watch if you are planning on thinking it through.

That said, stories aren’t really obliged to present a positive view of the world, romance, gender or characters, nor are they particularly obliged to not offend. So, while I found this a bit painful I’m certain there is an audience out there that will just enjoy the story for what it is without trying to impose their own views upon it.

Kiss Him, Not Me is available on Crunchyroll.

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