With the conclusion of the second season of “Log Horizon”, there has to be a third season to wrap it all up, considering the bread crumbs they left. Bread crumbs? More like an entire bakery, but on to the plot.

The first season contended itself with how these people, or ‘adventurers’, trapped inside this video game, can grow an entire civilization. The second season looks at personal growth and it loses a bit of steam on that account. When Shiroe has to contend himself with bureaucracy, wow, the excitement is palpable.

Look! As he signs legislation
Gasp! While he settles land ownership issues
Shiver! When he makes proclamations

OK, I am being snarky, as there are some new issues that arise, but the show feels like it was running in place. The overall concern is that there is something going wrong with the server or the AI or general gameplay, as things are going wrong. Shiroe has to go on raiding parties to try and figure out how to get more funding for the projects he has in mind. Thant means he is away and someone else is in charge. Then when a crisis arises, Enheart Nelreth comes into the city and starts killing people, those left behind seem unable to handle the situation properly. They have to wait for Shiroe’s return to finish the task. (more…)

This was a different show for me. Yes, it is a dancing show, and, on a nuts-and-bolts level, not much different than “AKB0048” or “Long Live!”, in that a group of girls wish to perform, but it is done in a different manner and it is earnest without being overweening. “Hanayamata” tells the story of Naru Sekiya (front and center), an ordinary 14-year old girl who likes fairy tales. She sometimes wishes her life could be like one, but, that’s the harsh realities of real life. You have to play the cards you are dealt. She is worried about her lack of other interests and dearth of friends. She has a nighttime chance encounter with a “fairy”, a foreign girl practicing dance at a temple. On the spur of the moment, Naru asks to join her and she is introduced to the world of yosakoi dancing. And the rest of the team include, left to right:

Hana N. Fountainstand, that foreign girl ‘fairy’
Yaya Sasame, one of Naru’s friends
Machi Tokiwa, student council president
Tami Nishimikado, student council vice-president

Not pictured is Sari Tokiwa, Machi’s sister, a teacher at the school as well as the club advisor and Masaru Ōfuna, the owner of a yosakoi shop. The series is how these girls interact together and push forward in trying to get to a competitive level to be in the Hanairo Festival, where you showcase your skills. Yes, this is a standard show about (a) overcoming adversity, (b) bettering yourself, both physically and emotionally, (c) understanding the power and strength of friendship, (d) taking responsibility for all that you do and don’t do and (e) enjoying life as it is set before you. (more…)

“Hyakka Ryouran: Samurai Bride” has presented to us a two-episode OVA in which the ladies are, again, challenged in their abilities to be good samurai warriors. This time, the threat comes from a longbow warrior, Uesugi Kagekatsu, potentially more powerful than they are, and the prize is to become the actual bride of Yagyū Munenori, who is the leader of this tiny clan. To do this, they engage in, not martial arts, but homemaking arts, as they show off their ability to cook and clean and be domesticated.

Well, since this is served up with huge doses of silliness, the normal things go wrong, in that the food is either destroyed, completely inedible or made with some weird ingredients. And where would an OVA be without some (huge) degree of flirty behavior and wardrobe malfunctions and all-American nakedness (OK, this this case, all-Japanese nakedness). (more…)

So, with the conclusion of the second (and potentially, final) season of “Chaika, the Coffin Princess”, it is now time to trot out the OVA, so we can tell a story that otherwise would not have fit into the full run of things. The OVA is actually two half-episodes, where the Red Squad and the White Squad come into contact with one another while avoiding the Kliemann Agency (more or less), but this is done more to be goofy than any real import, much like “Darker Than Black” Episode #26, which was goofy and silly and funny and completely out of character with the show’s original dark and dismal run.

In this outing, the guys and gals are still looking for the parts of dismembered Daddy and come to a location to hunt them down, not knowing the other team is there. The tone here is far lighter, as they have to work together to escape the situation they are in, but it is not done as dramatic or intense as seen in the series; more like a minor inconvenience or annoyance, like bees living in your head. And when Akari has to flatten David twice for doing the same perceived pervy thing twice, well, it’s all for giggles and laughs. (more…)

This is part of a wave of ‘informational OVA’, but it is helpful, in that it does explain things a bit better than the show did (or didn’t). “The Irregular at Magic High School” does have a full review, so you can give that an eyeball to see what that’s about. The OVA is very helpful for us, as it explains how things work within the framework of this show, but it is best seen between the first and second acts (after Episode Seven), as it not only clarifies what you have seen, it also sets up better what you will see in the School Competition Arc.

It is, again, done in this extreme Chibi style, and the hosts shift from segment to segment as they explain how their world operates, from how the divisions of class are determined, to how their magic works, to the tournament ahead and what one can expect. I chose for you the best time to view it, as you not only know who everyone is by this point, a lot of what they are saying now will make better sense, as you’ve seen it in action. If you watch it too early, you will be confused; if you watch it too late, it will be of no use, unless you are a huge OVA fanatic. It does sometimes come off as too cutesy (especially when (more…)

The OVA for “The Fruit of Grisaia” (or “The Gray-Colored Fruit”) is designed to keep you interested in the show, as a movie (in theory) comes out in April and a new series follows shortly thereafter, but they come off as more unrestricted ecchi. All of the ladies seem to want to do the Wild Thing with Yūji Kazami, but it is done more for our benefit as the viewer than for anything that Yuri might want, or that the ladies are seeking.

I do not need to see a woman, dressed as a Playboy Bunny, riding a giant carrot like Slim Pickens did with that nuke in “Dr. Strangelove” or some girl who gives Yuri a real scrub down in the bath, washing everything including his shower nozzle. No, that’s not a euphemism; she really washes down the shower nozzle. Look, it just might be better for you to watch the shows (they run about six or so minutes each) to understand why they do what they do, as it does not make a lick of real sense, either as an OVA or in the general run of the show. And to make matters worse, it comes off as a painful obligation to do these histrionics, rather than a blossoming girl, experiencing the pangs of first love and true romance and….oh, just take off your clothes. Or, as seen above, a tantalizing glimpse of panties. (more…)

For those of you who have been following this show, “High School DxD” has two big things going for it….the left one and the right one! I place this show in the crowd with other boson-heavy offerings like “Sekerei”, “High School of the Dead”, Ikki Tousen” and “Maken-Ki” (to name but a few) and the OVAs now push it to the maximum, straining the limits of everything as much as Rias’ blouse is strained by her….achievements.

The OVAs are nothing more than to offer window-fogging reasons to glom onto unfettered bosoms. The shows are being done for two reasons: (a) a story like this in the regular run of episodes would impair the show’s ability to promote the main plot line and (b) to highlight the coming of the third season of the show (which will probably be concluded by the time this review hits the street). (more…)

I have notice the sheer amount of OVAs out there, as of late. It used to be that an OVA came out when there was a tale or two to tell that would not or could not fit into the standard run of things (like “Darker Than Black” #26) or you wanted to do something really goofy with things (Attack on Titan’s “Monster Character Theater”) or you were using it as a bridge to a new season of a show (“To Love-Ru”). But I am noticing that almost every show is trotting something out, so I guess this will be as big a part of anime as fan service (and if the OVA IS fan service, well…………..)

Now, I have done a full review of “OniAi” (Onī-chan dakedo Ai sae Areba Kankei Nai yo ne! “As Long as There’s Love, It Doesn’t Matter If He Is My Brother, Right”), but I was a bit surprised to see this OVA come out, as the series concluded over two years ago. It is a five short-run series (about five or so minutes each) and done in this extreme Chibi style. And the plot? What have I told you about using the words ‘plot’ and ‘OVA’ in the same sentence? These are merely an exercise to get your inner ecchi on, but it’s not all that pervy, as we do it in this style, so things lack a sense of ‘realism’. (more…)

This is a kind of a magical girl show, but “Magimoji Rurumo” (or “Magi Moji Rurumo”) does not follow the same arc as others of this genre. It all starts at school (as does a huge amount of animes and mangas).

Kota Shibaki (that’s him on her right) is a high-school boy whose only interest is girls, but he is so openly perverted about it, the ladies avoid him. Well, he IS kinda icky. One day, he finds a book in the library about how to summon witches. (I don’t remember my library having books like this. Sure, maybe a science book talking about the just-launched Sputnik satellite, but we can’t ever be up to date on things.)

He tries it as a joke, but it turns out to be the real thing: an apprentice witch named Rurumo appears, to grant him a wish. Shibaki helps Rurumo and she, in return, refuses to take his soul. Well, that’s the nature of contracts with witches. Time passes and Shibaki wishes he could see Rurumo again. His wish is granted immediately as Rurumo falls from the sky and crash-lands in front of him. Well, a lot has happened. He finds out that as punishment for Rurumo not taking his soul, she’s been busted down to an apprentice demon. (more…)

This is a show with a rather capacious title. It is referred to as “Locodol”, short for “Futsū no Joshikōsei ga Locodol Yattemita” or “Normal High School Girls Tried Being Locodols”. OK, a Locodol stands for “Local Idol”, which would be a person (a girl, in this case), who is a city-wide idol or regional-wide idol and not someone nationally known.

In the town of Nagarekawa, Nanako Usami, (second from right), a normal high school girl, is approached by her uncle to become that “Locodol”, partnering with upper-classmate normal high school girl Yukari Kohinata, (second from left) to form the idol unit, Nagarekawa Girls. As the girls use their talent to promote the city of Nagarekawa and their businesses, they are joined by normal high school girl Yui Mikoze, (far right; she wears a costume of Uogokoro-kun) and other normal high school girl Mirai Nazukari, (far left) who serves as Yui’s substitute. (more…)