30th May 2011, 10:26 PM
There is a gap, yes, but both definitely have more than their share of fanservice. I guess you're right that Softenni has more (it's like half of the show), but A-Channel is a fanservicey show as well... just because it has less doesn't mean it isn't quite fanservicey.
Also, as I said Softenni is sometimes funny, while A-Channel is just mostly boring. A-Channel isn't completely awful, but it isn't very good either.
Strike Witches 01-02 - I don't mind this show. I'd avoided it in part because I thought if I watched some I might want to actually watch it and I didn't really want to do that given how stupid the concept is, but now I guess I can't avoid it... :(
I do think it helps the show a little that while none of the girls have pants/skirts nobody makes an issue out of it (so far at least), though; that's just how things are. That makes it much less bad than it could be. It's still very stupid and wrong otaku-bait -- why does everyone else wear pants/kimonos/etc, but not young girls -- but it could be worse. In the series that kind of dress is simply normal.
As for the plot, it was alright. It's the 1940s and aliens invaded the Earth, and only magic can stop them -- normal military force is useless. So, the main character's father invented flying leg-attachments that apparently only work on teenage girls (making them planegirls of sorts), who then fly around and fight the badguys. Um... no ulterior motives there at all, I'm sure... but he's dead now, so we can't ask.
Earth Maiden Arjuna 07-09 - Gah... episode 9, so offensively insane... :(
Even so though, I didn't hate the show for it, I just strongly disagree with the message and concept. On that note I have some strong disagreements with their main complaint in episode 7(-8) as well, while words can divide they also bring together, and history, etc. are every bit as important as the other things Chris mentions. The idea that only the earth and the now matter are completely absurd.
Also, yeah, Chris continues to be really annoying. Just tell her things! Stop acting angry at Arjuna for not understanding you without any explanation, actually explain things and make everything better. But no, instead he insults, and even attacks, her while continuing to criticize her for fighting back against the enemies. Even when Arjuna begins to understand some of his motivations, he refuses to explain more of them and continues being annoying.
Also, so this show cares about the pesticides and preservatives in food and drink, but not about what you do with the waste (Tokio tosses a can in the trash and Arjuna says nothing). Also apparently they aren't bothered by the potential negative health effects of cellphones because they come across in a quite positive light here, in ep. 8 I think. It's just odd when a show criticizing so many things passes on certain ones.
As for episode 9... yeah, anti-sanity, anti-science, anti-reality, and anti-female (because opposing abortion is very much anti-female). Just sad. And insanely weird too, as some people have said -- fetuses are aware, almost omnipotent? What? It's so, so stupid...
Kampfer: fur die Liebe 1 (aka Kampfer 13) - This is the actual Kampfer fur die Liebe 1; the one from April is actually the second episode, even though it released first (I thought it was first, then, and called it #1). And this is a gigantic improvement over that one. I mean, that episode had some amusing harem antics, with more sexual content than the TV series had, but this episode actually advanced the plot, which was badly needed. It's got some sexual content too for sure, but it's actually in the name of the plot, not just random stuff like the other episode.
So, this episode continues from where episode 12 left off, after the first battle between the goodguys and the white kampfer badguys. The four goodguys are trying to think of what to do now that they know that Sakura is with the enemy for sure. The idea comes up that evil, moderator-aligned Sakura and "regular" Sakura actually might be separate personalities; that is that the "regular" one doesn't know about the other. Huh, perhaps... but the evil side sure seems to be the dominant one.
But yeah, this episode was good, I liked it. :) The good and bad kampfers face off again, after Sakura turns one against the other goodguys (temporarily) and tries to seduce Natsuru (both genders) as well. It might have worked, given how much Natsuru likes her no matter how many times he/she is told or reminded that she's evil, if the other two goodguys hadn't shown up just in time. Apparently Sakura doesn't get hurt when shot, huh. There was a bullethole in her clothes I think, but it didn't look like it even made a dent on her skin...
Also, the episode ends with Sakura and her four white kampfer underlings all in her bed together, naked. Well I think we know what they were doing.
So yeah, this episode definitely made me wish that the series was continuing. At minimum I hope we get more OVA episodes in the future, the story still has a long way to go.
Nichijou 09 - Funny as always... some of these skits were pretty good stuff. The food one was amusing for instance, how she lost it at the end was funny and somewhat realistic. :)
Great episode as always!
New Cutey Honey 1-4 - Well that sure was straightforward in its fanservice quotient... lots of nudity. Lots of fighting too, as Honey defeated the bad guys. This is the first I've seen of this franchise, and it was entertaining. I'll probably watch the second half too.
There were some negatives about it, though. The kid was kind of annoying, for sure, for one; he's pretty genericly shonen and irritating at times, except he has no fighting skill so all he does is constantly get in trouble and need to be rescued. And while Honey is mostly a solid character, the parts where she fights badly until one of the other characters gets attacked or something, and then suddenly after that she can fight better, definitely get old...
Lotte's Toy 07 - Cuteness and lolis... but what else do you expect from this series. I still highly doubt I'll finish it, I'll lose interest completely and drop this at some point.
Hidan no Aria 07 - This show is so so so bad, but I keep watching anyway... it's probably partially because of these awesome subs, partially because it does often hit "so stupid it's kind of funny" levels, and partially because of the ridiculous action it has at times.
As for this episode in specific, I assume that at some point our hero will be forced into hero mode again, to save the day when the girls falter. Hasn't quite happened yet, in fact Aria just saved him (because he refuses to go into cool mode unless he's forced to; he really, REALLY just wants to be a subpar, generic guy.), but he's got to do something again eventually. At least Aria was on top of things, while our idiot MC wasn't.
Also, as I said Softenni is sometimes funny, while A-Channel is just mostly boring. A-Channel isn't completely awful, but it isn't very good either.
Strike Witches 01-02 - I don't mind this show. I'd avoided it in part because I thought if I watched some I might want to actually watch it and I didn't really want to do that given how stupid the concept is, but now I guess I can't avoid it... :(
I do think it helps the show a little that while none of the girls have pants/skirts nobody makes an issue out of it (so far at least), though; that's just how things are. That makes it much less bad than it could be. It's still very stupid and wrong otaku-bait -- why does everyone else wear pants/kimonos/etc, but not young girls -- but it could be worse. In the series that kind of dress is simply normal.
As for the plot, it was alright. It's the 1940s and aliens invaded the Earth, and only magic can stop them -- normal military force is useless. So, the main character's father invented flying leg-attachments that apparently only work on teenage girls (making them planegirls of sorts), who then fly around and fight the badguys. Um... no ulterior motives there at all, I'm sure... but he's dead now, so we can't ask.
Earth Maiden Arjuna 07-09 - Gah... episode 9, so offensively insane... :(
Even so though, I didn't hate the show for it, I just strongly disagree with the message and concept. On that note I have some strong disagreements with their main complaint in episode 7(-8) as well, while words can divide they also bring together, and history, etc. are every bit as important as the other things Chris mentions. The idea that only the earth and the now matter are completely absurd.
Also, yeah, Chris continues to be really annoying. Just tell her things! Stop acting angry at Arjuna for not understanding you without any explanation, actually explain things and make everything better. But no, instead he insults, and even attacks, her while continuing to criticize her for fighting back against the enemies. Even when Arjuna begins to understand some of his motivations, he refuses to explain more of them and continues being annoying.
Also, so this show cares about the pesticides and preservatives in food and drink, but not about what you do with the waste (Tokio tosses a can in the trash and Arjuna says nothing). Also apparently they aren't bothered by the potential negative health effects of cellphones because they come across in a quite positive light here, in ep. 8 I think. It's just odd when a show criticizing so many things passes on certain ones.
As for episode 9... yeah, anti-sanity, anti-science, anti-reality, and anti-female (because opposing abortion is very much anti-female). Just sad. And insanely weird too, as some people have said -- fetuses are aware, almost omnipotent? What? It's so, so stupid...
Kampfer: fur die Liebe 1 (aka Kampfer 13) - This is the actual Kampfer fur die Liebe 1; the one from April is actually the second episode, even though it released first (I thought it was first, then, and called it #1). And this is a gigantic improvement over that one. I mean, that episode had some amusing harem antics, with more sexual content than the TV series had, but this episode actually advanced the plot, which was badly needed. It's got some sexual content too for sure, but it's actually in the name of the plot, not just random stuff like the other episode.
So, this episode continues from where episode 12 left off, after the first battle between the goodguys and the white kampfer badguys. The four goodguys are trying to think of what to do now that they know that Sakura is with the enemy for sure. The idea comes up that evil, moderator-aligned Sakura and "regular" Sakura actually might be separate personalities; that is that the "regular" one doesn't know about the other. Huh, perhaps... but the evil side sure seems to be the dominant one.
But yeah, this episode was good, I liked it. :) The good and bad kampfers face off again, after Sakura turns one against the other goodguys (temporarily) and tries to seduce Natsuru (both genders) as well. It might have worked, given how much Natsuru likes her no matter how many times he/she is told or reminded that she's evil, if the other two goodguys hadn't shown up just in time. Apparently Sakura doesn't get hurt when shot, huh. There was a bullethole in her clothes I think, but it didn't look like it even made a dent on her skin...
Also, the episode ends with Sakura and her four white kampfer underlings all in her bed together, naked. Well I think we know what they were doing.
So yeah, this episode definitely made me wish that the series was continuing. At minimum I hope we get more OVA episodes in the future, the story still has a long way to go.
Nichijou 09 - Funny as always... some of these skits were pretty good stuff. The food one was amusing for instance, how she lost it at the end was funny and somewhat realistic. :)
Great episode as always!
New Cutey Honey 1-4 - Well that sure was straightforward in its fanservice quotient... lots of nudity. Lots of fighting too, as Honey defeated the bad guys. This is the first I've seen of this franchise, and it was entertaining. I'll probably watch the second half too.
There were some negatives about it, though. The kid was kind of annoying, for sure, for one; he's pretty genericly shonen and irritating at times, except he has no fighting skill so all he does is constantly get in trouble and need to be rescued. And while Honey is mostly a solid character, the parts where she fights badly until one of the other characters gets attacked or something, and then suddenly after that she can fight better, definitely get old...
Lotte's Toy 07 - Cuteness and lolis... but what else do you expect from this series. I still highly doubt I'll finish it, I'll lose interest completely and drop this at some point.
Hidan no Aria 07 - This show is so so so bad, but I keep watching anyway... it's probably partially because of these awesome subs, partially because it does often hit "so stupid it's kind of funny" levels, and partially because of the ridiculous action it has at times.
As for this episode in specific, I assume that at some point our hero will be forced into hero mode again, to save the day when the girls falter. Hasn't quite happened yet, in fact Aria just saved him (because he refuses to go into cool mode unless he's forced to; he really, REALLY just wants to be a subpar, generic guy.), but he's got to do something again eventually. At least Aria was on top of things, while our idiot MC wasn't.