I finished both seasons of Prisma Illya a few days ago. My earlier verdict on Prisma Illya is that it's 'Really Good'. Having watched both seasons, I think Prisma Illya is a top contender for anime of the year. Both seasons of Prisma Illya were absolutely superb. Maybe I'm biased. Maybe it's because I'm a fan of both yuri and magical girls and putting the two things together makes me go crazy. But Prisma Illya is just that good. As a supposed 'parody', it has become much, much better than your run-of-the-mill magical girl series. Prisma Illya has done an almost perfect job satisfying the desires of twisted magical girl fans - such as myself.

I say 'twisted' because magical girl series, despite their cuteness and all, are usually filled with a surprising amount of violence and trauma. Madoka is the most well-known example. But other prominent series such as Nanoha A`s, Princess Tutu, and even the occasional PreCure episode have all featured heart-wrenching drama and moments where little girls get beaten to a pulp. The concept is sort of sadistic, really. You start off with a young girl, who's completely innocent and cute and whatnot. Then all sorts of horrible things happen. She gets smashed by a big bad monster. She gets abandoned by her mother. Her best friend only has a few weeks to live. And so forth. 

And if you're like me - a moderately attractive young man in his early twenties without much of a love life - you'll probably start to feel sorry. You'll wonder why this girl - Fate-chan, Yayoi-chan, or (in this case) Illya-chan - has been exposed to so much suffering. You might even lament the fact that if she knew how much you care about her, she might have f-f-feelings for you. In short, the magical girl formula lives off contrast. It lives off pain and suffering, juxtaposed against a façade of easygoing school-life, teas and cakes, and that smile you always wanted to protect. 

Alright, so maybe I'm going a bit off-topic here. But my point still stands: Prisma Illya has done a magnificent job bringing out the best (or should I say, 'worst') from its twisted fans. Prisma Illya is extremely good at making its girls cute then bashing them into the ground, provoking a compassionate cry of 'Doushite?' from its viewers. Miyu got slammed so hard that blood gushed out of her mouth (and her heart nearly got pierced). Illya almost had her hand crushed. Chloe was thrown repeatedly at blocks of shattered concrete. But when the fight is over, everything goes back to normal. The maid costumes, the fanservice, the collective gasp of 'Eh?!' followed by a panning shot to the sky. Rinse and repeat.

I think what really made Prisma Illya as good as it is, however, is that it crammed just about every otaku fetish into the space of twenty episodes without overdoing it. I think their scriptwriting process probably involved a spinning wheel, with the fetishes written around the circle. Of course there's 'Meido', 'Loli' and 'Pantsu' on there somewhere. But there'd also be less obvious ones, like 'T-tsundere', 'GAR', 'Oppai', 'Yuri Kissu', 'Onii-chan, daisuki!', 'Gym uniform', 'Onsen' , 'Delicious Flat Chest', 'China dress', and so forth. Then before writing commences they'd spin the wheel a few times to determine which fetish is going to get featured. 

Well, that's my wild guess of how the show was written. My point is: Prisma Illya is absolutely, unabashedly direct in pandering to its twisted and slightly perverted audience. But the show does have other redeeming qualities. For instance, I really feel that Chloe made the show at least 120% better. Not just because she has the same name as I do, not just because she's looks like an exotic succubus, but she actually made Shirou an interesting character. If season one was all about Illya x Miyu, season two is about Illya x Shirou x Chloe. Some of the funniest moments in the entire series (like how Illya slapped herself out of jealousy) came from the trio. Not to mention all the kissing and the hand-holding that got me into this whole mess in the first place.

In all, Prisma Illya would probably be regarded as garbage by anyone outside its intended audience. And I won't be surprised if Prisma Illya is, in fact, regarded in that way. After all, Prisma Illya is really just pure entertainment at its finest - and it really delivered just about everything it promised. As I said before, if you like it as it is, you'll probably regard Prisma Illya as a de-facto masterpiece. 20 episodes of Prisma Illya has definitely given me something of an emotional attachment to those girls, giving me the faint hope that one day, I too can be one of their 'tomodachi'. On a more serious note, Prisma Illya's story is far from over and season three will air in about a month's time. I cannot wait to be entertained.

I first watched Eve no Jikan back in early 2013. After working through all six episodes in one sitting, I quickly came to the conclusion that Eve no Jikan is a masterpiece. The story was fascinating, the narrative had some really touching moments, and the show was beautifully animated. The quiet story of the cafe became the setting for an emotional roller-coaster, an experience I still remember today. A show this good, I thought, deserves all the support  from its fans. After I got off the ride, I did what any responsible fan would do: spend money.

At first, Eve no Jikan was only released in Japan. Then in mid 2013, its creators started a Kickstarter project for an international release. It aimed for an original budget of $18,000 - over $200,000 was eventually raised. Eve no Jikan is the first anime project, I think, to have achieved such success on Kickstarter. It definitely paved way for subsequent Kickstarters, such as Little Witch Academia and the Clannad VN project, to find success among a Western audience. Kickstarter gives the creators direct contact with their fans, sidestepping licensing companies such as Funimation. I really think more projects should be funded this way.

Anyway, I pledged about two hundred dollars into Eve no Jikan, hoping that it won't take too long for my rewards to arrive. From the very start, however, the project experienced delay after delay. The art-books and Blurays had to be translated from scratch; it eventually turned into a grassroots effort when the creators asked the fans to do the translating work for them. The budget was very tight, and while the creators were masters of storytelling, they were no doubt a lot less adept with managing a global supply chain. In all, it took two years for the bits and pieces of the rewards to arrive. The last package - the art-book and a clear folder - arrived about a month ago.

In all, the rewards included a Blurays box (Blurays + OST + book), art-book, clear folder, a dozen cards, a coffee canister, and a cup/saucer set. Everything was well-packaged, and arrived in New Zealand in pristine condition. Of the rewards, I was most impressed with the art-book. The book appeared more like an architectural portfolio, which gave it a very slick, modern look. The content is packed with character designs, commentary and line art. It was also pleasing to see the OST and an additional book sheathed in a tight little package with the Blurays.

Everything else, I feel, is a bit lacklustre. Neither the clear folder nor the cards offer anything unique - you could print out the cards yourself, and clear folders are an anime merchandise staple - just check AmiAmi. The coffee canister and the cup/saucer are a bit more interesting. To be honest, however, they felt like overpriced versions of things I could buy at the supermarket, except they are printed with the words 'Time of Eve'. Since most collectors will never use these things to store or drink coffee, the items could've used a bit more effort e.g. packaging that allows the items to be displayed in a nice looking box. Overall, I felt that the rewards were a bit 'cheap'. Even as collectors items, they certainly are not worth $200.

It's pretty understandable why the rewards might have fallen short of expectations - at least for me. Of course, the whole point of Kickstarter isn't to function as a market - pledging X amount of money rarely rewards you with things that's worth X. The rewards are really supposed to serve a symbolic purpose, kind of like the badges you receive after donating to, say, the Red Cross. Overall, I'm actually quite pleased with how this turned out. Projects like this are certainly a lot more meaningful than buying, for example, licensed DVDs because the money is going straight to Japan. So I really hope there'd be more projects like this in the future. I'm definitely ready to throw more money at them.

I've been on a magical girl anime binge for the past few days. The most recent one I picked up is Fate/Kaleid liner Prisma Illya, a spin-off from Type-Moon's Fate franchise. I wanted to watch this about a year ago, actually, but I was too lazy to pick up the show. Now that I'm halfway through season one, I wish I picked it up earlier. In short, Prisma Illya has ticked all the boxes on the 'Really Good Magical Girl Anime Checklist': cute girls, great action, and an interesting story that'd even appeal to a Type-Moon newcomer. 

To an extent, you can call Prisma Illya a magical girl parody. The fight scenes are crammed with comedy, the generic magical tropes are everywhere, and Illya even manages to break the fourth wall from time to time. The good thing, however, is that Prisma Illya doesn't go overboard with the parody. While it makes fun of its own genre on occasion, Prisma Illya still is quite 'serious' when it comes to sticking with the magical girl formula - if not with a bit more comedy. Prisma Illya is pretty silly, most of the time...but still delivers the fanservice when it counts.

So far, the show has maintained a decent pacing, although the three-episode fight against Saber is way, way too long. Usually, magical girl series stick very closely to the monster-of-the-week structure, so that particular fight was probably super important in the manga for the adaptation to have devoted three episodes towards. Prisma Illya is doing a reasonable job combining the slice-of-life with action, although as said earlier, a fight that lasts three episode can feel a bit nauseating. What makes Prisma Illya really exceptional, for me, has little to do with pacing or content. It's Illya and Miyu.

Magical girl anime are almost, by nature, character-driven shows. Since a lot of series don't rely on a long, overarching plot to tell its story, the female protagonist (and her rival) becomes the centre of attention. Nanoha has Nanoha x Fate (or Vivid x Einhart, to a lesser degree), Cardcaptor Sakura has Sakura x Syaoran...and Illya has Illya x Miyu. So far, Prisma Illya has done a great job teasing out the dynamics between the two: Illya's is clueless while Miyu's really smart, Illya is really warm and friendly while Miyu's a lot more aloof...and so forth. If Prisma Illya keeps this duo (and to a lesser extent, the Rin/Luvia duo) interesting, this show will have a lot of potential.

The weird thing about Prisma Illya is that as an intended parody, it has become a trope-for-trope rendition of what a decent magical girl anime should look like. I think Prisma Illya is magical girl done right: a good dose of comedy, cute girls, with some senseless violence on the side. I suppose the biggest surprise is that a show this good is actually a spin-off, and spin-offs from an established franchise tend to be pretty bad. Then again, Nanoha too started as a Triangle Heart spin-off. And now, it's turned into something much bigger than anyone imagined. While Prisma Illya probably won't ever eclipse Fate/Zero, it has turned out much, much better than I assumed.

Of all the shows coming out this season, the only one I really want to watch is Nanoha Vivid. Not just because I have no clue what the other shows are about. But because Vivid actually looks very promising. StrikerS being the worst Nanoha series is very much a consensus among the Nanoha fanbase. The two newly released movies have been quality remakes, but just that. The Nanoha fans in Japan must've been super hyped when the TV adaptation was announced. I certainly was.

Looking back at it, Nanoha may well be the most formulaic magical girl series out there. To be sure, most magical girl shows are formulaic to begin with, but Nanoha took it to the next level. That's probably because Nanoha was explicitly aimed at a seinen audience, while 'classic' magical girl shows like PreCure were really designed for little girls. Unsurprisingly, Nanoha became filled with what its audience wanted: action, cute girls, yuri, and serious drama (way before Madoka). If the first series was more like a more violent version of Cardcaptor Sakura, A`s definitely set the benchmark for what a good Nanoha series should resemble.

So far, Vivid has ticked all the boxes. I'm actually quite happy at how things turned out, and that they played it safe when sticking to the Nanoha formula. One major reason behind my dislike of StrikerS was that there was too much violence and not enough fanservice. Not just shower scenes, but cuddling, Nanoha and Fate being gay, drinking tea and eating cake, that sort of stuff. StrikerS took out most of those things, and instead portrayed a violence-filled, government-run training camp. StrikerS wasn't really 'magical' enough, if you get what I mean!

Vivid has its share of action, to be sure, but the fanservice so far has been great. Not so little that you can't spot it, but not so much that it overwhelms you. I thought that episode two's shower scene was really well done, for example. They did a great job portraying the sort of quasi-parental relationship between Nanoha and Fate (for once, I actually prefer their adult form). Beyond shower scenes and whatnot, a lot of screen-time was also devoted to mundane things: eating breakfast, schoolgirls saying 'Ohayo!' to one another, and etcetera. My complaint is that Vivid isn't (so far) nearly as yuri as A`s was, but that can't be helped. Nanoha and Fate's pairing was one of a kind.

I'm looking forward to finishing off this series by the end of the week. The story seems interesting, although I prefer to get distracted by elaborate transformation scenes, mindless violence between cute girls, 'the power of friendship', the standard Nanoha content. My only wish is that Vivid and Einhard stay in their loli form for the rest of the series. I was very, very upset (at first) seeing Nanoha and Fate becoming adults, and the fact that Vivid and Einhard can turn into adults at will is almost depressing. Well, they've got to grow up some time. Maybe it's time for me to grow up, and stop watching little girl cartoons. Ha!

Also, I just remembered that Einhard's VA voiced Sawako from KnT. Wherever you hear her voice, drama is sure to follow.

I watched the new Yuru Yuri OVA yesterday. It was a real treat. I expected it to be the length of a normal episode, but the OVA was an hour long which made things extra sweet. I'm not sure if I said this before, but Yuru Yuri is probably one of the best SoL released in the past five years. There's no other show that's quite like Yuru Yuri in combining comedy, slice-of-life and a hint of lesbianism into such an amazing, watch-able package. Shows like Kiniro Mosaic and Non Non Biyori just fall short of ticking the relaxation box, while stuff like Sakura Trick is just plain awful. But somehow, Yuru Yuri puts everything together, and makes it cute, funny, and generally enjoyable.

So like most episodes of Yuru Yuri, nothing really happens in the OVA. Well, the girls went camping, and did most things normal people would do on a camping trip. But the OVA made all those mundane things extra special. The dialogue was amazing. The conversations between the girls is exactly the conversation you'd have with your best friends. The conversation in the convenience store, when Kyouko argued with Chinatsu about whether they should buy snacks, was particularly on-point. I remembered having the  same sort of conversations myself - it's pointless, but it makes your heart feel warm in a way because you're hanging out with the people you truly care about. And as ironic as it is, Yuru Yuri did a good job making those interpersonal dynamics feel realistic.

The art was also unbelievably beautiful. I'm pretty sure that the OVA is set in a real-life, beautiful little mountain town, because the background art was really stunning. The quality of the art overall was very good, partly because they probably had a lot more time to work on the OVA, compared to the TV series. It really reminded me of when I went to Japan in secondary school. Japan (at least the most beautiful parts of it) looks exactly like how the OVA portrayed it. In particular, I thought they did a beautiful job portraying the summer-ness of Japan - high, towering clouds, specks of light shining through the leaves, a train travelling through the countryside, the really beautiful stuff. 

The OVA didn't reinvent the wheel. In fact, what makes the OVA good is that it stayed well-within SoL conventions and delivered what people like me looked for: one hour of watching cute girls drink tea and eat food and have fun. I would be very sad if this was the last Yuru Yuri anime we'd get. Fortunately, it's getting a third season, and I hope they stick to the same formula, with the same jokes, the same nosebleeds, the same puns. Most slice-of-life shows nowadays aren't worth watching. Yuru Yuri is so good, however, I think it's right up there with the likes of Keion and Azumanga Daioh.

So yea, if you like a good SoL with a hint of sweet yuri here and there (and let's face it, who doesn't?) give Yuru Yuri a try. Since it's so episodic, it probably doesn't matter which episode you start on. In fact, you can probably start on this OVA and not miss any of the jokes. I think the only sub group for the OVA is Lazy Lily. I don't really understand Japanese, so I can't comment too much on the sub quality. Their translations of Ayano's puns did bring me a chuckle, though, so that's a plus.