Really, it felt like they actually answered my wish. It was an episode mostly centered around Iori. And thank you P-san for making Iori blush. It was totemo kawaii. I wonder how many affection points were earned during that scene. The way the episode’s theme panned out was rather cheesy, but I guess it was par for the course.

Something really sidetracked most of my attention for almost the entire episode however, and it was Kotori’s face during her 4 second appearance. That unsurprised face tells more about her character than what most anime are able to do during an entire segment devoted to character development. I exaggerated.. but I really would like an episode dedicated to her since she seems like the one to make jabs at others rather than take it.

Mr. Producer in the background has some kind of magical cup with infinite overflow depth. I want one.

-maserbeam

Yayoi: “I really want to butt in and correct them on that detail about Chavez and Don Caballero…”

I paused the show to go get a drink, and this scene only had me imagining Yayoi wanting to correct them on something. That particular angle of someone’s head looking at something in the distance always seems to automatically evoke familiar anime norms. I could only hope that Yayoi has such taste in music, but I don’t know enough about Idolmaster. The only way to solve that would be to plunge straight into the games and attempt to read all the moon runes.

I think most people will understand why I’ve decided to join others in blogging about this episode. Episode 6 is rather early to show off your animation budget, but I’ve learned that A-1 Pictures has essentially redrawn the Smoky Thrill dance sequence from Idolmaster 2 for the xbox 360. I saw more animation in one minute than I did watching two episodes of Steins;Gate. I might be willing to pay a high price to see A-1 Pictures fully animate entire songs. Maybe bundle it with the limited edition Blu-Ray as an extra. It IS a show about idols dancing; indulge us a little won’t you A-1 Pictures? It’s not often we get to see such grandiose movement in our anime.

This only makes me more excited to see more episodes. And more Iori, please.

-maserbeam

Holy frijoles.

It’ll be obvious to a lot of people that this “4 girls doing stuff” setup is boring to a lot of people, but the consistency in the art production is rather surprising. No, that doesn’t mean the entire series looks like the above screencap. (But good lord that would be amazing. In a different way.) Taking a look at who’s doing the main animation production gave me more questions. There were so many secondary animation studios helping out in episode 1. Episode 6 is a milestone, because.. Chinatsu drew the above picture. I’m just reeling with omfg and anticipation as I was watching the horrid art proceed to the next frame. It really reminds you that sometimes it’s not how well something is drawn, but what it ends up looking like.

Speaking of art, Yuruyuri is a surprising contender for the Most Consistent Art Award. Squishes, stretches, and follow up animation still showing up throughout the show. It came with a few shortcuts here and there, but nothing to be all Minami-ke about it.

Minami-ke had three seasons. There, I said it.

-maserbeam

It’s a fresh anime! So it’s now time to look at new anime like everyone else has been doing. Do I have a unique outlook? Probably not. Give me page views, please.

Very clean and solid animation, thanks to Brains Base doing the production, so in terms of visual appeal it’s alright. I do remember there being a show of questionably and wildly variable quality done by Brains Base. (Looking at you Akikan.) It seems they’ve also smartly avoided unnecessary expenditures by drawing other humans as mere sign icons. Quite reinforces that clean look — I like it. It remains looking like a regular anime, but with a strong enough style that sets itself apart. As long as the show doesn’t try to ride solely on it’s initial inertia, I think it’ll do fine.

Wait. Nothing about the blushing girl?

-maserbeam

These three shows I have pictured above — Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko, Gintama, and Steins;Gate — have a couple of things in common.

Talking heads is one, and is the biggest time eater. The amount of action we’re given is practically zero, save for Gintama. You could say Denpa Onna and Steins;Gate have no other recourse — the action of those shows have to be character centric and information reveals. Steins;Gate has it the worst since its the closest to being an exposition festival. I’ve since gotten acclimated to the typical anime style deluge of information, but sometimes you just gotta break it up and go watch a Kung Fu movie to see some action spring up out of nowhere.

They all have one anchor character I enjoy. Cute & Spicy Ryuushi, Straight Man Shinpachi, and .. Kurisu are characters that keep me coming to watch their antics. Ryuushi would bonk me for calling her that, Shinpachi would take a jab at my inability to call Ryuushi by her proper name, and Kurisu would spout some internet meme applicable to the situation and then act embarrassed. Great characters, and great voice acting. I can’t help but admit that the seiyuu alone can force me to watch an anime.

The next thing they have in common are camera angles. SHAFT can’t help but experiment with their angles — it’s a hit-or-miss kind of thing. Fortunately, it’s not so bad that it becomes obnoxious. Gintama exploits super dramatic angles when needed. Steins;Gate needs to keep thing interesting with angle work to propel a certain mood. It’s uncommon for these shows to use a simple and head on camera angle, and when they do, it’s often used at a meta-like level, understanding the expectations of the viewer. I’m probably over thinking it. Makes me wonder what would happen if an anime utilized Western sitcom-like camera direction.

Them camera angles. For some reason I’m a sucker for it.

-maserbeam