Mahou Meido Meganekko

It’s late so I’m only going to give these a sentence or two apiece for now

Renta Magica: this one might be the sleeper hit. A lot of very common tropes and ideas all mixed in here, but it seems to be coming out better than the sum of its parts. Like the art direction in the first episode; good use of light and shadow. Surprisingly (or not), several of the girls are in high-school, and appear hung up on the main character — whom they abuse, of course, as useless. Until he takes off his eye patch and kicks ass, also of course. I’m getting distinct harem vibes here, with at least 3, maybe 5 girls involved (one loli, of course.) (edit: I finally figured out what the last few scenes reminded me of: Maburaho.)

Goshuushou-sama Ninomiya-kun: Totally over-the-top sex farce set in a high-school. Folks, the big sister doesn’t just make her brother live with a succubus, she makes them sleep in the same bed! (Oh, and don’t kiss her, you might die.) Why does the succubus run around in what looks like a nightgown? Who knows? Why was she dropped off at school from a military helicopter? Who cares? Where do succubi come from? Who is asking these stupid questions? Shut up and drool. Pander-riffic fantasy wish-fulfillment that doesn’t care how absurdly wrong or impossible it’s situations are. At least there’s no lolis.

Edit: and if you want quick reviews like this on everything, go here.

Watched the new Gundam 00, and the first episode of Shana II. Provisional thumbs up on Shana II, forget Gundam 00.

Shana: It’s a bit late to write up details, but, although I’m a bit peeved at Shana for the twist to keep the teen angst going, it’s obvious that the gang is about to be in it up to their necks, and nobody realizes it. It looks like the Ball Masque has put some kind of enchantment on Yuiiji, and it’s sneaky enough that none of them have realized it yet. The animation looks to be upgraded from the first season, but this is a first episode, so lets not praise it too much, yet.

Gundam had some good animation and nice character designs, but started losing me when the AEU’s crack pilot spent too much time bragging — while getting his butt kicked. Um, look dude, if someone crashes your party like that, it’s fairly certain that they have your number. More caution is advised, as opposed to bragging. They totally lost me when the “terrorist tape” rolled. WTF? The Gundams are being run by a private army called Celestial Being that has decided to attack both alliances in order to end war? Who do these guys think they are, Mithril? No, that’s insulting FMP — Mithril had no such delusions. Even some of the characters in the show think it’s stupid — which may indicate it’s just a propaganda ploy, and the real motivation is something else. I don’t know, I don’t care. But I did like that Chinese woman with the pigtails.

UPDATE: In the comments here, poster Big D nails it:

In most Gundams . . . there is generally a nominal “good” and “bad” side. The heroes are introduced as working for the cause of the “good” side, if not always directly for it. However, as the series progresses, the line between the sides blurs, and the “good” leaders are shown to be stupid and selfish. The heroes then begin fighting for “themselves”, or “their buddies”, or “because that’s what soldiers do”, with no mention of strategic goals or an end state besides a cease fire. Psychobabble gets tossed around about a soldier’s fate, and why wars are horrible, but we have to have them so that soldiers have something to do, or somesuch. The series then wraps up with some big doomsday weapon, while distracting the viewer from the bigger picture with personal/romantic plots with the heroes.

Thank you, BigD, for putting into words exactly what bugs me most about the so-called plots.