Because sometimes, you just cannot help liking a bad show…

There are guilty pleasures and then there are guilty pleasures. You can say watching shows like Happiness or Yoake Mae Yori Ruri Iro Na would be guilty pleasures, but I’m talking about indulging in a truly lackluster show. I doubt many would disagree–Sisters of Wellber sucked. The story was overly dramatic, didn’t make that much sense, was rushed, wasted Takahashi Mikako’s voice talent, had an anticlimactic ending, and left us feeling incomplete. I mean, DAMN, what a bastard! Thinking about it should make you want to punch someone in the face.

Yet, here I am EXCITED that I’m finally watching the SECOND season of Sisters of Wellber. The talking tank, the genital-less fairy thinggy, the crappy CG horses, delicious Tina, and double-dip-delicious shorter-haired Rita-hime… all back for another 13 episodes.

The primary reason I enjoyed the first season was because of the characters. The first story premise was actually an interesting one (albeit cliche); however, the first Sisters of Wellber completely failed at telling the story. The biggest problem with the first season was how jumpy and inconsistent it felt. There were times when it was overly dramatic and slow, as well as times when it was rushed. Also there episodes that felt incredibly shallow and others that were too convoluted. Worst of all, the ending was rushed and anticlimactic almost as if someone suddenly realized, “Onoes! We only have 1 episode left! Let’s just end it and save any content for season 2.” Sisters of Wellber was honestly chugging along, brought up a new plot line, it suddenly ended the first plot line, and then I sat around wondering, “That’s it?” Yes, a lot of stuff happened–people died, crap blew up, characters went a bit emo–but what for?

Pretty much everything that happened in the first season seemed to be in order to set up the second. Looking back on it, it was almost like those short quests you get at the beginning of an RPG. It was like stumbling upon some far off evil empire chasing a runaway girl who only speaks in screwy characters, while exploring that abandoned mine at the edge of town. You just had to be there, and now you’re going to be thrown into a massive adventure (cue main theme). A lot happened, yes, but most of it was introducing characters and setting up future adventures. We see Galahad’s past and his rise and fall. We see Rita and Tina bond. We see Rita grow as a person. But other than Rita and Tina, there is little interaction or even much character development beyond what was necessary to the story at hand. In the end, you feel cheated because stuff happened, but all the (apparently) good stuff happens in the next series.

Enter Zwei.

Through 5 episodes, it’s pretty much more of the same, just with a different plot focus. The plot picks up immediately where the first season ended and we go right back to traveling the countryside trying to get somewhere, while Rita and Tina, and now Galahad grow closer to one another. There just isn’t an impending war to think about (yet).

In a number of ways, Zwei has already been more enjoyable that the first season because all the character introductions are out of the way. Thankfully, Production IG jumped right into the new plot without much dilly-dally. What Zwei has that the first season lacked is momentum. We know what Tina has set out to do, so now it’s a matter her carrying it out. Unlike last time with Rita needing to get to Greedom, Zwei can afford to take sidetracks and delve deeper into the characters and expand upon them. Often time, the first season would try that, but it would end feeling wasteful and clunky.

Also, Zwei has a few different plot lines to follow instead of the war prevention plot last season. Other than Tina’s revenge, war again looks to be looming and there is the whole love triangle between Rita, Tina, and Galahad. With the war, I don’t think it will be as deflated because it’s probably going to happen, instead of looming on the horizon. And love triangles always rear their heads into the story no matter what. Overall, there is just more to get interested about. And again, with the characters already introduced, it’s more about seeing their relationships grow and change.

What all that said, I’m still not fully convinced Wellber Zwei will be significantly better than the first season. The pacing is still way too episodic and slow for its own good. I have only seen 5 episodes, so things can still change, but it the series keep dragging its feet we’re more than likely going to see a rushed ending. I truly believe that if Sisters of Wellber had originally been written as a full 26 episode series instead of 2 seasons of 13 episodes it wouldn’t be this choppy and slow. What’s most disappointing is that the plot premise seems quite good and the characters can be an interesting group. Unfortunately, Sisters of Wellber was divided into 2 separate stories instead of being weaved into 2 story arcs that played off each other.

But alas, it’s pointless to wonder “what if” at this point. Wellber Zwei ended back in March of this year, so it’s just me finishing the trip. I really do like Rita and Tina, so if anything, I just want to see how all of this ends, even if I am one of the crazy few still interested in this series’ conclusion.

Sisters of Wellber has intriguing characters that more importantly grow and develop, a captivating plot, gorgeous animation, and beautiful music.

Unfortunately, this is one series that will not be finished by me. I saw the first few episodes and loved all the things I mentioned above. And the fact that it is a fantasy story. The story basically starts, however, with attempted rape and murder (granted, it was entirely self defense). This alone would not bother me. The way it is portrayed, however was too graphic for my tastes. It spoiled the many good parts of this anime for me.

If this does not bother you, this may be a series you may enjoy since it does have tons of good things to recommend it, but this series is not for the squeamish. Yeah, that includes me.

I’ve taken a look through some of the upcoming anime that’s going to start airing in Japan and there are a couple of things that caught my eye. Right now there’s nothing I’m really watching avidly except Zoku Sayonara Zetsubo Sensei or Mnemosyne and I’m still drudging my way through Rental Magica and Dragonaut so I’m looking forward to these new shows.

Golgo 13

One show that will probably be worth watching is an anime adaptation of Golgo 13. For those of you not in “the know”, Golgo 13 is Japan’s answer to James Bond, except he isn’t a fruity British guy. The Golgo 13 manga is filled with sex and violence, and I can only hope these aren’t toned down for the show. I’ve been loving the amount of sex and violence Mnemosyme has been getting away with and wish there were more anime like it and Golgo 13 may be one.

Toshokan Sensou

From what I’ve heard about it, Toshokan Sensou sounds a lot like an Orwell novel. It’s apparently about a totalitarian organization that destroys books. But hey, it’s directed by Takayuki Hamana who also directed Sisters of Wellber, which I love, and I also like books/movies that are set in a dystopian setting so hey, this should be a match made in heaven hell.

Chi’s Sweet Home

Now I have no idea at all what this next show is about except that the main character is a cat. Now, just based on that I can assume that at some point in the show the cat will take a nap in the sun, chase its tail, and perhaps eat food from a bowl. I have huge expectations for this.

There are a few other’s I’m also interested in seeing but don’t know much about them. If there’s anything you’re looking forward to, either because it’s going to be good or bad, by all means leave a comment about it/them.

 
Genre: Fantasy, Action, Stupid
Main Studio: Trans Arts Co.
Episodes: 13

Every so often I end up watching a terrible show. I’m never quite sure how it happens, but it does. It’s a fact of life really. I think at least initially it’s something to do with me imagining promise that never really comes through, and later it’s a sort of “well I’ve already watched half of it, I’ve got to finish it now otherwise I will have wasted my time” type logical fallacy. Well, I guess I should share what promise I saw in this idiotic show:

I’m not sure why, but this image seems to imply there is a talking horse in the show. I must warn you that there is in fact no talking horse in this show. There is however a talking steam-powered tank, a talking fairy, and a shit-load of talking humans for all you human-fetishists. Regardless of that, how can anyone not be at least slightly curious as to what this show is about from this picture? Well being a kindly fellow, I’ll save you the bother…

The plot of the show involves the runaway Princess of Wellber who is accused of murdering the Prince Gernia of Sangatras… accused by Prince Gernia who is still alive for some reason. She has 14 days to be executed by her own Kingdom or there will be war with Sangatras. So Princess Rita and a friendly burglar woman named Tina who starts hanging around with her must get to another third Kingdom called Greedom in order to prevent the war somehow. There is a Mahoromatic style timer at the end of each episode which says how long she has before war is declared.

Unfortunately the show does a really bad job of explaining the plot beyond this, and the Rita and Tina just sort of bumble about until they get to Sangtaras which isn’t really where they were trying to get to, and then series ends. The timer also runs out at episode 10 without anything bad happening, which is just confusing. Unfortunately the show continues in a second season, which I will make every attempt not to watch.

until…?

Probably the best thing about the show is the talking tank named Cyrano de Bergerac, who is sort of like a steampunk tachikoma with the voice of a grouchy old man. He comes equipped with an enormous cannon but he falls asleep after firing it, unless the writer forgets this, in which case he doesn’t. There is also a tiny naked flying sprite girl named Sherry, who always ends every sentence with ‘Beru’, contributes literally nothing to the plot, and whose presence remains virtually unexplained.

The most overwhelming thing about this show is that everything in it is so unbelievably dumb. The plot is dumb, the characters are dumb, the setting is dumb. Examples! In episode 3, the characters stand motionless while a baddie very slowly douses the building they are in with flammable liquid and light a match. In episode 11, two characters who love each other have a duel for no particular reason resulting in one of them dying. It’s all just so painfully stupid.

Despite my best efforts, this picture is unable to properly show how stupid this show is.

Oh yeah, one of the other reasons I ended up watching it was because Production I.G had their name attached to it, but I don’t reckon they did much more than the odd explosion here and there. The animation and graphics are functional, occasionally looking nice. Nice, but sort of like a Playstation 2 game, watch the opening to see what I mean. This show took almost a year to get subbed, which also contributed to me not giving up on it, as I had often forgotten how bad it was by the time the next episode came out. A second season is coming out now, in which presumably they still have to get to Greedom or else a pointless counter that doesn’t mean anything might expire!

Arbitrary Rating: 3 – Do Not Watch

A few months ago I started to watch “Sisters of Wellber” and found it to be most enjoyable. The animation is good, the characters are interesting, it has a good amount of fan service (aka Tina never wears a whole shirt, see picture), and I’ve been needing a show that has a quest driven storyline rather than “slice of life” comedies. So after watching ten episodes I found out that the only fansub group responsible for translating it, Starlight, had postponed any new episodes since November 2007. Right at a cliffhanger moment in the show! And to make it worse, the second season has started airing in Japan and the first season has yet to be finished!

Will Greg be left hanging? Will Starlight continue subbing it? Will Tina buy a top? Find out after the break!

Well long story short recently Starlight Fansubs has picked up where they left off and so far episodes 11 and 12 of the first season have come out. Through my journalistic investigations (going to their website), it seems that they will continue on to the second season as soon as they are done with the first. Despite liking it a lot, I found it hard to introduce people to it while it was on hiatus, because no one likes to get attached to something just to have it pulled out from under them. Well now I can. Watch it.

Since I’m sort of obligated to talk about something bad I’ll talk about Dragonaut now. Dragonaut: The Resonance is a show about Dragons that come from an asteroid that destroyed Pluto, and the Dragonauts are a group of humans with man made dragons which are meant to protect the earth from this asteroid which is stuck in Pluto’s orbit and supposedly and evil asteroid. I feel like an idiot for even relating that storyline. The worst part is that most of the show isn’t even about that. Most of it is spent having Jin, the guy in the picture, chasing Toa, the girl, around all over the place because he loves her, but she keeps turning him down because they aren’t meant to be together. Did I mention that she’s a dragon? Yea…

What may be the worst part about this show is the gratuitous amounts of CG that are used with the dragons. It’s like I’m watching freaking Zoids. The dragon fights are completely boring and look cheaply made. Way to go Studio Gonzo! The only reason I’m still watching this junk is because I’ve gone to far to quit which I assume is the only reason people watch this.

Now, this next part should be something great but it’s really not. Most of the female characters in this show have jugs that defy anatomy. This is why the show has earned the name “Boobonaut” among some groups. Some of them have passed the point where it isn’t attractive to have knockers that big and is just downright disturbing. One character in particular, who happens to be a dragon, has a v-cut dress that can barely hold her boobs together yet even in fight scenes they stay in there.

So, in closing, watch Sisters of Wellber, but DON’T watch Dragonaut.