Anime Review Roundup

There was news last week, but when it’s news like Gurren Lagann on Blu-ray to set buyers back $600, that’s not the kind of news that I feel like relaying here, and no, it’s not an April Fool. Instead, I’ll just get on with the reviews, which this week turned out to be another kind of depressing. First up was Ah My Buddha: The Nirvana Collection, which I imported from the US at the end of last year. I did a little reading around it, and was expecting a generic harem comedy, full of saucy antics, and light on the narrative, depth or character. That is exactly what I got, with a trainee monk only able to truly exorcise once he has been suitably stimulated by nubile nun flesh. Alas I was also hoping for this harem comedy to be funny, but the clichés were a few too many, and the show had a plot development that wiped the smile off my face. Click on the review to read more.

Then it was the first instalment of the next shonen series to hit the UK. Unfortunately it wasn’t One Piece. Instead we get a little something supernatural to tide us over until May, with Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan Part 1. It’s the tale of a not-exactly normal high school student, Rikuo Nura, who just happens to be one quarter Yokai, i.e. demon. While his days are spent keeping the secret from his school friends, his nights ought to be spent doing demonic stuff, except he’d much rather be a normal boy. But his clan want him to be their next leader, and when the plotting and scheming threatens to involve his school friends, Nura has to make a decision. While the premise might seem interesting, the execution is lacking, and that’s before I even got to see what the discs were like.