V Reviews - Koro-Sensei Quest: 12 ways to say: It's not funny

Chibi spin-off shows of popular manga/anime is not an uncommon thing in anime. There's been spin-off of dozens of popular anime: Shakugan no Shana, A Certain Magical Index, the Fate Franchise, Haruhi Suzumiya and so on and so on.

But while most of them are direct parodies of the main show, often mocking the anime tropes that are occurring in the main series, Koro-Sensei Quest takes on a whole different approach and creates an entirely new series with its chibi characters.

But while it's very hard to critique the typical chibi-show spin-offs, Koro-Sensei is different because it tries to be its own thing... and fails at it.

Let's review this so I can forget about it.

V Reviews: Koro-Sensei Quest

Backstory

First off, if you want the backstory, characters and overall review of Assassination Classroom (the parent series), go read my review of its first season here.

Well, ever since the popularity of the main series started spiking in 2015, somebody apparently had the brilliant idea to start creating a spin-off manga. Who? Probably somebody at Shueisha. Why? Marketing for the main series and obviously also Merchandise! In other words: Low cost - easy money.

So it should come as no surprise that Shueisha enlisted a B-list author and mangaka for this title. And yes, I'm serious it when I say B-list. No I'm not saying that these people are untalented or anything; they just haven't had any success as of yet (and thus are very cheap to employ). It's a common practice for publishers when handling spin-off manga series to enlist unsuccessful or rookie mangaka and writers. The titles aren't supposed to be amazing, they only serve as advertisement or filler. If they suck (they usually do), the series is either published irregularly or ends up being short-lived. If it somehow DOES end up being successful, it's a win-win for both Shueisha and the author-artist team!

So not to long after being enlisted, the team of Kizuku Watanabe & Jō Aoto created Koro-Sensei Q, which ended up being published in the bimonthly magazine Saikyo Jump (which mostly consists of spin-off manga's like Dragon Ball SD, One Piece Party and others.

In November of 2016, Studio Lerche (who did the original Assassination Classroom) animated a movie of said spin-off series, and then launched a 12-episode ONA in Winter of 2017.

Story

The "alternate" story of Assassination Classroom is this time set in an RPG world, with many classic RPG tropes. The Big Bad that needs to be defeated is still Koro-sensei and our heroes still are part of a class (somewhat), aimed to take down Koro-sensei.

And that's it. What follows are antics mirroring events from the original series, but in a parody variant with chibi-style characters and an RPG setting.

Characters

Same as Assassination Classroom, but in Chibi form with RPG-style outfits.

The cast, in one of the more detailed moments

Animation & Sound

The ONA is a short style anime, which means limited animation and sound. And it shows. Certain scenes can be done really beautifully... but those are uncommon to say the least

One of the better moments.

But in general the art is limited (to say it in a nice way). The backgrounds are just... cheap. And most background characters are reduced to basic shapes (come on, look at LuLuco to see what IS possible).

This image appears for near a minute on screen with only two instances of actual animation

The sound varies between bland and just horrible. The OP is "okay", but the ED is HORRIBLE! I get that it's supposed to be a typical 8-bit track playing to mimic a classic RPG. But the sound mixing is so bad it was horrendous to listen to (don't listen to it with headphones, SERIOUSLY!).

The only good thing about the sound is the return of the original voice cast (thank god). At least those great voices brought some joy to an otherwise strained (and stained) production.

Why I hate this piece of trash

Some people may forgive this series because it's more of the Assassination Classroom they love and they realize that since the original story has ended in a proper manner (which is good!), we'd never see anything of these characters again.

But can you really accept THIS?! As a fan of the original series, I'm offended by this piece of trash. In the entirety of the 12 episodes, I genuinely laughed like 3 or 4 times. You know when? When the creators actually bothered to make an original, unexpected joke! So why couldn't they do more of that?!

No, instead we get run-of-the-mill humor that re-use old jokes from the original anime, turn characters into either stereotypes or reduce them to one single joke gimmick (the bathtub? Seriously?! That's not even your joke! That's a Shaft joke!)

I like comedies! I like humor! I love to laugh at good jokes or even the next Gintama episode (I really really need to catch up). So a series that fails to make me laugh most of the time is just plain bad.

You may like it, but I can only advice you to ignore that this ever existed.

Final verdict

My final ranking is a 5/10! It's passable for a short animation, but that's it.

Only watch it if you're really curious. But in all honesty, you can easily ignore it, since there is nothing of value here. Watch the original 2 seasons of Assassination Classroom instead! Those are MUCH better than this waste of time!

Until next time, V out.

The halfway point - What should you watch of the anime Winter Season 2017

Well, this week most anime of the current season have reached the halfway point. So let's have a quick look at what I'm watching at the moment.

So if you ask me: "Do you love this winter season's anime?", my answer is as follows:

Ms. Kobayashi's Dragon Maid - Surprise hit of the season

• Genre: Gag anime, Supernatural slice of life.
• Studio: Kyoto Animation - Directed by Yasuhiro Takemoto
• Legal stream: Crunchyroll & Funimation (worldwide)

Probably the surprise hit of this season. Ms Kobayashi is a 20-something IT'er who incidentally invites a dragon over to stay at her place. Now Ms. Kobayashi has to train her dragon to fit into society... by dressing the dragon up as a maid. Did I mention that Ms. Kobayashi is an otaku?

It's charming and hilarious. Also, the lead is a female IT'er. That's already rare enough in reality, so seeing this in anime is something to cherish.

Recommendation: Definite must watch!

Full review: Here

KonoSuba Season 2

• Genre: Fantasy Comedy
• Studio: Studio Deen - Directed by: Takaomi Kanasaki
• Direct continuation of Season 1. Read my review of season 1 here
• Legal Streaming: Crunchyroll (US only)

Season 1 was amazing, this one is great as well, although the typical Deen lack of constant quality is showing itself more in this season than in the previous one.

Recommendation: First season is a must-watch. If you've seen that, this is a must-watch as well.

Blue Exorcist - Kyoto Arc

• Genre: Shonen action with supernatural elements
• Studio: A1 Pictures - Directed by Koichi Hatsumi
• Sequel to: Blue Exorcist (2011)
• Legal Streaming: Hulu & Daisuki (worldwide)

Never thought I'd see a sequel happen to an anime that's over five years old at this time. But here it is!

Readers of the manga have pointed out that the Kyoto arc is the most interesting story arc from the Blue Exorcist manga, so I'm glad we actually get to see it become animated after all.

Also, this gives hope to other anime that ended years ago to possibly get a sequel (wishful thinking). We'll first see how this goes.

On a side-note: Yes, it IS necessary to first watch the original run. You'll miss out on too many story elements if you haven't watched the original.

Recommendation: For those that have seen the original, this is a must-watch sequel.

Youjo Senki (The saga of Tanya the Evil)

• Genre: military action, with supernatural elements
• Studio: NUT (yes, you can apply your "deez nuts" jokes now) - Directed by Yutaka Uemura
• Legal Streaming: Crunchyroll, Funimation (worldwide)

The title literally translates to "The Military Chronicles of a Little Girl". While both English titles are technically correct, they are still a bit off. A correct title would be: God Vs Tanya - "Yes, I know you exist. But still: F**K YOU!"

Story goes as follows: A salary-man gets killed by a fired co-worker, but "god" gives him a second chance in a different world where magic is a thing. God's catch: he is reborn as a little girl in this universe's Germany just prior to World War 1. God isn't going to stop punishing Tanya until she admits belief in him, while she just waves her middle finger and gives a psychotic smile.

Interesting story, amazing Opening and Ending Song (the best I've heard this season).

Recommendation: Yeah, a must-watch

Full review: Here

ACCA: 13 Territory Inspection department (ACCA 13 in short)

• Genre: Military slice of life?
• Studio: Madhouse, directed by Shingo Natsume
• Legal Streaming: Crunchyroll, Funimation (North America only)

The daily life of Jean Otus, the second in command of the inspection department. His role is supervising and visiting all 13 districts of the DOWA kingdom (which is weirdly enough shaped like a pigeon that's pooping).

This anime probably has the greatest soundtrack this season. It's jazzy and aloof; much like Jean himself.

The story however is a bit lacking. There's lots of story potential, but most of it just sizzles out on a low note, which is making many people hate this anime.

I personally am going to keep watching it, just in case it gets better. But I have low expectations.

Recommendation: You can easily skip this one.

Full review: Here

Koro-Sensei Quest

• Genre: Gag manga, short anime
• Studio: Lerche, directed by Yoshito Nishouji
• Legal Streaming: Crunchyroll, Funimation (North America only)

As a fan of Assassination Classroom, I was fascinated by this gag spin-off. But oh, dear. How do I put this?... It's just not funny.

The characters are reduced to one comedy trait. The problem is that most of those traits got tiring by the end of the original series, and thus they're tiring to watch here.

Karma has bad luck, Nagisa looks like a girl, Kaede has a flat chest, Isogai is a poor man's knight, and so on... The jokes just repeat themselves over and over again. They were bad the first time you saw them and remain bad every time they repeat them (and boy, do they repeat them A LOT).

A few unexpected jokes made me chuckle, but that's about it. Most of the time I'm just staring blankly at the screen, thinking about better things I can do with my life.

Recommedation: SKIP IT! Forget it exists. Rewatch Assassination Classroom instead or so.

Full review: Here

Shouwa Genroku Rakugou Shinjuu Season 2

• Genre: Drama
• Studio: Deen (no, really!), directed by Mamoru Hatakeyama
• Legal Streaming: Crunchyroll (North America only)
• Direct continuation of Season 1. Read my review of season 1 here

It's good, but not an easily accessible anime. If you're more into typical shonen action series, you'll probably find this boring.

It's like a typical oscarbait movie. High quality story, but rejected by the masses. Season 2 is a direct continuation of season 1 but is set in the current day era instead.

Recommendation: If you liked season 1, watch season 2 as well.

Onihei

• Genre: Samurai "police" series
• Studio: M2, directed by Shigeyuki Miya
• Legal streaming: Amazon prime (worldwide)

Somebody named this: CSI Samurai and I found it very fitting. It's a typical "police" series, but it's set in the Edo era. The episodes are kind of stand-alone. The tone is dark and realistic (not in a good way, though).

The first episode was a miss, though the following episodes kind of grabbed my attention again. The animation is great. The stories are... okay, I guess?

Though you notice that this was created for a tv drama first. It breathes live action more than it can say "anime".

Recommendation: if you like Samurai series and/or police series like CSI, you can give this one a watch.

Yowamushi Pedal: New Generation

• Genre: Sports
• Studio: TMS Entertainment, Directed by: Osaku Nabeshima
• Direct continuation of Season 1. Read my review of seasons 1+2 here
• Legal Streaming: Crunchyroll (worldwide)

This new season starts shortly after the second season (Grande Road) ends. We get to see how our characters handle the period of time post the inter-High Road Racing Tournament and this includes the shift of our main cast from first-years into their second year.

Yes, this means saying goodbye to the third-year senpai's and introducing new first-years. All in all, it makes you wonder how everybody will do in the inter-high without the trio of Kinjou, Todoroki and Makishima.

My recommendation: Watch the first two seasons (the in-between movies can be skipped) before watching this one. You will miss out on certain things if not seen.

Fate/Grand Order: First Order

• Genre: Action, supernatural fantasy
• Studio: Lay-duce, directed by Hitoshi Nanba
• Legal Streaming: Crunchyroll, Daisuki (North America only)

This is a special that came out around new Year's eve (so technically this winter already, I guess). While studio Ufotable is busy with creating the Heaven's Feel movies (#hype) and studio Silver Link is busy with the Kaleid spin-off (which is meh), the studio behind the Sinbad anime and Classroom crisis now tackles the Fate franchise. This incarnation is based on a mobile game released in 2015... in Japan only (a hit and miss).

And this anime is... okay. It's too short to be anything but an intro to something more. There's a rumor that at least one more special will follow later this year. And that will be necessary, because as it stands this anime is forgettable (while it does have nice production value).

My recommendation: Wait until more specials come out, then watch them together. If not, then skip this.

Plan to watch somewhere this year:

• Little Witch Academia: Recently saw the first short movie and absolutely loved it (the animation! So amazing). May watch the rest later on.
• Tales of Zesteria the X: Quite positive reviews. Some say it's even better than the game it's based upon (really?) I liked previous "Tales of" series, so I might pick it up somewhere this year.
• Gintama.: Rumored to be the last season of Gintama (we'll see. Knowing Gintama, that might be a prank). Will watch when I finally catch up to the rest of the previous seasons.
• Yowamushi Pedal New Generation: Lots of sports anime are quite good. May pick this up somewhere later this year. But I'll have to watch all the previous Yowamushi Pedal's first I guess.
• Scum's wish: Widely praised for portraying toxic relationships in a serious manner. May watch this.
• Interviews with Monster Girls: While not initially interested in this, it got good reviews throughout. May pick this up later.

Will NOT watch:

• Hand Shakers: This anime has earned the label "Total Trainwreck". EVERYTHING about it sucks. So a definite no-go. Although there's that passion of watching anime that are so bad it's good...
• Akiba's Trip: Enemies who can be defeated by ripping the clothes of their bodies... and most characters are female, and it's set in Akihabara. So total fanservice anime with little substance (that's based on a game). SKIP!
• Chaos;Child: Sequel to Chaos;Head, which wasn't very good. I might be wrong, but this one doesn't really trigger my "must watch" bone.
• Masamune-kun's revenge: Rated "garbage. Yeah, not touching this one.
• Seiren: Rated "forgettable, bland and quickly dropped by those who bothered reviewing the first episodes. Not worth it.
• One Room: Otaku Pandering at its worst.
• Fuuka: Started of generic and bland. Slowly devolved into worse.
• Super Lovers 2: Nobody understood how this got a sequel. Rated as the worst sequel of the season.

Afterword

So that's the anime I have watched (or plan to watch). Have to admit, I'm quite pleased with the current line-up. Didn't expect much, but quite a few good hits.

Did you watch these anime? Do I need to watch more? You can always let me know.

Until next time, V out.

Updates

• 17/02: Small edit: Added legal streaming availability.
• 23/05: It was on my "planned to watch" list, so I've finally watched and thus added Yowamushi Pedal New Generation.

V Reviews: Assassination Classroom: A feel-good anime in disguise

Last weekend the last episode of Assassination Classroom aired. Therefore it's a good reason for me to pick this anime for my first review. Because who doesn't want to see a yellow octopus-humanoid creature with a creepy smile destroy the world?

The face of doom... sorta... I think?

As you might've realized. That face doesn't look harmful nor threatening. I mean, there's no way anybody could make this face creepy, right?

Oh, right... I forgot this is a thing since the latest E3.

V reviews: Assassination Classroom Season 1

A: Backstory of the series

Assassination Classroom (or Ansatsu kyoushitsu in Japanese) is a manga created by Yusei Matsui from 2012 which is still running today.

Yuusei started out as assistent for the manga Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo, which may explain his sense of humor and fascination for weird humanoid creatures.

In 2005 he got his own first success with Neuro: Supernatural detective, which ran for over 4 years and spawned a 25-episode anime in the fall of 2007. However, fans of the manga were kind of let-down with the "not-so-great" adaptation of the manga. And after the anime ended, interest in the manga slowly started to decline, which caused it to eventually end in 2009.

After Neuro ended, it took a few years before Yuusei landed another series that stuck. But in 2012, he struck gold with Assassination Classroom.

And gold is the correct term for this series. In the few years it's been running, there's a 22-episode anime with a second season already announced, a 3DS game and a Live Action movie with a sequel already in the making.

That's a lot for a manga series that's hardly 3 years old!

B: The Story itself

The story starts with the announcement that a "monstrous alien" creature has destroyed 70% of the moon, turning it into the shape of a crescent moon forever (which I know is technically impossible, but just roll with it).

This creature has declared that it wants to destroy the entire world in one year. But he gives humanity a "chance" to destroy him. And that's said with quite a sarcastic undertone, because this creature has superhuman abilities, can fly at mach 20 and has superior reflexes. And all that while he has the shape of a yellow octopus.

But for some weird reason, he decides to become a homeroom teacher in the Japanese class 3-E at Kunugigaoka Junior High School. Why exactly is still a mystery in the anime, but the flashback from episode 1 says it has something to do with a woman.

The government sees the opportunities in this and offered a 10 billion yen reward (about 100 million dollars) for the person who is able to kill this creature. And with this E-class having the most opportunities to perform this assassination, the Japanese department of Defense sends one of their most capable workers to the class in order to teach them combat and assassination techniques.

And if you think this creature would oppose this, you would be wrong. The creature gratefully accepts this opportunity, as long as he can teach this class and he even gives hints on how to kill him as well.

Since the creature doesn't have a name, it doesn't take long for the students to give him one. This being: "Korosensei", which is a combination of the Japanese words korosenai ("cannot be killed") and sensei ("teacher"). In short: "The unkillable teacher".

But I hear you ask: How can this series about assassinations with weapons be a regular Shonen series?

Actually, the Yusei evaded that touchy subject quite easily. Korosensei can't be killed by regular means. Guns, knives, grenades and even poisons don't work on him. But Korosensei has admitted he's weak to a certain "Anti-Teacher" substance, which is otherwise harmless to normal humans. The substance has been converted by the government to pellets and knives (which are sorta rubbery). The pellets are mostly used for pellet gun variations and grenades, but the manga is quite creative with the use of these pellets.

And aside from all assassination attempts, Korosensei does his best to teach his class as best as he possibly can. And he does a swell good job. He helps the students out with their school subjects and sometimes even their personal misery.

He also wants to help them get better in this school, because the 3E-Class is in fact the outcast class of this Junior High school. The head of the school is a twisted SOB who's trying to raise the amount of "superior" students, by turning the people with the lowest grades into outcasts (which in turn should motivate the rest to study harder). This in such a way that the E-class has to reside in a different building on a different campus site, in the mountains. This is all done in such a way that the E-class has almost 0% chance of ever upgrading to the regular classes.

And this is where this show truly shines. While the assassination attempts are quite funny and sometimes even ingenious in their making, it's the fights of these underdog students to be accepted by their peers and the rest of the school that makes this series truly interesting to see.

Going into further detail would spoil the show, but it's definitely worth a watch!

C: Characters

Character	Description
Korosensei	The main character of the show. He's the "evil creature" that has blown up 70% of the moon and is the sole target for these assassinations. Next to that, he's a devoted teacher, but also quite silly. And while everybody should do their best to kill him, he makes it very hard to hate him, because he's basically "the best teacher ever". Also, he can't lie, because his face is almost literally an open book and changes color depending on his mood/feelings.
Shiota Nagisa	The only student that can be seen as the "main character", since most of the episodes are from his point of view. Often seen as a weak student (both in studies as physically) and is often mistaken for a girl. He keeps notes on the weaknesses of Korosensei and is on friendly terms with (almost) everybody in the class.
Akabane Karma	Karma's a bitch and this guy's seriously tries to gain similar status. He's the smartest guy in the E-class, but got expelled a few times due to bad behavior and violent behavior. He may seem lazy, but don't underestimate him, because he's about as mischievous as Marvel's Loki. Also, he's possibly the most assertive character of the show, saying things that the characters with a more Japanese attitude wouldn't dare to say.
Karasuma Tadaomi	The loyal government worker who trains the students to improve their physical condition and assassination skills. Probably the strongest human on the show, but even he can't handle Korosensei. He's also the "straight guy" in this comedy, but can sometimes be a bit dense.
Irina Jelavic	A Russian assassin/spy who tries to reap the bounty on Korosensei. But due to failure, she ends up teaching English at the E-Class. Her biggest asset is her "charming" personality... No, I'm not talking about her boobs! Shame on you! I was literally talking about her personality, which earned her the nickname "Bitch-sensei".
Asano Gakuhou	The board chairman of the school. Is a "shadow figure" in the first episodes, but quickly reveals himself to be one of the primary antagonists of the series. Sinister SOB.

Since this is a class/school, there are tons of other characters, but they're mostly supporting roles. Though, they all have an episode (or half episode) where each of them gets the focus.

D: Adaptation from source material

The manga is adapted quite faithfully, with no filler added (hurrah!). A few chapters have been cut out from the manga sadly enough, but who knows? We might still see them in season 2. So if you're wondering on whether you should read the manga or watch the anime, you can go and watch the anime, because not that much is left out.

What I find positive is that the anime doesn't attempt to stretch out the individual chapters either. 1 chapter is 1 half of the episode (safe the pilot chapter obviously), even if it is a stand-alone chapter. This causes several episodes to have 2 stories. But honestly, I like that more than needlessly filling up the episode with nonsense.

Also, I find it positive that they work in seasons, rather than adapting all existing material in 1 show like Naruto or Bleach. It gives sufficient opportunity to faithfully adapt the series, rather than improvising to fill the needed timeslots each week.

E: Animation

The show is very well animated with no hiccups or signs of lazy animation anywhere. It's also bright and colorful, but the colors can quickly go darker when the story needs it to be darker.

F: Sound

Quite good, but nothing outstanding. The Opening songs are song by the student voice actors. And while they're not bad, they're not that outstandingly great either.

Conclusion and Personal Opinion

I personally liked this show a lot. After watching some dark animes lately (like Mushishi and Welcome to the NHK) and the long running animes having "darker" moments atm, I was in the mood for something light. This anime delivered that and then some!

I was often laughing my ass off during the comedy moments and often ended the episode with a big smile on my face. Truly, this anime generally made me feel better about myself. So I can say that I'm looking forward to the next season of this show.

Were there any negative things about this show? A few minor things, but it's more nitpicking than anything else:

• This is a typical shonen humor/action series. Don't look for ingenious storytelling or amazing new things here, because it's not here. On the other end, it doesn't fall into many of the cliché anime tropes either. There's no romantic subplots anywhere to be seen, which is VERY rare in these kinds of shows. Heck, even the typical anime "fanservice" that needs to be in every shonen series is very limited and limited to very specific characters (Trust me, this could be a lot worse!).
• The anime is great in terms of story, but can be very predictable at moments. Though it's the execution that's enjoyable, rather than the lack of inventive storytelling.
• A few chapters surrounding the swimming pool were strangely enough not adapted. And due to the very specific setting, will probably not see an adaption in season 2 either. This means that at least 1 supporting character will not get her own episode. Sad panda.
• Korosensei has a few Deus-ex-machina abilities to escape his assassinations. Let's hope there aren't more of these, because these will get real annoying real fast.

Overall, I give this series an 8,7/10.

It's very much enjoyable and a must-watch for everyone that wants to see something light and funny.

Looking forward to season 2, Nurufufufu~

Until next time, V out.