Impressions: Spring Season

I've caught up on the pilot episodes for the series I briefed in yesterday's post, and decided to write up a short bit on my feelings for the episodes.

• Majestic Prince: My immediate impression is that the character design seems stuck in the 80s. The technology portions are gorgeous - as expected of a giant robot anime - but it feels like the budget went entirely to that, so character models got very little attention. Of course, given that Gundam began in the 80s, perhaps this series is attempting to tap into that vein. I can't say at this point, but I can say that the battle sequences are phenomenal. Yes, the giant robots are ridiculously overpowered, but aren't all giant robots? Further, even though it's just the first episode, I felt that the musical scores are top-notch. The main battle was backed by haunting female vocals and metal guitar. It sounds cliché, to be sure, but it didn't feel at all out of place as the five-man squad beat back the army. I'm eager to see how they follow up with that first episode.
• Devil Survivor 2: I confess, as much as I love the Shin Megami Tensei series, the opening minutes of this anime sat wrong with me. The voice acting sounded off, the characters seemed boring, and only the fact that it was SMT did it keep my attention. After hell broke loose - spoilers: literally - it started getting better. I am somewhat familiar with the premise of the series - having played Devil Survivor Overclocked for the 3DS and owning the game this series is directly pulled from - so I expected it to get better. Still, it wasn't until the last few minutes that I started falling in love with the series. Despite the slow start, the battles were amazing. They both take place in darkness - the second being easier to see, given the light of the moon illuminating the battlefield - and the second caps off an eventful beginning to this series. I'm hoping the non-battle portions become more interesting as the series goes on. SMT plots are generally character-based (with some notable exceptions), and the Devil Survivor series takes this to an extreme - the first having different endings depending on what conversations you have over the course of the game. We shall see.
• The Devil is a Part-Timer: I covered the basic plot in my last post, but didn't actually cover my impressions. At its core, it's a very dark series - Demon Lord Satan attempts to destroy the human world - but given the majority of the series appears to take place in our world, it's actually a fairly light-hearted series. Since it's not focusing on combat, the music was more on-par with a comedic series (and after the interaction between Sadao (the Demon Lord) and his general, it seems very comedic) and didn't feel forced. The major character tropes for comedies are all represented (the typical protagonist, the responsible yet quirky best friend, the klutzy girl, the overly serious girl) and I expect it to be a typical comedy - with the dark undertones that probably won't be touched on much. What I really liked was the language. I can't figure it out, but the Demons speak a different language - I suspect someone has already worked it out, but I don't have the patience to try - amongst themselves. It might even be a real language, but all I can say is that it feels fairly 'demonic'. At any rate, I like comedy anime, so here's hoping it stays amusing like it is.