First Impressions: Winter 2014

Much better selection of shows came out today, so lets get started with Bones' offerings for the season - Space Dandy and Noragami.



SPACE DANDY




So, the most hyped show of the season - how was it?Well pretty good actually - I'm not falling over myself with awe, but it was an entertaining start.The dubbed version came out first, and it is decent, but I much prefer the subbed version - personal choice really, plus you get the full version of the awesome OP & ED.It is amazing that you get a choice for a currently airing show - something that wouldn't have seemed possible just a few years ago.



The concept doesn't really give you any deep, meaningful plot - Space Dandy is a shallow, but entertaining show with colourful characters, fun writing and some spectacular animation and direction ..most of which only properly made itself known in the second half of the episode.Still, there wasn't really anything in this opening episode that really hit me as being distilled genius - there's a lot of have fun with and it is stylish as hell, but there's just that extra something missing at the moment that would make Space Dandy stand out.



Certainly a keeper, and I am looking forward to next week, but I do hope it doesn't rely on style and boobies in future episodes.



NORAGAMI



For being "that other Bones show" of the season, they certainly didn't skimp on the animation quality for Noragami - it is a beautiful show.The art direction and scene composition is really gorgeous - hope they can keep this level up throughout the series.It's also got a pretty stylish OP and some interesting sound design - basically just a well put together and great looking show.



In terms of actual content though, it's rather standard faire for an opening episode of this type of show, and there is a real danger of Noragami getting bogged down into a monster/problem of the week format.It should still be pretty entertaining even if it does - I do like the characters and the world set-up seems interesting, but to be anything more they'll have to kick the writing up a notch and shake things up a bit.



Overall a promising start - I'm certainly going to be keeping Noragami on.
Full Post