hontou ni » Seikon on Qwaser

Seikon no Qwaser 03 ~ beyond live action lolis

Stripey — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 13:35:51 +0000

One of the topics up for discussion recently at the anime forum I lurk was:

"What is it that live-action CANNOT emulate from anime?"

My short answer: Lolis. And Katja, the new loli character introduced in this ep, examplifies that claim. Aya Hirano does a superb job of switching between sweet innocence and sensual insinuations. No real-life 8 yr old no matter how talented would be able to carry off Katja's sexy 2-faced role in a live action. Then again maybe I don't watch enough TV/movies. (After all my last 3D loli of note was Dakota Fanning in PUSH.)

Back to Qwaser. One of the question that bugs me a lot is how are they going to build a credible romance between Saha and Mafuyu after all I've never approved of shota/onee couplings. But this episode give an inkling of how they actually meet each other's deepest need. For Mayufu, who has had to take up the guardian role after the disappearance of the foster father, it must been a great comfort to finally find some resemblance of security in Sasha company. Tomo articulates this well when she defies public consensus on her intellect to make a keen observation of how Mafuyu has become more relaxed since Sasha's arrival. This is apparently revealed through her somewhat annoying babying of Sasha which brings me to Sasha's need - yes, exactly that babying. Sasha, who desperately missed Olja's love and tender care, finds it not in look-alike Tomo but the obnoxiously overbearing Mafuyu who unwittingly plays onee-chan to Sasha's deepest delight.

It could work but frankly on screen the midget with the hot joshikousei (high school girl) just doesn't start fireworks. I blame my imouto-onii-inclinations.

Seikon no Qwaser 02 – Beyond the facade of friendship

Stripey — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 15:35:33 +0000

SnQ 02 continues its strong storytelling with a nifty double twist towards the end that had me gasping "SUNRISE moment!?!".

▼ Show

With this ep, Tomo's place in the plot has finally been established. (Apparently quality = quantity in this Soma world.) I have no doubt that Tomo would become Sasha's ~~mama~~ manna in their battle against rogue qwasers. But that begs the question - where does Mafuyu fit in the grand scheme of things? Is she the key to finding the relic with the unpronounceable name? It would be interesting if she has some connection with Sasha's horrific past.

Overall yet another solid installment of SnQ. Can't wait for ep 3 though it'd have to be the director's cut. The sanitised version, with its MASSIVE deletions, just doesn't cut it anymore.

Seikon no Qwaser 01 ~ Beyond mammarian monstrosities

Stripey — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 16:54:19 +0000

It's easy to write SnQ off as yet another hentai wannabe just like how many have condemned Mahoromatic and Kodomo no jikan into the ecchi and lolicon ghettos respectively. Given that I've only seen 1 episode of SnQ, I would not defend it as rigourously as I would for Mahoro/KnJ but suffice to say, I see much potential in the series beyond the clutter of fanservice and mutating mammaries.

First, let me get this off my chest - Neither big nor small (Will talk about 'small' when I come to Dance in the vampire bund in the next entry) is beautiful. Being proportional is. I'm not sure what brand of milk the character designers are drunk on but Tomo's figure is simply outrageous. (I have no doubt Tomo was absent from school due to her chronic stiff shoulders/back from carrying that load.) That said, since milk seems to be the manna of this magical world, the over-the-top... err top could possibly be a future plot device? Who am I kidding?! And so that's it. My one time rant about the oversized chest and I urge all hung-up on the fanservice to move on since there's so much more goodness in SnQ than genetic disorders.

Enjoyed greatly the tight storytelling. Well-paced plot with pinches of mysteries (missing headmaster, mysterious light haired shota, murders etc) embedded with well-placed character revelations. It was particularly sweet to see the Tomo/Mafuyu friendship. With the right context, Tomo somehow didn't come across as the over-endowed airhead but instead a good-natured, lovable klutz. Mafuyu's feisty charm got through too.

On the production values, it's a beautiful show. Artwork that's easy on the eyes, consistent animation (thumbs-up to the fluid battle scenes) and a worthy score to boot. I only have one concern - the series composer. I always check out the staff on shows I catch since the director/series composer could give an indication of the possible success of the show. It was thus terrifying to learn that the series composer for SnQ is none other than he who put the following series together -

Amaenaideyo! (TV) : Series Composition, Script
Akane-Iro ni Somaru Saka (TV) : Series Composition, Screenplay
Tayutama -Kiss on my Deity- (TV) : Series Composition, Script
Yumeria (TV) : Series Composition

This reads like a resume from harem hell. I HATED Amaenaideyo. Despised Yumeria. Cried over Akane-Iro and dropped Tayutama. To his credit, I did like Utawarerumono which he also worked on.

Dare I put my hopes up for this show? Have been disappointed so many times by great (false) starts that I want to be cautious about hailing this as the next MUST-WATCH shounen. But given how impressed I have been with ep 1, I really can't help it.

Hoping they keep up to good run by revving up plot and tone-down the panties in ep 2.