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[series:2900#628] | ||||||
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(Three episodes watched): Well, I was about to declare this oddly titled show to be the funniest anime comedy of the Spring season when it suddenly got serious in it's second half; once that had happened I didn't know what to think, except that I would watch it. Shintaro Kisaragi is a hikkimori who lives by his computer. But the computer somehow has a troublesome artificial intelligence program (If I'm following this right) in the form of a virtual girl named Ene. He can't get rid of her, though she can be a real 'pain in the ass', so he just lives with her. The banter back and forth between the two of them early on, and the art style, reminded me of the various Monogatari series. But I decided that this was even better, since I had a better idea of what was going on, it seemed plausible yet bizarre, and genuinely LOL funny. And then it got serious; the synopsis above is still news to me after one episode, and I wish I had some idea of WTF happened at the end. But whatever it was, I figured that this ought to be a fun show--I just hoped we hadn't already seen about all the comedy there would be, because it was good. Ah, crap--this show has gone from my favorite comedy of the season, and a show I was eagerly looking forward to, to a show which I'm not even sure I'll bother to watch--and all in the space of one episode. There were two things I wanted from episode two: an explanation of WTF had happened at the end of episode one, and more of the LOL comedy involving Ene and Shintaro. I got neither of them. Instead, the show switches to a completely different plotline involving all new characters--and this one wasn't nearly as funny. The show seems squarely back in Monogatari mode, namely nonsensical and frustrating to watch. What the hell is the significance of a teddy bear placed atop some sort of primitive voice recording device with a spinning crank in it? I had hoped that this show wouldn't be like the various Monogatari ones, which have some good points but are painfully difficult to watch and make sense of, and that instead Mekakucity would try something new and manage to be just plain funny and enjoyable; but now my hopes seem to have been dashed. Well, episode three does tie what happens in episodes one and two together; I'm just not sure that the answers point towards the sort of show I want to watch. Each of the teens has a different fantastic and inexplicable power; but I do want some sort of explanation. They don't seem all that likeable so far, and since episode one the comedy has been unremarkable, so the show needs to tell an intriguing story, not just hurl impossible skills at me and expect me to be entertained. Since I have at least one season of Monogatari still waiting to be watched, I don't feel any great desire to commit myself to Mekakucity Actors as well. No doubt enthusiastic fans of Monogatari will love this show, but those of us who find it frustrating and mentally exhausting probably won't. Last updated Wednesday, September 10 2014. Created Monday, April 21 2014. | ||||||||
