|
|
||||||||||
| Episode Details | |
|---|---|
| Lore, Fino, Airi, Nova, Lamd, Sara, Elsa | |
| Overall | Art | Animation | Character Design | Music | Series Story | Episode Story | Reviewer | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Watch | 8 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 |
 Devil Doll
|
[series:2794#752] |
[Score: 72% = maximum "Watch+"; Hair Colors]
One of those oh-so-Japanese shows that have everything in it, and then some. The first third is a forgettable ecchi slice-of-life comedy, the second third a nice story about a small electronics shop competing against the country's market leader, and the last third a breathtaking drama & action finale with great humorous interludes when you'd least expect them.It's such a pity how lame this show began, given how much better it gets during the second half. Too many pantsu shots, plus Fino being an unnerving brat at first, will make many viewers give up too early: The original light novel didn't get its award for nothing. Mostly a light-hearted comedy (although the scenario takes a darker turn later), relying on Fino's ignorance about human life, her huge excitement about little success events, and her occasionally shocking remarks that cause all kinds of funny situations when she's facing her customers. Magic Shop Leon is selling standard devices like refrigerators and stuff, only that "Electricity" here is replaced by "Magic", causing a number of funny solutions for occasional customer problems. I happened to watch into the early episodes but skipped some parts of them as nothing much seemed to happen. But as soon as Fino's behaviour became less silly and an actual story emerged I got interested and watched the complete episodes. And the final third really got me excited with its sudden turn of events where all the elements that seemed irrelevant at first (such as having magic instead of electricity, or Raul's past as hero-to-be, or "All-A" being part of the show in the first place) suddenly become important and in the end everything fits together nicely. The ending, while still funny, is pretty standard albeit the show never ceases to make fun of itself and the High Fantasy genre (Sarah August is the silent star of this show even though I like tight-lipped tech geek Lore the most). The massive fan-service and the slow start cost this show one point too many for getting into "Rent" territory which the second half of this series would certainly have earned. Last updated Wednesday, December 25 2013. Created Wednesday, October 30 2013. | ||||||||
| Unevaluated |
 Stretch
|
[series:2794#628] | ||||||
|
(One episode watched): I couldn't become a hero... but who gives a damn about that when there's this much T&A at my job! That alternate title would sum this show up pretty well. There's hardly a single laugh to be had from this show, but comedy clearly wasn't the avenue which it planned to use to attract (male) viewers. The 'I wish I could have been a hero' angle seems to be little more than casual one-time remark made by Raul. Magic is hardly used at all; just to explain the amazing appliances (perfectly ordinary to you and me) that are sold at the store where Raul and Demon girl work. And wasn't it obvious that she was a girl right from the start? Demons turn up regularly in modern-day Japan in anime, so I wonder if there was any need for this story to be taking place in an alternate world at all. This show is clearly about nothing more than blatant fanservice, which means I have better things to do with my time. Last updated Tuesday, October 08 2013. Created Tuesday, October 08 2013. | ||||||||
