Sneak Peek: Space Bros, Zetman, Kore wa Zombie Desu ka? OF THE DEAD, Polar Bear Cafe

What’s this? A new segment? Yes, yes it is!

While I was watching the new shows for this season, I realized that even though I follow the rule of “Thou shalt not have a solid opinion until three episodes in”, most people aren’t willing to wait that long. So I decided I would steal a page out of psgels and various other bloggers’ books have this new type of post, where I write a short bit about my thoughts on the first episode of shows.

These will actually be the least like my usual rambling self, since it’s basically supposed to be sneak peek (hence the name, obviously) of the eventual preview. It’s also why I’m doing multiple shows at once: so these posts aren’t ridiculously small. Hell, even with multiple shows, these may still be insanely short. But who knows, sometimes I even surprise myself with how much I end up wanting to say.

Note: Ozma is exempt because I’ve already seen three episodes. Preview will be out later today or tomorrow.

Space Bros

The problem with “mature” shows like these is that they’re more likely to be incredibly boring. The more realistic a setting and plot, the more the show needs to do in other areas to make up for it. If I wanted a realistic story, I’d go outside. Maybe my views aren’t shared, but I watch anime and media in general for escapism.

Though, this is me we’re talking about, so it doesn’t take much to make up for it. Right now Space Bros. is sitting in limbo for me. It’s not exciting, but neither is it boring. I also didn’t think it was all that funny. I guess I prefer more extreme types of jokes when it comes to anime.

Zetman

Things did move decently fast in this first episode, but since this is my first exposure to the series, I just saw this whole thing as backstory, which is why I’m willing to look past the quick pacing. It’ll most likely slow down after the story moves past him being a kid.

Contrary to the various negative thoughts on this show, I enjoyed it. I went in looking for a standard seinen show, and it looks like I’m going to get exactly what I wanted. It felt like a darker version of Dragon Ball Z (although I guess DBZ was more shounen than seinen), especially when the kid started powering up.

No, it isn’t particularly subtle, but this is a manly show for manly men, where only deep-voiced voice actors are allowed to voice male characters that aren’t kids! If I wanted subtlety, there’s Space Bros and noitaminA.

Kore wa Zombie Desu ka? OF THE DEAD

It’s more Kore wa Zombie. If you watched the first season, you know what lies in wait.

The show isn’t anything special, though it’s amusing. I did have an issue with a joke they blatantly copied and pasted from the first season, but all of the other jokes were fine, except for some that were just plain weird. But I suppose that has always been one of the show’s quirks.

There’s absolutely no depth to speak of, but there wasn’t any in the first season either, so it’s not like that’s much of a surprise. If anything, I’m curious to see how they’re going to handle the larger cast they’re apparently making for this season. Ayumu’s house isn’t that big!

Polar Bear Café

Possibly the greatest thing to ever grace my monitor. If you aren’t watching this, I don’t know what you’re doing with your life.

On a more serious note, the show is far more entertaining than it probably should be. A good portion of the show is amusing for all the wrong reasons, but there’s also a good portion that’s amusing in the perfectly normal way.

It helps that each of the characters has a defined personality: Panda is a lazy kid, Penguin is the helpful friend, and Polar Bear has relentless puns and maybe also a hidden dark sense of humor. The personalities help to bring the humor and personality of the show out.

Oh, and it also has the best OP so far this season.

What are you waiting for? Go watch this!

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