Nisekoi Episode 1 | TFP Review
Buckeye: This is Shaft, and that means those uber-crazy visuals are back.
This is one of the most highly anticipated shows of the season, and so far it’s holding true to form. Seeing how this show is done by Shaft that it definitely feels like Monogatari all over again. Raku sure has it tough having to go through everything his yazuka family is up to. His heart is set on Onodera, but now that he is being forced to at least act like he is in love with Chitoge that things are bound to get ugly.
27CansOfTuna: They made it far more exciting at times then the manga even gets and their usual visual genutsus stuff being present to make some scenes really interesting (though all those sparkles and such whenever Chitoge had glamorous scenes kind of made me chuckle). Cooking master Raku part at the start was my favorite moment if we can get more of those.
Alphanega: Wasn’t too sure what to expect with SHAFT handling the adaption but it’s off to a pretty great start and it looks like it’ll be pretty faithful to the manga. The typical SHAFT art direction worked a lot better for the show than I thought it would and the comedy was handled pretty well. Looks like this’ll end up being one of the better shows of the season after all
GingaDaiuchuu: Not the most over-the-top SHAFT production, but still very nice in all regards, and definitely one of the best first episodes of the season. There are of course plenty of creative visual elements that you wouldn’t get from any other studio, so I definitely appreciate it. They’ve been tied up with their ongoing properties (the two biggest of which I’d easily consider their greatest productions by far, so no complaints here), and the last time they did something completely new (Sasami-san@Ganbaranai), I was less than thrilled. This one just hits all the right notes for the kind of show it is, though, so any worries I might’ve had are pretty much out the window. Well, except that it will probably have to have a non-ending, since the manga is very long and still ongoing. And of course Shinbo still somehow directs everything the studio does.
EyeOfPain: I don’t think [Shinbo] actually “directs” everything the way we would usually think of the credit. Instead, I think it’s more overseeing art direction to make sure everything is consistent with their typical style.
Other than the 3 cuts ripped from an episode of Zetsubou-sensei, this didn’t really keep me interested, so I guess it isn’t for me.
stardf29: And Nao Touyama voices yet another blond, half-Japanese schoolgirl! Though this one’s definitely more abrasive and violent than Karen could ever conceivably be.
Anyway, obviously Onodera has something to do with the locket, though given that the OP-used-as-ED-for-first-episode shows two keys, there’s definitely the possibility of a red herring there. Also, HanaKana!
Other than that, lots of SHAFT flair, as expected. Looking forward to more.
Hitusgi Amachi: Normally, the Shaft visual flair doesn’t bother me, but for some reason I found it somewhat distracting at times. It was needlessly there, taking away from the action or dialogue. That’s not a good melding of visuals with sound.
Otherwise, that wasn’t half bad. There is some promise here.
EmperorBrandon: Off to a decently interesting start. Happy that endcards are included with the stream on this one. Looked like a Koyama Hirokazu illustration for this episode.
Momoka Kibi: The series is actually off to a pretty strong start in context of the premise. That being said I am kind of worried the show will suffer from being afraid to to reach point B. I mean it’s pretty obvious what point B in this series will be in and if the show reaches it early enough we’ll be able to see what happens between point B & point C, but I’m afraid the show will be too afraid to do so. Maybe I worry too much.
sonic: Not bad, a very solid start. I like the premise and the characters appear to be interesting thus far. I’m not a big fan of the locket being 3-D animated while the characters holding it are 2-D; it just looks so jarring and off-putting, and is a trend in anime of late I wish would stop. If they are going to use 3-D it should blend almost seamlessly with the other animation, not stick out like a sore thumb. Other than that minor gripe of mine, the animation is beautiful and eye-popping as is expected with SHAFT. There’s definitely potential here for this to be a good story, so I’ll be checking out more for sure.
