After the first wave of the I.D Analysis, I stumbled upon the above two series when I went on the normal “oh whatever, let’s get it and figure out what in the world it is” logic. With that, I jumped into two series that were under my dark horse category, or the section where I am not too sure whether it will be good. One of the series left me rather impressed, while the other was pretty excellent for its genre. Which is which?
Let me first bring you into the world of Koutetsu Sangokushi, yet another romance of the three kingdoms adaptation with machinery hands, and Kamichama Karin, a quirky mahou shoujo series that is cuteness personified.
Koutetsu Sangokushi
Summary in a chunk
Lu Xun is the inheritor of the right arm, a magical arm that had great power. During a raid by the Wei faction in a Wu faction town, Zaoli, the soldiers were about to kill a small family of a mother and son when Lu Xun arrived in his mount. Lu Xun successfully repelled the raiders but he was unable to prevent one of the soldiers from slaying the mother. As he went close to the boy, the boy moved away from him, as he finally realized the severity and harshness of war. Lu Xun was the disciple of Zhuge Liang as they observed a war between Sun Ce, the ruler of the Wu faction and a Wei squadron thrice the size of his forces. It seemed that Sun Ce was in a disadvantage, but Lu Xun could feel a mysterious force in the faction.
It was Sun Ce with the power of the Hereditary Seal, the ability to wield great power as he exterminated the enemy force easily. A flashback showed that Sun Ce had killed Lu Xun’s father to retrieve the Hereditary Seal and the seal had chosen Sun Ce to be the owner of it and the brilliant power stored within it. At the aftermath, Cao Cao, the leader of the Wei faction realized that Sun Ce had such a power. Zhuge Liang also saw the red star moving toward the center, as fate started to move.
Zhuge Liang ordered Lu Xun to serve under Sun Ce, to see if Sun Ce was in fact the chosen one. As he went to Sun Ce, Sun Ce recognized that Lu Xun was the son and said ironically how he was serving the killer of his father. As Sun Ce held the seal, he was assassinated by some masked men, as Lu Xun eventually got a hold of the seal as he felt immense power on his arm. However, the seal was stolen by those men as he gave chase. He could not find them and felt that he was a failure as he finally collapsed from physical exhaustion in the grass fields.
Thoughts
I do like this adaptation quite a bit. I went into this show expecting nothing of it, considering that both the production company (NAS) and the animation company (the same that did Soul Link) left quite much to be desired in the background. However, it seems that the lack of expectations actually makes this show way better than it is. The graphical quality is definitely except in some far shots where the animator is rather lazy with the eyes being animated. Other than that, most of the character design is crisp and definitely cool.
The OP and ED are decent if anything, and I actually like the new aspect of this show, where the focus of the anime is on the Wu faction. I mean, which adaptation in your life of the famous ROTK has Lu Xun as possibly the main character of the anime series. I like this new perspective and just this part gives it brownie points for trying something different that is not that wild (think Ikkoutousen) yet vaguely following the plot of ROTK (When did Lu Xun become the disciple for Zhuge Liang?). The fresh outlook deserves another look at least and I think that this might be a surprise hit. Who knows though, the second episode might be disappointing but it looks promising for now. A show to watch out for.
Kamichama Karin
Summary in a chunk
A girl’s ring was glowing pink as we realized she was Karin and she was hunting down thorns. A glowing pink surrounded the thorns as a group of three male warriors came forth to fight it. They were outmatched severely due to the limitation in their strengths. Suddenly, a girl called Karin appeared as she changed into a mahou shoujo under the command “I am God” and released the love attack to destroy it. However, thorns started to bind her heart-shaped weapon. As the beam of light brightened, we were transfered to a normal looking Karin, who was burying her dead ca, Shi-chan. She was an orphan staying at her aunt’s house and was a good-for-nothing in sports and academics. A boy then came over to pester and annoy her and was rather rough on her, as she eventually called him a chauvinist and chased him off.
At school, Karin still failed badly in sports and scored badly, as she was on her way home. She then knocked down a very cute girl with a very cute bag, as the girl introduced herself as Himeko and asked Karin whether she wanted to try some cosmetics. After talking to Himeko, Karin realized Himeko was also an orphan and was staying at her cousin’s place. Her cousin was in fact the boy pestering her the other night and his name was Kazune. They were in fact looking for a god, and when Himeko asked whether Karin could be one, he said it’s impossible Karin was totally confused and he continued to tease her inability and retarded behavior, only for her to punch him. Kazune discovered that she had a ring (the ring of her mother) as it glowed pink. She fled in shock.
In school, she suddenly became good in everything and she could even change the weather when she wished for rain so that the marathon in her class could be canceled. As the rain continued, she wondered if she was the one who changed it and thought of Shi-chan, her dead cat. Himeko came to visit and accompany her, as she informed Karin that they had found what they wanted and was leaving soon. As she met Kazune, Kazune apologized for his actions and said that he did not intend to offend her. He told her to forget him but told her to be careful of a man and said that if ever Karin needed his help, she just had to call. At Shi’s grave, she looked on as a man’s silhouette appeared, saying that he finally found Karin, the god.
Thoughts
I totally like, adore and recommend this show. If anyone wants a very cute anime with good graphics, a bit of mahou shoujo, comedy and a cute little story to go with it, Kamichama Karin should be your pick. I am sure that lolicons will be very happy with the excellent graphics, and I must say that it’s even better in terms of cuteness (not overly cute, it’s just the right dosage) in terms of StrikerS, the other mahou shoujo series in this spring season. Graphics wise, StrikerS might also have a tough fight with the well animated scenes here.
I totally like Himeko because her smile just reminds of Tomoyo from Cardcapter Sakura and her voice is just so good. The OP is also rather Rozen Maiden reminiscent, and I am a closet Rozen Maiden fan with its music being rather haunting and excellent. Now, I am just waiting for the cat, Shi-chan, to turn to the next Kerobos and we have a total remake of Cardcaptor Sakura.
The thing about this show that I really enjoyed is the notion of God. Just like Kamichu, the God here is a young one, and one that is oblivious to her powers. I initially thought that the start was totally cheesy but it is good that I did not judge it too much because the production values are exactly quite high here. It seems that the target audience for this show are hardly the adults (maybe the loli lovers) but I will definitely continue to watch this show. It deserves a few more episodes to verify and I recommend this for everyone who wants some silly comedy, cute graphics and a totally adorable character design.
30 Comments
@Impz,I prefer the Koutetsu Sangokushi,please…!
I think you mean Himek_a_… or perhaps too much Kannazuki no Miko have gotten to you ;p.
And the cat is Shi-chan. >_>
LOL Xu-chan LOL XD
@na2viet: It’s quite a good show, I do recommend it if you like a bit of action.
@Digi Kazune: I am really really bad at names ;_;. I am sorry. I tend to make mistakes with names all the time. Trust me, you have not seen the worst of it as yet. I will edit it accordingly.
@Hinano: Oh shush
I am no raw watcher, desu!
I haven’t watch either of these yet (busy with Blue Dragon and Toward the Terra atm) but they are on my list to check out.
I totally like Himeko because her smile just reminds of Tomoyo from Cardcaptor Sakura and her voice is just so good.
WANT.
action on one side and cuteness on the other….oh dear, shall I give in? *looks at current list, gives in* siiiiigh XD I shall watch then, just have to wait for my dear subs
both of those series are on my want list
i can only hope that someone good well sub both of them but alas i have heard nothing in regards to that (andrew wiki has some groups i haven’t heard of for karin)
thanks for the blog
I was thrilled to hear that Kamichama Karin by Koge Donbo was being created into an anime! I had high hopes and couldn’t wait to see the RAW… But I kinda found myself laughing and twitching at the episode. The animation seemed a little shaky at the beginning for a first episode. And I noticed that they were probably hoping to merge the 2 series “Kamichama Karin” and “Kamichama Karin Chuu (?)” into the single anime. While I admit I’m still thrilled for the series, I wasn’t as mesmerized by the animaiton quality like I hoped (such as the quality in the “Tiny Snow Fairy Sugar”). But that won’t stop from continuing to watch the series
I hope that I’ll get to love it more over time or the animaiton quality will take a few steps towards the better…
I also highly recommend this series ;3 I’m so childish at heart that I love these kind of series! Maybe I lacked some good shoujo series as a kid?
“When did Lu Xun become the disciple for Zhuge Liang?”
I was just about to ask that question. LOL So the Liu Bei forces is still the good guys? Seems like that Sun Ce is one of the baddies as well…
I hope that screencap right in the middle of the 9 squares is not an accurate portrayal of Sun Quan. :O
@Leon: They should be watched to at least some extent for the love, trust me on that ^^
@Dkellis: I knew you will love it when you catch that sentence. Go ahead and have fanboy moe love for Himeko (or whatever her name is). She has just that smile that immediately reminds me of Tomoyo, even if her character isn’t really Tomoyo-like.
@Mars: Haha, it seems that you have some serious problems with temptation. ^^ Well, the cute Kamichama Karin is just so cute and hilarious, that it’s a must watch.
@Iwubanime: Arr, the problem with the english subs is that they are so irregular and slow, that i tend to have problems waiting for them. Sigh, it’s a torture just to wait, but it’s good that there are at least english subs for these two shows ^^
@Mae: Really? I found the start of the series to be a very bad parody of mahou shoujo what with the “I am god” and “Love attack” that is just so lame that you cannot do anything else but laugh. I thought that the animation quality is rather high actually, something that I did not expect that much at all.
I guess that it’s highly impossible that the animation quality will take a few steps toward the better because it is already pretty high. That said, on the issue of good shoujo series, I cannot wait for lovely complex to start!
@Briar: Ya, I read quite a bit and played quite a few games of ROTK to know enough of the basic history. When I saw that, I am like “okkkkkkkkk” and the next thing is that Cao cao is in fact a MILF (oh wait, she is in this series). Hah, it is in fact a very accurate portrayal of Sun Quan. Fear the bishies and Sun Ce is simply overwhelmed by the sheer power of the hereditary seal, that’s all. Liu Bei’s forces are not even noted but it looked like Zhuge Liang is actually evil. Wahahahaha! i love it already!
Oh I dislike Zhuge Liang, so an evil Zhuge Liang would be great. Although… the Sun Quan thing is really, really, REALLY unsettling. And I thought Zhou Yu is the bishie.
What is a MILF?
Mother I’d Like to Fuck >_>
What the…. the rest of my comments got eaten!
– sticky tape –
ie, Ama = MILF!
Also, we need more Mahou Shounen transformation scenes! Cheesy ones!
yeah, i forget to ask something
for karin, any idea on how long it’ll be?? if it is as good as it seems, i hope it won’t be 13 episodes :/
i’m a huge fan of mahou shoujo
CCS = win!~
@Briar: Zhou Yu isn’t bishie, but I actually expected him to be one considering how he’s supposed to be a beauty among men in the history books. Sun Quan being a bishie is just …amazing.
@Digi: LOL. I guess the “arrowS” tags tend to cause a bit of trouble with the comments. Just don’t use “>” too much. Hah, the mahou shounen transformation. What in the world, mate? You want to see a nanoha style one?…*cough cough*
@Iwubanime: I have no clue sadly. I don’t know how much it will last. X_X
@Iwubanime: I can only figure it’ll be quite a bit longer then 13ep if they’re following the manga. And the fact they started the show with the 2nd manga series of Kamichama Karin might give us hope for a longer series merging the 2 into one anime they’re probably hoping to last a while ;D
@Impz: Well the “I am god” is from the manga as well, which I remember created quite a stir among some people… (“blah blah YOU CAN’T BE GOD blah blah THIS IS EVIL!”) And I can’t say much for her attack, I haven’t read the 2nd series yet so I don’t even know how the attacks work there. But the first manga series attacks weren’t so cliche lol Except for maybe Karin’s >>; But she’s the classic kind of heroine of love XD lol
I am also looking forward to Lovely Complex ;D
Argh my long long post got swallowed up by the big, bad monster of Disconnection. o_o”
Anyway. I’ve watched Koutetsu Sangokushi under Impz’s advice, and boy… I’m pretty much speechless. Well ok, not speechless. I have plenty to say. Even if I DON’T say anything about the historical liberty and the character-out-of-his-time thing, there’s still pretty much that can be said.
LIke, the sheer amount of bishies. Let’s see, we have Lu Xun, we have Zhuge Liang (with that awful white hair… he sort of reminds me of the sinister version of Ryuuki… and not in a very good way; heck, I wouldn’t have known he’s Zhuge Liang if they didn’t tell me. He looks nothing like the traditional description.). And we have the aforementioned Sun Quan, who OMG, render me totally speechless. But the most incredible and incredulous bishie is the resident tyrant Cao Cao, who I totally thought was a woman. Did Sun Quan and Cao Cao undergo sex change in the making of this anime?
There’s either macho men, or bishies in the anime. And boy, the macho men are sooooo … *rendered speechless again* And Zhou Yu looks like a villian! How can they do that to my idol????
But ok, overall I did enjoy the anime, esp. the action scene. So thanks, Impz, for convincing me to watch it. I think if I do continue, I’m going to ignore the fact that it is (nominally and EXTREMELY liberally) based on the San Guo saga. Otherwise I’m going to be snickering at the wrong places and swearing at all the traps. o_o
BTW, did anyone think that the seiyuu for Lu Xun sounds rather unsophisticated? I wonder if he’s new; IMO the voice acting was very unnatural. Although it could be the fault of the director, talking him to make wordless noises of reaction all the time.
@Mae: After doing a bit of research for Kamichama Karin, I realize that the mahou shoujo portions are meant to be a very bad parody to make a joke out of all the cheesy moves seen before in such a genre. I actually enjoyed my viewing of Lovely Complex but found that many bloggers are doing it already. Since I try to cover series that are less touched by others, it’s not going to be blogged sadly ;_;
@Briar: It is very very liberal. Cao cao is in fact a female and not a bishie in my opinion. Oh wait, after a re-watch of the series, HE IS A BISHIE, JUST A VERY GIRLY ONE. I am shocked and appalled at how bishie these bishies are. I swear wifey will totally love this series now with all the crazy bishies on rage.
Well, you do have to get rid of the notion that it’s very liberal on it. I mean, if so, the start of the Lu Xun being the disciple of Zhuge Liang will have turned you off.
I am no keen listener of seiyuus and I cannot bring a proper discussion to it ;_; anyone else desu?
If you can have Mahou Shoujo Jun, you can have Mahou Shounen Kazune/Jin/Micchi.
And yes, nanoha style would be nice since strikerAss is no longer interesting. We need more -NANOHA- as the title of the show suggests and not an expanded cast.
- Ergo Sum Deus -
Love your image Kamichama Kairn! ^_* It is cute!! ^_^
@Briar – come on.. He has the fan! Zhuge Liang trademark!
hello?? i im trying to figure out how people are able to see karin episode 18 and others!!! it makes me so sad @_@ not fair so i decided to ask u…. how u noe so much inforamation…… plez e-mail me……
This is my favorite anime, and I’m totally hooked to it. I recommend this to anyone looking for a cute story with adorable characters! I wish someone would hurry up and subtitle episodes 18 and up cuz I’m getting tired of waiting!! I wanna see what happens next…
Oh wow, Kazune is so cute! And I love how HImeka always has a cute smile on her face. Karin’s personallity is hilarious! I think Micchi might be bi-sexual though, which is a little strange……I guess I’ll go watch some RAW episodes now, even though I CAN’T SPEAK JAPANESE!!!!!!
ello
I love it!!! Kamichama Karin is beautiful anime that I ever-never seen before… ^.^;
Bur, Im still dont know, when Karin first kiss???
i LUV kamichama karin!
i’m collecting the manga books for it.
aw i wish the rest of the eps r subbed…i’ve been waiting quiet a while for it =.=
u know that the person who drew kamichama karin is koge-donbo, her first anime was…pita-ten? i think…
my fav character? aw theres so much to choose from…i like Suzune cus he is SUPER CUTE! (karin’s child) X3
The person with the pink afro hair and pink lipstick and likes flowers is Liu Bei. Freaky.. Cao Cao, Sun Quan, Liu Bei, and Ling Tong all look like girls. What is wrong with the macho guys? Are they gay? I have only gone up to ep. 4 and I love it already. Zhuge Jin is so cool. He fights with the same weapon Sima Yi fights with in Dynasty Warriors 6 for ps3. I also like Zhuge Liang’s look too. Hey is this going to become a game or is it already a game, because if it is i am definitly going to buy it. Zhang Fei is really sexy in this one too. YUMMY…. lol lol.
i loooooooove kamichama karin, but would loooooove even more if it was in english! anione know when it’s being released in the US?
email me!
missaudreyfish@aim.com
Kamichama karin was the cool anime I’ve waatched. some of the episodes I watched were boring and the storyline doesn’t make sense a little bit. However, I like both Karin-chan’s braids(normal looking) and pigtails with olive hair ties that Himeka gave her as a present. She looks cute in both appeareances. I love Karin-chan a lot, even the anime was boring. Please e-mail me back!