Dantalian no Shoka Preview and First Impressions

Airing
June 16, 2011 @ 0123
Every Saturday.

Producer
Gainax

Genre
Fantasy, Supernatural

Synopsis
Hugh Anthony Disward inherits an old mansion and a personal library from his grandfather. In the basement of the mansion, he meets a mysterious girl, Dalian. She is a Dantalian and a gateway to "Dantalian's bookshelf", which stores the prohibited books of the demons.

"Gensho (Illusory Books)", the prohibited books, endanger the balance of the world, but people are fascinated by the taboo. Hugh and Dalian solve the cases involving Gensho with their ability to access the Dantalian bookshelf.

Pre-season Thoughts

"I see a gun, fire, and Victorian era style. Disregard everything because this is the most necessary thing to pick up this season." 

As you may or may not know, I choose anime by the art style first. The ones I pick are always usually not the best but I have a far better chance of being able to finish it. Plot wise it sounded pretty original. I'd never heard of anything like it before so I wouldn't be expecting much coming into this series, albeit it seems like the typical anime I'd watch.

Typical anime for me = tsundere girl + boy + some sort of magic + MacGuffin

Considering the prospects as a whole, I wasn't expecting a masterpiece. I was just looking for a bit of fun.

PV


First Impression
It started off nicely, clearly explaining the situation. It wasn't overly poetic or beautifully done or anything but it set the premise for the story so you kind of actually know where the story was heading. I guess that denotes predictability in a way, but hey, it's the first episode. In a way, I found it a little boring at the beginning. I mean, I knew what was going to happen but at least it didn't confuse me. The art was somewhat mediocre. It was a bit strange seeing how insanely pale Dalian was. What I wasn't expecting was that it was a little scary. (Maybe it's just because I watched it in the middle of the night. Who knows.) Yes, I was thoroughly creeped out. Not to mention that ED. How freaky is the girl in the ED? I was scared watching that during the day.

Overall, the first episode was a bit rushed. It did introduce the story but everything happened way too fast and too much  happened in a short time span. It didn't seem to flow very well. Hopefully this show won't become episodic. There are only 13 epiosdes.

And another thing. I've noticed a lot of people comparing this to GOSICK. I guess Hugh and Dalian are somewhat similar to Kujo and Victorique in that they're a male and a female. Oooh, what a striking resemblance. The leads are of the same gender. Wonderful. Seriously though, the only similarity I've noticed is the Victorian era style. Really.

Can't say I minded the start too much really. It's obviously not ever going to be the best anime in the world and I'm honestly not expecting much more out of it. I mean, if it did offer more, I wouldn't be complaining but I can enjoy it just the way it is.