Sasami-san@Ganbaranai: First Impressions

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Huh. If there's one thing I'm sure of, Sasami-san@Ganbaranai did not live up to the hype.

Before any season starts, anibloggers look at various series' credentials and make up their mind. Whilst our methods and criteria may be different, anything by SHAFT has recently been given a free pass. Maybe Sasami-san@Ganbaranai proves that it's time to move on.

Putting aside the direction by Shinbo, which carries a strong polarity with anime fans, there was nothing to this episode in terms of story. A simple harem with plenty of siscon and brocon which then turns into some kind of Medaka Box style battle series....How did this happen

As far as looking back at the episode, there's little to talk about here. Until it got to the random and chaotic battle scene, it was boring. After it got to the battle scene, it became mayhem and if memory serves there was some "interesting" fan service. Pretty much all there was to it.

Sure you can argue that the Monogatari series has nothing to them either, but at least Nisio Isin's style of writing makes it enjoyable. Guardian Enzo got it right in his review, when he wrote that Shinbo needs a writer with presence or a decent source material. I don't question his talent one bit and I do realise that Nisio Isin isn't for everyone, but at least he too has a noticeable style that evokes polarity. Though I haven't looked at Sasami-san@Ganbaranai's light novel or manga, I'm willing to guess that the original source material was just another romcom harem that SHAFT made really pretty.

Either I've outgrown my fondness for SHAFT anime or Sasami-san@Ganbaranai really isn't the best they could do. Could this be a wake up call to stop giving SHAFT a free pass Or was this just a poor start In eleven weeks we'll know.