Friday, October 19, 2012

Medaka Box Abnormal First Impressions--Second Time's the Charm?

Medaka Box Abnormal First Impressions Screenshot 1

"You're not admirable, you're abnormal." That's a hell of an opening line. I hope this season can live up to it.

A/N: Part of Organization Anti Social Geniuses' Fall Evaluation

Medaka Box Abnormal First Impressions Screenshot 2 Medaka Box Abnormal First Impressions Screenshot 3

While the first season had a lot of problems, I couldn't help but like it anyway but not for the reasons the anime desperately wanted me to. I could've cared less about perfect Medaka and the predetermined conclusion of every single problem that was thrown at her; instead, I was much more interested in the people who weren't born as perfect godlike creatures but managed to pull off superhuman feats anyway. And it looks like the story has finally realized that constantly playing Medaka up is boring, so in contrast to the first episode of the first season, it smacks her around a lot and lets a secondary character have the spotlight.

Medaka Box Abnormal First Impressions Screenshot 4 Medaka Box Abnormal First Impressions Screenshot 5

Of course, it's going to take a while for this show to kick its bad habits (the episode makes a point in showing that Medaka is not trying, and then she beats up three people single-handedly while braiding her hair) but the effort is there. The Flask Plan sounds like an interesting extension of what Unzen brought up at the end of last season, and having a group that could give Medaka a run for her money is welcome as well. The strange quirks of each character that's introduced still interests me; I was impressed that the voice actress for Unzen's older sister was able to get some emotion into her lines, despite reciting strings of numbers.

Medaka Box Abnormal First Impressions Screenshot 6 Medaka Box Abnormal First Impressions Screenshot 7

Gainax's visual flair is still in full force here, and you can tell that they're having fun with the new character designs. There's one guy that looks like he's in constant Super Saiyan mode, so there's always this wind effect going on with his clothes and hair. Overall, it does look like this season is headed in the right direction, but it will probably take a few more episodes to see if that pans out.

Images from Crunchyroll.com.

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