Mega Megane Moé
Hell and Heaven Moéltdown
Code-E
At this point I can no longer back down – and I’m hoping neither will you
Jul 12th
I like to make things sound so dramatic, when obviously they are not such.
Well, maybe not to you anyway; certainly you will groan when you find out the true premise of this post, which I am obscuring for just a -few- paragraphs longer so that you will be compelled to read on past whatever preview is showing up on Anime Nano or AB.net Antenna or any of those great sites.
But I’m sure as anime fans we are all familiar with that passion of fandom that burns like no other, that beyond all rational reason and logic, continues to drive one possibly beyond the edge of sanity – but that’s how we’d like it.
Saimoe – yes, go ahead, shout “I called it!” – has always been one of those things to me.
Read the rest of this entry »
Mission-E, Code-E’s second season, dated and detailed
Mar 23rd
Code-E was the sleeper show of the summer season last year, a slice-of-life romance which felt a lot like what ARIA would be if it had some semblance of plot. That is, it was a warm and relaxing show, with a very calm pace to it, but every now and again it would kick into action and move the story along a bit. The result was a show that, while perhaps not a seat-gripper, was quite enjoyable to watch after a long, hard day.There was just one problem to the show…it ended. Early. The relaxed pace worked great, except that when it came to the end of the show’s 12-episode run, more plot devices had been revealed than explained. What resulted was a mad dash to tie up as many ends as possible, and quite frankly, it didn’t work.
Luckily for those of us who wanted to see a bit smoother end to the show, it was later revealed that Code-E had a second season planned for it (instead of the original “go read the manga now” ending), and just recently the AnimeSuki forums have gotten the first details on it…
Ehhhhhhhhhh?
For some reason the show has taken on a wildly futuristic look from its first preview image. The first season was set a bit into the future, but didn’t have a lot to show for it; it was a future much like today’s, except with more things powered by electricity (to complicate the main heroine’s ability to generate electromagnetic pulses when she is flustered). And that setting, admittedly, worked with the laid-back style of the show.
This funny body armor stuff just feels like it was culled out of a random shonen action or mecha show, and honestly doesn’t fit with me at all. Here’s the rest of the preview image from the page in an online magazine…
According to serenade_beta in the AnimeSuki forums, the main character is Maori Kimizuka, a side character from the original season which I can’t even find at the moment. I think she’s the face on the left of the four character shots outside of the preview image: the second one is Chinami, the original main character, the third is probably Sonomi, the childhood friend love interest, and the fourth is wicked awesome Yuma, the other character with an ability like Chinami’s, and now sporting some awesome frames and hair.
Additionally, the series has undergone a five-year time jump, tame compared to some shows but still a sizeable amount of time.
The radical change that the series has undergone is something that I’m currently seriously questioning, from what looks like a style-shift, a character shift, and a time shift. The previous season worked well for me, and the one thing I wished had changed the most in it would not be the setting or the characters but simply how long the season was. If Mission-E could just be an extension of Code-E, kind of like Minami-ke and Minami-ke Okawari, I would be plenty satisfied.
Hopefully this is not what it seems, but I’m still happy that Chinami and friends are getting a time extension in some form, and now it’s time to wait until July – the airdate of the show – or until information is next released, to find out just how this will turn out…
-CCY
(Just in case you were wondering how under the radar Code-E was…Danbooru gives me exactly zero images on it. Isn’t it sad, Chinami?)
Series Review: Code-E
Oct 1st
“In your body…in your body…I have a great deal of interest!!”
Code-E was the little one that couldn’t.
It certainly was a hopeful to be the underdog show of the summer, a little secret known only to a few that could enjoy the slow yet purposeful motion of the show, and the endearing yet not overly moe characters.
It was a solid entry into the common field of romance slash comedy shows that managed to get a good piece of slice of life into the mix as well.
Code-E centered around a girl named Chinami Ebihara who, aside from being a mysterious transfer student, had the uncontrollable power to release electromagnetic waves when she was flustered. It was a relatively novel premise and with a mysterious cast including a Quiet Girl, two comically inept German spies and some guy with a pocketwatch, Code-E certainly had the chance to impress.
And it did.
For the first few episodes, perhaps. Then it hit a sophomore slump that nearly every romance anime has to get tangled with; the falling of the main characters for each other, a tricky task to pull off in a believable and refreshing manner.
Nevertheless, Code-E worked out of the hole in the closing stages, introducing an overarching plot and building up to a thrilling climax.
And then, in a sense, it stopped. Because it was over…
(Disclaimer: Hot drinks are hot, and spoiler-filled recap posts contain spoilers after the jump.)
First Love the Five Hundreth Time: Code-E / NanaDrops
Sep 24th
The summer season has been somewhat of a trip into the way-back machine for me, with these two quite under-the-radar romance shows. I’ve always watched a lot of shows with romantic aspects in them but to have a straight up story between one boy and one girl (with a possible Runner-Up Girl) is almost a fresh premise at this point.
The last title I remember that works like that was the legendary (and quite old) Cardcaptor Sakura, and as such how fitting that one of the shows that has captured my attention is almost a spiritual successor to it, Nanatsuiro Drops.
Although, to tell the truth, they’re similar more on the exterior than on the interior; but magical girl shows in general all feel and act the same in the magical regard; the relationship aspects of Nanatsuiro Drops are what are boding to be quite interesting.
On the other side of the spectrum, we have a show that about three people have heard of, or at least blogged about – Code-E. Code-E is billed as a comedy/romance show which is a promising if not well-traveled road but with an original story and without any big names behind it Code-E is a really difficult show to come across.
Both of these shows, from at least a romance fan’s perspective, are quite enjoyable in their own regards and have their own merits; despite being from the same genre they aren’t exactly fighting over the same audience and they both have widely different approaches to the main topic of today: first loves.
(Spoilers through episode 7 of both series)
Read the rest of this entry »
Shards of Summer: Code-E
Sep 15th
With many of this summer and spring’s hot shows finally going into their final phases it’s time to play catch-up with some of the overlooked shows that have been tagged as watchable, to see if they turn out to be hidden gems or just a lump of coal after all.
Code-E is first up on a list packed with comedy and magical girl shows, and so for once the romantic show stands out in a typically harem crowd. I won’t deny my tastes. This show practically defines the word “overlooked”, as its presence is next to none with only 3 pages on Animesuki and little to no blogs following it.
Why? A few reasons. Code-E is another original concept and so it can’t easily draw in people who were fans of corresponding visual novels or manga. Many people don’t have time to watch the trailer for everything, so usually the only possible hook for shows like this are word-of-mouth and summaries.
The plot summary seemed passable, if not a bit basic. The genre’s put down as “comedy and romance”, which really almost seems to be code for “show is like everything else.” If you think about it, there’s a LOT of comedy shows. Romance shows are dime a dozen as well, although the non-harem variety seem to be slimming as well.
The supernatural premise of the heroine, Chinami, being able to emit electronical pulses – although it’s not under her control – seems novel and different.
And, well, for overly moe judgemental people like me, all they needed to say was “meganekko + dojikko + romance”. Sold.
But is this one that should be returned to sender?
Read the rest of this entry »