Riddle Story of a Devil, the anime based on Kouga Yun’s Akuma no Riddle manga has come to an end, and I think it’s worth a follow-up review to Eric P’s first look at it.

I watched Riddle Story of a Devil streaming on the Funimation site, which is always fraught with unnecessary frustration. (And I attempted their app, which was laughably, horribly, terrible and deserves a post of its own eviscerating its design  and lack of utility.) For non-North Americans in the audience, you can watch it streaming on Crunchyroll.

We are introduced to the mysterious “Class Black” at a very elite school, and told that 12 of the 13 class members are assassins, all of whom are targeting the 13th member, an apparently ditzy girl named Haru, in return for a reward.  Unexpectedly, one of the class members, the top star no less, chooses to defend Haru rather than buy into the game.

The engagement we’re forced to have with each character – and a few exceptionally well-written scenes early on – kept me interested in the outcome. The main reason I was interested in this story was that it was created by Kouga Yun and, like her other works, it is heavily dependent on the charactersto drive us forward, rather than the plot itself. In fact, it was strongly reminiscent of old Japanese game series, in which the characters were given their own CD singles, with short stories and songs that fleshes out the character without actually impinging upon the gameplay.

The heaviest service is laid out early on while the characters’ stories are building. The service is pretty significant, with not-very-veiled hints of horrible things throughout and a fair dollop of guro, without committing to being deeply emotionally scarring. Whether it will bother or entice you  is entirely personal. I was able to watch around it. ^_^

On the positive side, Haru is not what she appears to be at the beginning and neither is Tokaku. On the negative, neither of them ever really get a chance to embrace who they really are. We’re told flat out what their stories are, but they never really gel meaningfully and Haru – who could be a powerful and cool character – ends the series with the same lack of agency with which she began it.

As for Yuri…well, yay for the anime being marketed as such, but there’s damn little actually in it. Tokaku has feels for Haru, but they are tucked well away and Haru “daisuki”s Tokaku, but that could mean – especially in the context of the story – just about anything.  There is one other couple and they also are sort of presented to us as such, without any real feeling behind it. Here’s your Yuri couple, “kay? Enjoy. The Yuri equivalent of a small scoop of ice cream in a cup, presented without cherries, sprinkles or enthusiasm. ^_^ Had this series been not marketed as Yuri, the little bit that is there would have been a nice addition. As it was, I ended up feeling like an opportunity to develop at least one, and possible as many as three relationships, were wasted.

Ultimately, Riddle was a watchable 12 episodes, but lacked the depth of storytelling I’d hoped it would have. In effect, it felt exactly like what it is; a short, action- and empty emotion-filled formulaic Kadokawa series that was fine while it lasted, but is easily forgettable when it’s gone.

Ratings:

Art – 6 Fairly boilerplate
Story – 6 There are many holes, many things left unexplained, whole characters and scenes that served no purpose, but it’s not all that bothersome.
Characters – 7 The single strength of the series, everyone is appropriately sympathetic
Service – 7
Yuri – 5 Implied more than anything

Overall – 7

The riddles are not the only things that had no meaning. ^_^ I really hoped that Haru would embrace her unique qualities and she and Tokaku would take their rightful places at the head of the established hierarchy. Still, not a bad watch. I’ll see if I can pick up the manga used and give it a try.

It’s Guest Review Wednesday (yaaay!) and we once again have returning Guest Reviewer Grisznak with a heads-up on a series that may be of interest to you. Welcome back and take it away Grisznak!

If I said “fantasy series with female cast” you might think of  Queen’s Blade or Claymore. Well, when I saw trailers for Blade and Soul, (streaming on Crunchyroll) I had a feeling that it was gonna be another Queen’s Blade. When I saw first episode, I get a feeling that it actually might be quite good, maybe not as good as Claymore, but still… I’ve watched eight episodes now and my feelings are very, very mixed. I’d like to share them with you in this mini review.

The protagonist of the series is Alka. She has long, white hair and she is a very skilled assassin. There’s actually a prize for her head, because she’s accused of some serious crimes. Surprisingly, she is innocent, but who cares? There’s a generic very evil empire and a group of very, very evil (more evil than the empire itself) group of local SS, called “Flower Monks”, lead by the very, very, very evil (oh yeah, the evilness grows!) Jin Varrel. She is a one-man (or rather, one-woman) army and can use the very, very, very, very evil power known as Impurity. As you may probably guess, our Alka and Jin aren’t best friends at all… There’s also gang of good ruffians (in fantasy worlds all ruffians are good, aren’t they?) known as the “Pleasure Gang” – name that better suits a hentai anime. Their leader is a busty chick, too, and she has bad blood with Jin, like everyone else.

Alka travels over the world, helping people (although this sometimes ends totally wrong) and saying almost nothing. Like all female warriors in the generic fantasy worlds, her outfit is rather scanty – remember, girls, if you’ll ever have to go at war, a bikini or thong are your best friends. During her travels she meets some other girls who have some business with her. Hazuki is a head hunter with bouncing boobs and cool guns – her fights with Alka reminds me a bit those cool “knife versus gun” duels from “Noir” or “Madlax” a bit. Karen, owner of a well known inn, is a surprisingly conservatively dressed woman. She knows everything and appears wherever she should be. She’s probably most intriguing character in whole series.

“But hey, this a Yuri site!” someone may shout. Yeah, when I started watching Blade and Soul I had a feeling there should be some Yuri. Some episodes passed, nothing Yuri-like happened and I thought that I was wrong. Luckily, we have our lovely evildoers. As I mentioned, Jin Varrel uses some kind of dark something or other. She has her female sidekick and there’s definitely some kind of closeness between those two that moves further than simple friendship. We can see them naked, caressing each other in one of the episodes. Nothing more so far…

I have always said that it’s impossible or very hard at least to make good anime based upon video game. Blade and Soul is based upon MMORPG. And it’s not THAT bad. Graphics are surprisingly good, especially faces and animations. Also important, you don’t need to know that game itself to understand what’s going on. Plot… yeah, it’s somewhere there, but it has problems with some totally useless filler episodes in the middle of the series. Yes, 12 episodes series and it has fillers.  So, we have series that is not bad, but it’s not good either. What does that mean? Yes, just another, mediocre anime. We have lot of them every season.

If’ you’re looking for fantasy series with female cast, you’re better off with Claymore. If you’re looking for service based series, Queen’s Blade is your choice. If you want good Yuri anime, Akuma no Riddle might be good. What about Blade and Soul then? It’s just mediocre, with no highlights anywhere. I’m disappointed, because I really hoped it would be good fantasy anime. Well, maybe next time.

Ratings:
Art – 7 (nice design and animations, nothing stunning, but not disappointing)
Story –4 (generic + some fillers)
Characters – 5 (nothing new, nothing great, nothing terrible)
Yuri/Lesbian – 3 (Jin and her pal, no more)
Service – 6 (Hazuki’s bouncing boobs + some scanty clad warrior girls)
Overall – 4 (mediocre, just mediocre)

Christopher “Grisznak” Wojdyło is a Polish journalist and Sailor Mercury fanboy, he writes for “Otaku” magazine and Polish biggest and oldest manga and anime review site Tanuki.pl

Erica here: Thanks Grisznak. The art looks vaguely familiar. Mediocre anime with evil Yuri, I think I might even give this a try! ^_^

Once again it is Guest Review Wednesday and I am so excited to be able to welcome Jennifer L. back to Okazu to give us a final end of season review about Sakura Trick with a decidedly different take on this popular Yuri anime (that can still be streamed at Crunchyroll and Hulu with some regional restrictions.) Take it away Jennifer!

I am delighted to be invited back to Okazu to do a post-season review of Sakura Trick. Jocilyn did a good job of introducing it at the beginning of the season, but now, the twelve-episode run is concluded, and I asked Erica if I could say a few things about it.

Sakura Trick is an open and unabashed Yuri anime. It is all about girls, and their relationships with each other. And yet, I understand completely why Erica declined to watch it. Like Vividred Operation, though to a lesser extent, it suffers from “perverted camera operator” syndrome. There are many almost-upskirts, fig-leafed only by the girls’ own calves. And
there’s a great deal of bouncing boobage under school uniforms.

But… I love this series, anyway. It’s set in the first year of High School, though in many ways, it feels like it should be about junior high school, a time when girls start to become aware of our bodies, and of the desires of the body. When we want that special person to kiss us. And in this category, showing the awakening of love and physical desire, the show excels, while still remaining essentially innocent.

The show centers around Haruka and her best friend, Yu. On their first day of middle school, they cement their status as best friends by kissing in a deserted classroom. At first, it seems that Haruka is the driving force of the kissing hijinks, but as the school year goes on, and episodes roll by, Yu makes it clear that she is in no way being taken advantage of. She’s a partner in the business, and she wants the kisses, and Haruka, as much as Haruka wants her… and that this is more than just a pairing of best friends.

The hijinks, and the plans for the future that the two girls make, are absolutely on the level of junior high school girls. There’s silly “how can I get her to kiss me?” games, and “really, I just want to  make with the kisses all the time” games. There are “if you do this for me, I’ll reward you with a kiss!” games. I was not fortunate enough to have that first love experience until college, but all of the games that Yu and Haruka play together ring true to me. The insecurities that they face about their meaning to each other rings true to me as well.

Throughout the entire series, the only aspect of Haruka and Yu’s story that didn’t ring true to me was Yu’s instant acceptance of the idea that she and Haruka were going to get married… and even that is only a mild botheration, and the situation is only an exaggeration of the kind of plans that girls make when we’re young, and in love, and believe that we’re going to be with that special person forever.

And as for the bouncing boobage… well, I remember that from High School, as well. My body suddenly started changing, and for a couple of years, I, too, was constantly noticing the bodies of other young women; I was obsessed with boobies. From that standpoint, I can almost forgive the perverted camera operator.

Art – 5 Nothing outstanding, but better than Dragon Ball Z.
Characters – 8 Each of the girls in the series was someone I wished had been in my Junior High classes.
Story – 6 Stirred up memories for me of my awakening as a romantic being.
Yuri – 10 These are girls in love; it’s made clear that it’s love, not just lust, and that it’s not a passing phase.
Service – 8 A lamentable aspect that will keep many people from watching this fun series.

Overall – 8… 8.5. I loved the story, I loved the characters, I loved the way it made me remember my own first love.

Jennifer Linsky is a nurse in the American South. More of her writing, including fiction and occasional thoughts on real life, can be found at her sporadically updated blog.

Erica here: Fantastic perspective Jennifer! This is pretty much why I can read the manga, but not watch the anime. I’m not a oogling sort, but the innocent first love is nice and with the manga I can cut the time and attention spent on service to a bare minimum, while enjoying the parts of the story that work for me. Thank you again for a great post.