Oct11

First Impressions – Yozakura Quartet: Hana no Uta

By , posted under ANIME, First Look, Yozakura Quartet: Hana no Uta

Time to save the world!

My favorite rag tag of demons and humans are back with Yozakura Quartet! I can’t tell you how excited I was to find out that there was going to be another series after the short OVAs that recently wrapped up. So can it become successful? I really have no idea because I think it is either a hit or miss series for most fans, but whatever happens I know I will be watching!

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 Unlike Fosh (I think), this is my first time ever watching a Yozakura series! A lot of people have complained that the previous anime adaptation wasn’t up to standard, but this time round it’s a completely new series faithfully following the manga’s plot, so I’m really looking forward to this because its premise has always intrigued me! c:

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Explosive magic

yosakuura Quartet (6)

This was the cutest expression!

After the events in the OVA it left us wondering what was next for this series especially with Rin and Zakuro who seemed to be the main focus and the hint about several specialized “hunters” that were going to sneak into the city? After all of those events I think this new series picked up right after those events quite nicely with the reveal of V Lila F transforming into a magical witch at the end was crazy! I mean when I first saw that mysterious blond girl skipping at the start I kind of guessed that she was probably an evil character and boy was I right! Aside from that reveal at the end not a lot of things really happened beside Gin causing mass chaos after making several giant goldfish go on an odd rampage by bouncing? Still it was great to watch the team band together with their special talents like Ao using her ears to locate the fish along with Hime kicking ass with her staff as usual, but the best part was Kotoha showing off her amazing summoning magic to create all those giant fish tanks to catch the crazed fish! She still remains to be my personal favorite character. I guess in the end this was just an episode to get you familiar with the old characters along with some new faces, but I am curious to see if Gin appears to challenge the others again or if he will simply sit back and let his new evil friends fight in his place? Either way I am hooked and super excited to see what happens next.

Humans and demons

yosakuura Quartet (2)

Ao-“DAAAAMMNNN! THAT WAS SOOOOOOOO COOOL!”

It’s interesting to see how they introduce demons as a positive entities in this show, because every other show out there seems to portray them as being evil and really monstrous. Here, the demons look as normal as humans do, and you practically can’t tell the difference between them unless they use their special powers. We understand that the seven pillars keep the human and demon world connected, but what’s strange is that no one has tried to break this peace before. There seems to be no conflict between human and demon, even while this present harmony they enjoy feels like something that’s extremely easy to break. I mean, even when Kotoha was fighting the giant goldfishes, she seemed to only be thinking of the more peaceful/indirect ways of solving the problem (like summoning a giant goldfish tank) instead of the more violent/direct ones (giant-ass sword, perhaps?). One would think that being of different backgrounds and worlds, there would definitely be someone who’d take advantage of it for their own interests, but everyone seems to be content with going about their everyday lives this way. I also like how the “mayor” is a human instead of a demon. That goes to show how much everybody trusts in her natural ability to protect and lead (although um, I’m not sure if a normal human could actually fling a giant goldfish into the sky). I find the whole humans-and-demons-coexisting thing really interesting, although it’s probably obvious that the bad goldfish-upsizing guys are out to destroy it soon, and I’m looking forward to seeing them more in action.

Extra magical demons

yosakuura Quartet (5)

Seriously the best character.

yosakuura Quartet (8)

She probably only plays Jpop music for hours

yosakuura Quartet (3)

Watch out for her powerful kicks!

yosakuura Quartet (4)

Sexy magical witches for the win.

End thoughts

Well damn that was a really great episode! Like I have said a few times its great seeing my favorite characters running around again, but my only complaint comes down to some of the animation because there are some shots of the characters standing still and the artwork looks a bit off or was I the only one to notice such things? That aside I am excited to see the future battles because it appears we will have all kinds of enemies to fight like V Lila F? I assume each villain will be matched against one of the main characters just like your typical shounen series! So what did you enjoy about the first episode

As a first episode I thought it did a good job of introducing the world and its main characters. The animation is good enough to keep me interested, and I particularly enjoyed the OP and ED!! Even despite all the funny Engrish they’re really catchy and animated well too ^A^ This is another one of those shows that I know I’m probably going to watch all the way till the end just from looking at the first episode, and I’m going to put off reading the manga till this is over! So I’m going to remain completely  unaware of whatever’s going to happen, because that’s where all the fun comes from, doesn’t it?

Preview

yosakuura Quartet (1)

More demon action next week! 

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47 Responses to “First Impressions – Yozakura Quartet: Hana no Uta”

  1. skylion says:
    October 11, 2013 at 12:27 am
    POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments

    This was my first exposure to Yozakura, and I fell so deeply in love; I hunted down and binged watch the first series and the three OAD. While the series was somewhat down in quality of animation and character design, the writing and characterization was there. Which made the madness and awesome of the OAD’s explode that much more.

    Ryo-timo is Godly. And this new episode is proof.

    And you know my favorite character is Ao. That sakura mochi head flip to mouth. Hnnnnnng. And yes, she can spin the Jpop as much as she likes; much better than Hime’s Anthem…

    This is such a fun show. I cannot wait for more.

    Reply
    • skylion says:
      October 11, 2013 at 2:05 am
      POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments

      I forgot to mention..I really love this series because the characters are a created family. They very much care for each other. It reminds me of Joss Whedon’s Buffy, Angel, Firefly families.

      Reply
  2. Highway says:
    October 11, 2013 at 1:48 am
    POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments

    This series was just like “Let’s get right to it! You don’t need no introductions, or exposition! Action time!” Definitely a lot of fun. Maybe sometime I’ll watch the other parts, but I’ll continue with this for now.

    Reply
    • skylion says:
      October 11, 2013 at 1:53 am
      POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments

      Just hit the OAD/OVA. The series is not all that great. But I’ll let the gallery of commentators have a say….

      Reply
    • Kyokai says:
      October 11, 2013 at 1:54 am
      POWUH: Meta Team and Ringleader Extraordinaire~ with 6433 comments

      I haven’t watched season one but the OVAs gave me enough info to have enjoyed this first episode. The characters are pretty likable so it should be a good journey.

      Reply
    • Foshizzel says:
      October 11, 2013 at 2:31 am
      POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments

      Yeah p much watch the three OVAs and then continue with this as far as I can tell you don’t need season one to get into this series…

      Reply
      • skylion says:
        October 11, 2013 at 2:40 am
        POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments

        The first series in under par in character design and animation compared to the OAD and this new series. But the basis for the story is still there. It’s worth it for that…

        Reply
  3. Kyokai says:
    October 11, 2013 at 1:56 am
    POWUH: Meta Team and Ringleader Extraordinaire~ with 6433 comments

    I am not really fond of the chibified character designs but oh well, the characters are the same so I’ll try to ignore that fact. Story and interaction wise, it’s as good as the OVAs and I’ll be watching this for sure.

    Reply
    • Foshizzel says:
      October 11, 2013 at 2:35 am
      POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments

      True the shift in character design is a bit distracting at times I can agree there! I loved the OVAs so I hope the animation is just as good during the over the top fights.

      Reply
  4. sonicsenryaku says:
    October 11, 2013 at 2:22 am
    POWUH: 400-499 with 445 comments

    i noticed there were times that the characters were in CG (this is Tatsunoko productions after all so im not surprised, although they did a really good job hiding it) but man did this series hit the ground running. This series is just oozing with style; a great example would be the scene towards the end when hime launched the fish into the air and Kotoha flew past it while capturing it into a fishbowl: the intentional contrast of her eye color in relation the the grayish sky looked so stylish and great. It’s simple details like that which make this series so fun and exuberant. It is definitely one of my favorites this fall season. On a side not, hime and kotoha are awesome.

    Reply
    • skylion says:
      October 11, 2013 at 2:25 am
      POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments

      I don’t know where I found it, but Zack Synder said he based alot of the action scenes in the newest Superman film on the action in Birdy Encode that Ryo-timo did all the sakuga action for.

      Reply
      • sonicsenryaku says:
        October 11, 2013 at 2:56 am
        POWUH: 400-499 with 445 comments

        That’s sounds legitimate to me; the whole time i was watching man of steel i kept saying to myself: “Zack Synder definitely watches or knows about anime; there’s no doubt in my mind”. It’s all clear to me now

        Reply
    • Foshizzel says:
      October 11, 2013 at 2:34 am
      POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments

      Yeah I noticed that some of the characters were CG like the background ones and there were a lot of still shots that were off but nothing drastic as something like Arpeggio’s first episode.

      Hime and Kotoha are awesome <3

      Reply
      • skylion says:
        October 11, 2013 at 2:42 am
        POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments

        Ao is Boss.

        Reply
      • sonicsenryaku says:
        October 11, 2013 at 2:59 am
        POWUH: 400-499 with 445 comments

        yup, like there was this one scene where hime was CG and i was like ehhhhh??? but like you said, it was not on arpeggio’s level (ryo-time knows better). Most of the ep though was full of hand-drawn greatness. I really hope anime production companies realize that CG ISNT the future. Im starting to hear rumors about how anime production companies want to start using it more.

        Reply
        • Highway says:
          October 11, 2013 at 9:20 am
          POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments

          Sorry, CG is the future. It’s far cheaper, it’s much faster, and as a bigger codebase is accumulated, it will get better. The quality of it goes up each time it’s used (except for the most basic of uses like it got in Zettai Bouei Leviathan). There’s probably a lot more CG than you’re realizing in shows now, and it’s really just going to increase.

          And to be honest, it’s fairly necessary. Costs always increase, and anime needs to stay profitable if we are to continue to enjoy it. So they need to find ways to make it more economical.

          Reply
          • sonicsenryaku says:
            October 11, 2013 at 4:08 pm
            POWUH: 400-499 with 445 comments

            Oh i have a really sharp sherlock-like eye when it comes to detail so i usually pick up right away when CG is being used in anime (or anything in general), even in the most obscure of times. Hand-drawing anime, whether it’s on a cel or digital board, has been tradition for so long. Even as other countries such as the US switched to using CG for their animation, Japan always stayed traditional. I just dont want a time to come when anime is going to start looking like arpeggio. Id be fine if maybe anime started looking like FF7: advent children but not arpeggio. Yea CG is cheaper, but because its cheaper, production companies tend to invest less and then we end up with some terrible CG.

            Reply
  5. Joojoobees says:
    October 11, 2013 at 9:00 am
    POWUH: 800-899 and Flying Sage with 856 comments

    Well I hadn’t watched any earlier entries in this but I quite enjoyed this first episode. Not being familiar with the setting, they had me guessing as to what was going to happen.

    Reply
  6. BlackBriar says:
    October 11, 2013 at 12:47 pm
    POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments

    This is why I marathoned the entire 2008 version during Summer but never saw the OVAs, then I found out it’s a complete re-telling. Well, whatever, it was good nonetheless.

    The major changes are the character designs and coloring, which is a bold move because they were almost unrecognizable from the previous versions. But I’m glad most of the seiyuus have returned to their respective roles and also glad that the one Yuki Kaji is playing, Akina, isn’t a weak hearted character. He’s been considerably getting a break from that curse so far this year (Valvrave’s Q-vier, Attack on Titans’ Eren, HenNeko’s Youto, High School DxD New’s Issei).

    For the peaceful co-existence between humans and demons, if it is achieved genuinely then it’s perfect. I wouldn’t mind living in a place like that. Then only reason it hasn’t been wrecked is because other than Gin, no one filled with prejudice on either side has surfaced. I thought that witch might be the type but it looks like she’d stir up chaos just for the fun of it. What’s easy to break in the truce is trust. It’s hard to build but effortlessly easy to destroy.

    And you’re wrong about Hime. Though she is the mayor, she’s not a human. Hime’s actually a demon like most of the cast, the human form of an ancient Dragon. No normal human can send an oversized goldfish into the air.

    Reply
    • skylion says:
      October 13, 2013 at 12:36 am
      POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments

      Kaji Yuki is a major talent. Yes, he plays these sorts of roles very well. But, it does take considerable talent to play a role like Haruto from Accel World. Whiny yet acceptable, downtrodden, but believable when he stands up.

      Reply
  7. Soliia says:
    October 11, 2013 at 1:46 pm
    POWUH: Novice (36-50) with 38 comments

    I really loved this! The characters are a lot of fun and have good chemistry, I think. I also liked the animation.

    Reply
    • BlackBriar says:
      October 11, 2013 at 6:16 pm
      POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments

      The new animation is what is going to need some getting used to. The characters almost look caricatures of their 2008 versions.

      Reply
      • Soliia says:
        October 11, 2013 at 7:59 pm
        POWUH: Novice (36-50) with 38 comments

        Ah, I never watched that version, so I can’t really compare, but looking at pictures, they look completely different.

        Reply
  8. EdBunny says:
    October 11, 2013 at 2:21 pm
    POWUH: iLurker with 12 comments

    Am I the only person who didn’t expect the moe girl to be a sexy witch? I didn’t get a lick of villain aura off of her. And then wam bam she was evil! I like this series. And this is my first time watching it.

    Reply
    • Highway says:
      October 11, 2013 at 3:25 pm
      POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments

      I hadn’t seen anything about it, but I figured she was too quiet by half. All the other people kept assuming that she was looking for her parents, but she never said she was looking for them. It was just “Don’t you know where your parents are?” and answering “Nope”. I mean, that’s what I’d answer now if someone asked me that. So when she turned into someone else, it wasn’t a big surprise.

      I’m not so sure I’d say ‘evil’, tho. We’ll see about that. It’s not a word I like to throw around.

      Reply
      • d-LaN says:
        October 12, 2013 at 1:59 am
        POWUH: Meta Resident and Werewolf Chaser with 1270 comments

        Don’t tempt me to spoil the show, you guys >_>

        @EdBunny
        You’re not the only one. I kinda suspect she is working for Nekomimi-Naoya (I forgot his name) but I totally did not see that she is the witch.

        Reply

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