Life in Quadrant 4

Another day, another post.
Umineko no Naku Koro ni
Bakemonogatari
Taishou Yakyuu Musume

Umineko no Naku Koro ni

Apparently, this is a horrible adaptation that fucks up the entire game by peppering it with poor direction and use of music. I can’t really relate to that (Spoiler: I haven’t played the game) but I can perhaps compare this case to Tsukihime’s; the anime can stand on its own as a decent piece of work, but by putting the game and anime side by side, the anime just pales in comparison. At least, that’s what I feel from the work, which is pretty much typical of game > anime translations.
I thought the opening’s vocalist sounded a whole lot like Shikata Akiko, until I found out it actually was Shikata Akiko. Definitely has that particular feel behind the vocal work that I don’t find in anyone else’s voice. ED.. I don’t quite like it, but it’s more a musical preference thing than anything else.
I am probably horribly disrespecting the game by saying this, but the show is still decent for those who’ve never played the game, and perhaps a good way to coerce people into playing the actual game by 07th Expansion.

Bakemonogatari

You know it’s going to be some sort of convoluted, language knowledge-intensive story when the title in itself is a pun. The fact that NisiOisiN wrote this isn’t going to help that (he also writes Medaka Box!). Of course, put SHAFT together with it and it becomes something else entirely. It’s got SHAFT’s practically-trademark weird color combinations and camera angles – no small thanks to Shinbo – and it just has this completely different feel compared to any other show out right now.
Bakemonogatari seems to be going for a mini-arc-by-mini-arc presentation, which does provide a little bit of structure to the whole show. Thankfully, the characters don’t seem to just magically vanish after their story’s over.
It’s awfully hard to delve into the story further without going beyond the first episode, so I’ll just leave it at that. A word of caution though – it has a very serious air about it, and probably isn’t what I’d consider slice-of-life or comedy at all.

Taishou Yakyuu Musume

Within the first three and a half minutes or so, you’ve got a girl running around town in a sailor uniform, singing praises about the Taishou era. That… That just made the show for me. That said, it’s about a group of girls… From an all-girls school… Who want to play baseball… In the Taishou era. But I guess it’s kind of obvious!
It definitely gives a feeling of being set around 90 years ago in that era – the music, clothing, architecture, all of it was very Western-influenced. Plus, the sailor uniforms are called Western clothes, rather than the typical school uniform.
How well does it work as a slice of life? Very. It’s incredibly relaxing, and there are sufficient comedic moments to keep the viewer from dozing off from boredom. Some of the vocal talents are pretty big names too, like Nakahara Mai, Noto Mamiko, and Ueda Kana – all of whom also contributed to the OP, which was quite good!
Overall, it’s a great addition to the current lineup of shows this season, which is much more promising than I’d initially expected.