Somehow, this is already the last day of the season where we’re getting multiple new shows on the same day. I suppose there’s also a common thread that both had a certain degree of visual distinctness, coming as they did from strong directorial stock.

Sekai Seifuku is colorful, elaborate, and a show I definitely don’t have the number of yet. It pitched a first episode that makes it seem like comedy will be a much more prominent feature in later weeks, but the atmosphere was a very mixed-flavor creation. I suspect a lot of that has to do with its role of establishing an origin story for the main guy and girl than the fundamental focus of the show from here on out, but who knows. Either way, the cast is a very distinctive bunch, and it bodes well for a comedy when everybody in the core cast has got a quirk to leverage this early on. I’m giving this 3 more episodes; uncertainty aside, I like the cut of Tensai Okamura‘s multiclass jib.

My (comparatively minor) beef with the usually entertaining Akiyuki Shinbo is that, while he’s got a distinct visual style that’s lent itself well to a number of great shows, he doesn’t always bother to adjust that style to situations that require him to approach them with a slightly different tack. Nisekoi was written as a romantic comedy presented like a sketch comedy, right down to the eyecatch-esque cutins every several minutes, and the resulting flow was as choppy as anything else I’ve seen this season. I can understand liking a director for his style, but I want to watch anime where the script and director are on the same page. This one is a drop for me.