(L+CR) Toaru Hikuushi e no Koiuta (The Pilot's Love Song)

[Mangaka-chan]

Not overly impressed by the PV (the J-pop music was a little too "squeaky" for me), but the aerial dog fight scene has some nice animation. I'll wait a bit and see how things go before giving it a shot.

[MisaoFan]

Spoiler for Episode 1:

I wasn't very impressed by the introduction episode, it's not that it was bad, but the presentation of the story feels bland. I also wasn't very attached to the characters (I started to sympathize with the blonde protagonist later in the episode though) and the only one that stand out for me was Clea. She strikes me as the girl that the MC will develop romantic feelings and their interaction, although a bit rushed, feels natural and not loud and somewhat forced like when he bickered against his childhood friend during the dogfight ceremony at the beginning of the episode (that might change my view of them perhaps but for now it feels too ridiculous). Another thing to add is that the white-haired boy might be a potential nemesis and I'm curious to see who he is. Character designs were excellent I admit and the CGI wasn't distracting apart from one flying cruiser (it didn't bother me too much as I'm already desentisized to the CGI in anime). The theme songs are great but not memorable for me and with the way I see the show, I will give a few more episodes to see if it interests me more.

[Dop]

Not bad, but i think the main character's name spoils it.
I keep thinking "You don't need a 'plane to fly, you're Superman!"

[DragoonKain3]

Oh wow, a double childhood friend show from out of nowhere. First we have the daughter of the family he got adopted into, and that's fairly normal though I find the whole imouto/otouto thing kind of enderaring. But then you got the childhood friend turned into mortal enemy with Nina Viento, which IMO is far more interesting due to the mystery surrounding his hatred of her.

Not like it matters, since it looks like Claire would be blowing them out of the water, and especially reinforced by the ED. But is that a face of recognition we see when they first met? So the third potential childhood friend, or am I just trying too hard to think of Claire as another one?

Animation is perplexing though. Kinda weird seeing Claire so flatchested in the OP, but we meet her with giant sized ones. Then the preview (assuming she's the girl whos back we are seeing) we see her flatchested again. Love the airplane fights though, so at least it has that going for it.

So far, it's the best show I've seen of this cour so far.

[Kazu-kun]

This was as generic as I thought. And they were pushing the moe a little too much with Claire hiding behind a tree and her whole shy act. It didn't feel endearing. It felt artificial and manipulative.

Also Kal-el?


Dropped!

[Utsuro no Hako]

Hard to believe this is from the same author and studio as Remembrances of a Certain Pilot. I know we can't expect the animation to be at the same level as a theatrical film, but this was too big a step down, and the story so far ... well, there isn't one. Lots of character introductions with little development, lots of vague exposition, but no real hook. I'll give it a three episode trial in the hope that it improves, but things aren't looking good.

[Kanon]

I love the setting. Airships, airplanes, floating islands. Good stuff. I'll keep watching for that alone. There is not much else to watch it for for now anyway. The characters were barely introduced and we only have a very vague idea of what the story is about.

What's this show's relationship to The princess and the pilot? I know they were written by the same author. Do they take place in the same world or are they completely unrelated?

Originally Posted by DragoonKain3

Oh wow, a double childhood friend show from out of nowhere. First we have the daughter of the family he got adopted into, and that's fairly normal though I find the whole imouto/otouto thing kind of enderaring. But then you got the childhood friend turned into mortal enemy with Nina Viento, which IMO is far more interesting due to the mystery surrounding his hatred of her.

Not like it matters, since it looks like Claire would be blowing them out of the water, and especially reinforced by the ED. But is that a face of recognition we see when they first met? So the third potential childhood friend, or am I just trying too hard to think of Claire as another one?

I couldn't concentrate much because of my giant headache so I might have missed something. Where do you get that Nina and Kal-el (lol) are childhood friends? Obviously, he knows her since he hates her guts, but I didn't get the impression they were ever friendly.

Regarding Claire...

Spoiler for potential spoiler:

I'm pretty sure she and Nina are the same person since they have the same seiyuu. Aoi Yuuki was trying to sound different when voicing Nina but she ain't fooling my ears.

[Kazu-kun]

Originally Posted by Kanon

Do they take place in the same world or are they completely unrelated?

This.

Regarding Claire...

Spoiler for potential spoiler:

I'm pretty sure she and Nina are the same person since they have the same seiyuu. Aoi Yuuki was trying to sound different when voicing Nina but she ain't fooling my ears.

Actually, that's stated in the series' website. lol

[Kaoru Chujo]

The episode was okay. I liked the look of things, and the set-up could work. It was a bit hard for me to grasp what's really going on. And the MC's screaming was a real turn-off.

But Yuuki Aoi was totally outstanding. I've never really enjoyed her Madoka voice, so it's great to hear something (two somethings) rather different from her. The riveting performance as Claire is what I love about her work. She doesn't hold back, and she has a great instrument to work with. When she really does her thing, she dominates the screen. Left me breathless.

I got the impression that Claire might have thanked him for embracing her because she doesn't normally get any human contact. Perhaps her status is too high for people to touch her. Or else she was just being ditzy.

The OP by Petit Milady (Yuuki Aoi and Taketatsu Ayana) was good. And the ED by Akai Kouen ("Red Park") was better.

I'll just mention again that I made a characters/seiyuus page for this show, with pics of the characters and their seiyuuus, and a bit of info about each seiyuu. There are a couple of temporary gaps there. Check sig below for other shows with character/seiyuu pages.

[Haak]

Geez that scene with Claire. I mean how sugary can you get?

That a nice première. The setting is what predictably drew me in but there were enough hints from the characters to make them interesting too and the chemistry is very nice between them, despite the high calorie intake.

I was a bit worried at the beginning though. Having the main character shout a whole slew of cliché lines in the opening scene was one real turn off. It's a good thing the episode turned itself back round.

[ookamigirl]

Well, the summary was better than what I saw in the anime.
Actually, I'm rather disappointed.
This was on my possible watch list, but now... I don't think so.
There is absolutely nothing appealing for me in it.
Dropped it like a hot potato.

[FlareKnight]

Well this episode had a lot going on there. Almost had a near suicide attack on probable religious figure, a pretty comical imouto/otouto argument, and then that crazy stuff with Claire. I mean damn we went from scared/shy to the extreme, to a Titanic like "I can fly" scene, to playing in the water, etc. It's like they said "well we need to get this relationship going so let's just throw a bunch of stuff in one encounter."

I certainly want to keep going. Some strange stuff in there, but could still turn out to be good. A flying series is nice so I'll give them some time to stabilize.

[Theo]

That OP is not promising.

Watch Dumb Kids Do Mundane Things Like Drinking Tea and Talk About Nothing (and Maybe Some Piloting)

[Flower]

Hmm. I found myself really enjoying quite a few things in ep 1, but every once in a while something would come up that seemed "off", perhaps words like rushed or jagged or skittery might hint at it....

Hmm. Maybe the use of minor keys and the odd melody in the ED might be another hint or reference point.

Kinds like a ominous feeling of oncoming sadness and tragedy between Kal and Claire or... hmm... it is hard to put my finger on at the moment.

Definitely the most interesting of the first eps I have seen so far, but I kinda feel it will be a rocky ride....

[Blaat]

So the main character is named after Superman AND Dumbledore? I suppose it's better than Albus Severus.

Honestly though the setting is nice and all but the characters are bland and boring. I'll give it a few more episode to get me interested.

[Kirarakim]

Wow I was thinking of watching this but you guys aren't making me very enthused.

I know I should just form my own opinion but I have enough things to watch so unless I start hearing this show is fantastic think I will skip this one.

[Flower]

Originally Posted by Kirarakim

Wow I was thinking of watching this but you guys aren't making me very enthused.

I know I should just form my own opinion but I have enough things to watch so unless I start hearing this show is fantastic think I will skip this one.

Give it a try. It may be exactly your cup of tea. If not, then "22 minutes lost" or whatever. But it could blow you away and be an unexpected little gem. I think 22 minutes is a worthwhile investment to possibly discover something you may really like.

[HandofFate]

hm, the last 5minutes was pretty embarrassing to watch. "ah...youth...."
That being said, it seems like a series I rather read from a book than watch.

[AC-Phoenix]

Originally Posted by Dop

Not bad, but i think the main character's name spoils it.
I keep thinking "You don't need a 'plane to fly, you're Superman!"

As I thought - I wasn't imaginating them having the same name.
First thing I thought when hearing the entire name was 'kal-El? Is he superman or what?'


And the last sentence of the the anime (shortly before the intro) kinda spoils how it will end

[wandering-dreamer]

Originally Posted by Kirarakim

Wow I was thinking of watching this but you guys aren't making me very enthused.

I know I should just form my own opinion but I have enough things to watch so unless I start hearing this show is fantastic think I will skip this one.

Time to be enthusiastic, I rather liked it! I thought the first episode was well-paced, introduced a good chunk of the main cast rather naturally and showed the viewer a few of the conflicts (although the main one, judging from the summary, hasn't popped up yet), established the setting, and I rather liked the background music as well. I'm worried that they're apparently condensing so many volumes into a single season (I think? Anyone got an episode count yet?) but I'm not going to worry about that yet!