Shining Hearts: Shiawase no Pan

[Fumoffu!!]

1:

Think Mashiro iro Symphony but with a fantastical setting, and fantastic animation. That's the best I can describe it right now. I am intrigued though, I have no idea how this one will turn out, but it's caught my eye and I think I may enjoy it.

[Fumoffu!!]

Am I honestly the only one watching this? I think that's a shame really.

2:

There's something that makes this pleasant to watch, the characters who are perfect people, the bright, crisp scenery, the pleasant atmosphere. It looks like the plot will actually start moving episode, and although one could argue this is a tad boring, I think this is actually very good. It's a bit like Aria but with a male lead. This is actually one of the shows I'm enjoying quite a bit.

[SQA]

Am I honestly the only one watching this? I think that's a shame really.

2:

There's something that makes this pleasant to watch, the characters who are perfect people, the bright, crisp scenery, the pleasant atmosphere. It looks like the plot will actually start moving episode, and although one could argue this is a tad boring, I think this is actually very good. It's a bit like Aria but with a male lead. This is actually one of the shows I'm enjoying quite a bit.

Caught ep 1 the other day, haven't watched 2 yet.  I was expecting some Eroge conversion (given the character designs), but it's not.  It's actually more Aria with Bread.  That's a bit of a shock.

[Fumoffu!!]

I'm glad SQA is watching this now, but no more? Seriously? You people...

3:

I figured this would happen, but it is now a different sort of show than Aria. It's now gone more into the fantastical, and with enemies as well. I have mixed feelings about this, it was a great Aria-type show, but they've now introduced conflict. However, there is now a mystery, and a potential story, and I believe that the show will pull it off well.

I think this is in the top 5 shows this season. There, I said it.

[SQA]

It's based directly off a RPG, where bread making is important.  I've watched episode 2, and it would be an interesting world for slice of life action.  This also should be completely devoid of any romance, interestingly enough.

[SQA]

3:

Well, this is a HARD series to shift.  The problem I really have is the character designs.  If you've been around anime long enough, you know who Tony Taka is.  Especially consider one of his H-game characters ended up being in an oddly popular Hentai OVA.  Well, Tony really only has 1 face (a point I saw someone else make, but it's a really good one) and he does it really well.  But this isn't an h-series nor even will there be any romance.   This is a RPG conversion.  Right down to Dwarves, Elves, Pirates, Hatsune Miko-based Mechas with Super Weapons and bread making.  Yes, Bread making.  Oh, and super-powered Idols that might be powered mechas. 

Seriously, give this one a roll when you have time.  Not all of the story is baked in, but it's a solid slice of anime.  Or it's just a burnt biscuit hiding itself for the time being.

[Fumoffu!!]

5:

What a strange mix. I get the feeling there is some plot gradually building, yet almost half way through, we've just been introduced to two new characters, and next episode we'll be introduced to more.

The two this episode were a loli tsundere ice cream making witch and her familiar. Anyone wanna try and guess the voice for the little tsundere? It's only just now I realize how much her description sounds like Louise from ZnT, but that's because she's actually quite different, both visually and characteristically. Melty do Granite (what a name) is more dere, and her tsun seems to come from embarrassment. I actually found her quite cute, which is odd considering I'm not usually fond of tsunderes. What a character design though, love that massive hat.

This show is so soppy and over the top, but I love it so, it just makes me happy watching it. The ED makes me smile.... it's like that warm feeling from watching Aria and Usagi Drop... I feel cleansed.

[SQA]

It's a series about bread making.  There just happens to be Chinese cat girls, "look like adults" female trio that are all really hot, super-powered Idols with death rays, dwarves with 3% body fat, loli black witches with ice cream fetishes, elves and bread delivery.   And it's pretty much PG rated.  The most "service" we've gotten was two girls in bikinis... since they were reef diving.

This, Acchi Kocchi and Tsuritama are just enjoyable to be enjoyable, at least for the moment.

[Fumoffu!!]

7:

I had an idea of how this episode would turn out, Rick would go to Xiao-Mei's with an agenda, Mei would show Rick what she's done with the money, and all would be happy.

I was wrong.

That exchange was surprising, it's the first time these perfect characters have lost face and got angry at one another. Rick's also having an identity issue, which I would never have thought would occur in a series as light as this. The conflict could have been done better, but it wasn't too bad.

I look forward to the coming episodes, the world setting has always intrigued and confused me, there's no electricity anywhere, but then we have the mecha woman and this:



Big ship isn't it? Also looks like it has modern gun turrets, so I'm starting to think that island is shut off in the past or something, but I see so many flaws with that idea that I don't think it can be true. One things for sure, from this episode on it#s getting a whole lot more serious.

[SQA]

I'm of the opinion it's more like Purgatory.  Solid answer for a lot of the wackiness.

In many ways the series has had a consistent dark undertone to aspects of it.  It's pretty "frothy" storytelling wise, with a lot of time spent just delivering bread..  But it's actually done for a reason.  All of them are world or character building exercises.  Pretty much none of them have been anything but that.  There's a hint of Miyazaki-style in that approach.  (A hint)   It's definitely one of those very interesting takes on storytelling.  The series actually has averted nearly every trope it has setup.  None of the girls are air-heads.  There's only been 1 that's even clumsy.  Everyone works.  There's 0 romance.  (Well, we got a bishounen Prince, that's about the closest we've gotten)  The world is exotic & fantasy, but it feels like the characters actually live and interact with it. 

Actually, the only thing that really makes this series feel terribly odd is the complete lack of Romance.  It feels like everyone is on saltpeter.  In some ways that actually massively improves the series, but it still feels weird all of the time.  Oh, and there's a Nuke-laser-weilding Death robot-girl hanging in a workshop.  Did I say the only thing?

[Fumoffu!!]

8:

You know what? This all feels like a massive prologue. We have an episode that introduces some new characters, a few that deal with the world setting, and a little bit of plot on the side that feels like it's building up to something. That's the thing, we see things like the cat burglar and the mecha, but you feel most of the story is happening off screen, and everything that happens is just the build up to the main plot. Indeed this is probably the case, and whilst I don't mind too much, I can't help but fear that when the series is over I'll feel very empty, even more so than the recent Inu X Boku, in that you wish you could see where it all goes.

All the characters are likable, and this is enjoyable to watch, though I feel sorry for all the suckers who watched this expecting action, adventure and/or a riveting plot.

[Fumoffu!!]

9:

This show continues to bemuse me. A golem randomly made a brief appearance, and the next episode is called "A messenger from a parallel universe". I get the feeling like shit's starting to happen, especially since Hank and Mei are about to be arrested, well there will be attempts anyway....

You know, I actually feel they've done this show strangely well. It feels incredibly like the sort of game it as based off, the music, plot progression and events all occur like the would in a video game. Is this even a good thing? Well, I think it is, because it is actually good. If it was gamelike but consequently wasn't brilliant, then that'd obviously be bad, but that's not the case here. The one regret I have is that there are so many characters that i'd be very happy to have expansion on, but so little time. I get the feeling this was definitely based off the prologue of the game, because it just feels that way, and it's only now that the main plot is starting to show.

The music is also very game like, and the animation is absolutely fantastic. I don't remember seeing the quality drop significantly at any point. It's beautiful, and I've never seen food animated better.

[SQA]

This series also has caused me several trips to the local bakery at weird times.  It's been good business for them, haha.

[Fumoffu!!]

10:

If anyone says that they saw this coming after seeing the first 5 episodes then they are the biggest bullshitter ever (unless they've played the game). It's all so complex now, I can hardly see any of the series a mere 5 episodes ago that dealt with such innocent and naive slice of life. There's the obvious conflict, massive sci-fi elements like the things from another world, Rick's internal crisis, characters conflicting with one another, and an actual threat to the town.

There are 2 episodes to wrap this up, and they will be crucial as to how good the series is. I mean the ending is usally important, but if they don't do it well here, then the entire second half of the show will be completely useless, and to say it'll leave a bitter after taste would be an understatement. What I do like is that I have no clue as to how this will turn out, but at the same time that means I'm incredibly anxious as to whether or not it'll turn out well.

[SQA]

Well, ep 3 had our Hatsune Miko stand-in nuke a ship with a laser.  So, some of these things aren't completely unexpected.  Still, it was a really open question what was going on.

Which is that this is actually something of a Hub Dimension.  That's the reason for all of the amnesiacs showing up and the weirdly random technologies.  Makes sense, even if this is still a series about Bread Making.  I foresee that being how it ends, as well!