Project NewType #1: 隠の王 Nabari no Ou
26 episodes
J.C.STAFF

- Original work medium: manga

I read the original manga quite a long time ago but didn't get very far before forgetting about it. I already forgot everything by the time I saw the anime it was basically a brand new show to me. The original manga is still ongoing. I might pick it up again when I have time.

- Highlights: art, music, seiyuu, partial story

The art is rendered in a very smoothing water colour style, and the colour palette is mainly consisted of soft hues of various shades of green and blue and some grey. It suits the show well considering the characters' personalities and that shinobi are supposedly one with nature. The animation is done by J.C.STAFF, so the quality is pretty persistent throughout.

Music is composed by Ooshima Michiru. I have yet to be able to recognize her music style, but I like a lot of her works. The main theme starts off peaceful and progresses to a sense of determination, which is very fitting.

The OP by VELTPUNCH is not bad. My first time listening to the group. ELISA's HIKARI is a really beautiful song, as expected from ELISA.

The story background is somewhat unique in that it's shinobi in modern settings. Rather than just being a shinobi, many of them also hold position and status in the society.

- Notable seiyuu: Kugimiya Rie, Namikawa Daisuke, Saiga Mitsuki, Hino Satoshi, Fujimura Ayumi, Suwabe Junichi, Nakata Jyouji, Okiayu Ryuutarou, Yukino Satsuki, Kakihara Tetsuya, Kawakami Tomoko, Fujiwara Keiji, Mitsuishi Kotono, Tamura Yukari

The seiyuu is on the really heavy side for me so I'll just mention two here. This is my first time hearing Kugimiya Rie acting as a young boy (Alphonse speaks in a metallic accent so doesn't quite fully count) and I was impressed by her acting once again. Namikawa Daisuke speaks in a lower tone than most of his other roles so it's a nice to hear him as a grown man. XD

- Favourite character(s): N/A

Didn't really feel for any of the characters. I blame it on the lack of character development in the anime.

- Couples supported: N/A

I'm not aware of another official couple beside Kumohira and Seki, but I don't really feel anything for them. At one point, I was hoping to see some Kouichi x Raimei but it never happened...

- Buying guide: not interested

The story is all right and can be slow at times. I think I watched it mostly for the seiyuu and the art. If you want to see some shinobi action with flying shuriken and kunai, Naruto might be a better choice.

---

Finally dived in and started on the anime project I mentioned before. As in the early stage of Project Soramimi, this is still in prototype so the format and content might change. I've decided to name it Project NewType because NewType is known for its comprehensive coverage on anime. While my little pet project will be far from being comprehensive like the magazine, I just want to briefly document my own take on the shows.