Anime Rant - Kampfer and C³

Hey guys, Joeker here. This is an article I've wanted to do for a while now, but haven't been sure on a good way to tackle it. Well since we've been very starved of content for months now, I thought I'd give it a try anyway.

Basically, today I want to talk about two anime that seem extremely promising at first, Kampfer and C³ - CubexCursedxCurious. Spoilers ahead.

So, getting straight to the point. From both of these images, you can see these are Harem anime. If you haven't seen Kampfer, then the girl with the blue hair, Senou Natsuru is a male who can turn into a girl.  Harem anime generally are pretty "Eh". They are usually rather mediocre. Both of these anime are based off Light Novels, which aren't known to make the best anime adaptations either. Regardless, lets get on with this.

As both were Harem anime, I had rather..Well, Mid-Ranged expectations for them. Until I watched the first episode of Kampfer was fairly action packed, showcasing Gunslinging and Magic action. While the first episode of C³ was entertaining enough, then followed up by some very good fight scenes in the next couple episodes.

First, I'd like to talk about Kampfer; Since it was much more disappointing to me. Kampfer's first couple episodes showcase some great fights, and are really enjoyable. This became what I had expected to see from the rest of the series. But...it did not deliver. From the third episode on, the fighting became more and more scarce and the series began to concentrate more on the Harem aspect.  This would be fine IF the characters were actually interesting, but none of the characters in this series stand out as well made characters. It just becomes a series filled with nothing but over the top Ecchi.

Not that Ecchi is a bad thing..

I don't have many screencaps for Kampfer, so please bare with me there. Now let me tell you about the plot. There are these girls, and they can become Kampfers. Kampfers have one of two colored bracelets, Blue or Red. Basically, the Blue have to fight the Red. I can't remember why. I'm not even sure if its explained. But thats the basic plot. Oh wait, the basic plot? Nevermind that, it's the ONLY plot we get for more then half of the series. Sure, its a 12 episode series, but ditching your story, your driving force for your series after 2 episodes and leaving it until the series is almost over is unacceptable.

So, as we get to the last few episodes the series villain is revealed and a bunch of other stupid crazy stuff happens that I won't bother going into. They fight against the villain and win. Sorta. I mean, they don't kill them or completely defeat them, but they win that fight. The Villain escapes and thats it for the series

Okay, yeah. Thats fine. Whats my problem with the series you ask? Well, with that, not a whole lot. My only complaint is that it ditched its plot for a lot of Ecchi, I was satisfied with the ending since thats how a lot of anime end, and often get a sequel to make up for that and finally defeat the villian. Boy was I excited when Kampfer fur die Liebe was announced. A two episode OVA series to conclude the series! Wait, hold the phone. A two episode OVA series? So, we had some majorly rushed plot at the end, now we're getting the conclusion rushed? No, that's fine. I can deal. I'm just glad its gonna get a proper conclusion.

Well, thats what I'd thought. The first episode of the OVA was indeed what I had hoped. Them fighting against the villain again. They win again, yay. But just like before, its not a total defeat and the threat still looms. The second OVA is...Just..more Ecchi bullshit. These OVA's didn't conclude the series at all. The Light Novels were already finished, so why couldn't they give the series a PROPER ending? Is the anime fandom in such a bad position that we'd rather just see mindless Ecchi then something with an actual plot or substance to it? Really?  We're at the point where the directors would decide "Okay, instead of finishing this up with an epic fight and having a proper conclusion, lets instead just give them boobs." If you want to get into making manga or anime, watch this series as a "What not to do when you create a series".

Next up is  C³. This one, I actually enjoyed. Its problems are nowhere near as bad as Kampfer, throughout the series it maintains a nice balance between its plot and its ecchi and delivers us actual substance. This one I thought was going to be mostly Ecchi, actually kept up with some pretty cool action scenes in the series, making it a fun ride. But the ending is rushed as anything. 

For example. This character, who's name I cannot remember for the life of me is the same character in the first image of C³ posted in this article, she's the character with glasses and brown hair. During the last couple of episodes, she gains this new appearance and a much more aggressive personality for a few moments. With absolutely no explanation on it. And its never seen again. Okay, so uh. Here's my question. Why? Why employ a concept so late in the series if its never going to be heard of again or at least explained. Or questioned. OR ANYTHING.

They fight against the villain, just like Kampfer they don't completely defeat her, more Villains are revealed. The end. To me, C³ seemed more like it was setting up for a second series. The first series was to introduce the characters, concepts, etc while the second series would handle the plot. But, alas we have not yet received one. C³ could actually be a pretty good series if it were about 24 episodes, but because it has to be so rushed and cut short it couldn't be.

So, this article is a bit. Well, eh. I didn't want to write about these things, but at the same time I wanted to tell people about my problems with these series. I'm not sure if I'll regularly post rants here, but I do have a lot of things I do want to rant about out. 

I really hope we can bring you more content soon guys, again sorry for the lack of it.