First Date: 11eyes

Vital Stats:

Title: 11eyes
Studio: Doga Kobo
Licensor: Crunchyroll
Director: Masami Shimoda
Based On: Eroge of the same name
 

The Story

  
 
 

The Review

 First off, let me just say: by the end of the episode, I wanted Yuka-chan to get eaten by one of those blobs. She's one of those characters who is nothing but nice and cute, which might be fun in the real world, but can make for a rather grating character...it was especially all her damn giggling that set me off. I really hope the hot redhead who appears in the episode but doesn't really do anything winds up being the real love interest.
 
Let me also note that I noticed several spots throughout the episode where, with my limited knowledge of Japanese, I could tell that the subtitles were significantly different than the literal translation of what was being said. Mostly these subs were aimed at the true implication rather than the literal meaning, which is fine, but in one case it seemed a bit sloppy, if totally minor (one of the characters says "Otou-san! Okaa-san!" and it gets translated as "Mom! Dad!" when it should be the reverse).
 
Getting past these issues, though, you've got a solid setup for a sort of supernatural fighting/mystery sort of show. The character design on some of these kids is great, and I particularly find myself liking Kakeru's design, although I'm not so sure I like him. In fact, I think the only character I really found myself "liking" was Yuka's female friend, who is paired with a pervy guy and gets to beat him mercilessly. That was fun.
 
There are some very random moments in the show, most notably when all of a sudden Kakeru turns to his life-long best friend and asks her why she's "always" carrying a particular penguin-shaped pouch, which (as far as I could tell) never appeared in a single frame prior to that moment. She shows him the toy, which can be squeezed such that a fish comes out of the penguin's mouth, like he's regurgitating to feed his young, I guess. The scene then moves on elsewhere. I don't know if the penguin purse plays a greater role later or if it was just a blatant attempt to market what will most assuredly become a real product, but it was still a very odd moment.
 
The first episode did a pretty good job of introducing the characters, although if you've ever watched a romantic comedy, moe, and/or harem anime, you're already pretty familiar with who these people are-- it's just a matter of introducing their situations, now. And actually, most of them are still a mystery.  Hopefully the characters will grow out of their simplified-for-pacing's-sake first-episode selves into something with a touch more depth, but we'll see how it goes. 
 
Voice-acting, as always, is solid, except perhaps for Yuka's annoying-ness. They try a couple of funny tricks with the visuals-- in two spots you see the frame(s) go into sort of frozen panels, almost like a comic. I'm not sure yet whether I like it or not, but it was kind of interesting, so we'll see if they keep playing with it. The OP and ED were so-so (the OP for the game is soooo superior), and the animation quality is also very middling.
 
So, to sum up: if moe and drama is your thing, you've got a potential hit here. There's also some potential, I think, for those who want supernatural mystery and/or fighting.
 

Ratings (of 5):

Story: ♥♥♥
Animation: ♥♥½
Characters: ♥♥½
OP/ED Themes: ♥♥½

Overall: ♥♥½ 
 

If, Then, But

If you like these shows, you might like 11eyes.
- Fate/Stay Night (but even moe-er)
- Rental Magica (but slightly darker)
- Night Wizard (but moe-er AND darker!)

Release Info:

Released: October 14th, 2009
Length: Ongoing; unknown
Features:
- English subtitles 
- Simulcast-- watch here (Anime Members-only until one week from release date)