It's the beginning of a new anime season and so thus comes a new wave of first impressions of the series I'll be watching for the next 12 or so weeks. This time I'm going second season crazy, as both the animes I'll be following (I've cut down a little due to Garo and Akibaranger airing at this time too) will be follow ups to shows I've previously watched and enjoyed. First up is a second dose of HP Lovecraft gone moe and tokusatsu references galore, as the Crawling Chaos herself Nyaruko returns for a second season in Haiyore Nyaruko-san W.
If you're unfamiliar with the first season of the show (which didn't have the "W" in the title), there isn't a whole lot you need to know to get into the show. Ordinary high schooler Mahiro has had his life turned upside down by the arrival of three space aliens (all of which were turned into deities in Lovecraft's various works).Vying for his affections is Nyaruko, an otaku shapeshifter who'll stop at nothing to win his love. Meanwhile the fiery Kuuko (based on Cthulu) is head over heels for Nyaruko, and shy boy Hasuta (based on Hastur) also has a thing for Mahiro. His everyday life is filled with space aliens, adventure, craziness, and a slew of pop culture references.
The episode itself is fairly self-contained, with some highschool mishaps followed by an obligatory visit to a maid cafe concluding with a few minutes set up for the next episode. The opening eases new viewers into the show quickly, outlining the premise pretty well without letting up on its own sexually-charged brand of comedy. Xebec haven't skimped on the budget either, with the characters and backdrops as colourful and well-animated as ever.
As for the homages and references, they'll just as plentiful as ever. Kamen Rider fans will be especially pleased as this episode alone features a huge number of homages, from the original series all the way up to the most recent Kamen Rider Wizard...the first few showing up before the episode even hits the five minute mark! There's also plenty of other references, including Lucky Star, Men in Black and probably a whole load of others I didn't catch on first glance.
If this episode is anything to go by Haiyore Nyaruko-san W will be more of the same, but if it ain't broke don't fix it. The plot will most likely be fairly light, but making up for this will be great comedy, fun characters and a ridiculous amount of references/homages/parodies. If you're tempted to give this a try, you'll certainly be in for a fun ride.
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