Crunchyroll roll of the dice!

So i don't know how many of you subscribe to Crunchyroll, but I've been a member for nearly a year now and yesterday i noticed for the first time that they installed a new button! It's a dice icon at the top of the screen beside the link to your watchlist. When you click the dice it takes you to a random video - either the first in a series you've never seen or the next in one you're currently watching.

I think it's a great idea!! with so many anime out it's all to easy to stick to what you know and miss something epic along the way. So with the spirit of adventure in mind, i did it! i rolled the dice not once, not twice but three times and watched three anime that i had never considered before. So i thought I'd share with you whether it was time well spent or time i could have been wasting somewhere else.

So the first roll of the dice led me to the first episode of 'Kano Aozora ni Yakusoku wo' (The promise made over the blue sky).

Now I'll admit i went into watching this anime with the feeling that i wouldn't like it (that's not to say i wasn't hoping to have it change my mind!). The show was made in 2007 and is based on an adult visual novel where the male character gets to know the harem of female leads and eventually picks one to date etc. Though the series lacks some of the adult content of the game it does contain a lot of ecchi and eroge moments.
My initial response was that the animation lacked anything new or exciting, the first episode is very slow moving and although it is a slice of life show it just doesn't have any real drama or at least nothing complicated. The main characters live on an island that will be evacuated in one year and the friends will have to part as such a new transfer student refuses to get to make friends in case she is hurt when the move happens. The male protagonist 'Wataru' spends the season trying to change her mind whilst weaving romantic entanglements with all the female characters.
It's not a bad anime as such, it just doesn't engage the viewer, the characters are typical for a visual novel and cover your usual spectrum from shy to tsundere but none of them are memorable. Sorry it just wasn't for me and i won't see anymore of it. To sum up it's one to skip unless ecchi really floats your boat and then i would suggest fast forwarding to the best bits. 1/5

The second roll of the dice took me to a show I'd seen mentioned all over the place but not got round to trying.
It's called Free! Iwatobi swim club.

Again i wasn't over excited at the selection and was tempted to dismiss it as half an hour of bishonen eye candy. However i was impressed by the opening sequence and a catchy tune and some good graphics always give me the feeling that things will go well.
The show was out in 2013 and is directed by Hiroko Utsumi (who also worked on Clannad and K-on). Though a slice of life show about a swim club doesn't sound like a gripping idea for an anime somehow it does work. There are two things that help it pull away from being another moe anime, the first is the animation - some of the underwater shots are both mesmerising and beautiful, secondly the soundtrack - full of fast paced rock and pop. The first episode is well paced and the intrigue of the background story of the club and it's members helps to move it along. The way in which the race scenes are handled really help with the whole vibe - with music and snazzy graphics helping to make them exciting to watch.
Will i watch it again? I'm not sure, yes it's cute, a bit intriguing and visually appealing but I'm not sure it has enough substance to keep my attention. I think I'll reserve judgement till I've watched a couple more episodes so for now I'll say give it a chance and see what you think. 3/5

Lastly we get to a wtf moment in crunchyroll viewing!! my last roll took me to a show that i had never heard of and well..... judge for yourself!
It's called Bottom biting bug.

Each episode lasts only five minutes and the show was made in 2013. Shockingly! the anime is directed by Kojima, Mosayuki (who made 'monster' and 'black bullet'). It is based upon a children's song called 'Oshiri Kajiri Mushi' that made it to the top ten in Japan back in 2007. The anime is about a family of insects that set up a shop for biting people in the bum. The show has a basic animation style and is aimed at young children. I can only assume that the biting people in the bum is the equivalent of what we term 'giving people a kick in the backside' to get them moving. I definitely think you should watch it if anything simply to remind ourselves that their is anime outside of the moe influx of late. As for a rating i have no idea where to start - fine for five minutes but would i watch more? probably not.

What do you think of the above animes? are they something you would watch? did i get it wrong in my verdict? will you check any of them out? Let me know in the comments or drop me a line. Remember you can find my page on facebook or twitter via the links on  the right.