One of the great resources in anime fandom of late has been this guy. His charts have become almost indispensable when trying to figure out what to watch in the upcoming anime seasons. Recently, he’s started to compile these charts for previous years and the information that can be gleaned from these charts are extremely interesting and a real eye opener.

Last year, 2008, was the first year of this blog and as a result I watched many shows I probably won’t have otherwise and tried to make sure that I discovered all the “good” anime of a season so I could help other people discover these anime shows. So one of the first things I wanted to figure out was how much of the 2008 anime did I watch in the end.

Percentage of Shows Watched

This is the chart in question that I’m using; you can find it and more here. It lists 130 total anime shows that begun airing in 2008 and looking over these shows I realize there is a handful of shows that are aimed at very young viewers and these shows are never fansubbed, talked about, or licensed so the first step I’m going to do is remove these shows from consideration. I then tabulated how many shows I’ve watched, dropped and completed and I’ll summarize them here.

• 114 total shows (19 from Winter 07/08, 34 from Spring 08, 21 from Summer 08, 37 from Fall 08, 3 from Winter 08/09)
• 50 shows watched (5, 15, 9, 18, 3)
• 19 shows dropped (0, 9, 3, 5, 2)
• 31 shows completed (5, 6, 6, 13, 1)

I should note that the Winter 07/08 season was a season that I essentially took off. I needed the break and the only new show I watched that season while it was airing was Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei s.2. Yes, It is strange that I decided to start a blog during a season I wasn’t actively watching but that just how I like to do things. Because of this, the only shows I watched from this season where ones that I really wanted to see at a later time. This skews some of the results I’ll highlight below.

• Overall watched percentage by season – 26.3% of Winter 07/08, 44.1% of Spring 08, 42.9% of Summer 08, 48.7% of Autumn 08, 100% of Winter 08/09
• Overall watched percentage of 2008 – 43.8%
• Percentage of watched shows that were dropped by season – 0.0%, 60.0%, 33.3%, 28.8%, 66.7%)
• Percentage of watched shows that were dropped in 2008 – 38.0%

While going over the list of shows, I’ve noted that there were a few shows that I still have some interest in catching and could see myself watching at some point in the future, time willing.

• Possible unwatched shows that may be watched in the future by season – 2 from Winter 07/08, 2 from Spring 08, 0 from Summer 08, 4 from Fall 08, 0 from Winter 08/09
• Total unwatched but still interested in shows for 2008 – 8
• 2008 Total of shows watched and possible shows watched in the future – 58 or 50.9% of all 2008 anime shows

This leaves 49.1% of the entire 2008 year of shows as shows that I have not watched nor am I interested in doing so. Just looking at the raw number, it seems like I’m leaving a huge percentage of shows unwatched but looking over the shows the I’ve missed – I don’t think I’m missing much. I wonder how this compares to other anime fans.

Excellent Shows and Strong Seasons

Next, I compiled a list of shows that I consider being the best of 2008 – the titles that I would recommend to other people and would be worthy series to own on DVDs, if possible. I was curious to see how these shows were distributed and if the general thinking about the spring and fall seasons being the strong seasons seemed justified.

• Excellent shows from Winter 07/08 – Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei S.2 and Spice & Wolf – (2)
• Excellent shows from Spring 08 – Wagaya no Oinarisama, Library Wars, Kaiba, Soul Eater, Kurenai (5)
• Excellent shows from Summer 08 – Natsume Yuujin-chou, Birdy the Mighty Decode, Somedays Dreamer’s S.2, Ryouko’s Case Files (4)
• Excellent shows from Fall 08 – Toradora, Clannad S.2, Shikabane Hime:Aka, Ga-Rei:Zero, Mouryou Hako, Kurozuka, Michiko to Hatchin (7)
• Excellents shows from 2008 – 18

Looking at the pure number totals, it appears that the fall season was the strongest season and that’s definitely on way to look at it but I wanted to see it from another perspective.

• Percentage of overall shows that were excellent by season – 10.5% of Winter 07/08, 14.7% of Spring 08, 19.1% of Summer 08, 18.9% of Autumn 08, 0% of Winter 08/09
• Percentage of overall shows that were excellent for 2008 – 15.8%
• Percentage of watched shows that were excellent by season – 40.0%, 33.3%, 44.4%, 38.9%, 0.0%
• Percentage of watched shows that were excellent for 2008 – 36.0%

Looking at the number of excellent shows in the context of the rest of the season shows, it turns out that the Summer season squeaks in front of the fall season as having the highest percentage of excellent shows. If the saying about how only 10% of anything is worth fighting for and the rest is garbage then one can’t complain about the quality of anime from 2008 since it beat that by a bit.

Why It’s Hard To Be a Fan of Anime Without Resorting to Fansubs

I want to say up front that I’m not writing this to defend fansubs per se nor am I trying to pick a fight – it’s been my observation for a while that oftentimes when an anime is announced as being licensed, I’m disappointed because it’s not one that I felt deserved to get licensed and I want to see if this observation is backed up by the data.

The first thing that needed done was to compile a list of what shows where licensed from 2008. I started with the list that animesuki keeps of shows that are licensed and thus they no longer list and then I checked out the various licensing articles from anime news network and finally I checked crunchyroll. I might have missed a couple but they won’t be enough to change the conclusions that I discovered. Onto some data.

• Total number of anime shows licensed from 2008 – 32
• Total number of licensed shows that I watched from 2008 – 13
• Total number of licensed shows that I completed from 2008 – 9
• Total number of licensed shows that I consider excellent shows from 2008 – 5
• Total number of excellent licensed shows that will come out on DVD – 3
• Total number of excellent licensed shows that will be dubbed on DVD – 2

I’ll note here that of the 19 licensed shows that I have not watched, none are on my list of shows that I might be interested in watching so those figures are final. Without running the exact numbers it’s pretty apparent what can be concluded but let’s run the numbers for completeness sake.

• Percentage of total anime shows that were licensed from 2008 – 28.1%
• Percentage of total anime shows that were not licensed from 2008 – 71.9%
• Percentage of licensed shows that I watched – 40.6%
• Percentage of licensed shows that I completed – 28.1%
• Percentage of licensed shows that I consider excellent – 15.6%
• Percentage of excellent licensed shows that will be released on DVD – 9.4%
• Percentage of excellent licensed shows that will be dubbed and released on DVD – 6.25%

The one glaring conclusion that I have to conclude is that the “anime fan” that the North American companies are going after is not me. If they were, I’d expect to see almost all of my excellent shows as having been licensed. (Afterall they should be picking the best titles to maximize the number of DVDs bought.) That’s not the case, though, and looking over the shows that did get licensed I find a lot of shounen/fighting shows, fan-service shows, and shoujo shows. I can’t help but feel that one of the results of a licensing pattern like this is that once an anime fan has been sated with enough shounen, fan-service, and/or shoujo shows that these fans discover they are no longer anime fans because anime has become either too childish or repetitive.

The reason I took the category down to excellent licensed shows that will dubbed and put on DVD even when I’m not the biggest dub fan is because there’s a segment of anime fandom that are people who like anime but don’t want to read subtitles and also want to watch on a TV. My one sister is like this and in the end she buys almost exclusively manga because she can find so little anime that interests her. When I was starting up my blog she told me that she’d read my site to find shows to buy but she quickly realized that this was not possible. I don’t blame her, of all the shows that I’ve watched and blogged about in 2008 there is a total of two shows – Soul Eater and Spice & Wolf that I could possibly recommend to her to buy and I don’t think she’d like Soul Eater. That leaves Spice & Wolf as the only anime out of the 114 anime that started airing in Japan during 2008 that I could recommend her to buy.

I feel like I should repeat that; for the entire 2008 year of anime, there is only one anime that I could recommend to my sister as being good enough that it’s worth buying on DVD. And these companies complain about the fans – maybe it’s not the fan’s fault.

I realize that 2009 saw a large increase of shows getting quasi-licensed on crunchyroll so by now it’s possible that my title about having to almost having to resort to fansubs may not hold as much water but I’ll leave that to a follow-up article in the future to see how the numbers work out. I want to hold off for a while to see how many of the 2009 shows get physically licensed and which ones will get dubs. Also left for a later article is my thoughts on how exactly to get the North American anime scene going in the right direction; here’s a hint, I don’t think there will be many people who will become fans of anime from having crunchyroll stream subtitled anime.

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As an aside, if you happen to be looking to buy a good anime series on DVD (maybe for a Christmas present) and want a quality show that will get rewatched more than once, let me point out that Bamboo Blade is coming out soon. And there’s Spice & Wolf as well but it’s coming out the week of Christmas.

Posted in anime, anime rants/views

There goes that New Year’s resolution for The Null Set – no more missing a week and having to do a biweekly anime review. On the plus side, I should have plenty to talk about.

As a total aside, as I’m typing this up I wonder if other people have specific music they listen to when they have to write. For myself, I’m listening to a 44 track playlist of my favorite Weird Al Yankovic songs right now – I found that I write faster and better when I’m listening to him.

The scores:
Munto TV, episode 2 – 10/12 A
Munto TV, episode 3 – 10/12 A

Soul Eater, episode 41 – 12/12
Soul Eater, episode 42 – 10/12 A
Soul Eater, episode 43 – 11/12 A+

To Aru Majutsu no Index, episode 16 – 12/12
To Aru Majutsu no Index, episode 17 – 10/12 A
To Aru Majutsu no Index, episode 18 – 11/12 A+

Chrome Shelled Regios, episode 3 – 8/12 B+
Chrome Shelled Regios, episode 4 – 9/12 A-
Chrome Shelled Regios, episode 5 – 9/12 A-

Birdy the Mighty Decode 2, episode 2 – 12+/12
Birdy the Mighty Decode 2, episode 3 – 12+/12

Rideback, episode 3 – 11/12 A+

Xam’D: Lost Memories, episode 25 – 11/12 A+
Xam’D: Lost Memories, episode 26 – 12+/12 (end)

Minami-Ke: Okaeri, episode 4 – 11/12 A+
Minami-Ke: Okaeri, episode 5 – 11/12 A+

Maria+Holic, episode 4 – 9/12 A-
Maria+Holic, episode 5 – 11/12 A+

Asu no Yoichi, episode 4 – 11/12 A+
Asu no Yoichi, episode 5 – 10/12 A

Sora o Kakeru Shoujo, episode 3 – 10/12 A
Sora o Kakeru Shoujo, episode 4 – 10/12 A
Sora o Kakeru Shoujo, episode 5 – 9/12 A-

Michiko to Hatchin, episode 14 – 12/12

Clannad S.2, episode 16 – 12+++/12
Clannad S.2, episode 17 – 12++/12

Toradora!, episode 17 – 12+/12
Toradora!, episode 18 – 12++/12

Zoku Natsume Yuujinchou, episode 4 – 12+/12

Shikabane Hime: Kuro, episode 3 – 10/12 A

(previously reviewed)

Hetalia Axis Powers, episode 1 – 10/12 A
Hetalia Axis Powers, episode 2 – 10/12 A
A Tale of Genji, episode 1 – 10/12 A
Kemono no Soja Erin, episode 1 – 9/12 A-
Kemono no Soja Erin, episode 2 – 9/12 A-

Which shows have momentum this week
Up – Birdy the Mighty Decode 2 – The second season of Birdy received a big level-up
Down – none

Thoughts and Highlights

I just mentioned Birdy the Mighty Decode 2 in my winter impressions meta post but I didn’t really go into details because I knew I would talk about the show here as well. I complained in my review of the first season that the ending was a cop out because it allowed a complete reboot for the second season. Turns out I was wrong. The story logically picks up where the first season ends and even the new characters of the second season were impacted by the events of the first season. Also praiseworthy is how the show doesn’t reset the world, all the buildings that where destroyed in the first season are still destroyed. The characters, especially Birdy and Senekawa, come off as more realistic this season and much more likable. And speaking of realistic or maybe a better word is unflinching, the action scenes have been really good and haven’t shied away from showing blood. In episode 4, we watch one character rip the arms off an alien disguised as a human kid who was connected with the group that killed his father. All without any sort of censoring. It wasn’t gratuitous because it fit the circumstances but I can’t imagine seeing a similar scene done on American TV.

The best episode of the biweekly period came from Clannad Season 2, episode 16. The dastardly duo of Key and Kyoto Animation, bent on world domination, strike again with quite possibly the saddest episode of anime I’ve ever seen. I’ve been trying to prepare myself since early in the first season when I accidentally read some spoils but it didn’t help and probably made it worse. The scary thing that I realized as I watched this scene is that Kyoto Animation is still improving it’s ability to turn the viewers into weeping lumps of blubber. Of special note was Yuuichi Nakamura for his vocal work as Tomoya. He really sounded like someone very important to him was dying in front of him. The only consolation I took from this episode is that the show probably won’t get any sadder.

Not nearly as sad but still motoring along at it’s own epic pace is Toradora!. At some point this show should stop surprising me but even after 18 episodes, it still amazes me. For example, we had plenty of signs that pointed to an eventual Minorin emotional meltdown beforehand but it’s still unsettling to see Minorin fall apart like she is. Also a surprise was Taiga’s love of Christmas and how positively infectious it is. It gets me in the correct state of mind for my family’s “Christmas in February” celebration coming up. I also like how some of the bit characters are getting some air time finally; it probably only makes sense as Taiga and Ryuuji have become accepted by their classmates as normal people and not as scary monsters.

Going back to Clannad Season 2, episode 17. Kyoto Animation is really good at details and slipping stuff in the show without us realizing it. It’s pretty obvious that Tomoya hasn’t been feeling up to keeping the apartment clean but the most telling evidence of his long-term mental state is the 3 flower pots on the back porch. They where something that Nagisa added to the apartment when she moved in. In episode 17 I was surprised to see they were still there 5 years later but then I realized all they contained was long dead remnants of some type of flower, probably from the flowers that Nagisa planted. On a lighter note, Ushio is just about the cutest person I’ve seen in anime. I’m positive that she’ll fix Tomoya because he’s still not a bad person like his dad but needs to realize that he disrespects Nagisa and her wishes by thinking that he should never have met her. And the way KyoAni ended this episode revealed to us that we’ve been looking at Ushio at the beginning of the ending this whole time and not Nagisa like everyone thought.

And now for some shorter thoughts:

• When I try to objectively look at Munto TV, I can’t help but pick it apart. For example, to much stuff is being crammed into the show and it’s not making a lot of sense. This is being balanced so far by how the show makes me feel. I hope as the show gets further along, the storytelling aspect improves.
• I realized while watching this group of episodes from To Aru Majutsu no Index that there’s totally going to be a second season. And as the show gets further, I start asking myself even more, why is Index even in this show and why did he have to lose is memory. I don’t see the point one way or the other.
• On second seasons – so far with Rideback, it’s being paced awful slow for just a 13 episode show – I wonder if they’re planning on doing a second season.
• I have to thank Zoku Natsume Yuujinchou, episode 4. I watched it right after watching Clannad 16 and it’s combination of a super-cute spirit and happy ending made me feel better.
• The fanservice continues with Shikabane Hime: Kuro but at least the story is improving.
• And finally, I was a bit disappointed with the ending of Xam’D: Lost Memories; it was very good but I couldn’t help but think they could have done better. I hope I won’t be saying the same thing about Soul Eater. I know it’s tough to figure out an ending for a show that continues like Soul Eater without violating the continuity of the source material but it should be possible.

Posted in anime, weekly anime review

The first season of Birdy was one of the highlights of the summer. It wasn’t perfect but it did an excellent job in developing the story and it’s animation was above average bordering on great. I’m hoping that A-1 Pictures received a little more money to do this season because that might be all they need to make this one of the hits of the more crowded winter season.

Rating: 11/12 A+

From the first season, Birdy is an intergalactic police officer sent to Earth. She has the technology to change her appearance so she created a cover identity named Shion and worked as a model. She was on the hunt for the aliens that brought an object called the Runka to Earth so they could test it’s world destroying capabilities. During her investigation she accidentally kills a high school student, Senkawa, and as a result has to have Senkawa’s consciousness share Birdy’s body until they can grow him a new body. Now at the start of the second season, Senkawa and Birdy still have to share a single body and Birdy is put on a new case involving other criminals tied to the Runka.

I was really surprised by how good this episode was.

There was several things done in this episode that seemed to signal that this season will improve upon the last. The emphasis on Birdy’s past in the OP/ED and in episode along with her meeting a friend from when she was little was a welcome addition because character development was one of the weaker aspects of the first season. Also good to see was Shion making an appearance in this episode because Shion wasn’t in the first season enough. And finally, Senkawa seemed more like a real person this episode because we actually saw him act and react as you’d expect him. I felt bad for Senkawa when he looked shell-shocked from remembering the events of the first season but I also love it because he should have been deeply affected with what happened.

The animation of this episode was very good, actually one of the best efforts of the season. Hopefully, it can continue but it will probably follow what happened with the first season – looked really good at the beginning and ending episodes but only okay in the middle. The other parts of the show like voice acting and music seem to match the first season in terms of quality.

If you’re looking for a good title to watch for this season and haven’t tried Birdy, I’d definitely recommend giving this show a chance. Even if you haven’t watched the first season, I think it’s definitely possible to watch the second season. Of course, the first season was a good season itself, and definitely worth you’re time.

Posted in anime, first impressions      

I figure it’s appropriate to start writing this on Turkey Day. Physically, I’m stuffed and yet I’m trying to figure out a way to have another piece of my Mom’s apple pie – it’s simply impossible to make a better pie crust then hers. Mentally, I’m stuffed from the huge number of great fall anime shows and yet I can’t help but get excited over the new season.

My criteria for picking shows is the same as last time. I’m looking for which animation house is doing it, if the summary/source material sound very enticing and if one of my favorite seiyuus will be involved.

The safest bets of the season are the sequels; so let’s start with them.

Zoku Natsume Yuujin-Chou

AKA: Natsume Season 2 or Natsume’s Book of Friends 2

Studio: Brains Base – Kamichu, Kurenai, Baccano
Official Site

The first season of this supernatural slice-of-life show aired during Summer 2008 and was the best show of the season. During that season we were introduced to Natsume who can see spirits, like his grandma. With his grandma’s passing, he receives her Book of Friends which contains the names of all the spirits she subjugated during her life. Having the names means that one can control that spirit so this book has great power. Invariably, he begins to meet spirits that want their names back, want the book, or just want his help because they can talk to him.

If you are looking for a show with great characters, a relaxing feel, and a story that can warm the heart and make you laugh a bit – there’s no surer bet then this show for this season.

Minami-ke: Okaeri

AKA: Minami-ke Season 3

Studio: Asread
Seiyuu: Marina Inoue, Minori Chihara, Rina Satou
Director: Kei Oikawa - appears to be his first time directing
Offical Website

The second surest bet for this season is the third season of the comedy Minami-ke. This show follows the lives of the three Minami sisters, who live together in one apartment, and their interactions with their friends. The oldest sister is in high school and acts as the mom, the middle sister is in middle school and acts like a typical middle child, and the youngest is in elementary school and hates dumb people. The first season was one of the funniest and well-done comedies I have ever seen. A different studio, Asread, was put in charge of the second season and while it was still a very funny show, it wasn’t as good.

I think the same conclusion was reached over in Japan because while Asread is animating the third season, Studio Doumu (behind the first season) is in charge of production. The thought of getting more of the traptastic Maka-chan, Hosaka and his fantasies, Fujioka and his quest to get Kana to like him, and the Minami sisters makes me almost giddy in anticipation.

Birdy the Mighty Decode:02

AKA: Birdy Season 2

Studio: A-1 Pictures Inc. – Kannagi
Official Website

Another sequel of a Summer 2008 show. In the first season we meet Senekawa, your typical high school student, who likes to explore abandoned buildings. This hobby brings him trouble when an intergalactic police agent, Birdy, accidentally kills him. Luckily for Senekawa, Birdy’s civilization has a means to regrow a copy of his body; so, while that’s being done Senekawa’s mind is placed along side Birdy’s. The body can morph to fit the form of the person that’s in charge of it and that allows Senekawa to be a high school student by day and Birdy to be a police agent by night.

One of the drawbacks of the first season, which became obvious over the course of the show, was that the show had a small budget. So, for example, the show had a number of good action scenes but they occurred almost exclusively at the beginning or the end. Hopefully, the fact that it got green-lighted for a second season will mean that more money will be spent on it and the show can reach it’s full potential.

Shikabane Hime: Kuro

AKA: Corpse Princess Season 2

Studio: Studio Feel – Da Capo 2
Official Site

The fourth sequel that I’m looking forward to is the sequel to the currently running Shikabane Hime: Aka. The second season sees a switch from being a Gainax production to being a Studio Feel production.

In this anime, if a person is greatly attached to this world when they die then instead of moving on that person can come back as a Corpse. Most times these Corpses become dangerous monsters that need stopped but sometimes these Corpses retain their human-form and agree to hunt the evil Corpses. These Corpse hunters can attain heaven after killing 108 evil Corpses.

Because the first season is still airing and the animation studio is changed, it is impossible to fully use the first season as a guide for this second season. However, I’m optimistic that this show will turn out good. Many people probably will not share a similar sentiment because they were disappointed over the first season. I think much of this disappointment stems from this show being the first series after Gainax’s masterpiece, Gurren Lagann. The characters have been solid, the animation has been top-notch, and the evil Corpses have been original and interesting – which has been more then enough to get me wanting more.

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That’s the final sequel that I’m interested in, all the other non-OVA sequels are to shows that I haven’t seen and thus I won’t attempt to watch. For a more complete listing, try here or here. Now it’s onto new shows. I’m going to combine how excited I am about the title with how sure I am it will turn out good and list the remaining from highest to lowest.

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Maria+Holic

Studio: Shaft - Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei
Seiyuu: Asami Sanada, Marina Inoue, Yu Kobayashi
Official website

Shoot me – I can’t help but being excited about this show.

The story is about a second year high school student, Kanako, who has a phobia of men and so she transfers to an all-girl school to find her yuri love partner. She meets her ideal girl in the form of Maria, the most beautiful and popular girl in school. The twist is that Maria turns out to be a sadistic trap. And it gets even better. Maria+Holic is being animated by Shaft who did such a bang-up job on the twisted Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei.

If this show can exploit it’s crazy premise for laughs and make us like the characters then Maria+Holic might be one of the top shows of the season.

Genji Monogatari Sennenki

AKA: A Tale of Genji

Studio: Tezuka Productions
Official Site, More info here

From what I’ve read, the novel this is based on is 1000 years old and considered the world’s first novel. Even if I haven’t read many books that are considered “classics” I give them their due. For example, I might not have gotten Shakespeare in high school but the fact that we’re still talking about him 500 years later must mean there is something to his work. Likewise, the story this anime is based on wouldn’t have lasted a 1000 years if it was garbage. Therefore, I’m excited about watching this show.

If you want a little more help to decide, I was reading from the summary – “The story follows the happy but sorrowful tales of the glorious youth Hikaru Genji’s love, and the women in his life who strive to make their love towards Genji significantly differently from others.” – and it almost sounds like this show has what’s considered harem elements to it. I’m probably wrong but if you were going to pass on this show because it’s a classic, it might be worth your time to watch a couple of episodes.

Rideback

Studio: Madhouse – Death Note, Kaiba, Kurozuka
Official Website

This is another title I’m very interested in. The plot has the possibility to be interesting – A young woman is an anti-government protester in the year 2020 and has a robot that doubles as her motorcycle to help her. I always enjoy a good diasporan SF tale like “V for Vendetta” and this sounds like it could be something similar. Based on Madhouse’s current string of successes, I feel confident that this will turn out to be another.

Kemono No Souja Erin

Studio: Production I.G. – Ghost in the Shell:SAC, Library War, Seirei no Moribito

Because Production I.G. is behind this and because the story comes from the same person that did Seirei no Moribito, I’m going to check this series out. However, the story to this one doesn’t grab me – After her mother, a veterinarian, is executed for allegedly killing a clutch of fighting snakes, the daughter Erin is adopted by a beekeeper and meets the king of the animals in the mountains. Erin follows in her mother’s footsteps to become a veterinarian and this decision will put the fate of the kingdom of the animals in her hands.

Just from the summary, I’m getting environmental vibes and that’s normally a big turnoff. If it wasn’t for shows like Studio Ghibli’s Princess Mononoke and Pom Poko that had an environmental message without being over-the-top sickening like Captain Planet or Ferngully – I’d just skip this one. Instead, I’ll give this show a fair chance to like it.

Akikan!

Studio: Brain’s Base – Kamichu, Kurenai, Baccano, Natsume
Official Site

In another case of great studio, weak story comes Akikan!. In this one, Daichi just wanted to buy a can of melon juice pop from the vending machine but what he got was a can that magically transforms into a girl who needs carbon dioxide gained from kissing to stay alive. This has brain-dead written all over it but Brain’s Base has a track record of making great shows with interesting characters that you end up liking a lot. I don’t know if they can work their magic here but I am willing to watch a few episodes to see how this turns out.

Chrome Shelled Regios

Studio: Zexcs - Wagaya no Oinari-sama
Director: Itsuro Kawasaki
Official Site

Chrome Shelled Regios is set in a future where “Pollution Beasts” have forced people to live in mobile domed cities. The pollution has also given people powers which they can use against the pollution beasts. Our hero is a high school student in training to battle these monsters. To me the story has possibilities but it could easily devolve into a generic fantasyesque hack-n-slash series. The reason I was initially going to catch this was because of the studio behind it, Zexcs, did a very good job on Wagaya no Oinari-sama. However, I found the trailer and my opinion of this shows chance of being a good show has gone up in no small part to having nice looking animation - which was the weak point for Wagaya.

From here my interest in the shows drops enough that I’m only kinda interested in catching them.

Hetalia Axis Powers is a gag story where the major countries of the world are made into people that display the stereotypical view of the country. So, for instance, Italy is shown liking pasta and women and Japan is shown as an otaku. It’s supposed to retell history between WW1 and WW2 among other things. The concept is so out there that I want to see it but I wonder how the politics of the time will be shown. I can accept and expect some slanting when retelling history of this time from the Japanese point of view (like what I expect when I ask a southerner about the Civil War) but I will get very angry if they animators bring up their role in dragging us into WW2 and either use it for laughs or making it look like it was the American’s fault. Therefore, I think it’ll be best if I read a couple of reviews first – I really don’t want to get overly angry and feel like I need to rant about the historical inaccuracies of an anime show. Another reason to temper my enthusiasm is the studio behind it is Studio Deen which I still equate with their work on Higurashi.

Asu no Yoichi is a romantic comedy about a boy who’s a swordsmen, like his dad, and he decides to leave their mountain training facility to continue his training in the city. This being a romantic comedy, he ends up in a dojo with four females and presumable wacky hi-jinks ensue. This sounds really generic and I’d skip it totally if AIC wasn’t doing it. AIC was responsible for Seto no Hanayome which I found much funnier then it should have been. If they can do the same thing here, it might just be worth the time to watch it.

The last title is Kurokami. It’s appears to be about a computer programmer named Keita that tries to protect a Kuro (some sort of being with powers) from another Kuro and in the process he loses his left arm. The Kuro that he was trying to protect replaces his arm and in the process a contract is formed between the two. I’m feeling neutral about the story and I’m feeling less then neutral about Sunrise being behind this; however, the picture is particularly interesting and the last time a preview picture of a show made me feel that was Kaiba. On the strength of maybe my gut knowing something I don’t, I’ll catch a few episodes of this because it might turn out to be good.

A word of thanks for the people that created the above chart, and to THAT Animeblog for having pictures that I stole for my preview and also to MyAnimeList for the same reason.

Posted in anime, season preview      

An exciting week in anime – the summer season is finishing up and the fall season is starting. The last couple of weeks I haven’t really had a lot to write but now I’ve got multiple series reviews to write and first impression posts to write. I’m not complaining, the more I have to write about the better – it means I’m watching shows that I want to talk about. Let’s get to the weekly scores now.

The scores:

Ryoko’s Case Files, episode 12 – 12+/12

Birdy the Mighty Decode, episode 13 – 12+/12 (end)

Xam’D: Lost Memories, episode 12 – 12/12

Soul Eater, episode 25 – 11/12 A+

Somedays Dreamer’s S.2, episode 6 – 12++/12

Natsume Yuujinchou, episode 12 – 12+/12

Wagaya no Oinari-sama, episode 19 – 12+/12
Wagaya no Oinari-sama, episode 20 – 12+/12
Wagaya no Oinari-sama, episode 21 – 12+/12
Wagaya no Oinari-sama, episode 22 – 12/12
Wagaya no Oinari-sama, episode 23 – 12+/12

Clannad S.2, episode 1 – 12/12

Toradora!, episode 1 – 10/12 A

Akane-iro no Somaru Saka, episode 1 – 5/12 C+

Hyakko, episode 1 – 8/12 B+

Thoughts and Highlights

First off, for the in-depth reasons why I scored the new shows how I did, you can refer to the previously posted impression posts.

The biggest surprise, and one that was quite pleasant, was the number of Wagaya no Oinari-sama episodes I was able to watch this week. This show has been one of the most consistently fun shows to watch this year and this group of episodes continue this trend. It’s mix of light comedy, dorama, and loveable characters is a perfect balance – just look at some of these episodes: one episode dealt was a Halloween episode that included the god of poverty showing up, another involved a mystery at an onsen, and yet another involved Sakura trying to stick to a diet. I don’t know how much source material is left but I’d definitely watch a second season of this show.

The best episode of the week comes from Somedays Dreamer’s season 2 but since it’s slice-of-life, it’s difficult to describe why. I’m happy that someone is working on subbing this show – beyond the whole question of if you like the animation style or not, it’s a very solid show.

Everything else pretty much stayed awesome. I did want to mention that this week’s Soul Eater was a transitional episode to gear us up for the second half of the show. The students of Shibusen played basketball and Shinigami-sama called a conference to map out what they should do now that the Demon God is escaped. Anyone else think it’s time to for a new opening? I like it but it’s been the same for the first half of the show and I’d like to see something new, maybe with some hints as to what to expect for the second half of the show.

Posted in anime