And I’m back with the second half of my first impressions post covering the other 11 12 new anime series of the spring season that I’ve watched. Sure, most every other blog has already completed their first impressions weeks ago but with the late start to Hyouka and AKB0048, I’m only fashionably late .

Living on the Edge

Sometimes it’s very difficult to accurately decide if an anime should be dropped or not based on the first few episodes and that makes my inner-Chiri (from SZS) come out – I want these anime series to take responsibility for their quality level and properly separate themselves. Luckily for the animators of these series, I live an ocean away from them or I might be inclined to help persuade them to declare their intentions so I wouldn’t have to watch the entire show .

Natsuiro Kiseki

Rating for episodes 1 to 5 – 7/12  B

I’ve actually enjoyed Natsuiro Kiseki a fair amount so far, even though it feels like an inferior Hanasaku Iroha because it has one thing truly going for it – a magic wish-granting stone with a sense of humor. And therein lies the problem. If the magic rock continues to grant the wishes in random, interesting and absurd ways then I’ll gladly keep watching; however, the moment this rock loses it’s trolling heart is the moment this anime becomes a chore to watch.

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Polar Bear Cafe

Rating for episodes 1 to 5 – 6/12  B-

Polar Bear Cafe features, shockingly, a polar bear that runs a cafe but that’s just the backdrop for our main character, who is a panda and happens to work part-time at the zoo as a panda. Don’tcha love anime . I picked up Polar Bear Cafe more out of curiosity then a desire to see a polar bear run a cafe. I was curious to see if the animators could create a compelling anime once the whole wow-that-cafe-is-run-by-a-polar-bear reaction grew stale and now I’m stuck. Polar Bear Cafe is only marginally funny at times; which would be okay if the characters were interesting but they’re not. The best one of the bunch is the llama played by Daisuke Ono who no one ever pays attention to in the zoo but, sadly, he’s only a minor character. Throw in the animation quality well below average and I think the only real reason I’ll continue watching; until the characters, comedy, and story decide to go one way or the other; is because I like the opening song/animation.

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AKB0048

Rating for episodes 1 to 2 – 8/12  B+

I almost put AKB0048 into the next category of series, which is a better group to belong too, but I have serious reservations about how this anime will unfold. I love the idea of a guerrilla idol group that will infiltrate oppressive regimes so they can give a concert. It’s the right mix of ballsy bravado and absurdity that I love to see in anime but, oftentimes with anime such as this, the creators only tepidly embrace the premise and the anime bogs down in it’s own mediocrity. If the creators push AKB0048’s story and plotting to it’s maximum silly, absurd glory – like the people behind Aquarion EVOL and Phi Brain did – then this will be a fun anime to watch. Will they or not remains to be seen.

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Guilty Pleasures

Amidst all the quality and not-so-quality anime this season there’s a few series that I’ve enjoyed well beyond what I probably should have. Compare them to the high-quality, excellent series of the season like Sakamichi no Apollon or the new Lupin series and it’s impossible to explain why these series rank so high on my list of series I can’t wait to see the next episode of but I guess that’s why they’re called guilty pleasures.

Upotte!!

Rating for episodes 1 to 5 – 9/12  A-

I will not pretend for even a second that Upotte is a quality series or that it will ever get lauded as a great example of the high artistic merit that’s possible in anime but at this point I don’t really care. Upotte has been genuinely entertaining and is, by a long shot, the funniest anime series of this season. It’s first episode even contained my favorite joke of this season and, even though, explaining a joke makes it automatically not funny, I want to share. It was when the main characters decided to film a little introduction for their new teacher and, as it got to Sixteen (an American M16A4), it was said that she speaks with an Osakan accent for no real reason. This reminded me of how the Osakan dialect is oftentimes dubbed into Southern-accented English because both carry a similar connotation by the speakers of the main dialect in each country and I couldn’t stop laughing.

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Mysterious Girlfriend X

Rating for episodes 1 to 5 – 9/12  A-

At it’s core Mysterious Girlfriend X is a fairly typical anime but the addition of said girlfriend having strangely super-powered drool and a significant contrarian’s outlook to life has made this anime a unique experience. Take the drool out and I’m not sure there’s much to distinguish it (for now, the characters still have the room to become interesting characters and if the anime can capitalize on it’s Arakawa Under the Bridge vibe then it won’t necessarily need the drool). Though, the especially perceptive viewers might argue that the characters having noses is the most unique aspect to this anime .

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Phi Brain: Kami no Puzzle 2

Rating for episodes 1 to 5 – 10/12  A

I give up; I can’t do it anymore. I’m sick of trying to hide that I’ve come to really enjoy Phi Brain. I started watching the first season as a lark and was sure that I’d drop it after a few episodes because I saw no chance for success with a shounen series that was about a high school boy that battles a mysterious organization through puzzle solving. I gave Phi Brain a fair shot and I haven’t stopped watching it yet. Sure, it hasn’t lost that – yeah, it’s a really dumb premise – but there’s several genuinely interesting characters and story moves along at a brisk pace and the plot makes intelligent use of the characters and the premise. I ended the first season with a couple gripes but Sunrise must have a mind-reader on staff because they have addressed those exact gripes in the second season. Compared to Hunter x Hunter, Phi Brain has turned out to be the better shounen series.

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The Heavy Hitters

They have the money. They have the talent. They have the ambition. And they have left the entire anime fandom all atwitter in their wake as a result.

Eureka Seven Ao

Rating for episodes 1 to 4 – 10/12  A

I watched the original Eureka Seven early in my timeline as an anime fan which might have clouded my ability to properly judge it but I found Eureka Seven to be disappointing. It had good build-up and great animation but as the series lurched to the end I found it unraveling, much like Bones’ first Full Metal Alchemist series, and completely ruined by a poorly handled ending. This cemented a personal belief/theory that Bones is incapable of making a decent ending to their series and since then there’s been numerous series that further prove this belief/theory. As a result, I was in the complete opposite mindset as most fans of the original series apparently were – I couldn’t wait to see Eureka Seven Ao because the first half of the series was going to be awesome. Of course the second half will probably follow Bones’ MO and fall apart but that was a worry for next season . And so far I’ve been properly impressed. The animation has been some of Bones’ best work in years and the story, with it’s political backdrop, is interesting and the characters have been very solid. One couldn’t ask for more from Eureka Seven Ao. If this ends well then I’ve already decided to give Eureka Seven a second try.

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Tsuritama

Rating for episodes 1 to 4 – 10/12  A

A year ago the noitaminA animation block was airing a Kenji Nakamura directed series called C – The Money of Soul and Possibility Control and it was a mixed experience. It had a number of very interesting and thought-provoking questions that it wanted the viewer to think about but this enticing nugget was wrapped in an anime that suffered from time constraints, unharmonious animation, and uneven story-telling. Ultimately, I was happy that I watched it but felt it was an opportunity lost. Now a year later Kenji Nakamura is back with another series for the noitaminA animation block and it appears that this one will be a winner. Animation duties have been shifted to A-1 Pictures, a young studio that’s already created many excellent series, and it’s beautiful to look at. The story feels like it’ll fit into the episodes allotted it and it’s being told in a much better manner. The only complaint that could possibly be laid at it’s feet is that Tsuritama lacks the big ideas of C but I don’t see the point of trying to squeeze a series that needs at least 2 cour (minimum) to be properly told into 11 episodes.

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Sakamichi no Apollon

Rating for episodes 1 to 4 – 12/12  Perfect

What I most love about Sakamichi no Apollon or Kids on the Slope is that I can just relax when watching it. We, the viewers, are in the hands of masters. I don’t have to worry if the ending will stink or if the pacing will feel rushed or if story will fizzle or will the animation get dodgy or will the characters get treated like walking clichés that need to adhere to certain stereotypes or will individual parts of the show like the soundtrack work against it. I know I’m not the only person that’s already mentally placing this anime at the top (or very near it) of their 2012 best anime list. I hope Kids on the Slope sells a million DVD/Blu-Ray discs because every time a great anime sells a bunch that helps pave the way for more great anime and because it’ll help the animation studio MAPPA, which is a new spin-off from Madhouse. Masao Maruyama, one of the original co-founders of Madhouse, started MAPPA as a means to animate those oddball, high quality anime series that Madhouse was known for like Kaiba, Blue Literature (Aoi Bangaku), The Tatami Galaxy, and Rainbow. Masao Maruyama has also said that MAPPA will finish Satoshi Kon’s final movie that he was unable to finish before his untimely passing but they don’t currently have the funding to do so. A financially successful series or two should allow MAPPA to find that funding.

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Lupin the Third: Mine Fujiko to Iu Onna

Rating for episodes 1 to 5 – 11/12  A+

I was super excited that Lupin was finally getting a new series and that it wasn’t going to be merely a continuation of the bland, halfhearted TV specials and movies. I was also worried that this new crop of creators and seiyuu wouldn’t be able to do justice to a Lupin series. Basically, the same thing every fan of a particular work feels when it’s revisited by it’s creator(s) or gets adapted. Turns out, I shouldn’t have bothered worrying; they knew what they were doing. I particularly like that this series is set as the Lupin “origin story” because this allows new viewers a point of entry into the Lupin franchise and because it gives preexisting fans the chance to learn more about their favorite characters and gives them something new to see. Now, if only they don’t muff the ending, more Lupin series might be forthcoming.

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Hyouka

Rating for episodes 1 to 3 – 10.5/12  Strong A

When Nichijou aired last year I remember saying that, no matter how it did financially, Nichijou was a success for Kyoto Animation because it allowed the animators room to experiment with different animation styles and that would improve the overall quality of KyoAni’s work and would help prevent them from stagnating like other formerly top quality animation studios (cough, J.C. Staff, cough). I didn’t think I’d be proven correct so quickly but here we are; Hyouka seems set to claim a large share of the attention (and yen signs), even in this incredibly awesome anime season, partially because of it’s spiced-up animation style. I’m kinda surprised that I’ve enjoyed Hyouka as much as I have, though. Normally, I find myself not really caring for mystery series because the answer to the mystery in a mystery series is always vaguely disappointing and why get into a book or show if it’s going to end in disappointment? Maybe it’s how the early little mysteries have been handled that makes me willing to invest in caring about what has happened to the Uncle or maybe there’s enough other stuff to Hyouka that has made Hyouka so interesting.

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Someone’s Been Reading My Brain

Get out of my mind Randall! Sorry, I just had a XKCD moment.

Several months ago Ghostlightning at We Remember Love wrote a post about the anime he would make if he was given the keys to an animation studio and a blank check. His creation was exceptionally brilliant and something I’d love to see. At the end he asked others what they would make and I’ve been kicking the idea around. Little did I know that I shouldn’t have bothered because Uchuu Kyoudai aka Space Bros is probably as close to my ultimate anime as is humanly possible.

Space Bros

Rating for episodes 1 to 6 – 12/12  Perfect

After voicing Tiger from Tiger and Bunny and now voicing the main character for Space Bros Japan should just pass a law proclaiming that each year at least one high quality anime is made which features Hiroaki Hirata voicing a middle-aged male character. He’s just that great. The only question I have left for this anime is how much of the story are we going to get to see and will it ever be revealed if the two brothers actually saw an alien as kids.

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And apparently I felt like rambling well over my target of 1500 words. Sorry, I’ll try to write a few short entries to balance it out .

Filed under: anime, first impressions

No matter how strong or weak a season of anime appears to be at the onset, one can always count on at least a couple of gems each season. As a result, I’m not at all surprised that, once again, the makers of anime continue to defy their prophesied doom by creating several series that are well on their way to excellence. What does astound me is the width and depth of quality displayed by this season’s roster of anime series. I could trim out the four best series (so far) and this season would still be a very strong one. In fact, it would take trimming out 7, maybe 8, of the best series before this season would look merely decent with the resulting group of series. I can’t remember another season this strong in the last 6+ years that I’ve been following new anime by the season.

(The closest competitor, that I can remember, is the Summer 2009 season which featured – Bakemonogatari, Spice and Wolf 2, Tokyo Magnitude 8.0, Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei 3, Aoi Hana, Canaan, Umineko no Naku Koro Ni, Hetalia 2, Taishou Baseball Girls, GA: Art Design Class and Sora no Manimani – but, even that season can’t compete in terms of the number of different types of series airing this season.)

On the downside (if you want to call it that), all these outstanding shows have made it difficult to find the time to write about them. It seems like every time I look there’s more episodes waiting to be watched or the realization that I should probably also give anime X or Y a shot as well. It’s crazy, I hope there’s at least a few good series left for the upcoming summer and winter seasons.

Normally, I like to rank the series from worst to best when I write a post such as this but this time I felt like doing something else; so, instead, I’ve grouped the 20 new series I’ve watched into small groups with other series that share a similar trait.

Imitation is the Highest Form of Flattery

There’s no better way to gauge how successful the animation studio Shaft has become then to see how other animation studios (both new and old) have started partaking from Shaft’s playbook.

Acchi Kocchi

Rating for episodes 1 to 3 – 5/12  C+

Acchi Kocchi is studio AIC’s latest anime set in the now familiar genre of light comedy 4-panel comic adaptation taking place in a school and featuring a group of friends that lead lives full of hilarity (hopefully). Groundbreaking? Not really, but excellent execution can still yield a very enjoyable series. The problem with Acchi Kocchi, so far, is the execution has been meh and the result has been a slightly below average series. It’s most noteworthy feature has been its Shaftian visual treatment but, even there, it feels more like someone is merely trying to copy and I’m left wishing for the next season of Hidamari Sketch.

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Sankarea

Rating for episodes 1 to 4 – 9/12  A-

Did I die or accidentally fall into a bizarro world without realizing it? If neither of those are the case then we might just be living in the End Times. How else to explain Sankarea? Studio Deen and quality anime are like oil and water – they don’t mix. Of course, there’s still plenty of time for Sankarea to slide down to typical Studio Deen quality. Until then, I’ll be happily watching. Helping Sankarea along is it’s visual style with it’s obvious Shaftian influence to it; which, unlike Acchi Kocchi, hasn’t been a mere copying of style but an infusion into a larger unique style.

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Tasogare Otome x Amnesia

Rating for episodes 1 to 3 – 9/12  A-

It’s not astonishing that Dusk Maiden x Amnesia looks Shaftian because it’s from the studio Silver Link, a spin-off of talent from Shaft. At this point, it would have been surprising if it didn’t look Shaftian but just because it looks Shaftian doesn’t mean Silver Link can create a series on par with Shaft. Which has been the problem with their series; they feel almost “there” (like with their last one, C3 – CubexCursedxCurious). I’ve been waiting to see if they can grow and evolve into a top quality studio like their forbears and I think the wait might finally be over; Dusk Maiden x Amnesia looks to be their first true hit. This anime really reminds me of the first season of Natsu no Arashi with it’s mix of mystery, comedy, seriousness and the supernatural. There’s still plenty of time to fail, so the question is will Dusk Maiden x Amnesia continue to balance these various aspects like the first season of Natsu no Arashi or will it eventually fumble like the second season of the same series and end in disappointment?

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In Search of a Charm Point

Because I don’t like to drop anime series, I’ll normally keep watching a mediocre series if there’s at least one thing about it that’s likeable. The following anime series, so far, lack that one thing that will keep me watching.

Sengoku Collection

Rating for episodes 1 to 4 – 2/12  F

I gladly offer my services to Brain’s Base in facilitating a solution in the matter that is currently forcing them to produce Sengoku Collection because I know there’s no way that Brain’s Base wants to spend time working on this pile of steaming insipid drivel that is Sengoku Collection. Couldn’t they have gotten Yamakan to do it? I heard he’s not busy.

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Medaka Box

Rating for episodes 1 to 4 – 4/12  C

I guess it’s time to perform Last Rites on Gainax; if Medaka Box is indicative of the quality left at Gainax then they’re not long for this world. Medaka Box might not have the best source material behind it but Shaft/Shinbou just finished showing what can be done when Nisioisin isn’t at his best with their adaptation of Nisemonogatari. So, the failings of making Medaka Box even the slightest bit interesting falls to Gainax with their first mistake being the decision to make the anime look like a low-quality J.C. Staff series.

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Kore wa Zombie Desu ka – Of the Dead

Rating for episodes 1 to 4 – 4/12  C

I knew I was pushing it. I was astonished when I was able to finish the first season of this Studio Deen series and I should have quit while I was ahead. What helped make the first watchable was the storyline featuring the silent necromancer. With that resolved at the end of the first season, there’s a need for another somewhat decent storyline but that’s apparently not in the cards for this season. Instead, it’s been a random comedy series that hasn’t been all that funny.

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With Great Power

There’s always room for a good action series to help balance out the laid back slice-of-life series and the comedy series. This season there’s quite a few that aspire to fill that role but to succeed, these series can’t forget the action scenes need to well-done and the viewers need to like the characters.

Jormungand

Rating for episodes 1 to 3 – 7/12  B

I don’t think Jormungand has fully shown what its capable of yet; but, thus far this story of an off-beat arms dealer and her posse has been pretty good. It’s hitting a good vibe for this type of anime and I look forward to watching more. The only thing that tempers my enthusiasm for Jormungand is the fire-fight in episode 3 seemed to stretch credibility a bit too far. The hefty amount of bullets that were fired by supposed very quality gunmen in such a constrained space should have resulted in a lot more carnage. It wasn’t game-breaking at this point; but, the more handwavium I have to accept from the animators, the less I’ll take the series seriously as an action series and the harder it’ll be to like it.

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Accel World

Rating for episodes 1 to 4 – 9/12  A-

I gave Accel World a chance out of respect for Sunrise actually animating the loser male main character in such a way that he looks like a loser compared to the rest of the characters and its making me glad I did. The near-future setting with it’s augmented reality, police-state surveillance, and it’s machine-human interfacing is actually pretty well done and interesting. The way the Brain Burst program has been introduced and shrouded in mystery is enticing (always a good thing in getting viewers to come back). The characters are a good fit for the story they’ve been thrown into and appear to be on-track towards becoming fully interesting characters. The plotting has been brisk so far, probably signaling the creators are feeling ambitious, and has been relatively excellent. It hasn’t been perfect but if it can, at least, emulate last year’s Sunrise series Tiger and Bunny which remained a very good series even if the plotting was a bit rough then it’ll be a great series to watch.

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Fate/Zero Part 2

Rating for episodes 1 to 3 – 9/12  A-

I know I’m not the best person to gauge how good Fate/Zero truly is because of my total unfamiliarity with the franchise before the first part of Fate/Zero aired but with the second half finally airing I can, at least, see how the characters that I’ve come to like will fare. And it’s been a thrilling start; I just hope there’s still bigger and better stuff left to get too and plenty of Rider screen time, as well or else the second half is going to feel like a letdown. If I want to get nitpicky about Fate/Zero then I’d complain that, even though this anime probably looks the best right now when it’s standing still (which is saying something this season), I’m just not thrilled by the raw animation level of it. Nothing in Fate/Zero has done has been able to get near the stellar animation of the fist fight in episode 1 of Sakamichi no Apollon.

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Look for Part 2 covering the rest of new anime series, from the guilty pleasures to the truly heavy-hitters, in a near future .

Filed under: anime, first impressions

I wanted this to be a single post but when I finished, a quick word count showed roughly 3000 words which is just too much to ask people to read in one sitting and also, who wants to scroll through such a long post? So a hasty cut was in order and here we are.

Let’s pick up where the last post left off with number 11 …

(11) – Aquarion Evol

Rating for episodes 1 to 7 – 9/12  A-

Even more fun then Symphogear has been this anime, Aquarion Evol – a sequel set 12,000 years after the original series. Normally, I don’t try to jump into a series but I figured 12,000 years was long enough to reset the series. The story is moderately interesting at this point; I’m most curious about the reason why two different dimensions are linked together and what these two dimensions mean to each other. What pushes Aquarion Evol this high is an interesting cast of characters, the high production values, and occasionally its dialogue. The noteworthy dialogue might be more of a function of the translation but I loved two lines in particular. The first was, ‘You stink deliciously,” which was what one of the antagonists said to the main female character; this has to be one of the oddest pick-up lines ever. The other is, ‘He’ll fly for anyone,’ said by a couple of female characters about the male main character’s habit of floating when being excited by a female character.

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(10) – Last Exile – Ginkyou no Fam

Rating for episodes 1 to 16 – 9/12  A-

Gonzo has done a much better job with this sequel then I thought possible but, by being that good, this sequel of Last Exile is frustrating when it fumbles along when it clearly should be soaring. The world building is stellar; the politics is intriguing; the story is grand enough to showcase the world building and politics; and, the characters are a great mix of people who fit with the story and allow the story to accomplish what it wants to do. Yet, when examined closely, problems crop up with Last Exile 2. Probably the most disappointing is the vocal performance of two of the main characters – Aki Toyosaki and Aoi Yuuki. Both are personal favorites and have many great roles under their belts but here they are so lackluster. I don’t know if it’s that the characters are poor or if it’s the fault of the person in charge of the vocal recording for these lackluster performances but the result really saps the energy out of the show when either are on-screen. Many of the other problems with Last Exile 2 could be fixed if the person(s) behind the series composition and the individual episode scripts had been fired and more competent writers brought in.

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(9) – Hunter x Hunter

Rating for episodes 1 to 19 – 9/12  A-

I fall into the category of people who have not seen the original Hunter x Hunter anime series nor read the source manga it’s based on which leaves me in a different state of mind over Hunter x Hunter then the majority of the people I have read talking about the strengths and weaknesses of this anime. For example, at the beginning when I thought the pacing in the episodes was dragging the series out I was constantly reading people who complained about how quickly they were flying through the source material. To me, Hunter x Hunter has really started to hit it’s stride during the current winter season and, as a result, is slowly bubbling towards the top of it’s anime brethren. A good shounen series is a nice change of pace sometimes.

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(8) – Tantei Opera Milky Holmes 2

Rating for episodes 1 to 4 – 9/12  A-

The first season of Milky Holmes was a hilarious, subversive gem that flew under too many people’s radars. For a successful sequel, Milky Holmes needed to use everything good about the first season and infuse that with fresh, new awesomeness. I didn’t know if the creators had it in them but the first four episodes have shown that somewhere in the dark, twisted depths of their psyches they were able to summon new reserves of insanity to make Milky Holmes 2 even better.

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(7) – Another

Rating for episodes 1 to 6 – 10/12  A

I’m going to resist the urge to make a joke using this anime’s name – Another. It pains me to pass this over because I like jokes like that but we don’t need yet another blogger making the same joke. With Hanasaku Iroha, P.A. Works finally succeeded at producing a great anime series after a string of disappointing attempts. At the onset I was anxious to see if Another would continue in the footsteps of Hanasaku Iroha or would it fall back to being another frustratingly almost good series like their early works. Six episodes in and I’m relieved that, after a bit of stumble in the first couple episodes from trying to force the creepy/scary vibe, it’s found a pace that should end with Another being one of the best anime of the season.

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(6) – Mouretsu Pirates

Rating for episodes 1 to 6 – 10.5/12  Strong A

It is indeed time for some piracy. Bodacious Pirates is about a high school girl who finds out her absent father was a space privateer (legal pirate) and with his death she’s inherited his ship and his title, if she desires them. She does, of course, because it wouldn’t be a show if she declined but it does take a couple of episodes for her to reach that decision. This made the show feel like it started off slowly but by episode 5 it started showing it’s potential and, egads, does this anime have potential. What it does with this potential remains to be seen but this anime has become the anime that I most look forward too each week.

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(5) – Ano Natsu de Matteru

Rating for episodes 1 to 6 – 11/12  A+

Over the last several years, J.C. Staff almost always has done its best work when Tatsuyuki Nagai is the director (Honey and Clover 2, Railgun, Toradora). Last year when he directed AnoHana for A-1 Pictures I wondered if he had left J.C. Staff for good and what that would mean for J.C. Staff’s future but with AnoNatsu I can stop worrying about J.C. Staff. at least partly. On paper, even though AnoNatsu is an original anime production, it doesn’t appear to be that ambitious of a project – as opposed to other recent anime originals like Penguindrum or Madoka – however, what it lacks in ambition has been more than made up with impeccable execution. J.C. Staff is in the odd position this season of fielding two of the top series of this season.

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(4) – Danshi Koukousei no Nichijou

Rating for episodes 1 to 6 – 11/12  A+

Extremely hilarious somehow still low-balls the comedic genius of Daily Lives of High School Boys. There are so many parts to this anime that are worthy of praise. There’s the comedy – it’s actually funny and there’s the characters – they capture high school boys and girls so realistically and the voice acting – they make the characters pop and then there’s the parts were NichiBros lightly lambastes common anime tropes to name but a few areas.

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(3) – Nisemonogatari

Rating for episodes 1 to 6 – 11.5/12  Near Perfect

Watching Nisemonogatari provides a yard stick to measure how much Shaft/Shinbou has improved in the last 2.5 years since Bakemonogatari and it’s almost scary to see the level of improvement that they’ve accomplished. Everything from the scripting to the visuals have been fine-tuned to be tighter, sharper, and better able to deliver the goods with less effort exerted. The only question left at this point is will Nisemonogatari outsell Bakemonogatari or not?

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(2) – Chihayafuru

Rating for episodes 1 to 19 – 12/12  Perfect

Residual respect for the animators, Madhouse, and my new-found respect for the voice actor Mamoru Miyano lead me to try Chihayafuru which is about a group of teens that play Karuta – a game where players compete over collecting cards featuring verses from 100 different poems. I’m glad I did because Chihayafuru started off excellently and has steadily gotten even better. Normally, I’m not a fan of “sports” anime but I love the characters and how they’ve grown over the course of the series and the creators have somehow even made a game like Karuta interesting to watch. The only potential fly-in-the-ointment is that the source material is a continuing manga and the animators have to give the anime some sense of conclusion while leaving the door open for a second season (fingers crossed for that).

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(1) – Natsume Yuujinchou Shi

Rating for episodes 1 to 6 – 12/12  Perfect

How does this series continue to find the room to get better? The creators should have already hit the asymptote of possible quality by the fourth season but they continue to push ever upwards. At this point, future seasons are probably a given and, though, I’m tempted to want countless more, I’ve started wanting to see an ending. I’ve even been thinking about how I’d love to see it end – an adult Natsume, happily married, sitting on the edge of one those short open porches that Japanese houses have and explaining to his young son/daughter not be afraid of the strange creatures he/she has started noticing and he then pulls out the now empty Book of Friends and starts into the story of his grandmother, Reiko, and the camera would pan up over a lovely bucolic scene, we’d hear Nyanko-sensei call out for some food item and the screen would fade out.

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Filed under: anime, first impressions

And just like that, we’ve already reached the halfway point of the winter anime season. Normally, I’m with the other early adopters that have already cast their glance forward to the spring season at this point because I’m sick of everything remotely related to winter; however, this year the weather has apparently forgotten what “winter” means, sticking to a more early spring feel, and as a result I find myself feeling oddly worried that winter is slipping by too quickly. Heresy, I know.

The halfway point is a good place to rest for a moment and examine the season’s anime series. It’s been long enough that the slow-starting series have had time to find their own rhythm and long enough to see if those anime series that promised the moon in episode 1 have the stuff to deliver.

Since it’s me, I’ve going to rank the various series in worse-to-best order to provide another method of evaluation to augment the grades I’ll award each anime. Also, to provide a complete picture of this season, I’ll also cover those anime series that are carry-overs from the Fall season.

(22) – Guilty Crown

Rating for episodes 1 to 18 – 1/12  Epic Fail

Under normal circumstances I’d’ve dropped Guilty Crown a very long time ago but it’s not everyday that an anime comes along that fails as hard as Guilty Crown does. I saw an opportunity to finally find an anime that could compete with Kampfer for the title of worse anime ever (that I’ve seen/completed) and decided to see if I could finish watching it. The danger, though, in wasting my time with Guilty Crown is that it might, at some point, accidentally do something right and push it up to the merely failing level. Thankfully, Guilty Crown continues to confound me with how stupid it can be and remains on track to challenge Kampfer for worst anime ever.

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(21) – Baby, Please Kill Me (Dropped)

Rating for episodes 1 to 3 – 1/12  Epic Fail

Three episodes and I didn’t laugh once, not even a chuckle, guffaw, chortle or smirk; this is a death sentence for an anime like Baby, Please Kill Me because it’s supposed to be a comedy. I don’t know if I’ve ever watched a show this unfunny before.

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(20) – Inu x Boku SS

Rating for episodes 1 to 5 – 2/12  F

This anime makes me want to find a cute puppy and kick it. The puppy dog-like personality of the main character’s bodyguard towards the main character in Inu x Boku SS has to be one of the most painful things I’ve ever endured while watching anime. Almost equally repellent is the female main character who has fallen in love with this bodyguard because of his puppy dog-like obedience and devotion towards her. I should just drop this and end the pain but I still hope that david production (the animators who last did Ben-to and Level-E) can salvage the show somehow.

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(19) – Zero no Tsukaima Final

Rating for episodes 1 to 3 – 3/12  D

As if animating another season of the original Shana wasn’t enough for J.C. Staff they decided to double down and make another season of a series that most people flatteringly call a “Shana-clone”. And much like Shana at this point I’m just going to finish the series so I can see how it ends; not because I’m particularly that wrapped up in Zero’s Familiar but after trudging through three seasons what’s one more?

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(18) – Shakugan no Shana S.3

Rating for episodes 1 to 18 – 5/12  C+

Truthfully, I’m surprised Shana has been able to maintain this level of mediocrity; by rights, it should have either completely fallen apart or zoomed up to awesomeness by now. It’ll be interesting to see if J.C. Staff can maintain this equilibrium point as the series moves to the final showdown or will Shana finally get pushed to one of the two extreme states.

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(17) – Black Rock Shooter

Rating for episodes 1 to 2 – 6/12  B-

Rock bottom expectations and competition from the likes of Guilty Crown made the first two episodes of BRS a pleasant experience even though so far it’s an average effort all-around. With only 8 total episodes to work with, BRS can’t be lazy about advancing the plot or telling it’s story if it wants to avert a repeat of the disappointing performance of the OVA that came out earlier. If it will or not is a question whose answer is only a few weeks away.

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(16) – Persona 4

Rating for episodes 1 to 18 – 6/12  B-

The only time Persona 4 has been actually interesting to watch is those few episodes that would be considered “filler” because they have nothing to do with the mystery surrounding the disappearing people and the homicides. What does it say about an anime that prominently features an alternative world of fighting creatures and a string of mysterious deaths in the real world that the two-part episode where the viewer discovers how the main character spent his summer break is the high point of the first three-quarters of the show? I guess I shouldn’t be that surprised, Persona 4 is a video game adaptation after all.

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(15) – Rinne no Lagrange

Rating for episodes 1 to 6 – 7/12  B

Rinne no Lagrange is one of six anime series this season I’m watching that features either mecha or power suits or some type of metal ship and it’s been tough for this series to find its own unique appeal. So far this series is one of those shows that haven’t really done anything wrong but also really hasn’t done anything that great with itself and, as a result, finds itself just kinda hanging out in the middle. How Rinne no Lagrange turns out is something only time can tell at this point.

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(14) – Senhime Zesshou Symphogear

Rating for episodes 1 to 6 – 7/12  B

There are definite spots in which Senhime Zesshou Symphogear excels as an anime but there is almost an exactly opposite number of ways that it comes up short as an anime. I hate to say it but the easiest way to improve this anime would have been giving it a more substantial budget because it sounds shallow to say that it’s not pretty enough and yet, for a series based around fighting and singing, when those areas fizzle the whole series is hurt. The second biggest improvement would have come from an improved script to work from; it (like the whole show) has its great moments and its not-so-great moments. The end result, however, has been a fun series to watch and I remain hopeful for a strong finish.

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(13) – Phi Brain

Rating for episodes 1 to 19 – 8/12  B+

I was sure that Phi Brain was going to be an easy series to drop because the premise – an organization bent on solving the Divine Puzzle by raising and shaping a genius puzzle solver – is, frankly, rather silly and couldn’t possibly be any good. That moment where I threw my hands up in disgust over Phi Brain never happened though; instead, I continued watching and slowly I started seeing the charm of Phi Brain. Ultimately, it was the characters and how they fit together, develop and play off each other that made this series worth the watch. That and the plot has continued to cover new ground with each story arc and hasn’t yet started repeating itself. I’m still not ready to say Phi Brain is a “good” anime but it continues to beat my expectations.

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(12) – Amagami SS+ Plus

Rating for episodes 1 to 6 – 8/12  B+

I thought, like most people, that Amagami SS was a completed series and, like most people, I was surprised by the appearance of this second season. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed the first Amagami SS series more than I probably should have but each story already had its ending. I wondered what the creators planned to do with another 12 episodes and was pleasantly surprised to see that they wanted to create a slice-of-life coda giving the viewers a glimpse of the characters after their happily ever after endings of the first series. As a slice-of-series it can’t match the likes of Natume but really, what can? Still, it’s an enjoyable fluff series that provides a nice counter-balance to the other more serious series currently airing.

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The second half should be out tomorrow.

Filed under: anime, first impressions

With the second episode of Last Exile ~ Fam: The Sil­ver Wing, Gonzo’s firmly shifted this anime into the winner’s column. They did this, in part, by embedding enough material that this life long SF fan can do one of his favorite activities – mental world building and guessing what’ll happen next. As long as Gonzo doesn’t screw this up, I believe this series of Last Exile could be even greater in scale than the first series and have a more epic story with better characters.

To see how I reach that conclusion, let’s start at the beginning.

(Be warned this post contains spoilers of the first season.)

The back story from the first Last Exile series wasn’t well enumerated in the anime itself but it was detailed elsewhere; so, since it helps flesh out Last Exile ~ Fam: The Sil­ver Wing, I’ll condense it here. Sometime in the future, the inhabitants of Earth were facing a total collapse of the biosphere and the possible extinction of humanity. They decided to build a fleet of ships (the Exile Ships) to seed a string of colony habitats (the Prester worlds) to ensure humanity’s survival and to provide a reservoir population to repopulate Earth once it was made habitable.

Basically, it’s Wall-E without the cute robots.

In SF circles this set-up is known as a generational ship and many stories have been written about the difficulties and dangers of keeping such an arrangement going without something going terribly wrong. The events of the first Last Exile series followed one such Prester world 600 years after it’s founding and how it was in the process of imploding. The Guild had been charged with maintaining the habitat and then using the Exile ship when Earth was ready but over the centuries the purpose of their world was forgotten, Exile became a myth, and the knowledge was largely lost. They kept some advanced knowledge but one example of lost knowledge was that they could no longer fix the weather system and stop the desertification of one half and the freezing over of the other half of their world. Not only that, but once the Guild forgot it’s purpose there was nothing to keep the society of this Prester world together and all it took was the personal ambition of Delphine to send this world into a suicidal tailspin.

Luckily, a plucky band of heroes was there to stop Delphine, unlock Exile and reboot the weather controls. This is where the first season of Last Exile ended but the logical next step is to take Exile back to Earth, if possible, and so we have the starting point for the second season.

Last Exile ~ Fam: The Sil­ver Wing almost certainly takes place on Earth and about three years after the end of the first season of Last Exile. My guess of three years is based on reading that it takes a year for Exile to travel between Earth and the Prester world from season 1 and guessing at the sequence of events since the end of season 1. (How it only takes one year isn’t explained; I’m guessing handwavium.) A round trip would take 2 years and the first trip of Exile was probably just a quick recon but at least one person stayed on Earth – Dio – and it was Dio that points out in episode 1 that Exile has just returned to Earth. From this it’s apparent we’re talking 3,5,7,etc. years in the future but the screenshot of Alvis in the opening song makes me think it’s only been 3 years which would make Alvis 14 years old. The exact number is probably not that important, though.

What is important was the reveal of the 6 “moons” really being other Exile ships. This fact alone can be used to guess at the political situation on Earth.

For each Exile ship there is probably a kingdom/group/ethnic enclave made up of people who came to Earth from a different colonial world and settled somewhere on it (assuming they didn’t get wiped out, more on that idea later). Since the signal was never given (or not shown in the first season), each of the other 6 Exiles plus the one we know from the first series probably returned to Earth at different times. For example, we know that the people of the Turan Kingdom have been living long enough on Earth to build a nice capital city and develop a sizable fleet of military ships (so at least a couple of generations) but Alvis’ Exile ship just recently returned.

This doesn’t sit well with the descendants of the people who stayed on Earth and survived through the natural calamities. They view the planet as their own and, frankly, I don’t really blame them too much in thinking that (unless there’s some sort of written agreement that was made back those 600 years before the colonial worlds were settled). However, the residents of Earth appear to have taken a very hard-line and formed the Ades Federation to wipe out the Turan Kingdom (and maybe others). The fervor shown by the leader of the Ades Federation in episode 2 had definite shades of ethnic or religious cleansing.

This left me wondering; why was the Turan Kingdom allowed to be founded in the first place? My guess is that the people of the Ades Federation couldn’t stop them as long as the threat of Turan Kingdom’s Exile ship could be used as a bargaining chip.

Seeing two Exile ships in action it appears that two things are required to command an Exile ship. The first is a special sequence of words that is unique to each ship and the second is some sort of genetic marker which is probably unique to the population of that Exile ship and also unique to running each ship. So, even though, the returning settlers would have easily been overwhelmed by the native Earthians they were protected by a superior weapon that is a single Exile ship and there was little chance for the natives to ever get control of an Exile ship to even the odds.

Of course, in episode 2 we see the leader of the Ades Federation gaining control of an Exile ship. He probably got the required verse from his assassin henchman, who was probably a guild member from the same world as the people of the Turan Kingdom. And this entire war was probably a ruse so he could capture one of the princesses who has the needed genetic marker to run their Exile ship. I find it interesting that the younger princess is not aware of their worth in relation to their Exile ship; this might be explained merely by the younger princess not being told yet due to her age or is it possible that she does not have needed marker and didn’t need to know?

Does this give the Ades Federation control of their first Exile ship or have they gained control of the other 5 Exile ships in the past? I don’t know, we’ll have to see .

To recap, the first Last Exile series took place on one of the colony worlds that Earth founded and Last Exile ~ Fam: The Sil­ver Wing takes place on Earth several years in the future after the end of the first series. The political situation on Earth is tense between those inhabitants that have never left (the Ades Federation) and those that returned from the colony worlds (the Turan Kingdom, other groups we haven’t met and assuredly the people from the first season that have just recently returned to Earth). A long-standing war between the natives and the Turan Kingdom ended with the Ades Federation gaining control of an Exile ship.

Like I said earlier, there’s enough here to start imagining how the series could go. It’s probably a very safe bet to guess that Fam, the pirates, the younger princess, Alvis and the crew of the Exile ship from the first season will combine their efforts to save the princess and defeat the Ades Federation. If that’s the case, there’s a real chance of a MAD Situation if Exile ships start fighting each other. Definitely a cool visual but can Earth withstand such a war?

Also, I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s revealed that Fam or her navigator, Giselle, happened to be descendants from one of the  other Exile ships and can control the ship if they knew the needed verse.

Defeating the Ades Federation might be as simple as taking out it’s current leader but the second episode showed how difficult this is going to be. Though there might be elements in the Federation more sympathetic towards the returning colonists (or at least adverse to what a war could do the Earth) and could provide help in overthrowing him.

Dio, as a former Guild member, will have to play a big role in helping the rebels/pirates/ etc. since it looks like the natives have gotten help from other Guild members. Or maybe that’s just me wishing because Dio was my favorite character from the first season.

And finally, I think Gonzo is actually going to pull this off and save their company. Where they go next is too much of an unknown that I wouldn’t even hazard a guess but I’m hoping for more quality anime.

Filed under: anime, first impressions

I originally wanted to post this as a single post because it is only 16 anime series, not like the nearly 30 anime series I initially checked out in the spring season, but for many of these anime I had more to say then I originally thought I would. If I had more confidence in my writing, I might assume people reading wouldn’t mind trying get through a 3500+ word post .

Before getting to the rest of the countdown I wanted to mention that this double post is just for the new anime series of the season; you’ll have to wait for the season review to see how these anime stack up  to spring carryovers.

(8) – Kamisama no Memo-chou

Rating for episodes 1 to 4 – 7/12  B

The first of two shows this season with “God” in the title features a female NEET detective (which is an oxymoron, I know) who solves crime using the powah of the Internets.

What a difference two years can make. Two years ago, summer 2009, J.C. Staff was in the midst of a string of hits and fielded not one but two great series – Aoi Hana and Taishou Yakyuu Musume – for the season. Since then, J.C. Staff has struggled and has only been able to produce a grand total of two good series, To Aru Kagaku no Railgun and Tantei Opera Milky Holmes. After producing so many great and memorable series, it pains me to see the slow deterioration of what a J.C. Staff series means. I keep hoping for a turn around but Kamisama no Memo-chou, at best, appears only to slow the decline.

The animation style is their standard style for action series that has pretty much crystallized since at least as far back as Shana season 1 from nearly 6 years ago. It was awesome the first few of times but I’ve gotten to the point that I want to see them try something new. The animation quality is the same level of better-then-average-but-not-great that J.C. Staff seems to be comfortable at with little regard about the ground their losing to the top line animation studios. (Thankfully there’s animation studios like Studio Deen which will always be around to make J.C. Staff look decent in comparison.)

I can ‘t help but compare it to the recently finished Gosick which seems to inhabit the same genre of anime. The mysteries that need solved in Kamisama no Memo-chou look like they’re more thought out then the ones in Gosick which is a definite plus but Gosick had a better female lead in Victorique (thanks in part by a superior vocal performance by Yuuki Aoi). The rest of the cast is pretty much equal in quality between the two. Gosick has the edge in the animation department but Kamisama no Memo-chou has the edge in the story department assuming the source material holds up. So it’s pretty much a wash for right now but I do see the potential in Kamisama no Memo-chou and hope it reaches that full potential.

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(7) – Blood-C

Rating for episodes 1 to 5 – 8/12  B+

I have not seen the previous incarnations of this franchise nor am I that familiar with Clamp (I did watch Kobato and enjoyed it) so I did not quite know what to expect from this anime. Certain bloggers that I respect, like psgels at Star-Crossed Anime Blog, seemed really excited about Blood-C which was enough for me to give it a try.

So far, I’m still not completely sold on the series but it’s doing better than I thought it would and when the introductions are done and we move onto the larger story this could get very good, very fast. The biggest gripe I have with the show is the one-dimensional, poorly developed side characters that are the main character’s classmates and friends. They aren’t a deal breaker so long as they continue to be used in small doses like they have been and I bet they’ll be in the anime in even smaller doses as the plot develops. At first I was also bothered by the main character’s apparent bi-polar personality between cold-blooded killer of monsters and naive Pollyanna but I decided that there’s probably a good reason for the personality split. I’m guessing that sword is involved.

The biggest thing going for it right now is that Production I.G. is animating Blood-C and it looks great with only an occasion scene where the characters look like they were born on the moon. The action scenes have been well done and satisfying, probably the best of the new anime shows this season. If Blood-C can beat out Nichijou for having the best overall actions scenes still remains to be seen, though.

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(6) – Kamisama Dolls

Rating for episodes 1 to 4 – 8/12  B+

The second show with “God” in the title and the first of three new anime series from Brains Base is about what happens when a young man (college age this time) decides he wants to leave his rural village with all it’s secrets behind and live a normal life in the big city. Of course, it’s not that easy – it never is. A psychotic killer from his village escapes and decides he wants to see his old friend, the main character, and have some fun.

Kamisama Dolls has shown moments of greatness that almost convince me that this will end up a great anime but it hasn’t quite closed the deal yet. The biggest question that still needs to be answered definitively is how well it can balance it’s serious drama side with it’s slower-paced comedic side. So far it’s done an adequate job handling both sides but there’s still room for improvement.  The one area that I thought might a be problem but didn’t turn out to be for this anime is it’s animation quality, not because Brains Base is a poor animation studio but because I think this is the first time they’re working on more than one anime series at a time and I expected something to give. They even had the time to come up with one of my favorite OP this season.

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(5) – Mayo Chiki

Rating for episodes 1 to 5 – 9/12  A-

This season’s most over-achieving anime is definitely Mayo Chiki; it really has no business being as good as it is. A story about a typical high school boy one day discovering the butler of the rich girl who attends his school is actually a girl and has to hide her gender so that she can continue being a butler is not the type of show that one expects high quality from but, somehow, here we are. Actually, that’s not quite true – I understand why Mayo Chiki has been so successful. One, the comedy works. Two, the characters play well off each other and excel in the roles they are being asked to play. And three, Mayo Chiki utilizes the characters and situations behind the premise of the show fully and sometimes even to an absurd level.

The vocal work has also been great. Satoshi Hino, as the main character, hits it perfectly in portraying the typical high school boy with just enough backbone to be likable but not so much that he’s immune to the uncomfortable situations he’s placed in. Kana Hanazawa, as the younger sister, shows that she does have more range than she’s normally given credit for. Eri Kitamura is completely believable as she plays the bored, slightly sadistic rich girl and Yuka Iguchi does a superb job shifting between being masculine and feminine as the butler. The animation quality remains above average and the few action scenes have been animated surprisingly well.

Time will tell if Mayo Chiki can continue performing as well as it has been but I hope it does.

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(4) – Dantalian no Shoka

Rating for episodes 1 to 3 – 9/12  A-

Earlier I mentioned how J.C. Staff’s animation style has pretty much crystallized years ago and how it puts their anime at a disadvantage. On the other end of the spectrum is the animation company Gainax and Dantalian no Shoka is the latest example of how they’re willing to experiment with new styles and techniques while still mixing in enough trademark Gainax animation to keep fans happy. I like what they did here and it already feels like the perfect look for this anime.

The real standout in Dantalian no Shoka is actually Daisuke Ono’s vocal work for the main character and how well he plays off Dalian – a real spitfire of a woman, voiced by Miyuki Sawashiro, who happens to inhabit the mansion that Daisuke Ono’s character inherits when his grandfather dies. The pair pretty much guarantees that this’ll be an entertaining anime to follow, even if the mysteries and dangers behind the forbidden books of their world turn out to be not the most interesting. (Though they’ve been pretty interesting so far, creating a real mysterious atmosphere seems difficult in anime.)

I’m really looking forward to see where Dantalian no Shoka goes this season and I’m wondering if having a new director helm this anime means their more seasoned directors are fast at work on new projects for Gainax.

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(3) – Ikoku Meiro no Croisee

Rating for episodes 1 to 5 – 10/12  A

I expected that I’d find Ikoku Meiro no Croisee at least mildly entertaining to watch since I love anime (live action, books, etc.) set in the past; it doesn’t matter the time period or place. What I didn’t expect was how much I’d fall in love with it. It gets the slice-of-life vibe that shows like this and Natsume Yuujinchou need to cultivate absolutely correct. The characters are instantly likeable – Yune is death-by-cuteness personified – and the setting – late 19th century Paris with it’s rapid transitioning of technology – is engaging and different. The focus on the culture shock caused by the clash of East vs. West gives this anime additional depth and helps keep the story moving along.

Ikoku Meiro no Croisee is an example of how not all anime have to try something new and bigger to succeed; all that’s really needed is the perfect execution of a simple idea. I know I’m going to be very sad when Ikoku Meiro no Croisee finishes up.

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(2) – Mawaru Penguin Drum

Rating for episodes 1 to 5 – 11/12  A+

And Mawaru Penguin Drum showcases how trying something bigger, bolder, and different can pay off. This anime continues a streak of original production anime that have been either the best or nearly the best in each of the anime seasons dating back to Fall 2010. (Panty and Stocking – Fall 2010, Madoka – Winter 2011, Ano Hana – Spring 2011) This is a trend that I hope continues and expands because I think it’s in these original works that the truly great anime are made and their existence means that anime’s future is still bright.

Once again I’m reminded that talking about well-made anime is much more difficult than dissecting why an imperfect anime is imperfect and it doesn’t help that just about everyone is already watching Mawaru Penguin Drum. Instead I close by saying that this anime has a real chance to beat out Natsume Yuujinchou by the end of the season which is really something since Natsume is one of my all-time favorite anime.

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(1) – Natsume Yuujinchou 3

Rating for episodes 1 to 5– 11/12  A+

For all my complaining about this season, finally having the third season of Natsume Yuujinchou is all I really need to be happy. The only thing I feel the need to say about Natsume Yuujinchou 3 is that it’s as good as the first two seasons and continues one of the best anime franchises ever.

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Filed under: anime, first impressions

Truth be told this is a pretty anemic season of new anime. There’s a couple really good shows with a couple more that have the potential but the majority of the new anime shows seem to be merely shooting for being generically average and, it turns out, many are having trouble reaching that feeble goal.

On the upside, I might actually have time to write more since I’ll definitely be spending less time this season watching anime .

(16) – Usagi Drop (Dropped)

Rating for episodes 1 to 4 – 2/12  F

With a heavy heart I have to start out with an anime that I was really looking forward too and thoroughly enjoyed over the first couple of episodes. This would easily be sitting in the top 5 right now if I didn’t break one of my personal rules about watching anime – never read the source material for a currently airing anime or upcoming anime until after the end of the anime series. I saw a spoiler about something that happens in the middle of the manga series which I thought was an ill-omen and, against my better judgment, I looked at how Usagi Drop ends and my head almost literally exploded. In a bad way. If the anime actually gets to the ending then Usagi Drop will go down as, quite possibly, the biggest troll anime ever. It’ll make Endless Eight look classy.

I tried to unsee what I saw and just enjoy the anime because I want to critique all anime independent of it’s relation to source material, personal bias, and assumptions but that’s a very difficult ideal to live up too and so I found myself examining every line of dialogue and action by the characters for how the ending will be justified. Then I tried to just force myself to keep watching but when a trip to the dentist becomes preferable to watching another episode then it’s time to move on. (I do have a nice dentist but it’s still the dentist.) I think this is the first time I’m hoping that the animators make up their own ending; maybe then, I’ll be able to finish Usagi Drop.

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(15) – R-15

Rating for episodes 1 to 3 – 3/12  D

By rights, I should be dropping R-15 since it’s not a very good show but there are extenuating circumstances that will give it a reprieve for a few episodes. AIC, the production company, had been on a real tear of late making well-polished, above average fan service/comedy/(fill in the blank) anime series and I was hoping to see this string continue. So, on the strength of past successes, it’s getting an extended shot but I don’t think it’ll make a difference in the end.

The biggest problem is there’s no pizzazz to the characters; for a school supposed full of geniuses, you’d think the students wouldn’t be so generic and boring. The comedy isn’t really there either but, in R-15’s defense, sometimes the comedy of a series takes awhile to get going. The censoring is also annoying; not because I actually want to see yet another pantsu shot but because using huge white bars to censor is inelegant, visually jarring, breaks all sense of immersion, needless, inconsistent with past shows by AIC, and a cheap trick to attempt to drive up sales which almost assuredly doesn’t actually work.

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(14) – No. 6 (Dropped)

Rating for episodes 1 to 4 – 4/12  C

For the preview of this anime season I mentioned how I was worried that Bones perpetual problems with pacing wasn’t going to mix well with the short 11 episode count that No. 6 was getting. As we near the halfway point, it appears those fears were justified. To be fair, there’s nothing glaringly wrong with No. 6, so far, that couldn’t be fixed with a proper episode count. However, for a show that’s almost at the halfway point there hasn’t been enough quality character development to make me actually care for any of the characters (except maybe the Mom) and the world building has been too shallow and featureless for me to actually care what the dark secret behind No. 6 is. For a much better take on this type of show, I recommend watching the live-action movie V For Vendetta.

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(13) – Nekogami Yaoyorozu

Rating for episodes 1 to 4 – 4/12  C

The other show from AIC this season and, while it’s a little better then R-15, Nekogami Yaoyorozu still falls dreadfully short of it’s potential. With the right execution this should have been an easy homerun for AIC but, like R-15, it creates a setting (this time about a disgraced cat-god that lives in the home of an antique dealer) and doesn’t seem interested in fully utilizing the setting or the characters. Compare that to Mayo Chiki which exploits it’s characters and setting to the maximum and is a much better anime because of it.

The last episode I watched, episode 4, was a definite step up in quality from the first 3 which might signal that Nekogami Yaoyorozu will improve with time (or it was a fluke ), so I’ll give this anime a few more episodes. Even if the show ultimately is a bust, the catchy opening song might just be enough to keep me watching until the end.

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(12) – The Idolm@ster (Dropped)

Rating for episodes 1 to 3 – 5/12  C+

The Idolm@ster performed at almost exactly the level I guessed it would going in, which is to say almost average. (A 6/12 B- is what I consider a completely average anime.) The first episode, with it’s documentary style setup, reminded me of The Office and momentarily gave me hope that the animators were going to do something different with this anime but the next two episodes dashed those hopes. There’s nothing really wrong with The Idolm@ster but there’s also nothing really compelling about it that makes me want or need to continue watching this 2 cour (season) anime.

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(11) – Sacred Seven

Rating for episodes 1 to 5 – 5/12  C+

Sacred Seven is another mediocre summer anime series that fells to deliver what the premise appears to promise. It’s failings are all the more apparent when compared with the other series Sunrise is currently animating – Tiger & Bunny. The characters here are weak, one-dimensional and cookie-cutter. The mechs are uninspiring and the action scenes are boring and the narrative flow so far has squandered much of it’s time that would have been better spent on building an interesting plot. The only reason I’m placing Sacred Seven this high is because of the value that the fansub group gg adds to Sacred Seven. There’s the one character’s trait of ending each sentence with oni which gg approximates by placing some variation of the word “hell” in the sentence. And there was episode 5 where they swapped the music out of the opening sequence and replaced it the song Riding Dirty which synced with the animation surprisingly well.

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(10) – Yuruyuri

Rating for episodes 1 to 5 – 5/12  C+

At one time knowing that the principal people behind Yuruyuri were who they are would have gotten me excited and would have ensured that I covered it in my seasonal preview. I absolutely love season 1 of Minami-ke, the first series of theirs that I watched, and I still consider it my top anime comedy. However, they eventually followed with 2 seasons of  another comedy series called Mitsudomoe and it wasn’t even close in terms of quality. So much so, that I decided that Minami-ke must have just been a lucky accident. This conclusion combined with an animation studio that doesn’t have much credibility for doing good anime and a yawn-inducing story kept me from listing it in my preview.

So why is it here?

In the end I figured I’d give it a chance, if only to confirm my conclusion and because I had the room to pick up another series because this season isn’t exactly overflowing with quality. The first few episodes where even worse then Mitsudomoe and I was prepared to drop it but decided to give it a few more episodes since by now I knew that I’d be dropping at least three other anime series in my already small pool of new anime series. I watched episode 4 and saw definite improvement and episode 5 showed improvement over episode 4 (even if they had to recycle a joke skit from episode 1 of Minami-ke). I still don’t much care for the cast except for the glasses-wearing, nose-bleed-over-imagined-fantasy character; she’s voiced by Aki Toyosaki, best known for voicing Yui from K-On!(!), and she’s doing it with such an over-the-top gusto that she steals every scene she’s in. It’s still not perfect, not by a long shot, but there’s some actual hope that Yuruyuri becomes a decent comedy series.

And a final point about Yuruyuri, I hope I’m not the only one who thinks the school uniforms look like they were designed to be maternity school uniforms.

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(9) – Itsuka Tenma no Kuro Usagi

Rating for episodes 1 to 3 – 6/12  B-

I have to be honest, I don’t know what to make of Itsuka Tenma no Kuro Usagi nor do I have a good read on if it’ll end up being worth watching or not. In cases such as this I stick to the grade that all anime start out at – 6/12 B- – until it starts earning a higher or lower score. Most seasons these undefinable shows are far enough down my list that I don’t have to worry about the appearance of recommending them but this time Itsuka Tenma no Kuro Usagi is ranked relatively high at number 9.

The basic gist of this anime is that the male main character (of high school age, naturally) made a deal many years ago with someone not human and as a result he’s given the ability to come back from death as many as 6 times over a 15 minute period before truly dying. Through various incidents he forgets all of this and lives a normal life until one fateful day.

What’s making it difficult to really measure this anime at this point  is that there’s many different thematic parts to Itsuka Tenma no Kuro Usagi – comedic, fan-service, horror, and serious – and they really haven’t gelled together yet. And it’s being done by Zexcs, not the greatest studio to be handling an anime.

It’ll be interesting to see where Itsuka Tenma no Kuro Usagi will end up by the end of this season.

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Part 2 will be coming in a day or in a week depending on if I can get it posted before I go on vacation or after I come back.

Filed under: anime, first impressions

This series is categorized as comedy/slice of life. The 4 friends, Chika, Miu, Matsuri, and Ana, are 11 or 12. Chika’s older sister, Nobue, is 20. While it’s easy to dismiss series of this type as fluff or “fuwa fuwa”, this series has a slightly dark undertone that makes it very worth watching.

The animation style is the first noticeable difference. Missing in this series is the “chibi” tone in many slice of life series that focus on the trials and tribulations of a group of silly girls. The colors are muted, almost watercolor, rather than lush bright pinks and blues. Also, the lines are limp and long, not rounded and light, like in the characters of Azumanga Daioh. The washed out colors also give a feeling of malaise. These girls are funny, interesting, and complex, but they are not bright, bouncy, or cheery.

Also, the tension between two of the girls, Ana and Miu, is also very unusual for this kind of girl clique. It starts traditionally enough when Ana can’t decide how best to make friends beings a girl of English descent. Figuring out how to be accepted and make friends is a pretty common issue facing characters in young girl slice-of-life series. Things become more complicated when Miu makes Ana the butt of her slightly scathing humor, becoming relentless when she sees how she can really push Ana’s emotional buttons. Ana becomes very close to Matsuri, and joins the group, but the tension is still present several episodes after Ana joins the group. Miu makes Ana cry by making fun of her name, and then attempts to pull up her skirt and embarrass her while the girls play doctor’s office. They seem to be part of the same group of friends but there is no acceptance despite differences, as usually is shown in animes with groups of diverse friends.

The ennui is most evident in the older sister, Nobue. She is a college junior with a smoking and drinking problem. She spends most of her days slumped at her desk in a pile of empty beer cans and overflowing ashtrays. Her employment status is always up for debate, and there are no details offered about her career ambitions or goals. She seems to be the adult figure for these girls, even though she is usually trying to shake the girls up for a loan to buy more cigarettes. Oddly, the only pep she shows is when she produces odd costumes to dress up the more gullible girls, such as a cat costume or nurses outfits. The girls are appropriately uncomfortable but forgive her once she joins in her games of imagination. She very closely resembles her sister, Chika, making it easy to assume that this is the future awaiting these girls. Episode 1, Birthday, shows Nobue as entirely alone and unrecognized on her birthday except for the girls. Nobue’s presence in this story really sets the tone as dark rather than just bored.

In general, there is a sense of “what’s the point?” and a bit of dark humor. This is a refreshing twist and if the general feeling of hopelessness is directly addressed, it’ll be an extremely interesting to see how it is resolved.

-S.G.

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Steelbound here …

I saved, what I thought, was the most interesting piece for last.  I know at one point this series was licensed for America but my sister had mentioned how almost all anime do not end happily  and I thought that I must broaden her horizons and decided to include Ichigo Mashimaro. When I gave the various series to my sister to watch I didn’t tell her anything about the series in question which included what I thought about them so  that I wouldn’t influence what she wrote.  I didn’t tell her this is on my top 10 favorites list for being a relaxing, mood-lifting series with some great comedy mixed in. So you can imagine my surprise when I first read this – there’s nothing about dark about Ichigo Mashimaro! However, thinking about it more, I see this interpretation of Ichigo Mashimaro as at least wroth a deeper look; though, I’m not the one with an English degree .

This the last post that my sister wrote-up; I’m hoping she’ll write more in the future because  I think she has an interesting and somewhat unique frame of reference in reviewing anime. I’m sure it’ll help convince her if she’d see some nice spoiler-free comments from people wanting more (and I’m not just saying this because it’s nice to have someone else write quality material for my blog ).

Filed under: anime, first impressions

The initial idea of creating an anime series based on famous Japanese literature isn’t the kind of premise that usually generates intense interest. Probably, this series would appeal to people interested in the horror/psychological genre of anime. However, this series could be easily used to introduce someone to anime whom isn’t readily familiar with Japanese culture or the typical anime fare. Also, it is intensely interesting to someone with a literature background, such as myself.

Aoi Bungaku – aka Blue Literature

“No Longer Human”

The first work of classic modern Japanese literature animated in this series is “No Longer Human” by Osamu Dazai, the second-best selling novel in Japan. This is a great introduction to Japanese culture, particularly parts of the dark side of Japanese culture: suicide and fear of female sexuality. The main character is the son of a well-to-do businessman, who finds himself struggling with the stereotypical Japanese malaise. He feels detached from humanity and cold. He is unable to relate with people and especially not women, and considers suicide at many different points of his life.

This novel demonstrates that the psychologically dark story has been alive and well in the Japanese consciousness for over a half-century. There is a very interesting chicken-egg debate: did he become a sociopath because of his trauma from early sexual experiences, or was he a sociopath prior to those experiences. Each of the female characters embodies an archetypal woman: mother, girlfriend, wife, or daughter. Each time, he ultimately rejects this relationship out of disgust, cowardice, disconnect, or fear. It seems almost that this story comes from a time in history when Japanese psychology has not yet learned the effects of sexual abuse, since his sociopathy is described as a form of inhumanity.

The success of this series will depend on the quality of the future novels being converted to anime form, since “No Longer Human” is such a strong story it will be hard to follow if the next stories are not equally complex.

-S.G.

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Steelbound here …

I somehow got derailed and failed to post the other two entries that my sister wrote about a month ago. Luckily, she’s been too busy with  getting Chibi (a very large purebred Rottweiler) moved into her house and finished with guard dog training to notice . If you missed the introduction of  my sister as a guest writer, you can check it out here. 

This series ran back in the Fall 2009 season and at the time I was really impressed with Madhouse trying something like this and then  impressed with the quality of the stories. I would have liked a better mix of stories adapted – is all of Japanese literature really that depressing? However, when I was thinking of my initial batch of shows that I wanted my sister to watch, I realized this anime series would be perfect for her. It wasn’t a series that would ever get licensed for America and it’s a series that aligns with her interests. Hopefully I can convince her to watch the rest of the series.

Filed under: anime, first impressions

This is a pretty straightforward Aesop’s Fables kind of story – a wealthy man learns to walk in the shoes of the less fortunate and sees the world in a whole new way. The premise is just that simple. It’s also a satisfying story that appeals to people across cultures and generations.

Kou Ichinomiya is a young man who has been groomed his whole life as the heir of a large corporation and even larger fortune. He has an entire philosophy and ambition wrapped around the belief that “made men” make themselves, never relying on anyone for anything. When he finds himself beholden to a homeless girl living under a bridge, he feels indebted and feels compelled to repay the favor by granting her request of living with her as a companion and lover. Whereupon, he learns that money doesn’t buy love. Yes, it’s such a simple and clichéd story, with a simple and clichéd protagonist.

However, about halfway through the second episode, I realized why this series is still so engaging and fun. Every single homeless person living under the bridge is a stereotypical character often seen in anime! There is the little girl with epic fighting skills (similar to any of the girls featured in Gunslinger Girl type shows), there is a mysterious girl of quiet virtue and understated sexiness (similar to Belldandy), there is a femme fatale women with crazy colored hair and a figure reminiscent of a Barbie doll (what anime doesn’t have one of that??), a weird looking “creature” passing at a normal human (again, how many time has anime fans scratched their head at that?), and even the main protagonist that is the “typical Japanese male thrust into a crazy situations” stereotype (Haruhi Suzumiya, anyone?).

The idea of mixing a regular guy with crazy characters is definitely not new in anime, it’s about as original as the overall premise. An easy prediction would be that he learns about the error in his ways and becomes a sage wise person through his journey with these characters. However, this journey isn’t boring as long as this particular series has a creative reimagining. In the case of Arakawa, there is definitely something unique. Let’s be honest, we’ve all wondered from time to time if some of these anime stereotypes could even function in the real world, and have wondered what it would be like if these characters really existed. Apparently, we now have at least one possible answer… all these characters would wind up homeless in Arakawa, living under a bridge, teaching life lessons to the “real” people.

-S.G.

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Steelbound here …

One of the growing disconnects between general American anime fans and the more hardcore American anime fans/Japanese anime fans is  an exposure to and appreciation of Akiyuki Shinbou, the animation studio Shaft and the types of series that they do.  I knew, therefore, that I had to pick something of his for my sister, S.G., to watch. I wanted to choose an anime that was easier to pick up – not Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei – featuring a more toned down Shaft-being-Shaft feel to it – once again not Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei but something that she’d like – Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei might have worked but it already had two strikes.

I’m hoping she likes the rest of series (if I can convince her to finish watching it) because there’s several series of Shinbou/Shaft that I want to spring on her. 

Filed under: anime, first impressions

This is a pretty straightforward Aesop’s Fables kind of story – a wealthy man learns to walk in the shoes of the less fortunate and sees the world in a whole new way. The premise is just that simple. It’s also a satisfying story that appeals to people across cultures and generations.

Kou Ichinomiya is a young man who has been groomed his whole life as the heir of a large corporation and even larger fortune. He has an entire philosophy and ambition wrapped around the belief that “made men” make themselves, never relying on anyone for anything. When he finds himself beholden to a homeless girl living under a bridge, he feels indebted and feels compelled to repay the favor by granting her request of living with her as a companion and lover. Whereupon, he learns that money doesn’t buy love. Yes, it’s such a simple and clichéd story, with a simple and clichéd protagonist.

However, about halfway through the second episode, I realized why this series is still so engaging and fun. Every single homeless person living under the bridge is a stereotypical character often seen in anime! There is the little girl with epic fighting skills (similar to any of the girls featured in Gunslinger Girl type shows), there is a mysterious girl of quiet virtue and understated sexiness (similar to Belldandy), there is a femme fatale women with crazy colored hair and a figure reminiscent of a Barbie doll (what anime doesn’t have one of that??), a weird looking “creature” passing at a normal human (again, how many time has anime fans scratched their head at that?), and even the main protagonist that is the “typical Japanese male thrust into a crazy situations” stereotype (Haruhi Suzumiya, anyone?).

The idea of mixing a regular guy with crazy characters is definitely not new in anime, it’s about as original as the overall premise. An easy prediction would be that he learns about the error in his ways and becomes a sage wise person through his journey with these characters. However, this journey isn’t boring as long as this particular series has a creative reimagining. In the case of Arakawa, there is definitely something unique. Let’s be honest, we’ve all wondered from time to time if some of these anime stereotypes could even function in the real world, and have wondered what it would be like if these characters really existed. Apparently, we now have at least one possible answer… all these characters would wind up homeless in Arakawa, living under a bridge, teaching life lessons to the “real” people.

-S.G.

————

Steelbound here …

One of the growing disconnects between general American anime fans and the more hardcore American anime fans/Japanese anime fans is  an exposure to and appreciation of Akiyuki Shinbou, the animation studio Shaft and the types of series that they do.  I knew, therefore, that I had to pick something of his for my sister, S.G., to watch. I wanted to choose an anime that was easier to pick up – not Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei – featuring a more toned down Shaft-being-Shaft feel to it – once again not Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei but something that she’d like – Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei might have worked but it already had two strikes.

I’m hoping she likes the rest of series (if I can convince her to finish watching it) because there’s several series of Shinbou/Shaft that I want to spring on her. 

Filed under: anime, first impressions

Looking at both halves of this countdown/first impressions list I noticed two interesting features that I hope become trends. The first is that there’s only a very small handful of sequels this season. Which is a good thing since a high level of sequels can signal timidness (and an aversion to risk) by those that pay to create anime and the truly great anime are the first victim of overly timid producers. Having a low amount of sequels also allows viewers to watch a greater number of series and it also quiets – a bit – those that whine about “the end of anime”. (Sorry zzeroparticle, Kaiji happens to be one series that I missed the first time around and didn’t watch this season.)

The second feature is the high number of oddball series this season. Oddball probably isn’t the best term because they aren’t actually strange but seem to signal either the further diversification of what anime “is” or the decision to attract non-traditional viewers of anime to anime. If this continues, this is bad news for those people (including R1 anime executives) that like to watch and license the same shows year-in and year-out; but, for everyone else, it’s great news. I’m ready to welcome the oddness be it tea-sipping feudal lords, pizza-eating aliens, management book-reading baseball managers or pantsu-less ice princesses.

(15) – X-Men

Rating for episodes 1 to 4 – 6/12  B-

The adaptation of X-Men by Madhouse marks the third time in three seasons that they’re working on an anime version of an American comic franchise. I didn’t watch the first one because the reviews of Iron Man were just too brutal but I decided to give the second series, Wolverine, a shot. I reasoned that it’s exceedingly difficult to muddle a show built around someone uncomplicated like Wolverine and it turned out that I was basically right. The animation quality was on the very low-end for what Madhouse can do but it was a decent anime overall. So, for X-Men, I hoped Madhouse could, at a minimum, repeat. Four episodes in and I’m glad to see a much better effort with the animation but I’m not quite won over with the story (and plotting) yet. On the plus side the Japanese mutant that is introduced in this series appears to already be a character in the “X-Men universe” so there’s a better chance she won’t get killed off in the end like what happened in Wolverine but, on the negative side, the show’s been a little too talky and not enough actiony. There’s still plenty of time for this anime to get even better and I’m definitely going to keep watching.

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(14) – Fireball Charming

Rating for episodes 1 to 3 – 6/12  B-

A micro-series from Disney (!!, seriously it’s from Disney) about a robotic princess and her adventures as a princess; Fireball Charming is a fun little series that I wish would run longer than it’s 2 minutes episodes. In fact, really the only reason it’s ranked so low is because it’s format makes it problematic to accurately rank and grade it.

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(13) – A Channel

Rating for episodes 1 to 4 – 6/12  B-

A Channel is like the made-for-TV version of a blockbuster movie that gets made after the fact with about a tenth of the budget, a tenth of the acting, a tenth of the writing, and a tenth of the quality. On paper the two might be very similar but no one will actually remember the made-for-TV version a couple of years later and the blockbuster movie becomes everyone’s favorite guilty pleasure for years-and-years to come. The only thing that saves A Channel from falling any further into complete mediocrity is Aoi Yuuki’s excellent vocal work (much like how she makes watching Gosick worth it).

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(12) – Tiger and Bunny

Rating for episodes 1 to 5 – 7/12  B

Initially, I was very impressed with Tiger and Bunny. I like how the main character, Tiger, is an over-the-hill superhero that still actually believes in what he does even though it’s so cynically commercialized. I like the idea about how superheroes are being manipulated for commercial reasons. I like how the show seems to take place in an alternative Manhattan. I initially liked what Sunrise was doing with the story but with a few more episodes watched I’m no longer that keen on what they’re doing. It’s pretty much a given that a show like Tiger and Bunny will see Tiger and Bunny overcome their differences, become an awesome hero duo and both of them will get what they most need or want: Tiger gets the admiration of his daughter/the respect of the public and Bunny finds a family to belong to/learns the meaning of friendship. This type of story has been done to death so the execution needs to be stellar to make the show great and it hasn’t. Which is what separates it from That Really Long-titled Flower Anime. Everyone knows how that’s going to end but everyone is still enchanted by it.

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(11) – Maria+Holic Alive

Rating for episodes 1 to 4 – 7/12  B

Maria+Holic is one of the weaker Shaft/Shinbou anime offerings and one of most disappointing series that they’ve done. (The set-up was perfect for Shaft/Shinbou; it should have been a home run but it was a big miss.) So, while, I’d prefer one of their better series like Arakawa Under the Bridge or Soredemo Machi wa Mawatteiru, that are in more of a need of a sequel, to be getting a sequel now; I am willing to try any anime from the joyfully demented minds at Shaft. So far, I am pleasantly surprised with Maria+Holic Alive. In the two years since the first season of Maria+Holic, it’s apparent that Shaft/Shinbou has become better at making anime. The show’s biggest liability – Kanako, the main character – has significantly less screen time in the sequel and the two best characters – Maria, the abrasive cross-dressing boy who attends an all-girl school, and Maria’s maid get a corresponding boost in screen time. It’s still far from perfect but it’s now a pretty decent anime.

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(10) – Dororon Enma-kun Meeramera

Rating for episodes 1 to 4 – 7/12  B

Brains Base takes the animation quality and polish of a modern anime and applies it to a 40 year-old manga in Dororon Enma-kun Meeramera. The result was about what I expected; it looked good but the content felt completely different then everything else that I’ve watched in recent memory. I imagine what I felt was akin to an anime fan that’s only watched Naruto or Bleach before, watching Bakemonogatari for the first time. I wasn’t scared off, partially because I like and respect Brains Base; but, before the fourth episode I wasn’t sure what to really think about this anime. Then episode 4 arrived and suddenly something clicked in my brain and Dororon Enma-kun Meeramera became a fun series to watch. It’s got this energetic vibe to it that leaves little time for character development so far but that’s okay. Dororon Enma-kun Meeramera  has been too busy with demon attacks, absurd situations, fan service and making the viewers laugh to explain the sad back-story (because it always has to be sad) of the kappa that helps capture demons or fleshed out the talking, flying hat beyond him/it being a bit lecherous. I see this anime getting stronger as time passes and getting included among the top series of the season. Next I demand a modern reboot of the Lupin the Third franchise.

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(9) – Moshidora

Rating for episodes 1 to 4 – 8/12  B+

I realize at this point that most of Moshidora has aired due to it’s unique release schedule but I wanted to include it here so I stopped watching it after the fourth episode until I finish writing this post. The rest of the long-winded title of Moshidora encapsulates the premise of the show; namely, what would happen if a baseball manager read one of the classic books about business management theory and applied it to baseball. I’m not much of a fan for sports anime when the focus is on the sport itself but when anime, like Bamboo Blade and Cross Game, make the sport secondary – I’m willing to give the show a chance. Moshidora turns out to be, much like Bamboo Blade and Cross Game, not really about the sport. Now, it’s not quite as good as either Bamboo Blade or Cross Game (both anime I highly recommend) but it’s still pretty good and better than a good portion of the anime this season. Definitely worth a look for people looking for something slightly different.

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(8) – The World God Only Knows II

Rating for episodes 1 to 4 – 8/12  B+

I have to credit Manglobe for doing their absolute best with TWGOK2. The result has been better than the first season and an all-around pretty entertaining show. I still don’t think it’s ever going to compete for a spot among the best anime of the season; though, the introduction of a second spirit-catching demon seems to signal that the show will begin moving away from merely focusing on the main characters capturing spirits and developing a deeper story. So, maybe it’s still possible.

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(7) – Steins;Gate

Rating for episodes 1 to 5 – 8/12  B+

After the ending to Chaos;Head burned me a couple of years ago, I approached Steins;Gate (from the same people) with a fair amount of trepidation. I didn’t want to get burned again. The first episode was really cool; cool enough that I started thinking maybe this time will be different. Then episodes 2-4 aired, and it started feeling like the show was going to just wander around and not make good on it’s promises. I gave Steins;Gate one more episode to re-interest me and, wouldn’t you know-it, episode 5 got me hooked again. So, that’s where it stands; I love conspiracies, time-travel, people with secrets and shadow organizations and when this anime delivers that, it’s wonderful. Depending on how the ending, this could still make it’s way further up the list or it could crash-and-burn. Time will tell.

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(6) – Yondemasu yo, Azazel-san

Rating for episodes 1 to 4 – 9/12  A-

I’m not a fan of 15 minute shows when it crimps the overall quality of the show and that’s the case with Yondemasu yo, Azazel-san. From Production I.G., the story revolves around a young woman who has become the assistant to a private detective that makes pacts with devils to accomplish tasks that clients need done like stopping a cheating husband from cheating or stopping a stalker of an idol. The third and fourth episodes really showcase how well-done and funny Yondemasu yo, Azazel-san is. It got bonus points for casting Yuu Kobayashi as a mermaid demon that personifies jealousy and uses this jealousy to drive her magic. She’s fabulously perfect for the role and it’s nice to see someone other than Shinbou/Shaft understanding how to use her (her special talents were completely wasted playing Clain in Fractale).

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(5) – Hyouge Mono

Rating for episodes 1 to 3 – 9/12  A-

The lack of buzz around this anime is truly criminal. Set in Japan’s Warring States era (think Sengoku Basara), the main character is a feudal lord under Oda Nobunaga (yeah, that guy though not quite as cool here) and lives his life pursuing the beautiful things of the world which includes tea and tea ceremonies. It’s not a comedy, per say, but more like a historical drama with a healthy dose of comedy, mainly centered around the main character’s lack of restraint around all things tea. Perspective viewers should note that Hyouge Mono is set to run 39 episodes so the pacing is a bit slower than a typical one season series. This is definitely one of this season’s gems and I hope more people will give Hyouge Mono a chance.

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(4) – Hanasaku Iroha

Rating for episodes 1 to 5 – 9/12  A-

I’ve already wrote a first impressions post for this and I don’t really have that much to add now.

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(3) – Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko

Rating for episodes 1 to 4 – 10.5/12  Strong A

The second Shinbou/Shaft series of the season and the best way to sum Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko up is by saying it’s a typical Shinbou/Shaft anime. There’s the head tilts, the strange girl claiming something fanciful which might be true but probably is just covering over a tragic past, the clueless guy that falls for the strange girl, the awesome backgrounds and the best done night sky scenes, the dialoguing that fills so much of the episode up yet still is so insanely interesting and the little things that tell the viewer that once again Shinbou/Shaft is trying to do too much with too little time. In short, another winner for Shaft/Shinbou. The most notable thing about this anime, in comparison to past Shaft works, is the character designs are probably the most visually appealing of any Shaft series that I can remember. After last season, I’m glad I can get my Shinbou/Shaft fix and not have to worry about the heat death of the universe.

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(2) – Nichijou

Rating for episodes 1 to 5 – 11/12  A+

Between it’s placement and it’s rating, I, obviously, happen to really like Kyoto Animation’s latest series – Nichijou. Truthfully, I’m scratching my head after reading the vast majority of other posts about this show. I think it’s great that people are forming their own opinions about this anime but I’ve started wondering if I’m watching the same show as everyone else. Episode 5 made me laugh so hard that I was like an asthmatic fish flopping around at the bottom of a fishing boat trying to breathe after watching it. Nichijou is just so effortlessly funny and well put together all-the-while having this season’s best animation quality. Luckily for my sanity, I’m watching this with my younger sister and she’s loving Nichijou as much as I am so my chance of just being insane falls significantly.

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(1) – Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae o Bokutachi wa Mada Shiranai

Rating for episodes 1 to 4 – 11.5/12  Near Perfect

Whereas, I’m almost assured not to catch any flak over picking this as the early top anime of the season. Nor, are there many people who have not heard of this anime at this point. After making Railgun vastly superior to Index, I’ve been wondering and impatiently waiting for when Tatsuyuki Nagai would show up again. I’m glad the wait is over but I’m surprised it’s not with another J.C. Staff series. Having him helm this anime and the resulting awesomeness goes a long way to proving, in my mind, the idea that A-1 Pictures is really only as good as the director is. (Which is why their last great work was the second season of Birdy the Mighty Encode.)

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Wow, that was way more writing then what I was planning to do. I hope you enjoyed this double post.

Filed under: anime, first impressions

The sheer number of shows I’ve decided to try this season – 29 – has had the unintended side effect of making it quite difficult to find the time to then blog about the anime I’m watching. A horrible problem, I know . To help rectify this problem, I’m going to temporarily stop watching new episodes and finish this two-part post which will function as my first impressions posts for all 29 shows and a means to call attention to good shows that might be falling through the cracks within such a huge field of anime to watch.

Before we get to those good shows, we first have to start at the very bottom with …

(29) – 30-sai no Hoken Taiiku

Rating for episodes 1 to 3 – 2/12  F

This anime from the animation company Gathering was, on paper, a potentially interesting anime about helping romantically challenged men in finding their groove and scoring with the lady-folks but it turned out to be a complete failure by every measure. It even failed at trying to be such a train wreck that it was fun to watch. Stay away.

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(28) – Sket Dance

Rating for episodes 1 to 3 – 2/12  F

At one point in the opening song the animators make a very understandable, yet unfortunate, simple English spelling mistake; when, instead of using “Sket”, use the word “Skat” in very big letters. If they were native English speakers, I’d imagine this slip was a Freudian slip because that  pretty much describes the quality of this show. It finishes only second to last because it did actually briefly amuse me once during the three episodes I watched.

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(27) – Hen Zemi

Rating for episodes 1 to 3 – 3/12  D

The first of two bottom-dwelling series from Xebec this season follows the story of a shy, straight-laced college girl that somehow ends up in Abnormal Physiology Seminar where she’s exposed to a class full of students with very odd fetishes and kinks. Hilarity should ensue but it doesn’t. The presence of the voice actress Kana Hanazawa pushes this slightly above the other really bad anime of this season.

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(26) – Sengoku Otome – Momoiro Paradox

Rating for episodes 1 to 3 – 3/12  D

By my count this is the third recent anime to be adapted from a line of pachinko games. The first, Umi Monogatari, and the second, Rio ~Rainbow Gate~, were pretty decent anime in their own ways so I wasn’t going to discount Sengoku Otome until I caught a few episodes. Now that I’ve seen a few episodes I can conclude this show is a complete waste of time. It’s primary problem is that it’s too timid. If your anime is supposed to be an ecchi comedy then throw everything out that’s not needed like “a story” and “character development” and focus on creating characters that are appealing to the eye and putting these characters into constantly new absurd situations. It worked for Rio ~Rainbow Gate~ and it could have worked here.

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(25) – Hidan no Aria

Rating for episodes 1 to 3 – 4/12  C

Remember when J.C. Staff could be counted on to make at least decent anime? Quickly has that time started to fade into distant memory and Hidan no Aria does nothing to slow the decent of J.C. Staff into obscurity. Everything here is a poor facsimile of their past series like Shana with only about a quarter of the animation quality of those old shows.

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(24) – Hoshizora e Kakaru Hashi

Rating for episodes 1 to 3 – 4/12  C

The complete lack of anime from AIC this season (probably because they’re working on the Sora no Otoshimono movie coming out this summer) has left a huge hole that no other animation house can seem to adequately plug. Hoshizora e Kakaru Hashi takes a swing at being this season’s high production values/ecchi comedy that’s funny, entertaining and completely underestimated by the snooty anime fans but it strikes out. Don’t waste your time with this; I recommend sampling (or rewatching) recent AIC shows like Amagami SS, Asobi ni Iku yo!, Sora no Otoshimono, Ore no Imouto ga Konna ni Kawaii Wake ga Nai instead.

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(23) – Oretachi ni Tsubasa wa Nai

Rating for episodes 1 to 4 – 4/12  C

The ADHD television channel changing motif worked for AMV Hell 3 but not Oretachi ni Tsubasa wa Nai. One problem is the character designs are so generically similar that it’s easier to figure which lump of metal is which Transformer during a fight in the live action movies then it is to figure out who is who for this anime. Another problem is how generically similar each story line is to each other. I’ll repeat the same advice I gave for Hoshizora e Kakaru Hashi and suggest checking out AIC’s vastly superior recent work like Amagami SS, Asobi ni Iku yo!, Sora no Otoshimono, Ore no Imouto ga Konna ni Kawaii Wake ga Nai instead.

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(22) – Sofuteni

Rating for episodes 1 to 3 – 4/12  C

The second new anime from Xebec for this season and it manages to marginally do better then Hen Zemi but it still has a ways to go before it can aspire to be “watchable” anime. I won’t repeat for a third time my advice given above but it still stands for Sofuteni.

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(21) – Astarotte no Omocha!

Rating for episodes 1 to 3 – 4/12  C

Ranking this high is actually a small victory for Astarotte no Omocha! because I was all set to give this my lowest rating based on the premise of the show – a young succubus living in a fantasy world turns 10 and is required to start her male harem but she happens to hate men. I wanted to be fair so I watched a few episodes and it appears that this anime will skew more towards heart-warming but it doesn’t skew enough to keep me watching.  There’s still the problem of fan-service I don’t want to see and cringe worthy aspects like the human male she ends up picking turning out to be 23 years old, who happens to have a 10-year-old daughter that he brings along when he agrees to live in the fantasy world with the succubus.

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(20) – Dog Days

Rating for episodes 1 to 3 – 5/12  C+

Dog Days does just enough right to become the first title on this list that I’ve not dropped and plan on continuing to watch. Just barely though, it helps that Norio Wakimoto voices one of the side characters. I have to admit that the unique system used in the fantasy world of Dog Days that replaces traditional war actually is a really good idea – I wish a similar system could be implemented in real life.

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(19) – Deadman Wonderland

Rating for episodes 1 to 3 – 5/12  C+

After a genuinely dark and well-thought-out anime like Puella Magi Madoka Magica the wannabes like Deadman Wonderland just seem so lacking. It’s case is not helped when I can’t take this show seriously but it wants me too. For example, I’m supposed to believe that in the future Japan decides that basic CSI and forensics work is not needed and no one notices that the explosion that killed those kids occurred outside of the school building. I’m willing to give it some slack with it’s story but if it doesn’t improve quickly (which includes reducing the number of glaringly large plot holes I have to accept) then I’ll be dropping this.

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(18) – Ao no Exorcist

Rating for episodes 1 to 2 – 5/12  C+

The first of two anime series coming from A-1 Pictures, Ao no Exorcist also suffers a bit from coming right after Puella Magi Madoka Magica. Feeling despair after learning that you’re the son of Satan? Just imagine what it would feel like to be the son of Kyubey. It’s not all bad news, though, I actually think A-1 has done a better job then Manglobe has done with Deadman Wonderland so far and there is potential for this anime to become a pretty decent anime.

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(17) – Seikon no Qwaser II

Rating for episodes 1 to 2 – 5/12  C+

I actually finished about half of the first season of Seikon no Qwaser before becoming bored with it. The highlight for me was Aya Hirano doing her best vocal work since she voiced Haruhi. Since the plot isn’t that important for this show, I figured that I could start watching the second season without finishing the first and by-n-large I was able to drop right back into the show. I missed the explanation why our male main character has to cross-dress as a busty girl to attend an all-girls school when there’s several female characters that could go undercover but, like I said, the plot isn’t important and I can just roll with this plot development. This turn of events has created a situation where the guy is on the receiving end of some of the same discomforts that he’s perpetrated on the female characters up to this point and it’s actually pretty interesting.

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(16) – C – The Money of Soul and Possibility Control

Rating for episodes 1 to 3 – 5/12  C+

This is another anime that feels like there’s a potential for it to become a pretty decent anime; but, so far, I’ve only been mildly impressed by it. I’d have even more faith that it’ll end up being a good anime since it’s running in the noitaminA block but Fractale’s extremely poor performance last season is still a little too fresh in my mind.

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That’s it for part 1 of the spring 2011 anime season impression countdown. Based on which shows I’ve already covered I wonder if anyone can guess my top 5 shows . Part 2 should be up in a day or so, that is, if this incessant rain doesn’t wash me away first.

Filed under: anime, first impressions

Hanasaku Iroha is an original production that serves as the tenth anniversary project of P.A. Works. It’s also one of new spring animes that I had the most interest in watching; in both a positive and negative sense. To this point P.A. Works has put out several visually outstanding anime – true tears, Canaan, Angel Beats – but I’ve yet to be impressed by the writing, storytelling, and characters from these works. I think it’s just a matter of time before they do get it right and when that happens, it’s going to be scary what P.A. Works can do (in a good way). Has it happened with Hanasaku Iroha or did they miss again?

Rating for episode 1 – 9/12 A-

Anticipation Level: 3.5/5 – Medium

The Story

Sixteen year old Ohana Matsumae lives a fairly comfortable life with her flighty, immature mother until one day when the mother decides to skip town with her boyfriend after he runs up a serious debt. Ohana is surprised when her mom doesn’t want to take her along and even more surprised to learn that she will be shipped to a grandma that she’s never seen because grandma and mom are on bad terms. Ohana is excited to go after learning grandma runs a hot springs inn but quickly sours on the idea after she makes a poor first impression through a combination of naivety and a desire to stick her nose into things before thinking.

The Fine Print

The problem that P.A. Works has had to this point was most apparent when I realized that I got through Angel Beats without shedding a single tear. This should have been an impossibility when the story came from the pen of the guy that wrote Air, Kanon, and Clannad. So, I wasn’t excited to see that the director and writer had worked on the previous efforts by P.A. Works doing this; but, having watched the first episode,  I’m cautiously optimistic at this point that Hanasaku Iroha might finally be the series that P.A. Works gets right.

I’m not sure how they plan to fill the 26 episode run Hanasaku Iroha is getting but the characters, at least, are already the most interesting and best cast of a P.A. Works anime. Of the introduced characters, the grandma is already my favorite for being just completely awesome as a tough-as-nails authority figure and for being exactly what Ohana needs. That’s not to say that I think Ohana is particularly bad; she has a good heart but her lethargic, aimless outlook on life needs to be fixed and there’s nothing like hard work to accomplish that. As Calvin’s father would say, “It’s character building.” The other characters appear to signal that P.A. Works plans to develop them into well-rounded characters. (Which I’m guessing will take up the lion share of the show since Hanasaku Iroha doesn’t seem to involve fighting terrorists or god.)

There’s no surprises with the technical aspects of Hanasaku Iroha – it has the high quality animation that one has come to expect from P.A. Works. The animation style fits the story and is pretty to look at. The vocal work is great. Kanae Itou as Ohana was a perfect pick since Ohana shares several similarities to another Itou role – Saten from Railgun. Chiaki Omigawa was decidedly un-Chiaki Omigawa-like with the character she voices (I’m a fan of Omigawa but it’s great to see her trying something new). The head-waitress is daftly voiced by Mamiko Noto who will always be Ana Coppola to me. There’s also Aki Toyosaki aka Yui from K-On! and the grandma’s voice is so crisply and precisely perfect. The background music didn’t really leave an impression on me but I’m actually pretty bad at listening for the music when it’s not completely horrible or completely amazing.

All-in-all, I’m very pleased how the first episode turned out; there was actually a lot of ground covered and introductionary points that needed covered and P.A. Works was able to keep it interesting. (As opposed to the first X-Men episode.) I hope they can keep the quality story-telling up and if they can, Hanasaku Iroha might just become one of the top shows of the season.

 

Filed under: anime, first impressions

It’s been almost five years since I’ve last seen the anime blogosphere go so completely head-over-heals for an anime like what’s currently happening for Puella Magi Madoka Magica. That last time was for The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzimiya and it pole vaulted everything from it’s voice actors to it’s animation studio into instant super-stardom. This time it’s the well-known combination of the Shaft animation studio and it’s super-director Akiyuki Shinbou. Which is a bit surprising, given the prolific nature of Shaft/Shinbou; there isn’t that blank slate to work their magic on which KyoAni had with Haruhi.

And much like Haruhi, the PM3 fascination is well warranted; even for this long time Shaft/Shinbou fan, I was astonished how quickly this anime become special. The logical next step for a blogger would to blog about it but did I really want to be the 89th person that pointed how just how creepy Kyubey is or how dark and twisted this world is or how Shinbou was deconstructing the magical girl genre. The answer probably should have been yes since the alternative – coming up with something slightly more unique – took more work.

I eventually thought of something and all I needed was to call on the power of graphing and Gurren Lagann and an idea that’s been bouncing around in my brain for awhile.

The idea started out awhile ago when I realized, when doing my weekly anime review posts, that splitting an anime series into smaller intervals (individual episodes) and focusing only on those smaller intervals it gave an incomplete picture of the series as a whole. I needed the equivalent of calculus to find the area under a curve when all I had was a handful of rectangles to use.

Conversely, looking at just the final grade for an anime series was helpful in a different way but so much was hidden behind that number. A series that started out great but then coasted could get the same grade as a series that tried to be ambitious and missed the mark by just a little or a series that was mediocre at the start but built up to a thrilling conclusion.

I had a half-formed thought about using some sort of graphing but when my weekly anime posts stopped, I stopped really worrying about implementing a new system. For Puella Magi Madoka Magica, I dusted off these ideas with the view of that I needed a good way to quantify how good I thought PM3 was and how quickly it had gotten good.

The result is the graph below. It’s still not perfect but it’s much closer to what I want then just saying the first four episodes of PM3 have all been 12/12 perfect episodes. Basically, the colored areas overlay my numeric grading system and correspond to levels of achievement that are possible once an anime displays a certain level of quality. These levels are progressively harder to attain and are a reflection of watching enough anime that I can accurately grade an anime. A note for clarification, the stripped triangles for each anime series shows my guess at the future potential of the show.

 

I used Gurren Lagann to compare the new series to because it is my number 1 show and the yard stick to compare all other anime series; though, the path Gurren Lagann took to reach number 1 is very interesting by itself. For instance, the big jump it took at the very end where it goes from being a fringe Top 10 anime to being my favorite anime corresponds to episode 26, aka the best episode of anime ever.

I put Puella Magi Madoka Magica into the “High Quality” level right away. It was during episode 1’s conversation between Madoka and her mom in the bathroom that I just knew. When the second episode showed no signs of letdown but only continued to impress me, it was upgraded to probably one of the best shows of the season (as measured against a “normal” season). The surprise at the end of episode 3 pushed the show into most likely earning the top spot for the winter season, assuming the rest of the series didn’t see a decline in quality, and moved it very close into earning a spot as one of the best series of 2011. (Again assuming a “normal” year, with this being just the beginning of the year, I’m using the past seasons and years as a guide in estimating.) The fourth episode didn’t disappoint either and Shaft/Shinbou made it clear that it had plenty of tricks left to play; meaning, PM3 is now all but guaranteed a spot on my top anime of 2011 list.

In picking the upper and lower bounds for how PM3 potentially turns out I decided even though it’s currently far surpassing where Gurren Lagann was at this point in time – it probably doesn’t have the spiral power to beat out Gurren Lagann in the end. Instead, I used the highest position of a Shaft/Shinbou anime series (Sayonara Zetsubou-Sensei) as the probable cap. I could be wrong and it could go higher but I think PM3’s episode count being only half will limit it. For the low end, I just don’t see the show imploding and finishing any lower then maybe #3 for the winter season. My guess as to it’s most probably course would be for Puella Magi Madoka Magica to land in the top 5 – maybe 3 – of 2011 and just outside of my top 10.

I could have stopped here but there was plenty of space to graph several other new shows of the winter season.

The most talked about show behind PM3 is Fractale, the latest creation from disgraced anime director, Yutaka Yamamoto. Some have loved it, some have panned it, some just note the high degree of similarities it has with other well-known anime works. I see it’s potential but it hasn’t impressed me in the slightest, especially since I don’t think Mr. Yamamoto has learned from his previous disappointing efforts. I don’t mind the recycling of ideas used elsewhere if Fractale was going to do something interesting with them. And I don’t mean – “hey lets do a Miyazaki movie but add in fan-service and potty humor”. Better story-telling would help it’s chances, like getting us to like a character before the director kills him off. The result is, unsurprisingly, that it’s been hovering around my drop line (anything below a 6/12 B- is in real danger of getting dropped) and I don’t see Fractale ending that high. Maybe if it does everything right then it might just creep up to around a 9/12 A- level but I don’t think so. It’s more likely to finish in the 5/12 C+ to 6/12 B- range.

Currently keeping Fractale company is the “comedy” Rio –Rainbow Gate– from Xebec. The mere possibility that Rio could finish higher then Fractale is mind-boggling. I don’t think that’s going to happen; I thought the latest episode of Rio signaled that the creators were fast running out of entertaining ideas (the gate battle in this episode was so boring) but the possibility still exists. The problem is that it’s too difficult being unintentionally hilarious week-in and week-out; eventually the animators figure out how to just be generic and that ruins all the fun. Which is a shame because having visited Las Vegas twice, I sort of wanted this anime to be a success.

Another show I wanted to succeed was Mitsudomoe 2. The first season was inconsistent but ended strongly and I had a feeling that a second season would be awesome. So far that’s been pretty much the case but it has a problem as well – it’s only going to be 8 episodes long and I’ve already seen half of them. That makes Mitsudomoe have to work much harder just to keep up with shows like PM3 and Level E when there’s such a difference in episode count. The last episode, in particular, seemed to display the animators at the top of their game and it reminded me of the splendid work they did on Minami-ke S1. If the remaining four episode can stay at that level, Mitsudomoe 2 might just land near the top this season.

The final show I graphed was the anime that most astounded me this season for being actually good – Level E – and the only anime that I think that has a shot at beating PM3. Not a great chance but it’s not zero, which would be enough for Simon from Gurren Lagann.  It should be mentioned that it bears no connection to any other anime that has “something E” in the title, which was why I initially passed it over – I thought it was a sequel. Nor does it rip-off the central idea to Men in Black because the manga actually predates the movie by a couple of years. It’s a SF/comedy series from the pen of the author that wrote Yu Yu Hakusho (which really deserves a new adaptation itself) and it’s refreshingly entertaining. Level E also has the largest potential range because I’m torn between how good it’s been so far and worrying about things that could drag it down. I wonder why this hasn’t been adapted in the 13+ years since it originally came out and if it’s short length (only 16 chapters) means that it doesn’t have a good ending and will the comedy hold up.

At this point, I figure putting any more series on this graph would just be overly messy looking so this is were I’m going to stop for now. I might revisit this graph with different series in the future but we’ll have to see. And in closing, I’ll say it again – Kyubey is freakishly creepy; though, I wonder if Kyubey barbecue tastes good.

Filed under: anime, anime rants/views, first impressions