So Yuki dies and Minami yells at everyone that nothing matters anymore and that she really hates baseball. However, the team says they already knew because Yuki told them. Confused, Minami runs away, but Ayano chases after her. Meanwhile, the team falls to a 4-0 deficit after 7 innings by the time Ayano brings Manami to the stadium. Her cheering inspires the team and they close it to 4-3 after the 8th inning, and finish off with a 2 run double by Yunosuke in the bottom of the 9th to win 5-4 and advance the nationals.

So it finally took Yuki dying, Jil slapping her, and Ayano chasing her down and tackling her for Minami to realize that, you know, maybe there is more to baseball than just winning. I have to say that Minami’s character really went downhill for me over the last 4 episodes or so. She was being stupid going on about saying how it only matters if they win, and then she practically breaks apart the team. Yay her? I guess she did come back together at the end, but by then I had lost much of the respect I had for her character.

On the championship game, apparently whoever wrote it didn’t let the actual rules of baseball get in the way of the drama. Yunosuke was the last out in the 8th inning. However, after 2 outs and 2 baserunners – that is to say, after 4 batters – Yunosuke is back up to bat? Last time I checked, there are 9 batters in a baseball game, so if they wanted Yunosuke to win the game, they either needed for them to come back from farther down to go through all 9 batters or push it to extra innings.  Oops.

In the end, I don’t think this was a terrible show.  If you strip out a lot of the management book stuff, it’s actually a pretty good show I think.  But how they worked in the Management stuff just kept making it feel like some sort of infomercial, or like some guy trying to sell his business’ services during a wedding or funeral or some other time when it just didn’t feel appropriate. Such as like when Nikai goes and blathers about principles of management during an interview about their baseball team. I mean, really? And Minami is happy to have known Yuki…and for having read the book! Because they are so on the same level!

This just seemed like a good show that was brought down a considerable amount due to trying to fit in a certain book into the plot whenever they felt they could instead of just trying to make it flow.  I thought they had learned that lesson after it seemed like the book references went down between about episodes 4 and 8, but then it stated getting bad again, especially in the last episode. I kind of put up with it to start with since she was just learning about the book and trying to figure out how to implement it in practice. But I felt like eventually they just needed to put the book down and play baseball and tell a story and they just couldn’t do it, and it just resulted in this weird thing where they’re talking about this management book alongside Yuki dying and going to nationals and it just doesn’t play.

This is just on top of the fact that I find the idea of someone reading a book and then being able to reform a baseball team in one year as a result a rather silly scenario anyway. I realize anime isn’t exactly a medium where reality plays any role at all, but you still need a suspension of disbelief, and despite all the shows I’ve seen that have magical girls and giant robots, and what not, this is actually one where it was difficult for me to hold a suspension of disbelief. I guess part of it is that it was actually trying to be serious when I found the scenario to not really be that realistic. If one is able to see past all of this, then perhaps you’d enjoy the series, and I still did enjoy it myself to an extent. But it could have been better executed.

Hodokubo pulls out the quarterfinal match and go on to play the tournament favorites Shuuhoku in the semifinals. The game is scoreless through 8 when Jun breaks the tie and a no-hitter with a homerun in the top of the ninth.  Yunosuke, however, almost blows it by missing an easy ground ball that would have been the 2nd out and then messing up an easy double play that would have ended the game. He also nearly costs them a game by tripping while trying to catch the game ending pop out, but the middle fielder bailed him out. The coach and managers discuss not playing him in the final, but Manami thinks he should be given the chance. Meanwhile, Manami goes to the hospital to find Yuki’s family solemnly gathered in her room.

Episode 7 was the first time I really wanted to grab the management book out of Minami’s hands and thwack her across the head with it. Yuki is trying to tell her that no matter what happens, the experience she’s had over the past year will be great, but Minami, now engrossed in management basically has a “winning is the only thing” mentality. I guess that sort of changes by the end, when she suggests they give Yunosuke a chance to play even though taking him out would seem to be the obvious choice from the winning point of view.  However, you could tell Yuki was disappointed that Minami wasn’t appreciating the journey and was only focused on winning.

And I think this is where using business management and applying to sports breaks down.  Yes, you try to win and want to win in sports.  However, part of the point of playing sports is to have fun and enjoy the ride, win or lose. That doesn’t really apply in the business world, so if you apply the no-holds-barred attitude towards sports, I think you take a lot of the fun away.

I kind of had a facepalm moment when Minami started getting people to sing Asano’s favorite pop song when he was having a bad inning. I think that would have embarrassed most people instead of encouraged them, personally. It also seemed to be a pretty cheesy thing to do, especially for a show that has actually tended to stay way from cheese for the most part up until now I think.

As for the end of the episode, maybe Yuki gave up on life now that her best friend is a win-or-else management freak, I don’t know. But seriously, obviously something bad happened with Yuki. She’s a nice character, and I guess one would figure she would either get better or die.

Nikai goes from a bench warmer to manager, which works out pretty well for everyone. The team also gets help from other teams, such as the track team to learn how to sprint.  The coach also implements a new strategy called no-bunts-no-balls, meaning that the team won’t bunt and they will try to pitch strikes every pitch.  Also, new recruits come in and Minami has to narrow down the list to a dozen players whom she thinks fit best on the team

I think this was a better set of episodes than the first three, since I think the characters were a bit more free thinking, and while they still whipped out the management book, it doesn’t seem like it was quite as pervasive this time. I think the thing about Niaki becoming manager was a good twist, and it seems like he’s really better suited for that position anyway, especially given what he said his ultimate goals in life were earlier in the series.

As for the help from other school clubs. I can definitely see how the track team can help, and I can at least conceive of how the judo team can help the pitchers, but the home ec club? Really? What does filling out evaluations about cupcakes accomplish? I’m still scratching my head over that one, and they never really explained it.

The no-bunts-no-balls strategy is interesting, though I think it’s somewhat flawed. I’m more OK with the “no bunts” strategy. Bunting is pointless with 2 outs, and it has limited overall success even with 1 out, so I’m not sure you’re losing much by just going ahead and batting. They were able to score against the college team because not bunting went against the expected game play. However, that advantage will be lost soon enough as other teams scout them and see that they never bunt. As long as they’re actually able to get hits, they’ll be better off overall, but that’s a big if.

I have a bigger problem with the “no strikes” part.  The coach admits that it means getting a lot more hits. However, throwing balls isn’t always about getting strikeouts, though it somewhat is. It’s also about getting batters to contact balls that are easy to field. Throwing absolutely no balls seems like a strategy that allows the other team to get better contact on the ball needlessly, again, especially after they scout you and see that you never throw balls. Just like any sport, you are aided by unpredictability at times. Always throwing strikes removes a very significant portion of that unpredictability. Learning how to throw breaking balls will help, and I’m sure the anime will portray the strategy as a unmitigated success at the end, but I’d love to see someone try to implement that strategy in real life.

I wanted at least two shows I could catch up on during the spring season. Unfortunately, the number of shows that looked interesting were pretty limited, or were 26 episodes long, which I didn’t really want to commit to at the moment.  Then I saw this show.  It seemed a little unusual, so I thought I would try it. It’s supposedly targeted toward a middle age audience, which is different.  I’m still not entirely sure about it based on it’s description, but I thought I would give it a shot as one of the two spring shows I went back and watched.

This has been a somewhat interesting show about trying to reform a baseball team, though I sort of feel like I’m watching some sort of infomerical where every now and then they’re like “and you can accomplish this just by buying this book! get it now!” I think some of the ideas that are portrayed in the series are good, but I’m still skeptical about the whole concept of reforming a high school baseball team just by reading a book.

It also just kind of feels like the attitude of the show is that people will just plod along doing things unless they’re told about some new idea by someone smarter or by a book. There are a lot of changes made which didn’t have to originate based on ideas from a book, yet the book is practically turning into the Bible for the team. While it may be helping some things, I kind of worry that it will also limit their thinking by thinking that everything they want to try has to be approved by “the book.”

I guess I”m not sure what I was expecting. I knew the book would play a part in the show, but like I said, they’re kind of using it as sort of Bible where if there is a problem, instead of thinking it through, they just whip out the book to find the answer. I’m not sure how realistic, or healthy, that is in the end.

Now that I’ve fully caught up on the shows I had been watching and blogging when I left off in February (even if they haven’t all been posted, the reviews have all been written and are in the queue), I thought I would go back and hit up some series from the winter and spring that looked interesting that I missed, as well as talk about what shows I was looking forward to in the summer 2011 season.

As far as going back, even though i already had three series from the winter season that I was working through, how can I not go back and give my thoughts on Madoka Magica, given all the hype I’ve seen about it online?  It’s #13 on MAL and all so I think I’ll go back and see what all the hype was about.  I’ve kind of learned from experience that if I put off watching a series people are hyping until later, it may be quite a while until I actually do get around to watching it, so I thought I’d go back and do it while I had the chance.

I wanted at least two shows from the Spring 2011 season as well. I didn’t want something that would spill into the summer season, so I needed something that was 13 episodes or less, as a result, there were a couple 26 episode series that looked interesting that I skipped over.  Instead, I’m going for Moshidora and Ano Hana.  Ano Hana came based on a couple of recommendations, plus it looks like the most interesting  shorter show from the spring anyway. I’m picking Moshidora, partly because there aren’t many other interesting choices, and partly because it seems unusual: a management centric show, applied to baseball, targeted toward a middle aged audience.  It’s something different so I’ll give it a try.  I’ll run through these series in groups of 2 or 3 episodes just because they’ve all already finished airing at this point.

Now, as for the Summer 2011 season, I was debating between doing 2 and 3 shows, but since the two shows at the top of my list looked more serious, or at least not goofy, I decided I wanted to add a third goofy show to the list.  As a result, my list of shows for the summer are: No. 6, Usagi Drop, and Morita-san wa Mukuchi.  Usagi Drop looks, based on previews, to be the class of the summer shows, so I have high expectations for it. No. 6 ventures into a type of show that I typically don’t watch very often, but the premise seemed interesting enough to give it a try.  I’m hesitant about Morita-San, partly because almost everyone working on the show is green, and the trailer was kinda iffy regarding production values.  It’s also a 4-koma, which can make it very hit-or-miss.  However, it seemed like the best choice out of the possibly goofy shows, so I’ll give it a try, and maybe I’ll be pleasantly surprised.

You know, I had several highlights lined up to talk about this week.  However, at this time I’m going to get a bit personal with you and focus on one scene.  I’ve never written a post for the Diary of an Anime Lived project, so this is my first crack at an entry.  I feel like Moshidora failed in several respects, but it did one thing remarkably well.  You could say it even knocked it out of the park.  You can see this particular scene coming from a mile away, but if you really wish to avoid spoilers, then I suggest you finish episode 9 of Moshidora before continuing.

Before we get to it, you need to know a bit of backstory.  In the middle of 2008, round abouts August, my father was diagnosed with stage 3 colon cancer.  The surgery succeeded.  Yet, it was too late.  The next scan showed what we feared most.  The cancer metastasized and spread to his liver.  The last few years have been a rollercoaster of emotional stresses.  He had chemotherapy treatments over a span of two years’ time.  They left him physically exhausted and emotionally drained.  He would often recover enough of his strength just in time for another round of chemicals to invade his body.  After his third surgery, we were hoping they had excised it completely.  About two weeks ago, he had his fourth surgery.  No such luck, I suppose.

Yuuki’s last moments will easily reside in the top emotional scenes of the entire year for me.  Yes, the scene is meant to pull on your heartstrings, but I don’t think you can fully appreciate it until you’ve been there yourself.  You have to sit there and watch someone struggle for his life for years on end.  Every time you go to the doctor’s office you hope for a clean bill of health.  Sometimes, you’ll get it, and you breathe a sigh of relief.  Other times… there might be preparations for yet another surgery.

It’s a hard life.  There’s a lot of pain and misery and tears.  Perhaps I’m fortunate.  So far, my father has survived.  But in the back of my mind, I know there’s a chance.  A chance that no matter what happens, it just won’t be enough.  The specter of death is ever looming.  If the cancer ever shows up in his lungs, it will be terminal.  He might live a year, he might live ten, but it will kill him eventually.

Yuuki fought her fate fiercely.  She survived a whole nine months past the doctor’s predictions.  She still fell short.  Was it worth the struggle?  All you have to do is watch the scene.  Every member of the squad stands at her deathbed, and they all grieve in their own way.  Some have streams of tears rushing down their cheeks.  Others try to keep up a strong front, but you can still read their emotions through the sniffling and shaking.  She certainly touched the lives of the team she loved.

Perhaps more importantly, Yuuki guided Minami toward becoming a stronger person.  Minami became a manager because of her friend, and a damn good one.  She strengthened the entire school with the baseball team as a central point.  By the end, Minami has also rekindled of her love for the game.  Yuuki was a fictional character, but she accomplished more in a year than many people in the real world might do in a lifetime.  She lived vicariously from her hospital bed, and in the process affected hundreds of people.  Watching the series culminate to this point reminded me of a particular scripture:

I have fought the fine fight, I have run the course to the finish, I have observed the faith. – 2 Tim 4:7 NWT

Without a doubt, Yuuki fought a fine fight.  She could die satisfied.  I cried like a fucking baby.  I’m crying as I write this post.  Judge it how you will.  I have a good idea of how Minami felt.  How Yuuki’s mother felt.  How the team felt.  I know the difficulties they must have gone through, even though they may not have shown those moments from years past.

Take away at least one lesson from it.  Life is fleeting.  Live a good life.  Make things happen.  You never know what lives you’ll touch until you try.  You never know what a difference it might make, for yourself or for others, even after you’re gone.  My father has similarly left a good life.  He’s well-respected by those who know him.  Even when he’s weak, he still goes out of his way to help others.  He gives even when he has nothing to give.  I know he’ll be dearly missed, should it ever come to that point.  I honestly don’t know how he manages to keep it together as well as he does.  I envy that ability.

But if you want to be ambitious and learn two things, the second is as follows.  Look at your family history.  If there’s a history of colon cancer and you have the means to do it, get yourself checked.  The cancer in my family is hereditary.  After observing my father’s siblings, the doctors have classified it as aggressive.  I’m supposed to be checked when I turn 25.  The procedure might sound a bit embarrassing, but the physicians are trained to do it.  It might save your life.  Don’t put yourself or your loved ones through what I and my family have suffered.  Please.  Get checked.

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

Awww~ ;_; God I loved the ending to this anime, it was so touching. I knew Yuki wouldn’t be able to see the baseball team go to Koushien, but I didn’t want to assume the worst so simply thought she would be in critical condition or go into a state of comma…but the worst did [...]

Alright, so we’re pretty much on the eve of the start of the Spring 2011 season, which means it’s time for our previews. Below, you’ll read what each of the 4 of us think of the many many shows that are coming up. It seems that noitaminA is creating great anticipation again with its financial thriller [C] The Money of Soul and Possibility Control, and the much hyped urban fantasy/scifi thriller Steins;Gate has caught our attention. We fork in our interests quite a bit from there, which is expected given the huge number of shows next season, but studio Shaft’s works seem to be on all our radars, a sign of the respect it’s earned over the past 2 years.

Rakuen

I would like to start by saying there is entirely too much anime airing this season. This is both good and bad. On the positive side, with at least 48 series listed on the latest guide I found, there’s a little something for everyone. If you can’t find a show you’re remotely interested in here, anime might not be your thing. On the negative side, it also makes it very difficult for me to watch everything I want to see. Right now, I have 15 series on my list. I am a little enthusiastic about 7 of them, while I’m definitely ready to try out the remaining 8. I expect to see this number dwindle rapidly. 7.5 hours of anime viewing per week is almost impossible to keep up to date, let alone remembering all the characters, plots and so on. Enough of my kvetching. I should get into the meat of my little segment.

I decided to order my lists by airing date, starting with the series I have a little interest in watching. Dog Days occupies the earliest spot on the list. I expect this to quickly devolve into harem territory, but I’ll admit, I’m a sucker for the summoned hero bit. Next up is the new season of Kaiji. The titular character participates in a gambling event where the stakes are his life. Joojoobees piqued my interest in his post about the first season, but I haven’t gotten to it. So, this go on the Want to Watch list by default. Then, we have Hidan no Aria, which gets a first episode watch based solely on adorable girls with lethal weapons.

A Channel seems to be going with a typical four-girl band for a school comedy, but it is a school comedy, so I’ll give it a shot. The little one, Tooru, also has a baseball bat that shows up all over the promo art… so it could be interesting. Next, we have Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko, or in shorter terms, a new Shaft show. I loved Soredemo, but didn’t like Arakawa. This seems to lean more towards the latter, what with the main girl insisting she’s an alien. Ao no Exorcist continues the “son of Satan will fight his fate” trend. I wonder if this theme comes up because many people have a desire to fight their own fates. What better example is there than the son of evil trying to do good? Finally, The World God Only Knows rounds out this portion of the list. I went back to finish the first season, which means the series did hold some interest for me. I just don’t know if it can do it for another 12 episodes.

The rest of my list comprises of shows I have stronger interest in, and Moshidora has the “earliest” airdate. Giant Killing got me into sports anime, and Big Windup has continued to strengthen my view of the genre. Like Big Windup, we have a female manager trying to lead a baseball club to victory. However, its airdate has been postponed, so it might have to wait for a later season. KyoAni’s Nichijou also airs this season, but I didn’t even realize they animated it until I started writing this. The synopsis itself got me hooked. A principal might wrestle a deer? This is a school comedy I’ve got to see! Hana-Saku Iroha kind of reminds me of Love Hina with the hot springs centric plot, but that’s where the similarities end. It looks like it completely lacks the male lead, meaning no harem, and the plot sounds more focused on drama. I think both of those aspects are Good Things. Showa Monogatari adds another drama to my list with its family orientation and historical setting. This is a more tentative entry on my list, but the Olympic setting piqued my interest.

Now we’re to two of my most anticipated shows. First, STEINS;GATE, which just looks phenomenally awesome in both the artwork and the synopsis. It has the whole time-travel thing, as well as the struggle for survival with the SERN organization on their tails. I get a little Persona vibe from it too, but it might only be me. Sket Dance is yet another school series, but this one stood out from the pack. The premise reminds me of Haruhi, except with less aliens, time travelers, and espers. Unlike the rest, this has the best chance of a strong overarching plot, which I’m really hoping happens. If someone who’s read the manga could confirm it, it’d be much appreciated. Returning to the outlier series on my list, there’s C, plus its long title. It’s got an economically crapsack Japan and a main character who gets sucked into the shuffle. Sounds interesting, and with its noitaminA slot, I’ve got hopes for it. Last, but not least, is Deadman Wonderland. The fight for survival premise fittingly relates to the old Coliseum. It could have a bit too much violence for my tastes, but want to give it a good shot.

Looking back at my list, there’s plenty of comedy, action, and drama with a variety of premises. This could very well be my most anticipated season since I first got into currently airing shows. I hope school and work don’t kick my ass too hard, so I can have the time to watch all these shows.

Top 3: Steins;Gate, Sket Dance, C

lvlln

There sure are a lot of shows coming out next season, but somehow the only ones I’m looking forward to are the sequels: The World God Only Knows, Maria+Holic Alive, and the Kampfer specials.

Just kidding; besides those 3, We Still Don’t Know the Name of the Flower We Saw That Day (AnoHana) on noitaminA’s block sounds like it has potential, simply for being a real-life drama on noitaminA. Oh, and it also contains a character type that’s near and dear to the hearts of everyone here on this site, a hikikomori. Then again, noitaminA has been really hit or miss lately, with the trainwreck that is Fractale and the hugely disappointing Kuragehime, even if AIC’s Wandering Son is absolutely knocking it out of the park this season. AnoHana is being made by A-1 Pictures, which is responsible for some pretty poor shows such as Kannagi and last year’s Anime no Chikara duo Sora no Woto and Occult Academy, so I’m very prepared to be disappointed. Still, the director has A Certain Scientific Railgun on his resume, and that didn’t suck too much, and I’ve heard his Toradora! did drama well.

Besides that, only 2 other non-sequels have caught my eye: Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko and Steins;Gate. Denpa Onna because it’s Shaft, even if it sounds just like another version of Arakawa Under the Bridge, which turned out… alright. Steins;Gate because I’ve read some other people really excited about it. Plus, I like modern-day scifi stories.

But really, the sequels are what I’m looking forward to.

The World God Only Knows was a surprisingly entertaining show for which didn’t have a bit of faith in going in. But Keima’s cynical, almost nihilistic personality combined with his occasional outbursts made for good comedy. A show that was as meta as that could have been a lot more meaningful, sure, but it was a fine source of dumb laughs. The 1st season ended on a planned cliffhanger, and though I doubt the pickle Keima got into will last more than an episode, I look forward to seeing how he will continue to add to his transient harem.

What I liked about Maria+Holic was Asami Sanada‘s Kanako, the perverted lesbian man hating protagonist. Her smooth, soft voice is unique, and seeing her character constantly abused somehow didn’t get old. Didn’t hurt that it was Yuu Kobayashi as Maria doing the abusing. She plays male characters well, and she does crazy well, too. Then there’s Marina Inoue as Matsurika. I like to think of it as a gay Stalker-tan being forced to live with an abusive Kaere and her snarky maid Symmetrical-tan. What more whacky antics will these 3 and the rest of the cast get into?

And bottom of the sequel list is Kampfer. Now here’s a show that was pure guilty pleasure. Looking for things like action, plot, character development, or meaningful relationships was a fruitless endeavor. I just loved seeing Natsuru and his/her thick head be dragged around by his psychotic harem. And this show’s cast is pretty much a who’s who list of female voice actors right now. I wish they’d do a 2nd season instead of just a couple episodes, but I suppose they’ll do.

Top 3: The World God Only Knows, Maria+Holic Alive, We Still Don’t Know the Name of the Flower We Saw That Day

Raphael

Pleasantly, there’s a good bit of original anime in this crop. Tiger & Bunny is among them and has received more press for the large amount of product placement it’ll employ than for the fact that Sunrise is doing a superhero show. I’m hoping it will be fun and won’t drag. Another of these original shows is Dog Days by the team behind Nanoha. The setting and premise don’t appeal to me, but I may well give it a whirl; it’ll probably at least look nice. The most promising of this lot in my eyes is C. Strong staff, very interesting premise, noitaminA. Unfortunately, the trailer didn’t meet my expectations, with the wonderful character designs not translating as well as I’d hoped and the animation looking a tad under par. It’s still the season’s series I’m most eagerly awaiting. The last two original anime, Hana-saku Iroha (which, judging by trailers, will look stunning) and AnoHana seem to fall squarely into the slice of life/drama genre zone. They also have the same head writer in Mari Okada. Both could be enjoyable if done well, but I feel like both could also try my patience, especially given that Hana-saku Iroha is reportedly 26 episodes. I’ll give them a go.

Moving onto the adaptations, we have manga-based slice-of-life comedies in A Channel and Nichijou. I’ve read the source of the former, and I was expecting to discard it quickly… but I found myself really enjoying it. It’s nothing new, but the humor has a slightly mean bent and I got several good laughs out of it. I’m curious to see how it translates to anime, as there’s a fairly new studio on board but also the director and series composition guy who did Saki. The latter is Kyoto Animation’s spring offering and, like Hana-saku Iroha, is supposedly two-cour. I found the prequel OVA nowhere near as funny as I do A Channel’s manga, but I definitely felt it had charm to it. I’ll give both of these series a try. Other comedies include Xebec’s entries Hen Zemi and Softenni. I’ll be watching Hen Zemi because I liked its OVA for its disgusting humor, but I do wonder if things will get cleaned up for TV. In addition, the OVA’s director will not be returning for the series; instead he’s been replaced by the director who did Rio – Rainbow Gate! and To Love-Ru. Meanwhile, the man behind the OVA will be working on Softenni, which I get big Saki vibes from. I’m also a massive tennis fan, so – though I’m sure I’ll feel silly for thinking there might be actual tennis-playing involved – while I really, really doubt I’ll enjoy it anywhere near as much as Saki, I’ll give it a shot. Hopefully I won’t want to be shot because of it/need several shots of something to get through it. (Punning is hard, give me a break (ha!).) Shaft will also have two comedies airing: the sequel to Maria+Holic, and the bizarre enough for me to check out Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko.

To the action/adventure side of things, Steins;Gate stands out as having potential to be very entertaining and entertainingly technobabble-filled. Premise sounds great, art looks great, and Jukki Hanada is at the writing helm. Really looking forward to this. We also have Ao no Exorcist, Deadman Wonderland, and Hidan no Aria. The first has good buzz and the director of Darker than Black going for it, and it could be interesting. As for the latter two, I’m up to date with what’s been translated of the manga of both. Deadman Wonderland is packed full of gore, action, good characters, and plot twists, and I love it. I’m unsure whether it’ll get the treatment it deserves, though, as Manglobe will be dividing its efforts between it and the second season of The World God Only Knows. But I’m hoping for the best. Hidan no Aria has been less fun for me to get through. I would’ve dropped it very quickly (for its mix of mostly-loli fanservice, poor art, and storm of cliches) if I hadn’t found the concept of a school for armed detectives so enticing. I plan to be watching the anime too, even though Rie Kugimiya as yet another flat-chested tsundere should’ve deterred me, and – despite my grumbling – I’m sure I’ll have some fun. Interestingly, this (along with Gosick) will make two shows airing simultaneously that focus on a foreign-loli-Holmes/Japanese-high-school-boy-Watson duo.

As for the rest? Moshidora‘s unusual premise has piqued my interest, and I plan to check it out; Hyouge Mono, Toriko, Sket Dance, and Showa Monogatari don’t appeal to me; OreTsuba (We Don’t Have Wings) and HoshiKaka (A Bridge to the Starry Skies) look very similar and similarly uninteresting; and Astarotte no Omocha! does not exist. And finally, though I’m almost certain I’ll be unable to get through an episode, I feel obligated to check out Sekaiichi Hatsukoi because BL anime adaptations are just so rare.

Top 3: C, Steins;Gate, Deadman Wonderland

CPAnime

Despite the overwhelming amount of new anime coming out, it feels like most of the stuff out there is either for teens or a generic (adult) drama. Thankfully, there are enough shows out there that choosing which anime I will be watching will still be a difficult task. The following are a few of the anime that I have the most interest in for varying reasons.

It has been about two years since I started watching anime on a season by season basis, and one of the first shows I watched in this way was Maria+Holic. So, with the benefit of two years of full time anime watching experience, it will be interesting for me to see if I find Alive anywhere as interesting as the original was in 2009. Sometimes I wonder if the only reason I tuned in on a week to week basis was to see the OP and ED, so it will be interesting to see if my tastes have changed, or if this show is actually as awesome as I remembered.

I am also pretty interested in the other Shaft show, Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko, but mainly because I don’t know anything about it. Shaft has built up some serious street cred over the past few months with Madoka Magica, but there is also the possibility that this could turn into an Arakawa under the Bridge 2 situation, especially given the synopsis. Another thing that worries me is that Shaft is doing two shows this season, and seeing as how they can barely manage one most of the time, I think the quality is inevitably going to suffer. Still, girls with mysterious pasts are kind of one my things, so I’ll be checking this one out for sure.

C is another interesting show for me, but for some different reasons. It reminds me a lot of Madoka in that there is a contract being made, though I doubt that the main character will be naive as some of the characters in Madoka, as the show doesn’t seem to be hiding its cards. From the previews I’ve read up to this point, it seems like the show might have a difficult time with its first few episodes as there looks to be a lot going on. Hopefully, a deeper understanding of economics or business won’t be needed for this show, as that could turn off some viewers. Personally, I have confidence that this shouldn’t be a problem as it is part of the noitaminA time slot, but even that is no longer a guarantee.

Staying on the business end of things, the one show I am looking forward to the most this season is Moshidora. While its broadcast schedule kind of seems up in the air, I’m looking forward to watching this during the baseball season. Since I’m a business student and a baseball fan, this show is kind of a no brainer for me, and I can potentially see myself blogging this. Still, I do have my doubts as to whether this will work, despite its popularity in Japan. Mainly, I am concerned that the translation of the material into an anime will fail to jump off the page, if you will, and just become another boring class lesson, though I doubt it.

Finally, the one show that will undoubtedly be my guilty pleasure is Hen Zemi. I recently watched the first episode of the OVA and was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed it. The only real criticism I could levy against it, besides the obvious, was that it took too long to get to its punch lines. I am a bit concerned that the TV broadcast will be impeded by those god forsaken censors (Kiss X Sis‘s OVAs, for example, were and are infinitely better than the censored TV broadcast), but as long as the staff is witty enough, it can probably work around this. Though, it is XEBEC. So… that could be good or bad, depending on your preferences (btw, where is my LxB sequel?).

Top 3: C, Moshidora, A Channel

And that about wraps it up. Which of the dozens and dozens of shows are you looking forward to this spring?