The end is fast approaching for The Null Set’s examination of the 2011 year in anime so let’s switch gears, drop the categories, and let the various anime series go head-to-head.

I’ll readily admit that the anime series occupying the top spots on this list probably won’t be a surprise based on a simple tally of which anime won the most categories but using just that method doesn’t give a wholly accurate picture of the relative strength of the top anime series. Sure it’s causes one to compare apples to oranges, as the saying goes, or maybe more aptly, forces one to mix oil and water together but humans seem hardwired to try to do just that.

On that note, let’s head to the countdown and discover which series juuusst squeaked onto the list.

13  -  Rio – Rainbow Gate

At number 13 and better than over 46 other series that aired in 2011 is the much derided Rio- Rainbow Gate. It’s an easy show to denigrate and a cursory watch would seem to confirm the need to criticize it. However, as I found myself watching more of the series and wondering why I kept watching, I realized that if the show was merely generic then I would have tired of it very quickly and dropped it like I did four other anime series that season. Generic is bland and predictable. Rio – Rainbow Gate was never predictable; every episode surprised and delighted with some silly, absurd story. It takes genuine knowledge and skill to make a show entertaining for 14 episodes. How many anime series have come out even just recently that showed promise in the first or two episodes but quickly fell apart after those couple of episodes?

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12  -  Ben-to

Ben-to is the story of a Japan that hosts impromptu daily gladiatorial competitions in it’s supermarkets where the prize is a half-priced box lunch. Ridiculous? Absolutely, but sometimes it takes the ridiculous to break the mold and create something great. What made this anime so appealing was it’s frequent well-constructed and thrilling fight scenes but that wasn’t the only reason why Ben-to succeeded. There was also a killer soundtrack that matched the over-the-top perfection of the action. Then there was the delight Ben-to showed while fleshing out the world that it inhabited. Wolves were supposed to have respect and pride; dogs and boars should be looked at with disdain; food only tasted good when one fought for it; one has to give thanks before eating to everyone from the farmer that grew the food all the way to the people who were beaten to get the half-priced box lunch. It helped make the world seem more authentic and helped make the fights more meaningful.

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11  –   Ao no Exorcist

Ao no Exorcist is one of the reasons that doing this countdown is warranted in my eyes. It didn’t win a single category and was nominated in only two categories; yet, it earns the number eleven spot for being one of the better shounen series of recent memory. It had a very tough slate of rivals during the two seasons it ran and found itself constantly playing second fiddle to them. Initially, I wasn’t that impressed with Ao no Exorcist because the first couple of episodes seemed to suggest that the show wanted to be “dark” but it came off as wannabe dark like Deadman Wonderland. However, once those episodes established the “tragic nature” of our hero main character and we moved into the story proper the show started to get better and better. The main character was a nice guy; the type of person that one can’t help but root for and the supporting cast is a diverse, interesting bunch that interact well with each other. The plot was more interesting than I thought it would be and I liked how the animators didn’t try to just continue once they burned through most of the source material.

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10  -  Hyouge Mono

Having only seen 11 episodes of this 39 episode anime, it was difficult to give this show it’s proper due in the category section; yet, this anime about a man living in the Sengoku period who seeks security and comfort for his wife and child through success on the battlefield even when he does not have a warrior’s heart convincingly earns this spot of top anime for 2011. The thing that surprised me about this anime is that it takes the political intrigue of the era seriously while still allowing the eccentric characters to be larger-than-life and interesting. For example, I was prepared for disappointment over Hyouge Mono’s version of Oda Nobunaga aka the Demon King after his portrayal in Sengoku Basara but he’s as interesting here as he was in Sengoku Basara.

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9  -  Tiger and Bunny

I think Tiger and Bunny is the result of someone at Sunrise looking at all the super-powered movies coming out from America and deciding that it’d be cool to try making one as well. The result was loads of fun with the occasional flash of brilliance. What prevented it from going higher on the list was the infrequent lapses in the plot that would deflate the momentum that it had built up for itself. These lapses bothered me when I first watched this series but later in the year I decided to rewatch it with my one sister and the second time through it was easier to just focus on the strengths of Tiger and Bunny – it’s characters, production values, and entertaining nature. The end hinted at a possible sequel and I’m hoping it comes to pass.

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8  -  Ikoku Meiro no Croisee

This, the story of a young Japanese girl transplanted to Paris in the late 19th century was full of all the fish-out-of-water experiences one would expect (and enjoy) and had the interesting and well done backdrop that an anime with high production values set when it was would have but, ultimately, the part I most liked about Ikoku Meiro no Croisee was the characters and their relationships with each other. Which made the decision to have  what was named episode 4.5 be a DVD extra so baffling. It was an early episode that focused on character development and would have shown people that Ikoku Meiro no Croisee had a subtle bite to it (and wasn’t just an anime about cute girls doing cute things). I’ll hold out hope that, even with the low sales numbers it had, a sequel will eventually be made.

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7  -  Hanasaku Iroha

During it’s run, Hanasaku Iroha’s popularity suffered from people’s assumptions about the story turning out to be wrong. At the beginning it was assumed by many that P.A. Works was attempting to make an anime version of a Japanese dorama series but as the story unfolded it started acting more like a slice-of-life series that really wasn’t concerned with including some sort of overarching plot structure. I felt it was wasting it’s potential but continued watching because it was better than several other series I followed. It was only during the last episode that I realized how much I’d come to like Hanasaku Iroha. (Much like how it wasn’t until episode 20 of the second season of K-On! that I realized how much I’d come to like that franchise.) I needed to rewatch Hanasaku Iroha to see how well it held up on a second viewing. Maybe it was because I knew what to expect and not expect or it was the new light I saw the characters in after finishing it the first time that did it but it was a much improved series the second time through. As for a sequel, I could see the merit of one if it was set a few years in the future when the inn was being re-opened and focused on making it profitable.

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Whew, only one more section – the top 6 anime of 2011 – to go. Then maybe it’ll be time to start covering this excellent winter 2012 anime season.

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Top anime 2011 Awards Part 0: Introduction and Anti-Awards
Top anime 2011 Awards Part 1: Cast and Character Awards
Top anime 2011 Awards Part 2: Genre and General Awards
Top anime 2011 Awards Part 3: VMA Awards
Top anime 2011 Awards Part 4: The Misfit Awards
Top anime 2011 Awards: Top 13 Anime – #13 – #7 <- you are here
Top anime 2011 Awards: Top 13 Anime – #6 – #1

Filed under: anime, awards

The end is fast approaching for The Null Set’s examination of the spring season; all that’s left is the countdown of the top shows of the season. I’ll readily admit that creating such a listing causes one to compare apples to oranges, as the saying goes, or maybe oil and water is a better description. The result probably speaks more about the preparer of the list then it does the actual merits of the shows involved but it seems hardwired into humans to continuously make these types of lists and give importance to the results.

So on that note, let’s head to the countdown and discover which series juuusst squeaked onto the list.

8 – Tiger and Bunny

My opinion of Tiger and Bunny has swung the widest of all the spring anime series; sometimes very high and other times it’s rather low. At various points it seems that Sunrise wants viewers to take Tiger and Bunny seriously and at other points it clearly wants Tiger and Bunny to be considered a silly, over-the-top series.  Done right, it’s possible to swing between both but Sunrise hasn’t done the best job getting the tonal shifts right which leaves Tiger and Bunny somewhat frustrating to watch. For example, am I supposed to see the completely ineffectual mayor of Sternbild City (the NYC-like setting of the anime) who looks good on camera but is completely overwhelmed by the demands of the jobs as thinly-veiled political commentary about the current President of the US when Sunrise resolves the Ouroboros storyline, rather absurdly, with the big bad villain having a helicopter fall on him and killing him?

So I’ve needed to do a bit of leveling the mountains and filling in the valleys to get a better read on where Tiger and Bunny actually stands independently and in comparison with the other anime of the season. The result was I realized Tiger and Bunny deserved to make the top anime list for this season because it does lots of things right (sometimes really right) but that it still hasn’t come close to it’s full potential yet and that it has a few elements holding it back.

I’m optimistic about the second half of Tiger and Bunny that airs this summer season. Now that the introductions, character development, and the true forming of the superhero duo of Tiger and Bunny are accomplished, Sunrise can really kick the story in gear. (More Lunatic, please. )

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7 – Hyouge Mono

One of the disappointments of this season is how Hyouge Mono has fallen through the cracks and ignored by most of the anime fans out there. I’m grateful that there is at least one group willing to sub this show, though it would be wonderful if they had more help, and for the 5 episodes I’ve seen so far. I know for certain that if I’d’ve seen 9 or 10 episodes at this point, I’d be ranking Hyouge Mono much higher.

The animation and vocal work are both above average but the real draw to this show is it’s characters. They are toned down from Sengoku Basara levels enough so that it’s possible to show the political side of the Sengoku time period while still keeping enough eccentricities that the characters are fun to watch. I particularly like the main character because of how conflicted he is and how he tries to balance everything. He prides himself as an aesthetic, particularly about all things related to tea, and he loves his wife and son but the only way to provide the lifestyle they deserve is to fight in the army and try to advance up the ranks to win prestige, power, and money while being totally not cutout for military service. He also realizes that it’s impossible to become a respected aesthetic until he has a collection of treasures showcasing his appreciation of art so he’s very bribable at this point but he seeks to be totally loyal to his lord, Oda Nobunaga aka the Demon King.

And the kicker about Hyouge Mono is how true to history it actually is.

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6 – Hanasaku Iroha

Hanasaku Iroha is the latest anime from PA Works who has shown in the past great animation quality but a consistent flatness to it’s characters that impedes the quality of their shows. (I’m still marveling at how I didn’t shed a single tear during Angel Beats but filled buckets over KyoAni’s AIR, Kanon, and Clannad.)  As a firm believer in the adage ‘Practice makes perfect,’ I figured at some point that PA Works would get it right and Hanasaku Iroha shows that they’re starting to get it right. It’s still not perfect but there’s tantalizing flashes of brilliance, for instance, pretty much all of episode 13 was perfectly awesome. If it could stay at that level then picking the top show of the season would have been a much tougher task.

One of the smart things they did was to have the main character, Ohana, quickly mature past the whinny, brat stage she was in at the beginning of the series. For one, I don’t think many could have tolerated watching her pout over the unfairness of life as the main character for too long before dropping it. For two, having a cool main character, as Ohana is at this point, increases the show’s overall coolness (always a good thing).

I’m not sure how Hanasaku Iroha will fill another season’s worth episodes, though a couple things have been hinted at, but I definitely will keep watching the daily adventures of the people that run what must be the best little hot springs inn in Japan.

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5 – Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko

In hindsight, Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko suffered from certain high expectations that have slowly formed about Shaft/Shinbou series. The largest expectation stemmed from the many past series from Shaft/Shinbou that have had a surprising amount of depth to them. When Erio exclaimed that she was an alien, it primed us to expect something like Arakawa Under the Bridge and when it didn’t deliver a show of that depth, it felt like a disappointment. ‘What is the point to this anime,’ was a comment I saw over and over. I thought the same thing but I kept watching and finally I realized the real purpose was just to have a fairly generic male lead spend his time with a variety of different girls/women doing fun things. It’s light entertainment; that’s it.

Once I straightened my expectations out it was a very fun series to follow and after Madoka, I’m okay with something a bit lighter from Shaft/Shinbou. I definitely wouldn’t mind a sequel but there are a few series from Shaft that I rather see a sequel done first.

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The top four come next and then it’ll be time to start examining the new summer season .

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Spring 2011 Awards Part 1: Cast and Character Awards
Spring 2011 Awards Part 2: Genre and Misfit Awards
Spring 2011 Awards Part 3: VMA Awards
Spring 2011 Awards: Top 8 Anime – #4 – #1

Filed under: anime, awards

After focusing on the characters that populate the various anime in part one, this – the second part – focuses on the parts of the show that are built around the characters (for the most part). This division is one that I’ve come to value when assessing a series. For example, series like Maria+Holic Alive have a strong core of characters stuck in mediocre constructed show and series like Deadman Wonderland have the tools for a well-constructed series but lack the characters to make it work.

Like I said last time, there was a pretty broad slate of shows this season but there always seems like a few genres are missing each season. Which genres that are missing change with the seasons; this time there was a surprising lack of quality fan-service series (the absence of series from AIC this season probably has something to do with this). And other genres never seem to have enough qualifying series to warrant the inclusion of a category. This time that meant no awards for best slice-of-life and SF series.

Okay, that’s enough rambling; let’s get to this group of awards and don’t worry I will explain the above screenshot.

Best Action

Winner: Nichijou

Runner-up: Tiger and Bunny, X-Men

Action equals money spent on extra frames of animation and this season there was no action series that was given a large enough budget to do more than show flashes of action. That wasn’t to say that the season was without a consistly action-packed anime series; we had Nichijou – a comedy series. German suplexes, epic chase scenes, explosions, festival shooting galleries, sisterly kendo matches over sweets, mosquito swatting and human missiles were just some of the action packed scenes from Nichijou this season.

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Best Fight

Winner: Ep.12 of Dororon Enma-kun Meeramera

The best fight was, without a doubt, episode 12 of Enma-kun. Brains Base took an already crazy show, jacked it up a couple orders of magnitude and removed all the restraints. The result was truly epic.

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Best Comedy

Winner: Nichijou

Runner-up: gg’s fansub of Hidan no Aria

The top image of this post is related to the runner-up for best comedy – the fansub group gg’s sub of Hidan no Aria. J.C. Staff has always been weak at improving a show when the source material is bad but this time it felt like they weren’t even trying to make Aria a better show. The result was a show that’s painful to watch and it’s here gg stepped in. The result provided almost as much laughs as Nichijou this season and Nichijou was positively bursting with laughs.

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Most Entertaining

Winner:  Dororon Enma-kun Meeramera

Runner-up: Tiger and Bunny, Hyouge Mono, Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko

Comedy is definitely a subset of Entertaining but often the most entertaining shows are ones that only provide sparse comedy. Enma-kun was consistently entertaining by always coming up with some off-the-wall idea and keeping the viewers guessing. It was also entertaining because it’s retro feel made it a unique experience. I’m not complaining about the overabundance of anime that follow modern anime stereotypes and tropes but a little variety is nice.

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Most Interesting Setting

Winner: Hyouge Mono

Runner-up: Steins;Gate, C – The Money of Soul and Possibility Control

I fell in love with the Sengoku era of Japanese history after the completely over-the-top series Sengoku Basara turned out to be a pretty historical show so when the chance to watch another show set in the same time period came up I jumped on it. So far they’ve introduced an even wider cast of characters that couldn’t possibly exist but actually do and there’s been political intrigue, posturing and double-crosses all by the end of episode 5. Also in the mix is seeing how western influence is just starting to affect Japanese society which includes the viewers being introduced to a Christian warlord who’s destined to flee to the Philippines after Tokugawa clamps down on Christianity.

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Best Plot

Winner: Steins;Gate

Runner-up: Hyouge Mono

So far Steins;Gate has felt like X-Files when it was in it’s prime and that’s a great thing to be like. Hopefully, as more of the plot gets revealed it doesn’t follow X-Files into the boring mediocrity that was the ending of X-Files.

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Best Story

Winner: AnoHana

Runner-up: Tiger and Bunny

After creating a group of flawed, compelling characters the creators needed a good story to fully realize the potential of the characters and trying to fulfill the final wish of a young girl was just that sort of story. It’s not that complex or unique of a story but in the right hands it didn’t need to be. AnoHana had those hands in the name of Tatsuyuki Nagai and everything just came together.

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Best Villain

Winner: Heaven from Dororon Enma-kun Meeramera

Runner-up: CERN from Steins;Gate

Heaven was featured in another anime, Yondemasu yo Azazel-san, this season and there it was merely presented in a very unflattering light but Enma-kun takes it a step further and turns them into the villain that our rag-tag group of heroes (4 demons and 1 human) must  stop before a global apocalypse occurs. It reminded me of the Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaiman classic Good Omens, a book I highly recommend. Having heaven show up as the villain provided a nice twist like how the demons in Panty and Stocking were the law-abiding rule following citizens.

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Best Final Episode

Winner:  Dororon Enma-kun Meeramera

Runner-up: AnoHana, C – The Money of Soul and Possibility Control

I didn’t think it possible that an anime could squeeze through with a better final episode then AnoHana but Enma-kun did it. I already mentioned a few reasons why this episode was so awesome earlier when it won best fight but there were so many other reasons. For instance, this episode actually tied-up many of the story threads that got introduced earlier in the series, giving this series a real sense of closure. There were several elements to C that prevented it from reaching it’s full potential but it was still able to cobble together a very interesting final episode and ending. It didn’t make total sense but it was at least interesting.

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Best Ending

Winner:  AnoHana

Runner-up: Dororon Enma-kun Meeramera

Overall, though, AnoHana had the best ending and it goes back to how well the show was executed. The biggest thing that helped the show was that AnoHana didn’t attempt an overly complex story that couldn’t be finished satisfactorily in 11 episodes like several recent Noitamina series. *cough*Fractale*cough*C*cough

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Most in Need of a Sequel

Winner:  Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko

Runner-up: Dororon Enma-kun Meeramera

I’d definitely watch a sequel to either of these anime but in both of these cases there are other series I’d rather see first animated by their respective animation studios. Enma-kun comes from Brains Base and I’d really like to see a third season of Spice and Wolf first (now that Natsume’s Book of Friends is getting a sequel). Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko comes from Shaft and I’d like to see a third season of Arakawa Under the Bridge or a fourth season of Hidamari Sketch and Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei first.

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That’s it for part 2, the next part is the VMA awards.

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Spring 2011 Awards Part 1: Cast and Character Awards
Spring 2011 Awards Part 3: VMA Awards
Spring 2011 Awards: Top 8 Anime – #8 – #5
Spring 2011 Awards: Top 8 Anime – #4 – #1

Filed under: anime, awards

The near-totality of Puella Magi Madoka Magica’s dominance in the various categories made writing up a winter seasonal awards post pretty pointless. This season, however, saw a more diverse and larger group of noteworthy anime to choose from.  There was shows about ghostly girls, alien girls, superheroes both in America and Japan, demons of Hell with undemon-like behavior (4 different ways), conspiracies,  cautionary tales about monetary policies and privately owned prisons, the everyday life of various people from metaphorical trolls to lesbian stalkers to high school girls, historical tales set in the Sengoku period (both genderbent and tea-centric) and an alternative 1920’s where Victorian fashions were still worn along with the standard handful of decent to poor shounen series and low-budget/low-quality fan service shows that every anime season seems to have. So let’s take a look back the spring anime season.

Before starting, below is a listing of the shows that I watched this season and are the pool from which the picks for all the awards are coming from.

Also, as a reminder, I’ll try to keep spoilers to a minimum but there’ll be some because of how they’ll relate to specific awards. As for the continuing shows, only the part of the series that ran during this season is under consideration for this season’s awards.

Carry-over shows watched this season (1): Gosick

New shows watched this season (20): X-Men, Dog Days, Tiger and Bunny, Nichijou, Yondemasu yo Azazel-san, Hanasaku Iroha, Fireball Charming, Steins;Gate, Hyouge Mono, Hidan no Aria, A Channel, Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko, Dororon Enma-kun Meeramera, Maria+Holic Alive, Ao no Exorcist, The World God Only Knows II, Seikon no Qwaser II, C – The Money of Soul and Possibility Control, Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae o Bokutachi wa Mada Shiranai (AnoHana), Deadman Wonderland

Shows that got dropped (8): Hen Zemi, Oretachi ni Tsubasa wa Nai, Hoshizora e Kakaru Hashi, Sengoku Otome – Momoiro Paradox, 30-sai no Hoken Taiiku, Sket Dance, Sofuteni, Astarotte no Omocha!

Best Female Main Character(s)

Winner: Nano from Nichijou, The Professor from Nichijou

Runner-up: Ohana from Hanasaku Iroha

Nano’s eternal quest to slow how quickly The Professor gets into trouble, pass as a human and go to school makes her an obvious pick for this award but leaving out the other half of this comedic duo dynamo – The Professor – with her precocious intelligence bent on world snack domination just felt wrong. They beat out Ohana; she was a character that I was sure at the beginning that I would detest but she turned out to be the exact opposite.

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Best Male Main Character

Winner: Rintarou Okabe from Steins;Gate

Runner-up: Tiger from Tiger and Bunny, Furuta Sasuke from Hyouge Mono

Early on, when I was still unsure how the plot to Steins;Gate would play out, the reason I kept watching was mad scientist Rintarou Okabe was an absolute treat to watch. I was worried, however, that he’d become boring after a while if the “mad scientist” shtick got old but, with every episode, we learn more about him and what makes him tick and he’s pure distilled awesomeness.

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Best Supporting Character

Winner: Grandma from Hanasaku Iroha

Runner-up: Matsurika from Maria+Holic Alive

A couple of years back I wrote a short post about how anime needs more old characters. One of the reasons is their age instantly gives them the a body of experience that quickly and easily gives them a depth to their character that younger characters have to struggle to obtain. The grandma, Sui Shijima, from Hanasaku Iroha is another great example of this and is easily the best part of the show.

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Best Screen-grabber

Winner:  Meme from Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko

Loud, brash, and egocentric Meme becomes a screen-grabber whenever she’s onscreen, even if the other characters would rather her not be. I still don’t particularly like Meme because of her complete lack of decent parenting shown at the beginning of the series but throughout the series she’s shown that there is a decent human being inside.

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Best Couple

Winner: Prince Enma and Princess Yukiko from Dororon Enma-kun Meeramera

I keep this award just to actual couples in the anime so that sadly left AnoHana out of the running, even with it’s tantalizing hints at how the characters would couple-up after finally moving on from the memory of Menma. Instead, I choose the oddball couple of Prince Enma of Hell and Princess Yukiko, the ice demon. I’m not sure how it’ll work out but this relationship was on the smaller reasons for how good Dororon Enma-kun Meeramera ended up being.

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Best Character Ability/Power

Winner: Rintarou Okabe’s ability to remember past world lines from Steins;Gate

Runner-up: The ability to control an element from Seikon no Qwaser II

By rights, being able to control an element should win this category but, much like the alchemy in Full Metal Alchemist, it’s never exploited to it’s full potential. (For example, who cares if one can make cool iron scythes; let me see that person fight if his lungs are full of helium or that person has all the calcium drawn out of his bones, breaking them, and then having a heart attack from having way too much calcium in the blood or that person’s sodium levels are changed causing diarrhea, disorientation, lethargy, seizures and a coma or one of my sister’s favorite, the nursing student one, have his potassium levels changed causing paralysis, a heart attack and an inability to breathe among other fun things.) Rintarou Okabe’s ability to remember past world lines in a normal person wouldn’t be that noteworthy except he happens to be studying time travel and one of the side-effects of the type of time travel he’s perfected causes him to jump to alternative world lines.

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Best Cast of Characters

Winner: AnoHana

Runner-up: Hyouge Mono, Tiger and Bunny

This was almost as easy to pick the winner as the next award but Hyouge Mono and Tiger and Bunny put up a spirited charge. I could even see Hyouge Mono edging AnoHana but there’s only been 5 episodes subbed so far and the characters are just now getting a chance to shine.

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Best Character Development for Cast

Winner:  AnoHana

This is the easiest award to pick for this season and should be self-evident.

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Best Character Development of a Single Character

Winner:  Rintarou Okabe from Steins;Gate

I love how Steins;Gate started out with a great character, Rintarou Okabe, and has slowly built him up even more. Episode 13 gave us some tantalizing hints at how much room there still in for Rintarou Okabe to grow. I could very well be back next season calling him one of the greatest characters of the year (if the ending doesn’t stink and he gets the chance to continue improving).

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That’s the end of part 1; I hope to have the second part up within a day. Comments and feedback are always appreciated – I’d love to see what others would pick.

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Spring 2011 Awards Part 2: Genre and Misfit Awards
Spring 2011 Awards Part 3: VMA Awards
Spring 2011 Awards: Top 8 Anime – #8 – #5
Spring 2011 Awards: Top 8 Anime – #4 – #1

Filed under: anime, awards

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