Figured not that I've been through at least 80% of what I wanted to see this season by now (only Aoi, Moshidora, and Deadman left to try, but they're next week), might as well toss in my .02
X-Men: I actually enjoyed Wolverine, despite its (numerous) flaws. And the quality of X-men is about 10x it... as if Marvel finally turned on the money taps for their Madhouse projects. The story is set around the Dark Phoenix Saga/Mastermind arc, but they switch to Japan and focus on Armor (of course, but she totally deserves the limelight, one of the better X-men characters of recent years imo). Anyone with an interest in the X-men universe should definitely give this series a shot.
And did I mention Storm is HOT?Tiger & Bunny: The blatant product advertisement is amusing, but gets old quickly. Reality/Game Show type setup with superheroes fighting crime to earn the most points and be victorious. Animation is okay, CG is cheezy. Had almost written off the series if it wasn't for the last minute jump it took into the protagonist's backstory and character development, which was actually interesting. Will stick around a while longer to see where it goes. And I suddenly really want to drink some
Pepsi Next Zero.
Dog Days: Generic and kiddish. A story about the land of Fronyard and dogs at war against cats or something. Except war is really just a giant obstacle course like Ninja Warrior. Some equally generic line about the dog princess summoning a hero who happens to be a high school boy and just happens to have all the skill sets needed to be awesome (he is a fitness freak) and save the world. Animation is okay, am currently only sticking it out for the seiyuu. I am a sucker for cute voices. :'(
Nichijou: Bebpo, I am going to clobber you.
Lucky Star this
ain't. Lucky Star at least was funny because it talked about actual everyday events and mixed in cool otaku references along with being about absolutely nothing. Nichijou on the other hand, keeps the boring absolutely nothing part and peppers it with doses of randomness. Not even the good Azumanga Daioh type of randomness either, the
what the heck are they trying to do here oh my god brain hurts make it stop. The
only saving grace is obviously KyoAni's awesome animation and it shows here brilliantly. Too bad they chose the worst show to display their talents... go back to working on K-On S3 you hacks.
Hanasaku Iroha: Up until today, I would have called this
the "life-lesson" show of the season. Witty, dramatic, fast-paced city girl learns the hard way about the ways of the slow-paced, rustic country life. It's not a theme that's new, but it's done
well and realistically, and I think that's the best thing about the experience. Mari Okada is the script writer, so I'm not surprised, she's always great with her writing (Toradora, Wandering Son). Great production values: animation is really good, art style is cute (finally, his art in something other than lame GUST games)
without pandering. Only slight complaint is the pacing of the show... perhaps a bit slower than it
could be, but that's a minor minor complaint. If you want a life drama, this is #2 go to this season.
Ore-tachi ni Tsubasa wa Nai: Based on Navel's H-game of the same name. At first this show is confusing in its delivery: is it another generic harem school life show? A dating show? A show about a brooding protagonist and his loli? But I guess what they're trying to do is give the viewer an introspective on the daily lives of various people, and once I understood that, I liked it a lot more. The male protagonists were pretty-one dimensional as is typical of bishoujo games but the female protagonists stole the show here with their personality and not their panty/bust shots for once (at least not entirely). If I had to place the presentation style, I would say it's similar to Durarara! with how it follows different people throughout the city.
Sengoku Otome ~Momoiro Paradox~: A show that twists things up a bit. I had expected going in to find a show about fanservice and bust shots taken of conveniently well-proportioned female incarnations of historical figures, but the show actually has a good flow, and it actually shows surprisingly
considerable restraint in the use of the fanservice button. Story is simple, about a high school girl who ends up in feudal Japan and who happens to have the name Hideyoshi, and basically grows into the historical role of the person. It's nice to not see Nobunaga Oda as a burn-the-world-to-ashes Sephiroth-super-evil-demon-guy for once but instead as shrewd, yet fair and kind but eccentric... woman.
Steins;Gate: Based on 5pb's popular 360 ADV, the story is some kind of pseudo-science sci-fi stuff that's aimed to impress viewers
techno-babble style. The story deliberately tries to be vague and ambiguous in order to set up the dramatic tone. It works for the most part, and while the story is still in the setting-up stages, things definitely will get crazy soon. I love the banter between Daru and Okarin. Animation is of course awesome thanks to WhiteFox... oh Chaos;Head, why did Mahouse have to abuse you so? :'(
30-sai no Hoken Taiiku: I have no idea why I am watching this. The fact that each ep is only 12 minutes long probably helps. Basically a sex-god (who's male for once!) comes to show pitiful 30-year old man virgins everywhere how to have sex, from how to fondle breasts properly, how to properly unclasp a bra, to how to approach females in public situations. Sorta funny, not really all that educational, as the poor protagonist stumbles on every task. Reminds me of a serious version of Yamada's squabbles in H Gata B Kei.
Sket Dance: Hooray, this season's straight up generic shounen show! SKET is apparently the name of the club that goes around helping solve people's problems, and solving problems apparently involve some elaborate shounen-type ordeal that ends in fighting or training and unleashing special powers. In another season, I might have stuck around, but there's way too much this season already.
A Channel: The BETTER slice-of-everyday-life moe show of the season. Yuri, girls, and baseball bats. Actually funny, and the gags don't leave me scratching my head. Granted, there aren't as many "gags" in general and more "moe" moments, and they reused the boob-smacking one way too much in the first episode, but the fact that it actually made me laugh means it beats Nichijou any day of the week.
Dororon Enma-kun Meeramera: Awesome remake of an old-school anime by Go Nagai, which means you'll know what to expect. Animation is by Brains Base, so you know you're in for some good stuff. Basically Emma-kun, Yukiko Hime, and Kapaeru are members of a Demon Patrol that are sent to the human world to arrest demons. And by arrest, they mean smack and destroy the ever daylights out of them. The fact that the aesthetics are a throw back to the good old days of anime is what is probably going to keep me watching this show.
Maria Holic Alive: Second season of Maria Holic, and SHAFT is at it again. Overall, the first episode felt weaker than first season in general, but it still manages to keep the feel. If you liked S1, you will have no problems jumping in here. Mariya, it's been a while, and we've missed you.
Softenni: Perverted XEBEC show about girls in a soft tennis team (which seems to be like a normal tennis team, except they use different balls). Nothing really much to say here, I was kinda hoping for an interesting anime about tennis, since we haven't had a good one since the Prince of Tennis, but the fanservice and raunchy humor throughout the episode pretty much killed any hopes of that.
Yondemasuyo, Azazel-san Another series about perversion. Something about a demon of lust ordered to do things by his master who is also a detective. The demon keeps on screwing up (figuratively, and literally) and I guess we're supposed to laugh at the dirty humor and mess ups, but it wasn't funny to me at all.
Hen Zemi TV: And our fourth show about sex and pervertedness this season. Jeez Japan, I get it: you guys like sex, are repressed and this is the only way you can express yourselves. Something about a normal college girl and her classmates taking a seminar about abnormal (read: really perverted) behavior and being made to discuss and perform such behavior in order to write up their reports. Although toned down from the OVAs, there's still enough there to make you go
Astarotte no Omocha!: Loli succubi anime. Basically the main protagonist (said loli) has to suck the
life-seed out of men in order to survive, and thus is forced to build a male harem to fulfill her needs. Despite the premise, it's a pretty harmless comedy show, with a bit of fanservice and cutesy humor here and there. Definitely a show for the moe-fetishists, but its cute lighthearted story (which does eventually get slightly serious) is a fresh pace to the multiple hard hitters this season.
Hoshizora e Kakaru Hashi OreTsubasa may have been the highlight of the game-to-anime conversion shows this season, but this one is definitely the low. Generic male lead moves to a place and meets gaggle of females in various embarrassing/heart-taking encounters in what will probably become his harem of girls. The saving grace is that his younger sibling is actually an onii-chan calling little
brother for once and not a little sister that wants her big bro's pants as is usually the case in these things.
The World Only God Knows II: Season two of KamiNomi, the story about a God of dating-sims being forced to court real life girls who pretty much subscribe to the standard tropes of anime girls anyways! Pretty much keeps up the same quality as the first season. Manglobe seems to do their best work in short 1 seasonal spurts, so it's good to see that the breaks in between seasons shows off the maintainance in animation quality.
C: The Money of Soul and Possibility Control: Not much has happened yet, but it still proves to be interesting, and as a noitaminA show, I'm not surprised. The world setting is really interesting, with the whole putting your future down as collateral for money, and the girl, Hanabi, is straight up the type of girl people make girl-age threads for- lead on a guy by being nice to him, then show off your real boyfriend when he starts to think he has a chance.
Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae o Boku-tachi wa Mada Shiranai: The best "life-lesson drama" show of the season, beating out Hanasaku Iroha by a longshot, definitely a worthy show to replace Wandering Son in the noitaminA slot. The idea of friends changing and splitting ways as they grow up is one many people can relate strongly with, and from the very first episode, the series proves itself to be unique and emotional. Mari Okada again proves herself to be a pimp script writer. Although the animation/visuals aren't quite up to par as Hanasaku Iroha though.
Aria the Scarlet Ammo: A J.C. Staff show about a short, red-haired, tsundere girl voiced by Kugimine Rie who has a weakness for a specific food item and pulls in unwilling male protagonist with special latent powers.
Shakugan no Shana Hidan no Aria is pretty by the books in terms of J.C. Staff series. The protagonist is kinda cool though, in that he actually fights against becoming the stereotypical protagonist in such series.
Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko: Apart from the child neglect issues displayed by the aunt, this was a very strong first episode. Definitely a SHAFT show with the characteristic large amounts of speedy monologue and cut-in takes. The protagonist for some reason or another moves in with his aunt and discovers her daughter who is really weird and thinks she's an alien. If I had to describe the show it's almost Bakemonogatari all over again, except this time the heroine isn't some crazy stapler-psycho girl but some crazy weird-loony girl.
