Shinryaku!? Ika Musume - Dropped (5/10)
It's already the second season and they're still elementary in terms of comedy execution. To put it nicely, they need to stop translating so literally from manga frames to anime scenes. To put it bluntly, they need to redo film school.
C³ - Dropped (3/10)
Well, at least we have something that is plainly going to suck right off the first episode. At least I'm thankful that I don't have to wait till the middle of the season to judge, because it is very unlikely to get any better. This is somewhat similar to KoreZombie, but didn't even manage to impress anyone with the series introduction. And KoreZombie isn't even that good. I do like the ED though.
Working'!! - Watching (7/10)
See this.
Maji de Watashi ni Koi Shinasai!! - Dropped (2/10)
I see what their powers do - stir up a whole lot of dust. For an anime that wants to bring in the action right off the bat, the animation quality is unimpressive; and the first episode was suppose to secure your target audience in the first place. It would have been a lot better if the battles aren't full of chipmunks getting pwned by anyone with a name and voice. The rest of it is just people talking tactics LIKE A BOSS. And finally, the characters are soooo one-dimentional.
Kyoukai Senjou no Horizon - On 3 episodes test (6/10)
I'm not so concerned with all that incomprehensible jargon compared to the unorthodox mix of themes and genres. I know the appeal and potential of mixing things up, but this is getting uncomfortably close to that of Asura Cryin' which... wasn't exactly great. I think it's too early to judge this show on its potential, but I'm not getting my hopes up.
Phi Brain - Dropped (4/10)
Wow, you took a day to solve the puzzle? Because you're a f.cking idiot. Unfortunately, but not surprisingly, the show is really just all about solving common puzzles. The only real twist is that the puzzles are brought into real life situations but WE KNOW all that life-and-death shit is just crappy drama they added to put a little spin into things. Sure we are doing this shounen-style with a lot of GAR and coolness and unlocked powers and secret lineages but how would all these actually make the show interesting or unique? I have no idea.
Tamayura - Watching (8/10)
Whew. This is practically the only show so far that gave me what I wanted. The tranquil, soothing atmosphere didn't quite match to Aria's, YET, but at least the show is right on track to present what it intends to.
Maken-Ki! - Dropped (2/10)
I counted 30 panty shots in the first episode alone and I wasn't even paying attention. I sure I could have got to 40 if I really wanted to but hey... If I really needed so much panty shots, I'd watch hentai instead. I mentioned that the story have an interesting shounen side to it as well, but the interesting part comes after a long, boring stretch of character introductions and fanservice. Not to mention that the girls have paper-thin personalities and the male lead is simply too painful to look at.
Mashiro-iro Symphony - On 3 episodes test (6/10)
Ok, despite what I've said about the show, Manglobe's excellent production values changed my mind... and the character concepts as well. That's a world apart from Akane-iro's crappy animation and shelf stock girls. Never mind that the premises are about as unique as the other nine thousand and one VN adaptation out there. A well-directed show, no matter how formulaic, does deserves some attention.
Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai - Still trying to figure this out (?/10)
I've previewed the manga and did not understand why people liked this. I watched the preview episode and still did not understand. Now that I've watch the first episode, I just had to feel dumb for saying the same thing three times over. Ok, not really, but surprisingly the "story" is told way better in anime format, and I've began to see, if only a little, to where the appeal's at. Simply put, it's a bit like K-On, where the whole point is to watch the characters do mundane stuff... The only difference is that this show doesn't runs on a comedic and cheerful atmosphere. I still have pretty low expectations of this, and I'm still trying to figure this anime out to see if it's something actually worth watching.
Shakugan no Shana Final - Watching (6/10)
Now, I don't know how the light novels planned it out, but the "Yuji turning over to the dark side" thing feels like something pulled out of someone's ass for the sake of the third season. It would be unwise for me to blast the storyline right away, but I thought at least they could give some hints or reasons for how that could have happened in relation of the previous incidents... The good thing is how the episode manage damp this sudden change effectively, and did an excellent job of transiting the events from the last season. I'm really watching this just to finish up on the franchise though, not much more.
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| DELICIOUS |
I'm surprised. The artwork suggested a pretty decent budget, and I really wonder how that could have happened for a series with such ridiculous premises. I don't think I would actually come to appreciate the concept of the show, but I really liked the style of the director to give it a real shot. The character designs and animation quality are surprisingly good. I hope to see more to Ben-To other than the concept of the fights, and if I'm lucky there would be a good story underlying it.
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| And for Relena, Lacus and Ismail |
I can totally see why the Gundam series doesn't want to reinvent itself. After all, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. But it gets to the point where the show becomes completely formulaic... and that takes the value out of the show. The similarities between the different Gundam series boils right down to the setting, the back story, the origin of the gundam, reason for fighting, protagonist archetype and even supporting character reactions. We just have to wait for the mask guy to appear and we can call it "Gundam: the 86th remake". The animation is more kiddy than I thought too... and no, this does not make it unique whatsoever.
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| *splurt* |
The show is a full-on thriller, and the first episode showed me that knowing the story would almost completely bring the fun out of it. I do like what I'm seeing and I though the story made an excellent transition into anime, but I feel that there really aren't any point for people who has already read through the manga... so it's off my watch list. Anyway, a lot of people complained about Murata Tomosa voicing Yuno. I don't know what kind of favors she did to keep landing on lead roles with any prior experience, but her version of Yuno isn't all that bad... It didn't quite fit the image I had of the girl though.
Conclusion
This is a lousy season for me... there are only 3 shows that would definitely make it to my watch list. I would say that only 2 out of the 4 pending would make it, which brings it to the total of 5... and only just one met my expectations. Well, at least there's still Guilty Crown (which premieres today) and Last Exile to look forward to...
