Apologies, this entry is slightly shorter than usual. I’ve basically been writing up entries all day now, because there is way too much ending at the same time. With this, I’ve finally caught up with everything aside from the movies and Mouretsu Pirates (which I’ll cover tomorrow).
In any case though: this season rocked. It may not have had a series like Ano Hana, Yojou-Han Shinwa Taikei, Phantom, FMA, Himitsu or Kaiba, but what it did have was quantity: a huge amount of diverse and worthwhile series. There was a ton of stuff worth watching here, much more compared to the seasons of recent years, and I had a lot of fun following it.
#26 (new) – Kingdom – (4/10) – I still can’t believe how much melodrama there was in this series. I mean, there is bad acting, and then there is this series that seems to believe that the harder you scream the more impact it makes.
#25 (new) – Kokoro Connect – (4,5/10) – The episode started off all-right, but as soon as the characters opened their mouths, I knew that watching this series was going to be incredibly difficult. Filled with bad fanservice jokes and characters who can’t shut up talking yet ultimately hardly say anything worthwhile.
#24 (20) – Phi Brain – (6,5/10) – Phi Brain… what the hell did you do this month? I mean, we’ve seen a string of six or so episodes that completely failed their purpose and destroyed my suspense of disbelief. Instead of developing, the characters actually regressed back, the main motivation for the villains is really stupid and forced and in particular Nonoha completely got her chance to shine wrong (“I’ll just remain in the kitchen while you boys be cool and solve puzzles”)
#23 (new) – Campione! – (7/10) – Again the fanservice is really bad, but not a complete disaster. Could make for some good action fodder if it heads into the right direction.
#22 (22) – Saint Seiya Omega – (7,75/10) – There was one really good episode of Saint Seiya. Apart from that, it has been mostly forgettable, but things can change with its second half.
#21 (21) – Sankarea – (7,75/10) – Ultimately, Sankarea needed more to do. These final episodes really felt like they were struggling to fill in their time, and the annoying characters didn’t really help its case. Which is a shame, because in terms of acting it really had a lot to like.
#20 (19) – Jormungand – (8/10) – It’s a shame that Jormungand’s problem was that it couldn’t come up with interesting villains. It showed several attempts at creating them this month, but quickly abandoned mot of them, or left them for the second season to use. It’s a shame: Black Lagoon shined because of how different all the arcs were, but here they end up feeling just too similar to each other.
#19 (9) – Legend of Korra – (8,1/10) – Yes, that ending. I’m not so much bothered by the fact that it felt like a deus ex machina for someone not familiar with the first Avatar series, but rather how it canceled out a lot of the most memorable moments of the Television-series, and removed a lot of the tension from the series. A shame, because this really had potential.
#18 (10) – Poyopoyo Kansatsu Nikki – (8,25/10)
Poyopoyo is still dabbling along with its unique charm of combining slice of life with a round cat and huge laughs. And that’s the thing: every character here is full of life, not just the animals.
#17 (23) – Medaka Box – (8,25/10)
Well, this month definitely was the best month for Medaka Box: the plot finally got interesting and it finally got the chance to use all of the build-up. The battles were interesting, now let’s hope that the second season won’t take this too far.
#16 (15) – Nazo no Kanojo X – (8,25/10)
This has always been a series about a young couple, but in this month the two of them really started getting horny, and the pas month has been chock full of teenaged hormones running wild. The chemistry between the lead couple still is quite strong.
#15 (13) – AKB0048 – (8,25/10)
AKB0048 was slightly weaker this month because it spent a lot of time building up, but it still was quite impressive how it managed to get away with such a bleak setting for a show that’s supposed to be about this idol promotion. There is a lot of interesting drama between the characters as well and I like so far how this series is both energetic and depressing as hell. It still makes no bloody sense though.
#14 (14) – Zetman – (8,25/10)
Here is the thing: Zetman actually wrapped up right. Amidst all of the rushed series out there, this was a breath of fresh air. They did have to derail Kouga’s character for this to happen, but overall I’m really satisfied with how this show turned out considering the restraints it had.
#13 (18) – Aquarion Evol – (8,4/10)
Well if anything, the past month has been really fun to watch. It’s been totally over the top mecha action with a ton of plot twists along the way, and it worked. A worthy finale for the first of the big sci-fi series this year to end.
#12 (8) – Kimi to Boku – (8,4/10)
Kimi to Boku went with the “life goes on”-ending, but in the meantime it did have a bunch of very interesting and well delivered episodes that have been typical of the second season. I’m glad I stuck with this one.
#11 (16) – Shirokuma Cafe – (8,4/10)
Panda turned into a complete and utter troll this week, but that made him so much fun to watch. The highlight however, was the episode about the date with Penko. That was the single funniest episode of the entire season and made me nearly fall off my chair laughing.
#10 (17) – Hunter X Hunter – (8,4/10)
The fight between Gon and Hisoka: that’s the first time in which the animation team really impressed me here. They dropped all of the still frames and yelling out attacks, and instead delivered some excellent fight scenes. I’m getting psyched because we’re just one arc removed from where the story gets really, really good.
#9 (12) – Hyouka – (8,5/10)
Hyouka is definitely interesting. Now that we’re near the end of tis second arc, it still consistently well animated and acted with mysteries that are down to earth, rather than overly complicated. This series definitely stands out in how it’s able to flesh out the small things.
#8 (5) – Natsuiro Kiseki – (8,5/10)
Natsuiro Kiseki closed off with a very heart-warming finale and overall it has been as strong as it has ever been with a lot of great character-development to close off.
#7 (11) – Tsuritama – (8,5/10)
the final month was definitely the best month for Tsuritama so far. This is where things got really fun and whimsical with a lot of very creative twists thrown at the screen. The final episode was not was creative as what I’d hoped, but still it was a very entertaining finale.
#6 (6) – Lupin the Third – (8,5/10)
The ending was weird, but for me, it worked really well, and was the second-best ending of the past season due to the balls that the creators had to pull it off. Overall the final third of Lupin has been the best, with a lot of interesting scripts and twists.
#5 (3) – Fate/Zero – (8,6/10)
Ultimately, it’s a shame that I wasn’t familiar with the rest of the fate franchise, because I feel that this has held back my enjoyment for this finale, as it suddenly introduced a lot of concepts that can only be understood if you have seen Fate/Stay Night. Nevertheless though, the actual ending on hindsight was really good. Third best ending of the season.
#4 (7) – Eureka Seven Ao – (8,6/10)
Eureka Seven went completely crazy this month. This was chock full of mind games and the creators playing tricks on you, filled to the brink with all kinds of plot twists that are deliberately vague and hard to understand, and I loved it.
#3 (4) – Mouretsu Pirates – (8,75/10)
Hell yeah, this show is awesome! The past month let loose of all the brakes and this show surpassed itself many times with a ton of fun and interesting twists and a cast of characters that seems to have a ton of trump cards hidden in their sleeves that they decided to reveal all at the same time. This show completely exceeded my expectations here.
#2 (1) – Sakamichi no Apollon – (8,75/10)
I personally loved the ending for Sakamichi no Apollon. And how it said so much with so little. It definitely was the best ending of the season.
#1 (2) – Uchuu Kyoudai – (9/10)
Uchuu Kyoudai pulled an amazing new direction here: introducing fifteen new characters, all with their won characteristics, strengths and weaknesses and forcing them to live together for two weks in an attempt to become an astronaut. This month was full of great moments for both Mutta and the rest of the cast, and everyone plays off each other wonderfully.
