Category: Monthly Summaries

Ah, it’s finally spring. It’s a season of lots and lots of rain that eventually turns into nice weather. Seriously though, the reason I’m looking forward to it because this time it really is a season of opportunities: Noitamina is growing, and besides that there is a ton series that either have a great staff with a dull premise, or a great premise with a dull staff. It really can go anywhere, and that’s why I’m looking forward it to it a lot, despite that it may not be as full as compared to the spring seasons of previous years.

As for this season, I’m actually glad that there were rather few series worth watching, because my schedule has become much busier over the past two months, which really allowed me to get used to it. It’s not my favourite season by far, but it did excel in terms of comedies and kids’ shows. The best company of this season was Toei: they didn’t just come with one great series, they had three of them. Four if you also count One Piece, but I’m not watching that series (WAY too long and intimidating).

As for this month’s rankings, aside from my favourites, my rankings got completely jumbled up in comparison to last month. This mostly is due to some excellent series with disappointing finales, and series that I considered to be only decent suddenly turning awesome.

#22 (new) – KissXSis – (3/10) – This is just.. awful. Nothing but an excuse for porn, with hardly anything else. I don’t think that anyone is going to watch this show for something other than the nude girls here. For me, it’s already the worst of the new season even though only four shows have aired yet.
#21 (new) – Koihime Musou – (3,5/10) – It’s exactly the same as it’s ever been: incredibly stupid moe humor. Bored me to death. Dropped.
#20 (new) – Ikkitousen – (4,5/10) – Here’s the thing: for Ikkitousen, it wasn’t that bad of an episode. If I’m not mistaken, the appeal of this show is fighting + fanservice, and that’s pretty much what that episode delivered on, compared to the godawful Dragon Destiny and Great Guardians. Still, with regular standards the show still is pretty cheesy and full of stupid and stereotypical characters.
#19 (new) – Working!! – (5/10) – I’ve been looking forward to this series, but alas. It’s sense of humour is completely different from mine, and as a result I only was annoyed by the countless teenaged antics that the creators kept trying to push forward. Dropped.
#18 (17) – Ookami Kakushi – (6,5/10) – Well, everything pretty much derailed for this show. While it looked like it was actually trying in the beginning, the ending was just terrible thanks to the useless male lead and the really cheesy villain. The adults all started acting like complete morons, and nothing really got solved in the end. The final gag episode also was a pain to sit through.
#17 (16) – Kimi ni Todoke – (7,75/10) – Granted, this finale was definitely more bearable than the rest of this series, but it never really solved anything. All we got was a message that said that if you ‘liked the story, you should check out the manga and a second season might be made’. Gee, how subtle.
#16 (11) – Cobra The Animation – (7,75/10) – Not the strongest month for Cobra, as I liked it best when it was episodic. The final arc took up four episodes, and it could have been condensed a bit as it dragged a bit for too long. Nevertheless, it was entertaining and kept me busy.
#15 (4) – Sora no Oto – (7,75/10) – The first two thirds of this series were truly excellent. However, I just can’t say the same of what Sora no Oto showed us the past month. It tried to do way too much in way too little time, and it wanted to be way too epic, forgetting that it was supposed to be a slice of life series. The final episode was way too rushed and pulled way too many convenient plot twists. The best that this month has shown was probably the German.
#14 (10) – Tentai Senshi Sunred – (8,25/10) – The final episodes weren’t among the highlights of Sunred’s second season, but I still got a good laugh out of them. It’s sad to see this show go, as it’s been one of those rare comedy sequels to actually surpass its original.
#13 (7) – Marie & Gali – (8,25/10) – So the finale took up this month’s airtime for Marie & Gali, so it wasn’t exactly amongst the series’ highlights. However, it was nowhere near bad. I love how the finale, instead of creating a cheesy climax that had nothing to do with the rest of the series, instead forced Marika to think for herself. That’s of course the perfect ending for a series that’s about exploring the wonders of science.
#12 (5) – Cross Game – (8,25/10) – One thing that I didn’t like about Cross Game this month was that most of its time was spent on its rather boring baseball match in the finale of the regional championships. It was the thing I had been fearing for twenty episodes now, and it indeed was nowhere as good as the truly excellent slice of life of this series. Nevertheless, the actual ending closed off the series really well.
#11 (15) – Katanagatari – (8,25/10) – Episode 3 was heaps better than the first two episodes: an interesting scenario, an interesting villain, the dialogue was much more focused and the fight again was short and sweet. It’s definitely an interesting series to watch like this.
#10 (12) – Anymaru Tantei Kiruminzoo – (8,25/10)

Episode 25 started this series mid-way climax. And it was… unusual. Completely different from the laid-back nature of the rest of the series. I’m actually quite curious what the creators are planning for the second half of this series.

#9 (9) – Kaidan Restaurant – (8,25/10)

I’m also pretty amazed at how well this series is doing in terms of popularity and audience numbers, and it pretty much deserves it. I can very much imagine that kids are loving this little horror series, and it’s still delivering simple but fun and varied horror stories that are consistently scary.

#8 (18) – Hanamaru Youchien – (8,25/10)

I’m a bit sad about that open ending. I mean, if there’s one series that could have easily made up its own ending, it would have been this one, and it would have been much more satisfying than what we got to see right now, which basically was a build-up for nothing. Ignoring that however, then Hanamaru Youchien has gotten significantly better in its final third. The characters came together, the comedy became funnier, the characters developed a bit. Overall a very enjoyable finale.

#7 (14) – Gag Manga Biyori + – (8,5/10)

Absolutely hilarious. Especially the Wolf-man episode was beyond funny, but the other new episodes were also classics.

#6 (8) – Heartcatch Precure – (8,5/10)

It’s great to see that this series is currently working diligently to introduce all of the major characters, rather than wallowing away too much in random stories. It’s exactly what this show should be doing at this point.

#5 (13) – Letter Bee – (8,5/10)

You know, I was just going to casually enjoy the rest of this series and wait for the second season to really start off the plot. But damn… that final episode. The final ten minutes of this show single-handedly increased my opinion of this series significantly. It’s a huge cliff-hanger, but at the same time it was a wonderful way to end the first season with.

#4 (3) – Durarara – (8,75/10)

This month Durarara really managed to elevate itself to a higher level, and became something unique. The dialogue has been really well written in order to get the best out of the characters, and it’s really been working so far. More and more characters are shedding the seemingly stereotypical look that they had in the beginning.

#3 (6) – Kobato – (8,75/10)

Kobato really surpassed itself this month, with a very solid and heart-wrenching conclusion that really made use of its time. For me, it’s had the best ending of the season.

#2 (2) – Full Metal Alchemist – Brotherhood – (9/10)

We’re really moving to the climax now, as this series has been ramping up the action while still developing the plot at a steady pace. Exciting is an understatement to describe this series.

#1 () – Armed Librarians – The Book of Bantorra – (9,25/10)

The big problem with this show right now is that it should have been 35 episodes long, instead of 27. So yeah, it’s a bit rushed, but seriously, that still doesn’t make it any less awesome than that it already was. I’m still enjoying this show more than any other at the moment and despite the rushed plot the creators did manage to capture the essences of the final chapters of the story. Because of that it’s awesome to see everything finally coming together.

Overall, this probably is the season in which I watched the least amount of series since Winter 2006 or something. Nevertheless, this season also has a very nice collection of interesting and engaging series. Especially the kids’ series and the series that put a lot of effort into their settings are doing well. The upcoming spring season seems to be one of opportunities:: there’s a ton of series with a great production-team and a generic premise, or generic production teams and a great premise.

#18 (14) – Hanamaru Youchien – (7,5/10) – Seriously… what happened? Here we have a nice series about a bunch of kids who have fun in a kindergarten… and suddenly this show decides that it also wants a brother complex drama. This series had such a simple formula… so why are the creators forgetting that?
#17 (16) – Ookami Kakushi – (7,75/10) – Yeah, now I’m convinced that this, like most other works of the director, is a wasted potential. The source this time is the “useless lead character”-syndrome: he’s the least interesting character of the entire cast, he never really does anything, his part in the story and especially his central role doesn’t make any sense, and most importantly: he gobbles up all of the precious airtime that could have been focused at the more interesting characters. Right now, the rest of the cast can’t show their best sides because of this guy and the plot events just happen without a lot of meaning to them.
#16 (15) – Kimi ni Todoke – (7,75/10) – The brother arc was nice, PROVIDED that the creators won’t stretch it any further than what they have now. It was a great way to develop these two characters, but I know that my patience is going to break if it gets stretched out any further. Oh, and seriously: is there any reason why Sawako and Kazehaya haven’t hooked up yet? Seriously.
#15 (12) – Katanagatari – (8/10) – There’s still lots and lots of talking in this series, but it’s still interesting and witty. The series does need to think about character-development if it wants to remain interesting for 10 more episodes, though.
#14 (9) – Gag Manga Biyori + – (8/10) – It’s a bit of a shame that out of all the episodes it decides to recap, it picks the dullest ones. Ah well, the original episodes, especially episode five, were just priceless. And I still can’t get enough of that ED.
#13 (8) – Letter Bee – (8/10) – ZOMG Second Season! That one announcement totally re-established my faith in this series. The episodes this month haven’t been among this series’ highlights, but they served their purpose as build-up well.
#12 (18) – Anymaru Tantei Kiruminzoo – (8/10) – Last month I had my fears, but this series picked itself back up again, and is as enjoyable as ever. One thing that also really helps here is the great voice-acting for the lead characters: it’s inspired, fun and creative and continually makes the characters fun to watch.
#11 (13) – Cobra the Animation – (8/10) – This show knows exactly what it is: space adventures, and it delivers on this. The creativity in this series in my opinion beats that of Cobra 1982 by miles and despite the fact that Cobra kicks ass in just about every way imaginable, it’s consistently enjoyable.
#10 (10) – Tentai Senshi Sunred – (8,25/10)

Most comedies would have burned out at this point, but not Sunred: it still keeps fresh jokes coming, and it skilfully knows how long it should repeat certain jokes before they get stale. Or how long it should repeat certain jokes to turn them into running gags. After nearly fifty episodes, it’s still a fresh source of comedy.

#9 (11) – Kaidan Restaurant – (8,25/10)

It’s a kid’s show, yes. But I find myself enjoying this series more and more with every episode. The different horror stories are consistently well told and varied. I can always count on this series to give me a weekly fix of horror.

#8 (new) – Heartcatch Precure – (8,5/10)

Finally another good mahou shoujo appeared again. Heartcatch Precure is miles away from regular Precure series, it’s got a very strong direction, the characters’ expressions are very detailed and varied and the comedy itself is consistently funny as well. Not to mention the gorgeous Casshern-esque character-designs.

#7 (9) – Marie & Gali – (8,5/10)

Noo! Episode 38 showed the beginning of the finale, meaning that this wonderful series is going to end soon. Such a shame, but at least it’s good to see that this series ends at the point where it’s at its height, rather than dying a slow death. And the finale itself also did not dent the quality in any way either: the creators have chosen a very appropriate story for this series.

#6 (6) – Kobato – (8,5/10)

I must praise the creators for how the developed Kobato: she’s gotten downright adorable at this point, and the rest of the cast also has so much charms. This is a simple series, but because of that it’s wonderful to see how well the development has become.

#5 (4) – Cross Game – (8,5/10)

Since the baseball matches never were Cross Game’s strong point, I wasn’t really looking forward to this point. But to my surprise, the characters did not lose their unique charms. In fact, while the series’ mood changed to less subtle, this show avoided jumping the shark and instead still is an utter joy to watch due to these developments.

#4 (7) – Sora no Oto – (8,75/10)

This series has really proven itself to be more than just moe. The characters are well written and down to earth, and yet it also proves that it can hit hard with episodes as episode 7. the direction knows when it needs to be subtle and when it needs to be powerful, I’m very impressed.

#3 (3) – Durarara – (8,75/10)

This series has proven to be excellent at weaving together so many different stories in the same episodes. It’s witty, funny, powerful, touching, engaging, well characterized, varied and the way that every episode is told through the perspective of a different character gives quite a unique dimension to everything.

#2 (2) – Full Metal Alchemist – Brotherhood – (9/10)

The way in which this series really sets itself apart from others is its focus on finding allies:Ed and Al by far aren’t the only ones in the middle of this story; there are so many different characters who are trying to accomplish the same or similar goals to their own, and they all work together to get there. It also of course really helps that the execution is as solid as ever.

#1 (1) – Armed Librarians – The Book of Bantorra – (9,25/10)

Even though this series has been among my favourites of the past five months, it still continues to impress with such a powerful and imaginative plot, along with strong themes and messages. I salute the two central characters that we saw for their beliefs.

Well, so I’ve said that out of all the season in which I’ve been active as a blogger, this one is the worst of them all. There’s not just a lack of new shows in this season, but there also were relatively few series that carried over from previous seasons. However, does that mean that there are only one or two worthwhile anime? Of course not. There still are tons of enjoyable series. Just not as many as usual.

#26 (new) – Omamori Himari – (3/10) – Oh god, this is just the worst. Ripping off just about every generic harem show under the sun, without any ounce of its own content, going for the cheapest and safest way possible, and then thinking it can get away with it. If you like these sorts of shows, then good for you. But I personally hope that shows like these aren’t going to become the norm for anime in the future. Dropped
#25 (new) – Ladies Versus Butlers – (3,5/10) – This is one of those shows of which you’d wonder: why isn’t it a hentai? The plot is just an excuse to show a lot of naked maids getting it on with the lead character. The acting is terrible, the scenario is ridiculously bad. Why try to make this into a TV-series when you can go all the way with the hentai format?
#24 (new) – Kaito Reinya – (4/10) – Cheap flash anime. Dropped
#23 (new) – Chu Bra – (6,5/10) – This show is the product of deranged minds. While I have to give this show points for creativity, I’m just not a fan of this show’s sense of humour. The characters were dull. Dropped.
#22 (new) – Dance in the Vampire Bund – (7/10) – At this point I’ve lost all my patience with Shinbo. Wake me up when he’s not trying to make way too many shows in too little time, creating six generic shows instead of one really good one. Dropped
#21 (new) – Seikon no Qwaser – (7,25/10) – So this obviously is not my kind of series, but at least I’m glad that it chose to not just go for cheap fanservice, but also tries to stuff in some sort of story. But with the kind of fanservice it has chosen for, there’s no way for me to take this thing seriously. Dropped.
#20 (17) – Hetalia Axis Power – (7,25/10) – Nothing much to say about this show for this month. Only one episode aired and it was boring.
#19 (new) – Baka to Test to Shoukanjuu – (7,5/10) – Fun for one episode, but I don’t see the potential for an entire series. Dropped.
#18 (13) – Anymaru Tantei Kiruminzoo – (7,5/10) – Bleh. This month has been a major step down for this series. The cases were repetitive, the characters were predictable and the charms it had in the first 13 episode seem lost now.
#17 (19) – Nodame Cantabile – (7,75/10) – Yeah, this is just as I feared. The creators are putting too much emphasis on Nodame’s quirks and the charms and spirit of the first season seems completely lost at this point. Right now, this series is just another average romantic comedy, and there are plenty of funnier series in this season.
#16 (new) – Ookami Kakushi – (7,75/10) – The mystery and screenplay in this series are very good. But throughout this, it seems to be forgetting one important thing: the characterization! The characters have hardly made any advances through the past four episodes, they’re still the same caricatures that they were at their introduction. I don’t feel like we’ve gotten to know ANY of them better.
#15 (19) – Kimi ni Todoke – (7,75/10) – So this month showed the big climax for the Kurumi-arc. And I have to admit that the drama worked sort-of, but at the same time the creators were just stretching it on for waaay too long.
#14 (new) – Hanamaru Yochien – (7,75/10) – The big flaw of this show is the female love interest. She’s just another carbon-copy of tens of thousands other clueless romantic interests. The rest of the cast however is interesting enough to make this an enjoyable enough slice of life series.
#13 (new) – Cobra the Animation – (7,75/10) – Yeah, very much a guilty pleasure. The plot can be ridiculously stupid at times, but it has the single best soundtrack of the season for me. Plus, I have to applaud the creativity of the creators, and how they’ve managed to throw in quite a bit of neat ideas for Cobra to run into. The visual direction is also very good and overall it’s entertainment… but you don’t want to watch it with a straight face.
#12 (new) – Katanagatari – (8/10) – I really like the deadpan execution of the seemingly endless dialogues in this series. This show has subtle wit, the characters have their charms an the graphics looked fresh and pleasing to the eye. It’s not anything deep, but it knows how to make fun of itself and yet carryon with a serious story.
#11 (16) – Kaidan Restaurant – (8/10) – Long hiatus is looooong, but surprisingly, I’ve been looking forward to this show’s return. Here’s something I did not see coming, but I’m still very much enjoying this series’ bite-size chunks of horror (pun sort-of intended).
#10 (10) – Tentai Senshi Sunred – (8,25/10)

We’re past forty episodes and this series still is able to consistently raise laughs. I’m glad that this sequel was made with plenty of inspiration in mind.

#9 (new) – Gag Manga Biyori + – (8,25/10)

It has the same bizarre sense of humour as the first season, and I’m enjoying this series a lot. The pacing has to be among the fastest I have ever seen. Just one thing: was I the only one who had a bit of a deja vu moment at episode 4?

#8 (14) – Letter Bee – (8,25/10)

In this month, this series has won me over. The fillers are just as good, if not better at times, than the manga-material, and even though this series is episodic, it makes very well use of its formula.

#7 (new) – Sora no Oto – (8,25/10)

While it has its flaws and a bit of an idiotic lead character, I’ve found a lot to like about this series so far. The characters start out a bit one-sided, but the past four episodes have already given them much more depth than I could have expected. The real gem in this series is the setting, though. It’s a true mystery of where this series is playing, and the creators put in tons of little details to make us guess and wonder what’s going on at the background of this series.

#6 (15) – Kobato – (8,5/10)

In this month, Kobato really grew on me. The build-up has worked, and it’s no longer that moderately enjoyable series, but Kobato has become a wonderful character to watch, and the side-characters all have their charms, despite the simple storyline.

#5 (9) – Marie&Gali – (8,75/10)

Marie&Gali has possibly become even better this month now that it removed one of its very few weaknesses. It’s true that Marika once was a bit of a Mary Sue, but even that is completely gone with the past few episodes, in which she has crawled completely out of her shell. And really: it’s still an over the top fun-filled science adventure that sparkles with creativity.

#4 (6) – Cross Game – (8,75/10)

This show still manages to deliver incredibly charming and witty slice of life. The characters have really grown to me at this point, and they’re just consistently enjoyable to watch.

#3 (new) – Durarara – (8,75/10)

Out of the newly debuted series, this is without a doubt my favourite. A terrific style, every episode so far had a different style of storytelling, it’s varied, the characters are charming, the dialogue is well written and the scenario is very cleverly constructed. I’m very much looking forward to more of this, especially considering it’s going to be 24 episodes long.

#2 (5) – Full Metal Alchemist – Brotherhood – (9/10)

This series just keeps getting better and better now. The back-story just continues to get fleshed out, and the huge cast just gets more and more complete with every episode. Bones’ animation as done a wonderful job so far and I’m getting more and more excited with this series.

#1 (2) – Armed Librarians – The Book of Bantorra – (9,25/10)

This season, I have no doubts whatsoever in choosing my favourite show: this one. It just continues to weave all sorts of fascinating storylines into one and it does so with an incredible amount of creativity. The direction is so powerful that it makes a treat out of every single episode.

As usual my December Summary is a bit earlier than usual so that I have a bit more time to work on the rest of the posts that I have planned for the next couple of days. Overall, this autumn season stands out as mostly unspectacular, with the exception of a number of amazing and groundbreaking series.

#21 (21) – Winter Sonata – (7/10) – The worst thing about this series isn’t the cheese, it’s not the angst, it’s not the dull plot, it’s not the female lead. It’s the fact that the two male leads look so damn much like each other. Seriously, they’re like copies of each other with just different hair colours. One filter, and there. That’s gone as well. The big climax of the fourth episode was completely lost on me because I had no bloody idea who was who.
#20 (11) – Konnichiwa Anne – (7,5/10) – Meh, I’m not happy about the ending, and the way the creators ended up bringing back the characters. It so does not fit the canon of Anne of Green Gables. This series really had its moments, but these final episodes were just uninspired.
#19 (19) – Kimi ni Todoke – (7,75/10) – I really can’t see the charms of this series. Sawako and Kazehaya… the relation between the two of them just isn’t interesting, especially when the creators keep throwing these shallow love rivals at them.
#18 (15) – 11Eyes – (8/10) – There was perhaps a bit too much exposition, but I liked the ending. It’s nice and exciting, and thankfully Yuka didn’t end up ruining the show, although that she did lead to a bunch of really weird plot twists.
#17 (16) – Hetalia Axis Powers – (8/10) – An average month: nothing especially funny, but nothing especially annoying either.
#16 (17) – Kaidan Restaurant – (8/10) – I think Gakkou no Kaidan should be viewed as a collection of ghost stories, which are told through the lead characters. Originally they may have been about totally different characters, but by giving them all the same lead characters creates more unity than if the creators would just have gone with telling random stories about random people.
#15 (20) – Kobato – (8/10) – I’m starting to see the charms of this series. Kobato still pretty much is an airhead, but I like her. The chemistry between her and the rest of the cast is very nicely done, and for me it’s turned into a pretty nice slice of life series.
#14 (18) – Letter Bee – (8/10) – So, I’ve stopped looking forward to the plot, especially now that fillers have arrived. My one request to this series is to not sacrifice the plot for the fillers, and instead use them to nicely flesh out the characters. Because I’m getting to like these people more and more. Especially Nichi and Steak are always fun to watch.
#13 (14) – Anymaru Tantei Kiruminzoo – (8,25/10) – Overall, this is just a very enjoyable series. It’s not there for a deep plot or characters, but the characters are a lot of fun to watch, especially thanks to their voice actors.
#12 (7) – Kuchuu Buranko – (8,25/10) – I liked the final episodes a lot. Again, this series is nothing special: you don’t want to watch it for the depth of the characters. Instead, however, it’s been great entertainment. Of 2009, I’d rank it as my third-favourite Noitamina-series (after Genji Monogatari and Tokyo Magnitude).
#11 (10) – Sasameki Koto – (8,25/10) – This really is my biggest surprise this season. The characters really managed to turn this into a genuinely fun series with great voice acting and slice of life. The creators knew exactly how to make this series both fun and touching to watch.
#10 (13) – Tentai Senshi Sunred – (8,5/10)

While the first season had its weaker episodes, the second has none of that: every episode s a hit, and hilarious to watch.

#9 (8) – Marie&Gali – (8,5/10)

Why… Why does only one episode air every two weeks? This show is just too brilliant. Its incredibly creative ways of explaining simple scientific principles still are a joy to watch, with still no signs of it getting dull.

#8 (4) – Kemono no Souja Erin – (8,5/10)

I tend to be very picky at endings, and I did not like this ending at all. However, the build-up for that ending was really good and really took its time to get the best out of it.

#7 (9) – Umineko no Naku Koro ni – (8,5/10)

The fourth arc wasn’t as good as the third one, but it really had its charms. However, at the same time I’m not going to recommend it until the second season announcement arrives. Which is probably going to take more than two years…

#6 (6) – Cross Game – (8,75/10)

This month Cross Game again got to do what it was best at: slice of life. The banter between the characters still is incredibly subtle, and Akane and the girls’ baseball arc really gave it a bit of extra charms that really worked well.

#5 (12) – Full Metal Achemist – Brotherhood – (8,75/10)

The plot is heating up again, which is really great to see. The past revelations and plot twists were really interesting to watch and brought the much-needed spark back to this series. I’m curious where this show is going to next.

#4 (3) – Darker than Black – Ryuusei no Gemini – (8,75/10)

So perhaps this show could have used one extra episode to explain everything (save from the OVA of course) but overall it was a very solid and thought-provoking ending for a great series.

#3 (5) – White Album – (8,75/10)

What a great way to close off this series! The ending really wrapped up Touya’s story very nicely, and the past few episodes really didn’t just conclude all of the different stories throughout the series, they also really developed the characters and made everything come together wonderfully. I must say, despite the pain that the first season was, the second season really surprised me.

#2 (2) – Armed Librarians – The Book of Bantorra – (9/10)

The reason I like this series so much is how it manages to weave so many different storylines into one. It takes care to give everyone a fitting background, and each arc combines the present and the past wonderfully into one heck of a storyline.

#1 (1) – Aoi Bungaku – (9,25/10)

The conclusion to Hashire, Melos! was just amazing. So much passion has gon into creating and animating the characters. The final two episodes were a really good way to close off this series. Not as good, but still very powerful storytelling and amazing visuals.

Overall, this season stands out to me as average, but solid. There are a lot of well written shows, that at the moment just don’t seem to hit any real heights, and yet remain very enjoyable to watch. The exceptions are a number of true gems, though.

#22 (19) – Yumeiro Patissiere – (6,5/10) – I originally planned to continue watching this, due to its surprisingly good start, but unfortunately the past month revealed this series’ true colours. It just keeps introducing cheesy jealous bitches who are in love with the three male bishies that hang around the lead characters. The drama that comes of it is just terribly shallow. Dropped.
#21 (22) – Winter Sonata – (7,5/10) – Really hard to say anything about this series due to the slow subs. The only episode released this month was a bit cheesy, and it feels like entire scenes are missing, or something.
#20 (21) – Kobato – (7,5/10) – Right now, Kobato still is pretty dull, but at least you can see that the characters are getting fleshed out and explored. What the series needs to do is keep this up, and USE this in the second half to develop them.
#19 (24) – Kimi ni Todoke – (7,75/10) – I’m still struggling with Kimi ni Todoke, but there’s some definite potential. It’s pretty good when it doesn’t pretend to be anything: the dialogue is inspired and well written. However, the cheese during the dramatic parts is just way too overdone.
#18 (14) – Letter Bee – (7,75/10) – Still building up. You can see that it’s building up to something interesting, but it isn’t quite there yet. In the meantime, I’m just enjoying Nichi’s antics.
#17 (20) – Kaidan Restaurant – (8/10) – It’s a bit childish at times, not to mention that the lead character must have really angered the gods badly for her to run into THAT many ghosts, but the horror works surprisingly well. The quick horror stories all do their job of being creepy, and it’s always interesting to watch these episodes.
#16 (17) – Hetalia Axis Powers – (8,25/10) – I must say, that that second season of Hetalia has become much more balanced than the first one. It doesn’t endlessly keep hanging on the same jokes, and instead delivers varied and fun jokes. Very nice.
#15 (15) – 11eyes – (8,25/10) – This series is still going strong for me, although I do find Yuka a bit hard to swallow. Her characterization for me just doesn’t work, and it’s very annoying to watch her angsty romantic issues.
#14 (10) – Anymaru Tantei Kiruminzoo – (8,25/10) – This really turned out to be surprisingly good. I especially love how this series doesn’t just have people, transforming into animals, but also animals transforming into people, with hilarious results as they try to make sense of humans. The story also is a bit more than just “monster of the week” as well. It’s obviously a bit of a stupid series, but for me it’s been very enjoyable.
#13 (9) – Tentai Senshi Sunred – (8,25/10) – This is very rare for a comedy sequel: it’s actually better than the original series. While the first Tentai Senshi Sunred had its share of weak episodes, the second season doesn’t, and every episode is a hit and cracks me up with its typical sense of humour, combining detailed realistic dialogue with incredible stupidity and Super Sentai Parodies.
#12 (3) – Full Metal Alchemist – Brotherhood – (8,25/10) – This month was mostly building up, and that’s where Full Metal Alchemist’s big weakness lies: it may be very exciting at times, but it does take quite a while to get there. At those points, it just loses out to other, better-paced shows. Do note that this score reflects on just the episodes that aired this month; NOT the entire series.
#11 (13) – Konnichiwa Anne – (8,25/10) – A very good month for Konnichiwa Anne. Not stellar, but Anne’s development has finally started tying this story to Anne of Green Gables. There are some animation errors, but so far this series has been able to avoid the biggest pitfalls. Now let’s hope that this series can pull off a good finale.
#10 (12) – Sasameki Koto – (8,25/10)

I’m surprised: this series is still going strong. The characters are very genuine, which really helps the seemingly formulaic premise. Especially the relationship between the lead characters is fleshed out really well

#9 (1) – Umineko no Naku Koro ni – (8,25/10)

A bit of a step back when compared to the previous month, but again, you can see that this show is building up. Ange herself isn’t the most interesting character, but let’s see whether all of the build-up can pay off in the end. Again, this relatively low score is just for the episodes of this month. I’d rate the entire series higher, depending on how good the final parts of this series are going to be.

#8 (8) – Marie & Gali – (8,5/10)

The only thing I dislike is the constant hiatuses that this show keeps taking. Apart from that, I’m amazed that it still hasn’t run out of creativity in the slightest. Every episode is a hit, that keeps putting in new ideas.

#7 (11) – Kuchuu Buranko – (8,5/10)

This show has really gotten better and better: the cases have become more complex, interesting and funny, plus, all of the references to past episodes really work.

#6 (7) – Cross Game – (8,5/10)

Great month for Cross Game. Akane really brought in a new spark that influenced nearly every single character in the series, which really brought the spark back in this series’ slice of life.

#5 (18) – White Album – (8,5/10)

You know. Call me crazy, but I like this show again. It’s just unique; first of all it’s School Days but actually well written, but also the writing really gets the best out of the characters, and unlike the first season it allows for very emotional scenes without the usual soap opera cheese that accompanies them. But yeah, Touya still is an incredible asshole. 😛

#4 (5) – Kemono no Souja Erin – (8,75/10)

Even though the end is near, Kemono no Souja Erin still continues with its quiet and focused pacing, and that in no way prevented the plot twists that arrived in this month from creating impact. Very fitted for a prelude to the finale.

#3 (6) – Darker than Black – Ryuusei no Gemini – (8,75/10)

The major thing that my three favourites this season all have in common is a very strong direction. Darker than Black knows exactly how to deliver its story and make it exciting. It also takes care to develop its characters and really makes use of its limited airtime this way.

#2 (4) – Armed Librarians – The Book of Bantorra – (9,25/10)

What a breath of fresh air. The direction of Armed Librarians is bold and daring, and I just love the way in which this series keeps tying seemingly unrelated plot threads to each other in the end. Here’s one series that continues to defy my expectations of it.

#1 (2) – Aoi Bungaku – (9,25/10)

There should be more series like this, seriously. Every story so far has been unique and different, and all of them have been made based on great ideas. In the Woods… was an awesome mind-screw, Kokoro was a terrific character-study told in two different perspectives, while Hashire Melos is beautifully animated and directed.

So yeah, compared to the previous seasons, this Autumn Season is a bit of a step back. The problem isn’t the huge amount of moe-shows; every season has that. It’s also not a disappointing season because of the lack of mecha; in fact, that’s rather refreshing for a change. Instead, I think that the reason is that while there are a few truly interesting series, there just aren’t enough of them.

Because of that, my top 10 is going to be a bit weird again, especially places 8, 9 and 10 are probably going to raise a few eye-brows here and there. But yeah, let’s just be glad with the things that we have. It’s not a bad season in either way, and these three series are also really enjoyable (otherwise I wouldn’t have put them in my top 10 this month at all ^^;)

Right now, I’m watching too many series, and I still need to drop two or three of them. any suggestions as to which ones?

#43 (new) – Himitsu Kessha Taka Tsume Countdown – (2/10) – This is just a very lazy attempt at comedy. It almost feels like a Sunred rip-off, but nothing feels like any effort was put into it. The jokes are dull and overused. Skip this one. Dropped.
#42 (new) – Kiddy Girl-And – (4,5/10) – Look, I really hope that what everyone’s saying about the Kiddy Grade franchise is true, because the first three episodes of this series have been outright terrible so far. If I had to pick one thing that annoys me the most, then it’s the lead character’s voice actress. I want to bash the screen every time she opens her mouth, and she just won’t shut up
#41 (new) – Miracle Train – (5,25/10) – Kenichi Kasai is an amazing director, but even he couldn’t do anything with this bad of a source material. It would have been a nice series, if some ACTUAL TIME was spent on fleshing out the different females, the bishies wouldn’t look so ridiculous, they’d behave like actual people, rather than stereotypes and the humour wasn’t so dull. Dropped
#40 (31) – Shugo Chara – (5,75/10) – Shugo Chara, while fillerish, wasn’t exactly bad. It was decent, though Shugo Chara Party somehow just decided to screw its current target audience, and focus on small children instead, making the series lose the small bit of magic it still had. Dropped.
#39 (new) – Kämpfer – (6/10) – Very, very generic moe fighting show. It’s really not subtle in all its fanservice jokes, the lead character is utterly ridiculous and the rest of the characters also are dull and one-dimensional. Dropped.
#38 (new) – Gokyoudai Monogatari – (6/10) – This could have been a nice idea, but it’s badly written. The characters all act like complete imbeciles, but none of it is really funny or enjoyable. Nobody acts like how he’s supposed to act. Dropped.
#37 (30) – Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu – (6,25/10) – My big problem with Nogizaka Haruka is that its sense of humour is abysmal. It’s supposed to make people laugh, it made me cringe. Besides, I’m not interested in the otaku-business at all, so this still just isn’t my kind of series. Dropped.
#36 (29) – Koihime Musou – (6,5/10) – The characters in this show are just too stupid for me. I tried giving it a second chance, but I don’t think I’m ever going to like this series’ cheesy sense of humour and stupid cameos from the Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Dropped.
#35 (new) – Fairy Tail – (6,5/10) – You know, I like a good shounen once in a while, but when said shounen proceeds to rip off just about every other shounen with badly executed humour that tries way too hard, I bail out. Dropped.
#34 (new) – Nyan Koi – (6,75/10) – For a show about felines it has the most unrealistic and boring cats I’ve seen in a long while. The romance was promising… before it went down the road of generic harem. Dropped.
#33 (28) – Asura Crying – (7/10) – I’m still not exactly sold on this series. The characters are just too stupid and stereotypical for me, and lack any sort of charm. Dropped.
#32 (new) – A Certain Scientific Railgun – (7/10) – Perhaps a fun series for some, but not for me. Especially that twin-tailed lead character was a pain to watch. Dropped.
#31 (new) – Sora no Otoshimono – (7,25/10) – I’m really not a fan of fanservice humour, and especially the unsubtle kind often just bores me. I think it’s not much of a surprise that I quickly dropped this series when the panties started flying around.
#30 (new) – Inu Yasha – (7,5/10) – The first episode didn’t motivate me to watch the rest of this series. Sure, there were some potentially interesting storylines, but not interesting enough for me to want to sit through hundreds of episodes. Dropped
#29 (new) – Seitokai no Ichizon – (7,5/10) – Out of the teenaged moe comedies this season, I agree that this has been the best. The problem however is that it also got old really fast. That’s why I’ve dropped this series before it could get too boring, because the characters just are too stereotypical to really make this work in the long term.
#28 (25) – Needless – (7,5/10) – I’ve finally dropped this show. It was fun while it lasted, but I’m trying to cut back on the amount of shows I’m watching each season, so this one obviously had to go. Dropped.
#27 (new) – Table Cat – (7,5/10) – Well, so it’s obvious that this show really isn’t going to become anything special, but it nevertheless consists out of some decently amusing antics. And hey, the episodes are only five minutes long, so not much effort has to go into watching this.
#26 (new) – The Sacred Blacksmith – (7,5/10) – Here’s the thing with this series: I fully agree that it has potential. If the creators handle it well, they can get a nice story out of this series, despite the overload of moe. But within 12 episodes? I don’t think so. Wake me up when a second season gets announced. Until then, dropped.
#25 (11) – Natsu no Arashi – (7,5/10) – Here’s the thing with this series: the first season was fresh, it had enough material to work with and kept throwing in new things to keep it interesting. The new season has focused three of its four episodes on Jun’s cross-dressing and Hajime’s ignorance about this. That’s way too much, and really a sign that this series’ creativity is running out. The jokes feel forced and overused now. The story itself seems to be advancing pretty nicely though, so at least that’s a good thing.
#24 (new) – Kimi ni Todoke – (7,5/10) – At this point, Kimi ni Todoke is a fairly standard shoujo series, clichés included. The first four episodes haven’t exactly impressed me, but there is potential for the future. The characterization for the lead male may be dull, but the three lead females have a nice chemistry between them. Whenever they’re not into some sort of forced drama.
#23 (new) – Cheburashka Arere – (7,75/10) – One thing I like to do with all of the short-episoded series this season is save all of them during each week, and then watching them all at once. Cheburashka Arere is… well.. very childish, but it’s nice, simple and enjoyable. It’s a bit nonsensical at times, but the quirky characters are surprisingly likeable for a show about nothing.
#22 (new) – Winter Sonata – (7,75/10) – Okay, so it didn’t really help that the series started out with a flashback, turning this supposedly mature romance into yet another teenaged romance. What annoys me the most is the male lead right now: he’s trying too hard to look rebellious and cool at the same time. However, I do have to say that the show is well animated, or at least that the motions of the characters are very well done and imaginative.
#21 (new) – Kobato – (7,75/10) – I’m not yet sold on this series, but I can see some potential. Especially Kobato is an incredibly genuine character, and the story, albeit dull, is nicely told. If it’s building up to something, I’d like to find out what that is.
#20 (new) – Thriller Restaurant – (7,75/10) – Yeah, this is pretty much a kids’ shows, but I’m actually enjoying it. The stories are incredibly simple, and often they’re quite a bit flawed, but the storytelling keeps me interested. Also, since the stories are all very short (usually around ten minutes), it makes this series into something like a quick fire horror stories anime. Oh, and the music is also pretty good too.
#19 (new) – Yumeiro Patissiere – (7,75/10) – I really didn’t expect anything from this series when I first started watching it, but I have to admit: it’s pretty solid. It goes along perfectly with this season’s line of surprisingly good kids’ shows. The lead character is likable, but a hard worker. And regarding the drama: every time it starts it really seems like it’s going down the path of cheesy and overdone drama… only to prove my suspicions wrong and turning into something genuine.
#18 (22) – White Album – (8/10) – Ah, Touya. How I hate thee. I have to admit though: as a character, this guy is pretty good. He’s a complete bastard, but a well-developed one nonetheless. I’m going to withhold my judgment for this series at this point, because I have no idea whether it’s going to turn good or fall apart completely in the end.
#17 (23) – Hetalia Axis Powers – (8/10) – Haha! 38 episodes in, and finally The Netherlands show up. I like how we’re portrayed as an evil bastard.
#16 (15) – Kuruneko – (8/10) – Perhaps not the funniest month for Kuruneko thus far, but honestly I don’t mind. It’s fun enough to watch the lead character and her tendency to voice everything over. This series really doesn’t need anything more, and it knows this.
#15 (new) – 11Eyes – (8/10) – This really is something I didn’t suspect from an eroge adaptation: it’s actually pretty good! Sure, the slice of life is annoying, but the characters are well defined and have their own share of depth. They’re all interesting to watch, and the direction during the action-scenes also knows how to keep everything interested. Very nice, but can it do everything it wants in just 12 episodes?
#14 (new) – Letter Bee – (8/10) – While the start is a bit cheesy and follows the standard start of a shounen series, I actually see potential in this. The chemistry between the two lead characters is pretty nice to watch, and any series that has a forest of broccoli in it deserves extra points.
#13 (2) – Konnichiwa Anne – (8,25/10) – Watching this show is like driving across a very hilly road. It can be amazing at times, but at others it can be really painful to watch with all its cheese. This month, it kept hovering somewhere in the middle: the episodes dedicated to the Hammond family were great: you really see a lot of detail into dysfunctional families. The episodic stories however… weren’t good. They were cheesy, and at this point I’ve really had it with those cheesy stories from this series.
#12 (new) – Sasameki Koto – (8,25/10) – This series is really surprisingly good. This mostly can be attributed to the lead character, who is really fun to watch and has an excellent voice actress. Especially episode four was hilarious. But (and this is a pretty big but), this series has a pretty simple formula, hasn’t it? How long is it going to take until it gets dull? I fear that this series isn’t going to make the end of this season.
#11 (new) – Kuchuu Buranko – (8,25/10) – Kuchuu Buranko did well in setting itself apart from Bake Neko and Mononoke: this isn’t a series that should be enjoyed because of the depth of its stories, but rather because of its entertainment value. Its unique style of storytelling and the crazy visuals are a lot of fun to watch, and while the characters may not be as deep, they’re lovable and interesting to watch. I don’t see a classic here, but at the same time I see no way in which this series can possibly screw up.
#10 (new) – Anymal Tantei Kiruminzoo – (8,25/10)

Call me crazy, but I’m really enjoying this series. It may be aimed primarily at kids, but I keep thinking that the creators put a layer of adult jokes behind the cute and cuddly exterior that will fly past the kids’ heads. And yeah, it has the catchiest opening EVER. ^^;

#9 (38) – Tentai Senshi Sunred – (8,25/10)

Still no signs of any loss of inspiration. In fact, every episode has been a hit so far, and the writers seem better than ever at this point. Let’s hope that it can keep this up.

#8 (12) – Marie & Gali – (8,5/10)

This series still doesn’t show any signs of slowing down. This month yet again showcased a number of very creative episodes. I especially loved the birthday episode, which was surprisingly touching for Gali.

#7 (13) – Cross Game – (8,5/10)

For Cross Game, this month was mostly build-up to the second half of this series. The baseball match was nice enough to watch, but it really doesn’t match up to the baseball matches in Touch. Nevertheless, now that the second half has started with the arrival of “her”, I’m curious to see where the creators are going to take this series.

#6 (10) – Darker than Black: Ryuusei no Gemini – (8,75/10)

I know fully well that the set-up of this season and its short length isn’t going to make it surpass the Yin-arc of the first season, but nevertheless this has been a very interesting sequel so far. It’s come with an interesting story and a rock-solid execution and action-scenes in which many things happen at the same time. Everyone has different ideals and purposes and it deserves in my top 3 of series that started airing this fall season.

#5 (11) – Kemono no Souja Erin – (8,75/10)

It’s taken a while, but the plot has really heated up. It’s been really well prepared by the first half of this series, and the fruits of all that build-up are really showing off now. Especially now that the politics and the main story have converged, we’re in for a great finale.

#4 (new) – Armed Libarians – The Book of Bantorra – (8,75/10)

Excellent series. It’s got a multi-layered story already four episodes in. It’s surprisingly well written, it’s got a strong cast of characters and especially Hamyuts Meseta rocks. The animation disappointed a bit in the first episode, but even that got better in the subsequent episodes.

#3 (8) – Full Metal Alchemist – Brotherhood – (9/10)

The past month has really given the plot of this series a whole different dimension to the storyline, in a large number of surprising plot twist. I’m really starting to see how well this series is constructed.

#2 (new) – Aoi Bungaku – (9/10)

What an amazing series so far. No Longer Human (the first story to be adapted by this series) just keeps getting better and better, with an amazing set of visuals and a very tight direction that just keeps your attention. Definitely among my highlights of the Autumn Season.

#1 (16) – Umineko no Naku Koro ni – (9/10)

An amazing month for Umineko. The plot took a completely different turn with a number of amazing plot twists. Beatrice has really shown that she’s an awesome character with this, and episode 18 has been the highlight of the entire series for me. On top of that, the murder mystery just gets more and more intriguing, and it’s always a blast trying to find out what’s really going on behind the buckets of red herrings thrown at the screen.

#29 (29) – Saki – (6,5/10) – The last month was by far my least favourite part of this series, everything was cliché and predictable and I was just hoping for it to finally end, my suspense of disbelief has been completely broken at this point. #28 (30) – Zan Sayonara Zetsubou-Sensei – (7,25/10) – Thankfully this wasn’t the worst month for this series, and I have to admit that the caveman part was pretty funny. Overall though, Sayonara Zetsubou-Sensei stopped being funny for me a long time ago, and the third season just took too little risks in order to change this. #27 (28) – Chi’s New Address – (7,5/10) – Granted, as dull as the series was, the finale did was nice enough. It was a bit cheesy, but nevertheless a good idea executed reasonably well. Apart from the ending itself though. Way too melodramatic and overacted. #26 (24) – Bakemonogatari – (7,5/10) – Episode 12 finally came and properly animated the characters, instead of focusing on just about everything that wasn’t relevant. However, in exchange we also had to sit through the Snake-arc, which was probably the weakest of the entire series… #25 (26) – Needless – (7,5/10) – The problem with Needless is that it spends too much time talking. Sure there is the obvious fanservice which often reaches the points of abysmal, but this is supposed to be an action series. Too often we see people in the middle of dull exposition about their next strategy. First of all, these dialogues are so mind-numbingly boring that they instantly freeze all opponents that are in the neighbourhood (no, seriously), and second of all these strategies are often so incredibly stupid that it takes a complete idiot to fall for them. But (and this is a big but) occasionally episodes arrive with a truly awesome animation direction (episode 13 for example). These sorts of episodes are awesome to watch and remind me why I still haven’t dropped this bloody show. #24 (18) – Taishou Yakyuu Musume – (7,75/10) – Well, it was a nice finale. Nothing you wouldn’t expect, but it’s been good, clean fun with this series. #23 (25) – Hetalia Axis Powers – (8/10) – Nice month for Hetalia. Finally another classic episode appeared with the Christmas episode. This series really is at its best when it pokes fun at cultural differences. #22 (21) – The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya – (8/10) – The two final episodes of Sigh really made up for the rather boring first three episodes. Episode four made a very good point, while episode five was just enjoyable to watch. All that’s left now is to wait or season three. #21 (15) – Yoku Wakaru Gendai Mahou – (8/10) – It was a nice finale. It didn’t sacrifice the chemistry between the characters for the sake of building up to that dramatic climax, and the humour was at its best during the final month. I especially liked that brother: he’s a very refreshing only-male-in-moe-show. #20 (27) – 07-Ghost – (8,25/10) – An exciting finale, because Ayanami for once actually DID something. It’s a shame, he really would have been an awesome villain if the creators actually used him better. Still, a great finish for a rather flawed series. #19 (19) – Canaan – (8,25/10) – The final episodes of Canaan kicked ass. While Alphard’s end may have been a bit out of character, it definitely redeemed itself as a good action-show, with the cast turning out strong enough to make it more than just a show with pretty pictures. #18 (22) – Basquash! – (8,25/10) – Great to see that this series is closing off with an enjoyable finale. Gorgeous production-values courtesy of Satelight thankfully didn’t make this series into a waste of time after the first eight episodes. #17 (16) – Umi Monogatari – (8,25/10) – The finale was a really emotional one, and it worked pretty well. Especially the final episode worked great as an ending that had an emotional impact, yet stayed away from cheese. Definitely the best month for this series. #16 (14) – Umineko no Naku Koro ni – (8,25/10) – The third arc promises to be even better than the first two. I love these series in which you have no idea what’s going on, and Umineko surely has no intentions to make trying to understand it a walk in the park. This month especially did well in portraying the hopelessness of trying to prove everything without magic. I’m really curious to see how the creators are planning to write themselves out of this one. #15 (20) – Kuruneko – (8,25/10) – 2009 has really been an awesome year for short series with 5-minute episode. Kuruneko only gets wittier as time goes on and more cats come into the picture. There’s a lot of creativity put into this, despite its simplistic nature. #14 (6) – Shangri-La – (8,5/10) – Not the best month for Shangri-la. I really liked it the best when it threw buckets of plot twists at the same time that made the setting even more intriguing. The finale instead was solid. Well-built up, although the ending itself was rather lazy. Nevertheless, it remains an excellent series for those who have a big suspense of disbelief. #13 (7) – Cross Game – (8,5/10) – Really, the only thing about Cross Game that isn’t wonderfully consistent is the very small set of baseball matches that pop up once in a while. Aside from that, the slice of life is so delightfully enjoyable and witty. However, this month was a bit of a step back from previous months, simply because the creators have gotten a bit unsubtle with their hints that Kou and Aoba are into each other. #12 (13) – Marie & Gali – (8,75/10) – I’m still amazed at how incredibly consistent this series is. Every single episode manages to be absolutely hilarious in the way that it takes simple scientific concepts and drives them to the absurd. It’s a series with an awesome sense of humour and a pool of creativity that still seems nowhere near exhausted at this point. Definitely my favourite comedy during the past half year. #11 (2) – Kemono no Souja Erin – (8,75/10) – This series just keeps exploring its own borders, doesn’t it? This month may have been a bit of a step down from the previous one, but nevertheless that birth-scene was very impressive, and you can see that it’s still building up. #10 (11) – Pandora Hearts – (8,75/10) Pandora ended with an anime-original ending, but that didn’t prevent it from being really good. The story made sense in canon, it closed off with a bang and yet left enough open for a potential second season. It perhaps wasn’t the most intense month for this series, but it was all-around enjoyable, and I really hope for that second season to come. #9 (4) – Aoi Hana – (8,75/10) Aoi Hana closed off with a “life goes on”-finale, which was a perfect way to close off the series. It’s a shame that the Noise-timeslot disappeared, because its series have really been consistently awesome in what they did. Here’s to hoping that it’ll return for the Winter-season. #8 (9) – Full Metal Alchemist – Brotherhood – (8,75/10) Excellent month for Full Metal Alchemist. The action was very creative and well-written, and on top of that the plot twists just kept coming here. This has really turned into a no-nonsense series, which is so completely different in atmosphere compared to the first series. #7 (8) – GA: Geijutsuka Art Design Class – (8,75/10) This month yet again was a very consistent one for GA: it was consistently enjoyable, creative, unpredictable and fun to watch. It definitely stands out as one of the under-watched gems of the Summer Season. #6 (5) – Spice and Wolf – (9/10) Spice and Wolf closed off with a very strong finale, which really pushed the characters in a new direction. It’s been a series with drama that combines subtlety with conflict, and it really managed to surpass the first season for me. #5 (10) – Guin Saga – (9/10) An excellent finale for a series that has been so under-looked for the past season. The politics and action meshed really well, and just about everything developed. Now where the hell is that second season? #4 (3) – Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 – (9/10) The finale was very daring, and completely different from the relatively action-packed first half. Ultimately though, it gave a whole new dimension to this series and it closed off this series with a heart-wrenching finale. This is Noitamina at its finest. #3 (1) – Phantom – (9/10) Yeah, so what? I like endings with a twist and it’s not like that ending didn’t fit in the series. Phantom closed off with an excellent ending in my opinion. The finale did provide closure for the entire series, and yet it never abandoned the subtle storytelling that made the rest of the series into my favourite of the past half year. The final twist is definitely controversial one, but I liked it. It perfectly fitted the whole themes of the series. #2 (17) – Konnichiwa Anne – (9/10) And this is why I love the World Masterpiece Theatre. This series managed to pick itself back up magnificently this month, with a number of heart-wrenching episodes and a massive amount of character-development. These are things that absolutely no girl of Anne’s age has to go through. #1 (12) – Shin Mazinger Shougeki! Z-Hen! – (9/10) That finale was FUCKING EPIC! It knew exactly what it was: action and plot twists, and boy how it delivered on them. This exceeded all of my expectations and you know what, it had the best ending of the season. Now THIS is exactly what an action-series should be! It’s indeed a bit of a strange Top-2 I have this month, but I really wanted to reward these two series who have massively improved themselves since last month, compared to the more consistent #3, #4 and #5, even if I consider those three far superior when looking at their overall picture.]]>

#30 (29) – Zan Sayonara Zetsubou-Sensei – (6/10) – Okay, so this series has hit new frontiers of boredom for me. After one episode, this got so bad that I suddenly became fascinated by the pattern on my chair. In addition to this series getting less funny with every episode, the non-funny parts are also getting harder and harder to sit through, with especially the incredibly stereotypical characters growing more and more on my nerves. #29 (20) – Saki – (7,25/10) – The battle between Saki and Koromo unfortunately was a step down for this series. At this point, Koromo was so unbelievably god-moded that the creators had to god-mode Saki as well to give her a chance against her. So in the end this just became a contest of who could pull off the biggest and cheesiest Deus ex Machina. Afterwards, this series never really managed to recover for me. It’s been one cheesy and predictable scene to the other, with hardly any of the character-depth that made the middle episodes so enjoyable. #28 (25) – Chi’s New Address – (7,25/10) – Okay, so I got impatient with the slow subs and tracked down the raws for this series. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem like this series is getting any better. There is just an entire lack of direction, and the show just hangs on a string of random episodes that all fail to live up to the first season. There are too many episodes in which Chi randomly causes trouble and breaks stuff, and I think that this series has hit past its expiration date at this point. Such a shame. #27 (26) – 07-Ghost – (7,5/10) – I hope that for this series, the creators are going to go with an anime original ending. Don’t get me wrong, but this just isn’t a series that’s going to work with a second season, and with an ending that actually wraps up the story there is at least going to be some sort of closure. This show lately has been getting less bearable, with as the depth the really lame Bishop Exam. #26 (28) – Needless – (7,5/10) – This show really is one of the most vulgar shows I’ve ever seen. The jokes are amongst the dumbest I have ever seen, same with the fanservice. Still, it does what it intended to do: entertain. In terms of mindless entertainment, it really does the job well and doesn’t try to pretend it’s anything more than what it is. At least I can appreciate that. #25 (23) – Hetalia Axis Powers – (7,75/10) – This month, Hetalia has been adequate. There were no particularly bad episodes, but there weren’t any that stood out either. It’s nothing particularly boring, but I do hope that this show can pick itself up again after this. #24 (30) – Bakemonogatari – (7,5/10) – I can see that the dialogue for this series is good, but at the same time I have a lot of trouble connecting to the characters because Shinbo took his style way too far. The screen is way too full with pointless visuals, walls of text that appear at the wrong moments, take way too long, and take the focus away from what’s really important: the characters. Seriously, the lead character in particular hardly gets any close-ups when he talks. The camera is always focusing at either his eye, his ahoge, or something completely different. It’s probably because of this that I found the ending of the third arc to be convenient and cheesy. #23 (17) – Gintama – (7,75/10) – The thing that the new director is going to have to work at is his climaxes. The past oldies arc was pretty good, but the climax just ended up a bit cheesy and was filled with Deus ex Machina. #22 (16) – Basquash! – (7,5/10) – Basquash was mostly building up this month. It’s going to need it, because I’ve pretty much lost my faith in this series, and only an entertaining ending can save it for me. My biggest issue with this series is that it doesn’t seem to really know what it wants. If it’s supposed to be a fun and entertaining show, then why does it go on and on in pointless drama? If it’s supposed to be a deep and thoughtful show, then why are the characters so unbelievably stupid at times? #21 (22) – The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya – (7,5/10) – Now that the Endless Eight has finally ended, I’ve gotten bugged with another of this series’ problems: Haruhi is annoying. Seriously though, the past three episodes of her Sigh have been surprisingly boring and uninteresting. The characters have been acting way too much according to their stereotypes, rather than as actual characters, and the dialogue also suffered a lot. In fact, the dialogue of the entire second season has been far from as detailed as it was in the first season. #20 (24) – Kuruneko – (8/10) – This series is surprisingly fun, especially now that Chi’s Sweet Home has stopped being funny, there’s enough cats to laugh about here. But I especially like the old lady who keeps the different cats. She has wit, and I love how she always tries to voice everything over. #19 (13) – Canaan – (8/10) – So in this month, Canaan showed its true colours. Deranged, over the top and very far-fetched colours. While I admit that I would have preferred a bit more subtlety in the storytelling, it still is a pretty nice action series. Just don’t try to go in it expecting any sort of realism… #18 (18) – Taishou Yakyuu Musume – (8/10) – I’m starting to wonder whether twelve episodes are enough for this series. There’s still so much left to do, and yet we’ve already passed two thirds of the series. Sure, things have been pretty enjoyable slice of life, the characters are quite charming, but are the creators really all right with only four episodes left? #17 (21) – Konnichiwa Anne – (8/10) – I still hate Henderson, but granted, she was much more annoying in the previous month. Thankfully Konnichiwa Anne has gotten better right now, with the focus nicely balanced between Anne and the side-characters. #16 (11) – Umi Monogatari – (8/10) – This has been a peculiar little series. It’s strength is that it’s incredibly dramatic, and yet it never delves into melodrama or something that’s so overacted that you can’t take it seriously. It’s a great example of an emotional series: one that’s meant to bring out emotions. At this, it actually fares off pretty well, but this is a Sato Junichi series we’re talking about. He has done so much better in the past, that this series just pales when you compare it to some of its other works. If you don’t though, then it’s pretty nice. #15 (27) – Yoku Wakaru Gendai Mahou – (8/10) – This is yet another one of those series that isn’t supposed to be good… and yet it is. Seriously, it has all the elements of yet another dull moe show: overly cute character-designs with weird hair-colours? Check. Stupid fanservice? Check. Overly cute voice actresses? Check. And yet, this series has something that a lot of moe shows nowadays lack. The characters, especially the main character, are all surprisingly genuine; the way they act, the way they interact with each other. It feels like they’re really behaving like themselves, rather than trying to go for forced stereotypes. #14 (15) – Umineko no Naku Koro ni – (8,25/10) – I think that the biggest difference between Higurashi and Umineko, at this stage in the series, is that Higurashi was much more of a horror series: it used its storytelling and mystery to create a very tense plot. Umineko instead chooses for censored gore and a lot of talking, which neither come really close to horror. Because of this, I like the first nine episodes of Higurashi better than Umineko. Nevertheless, that doesn’t mean that the mystery in Umineko doesn’t rock. This yet again is a great series to try and formulate theories of what the heck is going on, only to have them proved wrong by this series. #13 (10) – Marie & Gali – (8,5/10) – It’s a shame that this show went into multiple hiatuses during this month, because I really can’t get enough of the craziness in this series. What’s also very peculiar for a comedy is that it’s just consistently awesome: there’s hardly any bad episode, and every episode has something creative that puts a smile on your face. Sure, the episodes are only five minutes long, but still. #12 (14) – Shin Mazinger Shougeki Z-Hen – (8,75/10) – This show really has become epic in the past month. I must say that it’s really managed to create an awesome story, based on the premise of a few key characters and a powerful giant robot. The twists and turns have only added to the awesomeness, and this series is only getting better and better. In the coming month, it’s finally time for this series to close off with an epic finale, and something tells me that the creators aren’t going to settle with a straightforward ending. There are so many different villains at this point that it’s promising to be a true clash of the titans. #11 (8) – Pandora Hearts – (8,75/10) – Every time I think that this series couldn’t possibly pull any more plot twists, it does, and with every plot twist the series only gets more intriguing than it already was. Sometimes the creators keep hanging a bit too long around Oz’s development, but overall this still is an excellent series. Now where is that second season?! #10 (7) – Guin Saga – (8,5/10) Lots of politics this month for Guin Saga, and I must say that I like it a lot. The cast of characters is really growing beyond belief, but the creators still managed to give most of them their own identity. The lead characters meanwhile also make sure that this remains an epic series. #9 (5) – Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood – (8,75/10) It seems that the manga readers aren’t all happy with this adaptation, because of all the things it cut out. Having not read the manga, however, I don’t care. I personally don’t notice anything of the cuts that were made, and especially episode 19 was really good and well animated. #8 (12) – GA:Geijutsuka Art Design Class – (8,75/10) This show rocks! Sure, it’s probably a bit boring if you don’t have any interest in art, but this series really is one of the few anime this year that actually taught me something. Aside from that, the creators have managed to keep a perfect balance between fun interactions, slice of life and the educational parts. Not one episode feels like a copy of the others, and every episode it comes with new material, rather than ripping or milking off previous episodes due to a lack of inspiration. This definitely turned into one of the best (if not THE best, along with Cross Game) slice of life comedies I’ve seen this year. #7 (9) – Cross Game – (8,75/10) The thing that makes Cross Game so good is that every single episode, no matter how seemingly insignificant, contributes to and develops the characters, if ever so slightly. The pacing is slow, but for this series, it’s just enough to see the characters slowly get more and more complex and likable. That really is the strength of a series by Adachi: sure, he can only write shows of one type, but he’s really, really good at it and hardly ever repeats himself. #6 (2) – Shangri-La – (8,75/10) It’s not the best month for Shangri-La, but nevertheless it’s gotten surprisingly solid now that it’s building up to its finale, and it might actually be able to pull off a very enjoyable one at this pace. At this point, the story has gotten epic without sacrificing what made the rest of the series so enjoyable. All it now needs to do is have something awesome happen at the finale. #5 (6) – Spice and Wolf – (8,75/10) The biggest difference with the first season is the relationship between Lawrence and Horo: the two of them have become much closer with this season, and yet the creators manage to keep the romance mature and prevent it from being forced. The talk about trading has been as intelligent as ever, which always is a good sign. #4 (4) – Aoi Hana – (8,75/10) This series has really been consistently excellent, like I’ve probably said many times before. The romantic relationships are very down-to-earth and realistic and the creators are really good at very subtly fleshing out the characters. #3 (1) – Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 – (9/10) At first, when I finished episode 8, I thought that this series was going to finish with a rather uneventful finale that didn’t really live up to the amazing first five episodes. But then when I realized that SPOILER, it suddenly put the entire series in an entirely different light. That’s got to be the SPOILEREST SPOILER I have ever seen, and I really applaud the creators for SPOILER. This has the potential of being a classic if they manage to end this series well. Apologies for the rather cryptic description, but the ones who saw episode 8 will probably get what I mean. #2 (18) – Kemono no Souja Erin – (9/10) Yeah, yeah. So I gave in to everyone who praised this series and marathoned it up to episode 33. And oh my God, people surely weren’t kidding when they said that this was one of the best shows of the year! Because of its long length, it really was able to get the best out of the character. Especially Erin, who has now grown up to be eighteen years old, has become one of the best developed characters of this year for me. This series has become so good at portraying the pain-staking work it takes to tame and take care of a wild beast, but also the newly introduced villain is already an awesome one who is going to pose a serious threat to Erin. The back-story for this series has also turned out to be surprisingly solid, and for those who were wondering whether this series would have gotten a bit too childish with the farting bee-keeper: don’t worry. It’s just a small gimmick that returns occasionally. #1 (3) – Phantom – (9,25/10) Now that it’s entered its final arc, this series has become utterly amazing, and without a doubt my top pick for the past spring season. Especially Cal’s character-development has been awesome, but Reiji and Helen have also become a joy to watch with all of the development that this series has put in them.]]>

I must say, that we’ve got ourselves an awesome Summer Season here. Sure, there aren’t many series, but a significant majority of the new series succeed at what they intend to do. There may not be a lot of shows with awesome and ambitious story-lines, but in terms of slice of life and characterization, this really couldn’t have been better. Oh, and if you’re wondering what happened to Valkyria Chronicles: I dropped it. It just became too tiring to keep track of it, especially with so many other great series going on.

Rankings, like the past months are a bit strange again, I basically tried to generate the rankings for each show, compared to the others that are currently airing. Say, for example that Show A has a really good setting, and there are only a few other shows with a better setting, it’s going to rank higher than if there are many shows with excellent settings, and vice versa. I know that it’s a bit weird, but for some reason it does more accurately reflect my feelings about the shows this season.

#33 (new) – Element Hunters – (6,5/10) – So yeah, there’s not much hope for this series. It tries to be educational, but the creators have no idea what they’re talking about. The characters behave like your typical shounen leads (really, you can’t get any more typical than these guys), and overall it’s something you show kids when they’re whining too much. Dropped
#32 (new) – Kanamemo – (7/10) – Amongst all of the other slice of life and yuri series this season, Kanamemo is simply overshadowed in the way that there really is nothing special about it whatsoever, and the first episode just felt forced to me. Dropped.
#31 (new) – Princess Lover – (6,25/10) – I originally dropped this, but because so many people seemed to like it and recommend it I stuck with it. My question is: WHY!? What is so good about this series? I can see that the animation is above average and all, but the whole set-up is even more generic than your average harem. The scenarios are very predictable and very much written to suit the story, rather than evolving naturally. Especially the lead character doesn’t seem to be able to decide what personality he wants to be. It’s just way too forced to make any sort of impact.
#30 (new) – Bakemonogatari – (7,25/10) – Watching Bakemonogatari is like watching someone read the Bakemonogatari novels in front of a slide-show. I can see that Nisioisin is a great writer in the way that he uses wordplay through his stories, but Shinbo has been incredibly lazy in adapting it. The characterization is just utterly bland, and we’re given no way whatsoever to sympathize with them with this style. I’d really wish that Shinbo had the chance to watch Mouryou no Hako before adapting this series; now THAT’s how you should adapt a story with lots of dialogue.
Award: Best OP of the Month (the first one)
#29 (19) – Zan Sayonara Zetsubou-Sensei – (7/10) – It’s a shame really. I remember how I used to laugh like crazy over this series, but now all it gets from me are a bunch of chuckles during the good parts. The “social commentaries of the week” are still getting more far-fetched and formulaic by the minute. The only thing that still has my interest is that every single episode has a different OP and ED.
#28 (new) – Needless – (7,5/10) – Well, so this series deserves the reward of featuring the single biggest moron to grace any show this year (“yes, I’m looking for a guy named Adam; do you know such a person?”). It’s an incredibly stupid series and it’s clear that Madhouse’s worst staff has been working on this thing. Yet, for brainless entertainment it does the job. The banter between the different characters is varied and fun to watch at least.
#27 (new) – Yoku Wakaru Gendai Mahou – (7,5/10) – I’m really not sure what to think of this series. I know that I’m enjoying it so far and I like the concept of programmable magic; it’s not a chore to watch it in any way, and yet it has these cases of hopelessly bad acting and a collection of utterly terrible action scenes, and yet the characters themselves remain strangely enjoyable enough to watch. What puzzles me the most though is this series’ really weird fanservice. Are you getting bullied? Well, just throw your panties in the bully’s face! That will shut him up!
#26 (19) – 07-Ghost – (7,75/10) – Meh, it’s a shame but 07-Ghost has been getting a lot less entertaining. The focus has been getting much less at the church and more at the overall plot which turns out to be surprisingly dull and angsty. Finally my patience seems to be running out with this series…
#25 (16) – Chi’s New Address – (7,75/10) – Chi’s New Address has been getting a bit dull lately. That may be because of the slow subs (I switched to the subs for this series because the raws are near-impossible to keep track of), but granted: the first series also had this. It needs something to spice things up a bit, like the first season did with the big black cat.
#24 (new) – Kuruneko – (7,75/10) – I originally thought that this was going to be another one of those dull kiddie shows. Then I found out who the director was, headdesked and reminded myself why I always check out every single show at the start of each season. Kuruneko only has 3-minute episodes, but they’re really charming so far. I like how the old lady always tries to voice over her own cats, and with the most consistent comedy director in the business behind this series, I can see little that can go wrong.
#23 (22) – Hetalia Axis Powers – (7,75/10) – This month really saw an overabuse of dull Liechtenstein jokes, however after that this series very neatly picked itself back up. Especially the second season had a very nice start.
#22 (13) – Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi – (7,5/10) – Well, I’ve dropped this series at this point. The first four episodes were nice slice of life, but eight is going way too far. I’m not that angry with the series because I’ve never really been a fan, but I can understand the current fans a bit. If Amatsuki were to pull the same thing then I’d be raging too.
#21 (4) – Konnichiwa Anne – (7,75/10) – Ouch, this series has fallen badly this month. The Marysville arc has just been one big mess, full of really cheesy moral speeches that just WOULD NOT STOP and characters ripped off from Emily of the New Moon. The Thomas Family is still as awesome as ever, but characters like the teacher Henderson really manage to bring this series down right now.
#20 (15) – Saki – (8/10) – Okay, so the OP and ED haven’t stopped being annoying and the Mahjong matches have been based on luck more than ever now, but I’m still surprised at how good Saki has become. The reason for this is the cast of characters. They’ve been sufficiently fleshed out and developed right now, and they get more and more engaging with every episode. It’s strange, because apart from that this series has nothing else that makes it special whatsoever.
#19 (new) – Sora no Manimani – (7,75/10) – I originally dropped this, but then I learned about the director. Overall it has been an enjoyable series, but the comedy has been a bit too hit-or-miss, and the creators’ attempts at being heart-warming just end up as cheesy.
#18 (new) – Taishou Yakyuu Musume – (8/10) – For the past year we’ve seen an interesting increase in baseball shows: One Outs, Major 5, Cross Game and now Taishou Yakyuu Musume appears and still manages to stand out individually. The whole gender issues of eighty years ago are nicely touched upon, and the characters themselves are surprisingly likable.
#17 (18) – Gintama – (8,25/10) – Despite my rantings a few months ago, I must say that the new director has been getting better and better. The past arc has been surprisingly good at Gintama’s trademark of taking just about everything to the absurd.
#16 (17) – Basquash! – (8/10) – In this month, Basquash has been trying to get into the right track. Emphasis on “trying”, because I still have no idea whether this series is going to be a success or a total train-wreck. We’ve reached the point now at which Kiss Dum’s director has taken over, so let’s hope that he can give this series the ending it deserves.
#15 (21) – Umineko no Naku Koro ni – (8,25/10) – I’m still having a bit of trouble connecting to the characters, but Umineko definitely has been the most intriguing new series this season. In the first month we seem to have gotten only a little taste of what is to follow, but it’s promising to be a really entertaining mind-screw.
#14 (14) – Shin Mazinger Shougenki! Z-Hen – (8,5/10) – You know, for a homage of the series that popularized the monster of the week genre, the story is surprisingly non-linear. The Germany arc had a surprisingly good conclusion, and now that the past few episodes have started to introduce a whole new layer of depth in the whole story Shin Mazinger has gotten even more epic than it already was. I can always count on this series for my weekly dose of manly entertainment.
#13 (new) – Canaan – (8,25/10) – Canaan really has an awesome set of production values to work with, courtesy of PA Works. Everything looks really crisp and detailed with an excellent direction. Sure, the premise and characters still need some work, but there isn’t anything wrong with the execution so far.
#12 (new) – GA Geijutsuka Art Design Class – (8,25/10) – Talk about the dark horse of the season! I’m really enjoying this series, not just because of the characters, but also because I’m really interested the main topic for this series: Art Design. I love all of the nice ideas that the creators throw into this series, and the creators have really shown that they’re very knowledgeable about this subject. I’m just not sure why they found it a good idea to focus an entire episode on a bunch of unrelated side-characters, but perhaps they’ll return later somehow.
#11 (21) – Umi Monogatari – (8,25/10) – For a Junichi Sato series, Umi Monogatari feels a bit too one-sided, but nevertheless it has a powerful cast of characters and succeeds as a heart-warming drama. The “monster of the week”-theme only turned out to be something of the first few episodes in order to flesh out the characters.
#10 (10) – Marie & Gali – (8,5/10)

This series continues to be my current favourite comedy. It still hasn’t lost any of its charms, and it’s still as funny as ever with all of the weird stuff that the creators throw into it.
Award: Funniest Series of the Month

#9 (6) – Cross Game – (8,75/10)

Cross Game yet again has been a truly excellent series this month. The characters are advancing very subtly and the wit of this series doesn’t seem to be getting less interesting at all.

#8 (3) – Pandora Hearts – (8,75/10)

So yeah, the Cheshire Cat arc rocked. It really pushed the story into a different direction and the characters gained a lot of depth through it. My big worry is the same as the manga readers’ right now: where the heck is that second season!?

#7 (8) – Guin Saga – (8,75/10)

This month, Guin Saga turned to politics and lots of character-development, with some excellent results that really managed to solidify this series’ epic atmosphere. This series has become very solid fantasy and I’m loving it so far.

#6 (8) – Spice and Wolf – (8,5/10)

The first season took a while to get going. The second season didn’t. These past four episodes have been intelligent and complex in the merchant business, and at the same time they showed Lawrence and Horo at their best surpassing the subtle chemistry between them that made the first season so good.

#5 (9) – Full Metal Alchemist – Brotherhood – (8,75/10)

17 episodes in, and I’m confident to say that Brotherhood has surpassed the original series. The new series is shaping up to be much more interesting, and the way the creators toy around with your emotions, with which you’re not sure whether to laugh or cry, is just brilliantly done.

#4 (new) – Aoi Hana – (8,75/10)

Amazing attention to detail, that’s what this series stands out in. Because of that, this has turned into one of my favourite series of the new summer season. A lot of care has been spent into subtly fleshing out and developing all of the different characters, with some amazing results already within five episodes. Noise rocks!
Award: Best First Episode of the new Season

#3 (2) – Phantom – (9/10)

Phantom has continued to slowly build up its current arc, and you can still see enough of its brilliance throughout. I really like what Cal turned into, and the characterization on Reiji has been truly excellent all the way. This is why I’m such a big fan of Bee-Train.
Award: Best Characters of the Month

#2 (1) – Shangri-La – (9/10)

I really have to praise Shangri-La for its ambition. The storyline is really evolving into something epic right now: there are lots of different sides, every single episode nowadays comes with a truckload of plot twists that hardly ever feel out of place and only make the setting even more intriguing. It’s a lot of fun to watch due to the excellent cast of characters. It’s as a series very rough around the edges, with the direction feeling jerky at times to say the least, but considering how awesome the rest of the series has turned out, I’ve really stopped caring about this series’ flaws long ago.
Awards: Best Storytelling of the Month; Best Setting of the Month; Best ED of the Month (the second one)

#1 (new) – Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 – (9/10)

What an utterly amazing start to this series. I’m really glad to see that the creators chose a realistic approach: they didn’t create a worst-case scenario, but instead a “what if”-scenario. Mirai really works as a flawed lead character, and the creators added a lot of subtle details to her character that make her a really sympathetic lead.
Awards: Best Production-Values of the Month; Best Episode of the Month (02)

The interesting thing with this month is that yet again I had no clear favourites. There’s a bunch of shows that I really like, but there’s not been a series for me that really stood above the others this month. I think that because of this, the series that ended up as my number one position is probably one that not many agree with, but it’s the series that I feel this month showed the most improvement and impressed me the most.

In other news, in the upcoming months I’m going to experiment with a new feature on these summaries, by handing out small awards for what stood out as the best at one particular part for the past month (inspired by The Null Set, thanks for the idea). Some awards like “Best ending of the month” are obviously only going to appear when a significant amount of series actually end. Next month, I’m probably also going to include an award for the best episode (I’d love to do it right here as well, but my favourite episode for June came from Higurashi’s OVA, and I stopped including OVAs in these rankings because it’s simply too convoluted to keep track of them).

Rankings, like the past months are a bit strange again, I basically tried to generate the rankings for each show, compared to the others that are currently airing. Say, for example that Show A has a really good setting, and there are only a few other shows with a better setting, it’s going to rank higher than if there are many shows with excellent settings, and vice versa. I know that it’s a bit weird, but for some reason it does more accurately reflect my feelings about the shows this season.

#26 (new) – Fight Ippatsu! Juuden-Chan! – (6,5/10) – Yeah… what’s there to say about this one, really? While I haven’t technically dropped it, I really can’t see myself watching through it entirely unless either the rest of the summer season is going to be really bad or the second episode is going to be really good.
#25 (24) – Koukaku no Regios – (6,75/10) – The ending was a horrible mess. Plot twists came from absolutely nowhere, there hardly was any conclusion or question that was answered. It’s been a while since I’ve seen a finale that was as rushed as we saw here.
#24 (23) – Kurokami the Animation – (6,75/10) – Alas. I really hoped that this series would become good with its second half, but it turned out to be the complete opposite. Especially that ending was a complete joke, but the entire month was basically a disaster of plot twists that were just there to get the most dramatic finale possible. Obviously that failed.
#23 (21) – Valkyria Chronicles – (7,5/10) – I’m twelve episodes in right now, and every time I think that this series is going to impress me… it doesn’t. This show really is getting old right now, and I can only hope that the second half is going to become better, and make up for the lackluster first half.
#22 (15) – Hetalia Axis Powers – (7,5/10) – Hetalia, what are you doing? You’re supposed to be a series that pokes fun at different cultures, not an excuse for gay romance. I’m really not sure what’s up with this series. The jokes have been as good as ever, but there are just too many scenes that just… aren’t jokes. Especially when they devote an ENTIRE EPISODE to a disturbing gay semi-reverse double Oedipus romance between a guy and his grandson.. you have to wonder what the creators are smoking. In a bad way.
#21 (new) – Umi Monogatari – (8/10) – I have yet to see Aria, so I’m really not sure what to expect from this series. It definitely had a solid start and premise, though. Let’s see what the rest of the series can offer.
#20 (20) – Sengoku Basara – (7,5/10) – Well, it’s at least good to see that the series is closing off with an exciting finale that was everything that this show made great: lots of manly action. Of course, when that’s all a series has going for it, it’s never going to stand among the greats. Sengoku Basara has been an enjoyable series, but it really should have used its time better.
#19 (13) – 07-Ghost – (8/10) – So yeah, this has turned out to be pretty much a guilty pleasure for me. Strictly speaking I should be hating it, but it just keeps drawing me in with its characters and nice art, despite the cheesiness and repetitiveness of the plot.
#18 (17) – Gintama – (8/10) – The past few episodes have been hit and miss. While the strange reference holiday was pretty dull, the King of Mayonnaise was absolutely hilarious.
#17 (9) – Basquash! – (8/10) – The thing with Basquash! at the moment is that it seems to be in its “mid-season lull”. For the past month, I’ve been missing the chaos and fun that made the beginning of the series so enjoyable. With episode 12 as a nice exception, perhaps.
#16 (19) – Chi’s New Address – (8,25/10) – More of Chi’s antics as usual. There definitely has been a change since the first season: since Chi can move outside freely now, most of the show is spent not inside, but exploring what’s going on outside of the house, and meeting some interesting characters along the way. Especially that elder cat was hilarious.
#15 (22) – Saki – (8,25/10) – To be honest, I thought that this series would end up falling apart completely with the start of the tournament. And yet, this month probably was the best month so far for Saki. The battles still are based too much on luck and weird skills like causing dust to spontaneously appear when you play a mah-jong tile, but the characters are really saving this series. I’m still surprised at how not annoying they’ve become. Apart from the Kugimiya Rie-voiced brat, perhaps.
#14 (16) – Shin Mazinger Shougenki! Z-Hen – (8,5/10) – Baron Ashura is such an awesome villain. This guy/girl is so incredibly fun to watch, and seeing his surprisingly thought-out plans come to fruition. Really, the only thing keeping him from pwning everyone over and over is the fact that Mazinger is simply god-moded. My only gripe with the show is the little brother and detective: they’re too often used for pointless and usually unfunny comic relief, and sap away screen-time from Ashura.
#13 (18) – Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya – (8,25/10) – I like how the past two episodes basically pulled a Seraphim Call Higurashi. It’s a nice idea once you see where it’s trying to go to, and I do have to say that Haruhi too was enjoyable to watch. The past month has been pretty enjoyable slice of life for me.
#12 (5) – Eden of the East – (8,25/10) – You know, everyone keeps saying how this series had some of the best mystery, but I don’t see why. Sure, the mystery rocked for the first three episodes, but after that it dulled in a bit, and I can name tons of series that handled their mystery better than Eden of the East did. But yeah, it’s true that this series has left me somewhat disappointed, but that in no way means that I don’t like it. The animation was as incredibly detailed as ever, and overall the series left with a pretty good cliff-hanger for the upcoming movies.
Award: Best Production Values of the Month
#11 (6) – Natsu no Arashi – (8,5/10) – The ending unfortunately was the worst part of the series. Never mind the lack of conclusion, it felt like it was trying too hard, and kept recycling old jokes. Nevertheless, the rest of the episodes from Natsu no Arashi this month rocked. It again had a very good combination between a deep analysis of its characters, and just plain fun humour. I’m not sure whether I’m going to like the second season as much as this one, but who knows?
#10 (14) – Marie & Gali – (8,5/10)

I just can’t help but love this series. It’s completely nonsensical, it’s downright crazy and very childish, yet I look forward to it every week to see what kind of weirdness they’re pulling next. It’s a hilariously charming series so far, and I’m glad that there are at least going to be 13 more episodes of it. The thing with this series is that it’s so consistently creative in all of the crazy situations it puts the lead characters in.

#9 (12) – Full Metal Alchemist – Brotherhood – (8,5/10)

Okay, and we’re nearly to the part where the story diverges from the original series completely. There have been plenty of other differences so far, though. Especially the atmosphere is completely different from the first series, and it’s much more fast-paced and quirky. The characters have been very enjoyable so far, and I’ve gotten very interested in that different storyline.

#8 (11) – Guin Saga – (8,75/10)

The new arc promises a lot of great things for this series: political intrigue, betrayal and much more, with the visuals still being as pleasing as ever. I’m just very curious about how the creators are planning to handle the rest of the adaptation: are they planning on covering all 200 novels, or are they simply going to stop after 26 episodes?

#7 (8) – Ristorante Paradiso – (8,75/10)

The ending was very solid, and really wrapped up the storyline with a satisfying conclusion. Overall, the final episodes of this series were really well done, and made this a really relaxing and engaging series.
Award: Best Ending of the Month

#6 (3) – Cross Game – (8,75/10)

My only problem with Cross Game is its baseball matches. Sure, I understand that they’re necessary and make sure for a lot of character-development, but they just take too long, and they just aren’t what this series is best at: slice of life. The rest of the episodes this month were again a great watch though, as the relationship between Kou and Aoba continues to develop subtly, and the wit that is used while telling their story is as awesome as ever.
Award: Best Storytelling of the Month

#5 (7) – Hajime no Ippo – (9/10)

Seriously, the only way to properly describe the past arc is by simply yelling FUCKING EPIC over and over. With this, I fully understand why this series has become so popular, and I’m of course going to check out that first season some day. I only hope that once Madhouse is going to come with another great series for the upcoming summer season, otherwise I’ll probably be going into a Madhouse withdrawal… (No, Chi’s New Address isn’t enough).

#4 (1) – Konnichiwa Anne – (9/10)

After the move to Marysville, the series has become much lighter this month, with Anne getting to know her new home place and making new friends, but something tells me that this is just one really big calm before the storm. Anne has really been as awesome as ever, and she definitely is the best character of the entire season.
Award: Best Characters of the Month

#3 (10) – Pandora Hearts – (8,75/10)

Thankfully the cheese is mostly gone now, and it shows. The drama so far is poignant and well written, and the art really rocks. Especially with the arrival of the Cheshire Cat, the story has become much more interesting.
Award: Best Setting of the Month

#2 (2) – Phantom – (9/10)

Phantom still belongs at the top-tier this season. Especially now that Reiji has developed and changed completely, there is SO much potential left in this series. Cal has only been introduced for two episodes, and she already is awesome to watch, and I’m really eager for this show to hit its second half.

#1 (4) – Shangri-La – (9/10)

So yeah, when watching Shangri-La there are plenty of points in which you’re going to have to suspend disbelief for a while, but apart from that I feel that Shangri-La has something that many other series are lacking. Despite how it seems messy from the outside, it’s actually growing out to be a very coherent mystery-story that continuously gets developed along with its characters. There’s always something interesting going on and the cast of characters is incredibly strong, yet all of them are flawed and no perfect humans. The soundtrack is also second to only Phantom in this season and the visuals are a huge improvement over what we’ve seen in the first few episodes, with especially episode 13 being a beautiful example.