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December Summary

by psgels, posted in Monthly Summaries

Merry Christmas everyone! As usual the December Summary is a bit earlier than usual so that I have the time to write my 2012 summary. My impression of the past Autumn Season is that I’m really astounded at how many awesome series it produced. And so many of them are continuing over to next season, that will also have Chihayafuru’s long awaited return. I’m really enjoying this, even though I’ve had some issues trying to schedule everything.

#21 (21) – Sword Art Online – (7.25/10) – Well, thankfully this show didn’t have a bad ending, because finally it actually did something with that villain of its. The whole quasi-incest around it though was just pointless on so many levels, and I can’t believe that Asuna didn’t do a single thing through the entire ALO arc. “Yes, I am your damsel in distress. I will wait for you”
#20 (17) – K – (7.5/10) – K this month went for its action packed climax. And this is where I really realized how bland the characters are.There has hardly been any character development. There has hardly been any depth in the cast. The characters are all pretty much one-sided without much depth, and instead this show kept going on about those seven kings that in the end didn’t really amount to anything other than explaining why a few guys are ridiculously powerful in this world.
#19 (20) – Medaka Box – (7.6/10) – I’m behind. But episode 10 finally was an episode that caught my attention. It’s about bloody time. And I’m getting really tired of Nisioisin because of this: tired of wading through him padding his own stories, just to get to the good stuff. There’s building up, and there is just not being interesting for way too long. If there’s a third season, I’m really not sure whether I want to continue or not (despite my bitching I’ve watched every adaptation of this guy so far…).
#18 (18) – Teekyu – (7.75/10) – Well, nothing much happened here. It’s still completely random, and I’m still watching it. It’s pleasant enough for that and I can still turn my brains off for it. It was short but sweet. It also didn’t help that that tenth episode had such a cheesy resolution…
#17 (19) – Little Busters – (7.75/10) – I’m a bit behind on this series (even for my standards at the moment), but I still want to continue with this series. The girls here are annoying, but still charming when they’re not. The male characters meanwhile are as interesting as they have always been. This still can go all ways.
#16 (14) – Shirokuma Cafe – (8/10) – I’ve said this before, but in a way, Polar Bear Cafe is too long. It’s still funny, but I also find that I need to push myself to keep watching it because it really keeps boiling down to the same over and over at this point. The creators should have boiled this down to just 26 episodes by cutting down the best parts. And again, this month made me laugh again, but I’m not as enthusiastic about this show as I used to be anymore.
#15 (16) – Saint Seiya Omega – (8.1/10) – Strangely enough, this show is still watchable, even though it’s just fighting over and over. It’s what happens during the fighting that makes me still return to this show, alongside the excellent soundtrack. I first thought that the over the top fights would be boring and all, but the creators found a way to make them engaging.
#14 (13) – Btooom! – (8.1/10) – I liked the ending a lot actually. Instead of trying to go too epic the battles were kept interesting, while also closing off with a bang. It’s a shame that the series ended with a sequel hook, but it’s a logical point in the series. The female lead, while contrived, did make for a number of interesting twists here. But still, Taira really convinced me that he’s my favorite character in this series.
#13 (12) – Sukitte Ii na Yo – (8.25/10)

Jealousy… that was done surprisingly well here. It was genuine, yet it didn’t drag itself out like what I’ve seen in so many other romance series. The big difference between this series and Kimi ni Todoke is that the characters actually talk to each other. This feels much more down to earth and enjoyable because the pacing allows it to explore various kinds about the relationship between the two leads, rather than being another “will they won’t they”-show.

#12 (11) – Magi – (8.25/10)

Magi’s story definitely improved and got more solid this week. I always was missing something from this series, but this feeling has gotten much less apparent this month with the impending war coming in, and the focus on Alibaba’s leadership and worries, and how this brushes off to the rest of the cast.

#11 (9) – Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo – (8.25/10)

Sakurasou turned up the drama this month and threw in a lot of focus on working hard for your dreams, with some pretty neat effects. It’s still quite sharp, although not as sharp as it used to be. Still, we’re only halfway there.

#10 (15) – Poyopoyo Kansatsu Nikki – (8.4/10)

To my surprise, the creators did not go with any sort of forced climax at all, and just continued with the slice of life like they always have, just this time with a winter and Christmas theme. That’s what I like much more and the series returned to be as funny as it has ever been, with many adorable and relatable moments.

#9 (10) – Robotics;Notes – (8.4/10)

Robotics;Notes still is in its build-up phase, but things are working out very nicely with slow character development, deconstructions of the super robot genre and the few twists that it brings definitely have impact. Now it’s up to the second half to make use of all of this build-up

#8 (7) – Kamisama Hajimemashita – (8.4/10)

Kamisama’s biggest, and for me only, problem is that it’s too short: the story of the manga goes on even though the anime ends, so the creators are going to have to come up with an alternative ending that unfortunately isn’t looking too good.. Beyond that the chemistry still is fantastic and this show uses its climaxes still wonderfully.

#7 (8) – Jormungand – (8.5/10)

Koko revealing what she has been up to for all this time, that definitely was awesome and unexpected. It’s a shame that the first season was so monotone, because this show has improved in so many ways. I haven’t seen the finale yet, but I definitely am glad that I kept with this series.

#6 (2) – Hunter X Hunter – (8.6/10)

I think my reaction to the end of the Yorkshin Arc has pretty much summed up my feelings of Hunter X Hunter this month: “it’s over already?” I really wish I could say otherwise, but this was one part that Nippon Animation’s version did better. We’re now heading to a part that the current version will most likely do better again, but I’m dropping this for now until the Greed Island arc is over again, because I feel I just won’t have enough to say about it to blog it weekly. And than we finally can get to stuff that we haven’t seen before…

#5 (4) – Psycho Pass – (8.6/10)

Psycho Pass stands out in certain ways, not just one. It’s got a thought-provoking setting and especially the past couple of episodes have shared a lot of psychology that really made an impact. The style of this series also is something to write home about, as it combines the classical with the psychotic. Its themes are slowly getting more and more solid, and I really like how this show has done it so far.

#4 (3) – From the New World – (8.75/10)

From the New World got cruel this month. Sure, it was already really dark and all, but this got taken even further when this month revealed the fate of the main cast. It was all really well done and built up even more for its second half. You can really see that this was based on a novel, rather than a manga.

#3 (6) – Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure – (8.9/10)

Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure is insane. It’s completely out of its mind, especially now that it headed into its second arc. Joseph… this guy could very well be the best shounen lead ever, but even putting him aside there is just so much passion in this show. This is one of the best portrayals of manly action I have seen, it’s unbelievable.

#2 (5) – Zetsuen no Tempest – (8.9/10)

One word: mindfuck. With this month, Zetsuen no Tempest went from a solid series, to something mind-blowing. It took all of its build-up and continues to just turn its tables around, make its logic go out of control, and force its characters to play mind-games with each other. It all comes together wonderfully, backed up by the fantastic soundtrack of this series.

#1 (1) – Uchuu Kyoudai – (9.25/10)

In this month, Uchuu Kyoudai’s pacing was slower than ever, but at the same time it really managed to hit new heights. I’m not going to spoil how in these compilation posts, but the result was incredibly heart-warming, and brought tears to my eyes one moment, and laugh out loud the other.

Sword Art Online Review – 72,5/100

by psgels, posted in Anime Reviews, Sword Art Online



Um yeah. Sword Art Online. While it doesn’t beat Guilty Crown as “trainwreck of the year” for me, it still is a show I had very mixed feelings about. In order to explain why, I’m going to have to diverge a bit from my normal spoiler policy, though. I won’t outright spoil things, but I do have to say things about the plot progression here and what happens at certain stages. Because Sword Art Online has for me been the prime example of jumping the shark for the past half year.

Like Guilty Crown, SAO is what happens if you focus your series way too much around your male lead. Thankfully, Kirito is an actual character. A bland one, but an actual character, rather than a plot device. It’s nearly everything around him that’s a plot device instead though. The first half of the series however thankfully has enough to make up for it.

I mean the setting behind this show is fascinating: you’ve got an MMORPG that traps its own players. Wonderful! The despair of the people who are trapped inside it for an incredibly long time was great. A unique culture evolved that was really interesting to watch. Add that to great fight animation and a great climax, and you’ve got a very solid story. For the first half.

The show’s problems already shine through in the first half, but not bad enough. By far the worst issue I had was the harem element. Picture this: you’re on an mmorpg server. The females are in a big minority. And yet, nearly all of them end up falling for Kirito, the lead. He’s the first who truly cares about them when he meets them, he’s the first who makes them feel comfortable, even though he’s a completely antisocial guy. Yeah, this is wish fulfillment that is pretty thinly veiled. Kirito’s sole salvation here is that he actually ends up in a very good couple, and that the chemistry between him and the female lead actually works. The lead female is strong, and they complement each other quite well. The combination between action and romance works out quite well as the first half goes on and gets to its climax.

So yeah, the second half… it took about two episodes for me to completely give up hope on this series afterwards. That arc is just so inherently wrong on so many levels, it’s hard to know where to really start.

But imagine this: the bland male lead is happy in a couple. Then the female lead gets kidnapped for an entire season, and he starts flirting with his cousin (who he grew up with believing her to be his sister), leading to a completely pointless romantic quasi-incest subplot that doesn’t really go anywhere. Seriously, nearly the entire second half of this series is dedicated to just that, rather than the much more interesting other things aobut this series.

The second half is also littered with plotholes that this show just pulls right out of its ass, just to be more convenient and make the plot go as intended. It’s just too spoilery to go into details, but items appear from out of nowhere, the games in this series are riddled with design decisions that just boggle my mind, characters act irrational for no reason, and half the time this show doesn’t know whether it’s in a virtual world or not, which gets really annoying. Oh and the villain there. He’s one of the most stereotypical evil villains I’ve seen in a long while.

Thankfully this is an A-1 production, so the graphics look good and the fight animation is very creative. Yuki Kajiura behind the soundtrack is also solid, although with this series she really starts to reveal that she has run out of inspiration and that all of her music is just starting to sound the same.

Sword Art Online gets a lot of love. I don’t think that it deserves that. Sword Art Online also gets a lot of hate. And I also don’t think it deserves that either. Sure, its second half is pretty bad and all, but it does have its things to make up for it. Its setting has its traces of brilliance, and the first half was pretty solid there. Nevertheless. There’s better out there. It’s just too flawed to really recommend. The only thing I’m really angry at this series for is how it disrespects its female lead in its second half. That’s the one thing that I really find unforgivable. Apart from that the second half is just bad storytelling. Nothing more, nothing less.

Storytelling: 6.5/10 – Good build-up, but waaaay too many plot devices.
Characters: 6.5/10 – There are some interesting characters here, and the lead couple is quite good in the first half. This show completely disrespects the female lead in its second half by having her kidnapped, making her do nothing and have the male lead head off to a pointless incest subplot.
Production-Values: 8,5/10 – Great animation. It’s overall a very solid looking show at the very least.
Setting: 7.5/10 – The show gets some points for being interesting and having some really nice ideas. It loses points for not making any sense. Especially in its second half.

Suggestions:
– .Hack//Sign
– .Hack//Roots
– Amatsuki

Btooom! Review – 81/100

by psgels, posted in Anime Reviews

So, Btooom. A suspense series that tries to see what you’d get if you turned Bomberman into a real game. With real bombs. Or at least, that was the intention of the original creator.

The show got the suspense part right, but with the action scenes, you do need to turn off your brains, because the bombs in this series seem to favor the lead character: blasts that kill others are ones that only manage to scratch him, he manages to dive away from situations that were seemingly impossible to avoid, and all that is coming from a hikkikomori who never exercises and never leaves his room.

So yeah, the side characters for this series are much more interesting, but here is where this series surprised me, because these guys are actually really good. Like the main character, they too have been thrust into a game in which they’re forced to survive using real bombs, but unlike him they lack the magical main character powers, and really have to fight for their lives there. The way the creators do this is actually quite interesting, and I especially want to tip my hat for Taira, who really stole the show for me as this burdened old guy who you hardly ever see in such an important role as he is here.

They also are something else: varied. There are kids, adults, muscled army officers and weak accountants among them. This has an interesting effect for the action: every battle in this show is different and fought in a different way. It’s not immediately apparent and I only realize this as I’m writing up this review, but they really help to keep this series fresh and new through its 12-episode airtime. The show ends with a lot of things unresolved (hoping for a second season there…), but it does end at a logical point in the story and makes for a short but sweet and intense ride.

Having said that though, the thing remains that some things in this show are very contrived. A lot of them have to do with the lead couple. I won’t reveal the big twist around them, but it’s a really bad one that you could have seen from miles away. The two play of each other nicely, but you do get the feeling that the lead female is just there so that the lead male can have a girlfriend.

There are a few exceptions to that, though. One thing that this show loves to explore is the darker side of human nature, and when it starts playing with that it goes into some pretty interesting directions. All of this isn’t enough to make it stand among the better series of the season, but for what it did it did well.

Storytelling: 8.5/10 – Varied battles using bombs that are all different from each other and make for good suspense.
Characters: 8/10 – Great side-characters, contrived main characters.
Production-Values: 8/10 – Stylish look, solid music, nice animation, though nothing special.
Setting: 8/10 – A potentially very interesting setting, but the show doesn’t really use this much in favor of the characters.

Suggestions:
– Blade
– High School of the Dead
– Shikabane Hime

Teekyu Review – 77.5/100

by psgels, posted in Anime Reviews

Here’s a quick one: Studio Mappa are some of the talented people who branched off from Madhouse in order to start their own studio. I was expecting great things from the people who among others were responsible for Casshern Sins, and they definitely delivered that with their debut work of Sakamichi no Apollon. Naturally I was very eager to see their next work, which turned out to be something completely pointless and silly.

Seriously, this is what Teekyu is: two minute episodes of four high school girls who try to be as random as possible. This show is nothing but 24 minutes of moe and juvenile madness that makes no sense. Nothing more. There is no progression, nothing really happens. Just that randomness. Still, I managed to finish this show and I didn’t really have to force myself to it.

The thing with this show is that even though it’s completely stupid, it’s well made. Most shows with 2-minute episodes are cheaply made, and the concept of inbetween animation is nonexistent for this series, however the animators make sure to make every frame unique and you can really see them play around with their camera angles. There is a lot of creativity in the jokes and the randomness as well, and I admit that there were quite a few times that I laughed out loud. You do need to be able to stomach hyperactive humour if you want to watch this series though. That’s the only prerequisite.

But yeah, this just is a show to just shut your brains off and watch, and for that it does its job of keeping you entertained on a superficial level. The creators here just wanted to goof off a bit inbetween their projects with something completely silly. And yeah, silly it was. Also, I’m not going to break down this show’s ratings in four categories, because that would be entirely pointless. I just see it as a show with a rating of 77,5/100, or a show that even though it doesn’t hit any heights and may have some big flaws, it’s still worth watching.
Suggestions:
– Mr.Stain on Junk Alley
– Gag Manga Biyori
– Eternal Family

2012 Summary Part 1: Top OPs and EDs

by psgels, posted in Yearly Summaries

So, every year I start my summary with a list of my favorite OPs and EDs of the season. This year it’s a bit smaller than last year though, but that is simply because last year was simply amazing in terms of how many awesome OPs and EDs it had. This year instead stands out through its soundtracks, but there were much more generic openings and endings than usual. So therefore, I use this list to honour the ones that did go the extra mile for me and really resonated with me. Enjoy.

And in advanced I apologize for the people who read this half a year from now when half the videos are taken down…
Continue reading “2012 Summary Part 1: Top OPs and EDs” →

A Letter to Momo Review – 86/100

by psgels, posted in Anime Reviews

The target audiences for movies are completely different from those of TV-series. What’s most impressive is that the most overused genre, the family movie, is actually consistently very good and that there are very few people taking advantage of it with cheap and bad story-lines, like what’s currently happening with the fanservice in TV-series. They’re all attempting to be well executed.

Having said that though, there are a lot of movies that just look like each other. I’m of course talking about the My Neighbour Totoro-inspired series: you take a village, you take a kid, and you take some sort of supernatural being, and you try to create a heart-warming story around it. The stories indeed are heart-warming, but they don’t really try to do something new with the genre and tropes. Miyazaki himself did this with Ponyo, a few years ago, but apart from that I can’t really think of many other movies. A Letter to Momo however, gives a really good attempt to stand out, though.

It’s just all so real. These movies stand out with their realism, but this one reallygoes the extra edge: Momo really feels like a typical young girl, and this movie adds so many quirks for her that other movies look over. It’s all in the details, though, but those details are amazing. The animation also really shows this, with a lot of Madhouse’s top people working on it. The faces in this movie are all 2-dimensional, but they have depth. The way they’re animated, the way they move: you feel like they’re more than just a few drawn lines, something quite rare in today’s animation. It only adds even more to the realism and believability.

Where this really sets itself apart though, is in the supernatural creatures that visit Momo. They are nearly always innocent: cute, adorable, mysterious. In this movie, they’re the complete opposites: while they have good intentions, these beings are flawed, annoying, they continuously cause trouble, they keep stealing from everyone, they keep harassing Momo, and they have just generally un-likable personalities. And yet it’s been a while since I laughed as much at a movie as here. They are the kind of characters that were supposed to be annoying, yet only ended up really charming because of it.

The overall plot of this movie is something you should not expect much of: you’ve seen it before in other movies. However, the way in which it does this is remarkable and defnitely deserves a watch as one of the best attempts on how to do it since Totoro. For the Jin Roh fans who were looking forward to this movie though (the director of Jin Ron has also directed this movie, working on it for seven years): expect nothing like it. This movie has no political messages whatsoever, and is the complete opposite of Jin Roh was. It’s a bit of a shame considering how original Jin Roh was and all, but that does not make A Letter to Momo any less impressive.

Storytelling: 8/10 – The plot is nothing special, but how it was told stands out as the best since Totoro of its trope.
Characters: 9/10 – Absolutely lovable, yet different. Excellent acting as well, although the way they developed has been done before.
Production-Values: 9.5/10 – Very realistic. Characters have depth, lots of details and the characters really are brought to life here.
Setting: 8/10 – Realistic portrayal of a random village, nice ideas. Solid

Suggestions:
– My Neighbour Totoro
– Junkers Come Here

November Summary

by psgels, posted in Monthly Summaries

The best thing about this month was potential. Yes, there were so many good series. But the best part is that all of those series were just building up for later. There are so many shows that are already a joy to watch, yet haven’t even started. The promise here is amazing.

#22 (16) – Gintama – (5/10) – What the hell man? I love being trolled by anime, but Gintama. Did you seriously mean that you were just going to air a bunch of new episodes in front of a recap season? I really do not like that in the slightest, as I was finally enjoying this show again. This one got dropped really hard.
#21 (25) – Sword Art Online – (7.25/10) – I have not seen the latest episode yet, but I do have a very clear opinion on what happened during the past month: people freaking out over nothing does not work with this series. And don’t get me wrong, I often really like it when a series focuses on a small conflict or when something small is made really huge instead of just putting the world or country at stake, but when I see everyone making such a big deal over dying in an mmorpg… this show just completely loses me. Perhaps I lack the gamers mentality or something, but any conflict just feels meaningless to me. And it’s not like it’s impossible to do this with me: the way in which .Hack//Sign dealt with player deaths, I found that beautiful. This… is just a bunch of idiots getting worked up over nothing.
#20 (23) – Medaka Box – (7.4/10) – I’m still waiting for this show to get interesting. At this point it’s still too formulaic, and the only way in which this show stands out is how it tells about its different characters, without really showing much. It puts so much effort into explaining why all of these people are abnormal and all, that it forgets to do just about anything else. The action is dull, the comedy is dull the characters are boring. This is really what irks me so much about nishiOisin: he puts so much focus on one thing that he forgets everything else.
#19 (21) – Little Busters – (7.6/10) – It is such a shame that Little Busters was based on a dating sim. Because of that, it is obliged to follow all of the girls, and they are BAD. Badly acted, boring, not very interesting and quite often annoying. The guys in this series are much better. They are interesting to watch, have great personalities and have much more down to earth stories, like always failing, insomnia, etc. Focus on them, for christ’s sake. But no, we need to have sad girls for the moe.
#18 (20) – Teekyu – (7.75/10) – The thing with this show… it’s so accessible. I can just turn off my brains for two minutes and it’s over again. It’s completely non-sensical, but the animation, jokes and energy are actually quite enjoyable.
#17 (18) – K – (7.75/10) – K so far has been the biggest disappointment of the season. It’s not that it’s bad or something. The problem more is that it isn’t really anything at all. The major conflict turned out to be something incredibly simple that just isn’t interesting at all. The setting? Yeah, it’s a city that is well drawn (or photoshopped), that’s all there is to say about it. The characters? They’re fun. Again, that’s it: nobody stands out. Come on guys, be ambitious. Animation isn’t the only thing you can base your series on.
#16 (6) – Saint Seiya Omega – (7.75/10) – Saint Seiya… has gotten too dramatic right now. With the second half the characters are fighting this group of eleven golden saints who are so ridiculously overpowered that the creators are going to have to pull major power-ups out of their asses in order to get the characters to land even a single punch on them. I mean, I know that this is not realistic fighting and all, but the tension rather drops when a character first has all bones in his body broken, only to stand up and walk away like nothing happened. There is a limit to that kind of suspense of disbelief…
#15 (9) – Poyopoyo Kansatsu Nikki – (8/10) – And now, we’ve reached the dreaded part of any comedy: the conclusion! Especially for a long running comedy, you want something that is not incredibly formulaic, and I guess the timetrip back could have been worse… but it still is a big step down compared to what this show was like a month ago.
#14 (13) – Shirokuma Cafe – (8/10) – Shirokuma Cafe continues its trend of corny deadpan humour, and again this wasn’t its best month, but it did make me laugh like usual. There are some skits that just don’t work (the coffee ones, for example), and other running jokes just keep getting better (how the lama is useless for example). I’m not as excited about this show as what I used to be though.
#13 (14) – Btooom! – (8.1/10) – Btooom, let me ask one thing of you: please don’t make the female lead the girl that the male lead met in the past. I know you’re heavily hinting at it, but that would destroy her entire character. Aside from that, I really like the old man for some strange reason, and how helpless he is in most of the series. He’s definitely so far away from your usual sidekick, yet he is not overly exaggerated like the rest of the cast in this series. Btooom is playing out nicely, yet uneventful, but I fear that that climax is not going to be anything worthwhile.
#12 (17) – Sukitte Ii na Yo – (8.25/10)

This really was surprisingly good. At first this show seemed to go in the direction of smut, but that was entirely un-justified. This is just incredibly genuine, about a shy girl trying to find herself in her own romance, and getting the courage to talk about her feelings. This pretty much is what Kimi ni Todoke should have been because stuff actually happens, and the conflicts are meaningful in bringing out emotions, rather than forced.

#11 (15) – Magi – (8.25/10)

The angst feels like it’s missing something, but overall Magi has been incredibly solid as an adventure series: lovable characters with interesting growth, and a very consistent animation budget that really brings out their emotions. Add a solid plot and backdrop, and yeah: I’m enjoying this a lot.

#10 (12) – Robotics;Notes – (8.4/10)

Robotics;Notes slowly builds up its mystery, and what interesting mystery it is! The realism and supernatural combine quite well with each other and the characters living their lives is surprisingly interesting, albeit uneventful so far. The characters are far from as out there and recognizable as what they were in Steins;Gate, and they could definitely use some growth and development, but this month made a good start for that.

#9 (11) – Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo – (8.4/10)

Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo had one bad episode this month. In that it introduced the godawful clingy sister who failed to stand out from her stereotype in any way. That really needs to be fixed as soon as possible. Aside from that however, this series has been delightful: finally a shounen romantic comedy that has some actual good chemistry and interesting characters who really play off each other. The past episodes have been particularly good at combining drama and comedy with each other, and I love how it’s full of those tiny details that bring extra life to the characters. They may seem annoying stereotypes at first, but aside from the horrible, horrible sister, they’re all more and deeper than that, and the tension between them is actually really nice to watch.

#8 (8) – Jormungand – (8.4/10)

I’m still surprised at how much better Jormungand’s second season is. The key? Characterization. The way it explores its characters is much more interesting and varied. Characters are still snarky, but rather than their defining traits, it just becomes a smaller part of them. The additions to the characters make them much more varied than what they were in the first season.

#7 (5) – Kamisama Hajimemashita – (8.4/10)

Kamisama Hajimemashita’s endings are always awesome to watch, no exception. It’s a very solidly executed series with a lot of heart in it. I do get the feeling that it could have been a bit more than what it currently is though, especially since it just has 13 episodes. The strength of this show is how well it combines its comedy, drama, romance and plot together, but at its current pacing it feels like it’s trying to do too much at once, sacrificing that part.

#6 (4) – Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure – (8.4/10)

This month is not particularly better than the first month of Jojo, but nevertheless it’s still really enjoyable to watch how ridiculously over the top, and how it consistently pulls these elaborate powers out of the tiniest things. This story was its time far ahead.

#5 (10) – Zetsuen no Tempest – (8.5/10)

The pacing for this show is definitely interesting: the past month really has been dedicated to a lot of building up, background and character building, and what it’s building up is most definitely interesting. The characters have this unique bond between them that makes the build-up worth watching. Plus, the soundtrack still is fantastic.

#4 (7) – Psycho Pass – (8.6/10)

Psycho Pass is consistently improving. After two months its setting is really starting to come together with its themes. In every arc it takes a certain setting, and explores what would happen if a psychopath were to enter it, and given the tools for murder. Its focus is not so much on mystery, but rather on exploring the mindsets of the people involved with very good use of symbolism and classical references.

#3 (3) – From the New World – (8.75/10)

The animation for this series definitely caused a bit of controversy, but I personally love that this show pretty much said “screw it” to consistent animation, and instead focused on delivering interesting visuals with unconventional camera work. This series really takes nothing for granted, and with the single best story, character development and original setting of the series to debut this Autumn season, and yeah: this is still my favorite series of the bunch.

#2 (1) – Hunter X Hunter – (8.9/10)

December will be AWESOME. This month took care of the build-up, and we’ve finally gotten to my favorite part of Hunter X Hunter. And really: already this show has set itself miles apart from all other shounen shows with so many cunning characters being thrown at the same spot. Kurapika and his mindset in particular were just amazing this month. I don’t even care anymore which version is better, the 1999 version or the 2011: they both rock!

#1 (2) – Uchuu Kyoudai – (9/10)

It’s still amazing how much this series is able to do with its slow pacing. Mutta still is absolutely hilarious with his antics, but above that: this show put in so much detail on what all goes on for a launch to the moon. This month was full with defining moments for a ton of different characters. At this point I think that there is no character in this show that I don’t like: everyone here is just lovable.

Star Crossed 7 Year Anniversary

by psgels, posted in Special Articles

Hell yeah! Seven years already. A lot has changed over the past year, most notably for my personal life being much more active so that I lost a lot of time that I normally had to keep up to date with everything. The past year has definitely been a year of experimentation for me, and I’m definitely not planning to quit anytime soon despite having a few backlog issues. In any case, every year I celebrate this with a few statistics. I’m not doing funny search terms this year unfortunately, simply because of how much time it takes to compile them and make them good (seriously, this involved looking through tens of thousands of different search terms, spotting the odd ones amongst them…!)

In the past seven years, I have written 5361 posts, spread over 268 categories. A total number of 47525 comments have been submitted to this site, and that doesn’t even count the shoutbox. That one has 33355 comments already (in less than a year!!). Here is a list of the top commenters for the shoutbox (yes, I can get to my database with this site, so I can gather more useful statistics):

#20: Sei – 311
#19: Jak – 323
#18: Anonymous – 346
#17: imredjimmy – 381
#16: Raggers – 413
#15: kero – 444
#14: TheUltimateReaper – 502
#13: Ninja – 537
#12: Airies – 705
#11: psgels – 874
#10: dango – 877
#9: Juno – 1112
#8: Kaiserin Emma – 1295
#7: Jalapeno Bagel – 1331
#6: Anca – 1382
#5: Armpit – 1439
#4: wicked – 1895
#3: AidanAK47 – 1906
#2: Bunny – 2949
#1: Kaiser Eoghan – 7580

I’m just amazed at how much Kaiser/in Emma/Eoghan has been able to produce for the past year, especially considering how long his comments usually are. In any case, here is the list of the people who left the most comments on this site. And yes, this goes all the way back to the beginning of this site:

#35: reverse – 167
#34: Perrin4869 – 167
#33: senerikfred – 170
#32: Windspirit – 173
#31: Westlo – 173
#30: WatcherZero – 174
#29: Tan-Tan – 179
#28: chounokoe – 182
#27: PL – 183
#26: Wyrdwad – 186
#25: Joojoobees – 189
#24: DmonHiro – 193
#23: Hogart – 211
#22: AKI – 214
#21: c160 – 225
#20: totoum – 229
#19: Anca – 232
#18: m – 239
#17: Anon – 241
#16: Kero – 248
#15: Frost – 254
#14: chris – 261
#13: Alec – 271
#12: windy – 273
#11: Scruffy – 276
#10: Machi – 291
#9: Denizen – 328
#8: Puran – 329
#7: kim – 338
#6: AidanAK47 – 353
#5: Firechick – 360
#4: wicked – 384
#3: Solaris – 531
#2: MeOW – 647
#1: psgels – 2522

This was also the first time I looked at these numbers, and I must say: thank you all for leaving so many comments. I had no idea how many of you provided so much feedback until I actually saw this. Anyway, as for viewer statistics: in total this site has gotten 17294328 page views (that’s 17 million), and 9723537 unique visits. Yes, we’ve nearly reached the 10 million. I unfortunately cannot do a list with the most accessed posts since google analytics screwed up since changing sites, however here is a list of the most common search terms (aside from variations of ‘psgels’ and ‘star crossed’.

#30: kekkaishi review
#29: black lagoon review
#28: overdrive anime
#27: best anime 2007
#26: ergo proxy
#25: top ten anime
#24: hakuouki
#23: xxxholic rou
#22: shigurui
#21: heroic age review
#20: casshern sins review
#19: clannad after story review
#18: bakumatsu kikansetsu irohanihoheto
#17: baccano review
#16: angel beats review
#15: kaze no stigma (this is one from way back; I once wrote a really bad first impression of it and it somehow landed high on Google; it kept haunting me for the next year afterwards)
#14: mahou shoujotai
#13: seirei no moribito
#12: toward the terra
#11: clannad review
#10: blassreiter review
#9: eden of the east review
#8: dennou coil
#7: school days review
#6: mouryou no hako (I love how people were actually looking for this one; it’s still generating traffic, although not as much as a few years ago)
#5: saiunkoku monogatari
#4: aoi bungaku (I did not expect this one to generate so much traffic as it did)
#3: top 10 anime
#2: that anime blog (I still like how people basically come here looking for the wrong blog)
#1: darker than black review

Eureka Seven Ao Review – 87.5/100

by psgels, posted in Anime Reviews, Eureka Seven Ao



The original Eureka Seven is a classic. If you like teenagers and mecha, then by all means give it a chance: it has a very rocky start, but has so many defining moments. And so, six years after its end, Bones came with a sequel. It’s quite an interesting series: you really need to have seen the first series in order to enjoy it, yet it is nothing like its predecessor.

The series takes some of the core concepts of Eureka Seven, it takes its defintion of Trappar and Corallian, it grabs the son of the two lead characters of Eureka Seven, puts him into a completely different location and even time, and just goes with it, trying to explain what the hell is going on as it goes along. Where Eureka Seven focused on showing children’s naivety, this series instead turns this around by forcing children in the center of conflict, while emphasizing that they do not belong there in the slightest. With these themes, it tells a story that with one crazy amount of plot twists.

After a bit of a warm-up period, this show just delivers plot twist after plot twist after plot twist. It’s a really good mystery series, with a lot of interesting ideas and twists that come from out of nowhere and give completely different turns to what the plot was before. This obviously has its advantages and disadvantages.

I mean, back with Un-Go, that was a series that had perfect control of its fast pacing. Ao does not, and there are quite a few plotholes. On the other hand though, there are plenty of moments that might seem ludicrous, only to make sense when you start thinking about it. A lot of the plot twists aren’t explicitly explained, or require the viewer to constantly pay attention to what’s going on: this is one series that does not plan to hold the hands of its viewers, and you definitely cannot watch it when you’re tired, otherwise you’ll miss stuff.

Anyway, I have seen plenty of people turned off by the plotholes, but I personally loved what this series tried to do. It’s all about the suspense of disbelief for this series, and let me tell you: if this suspense of disbelief holds, then there is a lot to like about this show. Helping are the characters, who may not be as good as the cast of Eureka Seven, but still are very likable, diverse and entertaining, and this show is also full of unexpected character-development.

What I really encountered here that this show does like none other, is how it treats the old characters of the first series. Out of all the sequels I have seen that focus on different characters than the first, this is BY FAR the best use of the old cast. They are used at the exact right moment, and this show pays homage to them, yet also shows their flaws, it shows who they turned into after the end of the series, and it gives them their own storylines that are more than just “let us old guys just watch over you new guys”. It’s fanservice, but I appreciated it so much.

This is a very ambitious series. You can also see this though the production values, which were some of the most consistent of the year for an action series, containing a lot of fluid and fast-paced action scenes and a really good soundtrack. The plot twists and characters on top of that made it a really fun and entertaining series for me, although this ambition does have its prices to pay with the rushed plot that is easy to get bored with.

Storytelling: 9/10 – Love the ambition of this series of delivering as many plot twists as possible that attempt to weave a whole storyline together. Great mystery, though the rushed pacing and plotholes will be a turn-off for some.
Characters: 8.5/10 – Briliant use of the old Eureka Seven cast, Enjoyable and gripping cast of both main and side characters, although the cast is too big for every character to really show his/her best.
Production-Values: 9/10 – Great production values, excellent soundtrack, really fluid animation at times.
Setting: 8.5/10 – Takes the setting of Eureka Seven, expands upon it, turns it into something completely different and completely changes what it stands for. Might be hard to swallow for fans of the first series hoping for the same.

Suggestions:
– Darker than Black – Ryuusei no Gemini
– Un-Go
– Noein

Winter Season Preview

by psgels, posted in Seasonal Previews

I’ll be blunt: the upcoming winter season looks abysmal. I mean, I have seen bad seasons before, but this might go down as the worst season aside from Winter 2010. There are basically two series that I’m really looking forward to. And they are sequels. Beyond that… oh lord… there is a whole lot of mediocrity. It’s been a while since I raged so much at compiling a preview as today.

That alone doesn’t make this season so bad. There is a fair share of series coming out, so there might be surprises. No, what really gets to me is that this season seems specifically designed to piss me off. It may not have incest or Romance of the Three Kingdoms, but it does have just about everything else that gets on my nerves. I think that seven or eight of people from my top 10 of staff members that get on my nerves the most is doing something this season, it’s unbelievable.

Seriously, it’s a good thing that the current season is so awesome, because this is just… ugh…

As always, I cannot comment much on the original source material because I’m not familiar to it.

Puchimas

Summary: Based on the Idolm@ster Franchise. “The anime depicts the overly hyper daily life of the 765Pro idols of The Idolmaster and mysterious creatures named Puchidoll who somewhat resemble the idols.” – (Taken from AniDB)
Produced by: Gathering
Director: Mankyuu
Series Composition: Sao Tamado

The Positives: The most interesting part of this production seems to be that nearly every voice actress in this production will voice two or three characters. It might be fun to see them switch between their different ranges in one series.
The Negatives: Yes people. There you have it. More Idolm@ster, from the creators of 30-Sai no Hoken Taiku, otherwise known as that one show about the 30-year old virgin. The animation will be really bare-bones, and seeing as I have never even laughed at one single joke these creators made, this one seems destined for my drop-list.

First-Glance Potential: 0%

D.C.III ~Da Capo III~

Summary: Based on a visual novel
Director: Kenichi Ishikura
Series Composition: Kenichi Ishikura
Original creator: Circus
Music: Ryousuke Nakanishi
Character Designer: Kouhaku Nishio

The Positives: I have nothing.
The Negatives: Good lord, even more Da Capo? There have been four TV-shows already, totaling 78 episodes already, and now they want to make more of this dating sim? Really? What’s so good about this one to warrant it so many adaptations? The creators also seem like nothing special: the writer seems decent, but nothing really special. Same for the director: they have nice experience, but nothing outstanding whatsoever.

First-Glance Potential: 0%

Senran Kagura

Summary: “” – (Taken from )
Produced by:
Director: Takashi Watanabe
Series Composition: Takao Yoshioka
Original creator: Yukinori Kitajima
Character Designer: Takashi Torii

The Positives: Takashi Watanabe. What happened that caused you to make Starship Operators and Boogiepop Phantom? They were so good, and so completely different from all other series you usually do…
The Negatives: Oh for Christ’s sake.

First-Glance Potential: 0%

Maoyuu Maou Yuusha

Summary: “The story centers on the characters Maou (Demon Queen) and Yūsha (Hero) who live in a world where humans and demons are at war. Yuusha confronts Maou about the destructive war that the demons have imposed on humans. However, Maou tells him that the war has created a reason for humans to work together and improved human society overall. She convinces him that humans would fall into a bloody civil war without their battles against the demons. To prevent such a conflict, Yūsha decides to join forces with Maou.” – (Taken from )
Produced by: ARMS
Director: Takeo Takahashi
Series Composition: Naruhisa Arakawa
Music: Takeshi Hama
Character Designer/Animation Direction: Hiroaki Karasu

The Positives: The soundtrack from the same guy who did Kobato? Fair enough, sounds promising.
The Negatives: Oh lord. Here is one match-up that I really fear: the creators of Dakara Boku wa H ga Dekinai, Aki Sora, Yosuga no Sora, Love Love? and other really bad fanservice shows (and Spice and Wolf; I still have no idea how that happened), together with Arms, the single worst animation company out there. Who the hell found that a good idea?

First-Glance Potential: 10%

Ganbare! Lulu Lolo

Summary: “The anime centers around the daily life of two twin bear sisters: the orange-colored Lulu and the yellow-colored Lolo. The two take on new jobs and despite the occasional failure and tears, give their best efforts.” – (Taken from ANN)

The Positives: This is another one of the kiddie shows, apparently based on a best-selling children’s novel. Nothing is really known about who is going to make or produce it, but this seems nice enough for the smallest children.
The Negatives: It’s for really small kids, and there are no signs that it’ll be for anyone other than that.

First-Glance Potential: 20%

Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai NEXT

Summary: ” Hasegawa Kodaka is a recent transfer student to St. Chronica’s Academy, a Catholic high school. As with every other school he has ever attended, he finds it difficult to make friends there because of his naturally-blond hair and fierce-looking eyes, which make him look like a dangerous “yankee” to his prejudiced schoolmates. One day, Kodaka accidentally comes across the equally solitary and very abrasive Yozora Mikazuki while she converses with her imaginary friend Tomo. Realizing that neither of them have any social lives, they decide that the best way to improve their situation is to form a club: the Neighbor’s Club precisely intended to make friends and learn social skills.” – (Taken from ANN)
Produced by: AIC Build
Director: Toru Kitahata
Series Composition: Tatsuhiko Urahata, Yomi Hirasaka
Original creator: Yomi Hirasaka
Music: Tom-H@ck
Character Designer/Animation Director: Yoshihiro Watanabe

The Positives: The staff has changed. The writer of the original novels this is based on will join the anime staff, so this will be a pretty faithful production.
The Negatives: The director has also changed: the assistant director of the first season will take over, but unfortunately this was the director of Koi to Senkyo to Chocolate, which was incredibly boring for the few episodes that I watched it. Added to that, that the first season also just could not catch my attention: none of the characters were interesting and I just did not get the chemistry between them at all. Not going to follow this one.

First-Glance Potential: 20%

Youkai Watch

Summary: “The story begins one hot summer days when a boy named Keita discovers an old capsule toy vending machine in the forest. Keita receives a mysterious watch and meets a ghost butler named Whisper. Whisper tells Keita that the watch allows him to see supernatural creatures — both good and evil — that he could not see before in everyday life.” – (Taken from ANN)
Original creator: Level 5

The Positives: It will be better than your average kiddie show.
The Negatives: I’m really getting pissed off by Level 5 right now. Setting their games aside, all of their anime basically all just look the same if you remove the topic that they’re about (football, mecha, youkai).

First-Glance Potential: 20%

Vividred Operations

Summary: “” – (Taken from )
Produced by: A-1 Pictures
Director: Kazuhiro Takamura
Series Composition: Hiroyuki Yoshino, Kazuhiro Takamura
Character Designer: Kazuhiro Takamura
Other Notable Staff: Tensai Okamura (Script)

The Positives: Tensai Okamura… is this really where you want to be after Wolf’s Rain and Darker than Black?
The Negatives: Oh lord, this sounds bad. Really bad. Vividred seems to be an anime original series… from the director of Strike Witches. And yes, the girls are running around in underwear again. That alone already was pretty bad, but in combination with Hiroyuki Yoshino this is going to turn into a trainwreck of enormous proportions. In terms of adaptations this guy is fine, currently doing a very good job on Magi. But his original scripts, oh god, these have issues. Seikon no Qwaser, Mai Otome, Guilty Crown and Code Geass’s storylines all come from this guy. Granted, he also wrote Sora no Oto which seems to be much more in the direction of what Vividred will be, but even that show had some major pacing issues.

First-Glance Potential: 25%

Love Live! School Idol Project

Summary: “The school idol project is set at a school between Tokyo’s Akihabara, Kanda, and Jinbouchou neighborhoods. The school faces the danger of being streamlined out of existence, so nine of its female students decide to become idols to protect their school and boost attendance.” – (Taken from AniDB)
Produced by: Sunrise

The Positives: Err… there have been plenty of good idol shows. Seriously, nothing is known about this yet so I can’t say much about the staff yet.
The Negatives: But for god’s sake people, haven’t you learned anything from AKB0048? You can have idol shows that are awesome, just put some imagination in your premises. Not have the umpth school show with idols in id. Agh!

First-Glance Potential: 30%

Mondai-Ji-tachi ga Isekai Kara Kuru Sou Desu yo?

Summary: “The story follows Izayoi Sakamaki, a boy bored with the entire world. One day, an envelope arrives for him. The moment Izayoi opens the envelope, he is transported to an alternate world. There, he discovers that two other “problem children” were transported by envelopes as well — a taciturn girl named You Kasukabe with a cat, and a beautiful yet haughty girl named Asuka Kudou. A girl named Kuro Usagi (Black Rabbit) summoned the three to the community “No Name” to overthrow the devil.” – (Taken from ANN)
Produced by: Diomedea
Chief Director: Keizou Kusakawa
Director: Yasutaka Yamamoto
Series Composition: Noboru Kimura
Original creator: Tarou Tatsunoko
Character Designer: Naomi Ide

The Positives: Uh, one of the directors has experience directing with Valkyria Chronicles, and Keizou Kusakawa directed a few good series (Nanoha A’s)… at least it’s something.
The Negatives: This again looks pretty bad. Most of the shows these guys worked on were downright mediocre, and on top of that they’ve got yet another badly sounding light novel with an impossibly long and quirky sounding title that was inspired by all those incest shows.

First-Glance Potential: 30%

GJ-bu

Summary: “Each of GJ-bu’s nine volumes contains 36 four-page short stories about the lives of high school students.” – (Taken from ANN)
Produced by: Dogakobo
Director: Yoshiyuki Fujiwara
Series Composition: Hideaki Koyasu
Original creator: Shin Araki

The Positives: New blood: this will be the debut for the director on a full series. I wish him best of luck. A show about four high school girls is all about its chemistry, which you need to portray well otherwise my interest just gets lost completely.
The Negatives: So, chemistry. This is more than just adapting, it’s writing the characters in such a manner that they’re appealing and interesting to watch. So what kind of experience does Hideaki Koyasu have in this area? Akikan, Limeiro Senkitan, the Kurenai OVA, Yuruyuri… yeah. Don’t get me wrong: this guy is great when he has a crazy script to work with, but with four random high school girls this just doesn’t seem to be the case.

First-Glance Potential: 40%

Mangirl!

Summary: “The story follows the daily life of naive Editor-in-Chief Hana and Japan’s cutest manga editors as they attempt to realize their dream of launching the #1 manga magazine — even though they have zero experience in actually editing manga.” – (Taken from AniDB)
Produced by: Dogakobo
Original creator: Kagari Tamaoka

The Positives: Aaaaaand the winner of the worst pun of the year is….. *drumroll*
The Negatives: The staff behind this series has not yet been announced yet beyond Dogakobo (who after Natsuyuki Rendezvous unfortunately seem quite content to go back to bad moe shows), but what can they ever hope to do with a premise as stupid as this? The only salvation I see for this show is if they take it over 9000, but can Dogakobo really do that?

First-Glance Potential: 40%

Hakkenden: Touhou Hakken Ibun

Summary: “Miyuki Abe’s manga inspiration for the anime reimagines the setting from the classic Hakkenden samurai novel as a female-oriented manga with supernatural elements.” – (Taken from ANN)
Produced by: Studio Deen
Chief Director: Osamu Yamasaki
Director: Mitsue Yamazaki
Series Composition: Osamu Yamasaki, Mitsue Yamazaki
Original creator: Miyuki Abe
Character Designer: Hiromi Kato

The Positives: I still have no idea what made Toward the Terra so good, but I keep hoping. Osamu Yamasaki! Return to that brilliance! Mitsue Yamasaki is also quite good for the episode he’s worked on, and this will be his first work as an actual director for a whole series.
The Negatives: Agh, Studio Deen with its bishies again. No, not again! Miyuki Abe’s other works all seem to be generic yaoi and shounen ai. Try to do something different for a change!

First-Glance Potential: 50%

Amnesia

Summary: “The game begins on the morning of August 1, when the protagonist wakes up and discovers she has absolutely no memories of the past. A boy appears before her, and he introduces himself as a “spirit” named Orion. The protagonist struggles to regain her memories under the guidance of Orion. She then gets a phone call, but she does not recognize the name on her mobile phone screen. She meets her apparent “boyfriend,” despite not knowing his face.” – (Taken from ANN)
Produced by: Brains Base
Director: Yoshimitsu Ohashi
Series Composition: Touko Machida
Music: Yoshiaki Dewa
Character Designer: Maho Yoshikawa

The Positives: If this show has anything, it’s experience: Touko Machida has written a lot. Some of those things were actually good (GA, Muteki Kanbanmusume), and Yoshimitsu Ohashi has also directed a lot, some of which was very good (Bakumatsu Kikansetsu Irohanihoheto, Witchblade, episodes of Michiko e Hatchin, Witch Hunter Robin).
The Negatives: They were behind a lot of bad stuff, though. However, this remains a otome game adaptation. I have never seen one that actually worked. Still, could this be the first to actually do something right? I sure hope so.

First-Glance Potential: 50%

Ai Mai Mi

Summary: ” The manga follows girls in a manga club — Ai, Mai, Mī, and Ponoka-sempai — who might be fighting evil invaders threatening Earth, facing off against rivals in tournaments, and dealing with other absurd situations when they are not drawing manga.” – (Taken from ANN)
Original creator: Choboraunyopomi (Just why!?)

The Positives: Nothing is really known about this show aside from the premise and the incredibly quirky name of the original mangaka for this one. Ah well, if they make it quirky enough this might be worth watching.
The Negatives: I do however wonder where the mind of this series lies. Base on the promo art showing a girl holding a bag of tentacles, I suspect the gutter.

First-Glance Potential: 60%

Ore no Kanojo to Osananajimi ga Shuraba Sugiru

Summary: “A young boy called Eita enters high school aiming for the National University School of Medicine. Because of his parents’ divorce and his goal, he shuns anything to do with romance or love. One day Masuzu, the school beauty with the silver hair, who’s just returned to the country, enters his life in a most unexpected way. Chiwa, his childhood friend since elementary school, will not let this go without a fight.” – (Taken from ANN)
Produced by: A-1 Pictures
Director: Kanta Kamei
Series Composition: Tatsuhiko Urahata
Original creator: Yuuji Yuuji
Music: Masatomo Ota
Character Designer: Mai Otsuka

The Positives: A-1: Solid. Tatsuhiko Urahata: solid (we’re talking about a guy who adapted a ton of stuff already, including Hajime no Ippo, Gunslinger Girl, Master Keaton, Monster). Kanta Kamei, hell yeah solid (the director of Usagi Drop).
The Negatives: Which brings me to the actual premise: just simple romance with a childhood friend and a really long and quirky title. You really couldn’t try harder? The staff here isn’t so good that they can make boring premises like this worth watching, they’re more the types of creators who can really bring out the best of any source material.

First-Glance Potential: 60%

Kotoura-San

Summary: ” The school fantasy story follows Haruka Kotoura, a girl who recently transfered to a new school. Kotoura happens to be able to read people’s minds, and she joins the school’s ESP club.” – (Taken from ANN)
Produced by: AIC Classic
Director: Masahiko Outa
Series Composition: Takashi Aoshima
Original creator: Enokids
Character Designer: Takaharu Okuma

The Positives: A supernatural 4-koma adaptation from the director and series composition guy of Minami-Ke and the first season of Minami-Ke and Yuruyuri. It depends on the source material of course, but they can make this work.
The Negatives: Of course, I also thought this about Yuruyuri, which turned out to be a string of bad lesbian jokes, so I’m still withholding my enthusiasm until I see what kind of material they have to work with. There is very little to be found about the author of this thing, so anything can happen here. Although it also doesn’t help that this is AIC again. I don’t have the most confidence in these guys and that’s an understatement.

First-Glance Potential: 60%

Minami-Ke Tadaima

Summary: “There are three of the Minami sisters: Haruka, Kana and Chiaki, who have an average life. The girls only have each other to depend on and help each other get through everything from love confessions to cooking.” – (Taken from ANN)
Produced by: Feel
Director: Keiichiro Kawaguchi
Series Composition: Takamitsu Kouno
Original creator: Cohaku Sakubara
Character Designer: Gou Suzuki

The Positives: More Minami-ke, slice of life about nothing that is actually quite enjoyable, albeit nothing special.
The Negatives: To be honest, this seems to be the weakest line-up so far to continue with this series. Feel is not the most solid studio out there, Keiichiro Kawaguchi can be solid when he wants to, but also has a habit of being really boring, and most of Takamitsu Kouno’s scripts and adaptations also aren’t much to write home about. I like how the producers continue to change creators to keep things fresh, but this might not have been the best choice.

First-Glance Potential: 60%

Sasami-san@Ganbaranai

Summary: “The story follows a hikikomori (shut-in) named Sasami who is unmotivated about even changing clothes or eating. Her brother Kamiomi takes care of her, even though she despises his slave-like nature. Sasami spends her days viewing the outside world via a “Brother Surveillance Tool” on her computer. In the outside world, the three beautiful Yagami sisters and Sasami’s brother are in the middle of relationships worthy of a romantic comedy.” – (Taken from ANN)
Produced by: Shaft
Director: Akiyuki Shinbo
Series Composition: Katsuhiko Takayama
Original creator: Akira
Character Designer: Hiroki Harada

The Positives: Shinbo: when he’s good he’s really good. Katsuhiko Takayama: when he’s good he’s really good.
The Negatives: This… will get annoying. This premise sounds a bit like Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo, and with the right people working on it it can really become great. I just really fear Shaft’s long drawn-out discussions about nothing and fanservice here. Please: just do something about that horrible pacing of yours! I really want to like Shaft and all, but they annoy me way too much for that.

First-Glance Potential: 65%

Cuticle Detective Inaba

Summary: ” The series tells the story of Hiroshi Inaba, a part-man, part-wolf, former “secret doberman” who begins his own detective agency.” – (Taken from ANN)
Produced by: Zexcs
Director: Susumu Mitsunaka
Series Composition: Makoto Nakamura
Original creator: Mochi
Character Designer / Chief Animation Director: Satoshi Koike

The Positives: An exciting time for Susumu Mitsunaka: this will be his first full series to direct, so anything can happen. It’s a bit of a pity that he has such a silly premise to work with, but ah well. Makoto Nakamura is solid enough to back him up with the series composition. At least this doesn’t piss me off in any way, that’s also good in this season.
The Negatives: The thing with this show is that it has a really silly premise, yet it tries to look serious. Good perhaps for some deadpan humour or something, but will it actually work?

First-Glance Potential: 70%

Senyuu

Summary: ” In the story, a gigantic hole suddenly opened up in the world one day, and demons appeared. The king thinks that this portends the return of the demon king Rukimedesu, who was sealed away by the hero Kureashion a millenium ago. The king decreed that the descendants of the hero must take on the threat, and 75 people showed up. Hero No. 45 (Aruba) and a sadistic palace warrior (Rosu) team up, and their adventure begins.” – (Taken from ANN)
Produced by: Ordet
Director: Yutaka Yamamoto
Series Composition: Michiko Yokote
Original creator: Robinson Haruhara
Music: Daisuke Sakabe
Character Designer/Chief Animation Director: Ushio Tazawa
Other Notable Staff: Daisuke Okumura (Director of Photography), Takanori Tanaka

The Positives: Very solid staff members here: Daisuke Okumura has done the photography of many interesting-looking anime (Shikabane Hime, Gurren Lagann, Mine Fujiko to Iu Onna’s OP, Penguin Drum), Takanori Tanaka did some beatiful backgrounds (Dennou Coil, Ghost Hound, Seirei no Moribito), and Michiko Yokote has written and adapted many, many awesome series (Princess Tutu, Kobato, Strange Dawn, Bake Neko). The mangaka is a typical shounen mangaka, but he does seem to have his own unique style which actually seems retained in the promo art. I’d look forward to this, if it wasn’t for one thing…
The Negatives: Oh god, Yutaka Yamamoto. Not him. The problem with him is that he really wants to be there with the big guys, and he is ambitious, but he still needs to learn so much, and doesn’t seem to realize this. This lead to the disaster that was Fractale. And really: technically his series always look great and stuff, but they’re a mess when he starts to meddle with the story. This is an adaptation, but that still doesn’t convince me, considering how disappointingly out Kannagi (one of his other series) ended.

First-Glance Potential: 70%

Yama no Susume

Summary: “Aoi and Hinata promised that they would again see the sunrise they had seen at the apex of a mountain as young children. As time passes by, somehow without any apparent reasons, Aoi becomes acrophobic, Will they ever see the sunrise together again. A piece that became popular in a fanzine is now out on manga.” – (Taken from ANN)
Produced by: 8-Bit
Director: Yuusuke Yamamoto
Original creator: Shiro
Character Designer: Yuusuke Matsuou

The Positives: The character designer of Black Rock Shooter? Could have been far worse. Also, the director of NHK ni Youkoso, Aquarion Evol (under Shoji Kawamori) and B Gata H Kei seems very promising here. Finally! Something new that is actually looking promising!
The Negatives: I have become very cynical while writing this season preview. It sounds promising, however the overabundance of moe on the promo art still has me worried. Have some variety dangit!

First-Glance Potential: 75%

Bakumatsu Gijinden Roman

Summary: ” The story of the game this is based on follows Roman, a phantom thief who operates at night in the Genroku era (1688-1704). The anime Bakumatsu Gijinden Roman will shift the timeframe to Bakumatsu, the era that spelled the end of the shoguns’ rule over Japan.” – (Taken from ANN)
Produced by: TMS Entertainment
Director: Hirofumi Ogura
Series Composition: Tatsuto Higuchi
Original creator: Monkey Punch
Music: Hiroshi Takaki
Character Designer: Satoshi Hirayama

The Positives: I must say, I have no idea what happened to TMS Entertainment, but suddenly they have become much, much more ambitious and experimental than what they were before. Here they adapt another one of Monkey Punch’s works after Lupin, and again they plan to give it a different spin by adding a few centuries to the setting. That’s what I like: an adaptation that takes both the original source, and a bit of its own style and flavour. The director is quite versed with this, having previously done this with Kuroshitsuji’s second season, even though his work on the Knight in the Area was a bit mediocre. The soundtrack will also be awesome, if going by Hiroshi Takaki’s previous work on AKB0048 and Kyosogiga.
The Negatives: I am not confident whether Tatsuto Higuchi can write a good script for this. He’s not bad or anything, but he definitely lacks experience in this genre (he did storyboard a bunch of manga, which were about cute girls fighting in fanservice outfits…). I am confident that he’s able to write a fun script based on his experience, but I’m most worried about the overarching story. Yes, that’s very important for an episodic series.

First-Glance Potential: 75%

AKB0048 Next Stage

Summary: “In the beginning of the 21st century, a world war broke out amongst mankind. In the aftermath of the war started by humanity itself, the earth’s ecosystem was irrecoverably affected, and it had no choice but to escape the now devastated earth to live in space. A new era began with the Star Calendar 0000. Shortly afterwards entertainment was prohibited by law and the sacred place for otaku, Akihabara, became the public entertainment’s absolute area of defense and the only place to perform such activities. In Star Calendar 0048 once more a group was formed in the hope to resume the legacy of the legendary idol act AKB48, which continued to shine even during the earth’s downfall. With the law in place they were deemed as an illegal act and unable to hold official live events. This is when the group’s concept changed. Instead of the idols you can meet they became the idols who come to meet you. Branded as terrorists by authorities they didn’t give up and decided to take up arms to protect the stage they stand on, the fans who cheer for them and the citizens who are deprived of entertainment.” – (Taken from AniDB)
Produced by: Satelight
Original creator:

The Positives: The official staff list has not been announced yet, but I think that we can be pretty sure that the main staff will be the same as for the first season. This means Hell yeah! Mari Okada and Shoji Kawamori once more together on one project. I remember how pleasantly surprised I was with the first season: it won me over, even though I hate the idol business, and it was exactly because of how it tried to bite the hand that fed it that made up for so much.This really was one series that needed a second season, and I’m really glad that it got one.
The Negatives: I really hope that this team will again get the freedom that they got in the first season. Considering the collective ego of both Mari Okada and Shoji Kawamori, this should probably be fine, but the chance still remains for this to turn into a sell-out.

First-Glance Potential: 85%

Chihayafuru 2

Summary: “Chihaya Ayase is a frank and ebullient girl who becomes fascinated by the obscure world of competitive karuta, a card game based on Japanese poetry. Introduced to the aggressive style of the game by a quiet and thoughtful elementary school classmate named Arata Wataya, the two quickly become close friends. They start playing as a group with Taichi Mashima, Chihaya’s smart and athletic childhood friend, until they have to part ways during their middle school years due to several circumstances. As their high school life begins, they meet once again.” – (Taken from ANN)
Produced by: Madhouse
Original creator: Yui Suetsugu
Other Staff: Has not been announced yet, but will probably be the same as the first season.

The Positives: Squeeeeee! By far the biggest flaw of Chihayafuru’s first season was that it was too short: the ending was inconclusive. I sure as hell did not expect a continuation, due to the bad sales, but I am SO glad that it got one. The first season was just so beautifully made, and the chemistry between the characters was fantastic. It left on such a huge cliff-hanger that it will be instantly awesome again.
The Negatives: You need to have seen the first season in order to really enjoy this.

First-Glance Potential: 100%