December Summary

For December, I decided to write my summary a bit earlier than usual, so that I can gather a bit more time to work on my 2008 Summary, where I list my highlights of the past year. Overall, this has been a very straightforward month without many big surprises: the series that I expected to do well did well, and the ones I expected to disappoint disappointed indeed. Nevertheless, there quite a few series with very strong finishes, despite looking mediocre at first glance.

#24 (24) – Junjo Romantica – (7,5/10) – The story between Misaki and Usagi has been gobbling up way too much airtime, it’s even more extreme than in the first season. While I agree that Usami’s family ties are finally starting to make sense a bit, I still hardly care about these guys, and wish that the creators would have focused more on those other couples.
#23 (20) – ef ~ a tale of melodies – (7,75/10) – It’s a shame that this season turned out to be not as good as its prequel. The conclusion lacked impact, and it didn’t really make an impression on me, although Kuze’s storyline did have a satisfying conclusion.
#22 (23) – Kannagi – (7,75/10) – The climax so far has just been too forced. While I admit that it’s better than your average conclusion of such a series, it just feels out of place in this series.
#21 (10) – Chaos;Head – (8/10) – Well, so the ending sucked. This definitely was the worst month for Chaos Head, and it’s a shame that it didn’t have a strong finish. Still, I enjoyed the rest of the series a lot, so at least it delivered for most of its airtime.
#20 (19) – Telepathy Shoujo Ran – (8/10) – Well, so the final arc wasn’t among the best of the series, and the final episode was way too cheesy for its own good, but nonetheless it’s been a fun series to watch.
#19 (16) – Nodame Cantabile – (8,25/10) – Like the rest of the series, this month for Nodame Cantabile was good, but nowhere near as awesome as the first season. I also heard that the creators rushed some of the chapters of the manga for no reason, so the second season has definitely been a step back for this series.
#18 (14) – Kurozuka – (8,25/10) – The ending wasn’t the highlight of the series, my favourite parts were where Kuro had to go up against the turtle guy. Nevertheless it’s definitely been a fun series with lots of good action and horror.
#17 (8) – Tales of the Abyss – (8,25/10) – Mohs annoys me. He needs some development. Apart from that, this month Tales of the Abyss mostly spent building up for the real meat of the story. So far, so good.
#16 (13) – One Outs – (8,5/10) – What this series needs to pay attention to is that it needs to evolve in its second half. The mind games are fun and all, and I’m still really enjoying them, but can the series really remain fresh in the second half? Well, there’s only one way to find out!
#15 (22) – Gintama – (8,5/10) – Another hilarious month for Gintama this time. My favourite was the episode where the girls suddenly all needed to lose weight. Brilliant!
#14 (17) – Mobile Suit Gundam 00 – (8,5/10) – The good: a thickening plot, lots of development and no important character is forgotten. The bad: Saji and Louise. The ugly: some of the name of these Innovators… -_-
#13 (11) – Clannad – (8,5/10) – Ah, finally! The characters have left school, and finally this show really sets itself apart from all other visual novels for real. I’m getting really curious what this series can offer now that nearly all of the characters have left and/or grown up.
#12 (18) – Ga-Rei Zero – (8,5/10) – I love how everything did come together in the end for this series. I definitely had my doubts at times, but this series managed to deliver a solid climax, worthy of that first episode.
#11 (6) – Skip Beat – (8,5/10) – While the story with the director’s daughter may have been a bit too cheesy, I forgive this series completely because of the downright awesome chicken suit in the episodes that followed. I never knew that poultry could be this much fun.

#10 (21) – Tytania – (8,5/10)

Finally this show is getting good! It took a while, but I’m finally getting warmed up to the series and the show is getting better and better with every episode. This is exactly what I hoped for when I started watching this series, and especially episode 12 went into the right direction.

#9 (9) – Hyakko – (8,5/10)

I’m definitely going to miss this series. The finale actually turned out to be really good, despite being a comedy series. For once, such a finale doesn’t try to be as dramatic as possible, but instead it focuses on perfectly normal problems, and at the same time it also allowed the viewer to get to know the entire cast better. Another excellent series from Nippon Animation!

#8 (12) – Blade of the Immortal – (8,75/10)

Second Season Where?! Seriously, this show is just too good to end at this point. There’s buckets of potential lost if this isn’t somehow continued in some way.

#7 (15) – Jigoku Shoujo – (8,75/10)

Well, this month didn’t manage to convince me otherwise: this show is weird. Nevertheless, this month has shown some of the best episodes of the third season so far, so I don’t mind at all. ^^;

#6 (1) – Casshern Sins – (8,75/10)

Not as impressive as in November, but I’m still really enjoying this series with its very powerful sense of storytelling.

#5 (7) – Shikabane Hime – (8,75/10)

Ooh, that was a very solid ending, which exactly used what the rest of the series had been building up to. The climax of the series is definitely a worthy highlight of the first season, and I’m looking forward to what Kuro can offer.

#4 (2) – Michiko e Hatchin – (9/10)

Very eccentric broadcasting policy aside, this show has been pure gold, and especially the brutal storyline surrounding Michiko has been awesome. Hatchin’s storyline has managed to form a very strange contrast in comparison.

#3 (3) – Bonen no Xamdou – (9/10)

Now it’s finally the time for this series to show off what it’s been building up for, with some amazing results.

#2 (5) – Porfy no Nagai Tabi – (9/10)

It’s a shame that I have to write this before the big moment of this series, but nevertheless the conclusion of Porfy no Nagai Tabi has been excellent so far. Every episode just makes you want to see these people reunite again, and the creators know exactly how to keep the viewer hungry.

#1 (4) – Mouryou no Hako – (9,25/10)

And now it’s finally time for this series to show what all its building up has been good for, and as expected this series has become absolutely amazing. Even though it’s just a series about talking, some of the dialogues make a huge impact. A truimph in subtle storytelling.