Okay, so this season is crap. I’d like to go into a bit more detail than that though, because there are a few things going on here. First of all, it is true that this season is in between two really good seasons. Producers are burnt out so that means less variety. Dear god, less variety. Everything just looks like each other, and the only really innovative series that isn’t a sequel got bogged down by bad characters and boobs.
However, when I compiled this entry, I did notice something… the last time I wrote a summary in a Summer or Winter season that had as many entries as this one was back in the summer of 2007, which was like the best season… ever. Seriously, 42 shows is normal for Spring or Autumn, but the small seasons usually only have around 30 entries, no more. If there is anything, this season has a huge quantity of series. This is both due to the stupid 3-minute series, and a lot of series that continued over from previous seasons.
But that makes even more bizarre to see just how much crap managed to accumulate in just one season. I mean, the below list is huge, yet I’m only going to continue with about 18 of them. That means that for 24 of them, I just did not find them worth my time. The thing with this season is that there just are really few non-sequels that I find interesting enough to continue. Because of that, I’m going to label this season at this point as the second-worst I have ever blogged, after Winter 2010.
The positive about this season? The amount of series that continue from the previous seasons is staggering, and there are so many of them that deliver and managed to evolve into interesting ways. Seriously, we’re bound to get a huge load of awesome climaxes in the next two months.
#42 (new) – Puchimas! Petit Idolmaster – (3/10) – Idolmaster… I didn’t like it, but I didn’t find it to be the worst series. This however, is just poorly produced crap meant to just get some dollars off the idolmaster name.
#41 (new) – Mangirl – (3.25/10) – Worst title ever. Dropped.
#40 (new) – Boku no Imouto wa Osaka Okan – (3.5/10) – Screw incest! Dropped.
#39 (new) – Da Capo III – (4/10) – Generic harem with stupid and uninteresting characters. Dropped.
#38 (new) – Love Live! – (4.25/10) – Stupid premise with cliched characters. I saw nothing interesting in this one, talk about the difference with AKB…. Dropped.
#37 (new) – Ai Mai Mi – (4.5/10) – Really bad jokes that try way too hard to be edgy. Dropped.
#36 (new) – Line Offline Salaryman – (4.5/10) – Bad office jokes. Dropped.
#35 (new) – Ore no Kanojo to Osananajimi ga Shuraba Sugiru – (5/10) – Ohoho, this series thinks that it’s got a fresh new take on a tired formula… while in fact it’s completely cliched anyway. Poor characters, stupid premise, nothing that stands out. Dropped.
#34 (new) – Senyuu – (5.1/10) – Bad RPG jokes. As a parody, it just isn’t funny enough. Dropped.
#33 (new) – Cuticle Detective Inaba – (5.25/10) – The problem with this series is that it’s incredibly silly, while it thinks it’s funny. It isn’t! It’s trying way too hard! Dropped.
#32 (new) – Ishida to Asakura – (5.5/10) – What the hell was that?! Incredibly corny and silly, yet dropped.
#31 (new) – Vividred Operation – (6/10) – Vividred is way too calculated. It does things because it thinks that they are popular, and rips off specific scenes for this. Seems to be working, but for me: dropped.
#30 (new) – Mondaijitachi ga Isekai Kara Kuru Sou Desu yo – (6/10) – Feels like Dog Days, in which the characters somehow end up playing light-hearted games, which reduce all of the tension from the show for the sake of having fun. It if was fun it would be excused, but I found the first episode to be really trite and boring.
#29 (new) – Senran Kagura – (6/10) – Boobs. Dropped.
#28 (new) – GJ Bu – (6.1/10) – The standard format of a club with a guy and a bunch of girls doing a bunch of random stuff. Not funny nor interesting, stereotypical characters. Dropped.
#27 (new) – gdgd Fairies 2 – (7/10) – Had some good jokes about going against your expectations, but not good enough. Dropped.
#26 (new) – Bakumatsu Gijiden Roman – (7.25/10) – Too childish. The problem is that it thinks it’s edgy, while it’s incredibly cheesy. I see no potential. Dropped.
#25 (new) – Haitai Nanafa – (7.4/10) – Quite the gorgeous series, actually. Didn’t continue with it due to lack of time though. Dropped.
#24 (new) – Sasami@Ganbaranai – (7.5/10) – This feels like just another Shaft series. The thing is, that it could end up with a good climax again, but I don’t want to sit through hours of random crap to find out. I lasted two episodes here, and the series just wasted too much time on bad jokes and characters trying way too hard to show off their stereotypes. Dropped.
#23 (new) – Yama no Susume – (7.6/10) – Mountain climbing. Sounds fun, but ultimately three minutes plus rather boring characters weren’t enough to make me keep watching Dropped.
#22 (new) – Nekomonogatari (Black) – (7.6/10) – Do I want to watch more of the monogatari series? Do I want more of the style of this series and the really good animation? Do I want to see more of these incredibly annoying characters? Dropped? Not sure, actually…
#21 (new) – Minami-Ke Tadaima – (7.6/10) – Unfortunately, Minami-Ke just isn’t my series. I do not like shows in which there is no progression whatsoever. There needs to be some kind of red thread, instead of just watching random sketches. For that, it just wasn’t funny enough. Dropped.
#20 (new) – Maoyuu Maou Yuusha – (7.75/10) – The problem with this series is that even though the politics are interesting, it’s got some terrible characters and awkwardly forced romance. It may have potential, but I don’t trust the creators here. Ultimately, I’m dropping this one.
#19 (new) – Zettai Karen Children The Unlimited – (7.75/10) – Ultimately I dropped this one. Lack of time is the biggest reason, plus I feel like I’d be too left behind on the background for this show.
#18 (new) – Hakkenden Touhou Hakken Ibun – (7.9/10) – Surprisingly good, I’m keeping up with this one. There are times when the animation can’t fully keep up with the storytelling, making things look silly, but it’s got a good array of different characters that play off each other well enough.
#17 (6) – Hunter X Hunter – (8/10) – This feels like an entire recap of the Nippon Animation OVA of it. I have this with this arc much more than with the other arcs so far. And with that, there is very little I can say about it. It’s lots of build-up and training arcs. They were interesting when I watched them first, but the thing with watching exposition you’ve already watched before is that it gets more easily boring than the other parts…
#16 (16) – Shirokuma Cafe – (8/10) – This series still is an enjoyable comedy. Nothing new to say really: I don’t really laugh out loud anymore, but this show does get the occasional chuckle out of me still. I especially like the small moments, like when two characters end up talking about an undiscovered past they shared together.
#15 (17) – Little Busters – (8/10) – I still want to follow this one, although I’m only at episode 15 so far. The thing is that it did get quite charming.
#14 (new) – Kotoura-San – (8/10) – This was actually quite cute. The big problem with the series is the male lead, but Kotoura has enough depth to make up for it with her feelings. The side characters also work really surprisingly well with each other.
#13 (new) – Tamako Market – (8.1/10) – The problem with Tamako Market is the bird: hilarious in the first episode, but he got old really fast afterwards. Thankfully there is enough in this series to make up for it, but it’s not as fresh as I originally hoped at this point.
#12 (12) – Magi – (8.1/10) – The reason why there hasn’t been an entry on this one is a lack of time. I’m going to try and combine multiple episodes for one post for this one, because I’d like to prioritize the other series I’m blogging over this one. It’s not like this one’s bad, but rather that the other ones are better. Where every other series is moving into new directions, this one’s direction with democracies felt the least interesting.
#11 (new) – Amnesia – (8.25/10)
Good! The whole paranoia about not knowing what is real and what is happening actually works quite well here. It’s like, a reverse harem with a lot of mystery elements, and I can keep watching that.
#10 (new) – AKB0048 – (8.4/10)
AKB0048 has continued to do what it does really well, but this time we already know the characters. In fact, the added attention to the characters so far have really worked and I did not see a few of the twists coming here. This show has ambitions for its second season.
#9 (11) – Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo – (8.4/10)
Sakurasou got more dramatic this month. And you know what? It worked really well. There was great character-development and the added romance made the characters even better, for all of the main characters. Even the sister, while still terrible, got better. The thing with this series is that it has a lot of small details put into all of its scenes that make it so much more worthwhile than a regular romance show.
#8 (15) – Saint Seiya Omega – (8.5/10)
Why do you make me teary-eyed like that!? What the hell is going on with just a simple fighting series?!
#7 (9) – Robotics;Notes – (8.5/10)
Robotics;Notes got a lot more serious this month, but it worked. A lot of build-up was used well, and I really like how it combined all of its loose threads together, bit by bit. Now keep this up.
#6 (new) – Chihayafuru – (8.5/10)
I’m behind! I know! I apologize! Nevertheless, Chihayafuru rocks and the second season continues with a bunch of strong new characters that can really add a lot of interesting stuff to the characters. I do have to note though, that the show looks less clean now. Where every shot was crisp in the first, there was a lot of awkward animation here. Possibilities are a smaller budget, or more outsourcing?
#5 (5) – Psycho Pass – (8.6/10)
Psycho Pass has headed into its second half, and with that it has gotten more in-depth with its setting and characters, and it did pay off. The developments were really interesting to watch.
#4 (4) – From the New World – (8.75/10)
We’ve just reached the third time-skip, and suddenly we’re dealing with fully grown adults. The most interesting part is the setting though. It just continues to evolve and it becomes more and more clear how screwed the characters are as the show goes on. I really like some of the cunning characters in this series.
#3 (3) – Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure – (8.75/10)
Holy crap, the over the top fights in this series really were creative, and incredibly intense. This series really knows its action yet again, and it just keeps pushing itself forward. Just a shame that the training arc broke up the momentum a bit.
#2 (2) – Zetsuen no Tempest – (8.75/10)
Something interesting went on for this month. The series changed a lot. It got more light-hearted, there were a lot of jokes as the show fleshed out its characters, and I love how it subtly makes its plot more and more complicated. It’s building up to a new mind-screw!
#1 (1) – Uchuu Kyoudai – (8.75/10)
This month was different for Uchuu Kyoudai. The comedy got removed, the pacing slowed down even more and things suddenly became nerve-wrecking. The most annoying are the cliff-hangers. I do have to say though… with a continuation announced, it’s going to get really boring to see Uchuu Kyoudai dominate this ranking month after month. Can we get a series that’s even better to even things out perhaps?
I think the male lead in Kotoura-san is a really nice guy who’s fun to watch. D= He’s not useless at all, actually does things and voices things that I’ve thought the whole time along too. mhn … I don’t think that his occasional pervert fantasies are annoying enough to make him a bad character really ..
Agreed. He is not a bad character at all.
I agree with everything in your top 20! but I woud put Kotoura-san in the top ten. And yeah, its a good that you dropped Sasami-san, Sasami herself is likeable but the rest of the cast is terrible.
If you did the 3 episode test you would of seen the cast really open up and develop.
My biggest problem is the sisters I hate them
if you watch episode 3 the sister redeem themselves. if that still dont convince you then I think you should move on.
+1 for Sasami ep3. Along with LOTS of explanation about what’s going on in the story and with each character.
Amnesia is absolutely awful. The storytelling and dialogue seem like a complete copy+paste from a visual novel. And a crappy one at that. it doesn’t belong anywhere near the top 12 of the season unless you are a twelve year old girl.
I agree with this, I was actually offended to see it higher than tamako market and even puchimas! I’m sorry but your opinion on amnesia is an awful one.
So just becuae your opinion differs, it automatically makes someone else’s opinion awful. That’s just doesn’t make sense to me.
at least I didn’t say it was wrong ;D
@Spike:Guess that makes me a twelve year old girl lol Though to be fair I do agree that the dialogue is very condescending and the exposition poor delivered with a poor animation budget. However that being said I’m like Alec (see below) I’m invested in the atmosphere and plot itself despite the presentation.
Did I miss the part where visual novels are inherently poor storytellers? All the ones I’ve experienced (and admittedly there are only a few) have had great storytelling.
Brains Base made a really bad move on this one. Luckily it will redeem itself with My Youth RomCom Wrong that will be out next season.
Its definitely one of their weaker shows but I think I’ll have to add ixion in too its gone a bit naff really in its second half.
omg is ixion Brains Base!? oh no! BB come on this isnt you! atleast the you I loved! 🙁
Not saying VNs have bad storytelling at all, there are tons of anime based on VN that are done VERY well. What you don’t want to do is import that VN into anime in a 1:1 copy. It doesn’t work well in the anime medium. It’s like trying to 1:1 copy a book into a movie.
What Amnesia’s problem is – is that every episode is like ‘cardboard cutout bishie #1 route’ and then uses the main chars amnesia to backtrack and take the next ‘route’. it just comes off as sloppy – add in tons of exposition without lips flaps half the time and you get a D+/C- show tops.
@Spike:I would also consider the rest format a bit jarring/alienating at first.
I’m not too fond of visual novel adaptations in general or associate franchises.
The three key series, robotics notes are exceptions for me.
I feel the transition to anime format is far too clunky and most of the time listless.
This extends to reverse harem adaptations too, I’ve read a few reverse harem manga and enjoyed them greatly but I’m not to keen on VN adaptations of reverse harems, they have glimmers here and there but often run into bad pacing.
Maoyuu Maou Yuusha. Once again Psgels studio bias completely disregards the existence of original authors.
This is an anime site mate.
He is judging the future development of the anime based on the studio, mate.
Yes, why wouldnt he, he only writes about anime in the first place. He has said nothing what so ever of any of the other mediums its spread across because he doesn’t talk about all the other mediums. Sorry mate
If the original story is written by a different person then I don’t see how he can see the future of this series. Nobody is talking about other mediums, are you able to understand this?
It’s indeed all speculation at this point yeah. This list isn’t meant to be a full fledged list of review, but just impressions that I got from the series.
With Maoyuu, I just found it completely boring in the character department, and even though it could become amazing later on, I see too much potential for this to not happen, and I simply don’t want to waste my time on that.
OMG!!! okay psgels doesnt care about whether its written by a different person or not, he reviewing the anime with out having any background on its original sources. how can you not understand this? hes just speculating whats going to happen next like any normal person would. he’s only talking about the anime, so why are you talking about the original written version? He’s obviously going to have know idea about what it’s about.
He IS caring about the background of the ANIME. But what he cares about is a bias against the ANIME staff ruining the story, this makes no sense because the ANIME staff didn’t make the ANIME original story. I don’t think I can put it any easier for you (If by the 4th time you don’t get it then all hope is lost).
HE DOESNT EVEN KNOW WHAT THE STORY IS!! how could he possibly care about it when hes only seen 4 episodes of the anime!! and you dont make sense! “He IS caring about the background of the ANIME. But what he cares about is a bias against the ANIME staff ruining the story, this makes no sense because the ANIME staff didn’t make the ANIME original story” WHAT! you are saying he cares about both so I dont see the problem anymore, he is meant to base his opinion on the studio and staff, He is watching the A-NI-ME! not reading the original work.
I also think it’s a bias against the studio specifically. I think it’s pretty clear that the staff can be more influential than the actual studio (since the studios themselves are mainly responsible for putting together a production in many cases), especially if the staff members are well-known. Considering psgels supposedly knows zilch about the original writer and relatively enjoyed the staff members’ execution on spice and wolf, I can only assume he means ARMS when he talks about not trusting the creators.
No Airies, you are wrong.
How am I wrong?
Y’know despite my intolerance of Mao yuu for its fanservice/characters, its the political/economics element I dislike above it because the theme is a banal one to me.
my opinion on maoyuu is simple: boring and not for me.
@Pp1T: Though it doesn’t always happen sometimes anime staff might go a different route from the source, so theres always a possibility of the anime deviating or going a different route.
I’m actually really annoyed to see love live the 4th last listed. everything about AKB and LL is completely different except for the fact that their both idol shows. Love live isnt trying to be a space action musical, its meant to be a really nice animated coming of idol story that just makes you feel happy. BOTH THESE SHOWS ARE DOING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT THINGS!
I’m actually quite surprised that chihayafuru wasn’t ranked higher than sixth I probably would have put it third or second. Most likely my top 10 would have been : 1. Robotics notes, 2. Chihayafuru 3. Space brothers 4. Sakurasou, 5.Hakkenden 6. Tamako 7. Akb 8. Zetsuen 9. New world and actually probably either love live or amnesia or jojo or shirokuma as a tenth.
hmm interesting list, last time I checked you werent watching space brothers but I guess you must of recently watched it. I dont think sakurasou is better than akb, new world or tamako market though. but thats just me. Glad to see your getting the most out of robotics;notes too because a lot of people have left it by now. I’m still quite enjoying it
I’d say I need just a bit more time to warm up to Tamako more. I originally put space brothers on hold actually because I was watching too much back when it finished its first cour or so. That and I felt I’d end up just reading the manga instead cause at the time I was convinced space bros was only going to get 24 eps.
Truth be told I’d considered not picking it back up at first cause it had gotten long but the movie for it and psgels recent entries and a quick flick through some later manga chapters refuelled my interest.
With new world, I tend more towards preferring wordy or darker stuff when I read it rather than watch it, it clicks a lot better usually.
Honestly my mainstay for amnesia is that I seem to always need a shoujo series for a fix.
Given how much you mention love live I’m seriously considering it someday.
wait so your not watch love live? also if I could make your decision I would drop fucking amnesia shit and watch LL.
The fact that you find the characters in -monogatari annoying almost makes me never want to read your work ever again psgels. Fortunately you’ve led me to enough good stuff that I can let that blight, massive and hideous as it is, slide. 😉
I know right its been like 3 seasons now, you’d think to drop it or atleast like ‘A’ character. I dont see how any of them are unlikeable in the first place.
Especially with psgels’ emphasis on dialogue and multi-faceted characters. I really have a hard time naming a single series with characters as deep as monogatari’s. Yeah, sure, they’ll spend five minutes talking about something sexual but it’s so blatantly over the top that I don’t see why you’d let it bother you to the point of hatred.
Although Monogataris fanservice can get to me, theres more depth than the average harem I’m sold on the characters.
Kaiserin that is exactly right. they are the run of the mill stereo typed moe girls each having a centimeter more length in boobs to each other and their own colour to keep everything coded. They are actual characters who have depth and personality. So I dont see the problem……
Some of its pretty creative to, I mean remember that mad tooth brush siscon scene? That was off the wall, but in a good way.
that scene won an oscar for sure
That’s indeed the big problem I have with this series: it’s got depth when it wants to. It looks great when it wants to. It just gets on my nerves so much that I can’t enjoy it.
To be honest, even though the -monogatari series is one of my favorites, I’d rather him just drop it. I already get the point that he really hates it and it feels like he’s just repeating himself now.
I agree, there are so many other reviews that are better reads out there that enjoy the show and can explain why.
if possible, could you tell me how you find the monogatari series deep? seriously, rolling on the floor seriously makes my back hurt
@Someloser:Never said it was deep in the way you might be implying I said it, just that the characterization in it has more depth than the usual harem.
well i was referring to not intheface, but still generic harem characters weren’t really deep to begin with.
Depends on what you mean by “deep.” That’s pretty much just a throwaway word now as is “generic harem.”
Probably a better word he could’ve used is “complex,” as in, nisioisin doesn’t mind throwing random shit at his characters until it somehow starts to stick and make sense (which I think is the cool part).
Expected Amnesia to become a typical reverse-harem anime later on. But no, it’s actually getting interesting. I love the atmosphere
I dont sense any real atmosphere, even if there was one it’d fairly weak.
I’m still a bit annoyed by the fact that psgels considers “I don’t find it funny” equal to “It’s not funny”; there’s no way the reader can know if the show is worth watching like this, unless he is completely certain that psgels is the master of the universe and knows what’s best for him without having to explain. But then again, these are quick comments, so it’s partially forgiven.
Anyway, from this season I’m expecting a lot from The Unlimited and Amnesia. Kotoura-san and Maoyuu Maou Yuusha are also good, but not very ambitious so far (of course, they manage to have a charm of their own).
I agree with you on your first paragraph. I feel that these types of remarks usually mean nothing to the reader because unless they try it for themselves they are just going to agree even though the comedy used could be their favourite and not someone elses. that why whenever a season starts I pretty much disagree with all the potentials given to the titles psgels watches.
Boku no Imouto wa Osaka Okan, incest!? If you were looking for an excuse to drop this series, incest isn’t a valid one. You could have said something like it is a cheap flash anime, but this series isn’t about some kind of romance between brother and sister. Actually they act like pretty normal siblings.
Saint Seiya Omega 8!? I know you haven’t watched the original series, but Omega is an insult to the classic series. I don’t know what is the “thing” that makes you watch it.
And you are super biased with Love Live! While it isn’t something great, you shouldn’t really compared it with AKB like they were the same.
It is like saying Inazuma Eleven is better than Captain Tsubasa because they fight evil organizations.
OMG, I’m so with you on everything you said! like with saint seiya omega, wow a tear from the eye placed it at 8th WTH!! Like I get moved by certain scenes in anime all the time but I never go wow that one scene made up for 37 episodes *sob*, but thats just me lol. Also I actually think its quite offensive to say “screw incest” because incest is a very real thing and can upset people when talk about it as wrong. AKB and LL shouldnt be compared at all, thats what pisses me off the most because it instantly was grouped with another show when they’re both soooooooo different.
You should watch the original Saint seiya anime after Omega if you love tears jerking moments. the original anime have something like 30 moment like the episode 40(especially during the Asgard arc).
Even if I love Omega, the sanctuary arc of Omega is really inferior to the one from the original series, same thing for the soundtrack (even if the soundtrack of omega is very good, the one of the original anime was divine)
And as Shigeyasu Yamauchi was heavily involved on the original anime so some episodes were marvelous (especially with Shingo araki and Michi himeno to the chara design, Araki was one of the model for umakoshi)
stop nonsenses gdgd. I am a big fan of saint seiya since I was kid (I am 30), and no, Omega is not an insult to the original series, it’s inferior to the original because some element(ninja, some rushed fight, less good music, less blood and intense fight) but the series is still a very good sequel with good art direction and some very good character (Alia, Sonia, Eden, Soma, Mykene, Medea)
I havent watch any of the original saint seiyas but I adore the artstyle of them 😀
Amnesia: The eyes. I feel like they just invented a new animation technique.
Also, anyone who thinks that guys falling in love with an otome game lead is unrealistic, here’s food for thought: otome game leads are actually moeblobs! Just think about it. The main character both looks and acts kawaii, though in a very non-hyper way. Plus she has severe ADD, which scores her even more moe points.
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Tamako Market: this is better than K-On, because the characters are a lot more varied. I don’t know why it’s getting so little love compared to K-On. Possibly because the girls get less screen time? I guess there’s not a huge audience for moe shows that don’t go all-out moe 24/7 like Lucky Star, K-On, and Ikamusume (oh, are those considered the big 3 of moe like Naruto, One Piece, and Bleach are the big 3 of shonen?).
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Maoyuu: so far, a worse adaptation than even SAO. SAO was haphazardly done, while Maoyuu is just boring. I had a ton of fun reading the manga adaptation, yet the anime adaptation bored me to tears. The difference is to a degree that I have never experienced before.
As a matter of fact, I don’t even know why I prefer K-On over Tamako Market, which I’ve recently dropped due to finding it boring. Compared to K-On, Tamako Market doesn’t rely only on the cuteness of girls, has a diversified cast, a richer setting and actually tries to do humor… But I can’t feel connected to any of it.
Honestly I would have put little busters, psycho pass and maoyusha round the bottom of the list.
yeah definitly.
Maoyuu only has cheap romance at the begining after that its like any other. In terms of adaptation, I don’t know because Ive never read the source. In terms of narrative, sorry man, Maoyuu is way way better than SAO abomination.
Maoyuu: I’m only talking about what’s currently out. It’s highly possible that future episodes will be more adaptation-friendly and redeem the show.
And I’d love to just read the source material, but I couldn’t find it translated anywhere, and I don’t know enough kanji to start reading anything without furigana yet. I could read shonen manga untranslated if I really wanted to, but light novels are a little bit out of reach.
@Silly there’s a couple of chapters translated on Baka-Tsuki. The format might not be what you’re expecting though, but apparently that’s how it is.
Anime adaptation seems to be fairly faithful. The format of manga usually feels more fast-paced as you can read at your own speed and there’s a lot of implicit information being processed between panels.
I agree, maoyuu is better than SAO, but they’re both pretty bad.
it may be bad, but its also one of best anime this season can offer.
Silty that was an exceptionally good point about amnesia lol.
Chihayafuru and Hunter X Hunter is given too low of a rating, Tamako Market and Amnesia too high.
Psgels hates training arcs/episodes.
That doesn’t change anything. I watched the Greed Island OVA twice before, and I’m still enjoying the 2011 version of the arc.
He has seen the hunter x hunter stuff before so he’s bored and he doesnt like the new characters in chihaya
same to jojo right?
tamako should be higher, amnesia should be MUCH lower, chihaya and hunter x hunter should definitly be moved up but not too much.
I’m raising my eyebrow at the ‘dropped?’ for Nekomonogatari(Black). I don’t think it’s as long as you think it is…
In fact, I’d say you might as well finish this particular arc it since you’re practically at the climax and fall.
The other -monogatari seasons be damned, Neko(Black) was shown in one sitting separate from everything else and I think it’s best to watch it in one sitting as well. But you seemed to have walked out of the theatre not because you thought Nekomonogatari was bad, but because you realized that there were other movies and tv show sequels that are coming out in the future. I don’t particular think this is fair.
That is to say… even if you know that Harry Potter is going to be split up into eight movies, you should try not to get bogged down on the amount of content and just judge each part by its own merits.
Well, that’s what I think anyway.
Agreed. I was really confused about that as well. Even though I found this particular monogatari to be the one least worth watching, i don’t know why you wouldn’t just finish it since it’s essentially just a movie. Makes me think that psgels just read it off a list somewhere and wrote it off.
It really is short in comparison to other stuff he’s watching…so I’m going to assume psgels will eventually get back to it, being the tsundere he is :p. I agree with rubix, if you’ve come this far, might as well sit it out.
The series I’ve been surprised about this season, not saying is my favorite, is Mondaiji-tachi (and I wasn’t even planning to watch it), I was worried by how perfect the main character is but so far he has intentionally kept himself away from the action which makes him feel like a really powerful side-character, something I like. Things can still go either way and many things could be better but so far I’m kinda enjoying it.
On the other hand I’ve been a little disappointed by Sasami-san a series that at some points I’ve even defend, specially in the story-telling. Maoyuu Maou Yuusha has been pretty much what I expected and Tamako Market has been lovely so far, I specially liked the last episode and how it subtly showed how Anko’s been forced to grow up (with both the pros and cons about it).
Mondaji also gave me a surprise. I think psgels hit it on the nail when he said it’s like Dog Days. Enough interaction to satisfy and some well-executed (not groundbreaking for sure, for those who zero in on that) tropes.
Mondaiji-tachi…
I like it too. It has been my surprise pick for the season. I found it interesting and I like having a kick ass main character. Makes for a nice change from waiting 18 episodes to become good at a fight.
“Mondaijitachi ga Isekai Kara…” is not that bad. At least, it has rather realistic and interesting characters without all these “tsundere”/”yandere” cliches. And games are not so light-hearted as they seem in first ep.
did you even watch okaka okan? There is no hint of incest……..
Sorry Osaka
oh man, mistake dropping Sasami at the 2nd episode, like quitting 6th sense before knowing Bruce Willis was dead
basically missed all the plot
yep exactly!
No, I never finished that movie! (Just kidding). Lots of things get explained in 3, but the overall atmosphere hadn’t really changed. If the plot was psgels’ issue, probably understandable to continue, but seems like sasami’s the kind that’s just out of kink with his preferences.
It’s something he’ll miss out on, because the script is continually flipped, and it would always start off as something random and stupid premise but will flip the premise completely to a serious plot point
If you guys are going to bother criticizing Psgels, you shouldn’t do so on the basis that his opinion is different than yours. Like many of you, I think Amnesia is pretty awful (both as a VN AND as an anime adaptation): it fails to do anything remotely interesting as a narrative. Secondly, I would probably have Mondaijitachi ga Isekai Kara… higher up, seeing that its fairly fun despite the ridiculous premise.
That being said, Psgels simply looks for different attributes in his entertainment than, for example, me. I’m all about premise, narrative and execution: Psgels is more about atmosphere and immediacy of entertainment within his favorite genre-set. But then again, I’m not the one running an anime blog, so I’m not in any position to criticize what he chooses to spend his time reviewing…and neither are any of you.
I don’t think that’s the right way to think about opinions. Commenters have a right to express themselves just as much as bloggers have a right to post their stuff. Different opinions have a place in opening other point of views there’s nothing inherently wrong about that.
What really matters is respect. And it’s a two way street. Being open to accept that there are others that think differently while keeping your own thoughts and adjusting there on.
I also agree with rubix. Being a blogger means almost exactly the opposite imo, Houlgrave. If he wasn’t open to criticism in the first place, there’d be no point in running the blog online. if it was just something to write his thoughts down in, a diary is more fitting. publishing online is indicative of being open to comments and discussion.
You guys seem to have missed my main point: I never said that people weren’t allowed to be critical here, but not on on the basis that his opinion is different than yours is. You can be critical the reasoning behind his choices and educate him if you know he’s wrong in his evaluation of a particular anime’s worth, but a lot of people here are literally in hate mode simply because he isn’t choosing to blog or cover specific anime that they would have covered in his stead….and I think that’s kinda silly.
@Houlgrave well, when a lot of his reasoning gets reduced down to something like “bad jokes,” “boobs,” “just something about it,” I think some of the criticism is valid. I know it’s probably just because he’s had to justify these statements many times before, but for people that don’t know that, it does seem like psgels just hating on a series/genre/etc.
you’re not wrong in everything you said, but if you dropped a series that is 2 minute long, and takes like 15 minutes to get
to day with it (i think you watched what, 30 seconds? since i can’t find an answer as of why you’d think it’s an incest) that aside, your “reviews” are nothing but a bunch of opinions, instead of an actual description of the series.
you destroy series for basically nothing but for example “defies the laws of physics” when you can clearly see that following something logic isn’t the point of that anime in particular( for example your review on Mondaiji *yeah, because people controlloing other’s mind a la C. geass is so logical*)
I can’t say i disagree with every “review” you make; but if you’re really going to praise a series for nothing but the studio that animated it, or just because it is something of the genre you like, i can’t take your opinion seriously.
instead of giving an actual review and saying both pro’s and cons of a series, you either decide not to talk at about the cons of a series you like, or the pros on a series you hate.
Thanks for reading.
this is really true psgels. You dont give shows a proper go, yes you watch them but you pretty much walk in hating it without if even knowing how it plays out. You are too set with staff, studio and crappy blurb that means nothing than actually trying the show out with no expectations.
Eh I mostly agree. This is not a good season. But then again, any season where the continuations are phenomenal can really patch over terrible new shows. The fact is in Space Brothers, From the New World, and Chihayafuru, we are watching three amazing shows, and three of which may even become anime classics!
Aww I rather enjoyed Maoyuu, but that’s just me. Probably my favourite show right now aside from JoJo
ah yes and airies, would you mind explaining to me why sasami is worth watching, considering you’re the main defender here? truthfully i feel psgels is justified with this dropping. show isn’t exactly amazing, and it feels like something you would just have fun and herp around with rather than something thats trying to be well written, insightful, or groundbreaking. in short i cant feel any potential from this, even with 3 episodes in. I remember watching kazoku nikki long time ago, and it feels like it’s happening all over again
Agreed. And I know this might come as a shock to Shaft fans, but there are a great many people who find Shaft horrible and Akiyuki Shinbo pretentious and a guy who thinks he is clever, when more often than not (With exceptions to Pani Dash, Madoka and Soredemo) he is just plain annoying.
Studio and director bias has always been kind of trademark of psgels especially his love-hate relationship with Shaft and Shinbo. I won’t criticize nor lambast psgels just because his opinion is different from mine.
I adored the majority of Shaft’s and Shinbo’s works though. Whereas psgels just dismissed most of them. I mean, for me, Arakawa Under the Bridge is the best comedy I ever saw (watched it probably three times now, or more). I also liked SoreMachi, MariaHolic, Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei (although the sequels were a trainwreck) but hated the -gatari series (I just cannot warm up to the characters).
So don’t go bananas just psgels won’t paint rainbows and butterflies over your pick of the season. It’s ok to criticize but just don’t go over the top. This is still his blog – and we’re just the viewers/readers.
Here’s some popcorn.
^which I don’t really understand. why’s a guy who has fun with adaptations and brings modern design into animation considered clever or pretentious? I fully agree that the show is just having fun and herp around. where did the idea come from that it was trying to be groundbreaking at all?
the point was supposed to be that it isn’t trying to be groundbreaking, which is the reason that psgels is dropping it. if a show is just trying to herp around and have fun, that’s not much of a reason for him to continue watching, which justifies his decision
@someloser I think that’s a misleading statement. I don’t think it’s so much that the show has to be groundbreaking for psgels to watch it, it’s just the kind of fun sasami has isn’t to his tastes. now if you meant it’s a reason not to blog about it, it’d make sense, but I doubt everything psgels watches is groundbreaking.
yeah i might have worded it a bit wrong and should have said “it’s just fun” rather than “not groundbreaking”
WHAT!? I have never heard psgel say ever that he only watches shows that are groundbreaking. Where did this come from!? Why is he watching Magi or sakurasou then? ALso I agree with Juno, why cant shinbo just love his job and fuck around with things he likes? Did he ever even say he was clevver? I’m a shaft fan and im not shocked that people hate them. LOL im really confused now with your arguement. This was directed at both SOMELOSER and MCAL
i never said he watches only groundbreaking work either, so stop twisting around words.
jesus, i think you guys are seriously misunderstanding something here. The show sasami is fun, but that’s it. It doesn’t seem to offer anything much other than that. When i placed up my original statement, I said that it doesnt seem to be groundbreaking, insightful nor well written, rather all it does is herp around and have fun, which really isn’t much of a reason to keep watching the show. Psgels said sakkurasou was full of energy and went in a different direction, while magi was a unique portrayal of arabic folklore.
Puh-leassse we both know that both those things arent true. Magi is just another generic shounen anime that really brings nothing to the table except boring political shit and sakurasou is another generic shounen romance that fails to standout amongst its many friends that have all done the same shit its doing. We arent twisting your words around, you wrote them that way.
No, those were the reasons why psgels decided to continue watching them. he thought it would be an interesting take on Arabic folklore and he believed that sakurasou would be a new direction. whether or not they ended up being a bland shonen, or a generic harem, they showed potential at first, which is why he decided not to drop them.
@someloser and I think you’re misunderstanding the fact that there’s a difference between “seeing potential in a series” and just not being interested in what it has to offer.
then if possible, tell me what sasami has to offer then.
after thinking about it for a while, i think you’re correct that the phrase “what is has to offer” would be better, but i still dont see much that it has to offer other than herp and derp fun.
Now for my actual opinion on several shows. I find the conventionality in Maoyuu helps in making all the exposition less boring, which it tends to be. Although I also find that Mao is unrealistically persuasive sometimes. She gets Hero and Merchant to go along with her way too easily.
I don’t see the male lead as bad at all in Kotoura-san. He’s likable and nice in a way that isn’t like every generic male lead in anime. He isn’t afraid to speak his mind and be open about all his ecchi thoughts which for Kotoura is welcome. He isn’t an idiot, unlike Kotoura sometimes (Although I atribute that to her upbringing, so I don’t mean that as a negative) Also I find the fanservice in this show fresh (As in it is based on thoughts that many males sometimes can have) and pretty funny (That wolf and sheep fantasy moment had me in histerics). It’s the side characters I have problems with (Especially Moritani, that bitch) and to be honest the pacing is going faster than a race car on crack.
As for Little Busters, I agree that the series has charm. In fact, it is filled to the brim with charm and the Mio route was very good. But really all of that wouldn’t matter to me if it weren’t for one character, Kurugaya. Honestly, every scene with her is made of pure win and since it seems her arc is near the end, I’d watch the series even if it was horrible. It also helps that she and Riki have nice chemistry. Also, they are similar in where they are comfortable hanging out with all of the guys or all of the girls. Which gets me to the next point, Riki. He is so unlike any harem lead in which he doesn’t stammer like an idiot around a bunch of cute, moe girls. Take episode 15 for example where the girls kidnap (For lack of a better word and the most predictable thing he does is blush when he mistakenly has ecchi thoughts, but it wasn’t even that bad and that’s it. I mean can any of you think of another male harem lead like that. It also helps that episode 15 was hilarious. So far I rank it a 7.67 out of ten. I also think J C Staff has made the anime better with their direction. It definitely has been less melodramtic whch is always a good thing (Especiaaly that bench scene which people are over reacting to how bad it was compared to the VN. It’s just a bench people.
Also whoever said Psycho Pass should be on the bottom of the list must think Ikki Tousen is the best anime ever.
@MCAL: I’ve been very vocal about Gen Urobochi over on the shoutbox many many times. And I was disgusted by Ikkitousen (and stuff like qwaser, queens blade, dakara H). I also never meant it should be at the bottom, only that I would personally rank it lower.
My thing is slice of life/drama and comedies/gothic horror fantasy/romance/dramas/slice of of life in the shoujo/josei demographic and LGBT related manga.
Not really into sci-fi or psychological stuff that much unless its in the drama or slice of life genre.
Short version most dark seinen stuff isn’t my thing.
That said I think you’ve got a good point about little busters, however the weak voice acting has had me place that on hold.
Sorry about that. I was just really curious why you thought Psycho Pass should be at the bottom, but if you just meant it should be a little bit lower than that makes sense. Agree with you opinion on voice actors (I like Riki, Kyousuke, Kurugaya (Although maybe my bias is acting up), and I like Haruka and Futaki’s VA (Not for the way they sound, but for how the seiyuu can make both their voices so different). So that’s like five out of 14.
Of course, I am still watching it though.
With regards to Sakurasou and Magi, I would consider Sakurasou the better of the two as its one of those rare case where the comedy and drama don’t keep tripping over each other. Magi just doesn’t get the balance right from what I saw of it, its another case of trying to be clever but it really isn’t in my opinion.
I agree, but I hate them equally
psgels, I am sad that you dropped Yuusha, then again I have yet to watch EP 3. Honestly psgels, as much as you can disappoint or aggravate me sometimes, I have to commend you for actually checking out all of those series. If I read the premise and it sounds stupid it’s an automatic drop. Almost missed a couple of series that way, and thats where people like you come in, so thanks mate.
I’m fairly guilty though, like psgels with regards to ARMs myself though , I did actually take no more than a quick glance at Esthetica, the lead female characters design and was kind irritated/sent off signals.
About Sasami@Ganbaranai,episode 4 gives a background to the incest jokes, and the submissive brother (and why he is always covering his face).
Welll after watch five episodes so far of the season i would say for me the best in this season are:
Chihayafuru s2 As expected
Zettai Karen children the unlimited A great surprise
and Maoyuu Maou, Slow but Very very interesting.
The rest are pretty normal, some ones to painfull to watch.