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A new season, and a new collection of shows up for the chopping block.

Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica

Do not be deceived by appearances. This show is not what it looks like.

While you would generally expect this sort of show to be a generic Mahou Shoujo, it's closer to Bokurano than Cardcaptor Sakura. It takes off with all the staples of the Mahou Shoujo genre, but with distinctly eerie presentation akin to Kara no Kyoukai. After that, though, it doesn't take long for it to get really, really dark.

Throw in a healthy dose of What The Hell Hero and an amazing take on the roles of Mahou Shoujo, and you have what is most likely the best show of the season.

If it has a problem, it's probably that Bokurano has treaded the same ground before with the mecha genre. But otherwise it's hard to fault.

Score - 9/10


Gosick

This is the most predictable show ever.

Seriously, for a show about detective mysteries, it completely lacks any kind of mystery. There has yet to be a single puzzle they span that wasn't completely obvious from the get-go. For this show to work, every character has to be extremely dumbed down. Which they are.

The supposed draw of this series is in its main heroine, Victorique. Victorique is an annoying, stuck-up goth loli with a hammered-in backstory for forced depth that doesn't answer any questions about her annoying personality, and ridiculous amounts of hyper-awareness to everything that happens around her to the point that she is horribly overpowered. In a nutshell, she's a God Mode Sue.

Overall, this show is annoyingly similar to Kuroshitsuji. That's never a good sign.

Score - 4/10


Beelzebub

This show is somewhat hit and miss for me, so far. It has definitely had its funny moments, in particular the first episode made me laugh repeatedly. It's toilet humour, sure, but GOOD toilet humour. However, it gets repetitive quite easily. The"joke" of Baby Beel electrocuting Oga is overused, and wasn't even funny in the first place. They frequently cut to plots about Oga trying to pass Beel of to someone else, but so far they just all seem to end the same way, with Oga gettign defensive of Beel all of a sudden and then punching out the guy he tried to pass him onto.

It's still funny enough to stay afloat and be an enjoyable show, but I wouldn't actually recommend it.

Score - 6/10


Wolverine

It's interesting to note that this was actually based on an existing comic book, unlike Iron Man before it. This probably explains why this is so much better than Iron Man was, but that's not saying much. Even though Wolverine is watchable, it still isn't good.

It does have some pretty cool moments, but that's it.

Score - 5/10


Level E

If you want a good comedy this season, Level E is where it's at.

Level E is based on a mid-90s manga, which probably explains why it sticks out so much from everything else this season. The art style seems like a more refined version of what Madhouse are using for the Marvel adaptations, but in some sequences it is used to god effect, and the opening sequence in particular is just plain cool.

But onto the important stuff: the comedy. Our main character comes home one day to find a man claiming to be an amnesiac alien. This man also happens to be somewhat insane and very difficult. Comedy ensues.

While Level E isn't the best show this season, it does have its best character: The aforementioned alien, Prince Baka Ki El Dogra (no really, his name is Baka). He is completely insane in a way fairly reminiscent of my beloved Nino of Arakawa Under The Bridge, but with a mischievous, sadistic streak. All of the first three episodes have had some real gut-busting moment courtesy of him.

Not the best show this season, but worth watching for the prince alone.

Score - 7/10


Fractale

I'm not really sure what to think of this one at the moment. It takes after Miyazaki way to much, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing. It could be argued that it lacks identity of its own, but it seems to be building up to something else. While much of the series seems to be well-executed, there are annoying moe elements that seem rather unnecessary.

There are certain twists here that seem to be setting it up for something great, and I have to say that I am enjoying this so far quite a bit. I'll have to see where this is going, but thus far, I have a relatively high opinion of it. If only Yutaka Yamamoto would stop being such a goddamn fuckwit, this series could really go to great places.

Score - 8/10


Wandering Son

Wandering Son/Hourou Mosuko is very reminiscent of a Makoto Shinkai film in its presentation. It takes what seems to be an outside stance on a romantic story whilst combining it with amazing visuals and audio. However, being a series, Wandering Son has a chance to do the one thing that Shinkai's style lacks... create compelling characters. Thus far, it has yet to do so, but it has a chance.

More importantly, though, Hourou Mosuko covers a topic in a serious manner that really needed focus: gender identity. Given how much transexuality is abused in anime, a serious stance on it was sorely needed, and Hourou Mosuko provides.

Score - 9/10