Categories
July 28th, 2013
Summer Rankings 7-28-13
Anime Relations: Toriko, Tamayura: More Aggressive
These grades are all through three weeks worth of shows. I still have about a week to catch up on, but I'm throwing out what's on my mind.
1. Railgun - Oh, snaps. Touma v Accelerator has somehow gotten more awesome. It's all downhill from next week, but they've done a really good job adapting this arc. It would take a massive fanservice arc taking up the entire last 8 episodes to drop this under an 8.
Score: 9.0
2. Toriko - The four beasts was a totally nonsensical part of the manga (the IGO is still trying to usher in the era of Toriko/Sani/Coco/Zebra being the four strongest, but they're probably not even among the 50 strongest right now) even though billions of people are going to die because Ichiryu, Setsuno, Jirou et al won't do the job themselves. Not since Super Saiyan 3 Goku let Majin Buu survive has there been such a total abrogation of duties. That's still a mind-numbing decision when I think about it. The studio though, they've done a good job making the parts of the manga I thought were dumb into pretty interesting battles, so let's give them the benefit of the doubt and see what they do with the four beasts arc.
Score: 8.3
3. Tamayura - More Aggressive: A faster pace, more characters, actual substance to Potte (and it's COMPLETELY ADORABLE SUBSTANCE) makes Tamayura the early surprise of the season. If it keeps this up and doesn't try to drop some drama on us, it could end up being one of the better cute girls doing cute things shows out there.
Score: 8.3
4. Servant x Service - We still need to add a couple more characters to get more types of interactions if we want to pull this above an 8, but it's sitting pretty nicely where it is right now. Lucy Ichiko Kimiko Babaganoosh playing the straight man to brocon girl and Sexual Harrassment Hasebe has been funny to this point. The colors are nice and it's an easy watch.
Score: 7.7
------------------------------------
Everything below this point is pretty fluid in regards to placement.
------------------------------------
5. Fate/Kaleid Prisma Ilya - I want to punt Ilya like a football.
Score: 6.9
6. Going Home Club - This one still has portions where I say "this can be a good show", but the characters are just too poor. The other three club members in particular, Twintails, Mugi and Botan, don't have anything to them at all.
Score: 6.9
7. Nekomonogatari - I keep wanting to write "Nisemonogatari" here, but that was a different set of episodes. So Araragi's still out there somewhere, and Black Hanekawa's staying at his house [fanservice frame], and meeting Shinobu, so that was cool. Hanekawa wants to know about that tiger apparation she's been seeing, but maybe that guy at the cram school might know - but the cram school has been burnt down. Uh oh, am I actually interested in seeing what happens next? Sure. It's the animation that's the worst part of this show, with the fan backlash the second worst. I'm all for this show being good.
Score: 6.8
8. Rozen Maiden 3 - A major lack of ~desu is making this show struggle through three weeks. Don't they know why people are watching it?
Score: 6.6
9. Symphogear 2 - Intrigued by the start, though the mechanics of the show still don't make any sense to me. I'm not sure why you just don't start punching Hibiki in the face while she's singing. It seems to me that would be a wise move.
Score: 6.6
10. Love Lab - Love Lab makes me flip back and forth from good chuckles to a lot of cringing really fast. Maybe if they drop the two girls with the glasses we'd have a good show.
Score: 6.3
11. Silver Spoon - It's tough to adapt such dull source material, but the studio has honestly done a passable job of it. I was actually able to sit through the Ban'ei racing segment without falling asleep, for example. They just don't have enough to work with.
Score: 6.2
12. Kiniro Mosaic - Trying to be adorable, which I appreciate, but I haven't been able to latch on yet.
Score: 6.2
13. Kami Nomi 3 - God Only Knows has the same problem that Silver Spoon has; that is, the source material is not interesting. Luckily for the show, the grading scale coincided with crossdressing Yui showing up and trying to make Keima her woman again.
Score: 6.0
14. Milky Holmes 3 - This show needs to get more absurdist and fast. Nobody liked Milky Holmes Alternative. That's definitely not the thing you should be modeling yourself after. There are some light moments but not enough of them.
Score: 6.0
15. Watamote - I know it's supposed to be as cringe-inducing a show as possible, and they're doing a good job of that, but it's a really tough watch and I'm thinking it's only going to get worse from here.
Score: 5.7
16. Airsoft Guns Club - You know what this show needs? Superpowers, like Saki. Let's get superpowers into this show by week 5 somehow. Thanks.
Score: 5.3
1. Railgun - Oh, snaps. Touma v Accelerator has somehow gotten more awesome. It's all downhill from next week, but they've done a really good job adapting this arc. It would take a massive fanservice arc taking up the entire last 8 episodes to drop this under an 8.
Score: 9.0
2. Toriko - The four beasts was a totally nonsensical part of the manga (the IGO is still trying to usher in the era of Toriko/Sani/Coco/Zebra being the four strongest, but they're probably not even among the 50 strongest right now) even though billions of people are going to die because Ichiryu, Setsuno, Jirou et al won't do the job themselves. Not since Super Saiyan 3 Goku let Majin Buu survive has there been such a total abrogation of duties. That's still a mind-numbing decision when I think about it. The studio though, they've done a good job making the parts of the manga I thought were dumb into pretty interesting battles, so let's give them the benefit of the doubt and see what they do with the four beasts arc.
Score: 8.3
3. Tamayura - More Aggressive: A faster pace, more characters, actual substance to Potte (and it's COMPLETELY ADORABLE SUBSTANCE) makes Tamayura the early surprise of the season. If it keeps this up and doesn't try to drop some drama on us, it could end up being one of the better cute girls doing cute things shows out there.
Score: 8.3
4. Servant x Service - We still need to add a couple more characters to get more types of interactions if we want to pull this above an 8, but it's sitting pretty nicely where it is right now. Lucy Ichiko Kimiko Babaganoosh playing the straight man to brocon girl and Sexual Harrassment Hasebe has been funny to this point. The colors are nice and it's an easy watch.
Score: 7.7
------------------------------------
Everything below this point is pretty fluid in regards to placement.
------------------------------------
5. Fate/Kaleid Prisma Ilya - I want to punt Ilya like a football.
Score: 6.9
6. Going Home Club - This one still has portions where I say "this can be a good show", but the characters are just too poor. The other three club members in particular, Twintails, Mugi and Botan, don't have anything to them at all.
Score: 6.9
7. Nekomonogatari - I keep wanting to write "Nisemonogatari" here, but that was a different set of episodes. So Araragi's still out there somewhere, and Black Hanekawa's staying at his house [fanservice frame], and meeting Shinobu, so that was cool. Hanekawa wants to know about that tiger apparation she's been seeing, but maybe that guy at the cram school might know - but the cram school has been burnt down. Uh oh, am I actually interested in seeing what happens next? Sure. It's the animation that's the worst part of this show, with the fan backlash the second worst. I'm all for this show being good.
Score: 6.8
8. Rozen Maiden 3 - A major lack of ~desu is making this show struggle through three weeks. Don't they know why people are watching it?
Score: 6.6
9. Symphogear 2 - Intrigued by the start, though the mechanics of the show still don't make any sense to me. I'm not sure why you just don't start punching Hibiki in the face while she's singing. It seems to me that would be a wise move.
Score: 6.6
10. Love Lab - Love Lab makes me flip back and forth from good chuckles to a lot of cringing really fast. Maybe if they drop the two girls with the glasses we'd have a good show.
Score: 6.3
11. Silver Spoon - It's tough to adapt such dull source material, but the studio has honestly done a passable job of it. I was actually able to sit through the Ban'ei racing segment without falling asleep, for example. They just don't have enough to work with.
Score: 6.2
12. Kiniro Mosaic - Trying to be adorable, which I appreciate, but I haven't been able to latch on yet.
Score: 6.2
13. Kami Nomi 3 - God Only Knows has the same problem that Silver Spoon has; that is, the source material is not interesting. Luckily for the show, the grading scale coincided with crossdressing Yui showing up and trying to make Keima her woman again.
Score: 6.0
14. Milky Holmes 3 - This show needs to get more absurdist and fast. Nobody liked Milky Holmes Alternative. That's definitely not the thing you should be modeling yourself after. There are some light moments but not enough of them.
Score: 6.0
15. Watamote - I know it's supposed to be as cringe-inducing a show as possible, and they're doing a good job of that, but it's a really tough watch and I'm thinking it's only going to get worse from here.
Score: 5.7
16. Airsoft Guns Club - You know what this show needs? Superpowers, like Saki. Let's get superpowers into this show by week 5 somehow. Thanks.
Score: 5.3
Posted by Anise_Punter | Jul 28, 2013 9:46 AM | 0 comments
June 24th, 2013
Spring 2013's Most Memorable Characters:
Anime Relations: Yuyushiki, Toaru Kagaku no Railgun S
The week before stuff ends is usually when I put out the list of the season's 5 most memorable characters. The last couple of seasons haven't been high on the memorable characters, and I retaliate by half-assing the list.
5. Pink Yuyu, Yuyushiki - So memorable I don't even remember which Yuyu she is, but still placing in the top 5.
4. Yellow Yuyu, Yuyushiki - So memorable I don't even remember which Yuyu she is, but still placing in the top 4. Her straight man antics are funnier to me than Pink Yuyu's foolishness.
3. Kinuhata Saiai, Railgun S - She's super-annoyed to be ranked super-third, especially when [SPOILERS] she's the third highest ranking member of ITEM. I know ITEM showed up back in Railgun season 1, but all they did was sit at a table and not even be particularly Hamazura-y.
2. Frenda, Railgun S - Frenda was fun and puntable. RIP Frenda.
1. Mugino Shizuri - Railgun S: One of the psychopath level 5s, and my second favorite after Accelerator. Watching the Meltdowner in action is always a joy to watch, and I'm really hoping Index volume 15 gets animated at some point. It's actually the second time in three seasons the winner has made a cameo appearance in a previous season. I'm counting on summer to deliver us actual new awesome characters.
Here are the winners of this award for all the seasons since I joined MAL - yes, I found the missing data points.
Spring 2013: Mugino Shizuri (Railgun S)
Winter 2013: Izayoi Sakamaki (Mondaiji-tachi)
Fall 2012: Kumagawa Misogi (Medaka Box 2)
Summer 2012: Kigurumi Haroukitei (Joshiraku)
Spring 2012: Kuuko (Nyaruko)
Winter 2012: Hidenori (Danshi Koukousei)
Fall 2011: Rider (Fate/Zero)
Summer 2011: Akari~n (Yuru Yuri)
Spring 2011: Run Momoki (A Channel)
Winter 2011: Kyouko Sakura (Madoka Magica)
Fall 2010: Ika Musume (Ika Musume)
Summer 2010: Tachibana Miya (Amagami)
Spring 2010: TK (Angel Beats)
Winter 2010: Kirishima Shouko (Baka Test)
Fall 2009: Sugisaki Ken (Seitokai no Ichizon)
5. Pink Yuyu, Yuyushiki - So memorable I don't even remember which Yuyu she is, but still placing in the top 5.
4. Yellow Yuyu, Yuyushiki - So memorable I don't even remember which Yuyu she is, but still placing in the top 4. Her straight man antics are funnier to me than Pink Yuyu's foolishness.
3. Kinuhata Saiai, Railgun S - She's super-annoyed to be ranked super-third, especially when [SPOILERS] she's the third highest ranking member of ITEM. I know ITEM showed up back in Railgun season 1, but all they did was sit at a table and not even be particularly Hamazura-y.
2. Frenda, Railgun S - Frenda was fun and puntable. RIP Frenda.
1. Mugino Shizuri - Railgun S: One of the psychopath level 5s, and my second favorite after Accelerator. Watching the Meltdowner in action is always a joy to watch, and I'm really hoping Index volume 15 gets animated at some point. It's actually the second time in three seasons the winner has made a cameo appearance in a previous season. I'm counting on summer to deliver us actual new awesome characters.
Here are the winners of this award for all the seasons since I joined MAL - yes, I found the missing data points.
Spring 2013: Mugino Shizuri (Railgun S)
Winter 2013: Izayoi Sakamaki (Mondaiji-tachi)
Fall 2012: Kumagawa Misogi (Medaka Box 2)
Summer 2012: Kigurumi Haroukitei (Joshiraku)
Spring 2012: Kuuko (Nyaruko)
Winter 2012: Hidenori (Danshi Koukousei)
Fall 2011: Rider (Fate/Zero)
Summer 2011: Akari~n (Yuru Yuri)
Spring 2011: Run Momoki (A Channel)
Winter 2011: Kyouko Sakura (Madoka Magica)
Fall 2010: Ika Musume (Ika Musume)
Summer 2010: Tachibana Miya (Amagami)
Spring 2010: TK (Angel Beats)
Winter 2010: Kirishima Shouko (Baka Test)
Fall 2009: Sugisaki Ken (Seitokai no Ichizon)
Posted by Anise_Punter | Jun 24, 2013 2:45 AM | 0 comments
June 18th, 2013
Power Rankings 6-19-13
Anime Relations: Toaru Kagaku no Railgun S, Hayate no Gotoku! Cuties
1. Railgun S - Disclaimer: I love me some ITEM, and that arc is now over, so it's probably all downhill from here. Poor Frenda. Mugino is one of my favorite characters in the entire franchise being so nuts, I really, REALLY hope there's an Index III to give us the Battle Royal arc. It would be super-Hamazura-y.
I'm not sure how they're going to differentiate this next part of the series from episodes 10 - 14 of Index s1 (the Accelerator v Touma clash). The Daihasei Festival arc which follows is also nothing spectacular, since the stakes are a lot lower, though I'm not one to refuse Shokuhou Misaki appearances.
Score: 8.6
2. Toriko: The Bubble Fruit arc has been pretty good, I must say. I wish more people would follow this show, then they could mourn Chin Chinchin with me. Poor guy and his spoon techniques.
Score: 8.4
3. Hayate Cuties: Wait, Hayate is good again? Really? And it's the same guys who brought us season 3? I wouldn't have forseen that in a hundred years. Turns out treating Hayate as a comedy instead of a drama show was the better course of action - who knew? Maria was the focus this week, but poor Hamster being broken when she saw Hayate in drag (for the billionth time) was the episode's highlight. They even brought back the Ghost Priest! All we need is some Klaus next week and not to end on a drama two-parter and this can be accepted into the Hayate Fraternity.
Score: 8.0
4. Oreimo II - Ayase (the little angel she is) continues to be an absolute riot, and even Kuroneko has been funny this time around. Kyousuke seemed a bit... too intrigued by some of Kuroneko's ideas, but perhaps he's going for the TRUE HAREM END (okay, that's gross, but still). Getting extra episodes in the summer/fall. More Lovely Angel Ayase for everyone!
Score: 7.3
5. Nyarlko W - Judging by how the previous seasons of these other shows went, there are three shows ahead of this one that have absolutely no business being there, but there they are. A show about Lovecraftian deities should not have the same recipe for 25 consecutive episodes.
Score: 7.2
6. Yuyushiki: Yuyushiki hasn't been bad by any stretch of the imagination but it hasn't done anything outstanding either. It's about as average as a Cute Girls Doing Cute Things show can be. My chief complaint was that it needed more characters, and that complaint stands. Would I watch a sequel? I can't say I wouldn't.
Score: 6.6
7. Devil Zzurvivor: Still just shockingly dull. You're fighting aliens to decide the fate of the entire planet, half of which has already been consumed into the void. How are you _dull_?
Score: 6.1
8. Muromi-san: Yukari Tamura's voice is just too grating, there's no getting around that. There's not enough humor in this show. I'm not even sure what the show is any more. This week Muromi does nothing of consequence. This week Otohime does nothing of consequence. This week Yeti learns the meaning of friendship. I dunno.
Score: 5.3
Other things I've been up to:
ZZZZteins;Gate - I had hoped as I approached the end, I would see some of the things that make this one of MAL's highest rated entries. Nope. I still don't like most of the characters, the newly-budding romance doesn't make any sense, and none of the reveals have been particularly shocking (especially for you Doctor Who veterans out there).
Status 23/24, score: 5.7
Valkyria Chronicles - Well we got the war I was asking for and we know anyone can die, and I want to see Maximillian get his ass kicked, plus Welkin seems like a pretty good dude. There just seems to be something missing and I'm not talking about gratuitous Alicia fanservice.
Status 19/26, score 5.7
The Continuing Adventures of Sakurasou: Kanda needs to stop screaming at everything, this is not Bobobo or Fujimura-Kun and his mates. I know Mashiro can be exasperating, but not everything she does is scream to the point of exhaustion exasperating (only like... 85 percent of the things, max) Poor Misaki and her large bosoms did not get the response she wanted from Jin, so now she's sad. It hasn't been as angsty as I've expected, though there's still a lot of time left. The show also gave us Nyaboron and the MEATBALL BEAM, which is a way cooler thing to randomly shout than READING STEINER (unless it's The Steiner Brothers in disguise in which case it is awesome)
Status: 15/24. score: 8.1
As for next season:
Toriko: keeps on truckin.
Railgun S: heading into weaker arcs, Kuroko will still do Kuroko stuff though.
Tamayura - More Aggressive: I can't imagine how it could be less aggressive.
Servant x Service - Karino Takatsu's brand of humor in a different setting.
Rozen Maiden - #3 or a Reboot? We'll find out. ~desu
Fate/kaleid liner Prisma Ilya - Kaliedo Rubies ftw
Monogatari Second Season - One does not simply refuse the Nadekos.
Teekyuu 2 - 3 minutes long, but it was actually pretty funny the first time.
Not Popular - Have to do something about that name.
Kami Nomi III - I haven't exactly liked the Goddess Arc, but Elsie would be sad if I didn't watch.
Gin no Saji - I don't know how this isn't going to be exceedingly dull, but perhaps it's a trick.
Milky Holmes III - Hoping it's like 1 and 2 and not ALTERNATIVE.
So from the 8 this season, we'll be back up to 12. Much better. As for the projected winner, I'm going to say Railgun S holds off Toriko with Rozen Maiden and Milky Holmes III being wild cards.
I'm not sure how they're going to differentiate this next part of the series from episodes 10 - 14 of Index s1 (the Accelerator v Touma clash). The Daihasei Festival arc which follows is also nothing spectacular, since the stakes are a lot lower, though I'm not one to refuse Shokuhou Misaki appearances.
Score: 8.6
2. Toriko: The Bubble Fruit arc has been pretty good, I must say. I wish more people would follow this show, then they could mourn Chin Chinchin with me. Poor guy and his spoon techniques.
Score: 8.4
3. Hayate Cuties: Wait, Hayate is good again? Really? And it's the same guys who brought us season 3? I wouldn't have forseen that in a hundred years. Turns out treating Hayate as a comedy instead of a drama show was the better course of action - who knew? Maria was the focus this week, but poor Hamster being broken when she saw Hayate in drag (for the billionth time) was the episode's highlight. They even brought back the Ghost Priest! All we need is some Klaus next week and not to end on a drama two-parter and this can be accepted into the Hayate Fraternity.
Score: 8.0
4. Oreimo II - Ayase (the little angel she is) continues to be an absolute riot, and even Kuroneko has been funny this time around. Kyousuke seemed a bit... too intrigued by some of Kuroneko's ideas, but perhaps he's going for the TRUE HAREM END (okay, that's gross, but still). Getting extra episodes in the summer/fall. More Lovely Angel Ayase for everyone!
Score: 7.3
5. Nyarlko W - Judging by how the previous seasons of these other shows went, there are three shows ahead of this one that have absolutely no business being there, but there they are. A show about Lovecraftian deities should not have the same recipe for 25 consecutive episodes.
Score: 7.2
6. Yuyushiki: Yuyushiki hasn't been bad by any stretch of the imagination but it hasn't done anything outstanding either. It's about as average as a Cute Girls Doing Cute Things show can be. My chief complaint was that it needed more characters, and that complaint stands. Would I watch a sequel? I can't say I wouldn't.
Score: 6.6
7. Devil Zzurvivor: Still just shockingly dull. You're fighting aliens to decide the fate of the entire planet, half of which has already been consumed into the void. How are you _dull_?
Score: 6.1
8. Muromi-san: Yukari Tamura's voice is just too grating, there's no getting around that. There's not enough humor in this show. I'm not even sure what the show is any more. This week Muromi does nothing of consequence. This week Otohime does nothing of consequence. This week Yeti learns the meaning of friendship. I dunno.
Score: 5.3
Other things I've been up to:
ZZZZteins;Gate - I had hoped as I approached the end, I would see some of the things that make this one of MAL's highest rated entries. Nope. I still don't like most of the characters, the newly-budding romance doesn't make any sense, and none of the reveals have been particularly shocking (especially for you Doctor Who veterans out there).
Status 23/24, score: 5.7
Valkyria Chronicles - Well we got the war I was asking for and we know anyone can die, and I want to see Maximillian get his ass kicked, plus Welkin seems like a pretty good dude. There just seems to be something missing and I'm not talking about gratuitous Alicia fanservice.
Status 19/26, score 5.7
The Continuing Adventures of Sakurasou: Kanda needs to stop screaming at everything, this is not Bobobo or Fujimura-Kun and his mates. I know Mashiro can be exasperating, but not everything she does is scream to the point of exhaustion exasperating (only like... 85 percent of the things, max) Poor Misaki and her large bosoms did not get the response she wanted from Jin, so now she's sad. It hasn't been as angsty as I've expected, though there's still a lot of time left. The show also gave us Nyaboron and the MEATBALL BEAM, which is a way cooler thing to randomly shout than READING STEINER (unless it's The Steiner Brothers in disguise in which case it is awesome)
Status: 15/24. score: 8.1
As for next season:
Toriko: keeps on truckin.
Railgun S: heading into weaker arcs, Kuroko will still do Kuroko stuff though.
Tamayura - More Aggressive: I can't imagine how it could be less aggressive.
Servant x Service - Karino Takatsu's brand of humor in a different setting.
Rozen Maiden - #3 or a Reboot? We'll find out. ~desu
Fate/kaleid liner Prisma Ilya - Kaliedo Rubies ftw
Monogatari Second Season - One does not simply refuse the Nadekos.
Teekyuu 2 - 3 minutes long, but it was actually pretty funny the first time.
Not Popular - Have to do something about that name.
Kami Nomi III - I haven't exactly liked the Goddess Arc, but Elsie would be sad if I didn't watch.
Gin no Saji - I don't know how this isn't going to be exceedingly dull, but perhaps it's a trick.
Milky Holmes III - Hoping it's like 1 and 2 and not ALTERNATIVE.
So from the 8 this season, we'll be back up to 12. Much better. As for the projected winner, I'm going to say Railgun S holds off Toriko with Rozen Maiden and Milky Holmes III being wild cards.
Posted by Anise_Punter | Jun 18, 2013 10:15 PM | 0 comments
May 23rd, 2013
Spring Midseason Fill-Out Post 5/23/13
Anime Relations: Toriko, Toaru Kagaku no Railgun S
We're halfway through, I might as well give a review of how everything's going this season since I totally slacked on the weekly rankings.
1. Toriko - Timed the "food honor" arc really well, as it probably would have fallen behind Railgun at some point in the last couple of weeks. The food honor arc has been quite enjoyable, and we haven't even gotten to "Totally Not Snake Way But With Bubbles" yet. If I recall correctly, the Four Beast arc followed this one, and that... was not nearly as good. That was something that came too early, I felt. We'll get to that when it comes though, and just enjoy Toriko totally not being able to show proper gratitude for food for a couple more weeks.
Score: 8.3
2. Railgun S - Misaka Imoutos are awesome, and Accelerator is awesome (though his laugh has always seemed very forced to me). Combine them, and... well, you get a ton of bloodshed, but you also get an awesome story arc. We've also had our fair share of Kuroko being Kuroko (she's so ridiculous and her voice actress does such a good job with that... lewdness), and with promises of The Queen of Tokiwadai as well as Meltdowner to come, I am really excited for what this show could end up being.
Score: 8.3
3. Haiyore! Nyarlko W - First rule of slapstick comedy - NOBODY GOES ANGSTY. What the hell are you doing, Nyarlko? That episode was totally out of place for this show. I also expected Kuuko-with-boobs to be a lot more interesting than she actually is. I would like this show to get back to being extremely silly when it comes back from break, else it risks dropping into 4th place.
Score: 7.5
4. Ore no Imouto 2: Wait... this show is good? What the hell happened here? For starters, it stopped being a show about Kyousuke and Kirino (and Kirino being a bitch), and started being a show about Kyousuke. Believe it or not, turning the male lead into a generic harem male lead made a show BETTER. His interactions with Ayase are always... interesting, and this week's adventure with Kuroneko was probably the best episode the show has had. Random effeminate dude thinking Kyousuke was trying to feel up his sister made me laugh way harder than it should have.
Score: 7.4
5. Devil Survivor 2 - This has been a pretty big disappointment, all things considered. The biggest problem? Nothing happens. Nothing. Maybe a weird inanimate object starts blowing stuff up once every third episode, but they're not even weird-looking to the point of alien, they just look like the writer picked up stuff off his table and said "Bam, this is Merak; Pow! This is Benetnasch." I mean, what the hell, why a random popsicle ring monster? The fanservice portions last week were silly and would have worked as a nice change of pace if we actually had a pace to change.
Score: 6.6
6. Yuyushiki - As I predicted a few weeks ago, the show is being hampered by only having the three characters, all of whom can be summed up in two words or less. Some of the gags make me laugh out loud, but others stretch out far too long and there hasn't been a point where I've thought "I am watching a good show" as opposed to "I am watching an alright show." This blurb I actually typed before watching episode 7. The same things still apply. Introduce more people, darn it.
Score 6.5
7. Hayate Cuties - Much, MUCH improved from the complete and utter disaster S3 was, but it's still too Hinagiku-centric for my tastes. She's not an interesting character and I don't know what you people see in her. (Okay, apart from the thighs, those are solid). I would much rather watch Fumi be asinine than Hinagiku be angsty.
Score: 6.5
8. Muromi-san - Too much Yukari Tamura squeak-screaming, and the slapstick has been... less than the highest quality. There was a solid episode this week with a Kappa, but it did follow less than stellar outings with Otohime and unnecessarily large-breasted mermaid thing.
Score: 5.4
As for the other stuff, not a lot of progress has been made.
Steins;Gate - Nope, still not understanding how this is rated the #3 anime of all time (though less egregious than the execrable Gintama at #2 - though I'd say FMA:Brotherhood does have a case for its ranking of #1). Maybe it gets better, but if the amount of Mayushi is lessened, I'm not sure how that's possible. I don't like either Makise or Okabe at all.
Score: 5.6; progress: 12 / 24
Valkyria Chronicles - It's gotten better, as the characters do seem to be aware of the conflict which envelops them, and is not just Welkin doing Kamijou Touma stuff. The introduction of something resembling antagonists may have helped push things along.
Score: 5.8, progress: 10 / 26
Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo: I finally thought I could watch this show for itself and not for the Mashiro, and then Rita shows up, and who designed these characters' appearances, because that person is some kind of sorcerer.
Score: 7.9, progress: 10 / 24
1. Toriko - Timed the "food honor" arc really well, as it probably would have fallen behind Railgun at some point in the last couple of weeks. The food honor arc has been quite enjoyable, and we haven't even gotten to "Totally Not Snake Way But With Bubbles" yet. If I recall correctly, the Four Beast arc followed this one, and that... was not nearly as good. That was something that came too early, I felt. We'll get to that when it comes though, and just enjoy Toriko totally not being able to show proper gratitude for food for a couple more weeks.
Score: 8.3
2. Railgun S - Misaka Imoutos are awesome, and Accelerator is awesome (though his laugh has always seemed very forced to me). Combine them, and... well, you get a ton of bloodshed, but you also get an awesome story arc. We've also had our fair share of Kuroko being Kuroko (she's so ridiculous and her voice actress does such a good job with that... lewdness), and with promises of The Queen of Tokiwadai as well as Meltdowner to come, I am really excited for what this show could end up being.
Score: 8.3
3. Haiyore! Nyarlko W - First rule of slapstick comedy - NOBODY GOES ANGSTY. What the hell are you doing, Nyarlko? That episode was totally out of place for this show. I also expected Kuuko-with-boobs to be a lot more interesting than she actually is. I would like this show to get back to being extremely silly when it comes back from break, else it risks dropping into 4th place.
Score: 7.5
4. Ore no Imouto 2: Wait... this show is good? What the hell happened here? For starters, it stopped being a show about Kyousuke and Kirino (and Kirino being a bitch), and started being a show about Kyousuke. Believe it or not, turning the male lead into a generic harem male lead made a show BETTER. His interactions with Ayase are always... interesting, and this week's adventure with Kuroneko was probably the best episode the show has had. Random effeminate dude thinking Kyousuke was trying to feel up his sister made me laugh way harder than it should have.
Score: 7.4
5. Devil Survivor 2 - This has been a pretty big disappointment, all things considered. The biggest problem? Nothing happens. Nothing. Maybe a weird inanimate object starts blowing stuff up once every third episode, but they're not even weird-looking to the point of alien, they just look like the writer picked up stuff off his table and said "Bam, this is Merak; Pow! This is Benetnasch." I mean, what the hell, why a random popsicle ring monster? The fanservice portions last week were silly and would have worked as a nice change of pace if we actually had a pace to change.
Score: 6.6
6. Yuyushiki - As I predicted a few weeks ago, the show is being hampered by only having the three characters, all of whom can be summed up in two words or less. Some of the gags make me laugh out loud, but others stretch out far too long and there hasn't been a point where I've thought "I am watching a good show" as opposed to "I am watching an alright show." This blurb I actually typed before watching episode 7. The same things still apply. Introduce more people, darn it.
Score 6.5
7. Hayate Cuties - Much, MUCH improved from the complete and utter disaster S3 was, but it's still too Hinagiku-centric for my tastes. She's not an interesting character and I don't know what you people see in her. (Okay, apart from the thighs, those are solid). I would much rather watch Fumi be asinine than Hinagiku be angsty.
Score: 6.5
8. Muromi-san - Too much Yukari Tamura squeak-screaming, and the slapstick has been... less than the highest quality. There was a solid episode this week with a Kappa, but it did follow less than stellar outings with Otohime and unnecessarily large-breasted mermaid thing.
Score: 5.4
As for the other stuff, not a lot of progress has been made.
Steins;Gate - Nope, still not understanding how this is rated the #3 anime of all time (though less egregious than the execrable Gintama at #2 - though I'd say FMA:Brotherhood does have a case for its ranking of #1). Maybe it gets better, but if the amount of Mayushi is lessened, I'm not sure how that's possible. I don't like either Makise or Okabe at all.
Score: 5.6; progress: 12 / 24
Valkyria Chronicles - It's gotten better, as the characters do seem to be aware of the conflict which envelops them, and is not just Welkin doing Kamijou Touma stuff. The introduction of something resembling antagonists may have helped push things along.
Score: 5.8, progress: 10 / 26
Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo: I finally thought I could watch this show for itself and not for the Mashiro, and then Rita shows up, and who designed these characters' appearances, because that person is some kind of sorcerer.
Score: 7.9, progress: 10 / 24
Posted by Anise_Punter | May 23, 2013 1:36 PM | 0 comments
April 17th, 2013
Spring Rankings week of 4/17/13
Anime Relations: Hayate no Gotoku! Cuties
Apparently everything sucks, because I only have eight shows to rank, and one of them is only half-length and only three of them are actually new franchises to my viewing experience. It's rare when nothing catches my eye in first week screencaps, but here we are, the least amount of shows for a season in three years. (As a refresher, the last time I had this few shows we were talking Angel Beats, Mayoi Neko Overrun and K-On!!/Introduction to Western Philosophy)
1. Nyarlko W: It's never going to be spectacular, and it's already recycled all of its jokes from last season, but NO ONE writes good slapstick anymore. Kuuko remains ridiculous, and Kana Asumi's voice remains... whatever it is.
Score: 8.2
2. Toriko: The 100th anniversary spectacular gives us a new OP and a get-together to find Madam Fish, which eventually turns into a figurative junk-measuring contest. Komatsu wants no part of it, so of course he's the one that finds The Madam Fish. A scavenger comes to attack, everyone gets off their signature attacks, everyone gets to eat giant lipstick-wearing fish for dinner.
Score: 8.1
3. Railgun - Railgun was rather silly this week, with a skydiving backflip railgun helicopter Michael Bay explosion technique being the highlight of the episode. I don't think JC Staff can afford to keep doing that, but if you just give us Accelerator that'll be fine, alright? We could also stand to add a bit of Kuroko asininity, because Kuroko's the best one.
Score: 7.4
4. Devil Survivor 2 - A very talky episode. You've only got 13 of these, don't spend a full 7% of the series on talking. Make stuff happen. This could be really good if they'll let it. Skull birds were the demons of choice this week. Human skulls have always kind of freaked me out.
Score: 7.2
5. Oreimo: An episode without Kuroneko and with plenty of Ayase is probably the best Oreimo episode ever.
Score: 7.1, this holding up would be a shock.
6. Yuyushiki: A four-panel adaptation featuring three girls that sorely needs a fourth, and the young-looking teacher doesn't really count. Yes, I know. We have Straight Man (yellow), Spacey (purple), and ADD (pink). You've gotta give them more character than that, this isn't a manga. You can get away with that in a manga just fine, since you can read a sequence of events in a comic in a mere fraction of the time it takes to watch it unfold in a show.
Score: 6.7
7. Muromi-san: Yukari Tamura's voice remains really annoying. The show has a slapstick base, but not much in front of it. It's not sure whether it wants to be a rapid-fire gag comedy or merely a moderately fast one. I would go as fast as possible, and have more human-on-mermaid violence.
Score: 6.5
8. Hayate Cuties!: Well, they haven't delved into completely out-of-character drama yet, so that's a plus. Each episode is supposed to focus on one girl, but if that's what they call "a Nagi episode", I'm not sure they really understand the concept. Then again, if that's the most Rie we're getting, that's fantastic. I'm not sure if I would be excited for or dreading the possibility of a Fumi episode. I think my sense of humor would love it but my ears would never forgive me. Next week appears to be A-tan-tan-tan-tan, whatever that's worth.
Score: 5.6
----------------------
If I've only got 8 shows, what am I even doing this semester apart from more thesis work?
A. Marathon'd Horizon II over 3 days, 4 episodes at a time. It was even more of an unmitigated disaster than I thought it was going to be. As a result, I still have more 2's than 10's. It was getting close there for a minute.
Current Progress: 13 / 13
B. Valkyria Chronicles - Trying to get into this show, struggling mightily. Pretty much every episode so far has been "Welkin does something absent-mindedly but good-naturedly, Alicia misunderstands or just flips out." Isn't there some sort of war going on here?
Current Progress: 6 / 26
C. Steins;gate - MAL users rank this as the 3rd best anime in creation. Well, first, #1 is a Gintama and Gintama is terrible (440 chapters down, maybe 15 funny ones?), so we know this entire system is broken, and second, this being ranked #3 isn't giving me any more faith in the system.
Positives: It's Mayushii, doot do doo. Mayuri's kanahanaicity and general relaxed demeanor make her the only character I haven't found myself wanting to throttle so far.
Negatives: Let's start with the throttling. Daru? Definitely. Makise? Whenever she puts on the weak tsun-tsun act. Why was this necessary as a character trait? Okabe/Kyouma/what-have-you? More times than I care to count, along with some punches to the face. He'd be the worst offender if this show didn't randomly have "cat-eared Anise-Tatlin voiced maid waitress." Why? Why would you do that?
As for the show itself, the attempts at humor are falling short because the show is trying to pass itself off as more serious business. How about you ditch the humor and just go straight serious business? Start offing people, preferably in jelly fashion. It would also help to stop throwing around vaguely scientific words. As a fellow lab-coat owner, come on Kyouma, you're not even remotely mad enough.
Current Progress: 10 / 24
D. Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo: I'm not sure if this show is any good, but it seems to be different than your standard ecchi comedy and definitely way off what the premise/synopsis is. My understanding is that there's some drama bombs throughout the series. I'm enjoying this show a lot more than S;G or Valkyria, but I'm almost entirely certain that's because Mashiro is about as easy on the eyes as any character ever.
Current Progress: 5 / 24
1. Nyarlko W: It's never going to be spectacular, and it's already recycled all of its jokes from last season, but NO ONE writes good slapstick anymore. Kuuko remains ridiculous, and Kana Asumi's voice remains... whatever it is.
Score: 8.2
2. Toriko: The 100th anniversary spectacular gives us a new OP and a get-together to find Madam Fish, which eventually turns into a figurative junk-measuring contest. Komatsu wants no part of it, so of course he's the one that finds The Madam Fish. A scavenger comes to attack, everyone gets off their signature attacks, everyone gets to eat giant lipstick-wearing fish for dinner.
Score: 8.1
3. Railgun - Railgun was rather silly this week, with a skydiving backflip railgun helicopter Michael Bay explosion technique being the highlight of the episode. I don't think JC Staff can afford to keep doing that, but if you just give us Accelerator that'll be fine, alright? We could also stand to add a bit of Kuroko asininity, because Kuroko's the best one.
Score: 7.4
4. Devil Survivor 2 - A very talky episode. You've only got 13 of these, don't spend a full 7% of the series on talking. Make stuff happen. This could be really good if they'll let it. Skull birds were the demons of choice this week. Human skulls have always kind of freaked me out.
Score: 7.2
5. Oreimo: An episode without Kuroneko and with plenty of Ayase is probably the best Oreimo episode ever.
Score: 7.1, this holding up would be a shock.
6. Yuyushiki: A four-panel adaptation featuring three girls that sorely needs a fourth, and the young-looking teacher doesn't really count. Yes, I know. We have Straight Man (yellow), Spacey (purple), and ADD (pink). You've gotta give them more character than that, this isn't a manga. You can get away with that in a manga just fine, since you can read a sequence of events in a comic in a mere fraction of the time it takes to watch it unfold in a show.
Score: 6.7
7. Muromi-san: Yukari Tamura's voice remains really annoying. The show has a slapstick base, but not much in front of it. It's not sure whether it wants to be a rapid-fire gag comedy or merely a moderately fast one. I would go as fast as possible, and have more human-on-mermaid violence.
Score: 6.5
8. Hayate Cuties!: Well, they haven't delved into completely out-of-character drama yet, so that's a plus. Each episode is supposed to focus on one girl, but if that's what they call "a Nagi episode", I'm not sure they really understand the concept. Then again, if that's the most Rie we're getting, that's fantastic. I'm not sure if I would be excited for or dreading the possibility of a Fumi episode. I think my sense of humor would love it but my ears would never forgive me. Next week appears to be A-tan-tan-tan-tan, whatever that's worth.
Score: 5.6
----------------------
If I've only got 8 shows, what am I even doing this semester apart from more thesis work?
A. Marathon'd Horizon II over 3 days, 4 episodes at a time. It was even more of an unmitigated disaster than I thought it was going to be. As a result, I still have more 2's than 10's. It was getting close there for a minute.
Current Progress: 13 / 13
B. Valkyria Chronicles - Trying to get into this show, struggling mightily. Pretty much every episode so far has been "Welkin does something absent-mindedly but good-naturedly, Alicia misunderstands or just flips out." Isn't there some sort of war going on here?
Current Progress: 6 / 26
C. Steins;gate - MAL users rank this as the 3rd best anime in creation. Well, first, #1 is a Gintama and Gintama is terrible (440 chapters down, maybe 15 funny ones?), so we know this entire system is broken, and second, this being ranked #3 isn't giving me any more faith in the system.
Positives: It's Mayushii, doot do doo. Mayuri's kanahanaicity and general relaxed demeanor make her the only character I haven't found myself wanting to throttle so far.
Negatives: Let's start with the throttling. Daru? Definitely. Makise? Whenever she puts on the weak tsun-tsun act. Why was this necessary as a character trait? Okabe/Kyouma/what-have-you? More times than I care to count, along with some punches to the face. He'd be the worst offender if this show didn't randomly have "cat-eared Anise-Tatlin voiced maid waitress." Why? Why would you do that?
As for the show itself, the attempts at humor are falling short because the show is trying to pass itself off as more serious business. How about you ditch the humor and just go straight serious business? Start offing people, preferably in jelly fashion. It would also help to stop throwing around vaguely scientific words. As a fellow lab-coat owner, come on Kyouma, you're not even remotely mad enough.
Current Progress: 10 / 24
D. Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo: I'm not sure if this show is any good, but it seems to be different than your standard ecchi comedy and definitely way off what the premise/synopsis is. My understanding is that there's some drama bombs throughout the series. I'm enjoying this show a lot more than S;G or Valkyria, but I'm almost entirely certain that's because Mashiro is about as easy on the eyes as any character ever.
Current Progress: 5 / 24
Posted by Anise_Punter | Apr 17, 2013 11:16 PM | 0 comments
March 13th, 2013
Winter 2013 Power Rankings 3/13/13
I was sick last week. Sometimes it just doesn't work out. I'm not being paid to write this people. We have some changes, including one at the top. Just a couple of weeks left...
1. Robotics;Notes [last week: 2]: Uh oh, things are serious, well, serious to the point where Aki is giving the villain a speech of how robots save the world. But then Kimijima Kou makes it even MORE serious by having Airi turn the gun on herself, before it's stolen away by a goddamn parrot because Robotics;Notes. To the end, you're just ridiculous. And Kona. She's still... herself. She's even more herself than usual.
And holy shit, the GIANT ROBOT is important to the plot. Now let's call for everyone's help (without alerting the bad guys somehow, but whatever), and complete the spirit bomb. Two episodes left here.
Score: 9.7
2. Minami-ke [1]: The way this show jumps around in the year is enough to make one dizzy. This wasn't as funny as I was expecting it to be, though Haruka fanservice always gets the AP stamp of approval. It fell out of first place. I did not see that coming.
Score: 9.5
3. Toriko [3] - Was on break this week. Slackers.
Score: 8.2
4. Little Busters [4]: This episode made me laugh because I'm a terrible person. After the WHO declared that anyone not directly in the way of the Fukushima explosion was exposed to a whole 3 extra CT-scans of radiation per year (as opposed to the third-arm growing amounts that were being breathlessly reported), I can only imagine the HORRORS that the Tevua rocket explosion caused... maybe like a spent fuel rod at the bottom of a pool amount for anyone not right up against the site.
Kud was falling out of her voice for a good portion of the episode here. Also, Kud is adorable. Next week she's in danger. Anybody that hurts Kud is going to get a beating.
Score: 7.8
5. Magi [6] - Sinbad is the best, but Morgiana is the second best. That's still hefty praise. Judal is a piece of work. His defeat is going to be enjoyable, whenever that actually happens.
Score: 7.6
6. Tomodachi Sukunai [5]: The chairman's... an interesting fellow. Can we write Yozora out of the show now, or at the very least make her grow her hair out again? There was nothing outrageous this week, which is a disappointment. Not even from Rika.
Score: 7.6
7. Psycho-pass [10]: Akane is now aware of the Sibyl System's identity, and she's less than thrilled. She's even making demands to the System, or Else. Right on, Akane. Makishima is going through with his plan to destroy the food supply, with Kogami right behind him ready to off him. Yes, I'm totally rooting for Makishima to destroy the food supply. I may be a terrible person, but we knew that when the rocket holding Kud's mother exploded and I laughed.
This show has surged in the second half and has an outside shot of placing 4th. Maybe two shows a year are able to make a leap from the 5s back to the mid 7s.
Score: 7.4
8. Rock Lee [7]: A relatively tame episode this week. Neji is trying to destroy White Day because he doesn't want Hinata's heart broken (I understand, Neji), and Shikamaru wants to destroy it because it's a nuisance and he's preposterously lazy. They don't succeed. Orochimaru is also around doing Orochimaru stuff. I'm asking this show to go all out on the wackiness for the last couple of weeks - but that doesn't mean Rock Lee in a two-piece swimsuit.
Score: 6.9
9. Tamako Market [9] - Tamako's dad wins best character of the show award, displacing deadpan Kanna. She tried, but I mean that was just a really good scene with Tamako's dad up and singing and everything. I guess he should have been the focus all along. I still want to give points to this show for having Anko like the glasses kid, even though that's not how that ever works - but then again Tamako has glasses so perhaps Anko ends up with them as well. Poor girls, glasses are terrible, as Shiori can probably tell you.
I finally figured out what it is about this show. It's pretty boring, but it makes some spectacular out-of-context .gifs. That... seems to be a KyoAni specialty, doesn't it? Also it stays in 9th while other shows ping-pong around it because it's just so... nondescript.
Score: 6.8
10. ZKC [8]: The Unlimited: I'm not really sure what's going on anymore thanks to that unnecessary two-episode flashback, but it looks like Hyobu is going to pass on killing Hinomiya for now so they can work together and rescue Yugiri, taken by some branch of the US Military. Poor Yugiri. I'm not sure the writers know what they're doing anymore, and I'm kind of expecting their next Hayate installment to be a world class disaster.
Score: 6.6
11. Mondaijitachi [12]: You know an episode is off to a not-so-good start when the action is suspended and everyone is forced to the negotiation room by the unnecessary fanservice character. And it really is basically 15 minutes of trying to solve an unnecessary riddle and then five minutes of kind of fighting and then Asuka has a mech somehow. Izayoi remains the only character worth watching here. The ending animation continues to be hilarious.
Score: 5.9
12. Shinsekai Yori [11]: Holy shit, the Vashta Nerada. And Shun! Shun still has a part to play in this grand adventure, which makes me glad. I was beginning to worry there was literally no point to the first half of the entire series. He might be just a mirage or a Yakomaru-induced hallucination, but he did exist, dammit. And now I'm rooting for Yakomaru to be eaten by the Vashta Nerada.
Score: 5.9
13. Maoyuu [14]: ...had a recap episode 9 episodes into a 12 episode series? That's a new one. Should I be offended by this? We at least did get some Hero Hug Pillow recap (that thing is so goofy looking, I love it). Maybe this is more than 12 episodes. That would make sense. I don't know though. We'll find out soon enough.
Score: 4.9
14. Good Job Club [13] - I don't know what it is with this show and hairbrushing, and I don't know what it is with this show and costumes. I do know that it's one of many shows struggling to keep me interested at this point, and it's made easier by the fact that I can see the finish line. All of these characters except Megumi need to be stuffed in a Tevua rocket and exploded. Megumi's mix of blobularity is sufficient to remain.
Score: 4.8
15. Vividred Operation [15]: So... all the monsters are dead now? We're safe to hold a fanservice episode for Himawari about eight years before it's necessary?
It's good that they have a move called Final Operation, I would hate to see the plan if that didn't actually work.
Score: 4.6
It's time to start looking at what's out there to watch in the Spring, with it being just under a month away. Rock Lee is calling it a day after a year of... stuff, while Shinsekai Yori, Psychopass, Little Busters and Robotics;Notes are hanging it up after half a year, and a few other shows are one and done. I still don't know what's a full show and what's a 5-minute thing for next season, but the tentative list is as follows:
Toriko (continuing on for 8th cour)
Magi (continuing on for 3rd cour to my knowledge)
Railgun 2 (this one could actually be good, it could also be Kurokotastic)
Oreimo 2 (I am a masochist, apparently)
Hayate 4 (maybe it'll be a comedy this time!)
Nyarlko 2 (please keep being wacky)
Devil Survivor 2 (not actually a sequel, just Japan being weird)
Yuyushiki, Aiura (one or both of these is probably a 3-minute joke)
That's 9 things, and we always like to do 10 (and spring is always a packed season) so I'm sure more will come up in the next couple of weeks.
1. Robotics;Notes [last week: 2]: Uh oh, things are serious, well, serious to the point where Aki is giving the villain a speech of how robots save the world. But then Kimijima Kou makes it even MORE serious by having Airi turn the gun on herself, before it's stolen away by a goddamn parrot because Robotics;Notes. To the end, you're just ridiculous. And Kona. She's still... herself. She's even more herself than usual.
And holy shit, the GIANT ROBOT is important to the plot. Now let's call for everyone's help (without alerting the bad guys somehow, but whatever), and complete the spirit bomb. Two episodes left here.
Score: 9.7
2. Minami-ke [1]: The way this show jumps around in the year is enough to make one dizzy. This wasn't as funny as I was expecting it to be, though Haruka fanservice always gets the AP stamp of approval. It fell out of first place. I did not see that coming.
Score: 9.5
3. Toriko [3] - Was on break this week. Slackers.
Score: 8.2
4. Little Busters [4]: This episode made me laugh because I'm a terrible person. After the WHO declared that anyone not directly in the way of the Fukushima explosion was exposed to a whole 3 extra CT-scans of radiation per year (as opposed to the third-arm growing amounts that were being breathlessly reported), I can only imagine the HORRORS that the Tevua rocket explosion caused... maybe like a spent fuel rod at the bottom of a pool amount for anyone not right up against the site.
Kud was falling out of her voice for a good portion of the episode here. Also, Kud is adorable. Next week she's in danger. Anybody that hurts Kud is going to get a beating.
Score: 7.8
5. Magi [6] - Sinbad is the best, but Morgiana is the second best. That's still hefty praise. Judal is a piece of work. His defeat is going to be enjoyable, whenever that actually happens.
Score: 7.6
6. Tomodachi Sukunai [5]: The chairman's... an interesting fellow. Can we write Yozora out of the show now, or at the very least make her grow her hair out again? There was nothing outrageous this week, which is a disappointment. Not even from Rika.
Score: 7.6
7. Psycho-pass [10]: Akane is now aware of the Sibyl System's identity, and she's less than thrilled. She's even making demands to the System, or Else. Right on, Akane. Makishima is going through with his plan to destroy the food supply, with Kogami right behind him ready to off him. Yes, I'm totally rooting for Makishima to destroy the food supply. I may be a terrible person, but we knew that when the rocket holding Kud's mother exploded and I laughed.
This show has surged in the second half and has an outside shot of placing 4th. Maybe two shows a year are able to make a leap from the 5s back to the mid 7s.
Score: 7.4
8. Rock Lee [7]: A relatively tame episode this week. Neji is trying to destroy White Day because he doesn't want Hinata's heart broken (I understand, Neji), and Shikamaru wants to destroy it because it's a nuisance and he's preposterously lazy. They don't succeed. Orochimaru is also around doing Orochimaru stuff. I'm asking this show to go all out on the wackiness for the last couple of weeks - but that doesn't mean Rock Lee in a two-piece swimsuit.
Score: 6.9
9. Tamako Market [9] - Tamako's dad wins best character of the show award, displacing deadpan Kanna. She tried, but I mean that was just a really good scene with Tamako's dad up and singing and everything. I guess he should have been the focus all along. I still want to give points to this show for having Anko like the glasses kid, even though that's not how that ever works - but then again Tamako has glasses so perhaps Anko ends up with them as well. Poor girls, glasses are terrible, as Shiori can probably tell you.
I finally figured out what it is about this show. It's pretty boring, but it makes some spectacular out-of-context .gifs. That... seems to be a KyoAni specialty, doesn't it? Also it stays in 9th while other shows ping-pong around it because it's just so... nondescript.
Score: 6.8
10. ZKC [8]: The Unlimited: I'm not really sure what's going on anymore thanks to that unnecessary two-episode flashback, but it looks like Hyobu is going to pass on killing Hinomiya for now so they can work together and rescue Yugiri, taken by some branch of the US Military. Poor Yugiri. I'm not sure the writers know what they're doing anymore, and I'm kind of expecting their next Hayate installment to be a world class disaster.
Score: 6.6
11. Mondaijitachi [12]: You know an episode is off to a not-so-good start when the action is suspended and everyone is forced to the negotiation room by the unnecessary fanservice character. And it really is basically 15 minutes of trying to solve an unnecessary riddle and then five minutes of kind of fighting and then Asuka has a mech somehow. Izayoi remains the only character worth watching here. The ending animation continues to be hilarious.
Score: 5.9
12. Shinsekai Yori [11]: Holy shit, the Vashta Nerada. And Shun! Shun still has a part to play in this grand adventure, which makes me glad. I was beginning to worry there was literally no point to the first half of the entire series. He might be just a mirage or a Yakomaru-induced hallucination, but he did exist, dammit. And now I'm rooting for Yakomaru to be eaten by the Vashta Nerada.
Score: 5.9
13. Maoyuu [14]: ...had a recap episode 9 episodes into a 12 episode series? That's a new one. Should I be offended by this? We at least did get some Hero Hug Pillow recap (that thing is so goofy looking, I love it). Maybe this is more than 12 episodes. That would make sense. I don't know though. We'll find out soon enough.
Score: 4.9
14. Good Job Club [13] - I don't know what it is with this show and hairbrushing, and I don't know what it is with this show and costumes. I do know that it's one of many shows struggling to keep me interested at this point, and it's made easier by the fact that I can see the finish line. All of these characters except Megumi need to be stuffed in a Tevua rocket and exploded. Megumi's mix of blobularity is sufficient to remain.
Score: 4.8
15. Vividred Operation [15]: So... all the monsters are dead now? We're safe to hold a fanservice episode for Himawari about eight years before it's necessary?
It's good that they have a move called Final Operation, I would hate to see the plan if that didn't actually work.
Score: 4.6
It's time to start looking at what's out there to watch in the Spring, with it being just under a month away. Rock Lee is calling it a day after a year of... stuff, while Shinsekai Yori, Psychopass, Little Busters and Robotics;Notes are hanging it up after half a year, and a few other shows are one and done. I still don't know what's a full show and what's a 5-minute thing for next season, but the tentative list is as follows:
Toriko (continuing on for 8th cour)
Magi (continuing on for 3rd cour to my knowledge)
Railgun 2 (this one could actually be good, it could also be Kurokotastic)
Oreimo 2 (I am a masochist, apparently)
Hayate 4 (maybe it'll be a comedy this time!)
Nyarlko 2 (please keep being wacky)
Devil Survivor 2 (not actually a sequel, just Japan being weird)
Yuyushiki, Aiura (one or both of these is probably a 3-minute joke)
That's 9 things, and we always like to do 10 (and spring is always a packed season) so I'm sure more will come up in the next couple of weeks.
Posted by Anise_Punter | Mar 13, 2013 5:15 AM | 0 comments
February 26th, 2013
Winter Power Rankings 2/26/13
Anime Relations: Robotics;Notes, Minami-ke Tadaima
Got caught up on everything Tuesday night into Wednesday morning, so sue me :P
A lot of shows had very good weeks. Definitely pleased with the effort all-around.
1. Minami-ke [last week: 1]: "Wtf, why are they both kids? Doesn't Kana have like five years on Chiaki? Wait a second... that's not their uncle... that's... HOSAKAAAAAAAA!"
When Maki's at the vending machine... HOSAKAAAAA!
When Atsuko's in the library, pulling a book out to reveal Hosaka (knowing exactly which book she would pick FROM BEHIND)... HOSAKAAAAAA!
During the Daisuke Ono INSERT SONG ABOUT BARBECUE SET TO CASTANETS AND MARACAS... you get the point. This song went for over two and a half minutes.
Hosaka running down the hall yelling "EAT MY VEGGIES"? Hosaka and Chiaki doing a duet about vegetables? I don't even know what I'm watching anymore other it being completely awesome. Ugh, if only it had ended with him chasing her (or Maki) down the hall yelling "EAT MY SAUSAGE". That would have been preposterous.
Now I'm sure we'll only see Hosaka once or twice more this season instead of the five times his greatness demands.
Score: 9.8
2. Robotics;Notes [2]: KAIIIIIIIIIIIIIII! *shakes fist*
At some point I'm going to need to redo my favorite characters list. There's no way I can exclude Kona or Aki from the top 75. We haven't seen much of Kona in a while... I can only assume that means she's up to no good and probably something really gross.
The antipathy of the crowd towards Gunvarrel is kind of reminiscent of the public attitude towards FPS' post-Columbine. Keep fighting, Aki - people have the attention-span of a mayfly. You'll outlast them in the end.
Don't look now, but we're officially in awesome territory again. Four more episodes. Hope we get a worthwhile ending.
Score: 9.5
3. Toriko [3]: Was off this week. *shakes fist* You'll get what's coming to you, Livebearer.
Score: 8.2
4. Little Busters [4]: Sasasegawa Sasamisode? That's s-tastic. Anyway, random guy Q has a crush on Sasami, and Riki/Rin have to cure his lovesickness, because that's what the letter from the cat said to do. Kagami/Sasami likes Kengo though, so that's no good. How is Rin going to solve this? By telling random guy Q to beat up Kengo (a martial artist), of course. Surprisingly, this is totally ineffective. At the end, Sasami doesn't fall for him, but she does know the pain of unrequited love, so she'll let him down easy. That's... different. Rin's voice never ever stops being really annoying.
Score: 7.9: Next week is more Kud. Yay Kud!
5. Tomodachi Sukunai 2 [5]: The episode starts with Sena drooling over Kobato via phone, and then goes to Rika continuing to do Rika stuff. Good start. Everyone needs to buy a present for Kobato's birthday, which is basically an excuse for harem antics to which Kodaka is completely oblivious to. You've got to give some real credit to him. He's so dense that he's oblivious to Rika not even insinuating, but outright saying what she wants. We then get to see Kobato's birthday party and cake with a Sena figurine on it. I found myself thinking "I hope Yozora decapitates that for the lols", and she did just that.
Score: 7.8
6. Magi [6]: Morgiana's had two ridiculous faces in the past three weeks, so she's due for about six weeks of either solid stoic faces or just not showing up entirely, just in time for me to turn my profile picture back to something else.
Oh god, I had totally forgot about that scene with Katerina. Poor Alibaba. I don't think that scene where the guys get the ankle bracelets to the face actually did happen.
Anyways, Alibaba and Sinbad have been cursed, and the only way to do that is by visiting Zagan'd dungeon, which means 20 episodes in and we're at the end of volume 9. There are 16 released volumes. That's a pretty rapid pace.
Score: 7.6
7. Rock Lee [7]: Akamaru needs a dog companion... so we're pulling out all the stops for what is quite possibly the most retarded episode yet! I mean this in a good way though. Hinata comes up with the idea to take Akamaru to a dog cafe, but they need more dogs! How to solve this problem? Not ask one of the many dogs walking around town in the previous 46 episodes, but to dress up Lee, Naruto, Neji and Choji as dogs. That makes perfect sense. It makes even more sense when they encounter Kisame and Samehada (his sword, if you had forgotten) in the dog cafe. Kisame isn't there to cause trouble - he actually things Samehada's a dog. Hilarity ensues.
Our second skit has Chibi Sasuke and his Chibi Companions. That's unexpected. Sasuke is the straight man of this group, but that still doesn't stop him from dressing up in a two-piece swimsuit. There's no hope for anyone.
Score: 7.0, because Hinata calling for her "dog" Nejimaru-nee-sama is just too goddamn adorable.
8. Psycho-pass [10]: Everyone's starting to get suspicious of the chief, especially Kogami. This almost results in his demise, but Tsunemori thinks up something clever which only serves to piss off the chief further. I'm... not sure this is going to end well for anyone, in all honesty.
Score: 6.8, continues its second-half journey up the charts
9. Tamako Market [9]: Kyoani, you and your tans. This abusive little girl is going to be the end of that fat bird. Most of the humor in the episode came from her being upset at just how fat it has gotten. I guess that's not acceptable. To be fair, it's pretty fat. I always moderately enjoy the episodes as I'm watching them, but they're so forgettable about two days later. I feel like there should be a dock in the score for that but I'm not sure how much.
Score: 6.7
10. ZKC [8]: The Unlimited: Oh boy, a two-episode flashback (again, interrupting what was probably the best scene of the entire series to that point). Urge to kill... rising.
I thought we already learned how he got his scar, in a similar but not identical fashion. Well, I know to always take this studio at their word, that much is certain.
Score: 6.6
11. Mondaiji-tachi [12]: Satomi Arai playing a lecherous female character prowling the ladies' bath? That's totally unexpected (and totally awesome when Satomi Arai does it) - and even better when Izayoi starts up his analysis of the situation post-bath. I'm really starting to like him a lot.
Score: 6.4
I do want to give a shoutout here to the Puchim@su! Petit Idolmasters, or more specifically, how completely ridiculous Takane is in this thing. I used to be pretty sure Mikimiki was the best girl, but now I'm not so sure. (Azusa is wonderful also)
12. Shinsekai Yori [12]: Squealer, watching you die is going to be worth these 20 less than stellar episodes.
Score: 6.2
13. Good Job Club [13]: There's a new... thing in the club. I'm not sure what it is. Did I miss an episode last week? Well, stuffing her in a burlap sack works. I think that should become a running gag. Mail her to Abu Dhabi while you're at it. Nobody's done that in a while. Shion also needs to stop implying Megumi is fat. Apparently everyone is playing that game today. They broke her, the poor thing. She's the only one above 5 in the entire bunch.
This show and its hairbrushing, I just don't know.
Score: 5.5
14. Vividred Operation [15]: Ah, the old corpse-in-the fridge gag. Well, perhaps it's not an old gag, but who's counting. Akane and her three Vivid friends keep trying to tame Rei with the power of friendship, but it's just not working. Come on people, we know it's going to work in the end. You're not fooling anyone.
Score: 5.0
15. Maoyuu [14]: It was a struggle to stay awake through this one, so I had to watch it twice, and it was equally difficult the second time. Just know that Hero's got a plan to get one of the maids kidnapped and then rescue her (it will clear the Demon Queen's name, trust me on this), but this rescue will involve some hero antics. Female Knight is having none of that. She's going with him, because you don't tell Female Knight what to do. She's the only character I like more in the series than I do in the comics.
Score: 4.8
A lot of shows had very good weeks. Definitely pleased with the effort all-around.
1. Minami-ke [last week: 1]: "Wtf, why are they both kids? Doesn't Kana have like five years on Chiaki? Wait a second... that's not their uncle... that's... HOSAKAAAAAAAA!"
When Maki's at the vending machine... HOSAKAAAAA!
When Atsuko's in the library, pulling a book out to reveal Hosaka (knowing exactly which book she would pick FROM BEHIND)... HOSAKAAAAAA!
During the Daisuke Ono INSERT SONG ABOUT BARBECUE SET TO CASTANETS AND MARACAS... you get the point. This song went for over two and a half minutes.
Hosaka running down the hall yelling "EAT MY VEGGIES"? Hosaka and Chiaki doing a duet about vegetables? I don't even know what I'm watching anymore other it being completely awesome. Ugh, if only it had ended with him chasing her (or Maki) down the hall yelling "EAT MY SAUSAGE". That would have been preposterous.
Now I'm sure we'll only see Hosaka once or twice more this season instead of the five times his greatness demands.
Score: 9.8
2. Robotics;Notes [2]: KAIIIIIIIIIIIIIII! *shakes fist*
At some point I'm going to need to redo my favorite characters list. There's no way I can exclude Kona or Aki from the top 75. We haven't seen much of Kona in a while... I can only assume that means she's up to no good and probably something really gross.
The antipathy of the crowd towards Gunvarrel is kind of reminiscent of the public attitude towards FPS' post-Columbine. Keep fighting, Aki - people have the attention-span of a mayfly. You'll outlast them in the end.
Don't look now, but we're officially in awesome territory again. Four more episodes. Hope we get a worthwhile ending.
Score: 9.5
3. Toriko [3]: Was off this week. *shakes fist* You'll get what's coming to you, Livebearer.
Score: 8.2
4. Little Busters [4]: Sasasegawa Sasamisode? That's s-tastic. Anyway, random guy Q has a crush on Sasami, and Riki/Rin have to cure his lovesickness, because that's what the letter from the cat said to do. Kagami/Sasami likes Kengo though, so that's no good. How is Rin going to solve this? By telling random guy Q to beat up Kengo (a martial artist), of course. Surprisingly, this is totally ineffective. At the end, Sasami doesn't fall for him, but she does know the pain of unrequited love, so she'll let him down easy. That's... different. Rin's voice never ever stops being really annoying.
Score: 7.9: Next week is more Kud. Yay Kud!
5. Tomodachi Sukunai 2 [5]: The episode starts with Sena drooling over Kobato via phone, and then goes to Rika continuing to do Rika stuff. Good start. Everyone needs to buy a present for Kobato's birthday, which is basically an excuse for harem antics to which Kodaka is completely oblivious to. You've got to give some real credit to him. He's so dense that he's oblivious to Rika not even insinuating, but outright saying what she wants. We then get to see Kobato's birthday party and cake with a Sena figurine on it. I found myself thinking "I hope Yozora decapitates that for the lols", and she did just that.
Score: 7.8
6. Magi [6]: Morgiana's had two ridiculous faces in the past three weeks, so she's due for about six weeks of either solid stoic faces or just not showing up entirely, just in time for me to turn my profile picture back to something else.
Oh god, I had totally forgot about that scene with Katerina. Poor Alibaba. I don't think that scene where the guys get the ankle bracelets to the face actually did happen.
Anyways, Alibaba and Sinbad have been cursed, and the only way to do that is by visiting Zagan'd dungeon, which means 20 episodes in and we're at the end of volume 9. There are 16 released volumes. That's a pretty rapid pace.
Score: 7.6
7. Rock Lee [7]: Akamaru needs a dog companion... so we're pulling out all the stops for what is quite possibly the most retarded episode yet! I mean this in a good way though. Hinata comes up with the idea to take Akamaru to a dog cafe, but they need more dogs! How to solve this problem? Not ask one of the many dogs walking around town in the previous 46 episodes, but to dress up Lee, Naruto, Neji and Choji as dogs. That makes perfect sense. It makes even more sense when they encounter Kisame and Samehada (his sword, if you had forgotten) in the dog cafe. Kisame isn't there to cause trouble - he actually things Samehada's a dog. Hilarity ensues.
Our second skit has Chibi Sasuke and his Chibi Companions. That's unexpected. Sasuke is the straight man of this group, but that still doesn't stop him from dressing up in a two-piece swimsuit. There's no hope for anyone.
Score: 7.0, because Hinata calling for her "dog" Nejimaru-nee-sama is just too goddamn adorable.
8. Psycho-pass [10]: Everyone's starting to get suspicious of the chief, especially Kogami. This almost results in his demise, but Tsunemori thinks up something clever which only serves to piss off the chief further. I'm... not sure this is going to end well for anyone, in all honesty.
Score: 6.8, continues its second-half journey up the charts
9. Tamako Market [9]: Kyoani, you and your tans. This abusive little girl is going to be the end of that fat bird. Most of the humor in the episode came from her being upset at just how fat it has gotten. I guess that's not acceptable. To be fair, it's pretty fat. I always moderately enjoy the episodes as I'm watching them, but they're so forgettable about two days later. I feel like there should be a dock in the score for that but I'm not sure how much.
Score: 6.7
10. ZKC [8]: The Unlimited: Oh boy, a two-episode flashback (again, interrupting what was probably the best scene of the entire series to that point). Urge to kill... rising.
I thought we already learned how he got his scar, in a similar but not identical fashion. Well, I know to always take this studio at their word, that much is certain.
Score: 6.6
11. Mondaiji-tachi [12]: Satomi Arai playing a lecherous female character prowling the ladies' bath? That's totally unexpected (and totally awesome when Satomi Arai does it) - and even better when Izayoi starts up his analysis of the situation post-bath. I'm really starting to like him a lot.
Score: 6.4
I do want to give a shoutout here to the Puchim@su! Petit Idolmasters, or more specifically, how completely ridiculous Takane is in this thing. I used to be pretty sure Mikimiki was the best girl, but now I'm not so sure. (Azusa is wonderful also)
12. Shinsekai Yori [12]: Squealer, watching you die is going to be worth these 20 less than stellar episodes.
Score: 6.2
13. Good Job Club [13]: There's a new... thing in the club. I'm not sure what it is. Did I miss an episode last week? Well, stuffing her in a burlap sack works. I think that should become a running gag. Mail her to Abu Dhabi while you're at it. Nobody's done that in a while. Shion also needs to stop implying Megumi is fat. Apparently everyone is playing that game today. They broke her, the poor thing. She's the only one above 5 in the entire bunch.
This show and its hairbrushing, I just don't know.
Score: 5.5
14. Vividred Operation [15]: Ah, the old corpse-in-the fridge gag. Well, perhaps it's not an old gag, but who's counting. Akane and her three Vivid friends keep trying to tame Rei with the power of friendship, but it's just not working. Come on people, we know it's going to work in the end. You're not fooling anyone.
Score: 5.0
15. Maoyuu [14]: It was a struggle to stay awake through this one, so I had to watch it twice, and it was equally difficult the second time. Just know that Hero's got a plan to get one of the maids kidnapped and then rescue her (it will clear the Demon Queen's name, trust me on this), but this rescue will involve some hero antics. Female Knight is having none of that. She's going with him, because you don't tell Female Knight what to do. She's the only character I like more in the series than I do in the comics.
Score: 4.8
Posted by Anise_Punter | Feb 26, 2013 10:32 PM | 0 comments
February 20th, 2013
Winter 2013 Power Rankings, 2/20/13
These are a day late because Magi was a day late, but it was totally worth it. Half the shows reached the halfway point last week, the rest hit it this week. Still a couple weeks away from checking out the spring schedule.
1. Minami-ke 4 [last week: 1]: Another Hosakaless week (but he'll be there next week according to the preview). The mosquito bit was very cute, it reminds you that you are indeed watching the antics of three sisters and that you shouldn't expect too much. I don't feel like expecting Hosaka is expecting too much. Poor Uchida got pantsed and mercifully we didn't see any of it (this is a hint, Vividred).
Score: 9.6
2. Robotics;Notes [2]: Subaru's in the hospital and not dead, so that's a plus. This episode was mostly spent trying to break Aki's spirit... BUT AKI CANNOT BE BROKEN. She will fight on and always try to reach her goal and always show as much determination as humanly possible even though she's probably slightly autistic. That's why she's the best. Elsewhere, Kai was given an objective by Misa: to make sure NO ONE ELSE sees the Kimijima Reports. He is approached by an executive of Exoskeleton who he lies to repeatedly, and then downloads the final Kimijima Report... which causes the first six to be sent to every other tablet across the globe. Good job breaking it, Kai.
Score: 9.2
3. Toriko [3]: Livebearer is kind of nuts, but we knew that already. Will Coco's absurd gambit succeed? (Of course it will, this is television) What exactly was his master plan in the first place? (pretty goddamn spectacular) Will the studio keep using stock footage of Komatsu looking shocked? (DBZ would be proud). I'm definitely looking forward to seeing Livebearer get his comeuppance next week, the creep. A couple of one-offs will follow, and then the Shokurin Temple arc, which was another good one.
Score: 8.2
4. Little Busters [5]: Kud is adorable, though this episode did not do a particularly good job of showing just how adorable she can be. Still, it was a Kud episode, so it is approved.
Score: 7.8
5.Tomodachi Sukunai NEXT [4]: After a long run of successes, you'd figure they'd throw a meh episode in there, and this week they did, for the most part, ridiculous tsun-tsun maid Rika excepted. I'm really tired of Yozora being an angsty shrew this season; the show would be much better if she just stuck to lying to Sena about SEXY BEAM fortunes (oh god, that scene). I've never really been all that fond of Sena either, except when she's totally grossing out Kobato. I love those scenes.
Score: 7.7
6. Magi [6]: God dammit Sinbad. I thought Morgiana was going to claim the week for herself with those metal claws of death and that expression (those expressions, how do you keep making them?), but then Sinbad decided that he would just be Sinbad and completely dominated the rest of the episode. That Kou empire princess returns and claims, in front of all of Sinbad's generals, that Sinbad did highly inappropriate things to her. Sinbad's generals TOTALLY BELIEVE THIS. That's quite a reputation you've got there, king of Sindria. Eventually everything is cleared up and the Kou empire princess is highly embarrassed, but Sinbad's reputation is still kind of a mess.
Score: 7.6
7. Rock Lee [8]: Chibi Jiraiya has arrived, so you know things are about to get completely ridiculous - first though, a peeping episode, which is like our sixth through 46 weeks. Nobody wants to see Sakura and Tenten without any clothes on.
Score: 6.9
8. ZKC: Unlimited [7] - We go through 20 minutes of boring last week to set up a really interesting conclusion and we follow it up with... TWO EPISODE MOMENTUM KILLING FLASHBACK. Oh, and it's Tsubomi-centric, who I've never particularly liked. This studio really knows how to not make shows.
Score: 6.8
9. Tamako Market [9]: It's too hot, so to cure the heat, we'll set up a Tamakotastic haunted house. Things to note are that Tamako's professor is a big scaredy cat, the bird really, really likes hanging out with glasses/zusa and one of Tamako's friends whose name I never bothered to learn is actually quite dubious, but not in the gross Rika way. One of Dera's countrymen is showing up next week, but of course, this is Japan, so it's a 13-year old girl with a tan.
Score: 6.7
10. Psycho-pass [10]: Okay, I'm officially on the Makishima bandwagon now, and I bet a whole lot of other people are too. While we've seen brains in jars before (and oftentimes with more Yukari Tamura), and it never works, it was a tad different to see the ostensible villain say "Okay, this plan is totally f-ed up, let's put a stop to it. Now we've effectively got three competing factions, which is again nothing new, but certainly makes this show a lot more interesting. It's had a much better second half run than the first half.
Score: 6.5
11. Shinsekai Yori [11]: Saki and Satoru have gotten the fiend off their tracks... for the time being. They make it back to the village... but they've been discovered again. Is anybody going to live through this series? I kind of hope not, but I do hope they put an end to that firkin rat-guy first.
Score: 6.1
12. Mondaiji-tachi [12]: In case you forgot, Izayoi is kind of an ass. That's okay though, he's a lot more interesting than the other two. This week he gets caught up in a fight with the Kurousagi, who seems to be an even match for him, despite the fact that he's been beating the hell out of water gods and what have you for about a month now. What gives with that, people?
Score: 6.1
13. Good Job Club [13]: I'd say this was the best episode of this show so far without much contest. Kyoro takes the irritating orange-haired one out (while she's acting like his little sister and calling him onii-chan &c), and then they visit her house, where her maid continues to be awesome. There's apparently a third sister, younger than the first two (but still about Mao's size), and she's up to no good either.
Score: 5.4
14. Maoyuu [15]: Miyuki Sawashiro can't help but be awesome (it's been a long time since Mint Blancmanche, she gets a pass), which is something this show desperately needs. Awesomeness, I mean, not Mint. Hero has the opportunity for a true harem end looking right at him, but he's so bland his name is Hero (though he's still got more of a personality than Little Busters' Riki).
Score: 5.2
15. Vividred Operation [14]: This episode came about eight years too early considering how young they are. They definitely need to cut down on the Akane Butt Factor by about 30-fold. How all of them fell for such an obvious prank is kind of unsettling, but not as unsettling as the ferret grandfather tranquilizing a 13-year old girl with a blowdart (note: had I said "What country is a show where this happened from?" and then only wrote that sentence, it would be pretty obvious). So again, nix the Akanebutt, and have an episode eight years into the future mostly with Himawari. I think we can build on this, people.
Score: 5.0
1. Minami-ke 4 [last week: 1]: Another Hosakaless week (but he'll be there next week according to the preview). The mosquito bit was very cute, it reminds you that you are indeed watching the antics of three sisters and that you shouldn't expect too much. I don't feel like expecting Hosaka is expecting too much. Poor Uchida got pantsed and mercifully we didn't see any of it (this is a hint, Vividred).
Score: 9.6
2. Robotics;Notes [2]: Subaru's in the hospital and not dead, so that's a plus. This episode was mostly spent trying to break Aki's spirit... BUT AKI CANNOT BE BROKEN. She will fight on and always try to reach her goal and always show as much determination as humanly possible even though she's probably slightly autistic. That's why she's the best. Elsewhere, Kai was given an objective by Misa: to make sure NO ONE ELSE sees the Kimijima Reports. He is approached by an executive of Exoskeleton who he lies to repeatedly, and then downloads the final Kimijima Report... which causes the first six to be sent to every other tablet across the globe. Good job breaking it, Kai.
Score: 9.2
3. Toriko [3]: Livebearer is kind of nuts, but we knew that already. Will Coco's absurd gambit succeed? (Of course it will, this is television) What exactly was his master plan in the first place? (pretty goddamn spectacular) Will the studio keep using stock footage of Komatsu looking shocked? (DBZ would be proud). I'm definitely looking forward to seeing Livebearer get his comeuppance next week, the creep. A couple of one-offs will follow, and then the Shokurin Temple arc, which was another good one.
Score: 8.2
4. Little Busters [5]: Kud is adorable, though this episode did not do a particularly good job of showing just how adorable she can be. Still, it was a Kud episode, so it is approved.
Score: 7.8
5.Tomodachi Sukunai NEXT [4]: After a long run of successes, you'd figure they'd throw a meh episode in there, and this week they did, for the most part, ridiculous tsun-tsun maid Rika excepted. I'm really tired of Yozora being an angsty shrew this season; the show would be much better if she just stuck to lying to Sena about SEXY BEAM fortunes (oh god, that scene). I've never really been all that fond of Sena either, except when she's totally grossing out Kobato. I love those scenes.
Score: 7.7
6. Magi [6]: God dammit Sinbad. I thought Morgiana was going to claim the week for herself with those metal claws of death and that expression (those expressions, how do you keep making them?), but then Sinbad decided that he would just be Sinbad and completely dominated the rest of the episode. That Kou empire princess returns and claims, in front of all of Sinbad's generals, that Sinbad did highly inappropriate things to her. Sinbad's generals TOTALLY BELIEVE THIS. That's quite a reputation you've got there, king of Sindria. Eventually everything is cleared up and the Kou empire princess is highly embarrassed, but Sinbad's reputation is still kind of a mess.
Score: 7.6
7. Rock Lee [8]: Chibi Jiraiya has arrived, so you know things are about to get completely ridiculous - first though, a peeping episode, which is like our sixth through 46 weeks. Nobody wants to see Sakura and Tenten without any clothes on.
Score: 6.9
8. ZKC: Unlimited [7] - We go through 20 minutes of boring last week to set up a really interesting conclusion and we follow it up with... TWO EPISODE MOMENTUM KILLING FLASHBACK. Oh, and it's Tsubomi-centric, who I've never particularly liked. This studio really knows how to not make shows.
Score: 6.8
9. Tamako Market [9]: It's too hot, so to cure the heat, we'll set up a Tamakotastic haunted house. Things to note are that Tamako's professor is a big scaredy cat, the bird really, really likes hanging out with glasses/zusa and one of Tamako's friends whose name I never bothered to learn is actually quite dubious, but not in the gross Rika way. One of Dera's countrymen is showing up next week, but of course, this is Japan, so it's a 13-year old girl with a tan.
Score: 6.7
10. Psycho-pass [10]: Okay, I'm officially on the Makishima bandwagon now, and I bet a whole lot of other people are too. While we've seen brains in jars before (and oftentimes with more Yukari Tamura), and it never works, it was a tad different to see the ostensible villain say "Okay, this plan is totally f-ed up, let's put a stop to it. Now we've effectively got three competing factions, which is again nothing new, but certainly makes this show a lot more interesting. It's had a much better second half run than the first half.
Score: 6.5
11. Shinsekai Yori [11]: Saki and Satoru have gotten the fiend off their tracks... for the time being. They make it back to the village... but they've been discovered again. Is anybody going to live through this series? I kind of hope not, but I do hope they put an end to that firkin rat-guy first.
Score: 6.1
12. Mondaiji-tachi [12]: In case you forgot, Izayoi is kind of an ass. That's okay though, he's a lot more interesting than the other two. This week he gets caught up in a fight with the Kurousagi, who seems to be an even match for him, despite the fact that he's been beating the hell out of water gods and what have you for about a month now. What gives with that, people?
Score: 6.1
13. Good Job Club [13]: I'd say this was the best episode of this show so far without much contest. Kyoro takes the irritating orange-haired one out (while she's acting like his little sister and calling him onii-chan &c), and then they visit her house, where her maid continues to be awesome. There's apparently a third sister, younger than the first two (but still about Mao's size), and she's up to no good either.
Score: 5.4
14. Maoyuu [15]: Miyuki Sawashiro can't help but be awesome (it's been a long time since Mint Blancmanche, she gets a pass), which is something this show desperately needs. Awesomeness, I mean, not Mint. Hero has the opportunity for a true harem end looking right at him, but he's so bland his name is Hero (though he's still got more of a personality than Little Busters' Riki).
Score: 5.2
15. Vividred Operation [14]: This episode came about eight years too early considering how young they are. They definitely need to cut down on the Akane Butt Factor by about 30-fold. How all of them fell for such an obvious prank is kind of unsettling, but not as unsettling as the ferret grandfather tranquilizing a 13-year old girl with a blowdart (note: had I said "What country is a show where this happened from?" and then only wrote that sentence, it would be pretty obvious). So again, nix the Akanebutt, and have an episode eight years into the future mostly with Himawari. I think we can build on this, people.
Score: 5.0
Posted by Anise_Punter | Feb 20, 2013 10:45 PM | 0 comments
February 13th, 2013
Winter Power Rankings week of 2/13/13
Anime Relations: Toriko
I didn't get to some of these shows until late, what with the blizzard and accmpanying power outage / internets outage, so these are a day late. My apologies.
1. Minami-ke 4 [last week: 1]: Well, there was some world-class Harukaservice this week (stamp of approval), but also a total lack of Hosaka. People need to understand that he is the man who will lead this show to greatness.
Score: 9.7
2. Robotics;Notes [2]: This one was... different, but you kind of got the feeling that it was coming as soon as you saw the cold open. It was a far cry from last week's SKIPPED CHRISTMAS AKI (still bitter, people). Is everyone going to get killed off? I hope not, I'm bizarrely attached to these terrible people.
Score: 8.9
3. Toriko [3]: In the gourmet age, there exists a pumpkin whose innards have the forms of edible but usable playing cards - the Trumpskin. This show, sometimes I just have to shake my head at it. I love how serious this show can pretend to get sometimes. It's a Dragonball Z style episode cut-off where "Cell is about to kill Piccolo" except instead of that it's "Toriko has to eat a cherry packed with nitroglycerin." Totally the same thing, guys.
Score: 8.3
4. Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai NEXT [5]: Kodaka, haven't you learned that asking gross blonde girls with twin-tails to build giant robots is a recipe for disaster? Okay, she only used that style for two minutes, but still. Rika continues to be her very... Rika self this week, which is generally when the show is at its best.
Score: 7.8
5. Little Busters [4]: Everybody feel bad for Kanata, she's had it rough too, which totally makes it okay for her to have such a dreadful personality except for that it doesn't. Anyways, Riki solved the Haruka/Kanata problem, which means next week is a Kud-o-sode. Prepare yourselves for adorableness and facepalms.
Score: 7.8
6. Magi [6]: Morgiana was all like "Wtf, you're going to change your profile picture to one of Kona being instead of me, I'm going to do something about that." She's a peach, that one. 98 percent of the time she's all business, which makes those lapses out of character just so silly. In things that relate to the plot, the gang arrives at Sindria, the country ruled by Sinbad. He knows what he's doing, don't worry. He's got his eight generals and what appears to be a harem, so yeah, he's got it all together. Don't question Sinbad. One of the Kou empire royal children is coming to study in Sindria and temporarily join the group, but it's not the Kanahana one, it's some other one. Their loss.
Score: 7.4
7. ZKC Unlimited [7]: It was about 17 minutes of back and forth with Hinomiya before things finally got interesting at the very end when he was confronted by Hyoubu, who is... upset, to say the least. Next week should be a lot of fun, but this week wasn't.
Score: 7.0
8. Rock Lee [8]: Rock Lee gives no heed to political correctness and will make fun of your gambling problems in a skit if he has to. You go, Rock Lee.
Score: 6.9
9. Tamako Market [9]: Poor what's his mochi. He'll never win Tamako's heart as long as she's mentally still 11. The guy even has that fat bird mocking him. That's never a situation you want to find yourself in. He needs to just up and confess already, so we can move on.
Score: 6.8
10. Psychopass [10]: Kogami takes on Makishima Shogo, and since there are six episodes left after this, he gets his butt kicked. That's not nearly enough time to introduce a new villain, so this round goes to Shogo. I liked the music that played during that scene.
Score: 6.4
11. Shinsekai Yori [11]: Everything dies. You'd think an episode of nothing but exploding people would appeal to me, but I dunno, I guess I've just given up here. Psychopass did exploding people better anyways.
Score: 6.2
12. Mondaiji-tachi [12]: Well, that episode was a lot of fun. Izayoi kicked some ass and tickled some Black Rabbit, and then kicked some more ass. He's growing on me, I'll admit it. The other two helped out but weren't really the focus at all. I can't say that I've learned their names (animal girl and rich girl) This is how these episodes should be. Definitely some separation between this and the three below it.
Score: 6.0
13. Good Job Club [15]: This was cruising for a drop into the 4s until the maid showed up to deliver the chocolates and stop the Kyoro abuse. You can always count on a proper maid to make things better.
Score: 5.3
14. Vividred Operation [14]: We didn't have any actual docking this week. What the hell guys? You got in your weekly quota of buttshots, but no docking? What am I supposed to look forward to in this show every week?
Score: 5.3
15. Maoyuu [13]: Just being dull. Nothing offensive, just dull. There wasn't even any hug pillow action to keep my interest.
Score: 5.2
1. Minami-ke 4 [last week: 1]: Well, there was some world-class Harukaservice this week (stamp of approval), but also a total lack of Hosaka. People need to understand that he is the man who will lead this show to greatness.
Score: 9.7
2. Robotics;Notes [2]: This one was... different, but you kind of got the feeling that it was coming as soon as you saw the cold open. It was a far cry from last week's SKIPPED CHRISTMAS AKI (still bitter, people). Is everyone going to get killed off? I hope not, I'm bizarrely attached to these terrible people.
Score: 8.9
3. Toriko [3]: In the gourmet age, there exists a pumpkin whose innards have the forms of edible but usable playing cards - the Trumpskin. This show, sometimes I just have to shake my head at it. I love how serious this show can pretend to get sometimes. It's a Dragonball Z style episode cut-off where "Cell is about to kill Piccolo" except instead of that it's "Toriko has to eat a cherry packed with nitroglycerin." Totally the same thing, guys.
Score: 8.3
4. Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai NEXT [5]: Kodaka, haven't you learned that asking gross blonde girls with twin-tails to build giant robots is a recipe for disaster? Okay, she only used that style for two minutes, but still. Rika continues to be her very... Rika self this week, which is generally when the show is at its best.
Score: 7.8
5. Little Busters [4]: Everybody feel bad for Kanata, she's had it rough too, which totally makes it okay for her to have such a dreadful personality except for that it doesn't. Anyways, Riki solved the Haruka/Kanata problem, which means next week is a Kud-o-sode. Prepare yourselves for adorableness and facepalms.
Score: 7.8
6. Magi [6]: Morgiana was all like "Wtf, you're going to change your profile picture to one of Kona being instead of me, I'm going to do something about that." She's a peach, that one. 98 percent of the time she's all business, which makes those lapses out of character just so silly. In things that relate to the plot, the gang arrives at Sindria, the country ruled by Sinbad. He knows what he's doing, don't worry. He's got his eight generals and what appears to be a harem, so yeah, he's got it all together. Don't question Sinbad. One of the Kou empire royal children is coming to study in Sindria and temporarily join the group, but it's not the Kanahana one, it's some other one. Their loss.
Score: 7.4
7. ZKC Unlimited [7]: It was about 17 minutes of back and forth with Hinomiya before things finally got interesting at the very end when he was confronted by Hyoubu, who is... upset, to say the least. Next week should be a lot of fun, but this week wasn't.
Score: 7.0
8. Rock Lee [8]: Rock Lee gives no heed to political correctness and will make fun of your gambling problems in a skit if he has to. You go, Rock Lee.
Score: 6.9
9. Tamako Market [9]: Poor what's his mochi. He'll never win Tamako's heart as long as she's mentally still 11. The guy even has that fat bird mocking him. That's never a situation you want to find yourself in. He needs to just up and confess already, so we can move on.
Score: 6.8
10. Psychopass [10]: Kogami takes on Makishima Shogo, and since there are six episodes left after this, he gets his butt kicked. That's not nearly enough time to introduce a new villain, so this round goes to Shogo. I liked the music that played during that scene.
Score: 6.4
11. Shinsekai Yori [11]: Everything dies. You'd think an episode of nothing but exploding people would appeal to me, but I dunno, I guess I've just given up here. Psychopass did exploding people better anyways.
Score: 6.2
12. Mondaiji-tachi [12]: Well, that episode was a lot of fun. Izayoi kicked some ass and tickled some Black Rabbit, and then kicked some more ass. He's growing on me, I'll admit it. The other two helped out but weren't really the focus at all. I can't say that I've learned their names (animal girl and rich girl) This is how these episodes should be. Definitely some separation between this and the three below it.
Score: 6.0
13. Good Job Club [15]: This was cruising for a drop into the 4s until the maid showed up to deliver the chocolates and stop the Kyoro abuse. You can always count on a proper maid to make things better.
Score: 5.3
14. Vividred Operation [14]: We didn't have any actual docking this week. What the hell guys? You got in your weekly quota of buttshots, but no docking? What am I supposed to look forward to in this show every week?
Score: 5.3
15. Maoyuu [13]: Just being dull. Nothing offensive, just dull. There wasn't even any hug pillow action to keep my interest.
Score: 5.2
Posted by Anise_Punter | Feb 13, 2013 4:26 PM | 0 comments
February 8th, 2013
Winter 2013 Power Rankings 2/7/13
Anime Relations: Minami-ke Tadaima, Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai Next
These are late. I know. There was a funeral. There's also a big snowstorm. You wanna fight about it?
1. Minami-ke [last week: 1]: Fujioka took off his shirt and got sparkles. Oh god, it's contagious. RUN FOR YOUR LIVES. THERE WILL BE NO SURVIVORS.
Chiaki jump rope -> splat. Could watch that over and over. In fact, I did. Poor Chiaki.
Who would give Uchida fireworks? That sounds like the worst idea ever. She can't even tell you what time it is without spilling her drink all over herself (this actually happened), and you trust her with fireworks? Another beach episode next week. There'd better be some Haruka (and some Hosaka) in it.
Score: 9.6
2. Robotics;Notes [2]: I was utterly disappointed this week when I was promised CHRISTMAS AKIHO and IT WAS SKIPPED. Why would you not want to take a step closer to greatness? Why would you make that decision? They completely ignored the entire ending from last week, when it could have been comedy gold. That's a JC Staff move, people.
Score: 9.0
3. Toriko [3]: The fight against Livebearer reaches the heart of the match... and Livebearer is dominating! Coco must have some sort of plan [spoilers, he has a plan, and it is spectacular], or he and the rest of the gang are going to lose all of their memories. If he does have a plan... it involves Toriko facing off (and presumably eating, because Toriko) a 25-foot tall panda.
Score: 8.2
4. Little Busters [4]: The Haruka/Kanata arc is an improvement over the Nishizono arc, to be sure, but I'm not sure Kanata could be less likable if she was even trying. I'm sure we'll be forced to forgive all her transgressions through the power of friendship, but I mean, I would much rather see someone tell her off.
Score: 7.9
5. Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai NEXT [5]: That roller-coaster scene was all sorts of awesome. Kobato telling the roller coaster to bring it on; Yukimura doing Yukimura things... Rika... yeah. Rika's something else. And then Sena and Yozora rode it again (eight times!) while everyone else toured the rest of the amusement park. This show certainly gets away with quite a bit. And that was before the bath scene, where Yukimura's terrifying secret was revealed. Kodaka could have ended up a lot more broken in that scene than he actually got.
Score: 7.6
6. Magi [6]: It's time to enter the body of the black djinn and save Kassim's soul (he's already no longer with us) and hear his complaints regarding human nature and all, or we could watch 90 seconds of Sinbad being a total badass and decapitating a guy from Al-Samen. They definitely should have done that the other way. A new arc begins next week - hopefully it has a lot of Sinbad being awesome.
Score: 7.3
7. ZKC: Unlimited [7]: It's a... Yugiri episode this week. Why focus on Hyoubu when he's the titular character and the only interesting one? That would be pretty silly. Instead we're reminded that people just don't like espers, even 5-year old girl espers.
Score: 7.1
8. Rock Lee [8]: It's an oni adventure, where Rock Lee loses his pants (also known as Tuesday) and he loses them to Orochimaru. There's also chibi rapping Killer Bee, because why not? Nobody ever went wrong with chibi rappers, other than everyone who has ever tried it ever.
Score: 6.9
9. Tamako Market [9]: This week, it's time to watch Tamako's little sister be cute. That was pretty much the whole episode. It works better than Tamako, so it's a start. There was even a surprising little twist in there. I also like how that firkin bird totally blew poor Anko's cover.
I wish What's-his-mochi would just confess to Tamako already.
Score: 6.7
10. Psychopass [11]: And we have reached the point of Complete Societal Collapse. That Shogo's a crafty one. All sorts of helmeted people causing crimes around the city, people have lost faith in the Sibyl System, and all of these riots have all the enforcers out of their posts. The bad guy's going to use this diversion to take out the Sibyl System once and for all. Or he might be the good guy here, I forget. Continues its move up, less because of what it's doing, and more because of what other shows are doing.
Score: 6.4
11. Shinsekai Yori [10]: Are we starting the genocide yet? This show, amongst all the shows this season, could use a hefty helping of genoocide. Hallucinations, too. Plenty of those to go around, I think.
Score: 6.4
12. Mondaiji-tachi [14]: It only takes a little bit of effort to flip yourself up to the top of the bottom tier. This week it was this show's turn, mostly thanks to that two-minute segment at Kuroko-sounding demon's place where everyone laid claim to ownership of Kuro-usagi like she was some sort of thing. She was displeased by this.
Score: 5.8
13. Maoyuu [12]: Hero returns from his dallying, finally giving Demon King that companionship she desperately needs. She'll never say that though, she'd much rather just imply it and spend time with her Hero Hug Pillow. (that thing never stops making me laugh)
Score: 5.6
14. Vividred Operation [13]: So can Isshiki just make an infinite amount of keys? Why not make an entire 14-year-old girl army while she's at it? They make sure to let you know that Yellow is the bosomy one, whatever low bar that is - and that's she's got NAKED COLLIDA to fight these robot things with. Do they find their rival magical girl next week? Is the docking different if Red kisses Yellow on the forehead, like Bobopatch vs Patchbobo? This is very important. What if blue and green dock together? What if red, blue AND green dock without yellow? You could have red dock with blue and then THAT dock with green, or red dock with green and then that dock with blue, or... well, there's like 24 different permutations, but only 12 episodes, so we'll never know.
Score: 5.6
15. Good Job Club [15]: Kyouya, you are a man after my own heart. I just wish your show was funny. Maids on motorcycles is certainly noteworthy, but the show just isn't making me laugh. Maybe I've just watched too many club-does-nothing shows.
Score: 5.5
1. Minami-ke [last week: 1]: Fujioka took off his shirt and got sparkles. Oh god, it's contagious. RUN FOR YOUR LIVES. THERE WILL BE NO SURVIVORS.
Chiaki jump rope -> splat. Could watch that over and over. In fact, I did. Poor Chiaki.
Who would give Uchida fireworks? That sounds like the worst idea ever. She can't even tell you what time it is without spilling her drink all over herself (this actually happened), and you trust her with fireworks? Another beach episode next week. There'd better be some Haruka (and some Hosaka) in it.
Score: 9.6
2. Robotics;Notes [2]: I was utterly disappointed this week when I was promised CHRISTMAS AKIHO and IT WAS SKIPPED. Why would you not want to take a step closer to greatness? Why would you make that decision? They completely ignored the entire ending from last week, when it could have been comedy gold. That's a JC Staff move, people.
Score: 9.0
3. Toriko [3]: The fight against Livebearer reaches the heart of the match... and Livebearer is dominating! Coco must have some sort of plan [spoilers, he has a plan, and it is spectacular], or he and the rest of the gang are going to lose all of their memories. If he does have a plan... it involves Toriko facing off (and presumably eating, because Toriko) a 25-foot tall panda.
Score: 8.2
4. Little Busters [4]: The Haruka/Kanata arc is an improvement over the Nishizono arc, to be sure, but I'm not sure Kanata could be less likable if she was even trying. I'm sure we'll be forced to forgive all her transgressions through the power of friendship, but I mean, I would much rather see someone tell her off.
Score: 7.9
5. Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai NEXT [5]: That roller-coaster scene was all sorts of awesome. Kobato telling the roller coaster to bring it on; Yukimura doing Yukimura things... Rika... yeah. Rika's something else. And then Sena and Yozora rode it again (eight times!) while everyone else toured the rest of the amusement park. This show certainly gets away with quite a bit. And that was before the bath scene, where Yukimura's terrifying secret was revealed. Kodaka could have ended up a lot more broken in that scene than he actually got.
Score: 7.6
6. Magi [6]: It's time to enter the body of the black djinn and save Kassim's soul (he's already no longer with us) and hear his complaints regarding human nature and all, or we could watch 90 seconds of Sinbad being a total badass and decapitating a guy from Al-Samen. They definitely should have done that the other way. A new arc begins next week - hopefully it has a lot of Sinbad being awesome.
Score: 7.3
7. ZKC: Unlimited [7]: It's a... Yugiri episode this week. Why focus on Hyoubu when he's the titular character and the only interesting one? That would be pretty silly. Instead we're reminded that people just don't like espers, even 5-year old girl espers.
Score: 7.1
8. Rock Lee [8]: It's an oni adventure, where Rock Lee loses his pants (also known as Tuesday) and he loses them to Orochimaru. There's also chibi rapping Killer Bee, because why not? Nobody ever went wrong with chibi rappers, other than everyone who has ever tried it ever.
Score: 6.9
9. Tamako Market [9]: This week, it's time to watch Tamako's little sister be cute. That was pretty much the whole episode. It works better than Tamako, so it's a start. There was even a surprising little twist in there. I also like how that firkin bird totally blew poor Anko's cover.
I wish What's-his-mochi would just confess to Tamako already.
Score: 6.7
10. Psychopass [11]: And we have reached the point of Complete Societal Collapse. That Shogo's a crafty one. All sorts of helmeted people causing crimes around the city, people have lost faith in the Sibyl System, and all of these riots have all the enforcers out of their posts. The bad guy's going to use this diversion to take out the Sibyl System once and for all. Or he might be the good guy here, I forget. Continues its move up, less because of what it's doing, and more because of what other shows are doing.
Score: 6.4
11. Shinsekai Yori [10]: Are we starting the genocide yet? This show, amongst all the shows this season, could use a hefty helping of genoocide. Hallucinations, too. Plenty of those to go around, I think.
Score: 6.4
12. Mondaiji-tachi [14]: It only takes a little bit of effort to flip yourself up to the top of the bottom tier. This week it was this show's turn, mostly thanks to that two-minute segment at Kuroko-sounding demon's place where everyone laid claim to ownership of Kuro-usagi like she was some sort of thing. She was displeased by this.
Score: 5.8
13. Maoyuu [12]: Hero returns from his dallying, finally giving Demon King that companionship she desperately needs. She'll never say that though, she'd much rather just imply it and spend time with her Hero Hug Pillow. (that thing never stops making me laugh)
Score: 5.6
14. Vividred Operation [13]: So can Isshiki just make an infinite amount of keys? Why not make an entire 14-year-old girl army while she's at it? They make sure to let you know that Yellow is the bosomy one, whatever low bar that is - and that's she's got NAKED COLLIDA to fight these robot things with. Do they find their rival magical girl next week? Is the docking different if Red kisses Yellow on the forehead, like Bobopatch vs Patchbobo? This is very important. What if blue and green dock together? What if red, blue AND green dock without yellow? You could have red dock with blue and then THAT dock with green, or red dock with green and then that dock with blue, or... well, there's like 24 different permutations, but only 12 episodes, so we'll never know.
Score: 5.6
15. Good Job Club [15]: Kyouya, you are a man after my own heart. I just wish your show was funny. Maids on motorcycles is certainly noteworthy, but the show just isn't making me laugh. Maybe I've just watched too many club-does-nothing shows.
Score: 5.5
Posted by Anise_Punter | Feb 8, 2013 1:37 PM | 0 comments