http://myanimelist.net/blog/DashiawiaMyAnimeList.net Blogs http://myanimelist.net/blog.php?eid=728339 As with last season, I'll be picking up several titles for this season. Here are my thoughts on the series I have seen. DAL- Seems awfully generic from first episode alone. Has the potential to be a decent show but I doubt it. It'll probably remain as my guilty pleasure for this season. Oh well, at least the character designs are cute. Update: Still generic as fuck; don't know why I'm still watching this... Devil Survivor 2- Promising first episode. The premise, while not innovative, still holds potential to be entertaining. Characters are likable for the most part as well. Update: Getting a bit stale; still a fun watch nonetheless. Hataraku Maou-sama- Hilarious comedy, along with affable characters. It's also likely to turn into a romantic comedy. This is definitely my cup of tea so far. Update: Characters continue to be highly entertaining and the comedy is still awesome. Yuusha's love-hate relationship with Maou also holds promise. Shingeki- As a fan of the manga, this is my most anticipated series for the season. While hype usually results in disappointment when the show fails to meet the high expectations, this adaptation has been stellar thus far. I daresay the anime has surpassed the source material based on what's been presented. If this keeps up, this will surely solidify itself as the best anime of the season. Oregairu- Pretty decent show. Definitely enjoyable despite the lack of originality. Looks like this will focus on interactions between characters as opposed to a progressive plot. Should be good as long as the characters stay entertaining. Update: It's turning out to be more original than I initially predicted. I'm really liking Hachiman's cynical way of thinking. Karneval- I'm generally not a fan of bishounen in shoujo anime. The premise is a bit similar to Pandora Hearts'. However, the characters are mostly bland and uninteresting (particularly the protagonist, Nai). I doubt it will be anything more than an average series, so I'm dropping it. Oreimo 2- Really enjoyed season one, so there's no reason for me to not watch this. So far season 2 has been pretty decent, albeit not quite as entertaining as the first season imo. Update: It's progressively becoming more enjoyable with each passing episode. Samurai Bride- Didn't enjoy the first season very much, finished it only on a whim. Don't really want to continue the sequel. First episode was pretty dumb imo. Aku no Hana- Ouch, my eyes! This is by far the worst animation I've ever seen in any anime. And as if that's not horrible enough, the pacing is slower than a snail. Needless to say, I'm not going to bother with this show if the animators have no intention of putting in any effort on this project. Nyaruko-san W- I half enjoyed season one due to Nyaruko being a fun character, but at the same time, I felt that the jokes got progressively repetitive. Season 2 gives me the vibes that it will go on to become a generic harem. Don't really want to watch more. Gargantia- Good premise. It's turning out to be a very interesting show. I wonder how "dark" it will get. In all honesty, I wouldn't mind if it turns out to be a serene series with good characters. Update: The world-building is pretty neat, hopefully it will amount to something good. Railgun S- Pretty decent pilot episode. Should become progressively more enjoyable when more characters from Index show up, particularly Accelerator. Update: Totally hyped for the Sisters arc. Hentai Ouji- Seems pretty generic and does not leave me with a great impression. The perverted comedy isn't all that classy either. With that being said, it's a ridiculously cute show, so I would be pretty hard pressed to drop this. Update: It's becoming more entertaining with recent developments. I hope it can maintain it. Valvrave- Generic mecha + Gundam Seed/Code Geass rip-off. There's really nothing original about this show (besides the lol vampire shenanigan). Yet, I can't help but admit I kinda enjoyed it. It definitely won't be anything groundbreaking, but it should be another fine guilty pleasure. Sat, 06 Apr 2013 22:17:11 -0700 http://myanimelist.net/blog.php?eid=722177 To sum up my thoughts on the current airing anime, I have categorized each anime into a temporary ranking. Keep in mind this ranking is only subjective and is likely to change as new episodes are aired. Great (8/10): - HxH - Shingeki no Kyojin Good (7/10): - Hataraku Maou-sama - Chihayafuru 2 - Railgun S Decent (6/10): - Oregairu - Oreimo 2 - Gargantia - Devil Survivor 2 Average (5/10): - Hentai Ouji - Karneval - Nyaruko-san W Bad (4/10) - Valvrave - DAL - Hyakka Ryouran: Samurai Bride Revolting (1/10) - Aku no Hana Top 5 1) HxH 2) Shingeki no Kyojin 3) Hataraku Maou-sama 4) Chihayafuru 2 5) Railgun S Fri, 11 Jan 2013 14:54:31 -0800 http://myanimelist.net/blog.php?eid=722054 Looking at this season's PVs, I must say I'm a bit disappointed by the lineup. Other than Haganai 2, Chihayafuru 2, and Maoyuu, I'm not exactly hyped about the rest. And because of that, I'm only going to follow a handful of shows from this season, ones that I feel I will be able to enjoy. Give me a heads up if you guys have encountered something noteworthy, though. I'm always open to suggestions. :) Here is a list of all the shows I'm currently following from this season. 1) Maoyuu - Looks like a promising title from the pilot episode alone. I haven't read far into the manga but I do recall the first few chapters to be quite entertaining (albeit a little lengthy). The character interaction reminds me of Spice and Wolf's, which is a good thing as I loved that particular series. In addition, the character designs look quite attractive as well. Update: This is going downhill fast. The romance is nowhere close to being well developed and I can't say the plot is anything great either. Overall, this show simply lacks flair. 2) OreShura - Seems to be a typical love triangle story, yet the characters are pretty entertaining to watch. It likely won't be anything great, but it should be an enjoyable title to watch as long as you don't hold high expectations for it. Update: Still trite, but enjoyable. It's like a poor man's Chuunibyou without the quirky comedy. 3) Tamako Market - Not really interesting. Seems to be another slice of life with no flavour to it. KyoAni should stick to romance/drama titles. Dropped after episode 3. 4) Kotoura-san - A surprisingly enjoyable rom-com hits the scene again. Really didn't expect much out of this when I saw the PV, as the character designs looked weird to me. Very glad I picked this up though, because its first episode is quite possibly the best first episode of the season. Update: Unfortunately, it went downhill quickly after the promising start. Too much focus on perverted comedy and not enough emphasis on the romance is clearly hurting it. 5) Sasami-san - Not sure what I just watched. Way too random and pointless most of the time, and the jokes aren't very funny. By far the worst title I've seen from Shaft. Dropped after episode 5. 6) Haganai 2 - A very nice first episode to start. Characters are just as likable as they were in season one, and the animation has shown some improvements too. Overall very enjoyable. Update: The comedy really has been great, it's subjectively a really fun watch. I only wish it would focus on the romance more instead of staying solely as a harem. 7) Chihayafuru 2 - My most anticipated anime this season hands down. Season one is great for me because of the amazing mix of drama and comedy, along with an equally impressive cast of characters. Based on first impressions, season two is looking to be as enjoyable as season one. Definitely my favorite show of the season. Update: Still as heartwarming as ever. I can't wait to see Arata back in action again. 8) Mondaiji-tachi - A fantasy show with some cool/cute characters. It's proving itself to be much more entertaining than I originally expected. Update: Izayoi really is a BAMF main character, and Kurousagi is cute as hell. The plot is fairly generic, but the characters easily make up for that. Hoping to see another season. 9) Zettai Karen Children: The Unlimited - A pretty badass show so far, although nothing too impressive. Update: It's quickly proving itself to be a fairly decent title. Hyoubu's hatred for the humans is quite justified after seeing his past life. 10) GJ-bu - Average slice of life for me. None of the characters are original nor are they especially interesting. Dropped after episode 2. Wed, 09 Jan 2013 11:13:02 -0800 http://myanimelist.net/blog.php?eid=718751 Hey guys, this is my first blog entry, so forgive me if you find any mistakes. Anyway, I'll be sharing my opinion on the shows I'm enjoying this season. Feel free to comment and tell me what shows you like! 1) Chuunibyou - Simply put, this series has been enjoyable in every way possible. I'm usually not too fond of moe in general, but this show was an exception. The characters are likable and all have their own quirks. The comedy is consistently funny and they don't get old either. The current story has been great, they actually managed to mix in romance without spoiling the comedy aspect. This is a good example of moe done right. Unless it ends terribly, this will surely be my favorite show of the season. 2) My Little Monster - Quite bluntly the best Shoujo anime I have seen thus far (not including Josei). This romantic-comedy series offers great characters, hilarious comedy, and heartwarming moments. I'm also especially attached to the female lead, as she's someone who differs from the generic Shoujo protagonist; she's more independent than most girls in Shoujo, not to mention she has this apathetic aura about her that makes her "cool". The male lead is a fun character for the most part, although sometimes his behaviours are questionable. What I really like about the show though is that the side characters are all given enough attention to shine. 3) Sakurasou - It would be correct to say this is possibly the most pleasant surprise of the season for me. I came in with almost no expectation, believing it to be just another generic ecchi/romance, and yet it manages to prove me wrong entirely. The characters are all nicely characterized, and the comedy has been a real treat, almost on par with Chuunibyou. The fact that this will be getting 24 episodes is also good news, since it would mean they can devote more time to the comedy and still press the story forward. For those concerned about the fanservice, I assure you it's not presented in a blatant way; it's at most an add-on to promote sales. I just hope the romance part will be given sufficient emphasis as the story moves on. 4) Magi - A fascinating shounen title that is well above the average, generic bunch. Instead of showing us countless battles between characters, Magi takes on a more adventurous approach, by giving more attention to character backgrounds and their motives. I can only hope this won't become a battle shounen like Fairy Tail later on. So far Magi has been entertaining and even great at times, thus I will be optimistic about it. 5) Zetsuen no Tempest - Another good shounen title that is clearly different from the generic ones. For one, it doesn't focus much on the action, and instead devotes its attention on building up tension between characters. Characters are evidently more complexed than they appear, and the series always keeps a suspenseful atmosphere. In short, this is definitely worth watching even if you don't normally like shounen stuff. Honorable mentions: 6) Robotics;Notes - I initially gave it a try because I heard it's related to Steins;Gate (check my review if you're interested in hearing my thoughts about it). Despite the slow pilot episode, I have quickly taken a strong liking to the characters. Much like the case with Steins;Gate, Robotics;Notes manages to build tension gradually by getting us to understand the characters first. I'm willing to bet the second half of the story will be quite entertaining, if it adopts the same formula as Steins;Gate. 7) Little Busters - The latest Key adaptation, and quite possibly the most controversial one. Many people I know don't like the animation quality, seeing how KyoAni didn't choose this as their project, and instead, J.C. Staff got their hands on it. Quite honestly, the art style doesn't bother me one bit. If anything, it's some of the female voices that actually irritate me at times, but I won't get into that. I just want to remind some of you that Key adaptations tend to start off slow by introducing its characters, then when you least expect it, the drama comes in and make its impact. From what I can see so far, LB is doing just that, so in all likelihood the anime won't fail to meet my expectation. Well, that's all for now. I have a few other titles I'm enjoying, but they're not significant enough to be on this list, for now anyway. Mon, 26 Nov 2012 12:11:15 -0800