Autumn/Fall Anime 2012

I could've sworn that I was going to pick up more shows but I guess this is it. Maybe something will peak my interest later but this is what I'm going to be watching for now.

Hidamari Sketch x Honeycomb
Aww yeah, time to strap in for some more wideface action. I'm actually waiting for it to finish so I can marathon it all at once. I know for a fact that I can't wait weekly for this.

Initial D Fifth Stage
FUCK YEAH!!! It's been years since Fourth Stage so I'm kind of amazed that they're actually continuing the anime. Apparently two episodes once a month, every month. I'm curious to see how this will turn out.

Bakuman. 3
Season 3 of the anime about people making manga. Nowadays, it focuses more on the character relationships rather than the process of making manga. Although it does go back to that in order to advance the plot. Still entertaining and fun.

Btooom!
I didn't know much about this at all and picked it up on feeling alone. The first episode wasn't too good and the direction for it was really shitty. It did get much better once episode 2 came and managed to hook me after that.

Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai!
Another KyoAni production but sadly it isn't up to par with their other works. I really hate the "chuunibyou" characters and find them massively annoying. I kinda want to see a show about a main character who wants to be normal and succeeds at it. Despite this, I do like this show and it still manages to be a lot of fun.

Girls und Panzer
I wasn't expecting much from this show but it was surprisingly good. It seems pretty lighthearted despite involving tanks.

Jojo's Bizarre Adventure (2012)
I've read the manga and thought it was awesome. So far, the anime has been a pretty good and a faithful adaptation. The violence seems a bit toned down but I'm pretty sure the Blu ray will fix that. YES, the ending theme is amazing! Opening theme is amazing too.

K
I picked it up because I'm kind of a fan of GoHands animation work. Of course, the animation is really good. At times, it feels like it's just showing off. The actual story is a typical action modern fantasy with a fujoshi pandering twist. It hasn't really hooked me but at least it's nice to look at.

Medaka Box Abnormal
Season 2 of Medaka Box, picking up right where it left off. It isn't the best story in the world and the animation isn't at the quality of studio's more famous works but it still manages to entertain me.

Psycho-Pass
Disregarding the famous writer involved, I was interested in this because the Sci-Fi concept intrigued me. Then I learned that one of my favorite bands was doing the OP theme for it,second time this has happened which pretty much guaranteed that I'd watch it. Cool soundtrack and a dark cyberpunk setting. I'm liking it already but it feels like it's taking its time with setup. I'm not really sure where it's going but I'll keep watching.

Robotics;Notes
Popular VN that's a semi-sequel to another popular VN gets an anime. I kinda like where it's going but I hate main guy's attitude. I'm pretty sure that some character development will take place along with cast expansion, you know the drill. Pretty fun and I like the mecha fanaticism.

Chousoku Henkei Gyrozetter
I don't even know why I even picked it up in the first place but... Holy shit, it's fucking awesome. It's filled with giant robot anime cliches and isn't ashamed at what it's doing. Pure fun and a really good palette cleanser. Transformable sports car mecha with card games.



I wasn't planning to take this long to post this but that's what happened. Oh well, maybe I'll do better next time. Can't cure the lazy, you know. On a side note, I kinda like this time of year.

The rest of Summer anime

By now, I'm pretty sure everybody has moved on from these shows already but I'm still going to give my thoughts on them anyway. I've already locked myself into this so I guess it can't be helped. This post will contain the rest of the shows that I watched. This way, I won't have to post it later when even more people wouldn't care.

Koi to Senkyo to Chocolate

When I first went into this show I thought, "Oh hey, another harem anime." Well, it is another one but that doesn't mean they can't be good and fun. It really surprised me how much I enjoyed this show. It's a typical high school slice of life setting but it offers much more. One thing that set it apart was the political intrigue. The bureaucracy at the school is set up in such a complicated way that it pretty much resembles a functioning government along with many conflicting views within the system. I found myself enjoying the politics shown in the show since it gave a new type of conflict for romance comedies to deal with. The comedy was really good too, much more well done than most. It had its cliche set of harem antics but it also had legitimately funny moments. Part of which was due to Yuuki's voice actor, who also played Oreki in Hyouka, and his delivery of lines that made it gold.
This is a visual novel adaptation so there were problems with pacing. The events that happened seemed like they were going to go in a certain direction but didn't. Certain issues that were brought upon were solved too quickly or completely ignored as time went on. I suspect because they had to lock Yuuki into a certain route and therefore had to ignore the rest of the harem. The route they chose ended up feeling a little underwhelming and it isn't my favorite of routes in the first place.
With that said, I really enjoyed it even though it had some flaws. It's a harem anime that's better written than most but that could be because it was a visual novel first. I guess it succeeded in its goal to make people interested in the source material, I know I am.

Kono Naka ni Hitori, Imouto ga Iru!
So how do I begin with this one. Hmm, I guess its poop. Hold on, let me finish! I went in to this show knowing exactly what I was getting into. A typical harem show with its own specific type of comedy. I like watching these shows sometimes. They're like junk food, you know its bad but its so good in what it delivers. How does it stack up to other harems? Not much. It was enjoyable at times but hard to get through at some points. The twist in the end was interesting but the build up was done poorly. Well, it's done so I got my fill of entertainment.

Campione!
Another battle shounen light novel adaptation with a diverse harem and comedy antics. I don't want to be too hard on this since it didn't really do anything bad. In fact, this is a lot better than a few of the other entries in the genre that we've had in the past. The animation was good at times and the comedy was good too. It just suffered from being too much of the same, which stems from trying to be like the rest that came before. I'm not a fan of the main heroine but I do like the rest of the harem. This show also had the gimmick of transferring magic through kissing, at least that was interesting. The action is kind of unimportant to me since it's just white knight protag going in and getting things done in a few episodes, not too different from the rest. It was enjoyable at least, I know I've seen much worse in the same genre.

Kyoukai Senjou no Horizon II
This was pretty good despite the daunting task of adapting those ridiculously thick "light" novels. A good mixture of sci-fi, fantasy, comedy, drama, romance, action, politics, war, etc. Yeah, it's really diverse in its storytelling but that's what makes it unique. That isn't to say that it's another LOGH but it's still good nonetheless. Personally, I'm not a fan of the action since it tends to drag too long and you know they're always going to win so there's never any tension involved. I did like the more slice of life and comedy segments throughout. The romance plots were also well done and had good resolutions for them. The political debate segments were pretty memorable and the soundtrack was really good just like the first season.
The common complaint, which is one that I had as well, is that it feels like a lot of the source material got cut and gives the impression that there's more to the story than what was shown. This was bound to happen, just look at those light novels. This leads to a lot of plot confusion even though the main story is pretty linear in the first place. Nobody was really expecting an exact adaptation since it would be way too long. It's still enjoyable without having to read a wiki. If you're watching season 2 then you should know this by now.
I'd say that it was really fun but I'm planning to rewatch this someday since I know I missed a few things in my first viewing. I'm slowly starting to understand what's going on in the story but it's not like I could explain it to you.

Eureka Seven AO
It's rare to see such a split opinion on a show like this. Even if people agree on one thing they'll completely disagree on another. The writing involved for me to thoroughly state my arguments and points would take forever. I'll just say this⎯ I liked it, much more than the first series. So good. I know that there's still two episodes left but I'll just leave it at that.

Kokoro Connect
 Again, this has four episodes left but we won't see them until next year.
An enjoyable series that explores several interesting subjects and situations through melodrama. Yes, the entirety of the show is filled with melodrama. It isn't bad thing if you like this type of storytelling and I think it was done pretty well. I will say that it could've been better if it wasn't the main part of the story. The characters suited the show but they felt kind of uninteresting when compared to characters of other stories. The slice of life aspect attributes to this, which forces the characters to represent normal people. This is why I see it as an experimental story that explores how normal everyday people can react to these weird events. If you combine this with a different story then it becomes something completely different.
I did like this and it had some really good comedic moments. Worth a watch but it doesn't feel like it's anything bigger than that.

Gundam AGE

I guess that about covers everything. Next up is Fall season so be sure to expect a post on that.

Accel World and Tari Tari

Even though there's so much to write about, I'm still too lazy to write or do anything at all. FUCK

Accel World

I have mixed feelings about this show. It immediately hooked me right from episode 1, establishing the futuristic setting, technology, and the characters. I knew that this was going to be fun, and it was. The main character didn't annoy me at all, unlike a lot of people. The story had very cliche elements but handled them in a good way, except for certain parts that I'll get into later. What I also found interesting is that the female characters where portrayed as being much stronger and smarter than everybody else yet still retaining their feminine qualities. The animation was also really good for some of the more pivotal fight scenes. I also liked the soundtrack a lot. A fusion of cool techno with synths or, my personal favorite, generically awesome guitar riffs. There were other styles in there too but it was still good. The mecha designs should be mentioned as well since they were pretty cool looking, especially Black Lotus.

One thing I really have to mention is the second half of the series. While the first half was great and exciting every step of the way, the second half took a huge downward plunge. The plot followed a single arc while before, it was going at a good pace knocking down multiple arcs. It focused too much on a single antagonist, who wasn't all that interesting to begin with. It followed a lot of the typical shonen writing and had very uninteresting plot development. There was a mini filler arc smashed in between too. I was one of the people that liked it but, at the time, I wanted it to be over quickly so we can get back to the main story. Of course, the main plot ended up being more of the current arc with no end in sight. It made me appreciate the filler all the more. The way everything ended was a bit shoddy too. There was some major development for three of the main characters but the way things happened made me feel like it was pointless, even though it wasn't, based solely on how it happened.

Infinite amounts of jelly.

I'm not sure if I'd like it the same way on a rewatch but I at least know that the first half is worth it. There were many sci-fi aspects that really appealed to me in this. The overall tone and plot had a somewhat mainstream feel to it but at least I, technically, enjoyed most of it. I hope that they adapt the rest of the novels.

Tari Tari
Another of the, somehow, many anime original productions that PA Works has done. A slice of life, high school, coming of age story with music as the main theme. As always, I really enjoyed the production values put into PA Works shows. Not necessarily the animation but just the overall look of everything. There were a lot of problems with this show, though. Being an original production, the story is completely made up as they go along. This always invites some of the same problems that plague such works. An example would be the characters and how they become friends without much development to do so in the first place. I remember watching one of the later episodes one day and thinking, "Wait, since when were you guys good friends?" I take it as a negative sign but I could also be the one at fault since I consume a lot of anime so who knows? The characters felt somewhat flat as well. That could be attributed to its short length and not enough time to flesh them out, even though they did get ample amount of development. There were little arcs that focused on each character, which at the end of those arcs had them overcome their dilemma. I'd say it was how rushed everything was, which made it seem cheap to me. The choir bits and various other songs were also kinda cheesy but that's just me.
This show was obviously made in order to sell. Sell what you ask? Anything and everything from merchandise to Blu Ray/DVDs. I wouldn't really rewatch this since it's done in my mind. I did enjoy it but it wasn't anything special to begin with, that's not to say that it's bad either. Giving it a watch isn't a bad thing at all. There were a lot of comparisons to Hanasaku Iroha since it was the same studio, character designer, and they're both anime original. I'd say that Hanasaku Iroha was my favorite between the two since I liked it more despite Tari Tari having a plot that was better put together. There are a lot of variables in place when it comes to storytelling and enjoyment.

By the time this is posted, more shows that I was following would already be finished. My opinions on those will come in the next post. I also left out Gundam AGE since I couldn't finish it in time. It became a bit mediocre but I'll get to my opinions on that later.

Moyashimon Returns, Hyouka, and Jinrui wa Suitai Shimashita

With Summer finally ending, anime series are bound to follow. This post is going to start off the wave of opinions that you'll see in the coming weeks. So let's dig in.

Moyashimon Returns

This was a great series and a good sequel to season 1. The story starts right where the last season left off. Making alcohol for the sake of science and agriculture university antics. Each episode flowed nicely into the next, which made it feel like the entire season was one big arc.

A complaint I had in the beginning was that the character designs were changed from the original. I'm not really sure what happened here since it apparently has the same studio and director behind it. Different staff? It's not like the character designs got any better, so why change it? I also noticed how they spent way too much time in France. This was definitely where the main conflict was but it kinda felt like it dragged too long. It could also be that most of the cast wasn't even in France. At least we got introduced to a new character, the hot blond pictured above. Next to the trap.

I should also address the sour reception that this season had. I liked it. If you're looking for science, go read a textbook. I will admit, there wasn't as much microbe and fermentation science involved within the season. But it was to make room for the character development and the events that were established in season 1.

Uwahh~

Hyouka

Easily a favorite from the season. I was a fan of it from the start. Slice of life adventures of mundane mysteries and a cast of characters that the fandom will forever keep shipping. I'm definitely going to give this a rewatch this since it's really that good. In fact, I rewatched a few of the early episodes already.

However, I do have some complaints. I'll start with a shallow one, I really can't stand Satoshi. I don't think it's the character itself, it's the character in combination with the voice actor. I know that the voice actor has done better roles with different voices but I hate it when he falls into this type cast. So annoying. Then there's Oreki's voice actor who, quite frankly, could've been replaced with someone else who specializes in that category. I know his voice actor can act really well but this role really isn't meant for him. I know some people will argue against me since they're SO used to these voices that they couldn't imagine anything different. Keep in mind that I really like this show. Holy shit.

The best part of the series was definitely the culture festival arc. Because of this, the rest of the episodes felt semi-inferior in comparison. The final episode had an okay resolution but I kinda feel like the imagined Oreki confession wasn't needed and actually made it worse. I won't go into detail but you can look up interpretations of the final scene elsewhere. It already makes sense to me. I can keep going on about this show but we would have to speak personally for this to happen. Overall, if you like slice of life as well as KyoAni then you'll like this. Amazing and worth a rewatch

Maybe this will convince people to watch it.

 Jinrui wa Suitai Shimashita

I'm very glad that I picked this up on a whim. It was really good, might even be another favorite of the season. They really captured the style of the manga perfectly by using similar techniques in the art/animation. The comedy was good with a dash of dark and the pacing was well done in a different way. Of course, there were times when I wasn't really excited to watch it but that quickly goes away once I start watching it.

My favorite arcs would have to be the manga arc and the school arc. These are the two that stick out in my mind when looking back at the series. The show is very quirky and I wouldn't be surprised if it goes overlooked as time goes on. I'm pretty sure fans of ABe would enjoy this one. The best way to know if you like it is by watching it. I should also mention that the opening was performed by nano.RIPE and the ending by Itou Masumi. Two of my favorite performers in anime music that I enjoy. A rewatch is definitely happening and I really hope we get a second season.

:D

Note: Yes, I know about some people closing their blogs and it's really sad to see. It's all about comments, if you really enjoyed this then you wouldn't close it. I hope they don't close forever. I know I don't comment much so sorry.