I’ve had this post sitting around in the drafts for quite some time now and I apologize for it being as late as it is. Work and EVE Online have wasted most of my time and energy and this will hardly change for a month or two. I will be brief with this because I feel pretty much exhausted at the moment. I’ve heard people say everything in this season is mediocre. Personally I think there are a couple more good shows around than back in spring but that may depend on one’s opinion on SHAFT.
Bakemonogatari
This show is the shit. Bakemonogatari is bizarre as hell, confusing and extremely fascinating even without SHAFT’s signature audiovisual trickery and unorthodox directing. It’s like CAN-AM Spyder – you either think it’s the coolest thing ever or freaky and plain ugly. Bakemonogatari relies heavily on the charm of the characters and often bizarre exchanges between them. It’s a dive into the depths of human psyche at its finest. I’d let Hitagi staple me any day if you know what I’m saying.
CANAAN
If Type-Moon did Madlax, it would look something like this. People with bizarre powers engaging in a lot of gunslinging, a nasty ebil organization that’s up to no good and a female assassin with godlike skills. CANAAN throws in a whole lot of stuff that’s cool n’ shit, visuals vary from decent to awesome etc. Too bad the animation quality is the only part of CANAAN that sets it aside from Bee Train shows. It’s not fair to say it at this point but I just can’t help it: You’ve seen Madlax/Noir, you’ve probably seen this. Nothing that I find impressive, keeping it in the schedule for now but very likely subject to be dropped in the near future.
GA Geijutsuka Art Design Class
Hidamari Sketch, Sketchbook ~full color’S~, you know the type. GA differs from the norm by being considerably more impulsive than the previously mentioned two, but at heart it’s a cute-schoolgirls-doing-banal-but-funny-things-slice-of-life-comedy. This is probably enough for just anybody to be able to figure out whether they like it or not – personally I found GA quite entertaining. It makes a good use of background music and has decent visuals. The show is also somewhat educational if you’re fast enough to follow the quick lectures about CMYK and whatnot. This kinda hits home with me as I’ve been working at a printing machine for a while now and have learned a thing or two about colors. Extra points for deadpan.
Princess Lover
An eroge adaptation of…you know, why do I even bother? Princess Lover has surprisingly good animation and not-as-fag male lead but nevertheless, it’s an eroge adaptation. Treat it as such.
Taishou Yakyuu Musume
Cute girls, good seiyuu cast, pleasant atmosphere and set in a time period less explored in this type of anime – 1925. Basically it’s about a bunch of cute girls starting a baseball team with some gender equality agenda, as back in that day women were expected to remain as housewives and certainly not engage in such sports as baseball. Yeah, I can’t really find much to whine about TYM. The artistry has somewhat dated feeling to it but is consistent, fluent and detailed enough to do the job. The singing scene at the start of the first episode was funny too, and Nakahara Mai’s Akiko is moewhelming. It’s just that I hate baseball. I fucking can’t stand baseball. It’s the worst sport after basketball, ever, and I pity any fucktard who ever wants to waste their time at it. RAGE & DROP.
Tokyo Magnitude 8.0
Looks like a decent show. Character art is rather simplistic but good use of CGI and decent background graphics make up for this more than enough. Considering Japan’s geological position it’s quite interesting how little earthquake is actually portrayed in anime. Magnitude is quite an unique case so I can’t really be hard on it even if I wanted to.
Umineko no Naku Koro ni
And Then There Were None if Japs did it. Hard to say anything at this point, uuuu! Depends on how the mystery starts developing, uuuuu! For now though it feels like there’s just something missing, something that was there in Higurashi. I will keep watching with my hopes high but I think it’s best to remain a bit sceptical.
Zan Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei
It’s surprising how fresh ZSZS feels considering there has already been two seasons of TV anime and an OVA. More sharp satire, parody and dark humor – you know the drill.
BONUS: Fight Ippatsu! Juuden-chan!
Queen’s Blade is better than this. That should say enough.
aska says jewden chan is veri much QUALITY :D:D:D:DD