Fall 2009 Season Start Overview

Author: NovaJinx

That time of the season again? OHSHI-

Now that I have completed writing on all the shows I felt deserving their own posts and most have proceeded onto the second episode, it’s time to wrap things up. My expectations for the season weren’t all that high after Bakemonogatari was kicking butt and taking names in the summer. And maybe that was a good thing.

I used to express this stuff with excel-spreadsheets which were quite handy but rather bothersome to make and fill out, so this time I’ll just go with a simpler tier-system and save excel for the mid-season check when there’s more data for me to work on.

Now on to some verbal elaboration.

11eyes
I wasn’t expecting much anything of 11eyes considering its eroge-background and the animation studio Dogakobo’s track record but the show turned out to be surprisingly captivating and animation was at least better than in Dogakobo’s previous adaptations. The male lead isn’t a gutless faggot either, and there are both miko and deadpan characters. Can’t say no to that. However I get strong Chaos;HEAd-vibes out of this one, so I’m trying my best not to keep my hopes up.

A Certain Scientific Railgun
Even for an Index-spinoff Railgun was a slight disappointment due to excess fanservice. I understand that it sells especially when yuri is involved but seriously, the second episode was pushing it even considering that it was rather goofy. If story isn’t kicking in soon enough, Railgun is bound to join Seitokai no Ichizon in the mud league with even Kämpfer hot on its heels. Now it’s high time for JC Staff to grab onto the momentum before it’s too late.

Kobato
Eh…no idea why I ended up picking Kobato but for a CLAMP anime it didn’t seem all that bad. Kobato herself is a great comedy character with her airheadedness and funny expressions, and the graphical execution is very good. Also, the dog plushie is pretty badass. Having said all that, I must express my doubts about things to come. The male protagonist is a typical Squall-clone who will no doubt bring truckloads of drama and angst into the show. When this happens, it may be that I just won’t enjoy the show anymore. So far so good though, checking it for Kobato’s amusing antics.

Kämpfer
Kämpfer is a shitty show for people with no taste and with no intention of ever being anything more than just that. It’s safe to consider it as Akikan! with better graphics and horny Hocchan. It’s good for a watch since it makes every other show look quite decent. Other than that though, there’s little reason in torturing yourself with it.

Letter Bee
Since I already wrote about it today, I don’t feel like repeating myself. Letter Bee is currently the best I’ve seen in this season and I only expect Kuuchuu Buranko to be able to rival it. Or maybe Railgun if JC Staff manages to pull out an ace, but I strongly doubt it.

Nyan Koi!
On paper Nyan Koi! looked like a cheesy harem series with nekomimi-girls involved. In practice it was something better. Nyan Koi! isn’t trying to be a straight-out harem and instead focuses on delivering a screw-loose comedy about a cat-allergic guy forced to help cats in all kinds of stupid problems. And this is a feat worthy of recognition, because being funny without relying on 1. parodies of other shows 2. popular culture references 3. sex jokes isn’t all that common in anime nowadays. Whether or not it can match Seto no Hanayome is another matter though and personally I doubt it considering SnH’s epicness but nevertheless Nyan Koi! is a good, pure comedy with a romantic twist.

Seitokai no Boredo-uh…Ichizon
This honestly could have been better. Either DEEN just can’t be assed or the original novels were simply too bad to be salvaged, which would take us to the issue of why they had to be adapted in the first place…oh wait, Kämpfer. Seitokai is Da Capo of reference parodies. It’s simply plain and ordinary to the point of nausea. It occasionally hits the mark but hey, even a blind hen sometimes finds a grain of corn.

White Album
Almost forgot this one. The second season is a direct continuation to the first without any kind of recap, so you better remember what happened because they sure won’t do a thing to remind you. White Album is an a harem-series disguised as mature drama series. But behind its stylish exterior all girls fall for an indecisive moron for no apparent reason. Sure, the male lead already dates with one of them but that doesn’t seem to stop him for J-J-J-JAMMING IT IN whenever an opportunity presents itself… Don’t really know why I bother with this. Maybe because I somehow made it through the first season and it would feel like a waste if I didn’t stomach the rest of it.

Oh well, at least the second ep of Railgun had a whole bunch of funny faces…

Lastly, a helpful hint for you all…

Tags: 11eyes, a certain scientific railgun, kämpfer, letter bee, nyan koi, picspam, seitokai no ichizon, white album