First impressions of the fall ’11 anime I’m watching

Almost all of the seasonal anime I had been watching since spring ’11 ended this season, so I had room to pick up quite a few fall ’11 titles. There are a lot of sequels I’m interested in this season, as well as some brand new series. Now that the first couple of weeks of the fall 2011 anime have passed, how have the shows I’m watching fared?…

Bakuman 2
Episodes 1-2 so far

Bakuman 2 starts off right where season 1 left off. And in terms of quality, these first two episodes are just as good as anything the first series could deliver. It has the same well written story, likable characters, and great ability to deliver shonen suspense without the need for action and fantasy elements. Already episode 2 had me tearing up a bit and at the edge of my seat. A few new eccentric characters are introduced this season but old ones aren’t forgotten either. I look forward to seeing more manga industry drama and how the relationships between Moritaka/Miho and Akito/Kaya further develop.

While I don’t like the Bakuman 2 opening as much as the first season’s “Blue Bird,” I do like the new ending by Tommy heavenly6.

Working’!!
Episodes 1-2 so far

Working!! (Wagnaria!! in the official English release) is a fun little slice-of-life/comedy anime. Not a fantastic series but definitely worth a watch if you like that genre. Like the new season of Bakuman, this new season of Working!! is thus far giving more of the same entertainment that season 1 had – silly, character-driven antics in the case of Working’!!. One of the bad points of the first season is that I felt Inami got too much screentime. Not that she’s a boring character, but I would have liked to see more focus on other characters too, particularly the rather enigmatic Yamada. It’s hard to say yet whether this second season will pick up any kind of focus or efficiently develop any particular character. There was some emphasis on Yamada in episode 2 so perhaps we’ll finally learn more about her. But regardless, I’m sure I’ll enjoy seeing more amusing anecdotes from the Wagnaria staff.

Though not as catchy to me as the season 1 opening “Someone Else,” Working’!!’s opening “Coolish Walk” will undoubtedly get stuck in my head too XD

Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai
Episodes 0-1 so far

Haganai for short, or translated into English as “I Don’t Have Many Friends,” is a series that’s hard for me to judge after just one episode and an episode 0 OVA. Unfortunately the opening’s visuals make it look like an ecchi harem anime even though there’s pretty much no fan service in episode 1 (and little in episode 0). So at this point it seems like the series could either go the ecchi harem route that the opening makes it appear to be, or it could become a more dignified, character-driven series about relationships between a group of people who have difficulty making friends. Since the Haganai light novels are very popular in Japan, and I enjoyed episode 1 well enough, I’m pretty confident that it isn’t just fancied harem fodder but actually has good value worthy of the popularity of its light novels.

The setup of the series is a bit reminiscent of Haruhi in that our male lead meets a weird girl who ropes him into making a brand new club at school. While nothing has stood out to me yet about our male protagonist Kodaka, I don’t find him as noticeably boring as other male leads either. Our two lead females in a love triangle with Kodaka, Sena and Yozora, seem like they have good personalities that will provide endless comedy as they bounce off each other. Can’t comment on the other girls since they haven’t been introduced yet but they look interesting.

I’d also like to mention that Yozora has one of the prettiest Japanese names I’ve come across. The kanji for her full name “三日月夜空” translates to something like “the new moon of the night sky.”

Shakugan no Shana III (Final)
Episode 1 so far

Nearly four years after Shana II, the third and final Shana series is airing. Technically there was the Shana S OVA in between, but that was just four side-story episodes. I’ve seen the first Shana series twice but I watched Shana II only once as it aired and I pretty much forgot everything that happened in it. So I made sure to read the Wikipedia episode summaries to refresh my memory before starting Shana III! Shana is a series that’s full of complicated fantasy terminology and subplots, which is what makes it interesting but also difficult to follow. Regardless, I feel the Shana characters as a whole are great, as is the fantastical style of the series. I also love how the series can shift from hardcore fantasy to romance drama seamlessly. Shana is one of my most favorite characters of all, not just because I love her design (perfect mix of coolness and moe), but also because she’s the perfect embodiment of all that I love about tsunderes.

Since the Shana light novels have just ended, I wonder how the final season of the anime will hold up. With this new plot of Yuji having disappeared, I’m sure the series will bring out the best in its intriguing fantasy and romance for the big finale. Even though I have trouble keeping track of all the fictional terms and large cast of characters, I look forward to seeing my favorite flaming tsundere in all her anime glory one last time!

Oh, and the Shana III opening, “Light my fire” by Kotoko, is awesome. My favorite of the season! =D

Digimon Xros Wars: Toki wo Koeru Shonen Hunter-tachi
Episodes 1-2 so far

The first season of Digimon Xros Wars was too childish for me to rate it highly. The recently finished second season however, was much better and brought out the more mature themes and character development that made the old Digimon series so great. Two episodes into season 3 of Xros Wars now…and I’m not sure about it yet. First of all, the whole concept of “hunting” and catching digimon as if they were pokemon came out of nowhere and was not present in the previous two Xros Wars seasons. The digimon joined up with Taiki and co. of their own volition, usually to achieve similar goals. But in this new season, they’re just catching digimon without even getting to know them, which pretty much defeats the concept of previous seasons that digimon are sentient creatures who can think and use language just like humans. In episode 1 it seemed like Tagiru and the other hunters went onto MetalTyranomon’s territory, where he didn’t seem to be causing any trouble for anyone, and captured him against his will. And in episode 2, nobody questions Sagomon about why he’s even capturing the kids from the real world…they just fight and capture him. Not even Taiki is questioning why this “game” of hunting digimon is even going on in the first place when nothing like it existed before. So I really hope it’s explained why hunting digimon is necessary in future episode or else I’m gonna be really frustrated.

But to give the series some credit so far, the three new antagonistic characters and their digimon look like they’ll be interesting, assuming they’re not completely pushed into the background like Akari and Zenjirou were. And, like all Digimon series, I love the opening song for Xros Wars 3. Much to my pleasant surprise, the new main digimon Gumdramon is voiced by Kumiko Watanabe, who did an amazing job as Shippo in Inuyasha. I knew that voice sounded familiar! She also does the voice of Kyouko, the manager in Working’!!. Who knew?

Persona 4
Episode 1 so far

I’m not familiar with any previous Persona works so this is my first experience with the series. I can’t judge it by just one episode, but so far Persona 4 looks like it’ll be a good mystery/supernatural story. It has a cool, stylish design to it as well. The characters don’t interest me much unfortunately, but of course that could change later on. Also pleased that a lot of seiyuu I like – Kappei Yamaguchi, Rie Kugimiya, Yui Horie, and Romi Paku – have major roles in the show.

Fate/Zero
Episodes 1-2 so far

I originally didn’t plan to watch Fate/Zero since I haven’t seen Fate/Stay Night. But after hearing that Fate/Zero is actually its prequel, and seeing all the hype surrounding it, I decided to watch it. Much to my surprise, the double-length first episode had me completely engrossed. The animation is gorgeous and the fantasy setting and elements are extremely fascinating to me. Usually I have trouble following heavy fantasy shows like Fate/Zero that introduce a ton of characters and unique terminology right off the bat, but I was pleasantly surprised that I’m not having that problem much with Fate/Zero. I look forward to being one of the few fans experiencing this show without having seen Fate/Stay Night.

Fate/Zero has a beautiful opening, definitely my second favorite after Shana’s.

Mirai Nikki
Episode 1 so far

From just one episode I can tell that Mirai Nikki is going to be a good and suspenseful mystery/supernatural series. It shares a similar plot with Eden of the East in that a group of people (who are slowly revealed as the series goes on) are competing in a mysterious “game” of life and death with their cell phones as their main link to the game. Our two main characters, Yukiteru and Yuno, seem interesting so far, and I look forward to seeing the many yet to be introduced characters. I have a feeling that unpredictability and suspense will be a driving point for this series.

———-

In addition to these eight shows, I’m planning to watch the two upcoming Noitamina anime, Un-Go and Guilty Crown. Though now I’m wondering if I should since I’m watching so many fall ’11 shows already, and depending on how many turn out to be two cour (already know Mirai Nikki, Shana, and Bakuman 2 are) I might not have any time for winter series. I’m still watching Penguindrum too, and Bleach is finally out of fillers so I’ll be picking that up again. Sigh, so much anime, not enough hours in the day XD