I’m a little late with posting my thoughts about the last fall ’11/winter ’12 anime I finished watching, as well as picking what anime I’ll be watching this spring season. To get them done faster, I decided to put both on one post…
First, mini-reviews of the remaining five fall ’11 and winter ’12 anime I have yet to talk about (I already wrote about Nisemonogatari and Guilty Crown in case you missed them):
Another
A mystery/horror anime produced by P.A. Works with character designs by Noizi Itou (the same character designer for Haruhi and Shana). The good points I found in Another is that it has an engrossing mystery story – I like that kind of supernatural, creepy stuff that doesn’t get too scary, and Another has just that. I also thought it carried the creepy atmosphere very well in terms of sound effects, camera angles, and timing the shocks in its plot. Nice animation and luscious backgrounds courtesy of P.A. Works helped, too. Its bad points however, were that I found its characters rather bland and uninspiring, and while the ending of the series wasn’t bad, it went overboard with the gore and violence in the last couple of episodes. The violence was more effective early on because the majority of the episodes were pretty calm and slow-paced, with only a tinge of creepiness hanging in the air…and then, boom! Suddenly someone dies a horrible, bloody death. But the over-saturation of violent deaths in the last few episodes brought their shock factor down for me. But besides that, I’d say I enjoyed Another more than not. Even though its characters are forgettable, it’s not a character-driven anime to begin with. If you find mysterious, creepy, supernatural-laden plots interesting, I’d give it a shot. And if you like scares and violent shocks on a mild level (like me), it has those too ;)
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Bakuman 2
Bakuman 2 was just as good as the first season, if not better. I don’t have much else to say about season 2 than what I already said for season 1 – new characters and subplots were added this season, but they only enhanced the series rather than hindered it. As in the previous season, Bakuman 2 offers a unique plot, likable characters, and suspense and drama that not only revolve around the main characters’ goals of making successful manga, but also their relationships with each other. It’s just a very fun, well-written show that gives great insight into how the manga industry works. Season 3 is already in the works – I’ll definitely be checking it out ^_^
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Black Rock Shooter
While the single-episode Black Rock Shooter OVA was too short to tell a satisfying narrative, the 8-episode TV series was still too short to really flesh out its story, but it managed better than the OVA. The show’s premise about alternate worlds being fueled by painful emotions is an interesting one. Although I felt like most of the plot was explained well by the end of the series, the show wasn’t without its faults. The small cast of female-only characters were all character archetypes we’ve seen many times before. Though some things did stand out about them in terms of their personal issues and relationships with each other, nobody was particularly memorable and the angst factor was cranked up a bit too high at key points. The alternate world was nicely designed, and the design of Black Rock Shooter and her kind are not easily forgotten. While the battles between them were engaging and intense at the beginning, they got too repetitive and brutal by the final episode to have the impact they were going for. All in all, I’d say Black Rock Shooter is just an average anime at best. It has an interesting premise and some memorable things about it, but it’s nothing special. Another case of “good idea, bad execution” unfortunately.
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Danshi Koukousei no Nichijou
A strictly comedic, gag anime, Danshi Koukousei’s humor is hit or miss, as is usually the case for anime of this genre. The humor is actually more crude than most other anime I’ve seen, but unfortunately I still only got a few good laughs from it. It’s savvy, 4th wall-breaking, spontaneously hyperbolic, and even vulgar at times, but your enjoyment of this show really just depends on whether or not you like the humor, as things like character and plot development are not focused on. A few well timed jokes and Tomokazu Sugita’s hilarious performance are what I personally liked about the show. Even the designs of the characters are pretty dull as sometimes I had trouble distinguishing between certain ones. Despite being about “danshi koukousei (high school boys),” there are some girls in the show, though oddly the unimportant ones have their face hidden whenever they appear. Others have their own “joshi koukousei (high school girl)” segment at the end of each episode, though I don’t recall finding any of their jokes that funny (I just recall them yelling too much). In short, Danshi Koukousei is simply a gag anime with a set type of humor its trying to convey, and whether you like it or not just depends on whether you enjoy that type of humor.
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Shana III (Final)
Shakugan no Shana is the most fantasy-laden anime I have ever seen. Nearly every line of dialogue, especially in this season, contains at least one made-up fantasy name or term unique to the series. This can be confusing at first, but its something one gets used to as the show’s fictional setting comes together brilliantly in season 3. While season 1 was more or less split between the slice-of-life/romance genre and the action/fantasy genre, and season 2 was more focused on the former genre, the third and final season is all about the latter genre. Very few scenes take place away from the fantasy-filled plot – even Shana and Yuji’s classmates Ike and Oga have no role in this season. What stands out about Shana III is that it’s not only about Shana and Yuji trying to reconnect, but it’s mostly about a war going on between the Flame Haze and Tomogara, making us feel sympathy for both sides despite the Tomogara being the bad guys all this time. It’s like the many wars and politics you see in mecha anime except with all magic and fantasy instead of sci-fi. A bit jarring after Shana II, but once you get into it, it’s actually a very well-written, well choreographed conflict.
And let’s not forget the show’s unique characters from previous seasons. They all go through some great character development in this season, especially Margery, Keisaku, and Wilhelmina. And it’s amazing to see how Shana herself has changed from the cold, conflicted tsundere she was in the first season to the determined fighter she is in this season. Unfortunately, too many new Flame Haze were introduced to properly develop them all, but each was given enough screentime for us to get to know them a little bit. The designs of the Flame Haze and Tomogara are some of the most diverse I have ever seen in a single series. After all, in what other anime can you see a mecha samurai fighting a multi-headed dog, a giant magician camel, a barracuda that’s a military leader, a trumpet-playing lion, a Chinese New Year dragon that turns into a van, and all manner of objects that talk, from bracelets to hats, to gourds, and roses, because they have a supernatural being dwelling inside them? Only Shana has this wild fantasy goodness and treats it all very seriously (the show really does have very little humor in it). I honestly think Shana III is the best of the three seasons; an intricate but well constructed fantasy plot, good characters, and great OPs and EDs. I’m glad my favorite flaming tsundere went out with a bang! ^_^
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And now here are the spring ’12 anime I’m planning on watching. As usual, this list could change as I may decide not to watch certain series or pick up more than this.
Fate/Zero 2
An obvious choice after watching and enjoying the first season.
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Natsuiro Kiseki
Sounds like a nice iyashii-kei anime. After Danshi Koukousei, let’s see how Sunrise handles another non-mecha show.
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Furusato Saisei: Nihon no Mukashi Banashi
Translated as “Folktales from Japan,” I already watched the first episode of this show. It’s exactly as the title suggests – it seems like each episode will go through three Japanese folktales, animated in a very simple, kid-friendly style with narration and light voice work. Just think Aesop fables, Japanese-style. Although it’s obviously aimed at children, people like us who didn’t grow up with these stories may find it worth their while. It’s a good learning experience, the style of the show is cute and charming, and Shoko Nakagawa sings the OP and ED =)
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Sakamichi no Apollon
Cowboy Bebop director and music by Yokko Kanno? Sounds like a good story, too. Count me in =D
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Arashi no Yoru ni Himitsu no Tomodachi
This will be my guilty pleasure for the season (alongside Poyopoyo) XD A CG animated series based on a children’s book about a wolf and a goat becoming friends. My inner child should be pleased.
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Hyouka
I’m always up for anything new by my favorite animation studio, KyoAni.
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AKB0048
Sounds like an interesting story to use for an anime about a real Japanese idol group. I’m not sure what to expect from this honestly. Hopefully it’ll be a good.
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As for winter ’12 seasonal shows I’m still watching, just Mouretsu Pirates and Poyopoyo. I’m still watching Mirai Nikki too, but that will finish soon (and I’ll try to have a post about it). In addition to these spring ’12 shows, I’m also eying Uchuu Kyoudai and Medaka Box. I’m planning to watch Eureka Seven AO but not now – I want to rewatch the original series first.
See you all next time. Hope you’re enjoying the new anime season ^_^
*Credit for the Shana screencaps goes to Random Curiosity*
Looking at the Black Rock Shooter picture, and is it me, but is everyone these days trying to put a character that looks like Taiga from Toradora into their show?
Besides BRS and Ano Natsu de Matteru, I can’t think of any other recent anime with a Taiga look-alike. Her visual style of tsundere might just be catching on in popularity.
There’s also Ryoko Ookami from an light novel based anime called Ookami-San.
That still gives us three characters that look like Taiga. I guess I must be overreacting.
I prefer the BRS OVA to the TV series, mainly because the obscene amount of melodrama wasn’t present in the former.
Nichibros got progressively more hit and miss for me. The first episode set the standard way too high. But I really enjoyed the Literature Girl segments, as well as all of the K-ON! parodies.
The first episode of Space Bros was amazing.
No Tsuritama? And I’m a little surprised that you’re planning on watching the AKB48 anime.
Yeah, they did go a bit overboard with the melodrama in BRS towards the end. It didn’t kill the series for me but it could have been better.
I agree that the first episode of Nichibros was probably the best (I did like the last couple of episodes too). And I liked the Literature Girl segments as well, mostly because of Tomokazu Sugita’s awesome performances XD
I’ve heard good things about Space Brothers…I may start watching it.
As for Tsuritama, I don’t like fishing so…I don’t know about that one. And I’m surprised I want to watch the AKB0048 anime too but I read a synopsis of the story and it sounds interesting. I think it’ll either be very good or very bad.
I’m mostly looking forward to Sakamichi no Apollon and also Eureka Seven: Ao since I loved the original series so much. And for curiosity’s sake, I’ll also be checking out Sankarea – judging by the plot summary, it has the potential to be either awful or hilarious, possibly even both at once.
I’ve read the manga, and it’s taken a lot more seriously than you’d expect. There are lots of clichéd comedy antics at times – though the catboy design and cheeky personality of the male lead make it stand out in some of its more generic respects – but also a serious emotional, possibly even melodramatic, focus on the zombie side of the story. It’s much less ‘zombie moe’ than you’d expect from hearing the concept, though of course that’s exactly its selling point.
Thanks for the extra info about Sankarea. I might check it out, too =D
I loved Eureka 7 when I watched it in 2005-2006, but I haven’t seen it since then so my memories of it aren’t very clear. Since AO will be a sequel, I should probably rewatch the original first (I’ve been meaning to rewatch it for a while anyway).
Now that I’ve been hearing about Sankarea, I might watch it too. Sounds interesting =)
I haven’t checked out much of the new season :S Have to do more research, or wait till some shows start coming out.
Another was good. I agree that the end was just far too violent for it’s own good. I like suspense, I do not like bloody, gory details just for the sake of it. But it was still good. While the ending was good, I did not really feel the tension to try to guess who the “extra” was. And while the end was unpredictable… Well… There really was no way to predict it, because there weren’t any hints. I like suspense that kind of gives you some hints, then throw you off, then give you some more false leads etc. It was still a good show, just could have been better.
Bakuman 2, I have not finished watching that one!! I loved season 1, and the few shows I saw from season 2. I’m glad they are making a season 3 :) This is as much slice-of-life as it can get, and I liked that the relationship between the main character and his future-wife-he-never-sees gets a little more normal… A little at least…
Shana 3. I liked it, I loved the idea they developed and the multiple twists they included in it. The only slight problem (and more at the beginning of the series), is that it seems it was aimed at the people that read the novels. They just throw so much information to the viewer that it can confuse quite a bit. It reminded me of Persona 4… It’s simply aimed at the people that played the game, and too much is left in the air. It did straighten out though, and had a good ending as well. So I did like it.
You were not watching Chihayafuru? I actually started it, thought the 1st episode was boring… But one of these days, bored at home, decided to watch a few more, and watched 8 episodes before I noticed what time it was :S It’s actually pretty interesting, and not the usual sort of anime. The character tropes are a bit non-traditional, so it was a bit refreshing as well. I would recommend it if you have the time.
I’ll check out Fate/Zero… Definitelly. I also watched the 1st episode of folktales from Japan, and I liked it quite a lot! The stories are so different to what we are used to, so it’s refreshing. And I do not know Japanese, but I can hear the language is different is that anime… It is spoken very clearly, and I can pick up a few things. Is it aimed at kinds? Anyway, I’ll check out some of the others as well, and see how this season goes :)
I agree that the ending of Another was unpredictable…at least, I had no idea who the “extra” could have been. But yeah, going overboard with the violence did weaken the ending.
I’m sure the original novels of Shana make the story easier to understand than the anime alone, but I got the gist of what was going on even if I didn’t know/remember all the fantasy terminology that was used. I’m sure watching all three seasons back to back would make things a lot easier to understand.
I’ve heard good things about Chihayafuru. I may check it out at a later date.
Oddly enough, this Spring season is starting off a bit late. When the season goes full swing next week, there will be about 3 shows that I decide to watch with the other two airing later.
Naturally, I would do more shows… but I would rather not since 5 is already good amount to handle while mixing other content into the mix. As for the shows, continuation of Fate/Zero, Hyouka, Shining Hearts and AKB0048… Not so sure about the last one because it will probably suffer the fate of “it’s not Idolmaster” or it’s too much like Xenoglossia, which is bad by the way. Still, it’s Mari Okada, so there should be a glimmer of hope under it all once it airs April 29th.
Since I haven’t seen Idolmaster or Xenoglossia, I guess I won’t have anything to compare AKB0048 to ;) Maybe that’s a good thing.
I was considering Shining Hearts but the synopsis made it sound like too much of a generic fantasy series. We’ll see.
I agree that the characters of Another are forgettable, but I found it executed pretty well. The ending was definitely a major gore fest but the ending was predictable if you paid attention to things. I’ve already posted my thoughts on the series on my own blog, but did not look at it in the same angle as it was presented here.
That’s funny that you say the ending of Another is predictable when Kal and I above agreed that it wasn’t…but you’re probably right that there were subtle hints about it that we forgot about it or failed to catch. I’m sure a rewatch of the series would help me pick up on those hints.
This is probably the first review I read that wasn’t negatively biased against AKB0048. It seems like even though people are OK with exaggerated premises, (Moretsu Pirates, Ika Musume, Thermae Romae), with idol series (Idolmaster), and with real life brands, (Tiger & Bunny), they are somehow really convinced that if these three meet, the result MUST be a horribly written mess, or as they like to call it, a “trainwreck in slow motion”.
Of course it can be bad, but it also has the potential to be a well-executed, lighthearted fun series at the very least, with all the talent behind it.
Really? I didn’t even know about that bias. I haven’t seen Idolmaster, or Tiger & Bunny for that matter, so maybe I just have nothing to compare AKB0048 to and no expectations for it. I’m hoping it’s at least decent, and at most, very good ;)
Winter season roundup….
“Another” was a big disappointment to me. It started off OK. But by the end it turned into a gimmicky slasher gore fest show. The characters became stupid retards that had no sense of logical thinking in them whatsoever. The death scenes even got to the point where they were not even scary; they were just flat out comical. It’s the kind of crap you would see on a late night movie on SciFi/SyFy. “Comedy” should have been one of the genres listed for the show. The manga version was much better. It did a much better job keeping things suspenseful and not resorting to cheap gore gimmicks. If you liked the original premise of “Another,” but felt the anime version was dreadfully dumb, check out the manga version instead.
“Ano Natsu de Matteru” seemed like the best overall show of the season for me. The ending was a bit chaotic but overall it held things together well enough. The characters were what made this show great. They really did have an authentic feel about them. When they felt emotions you sort of felt them to. Remon owned this show. To me, she was the boss character of the season. The biggest gripe I heard from detractors is that the show was rather “cliche.” But I thought for the most part they didn’t do much of anything that took away from the main plot. The character’s personalities more than made up for any cliche moments as well.
“Black Rock Shooter” was a very pretty, yet confusing series. It had this sense of confused vagueness about it. Which would sort of makes sense cause they minds of young females is rather confusing to me in general. So you could say the show is a rather poignant depiction of what could possibly go on in young girls heads. It really got confusing towards the end when the protagonist became one with her alter ego. I didn’t get what was really going on. Also, the whole thing with Yuu being or not being real or whatever made me scratch my head. It was definitely interesting. I just wish the story had a bit more clarity in it.
“Senhime Zesshou Symphogear” What a pretty disaster. But the music was excellent. It was just like “Guilty Crown” in those respects. The plot was dreadful. The main protagonist was awful. The only thing it had going for it was the character development of the two side characters, Yukine Chris and Kazenari Tsubasa. Their backstory made them rather sympathetic and likable characters. But still it wasn’t enough to save the trainwreck. Even the ending was a disaster.
I haven’t finished anything else yet from winter season. I also commented on both “Guilty Crown” and “Nisemonogatari” in your earlies articles based on them. So I won’t repeat myself here. Well, I will reiterate that “Guilty Crown” sucked. :p
Spring season pick ups.
Tasogare Otome x Amnesia (Dusk maiden of Amnesia)
It’s a ghost story with an element of romance. The female lead being a playfully flirtatious poltergeist seems very amusing. There does also seem to be an element of suspense to the show.
Hyouka
seems like a charming show with interesting characters. I also seem to think Kyoani never puts out a bad anime so it’s worth watching just for that. The girl with the purple eyes seems captivating.
Sankarea
I’ve heard rave reviews about the manga. So I’m checking this one out even though I’m growing rather sick of the whole “zombie” trope.
Natsuiro Kiseki
This one scares me. But I’m willing to find out for myself. The fact that all the four girls are voiced by “Sphere”, the idol musical group of seiyuu, leaves me to believe this might turn into a musical moeblob show that will try and clone the success of other series of a similar design. i. e. K-on. I already get the feeling the miracle will have something involving music.
Accel World
This is another show that seems to have a rabid manga following that sings it’s praises. The premise seems modern and interesting enough. The protagonist being a typical wuss dweeb isn’t too thrilling. but I’ve grown used to them.
I might also check out…
Medaka BoxandNazo no Kanojo X
I’ll be continuing…
Fate/ZeroandMouretsu Pirates
I agree that Another was not really that scary in the finals episodes. However, mass hysteria does make things like this happen. After all, we do not think logically when it does set in. The manga was okay, but I never really got the creepy vibe from it that the anime gave. I just wish the novel was translated, so we can find out how events really happened.
You have some points about Another, but like I said in my post, I enjoyed it more than not and thought the mystery/creepy themes held up well until the last couple of episodes.
I heard that Ano Natsu de Matteru was good – I may have to watch it another time.
I might check out Sankarea too. And I don’t know what to expect from Natsuiro Kiseki – I wouldn’t say it scares me but I’m not sure what will happen being an anime original series with seiyuu from an idol music group.
For the heck of it, and because Kal brought it up above, I’ll re-recommend last season’s Chihayafuru :-).
Too early for me to say anything about this season’s shows, other than that I’ll be watching Fate/zero and Hyouka for sequel and KyoAni reasons, respectively.
Like I said to Kal, I will consider watching Chihayafuru some day =)
I’m sure Fate/Zero 2 and Hyouka won’t disappoint~
I’m really excited for Sakamichi no Appollon too. *_* Probably not gonna watch it til it’s finished airing, though. Damn you, uni!
I wouldn’t have picked it were it not for its director and composer XD It should be good.
I loved the action in Shakugan no Shana III, it was the reason why I started the series in the first place. Unfortunately, due to the long period since the first season, I’d forgotten just about everything to do with the plot. Most of the dialogue just seemed like random babbling to me.
Yeah, Shana III had some great action scenes. Pretty memorable character development scenes too, especially for Margery and Keisaku.
I had also forgotten a lot of the details from previous seasons – it’s been almost five years since I watched season 2, and with a series as full of fantasy rich terminology and subplots as Shana, that makes it difficult to pick up a sequel years later. I read through all the Wiki episode summaries of Shana I and II to prepare me for III =P