One month has almost pasted since the first series aired. I watched at least one subbed episodes of almost every anime (airing at night, I just skip the morning shows for children), but for most I watched 2-3. I ordered them first by air day and then by starting air date, leaving the series continuing from previous seasons last. So here we go ...
Updated impressions, after watching more episodes, are in orange.
MONDAY
... only Bamboo Blade ... shame it was a let down ...
Bamboo Blade
As I stated in the preview, I was practicing kendo, thus I became excited with this series. Unfortunately, kendo is the only thing that keeps me watching. The characters seem very trivial and shallow and sport-centered plots tend to be very weak. Another problem is the 3d CG they are using, it very poorly integrated with the 2d animations and stills. It gives me the impression that they made it just to have one.
Verdict (7 episodes): watch -> watch
Reference: Official, AniDB, ANN
Update: After 4 episodes, I begun liking this more, the forth character (out of five) shows up, one turns out to be a total psycho and more. If it keeps up this way it might turn out to be really interesting.
Second Update: After 7 episodes, the kendo matches in episode 6 were great, as well as at the beginning of the 7th. Still the show is funny and thank god they dropped all the crappy 3d CGs. I guess this will continue for a second seasonsince it's half the the way and the fifth team member hasn't yet been introduced
Sketchbook ~full color's~
Slice of school life of the members of an art club ... no thanks! Though this is well done (animation, character design and VA), it's subject and structure are not within my personal sphere of interest.
Verdict (1 episode): drop
Reference: Official, AniDB, ANN
THUESDAY
... detectives, demons, mysteries, alien-yuri ... and Genshiken!
Majin Tantei Nougami Neuro
The plot is just rediculous and a rip-off several popular series! and that was not enough the character designs are very kitsch, bright colours for grotesque and ominous characters? very bad taste ...
Verdict (1 episode): drop
Reference: Official, AniDB, ANN
Suteki Tantei Labyrinth
Very similar to Detective Loki - Ragnarok, but I never was excited with Loki, had a couple of good arcs and that was about it. This gave me exactly the same feeling, though since it is newer, thus technically it is much better animated.
Verdict (1 episode): drop
Reference: Official, AniDB, ANN
Night Wizard
I was surprised by Night Wizard, I expected to mock it, but I actually liked it. Why? Because it offers a trivial series that I think I have watched countless times, but still it is very entertaining, especially when you don't want to put your full attention into it ;) The character designs are well made, though not innovating in any way. Characters are funny and fittingly voice-acted, but not original. Action is flawlessly animated, but sparse and easy to animate. The plot is enjoyable, but still very predictable.
Verdict (7 episodes): watch -> watch
Reference: Official, AniDB, ANN
Update: After 7 episodes, it gets better and better, though the second half of the last episode was pretty lame, still it's generally fun to watch.
Blue Drop
All-female schools nowadays in anime contain: traumatized transfer student, depressed alien commander stranded in earth, shy and hard working class rep, etc, etc. It's like the crew from Geneshaft joined MariMite's academy! The plot progresses slowly and despite it's unoriginal characters, the series IS interesting. Until now a lot of built-up is going on and we know next to nothing about the aliens, but seems promising. Animation is very good, both 2D and 3D, though the lack of high-paced action scenes makes this easier.
Verdict (7 episodes): watch -> watch
Reference: Official, AniDB, ANN
Update: After 7 episodes, it's clear that this is going to be a shoujo-ai/harem, with some space fights thrown here and there. Maybe I make it sound worst than it is. Anyway it's still watchable.
Myself; Yourself
I try to avoid harem, date-sim adaptions, etc.
Thus...
Verdict (0 episodes): n/a -> drop
Reference: Official, AniDB, ANN
Update: After 1 episode, I am amazed at my patience, I actually managed to watch the whole episode. DO NOT MAKE THE SAME MISTAKE !!!
Mokke
I must get around and watch this!
Verdict (0 episodes): n/a -> n/a
Reference: Official, AniDB, ANN
Update: I still haven't watched it =P
Genshiken 2
Genshiken has next to zero surprises, it picks up from where the OVAs left us, both in respect of plot and production quality. As the series progresses, though, it steadily loses its originality. Thankfully, Ogie's addition to the cast was a nice choice to counter that. On the positive side we got some character development since the first season.
Verdict (6 episodes): watch -> excited
Reference: Official, AniDB, ANN
Update: Episode 3 was amazing, Koshaka was cosplaying as ... nah ... I won't spoil it! The 4th episode resolved one of the most obscure relationships of the series, in a very funny way ;) After those two episodes I am getting excited about this season!
Second Update: And continues strong! Yaoi in the fifth and an embarassed Ogiue in the sixth!
WEDNESDAY
... fun-service day ...
Dragonaut - the Resonance
And thus we get the EVA-clone of the season from ... guess who ... GONZO! I will describe the package that this studio has offered countless of times. Badly integrated 3d CGs, unoriginal plot that tries at some point to be "artistic" and fails miserably and tons of fan-service, in the guise of humongous, bouncing boobs! Still, when their series are short and free time is available GONZO's EVA-clone are fun, though they never intend to be.
Verdict (7 episodes): watch (until it gets too annoying)
Reference: Official, AniDB, ANN
Update: Exactly as bad as I expected, but in any case it is still watchable.
Goshuushousama Ninomiya-kun
Demons + ecchi can be a funny combo
Verdict (7 episodes): n/a -> excited
Reference: Official, AniDB, ANN
Update: After five episodes I am getting excited with this show! It is funny has tons of fan-service and an interesting non-standard male lead. I must not forget to mention that it also has a MAID!!! Nothing really deep though, but great show to kill time and practice my japanese ;)
THIRSDAY
... by far the most exciting day ...
You're Under Arrest! Full Throttle
I really loved the original OVA (yes, the one from '96), but I haven't watched anything else, so this will also stack to the YUA queue, probably get around to watch them the coming summer.
Verdict (0 episodes): n/a
Reference: Official, AniDB, ANN
Clannad
Have you seen Air? the new Kanon? well Clannad is the same thing all over again! But after KyoAni made Haruhi, they went very high in my appreciation list, so I'll follow this and then troll SaiMOE '08 threads ;P
On a serious note, production values are very high, so this can be easily watched.
Verdict (4 episodes): watch -> drop
Reference: Official, AniDB, ANN
Update: After the fourth episode, I dropped the series, it was just boring!
Shakugan no Shana II
Nice start, Shana picks up from where last season stopped ... almost, because Yuji never herd Shana's confession, which would have been a very interesting development, but then again, I didn't really minded the lame excuse! In any case Shana is back at last, so rejoice!
Verdict (6 episodes): excited -> watch
Reference: Official, AniDB, ANN
Update: After watching 5 episodes, I still like the new Shana, though am not as excited as before, basically the situation is pretty static after the appearance of Hecate in school. At least Wilhelmina plays more now in every episode so I get a second dosage of maids per week =P
Moyasimon
American styled drawings ... suck! and I don't mean muscle-bound, leather/latex-clad lads, but minimalistic, NY-style people that look like french (sorry freedom) fries! This made my my eyes bleed!
Verdict (1 episodes - raw): drop
Reference: Official, AniDB, ANN
Kodomo no Jikan
no plot ... loli, ecchi ... hentai ??? Well, this came out delayed and heavily censored, because a japanese teacher was pimping his students (so what's next in our upright developed society?). But I must repeat this a thousand times, pedophilia has nothing to do with anime, especially serious depictions of it (should I remind to everyone Koi Kaze or CCSakura)? Kodmo no Jikan is fresh, full energy and humor. But also has some serious moments (well handled), because of it's theme (pedos, incest and homos). All in all, if you are stupid, biggot, etc you won't like it! otherwise it deserves a try if you like the character designs.
Verdict (OVA & 6 episodes): excited -> excited
Reference: Official, AniDB, ANN
PS: I will rant about the hypocrisy and guilt of conservatism in the future!
Update: If it wasn't so heavily censored, it would have been my top pick for the season. It balances between fun and drama very well, treats its characters with detail, avoiding being too boring, my other problem apart from censoring it the absolute lack of plot until now, we only get to see interaction that do not progress the status quo along with flashbacks. Though still the series is very good. Oh and pass no judgment before the sixth episode.
Ghost Hound
WOW, is this the new Lain? The first episode was very promising ... I will come back to right more when I watch more, it started pretty late (18.10) and I can not expess anything more then my excitement before I watch more episodes.
Verdict (1 episode): excited
Reference: Official, AniDB, ANN
FRIDAY
WTF? only shows for children? whyyyyyyyyy !!!
SATURDAY
... I'm still undicided on this weekday's series ...
ef -a tale of memories-
Weird storytelling, but interesting directing. This is also based on a date-sim, but from what I find out it was about a collection of stories with different characters, completely irrelevant to each other. So this can be a major source for screwing the plot, but until then seems nice.
Verdict (1 episode): watch -> drop
Reference: Official, AniDB, ANN
Update: After the second episode, I dropped the series, it was as boring as CLANNAD!
Kimikiss Pure Rouge
Yet another love-comedy/drama, with nice character designs, but pretty sandard plot, it's like hachimitsu to clover in high school in almost every aspect, animation, character designs, humor and gives me a feeling that in a little bit I will include character development.
Verdict (2 episodes): watch -> drop
Reference: Official, AniDB, ANN
Update: After the third episode, I dropped the series, it was as boring as CLANNAD and ef! I guess I am not in my date-sim/harem phase ;)
Shion no OU
If this was going to be about shogi, it would get boring soon enough, if it focused in mystery it could get very interesting ... so after the first episode I realize that not even the scriptwritters have chosen where to focus and until they do the result is weird. Technically, though, it is nice, so I'll tag along ...
Verdict (5 episodes): watch -> watch
Reference: Official, AniDB, ANN
Update: After 3 episodes, I am still watching this combination of Monster and Hikaru no Go, only this time it's Shogi not Go. In any case, if the next couple of episodes are at the same pace I'll also drop this one.
Second Update: Apparently they decided that this is a sport/shogi show, too bad ... but I'll keep watching, since I try to learn shogi anyway.
SUNDAY
... magic & fantasy ... and Minami-ke (wtf?) ...
Rental Magica
I'll confess that the nice character designs and moe'ness only, draw my attention. The back-story is a mess, but can and probably will be funny, as long as the scriptwriters don't try to turn serious. Only one series succeeded in this, Seto no Hanayome.
Verdict (6 episodes): watch -> watch
Reference: Official, AniDB, ANN
Second Update: The timeline is screwed up in a very bad way, whoever is responsible for the scenarios consistancy made a very bad job. But anyway, there is too much hype both around and in the show and this is what sustains it.
Prism Ark
Fantasy + H-game is a weird combination to begin with. The character designs and action were amazing in the first episode. Though storytelling was constantly going temporally back and forth, which by the way I liked, though if it continues it will get annoying at some point.
Verdict (2 episodes): watch
Reference: Official, AniDB, ANN
Minami-ke
Very nice designs, above average animation and funny. The humor is reminiscent of Azumanga Daiou, which I loved, though here we get a lot friction because the sisters have an age difference.
Verdict (6 episodes): excited -> excited
Reference: Official, AniDB, ANN
Second Update: Very good show, though it can never reach the heights of Azumanga Daiou.
Jyushin Enbu - Hero Tales
After the european fantasy, we get an oriental/chinese epic of the day. Art and animation were above average, but in what the first episode side was its trivial plot. In any case, probably production values will drop with time, but hopefully the plot will get some originality as the scriptwriters become more confident with their work.
Verdict (2 episode): watch -> drop
Reference: Official, AniDB, ANN
Update: After 2 episodes, I realized that children shows aren't limited in the morning zones! This turned out a pretty lame shounen show, as the titled hinted! So I dropped the series.
CONTINUED
Sky GirlsI kind of feel guilty for liking this, maybe it's because I didn't take a good dosage of Nanoha this year (StrikerS sucked, big time). So here the lolis are mecha (exoskeleton-variant) pilots, instead of having magic girls, the don't butcher english language (which I found rather cute) and they are significantly fewer, which leaves room for some character development. All in all, it's fun to watch, but nothing special.
Verdict (18 episodes): watch
Reference: Official, AniDB, ANN
Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai
The last arc (Matsuribayashi) has begun, with no mysteries left, now we get to see the resolution. The previous arc (Minagoroshi) was just amazing, in all aspects, I really loved it and I'm really anxious to see how things end.
Verdict (19 episodes): excited -> VERY excited
Reference: Official, AniDB, ANN
Update: After 18 episodes (5th in Matsubayashi-hen), all pieces have been gathered, all mysteries revealed, all actors are in stage ... waiting for Hanyuu's manifistation as the final piece that will shatter the accursed fate of Hinamizawa. The last six episodes (19-24) will bring this wonderful series to its end!
Hayate no Gotoku
This gets better and better, as it explores more characters and their relationships. Humor is still fresh and production values remain constantly above average (rare for long series).
Verdict (32 episodes): excited
Reference: Official, AniDB, ANN
