A lot of interesting series began this fall. See the weekly schedule or click on the links below to find more about each one.
- Excellent: ef ~ a tale of melodies.
- Very Good: Ga-Rei: Zero, Kannagi, Shikabane-hime: AKA, Toradora!
- Interesting: Chaos; Head, To aru no Majutsu Index, Yozakura Quartet, Kemeko Deluxe!, Macademi WAsshoi!
- Boring: Akane-iro ni Somaru Saka, Hyakko, Kuro Shitsuji, Kurozuka, Clannad After Story
- Avoid: Kurogane no Linebarrels, Kyo no Go no Ni, Rosario to Vampire CAPU2
ef - a tale of melodies
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An excellent opening song (as was the case with the previous season) and in general the background music is quite good. Plot follows again an interesting and uncommon structure, though this time they present past and present and focus on how they progressively converge. I expect this season to be somewhat more dramatic and tragic than the previous (if this can be conceived since the first ef was one of the most tragic and dramatic shows I have ever seen). Visually stunning, especially the presence (and absence) of light is very skillfully used. Character designs are very good and consistent with the previous season. Some of the previous leads have already appeared, though at minors roles, giving ground to the old minors who come in the foreground of this season's storytelling. Symbolism is omnipresent, though this is hardly surprising in a SHAFT production. In general, as its predecessor, ef2 is very different from other anime in a good and refreshing way.
OP of melodies (current season)
"ebullient future" by TENMON featuring ELISA
OP of memories (previous season)
"euphoric field" by TENMON featuring ELISA
Kurozuka
黒塚
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Ninja Scroll meets Shigurui? I'll wait for the subs to decide and more free time.
Toradora!
とらドラ！
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loli X tsundere Taiga (VA by Kugimiya Rie, also Nagi, Shana, Louise) was a little surprising because she did not sound loli at all. Ryuuji (VA by Majima Junji, also Ninomiya, Souma, Aoki) reminds me a lot of Usui from Karin, though he is certainly less spineless. Anyway, I got Zero and Shana vibes from the lead characters, though without magic and at least for now also without any romance between them. The animation was fairly good, as expected from J.C.Staff. The character designs were OK (based on the manga). I must stress the excellent rendering of emotion in facial expressions. Pacing was fairly fast in the first three episodes, but I'm still doubtful about the plot progression and pacing throughout the series (totaling 25 episodes). Probably it can work for a couple of seasons and I certainly hope it does not drag like Zero and Shana did. Bottom-line is that it was a fairly funny and entertaining series, that met my expectations.
Hyakko
ヒャッコ
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So what do we have here, an all-female school-life comedy, but without the surreal touch that made Azumanga, Pani Poni and Hidamari shine. The animation was never-the-less excellent, as well as the background drawings (very detailed). The character designs were OK, though some times not animated with the same level of detail as the static background. VAs are somewhat unconventionally cast (check ANN for more details). The characters themselves seemed unoriginal and the pacing was too slow in this first episode, while the humor was hit-and-miss. I am not impressed at all, but I'll wait for a couple more episodes, it certainly can improve.
Rosario to Vampire Capu2
ロザリオとバンパイア Capu2
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As expected for a GONZO milk-cow, you get dodgy (at best) animation, oppai X loli, a fashion sense, weather/physics along with "innovative" camera angles that favor the exposure of female undergarments and characters designs more fitting to hentai games (actually this last feature is the only thing I appreciate in this studio). Anyway, this series exists only for fan-service value and unfortunately my favorite character from the first season, Ruby, appeared less than half a minute.
Akane-iro ni Somaru Saka
あかね色に染まる坂
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A school romance/comedy with a girl-only class (with a sole exception for the male lead), probably a remnant from a hentai harem origin (speculation) ... which is certainly the cause of the average character designs. Animation is no better. First episode was kind of boring, but I expect that things will get better, since they had to introduce the characters and set-up the main plot.
Kuro Shitsuji
黒執事
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Animation (by A1) resembles Persona at its good parts without the action. The character designs (by Shiba Minako) are beautiful in a yaoi-context. Main cast is rather dull and too-cool to be interesting. But in general, the show was less gay then I expected, though still it's quite uninteresting to me even though it features a dojiko/megane meido ;-)
Clannad After Story
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More or less what we got the previous two seasons and by extensions what we always get form KyoAni/Kei combo. For me after watching both Air and Kannon, Clannad seems too repetitive, but still animation is better then the previous two works and especially in this episode there is plenty of fan-service to keep up the interest, but in the long run I will drop it as was the case with the previous season after Kotomi's arc was over.
Shikabane Hime AKA
黒執事
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Undead schoolgirl killing zombies by shooting them down with a couple of SMGs ... sounds silly, right? Well it is, but if I had to sum up in a sentence what was Gurren Lagann or Evangelion about it would probably sound even sillier. So where does this leave us ... animation style is rather similar to Gurren Lagann, though a little bit more realistic. The same goes for character designs, which are more influenced by the original from the manga, rather than following GAINAX norms. The tricky part is the plot and character development, judging only from the first episode can not be conclusive, but when I consider that after this season the next one will be handed down to another studio and probably different stuff, prospects seem dire.
Yozakura Quartet
夜桜四重奏 〜ヨザクラカルテット〜
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Animation and character designs are some of the best we got this season (as expected by the Rozen Maiden team; Studio Nomad, directed by Matsuo Kou and character designs by Kikuchi Satonobu). The characters are quite likable and though cliched at the first glance, have a lot of development potential to become unique and memorable. What I am still doubtful about is the plot; if we get a monster-of-the-week structure this (like Rental Magica) will go fairly quickly down-the-hill, on the other hand if the focus turns on the characters or some greater plot, then its future looks quite bright.
Chäos;HEAd
カオス；ヘッド
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So here we have a delusional and asocial otaku and a plot being told from his point of view. Since I am a big admirer of Lynch, I am give this one a try, despite that the animation and the character designs are average. The direction is good though and some characters look interesting (behaviorally).
Kurogane no Linebarrels
鉄のラインバレル
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As I predicted, this show is a failure at so many levels and the worst part is that it is one of the only three shows where I can hear Mamiko Noto's voice. Another thing that none else has pointed out yet is that Hayase, that annoying and spineless brat for protagonist, was walking around with a huge bloodstain almost all time, but no one seems to notice! WTF!?!
To Aru Majutsu no Index
とある魔術の禁書目録
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Spotless animation (J.C.Staff), lovable character designs, but unfortunately a cheesy setting (high-tech school city ... give me a break). Anyway, the male lead (Touma) is both interesting and believable (a rather rare occurrence lately), while the first members of his would-be "harem" made a solid entry; Index is cute and playful, though not lacking her serious moments, while Mikoto gives strong Shana vibes (in line with the rest of the show). That said, I do not expect this show to follow on Shana's footsteps apart from animation (ok, maybe also Mikoto), it seems rather original, genres considered.
Kannagi
かんなぎ
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Nagi is just adorable, while on the other hand Jin is the standard spineless dork of harem hentai ... speaking of which in the first episode the najimi and the nun haven't even showed up ... remember that this is a harem anime! Animation was very good and the character designs were excellent, but I fear that they will go downhill like the studio's (A1) other series (Persona & Birdy). Anyway, despite the annoying male lead and future fears, I liked a lot the show and I hope it will take a turn to the serious as was the case with ROD and Ima (all three were scripted by Kurata Hideyuki).
Kemeko Deluxe!
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How should I put it, this show is completely unconventional ... in a good and entertaining way. Animation is very detailed, especially during the action scenes. This came as a surprise, because shows with this kind of character designs usually do not pay much attention to the quality of the animation, since most people watch them for the comedy. Let me warn you though that the plot will be most likely a joke and if you don't like episodic or even gag-like structures, as well as, grotesque visuals combined with extreme fan-service ... stay far away from this one!
Macademi WAsshoi!
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Another show that I did not preview, but still its first episode drew my attention with the overwhelming weirdness and action-packed scenes. Character designs are fitting for the comical content of the show. All-in-all its an easy to watch and funny show.
Ga-Rei: Zero
喰霊 -零-
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Animation and character designs were very good in the first episode. I found the background music though completely inappropriate (j-pop for life-or-death scenes just does not work for me). Also I almost cried laughing by some silly ideas the script-writers had (e.g. the motorbike with runes on the wheels). Apart from these complaints the whole premise of the show is interesting none-the-less and the ending of this first episode left me both awed and puzzled. As for the second episode the frentic pace continued, but the silliness was less evident. From the third episode and on we entered a flashback mode, which put things into perspective and added a lot of depth to the apparent main heroines (Yomi and Kagura). Also I should note that the j-pop BGM was finally replaced by an instrumental!
Kyou no Go no Ni
今日の５の２
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Technically, the TV adoption is inferior to the OVA and frankly since both are loyal (more or less) to the manga, I do not plan to see the same stuff but in far worse quality.
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