Now that we’re about half way through the first week of the new season, some fairly brief thoughts on the ten shows I’ve watched so far. There have been some surprises, some have been as expected so far, and two I’ve instantly dropped. But I’ve come away from the first episodes mildly optimistic overall. So, organized roughly in the three categories I put shows into after watching the first episodes, here are my initial impressions. Since I’m covering so many shows in one post, I’ll attempt to keep my thoughts on each brief.
Definitely Watching – Right From the Start Good
Shows that seemed promising enough based just on their first episodes that barring some massive trainwreck or change, I’ll be watching for the rest of the season.
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Shinrei Tantei Yakumo
Nothing says ‘badass’ like having a casual chat on top of a burning building.
Two sentence summary: Ogawa Haruka, a university student, seeks the help of a student who claims to be able to see ghosts after two of her friends die following a ‘test of courage’ in an abandoned school building. Saitou Yakumo agrees to help, and together with a contact in the police department he’s able to use his powers to solve the murders, while elsewhere there are hints of a larger supernatural intrigue going on.
Thoughts: Has a serious and dark atmosphere and it’s paced slowly to maintain that sense of mystery and intrigue. That may not appeal to everyone, but I tend to love series with that sort of pacing. It’s also nice that the characters are university students instead of the usual high school ones for once. Overall it left me excited for to see more, and there wasn’t really anything I disliked about it. Haruka could use some character development/exposition, but she didn’t irritate me either. On the downside, the initial mystery was pretty simple, but the opening case/mission/fight/etc of most anime usually is since it’s more of a means to introduce the characters and setting than anything else. Definitely a show I’ll be looking forward to.
Otome Youkai Zakuro
Three flavors of cute girls and bishounen. Everybody wins!
Two sentence summary: Three soldiers led by Lt. Agemaki Kei are assigned to live and work together with a house of youkai as the government attempts to both live side by side with the youkai and introduce new, modern ideas. Despite his charm, Agemaki is also terribly frightened of youkai, and living with them is already causing some tension with Zakuro, who already mistrusts the humans and their modern ways.
Thoughts: A nice mix of comedy and some shoujo elements. Agemaki, complete with shoujo sparkles and rose petals when he laid on the charm, was great as someone trying to keep up his bishounen act while being deathly afraid of his new comrades. Zakuro played a surprisingly fun tsundere, falling for Agemaki’s charm at first and then returning to her dislike of humans when he proved to be afraid of even the most harmless youkai. It almost felt like if someone had made Faldio the main character in Valkyria Chronicles, with Zakuro having more than a little resemblance to Alicia. Through the whole episode I was entertained, and even though I was expecting it to be decent, I was surprised by how fun the characters were.
(highly probable) Iron Man
Cue ‘the song.’
Two sentence summary: Tony Stark heads to Japan to oversee the startup of an Arc Station, as well as the evaluation and testing of a prototype mass-production Iron Man suit. Being his playboy self he ends up immediately hitting on his lab director and a local reporter, but then is brought back out of ‘retirement’ by the hijacking of the prototype suit by a group calling themselves the ‘Zodiac.’
Thoughts: Having never read a single Iron Man comic book or seen either of the movies, I’m going into this as a blank slate. I’m not a comic book fan by any means, but even so the first episode of Iron Man looks like it’ll hold my interest. Tony Stark was fun to see laying on the charm in ways the terrorist scum Lyle Dyllandy could never hope to. The short fight wasn’t spectacular, but at least it looks like the show knows how to animate the fights well. Not enough to be a ‘definite’ for me, but I think it’s highly likely that I’ll watch the entire season of it.
Probationary Viewing – The ‘Maybes’
Shows that peaked my interest enough to keep watching, but which I haven’t decided on just yet.
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Star Driver
Mecha, as interpreted by Lady Gaga.
Two sentence summary: Tsunashi Takuto washes up on the beach one night as he attempts to swim to his new school on South Island, a place his grandfather told him about. There he meets some of the locals, and finds a fabulously dressed cult attempting to use mecha to “break seals” when his powers and personal mecha activates.
Thoughts: Fabulous: the anime (as one person on Twitter put it.) Seriously, there’s more anatomically incorrect hand motions, sparkles, masquerade wear, rainbow, and suggestive designs going on here than Code Geass, a Prince of Tennis musical, Utena, and UraBoku combined. It’s ridiculous in a good way, and as long as it keeps bringing ‘teh lulz’ then I’ll keep watching it. Though I think it might get tiring after a while, so if it doesn’t either find new ways of amusing me or find a (non-cliche) story then I may end up dropping it at some point.
Bakuman
How life works.
Two sentence summary: Mashiro Moritaka has a crush on Azuki Miho, no direction in his life, and a skill for drawing coupled with emotional baggage from his uncle, a failed (and deceased) manga artist. But his classmate Takagi Akito notices his drawings, begs him to illustrate a manga he wants to write, and when it’s revealed that Azuki wants to be a voice actress, gets Mashiro to blurt out a marriage proposal to her if they succeed in their dream.
Thoughts: In the first half I could see the influence of Kasai Kenichi as director, since I got a very Honey and Clover feel to the flashbacks about Mashiro’s uncle. It was neat and lent some seriousness to the show, but its similarity to Takemoto’s narrations in H&C didn’t strike quite the chord in me I imagine it did in others. The comedy part of it later on was alright, though my overall impression of the show is only so-so thus far. Though I expect my opinion to be in the minority, as there seem to be legions of fans out there that have been following the manga. Will continue on to episode 03 before I decide.
Yosuga no Sora
More than I expected, in two ways.
Two sentence summary: Kazugano Haruka and his sickly twin sister Sora move out to their grandfather’s house in the countryside after their parents died in an accident, with Haruka meeting several of the local girls at his school. Sora is fairly cold, yet clingy towards her brother, and has developed a strange bro-con relationship with him, something that seemed tinged with something darker and perhaps supernatural going on in the larger story.
Thoughts: Despite that premise and those events (and the “they didn’t censor that?” maid sidestory) the show somehow managed not to get dropped by me. The way Sora and Haruka kissed when they were little kids, and her current complex with her brother, was presented in a disturbing light rather than a sexualized one. Her delusion about her brother kissing her was especially so, and the abrupt way it ended was a nice hint of what must be going on in her mind. It feels like it’s got an interesting mystery going on somewhere, but only time will tell if it’ll focus on that with the uncensored sexual moments as only a component of the mystery, a la Tsukihime, or if it will concentrate primarily on the sex (and thus be dropped by me.) Definitely better than I expected from it though.
Super Robot Wars OG: The Inspector
Something something (mecha pilot goes to the) Dark Side. Something something complete.
Two sentence summary: Starting off with a battle in what I’m assuming is the future between teammates that have become enemies, the show then jumps back to the main characters battling remnant DC forces. But then in the middle of the battle a new mecha appears from the sky, radiant light, feathers, and all, who has come in search of something.
Thoughts: Didn’t realize this was a sequel until I was already watching it, but it did a pretty good job of filling you in on what happened before. The mecha designs mostly aren’t to my tastes, but they’re not bad either. The world and the action seemed kind of contrived, but then again this is based off of a game whose sole premise is “big robots! fight! smash! victory!” The flash-forward scene at the beginning did grab my interest though, so I’ll watch up to episode 03 to see if it develops any substance.
Ore no Imouto ga Konnani Kawaii Wake ga Nai
One more sis-con/bro-con show and I’m declaring this the Season of Siscon.
Two sentence summary: Kousaka Kyousuke’s sister Kirino normally ignores him, but one day he finds a DVD case belonging to her, and instead of it being a magical girl anime it’s an eroge prominently featuring imouto (little sister) characters. She slaps him awake that night and after dancing around the issue, she admits to her love of eroge featuring imouto characters, swears Kyousuke to secrecy, makes him start playing the games, and vigorously denies that she has any ‘ulterior motives’ for enjoying games with so much sis-con/bro-con.
Thoughts: It…wasn’t terrible. Somehow. I hadn’t even planned on giving this a try, but I figured I’d do so for the hell of it. But it was actually funny, didn’t have an otaku self-insert male lead, or get creepy with actual sis/bro-con. Yet. I still remain wary of it. But surprisingly I’ll give it the three episode test and hope it stays decent. Not likely to be great or anything, but it could have potential as a decent comedy.
Dropped – Poor Bastards Never Stood a Chance
Shows I decided were terrible and not worth my time after the first episode (or maybe not even before the entire episode was done.)
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MM!
I’d say more about how I hate your show, but you’d probably enjoy it.
Two sentence summary: Sado Taro is such a obsessive masochist that he has to seek the help of the “Second Volunteer Club” and Isurugi Mio to cure him of this so he can be confident enough to ask out the girl he likes. And Mio’s cure is, strangely, to beat the crap out of him until he (somehow) gets over his masochism.
Thoughts: Crap. Pointing out that the main character is an extreme masochist is barely funny the first time, but less for the entirety of the episode, and likely, the show. Lots of pointless comic violence, etc etc. Ugh, I swear, anime are on an “otaku (or Japanese men in general?) are masochists” kick over the last year or two, and this seems to be the inevitable outcome.
Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt
Ren and Stimpy + Powerpuff Girls + Gainax.
Two sentence summary: There’s a city between heaven and hell that relies on two angels, sex-obsessed Panty and her sister with a sweet tooth, Stocking, to protect them from demons. In high speed action scenes and plenty of toilet humor (entirely too much toilet humor) this show caused me to stop watching it about 7 minutes in.
Thoughts: Lots of people, and I mean the vast majority, seemed to react favorably to the first episode, but I could not stand it. The animation style, while done in a slick and visually impressive manner, was nothing new to me since I’ve seen a fair amount of American cartoons. And it didn’t help that it resembled a particular art style (influenced by anime, so the circle is now complete) that I dislike. But the animation is not really the problem for me, not by far. The literal toilet humor with the excrement monster reminded me too much of Ren and Stimpy, and I didn’t even like that sort of humor when back when that first came on when I was in elementary school. The other jokes felt similarly crude and juvenile. I rarely ever stop watching a first episode part way through, but this was just an absolute REJECTED for me.
Bonus: Preliminary Season Awards
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DDDDAAAAAWWWW of the New Season
Otome Youkai Zakuro: Hotaru saying that she was afraid of Riken, unfortunately for her within earshot, might have soured things. But not for our man Riken, who later helped her reach a basket on top of a high dresser and then knelt down in front of her as in the above image. And there was much DDDDAAAAAAWWWWWing and kyyyaaaaaaaa.
Character I Want Dead of the New Season
Super Robot Wars OG: The Inspector: Excellen Browning. Annoying bimbo piloting a mecha too good for her. Ugh, I couldn’t stand even her for even a second. Though I probably won’t get my wish, she being a main character and all…
44 Comments
I found Excellen pretty annoying at first, but she’s awesome and grows on you.
And I’ll have you know that she is more otaku than you and me combined~
Hmm, we shall have to see. I’m having a hard time imagining liking a character with such an annoying voice and manner of speaking, otaku or not.
Are… are you me?
No, you just have impeccable taste in anime
I count for ironman and bakuman this season (nice to see prince ali in this century played tony stark), and the other anime still arakawa under the brige (lol 1st ep. Was hilarious). But I still expect for another break blade movie and struggle to watch Unlimited blade works though.
I thought Tony Stark sounded like my liege! Let us hope that his latest incarnation will rack up an equal or greater kill count!
I still haven’t gotten to Break Blade. It sounds like I’d love it, but something about that mini-movie format has just kept making me drag my feet about watching it. I guess I like my anime in 23 minute increments.
Well I was pretty glad to see you have Yakumo in your definite blogging list
I just finished seeing episode 1 now and it was great!
But the thing which surprised me that,I was expecting Bakuman to be on the definite blogging list!
Well I was proven wrong
Unfortunately it’s a “definitely watching” list, not a blogging one. If I had more time on my hands I’d definitely blog one of them, but with Amagami continuing into this season and GTO to retroblog, I can’t really handle any more and still keep up with social, educational, and recreational things. Two series at a time is my limit. But maybe I can work in an editorial or mid-season review or something.
Bakuman is well liked across the community, but for me it doesn’t really have a premise or style that really attracts me. I’m not a shounen fan, so the tributes to that genre don’t really resonate with me, and I’m not a creative writer/artist type, so the whole ‘achieving your dreams by creating’ thing is also something that doesn’t connect with me. And just on an entertainment level I didn’t feel like the first episode was all that great, though it could have potential and thus remains on my probationary watching list.
Aww…I see
Well I follow your blog somewhat regularly!
But most of the shows I havent seen them…I used to follow Maid sama…now thats over!
Well its okay I understand!
And about Bakuman and your likings…I see.
Well nice to know that
I feel that Bakuman suffers badly from the hype we bloggers build for it. It’s no a bad show but it’s not great either. Maybe, it need more time to evolve
All the hype around it has almost made me want to dislike it just to be contrarian, but that aside the first episode was kinda good but nothing spectacular in my opinion. But as you say, it may grow into something better as it goes along.
Shame. MM’s light novel is somewhat decent.
I have to wonder how they managed to make something decent out of that premise, but who knows.
If you look past the masochist part, MM! actually has a serious tone to it. Even the first episode had serious parts about being ostracized for being different and about acceptance.
I recommend you try the second episode since it’s great. For me, it’s one of the hidden gems of the season.
All in all, I must agree with everything you say except for the sis/bro-con animes. For myself I’ll stick to Otome Youkai Zokura for my dose of romance this season.
Character I Want Dead of the New Season -> Thank god I feel so happy that somebody feels the same as me. Not to be rude or anything, but her personality mocks the seriousness of the situation.
I was quite surprised that I didn’t instantly drop OreImo and Yosuga no Sora, but somehow they managed to kinda work during their first episodes. Neither was straight sis/bro-con and actually seemed to have some potential. I’d really like Yosuga no Sora to be good, but there are some definite mixed signals about what kind of show it wants to be (mystery vs harem.)
I pretty much agree with you on Yakumo, except that I disliked the last minute or so that came right out of nowhere. I don’t want any plot to get in the way of enjoying this show. Zakuro I thought was on the better side of okay (it did actually make me laugh), but I don’t know that I’ll end up finishing it. Bakuman I thought was good–not as good as the manga, though. And I loved Panty and Stocking.
The last part of Yakumo was tacked on, but I didn’t hold it against the show for the same reason I didn’t begrudge it the simple mystery story. First episodes have to do a lot and thus compromise on some elements so that there’s enough setup to explain the premise and characters and then hook the audience. But we’ll have to see how that story plays out once the likely antagonists get more screentime.
The My Sister is an Otaku!! show, despite not yet catering to the lowest denominator, still screamed “fake” to me. I thought maybe she would be a closet fujoushi, into BL, weird magical girl and whatnot, but her exclusive interest in siscon eroge indicated to me this is an anime aimed at people who have never met an actual female anime fan. And that she’s “oh so adorable!” and “models in major magazines in secret!” had me gnashing my teeth near the end. I was holding onto some vain hope it might be something I could actually relate to (reverse Genshiken too much to ask?), but instead is more repellent otaku wish fulfillment.
Minor thing: I didn’t get the impression that her modeling was a secret (ie: done without parent’s knowledge/permission), but rather something that she never talked with her brother about, and that he had no interest in knowing about. After all, they were barely on speaking terms at the start.
“Secret” meaning to her brother/the viewer. Her phone conversation in the living room made it seem like it wasn’t a ‘secret’ secret, but it came off as one to her brother when she talked about the royalties from it. Or maybe it wasn’t a secret to him as such, but the extent of it and the profits were a surprise.
I went into OreImo expecting fake plastic wish-fulfillment and don’t expect that to change. That said, if it plays its cards right I think it could be an acceptable but mostly forgettable comedy. Best case scenario it’s a ‘junk food’ anime that’s enjoyable but without substance. Worst case, it gets really annoying and I drop it.
I hear ya bro! Especially on the Yakumo and Zakuro love-in; was really looking forward to the first and, thankfully, it didn’t disappoint; whereas the second one was a very pleasant surprise. Though I’ll see your ‘baddass’ and ‘DDDDAAAAAWWWW’ comments and raise you ‘smexy as hell’ and ‘KYAAAAA!’, respectively, in response.
Unfortunately, I’m probably too shallow to give Iron Man a chance because of the effect of the character designs on me, and I’ll agree that Star Driver and Bakuman (and I’ll add Panty & Stocking, in my case) were okay, but weren’t really pushing my buttons.
Oh, and random seiyuu role of the season so far: Nobuhiko Okamoto as an overfriendly demonic rabbit – nice! Now that Kaichou is over and Shiki is on hiatus, glad Usui and Toru fans are still getting their fix.
Hell yeah those two shows! Back at preview time I thought Zakuro might have potential, but I certainly didn’t expect the characters to be so immediately likable. In some ways they’re shoujo archetypes, but there was enough variation to make them unique. And I don’t mind genre standards when they’re done well either, as in Sora no Manimani.
Haha, didn’t know about the seiyuu roles there, but I’m sure that’ll make the fans happy.
Hadn’t heard about Otome Youkai Zakuro before. Sounds like something I’d like; will have to check it out.
Glad to have brought it to your attention, it’s looking like it’ll be a fun show
Why does everybody think Oreimo is about incest? It’s not. It’s about an sibling relationship that evolves while showcasing aspects of the otaku subculture. Don’t mix it up with Yosuga no Sora.
THANK YOU!!! I’m pretty sick of hearing all the prejudiced views about Oreimo myself because the source material is great, even though only 3 chapters of the light novel and 8 chapters of the manga have been translated to my knowledge…
So claims Kirino anyway :3 I’d like to believe that it won’t pander to sis-con types, but there are already signs in Kirino’s bro-con denials that it may do so. The first episode wasn’t bad though, so I’ll give it another two episodes to prove itself.
So, then I must watch Yosuga. And dont bother with Oreimo. Noted!
Declare it now, cuz the masochist in MM has a brocon sister~
I feel like I need to watch P&S so that I can say for myself that I don’t like it either, but ugh, after reading this I really think I’ll just skip it altogether.
Zakuro is so much <3 Oh how I love Nakahara Mai in slightly tsundere roles :3
I was kinda 'meh' about Yakumo, but Fujimura Ayumi has me watching at least another ep or two.
OreImo was fun, I really enjoyed it and for once I kinda agree, I'd rather not see it turn to siscon. Though Kirino's reaction at the thought of it will hopefully persist through the series. If nothing else, it should bring some anime related humor that I'm sure I'll enjoy.
I hereby declare, on this day, the 8th of October in the year 2010, by the authority invested in me by our Trappy Emperor, His Majesty Impz the Green-Haired, that this fall season of anime shall be referred to as “The Season of Sis-Con” in all official royal documents hereafter.
i have one reason why you should give P&S a shot anyway: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1sX953mEbkY
Virtually the only one I had any interest in watching is Shinrei Tantei Yakumo, mostly because I watched both the jap drama and read the manga. I was slightly disappointed with the first episode, because that arc in the original material was one of the best, IMO, both in terms of mystery, and suspense. Instead, the premise has been reduced to a simplistic and straightforward mystery, as you have rightly pointed out.
And one of my favourite scenes is cut.
Judging by the first episode then, I’m going to have to adjust my POV and just watch the anime as completely new material.
Give it a chance for later episodes. The first episode has to hook the audience in a way that manga chapters don’t have to be so quick about, so simplifying the first story is kind of par for the course. Given what they’ve introduced so far, I’m expecting it to be more like the manga you mentioned.
Also: drama version where?! Time to find that.
your thinking too much for SRWOG
That may be my problem, heh.
wait, you stopped watching “panty & stocking” 7 minutes in? then you didn’t even get to the STRIPPER MAHOU SHOUJO HENSHIN scene! you can’t pass judgment on the show until you see that scene. the show is also divided up into 2 mini-sodes per episode, so while the first one was all poop and fart jokes, the second one had a considerably different tone.
I did go back and try to watch the second half, but again I didn’t enjoy it. The stripper henshin scene felt drawn out and gratuitous, and while the action was well animated, it didn’t really entertain me.
I haven’t watched everything on this list yet, but I think I’ll be hanging on to see Iron Man and P&SwG… Anyway, Iron Man suffers from lack of Rhodey, that and maybe it needs something else, like Deadpool… Also, why is Hinagiku in this show???
Also as I mentioned in Twitter, P&SwG is enjoyable watching while drunk, it’s probably the most anti-anime, anti-moe show created by Gainax so far…
Being blissfully ignorant of the wider Iron Man/US comic books universe, I’m not feeling like it’s lacking just yet, other than the first Zodiac enemy being so easily and quickly defeated.
Of the shows I watched we have somewhat similar opinions except for the things on your dropped list. MM is entertaining to me, and while I wasn’t sold on it the first episode I’m glad I gave the 2nd episode a try. It’s not going to be the best of the season by a long shot but I think it will be entertaining.
I liked P&S. The show has an attitude about it that I dig. I would prefer to not have as many “poopy fart” scenes, but it doesn’t completely ruin it for me. The second part of the episode was considerably less gross. I especially like the music.
I’m undecided on Iron Man. It seems like it’s going to be way too serious for my liking. I’m giving it three episodes.
Well I’m glad you’ve found some shows that you like this season thus far. I still think that MM is just generally bad or at best maybe a so-so show depending upon your tastes. P&S is definitely a well done show, just not one for me.
I expect Iron Man to be pretty serious, but to me that’s a good thing. To each their own.
I see more of the Excellen hate. LOL. SRW’s definitely a must watch for me. Shinrei Tantei Yankumo is also on my watchlist. LOL, I’ll never watch the Iron Man anime, ever.
Nice reviews by the way, sir!