Currently Watching (Fall 2012 Edition)

[Glamrgrl104]

Rose of Versailles episode 1- This is a pretty interesting series, part romance, part action, and part history.

Haikuoki demon of the fleeting blossom-episode 1- I love the dub! It is kind of hard knowing what is going on at first, but I love reverse harems.

Blue Exorcist episodes 2 & 3 eng dub- Very action packed love it!

Nura rise of the yokai clan-episode 2 & 3- This dub is really good too.

Tiger and Bunny- episode 2 & 3- I love this series! I might get it on dvd or maybe itunes since they have it already.

[Buckeye]

Originally Posted by Buckeye

Soul Eater is the first title I am viewing this season.

It took the entire month of October to finish up my first show of the season, but I was quite busy, combined with the fact that this show is 51 episodes long. Anyway, I did finish watching Soul Eater just now, and it is a great show that has everything that makes an anime so good. While it is about throwing together a lot of legendary stuff along with Halloween stories, there is a lot more to it than that. It has a great story, great characters, lots of funny stuff in it, and all those things together produce an amazingly great show. This might be something I might do every October with this being a great Halloween-themed show.

Up next is Dusk Maiden of Amnesia, and I had been also watching it, more or less, concurrently with Soul Eater as part of Halloween.

[Buckeye]

Originally Posted by Buckeye

Up next is Dusk Maiden of Amnesia, and I had been also watching it, more or less, concurrently with Soul Eater as part of Halloween.

And I just finished Dusk Maiden of Amnesia last night, having previously put it on hold during its simulcast season in the spring as this show was the last one to go on hold for that particular season. Seeing how it is a murder mystery and a ghost story that I saved this show for Halloween. It was quite a nice show where Yuko comes out as being a flirt with Teiichi, but there are lots of layers to this mystery. Things start out simple, and then get really complicated that I needed to read up on what happened in that episode. Anyway, once the mystery gets developed, it turns into a great story with an ending that was sort of expected even though it didn't seem like it was going to happen. But the stuff leading up to the truth being revealed could have been handled better.

Up next up, I plan on watching several things. They include the first half of Steins;Gate, episodes 5-8 of Hellsing Ultimate, and Humanity Has Declined.

[pianocello]

Currently watching (episodes watched up to in brackets):

Outstanding
Yuru Yuri season 2 (10)
The early episodes were so-so but they've been ramping up the comedy and yuri.

Very Good
None

Good
Aquarion Evol (4)
After a strong start, the show is starting to show signs of slipping. Still decent though.

Average
Hoshi o Ou Kodomo (Children who chase lost voices)
It's gorgeous to look at but this movie seems rather poorly directed. Things happen randomly and too many elements are thrown in only to be forgotten or poorly developed as the show progresses.

Sankarea (8)
If they would just focus on making this a wacky zombie romantic comedy intersected with frequent shots of Ranko fanservice, this would be a decent entertaining show. What spoils the show is Rea's father. The show doesn't need him - he's like putting Kimura in Azaumanga Daioh. The creepiness is just too icky.

Below Average
None

[something]

Originally Posted by pianocello

Sankarea (8)
If they would just focus on making this a wacky zombie romantic comedy intersected with frequent shots of Ranko fanservice, this would be a decent entertaining show. What spoils the show is Rea's father. The show doesn't need him - he's like putting Kimura in Azaumanga Daioh. The creepiness is just too icky.

Kimura was at least comedic. Rea's father is supposed to be taken seriously as an antagonist, and it turns out so poorly/messy.

[Glamrgrl104]

Blue Exorcist episodes 4 eng dub- Very action packed love it!


Tiger and Bunny- episode 4- I love this series!

Slayers episodes- 21-25- Pretty good.

[FUNiOP]

Some minor updates:

05. Say, "I Love You". (B-) Another surprisingly good shoujo school romance to add to My Little Monster, although not quite as good as that one.

I may have changed my mind on some of the grading and ordering, but the number I gave it sounds about right to me compared to the list I already had. I may update my previous post to reflect this and the other changes I'm including here, but I'd have to decide how the grades and rankings would change as well.

Originally Posted by FUNiOP

Possibly Dropped:
01. Aoi Sekai no Chūshin de (C-) I may watch another episode, or I may decide to drop it before I need to. References are fun, but the rest isn't.

So it turns out this isn't airing every week; in fact it's only airing something like an episode a season. That means it doesn't even count as a fall show, so while I was planning on dropping it anyway, it doesn't even register on this list anymore.

Originally Posted by FUNiOP

09. Saint Seiya Omega (D)

After realizing that I was still watching a series that was worse than some of the stuff I immediately dropped, after over two cours no less, I finally decided to stop torturing myself and give myself another much-needed half-hour each week by finally dropping this.

[Damius]

Originally Posted by FUNiOP

01. Aoi Sekai no Chūshin de (C-)

So it turns out this isn't airing every week; in fact it's only airing something like an episode a season. That means it doesn't even count as a fall show, so while I was planning on dropping it anyway, it doesn't even register on this list anymore.

Really? How weird. I don't remember any show doing this. Well, once a month yes, but once a season... That's why the first DVD is in March.

[something]

Originally Posted by FUNiOP

So it turns out this isn't airing every week; in fact it's only airing something like an episode a season. That means it doesn't even count as a fall show, so while I was planning on dropping it anyway, it doesn't even register on this list anymore.

Oh, um.... weird. Yeah, dropped too. First episode was pretty mediocre and there's no way I'll care 1-2 or more months from now.

[something]

2012/10/21

I've started all the shows I intend to, so I'll do the longer format this time. Comments are going to be minimal after the top titles though, as I want to get to sleep soon.


#1 Tier
(01)　　Chuunibyou Demo Koi ga Shitai! - ◄0► - 5 eps - The comedy has been some of KyoAni's best (and that's saying a lot), the art has been beautiful (of course), the seiyuu are brilliant , and the segues into more serious material are flawless, as expected. One of the most amusing things this show is the way it leaves me unable to watch certain other shows without snickering under my breath when they try to take their chuunibyou mood so seriously (lol ZetsuTen). Also, Kumin is best girl, hands down. [Import - Guaranteed.]

(01)　　Hidamari Sketch x Honeycomb - ◄0► - 5 eps - It's Hidamari. It's the current god of iyashikei anime (considering Aria is over). It's what I end every weekend with. It is my fuel to survive the week. It's absoluetly fucking perfect in every way that matters and we better get a 5th season because I don't think I can abide by living in a world devoid of the Hidamari-sou girls. [Import - Guaranteed.]

(01)　　Girls und Panzer - ▲2 - 5 eps - Without a doubt, one of the top three biggest surprises of the year. Most of my other favorites were expected because they're sequels (Hidamari, Saki Achiga, DD', YRYR♪♪, Nise) or from studios/creators I know to expect excellence from every time (Hyouka, Chuunibyou, AnoNatsu). But this is right on par with Jintai in being shockingly good when I had no major expectations. Mouretsu is #1 in this category of course. I did figure I'd like GirlPan but never this much. But they're clearly copying the Saki formula and I couldn't be happier. Saki with tanks! Perfect. This also continues a very successful streak of "military girls" anime, summed up very nicely in this image. Everything about this show feels spot on, and the tank battles are amazingly good in their attention to detail and seriousness. This show isn't just cute girls - it takes itself seriously sometimes too, and it totally works. [Import - Guaranteed.]

Yes, they're all #1, hush. They're all completely perfect at each of the three very different things they set out to do. Trying to rank them became impossible very quickly.


Presumed R2 Import Tier
(04)　　Little Busters! - ◄0► - 5 eps - With what is basically confirmation that this will run for two seasons and four cour, it's going to be a long time before I can judge this show in full. And yeah, Komari's arc looks so far to be... kinda lazily written. But I adore Komari herself, and I'm really digging the overall mood of the show, which is probably more important at this point than liking this specific route. I'm in this for the long haul after all. I'm totally sold on all the girls, unsurprisingly. Their interactions are great already, even with about half of them yet to join the gang. For the guys, I like Riki well enough, and Kyousuke is fun. Masato is getting increasingly annoying however and Kengo is pretty much a non-character. I guess those aren't bad results overall. [Import - Most likely but not the 100% sure thing I'd hoped it would be.]


Potential imports?
(05)　　Sukitte Ii na yo. - ▲2 - 5 eps - The first of three really good shoujo series this season. This is the best season for shoujo manga heroines in a really goddamned long time. Hell I don't know if I've ever liked three in one season before. Yamato is also by far the best of the shoujo manga guys on display this season, which is what gives this a slight edge over Kaibutsu-kun. It's also pretty fantastic how the whole show so far is about Mei BEFRIENDING all the girls around her. [Import - Pretty good chance.]

(06)　　Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun - ◄0► - 5 eps - The other stellar shoujo manga adaptation. This one relies a bit more heavily on its heroine for its ranking than Sukinayo, where both girl and guy are awesome. Haru isn't bad, and I can buy into his issues well enough that he's not a negative by any means. But this show is totally about Shizuku. [Import - Modest outside shot.]

(07)　　Bakuman. 3 - ▼2 - 4 eps - As usual, at its best when it's about the manga industry. The main romance is still awful, but three seasons in it's still really exciting waiting for that call with the latest reader ranking survey results. [Import - No, this is more like a Fairy Tail or HxH for me.]

(08)　　Shinsekai Yori - ◄0► - 6 eps - Probably the hardest show to evaluate so far. It's loaded with potential, but I'm not sure the creative staff are going to be able to dig it all up. I'm liking it so far though. [Import - Long shot but not impossible. Might not want to commit to a two cour show though, and the two latest episodes weren't really on par with the ones before.]


Non-imports
(09)　　Sakura-sou no Pet na Kanojo - ▲4 - 4 eps - It's really got a lot of heart. It's clumsy about it, and tries too be hard to be dramatic, and that does handicap it. But I really sense something earnest underneath.

(10)　　Onii-chan Dakedo Ai Sae Areba Kankei nai yo ne - ◄0► - 5 eps - Akiko makes this show. Ana is the second best girl. Akito being much better than the average harem lead really helps. But really, it's all about Akiko and how her brilliant young seiyuu beings out the insanity so effectively.

(11)　　Kamisama Hajimemashita - ▲1 - 5 eps - The third installment of shoujo goodness this season. Not on par with the other two, but Nanami gets so much of my love, and the guys aren't bad either.

(12)　　Robotics;Notes - ◄NEW► - 3 eps - Oops almost forgot this one. Um, I might have more to ay after I see more eps, but ♥Aki♥ keeps me around right now. Lead guy ain't bad either, and I look forward to the robot club filling out soon.

(13)　　K - ▼2 - 4 eps - WAGAHAI WA KOMATSU MIKAKO DESU. And other stuff but Komatsu Mikako hamming it the hell up is this show's selling point for me.

(14)　　Magi - ▼5 - 4 eps - It's okay. I can see myself watching this each week but never really being totally sold on it. I suppose it's really early to say that though.

(15)　　Zetsuen no Tempest - ▼1 - 4 eps - Quoting Shakespeare! Black butterfly motifs! Brooding bishies! The end of the world! Sorry, did Kuroneko write this? It's soooooooo lol trying to take this show seriously after experiencing the parade of chuunibyou-parody characters over the past year or so, so I don't bother. It's fairly fun though. Too bad the best character hasn't done anything but sit on a deserted island looking sexy and being Sawashiro Miyuki. But that's enough to make me love her.

(16)　　Ixion Saga DT - ▼1 - 4 eps - God it's so dumb. But... somehow, I remain entertained.


2-cour shows from previous seasons:
　Sword Art Online - 18 eps - ARRRRRRRRRGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH


OVAs, Specials, other oddities:
　Ebiten - 1 ep - Technically a Summer show, but only got wide distribution in Fall. And uh, episode one was... tolerable. Not sure I'll get back to it.
　Fairy Tail - 155 eps - Filler arc is over! And truth be told, while it overstayed its welcome I recognize it as a necessary evil. It also wasn't that bad, it had some great moments, and it ended very very very well in usual Fairy Tail fashion. The Grand Magic Games have now begun and I'm pretty excited for what will come.
　Hunter x Hunter (2011) - 54 eps - I think this latest episode included scenes from the very last TV episode of the original series. And my god it's been amazing.
　Smile Precure - 35 eps - Caught up on some good stuff, Yayoi continues to be the cutest, etc etc.
　Uchuu Kyoudai - 31 eps - What a beautiful show. When it's at the top of its game, Uchuu Kyoudai captures the wonder and ambition and difficulty of space exploration in such beautifully moving ways. Even when it's bogged down in less interesting material, this is still a pretty top notch anime. I really think more people should be watching this, even if it's not obviously in their core taste range. It's so good. I've been starting almost every Sunday with it for months now.


Dropped:
　Aikatsu! - 1 ep
　Aoi Sekai no Chuushin de - 1 ep


Still need/plan to try (may not have aired):
none


(Blah blah disclaimer, the number on a tier is not at all indicative of a show's absolute quality, merely its quality relative to the other shows on the list).

Last time I took stock of my top shows of the year I identified 7 likely members of the top 10. Chuu2, Hidamari, and GirlPan are almost certainly taking the last three spots. I'd have to give them the nod over InuBoku or Nisemono so far.

And that didn't end up as short as I wad intending. Oh well, first full post of the season, had stuff to say.