Summer 2011 Anime

by MadHatChemist Tue 26 Apr 2011 - 0:50

Looks like the Summer 2011 anime is being lined up now:

Spoiler:

Appleseed XIII -- I love Masamune Shirow's work, and have since the late 80's. While I wait for an anime adaptation of Orion, I'll enjoy another revisit of this one, though I hope he holds back on the perpetual retconning he does.

Usagi Drop -- I know this is supposed to be a shojou/josei series, but I love the manga and the fact that the guy acts like a man and does what a mad should.

No. 6 -- If feels like a cross between Ergo Proxy and The prisoner (especially with "No. 6" being the title). I'm in for at least a few shows.

Nekogami Yaoyorozu -- This'll probably be my "turn of brain after a long day of work" show for the Summer

Blood-C -- CLAMP + Blood: The Last Vampire? I'm curious.

Blade -- They did well enough with Iron Man, and this one should give them even more flexibility.

Ikoku Meiro no Croisee -- Looks like another light and hopefully relaxing show.

Kamisama Dolls -- I enjoyed the manga (at least that part of it that was scanlated), so hopefully they don't screw this on up.

R-15 -- This probably fits into the "inappropriate things can be funny" genre. It's worth an episode or two.

Last Exile 2 – Ginyoku no Fam -- This wasn't on the list, but saw it mentioned as being Summer 2011 elsewhere. All I can say is YES cheers

Last EXILE was beautiful and I'm a sucker for anything with Range Murata's work in it!

by Piero Tue 26 Apr 2011 - 1:05

Last Exile getting a sequel would be odd, since the original was an Anniversary celebration project for Gonzo...

by **Kiskaloo** Tue 26 Apr 2011 - 1:33

So Appleseed got pushed back from Spring.

I enjoyed the original Baka test, so I'll be back for a second helping. Ditto with Tantei Opera Milky Holmes.

by Alfisti Tue 26 Apr 2011 - 2:08

MadHatChemist wrote:Last EXILE was beautiful and I'm a sucker for anything with Range Murata's work in it!

Seconded.

by Five_X Tue 26 Apr 2011 - 2:08

Last Exile isn't getting a sequel. A "remake" sort of project was already confirmed.

Take these early anime season posters with a block of salt.

by SPARTAN 119 Tue 26 Apr 2011 - 18:16

Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni Kira: Will definitely watch if this poster isn't a troll like the last one, Higurashi was one of my favorites. Though this does sound oddly like a crossover idea on TV Trope's Higurashi Wild Mass Guessing page that suggests that the events of Higurashi were the work of a Death Note owner.

Carnival Phantasm: I'm surprised Five X isn't talking more about this. A crossover between Tsukihime and Fate/Stay Night. I'll probably will watch it even though I've only seen the anime. The reasons why are best summed up in this quote from the now-dead Type Moon forum known as the Beast's Lair

Spoiler:

:

Forum User: You guys need to actually play Tsukihime.
Other Forum User: Why?
Forum User:Why?! Because Akiha demands it!
119: Well tell Akiha I'm a Mac user.

No. 6: Taking place in the distant, post apocalyptic future of..... two years from now? Usually you only get situations like that with stuff from the 80's.

by Five_X Tue 26 Apr 2011 - 21:01

Beast's Lair isn't dead, it just shed its skin, like a beautiful Butteraptor.

...that sentence got away from me. Anyhow, I never heard of that piece of awesomeness, since I don't actually follow much anime news lately... damn you REALITY!!

by Entropy Sun 3 Jul 2011 - 15:49

Kamisama no Memo-chou turned out to be interesting. I was surprised about how unforgiving the first episode was, but it also had enough weirdness and interesting characters to keep me interested in the full hour premiere. Perhaps JC Staff can redeem themselves with this series? I wonder.

by **Kiskaloo** Sun 3 Jul 2011 - 16:04

Entropy wrote:Kamisama no Memo-chou turned out to be interesting.

I just downloaded the pre-air episode and will watch it while I wait for the Top Gear torrent.

by NeverSleep Sun 3 Jul 2011 - 16:50

3d 19h 25m 'til The Idolm@ster is aired.

by **Kiskaloo** Sun 3 Jul 2011 - 16:56

NeverSleep wrote:3d 19h 25m 'til The Idolm@ster is aired.

I really liked the IDOLM@STER - Live For You! OVA so I am looking forward to this series.

by **Kiskaloo** Mon 4 Jul 2011 - 9:23

Kamisama no Memochou - Intriguing...

Ikoku Meiro no Croisée - I have a good feeling about this one.

Rou Kyuu Bu! - Basketball for lolicons.

Sacred Seven - Super Sentai anime.

by Guest Mon 4 Jul 2011 - 19:57

Looks like I'll have to see last exile now

by 0utf0xZer0 Mon 4 Jul 2011 - 20:51

Ikoku Meiro no Croisee is just disgustingly adorable, although I have a bit of trouble buying Yune's age.

Kamisama no Memochou has a bit of a Durarara/Denpa Teki na Kanojo vibe going on, feels more Brains Base than JC Staff. Although I like DTnK's Ame better than I like Alice.

Edit: I thought that Last Exile 2 was going to be a fall show.

by Entropy Mon 4 Jul 2011 - 23:57

I do have to say, Loli in France was a pretty cute show. Though the language barrier rules were a little weird. It's been a while since we had a decent historical show.

I dropped Loli Basketball about 5 minutes in. I haven't seen a show shamelessly pander this hard since Rio Rainbow Gate. I fear Yuru Yuri might be the same/worse.

by **Triela** Tue 5 Jul 2011 - 0:39

No. 6 is a definite for me!! It has cute guys and a possible romance! I looks great!! Very Happy

It's too bad Rou Kyu Bu! is bad. I looks up the opening and it looked like it had the potential to be really cute. :/

Kamisama no Memochou looks great!! Tons of nice lookin' guys (I can pair up) XDDDD It looks like it has nice solid animation too!!

by **Kiskaloo** Tue 5 Jul 2011 - 14:29

Yuruyuri - Very broadly cross K-On! with Lucky Star and set it in the first year of middle school. Didn't make much of an impression, to be honest, though I did find the fangirling of Kyōko Toshinō amusing.

Blade - Not like the movies, so instead of being totally fracking awesome it is just really fracking awesome. Smile

I do hope they cut a new deal as I've really enjoyed this collaboration between Marvel, Sony and Madhouse.

Kamisama Dolls - ZOIDS...now with murder! Also not one that made any real impression with the first episode.

by **Kiskaloo** Wed 6 Jul 2011 - 16:57

Morita-san wa Mukuchi - Based on a 4-koma comic strip about Morita Mayu, a highschool girl who rarely speaks. The reason behind it is not because she doesn’t like to talk nor because she has nothing to say. The reason she rarely speaks is due to the fact she thinks too much before speaking, thus losing the timing to speak altogether .

Nyanpire The Animation - An abandoned kitty is saved by a vampire by giving him a few drops of his own blood. Granted with eternal life, Nyanpire now lives a domestic life with a girl named Misaki.

Spoiler:

Both of these shows look to be more of those "super short shows" like Haiyoru! Nyaruani - Remember My Mr. Lovecraft , Hōkago no Pleiades and Fireball-Charming with a runtime of 3 to 6 minutes per episode.

by NeverSleep Thu 7 Jul 2011 - 20:20

The iDOLM@STER anime was everything I was expecting and a little more, the first episode played it very well by making the Pruducer-san the cameraman and putting subtitles instead of his voice, the intention of breaking the fourth wall and giving it a dating sim air was simply genius. The episode itself was just the introduction of the 12 girls aiming to be an idol.

by **Kiskaloo** Thu 7 Jul 2011 - 20:34

NeverSleep wrote:The iDOLM@STER anime was everything I was expecting and a little more...

Excellent. Just waiting for the fan subs to hit Tokyo Tosho.

Bunny Drop - The touching story of the power of Viagra.

Seriously, it's about a thirty-year-old who returns home for his 79-year-old grandfather's funeral and learns about the existence of his grandfather's illegitimate six-year-old daughter by an unknown mother. The girl is an embarrassment to all his relatives and is treated as an outcast. Annoyed by their attitude, Daikichi decides to take care of Rin himself, even though he is single and has no experience raising a child.

This is another one I think I am going to like. It's animated in the same style as the two Kimi ni Todoke series.

Blood-C - Blood: The Last Vampire, CLAMP style. Standard CLAMP heroine - cute as a button and a major klutz.

by Entropy Fri 8 Jul 2011 - 17:02

Bunny Drop - The touching story of the power of Viagra.

You're just mad because you'll never have a 6-year-old aunt. I read the Usagi Drop manga a while ago and hopefully the anime will pull it off well. The first episode captured the exposition pretty well.

No. 6 - Great artwork, good animation, good soundtrack (thus far), interesting story with decent characters....and yaoi overtones. Why the hell not?

Yuru Yuri - It seems to be a parody of itself in many ways, and the entire second half of the first episode involved breaking the fourth wall. The yuri overtones aren't quite as classy and subtle as the yaoi overtones in No. 6, but hey, it is right there in the freakin' title. Not sure if this one will entertain me to the end.

The Idolm@ster - Some doubts going into this one, like how the hell they expected to make a full anime out of a music game...and the results are surprising. Definitely in the "cute girls doing cute things" genre but the slice-of-life and character focus looks interesting enough to carry itself through the season.

Blood-C - I went into this not knowing it had a precessor, Blood+. The action scene by itself looked good enough to counteract the huge dose of cliche given in the first half of the first episode. Though it does seem I should go back and watch Blood+ before I go to much farther into this series.

Ikoku Meiro no Croisee - Pretty cute show. I like historical shows, and seeing Japan try to tackle what the French thought of the Japanese circa 1880s should be interesting.

by **Kiskaloo** Fri 8 Jul 2011 - 17:12

Personally, I can't see how Blood-C could be anywhere near as awesome as Blood+. That being said, I'll likely stick through Blood-C.

I have THE IDOLM@STER, Mayo Chiki, Twin Angel - Twinkle Paradise and Uta no Prince Sarna on tap for the flight home today.

by Entropy Fri 8 Jul 2011 - 21:52

Mawaru Penguindrum - Delightfully crazy and weird. Looks promising.

by **Kiskaloo** Sat 9 Jul 2011 - 20:28

The IDOLM@STER - As noted, I really liked the OAV, so a whole series of cute idols? How can I not be in?

Twin Angel - Twinkle Paradise - Sailor Moon for the 21st Century. Of course, this being the 21st Century one of the girls must have Major Boobage with the full "Gainax Bounce" and it also has what I have come to term "Mew Moe" - moe girls whom also exhibit cat-like traits (like the mouth design). In this first episode, it's literal for a time, but I am in general referring to the protagonist.

Baka to Test to Shokanju Ni - I found the first series and OAVs to be hilarious, so this should resonate well with me.

Mawaru Penguin Drum - WTF?

Mayo Chiki! - This one will probably hurt my brain, but it has lots of cute girls... Maybe I'll get lucky and this will be a sleeper like Nyan Koi! or Asobi ni Iku Yo!

Uta no Prince Sama - Japanese Idol: The anime. Pretty amazing animation, though the eyes are a bit creepy. Looks to have lots of bishōnen, so Triela might like it. Razz

by **Kiskaloo** Tue 12 Jul 2011 - 15:41

Nekogami Yaoyorozu - Koyama Yuzu is running an antique shop. Mayu, a cat god (nekogami), is living off Yuzu and leads an idle life playing games. Lots of other gods visit Mayu and enjoy merrymaking.

Guaranteed finalist for 0utf0xZer0 when it comes time for him to deliver his "Best Anime" award. Wink

To be fair, it's already pretty much locked "Best Anime OP Song" for me.

R-15 - Takuto Akutagawa has a special ability for writing porn novels. He applies to Hirameki Gakuen a high school which only accepts people with "Unique" talent. Now he must chase his dream and direct his classmates to win an interclass competition. All while trying to create the prefect harem.

You know, the idea that Japan would have a special academy that would include "genius porn authors" does not surprise me. I hope Takuto Akutagawa becomes a Living National Treasure for the LOLZ.

The show has plenty of cute girls, as required for a harem anime, so it would likely have become my guilty pleasure of the season. sweat

However, since the "Holy Light of Censorship" is strong in this anime, I'll wait for the Blu-ray rips.

And speaking of Blu-ray, I expect that the ones for Manyū Hiken-chō will be #1 on the Sales Charts based on the first sentence of the summary: "In this current era, breasts mean everything."

Summer 2011 Anime Minko_Facepalm

The fansubbers report this one has more "censor light" than a Type O supergiant.

by **Kiskaloo** Wed 13 Jul 2011 - 16:49

Having seen the first episode of 16 (!) of the new shows this season, along with the second episode of those that have them, the 2011 Summer Series I have enjoyed the most is Ikoku Meiro no Croisée.

I love the story, the setting and the animation style. And Yune is just so utterly adorable.

Summer 2011 Anime Yune_Cheese

by Entropy Wed 13 Jul 2011 - 17:37

Kiskaloo wrote:And speaking of Blu-ray, I expect that the ones for Manyū Hiken-chō will be #1 on the Sales Charts based on the first sentence of the summary: "In this current era, breasts mean everything."

About 70% of the screen at any given time was taken up by censor light. Not an exaggeration. Why they even bother broadcasting this stuff confuses me, I guess it gets enough notoriety for the BDs but you might as well just go straight to the Adult section with it.

We will have to see whether Usagi Drop or Ikoku Meiro no Croisee breaks cute meter first.

by Piero Thu 14 Jul 2011 - 0:47

Entropy wrote:Blood-C - I went into this not knowing it had a precessor, Blood+. The action scene by itself looked good enough to counteract the huge dose of cliche given in the first half of the first episode. Though it does seem I should go back and watch Blood+ before I go to much farther into this series.

Blood+ and Blood C are both re-imagining of Blood The Last Vampire. They're basically separate continuities with their own take on the story and the main character, although my understanding is that both versions portray a much more human Saya than their inspiration (and truth be told there is some similarity between the Blood+ and Blood C versions of the character, as Blood+'s Saya starts of a bit spacey too even if she's not a megane dojikko like her Blood C counterpart). My feeling is that Blood+ is a better dramatic/action title, but Blood C is kind of entertaining in a train wreck kind of fashion. It's kind of fun to think about the show's effect on the people like the guy who criticized Blood+ for being a shoujo version of Blood. Laughing

Regarding other shows, I have mixed feelings about Ikoku Meiro no Croisee. It's well done in some respects but it actually comes across as a bit creepy to me. I think it's because it's basically taking cute to the level of a fetish. It basically sells itself on cuteness the way a fan service title sells itself on fan service. In fact I'd say the show's emphasis on a cute girl in a kimono is a form of fan service.

On the other hand I didn't really find Usagi Drop creepy at all despite the premise. People have said things that indicate I may have something to worry about but so far I see more of a good drama.

A few other shows have some interest for me as well though I'm not sure I'd go as far as to say that many of them are actually very good. A friend and I had some fun labelling the girls in Idolm@ster things like "airhead" and "pretentious" as the episode progressed. Laughing

by Five_X Thu 14 Jul 2011 - 1:41

I'm mainly waiting until August. Carnival Phantasm can't come soon enough!

And then Fate/zero in October... *drools*

by **Kiskaloo** Thu 14 Jul 2011 - 16:36

Entropy wrote:We will have to see whether Usagi Drop or Ikoku Meiro no Croisee breaks cute meter first.

Rin is totally awesome and I immensely enjoyed the second episode of Usagi Drop.

by Entropy Thu 14 Jul 2011 - 17:40

Piero wrote:On the other hand I didn't really find Usagi Drop creepy at all despite the premise. People have said things that indicate I may have something to worry about but so far I see more of a good drama.

I think that might be because Rin is a bit more accessible/believable as a character. Putting aside the fact that the logic is a little fuzzy with Croisse (just how much French can Yune understand?), she doesn't seem to have much of a character besides the cute fish-out-of-water premise.

When it comes to Usagi Drop, it all depends on whether they do the dreaded "timeskip" (a dirty word amongst many fans). But even before the timeskip the series sort of stagnates.

by Piero Wed 20 Jul 2011 - 1:26

Shucks, I seem to have missed watching the second episode of Usagi Drop. Better remedy that...

Anyhow, I'm thinking I may make short comments on a show or two here and there this season rather than trying to do big bulk updates like I've sometimes then.

Steins:gate is still continuing from last season. This episode had an interesting revelation (albeit one that wasn't overly hard to guess before the reveal):

Spoiler:

by **Kiskaloo** Wed 20 Jul 2011 - 14:50

Appleseed XIII - Not bad. The animation style is a bit weird - kind of like a lower-resolution version of ZOIDS. The series will be re-cut into two feature length films once the episodes have completed airing.

by **Kiskaloo** Fri 22 Jul 2011 - 2:30

The Mystic Archives of Dantalian - The story centers around a young man named Huey who inherited a musty old estate, as well the entire book collection contained therein, from his grandfather. Huey meets Dalian, a girl in a black dress who is quietly reading in the basement piled high with books. Dalian controls the gateway to the Bibliotheca Mystica de Dantalian, the forbidden books of demonic wisdom.

GAINAX must have been paid a mint to animate this, as it looks gorgeous. Definitely sticking around just for the visuals.

by **Kiskaloo** Sun 24 Jul 2011 - 21:00

Usagi Drop is now officially a sheet cake of victory for me.

And cuteness sure is pervasive this season. Not just physically, but in mannerisms and such. Then again, it's a nice change from fan service and moe.

by Piero Sun 24 Jul 2011 - 21:48

Thoughts on various stuff... (yes I know I wasn't planning to do it like this...)

Usagi Drop: is really freaking awesome.

Appleseed XIII: I'm mostly familiar with Appleseed from the Ex Machina movie. That looked a lot better than this does and the main character was a lot less whiny in it too. The CGI characters in this look pretty awful at times.

No.6: I've been enjoying this quite a bit so far despite the yaoi overtones.

Blood C: Initially I found Blood: the shoujo version kind of amusing. But a lot of Episode three just came across as really dull. I much prefer Blood+.

Idolm@ster: Is my Macross fanboyism going too far if the behaviour of some of the characters in the second episode made me think that Sheryl Nome needs to show up at the agency and show these sorry excuses for idols how it's done? Probably best if her manager doesn't get involved though. Much as I wonder why generic dude was picked for that role at least he's not going to backstab them and leave them in a pit of soul crushing despair... wait, that might make things interesting...

Hanasaku Iroha and Steins:Gate continue to be good.

by Entropy Tue 26 Jul 2011 - 14:59

Usagi Drop has surprised me. I read the manga so the story isn't surprising me, but rather how well everything has been done thus far. Everything from the artwork to the voice acting to the excellent soundtrack seem to hit the nail right on the head. My biggest fear with this series was the possibility that they would take a heartwarming story about an unconventional parent-child relationship and turn it into a shameless loli-pandering show. They didn't, and I am very glad for that. We will have to see if the live-action movie is any good later this year, it is not often you get a movie adaptation while the anime adaptation is still airing.

Ikoku no Meiro Croisee is starting to shape some kind of plot and character development, which is rather nice. I'm also glad they didn't make the Blanche girl a stereotypical villain in the latest episode, and she seems much more like a real character as a result.

Mawaru Penguindrum is perhaps the biggest surprise of the season, mostly because no one knew anything about it before it started airing. It takes a very irreverent approach to philosophical subjects, and the story thus far has shown real potential to be something unique and interesting.

No. 6 has shown itself to be quite interesting as well, and it seems the story is just starting to really shape up. It's hard to tell where the story will eventually go, though.

The Idolmaster has not lost me yet. It seems like it still has potential to at least be a serviceable "cute girls/cute things" show without delving into a harem.

Yuru Yuri is mostly uninteresting. It is unlikely I will follow it for much longer.

In OVA news, Baby Princess 3D Paradise Love recently came out. It is the epitome of all kinds of pandering fantasy fulfillment. The story centers around a guy who inexplicably gets integrated into a family that has 19 daughters, aged 1-19, in addition to the mother. They all have their own personality, and because of the sheer number of characters they had to cram to introduce in one episode, they get rather creative with the character archetypes. If that wasn't enough, for the first episode...they go to the beach. And all the things the beach brings. It's only saving grace is that it seems to know what it is and why it exists, and isn't afraid to poke fun at itself.

by **Kiskaloo** Wed 27 Jul 2011 - 1:52

Entropy wrote:Usagi Drop has surprised me. I read the manga so the story isn't surprising me, but rather how well everything has been done thus far.

Agreed. It is now my favorite show of this season.

Entropy wrote:Ikoku no Meiro Croisee is starting to shape some kind of plot and character development, which is rather nice. I'm also glad they didn't make the Blanche girl a stereotypical villain in the latest episode, and she seems much more like a real character as a result.

I was worried when she was introduced at the end of episode 03 and her actions in the first half of this episode did not assuage those worries at all. However, the second half of the episode did indeed firm up and I feel a bit better.

Entropy wrote:Mawaru Penguindrum is perhaps the biggest surprise of the season, mostly because no one knew anything about it before it started airing. It takes a very irreverent approach to philosophical subjects, and the story thus far has shown real potential to be something unique and interesting.

I still can't wrap my head around this one.

Entropy wrote:The Idolmaster has not lost me yet. It seems like it still has potential to at least be a serviceable "cute girls/cute things" show without delving into a harem.

Yeah, lots of cute girls usually is enough to keep me watching a show. sweat

Entropy wrote:Yuru Yuri is mostly uninteresting. It is unlikely I will follow it for much longer.

I agree it has little impact, but if I just need some mindless entertainment, this show does deliver. But not one I would likely ever watch again or archive the Blu-ray subs.

Trying to keep up with 21 shows this summer season is just way too much, so I'll have to start segregating shows into "watch now" and "watch eventually". Fortunately, bandwidth and storage space is cheap. Smile

by MadHatChemist Thu 4 Aug 2011 - 21:04

Entropy wrote:
In OVA news, Baby Princess 3D Paradise Love recently came out. It is the epitome of all kinds of pandering fantasy fulfillment. The story centers around a guy who inexplicably gets integrated into a family that has 19 daughters, aged 1-19, in addition to the mother.

by MadHatChemist Thu 4 Aug 2011 - 21:35

Having marathoned all the Hugo award nominees, I've finally caught up with the Summer shows:

Appleseed XIII -- I've only seen the first one so far (the only one subbed AFAIK), and enjoyed it. I've been a long time fan of Shirow Masamune's. The CG still bothers me, but there were some very stunnign scenes nonetheless. I just wish that he's get back to finishing Vol. 5 of the manga.

Usagi Drop -- If this show doesn't make you go "DAWWW" then you have no soul. Best show of the season, IMHO.

No. 6 -- Interesting little fascist utopia/dystopia with a "real world" that reminded me of Brave New World. Not caring for the guy/guy thing, but I'll wait around to see if it gets interesting. BTW, was I the only one expecting one of the characters to declare "I am the new no. 2!"

Nekogami Yaoyorozu -- It's a relief to see the show eschew the entire "Moe" thing and go with more of DiGi Charet vibe.

Ikoku Meiro no Croisee -- The cuteness if almost overwhelming at times, but it makes you just want to pat Yune on the head

Kamisama Dolls -- I liked the manga and the action has been decent. Makes me want to watch to find out just what those "Kami" are.

R-15 -- More anoyting censorship with bad writting. Dropped after one episode.

Kami-sama no Memo-cho -- I was disappointed that the shut in computer hacker girl left her apartment in the first episode. I though the hook of the show was going to be how she solved crimed without leaving her room via computers and human proxies. That being said, it is still watchable.

Yuru Yuri -- Aside from the lesbian jokes and the meganekko's fantasies, nothing special going on.

Morita-san wa Mukuchi -- The shortness makes this work. That, and I like the fact that we have girl who is not bouncing off the walls or otherwise acting like an idjit.

And speaking of the Hugo nominees, the following NSFW video was one of the five finalists for short presentation (3 of the 5 were Doctor Who episodes):

Spoiler:

by **Kiskaloo** Fri 5 Aug 2011 - 22:14

This season sure is loaded down with "cute girls acting cute". I think every series has it.

Now, for shows like THE IDOLM@STER and YuruYuri, this is the core of their existence and I'll roll with it (even if those shows are moving to the "when I get around to it" pile).

But I kinda find it a bit jarring in some shows. The impact of the more serious moments of Kamisama Dolls do not benefit from Utao Kuga being in hyper-cute mode at the same time.

I had some hopes for The Mystic Archives of Dantalian, but nope, episode 3 we have Dalian looking all "daw!" as she hears about clotted creme and scones.

by **Kiskaloo** Sun 14 Aug 2011 - 22:01

sentai filmworks have announced the licensing of a number of Summer 2011 shows for release in 2012:

Ikoku Meiro no Croisée
Kami-sama no Memo-chō
No. 6
RO-KYU-BU FAST BREAK!

Also, they will release Senkou no Night Raid on the 16th of this month in Blu-ray.

by Piero Mon 15 Aug 2011 - 23:25

In my case I've dropped pretty much all the cute-service shows I'd started watching after a few episodes. Pure cute service doesn't really do it for me, I can appreciate cute but there's got to be some actual meat in there for me to be very appreciative. I have enjoyed Usagi Drop and Kamisama Dolls quite a bit though (although Kamisama dolls suffers somewhat from it's use of risque humour -I can actually appreciate risque humour but the stuff in Kamisama Dolls seems really cliched and typical).

Speaking of risque humour, I gave R-15 a chance. After all Ore no Imouto and B Gata H Kei also has horrible sounding premises and were good shows. But R-15 is lame and frankly kind of a bit much for me.

I dropped Blood C for being boring, and I'm not really inclined to dig into Appleseed XIII due to the crummy looking CGI and the fact that the heroine seemed so whiny compared to what I'd seen of her in a different version of Appleseed.

So I guess here's what I'm still more or less keeping up with:

Kamisama Dolls -generally pretty good although some cliches
No.6 -was losing me a bit but started picking up again
Usagi Drop -quite good although some of the artwork in the latest episode seemed pretty low detail

Carryovers:

Hanasaku Iroha -thought I felt it's been losing it a bit lately
Steinsgate
Tiger and Bunny (actually dropped this after one episode the season it started, but restarted it recently on someone's recommendation and found I liked it)

by **Kiskaloo** Sat 20 Aug 2011 - 16:19

Mid-season review:

Blade - Better than Iron Man or Wolverine, but not as good as X-Men.

Blood-C - Things got real in Episode 06 and the show's violence level went up significantly (to the point they had to "light censor" the more graphic parts).

Dantalian no Shoka - Not sure about this one, but I think that is in no small part I don't understand what's going on.

Ikoku Meiro no Croisée - While Yune p0wns Rin for cuteness, I'd choose Rin every time if I was to adopt one of them. I'd watch this show just for Yune's "daw" factor, but there is some meat on the bones of this story. Alice Blanche is very annoying, but I am interested to see what develops between her sister Camille and Claude.

Kamisama no Memochou - Saved from being a show for lolicons (j/k) thanks to the strong story and interesting supporting cast.

Kamisama Dolls - Likely winner for "Most Disappointing" in that I am very interested in what I think is the main theme, but while Utao is hella cute, I find her presence to be detrimental to the show. I accept Hibino needs massive knockers to appeal to the Breast Otaku and I am sure Utao is Utao because this season's shows generally seem to demand a strong "cuteness factor". But this show could have been a contender if it had been more willing to not succumb to the tropes.

Mawaru Penguindrum - I still have no real clue what this show is about, though Episode 06 at least helped explain why Ringo is as nutty as a fruitcake. I swear this show's line-art is being drawn by SHAFT and Best Brains is just doing the ink and paint. Smile

Nekogami Yaoorozu - Like ice cream - a nice treat on a Summer's day.

THE iDOLM@STER - Like cotton candy - very sweet, but very insubstantial. The OAV was significantly better.

Usagi Drop - Hands down my favorite of the season and a clear finalist for a "Best of" award at the end of the year.

YuruYuri - Can't get enough Kyōko Toshinō and I am not ashamed to admit it.

by 0utf0xZer0 Sun 28 Aug 2011 - 15:35

I never would have guessed it from the first episode, but I'm actually finding Ro-kyu-bu better than average for its genre. Tomoka's crush on Subaru is adorable in a "Nadeko pinning for Araragi" kind of way - they need to start dating once she's a little older. And while some of the episodes are the usual harem show antics, some of the plots are actually pretty interesting - the struggle to win their first game and the tactics involved, Why Natsuhi and Maho don't get along, etc. And weirdly for a harem show, I actually like two of the male characters - Subaru and Natsuhi. Could do with less lolicon fanservice though.

Of course, its nowhere near as good as Ikoku Meiro no Croisee but "cute plus plot" shows as good as IMnC are rather rare.

(If you're into the genre, make sure you watch Kurenai (the TV series, no the OVAs) at some point. I recently rewatched it and its every bit as good as I remember it being in 2008.)

Kiskaloo wrote:
Kamisama no Memochou - Saved from being a show for lolicons (j/k) thanks to the strong story and interesting supporting cast.

To be honest, I never thought Alice was that loli-looking until I saw a picture of her next to the male lead drawn by the original artist.

Kiskaloo wrote:
Kamisama Dolls - Likely winner for "Most Disappointing" in that I am very interested in what I think is the main theme, but while Utao is hella cute, I find her presence to be detrimental to the show. I accept Hibino needs massive knockers to appeal to the Breast Otaku and I am sure Utao is Utao because this season's shows generally seem to demand a strong "cuteness factor". But this show could have been a contender if it had been more willing to not succumb to the tropes.

I don't know, I personally think that Utao adds a lot to the show. That Kyohei is both reliant on her power and obligated to keep her safe adds a lot of tension and his interactions with her actually helped flesh out his character a lot. Plus, I love the way she treats Kukuri as if it were a pet of some kind. And I loved the scene with Hibino talking to Aki last episode too. Overall, this is definitely a favourite of the season.

I will, however, admit that the "cake" scene in episode three got in the way. That's what the staff gets for spending several minutes of an episode on a freaking omake from the manga that wasn't even that lengthy in the original.

Kiskaloo wrote:
THE iDOLM@STER - Like cotton candy - very sweet, but very insubstantial. The OAV was significantly better.

Eheh... my friend and I actually decided to catch up on Idolmaster last night (after a Redline screening, which was amazing) by marathoning 5-8 in one go, they watched the OVA for kicks. It felt like going from Kanon 2006 to Kanon 2002.

I find it hard to give an overall rating for this one... I loved episode 1 and the whole 5-8 strech (well, six was so-so), but episodes 2-4 were frankly awful.

Nobody seems to be mentioning Hanasaku Iroha or Steins;Gate despite the fact they're still running. Hanasaku Iroha has picked up again in recent weeks after a week episode 14-17 stretch - episode 20 in particular was very impressive - and Steins:Gate has been strong pretty much throughout.

by **Kiskaloo** Sun 28 Aug 2011 - 15:51

0utf0xZer0 wrote:Nobody seems to be mentioning Hanasaku Iroha or Steins;Gate despite the fact they're still running. Hanasaku Iroha has picked up again in recent weeks after a week episode 14-17 stretch - episode 20 in particular was very impressive - and Steins:Gate has been strong pretty much throughout.

I continue to enjoy Hanasaku Iroha immensely. As for Steins;Gate, the second half has been significantly better than the first. The show should have been 13 episodes, instead of 26, as tighter pacing and less "dipshit Okarin" would have done wonders. Nichijou also has been solid it's entire run.

by **boomer_gonz** Mon 29 Aug 2011 - 12:29

Damn am I late on this. However... ON WITH DA SHOWZ!!

Nothing much caught my interest this season.

Mayo Chiki = It looks cute to feed my diabbeetus addiction and it's got a trap...and trap's are funny. I don't care what anybody says. Yes Baka to Test has one too, but the animation in the trailers kinda turned me off.

Blood-C = Rated R Cardcaptors FTW!!

R-15 = From my guess it's "What if Francesca Luchinni's(from Strike Witches for those who don't know) family went roughshod over a high school?"

Blade = Fuck yeah, 'nuff said.

Kamisama Dolls = Interesting school premise....and no loli's this time. Thank the good lord we're getting back to 1980's standard of realism decency here.

Manyuu Hikenchou = A series about powerful breasts...didn't know Ikki Tousen needed a spin-off, but oh well; I'm game. If nothing else it should be at least LOL-tastic in one form or another.

EDIT: Reviews later when I have a day off...which might be some time next month...maybe. Just in time for Fall. Razz

by **boomer_gonz** Sat 3 Sep 2011 - 17:19

WOO!! Reviews by the day until I'm caught up...sort of.

Mayo-Chiki- (1&2)
- The trap is a reverse trap so points already for catching me off guard and also for an ultra-funny intro. So far, it's awkwardly funny; but enjoyably so. The circumstances of the story also earn points as it is unique in its premise. Strangely enough though; The character of Kanade Suzutsuki reminds me a lot of Dr. Sakurai from Kengo Yonekura's Pink Sniper.

by **Kiskaloo** Mon 5 Sep 2011 - 23:07

The promo episode for the second series of Working!! is out. The series itself starts on October 1st.

And I really enjoyed Episode 4.5 of Ikoku Meiro no Croisée.

by 0utf0xZer0 Wed 7 Sep 2011 - 3:07

Anyone watched this week's Kamisama Dolls yet? Really intense episode. And Kana Hanazawa really surprised me as Miharu... I know that she's apparently mentioned wanting to play an evil character, but damn, that was the voice behind Nadeko, Tenshi/Kanade, Mayuri, and even little Tomoka?

Awesome Steins;Gate this week too. The plot direction makes me think the writers might have been Ever 17 fans, which is cool since that's my favourite visual novel ever.

As for Ikoku Meiro no Croisee... am I the only one who can't shake the thought that Camille may have kinky intentions towards Claude?

I know that Kana Hanazawa apparently said something about wanting to play an evil character in the past, but she seemed really
into it in this week's Kamisama Dolls. Seriously, that was the voice
actress behind Nadeko, Kanade, Mayuri, and even little Tomoka, and who
is supposedly a bit shy IRL?

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