Spring 2013 Anime

What jumped out to me in that episode is the very different voice for Kuroko Shirai. I don't know if Satomi Arai had a cold that day or if they've replaced her as the seiyuu. The animation of the first half of the episode looked really poor, too...

Yamato 2199 - Episodes 15-18

Best...volume...yet.

And yet Volume 6 looks to be even better. These two month waits are killing me.

Nubles has released Episodes 15 and 16 so far.

Like most seasons, I usually find one show to grab on to, and in this season it's definitely Suisei no Gargantia. The world is very interesting, the characters are engaging, and it seems like Urobuchi isn't going to brutally murder the entire cast. It seemed to have strange amounts of fanservice and SOL early on, it seems to have picked up in the story department.

I also got into Girls und Panzer this season, despite it coming out a few seasons ago. Despite having a metric moe-ton of characters, it seemed to be paced fairly well with enough adorableness to go around the various school ships. I might also pick up some other series and try and catch up, as I've been quite busy lately.

Suisei no Gargantia is the series I look forward to the most each week.

As for the fan service, it's a brave 25-minute series that tries to forgo it since it seems almost mandatory in order to sell BRDs and DVDs* and hey, like the poster says:



In Suisei's case, it's definitely in the "gravy" category, IMO.


* - I'll be watching Red Data Girl's video sales with interest since it has yet to show anything I would consider fan service. Same with Titan, though it may be banking on the "shock and awe" factor to sell to otaku.

Kiskaloo wrote:Yamato 2199 - Episodes 15-18

Best...volume...yet.

And yet Volume 6 looks to be even better. These two month waits are killing me.

Nubles has released Episodes 15 and 16 so far.

I absolutely devoured the first fourteen episodes near the beginning of the season, but I think I'm going to wait until next season to start on the new batch. Then I can hopefully catch new episodes weekly until the end of the series.

Comments on shows I've been following:

A Certain Scientific Railgun S: In spite of that doozy of an episode a couple weeks ago this show seems kind of mediocre overall.
Attack on Titan: Despite the setting and characters not being quite my cup of tea, I've actually found the episodes after the first few to be pretty good.
Gargantia of the Verdan Planet: The production values are pretty good, but the writing seems rather by the numbers.
Muromi on the Shore: This has its own particular brand of humor. I personally find it entertaining enough.
My Youth Romantic Comedy is Wrong as I Expected: In spite of its flaws I'm tempted to describe this as "The show Oreshura should have been."
Oreimo 2: Anyone felt this has been feeling a bit too much like an actual little sister show this season? Also, the drama in the latest episode... blah.
Red Data Girl: This show can actually be pretty good at times, though at other times certain familiar elements lower my opinion of it. Also it is not exactly the easiest show to follow.
Valvrave the Liberator: This show may be pretty whacked out, but its also entertaining in a sort of Code Geass trainwreck kind of way.

Perhaps unsurprisingly for those of you who have been following what I've been saying in this thread, my top pick of this season is definitely Hataraku Maou-Sama/Demon King at Work (or The Devil is a Part Timer if you go by Funimation's title for the series). I'm really hoping White Fox announces another season of it soon.

Piero wrote:Comments on shows I've been following:

A Certain Scientific Railgun S: In spite of that doozy of an episode a couple weeks ago this show seems kind of mediocre overall.

I prefer the episodes where most of the cast is present as the ensemble is the strength of both this series and the original. We've already seen Misaka vs. Accelerator in A Certain Magical Index, even if it was one of the Misaka clones, so I admit the current story arc is kind of "been there, done that".

Piero wrote:Attack on Titan: Despite the setting and characters not being quite my cup of tea, I've actually found the episodes after the first few to be pretty good.

This is not a show I intend to archive or buy, but I agree it's been solidly entertaining. And the intensity of the episodes is such that each one has a "blink and it's over" feel. I just wish the production quality was better and evidently so does the studio, as the OAV DVD has been pushed back four months to allow more time to do clean-up.

Piero wrote:
Muromi on the Shore: This has its own particular brand of humor. I personally find it entertaining enough.

I did not get through the first episode, but Bamboo Dong noted on the latest ANNCast that she felt the show became "genuinely funny" after a couple of episodes and she now likes it. Since it's only 12 minutes, I may give it another chance when the batches hit.

Piero wrote:
My Youth Romantic Comedy is Wrong as I Expected: In spite of its flaws I'm tempted to describe this as "The show Oreshura should have been."

I kind of endured Oreshura, so not sure this is a plus or a minus in my book.

Piero wrote:
Oreimo 2: Anyone felt this has been feeling a bit too much like an actual little sister show this season? Also, the drama in the latest episode... blah.

Yes, Episode 09 was kind of uncomfortable to watch. And overall, it's been much weaker than the original. If not for the awesomeness of Ruri Gokō and her sisters, I'd probably not bother archiving it.

Piero wrote:
Red Data Girl: This show can actually be pretty good at times, though at other times certain familiar elements lower my opinion of it. Also it is not exactly the easiest show to follow.

I am pretty much lost on the story, but P.A. Works is doing really good work so I keep on keeping on. Not sure I'll end up archiving / buying it, however.

Piero wrote:
Valvrave the Liberator: This show may be pretty whacked out, but its also entertaining in a sort of Code Geass trainwreck kind of way.

ANN's reviewers consider it the "Best Comedy" of the season, and not in a good way, but like Bill O'Reilly, "I can't do it".

Piero wrote:
Perhaps unsurprisingly for those of you who have been following what I've been saying in this thread, my top pick of this season is definitely Hataraku Maou-Sama/Demon King at Work (or The Devil is a Part Timer if you go by Funimation's title for the series). I'm really hoping White Fox announces another season of it soon.

I intend to wait for the batch and then download and watch it.



On the Live Action Drama front, I finished xxxHoliC and overall found it to be pretty good.

And I am absolutely loving Itazura na Kiss ~ Love in TOKYO. Miki Honoka is absolutely adorable.

Suisei no Gargantia - Episode 09

Things just became really interesting...


Kotonoha no Niwa | 言の葉の庭 | The Garden of Words

A masterpiece.

Kiskaloo wrote:

Piero wrote:
Muromi on the Shore: This has its own particular brand of humor. I personally find it entertaining enough.

I did not get through the first episode, but Bamboo Dong noted on the latest ANNCast that she felt the show became "genuinely funny" after a couple of episodes and she now likes it. Since it's only 12 minutes, I may give it another chance when the batches hit.

Meh, if you hated the first episode, I'm not sure there's a lot of point in bothering with it. It's "entertaining enough" not the best thing ever.

Kiskaloo wrote:

Piero wrote:
My Youth Romantic Comedy is Wrong as I Expected: In spite of its flaws I'm tempted to describe this as "The show Oreshura should have been."

I kind of endured Oreshura, so not sure this is a plus or a minus in my book.

I'm not sure it'd be your cup of tea. I'm also not sure its an entirely apt comparison, as My Youth seems to be limiting itself to a love triangle instead of a harem (assuming you discount the pretty, girly looking guy whom the male lead keeps having reactions to). But there are resemblances between some of the characters. What defines this show however is how massively cynical it is (despite being kind of otaku at times). The male lead is a disillusioned loner who is very committed to staying that way and who has a tendency to make keen but very cynical observations about the social pecking order and what's going on in the social interactions of the people around him.

Actually, let's try a youtube clip...

Kiskaloo wrote:Suisei no Gargantia - Episode 09

Things just became really interesting...

To say the least...

Spoiler:

Kotonoha no Niwa | 言の葉の庭 | The Garden of Words

A masterpiece.

You saw that in Japan? Lucky...

Entropy wrote:

Kiskaloo wrote:Suisei no Gargantia - Episode 09

Things just became really interesting...

To say the least...

Spoiler:

Spoiler:

I think I'd read on Animesuki that Urobuchi only wrote the start and end of Gargantia, though I don't know how true that is.

At any rate, the new development has interesting implications for the traditional reverence the inhabitants of Gargantia's earth hold towards the whalespuids, but I personally found it rather ridiculous. Then again I have had something of a bias against the show.

Suisei no Gargantia - Episode 10

One surprise after another... For a show that kinda meandered it's first third, it's moving pretty briskly for it's final third.

Flowers of Evil - Episode 10

This show is twisted enough to be worthy of M. C. Escher...

As much as I love Hataraku Maou-sama, I find myself somewhat critical of its pacing. Even if its a relatively good anime original swimsuit episode (supposedly it got a good reception from Japanese fans for working in elements relevant to the novel based arc it was inserted into), inserting an anime original swimsuit episode right after a slow episode in the middle of a story arc is not ideal. Thankfully it looks like things might pick up again this week (as one would hope with only two episodes left in the season).

attack on titans gets disturbing toys to go with series




the only figure without any blood or skinless bodies is a really well designed scene of Mikasa flying away from the clutches of a titan with her 3-D Maneuver Gear
These are capsule toys but you can order the entire set online
http://dai4.com/shop/A188/tzjb4Fhsh/syoinfo/14847

Blood-C: The Last Dark [Movie]: B

A very different experience than the television series across the board. Where the series was a cheery yet brutally bloody and graphic experience presented in bright colors with a surprising twist of an ending, the movie was much more muted across the board. No cheery Saya, very little blood and gore, very dark visual aesthetic (though that allowed some amazing light and shadow work) and the story was pretty straightforward and the ending almost anti-climatic.

The animation was fantastic - orders of magnitude better than the series (which was no slouch itself), but overall, the TV series was much better. I'll buy the BRD since I have the BRD of the TV series, but while I did watch the series again, I expect I won't be returning to the movie.

Comments on shows I watched last night (Thursdays are glorious this season):

I'm pretty sure "And Thus, His, Her, and Her Teenage Lives Stay Fucked Up" is an example of Commie taking some liberties with translation, but I'm kind of hoping it's representative of what I have to look forward to with next week's episode of My Youth Romantic Comedy is Wrong as I Expected.

It seems my wish for Hataraku Maou-Sama to pick up the pace was at least partially granted.  This week's episode was arguably a bit slow building, but the shit really hit the fan towards the end.

And in other news, Valvrave went off the deep end this week.

My Neighbor Titan

As they don't like hotlinking, you will need to copy and paste the URL into a new browser window.

Lolz funny picture!

"Attack on Totoro"

[Due to how Gelbooru handles hotlinking, you will need to open a new browser window or tab and then copy and paste the URL into the new window or tab - http://gelbooru.com/index.php?page=post&s=view&id=1914797

 
 
In other news, the latest update for the AppleTV has added Crunchyroll as a "channel" so I signed up. Have to say Attack on Titan looks pretty nice on a large-panel LCD.

Just hooked up the Crunchyroll App on my X-box... I must concur with that assertion, sirrah. *grins*

You know, back when it first started Ore no Imouto seemed like a parody of little sister shows.  Over time however it seems to have morphed into this awful combination of genuine little sister show and harem show. Seriously, the latter part of the second season is pretty bad.

On the other hand, I've ended up with a pretty good opinion of My Youth Romantic Comedy is Wrong as I Expected despite its weak start.  Someone on youtube did up a decent highlights reel for the first half of the show (thought it could have done with less footage from the tennis match).

Yes, I'm a bit worried about how Oreimo is going to end (right now it is trending as a "B"). It is technically a harem show because all the girls love him, but it didn't play out like a traditional harem show outside of his interactions with Ayase, but then she is a tsundere so she had to conform to that trope. That being said, she remains my favorite character of the show with Ruri and her sisters a close second. To be honest, I prefer the supporting cast to the main cast. 

In my opinion, a B is generous.  I consider it D grade.  It might not follow the old harem show formula of having the male lead live with a bunch of girls (is that what you consider a "traditional" harem show?) but I find the way the girls have been throwing themselves at the male lead one after another and getting riled up over him pretty off putting.

Anyhow, I've got a big local anime convention the next few days, but I at least got to view the season finale of Hataraku Maou-Sama tonight.  Overall the series is pretty good.  At its best its freaking hilarious and there's a lot of attention to little details.  Unfortunately the overall package is somewhat marred by slow pacing in the second half, and the last episode seems to indicate the series may be moving into harem territory (hopefully that's not the case).  That being said I'm happy to hear it will be getting a season two.  I want more Maou and Emilia!

Piero wrote:Anyhow, I've got a big local anime convention the next few days, but I at least got to view the season finale of Hataraku Maou-Sama tonight.  Overall the series is pretty good.  At its best its freaking hilarious and there's a lot of attention to little details.  Unfortunately the overall package is somewhat marred by slow pacing in the second half, and the last episode seems to indicate the series may be moving into harem territory (hopefully that's not the case).  That being said I'm happy to hear it will be getting a season two.  I want more Maou and Emilia!

Now that I have Crunchyroll, I'll probably marathon it at some future point.

It's licensed by Funimation, so you wouldn't be able to view it on Crunchyroll.

In other news, I managed to underestimate Valvrave the Liberator again.  Talk about WTF developments (although I actually liked the surprising choice of pilot for Unit 6).  What kind of crazy ass pulls plot twists will the just announced second season bring?  (And on another note, I think the fact that this show is going on break and announcing a second season when its still so early in its story is a sign of just how much the industry has shifted away from doing stuff that is more than one cour in length.)

Spring 2013 Report Card


The Flowers of Evil - A

I'm skeptical this show will get a second season, which is a tragedy because this show proves that anime can still be original. I have ordered the translated manga as I am very intrigued to see where this story goes.


Haiyore! Nyaruko-san W - A

Like the original, this show is ridiculous.....ly funny. It's pure slapstick and to me, slapstick will never get old.


RDG Red Data Girl - B+

I admit to never really understanding what was going on, which cost it the "A", but it was entertaining and P.A. Works did a nice job animating it (especially the final episode).


Gargantia - B+

They telegraphed the ending of the show with Episode 11 and while they did follow that ending, the path they took was one I was not expecting. And that tends to sum up this show for me - unexpected. Overall, I consider it one of the best efforts of the season, though it did stumble for a bit in the middle and that loss of direction cost it an "A" grade (though I will buy the Blu-ray).


Oreimo S2 - B- 

I agree the second half of S2 had some groaners, but it also had some great episodes with Ruri (7,8) and Ayase (12). Overall, not as entertaining as the original and I'm quite okay if they do not do a third season.

Spoiler:

AIURA - C+

This show advertised itself as being about nothing and it delivered what it said on the tin. I admit to not understanding why all these 3 minute 4-koma adaptions are being made each season. If they're trying to capture the magic that was Azumanga Daioh, they can stop - Nichijou already did it and unlike all these 3 minute shows, Nichijou was actually very entertaining.



Mid-season Reviews:

Attack on Titan - A-

The phenomenon of 2013, this show will become the next Full Metal Alchemist (and like FMA, Funimation will probably be able to fund the next couple of years of acquisitions off the Blu-ray and DVD sales). Episode 12 was the only time this show has let off the throttle (though next week is a recap episode) - otherwise it's been flat-out since the opening. The new OP animation is pretty impressive, as well. Hopefully they clean up the animation before they master it to BRD.

To Aru Kagaku no Railgun S - B-

Maybe it's me, but this show seems inconsistent in the general quality of the animation and Satomi Arai's voice work on Kuroko Shirai. Some episodes have rather luscious animation, while others look like they were done with crayon. Even within some episodes the quality yo-yos rather significantly. And I don't know if Arai-chan had a series of colds, but Kuroko has a very distinct voice and there were episodes where it sounded like a different seiyuu was at work. Like Index, I feel this is a show that could probably better tell it's story in 12 episodes as opposed to 24.

One problems with me trying to do final reviews is that barring major surprises and disappointments my final opinions tend to resemble the ones from a few weeks earlier.  Anyhow, here's end of season thoughts on the show's I'm up to date with.

Attack on Titan: Got much better once it got into the Defense of Trost arc.  Still not quite my type of show, but it has its merits.
Gargantia of the Verduous Planet: The final episode actually seemed pretty good, but my criticisms of the earlier parts of the show still stand.  It just seemed rather familiar and predictable for much of its length, and the plot twist with the squid was hard to take seriously.  Nice production values though.
Hataraku Maou-sama: This show is hilarious. The second half was a bit slow at times, but overall its my favorite show of the season.  Highlight include facial expressions and attention to small details.  Hope to see season two in the near future.
My Youth Romantic Comedy is Wrong as I Expected: This is my second favorite show for this season.  It started off kind of weak and there are times where I felt it got a bit indulgent with otaku content (though more in the sense of anime cliches/conventions/references than fan service), but overall I ended up being quite impressed.  A lot of the show's strength rides on its main character, who is cynical and anti-social but also capable of making keen observations about human interactions and social pecking order.  The show may strike a bit too close to reality for some people however. Not all cynical and anti-social people are as happy being the way they are as the lead of this show is.
Valvrave the Liberator: The writing in this show is pretty questionable, but its got fantastic production values and at its best it can be very entertaining.  Plus I think they made an interesting choice for the pilot of the sixth Valvrave unit -it'll be interesting to see how that plays out come season two.

Edit: Couple more things to add.

A Certain Scientific Railgun Season 2: This show has been a very mixed bag.  Its got some very strong material but it suffers from mood/tone inconsistency as it tries to keep the main character's friends relevant.  Plus of course there's the general indulgence of cliches and conventions that is a staple of both Index and Railgun.
Ore no Imouto Season 2: Given its focus on galge, perhaps it shouldn't be overly surprising that this show turned into a harem show with girls throwing themselves at the male lead for little apparent reason.  Plus of course there are the bro-con/sis-con moments.  The rot has set in deep.

Kiskaloo wrote:Attack on Titan - A-

The phenomenon of 2013, this show will become the next Full Metal Alchemist (and like FMA, Funimation will probably be able to fund the next couple of years of acquisitions off the Blu-ray and DVD sales). Episode 12 was the only time this show has let off the throttle (though next week is a recap episode) - otherwise it's been flat-out since the opening. The new OP animation is pretty impressive, as well. Hopefully they clean up the animation before they master it to BRD.

 
The show did seem to be pretty popular at the anime con I was at on the weekend.  I had mixed feelings about that -on one hand it can be pretty cool when a big group of cosplayers from the same series get together.  On the other hand, there were like fifteen or so Attack on Titan cosplayers and not a single cosplay I remember recognising for any of the other new shows that aired this season.

Getting pictures of someone cosplaying the hungry girl casting watchful looks about her surroundings with blades at the ready and a croissant in her mouth was pretty awesome though.  Someone brought up the possibility of getting a baked potato from A&W, but I'm not sure if they ever did.

So I chewed through Hataraku Maō-sama and found it to be a decent standard anime romantic comedy.

I think they could have mined some serious comedy by having Maō and Ashiya try to adapt to the world rather then them pretty much getting it from the moment they stepped out of the gate and jump-cutting forward in the story by almost a full year and having them completely assimilated (Sengoku Complex suffered from the same flaw). I also think they mostly wasted the magic angle as they so seldom used it until the last handful of episodes.

I also think they really short-changed us with the characterizations of Maō and the Hero. The demons turn into polite, pleasant humans and the Hero becomes a tsundere.

I found it entertaining, despite the various flaws, but not memorable. If those flaws had been addressed, it probably could have been a favorite.

Hataraku Maou-sama certainly isn't without its share of flaws, and I'll agree that it wasted some opportunities.  But one of the main reasons I liked the show was its comedy, and on that front I think it delivered pretty well.  Though I do want to see more light shed on matters related to Ente Isla in the future.

I don't really see anything wrong with Emi being a tsundere.  Being a tsundere isn't necessarily a good thing or a bad thing, it depends on how its handled, and while Emi's tsun side is rather extreme I find her to be a rather likeable and entertaining character.  Her epic rage faces are hilarious and I find it quite understandable that she has conflicted feelings about Maou.  Plus she has the self awareness to realise that she's acting like a stalker.   I actually find her by far the most interesting character in the series.  Maou himself could use more development though.  The show does a fairly good job of showing what makes Emi tick, but I don't feel it gives us quite as good a view of why Maou is the way he is.

Anyhow, this season only adapted two of the nine books that have been published so far, so hopefully a sequel will dig deeper into matters such as Maou's past and what's going on back on Ente Isla.  Supposedly book three represents a substantial shift in direction for the series.  Then again I've read things indicating I shouldn't expect too much of a shift in a couple key aspects of the status quo, so who knows.

BTW, I find it hilarious that Emi's voice actress is the same person who played Mio in K-On.  Bit of a contrast there...

-IN PROGRESS REVIEW, TO EPISODE 6-

So I picked up HENNEKO – The Hentai Prince and the Stony Cat, with the initial expectation of some sort of typical anime magical-artifact-becomes-buxom/chibi-female-for-male-protagonist-to-care-for story (Sora no Otoshimono springs to mind).

It's absolutely not that. Indeed, I would compare it to Puella Magi Madoka Magica in its use of wishes and their consequences to drive home a point. And while it's nowhere near as tragic and traumatic as PMMM, it's absolutely just as well thought out and thought provoking as PMMM. The story revolves around three main characters, the classical Teenage Pervert, the classical Tsundere, and the classical Stonefaced Chibi. Their names are Yōto Yokodera, Azusa Azuki, and Tsukiko Tsutsukakushi respectively. Be forewarned that Tsukiko basically hits all the buttons for Chibi Adorableness, and looks remarkably like a kitten. You may feel the urge to squee, and while your mileage may vary, such urges are entirely normal.

However, the interesting thing is how the story demonstrates how these archetypes are made and directly addresses why such issues must be addressed in order to live in real life. As an example, Yokodera makes a wish to be able to demonstrate his true feelings. The next day, his perverted tendencies, while originally hidden from view by a well practiced facade of civility, are suddenly made glaringly public due to the Stone Cat's unexpectedly real powers.

But despite the surprisingly serious subject matter. Henneko is far and away the most hilarious anime I've seen in a while. The humor is primarily situational or prompted by forces beyond the main characters' control, preventing the story from descending into slapstick while still providing humor in misfortune and chaos. The previous example does not result in a beating, for example, but rather in a frankly hilarious series of statements regarding the benefits of certain breast sizes. I still need to finish all 12 episodes, and I'm told that it gets rather odd later on, but if nothing else, the first six are gems.

Piero wrote:I don't really see anything wrong with Emi being a tsundere.  Being a tsundere isn't necessarily a good thing or a bad thing, it depends on how its handled, and while Emi's tsun side is rather extreme I find her to be a rather likeable and entertaining character.  Her epic rage faces are hilarious and I find it quite understandable that she has conflicted feelings about Maou.  Plus she has the self awareness to realise that she's acting like a stalker.  I actually find her by far the most interesting character in the series.  Maou himself could use more development though.  The show does a fairly good job of showing what makes Emi tick, but I don't feel it gives us quite as good a view of why Maou is the way he is.

Does it, though?

I have no issue with her being a tsundere and I agree she was hillarious. But this brings me back to what I see more and more as a critical flaw - the giant time-skip (seems to be about a year) between the characters arriving and then the next time we see them, all settled into their new lives as modern humans.

Emi had serious and very legitimate reasons to hate Maō - his armies killed her father, she was conditioned by the Church to hate him and terminate his existance, and all the other atrocities Maō had inflicted upon Ente Isla.

And when we first meet her, she wants his head. Then within the span of less than an episode, she's now a standard tsundere love interest who's actions are because of her embarrasment at loving him and not because of the previous reasons. And because she loves him, she now abandons her original objectives and now seeks to keep him safe.

Now I have no issue with that storyline. But what I do have issue with is there is no explanation given as to why she makes that change. It's another thing they "timeskip" over. If the manga is like this, then the original author is a lazy person who just invoked "handwavium". If the the manga did cover this, then the folks who adapted it should be slapped.

I also take issue with Emi and Lucifer. As I recall, he was the general who's army razed her father's villiage and killed him. She just ignores him. Is her love for Maō so strong she forgives all of his minions? Or is it just more laziness at not wanting to deal with it?

And we know nothing about Maō's transformation. I mean he's 100% opposite as a human as he was as a demon and we have no explanation as to given why. And yet that transformation is one of the reasons Emi turns from hating him to loving him.

I admit to generally not watching anime with a critical eye. If it entertains me, I'm happy. And this show did entertain me. But the flaws were, IMO, so apparent and so large that I could not help but notice them.

The thing is, I don't see Emi as being head over heels in love with Maou.  She may fall for him eventually, and I'll admit there are hints that she's starting to develop feelings towards him at the end of the series after he saved her and Chiho from Sariel.  But I definitely don't think she was falling for him hard way back in episode two.  In my opinion her conflict stemmed more from her difficulty in coming to terms with the fact that a person she has good cause to hate is now behaving in ways that she considers good.  This is particularly notable during the mall collapse in episode three. The supposedly evil demon king saved everyone while she, the hero, was practically helpless to do anything.  That's got to mess with her a bit psychologically.

There are other factors that may play a role too.  Its been suggested that she kind of wants the demons around because they were the only people in Tokyo she could really relate to since they're also from Ente Isla (it was noted early on that Emi has blended into Japanese society perfectly but is miserable).  And there's also the fact that she found herself betrayed by one of her most trusted allies.

I will admit that the bit with Lucifer getting glossed over bugged me though.  Best explanation I can come up with is that between two people who both have indirect responsibility for her father's death, she'd rather go after the king than his general.  Plus she already kind of took Lucifer out once already back on Ente Isla.

BTW, the source material for Hataraku Maou-sama is actually a series of light novels.  The manga is also an adaptation.

El Conservatore wrote:-IN PROGRESS REVIEW, TO EPISODE 6-

So I picked up HENNEKO – The Hentai Prince and the Stony Cat, with the initial expectation of some sort of typical anime magical-artifact-becomes-buxom/chibi-female-for-male-protagonist-to-care-for story (Sora no Otoshimono springs to mind).

It's absolutely not that. Indeed, I would compare it to Puella Magi Madoka Magica in its use of wishes and their consequences to drive home a point. And while it's nowhere near as tragic and traumatic as PMMM, it's absolutely just as well thought out and thought provoking as PMMM.

Hmm... The Promotional Video did nothing for me (seemed to reinforce the idea this was a fan-service heavy show) and Anime News Network's review of the first seven episodes didn't instill confidence (they did give it a "B-", overall, however), but I did add it to my Crunchyroll queue and will check it out.

I won't deny that there's a fair amount of fanservice. The opening credits in particular are pretty much ridiculous and can be ignored if you are bothered by that sort of thing. In my opinion, however, the story is strong enough in the first six episodes that such things can be safely ignored in favor of the anime's central message throughout. After episode six, things get a little weird (to put it mildly), but my strong tendencies to favor characterization above all other things make my response less negative than you might have. Fair warning given, I guess. Still maintain that Tsukiko looks like a kitten and I want to hug her to death forever.

Shingeki no Kyojin [Attack on Titan] - A (for entertainment) | B (for everything else)

Guaranteed s second series (especially with the cliff-hangar ending), but I have already ordered all the manga.

Looked at critically, the show was kind of meh. Most of the characters were one-dimensional, the story was more cryptic than The X Files and after 25 episodes we know nothing more than we did when we started, really.

But gosh-darn was the action amazing and that is what eventually won me over (I was very lukewarm to the show until then) and kept me coming back.

To Aru no Kagaku no Railgun S - B+

Kiskaloo wrote:I was a bigger fan of Index than Railgun, but I really like Misaka Mikoto so I'll give it a shot.

Have to say, I'm now a bigger fan of Railgun than I am of Index as the ensemble cast is really great. The finale was over the top, but in a good way.

Piero wrote:Anyhow, I've got a big local anime convention the next few days, but I at least got to view the season finale of Hataraku Maou-Sama tonight.  Overall the series is pretty good.  At its best its freaking hilarious and there's a lot of attention to little details.  Unfortunately the overall package is somewhat marred by slow pacing in the second half, and the last episode seems to indicate the series may be moving into harem territory (hopefully that's not the case).  That being said I'm happy to hear it will be getting a season two.  I want more Maou and Emilia!

There's a season 02 coming? Excellent.

Behind the eight ball per-usual here, I only just watched Maou-Sama. Mentally I think I've classified it as "dumb, light and entertaining"... fortunately it's just my sort of dumb, light and entertaining, and it's happily filled the Working!! shaped hole currently left in my viewing list. For me at least, it did that same neat trick Working!! had of making its characters quirky without feeling forced or stretching my ability to suspend disbelief overly.

If I had one complaint, I kind of wish they'd kept the battles a bit more serious to offer some contrast to the comedy but, for the purposes I was/am watching it for, that's a very minor complaint indeed.

Unfortunately the report that a second season had been announced has not been confirmed.  Its a bit debateable whether there will be one -the Japanese disc sales have been pretty good, but the company that owns the rights to the source novels seems to view adaptations as more of a way to increase novel sales than a way to make a profit in their own right, so the good sales figures may not carry the same kind of weight they would for some other series.