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Anime/Manga ► Spring 2013 Anime Lineup



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Nyangoro

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Shingeki no Kyojin

If Aku no Hana is the series that succeeds through experimentation, then Shingeki no Kyoujin is the one that succeeds by squeezing all it can out of convention. Through it's efforts, it achieves the grandiose visual power that most TV anime producers only dream of. In pairing a powerful opening narrative with stellar and smart animation, I think it's only fitting that I give it special treatment similar to Aku no Hana. Through it's promotional materials, it already set a high bar for the episode to jump over; but not only did the jump over it, they pole-vaulted over it in what may become the best thing Araki's directed since his famous adaptation of Death Note all those years ago.

Araki Tetsurou has made a name for himself as an anime director with his boisterous and showy visual style. Starting back in 2006 with Death Note (though he did direct an OVA a year prior); his propensity for wild animation, wild effects, and even wilder camerawork shot him into the limelight, as fans of the manga were positively ecstatic at this marvel of an adaptation. That was followed with action romp Kurozuka, then an arc in grim Aoi Bungaku, and then the fanservice-laden zombie-fest Highschool of the Dead. After that long stint at MADHOUSE, he took on Production I.G.'s ill-received Guilty Crown; which still contained elements of his visual flair, even if they were sterilized by the prolific studio's creative direction. Now, in 2013, he returns to direct another series, but not just with Production I.G. this time. Brand new studio Wit (like, “founded in the summer of 2012” new) heads up the production with I.G. as a partner.

Given Araki's natures as a director, the big concern here is the same one as with Aku no Hana. The only difference? Well, everything. The animation in this episode is glowing. The action scenes on display are breathtakingly vivid and epic. One of the strongest elements of the manga was its sense of momentum, and Araki along with talented animators capture this perfectly. The camera never stays in place or follows the same thing for too long, constantly zipping around the field with its flying subjects. The detail of 3D-Gear used to zip between trees is immaculate, and dynamism of the movements is a true spectacle. Even beyond the action scenes, though clearly not of the same caliber, are still very smart. When the characters move (and trust me, they don't move any less than most anime), it's fluid and really goes the extra mile in terms of detail. However, being a TV anime, those undoubtedly expensive action set pieces do have a trade-off in the form of relatively frequent still shots. Fortunately, they choose great shots to do this with, such as the defeated Recon Corps as they return home. Better still, they make sure to up the quality of those frames, to give it a more dramatic presence.

Based on artistry in this episode, I can tell that Wit is being given a lot of room to flex their young and creative muscles. The series does not look like a Production I.G. anime. In fact, it looks closer to MADHOUSE than it does to the creators of Ghost in the Shell and Eden of the East. The character models have this strong gradient shading. In fact, the lighting on them in general is great, and the eyes have a greater amount of detail to them. That's how I know that Wit's been given a lot to do, because you can see the same kind of visuals in the trailer for their upcoming Hal film. The sheen on the city is glorious, and the use of the eye-catches for the declassified information sections of the manga is genius. Of course, the titans themselves are downright spectacular. They are nothing but the creepiest bastards you'll ever see.

Now, one thing about Araki is that he relies on the source material to be good beforehand, because he typically doesn't change all that much. He's more about making what he's given look good, not so much about retooling it to make the narrative work. Good thing that Shingeki no Kyoujin has no problem with that. This tale of human survival in the face of overwhelming odds kicks things off into high gear from the very beginning, the full weight of Araki's expression driving home humanity's helplessness against the titan onslaught. It showed how quickly their notion of peace was shattered, and ended the episode with one of the single most powerful and moving scenes of a lot of recent anime. Often times with protagonists, you don't always feel their motivation. You understand it, but it doesn't quite hit you in the gut. Here, it hits you so hard that it punches a hole through your chest.

Another thing that I got from the episode here, which is just as crucial a part of the manga's impact, is its lore. One of the source's greatest strengths was how it described the current status of humanity. It put effort into detailing their current society and the world that had been built out of necessity. While not fully there yet, the anime certainly made a promising start. As I mentioned, the eye-catches delivered crucial information to the structure of their world, and that really helped bring me into the setting in the manga. Beyond that, we're already given a look into the citizen's mindset. We see how they view things, and both the logic and the irony of it. We get brief insight to the various corps through Erin's interactions with those he knows. It's little things like that which help flesh out the world and draw the audience into it.

But I don't want to forget the music. The powerful choir projected over booming drums and a dramatic orchestra is a clear sign that Ao no Exorcist's Sawano Hirokyuki is composing the score. Though he's done multiple styles with various shows (Guilty Crown's OST sounds nothing like Sengoku Basara's), Shingeki no Kyoujin's soundtrack very closely resembles that of A-1 Picture's tale of a half-demon. Hell, it's even grander than that score, bringing more emotion to Araki's heavy direction of the fantasy visuals. That's not to say there's no Sengoku Basara influence though, as you will hear guitar riffs playing alongside the orchestra. Even the slower moments feature heavily atmospheric strings. All of this is topped with Linked Horizon's charismatic combination rock, orchestra, and rough vocals in the opening theme.

Shingeki no Kyoujin was the most anticipated show of the season, and it is not hard to see why. Araki delivers what may be his most defining work since his TV anime directorial debut. The animation flows freely with an intense sense of momentum. The visuals are crisp and detailed. The music is epic and powerful. But better than all that, it does the manga all the justice in the world with this premiere, capturing humanity's desperation in a way that only Araki can. Wit was given a grand opportunity here, and they're putting their all into it. The amount of passion put in this adaptation shines through every frame. If you can only watch one anime this season, you would not be wrong in choosing this.
 
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Nyangoro

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Hyakka Ryouran Samurai Bride

Introduction: I admit it, Hyakka Ryouran was a guilty pleasure of mine when it aired all the way back in the fall of 2010. In fact, that season came just half a year I did my first full season of these the following spring (hooray for trivial history). Anyway, I was drawn to it (and somehow managed to stick with it) for its unique art direction and decent action scenes. Sure, the fanservice was about as prominent as any other series featuring a harem cast, and the story was by no means amazing (or good), but I derived some enjoyment out of it until the end. And now it's time for a sequel two and a half years later.

Summary: The general returns after a trip around Japan to hone his skills. What does he find upon his arrival? The girls have transformed the sacred dojo into a maid cafe (yes, really). Times are hard and they need to make some money (I'd think this is ARMS saying to hell with those who don't like their pandering, but that's too meta for them). Meanwhile, some dark samurai have risen from the grave to take out the master samurai who sealed the antagonist of the first season. In short, our heroes get the shit kicked out of them, and now they have to figure out how to revive Yagyuu Juubei, who perished at the close of the previous season, in order to stand a fighting chance.

Premise: So this is basically going to be exactly the same as the first season. Harem antics followed by ink-splattered beatdowns. It's about as deep as the original (so not at all), but at least it doesn't take itself any more seriously than your average popcorn action flick. It's still true that there is absolutely no substance here, though. In fact, you barely even have the makings of your typical action anime plot. Nothing left to do now but wait until whatever contrived means are used to bring the main character back so she can kick ass all over again.

Characters: Let's be real now, there are no characters here. Just walking harem tropes. Can't fault them for packing in a whole lot of them though. You've got your ditzes, your snobs, your lolis, your megane; there's no end to the amount of people that this anime caters to. Well, except for the people who want strong characterization and development. Those people aren't getting catered to. But hey, at least they're having fun with it, right? Right?

Artwork: If nothing else, I can say that the art style of the original returns in all its glory. While the character designs aren't much if you strip away the visual direction, it's that very direction that makes it all look so good. The heavy black lines and rice paper filter do wonders for this ink brushed style. Although, I can't say that this episode did everything right. To turn a fairly decent setting into a maid cafe is just disappointing. It's like they thought they were straying too far from their fans with the original, so they had to up the ante with this.

Animation: While I had to put up with maid cafe nonsense for about half the episode, the latter half had an alright action sequence. Unfortunately, the animation is not as tight as I remember the original's being. It's not horrible, but it certainly doesn't stand out. The choreography was very simplistic, the only saving grace being some nice effects and a cool black-and-white scheme at one point. But overall, the mediocre quality of the first half simply could not be overcome with the second; and I just found myself sitting in my seat, thoroughly unimpressed.

Music: No opening this week, and the ending is a terrible character song. Moving on, the score is certainly better than a phone-in bit, but it's not the strongest. There are a lot of quirky and upbeat tracks that, while catchy and fairly solid, don't leave a lasting impact. The bigger numbers during the action scenes fall into the same boat. They're appropriately grand and intense, but nothing about them stands out above other, similar scores. This is all the more apparent if you've heard the powerful offerings in Shingeki no Kyoujin's soundtrack already.

Overall: I'm afraid that any real value I got out of this series fled with the first season. It still doesn't have any strength as far as plot and characters are concerned, and the visuals simply don't hold up in this second outing. Not that my opinion on this is all that surprising, but I can safely say that I won't be watching any more episodes of this show, not when there are so many better titles to occupy my time with. Though, I don't imagine any of you watched Hyakka Ryouran to begin with.
 

Nyangoro

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Suisei no Gargantia

Introduction: Urobochi Gen is a cool writer. He's really good at screwing with his characters. It's that talent for psychological torture that let him pen a standout anime title in both 2011 and 2012 (Puella Magi Madoka Magica and Fate/Zero, respectively). However, I was a little worried about him for 2013. I know many people who very much enjoyed PSYCHO-PASS, but I was not one of them. I think it's a textbook example of an overwritten series that fails to word the questions it asks properly. But now, he's got a new series with Production I.G. A piece of potential space opera science fiction, no less. The promotion caught my eye, so I was wondering how Urobochi would tackle it.

Summary: In an age where humans spent generations traveling the stars, they finally found a place that they could inhabit in the vast reaches of space: Avalon. However, an alien race threatens their existence, leading to a full-scale war. The episode opens with an all-out-attack against a key enemy stronghold. Second Lieutenant Ledo is one of the many soldiers in this operation, as they use a wormhole to approach. However, despite their efforts, they are forced to retreat when the wormhole's time limit is reached. The only problem is that transpiring events force Ledo into the wormhole separately from his ship, which catapults him to unknown coordinates. When he wakes up, he finds that he's in an unknown, backwater place and can't understand the natives. After a little encounter with the locals, he learns that he's not on some space-faring ship, but on a life-sustaining planet. The planet's location? The 3rd in a series of planets revolving around a G2V star. In other words: Earth.

Premise: Bravo, Urobochi. Thus far, my faith in you has been tentatively restored. This was a top-notch premiere. The sense of confusion experienced by the character was strong, and the current situation of the other half of humanity is intriguing as a parallel plot line. What I enjoyed the most, though, was the sense of the world. You really felt like you were two different, but equally realized settings. There's a completeness to this universe that not a lot of other premieres this season were able to pull off in only one episode. What aided this was the detail in the science-fiction technology. Often times, science-fiction has a lot of fancy, high-tech weaponry with science-y sounding names, but the actual rhetoric and broader technology isn't as consistent. It feels like a bastard child of current and futuristic that breaks the escapist veil. Here, it's extremely consistent. Hearing Chamber's (the mobile suit) train of thought is just a treat, as he uses systematic analysis to slowly but surely deduce their location. This, in tandem with an intro that got me wanting to know just what the hell is going on, made for a very promising start.

Characters: Ledo is great. Through his thoughts and brief exchanges, you get great insight to how he thinks and operates. I love this notion that he's a veteran soldier whose time spent in warfare has all but crushed his desire to live as a citizen, and yet that doesn't mean he's lost any compassion for his fellow man. In fact, there's a lot of solid characterization besides him. It uses quick but specific dialog to identify its cast, and it lets the audience feel connected with them very quickly. I suspect that this is due to director Murata Kazuya; who, while without many full director credits, has worked on such titles as Eureka Seven, Xam'd, and Code Geass. If they can get this much out of the crew in one episode, I can't wait to see what they can get out of the whole series.

Artwork: Though this is a Production I.G. anime, and you can certainly see that in aspects of the design (especially in the CGI), I might be quicker to believe that this was produced by BONES. The character models remind me a lot of Eureka Seven and Xam'd, though with a more controlled touch. The scenic shots of space reminded me of Satelight, and the mechanical plant on Earth gave off a strong BONES vibe as well. Either way, I really like the visuals here, and all the designs really stand out amongst the staler offerings of the season. If there was anything I was disappointed by, it was that there wasn't enough time to see all the vessels that the series may have to offer. Still, I have no doubt that we'll see more of that in the future.

Animation: And the amazing production values continue with animation that conveys its scenes in the best possible ways. Though it doesn't match the level of flair in Araki's Shingeki no Kyoujin (not like anyone would expect it to), it's nonetheless exquisitely detailed and grand where it needs to be. The action sequence in the first half really felt like a full-on space battle. Lasers and missiles fired everywhere, with units flooding the screen. It was sheer chaos, and that was exactly how it was supposed to look. The second half wasn't chaotic, but the animation was still meticulous and very smooth. Even the CGI didn't look that bad, and I personally tend to think that Production I.G.'s CGI work stands out too much.

Music: I don't know if the track played over the end credits is the opening or ending theme, but I do know that I like it. It's a pop number, yes, but it reminds me a lot of the themes used in Aquarion. The composition is impassioned, and the upbeat vocals sound alive. What I like more, however, is the score. I get a really strong Last Exile vibe from it. Even without the same focus on brass during the interstellar conflict, the drums and general composition remind me a lot of Hitomi's. The similarities only increase as we move to the latter half of the episode, where the lighter and more youthful tracks sound just like what I might here during the more uplifting moments of that series.

Overall: This episode does not disappoint. In fact, it was far better than I expected. The attention to detail on the setting is stunning, and they've already proven that they know how to handle their characters. The production values are shining, and I find this aesthetic far more pleasing than the one used in PSYCHO-PASS. There's really no question here, this is the sci-fi series to watch this season. Sunrise's Valvrave would have to do a lot to match up to this, and I don't think they've got it in them. This episode was simply done too well.
 

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impressions thus far:

little witch academia is the greatest example of pure, beautiful, effective animation i have seen in a long time. nothing it does is revolutionary in the slightest, but it's beautifully animated and a blast to watch. i always knew yoshinari was a phenomenal artist since his work on valkyrie profile was fantastic, but now i can see why he was held in such high esteem as an animator. trigger is, as everyone expected, DEFINITELY a studio to keep an eye out for.

attack on titan was extremely strong, definitely THE anime to watch this season, as expected. the animation is fantastic, the characterization and setting from the manga translate very well into animation, and when the anime tries to hit you hard you really, truly feel it. I wasn't worried about this adaptation to begin with, but now I know studio WIT has made the best of it.

aku no hana has obviously been polarizing, but what most people don't seem to be acknowledging is that the show is clearly done on a budget and wouldn't have looked much better done more conventionally. the director clearly wanted to experiment and make something different. obviously not everyone is going to like it (as we have seen), but that doesn't mean the animation is like that for no reason. overall it was a very solid premiere and i'm looking forward to seeing where the series goes, as i haven't read aku no hana before watching this.
 
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Space Cowboy

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Also, I watched Death Billiards. I so love MADHOUSE when they animate like this instead of what they did with Photo Kano.

Loved the animation for this. So far with the Anime Mirai from what I've seen subbed, it hasn't been a surprise. Not that it is a bad thing, I expected Trigger and Madhouse to deliver. But I haven't been surprised by anything, not like last year with that spider demon episode.

But yeah, Attack on Titan is fantastic as expected. Will watch Aku no Hana tomorrow likely, then maybe Devil Summoner afterwards.
 

Nyangoro

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Namiuchigiwa no Muromi-san

Introduction: This is the first of two twelve-minute-episode series airing back to back in a single half-hour period. Both comedies, this Tatsunoko Production showed off odd character designs and potent amounts of energy in the trailer. As I watched it, the phrase “quirky enough to work” couldn't help but wander through my mind multiple times. Though I definitely wouldn't call it a highly anticipated series of mine, I was nonetheless excited to see what kind of crazed hijinks a show like this could offer.

Summary: There's a kid whose hobby is fishing. He's on the pier one day, when his line snags mischievous mermaid by the name of Muromi. After meeting him, she just can't leave him alone, teasing him and demanding his attention whenever she can. She throws starfish at him, bites onto a lure, and even gets electrocuted by jellyfish (though that one doesn't seem like much of an issue to her). That's about all the first episode does, and it ends with just another of its jokes before rolling the credits.

Premise: I'm left with somewhat of a sour taste in my mouth after this. It wasn't dreadful, but it failed to live up to my expectations, and the end result just didn't hit keep me laughing long enough. Certain jokes could work in theory, but the timing in this series is way off. None of the punchlines leave their mark, and the most the majority of these gags could muster out of me was a slight smile. Using a starfish as a shuriken just isn't that funny. I'm sorry. The funniest bit was when she snatched the lure, despite knowing what it already was, but even that wasn't enough to get me going.

Characters: For a comedy that relies on quirkiness, I expected more than the two characters that we got. I know from the trailers and opening that more of these mermaids (and other creatures) play a role in the humor, and maybe it works better when they're all there to play off of each other; but it was only the male lead and Muromi this time, and there was absolutely no chemistry at work. The two of them basically performed a tsukkomi/boke combo, each with about as much personality as any of those duos. That might have been fine if they were funny, but they simply weren't, in my opinion.

Artwork: On a more positive note, the colors here are very bright, and I love how soft the environments look despite that. I enjoyed Muromi's off-beat character design, but the male lead's is about as generic as it gets. And when these two are about all you get to see for the whole episode, it starts to take a toll on you. I can see the efforts the studio took to make the show a bit more visually appealing, especially in the opening sequence, but the final product only stands out a little bit. It doesn't switch enough up to really make it count.

Animation: The animation is just as sporadic and energized as the trailer suggested. The characters a very dynamic, and they use a couple good pieces of imagery to boot. Unfortunately, while it stands out better than the artwork, it falls into the same trap. It has some nice parts, but without strong glue holding it all together, it feels like it doesn't do enough. Not to mention that the actual content of the animation was pretty lackluster as well. I can only watch Muromi squirm around on the floor so many times before I get bored. I wish the first episode looked as good as the preview for the second.

Music: Befitting the show itself, the opening theme is a fast-paced little... I'm not entirely sure what genre this is, but it's showy and chalk full of energy. Also it's incredibly obnoxious. I wanted it to end before the high-pitched character vocals threatened to melt my ear drums. And the score is just embarrassing. It sounds like the composer couldn't wait to put this series behind them so that they could move on to something else. It tries to be upbeat, but ends up irritating, to the point where I occasionally wished I could mute the backgrounds noise.

Overall: Ultimately, this comedy spends too much time trying to grab your attention. It keeps shouting “Hey, look at me! Aren't I so goofy?!” to the point where it doesn't put any real effort into the jokes themselves. When it gets right down to it, the show becomes a chore, making it hard to maintain enough interest for the meager twelve-minutes that it's on. There are many better comedies out there, and better ones this season alone. I can't see much reason to watch this unless you absolutely have to watch something with mermaids in it.
 

Wehrmacht

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So I read a few chapters of Aku no Hana. I can understand the bewilderment at the adaptation because the style is so drastically different, but frankly, the manga's art isn't very appealing at all. That's not to say I don't think the artist shouldn't be publishing manga or anything, because he understands a lot of basic artistic concepts well enough, but the stylization itself is super generic and not interesting in the slightest. If anything, the anime would probably be worse for it if the style was transitioned faithfully.
 

Nyangoro

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Yeah, the mangaka is far better at painting, if you ask me (like he did for the seventh volume of the series, or the end card for Shingeki no Kyoujin's first episode). What really blows my mind about some of this hate is when people bring up the uncanny valley. I have no idea how anyone can look like the anime and think that the uncanny valley is a serious concern, lol

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Yondemasuyo, Azazel-san. Z

Introduction: Speaking of better comedies, the second of these half-anime is a sequel to one of the surprise comedies of 2011, Azazel-san. If there was one thing this dark little comedy was not, it was family-friendly. The demon-filled work was unapologetically grotesque, gruesomely brutal, wantonly perverted, and constantly insensitive. There's no adequate way to describe the kind of cesspit the gutter from which this series emerged must have been. And yet, thanks to impeccable timing, an utter inability to give a shit, and constant stream of progressively inappropriate gags, it became one of the more notable comedies of its year. And now we get a sequel. I wonder if they'll tone it down at all.

Summary: The deceased minotaur from last season reigns atop the popularity chart among just about everyone. But before we can do that, Azazel must inquire as to the construction of a sex doll for him. Well, so much for toning it down. So, back in Hell, the replacement minotaur is disgusted by all this cuteness ruining his image, so the three of them devise a plan to take out the seemingly indomitable Akutabe. They try to sneak the minotaur into Akutabe's office by pretending he's one of the many life-sized dolls available for purchase. This leads to what everyone loves best, physically abusing Azazel. At one point, he gets smashed through the floor so hard that he's burned by the earth's core. The episode ends with Akutabe's ominous approach, indicating that things are definitely going to go down next episode. And if history is any lesson, the demons will not like the outcome.

Premise: So yeah, the first episode is firing on all cylinders. Everything you hated to love in the original is back in full force. I've never felt so unbelievably guilty as I laughed at nearly everything this show threw at me. It just doesn't stop. They packed so many jokes into the twelve minutes available, and yet the timing was impeccable with each one. And yet, it knows how to leave at just the right time. Seeing Akutabe as he casually walked to his office while dogs barked and cats fled was brilliant. Now, I just want to see what horrible things he does to them. This show has turned me into the kind of person that wants to see brutal slapstick comedy.

Characters: This really is a well characterized cast of horrible people. I especially love Sakuma's development over the past season. In the first episode of the original, she was just an ordinary girl who was thrust into a weird situation with demons and didn't know how to handle it. Now, she's more like Akutabe's protegee, now able to instill a little fear into the tiny, monstrous caricatures. The little guys are just as evil as ever, but evil in their own, clearly defined ways. From the brains, to the brawn, to the sexual deviant, there's no shortage of horrible combinations through which to convey this gleefully mean-spirited humor.

Artwork: Azazel-san has always been an ugly serious. The character designs are hideous. Even if they aren't hideous normally, rest assured that they will become hideous for some specified period of time. I enjoyed the view of Hell this time around, with even more gross whatever-they-are's coming from every which way; and seeing the characters in their full forms is always a treat. The minotaur in particular looks nothing like his adorable counterpart except for the horns. It's interesting that I like it so much, because the color palette isn't all that appealing, but the uniqueness and fitting nature of the designs themselves work so well that I'm alright with that.

Animation: One of the weaker points of the series, the actions of the characters tend to lack a lot of detail for the most part; and the reactions of the characters; while exaggerated, aren't as energetic as they could be. Fortunately, it does have short bursts of quality animation when the violence hits a high note. I guess that's technically all it ever needs to worry about as far as animation goes, but it would be nice to see a bit more quality all around.

Music: The opening (played at the end of the episode, of course) is just as fun as the first one. The disturbed quality of it matches the series to a T, and is one that I have no problem watching multiple times because of it. The score itself is another weaker element of the production. Though not bad, it is a bit too simple for its own good. It goes unnoticed during all the quick humor and deranged antics. It's too low key for a series such as this, and suffers because of it. The only time it works is when it makes a point of it, such as with the fake opening theme at the beginning of the episode.

Overall: The undisputed (and quite frankly, unchallenged) champion of low-brow comedy returns with confidence that its reign will not be hindered. The amount of wrong crammed into such a short time span is nearly unbelievable, but no less enjoyable. Though it can't beat out Hataraku Maou-sama! in terms of sheer entertainment and overall quality, there is no better place to turn to when you want to get a laugh out of something so bad that it's amazing.
 

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Ore no Imouto ga Konnani Kawaii Wake ga Nai. Season Two

Introduction: The adaptation that marked the beginning of a trend of obscenely long titles, Oreimo was a wonderful surprise in the fall of 2010. It told a solid story of anime fandom and romantic comedy with some fairly developed characters. Then it took a year and a half for the second season to get announced, followed by another year of waiting and even a studio change before we finally got something tangible. Though things were looking a little bleak for a spell, the trailers made the fans believe that A-1 Pictures would do a great job with the follow up to such a successful anime.

Summary: Kirino has returned to Japan after some rather forceful encouragement by Kyousuke. Now back, she spends all of her time being an absolute bitch to him, and a treat to everyone else. While Kirino ignores him, Kyousuke struggles to deal with Kuroneko's confession to him last season. But he doesn't get the time to dwell on that too much, as a quick slap to the face by Kirino wakes him up. She forces him with her to Akihabara, so that she can finally go shopping in her favorite district and watch the brand new trailer for the new season of an anime she loves. The episode ends with Kyousuke getting another game shoved no him, and Kirino grinning like an idiot over her latest acquisitions.

Premise: I don't know about this one. I was thoroughly pleased with the first season, but I'm a little worried. Aside from the briefly brought up tension between Kyousuke and Kuroneko, the entire episode felt like a retread of the original. Kirino acts like a bitch, gets randomly nice to him when she needs help being an otaku, gives him a video game to play, and then retreats to her den of siscon. That's basically what already happened. The only difference is now everyone knows about it. I'm just concerned that most of what this sequel has to offer will be exactly the same as what it already offered three years ago.

Characters: Is it just me, or has Kirino regressed? I mean, she was never without her sharp tongue, but it felt a whole lot more open by the end of season one. But here, she's back to how she used to be. An asshole until she needs something, and then she goes back to being an asshole. This just makes me more nervous about the whole retreading thing. Kyousuke was great though, and seeing him get all worked up over Kuroneko's confession like a high school girl was hilarious. I always like seeing male leads with personality in anime like this.

Artwork: A-1 Pictures carried over AIC Build's vision well, adding a few of their own sensibilities, mainly detail in the eyes and slightly more rounded faces. The designs are smooth, though not exactly original. It's nice to see better shading on them compared to shows with a similar look about them. I'd talk about the setting, but nothing there gets your attention. Even Akihabara was pretty uneventful, which I thought was unfortunate. If there's one place you can feel free to go nuts with, it's Akihabara. The original didn't exactly stand out in this department either, but it would have been nice to get a more noticeable improvement.

Animation: A nice camera following view of Kirino, along with a few select pieces that go beyond the norm, round out the best of the animation here. A lot of it was fairly routine, with most of the characters moving around very little for most of the episode. Granted, Oreimo was never known for animation that went the extra mile, so I'm not surprised. I do wish they put a little more effort into that anime trailer though. I understand that part of it was just the way the trailer was designed to look, but I felt the visuals therein a little less polished than they could have been.

Music: ClariS returns to the series with a brand new opening. The more and more I hear of ClariS, the more I think her stuff sounds the same. I can still enjoy it, but anything about her that used to make her stick out from the crowd is now gone. I'm glad to say that the whimsical soundtrack returns though, being one of the strongest scores of its kind. There's a certain depth to the instrumentation that I like, even though it's still fairly basic. The way the sounds are used blend just right to compliment each other in all the right ways.

Overall: If you're an Oreimo fan, then you're no doubt watching this already, and those that don't probably won't change your mind just because the second season is out. I'll give it another chance, but I may have to cut the cord if they don't start progressing from where they left off. The last thing I want to see is a series with potential succumb to something so basic. You don't begin a second season the same you way you did the first. There has to be some form of progression, otherwise the audience will feel like they wasted there time.
 

Space Cowboy

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Watched Aku no Hana last night. Was alright. The only problem I had with the rotoscope is that it is a bit...there. Really. Unsure if the series will become crazier in anyway that it can take full advantage of the idea. It didn't help that I had watched A Scanner Darkly very recently and that was brilliant and ridiculous. So this seems tame.

Also watched Devil Survivor which was pretty good also.

It is difficult to beat Shingeki no Kyojin really.
 

Nyangoro

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Mushibugyou

Introduction: My experience with Seven Arcs is as “that one studio that hasn't done a show I've liked ever.” But this series is under a studio named “Seven Arcs Pictures,” so whatever. Anyway, this show only captured the smallest amount of my attention for the manga-esque art style. Other than that, I had no idea what to expect, and their really wasn't a whole lot of information on it. It could be good though, who knows?

Summary: Our main character traveled to Edo in order to join the Insect Magistrate, an organization that kills gigantic bugs which terrorize the villagers. Originally, his father was suppose to fill the position, but a certain incident left him with a crippled leg, and so his son went to the city in his place. He meets a young woman while there, who gets kidnapped by one of said bugs. Obviously, he goes to rescue her, but finds out that there's a whole nest of the things. That's when the Insect Magistrate barges in and starts taking care of business, leading to the main character getting a single kill in. Then the white-haired guy kills the final boss, and the main character is invited to join the cause.

Premise: This is like every shounen cliché wrapped up in one easily avoidable package. A young hot-headed lead falls for a girl as soon as he sees her, she gets kidnapped, and he has to try to kick ass. But he's not strong enough yet, so the side characters show up to do all the work, while he gets one shout in order to prove he has potential. I don't think it's any wonder where this series is going. But then it had to go and play the stupid card with the father's backstory. Get this; the father was acting as bodyguard for those of a noble family, saved them from an attacking bug, but didn't save them before the noble's son wet his pants. This was unforgivable, apparently, and demanded severe repercussions. I don't claim to be an expert on Japanese nobility, but I have to figure most of them would chill the hell out after getting their lives saved.

Characters: You got the brash shounen lead paired up with the love interest right from the start. No need to waste time getting to know them; the series already knows there's nothing to know. The Insect Magistrate's members are as follows: The smart one, the wild one, the timid one, the woman, and the super cool and badass one. It's not like the terrible speeches in this show weren't bad enough, but they had to come from the mouths of these idiots. It hurt my brain.

Artwork: I liked the manga style art first, but that slowly waned. The designs are too generic for any of the nuances to stick. The longer I watched the episode, the more lifeless and inexpressive they became. The view of the city had maybe three shots that looked alright, the rest were boring and completely unmemorable. Even the bug designs look like nothing more than super-sized versions of whatever creature they're designed after.

Animation: Some nice effects aside, it's really lazy. The action is cheap and lacks anything even resembling choreography. The most you ever get is a few closeup shots that animated one part of the body with a decent amount of detail, but then you're right back to the barely moving character models. I'll give it this, it was consistent. But consistency can only get you so far. And I don't know if “consistently lazy” is something you want to trademark.

Music: The opening and ending themes were about the only things I liked in this episode. The opening was a refreshing punk track that you rarely see in anime. It was a nice change of pace and the kind of raw passion that the genre is known for. The ending, meanwhile, felt like a very retro pop ending, which I personally prefer to the more modern pop numbers. This may just be nostalgia, but I liked it. The score is just a boring combination of forgettable period-type music and bizarre rock/techno tracks.

Overall: A boring pile of cliches a best, depressingly stupid at worst, this shounen does just about all it can to ensure that you never watch another episode ever again. Throwing inane speeches that have been done to death into the mix doesn't make matters any easier. Nothing about this production works right, and I'm not even sure there's even any salvage value at this point. Even in a slow season, this wouldn't be a show to watch, so why watch it this season?
 

Zettaflare

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I actually started a thread on the anime and manga attack on titan. The series is so damn good it deserves its on thread
 

Nyangoro

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Arata Kangatari

Introduction: You know, Satelight has made a lot of shows that I enjoyed over the years. All the way from Heat Guy J to the more recent Mouretsu Pirates. But I've noticed something. Whenever they try to work with your typical shounen series, it tends to fall apart. There's something about the genre that they just can't seem to figure out. I realize that Fairy Tail is popular, but that doesn't change the fact that the anime couldn't even hold my attention for a season, while the manga kept me reading for much longer. So you can understand my worry when their latest work, Arata Kangatari, looks exactly like that kind of series.

Summary: Arata seems like a nice enough guy. He's friendly, talented, has a loving family, all that jazz. But for some reason, people hate his guts. Enough of that though, time to go to a fantasy world with a different character named Arata. This Arata has to dress up as a girl to fulfill a ceremony in a matriarchal society, because his parents weren't able to have a female child. While he's trying to pull the wool over everyone's eyes, the current priestess is killed by her once loyal guard, who then place the blame on Arata. As he flees, he wanders into a forest where the two different Arata's exchange places. Now, the Arata from the real world has to figure out what to do in a world where everyone thinks he's the other Arata (because I guess he still looks like their Arata in their eyes, despite the audience seeing the clear difference). Oh, he also has magic powers now and can wield a magic sword.

Premise: Well, glad to see my expectations were well-founded, I guess. Seriously, what the hell was that? That was some kind of scattered premiere if I've ever seen one. The real world's Arata feels like he has nothing but forced issues shoved in his face for now readily discernible reason. He acts like a nice guy, yet everyone hates his guts, and we're left wondering whether or not we should already know why. Then, aside from random half-second cuts back to the real world, we focus entirely on the fantasy Arata, where we're offered a hackneyed coup d'etat already in progress. Then they switch positions, and for some reason the Arata from the real world can use magic when the other one can't. For some reason, the Arata from a parallel universe is chosen by a sword in the one it belongs to (because that sounds like it should work). On top of all that, it's got some of the same cheese that Mushibugyou had. Talk about a painful experience.

Characters: Hah, like we're given enough time to give a shit about any of these characters. The real world's Arata just seems like a nice guy, that's it. He has no traits other than that he doesn't trust people, and that doesn't even seem to play that major a role in his actions. The other Arata is... kind of a troublemaker but kind of not? I don't know, he's just kind of nothing. And he's the best character out of the whole fantasy side of the equation. It's not exactly a good sign when the character we were given the least time with actually feels like a more complete character (however marginally) than the one that gets a lot of screen time.

Artwork: I'll give this to Satelight, they made the characters look nice. Aside from the fact that these are so obviously the designs of a shounen manga, the fantasy characters looked nice and had their own aboriginal style going on. The real world's Arata just looks like a high school student though. Although, the environments were pretty ho-hum. Only the ceremonial building stood out to me at all. Everything else was just generic fantasy material. Hell, even the ceremonial building could probably fall under generic fantasy material, but at least it looked decent.

Animation: Terrible CGI flames aside, this show's only solid point of animation is its special effects (which are better than Mushibugyou's, if that helps at all). Everything else just isn't all that consistent. The moments where the animation was best barely felt like it was trying at all. Beyond that, there were a lot more still shots than should have been necessary, relying mostly on the effects to do all the heavy lifting. It even fell all the way to clumsy levels at times, such as the spring at the beginning of the episode during what I guess was gym class. The hand gyrations were so stiff, and it barely even focused on the character's legs.

Music: I enjoyed OLDCODEX's ending theme for Kurono no Basuke. Here, unfortunately, it sounds bit more like phoned-in visual kei. I'd talk about the opening; but as tends to happen with first episodes, it's missing in action. Regarding the soundtrack, it's hard to talk shit about something scored by Outani Kou. But I will, because for all the good he does with it, there is one thing I don't like: The upbeat fantasy track. The kind of tracks that you might here in a JRPG town. Those ones just don't work all that well, relying a lot on repetitive melodies from instruments that do not go well with repetitive. The slower and more dramatic tracks were great though. The piano numbers in particular really stand out for their simplicity while keeping all the emotions of the piece in tact.

Overall: I don't even care about the production values right now. This show was just way too dumb and meandering to get a pass from me. Watching this episode was an exercise in frustration, as I constantly felt like I missed a prequel that I should have watched by now. The number of times I asked “What?” in this episodecan only be challenged by Date A Live. Seriously, if you want to watch great shounen this season, just catch up with the 70+ episodes of Hunter x Hunter. Or, if you're already watching, then just leave this one the hell alone.
 

Nyangoro

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Random note, saw Arve Rezzle. Not bad at all, though my least favorite of this year's anime mirai so far.

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Yuyushiki

Introduction: Kinema Citrus is weird. They have a lot of talent as a studio. Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 is a fantastic anime, and both the Sora no Kiseki special and Eureka Seven movie had great animation. But they just can't seem to make much else work. Though, this could probably be blamed on the source material. CODE:BREAKER just isn't that good. So what do you hand a studio that's had problems finding good source material. Why, a moe series, of course. Oh yeah, I don't see how this is gonna go wrong. Having a largely untested director man the project is just icing on the cake.

Summary: Um... I'm just gonna skip this section and move on down to the next. I mean, I could write something here, but it would be like writing a grocery list.

Premise: This is about as pure a “cute girls doing cute things” anime as it gets. At least so far, there's not even the slightest hint of anything resembling a narrative. Even K-ON! revolved around the formation of a light music club. But while there is a club in the works in this series, it doesn't feel more important than the rest of the happenings. What were those happenings? Some dumpling eating, some walking around school, some bookstore antics, some slapstick; you know, the works. I'd be lying if I didn't derive a certain base enjoyment out of the episode, but it's about as complex as the bowl of Frosted Flakes I had for breakfast.

Characters: One's sleepy, one's a troll, and one's serious. That's about it. They just play off each other as best they can. There's nothing about this cast that says there's anything below the surface. This may not be a bad thing for the type of show, but that doesn't make it any less true. They're so one-dimensional that it's hard to talk about them for an extended period of time.

Artwork: Incredibly simplistic. There's barely any detail in the characters, to the point where I'm reminded of Hidamari Sketch every now and then. Even the environments lack the finer touches that you might have grown used to over all these years of anime. Strangely, it works for the show. It's easy to animate, makes it easier to bend the character faces to suit whatever exaggerated expression the writers and/or animators dreamed up, and isn't eye cancer. Its smooth quality works in its favor.

Animation: This is what I was talking about when I said that the studio has talent. We aren't talking Kyoto Animation levels of talent, but talent nonetheless. There are numerous scenes that has the characters moving about with a ton of fluidity. Shots of the characters' legs as they walked were used frequently, including for a cool scene where each of the three characters have their own walk cycle. It gets cheaper the more deformed the characters get; but on the whole, it's clear that they put some effort into this production.

Music: Really, is it any surprise that the opening theme is a pop idol number? How about for the ending? Not a surprise there either? That's what I though. I'm not sure who it was that composed the soundtrack for the series, but I'm definitely gonna have to check the credits. This is probably one of the best upbeat scores for a moe series ever. It doesn't complicate it with needless instruments, but it gives the few instruments there a lot to do. It's got a carefree and lighthearted quality to it without sounding either bored or distractingly energized. A nice surprise.

Overall: So yeah, I would watch the second episode of this. I've been known to delve into the occasional non-KyoAni moe title, and Yuyushiki fits the bill for me. There's something strangely fun to watch about these three piles of nothing. Obviously, it's not deep in the least; but it's got a lot of promise as that piece of fluff that you need when you just want to snack on some mindless, feel good entertainment.
 

Nyangoro

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Kakumeiki Valvrave

Introduction: Sunrise producing an original mecha IP is pretty much in name only at this point. The studio has done so many of these giant robot series that the only thing left to do is to rip themselves off. I mean, you can't read the summary of their latest, Kakumeiki Valvrave, without feeling like you've just read the summary of nearly every given Gundam title available. Still, even Sunrise can shake up a seemingly cliché premise every now and again, Maybe they do that here.

Summary: Our main character is your typical high school student (for all we know), and he's decidedly pacifist, hating to take part in anything competitive unless he has to. Meanwhile, the pragmatic rival and leader of a five-man, teenage infiltration squad is breaking into the school because of the giant, experimental robot being developed beneath it. Just as our lead works up the courage to confess his feelings for his friend/initial love interest/character motivator, all shit goes down when the squad's army comes busting down the city's doors, causing havoc. Wouldn't you know it, the lead's love interest gets obliterated in the chaos, and events align to guide our former pacifist to the titular Valvrave first for a bloody revenge spree. All goes well, and he's even treated as a hero upon his return as the credits roll. And then after the credits, we find out he's now a member of the undead, vampiric race. Yep.

Premise: Aside from the absolutely hilarious hook at the end, this episode was way too formulaic for its own good. Seems that Sunrise chose its own Gundam franchise to emulate, as this was about as strict a Gundam premiere as it gets, with an initial pacing fast enough to rival AGE. Everything went to hell at the halfway mark, hardly enough time to get to know any of these people before lasers and missiles blow up their school. His love interest getting killed was about as hackneyed a motivation as it gets, causing him to throw away his entire worldview and even his humanity so that the Gundam gods that be can deliver unto him their holy robot piloting knowledge, that he may swing down the almighty beam saber of righteousness upon his enemies. The entire thing takes itself so seriously that it just comes across forced and hammy. There's nothing to say about the whole vampire bit. Seems like a cheap gimmick to me.

Characters: I feel nothing for any of these people. That's the problem when you give us at least a dozen characters to glance at for the precious twelve minutes it takes for tragedy to descend upon their tiny heads. After that, we focus only on the lead feeling bad over what happened before finally realizing that the mech was waiting for him to answer its question before actually activating. I tried to sympathize with his desire for revenge; but it's like I was saying with Shingeki no Kyojin: I can understand his pain, but I don't feel it. Again, it's just like a Gundam premiere; only this time, the gimmick meant to keep me interested long enough for the characters to develop to any meaningful degree is more weird than interesting.

Artwork: On the plus, Sunrise continues their trend of quality visuals. While originality is not a key selling point of the character designs, they are varied and detailed. The setting has a similar level of meticulous attention, even though it's difficult to show a high school in a brand new light. I appreciate the non-traditional mobile suits piloted by the enemies, even if they aren't all that memorable. What is more memorable is the Valvrave's design, which is a beautiful and sleeker variation on the types of mobile suits used in the SEED series and 00.

Animation: Though not as polished as the CGI in Majestic Prince, the 3D visuals here work well, incorporating movements and effects that remind me a lot of Karas. Other than that, the only 2D animation that really stood out was a brief scene of scientists getting gunned down. The rest of it was above average, with marginally better bits here and there; but ultimately, it's not the most impressive of the season. The CGI is clearly what got the majority of the studios effort. Makes sense, considering most of the rest of the combat will take place between the machines.

Music: Further proving just how much this series follows the mecha trends, the opening is a track by T.M. Revolution, also featuring Nana Mizuki. The two bring a catchy and nostalgic track to the table. While it doesn't elicit the same response as something like, say, INVOKE, it does offer a similar and enjoyable feeling. Anyone thinking the soundtracks sounds vaguely familiar has probably seen Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, as Senju Akira was the composer for both that and this series. I loved the relatively subtle use of the choir, and the orchestra in general is very solid.

Overall: While the ending's hook leaves me curious enough to watch the second episode, I can't say I'm confident that this will turn into a deep and well-structured narrative. Sunrise's clout as the kings of the genre may have led them to believe that they don't need to mix it up as much as they probably should, but that's just speculation on my part. The visuals and audio, as a whole, impress, living up to their reputation for strong production values. However, that doesn't change the fact that this was my least favorite of the three mecha anime airing this season.
 

Nyangoro

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And here's the last one. Ha! Suck it, latest anime season! You're my bitch!

*ahem*

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Hentai Ouji to Warawanai Neko

Introduction: The last new show of the season (at least that I'll be covering here), comes in the form of a light novel turned anime by J.C. Staff. The studio of over two decades and varied repute is, as you might expect, pretty hit or miss. For every Kamisama no Memo-chou, there's at least one Ikkitousen beside it. Which do I think this series will fall under? Well, given the fact that its source is a light novel, its title that features the word “hentai,” and its art direction that incites every harem-fearing gene in my body to riot; I'm feeling pretty good about latter.

Summary: The main character is perverted (and towards a fantastic start we go), but doesn't feel like he's quite perverted enough. His tact keeps getting in the way. He hears a rumor about a stony cat (a kind of statue) under a tree atop a hill that grants wishes in exchange for something that they don't need anymore. During his quest to remove his troublesome tact, he meets a girl who also wants to get rid of something: Her sensitivity. She feels she gets too emotional too fast, like a little kid. The two pray to the statue, and their wishes are granted. Want to guess how well that goes? It doesn't take long before the two of them start making fools out of themselves, and so they must quickly devise a plan to get back what they lost (since just praying at the statue again isn't enough, apparently).

Premise: I kinda liked the episode at first. It made me laugh with the lead's total lack of shame over his actions. That wore off pretty quickly as the stupidity of the narrative wore on though. The first and primary thing I don't like was how they already wanted to go back to normal by the episode's closing. So, quick question: If they've already learned their lesson by the first episode, what's the point of the rest of the series? Is it just whatever comedic set pieces the creators can think of to pad out the time between now and their personalities' inevitable return? Because, if it is, I'm not sure we've got much to work with. I mean, I'm already tired of them. Only thing left to do is throw in a romantic tangent just because it's apparently part of damn near every light novel author's contract.

Characters: I think there may be an inherent flaw in the characters of a show that requires part of whatever personality they had be stripped away. Hell, the female lead lost her ability to emote. Things are not looking good for the characters in this show. The non-tampered cast don't provide much support, unfortunately. The two others of note are a tsundere and... I don't know, some slightly abusive athlete. I don't have a whole lot to work with here, honestly. One of the lead's friends may or may not have started developing a god complex, but this was obviously unimportant to the writers. So book jokes it is!

Artwork: There's some great lighting in this episode. Now we just need some better designs to pair it with. I think I enjoyed the stony cat statue exclusively. Everything else looked vaguely reminiscent of Haganai, only a lesser version of that. I can only look at the same generic school uniform so many times. And I can only say that I'm looking at the same generic school uniform so many times. I'm sorry, it's pretty and all, but give me something I can notice. At least P.A. Works throws in their own visual direction. This aesthetic just looks so average.

Animation: Surprisingly good, and probably why I started off enjoying this series. You can tell that the animators are having fun when a apologetic bow results in a shock wave. The episode is full of little things like that... for the first half. After the extremely creepy grinning statue, the little tidbits taper off into something more routine. There's still a sense of attention given, but it lacks the touches that made the first half stand out. And for a series that already has so little to do just that, it was in dire need of some impact.

Music: This season's done pretty good to avoid vapid pop idol songs. Unfortunately, that trend didn't find its way to this show. Those vocals nearly burst my ear drums. I can't find much about the composer, Kikutani, but I enjoyed his score here. At times, it sounded liked it could have fit better in a lighthearted fantasy romp. Even when it didn't, it had some interesting instruments at work, including a few inspired by African musical styles. However, there was the occasional dud in the group. I don't know why he thought surf rock was a good choice, but that part of his brain may need to be removed in the future.

Overall: The main problem with this episode was that its own devices seem poised to undermine any potential strength that the story may have had. The lesson's been learned, the characters crippled, and I'm not sure I get why they can't just make a new wish on the statue. The girl gave a vague reason, but it's not clicking with me. Either way, there are too many problems to warrant my further curiosity, no matter how much potential certain aspects of this anime may have had. Unless you just want something adorable to look at (and don't worry, it is adorable, if nothing else), then I'd pass this one up.
 

Nyangoro

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Just gonna top this off with a quick summary. Nothing fancy, where I place the shows this season (in alphabetical order so I don't have to think about it as much).

Standout (stuff that I'd say is pretty much a must-see)
- Aku no Hana
- Hataraku Maou-sama
- Shingeki no Kyojin
- Suisei no Gargantia

Alright (I like it, but it's not the best of the season)
- Dansai Bunru no Crime Edge
- Devil Survivor 2: The Animation
- Ginga Kikoutai Majestic Prince
- Red Data Girl
- Yonsemasuyo, Azazel-san. Z
- Yuyushiki

Fence (I dunno, for whatever reason, it gets another chance)
- Kakumeiki Valvrave
- Karneval
- Ore no Imouto ga Konnani Kawaii Wage ga Nai. Season Two
- Yahari Ore no Seishun LoveCome wa Machigatteiru.

Ugh (Yeah, no)
- Arata Kangatari
- Date A Live
- Hentai Ouji to Warawanai Neko
- Hyakka Ryouran Samurai Bride
- Mushibugyou
- Namiuchigiwa no Muromi-san
- Photo Kano
- Zettai Bouei Leviathan

A pretty great season, as expected of the spring lineup. I love the variety of it too. My four favorite shows this season are all completely different. Some quality stuff here.
 
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