This new season has been pretty spare – even more so than last season. Here’s a brief rundown of the shows that made it past the cursory filtering that we actually bothered to watch:
Kyoukai Senjou no Horizon (Horizon in the Middle of Nowhere)
Risu – This adaptation of a light novel series revolves around a ensemble cast in a school setting, but this one takes place in a retro-future Japan where foreign powers control the puppet governments of a flashback feudal system, complete with anachronistic names. There is a core love story and conspiracy, and being from Sunrise, there are flying humanoid robots that are incapable of walking. The character design is nice, and the retro theme is somewhat interesting, although it has been done before. Think of it as Saber Marionette J with better artwork and the addition of lame robots. This one is sort of like a “gateway drug” to fantasy/sword & sorcery titles like Sacred Blacksmith or Shukufuku no Campanella. B
Root – Kinda odd mishmash off futuristic but magical fantasy stuff and there’s so many people and groups it gets a bit confusing. Still, it’s not a bad watch. Would I give it a B? Normally maybe not, but with the weakness of this crops shows, yeah.
Mashiroiro Symphony: The Color of Lovers
Risu – This adaptation of an eroge surprisingly is brought to us by Manglobe, who brought us titles like Samurai Champloo and Ergo Proxy. The seemingly ordinary story involves the inevitible highs and lows of the merger of two schools. The characters are failry well fleshed out and consistently written. On initial viewing, the backgrounds stand out, but the character art is not in any way lacking. It doesn’t stray from the school drama formula too broadly, but the good writing and visuals puts it into the same league as the Kyoto-ani/Key-Visual Art’s properties like Clannad or Air. I think this one fills the void left by Hoshizora e Kakaru Hashi. This one is probably my pick for the best of the season. A
Root – fairly predictable, nice to look at. Not a whole lot that makes it outstanding, but it’s watchable enough. Unlike a Key story, I don’t get the feeling of something twisted hiding in the story, although I suppose anythings possible. I’d give it a solid B.
Maji de Watashi ni Koishinasai! (Majikoi ~ Oh! Samurai Girls)
Risu – Another eroge adaptation, but this one more lowbrow and fan-service oriented. Again, the story is school-based, but key to the story is fighting. The protagonist isn’t a great pugilist, but he is an outstanding tactician. Formulaically, he is surrounded by available, sexually aggressive women, but the girl he truly likes is out of his reach. It’s a little less stupid and exploitively pandering than Kampfer, so it is therefore more watchable. It’s not serious in tone like Ikki Tousen or Tenjyou Tenge, which also makes it more watchable. As an ineresting point, Moriyama Yuji does some of the action animation direction. It isn’t high on my list of time-wasting priorities, but I will watch it through to the somewhat predictable end. C
Root – martial art fighting bishoujo, haven’t we seen this before? Thankfully it’s less serious than Ikki Tousen and the like. It’s also less stupid than that other recent booby power samurai fighting show. It is pretty silly, but I find it entertaining enough to watch if nothing else is on. C
Ango (Un-Go)
Risu – Bones studio rolled this one into the noitaminA block on Fuji TV left vacant by the end of the yaoi-themed No. 6. This one is a stylish, modern rendition of a Showa-era novel about a Meiji-era detective – think Kuuchuu Buranko stylish, but in earth tones. Having not read the book, I have no idea how well it holds true. Episodically, it runs as little morality plays, not unlike Jigoku Shoujou or Pet Shop or Horrors. The story is somewhat interesting, but the artwork is neither great nor terrible. The style doesn’t really grab me, but I’ll probably watch it to the end. B-
Root – The designs of the ancillary characters are kind of ugly, but the primaries are a more stylized and I find them not bad. For some reason it reminds me a bit of Durara. The whodunnit storys are pretty good and aren’t always straight cut crime capers. The detective dude does have his mystery androgenous sidekick that transforms and has a extraordinary power. He also seems to have a constantly growing number of lolis following him around. Decent enough to keep me watching, and not think to myself, why the heck am I watching this? B-
Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai (Haganai)
Risu – If something seems familiar, the character design for this light novel-based series stems from the artwork of the same artist who provided the original illustrations for the Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko novel series. The stories are by different writers, so the stories are vastly different. Where Denpa was dysfunctional family drama, Haganai is dysfunctional school drama. The protagonist is not unlike Takasu Ryuuji from Toradora or Usui Kenta from Karin where his outward appearance instantly sets him amongst his classmates as an unapprochably evil delinquent from the get-go. The story unfolds as a normal harem anime as he helps found the “Neighbors’ Club” with a classmate he has a forgotten past with. The character interactions are reminiscent of Redi×Bato! but the overall imagery is more PG-13, although the dialogue does go beyond that at times. Funny as all heck. Hiroki like! A
Root – I wasn’t expecting much from this but ended up liking it quite a bit. The similarities to the Denpa Onna designs certainly doesn’t hurt. Its got some quite funny moments. It is developing a somewhat predicatable assemblage of females around one guy bit, but it’s still interesting. A
Shiikyuubu (C3/C Cube/Cube×Cursed×Curious)
Risu – Another light novel-based adaptation. This one is a supernatural one along the lines of Kore wa Zombie Desu ka? or Itsuka Tenma no Kurousagi (or maybe to a lesser extent, Goshuushou-sama Ninomiya-kun). In mood, it falls somewhere between the two, being less slapstick than Zombie, but less exploitively dark-for-the-sake-of-being-dark than Kurousagi. The artwork is nothing special, in fact it is awkward and unresolved, sort of like when you see the Toei Animation rendition of Kanon after seeing the Kyoto-ani version. It would have been better if they got Kugimiya Rie for the heoine’s voice since she’s classically tsundere, but Tamura Yukari does a good enough job. It’s not an outstanding property, but I’ll probably watch it to the end. I’m so far enjoying it more than Zombie, but less than Kurousagi. C+
Maken-ki!
Risu – Another fighting school/harem/fanservice property, this time with the protagonist applying to a school focused on mystic weapons and elemental powers without his knowledge. It’s pretty formula with the energetic animal-like girl, the serious older-sister type, and the tsundere loli character all sharing a dormitory room with the protagonist, and although he is outwardly fighting-skill-challenged, he will end up being the most powerful in the school. Only a few episodes in and the end is already in sight. Between this and Majikoi, it’s hard to pick which one is better or worse. I’ll watch it to its predictable end. C
Mirai Nikki (Future Diary)
Risu – This manga-based property follows a young boy along his path to an unwanted future. Socially distant, he believes that the imaginary world that he escapes to is just that, until circumstances prove otherwise. The diary he has been keeping on his cellphone now shows events into the future! If you enjoyed Deadman Wonderland, [C] Control, Death Note, and/or Eden of the East, you’ll probably appreciate this one. As an aside, this is one of those shows that the characters wear the exact same outfits from beginning to end, even as pieces of wardrobe are lost or destroyed, they miraculously reappear. The twisted plot and F-ed up characters are enough to keep me watching, although the story and art appear to be for a middle-school demographic. B-/C+
Working!! (Wagnaria!! 2)
Root – Why the name change? Anyway this is the second season of the adventures at the fictional Wagnaria family resu in Hokkaido. You really should watch the first season before watching this as the second season is a straight continuation with no explanation of the characters. The art and designs are nice, although there is no sense of place that it really is in Hokkaido. Anyone who’s worked retail should be able identify a bit with the interactions, although the character quirks are extreme and exagerated, of course. I liked the first and this doesn’t change a thing, it’s a lot of fun. A
Risu – The overall story is fine. The second season seems to be more consistent than the first, at least with pace. The more they keep it indoors, the less it will offend me, since as someone who goes to Sapporo several times a year, the generic street and park scenes really piss me off. B
Kimi to Boku (You and Me)
Root – OK, from the art and character designs you pretty much get the idea that this is a shoujo title. It being about a group of childhood boy buddies now in high school pretty much confirms it. You’ve got twins, an eyeglasses, and a effeminate one. I kind of liken this to K-On for girls, cute and no overall plot. Oddly enough, I’m enjoying it. There thankfully is no yaoi BL going on so anyone who likes the gentle slice of school life kind of stuff should dig it. A-
Chihayafuru
Root – an anime about karuta, the Japanese card game involving matching cards with famous Japanese poems. I never played it, never having gotten that far in the language. But yes, this is a “sports” anime and follows the formula pretty closely. The one difference is this is shoujo. Main character is a girl and the two guys are friends from childhood. Designs are pretty typical and the color pallette is typical muted toward pastels. Not sure why I’m watching this, I’m not a big fan of the sports genre, another sign of the weakness of this season. C
Ben-to
Root – A fighting anime about hangaku bento. Yes, bento when they get marked down for clearance at supermarkets. I suppose sillier premises have become anime, but this is pretty darn silly. Typical shonen designs. If anything, I like the main characters sidekick who reminds me more than a bit of Yomiko from Read Or Die with her ditzy eyeglass character. Why the heck am I watching this? Dunno, please give me something better to watch! C
Risu – This one is pretty generic as far as character artwork and backgrounds go. Although the premise is silly, the story is somewhat interesting. At least unlike the two fighting girl shows this season, this one has somewhat of a goal or motivation for the characters, as opposed to just fighting for fighting’s sake. You can already see the coming showdown with the opposing “big boss” developing. I’m sure there will be no surprises here. Although previous shows like say Sora no Otoshimono or Kemeko DX were pretty much as predictable from the get-go, this one really doesn’t have anything that inspires me to seek it out to watch more. I’ll keep watching it as long as Root keeps passing along the fansubs, which is more than I can say for Type-Moon’s Carnival Phantasm, which I just delete immediately. C
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