(no subject)
So the summer anime season is going strong. This is hands-down my favorite season since I started following new anime as they air. It seems like this is the most lady-friendly season we’ve had in a long time, with well-done shoujo (Ao Haru Ride, Sailor Moon), yaoi/BL (Love Stage!!, Dramatical Murder), shows chock full of gorgeous guys clearly designed to appeal to girls (Free!, Samurai Jam, Kuroshitsuji Book of Circus), shows with kickass female characters who regularly outshine the boys (Akame ga Kill, Tokyo ESP), and just all-around great and interesting narratives that so far don’t treat the female characters like sexualized garbage (Tokyo Ghoul, Zankyou no Terror, Aldnoah Zero). But since I like to talk about the shows individually, here we go~
Akame ga Kill is an action-fantasy series that went a lot darker than I expected it to in the very first episode. It has likable characters, particularly the plucky young protagonist who is made infinitely more enjoyable by the fact that he quickly defied many of the tropes that are usually attached to characters like him (explaining this would spoil one of the best surprises in the first episode). There’s also Akame, who is a total badass, and a group of powerful assassins with more female members than male. One of the males happens to be a gay man who is just as badass and awesome as the rest of them and so far portrayed in a positive light. While there are a few mild gay jokes, it’s nice that the character is not reduced to a joke himself. The action scenes are rather fluid and exciting. While the art is a little generic overall, the colors and the backgrounds are very nice. There are lots of nighttime scenes, and they all look great. High on my watch list.
Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun is a genuinely funny comedy. I was a little worried that a shounen series about a male shoujo mangaka would end up mocking shoujo manga itself, but thankfully that’s not the case here. The series is hilarious, with a cast of quirky characters who compliment each other well. Most of the humor is derived from situations that could be familiar to many viewers. There’s a romance angle that kicks off the main story, but it’s not the primary focus of the series and is thankfully sweet and funny when it does pop up. This is one of those rare series where the comedy works almost 100% of the time without resorting to slapstick or the more ridiculous anime humor cliches. I’ve laughed all the way through every episode so far, and I’m not much of a laugher.
Dramatical Murder, like Mekakucity Actors last season, is something I was vaguely familiar with just by virtue of being on Tumblr. I’d seen tons of art, knew most of the character’s names, etc. without ever playing the game. However, I knew pretty much nothing about the plot (I was aware of a futuristic setting and that the game featured explicit yaoi, and that’s about it). That being said, as someone who never touched the game, I’m enjoying it. The character designs are attractive (though I have issues with Aoba’s boots) and the backgrounds are nice. The music fits the story very well. It seemed like there was some debate on whether or not the anime would include yaoi, but judging from recent episodes (which included a kiss on the lips between guys), it looks like they’re not outright avoiding yaoi, which is a good sign. I made the (terrible awful horrible) mistake of googling pictures from my favorite character’s route in the game and discovered that the game’s bad ends are extremely dark and disturbing, which surprised me given the anime’s fairly light-hearted nature so far. It certainly gave me a new perspective on the story.
Ao Haru Ride is a shoujo series that I’ve been looking forward to since it was announced. I never read the manga, but I did read and greatly enjoy a series by the same mangaka a while back (Strobe Edge), so I figured I would like this. The art is pretty, with a more subtle color palette than we often see in shoujo. The initial hook of the story is interesting. I was a little disappointed that romantic lead Kou is of the mildly asshole-ish variety (especially after Strobe Edge’s remarkably sweet romantic lead Ren), but he’s far from the worst I’ve seen in shoujo (very far, in fact) and at least he’s not aggressive. The heroine is cute and relatable but there’s not much to distinguish her from past shoujo heroines. Despite this, the series is very entertaining and the episodes seem to fly by. There’s a gentleness to the show that makes it feel soothing, but it’s got enough drama to keep it from being boring.
Tokyo ESP definitely started with a bang. While some people found the first episode confusing or messy, I rather liked being dropped directly into the plot with just enough explanation to follow the action. Episode two, however, was a little boring by contrast simply because it was made up entirely of a flashback (which even included a flashback-within-a-flashback). Regardless, the show is a lot of fun and has nice art and animation. The snowy nighttime setting of the first episode looked fantastic. Something should be said for the badass female characters who seem to dominate the action. I was a little let down by episode two’s fanservice, but it was fairly mild and brief. The ending theme has a great song, but the entirety of it features a nude female character who is clearly nude just for the sake of being nude. It’s a minor quibble, but it’s annoying nonetheless. Judging from episode three, it looks like it might take a while to get back to the action we saw in episode one. That’s disappointing, but the series is still very watchable.
Nobunaga Concerto has the most unique visual style among the shows I’m watching this season. At first glance, it seems a little cheap, with rather flat character designs and less than fluid movement. But take a closer look at the lighting, coloring, and backgrounds and you’ll see that the art is anything but lazy. Everything about the environments is absolutely stunning. Every sunset is gorgeous. Every starry night is breathtaking. Combining this with the somewhat static characters makes for a strange look that’s impossible to look away from. The story is compelling, with enough situational humor to work as a comedy and enough drama to keep you hooked. Credit has to be given to Mamoru Miyano, who’s voice work does an amazing job of keeping the protagonist, Saburo, down to earth and likable. A surprising gem of a series with excellent music. Highly recommended.
Free! season two is one of the series I was looking forward to most this season. The previous season of Free! consistently made me smile with it’s lovable, sexy guys and rather easy-going pace. Season two is so far following suit. One of my main concerns going into season two was how it would top the amazing ending theme of season one (Splash Free). Both the animation and the song of the first ending theme were absolutely perfect for the show. Happily, the season two ending theme (Future Fish) is just as good, if not better. Seeing the guys dressed as different things (Rin as a police officer and Makoto as a fire fighter are my favorites) was a lot of fun. New character Sousuke feels a little tacked on, as if he was just thrown in to make drama, but I guess they had to have drama from somewhere or there wouldn’t be a show. I was really happy to see a Nagisa-centric episode, since he’s probably the character we knew the least about in the main cast. It was great to see another side of him besides super genki cutie pie. Overall, season two has been a blast and I can’t wait to see what else happens.
Samurai Jam Bakumatsu Rock is this season’s totally ridiculous show that’s so goofy that you can’t hate it. It’s silly and kinda dumb, but it has vibrant colors and seems to be challenging Free! for the title of “show with the most shirtless guys per episode”. To be honest, the main reason I’m watching is because I have a thing for the Shinsengumi and love seeing all the various portrayals of them in anime and games. Gotta say, casting the Shinsengumi as a group of idol singers sponsored by the government is one of the strangest portrayals I’ve seen. There’s a novelty to it that hasn’t quite worn off yet (and dammit every time Souji starts coughing in ANY anime portrayal, I feel like crying).
Love Stage!! is a BL series (with the popularity of BL, why are there so few BL anime series?) with cute, colorful art and the most catchy ending theme of the season (with the possible exception of Free!’s “Future Fish”). It’s hilarious at times and the characters are charming for the most part. I like that the main couple isn’t (thus far) following the stereotypical seme/uke dynamic. It’s usually the seme who is either bisexual (has had a history of sleeping with women) or is straight up until he meets and falls in love with the uke. Here, the uke (Izumi) is implied to be straight (he has a crush on a female anime heroine to the point of sleeping while cuddled up to a body pillow featuring her, and he doesn’t have the usual doki doki reaction when the seme confesses to him). Although the seme was also implied to be straight, it still makes for an interesting dynamic. There was an uncomfortable moment in episode three that featured a near rape (which is, sadly, a common trope in yaoi), but it was handled with a certain degree of seriousness and realism that we rarely see in BL/yaoi. The victim was appropriately traumatized and the perpetrator felt extreme guilt and shame, which erased what would have been a gross situation when they inevitably get together. Overall, the show is adorable and one of my favorites this season.
Zankyou no Terror handles its terrorism plotline fairly well. It presents its two teenaged terrorists in a relatively neutral light. They’re not overly glorified or overly vilified, but they are interesting characters that you want to know more about. Some viewers have said the art style took some getting used to, but I thought it was great from the beginning. The show has a powerful ending theme with a song that grabs you and builds in intensity as it goes along. It feels epic. This is one of the more serious shows this season, with almost no humor. Still, it’s very enjoyable and often exciting. I’m particularly interested in how the lone major female character, Lisa, will factor into the plot as it moves forward. I like her, and find her very relatable (particularly with her family-related issues). I’m just waiting for her to become more involved in the story, and it looks like she certainly will.
Glasslip is being compared to Nagi no Asukara, with its focus on beautiful scenery, cute characters of both genders, and a group of young people who all have crushes on each other and can’t seem to sort out their relationships. Nagi no Asukara, however, had a much more engaging setting and overall plot, with strong fantasy elements meshed with the slice-of-life relationship hijinks. So far Glasslip feels a little, well, boring. It’s moving at a very slow pace, and the supernatural elements are miniscule at this point (not to mention extremely vague). I’m also having a hard time getting into the relationships because I can’t seem to connect with any of the characters, making it hard to care. I felt this way in the early parts of Nagi no Asukara, but the overall fantasy plot kept me interested (and the relationship dynamics changed dramatically halfway through - I ended up being super into them). I’m still watching because the show is so darned pretty, and because it has the potential to be very dramatic and engaging depending on how the story goes (the “glimpsing the future” thing has been grossly underused so far, but it could be a game-changer if used right).
Argevollen is one of two mecha series I’m following this season (the other being Aldnoah Zero, which I’ll talk about later in the list). Unfortunately, it’s the weaker of the two. My main issue with the series is that the central conflict is so vague. When the protagonists are fighting their enemies, I find myself wondering, “Who are they even fighting? Why are they even fighting?”. We’ve seen so little of the enemies that I don’t even remember any of them at all. I’m sure the series explained who’s fighting and why, but it must have done so in a pretty boring way because I honestly can’t remember it. Everything about the show feels mediocre to me. The character designs are generic. The mecha designs don’t strike me as particularly interesting. The music is unmemorable. And I can’t help feeling a little irritated by the fact that the male mecha pilots are always shown from the chest up but the only female pilot is constantly given crotch shots (and they all wear skintight suits, which would make much more sense if they were fighting in space, but they’re not). I’m still watching for two reasons: I’m a sucker for mecha anime and it airs on Thursdays, which is a fairly slow day for anime this season. Also, I’m optimistic that the show could get better if we got to know the enemies a little better so we could understand the main conflict. Low on my watch list.
Tokyo Ghoul is one of the most popular new shows this season, and probably the most anticipated behind Sailor Moon and Free!. I’d heard of the manga but never tried it, but I’d seen enough art from it on Tumblr to know it was something I would like. The anime so far hasn’t disappointed. The story is an interesting mesh of zombie and vampire tropes (featuring creatures who eat the flesh of humans yet have their own personalities and can blend in with normal humans when they want). The main selling point of the series is the infinitely likable protagonist, Kaneki. He’s adorable without being a shiny bishounen, and he manages to be relatable even when dealing with some bizarre problems. He’s a character you want to root for, which really grounds the story (which would have been a little too grim otherwise). There’s a great contrast in the show between the sweet and good-natured Kaneki and the mask he wears to protect his identity. The mask itself is an amazingly creepy visual that can be downright frightening when combined with his one red eye. The horror imagery is one of the show’s strong points, and the music is a good fit. High on my watch list.
Kuroshitsuji Book of Circus is a series I decided to watch at the last minute. I watched the first season of the Kuroshitsuji anime (and had read the first several chapters of the manga) but I skipped season two. When I found out season two (not to mention a large portion of season one) was completely filler and had nothing to do with the manga, I figured I hadn’t missed anything important so why not watch Book of Circus? I’ve also always had a thing for circuses and carnivals, so this is right up my alley. So far I’m enjoying it a lot. It has one of the best opening themes of the season and the art looks great. The new characters are immediately interesting and it’s fun to see them interact with Sebastian and Ciel. I don’t know much about what happens because I’ve tried to avoid spoilers from the manga, but I do hope Grell shows up at some point. For now, the series is doing very well and continuing the mash up of gothic horror, sarcastic humor, and beautiful characters (mostly of the male variety) that made the first half of season one so fun.
Sailor Moon Crystal is hard to talk about, because it has so many expectations and memories and feelings attached to it and it will forever be impossible for it to cut away from those things. I made a post on my LJ about my thoughts on the first episode. My main complaint was the lack of facial expression in the female characters (particularly Usagi). I’m happy to say that this issue has improved somewhat in episodes two and three (though it still hasn’t improved as much as I would like, it was nice to see more than two or three expressions). However, as many people have had fun pointing out, the facial anatomy is still, well, not so great. The story seems to be following the manga very closely, so the true test of how good this anime is will come when it diverges more sharply from the original anime and becomes more if it’s own thing. At this point, it’s still following the same basic beats of the original anime (which is necessary because it’s following the manga) so it’s very hard not to compare them. And when you compare them? Well, given a choice between the two, I find it hard to imagine anyone who would honestly say Crystal is more entertaining than the original at this point. Still yet, I’m interested in seeing how things go when it gets deeper into the manga’s plot.
Sword Art Online’s new season has been good so far, but it’s given me cause for concern. The animation quality and music meet the high standard the first season set, and the plot is really interesting so far. The new game, Gun Gale Online, is a pretty sharp departure from the fantasy games in the first season, so it makes for a pretty cool setting. It was also nice to see Kirito with an avatar that doesn’t look so much like his normal self (his GGO avatar is so feminine that almost everyone in the game assumes he’s female, even after interacting with him for a long time). The new female character, Sinon, is a welcome addition. She has a cool design, is a badass player in the game, and has a compelling backstory. But she’s also where the concern comes in. The overall SAO series seems to falling into a pattern of introducing a new cute female sidekick for Kirito with each new story arc, and each of them inevitably falls in love with him (I’m not certain this will be the case with Sinon, but all signs point to this happening). It’s a little annoying, for two main reasons: 1.) The first story arc went to great pains to set up the epic romance between Kirito and Asuna, so every new girl who comes into the picture will always provoke some feelings of “stop intruding!” among diehard Kirito/Asuna fans (and let’s face it, the series worked very hard to make sure we’re all Kirito/Asuna fans). And 2.) The fact that Kirito is in a committed relationship with Asuna and will never return the romantic affections of any of these other girls makes the whole thing feel kind of pointless. What’s the point of having every new chick fall in love with him if it’s never going to go anywhere? From a storytelling standpoint, why bother? I could understand it happening once or twice, to provide some drama. But every time? There’s something of a double-edged sword at work here. On one hand, I’m always in favor of more badass, well-written female characters in any story. On the other, I’m sad that all these girls ultimately play into the male fantasy Kirito represents. However, it’s important to note that SAO so far hasn’t fallen into harem territory (there’s almost never more than one girl around him at a time and the girls that do like him are friends, so there’s none of the annoying cat fighting or competing for his attention, plus he fell in love with one girl early on and stuck with her, and makes it clear to everyone that he has no intention of ever being unfaithful to her). Nothing could keep me from continuing to watch, because I am a fan of the series, but it’s definitely not perfect.
Aldnoah Zero is the other mecha series I mentioned earlier, and is by far the superior of the two. The first thing that struck me about the show was the music. Sometimes music fits a series. Sometimes you don’t even notice the music. And sometimes the music makes every scene exciting and memorable, and really gets you hyped up. This is the kind of music Aldnoah Zero has. It also has excellent animation and character designs, and an engaging central conflict that doesn’t feel like it’s been done to death. One of the things I really like is that, so far, the protagonist actually relies on skill and intelligence to win battles, rather than a shiny new mecha. He uses the same standard mecha that every other character uses. He just fights smarter, and isn’t afraid to seek the help of his friends and fellow mecha pilots to pull off some pretty cool operations. If this guy does end up getting some kind of fancy new mobile suit, he’ll be unstoppable. There’s also another protagonist, Slaine, who is technically with the enemies, but he’s probably the most sympathetic character in the show. The series also has a handful of interesting, strong female characters. Very high on my watch list.
Barakamon was the last series I added to my watch list. It doesn’t have the most original plot (uptight city person moves to the country and learns to loosen up while interacting with the lively locals) but it has enough unique touches to keep it from getting stale. The calligraphy angle is interesting and the complete lack of romance (so far) is refreshing. I was also pleased that the main female character, a seven year old girl, is allowed to simply be a child. She’s never sexualized or fetishized (and how sad is it that this is a rare enough thing to be worth noting?). The art is simple but nice. The series gives me some of the same soothing, comforting vibes that Gin no Saji (Silver Spoon) did, though not to the same degree. The show has a relaxed pace, but it’s never boring, and most of the humor works well. Definitely worth watching.
Akame ga Kill is an action-fantasy series that went a lot darker than I expected it to in the very first episode. It has likable characters, particularly the plucky young protagonist who is made infinitely more enjoyable by the fact that he quickly defied many of the tropes that are usually attached to characters like him (explaining this would spoil one of the best surprises in the first episode). There’s also Akame, who is a total badass, and a group of powerful assassins with more female members than male. One of the males happens to be a gay man who is just as badass and awesome as the rest of them and so far portrayed in a positive light. While there are a few mild gay jokes, it’s nice that the character is not reduced to a joke himself. The action scenes are rather fluid and exciting. While the art is a little generic overall, the colors and the backgrounds are very nice. There are lots of nighttime scenes, and they all look great. High on my watch list.
Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun is a genuinely funny comedy. I was a little worried that a shounen series about a male shoujo mangaka would end up mocking shoujo manga itself, but thankfully that’s not the case here. The series is hilarious, with a cast of quirky characters who compliment each other well. Most of the humor is derived from situations that could be familiar to many viewers. There’s a romance angle that kicks off the main story, but it’s not the primary focus of the series and is thankfully sweet and funny when it does pop up. This is one of those rare series where the comedy works almost 100% of the time without resorting to slapstick or the more ridiculous anime humor cliches. I’ve laughed all the way through every episode so far, and I’m not much of a laugher.
Dramatical Murder, like Mekakucity Actors last season, is something I was vaguely familiar with just by virtue of being on Tumblr. I’d seen tons of art, knew most of the character’s names, etc. without ever playing the game. However, I knew pretty much nothing about the plot (I was aware of a futuristic setting and that the game featured explicit yaoi, and that’s about it). That being said, as someone who never touched the game, I’m enjoying it. The character designs are attractive (though I have issues with Aoba’s boots) and the backgrounds are nice. The music fits the story very well. It seemed like there was some debate on whether or not the anime would include yaoi, but judging from recent episodes (which included a kiss on the lips between guys), it looks like they’re not outright avoiding yaoi, which is a good sign. I made the (terrible awful horrible) mistake of googling pictures from my favorite character’s route in the game and discovered that the game’s bad ends are extremely dark and disturbing, which surprised me given the anime’s fairly light-hearted nature so far. It certainly gave me a new perspective on the story.
Ao Haru Ride is a shoujo series that I’ve been looking forward to since it was announced. I never read the manga, but I did read and greatly enjoy a series by the same mangaka a while back (Strobe Edge), so I figured I would like this. The art is pretty, with a more subtle color palette than we often see in shoujo. The initial hook of the story is interesting. I was a little disappointed that romantic lead Kou is of the mildly asshole-ish variety (especially after Strobe Edge’s remarkably sweet romantic lead Ren), but he’s far from the worst I’ve seen in shoujo (very far, in fact) and at least he’s not aggressive. The heroine is cute and relatable but there’s not much to distinguish her from past shoujo heroines. Despite this, the series is very entertaining and the episodes seem to fly by. There’s a gentleness to the show that makes it feel soothing, but it’s got enough drama to keep it from being boring.
Tokyo ESP definitely started with a bang. While some people found the first episode confusing or messy, I rather liked being dropped directly into the plot with just enough explanation to follow the action. Episode two, however, was a little boring by contrast simply because it was made up entirely of a flashback (which even included a flashback-within-a-flashback). Regardless, the show is a lot of fun and has nice art and animation. The snowy nighttime setting of the first episode looked fantastic. Something should be said for the badass female characters who seem to dominate the action. I was a little let down by episode two’s fanservice, but it was fairly mild and brief. The ending theme has a great song, but the entirety of it features a nude female character who is clearly nude just for the sake of being nude. It’s a minor quibble, but it’s annoying nonetheless. Judging from episode three, it looks like it might take a while to get back to the action we saw in episode one. That’s disappointing, but the series is still very watchable.
Nobunaga Concerto has the most unique visual style among the shows I’m watching this season. At first glance, it seems a little cheap, with rather flat character designs and less than fluid movement. But take a closer look at the lighting, coloring, and backgrounds and you’ll see that the art is anything but lazy. Everything about the environments is absolutely stunning. Every sunset is gorgeous. Every starry night is breathtaking. Combining this with the somewhat static characters makes for a strange look that’s impossible to look away from. The story is compelling, with enough situational humor to work as a comedy and enough drama to keep you hooked. Credit has to be given to Mamoru Miyano, who’s voice work does an amazing job of keeping the protagonist, Saburo, down to earth and likable. A surprising gem of a series with excellent music. Highly recommended.
Free! season two is one of the series I was looking forward to most this season. The previous season of Free! consistently made me smile with it’s lovable, sexy guys and rather easy-going pace. Season two is so far following suit. One of my main concerns going into season two was how it would top the amazing ending theme of season one (Splash Free). Both the animation and the song of the first ending theme were absolutely perfect for the show. Happily, the season two ending theme (Future Fish) is just as good, if not better. Seeing the guys dressed as different things (Rin as a police officer and Makoto as a fire fighter are my favorites) was a lot of fun. New character Sousuke feels a little tacked on, as if he was just thrown in to make drama, but I guess they had to have drama from somewhere or there wouldn’t be a show. I was really happy to see a Nagisa-centric episode, since he’s probably the character we knew the least about in the main cast. It was great to see another side of him besides super genki cutie pie. Overall, season two has been a blast and I can’t wait to see what else happens.
Samurai Jam Bakumatsu Rock is this season’s totally ridiculous show that’s so goofy that you can’t hate it. It’s silly and kinda dumb, but it has vibrant colors and seems to be challenging Free! for the title of “show with the most shirtless guys per episode”. To be honest, the main reason I’m watching is because I have a thing for the Shinsengumi and love seeing all the various portrayals of them in anime and games. Gotta say, casting the Shinsengumi as a group of idol singers sponsored by the government is one of the strangest portrayals I’ve seen. There’s a novelty to it that hasn’t quite worn off yet (and dammit every time Souji starts coughing in ANY anime portrayal, I feel like crying).
Love Stage!! is a BL series (with the popularity of BL, why are there so few BL anime series?) with cute, colorful art and the most catchy ending theme of the season (with the possible exception of Free!’s “Future Fish”). It’s hilarious at times and the characters are charming for the most part. I like that the main couple isn’t (thus far) following the stereotypical seme/uke dynamic. It’s usually the seme who is either bisexual (has had a history of sleeping with women) or is straight up until he meets and falls in love with the uke. Here, the uke (Izumi) is implied to be straight (he has a crush on a female anime heroine to the point of sleeping while cuddled up to a body pillow featuring her, and he doesn’t have the usual doki doki reaction when the seme confesses to him). Although the seme was also implied to be straight, it still makes for an interesting dynamic. There was an uncomfortable moment in episode three that featured a near rape (which is, sadly, a common trope in yaoi), but it was handled with a certain degree of seriousness and realism that we rarely see in BL/yaoi. The victim was appropriately traumatized and the perpetrator felt extreme guilt and shame, which erased what would have been a gross situation when they inevitably get together. Overall, the show is adorable and one of my favorites this season.
Zankyou no Terror handles its terrorism plotline fairly well. It presents its two teenaged terrorists in a relatively neutral light. They’re not overly glorified or overly vilified, but they are interesting characters that you want to know more about. Some viewers have said the art style took some getting used to, but I thought it was great from the beginning. The show has a powerful ending theme with a song that grabs you and builds in intensity as it goes along. It feels epic. This is one of the more serious shows this season, with almost no humor. Still, it’s very enjoyable and often exciting. I’m particularly interested in how the lone major female character, Lisa, will factor into the plot as it moves forward. I like her, and find her very relatable (particularly with her family-related issues). I’m just waiting for her to become more involved in the story, and it looks like she certainly will.
Glasslip is being compared to Nagi no Asukara, with its focus on beautiful scenery, cute characters of both genders, and a group of young people who all have crushes on each other and can’t seem to sort out their relationships. Nagi no Asukara, however, had a much more engaging setting and overall plot, with strong fantasy elements meshed with the slice-of-life relationship hijinks. So far Glasslip feels a little, well, boring. It’s moving at a very slow pace, and the supernatural elements are miniscule at this point (not to mention extremely vague). I’m also having a hard time getting into the relationships because I can’t seem to connect with any of the characters, making it hard to care. I felt this way in the early parts of Nagi no Asukara, but the overall fantasy plot kept me interested (and the relationship dynamics changed dramatically halfway through - I ended up being super into them). I’m still watching because the show is so darned pretty, and because it has the potential to be very dramatic and engaging depending on how the story goes (the “glimpsing the future” thing has been grossly underused so far, but it could be a game-changer if used right).
Argevollen is one of two mecha series I’m following this season (the other being Aldnoah Zero, which I’ll talk about later in the list). Unfortunately, it’s the weaker of the two. My main issue with the series is that the central conflict is so vague. When the protagonists are fighting their enemies, I find myself wondering, “Who are they even fighting? Why are they even fighting?”. We’ve seen so little of the enemies that I don’t even remember any of them at all. I’m sure the series explained who’s fighting and why, but it must have done so in a pretty boring way because I honestly can’t remember it. Everything about the show feels mediocre to me. The character designs are generic. The mecha designs don’t strike me as particularly interesting. The music is unmemorable. And I can’t help feeling a little irritated by the fact that the male mecha pilots are always shown from the chest up but the only female pilot is constantly given crotch shots (and they all wear skintight suits, which would make much more sense if they were fighting in space, but they’re not). I’m still watching for two reasons: I’m a sucker for mecha anime and it airs on Thursdays, which is a fairly slow day for anime this season. Also, I’m optimistic that the show could get better if we got to know the enemies a little better so we could understand the main conflict. Low on my watch list.
Tokyo Ghoul is one of the most popular new shows this season, and probably the most anticipated behind Sailor Moon and Free!. I’d heard of the manga but never tried it, but I’d seen enough art from it on Tumblr to know it was something I would like. The anime so far hasn’t disappointed. The story is an interesting mesh of zombie and vampire tropes (featuring creatures who eat the flesh of humans yet have their own personalities and can blend in with normal humans when they want). The main selling point of the series is the infinitely likable protagonist, Kaneki. He’s adorable without being a shiny bishounen, and he manages to be relatable even when dealing with some bizarre problems. He’s a character you want to root for, which really grounds the story (which would have been a little too grim otherwise). There’s a great contrast in the show between the sweet and good-natured Kaneki and the mask he wears to protect his identity. The mask itself is an amazingly creepy visual that can be downright frightening when combined with his one red eye. The horror imagery is one of the show’s strong points, and the music is a good fit. High on my watch list.
Kuroshitsuji Book of Circus is a series I decided to watch at the last minute. I watched the first season of the Kuroshitsuji anime (and had read the first several chapters of the manga) but I skipped season two. When I found out season two (not to mention a large portion of season one) was completely filler and had nothing to do with the manga, I figured I hadn’t missed anything important so why not watch Book of Circus? I’ve also always had a thing for circuses and carnivals, so this is right up my alley. So far I’m enjoying it a lot. It has one of the best opening themes of the season and the art looks great. The new characters are immediately interesting and it’s fun to see them interact with Sebastian and Ciel. I don’t know much about what happens because I’ve tried to avoid spoilers from the manga, but I do hope Grell shows up at some point. For now, the series is doing very well and continuing the mash up of gothic horror, sarcastic humor, and beautiful characters (mostly of the male variety) that made the first half of season one so fun.
Sailor Moon Crystal is hard to talk about, because it has so many expectations and memories and feelings attached to it and it will forever be impossible for it to cut away from those things. I made a post on my LJ about my thoughts on the first episode. My main complaint was the lack of facial expression in the female characters (particularly Usagi). I’m happy to say that this issue has improved somewhat in episodes two and three (though it still hasn’t improved as much as I would like, it was nice to see more than two or three expressions). However, as many people have had fun pointing out, the facial anatomy is still, well, not so great. The story seems to be following the manga very closely, so the true test of how good this anime is will come when it diverges more sharply from the original anime and becomes more if it’s own thing. At this point, it’s still following the same basic beats of the original anime (which is necessary because it’s following the manga) so it’s very hard not to compare them. And when you compare them? Well, given a choice between the two, I find it hard to imagine anyone who would honestly say Crystal is more entertaining than the original at this point. Still yet, I’m interested in seeing how things go when it gets deeper into the manga’s plot.
Sword Art Online’s new season has been good so far, but it’s given me cause for concern. The animation quality and music meet the high standard the first season set, and the plot is really interesting so far. The new game, Gun Gale Online, is a pretty sharp departure from the fantasy games in the first season, so it makes for a pretty cool setting. It was also nice to see Kirito with an avatar that doesn’t look so much like his normal self (his GGO avatar is so feminine that almost everyone in the game assumes he’s female, even after interacting with him for a long time). The new female character, Sinon, is a welcome addition. She has a cool design, is a badass player in the game, and has a compelling backstory. But she’s also where the concern comes in. The overall SAO series seems to falling into a pattern of introducing a new cute female sidekick for Kirito with each new story arc, and each of them inevitably falls in love with him (I’m not certain this will be the case with Sinon, but all signs point to this happening). It’s a little annoying, for two main reasons: 1.) The first story arc went to great pains to set up the epic romance between Kirito and Asuna, so every new girl who comes into the picture will always provoke some feelings of “stop intruding!” among diehard Kirito/Asuna fans (and let’s face it, the series worked very hard to make sure we’re all Kirito/Asuna fans). And 2.) The fact that Kirito is in a committed relationship with Asuna and will never return the romantic affections of any of these other girls makes the whole thing feel kind of pointless. What’s the point of having every new chick fall in love with him if it’s never going to go anywhere? From a storytelling standpoint, why bother? I could understand it happening once or twice, to provide some drama. But every time? There’s something of a double-edged sword at work here. On one hand, I’m always in favor of more badass, well-written female characters in any story. On the other, I’m sad that all these girls ultimately play into the male fantasy Kirito represents. However, it’s important to note that SAO so far hasn’t fallen into harem territory (there’s almost never more than one girl around him at a time and the girls that do like him are friends, so there’s none of the annoying cat fighting or competing for his attention, plus he fell in love with one girl early on and stuck with her, and makes it clear to everyone that he has no intention of ever being unfaithful to her). Nothing could keep me from continuing to watch, because I am a fan of the series, but it’s definitely not perfect.
Aldnoah Zero is the other mecha series I mentioned earlier, and is by far the superior of the two. The first thing that struck me about the show was the music. Sometimes music fits a series. Sometimes you don’t even notice the music. And sometimes the music makes every scene exciting and memorable, and really gets you hyped up. This is the kind of music Aldnoah Zero has. It also has excellent animation and character designs, and an engaging central conflict that doesn’t feel like it’s been done to death. One of the things I really like is that, so far, the protagonist actually relies on skill and intelligence to win battles, rather than a shiny new mecha. He uses the same standard mecha that every other character uses. He just fights smarter, and isn’t afraid to seek the help of his friends and fellow mecha pilots to pull off some pretty cool operations. If this guy does end up getting some kind of fancy new mobile suit, he’ll be unstoppable. There’s also another protagonist, Slaine, who is technically with the enemies, but he’s probably the most sympathetic character in the show. The series also has a handful of interesting, strong female characters. Very high on my watch list.
Barakamon was the last series I added to my watch list. It doesn’t have the most original plot (uptight city person moves to the country and learns to loosen up while interacting with the lively locals) but it has enough unique touches to keep it from getting stale. The calligraphy angle is interesting and the complete lack of romance (so far) is refreshing. I was also pleased that the main female character, a seven year old girl, is allowed to simply be a child. She’s never sexualized or fetishized (and how sad is it that this is a rare enough thing to be worth noting?). The art is simple but nice. The series gives me some of the same soothing, comforting vibes that Gin no Saji (Silver Spoon) did, though not to the same degree. The show has a relaxed pace, but it’s never boring, and most of the humor works well. Definitely worth watching.