Winter Anime 2013 First Impression
Still haven't finished my summer anime final thoughts, but want to just get a gist of all the anime I'm watching season. I have a hard time remembering what I'm watching and when it airs... If I haven't remembered the characters name by now, its a bit problematic = not as memorable! The new series that I'm really into right now are: Coppelion, Kyousougiga, Samurai Flamenco, and Meganebu! (which happens to be the least popular haha)
Monday
Diabolik Lovers 1-6
Oh man this is a horrible otoge anime in that it has heavy rape fantasy vibe. Forget BroCon where all the boys love her, in here all the boys are assaulting (biting and sucking her blood) and belittling her everyday. It's unfortunate that she has the most defensive personality than most heroine in otoge, but she really can't do anything about it, since these boys are pretty strong and could kill her -_-;; I feel sick watching this show, but I want to see if she'll ever have a happy ending...
Yowamushi Pedal 1-4
Cutest bike anime ever?? Its very fun and the characters have fun personality XD Excited to see Onoda join the bike club and race. My only gripe is how they handle the bike animation using 3D!! It's so stiff, I want to cry ;o;
Tuesday
BlazBlue Alter Memory 1-4
Game adapted anime. Errr its not doing a good job with introducing the characters and the world. Rather everything is shrouded in mystery and I have no idea what's going on with all these character attacking randomly. Animation isn't even remarkable for a fighting anime. The opening reuses footage from the anime as well which shows its budget isn't all that great.
Tokyo Ravens 1-3
The animation is nice~ I like the blush marks on the characters. A supernatural anime where people have powers and huge ass familiars. Character designs are also nice and varied, like the main character doesn't look too average. The main girl has to dress up more like a boy in Tokyo, so that's a plus!
Wednesday
Coppelion 1-5
Gohands!!!!!! GORGEOUS VISUALS! It sets after a nuclear destruction in Tokyo. Most of the population abandoned the area because of heavy chemical contamination. There are still some people living in there so these 3 genetically engineered girls who can withstand the population without bodysuit are sent out to go rescue these people. I have a huge girl crush on Ibara, the main heroine. Ugh she's so cool *w*
Kyoukai no Kanata 1-5
Kyoani~! So of course it'll be gorgeous. I'm still warming up to it, but the awkward dialogues and pacing made it hard for me to really get into. Its another supernatural anime where they fight these monsters that roam the city and collect their remains and earn money (?). The main girl's family blood is cursed so she can manipulate her blood into a sword and fight these monsters to earn a living. The main boy is half monster (Yomu) and cannot die. The fact that I can't remember the character's name is a bad sign orz;; I like the recent episode, so I might enjoy the rest of it.
Kyousougiga 1-4
The OVA episode was confusing has hell!! The tv anime clarifies this and focus on each character's backstory per episode. Very sympathetic as these characters deal with the disappearance and loss of their parents. I love the visuals and crazy animation. Rie Kugimiya also does this interesting boyish voice for her role as Koto, the main heroine.
Thursday
Galilei Donna 1-4
The 3 sisters are descendents of Galileo. They have this map that tracks down a secret invention or something. Now some evil corporation, the police, and air pirates are after the map/drawing. The youngest daughter is a genius and built a freaking huge flying ship that looks like a goldfish. The series seems adventure/quest oriented and developing the sisters' relationship. It's fun so far. Nothing spectacular yet though. Hope its not just a chasing game.
Golden Time 1-5
By the writer of Toradora. This time set in college! Main character, Tada Banri, who has amnesia, is trying to start a new life in college and somehow gets involved with these weird pair. The girl is obsessed with this guy who she's known since childhood, but the guy doesn't like her that way and was trying to get away from her by changing to a different college. From the opening its kinda obvious what is going to happen. But its nice change to see a college romance drama anime~ The main girl has a bit of a horrible stalkerish personality. But its seems like she'll grow out of it and get over her childhood crush and move on.
Kakumeiki Valvrave 13-16
This season feels really solid and intense~~!! We're finally getting character developments and back stories that makes it easier to relate to these characters. Their situation is also pretty dire, so I'm actually looking forward to how they deal with each episode.
Kill la Kill 1-5
I really want to love this anime because the heroine Ryuko and antagonist Satsuki is pretty badass. But the situation that involves her transforming into this very slutty half naked suit really brings a sour taste to my enjoyment of this series. It's also hard to just watch on my tv without anyone coming into my room, since there's just waaaay too many pervy shots -_-;;; One day I hope there's just an anime where girls can just be badass and duking it out without them being sexually objectified.
Nagi no Asukara 1-5
Conflict between the sea people and land people. It's a very nice drama with gorgeous animation/setting and character design. The characters are middle schoolers from the sea dealing with love and getting along with the land people. Characters are cute~~
Samurai Flamenco 1-4
Fashion model, Masayoshi, wants to become a hero! But he has no superpower and is weak. He meets Goto, a police officer, who finds out his identity and hilarity ensues. This is a really fun anime that's pretty light. Directed by Takahiro Omori (Natsume, Baccano, Kuragehime etc), so character and story wise I knew I would like it. People are comparing it to Kickass, which I haven't watched so I can't make any comparison. There's plenty of secondhand embarrassment, but I really get a kick out of it. Masayoshi is just really innocently dumb and cute. So far he's being pushed around by everyone, but maybe he'll eventually become that ideal hero. Goto is the tsukkomi to his boke.
Friday
Strike the Blood 1-5
ANOTHER supernatural anime where its normal for these people to not be humans and have powers. Middle school girl from an organization called Lion King (haha) is watching over this guy who is now the Fourth Progenitor (whatever that means) and also just recently became a vampire. She's ordered to kill him if he is evil or something like that. This show is rubbing me the wrong way in how they keep emphasizing pervert shots on the middle school girl and she keeps calling the MC a pervert even though he really couldn't care less. It's pretty dull...the action isn't that interesting. The relationship between the two is meh for me. Still wondering where this show is going.
Saturday
Daiya no A/Ace of Diamond 1-5
Baseball anime that looks kinda old school. Eijun is super shounen type but isn't really skilled at baseball. He's just very hot-blooded and stupid...? I'm still waiting for his moment to shine, because so far everything he does is screwed up. It's a bit redundant in this type of comedy where you expect something awesome to happen, but he just mess up again!
Kuroko no Basuke 2 26-30
Not much to say haha. I look forward to it every week. The opening animation is just fabulous. Its directed by Kazuto Nakazawa who did some of the nice animation with Aomine last season.
Log Horizon 1-4
I appreciate that this show was not a freakin harem like SAO (dubbed one of my hated show ever). There's a wide variety of casts that aren't super moe. The ninja girl kinda hits that tho, but she's strong and smart (and actually in college despite her size). The scenario is a bit different in that the real world has somehow turned into the game world. It's written by the same person that did Maoyuu, so its a bit more technical and can get a bit boring. Our MC is a smart tactician rather than some typical shounen which is refreshing. Also you can't die and can come back to life in a church. So there's not seriously life/death situation there. But like on online games, there are the assholes that terrorize people and try to cheat or ruin the experience for others. So the three MC are dealing with assholes.
Space Brothers -79
Went from Mutta to Hibito's arc again. Man, Hibito can't catch a break either! The show is stretching its time by adding all these fillers in the beginning and ending, so technically each episode is like 15 minutes!! It keeps feeling shorter everytime I watch it.
Sunday
Gingitsune 1-4
Priestess can see their shrine's deity (?) who is a giant fox named Gin. The episodes were a bit dull. One of them involved looking for a cat!! And she's made some unexpected friends rather quickly. There's a bit of Natsume vibe with how these yokai, who were once worshipped/respected in the past, are now long forgotten. The turtle episode was a bit heartbreaking but sweet in the end. The recent episode introduces a guy who can also see the deity, so it got a bit more interesting.
Magi 2 1-4
They seem to have more budget this time!! The animation looks even more fluid and awesome. They're also taking their time with the arc rather than skip and rush through to the next, which was surprising considering how much they cut in season 2. They even focused one episode on pure comedy!! Pirates arc isn't my favorite...but I'm curious how much they'll show near the end of the arc. It was pretty brutal in the manga.
Meganebu! 1-4
I thought this would be my crack anime. And then all of a sudden in JUST THE THIRD EPISODE it made me cry for serious. I'm not expecting much, but I'm not going to underestimate it capacity to make an emotional episode. There's a bunch of two parters, that reminds me of series like Daily Lives of High School Boys, Gintama, or Arakawa.
The director, Yamamoto Soubi is really young in her early 20s who directed indy animated films like This Boy Can Fight Aliens and This Boy caught a Merman. She has a very distinct graphical style and usage of bright colors that’s pretty awesome to see incorporate into a professional work. I’m excited to see what she can bring into this industry if not just for the visual eye candies~~ (copypaste from mah tumblr). I recently bought and watched Boy caught Merman, and you can see her love for character inner drama. I wonder if she'll incorporate into Meganebu! as shown in episode 3.
Phi Brain 3 1-4
Puzzle babies are back~~! The quality also seemed to have gone up even more! Rook was featured a lot more in the earlier episode, so I'm hoping he's not just gonna make cameo here and there. Since this is a Jin focused season and Rook is connected to Jin's past, it's more hopeful that he'll have more appearance. The new outfits are cute~ Kaito looks slimming in his non-puffy jacket and Rook in his flaming pink vest shirt. Gammon-Ana-Cubic ended up as there own little comedy group when Kaito isn't around. Raetsel isn't straight evil and is freely hanging around the school even though her goal is to eliminate Katio haha. There's this childish fight between her and Kaito over who's memory with Jin is correct. Does Jin hate or love puzzle? First world problem.
Side Anime
Tegami Bachi
Crybabies everywhere. I thought I could handle it since Coppelion had a bunch already, but Lag just beats them all with his tears. Holy crap he cries like 2-3 times in every episode!! Its still cute. Also good to marathon through since its a bit shorter.
Monday
Diabolik Lovers 1-6
Oh man this is a horrible otoge anime in that it has heavy rape fantasy vibe. Forget BroCon where all the boys love her, in here all the boys are assaulting (biting and sucking her blood) and belittling her everyday. It's unfortunate that she has the most defensive personality than most heroine in otoge, but she really can't do anything about it, since these boys are pretty strong and could kill her -_-;; I feel sick watching this show, but I want to see if she'll ever have a happy ending...
Yowamushi Pedal 1-4
Cutest bike anime ever?? Its very fun and the characters have fun personality XD Excited to see Onoda join the bike club and race. My only gripe is how they handle the bike animation using 3D!! It's so stiff, I want to cry ;o;
Tuesday
BlazBlue Alter Memory 1-4
Game adapted anime. Errr its not doing a good job with introducing the characters and the world. Rather everything is shrouded in mystery and I have no idea what's going on with all these character attacking randomly. Animation isn't even remarkable for a fighting anime. The opening reuses footage from the anime as well which shows its budget isn't all that great.
Tokyo Ravens 1-3
The animation is nice~ I like the blush marks on the characters. A supernatural anime where people have powers and huge ass familiars. Character designs are also nice and varied, like the main character doesn't look too average. The main girl has to dress up more like a boy in Tokyo, so that's a plus!
Wednesday
Coppelion 1-5
Gohands!!!!!! GORGEOUS VISUALS! It sets after a nuclear destruction in Tokyo. Most of the population abandoned the area because of heavy chemical contamination. There are still some people living in there so these 3 genetically engineered girls who can withstand the population without bodysuit are sent out to go rescue these people. I have a huge girl crush on Ibara, the main heroine. Ugh she's so cool *w*
Kyoukai no Kanata 1-5
Kyoani~! So of course it'll be gorgeous. I'm still warming up to it, but the awkward dialogues and pacing made it hard for me to really get into. Its another supernatural anime where they fight these monsters that roam the city and collect their remains and earn money (?). The main girl's family blood is cursed so she can manipulate her blood into a sword and fight these monsters to earn a living. The main boy is half monster (Yomu) and cannot die. The fact that I can't remember the character's name is a bad sign orz;; I like the recent episode, so I might enjoy the rest of it.
Kyousougiga 1-4
The OVA episode was confusing has hell!! The tv anime clarifies this and focus on each character's backstory per episode. Very sympathetic as these characters deal with the disappearance and loss of their parents. I love the visuals and crazy animation. Rie Kugimiya also does this interesting boyish voice for her role as Koto, the main heroine.
Thursday
Galilei Donna 1-4
The 3 sisters are descendents of Galileo. They have this map that tracks down a secret invention or something. Now some evil corporation, the police, and air pirates are after the map/drawing. The youngest daughter is a genius and built a freaking huge flying ship that looks like a goldfish. The series seems adventure/quest oriented and developing the sisters' relationship. It's fun so far. Nothing spectacular yet though. Hope its not just a chasing game.
Golden Time 1-5
By the writer of Toradora. This time set in college! Main character, Tada Banri, who has amnesia, is trying to start a new life in college and somehow gets involved with these weird pair. The girl is obsessed with this guy who she's known since childhood, but the guy doesn't like her that way and was trying to get away from her by changing to a different college. From the opening its kinda obvious what is going to happen. But its nice change to see a college romance drama anime~ The main girl has a bit of a horrible stalkerish personality. But its seems like she'll grow out of it and get over her childhood crush and move on.
Kakumeiki Valvrave 13-16
This season feels really solid and intense~~!! We're finally getting character developments and back stories that makes it easier to relate to these characters. Their situation is also pretty dire, so I'm actually looking forward to how they deal with each episode.
Kill la Kill 1-5
I really want to love this anime because the heroine Ryuko and antagonist Satsuki is pretty badass. But the situation that involves her transforming into this very slutty half naked suit really brings a sour taste to my enjoyment of this series. It's also hard to just watch on my tv without anyone coming into my room, since there's just waaaay too many pervy shots -_-;;; One day I hope there's just an anime where girls can just be badass and duking it out without them being sexually objectified.
Nagi no Asukara 1-5
Conflict between the sea people and land people. It's a very nice drama with gorgeous animation/setting and character design. The characters are middle schoolers from the sea dealing with love and getting along with the land people. Characters are cute~~
Samurai Flamenco 1-4
Fashion model, Masayoshi, wants to become a hero! But he has no superpower and is weak. He meets Goto, a police officer, who finds out his identity and hilarity ensues. This is a really fun anime that's pretty light. Directed by Takahiro Omori (Natsume, Baccano, Kuragehime etc), so character and story wise I knew I would like it. People are comparing it to Kickass, which I haven't watched so I can't make any comparison. There's plenty of secondhand embarrassment, but I really get a kick out of it. Masayoshi is just really innocently dumb and cute. So far he's being pushed around by everyone, but maybe he'll eventually become that ideal hero. Goto is the tsukkomi to his boke.
Friday
Strike the Blood 1-5
ANOTHER supernatural anime where its normal for these people to not be humans and have powers. Middle school girl from an organization called Lion King (haha) is watching over this guy who is now the Fourth Progenitor (whatever that means) and also just recently became a vampire. She's ordered to kill him if he is evil or something like that. This show is rubbing me the wrong way in how they keep emphasizing pervert shots on the middle school girl and she keeps calling the MC a pervert even though he really couldn't care less. It's pretty dull...the action isn't that interesting. The relationship between the two is meh for me. Still wondering where this show is going.
Saturday
Daiya no A/Ace of Diamond 1-5
Baseball anime that looks kinda old school. Eijun is super shounen type but isn't really skilled at baseball. He's just very hot-blooded and stupid...? I'm still waiting for his moment to shine, because so far everything he does is screwed up. It's a bit redundant in this type of comedy where you expect something awesome to happen, but he just mess up again!
Kuroko no Basuke 2 26-30
Not much to say haha. I look forward to it every week. The opening animation is just fabulous. Its directed by Kazuto Nakazawa who did some of the nice animation with Aomine last season.
Click to viewLog Horizon 1-4
I appreciate that this show was not a freakin harem like SAO (dubbed one of my hated show ever). There's a wide variety of casts that aren't super moe. The ninja girl kinda hits that tho, but she's strong and smart (and actually in college despite her size). The scenario is a bit different in that the real world has somehow turned into the game world. It's written by the same person that did Maoyuu, so its a bit more technical and can get a bit boring. Our MC is a smart tactician rather than some typical shounen which is refreshing. Also you can't die and can come back to life in a church. So there's not seriously life/death situation there. But like on online games, there are the assholes that terrorize people and try to cheat or ruin the experience for others. So the three MC are dealing with assholes.
Space Brothers -79
Went from Mutta to Hibito's arc again. Man, Hibito can't catch a break either! The show is stretching its time by adding all these fillers in the beginning and ending, so technically each episode is like 15 minutes!! It keeps feeling shorter everytime I watch it.
Sunday
Gingitsune 1-4
Priestess can see their shrine's deity (?) who is a giant fox named Gin. The episodes were a bit dull. One of them involved looking for a cat!! And she's made some unexpected friends rather quickly. There's a bit of Natsume vibe with how these yokai, who were once worshipped/respected in the past, are now long forgotten. The turtle episode was a bit heartbreaking but sweet in the end. The recent episode introduces a guy who can also see the deity, so it got a bit more interesting.
Magi 2 1-4
They seem to have more budget this time!! The animation looks even more fluid and awesome. They're also taking their time with the arc rather than skip and rush through to the next, which was surprising considering how much they cut in season 2. They even focused one episode on pure comedy!! Pirates arc isn't my favorite...but I'm curious how much they'll show near the end of the arc. It was pretty brutal in the manga.
Meganebu! 1-4
I thought this would be my crack anime. And then all of a sudden in JUST THE THIRD EPISODE it made me cry for serious. I'm not expecting much, but I'm not going to underestimate it capacity to make an emotional episode. There's a bunch of two parters, that reminds me of series like Daily Lives of High School Boys, Gintama, or Arakawa.
The director, Yamamoto Soubi is really young in her early 20s who directed indy animated films like This Boy Can Fight Aliens and This Boy caught a Merman. She has a very distinct graphical style and usage of bright colors that’s pretty awesome to see incorporate into a professional work. I’m excited to see what she can bring into this industry if not just for the visual eye candies~~ (copypaste from mah tumblr). I recently bought and watched Boy caught Merman, and you can see her love for character inner drama. I wonder if she'll incorporate into Meganebu! as shown in episode 3.
Phi Brain 3 1-4
Puzzle babies are back~~! The quality also seemed to have gone up even more! Rook was featured a lot more in the earlier episode, so I'm hoping he's not just gonna make cameo here and there. Since this is a Jin focused season and Rook is connected to Jin's past, it's more hopeful that he'll have more appearance. The new outfits are cute~ Kaito looks slimming in his non-puffy jacket and Rook in his flaming pink vest shirt. Gammon-Ana-Cubic ended up as there own little comedy group when Kaito isn't around. Raetsel isn't straight evil and is freely hanging around the school even though her goal is to eliminate Katio haha. There's this childish fight between her and Kaito over who's memory with Jin is correct. Does Jin hate or love puzzle? First world problem.
Side Anime
Tegami Bachi
Crybabies everywhere. I thought I could handle it since Coppelion had a bunch already, but Lag just beats them all with his tears. Holy crap he cries like 2-3 times in every episode!! Its still cute. Also good to marathon through since its a bit shorter.