Nathan's SURVIVAL STRATEGY for the Summer 2011 anime season
I'm going to watch Kamisama no Memochou and possibly Usagi Drop at some point, but these are the shows I'm following as they air right now.
Hanasaku Iroha
This is probably my favourite show of the year so far since Madoka Magica finished up. The past six or so episodes have been especially good--for a while the show was kind of aimlessly trying out different tones and genera between episodes in a way that was fun to watch but didn't really leave much of an impression, particularly after the promise of the first episode and a half or so. But later on it became clear that all that was to connect us to the characters so that when the heart-wrenching drama that we were promised starts up in full force, it doesn't seem maudlin. It also helps that the show keeps its sense of humour. The episode before the most recent one was a fairly serious look at the relationship between two characters who had until that point been to a great extent pretty much jokes, but it was still hilarious, because Enishi and Takako remain absolutely ridiculous people even when their issues are played seriously. But you care about them qua ridiculous people by this point, so the episode works in the dramatic as well as the comedic arena. Another example is when the main character's mother, who's fairly one-note initially, gets some major character development. This works well as a herald of the show kicking into higher gear precisely because this character wasn't originally the sort of character you'd expect the type of development for that ends up happening. The only problem is that you do have to sit through ten or so episodes worth of stuff that might not be interesting (I actually liked the early part of the show but a lot of people didn't and it's obviously nowhere near as good as where it's been going more recently). Probably there would have been some better way to do this buildup if somebody had looked hard enough for it earlier in the going, but as it is Hanasaku Iroha is coming to stand as a very good understated drama that never throws comedy out the window.
The Idolmaster
This may well be in the running for 'biggest disappointment of 2011 so far'. Not because it's a bad show by any means, but because for the first nine-tenths of the first episode it looks like we'll be getting a hitherto nonexistent genre--basically 'This is Spinal Tap with cute idol singers'--which seems pretty relevant to my interests, but then at the end of the episode they introduce a generic male lead (he doesn't even get a name) and it turns into 'haremshit with unusually endearing characters'. The loss of the mockumentary aspect is actually even more annoying than the completely unnecessary male character (Ritsuko would have been a perfectly fine producer for the girls) and I considered dropping the show. I'm actually glad I didn't, though, because while it's haremshit in the broad sense it's not haremshit in the sense of the girls fawning over their producer for no discernible reason. I'm having fun watching the dynamics between the idols and the producer isn't actually a bad character (he's really almost a nonentity, which is on the other hand part of what makes it so annoying that he's there. The director of the show said that he didn't want to have a male producer character and in fact promised that there wouldn't be one, but then the production company or the televison station or some focus group or something forced him to put one in anyway, because as great as a lot of the artsy stuff that comes out of Japan is, the country's mainstream is just as moronic and tasteless as the mainstream anywhere else). My favourite character is probably Chihaya, because she's basically me in terms of her attitude to this whole asinine business she's in (Creepy frog puppet mascot on a variety show: 'You're not very good at banter, are you?' Chihaya: *glaaaaaaaare*). I'd gladly watch a show that was just 'Chihaya tries to make it in a completely stupid industry (with interludes with Haruka, Takane, Hibiki, Ritsuko, and the resident yuri fangirl Otonashi)'.
Mawaru Penguindrum
I have nothing cogent to say about this so far except for (1) HE'S BACK, (2) Ringo is a total creeper and I kind of love her a lot, (3) Himari/Ringo is relevant to my interests, and (4) SEIZON SENRYAKUUUUU!!!!!!!!!
Hanasaku Iroha
This is probably my favourite show of the year so far since Madoka Magica finished up. The past six or so episodes have been especially good--for a while the show was kind of aimlessly trying out different tones and genera between episodes in a way that was fun to watch but didn't really leave much of an impression, particularly after the promise of the first episode and a half or so. But later on it became clear that all that was to connect us to the characters so that when the heart-wrenching drama that we were promised starts up in full force, it doesn't seem maudlin. It also helps that the show keeps its sense of humour. The episode before the most recent one was a fairly serious look at the relationship between two characters who had until that point been to a great extent pretty much jokes, but it was still hilarious, because Enishi and Takako remain absolutely ridiculous people even when their issues are played seriously. But you care about them qua ridiculous people by this point, so the episode works in the dramatic as well as the comedic arena. Another example is when the main character's mother, who's fairly one-note initially, gets some major character development. This works well as a herald of the show kicking into higher gear precisely because this character wasn't originally the sort of character you'd expect the type of development for that ends up happening. The only problem is that you do have to sit through ten or so episodes worth of stuff that might not be interesting (I actually liked the early part of the show but a lot of people didn't and it's obviously nowhere near as good as where it's been going more recently). Probably there would have been some better way to do this buildup if somebody had looked hard enough for it earlier in the going, but as it is Hanasaku Iroha is coming to stand as a very good understated drama that never throws comedy out the window.
The Idolmaster
This may well be in the running for 'biggest disappointment of 2011 so far'. Not because it's a bad show by any means, but because for the first nine-tenths of the first episode it looks like we'll be getting a hitherto nonexistent genre--basically 'This is Spinal Tap with cute idol singers'--which seems pretty relevant to my interests, but then at the end of the episode they introduce a generic male lead (he doesn't even get a name) and it turns into 'haremshit with unusually endearing characters'. The loss of the mockumentary aspect is actually even more annoying than the completely unnecessary male character (Ritsuko would have been a perfectly fine producer for the girls) and I considered dropping the show. I'm actually glad I didn't, though, because while it's haremshit in the broad sense it's not haremshit in the sense of the girls fawning over their producer for no discernible reason. I'm having fun watching the dynamics between the idols and the producer isn't actually a bad character (he's really almost a nonentity, which is on the other hand part of what makes it so annoying that he's there. The director of the show said that he didn't want to have a male producer character and in fact promised that there wouldn't be one, but then the production company or the televison station or some focus group or something forced him to put one in anyway, because as great as a lot of the artsy stuff that comes out of Japan is, the country's mainstream is just as moronic and tasteless as the mainstream anywhere else). My favourite character is probably Chihaya, because she's basically me in terms of her attitude to this whole asinine business she's in (Creepy frog puppet mascot on a variety show: 'You're not very good at banter, are you?' Chihaya: *glaaaaaaaare*). I'd gladly watch a show that was just 'Chihaya tries to make it in a completely stupid industry (with interludes with Haruka, Takane, Hibiki, Ritsuko, and the resident yuri fangirl Otonashi)'.
Mawaru Penguindrum
I have nothing cogent to say about this so far except for (1) HE'S BACK, (2) Ringo is a total creeper and I kind of love her a lot, (3) Himari/Ringo is relevant to my interests, and (4) SEIZON SENRYAKUUUUU!!!!!!!!!