It's mid-Summer! You know what that means! School's back in session ...?
This Summer there's also a good chunk of anime to watch. Also, lots of sequels and spin-offs. So now, in no particular order:
Danganronpa the Animation: based off a game, this keeps many of the game cut scenes in, or so it seems. It's rushing like crazy, but while this keeps the plot moving, the characters are missing out on some potential development. Nevertheless, scenes not involving the mascot character are entertaining enough. Said mascot is somewhat annoying, but rarely intrudes into the show for very long.
Fate/Kaleid Liner Prisma Illya: is a Fate spin-off by Type Moon. It takes the original series and turns it into a mahou shoujo show starring Ilya who has to capture "class cards" of the various heroic spirits. One does not need to know anything about the original series, and in fact, since the characters are all pretty different, that might help out with enjoying the series. It doesn't seem to know if it's a subversion of the genre or not.
Gatchaman Crowds: Is one of the better series this season. While only a Gatchaman by name (and some allusions), the story and characters are plenty enough on their own. It features one of the few portrayals of social media in anime. While the lead character's accent may annoy some, that may be a part of a subtle commentary on discrimination. :)
Gen'ei wo Kakeru Taiyou: The dark mahou shoujo show of the season, you know from the beginning that the characters are going to suffer. Don't worry though, the bad guys suffer too! Actually, this is also a consistently entertaining show. While the structure of the series may be a bit simple, the development is consistent and looks to be heading in a good direction.
The World God Only Knows - Megami-hen: One of the better long arcs of TWGOK is being animated. While several great captures were skipped to get here, this has been a faithful adaptation which maintains the energy and pace of the manga, unlike the two previous series. I can't say, "just watch this and don't bother with the rest," but I can say, "if you are already familiar with the manga, then there's no reason you can't just skip to this series if you want to see TWGOK animated."
Love Lab: Surprisingly more tasteful than it sounds, it's still a bunch of girls sitting in a room and talking. Unfortunately, even with taking things to ridiculous extremes, this formula got tiring after a few episodes. Not even Amu could help.
Monogatari 2nd season: Which is actually either the third, fourth, or fifth season depending on whether you consider Kizumonogatari or Nekomonogatari Kuro to be seasons. Fortunately, it takes the pace of the first series and the art of the second to produce a series superior to both. It's been a lot of fun so far with some great moments.
Stella Jogakuin Koutouka C3-bu: If it kept more of the fantasy elements in, this would be a fine show. However, it's focused on the realism aspect, and resorting to fanservice to spice it up during slow sections. The former aspect is just a bit boring since that's not my area of interest. The latter is just painfully bad at times.
Uchouten Kazoku: Is probably the best or second best of the season. And it's an original story. My only worry is all the plot threads will fail to entwine by the end leading to a failure of resolution. That said, they show signs of coming together, and each one individually is engaging. May be a candidate for marathon.
Rozen Maiden Zurückspulen: Based on the Rozen Maiden 2 manga which occured after a hiatus and change of publisher. The story is rather differently told that the first series, but at its heart, it's the same. This is a good thing. It is an enjoyable series and a worthy continuation.
For the other series I've checked out:
Watashi ga Motenai no wa Dou Kangaetemo Omaera ga Warui - is hard to say. Also, I sympathize too much with the lead to enjoy this one.
Makai Ouji - Devil and Realist: I could handle yaoi undertones, but not the overtones. I have trouble engaging with this series.
Blood Lad: Turned out surprisingly boring. How they managed that is quite a feat. I suspect it's because the show is too self-aware.
Futari wa Milky Holmes: Has a brand new set of main characters. This wouldn't be a bad thing, except there's a brand new set of villains too, and not a single sign of Henrietta-sama!
... You know, before I started writing this, I'd felt I wasn't watching very much at all this season.
Danganronpa the Animation: based off a game, this keeps many of the game cut scenes in, or so it seems. It's rushing like crazy, but while this keeps the plot moving, the characters are missing out on some potential development. Nevertheless, scenes not involving the mascot character are entertaining enough. Said mascot is somewhat annoying, but rarely intrudes into the show for very long.
Fate/Kaleid Liner Prisma Illya: is a Fate spin-off by Type Moon. It takes the original series and turns it into a mahou shoujo show starring Ilya who has to capture "class cards" of the various heroic spirits. One does not need to know anything about the original series, and in fact, since the characters are all pretty different, that might help out with enjoying the series. It doesn't seem to know if it's a subversion of the genre or not.
Gatchaman Crowds: Is one of the better series this season. While only a Gatchaman by name (and some allusions), the story and characters are plenty enough on their own. It features one of the few portrayals of social media in anime. While the lead character's accent may annoy some, that may be a part of a subtle commentary on discrimination. :)
Gen'ei wo Kakeru Taiyou: The dark mahou shoujo show of the season, you know from the beginning that the characters are going to suffer. Don't worry though, the bad guys suffer too! Actually, this is also a consistently entertaining show. While the structure of the series may be a bit simple, the development is consistent and looks to be heading in a good direction.
The World God Only Knows - Megami-hen: One of the better long arcs of TWGOK is being animated. While several great captures were skipped to get here, this has been a faithful adaptation which maintains the energy and pace of the manga, unlike the two previous series. I can't say, "just watch this and don't bother with the rest," but I can say, "if you are already familiar with the manga, then there's no reason you can't just skip to this series if you want to see TWGOK animated."
Love Lab: Surprisingly more tasteful than it sounds, it's still a bunch of girls sitting in a room and talking. Unfortunately, even with taking things to ridiculous extremes, this formula got tiring after a few episodes. Not even Amu could help.
Monogatari 2nd season: Which is actually either the third, fourth, or fifth season depending on whether you consider Kizumonogatari or Nekomonogatari Kuro to be seasons. Fortunately, it takes the pace of the first series and the art of the second to produce a series superior to both. It's been a lot of fun so far with some great moments.
Stella Jogakuin Koutouka C3-bu: If it kept more of the fantasy elements in, this would be a fine show. However, it's focused on the realism aspect, and resorting to fanservice to spice it up during slow sections. The former aspect is just a bit boring since that's not my area of interest. The latter is just painfully bad at times.
Uchouten Kazoku: Is probably the best or second best of the season. And it's an original story. My only worry is all the plot threads will fail to entwine by the end leading to a failure of resolution. That said, they show signs of coming together, and each one individually is engaging. May be a candidate for marathon.
Rozen Maiden Zurückspulen: Based on the Rozen Maiden 2 manga which occured after a hiatus and change of publisher. The story is rather differently told that the first series, but at its heart, it's the same. This is a good thing. It is an enjoyable series and a worthy continuation.
For the other series I've checked out:
Watashi ga Motenai no wa Dou Kangaetemo Omaera ga Warui - is hard to say. Also, I sympathize too much with the lead to enjoy this one.
Makai Ouji - Devil and Realist: I could handle yaoi undertones, but not the overtones. I have trouble engaging with this series.
Blood Lad: Turned out surprisingly boring. How they managed that is quite a feat. I suspect it's because the show is too self-aware.
Futari wa Milky Holmes: Has a brand new set of main characters. This wouldn't be a bad thing, except there's a brand new set of villains too, and not a single sign of Henrietta-sama!
... You know, before I started writing this, I'd felt I wasn't watching very much at all this season.