Fall 2010 Anime Round-up
I hope everyone in Canada enjoyed Thanksgiving today. I spent most of the day studying and I don’t think I can memorize any more so here I am writing a blog post. Somehow I’ve managed to keep up with the new series airing this season and I think I’ve seen the first episode of everything that isn’t a sequel. Now it’s time to decide which series to follow and which ones will get the axe.
Bakuman
Thoughts: I’ve heard a lot of good things about the Bakuman manga, but the first episode of the anime failed to impress me. The animation wasn’t great, and it was only mildly funny. I do realize that this is supposed to be one of those growing up or coming-of-age stories so it might take a while for the plot to really take off.
Status: Will watch a few more episodes.
Fortune Arterial
Thoughts: Fortune Arterial must be a big hit in the eroge world because I see merchandise for it everywhere. I love the female school uniforms in the series, they’re so much classier than the average sailor uniform. So far it looks like your typical harem anime, with the addition of vampires. Normally I’d drop this, but I like Erika Sendo, she’s cute, a tsundere, and a vampire. There’s nothing wrong with watching something just because of a single character is there?
Status: Watching.
Hyakka Ryouran Samurai Girls
Thoughts: Fanservice + samurai.
Status: Dropped.
Iron Man
Thoughts: The only Marvel series that I really liked was Spiderman, but if you like Iron Man, you might like the anime. They didn’t moe-fy the characters which was a relief, but it’s basically Iron Man in Japan, speaking Japanese.
Status: Dropped.
MM!
Thoughts: Toss together a masochist, a sadist, an androphile, and a cross-dresser and you get one crazy anime. MM! looks like it’ll have plenty of comedy, but what’ll make or break this anime is if it has a good plot. The first episode doesn’t go very deep into everyone’s thoughts and personalities, but it might later.
Status: Will watch a few more episodes.
Ore no Imouto ga Konna ni Kawaii Wake ga Nai
Thoughts: This is supposed to be the big hit of the season, so I was expecting it to be awesome. While it wasn’t as good as I was hoping, it still has a unique concept. What drew me into the series (and I think everyone else as well), is the fact that there’s a pretty girl that likes the same things that many people watching do as well.
Status: Will watch a few more episodes.
Otome Yokai Zakuro
Thoughts: The premise for Otome Yokai Zakuro sounds like something the Japanese would have done when they annexed Korea, I don’t know if they did or not though. This is basically a romance series, but judging from the characters’ reactions to each other in the first episode, it looks like it’s going to go really slowly.
Status: Might marathon watch when it ends based on what others thought of it.
Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt
Thoughts: It’s like Powerpuff Girls for adults!
Status: Watching.
Psychic Detective Yakumo
Thoughts: I can’t believe a psychic detective would climb up a burning building rather than do the logical thing and go down. Even if it means you have to go through the fire, a few burns is better than being cooked alive or dying from smoke inhalation.
Status: Dropped.
Shinryaku! Ika Musume
Thoughts: The first episode was cute, and I thought how they got the squid ink spaghetti was hilarious. This looks like it’s going to be a slice-of-life comedy, but it might suffer from trying too hard to be cute. If they manage to make the remaining episodes as good as the first, it could turn out to be a decent anime.
Status: Will watch a few more episodes.
Soredemo Machi wa Mawatteiru
Thoughts: Wtf… I don’t even know what I just watched. It seems like it’s trying to be weird and funny in an Azumanga Daioh sort of way, except I didn’t laugh once.
Status: Dropped.
Star Driver
Thoughts: The first episode was so stupid that it was awesome. You’ve got “Galactic Pretty Boy” piloting a giant robot that looks like a ballerina and fighting his classmates, who are actually part of an evil organization that has a not-so-secret base in a gold mine. Oh, you also have a damsel in distress that does nothing, what more could you ask for?
Status: Watching.
Tantei Opera Milky Holmes
Thoughts: This would be pure moe if they got rid of the gay guy and girl with gigantic boobs (who’s also the only girl with boobs). I can’t believe no one in that detective academy can figure out who the villian is based on boob size alone.
Status: Dropped.
The World God Only Knows
Thoughts: It’s like watching someone play a dating sim. If you’ve been having trouble “conquering” that special girl, give this anime a whirl.
Status: Dropped.
Togainu no Chi
Thoughts: Hot guy x hot guy.
Status: Dropped.
Yosuga no Sora
Thoughts: When I started watching this, I thought the animation was beautiful and it seemed like it was going to be a really plot-driven anime. Then all of a sudden there was a flashback to when the brother and sister were kids and they started kissing, then the girl started spreading her legs. I should mention that I was watching this in a public area at the time, so I immediately stopped the video and hoped no one saw that (note to self: read plot summaries before watching anything outside). Anyways, I finished the episode at home (no, the flashback didn’t go any further), and I must say I was still shocked. I was thinking this was going to be a beautifully animated drama about two orphans, and it ends up covering a very taboo subject, albeit very elegantly. Yosuga no Sora mixes twincest with harems and yuri and is no doubt the most ecchi series of the season. While it could’ve done without that one masterbation scene near the end of the first episode, I think the fact that it deals with several societal taboos makes it worth watching.
Status: Watching.
You are probably more of an anime fan than I am to watch so many new series. xD;
I personally really like TWGOK manga, but I do agree that the first episode of the anime wasn’t anything special. I’m hoping the next few episodes will be a bit better.
1I’m following OreImo this season. Just want to check out what is like to be an otaku in Japan.
2Ore no Imouto is probably the one I will watch weekly. It’s pretty hyped and it looks kind of interesting.
I’ve also considered picking up Ika Musume. I’ve read the manga, and it was kind of nice.
3Yi recently posted..The Power of Context – Brief Discourse on K-On! and Black Rock Shooter
@Ari:
I tend to drop more series as time goes on depending on how much I like it, so by the end of the season I usually only complete 3-5 series.
@flyzice:
They seem to buy way more stuff than most otaku in the west, but I’m also interested to see what other differences there are.
@Yi:
4Everyone seems to be all over Ore no Imouto. I didn’t know Ika Musume was based off a manga, maybe I should go check it out and compare.
This season is off to a good start, more series I was looking forward than in the summer.
Out of all of them I was looking forward the most to Bakuman, my favorite Shonen Jump series by far nowadays.
I was pleasantly surprised by Ika Musume, my friend randomly came across a few pages of the manga and that caught my eye.
Ore no Imouto, I read the first 10 chapters of the manga solely based on the title alone. It definitely wasn’t what I was expecting, it was something way more unique and interesting to me.
What’s this no Index?
5Miette-chan recently posted..Something looks a little different around here!
@Miette-chan:
I read the first few chapters of Oreimo too, basically what they covered in the first episode, and I liked it.
I didn’t include Index in the list since it’s a sequel, but that doesn’t mean I’m not watching it. The series that I am following that I didn’t list are Index and Arakawa.
6Oh I haven’t watched that much of the new season yet
Japanese Iron Man didn’t worked for me
I thought they would try to resemble Tony Stark from the movies, too bad
what left the biggest impact so far was Yosuga no Sora
the opening, the animation art and the athmosphere are really nice.
I don’t mind brotherxsister thing but the scene with the maid at the end was quite shocking. I was like wtf!?
the discription of Squid girl sounded interesting but the outcome is so so
it made me sad that they abused her for spraying ink even as she was already dry.
I think this will turn out as moe blop comedy without much invasion.
Tantei Opera Milky Holmes turned nearly out as I’ve expected and I liked the first episode,but the ending is totally unfitting with all that eccchi inside
Im very interested in Fortune Arterial yet I have to watch the first episode :)
7Fabienne recently posted..Review- Unity May by GSC
Ore no Imouto ga Konna ni Kawaii Wake ga Nai: Reminds me of Konata. What can I say?
Too bad about Hyakka Ryouran Samurai Girls. The art style looks nice. But just art style alone can’t save a series if it’s nothing but fan-service.
Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt looks really cool. Will have to check that out.
Yosuga no Sora looks interesting too, though it being a hentai is an unfortunate/fortunate surprise.
Can’t wait to hear future reviews/impressions that you have on these series!
8radiant recently posted..Optimizing Myself
I tend to watch something based on the art or if I read the manga. Especially so if I read the manga and know whats coming so I know whether or not I will like it in future episodes like Bakuman and The World God Only Knows which I enjoy reading. My little sister doesn’t have much out there for manga but from the first few chapter that I read I knew I was going to enjoy. I like the art for Hyakka and since Rie is one of my favorite seiyuu’s who voice Sanada I have to watch just to hear her voice, usually I would disregard heavy fan service shows like it. Panty was uhhh…on a adult nature to watch lol, but it’s interesting so I’ll keep watching.
9AS recently posted..Recettear ルセッティア Review
so by “dropping” does it mean u arent interested? or does it mean that the series got dropped and no more?
10alucard13mm recently posted..MM! Mio Isurugi dakimakura by Cospa
@Fabienne:
I really loved the animation and overall feel of Yosuga no Sora too; the ecchi stuff kinda ruins it.
Squid Girl does look like it’s going to be a moe comedy, but some of those turn out to be good.
Fortune Arterial doesn’t have as nice animation as Yosuga no Sora, but I still liked it.
@radiant:
Kirino from Ore no Imouto and Konata are probably the only widely-known otaku anime girls to come out in recent years.
The hentai scene in Yosuga no Sora really was surprising, but there was nothing like that in the second episode so it might be a one-time thing.
@AS:
I actually prefer seeing a series as an anime first before reading the manga. I didn’t realize Rie played Sanada, but now that I think about it, she did sound a lot like Shana, Taiga, and Nagi. The flat chest and diminutive height should’ve been dead giveaways for me too.
@alucard13mm:
11It just means that I’m not watching it anymore (ie: it’s been “dropped” from my watchlist).
I’ve finally had a chance to catch up.
I’ll be watching Fortune Arterial, Samurai Girls, MM!, Panty and Stocking, The World God Only Knows and Yosuga no Sora from you’re list.
Yosuga no Sora was kind of boring at first, but then the very end of the episode O.O what happened.
Samurai Girls episode 1 was interesting, but 2 was dull. And I’ve realised who voices the male lead – same guy who did what’s his face from Omamori Himari. Not sure I’ll last long with that voice, it really grates.
I’m also watching Sora no Otoshimono Forte and Motto To Love Ru – maybe Index 2 at some point.
I unfortunately watched 1 episode of Milky Holmes as well, urgh.
12BioToxic recently posted..Periodicals & Other Printed Media
@BioToxic:
13A lot of people seem to be watching The World God Only Knows, maybe I should give it a second chance. The end of Yosuga no Sora really was eye-catching to say the least. I can’t say I watched Omamori Himari so the voice didn’t bother me at all when I watched the first episode.