Yay! First new season of 2012! 2011 was a bit of a mixed bag in the end. There were relatively few stand out shows and even the last season didn’t really blow me away despite having some seriously big names. Hopefully, 2012 will really impress and it has a very good chance to do so, seeing as a show I have been waiting literally years for will FINALLY be airing in the spring (or at least, that’s the scheduled release date for it!). but there’s still a season between it and me so we’ll go through the usual motions first with a look back at the previous season and then a look forward to the new shows incoming!
Best Show
Guilty Crown
Pretty tough call. There were a few shows last season which were pretty good but all of them had some glaring faults. Guilty crown had problems with pacing and characterisation. The plot had long sections on some episodes which didn’t really serve any purpose other than to be padding and the main characters, at least initially, are rather unlikeable. Gai is the arrogant prick everyone loves to hate, even though you know it’s just a façade, Inori is your typical “emotionless girl” and Shu… My god, Shu. One can understand his reasoning and what he says when he goes against the grain but at the same time, he comes off like such a wimp, you just want to give him a kick in the ass to get things going. He’s not Ikari Shinji bad, but it’s similar. The problem is that the show doesn’t bother to take time to explore things in a little more detail so everything is pretty much surface level. Like the writers got the bones of the show up and then took a nap!
Having said that, the show did just enough to make me coming back for more to see what happens next without making it feel a little forced (horizon, I’m looking at you!!). It also hit the ground running and then started to fumble, while other shows are still only now just picking up the pace (shana III, Last Exile). It’s far from perfect but it’s arguably the show which kept me the most entertained last season.
Runners up: Kyoukai Senjou no Horizon, Fate\Zero
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Worst Show
Shinryaku!? Ika Musume
OK, to be fair, the show actually wasn’t that bad. It just felt rather dull. Compared to the other shows, It was just flat. Not bad, but forgettable. There weren’t any seriously bad shows last season!
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Biggest surprise
Mashiro-iro symphony
Seriously, this show feels like it was made just to mess with you!! It takes pretty much every cliché you can think of from romantic comedy shows and then turns them on their heads! Male lead accidentally walks into one of the girls rooms while they are changing. You expect him to be beaten up, right? Not in this show. He just gets thrown out and the door is slammed shut! But the biggest surprise of all comes from the ending. Mashiro-Iro symphony may be the only show which breaks the “first girl” rule. You know the rule, right? The one which states that the male lead character will ALWAYS get together with the first girl he meets (which he can actually get) at the end of the show. Think about it!
Not in this case, though Airi would probably have been a more interesting choice. Nope, Our main guy gets together with Miu, who doesn’t get introduced until the end of the first episode, after pretty much everyone else!! I think Kimi ga Nozomu Eien might have done this too but I can’t remember.
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Biggest disappointment
Gundam Age
Oh man, what the heck happened here? Part of the problem is that the show is having a hard time finding an identity for itself. The story tries to work in some adult themes and provide a long running plot which is more suited to older viewers but the designs and executions seem to be more in line with a proper childrens show. Only in recent episodes has it gone and taken itself more seriously but it did so by relying on age old gundam traditions. The only reason I’m watching it is because it’s a mecha show and it’s a gundam show. Still, it’s much better than seed destiny and the Gundam 00 Movie.
Runner up: Working!!
The “WTF” Award
Kyoukai Senjou no Horizon
Before the show aired, I read somewhere that many thought that the novels from which this show is based off is basically impossible to be made into a show, animated or otherwise. You know what? They were right!!
The show itself is still rather enjoyable but you can tell from the offset that they cut a hell of a lot out, particularly pertaining to the history of the world and the various relationships between nations and characters. Well, it’s kind of understandable when the books it’s based on look like this:
These books really stretch the definition of “light” novel. “They’re dictionary thick” as one friend put it!
Here’s the books stacked up against the WHOLE index novel series:
So, who thought they could cram all that into 24 episodes of an anime series when index had 2 seasons that long and STILL didn’t cover everything?
Basically, we’re left with a somewhat enjoyable show with massive holes in our understanding of what’s going on and why… They should have just left it alone… The current plot is almost impossible to follow now anyway.
Runners up: Ben-to, Future Diary
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The Rest
- The best thing about Ben-to were the numerous SEGA references. Virtua Fighter 2 playing on the screen? A reference to Virtual ON??? AWESOME!!!
- Maken-ki was pretty crap. but so is the manga so it wasn’t all that bad.
- I was quite disappointed by Working!! It had moments, but failed to live up to the original.
- Who injected so much concentrated DRAMA in my Idolm@ster?
- Like KamiMemo, UN-GO is fine so long as you don’t treat it as a mystery show.
- Future Diary is as messed up as I had hoped! Screw censorship!!!
- A decent show from GONZO??? Well, if they were able to screw up one of their jewels like Last Exile, they wouldn’t have long to exist…
- Maybe it was because it’s been so long since the last season but Shakugan no Shana III took ages to get going!!
- I’ve been told on good authority that Persona 4 is pretty accurate to the game. Pretty decent too but it didn’t have to work hard to outdo the last persona anime, Trinity Soul…
- I just don’t get Phi-Brain…
- Haganai (seriously, how does one shorten the title of Boku wa tomodachi ga tsukunai to THAT?) was mildly fun but the non-ending was almost rage inducing!
- C3 felt like it was Bipolar! One minute, it’s a slightly pervy comedy show and then all of a sudden, it’s a really violent battle show!!
- It was kind of refreshing watching the girls actively compete with eachother to get the guy in Maji de watashi ni koi ni shinasai. It’s almost always the other way around.
- Seriously, Mawaru Penguindrum was unbelievably messed up! And there wasn’t even a happy end! It kinda worked better that way but after all the crap the characters went through, you kinda wanted one.
- I felt that there’s too much focus on the setup and exposition in Fate\Zero but it feels good to see some old faces again and the show in general is free from the restrictions of an adaptation of the original game.
That’s it for last season, what do we have to look forward to in this season
MUST WATCH
Black Rock Shooter
AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!! Seriously, no… Just… no!
Come on, They couldn’t even make up enough material to do a single NoitamA series (11 episodes instead of 12 or 13) and had to make do with 8! That’s how shallow this thing is!!
OK, (very) bad jokes aside here are the shows I’ll be watching!
For Real this time…
Amagami SS+
More Kaoru, More Sae, more HARUKA!!! Do I need any more of a reason? Amagami SS was an excellent, fun show so I’m glad to see it make a return. It may be going to original material now but that may be for the best. Here’s hoping Rihoko gets some proper closure this time. Everyone else did. Even the bit characters!!
Rinne No Lagrange
Mecha show. You know the rest, right?
Aquarion Evol
Mecha show AND sequel. Pretty much straight in as a must watch, even if I don’t think the original Aquarion was actually any good. The Soul of Chogokin toy which was released was all kinds of awesome though!!
Nisemonogatari
Definitely one of the more anticipated shows in recent memory. Another sequel but when it’s a sequel to one of the better loved and better made shows of the past few years, you won’t be hearing any complaints. Picking up where Bakemonogatari left off, we’ll be getting stories for the sisters and probably more from Hanekawa as well so it’s all good. Just one thing, why do the promo images like the one above show the characters with short hair? Short hair is bad!!! Long hair forever!!!
Ano Natsu de Matteru
A new show from the producer and writer of Onegai Teacher and Twins? COUNT ME IN!!! Onegai Teacher was one of the first shows I picked up when I started watching fansubs and it still holds a special place in my heart. Mizuho is a perfect balance of cute and sexy (shame that the figures for her only go for sexy) and Shooting Star is STILL my favourite KOTOKO song!! I have high hopes for this one!!
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Interesting but Meh
High School DxD
Fanservice show? Check. Quota complete
Zero no Tsukaima F
Technically, this show should be in my “must watch” pile seeing as it’s the likely final series and will conclude the story which started its animated journey 6 years ago! But unlike Shana, which I really enjoyed regardless, ZnT feels more like a chore to watch and my interest in the series has pretty much evaporated. But I’m still going through it for completions sake.
Kill me Baby
Having read the manga, I know that the title is pretty fun in small doses. Whether or not it’ll survive the transition to an anime is another matter though. It could very well end up being a dud but we won’t know until we give it a shot…
Papa no Iukoto wo kikinasai
The premise is silly but I get the feeling that this is one of those shows which one can just sit back and relax to. Not quite a “healing” anime and not quite “slice of life” but somewhere around there. Pretty sure there’ll be fanservice too, but not the gratuitous type.
Another
Horror/mystery show? Should make for a nice contrast. I’ve been meaning to read the manga but never got around to it so this makes things easier for me!
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Why am I watching this?
Mouretsu Pirates
I just don’t know what to make of this show. It’s an enigma. I mean, a regular girl suddenly gets told that she’s the new captain of a spaceship and now has to go pirating??? (I’m a ninja guy myself). Worth a look but I’m not expecting anything from it.
Senki Zesshou Symphogear
The more I read the premise, the more it feels like a promotional tool for Mizuki Nana. To be fair, she is rather talented but not particularly great in any particular aspect. A good “jack of all trades” as it were. Plus, I never really got on her fan bandwagon (Hocchan!!!). I also get a little “mahou shoujo” vibe from the show, which cannot be good. But it’s only 13 eps so even if it is painful, I think I can manage
Inu X Boku SS
Nope, I can’t actually think of a reason why I would even want to watch this show… Oh well, I’ll just keep going unless it gets really bad…
That’s it for this season. Spring is the big one for me so I’m actually finding it a little hard to get worked up for this season, save for nisemonogatari and Amagami SS+ but I think there’s plenty of potential strength in here. What are your viewing plans for this season?
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