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Old 2012-12-03, 07:58   Link #100
Last Sinner
You're Hot, Cupcake
 
 
Join Date: Aug 2008
Age: 42
Before I list off titles, I'd just like to say 'each to their own' and that in the spirit of the discussion and OP's intent, I will only list off titles that were genuine disappointments and avoid mentioning titles that I either purely despised or ones I never had any hope for.

Let it begin....

Fate/Zero - I suppose I'm in the minority on this one, but as for true disappointments, this was perhaps the biggest of the year for me. Over-adapting in S1 and rushing the best parts of the novels in S2 - shameful. Execution of the drinking episode was a letdown. Episode 1 was painfully long. Potential in a good number of characters was utterly wasted. Over-conversion of Urobuchi's fetish for excessive dialogue into scenes chewed up too much time. But most of all, I didn't get what makes me like Type-Moon titles - Nasu's monologues, romantic undertones, sly humour, cheeky trolling and his genuine 'warrior of love' persona even though he puts his casts through absolute hell. I am not a fan of Urobuchi's predictable 'all endings must be the abyss/I must kill the characters I love most the fastest' obsessions.

Rinne no Lagrange - Not to say that I had expectations. But upon seeing one of the most turn-offing yuri scenes I've ever scene in my life, I felt rather crushed since I like yuri overall.

Ano Natsu de Matteru - I thought Please Teacher v3.0 aka Please Twins v2.0 would at least reach the levels of its predecesors. Nope...cloning doesn't guarantee an equal or superior product.

Another - Perhaps the most un-scary, un-thrilling horror I've seen in a long time.

Highschool DxD - I love Miyama-Zero artwork, so with his source artwork, I was hoping this would be somewhat decent. Rias naked being the only decent thing about this title was a legitimate letdown, since I felt the overall replication of M-Z's artwork was very sub-par except for when Rias was naked.

Black Rock Shooter - Didn't exactly do the brand of the merchandise any good. Was hoping for something tangible at the very least...and again, another yuri turn-off.

Accel World - Say what you like about Sword Art Online, but I've rarely felt as offended and disgusted as I was when I saw this title...

Zetman - Textbook example of How NOT To Do Manga to Anime Compressions!

Space Brothers - The magic of the series seemed to be lost around the time 'Feel So Moon' was no longer the OP theme...thinking you could get away with people being in that confined space 'on the ground and not in space' for that many episodes was a bit rich...

Boys on the Slope - Now I will give Shinichiro Watanabe this. It's virtually a sure thing nearly any other director would have utterly failed to make the extreme compression work. Overall, it somewhat does and Yoko Kanno's music is brilliant as always. Still, that special something seemed missing and latter material conversion choices weren't always the best. Perhaps 13 episodes instead of noitaminA's 11 would have made a big difference.

Eureka Seven AO - Still wondering why this came to pass...Similar to the case of Last Exile, what was good about the original Eureka Seven is utterly absent in Astral Ocean. Feels like Bones suffering from similar issues to Gonzo.

Shinsekai Yori - Seemed like the kind of title I wanted to see. Then when I did, I felt absolutely nothing. Episodes later, still nothing.


Funnily enough, the two titles I actually enjoyed this year - Natsuyuki Rendezvous and Sword Art Online - are being mentioned quite a bit here. Fair enough. However, I will say this. Otaku pandering isn't exclusive to Sword Art Online - it's pretty much what keeps the anime industry afloat, otherwise there would hardly be any titles selling enough to keep studios going. If the way it pandered was what irked you, that I can understand and consider somewhat justified.
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