Summer 2013: General Impressions Thread: Post Your Opinion and Grade...

[Archon_Wing]

Let's talk about the new season, Summer 2013.

The intention of the thread is mostly to discuss what's hot and new, but any thoughts on carryovers from previous seasons may be brought up, but do make sure you are talking about the most recent episodes (don't come here to rant about Naruto fillers from last year, for example).

Because it is still early, it may be a good idea to express grades in terms of keep/drop/stall if you're unwilling to give a rating at this point, or something like that. I'm more interested in which new shows are your priorities.

Previous formats went something like this, but obviously you are free to express your thoughts however you want; Your rating can be in terms of letter grades, numerical ratings, facepalms, Minkofaces, Deens, Ufotables, Sparkles, etc. Or maybe you don't believe in grades. Your explanations are far more important then what you actually gave out.

Name of Series:
Episodes Watched:
Rating:
Comments:
Status (Keep/drop/stall):

Also, I would ask that any specifics be kept in spoiler tags, please.

Nobody will arrest you for violating any formats or anything so post whatever thoughts and try not to comment on other people too much.

[larethian]

Strange, is there an overall/final spring impressions thread? I find it strange that the summer impression thread gets created first

[Archon_Wing]

We used to create a beginning and then final impressions thread, but what happens is that people end up ignoring the later and it's a lot of clutter. It just seems to be more efficient to just use one thread per season.

[Dawnstorm]

Since I've now seen an episode of all the shows I meant to check out:

Carryovers:

Shounen fighters are not my genere, and yet the only two carryovers from last season for me are Shounen fighters. Heh. Interestingly, the two shows have something in common, and are thus pretty easy to compare:

Shingeki no Kyoujin: Giant humanoids eat people, and then strange things happen.
Mushibugyou: Giant insects eat people, and then strange things happen.

I find Shingeki no Kyoujin mildly entertaining, but there's an aura of trying too hard to make their setting gruesome, when the concept is gruesome to begin with. The show's too manic, too angry, and too unbalanced for me to really hit home. 7/10 [tendency: slightly rising]

Mushibugyou is the opposite. It's utterly over-the-top and unrealistically stylish in design and plot. It's just fun to watch. I was sort of worried that they'd start taking themselves too seriously once the plot gets moving, but so far that hasn't happened. Surprisingly, this has turned out to be one of my favourite shounen fighters. 8/10 [tendency: stable]

Now on to the new stuff, in alphabetic order:

Blood Lad: Decently funny, but nothing special so far. I liked the first episode better than the second. 7/10 [tendency: slightly falling]

Choujigen Game Neptune: The Animation: The first episode was mostly boring me, though it had its moments. I'll try some more, but I'm not sure I'll stick with it. 5/10 [Expectations after 1 episode: Low]

Danganronpa: Mysteries aren't my favourite genre, and survival games are overdone. I expected to be bored by it, but it's suprisingly surreal. I'm staying for sheer style. 7/10 [tendency: slightly falling]

Fantasista Doll: A show I picked up because I was bored that day. It's a tad better than I expected, but so far all you need to know about the show is in the title. I'll probably stick it out. At least the focus seems to be on friendship, unlike another show that made me want the wring the girl's neck if I heard them say "Master" one more time. 6/10 [tendency: stable]

Fate/Kaleid Liner Prisma Illya: Heh, the show knows what is: pure franchise service. The humour works for me, too. Good fun. 7/10 [tendency: stable]

Free!: After the first episode I thought I'd be liking this more than Tamako Market. Three episodes in it just feels repetitive. What's with every guy's eyes watering with secret desire? Do they all descend form the same basic model? I might stick it out, but KyoAni's own franchises don't seem to work for me. 6/10 [tendency: falling]

Gatchaman Crowds: Hard to say after only one episode. I do like the pseudo-ditzy female lead (she's smarter than she seems; staying back and observing until she knows what to do - also unfazed by weirdness and in love with notebooks). The team seems fun, too. 7/10 [Expectatitions after one episode: fun!]

Genei wo Kakeru Taiyou: The show wasn't on my radar at all, yet I like the style. My favourite character so far already died; curious if she'll still be a factor. They seem to have invested too much in her characterisation. Curious about the themes. 8/10 (tendency: slightly falling)

Genshiken Nidaime: Decent fun; pretty much what I expected. I haven't seen the second season, so I'm feeling slightly lost, but it doesn't matter much. 7/10 (tendency: slightly rising)

Gin no Saji: Decently entertaining. I can't shake the feeling I'm watching a commercial for the countryside, and it's not very subtle. But there's something beyond this that keeps my interest. Not sure yet. 7/10 (tendency: stable)

Inu to Hasami Wa Tsukaiyou: I expected it to be a silly fanservice harem show, but it turned out to be a silly fanservice harem show about books. Surprisingly, writing and reading seems actually relevant. I'm having fun with this one. My third favourite of the season. 8/10 (tendency: slightly rising)

Kami nomi zo Shiru Sekai: Megami Hen: What happened to the series? Did we change genre? Surprisingly, it works for me. 8/10

Kami sama no Inai Nichiyobi: My reaction is similar to Red Data Girl last season. The concept is very interesting; it looks and sounds gorgeous. And yet I'm not really feeling it. 7/10 (tendency: Stable)

Kimi no Iru Machi: Hard to say. Not fond of the character design. I don't like the male lead, but the girl that dominated episode one was fine. 6/10 (Expectations after one episode: mediocre)

Kiniro Mosaic: Charming first episode with Brits that act surprisingly Japanese. Decent second episode that can't deny its roots in 4-koma. 7/10 (tendency: slightly falling)

Kitakubu Katsudou Kiroku: The humour just clicks with me. Utterly random animal references, and a completly pointless and equally funny seal mascot. If only our main character wouldn't demonstrate how annoying tsukkomi can be if all they do is yell and emote with their ahoge. 7/10 (tendency: slightly rising)

Love Lab: Standard comedy. Fun. 7/10 (tendency: stable)

Monogatari Series: Second Season: After the disappointing Nise-, this one gets back into the spirit of it. I'm not the franchise's biggest fan, but it's fairly entertaining none the less. 8/10

Rozen Maiden (2013): Never seen any of the other shows, so the first episode left me confused until I finally noticed that it's a summary of what's gone before. The second and third episode were more interesting than I thought from the first episode. (I may be a heretic to say this, but I could do without the dolls...) 8/10 (tendency: Stable)

Senki Zesshou Symphogear G: Finally, the show decided to stick with being camp. Better than the first season, because more consistent in style. 7/10 (tendency: stable)

Senyuu 2: Too much plot, thus not as funny as the first season, so far. Still good. 7/10 (Tendency: stable)

Servant x Service: Good fun. 7/10 (Tendency: rising)

Stella Jogakuin C3 Bu: I like the visual style. The concept isn't my thing, but the looks make up a lot. I like the characters, too. 7/10 (tendency: stable)

Tamayura: More Aggressive: It's Tamayura! I shouldn't be liking a show this sweet so much, but somehow I do. If you've seen the OVA and the first season, you know what to expect. Fuu founds a photography club. Heh. (8/10) (tendency: stable)

Teekyu 2: The show that sometimes pretends to be about tennis and shoots gags at you with a machine gun is back. I love it. 8/10 (tendency: stable)

Uchouten Kazoku: This show is perfect; as if it was made just for me. If it doesn't mess up, it will dethrone True Tears as my favourite PA Works show. We're still in the setting-introduction phase, but everything - from characters to mythology - is interesting me greatly. 10/10 (tendency: stable)

Watamote: This might be bleakest comedy I've ever seen. I have to laugh, because if I don't I cry. The manga knows what it's talking about, and the anime gets it. My second favourite this season. 9/10 (tendency: stable)

***

Top 5:

1. Uchouten Kazoku
2. Watamote
3. Inu to Hasami wa Tsukaiyou
4. Mushibugyou
5. Tamayura: More Agressive

[backbone]

Carryovers :

Only Attack on Titan : Despite horrendous pacing, limited animation, and annoying recaps, it's still extremely hard for me to drop this show mainly because i need some good dose of shounen action amidst the moeblob mediocrity. I also somewhat foresee some bit of greatness that is going to come in the second part given that this show is finally pointing toward major plot point (Recon Corp arc) and no longer dicking around with retarded dialogues. Oh, and the second OP song, Jiyuu no Tsubasa, totally kicks ass.

Watching

The World God Only Knows. Well, well, well. Being a manga reader myself, there's so many things i want to rant about in this third season. The pacing's terrible, they skipped too many important arcs to the point that it's hard to even care about said captured girls. I'm not even sure that this season is really capable of adapting 60++ chapters of Goddess arc. Most likely they will cram the heck out of them and resulting in utterly horrible adaptations, which i'm really afraid of. But hey, as long as i can get Keima, the most amazing harem lead i've ever seen during my 7 years of watching anime, do i need to ask more?

Kamisama no Inai Nichiyobi. Having read the LN, and really impressive LN to boot, it would be an understatement if i didn't give this show a try. But there's few problems. The adaptation severely lacks subtlety, something that arguably is the greatest strength of the series. But it's kind of understandable since the LN is a bunch of nothingness but dialogues and monologues, and clearly impossible for the studio to adapt whole lot of it. Thankfully, the adaptation manage to capture the setting very well, with the animation of a very beautiful dusk panorama in ep 2 and they also succesful in dealing with the mood of the characters : sadness, sorrow, and anger, to the point that it's hard to not feel sympathy toward them. Now about the lead charas; so far Ai's performance as female lead hasn't really managed to capture my interest. But on the other hand, Hampnie's character totally shines extremely bright with his cold, snarky, somewhat mysterious aura, and impressive voice acting by Namikawa Daisuke. Overall very promising series with many intriguing aspects

Daybreak Illusion. At first i didn't give this series a crap, thinking it was just a poor attempt to mimic Madoka. But soon after i began to realize that my assumption was totally wrong. As of episode 2, the writing in this show continues to be just deadly serious. Nothing of important that happened in episode 1 has been casually tossed away or ignored. Episode 2 has done a fantastic job of following up on the somber tone and taking things in an even deeper, more intellectually/emotionally challenging direction. In particular, the part where i find out more about the shocking revelation of the secret behind the Magical Girls in this show has totally captured my interest to watch more.

Gin no saji. Farming is a theme that is probably very rarely be explored in anime before, and at first, i thought this would be a boring, fish out of water story. But its first eps had succesfully managed to capture my interest. The way it shows us how to deal with animals in completely hilarious way (Freaked out by the idea of where eggs actually come from), deal with friends whose ambitions in life surpassing the MC, and doing things that a kid from city are completely clueless about are few of things that i bought 100% as they didn't fail to amuse me. And you know what amused me the most? The second coming of Lt. Armstrong from FMA franchise !!!!

Free. Upon watching the first episode, this show got me thinking "Hey, is this really fujoshi bait show?". Because, to me, it looks no different than your typical shounen sport anime, and very amusing of it to boot. While the male characters seem to be a bit girly for some reason, it can be easily overlooked because, oh boy, their antics were hilarious to watch. From stripping oneself upon looking at pool, until starfish-styled pole vaulting. The manservice are also very tame and don't bother me at all, despite the fact that i'm a straight guy. Only one genuine concern to me : Is this going to be a swimming sport show or merely slice of life with the backdrop of swimming? Because i'll be disappointed if it's the latter.

servant X service. Been a long time seeing slice of life comedy show with fully adult characters. And since i've been a fan of Working! by the same mangaka, this show was already on my watchlist ever since its announcement. The characters? Amusing. Jokes? Really funny. setting? Really refreshing as it's a workplace as opposed to typical and usual high school ones. Although a hiccup has appeared in the form of tsundere imouto, at leat it didn't really bother me a much as i thought i did since other characters' antics were able to strike her back and making the whole scene even more hilarious. If it's done right, this show is possible to come out as the best comedy of the season.

Highschool DxD. Hmm, still a bit conflicted about this show. On one hand, it has very strong plot and fascinating fantasy aspects (dragon, devil, angel, etc), elements that drew me into this show in the first place. On the other hand, the extremely vulgar and utterly shameless fanservice (My eyes nearly bleed by the sheer amount of raw tits) are a complete turn off for me. And it doesn't help that the overall tone of this show is really erotic to begin with (Hell, the MC's main move is capable of blowing women clothes to pieces). But, upon further thought, i decided to ignore and overlook all the annoying fanservices and focus solely on the plot and action scenes. The good thing is, it seems we will have some good, badass fights in the second season.

Dropped

Genshiken Nidaime. Utterly disappointed by the sudden turn from the original series. From a fascinating, hilarious side of otaku culture into girls' talk and crossdressing trap. Nidaime has pretty much lost its charm when all of the original members were replaced by a bunch of otaku girls, turning this show into nothing but fujoshi crowd, something that i didn't come into this series in the first place for

Blood Lad. The jokes were flat, too predictable, and somewhat forced, rather than occur naturally within the flow of story. Didn't make me laugh at all and at best, i just chuckled. Oh, and the male lead has to stop being annoying, that's all.

Inu to Hasami wa Tsukaiyou. The overall tone of this show was simply annoying and insulting. Full of unfunny, forced, abusive jokes. Oh and look at the casts; bunch of girls surrounding a dog. That means this is going to be a harem but with a dog MC? Count me out for that.

Watamote. Really, really disturbing show to watch. Definitely the most disturbing of this year after Aku no Hana. Instead of being entertained, i just cringed in these past two episodes, because, honestly, this show totally poked an open sore of mine (because i'm a bitter loser IRL) and dig it too deep to the point that the mere feel of painful would be an understatement. I don't watch anime to generate this kind of feeling!

Rozen Maiden. Completely crap! The first episode is just a bunch of random garbage thrown altogether right at your face and didn't make any sense at all. I loved the previous installment, but this one is a total disappointment.

[relentlessflame]

Originally Posted by backbone

Rozen Maiden. Completely crap! The first episode is just a bunch of random garbage thrown altogether right at your face and didn't make any sense at all. I loved the previous installment, but this one is a total disappointment.

Not that I want to change your opinion, but this is definitely one of those shows where the "three-episode rule" applies, since the first episode only serves as a recap of the earlier manga. The actual story starts in Episode 2. You still may very well hate it, but it's completely different from Episode 1, and when you see the start of Episode 2 (and on-going) you'll probably understand a bit why Episode 1 was there.

[Pocari_Sweat]

I'm waiting on 3 eps of everything Im following before posting my impressions. But I wholeheartedly agree with relentlessflame that eps2 and 3 are a total different ballpark to the first ep.

[Echoes]

Been a real slow season for me so far. Still (oh-so-slowly) catching up with what the last one had to offer. But I've caught a few.

Hyperdimension Neptunia. I'm not gonna lie, I don't even know what's going on in this one half the time. I've never played any of the games, but I sort of like the designs. The exposition and pacing have left me cold so far, but some cute characters and uncertainty about where it's heading makes me mildly hopeful that this could end up being worthwhile.

Free! Lots of nude, rude dudes. Visually the show looks really impressive, Kyo-Ani knows how to make characters sparkle regardless of gender. (Sort of makes me want to work out more, honestly.) While the story looks like it'll be pretty formulaic, it's enjoyable so far, and might prove me wrong with a twist along the way. I'm sure the ladies are getting more out of this one than me, but so far I'm having fun!

Fate/kaleid liner Prisma☆Illya. This.... is pretty good. But I'm terribly biased. I think Illya has one of the funniest voices I've ever heard in anime. It's so perfect for comedy. A real simple reason, but sometimes that's all it takes. (And of course, the show has some other merits, but they're all eclipsed by that one factor for me.)

Teekyuu 2 Just sheer insanity. It's like an abridged version of Excel Saga.

Watamote. Shocker of the season so far for me. (I got a small pool, I know! ) Tomoko's design is really refreshing, I particularly like how they genuinely portray her as creepy when she's supposed to be, and even downright ugly when she dressed up in the first episode. Of course, she's absolutely adorable when she wants to be as well. The show has a great, dark sense of humor, and a mean streak. Whenever you think the show finally decided to be nice to her, they crush her spirit instead. Tomoko is easy to relate to (even if you've never been quite as socially awkward as her) and the way she's being portrayed does a great job of balancing sympathetic and unsympathetic traits into a believable, lovable little mess.

[Flawfinder]

Since I want to keep this short, I'll just go by the stuff I find interesting.

Really Good

Genshiken Nidaime: Whilst it's sad that the new cast aren't as great as the old cast (as proof, my favorite moments are when Madarame takes the stage), it's still Genshiken and it's still pretty great. 'Nough said.

Teekyu 2: This show is funny and I will hear nothing to the contrary

Surprisingly Alright

Free: Mostly a generic sports show, but the directorial touches and and timing make it watchable for me

Gatchaman Crowds: I'd like this more if the main character wasn't so annoying.

Servant x Service: I enjoy the character banter fine, even if the jokes aren't the most creative.

Watamote: Same story as Free, except replace sports with "black comedy". It's sort of like a combination of Daria and Welcome to the NHK, but it's not nearly as funny or biting as either of them.

Disappointingly Bad

Monogatari: Too much talking between boring characters that never really goes anywhere and doesn't develop a thing in the least. Not enough plot happening. Also, the animation is surprisingly cheap given that Shinbo is now rolling in dough. Dropped it at Episode 3 since there's only so much "witty banter" I can take.

Silver Spoon: Bland direction and execution suck all the energy out of this show. Also, I'm not exactly thrilled about following a guy muck up over the stupidest of events for entire episodes.

Uchouten Kazoku: Same story as Monogatari. Okay it's a little better and I haven't dropped it yet, but there's no internal structure to support all the creativity and thus I have no reason to care about what's going on. It's like someone left a camera on and let the actors shoot the shit. Where's the story?

[Flower]

And here I was looking to start the thread and all and Archon_Wing (happily) beat me to the punch!

I guess I should say that I find myself enjoying the summer season more than the spring so far. Go figure, but so it is.

A List: Tamayura ~more aggressive~; Kamisama no Inai Nichiyoubi; Gatchaman Crowds.

B List: Servant x Service; Kiniro Mosaic; Gen'ei wo Kakeru Taiyou; Monogatari Series Second Season.

C List: Stella Jogakuin Koutouka C3-bu; Recorder to Ransel Mi; Kami Nomi zo Shiru Sekai: Megami-hen; Gin no Saji.

Carryovers: Toaru Kagaku no Railgun S (A List ranking).

Still on trial: Ryo Kyuu Bu! SS.

Dropped: Danganropa; Love Lab; Kitakubu Katsudou Kiroku; Fantasista Doll; Watashi ga Motenai no wa Dou Kangaete mo Omaera ga Warui!; Choujigen Game Neptune The Animation.

Will watch later on: Rozen Maiden (2013); Free; Uchouten Kazoku; Yama Shibai.

[Triple_R]

I'm increasingly skeptical of the value of grading/rating systems, at least for ongoing properties. So instead I'm going to give some comments and "Good Show For" for most of the new Summer 2013 shows that I've watched.


Name of Series: Rozen Maiden Zurückspulen
Episodes Watched: 3
Comments: It looks to be a very solid slow-burner with a story that I get the impression will be tighter than what we saw in the original anime. Jun's character is much more compelling here, imo. If you're a very patient viewer, who can wait awhile before seeing the Rozen Maidens in action, I'd honestly recommend skipping Episode 1 and starting in at Episode 2 and just watching from there.
Status (Keep/drop/stall): Keep
Good Show For: Magical Girl fans, Fantasy fans. I also recommend it in general.


Name of Series: Tamayura ~More Aggressive~
Episodes Watched: 3
Comments: The show has significantly more drama and plot than the original, but manages to maintain its wonderfully heartwarming and lighthearted charm. It's the opposite of 'dark', being a very life-affirming work. Eminently likable characters. Watching the original is highly recommended for understanding the show's context, and most of its main cast.
Status: Keep
Good Show For: K-On fans, Aria fans, AnoHana fans, slice of life fans


Name of Series: Fantasista Doll
Episodes Watched: 3
Comments: Very fun, quirky show with an equally fun and quirky female lead. Good mix of light comedy with solid character-building and decent action scenes.
Status (Keep/drop/stall): Keep
Good Show for: Card Captor Sakura fans, PreCure fans, classic magical girl fans


Name of Series: Dangan Ronpa
Episodes Watched: 3
Comments: Very colorful and straightforward show. Knows exactly what it wants to be, and just becomes that. Zany cast. Imagine Big Brother meets Saw meets anime tropes galore. A truly sadistic, theatrical villain.
Status (Keep/drop/stall): Keep
Good Show for: Mirai Nikki fans, murder mystery fans, Higurashi/Umineko fans.


Name of Series: Gen'ei o Kakeru Taiyo -Il sole penetra le illusioni-
Episodes Watched: 3
Comments: If you're looking for a serious, darker-themed magical girl show, please give it a shot. The bobble-head doll character designs can take some getting used to, but remember that even Madoka Magica required viewers to roll with pancake faces. The first episode gets down to business very fast, and future episodes are so far doing a pretty good job of building off of that. Show should have been called Magical Lyrical Tarot Girl, but oh well.
Status (Keep/drop/stall): Keep
Good show for: Madoka fans, Shakugan no Shana fans, Black Rock Shooter fans


Name of Series: Free!
Episodes Watched: 3
Comments: Glorious animation. Water has never looked so good in anime! Clearly for fujoshis, but I think some other anime fans will like it if they give it a shot. Its largely lighthearted and character-driven. Decent bits of comedy here and there.
Status (Keep/drop/stall): Keep
Good show for: Ouran High Host Club fans, Hetalia Axis Powers fans, people who like muscular upper bodies.


Name of Series: Love Lab
Episodes Watched: 3
Comments: Very sharp, effective, well-timed comedy. Great comedic chemistry between the two female leads. Best comedy of the season so far, imo. A touch melodramatic, but not too bad. Warning: Keep yuri goggles off for this show based on what I've heard about it.
Status (Keep/drop/stall): Keep
Good show for: Love Live! fans (there's a Maki in this ), K-On fans, people who watch Saki for the moe and not the mahjong. I also recommend it in general.


Name of Series: Fate/Kaleid Liner PRISMA ILLYA
Episodes Watched: 2
Comments: Excellent action scenes, nice character designs, neat references for fans of other Fate/Series properties. Heavy use of steam should head off any worries people might have about excessive fanservice. If you think that Gen'ei is too dark, and Fantasista Doll is too light, then this magical girl show is just right.
Status (Keep/drop/stall): Keep
Good show for: Magical girl fans, Fate/Series fans, Card Captor Sakura fans, lolicons. I also recommend it in general.


Name of Series: Kiniro Mosaic
Episodes Watched: 2
Comments: The lightest and fluffiest show of the season, and given its competition, that is saying something. Very 4Koma-esque. Surprisingly good Engrish.
Status (Keep/drop/stall): Stall, but I might get back to it soon.
Good show for: A-Channel fans, K-On fans, Tamayura fans


Name of Series: Kitakubu Katsudou Kiroku (Chronicles of the Going Home Club)
Episodes Watched: 2
Comments: Pure comedy. Lovely character designs. Lots and lots of gags. Funny about half the time. Likable characters.
Status (Keep/drop/stall): Stall
Good show for: Nichijou fans, Chuunibyou fans, comedy fans

[Flower]

Originally Posted by Archon_Wing

We used to create a beginning and then final impressions thread, but what happens is that people end up ignoring the later and it's a lot of clutter. It just seems to be more efficient to just use one thread per season.

Hey! Where's _your_ list archon?

[Pocari_Sweat]

Originally Posted by Flower

Hey! Where's _your_ list archon?

He's being a lazy ass this season . Pretty sure the only he's watching atm is H x H .

[Kmos]

Kingdom 9/10
Best anime of the summer season and it's a sequel. The protagonists have gained immense experiences from the first season but they've yet reached their goal. A time frame is set for Xin to become a great general and for Zheng to have complete claim and control of his throne. Impressive exchanges on the fields of battle and in the king's court start the anime off well. Great ED song and better art now with less CGI while the story's still great.

Blood Lad 6/10
More devilish/demonic comedy in the form of an otaku vampire ganglord. It's kind of like Beelzebub but not as funny. I'm not sure if the anime is mucking it up like the anime did for Beelzebub.

Free 6/10
Hoping for for actual competition and training.

Gin no Saji 7.5/10
I like it. I rather watch this than the goofing around Servant x Service. Agricultural school and work is more interesting and harder. The characters here are better driven and [can be] more passionate.

Recorder to Randoseru 7/10
Short and sweet comedy what's not to like? 'Mi' is introducing a bunch of new characters and with a different art style though I prefer the old version more.

Senyuu 7/10
Continues the trolling fun. Another short piece which makes it easy to find time to watch and have some chuckles.

Stella Jogakuin Koutou-ka C³-bu 7/10

Watashi ga Motenai no wa Dou Kangaete mo Omaera ga Warui 7/10

Danganronpa Kibou no Gakuen to Zetsubou no Koukousei 5/10
Lots of little things that put me off of this one, might watch at a later time but if I forget it won't bother me.

Uchouten Kazoku 6/10
It's easy to watch but easy to forget or drop as well. Lots of questions on the characters' back stories and how they're related is a good pull to watch for some.

Ry kyu Bu
Dropped.

Will continue to watch these from the Spring, all of which are pretty damn good: Mushibugyou, Ginga Kikoutai Majestic Prince, Shingeki no Kyojin, Toaru Kagaku no Railgun

[creb]

Meh. There's nothing particularly compelling this season. No matter how cynical I feel, there's usually at least one show that's more than just fluff with some kind of hook that has me ruminating throughout the week between each episode.

I am watching Monogatari, Gatchaman, Uchouten and a few other shows sporadically, which all have their moments, but none of them have me thinking much about their plots/characters/etc.

Where are the From the New Worlds, Fate Zeros, Penguindrums, and heck...even the Valvraves!?

[Archon_Wing]

Originally Posted by Pocari_Sweat

He's being a lazy ass this season . Pretty sure the only he's watching atm is H x H .

Hey, this thread isn't about me being lazy. And H x H blows every other show out of the water this season anyways.

Originally Posted by Flawfinder

Monogatari: Too much talking between boring characters that never really goes anywhere and doesn't develop a thing in the least. Not enough plot happening. Also, the animation is surprisingly cheap given that Shinbo is now rolling in dough.

Wait what? Cheap? That series always had like no animation. Unless you meant cheaper, of which I can only imagine the FPS hit negative or something.

Anyhow, I will list everything in relative, arbitrary, values. There is no meaning to the values except higher means I want to watch it more.

Hunter x Hunter 90 eps, (1,586,156) -- Anyone that knows me knows that it's like impossible to hold my attention if a series has significant hiccups. The series certainly has its slow parts, but it remains consistent with bursts of dramatic parts, and a potential striking character development.

Attack on Titan (21,785)-- Honestly I was afraid this show would fall into the toilet, what with having epic fights and not showing them. But instead of being loud and stupid all the time, it actually takes a breather and creates some useful character development. This show is mostly carried by Mikasa being a beautiful and strong character. Everyone's alright, though Levi amuses me by being bored all the time.

Dangaronpa, 2 eps, (12,368) -- I have heightened interest in this series because it is very and utterly stupid and over the top. I'm getting severe Umineko/Mirai Nikki vibes, but unlike those shows there is effort in the narrative. It has an interesting way of presentation and violence in the extreme lulz manner. Trolling is always good.

Wakamote, 1 eps, (1,575) -- The MC is more amusing than expected, despite being drawn in an "ugly" manner. I wasn't swept off my feet, but I may get around to this.

Kamisama no Inai, 1 eps (2,546)-- I really need to get back to watching this. The setting is very unique.

Genei wo Kakeru Taiyou, 1 eps, (376)-- It's a really odd and abrupt way of telling a story. No real interest atm, but it has potential. Plus magical girl shows seem to always throw something in the mix

Love Lab, 1 eps, (25)-- Done by the same staff as YuruYuri, the director might not a thing or two about well timed jokes. The characters though....

Free, 1 eps, (0.5)-- I dunno, I was playing Mahjong when watching this. I won though, and Kyoani fails to catch my attention again. Rin is probaly the best though.

[leokiko]

Kingdom 2: 10/10. 'Cuz...it's absolutely fucking amazing, even with the shitty animation and direction. If it had, from the beginning, Madhouse-level quality of animation, it would have blown any anime out of the water.

HxH: 10/10. Love you Madhouse.

Gin no Saji 9/10: Good adaptation so far, hope it stays that way.

Watamote: 8/10. Veeeeeeery funny. I see why it could be painful for some people though.

Originally Posted by Archon_Wing

Hey, this thread isn't about me being lazy. And H x H blows every other show out of the water this season anyways.

Kingdom 2 is(almost) just as awesome as HxH imo.

[Tempester]

Name of Series: Free!
Episodes Watched: 4
Comments: Funny and cute sports/drama series. I'm really liking the dynamics of the romance rivalry between Haruka and Rin. Rei is just adorable and funny. Gou is super cute. And the animation is top notch, as expected. I find a few parallels between this show and Love Live which I watched recently; both anime aren't quite "slice-of-life", but have a sense of energy and progress to them coupled with moe appeal that is addictive to watch.
Status: Definitely Keeping

Name of Series: Fantasista Doll
Episodes Watched: 4
Comments: This took a few episodes to grow on me. I like the feel of a children's show it has; it reminds me in some ways of Pokemon and Cardcaptor Sakura. Pretty much all of Uzume's dolls are awesome so far, and I love the character designs. However, I am a little worried about the 1-cour length of this anime, considering how slow the pacing has been so far.
Status: Definitely Keeping

Name of Series: Teekyuu 2
Episodes Watched: 4
Comments: Just more of the same off-the-wall, fast-paced, zany humor from before. Nothing to say here, other than I enjoy it and I have no reason not to watch it.
Status: Definitely Keeping

Name of Series: Hyperdimension Neptunia
Episodes Watched: 3
Comments: I realized while watching this that it's so much more enjoyable to see the characters actually animated and full of life rather than the pretty but dull and static VN sprite interactions that dominate the games. Otherwise, it's pretty much typical Neptunia, which is extremely shallow but not enough to be banal, with a lot of fun girl-to-girl interaction and a decent amount of action.
Status: Keep

Name of Series: Watashi ga Motenai no wa Dou Kangaetemo Omaera ga Warui!
Episodes Watched: 3
Comments: If this anime is supposed to make me cringe more than laugh, it's successful at that. But it's the good kind of cringe, since the jokes really hit hard for me.
Status: Keep

Name of Series: Genei wo Kakeru Taiyou
Episodes Watched: 3
Comments: Decent dark mahou shoujo. I like the rather speedy pacing so far, which is appropriate for a 1-cour anime.
Status: Keep

Name of Series: Futari wa Milky Holmes
Episodes Watched: 3
Comments: This isn't good. I was somewhat interested in a different spin on Milky Holmes, but I'm annoyed at the amount of focus and screentime that is put on the two new girls, whom I think Bushiroad is trying to force down our throats as heroines for a new franchise by fazing out the four original Milkies. That does not sit right with me. I also dislike the fact that there are so many new phantom thieves. There's no way to make them interesting or charming enough with the short amount of screentime we have.
Status: Tentative

Name of Series: Kiniro Mosaic
Episodes Watched: 3
Comments: I just can't handle this anime. The production is good, the art is pretty to look at, the treatment of the 4-panel format is good, and the OP is lovely to see and hear. But I can't stomach how this anime treats its foreign characters. The two British girls feel more like petting zoo animals than humans. Alice's loyalty to Japan to the point where she fluently learns Japanese by herself is off-putting when Shinobu can't even bother to learn a little English when she's taught it every day. Why is Alice shorter than all the Japanese girls anyway? And Karen is just another "not too foreign" girl whose father rather than mother is the Japanese parent. Her verbal tic used to indicate a "lack of fluency" in Japanese is completely unconvincing too. These may seem like odd reasons to drop an anime, but I can't shake off the feeling that the mangaka just doesn't have any respect for British people and their culture and just wants to parade them like idols or some other spectacle rather than treat them like characters.
Status: Dropped


Anime I plan to watch or try out:

Tamayura: More Aggressive - This one is a definite pick-up. I'm just delaying it so that I can watch it at my own pace instead of weekly.

Love Lab - Wait, Maki's VA is in there? YES!

Stella Jogakuin Koutou-ka C³-bu - Cute girls and guns!

Gatchaman Crowds

Uchouten Kazoku

Kamisami no Inai Nichiyoubi

[Pocari_Sweat]

Free
Episodes Watched: 4
Rating: 4/10
Status: Dropped

Initially, I found it ironically hilarious and was laughing at all the male fanservice but after a while it got really old and the lolfactor has now worn off. It's just another typical Kyoani high school slice of life series, in this case with a swimming gimmick and aimed at a female audience rather than a male one. Very two dimensional characters, same old gag-centric comedy, surprisingly high number of fanservice scenes compared to Kyoani standards and overall uninteresting. Visuals are top notch as expected of Kyoani but that is not enough reason for me to continue watching.

Servant x Service
Episodes Watched: 2
Rating: 5/10
Status: Stalled

Never thought much about Working, but I thought the first episode was okay and decently funny. However, the second episode had me rolling my eyes when that high school student walked in. Might give it another shot in the near future but it's not really of high priority.

Kimi no Iru Machi
Episodes Watched: 3
Rating: 5/10
Status: Junk food but still watching

Firstly, holy hell the art style... it's terrible. I mean the OVA art style wasn't amazing or anything but they were standard. This on the other hand is rather hideous. Other than that, well I'm a manga reader so I want to see the rage in an animated format. It's an incredibly mediocre run of the mill shonen romance series but I'm not a shipper so I'm not butthurt. However, many others are so I get to see experienced butthurt manga readers rage once again and perhaps newcomers . Though, I don't know they can get past the horrible visuals.

Silver Spoon
Episodes Watched: 3
Rating: 6/10
Status: Watching albeit a bit bored

To be honest I'm disappointed in the series so far. Being on the noitamina timeslot and adapted from a very popular manga I had high expectations and coming into summer I was expecting it to be one of my favorites of the season. Alas, it's not the case. The comedy feels forced and exaggerated and off at times, much like how I felt FMA:Brotherhood was in its first half/third. The visuals aren't that good and the audio is rather forgettable. There's some decent characters, some shipping/romance and the usual slice of life fair. I will give it credit in that there is a total absence of moe in this series which is pretty refreshing and the fact that it hasn't gone overly melodramatic in its more dramatic moments. However, so far the series has been rather boring.

Genshiken Nidame
Episodes Watched: 4
Rating: 7/10
Status: Watching

One of my all-time favorites series gets a sequel, so I was naturally excited for it. Also Production IG. Out of all the otaku-reference centric shows out there, Genshiken has always been the best as it explores the lives of simple college students enjoying their geek culture in the company of others. This isn't like oreimo where there in unnecessary stupid shit like incest nor a brain-dead harem protagonist, nor stupid shipping wars. It's genuine, it's funny and it's totally relatable... except for that pointless trap character. What a pointless addition. Otherwise, the only difference between this season the previous one is that in the past it was mostly a male cast, whilst in this one it's mostly a female one, with the original cast being side characters. Would have rated it higher if it wasn't for the annoying goddamn trap though.

Watamote
Episodes Watched: 3
Rating: 7.5/10
Status: Watching

Omg, Shin Oonuma and Silver Link actually created something good for once? This is impossibru!

This series is hilarious. I haven't seen quite anything like it and the most remote thing I can compare it to is Welcome to the NHK which is itself quite different to this in execution (NHK is probably better). I think most of us have been socially recluded to some level or know people who are, though I don't think it's as far as how this series takes it. But beneath the dark comedy, is a tone of seriousness and awkwardness to a point where I think the mangaka him/herself has tackled social reclusion and depression in the past. Regardless, good series, though I wish the budget wasn't so dirt low. I don't know what looks cheaper, Shin Oonuma x Silver Link or Shaft x Shinbo.

Rozen Maiden
Episodes Watched: 4
Rating: 7.5/10
Status: Watching

Wtf, not only did Silver Link come out with a surprise but Deen too? What is this nonsense?

Aside from the terrible first episode, which was some super-rushed recap (I question it's purpose) it has been a fantastic ride so far. I was never too fond of the original Rozen Maiden franchise in that although it had some neat interesting elements going for it, it was always hampered by stupid antics like Desu spam or Hina being an annoying baby. Or that terrible 2nd season that was pretty much anime original trainwreck written by none other than the infamous Mari Okada. Come this season, and it's much more sombre, melancholy and has a certain amount of "class" to it. It also has some funky Steins Gate like timelines and alternative realities which makes it a lot more interesting than the first two seasons where it largely composed of antics + dolls fighting each other. Now there is a much better reason why the dolls fight each other and in the main character's purpose.

To Aru no Kagaku no Railgun S2 (Carryover)
Episodes Watched: 16
Rating: 8/10
Status: Watching

I only recently marathoned this, so if you asked me about a week ago regarding the Index/Railgun franchise and told me I was going to be rating it higher than a 5 (at most a 6), I would be told you that you were kidding yourselves. In other words, I can't believe this is the same franchise because the quality difference between this season of railgun compared to the first and second seasons of index and the first season of railgun is enormous. I vaguely remember the Sister Arc from the first index season and to be frank I remember ... almost nothing. Apart from it being rushed as hell and Touma being a total asshat with his magic right hand and preachy dickheadness. Oh and Kuruko making me want to strangle her. The latter still exists somewhat (still want to rip apart Kuruko's voicebox), but otherwise the pacing, execution, characters and general polish of this season is fantastic. Far less stupid antics, and much more story and narrative, with some of the best action scenes I've seen from JC Staff since Shakugan no Shana and an adrenaline pumped background music. The only thing that I'm worried about is that the Sisters Arc is now over so I have no idea if this quality is going to be maintained.

Uchouten Kazoku
Episodes Watched: 4
Rating: 9/10
Status: Attentively Watching

Being a PA Works series and the fact it's an adaption by the same novelist who wrote Tatami Galaxy (which I loved), it was pretty much an autowatch. But despite being a big fan of PA Works I know their limitations. One of their biggest is that although they are amazing at creating slice of life/drama series, they tend to fall flat when it comes to anything else despite their admirable attempts in avoiding pigeonholing. Canaan, Angel Beats, Another, Red Data Girl, these were all flops in my eyes compared to True Tears, Hanasaku Iroha and Tari Tari (Three Triumvrates) Then comes Uchouten Kazoku which so far at least seems to finally dispel that curse. Uchouten Kazoku possess the same polish, wistfulness and presentation as the three triumvirates, it also adds eccentricity and fantastical/supernatural elements to the mix, attempting to do again what completely failed in Red Data Girl. In addition, Uchouten Kazoku finally marks the departure of the Iroha/Tari Tari/Red Data Girl art style and direction and went for something more avant-garde and experimental in its visuals which was very refreshing to see as I've been getting quite tired of "Iroha" clones more or less. Undisputed favorite of the season so far and can't wait for more.

[Flawfinder]

Originally Posted by Archon_Wing

Wait what? Cheap? That series always had like no animation. Unless you meant cheaper, of which I can only imagine the FPS hit negative or something.

Nise was one of the best animated shows of 2011. Bake was made when Shinbo was dirt poor, but the Blu-rays fixed that problem. I'm aware that he's busy with Kizu, that Madoka movie, and Nisekoi pre-production, but this is just a huge step backwards.