Summer 2014 Animu: General Impressions and Ongoing Reviews Thread

[Archon_Wing]

Sup Animesuki. I've started watching Japanese animation again, and there's a quite an interesting selection this season so let's get a space so you can share with everyone the cream of the crop as well as the spoiled milk of this season

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, however you should only talk about episodes that aired this season. (don't come here to rant about Naruto fillers from last year, for example. I mean I know it's nice to be bitter and hold a grudge, but life does go on.). As the season progresses, feel free to make more posts so we can see how your opinion has evolved over time.

Because it is still early, you may want to choose to express your rating in terms of likelihood of continuing, or something like that. I'm more interested in which new shows are your priorities and why as well as your expectations for what will happen.

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.

[Flower]

Okie dokie.

For me in general the Summer thus far has been better than I expected it to be. It is still not a "great" one for me, but it is still a nice surprise as a whole.

TL;DR…

Summer 2014 initial impressions

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[Dawnstorm]

For me, this is the worst season in a long time. One of my favourite shows this season is the carryover Haikyuu, which is as typical a sports anime as you'll ever find, and sports anime aren't my thing.

The top three, shows I'm actually looking forward to are Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun, Barakamon and Majimoji Rurumo san. All of them are very enjoyable, but none of them are great (and Rurumo san is only up there because the title character pushes all the right buttons with me, and the ecchi is refreshingly straightforward and surprisingly unannoying).

Aldnoah Zero shows promise, Zankyou no Terror doesn't, and Tokyo Ghoul is interesting right now, but I fear it won't hold up (signs are there).

Glasslip is a PA Works show, no more, no less. They're doing fancy filter effects because the shows theme is glass. It's probably clever, but it's making me queasy because I'm slightly photosensitive. (I'd rank it a mid-field PA Works show; on balance about as good as Nagi no Asukara - it hasn't been as annoying yet, but neither has it hit that show's heights).

A few shows I thought were going to be bad are actually moderately fun to watch. This includes Momokyun Sword (don't ask) and Locodol, which - surprisingly - actually makes the local angle count.

Shinryakusha and Bladedance are pretty much exactly what I thought they'd be: mid-tier show that are fun enough for a lousy season like this one. Shinryakusha had a much better second episode than a first. Bladedance had a slightly worse second episode than first. Doesn't make much of a difference in the end.

Akame ga Kill feels like SAO 2's revenge for not watching that. It's pretty brutal, but for no reason at all. It's not even indulgent gratuity, as in splatter horror. It also tries and fails to be funny. I'm currently debating with myself if I give it one more episode. I played that game with Mahouka last season and managed seven episodes (Mahouka was just boring), so who knows how long I'll last with this one. Too long, probably.

Sailormoon is entertaining enough, but I've never really been a fan. It was the first magical girl show I've ever seen, but Cardcaptor Sakura came soon after and eclipsed it in just about every way. Anyway, it's fun enough - except for the transformation scenes, which use awful 3D animation. Prism Illya is probably as good as the first season, but the novelty has worn off.

Hanayamata and Yama no Susume 2 are fun moe shows, but none really gets to me.Railwars is a trainwreck. They've got trainservice (trainspotters can write down serial numbers...) and boobservice and ugly 3D and little else.

I'd actually watch Francesca. It's utterly silly. It's also utterly reviled, and the fansubbers don't seem to be exactly motivated to do this show, even though it's short. Not that big a loss, but in a season like this...

I'm also enjoying Jinsei, though I liked the first episode better than the second one. If the fansubbers pull through, so will I. (It can't be easy to sub - on the level of Joshiraku, I'd say, except probably not as rewarding.)

Ao Haru Ride is a very typical shoujo romance that isn't really my thing, and it doesn't help that it's airing one day after Gekkan Shoujo, but Maya Uchida's performance makes the show worth watching. She's the vitamin shot the show sorely needs.

And then there's shows like Dramatical Murder (which appears to go the way of K, initially interesting but in the end quite boring) and Tokyo ESP... yeah, well.

I'll be dropping Himegoto. I'm sure I'm forgetting stuff; there are lots of forgettables (though I seem to have remembered some).

[IceHism]

Tier 1: Shows that I anticipate every week and put some thought into what is being shown.

Zankyou No terror: Cause it's actually interesting (in this season) and its genre is right up my alley. Rank for now(only considering this season):A++

Aldnoah Zero: mecha fan, has big hype, real robots vs super robots, Actually interesting (in this season). Rank for now(only considering this season): A++

Tokyo Ghoul: Horror fan here. Better than most of the shit in the season. Nice premise. Rank for now(only considering this season): A+

SAO2: Fantasy, VR MMORPGS, I like the LNs. GGO and mother's rosario are great. They might even get to alicization. Currently, the show is going really well imo Rank for now(only considering this season): A

Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-Kun - parody and gag comedy. It's my feel good show which i have decided is okay every once in a while for me as i usually dislike gag.
Rank(only considering this season) : A-

Glasslip - This one is a bit iffy. It can easily go down two tiers depending on how the series goes. It's on a very thin line but if it stays on it, it could be a great show of this season
Rank for now(only considering this season) :A--



Tier 2: I look forward to every week but don't really care what the shows are saying.

Akame Ga Kill: There's nothing serious about this show right now. When they tone up the story and turn it dark, i'll pay more attention to it. Right now, it just has good action and some nice character designs. B++

Tokyo ESP: This is comedic in the dumb way right now and thus not very serious at the moment. Looking forward to the action since it is the same person who made Ga Rei so it has potential. B

Barakamon: I try to find why this series is considered good but it bores me every time i try to watch it. B-



Tier 3: The cringe tier, i don't like dropping things so I watch when there is nothing else to watch or do... hehe

Sengoku Basara Judge End: This should have never been made. The quality compared to past seasons is so bad. F--



Carryover:
Mahouka in Tier 1 as i'll be archiving it and look forward to it every week regardless of the fact that i think this show is way too rushed compared to the LN and lost most of its beautifulness,

M3: Sono Kuroki Hagane in Tier 2, it has potential still but it is slow.




Season is average overall but i don't think any season has been anything more than average to begin with.
You can assume that anything that i didn't rate is something i'm not watching

[mistress_kisara]

The A Group
1. Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun - This never fails to make me laugh, Izumi Tsubaki is awesome
2. Barakamon - Funny and heart-warming I love the characters so far
3. Free! Eternal Summer - Great improvement from the first season I love Rin's character development
4. Tokyo Ghoul - I really like the plot and it really keeps me interested
5. Ao Haru Ride - So far its a great adaptation of the manga, I can't wait until Kou's backstory reveal
6. Kuroshitsuji Book of Circus - Sebastian is awesome as usual and the plot keeps me interested
7. Haikyuu! - Great balance of comedy and plot, sports anime just the way I like it

The B Group
1. Aldnoah Zero - Great action and animation, but I'm not that interested in the characters yet except for Slaine and the princess
2. Bakumatsu Rock - The ridiculousness of the series is keeping me entertained and the songs are great
3. Sailormoon Crystal - I like what I'm seeing so far, but the biweekly format is jarring and I hope there's an improvement in animation
4. Sengoku Basara Judge End - Still entertaining, I just hope they tone down Ishida Mitsunari's screaming because my ears are bleeding
5. Re Hamatora - Great improvement from the 1st season especially the animation, thank god they changed studios

The C Group
1. Glasslip - Although the storyline is interesting, the characters not so much
2. Shounen Hollywood - I like the SoL elements but sometimes its just boring
3. Dramatical Murder - The animation on episode 3 was really shitty, thank they apologized that's the part that really needs improvement
4. Captain Earth - It's starting to improve now but still needs a lot of work, saving grace is the animation
5. Mahouka - I'm not interested in any of the characters except for Mikihiko and Erika

[DevilHighDxD]

Currently Watching:
Aldnoah Zero - 3/12 Episodes in.
- A rating of 4.25/5, just because the protagonist isn't another Tokishima Haruto! Definitely the best Mecha anime premiered this year.
- Chance of dropping at extremely low of 00.01 percent.

Rail Wars - 3/? Episodes in.
- My guilty pleasure anime, 2.75/5. If it wasn't for Haruka and Aoi it will been a 1/5 due to that miserable quality control. Boobs, trains and more boobs~
- Chance of dropping is possible but unlikely.

SAO 2 - 3/24 Episodes in.
- Just for the shit and giggle out of 5.
- Chance of dropping is 50/50, but hey it better than SAO which has a dropping rate of 75 percent.

Seirei Tsukai no Blade Dance - 2/? Episodes in.
- The girls are all tsundere but not to the like of Aria and Louise, so tolerable out of 5.
- chance of dropping, I'll drops when tsunderes become intolerable.

Glasslip - 3/? Episodes in.
- ???/5, need to watch more.
- Chance of dropping is... I need to watch more first.

Dropped:
Argevellon - 2/? Episodes in when dropped.
- Cliche, generic, hackneyed, trite, mundane and overdone out of 5.
- Sorry but MC suck major balls, so friggin dropped!

Free! S2 - 1/12 Episode in when dropped.
- WTF was I thinking when I'm trying to give this anime another chance out of 5.
- Not my style of bromantic, so dropped.

M3 - 13/? Episodes in when dropped.
- 1.75/5, this is the most average and boring Mecha anime I ever saw.
- So boring that I dropped it.

Carried over:
Captain Earth - 16/26 Episodes in.
- My casual relaxing anime, 3.25/5. Also that belly button forte!
- Chance of dropping, not happening.

Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei - 16/26 Episodes in.
- The stu-ness of unprecedented-ness out of 5, though Miyuki brought it down some points.
- Chance of dropping, not happening, definitely not when the personification of stu-ness itself is in it!

[Kmos]

Aldnoah.Zero: The better mecha show this season. Stranded martians vs puny humans. Interesting, powerful martian tech and a smart protagonist who will fight against them. Looks like characters are in their places and plots unveiled. Some exciting stuff to come. Sure to watch.

Tokyo Ghoul: Good start on the gorefest though stuff is censored so I sad. Have not read source material but have heard it's good stuff. Factions and players being introduced now and looking good for some conflict. Looking forward to future episodes.

Psycho Pass hour version: Added intro bits by antagonist, new scenes too? It's Psycho Pass, why wouldn't I re-watch this great anime.

Akame ga Kill: Fantasy action series about assassin revolutionaries. Those hit all the good points on a to-watch list. Well animated scenes. Fun characters (likely all have a dark past) and great interaction between them. Some light-heartedness mixed in with killings going on in here, some may or may not like it. Don't know source material but heard only good things to come. Looking forward to more.

Zankyou no Terror: Looks like japanese home grown terrorists. Who are the two MCs and why are they doing what they're doing? Don't know where this is leading and just waiting for things to unfold. The imagery may be a little unsettling to some. Watching to see where it goes.

Sword Art Online 2: Was not impressed much by first season. Still not impressed with this season thus far, yet I will watch it. I haven't played a MMORPG in a few years now but I haven't given up on it entirely so I watch as a reminder of sorts.

Tokyo ESP: I've read the manga early on to the point of the end of this season's anime I believe. It's a good read and I expect the anime to be one of the better ones this season. Yes, it's about 'superpowers' sorta, and superheroics and villiany. Hoping the anime is done well after an odd starting episode. Will follow. << Fast paced for me with omission of some material which could have expanded on events. Not a great adaptation for me. >>

Sabagebu: Fun, comedic girls survival club. Main girl is great, shows no mercy. I liked C3-bu, and this is the pure, fun only version of it so far I can tell. Good light-hearted watch I don't mind following. << Good? Light hearted? WTF was I thinking this is some wild crazy comedy. It's hilarous shit. One of the best shows this season. >>

Rokujouma no Shinryakusha: Looks like a harem where they threw in all types of fantasy girls: ghost, magical girl, alien princess, underground dweller, landlady, senpai. In a contest to take control of a small room through various contests/competitions one guy competes with four girls while roping in two other girls for fun harem plots. Watching cause Silver Link makes some fun animes and I guess I'm a fan of it.

Sailor Moon: It's a classic I didn't really catch in the past. Watching.

Himegoto: Whoa... Watch it.This comedy short Watch it. scares me a bit. Watch it. Beware.
Strainge+ 2: Yay more funny, weird, wtf did I watch-ness in a short. No hiding it, must watch.

Sengoku Basara 3: Everything seems so discombobulated. The new studio is to be blamed. Poor animation, poor story transitions (is that the right term? i dunno). Watching for sake of completion.

Free 2: Have really upped the appeal towards female viewers. It's gotten boring and painful to watch without any real training and competition. Likely dropping as I don't think there'll be enough improvement to story and characters to keep me interested.

Rail Wars: Trains and harem? ecchiness. Very well animated glossy T&A shots, sure to be a viewing delight to many. Not a train geek but I could do with a lot more focus on trains honestly. Good for a fun view but not expecting much out of this.

Argevollen: Everything's moving slowly with not enough development to start. Some very typical mecha start up settings. A mass of characters with little to no contribution to story so far. Not sure where it's going but it's a pretty dull start. Will come back to it if I hear any positives later.

[Haak]

Great

Terror in Tokyo - Loved the première. Art and animation is fantastic, the pacing was perfect and the characters were highly interesting. Unfortunately the next two episodes were a slight letdown. I wasn't sold by the riddle twist in the second episode and I felt the third episode was almost cliché and focusing on the wrong character. If that's all there really is to Shibasaki's character then i hope the focus will go more towards our romanticised terrorists and our depressed high school girl. That's what I'm watching the show for.

Barakamon - First episode was absolutely fantastic (almost as great as the Terror in Tokyo première). Second and third episodes weren't as great but still pretty good and highly enjoyable. Though I hope Handa won't continuously be as much of a buttmonkey because it's kinda detracting sometimes. The whole "city guy learning about new things in the countryside" has been done a lot but I still always seem to like it (e.g. Hanasaku Iroha, Gin no Saji). Definitely the best slice of life this season has to offer.

Tokyo Ghoul - The censoring almost ruined the second episode but otherwise the show continues to be entertaining. It's always great watching the MC's decent into madness. And I understand his hunger too since I'm fasting for Ramadan. :P

Good

Aldnoah.Zero - I was willing to give this show the benefit of the doubt and put aside my questions regarding the writing for the sake of enjoying the immediate drama but in the third episode those questions started seeping into the immediate drama and now I can't really muster as much faith in this series any more. I want to like it and I admire its ambition but such strangely basic plotholes that I wonder how they could've missed, prevent me from doing so. In any case the action is still reasonably good, the characters (the good guys anyway) are interesting and there are some twists thrown in that could lead to even more interesting possibilities. It all depends on if the writers can make good of their promise though.

Ao Haru Ride - I enjoyed the first episode despite the moderate levels of cheesiness but Episode 2 was a little too much for me. Having the guts to tell your friends to stop backchatting someone you don't think deserves it isn't exactly what I'd call the most sensational piece of character development the show seems to make it out to be, so the whole incident just struck me as a little too hamfisted and "chuunibyou". Episode 3 was a lot better and it looks like the show has reached some sort of starting point that it can start developing from so it'll be interesting to see where it goes now.

Space Dandy Season 2 - Pretty much the same as first season. I appreciate the creativity more than anything else, but there always seem to be a gap between my appreciation for the story itself and my appreciation for the thought gone into it. I always feel like I ought to like it more than I actually do, for some reason.

Shirogane no Ishi: Argevollen - Generic mecha plot executed more or less competently. Not a whole lot else to say really, except if it doesn't start to differentiate itself soon then it could quickly become too formulaic and boring. The characters, unfortunately, just don't interest me in the slightest.

Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun - The humor is never more than chuckle-worthy but I like the quirky characters and it appeals to me so it's definitely worth sticking with.

Hanayamata - HHHHHHHHHHHHHHNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGG

Average

Glasslip - There's a lot of potential in this show but the characters will make or break it for me. And right now i don't find any of them interesting and some of them annoying so it's not the best start. I was hoping the plot would actually start moving after episode 2 but the same slow pace pretty much remained the same in the next two episodes and I really wonder what this show is trying to be. I sorely hope it's not actually going to remain as a slice of life like this because frankly the characters and their romance suck. I just can't find it in me to care about any of their problems, especially when it doesn't feel like they have any life beyond those incredibly few aspects of their personalities. Well David does have something but he's too annoying for me to like. I hope it starts focusing on the supernatural elements soon because that's its only saving grace..

Tokyo ESP - The first half of the première started out really nice but the second half quickly became formulaic and downright cheesy, culminating in a dragged out scene where two bespectacled teenagers try to stop a villain by repeatedly banging into her forcefield whilst she watches on cackling at their futility. The second episode was kinda confusing because of the shift in timeline but I can see from the third episode what the deal is now. unfortunately I don't know what the deal is with the quality of the writing. I want to like it because there are moments in this show that I genuinely think are well done but then it shifts into some of the most banal undignified stupidity in the blink of an eye and I just don't know what to think any more. All the Gai Rei Zero references were amusing though.

Sailor Moon - I know literally nothing about Sailor Moon except that it's an obscenely well known and popular franchise. From what I saw of the first episode, I had three main impressions:
1) The retro look was unexpected but kinda cool.
2) The MC is annoying as hell.
3) The plot is a little too "for kids" for my tastes.
Second episode confirmed for me that this is just not my show. Dropped.

Atrocious

Sword Art Online II -

Images

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[Grifis]

There isn't anything great this season (and I looked forward to so many. So disappointed. While I like some, I won't put them on my favorite list anytime soon.)
In term of enjoyment,

Most enjoyable
Nobunaga Concerto (2/) This is one of the 2 I look forward to watch the most. Character designs look very good. Animation is not perfect but the story is interesting.
Love Stage (3/) This is the other one I look forward to watch. It's the most enjoyable romance take than the others this season.

Close to most enjoyable
Ao Haru Ride (3/) I need a little bit of time to like the main girl. It has potential of being most enjoyable.
Free! 2 (4/) It's enjoyable but I prefer focus on the main main guys.

Somewhat enjoyable
Gekkan Shojo Nozaki-kun (3/) It started out funny with some kind of story but then it became a series of gags or something. But there's still some enjoyment there I guess.
Barakamon (4/) It's an okay slice of life. I don't like it as much I thought I would but there's still hope.

Off and on
Glasslip (4/) Most likely will drop this but for now I watch it off and on just to see if there's hope.

Boring stuff
Shonen Hollywood (4/) Ep 1 was not bad but it got more and more boring. I'm not sure I want to follow this anymore.
Dramatical Murder (3/) This is really bad. I don't even care about the plot because there isn't anything interesting about it.

Not interested
Zankyou no Terror (1/) MC as terrorists? I have no interest watching them getting away with destruction or rooting them on. So no.
Rail Wars (1/) What's up with the oversize boobs? I can't deal with this mutation.
Aldnoah.Zero (1/) Unattractive characters designs. Uninteresting mecha.
Argevollen (1/) Really boring mecha.

[Solace]

I haven't been this disinterested in an anime season in a long time.

[GreyZone]

Originally Posted by Solace

I haven't been this disinterested in an anime season in a long time.

Fall 2014 should easily make up for it.

[Lord of Fire]

Top-tier:
- Barakamon (4/12). Heartwarming and funny. Naru is friggin' adorable, and the same can be said for pretty much all the other kids.
- Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun (4/12). It's hilarious, it looks very very nice and all the characters are interesting in their own way

Good-tier:
- Free! Eternal Summer (4/13). The humor is good, if not better than S1, Gou-chan is (still) hot, and I like how we're delving more into other characters' pasts
- Locodol (4/-). A bit of a sleeper hit. Didn't expect much from it, but am highly enjoying it so far. The little bits of fanservice add flavor to this show.
- Hanayamata (4/12). It looks gorgeous and the characters are all very endearing, especially Naru and Hana. hopefully, we'll get to see them do a true yosakoi dance other than in the OP.
- Majimoji Rurumo (3/-). Picked this up despite earlier lack of interest. Quite happy I did, because this show is quite funny and looks nice. Rurumo herself is as cute as you can get.
- Rokujouma no Shinryakusha!? (3/12). I had my reservations at first, but it's shaping up to be an interesting show with funny characters.
- Sin Strange+ (3/12). I liked the first season, this is no different. And that's fine with me.
- Yama no Susume S2 (2/24). Two episodes in, and I'm already liking it even more than S1. The extra length (both in episode count and time) make a whole lot of difference.

Okay-tier:
- Sailor Moon Crystal (2/26). The fact this show airs only twice a month is bad enough, but I'm not very fond of what I've seen so far. Maybe it's because I don't remember much from the show back when I watched (parts of) it and I only saw a dub back then, but I find Usagi to be quite annoying (both in character and voice), and I'm seeing once again that Toei's animation sucks nine out of ten times. Ironically enough, I like the 3DCG transformation sequences.
- Sword Art Online II (3/24). So far, it's a step up from the ALO arc from S1, so it's not a total loss, but so far, I'm not exactly highly impressed, either. I'm still at the first stages, of course, so this could change as of episode 4. Shino's disorder is a bit hard to swallow when reality and VR clash so much with each other.
- Tokyo ESP (1/12). Though having seen one episode so far, my impression isn't exactly off the charts. Maybe it's because they started right in the middle of all the action, rather than at the beginning, so maybe the show gets better once I get more of what's going on.

Dropped:
- Glasslip (3/13). If this is the best P.A. Works can do, I fear the worst. Not even the nice ED (courtesy of nano.RIPE, whom I always like) can save this show from being a complete and utter failure.

No real masterpiece that I can see so far, but overall, this season is quite enjoyable.

[Dr. Dahm]

I'm not really watching many shows but I think I'll do this a little differently by just listing specific ways in which shows have stood out to me so far.

Most surprisingly good: Tokyo ESP
Most disappointing: Akame Ga Kill/Persona 4: Golden
Most consistently funny: Space Dandy 2
Most dramatic: Zankyou no Terror
Most interesting: Zankyou no Terror
Best art & animation: Zankyou no Terror/Space Dandy 2
Most potential for improvement: Aldnoah.Zero/Shirogane No Ishi: Argevollen
Most currently improved sequel series: Space Dandy 2 (Sword Art Online 2 missed out on a mention here by literally an episode)

[Darthtabby]

I don't normally participate in these threads, but I'll give it a shot this time around.

Top Picks

Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-Kun: A highly entertaining show with some highly entertaining twists on shoujo manga character archtypes.

Tokyo ESP: The first episode tries too hard to evoke Ga-Rei Zero (an animated prequel to another manga by the mangaka who created Tokyo ESP) but I’ve found myself really warming up to this one after the second and third episodes.

Sword Art Online II: I knew that the source material for the new season’s first arc was a lot better than the source material for the second arc of the previous season, but I still wasn’t expecting the adaptation to be as good as its been so far.

Relatively Strong

Aldnoah Zero:The world building and the characterization of the antagonists has left something to be desired, but the main character turning out to be a tactical genius gave this show a big boost even if I think it should have been hinted at more in the earlier episodes. Very strong production values.

Argevellon: It seems the tension between the necessity of obedience to the chain of command and doing what one personally thinks is right is likely to be a key theme in this series. This show’s execution can be kind of awkward and clumsy so we’ll have to see if it can do the theme justice, but if nothing else it’s got some pretty nice use of tactics, with scouting and terrain playing an important role. There are some clichés relating to the main character ending up with an advanced prototype mech, but the show seems to be putting some twists on those clichés.

Survival Game Club: Comedy is one genre where having a protagonist who is vengeful and petty can be awesome.

Has Potential

Glasslip: This show seemed to have a serious lack of story direction but seems to be a bit more on track after its latest episode. It could still amount to something. It’s a bit hard to judge since its not the fastest paced show around.

So-so

Rail Wars: For a really ridiculous show this one can be surprisingly smart on occasion. Emphasis on the "on occasion" part though.

Terrible

Blade Dance: I suppose it has a certain entertainment value, but its hackneyed and clichéd and brought to mind several other light novel adaptations that I didn’t consider very good either. Very shallow characters.

I've also got Captain Earth as a carryover from last season and have been checking out the new Sailor Moon remake (I'm not very familiar with the original). Overall I actually find this a better season than last season despite Summer traditionally not being as big a season for new anime titles as Spring and Fall.

[GDiddy]

I started out watching a lot, but I wound up dropping series:

Hated:

Tokyo ESP

wanted to like this one because I thought it'd be mostly lighthearted action and drama, but the opening episode scared me. Not really in a mood for 'ROCKS FALL EVERYONE DIES' anime....and I get that from Psycho Pass.


Maybe I'll Pick Them Up:

Tokyo Ghoul

I might pick this up again. I like the premise and the story, but the censoring is ridiculous compared to other shows I've seen.


====

DRRMurder

Watched the first three episodes and have no clue wtf the story is supposed to be, other than our MC being some kind of hero in the online world. MC is basic as fuck anyway.

===
Shonen Hollywood

Was hoping this would be a parody on idol shows (like UtaPri). I might start watching this again though. I don't really like the art, but the manager character and some of the comedy make up for it.


Hanayamata

I love the premise(Japanese dancing!) and I just started watching this, but Jesus Christ...does the MC stop being so shy and go thru at least one episode without crying? I get that this show is supposed to be moe, but come on now...


Keepers! Or Shows I'd Definitely Would Purchase

Barakamon:

I am in absolute LOVE with everything about this show Naru is adorable without being bratty and Handa is Love. I have not been bored with this series YET.


Girls Monthly Nozuki-kun

Another show I absolutely look forward to every weekend. Mikorin is my other anime crush(besides Handa and Rei) this season. Chiyo's a good MC and man, does this show make me laugh, like Barakamon.

Bakumatsu Rock

So goddamn stupid...but absolutely hilarious! The music's pretty good too. This turned out to be the parody of idols that I thought Shonen Hollywood would be. Nice pisstake on the Japanese music industry, folks.


And the Sequels...


Psycho Pass: Director's Cut

Enjoying this a lot. Good thing I didn't buy the second half of season one yet; I'll wait until the director's version comes out. Also, my love for Akane/Ko remains strong.


Sailor Moon Crystal

I never really saw the original, other than a few episodes here and there, so this is interesting to watch to me anyway knowing that the series stays close to the manga.

Kuroshituji: Book of Circus

Better than the crap first seasons. I'm liking it so far.

Free: Eternal Summer

This isn't as good as season one, but still pretty entertaining every week. Who would've thought that a year ago, Rin would've went from emo douchebag to the nicest one out of the bunch? Momo and the silvehaired Kouhai are adorable though. Not a fan of Yanderesuke. Can't wait to see why he's pissed at Haru.

[Archon_Wing]

Only 3 new shows this season, but that's typical for me. Plus some irregular Space Dandy on Cartoon Network which is also fun.

Terror in Tokyo is amazing. (3 eps) The show presents a layer of intrigue between the two leads with a lot of subtleties leaving much backstory to be explored and a story to unfold that intersects with the female lead. In addition their opponent, the leading detective also has a fair bit of depth to be explored. The detective part of the show and the riddles are entertaining though not really the main appeal. In any case, Watanabe creates a dynamic atmosphere that really suits the story's nature of dealing with terror.

Aldnoah Zero (4 eps) is an entertaining show. The world leaves much potential to explore and the conflict is fairly cruel and sadly enough believable enough given humanity's thirst for domination over others. The characters though are really not that interesting with the exception of the shell shocked veteran and maybe the not-so-naive princess. The main character is somewhat amusing in his deadpaness but he reminds me of a Keeanu Reeves character, and what's with all the plot power? Also, the music is pretty repetitious.

Glasslip (5 eps). An anime with a novel concept aided by the scenery of the beautiful countryside, with cute girls and some funny jokes. It's ultimately held back by its terrible pacing, questionable decisions at important points, and terrible male cast thus apparently doomed to mediocrity. I can copy and paste this for almost anything PA Works does, honestly.

HxH-- Killua, and Leorio (Oooooh yeah!)

[Kotohono]

Top tier: (Keeping 100%)
Name of Series: Hanayamata
Episodes Watched: 5
Rating: A
Comments: A really charming Slice of Life and Coming of Age together well in an adorable show about the japanese culture of yosakoi, and does a great job giving each character attention and focus at times.

Name of Series: Aldnoah.Zero
Episodes Watched: 5
Rating: A
Comments: Amazing battles so far, I think the world setting feels a little bit lacking still with so much unknown about it is only thing holding it back currently, while the MC's personality could be argued against, but I think it fits since he is as tactical and calculating as he is. The soundtrack here is a huge plus.

Name of Series: Zankyou no Terror
Episodes Watched: 5
Rating: A-
Comments: Feels like it has a lot of potential to become even better than it's show so far, hopefully with a bit more characterization since it felt a little weak there, while strong is most other areas. It probably has the best soundtrack besides Aldnoah.Zero this season.

Name of Series: Yama no Susume: Second Season
Episodes Watched: 5
Rating: A-
Comments: A very heartwarming SoL series about climbing, with it's longer length it's basically everything I wanted from the all too short first season.

Name of Series: Fate/kaleid liner Prisma☆Illya 2wei!
Episodes Watched: 4
Rating: B
Comments: So far it's felt a bit lacking in action compared to how well paced S1 was, I mean the (few) fight(s) so far as been great, so it's will probably earn a higher rating later.

Mid tier:
Name of Series: Jinsei
Episodes Watched: 5
Rating: C+
Comments: Generally funny enough, and focuses fairly well on the supposed premise of Life Advice Columnist, most of the time anyways, and manages to stay away from too much harem antics thankfully (though doesn't avoid them completely ).
Status (Keep/drop/stall): Keep most likely

Name of Series: Futsuu no Joshikousei ga [Locodol] Yatte Mita.
Episodes Watched: 6
Rating: C
Comments: A bit awkwardly paced at times, it's an earnest show about the local idols who are simply that at least, they clearly aren't profession grade . It's funny and alright overall, just not something special.
Status (Keep/drop/stall): probably keep

Name of Series: Himegoto
Episodes Watched: 5
Rating: C-
Comments: Short, Funny, and trap-ish nothing else to really say about it.
Status (Keep/drop/stall): keep

Dropped tier:
Name of Series: Rail Wars
Episodes Watched: 3
Rating: D
Comments: Not completely terrible, but a bit too absurd, lacking overall plot, and is a bit too willing to use cliche fanservice to kill time, and overall just not what I expected/hoped from it.
Status (Keep/drop/stall): Most likely dropped.

Name of Series: Rokujouma no Shinryakusha!?
Episodes Watched: 2
Rating: F
Comments: A Friend convinced me to give a chance, the humor just fell completely flat for me though, and it was way too dependent on cliches for both the humor and characters resulting in poor humor and overly generic series, I really shouldn't have even given it a chance it was a waste of time.
Status (Keep/drop/stall): Dropped

Edit:
Considering try/watching: Barakamon, SAO 2, Sabagebu!, & Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun

[Sackett]

Only really watching three shows (including carryovers) this season, but I'm happy because of my top pick.

Top Pick: Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun

There have been quite a few good romantic comedies, but they focus on the romance part. It's been a long time since there was such a good comedy focused rom-com. (Not counting The Devil is a Part timer since that was not romance based at all).

Consistently funny, and so far 3 out of 5 episodes have been over the top funny. It has a great ensemble of characters that you like. No love triangle nonsense. I look forward to this show each week.

#2: Tokyo ESP: I was really looking forward to it since I thought the manga was great. I've been a bit disappointed. They've cut out a bunch of the early character development in favor of stream lining the story to get to the action. Tokyo ESP is also a balance of light and darkness in the story. The manga got that balance very well, but the anime seems just a little off balance at times. It's still a fun anime, but I prefer the manga.

Carryover: Jojo, what can I say, it's Jojo!

[Magin]

I actually have a question for y'all- apparently, the two shows that I am watching the hell out of this season, Sailor Moon Crystaland Seirei Tsukai no Blade Dance, their anime threads everyone keeps bitching about the animation quality... are these the only shows that are suffering from it (other than Rail Wars, but Rail Wars isn't something I'm taking seriously), or are there other shows airing that also seem to have lower-than-average animation quality?

[Triple_R]

I'd say the best show of the season so far, at least for my tastes, has been Sword Art Online II largely on the basis of a wonderful new female lead character in Sinon. Still, SAO II being this high for me probably says more about the Summer 2014 season than it does about SAO II.

Granted, my personal preferences probably don't help here, as "Comedy" and "Horror" are not my favorite genres.


Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun is an excellent comedy, the best I've watched since Love Lab, and if comedy was my favorite genre, I'd probably have been singing this show's praises long before now. If you want a good-natured but whip-smart comedy with excellent timing and well-executed zany character reactions, you can't do much better than this show. I highly recommend it to Comedy genre fans, and I would recommend it to anybody who's a seasoned anime fan.

I've had Tokyo Ghoul stalled for awhile, but its first episode struck me as the sort of thing that would probably appeal to most horror fans. I felt it had very good direction and some gripping visuals. It's certainly worth checking out if you like the horror genre and/or "dark" shows.

I keep going back and forth on Glasslip. Some episodes strongly resonate with me, while others leave me a bit bored and dissatisfied. And I'm probably not the best judge of P.A. Works shows since I'm very partial to what you could call their standard visual style (i.e. notice the similarities between True Tears, Hanasaku Iroha, Tari Tari, Another, and Red Data Girl, to know what I mean here). Still, in a season where I haven't run across a great deal of Slice of Life or moe, this show is worth a try for anybody who's a big fan of SoL or moe.

The same holds true of Locodol. A poor man's Love Live! mixed with a more cautious man's Sakura Trick, and sprinkled with a light seasoning of Saki spice. If you like either one of those three anime shows, Locodol is definitely worth a try. It's also the most moe show of the season so far, if you'd liked to get more of that.

Aldnoah.Zero has excellent production values, and a bit of a twist on an old mecha trope, but it typically leaves me wanting more. Still, it does show flashes of brilliance, and it's more solid than the more maligned shows of its genres. I don't enjoy it as much as I did Code Geass or Valvrave, but it's definitely the closest thing you'll fine this season to either of those two shows.

Shirogane no Ishi Argevollen is a much different beast. It's a more conventional mecha anime than Aldnoah.Zero in some ways, but it also feels more grounded and realistic to me on the whole. Its pacing is methodical and meticulous, and it feels to me like the sort of show that gradually gets better over time and puts all of its careful plot/characterful development to good use, likely leaving the viewer who watches all of it feeling satisfied in the end. Some have been very critical of its male lead. If you don't like hotheaded passionate lead protagonists (think shounen male lead) then this show might not be for you. Otherwise, it's definitely worth a try.

Fate/kaleid liner PRISMA☆ILLYA Zwei! is certainly worth a try to anybody who liked last summer's Prisma Illya (this is a sequel where watching the original is a must, imo). The show has done a pretty good job of picking up from where it left off. Compared to Season 1 it's a little more comedy/SoL focused, and a little less dark/action-packed, at least so far. Nonetheless, it does have some good action scenes.

Free! Eternal Summer is a sequel that completely captures the essence of the original, and just keeps going with it. So whatever you thought of the first season, you'll probably think of this one as well. Much like Prisma Illya, I think watching the original is a must if you're going to watch the sequel. I don't think that Free! is as bad as its harshest critics might have you believe, and if you like more lighthearted fare and/or KyoAni's style of animation, then Free! is a show worth giving a shot.

Sailor Moon 2014 definitely has its QUALITY animation issues. It might be the worst of the shows I've discussed when it comes to that alone. However, visuals are about 90% of my issues with this show. The characters and plot are as good as ever, if not better than ever, aside from how they look. If you liked the original Sailor Moon(anime or manga) this is definitely a show you should watch.