Spring 2011 Final Impressions: Post Your Current Opinion and Grade

[Archon_Wing]

Previously, I had posted a midterm review thread for Spring 2011 anime. Now that spring season's been over for a few weeks, and summer is starting, I was gonna post a Summer initial impressions thread soon, but I figured it'd be a good idea for people to post their updated thoughts and to close out the previous season first.

You may post about any and all anime that aired during the spring, regardless if it has finished or not; it obviously won't be a final impression of that series if it's more than 1 cour, but it will be your closing thoughts on the show for this season. This is due to quite a few popular shows that are 2-cour. This also includes any long runners that have episodes in the spring. (But of course keep it to spring episodes whenever possible).

In short, beginning and end date is irrelevant. All that matters is the anime has episodes in spring 2011, and you've seen all of them. You can always use the other thread if you're not finished. By entering this thread, you run a risk of spoilers. I do not want any debates over the thread title. Nobody will arrest you for technicalities.

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 etc. Or maybe you don't believe in grades.

Name of Series:
Episodes Watched:
Rating:
Comments:

[Reckoner]

Well I guess I can offer my seasonal review. Long as it may be...

Name of Series: Steins;Gate
Rating: A
Episodes Watched: 15
Comments: Still remains the top dog of Spring and beyond. Potential candidate for best show of 2011, and considering how great Madoka was, that's really saying something.

Name of Series: Ano Hana
Rating: B
Episodes Watched: Completed
Comments: A bit of drop off in quality towards the end, as well a bit heavy handed on the melodrama. Still this is an anime fully worth recommending, and was generally very solid. The narrative worked out pretty well.

Name of Series: Deadman Wonderland
Rating: B
Episodes Watched: Completed
Comments: Was very entertaining to the end, but without a real sense of closure, are we to wait for a second season that may never come? The pacing was a tad too quick as well.

Name of Series: Denpa Onna
Rating: B
Episodes Watched: Completed
Comments: Really enjoyed this show all the way to the end. There's nothing that screams absolute greatness about this show, other than perhaps the usual touch of class in the visuals from Shinbo, but everything just worked together very beautifully for a very enjoyable anime. I hope to see a new season in the future.

Name of Series: Tiger & Bunny
Rating: B
Episodes Watched: 15
Comments: Really enjoyable show. Never misses a beat. Characters are lovely. Might move up in the future.

Name of Series: Moshidora
Rating: B
Episodes Watched: Completed
Comments: Nothing changed here... "Powerful ending, flat beginning. If the beginning was a bit better, this show could've really lifted off into the stratosphere. Really nice to see a show with zero fan service, and a real bittersweet story to boot."


Name of Series: World Only God Knows II
Rating: B-
Episodes Watched: Completed
Comments: Keima is just too good. Enjoyed the second season much like the first.

Name of Series: Kaiji II
Rating: B-
Episodes Watched: 15
Comments: Second season is getting really good, some great moments overall really. OST is fantastic. May move up if it ends better than season 1. Recap episode was fail though, why it gets a B-.

Name of Series: Ao no Exorcist
Rating: B-
Episodes Watched: 13
Comments: Standard shonenesque story, but really well executed. I can't say there are any real flaws with this show thus far. Very good.

Name of Series: Hanasaku Iroha
Rating: C+
Episodes Watched: 15
Comments: Drop offs in quality, erratic story are not lending itself to great entertainment for me. Still potential to move in a better direction, but it's undeniable that the side arcs and side cast are not holding the story well enough when Ohana as a character doesn't perform very well .

Name of Series: C: The Money of Soul and Possibility Control
Rating: D-
Episodes Watched: Completed
Comments: The show's potential is a bit marred by the poor production values it has received. It's too bad, because the idea is truly a great one, and the plot itself is wonderful and interesting. The ending was a train wreck. Honestly, great idea, HORRIBLE execution. What the hell even happened by the end?


Name of Series: Hidan no Aria
Rating: F
Episodes Watched: Completed
Comments: Holy fucking shit.

Garbage bin of Spring 2011 also includes Nichijou and Dog Days.

[Archon_Wing]

Name of Series: Ano Hana
Episodes Watched: Completed
Rating: A-
Comments: Overall, Mari Okada put forth a clinic on storytelling, putting forth a story with an extremely powerful punch. It's unfortunate that the overacting at the end dragged the anime down a little, or else it would have been top 5. Great anime, a bit of a letdown ending. Still top 10 for me, maybe. One of the endearing casts I've seen in animated form.


Name of Series:Steins;Gate
Episodes Watched: 15
Rating: A
Comments: Initially, this was starting to trail behind Ano Hana but it really went into full steam this past few episodes. A near perfect combination of dialogue and fun characters, along with the anime starting to dive deep into the mystery that lies deep down makes this anime a clear winner. This is also one of the few animes to use moe and other typical anime tropes so well that it doesn't bother me. The cast is all very endearing, and some extra development to the plot will make Steins;Gate a formidable competitor in any arena.


Name of Series: Hana Saku Iroha
Episodes Watched: 15
Rating: B-
Comments: Hana Saku Iroha also made a very strong run near the end of spring around episode 13 and showed off some of its trump cards, what it was really capable of; establishing relationships with the lead and her family which led to a lot of character growth. Unfortunately, the rest of the cast is still lackluster, and the "romance" causes the show to come to a full stop. Ohana is simply carrying the show, without her it doesn't work.


Name of Series: Kaiji
Episodes Watched: 15
Rating: B
Comments: This show keeps outdoing itself in the insane. Kaiji's travels just get increasingly hardcore, and aided by its amazing OST (can compete with Madoka for soundtrack of year) creates an atmosphere of despair and sometimes determination that is incredibly hard to match. Kaiji himself has come a long way in his character, leading to many moments of manlyness despite all the pain he must go through. Potentially epic material; however the show's weakness still remains-- pacing is way too drawn out which turns out to be a buzzkill in more than 1 spot.

[ahelo]

My Top 5
Name of Series: Steins;Gate
Episodes Watched: 15
Rating: A
Comments: Slow but solid in its first half then when it started chugging the plot, it turned into quite a beast

Name of Series: Nichijou
Episodes Watched:15
Rating: A
Comments: Most creative and unique comedy I've seen in a while.

Name of Series: AnoHana
Episodes Watched:11
Rating: A-
Comments: Drama of the season

Name of Series: Hanasaku Iroha
Episodes Watched:15
Rating: B+
Comments: The Slice of Life this season. Not the usual K-ONcopycatno.63 but a coming of age series about a girl working in an inn.

Name of Series: Ao no Exorcist
Episodes Watched: 13
Rating: B+
Comments: A bit cliche'd type of Shounen action. The thing is though, it's executed very well and is actually refreshing.

[Triple_R]

From top to bottom...

Name of Series: Steins;Gate
Episodes Watched: 15
Grade: A
A serious sci-fi story, with a likable eccentric "mad scientist" main protagonist that I think most sci-fi fans in general would love, all effectively complimented by anime tropes and female character types executed well. Steins;Gate has an unique blend of elements to itself, but still manages to fuse them together seamlessly and with excellent entertainment value. Steins;Gate is also remarkably consistent. Only one of its episodes even slightly disappointed me, and almost all I thoroughly enjoyed. I would heartily recommend this anime to any anime fan and/or any sci-fi fan. If you like both anime and sci-fi, please check this out.

Name of Series: Tiger and Bunny
Episodes Watched: 15
Grade: B
Tiger and Bunny was a show that I was mostly enjoying, but was not one of my tops of the season, until they brought in a certain supervillain that felt like a cross between The Joker and Magneto. And that's when the comic book fan of my youth was awakened for the first time in a long time. Tiger and Bunny vs. that particular villain really spoke to the kid in me, igniting my imagination like few anime shows have done. With that in mind, I can't recommend Tiger and Bunny enough to anime fans that also have at least some liking for the superhero comics of DC and Marvel. Somewhat ironically, this anime original captures the essence and fun of superhero comics better than either of the Madhouse adaptations, in my view (although one did come close, more on that later). Tiger and Bunny has a good, colorful cast of heroes, with loud personalities that fit well with their flamboyant attire. Simply loads of fun and amusement.

Name of Series: Hanasaku Iroha
Episodes Watched: 15
Grade: B
Hanasaku has two key strengths that keep it amongst the season's finest for me: Best female lead of the season and artwork/animation that is tops of the season. Ohana is also neck-and-neck with Steins;Gate's Okabe for best character of the season, imo. However, Hanasaku's quality is pretty wildly variable from episode-to-episode. A couple of Hanasaku's episodes are amongst the very best of the season in my view, but a couple have been rather weak as well. Still, Hanasaku Iroha is a worthwhile watch overall, and I recommend it to any anime fans who like slice of life and/or coming of age stories.

Name of Series: Anohana
Episodes Watched: Completed
Grade: B
Reckoner summed this up pretty well I think. For a much longer take, though, feel free to read my blog review of it here.

Name of Series: Denpa Onna
Episodes Watched: Completed
Grade: B
Quite possibly the most moe anime I've ever seen. Still, it is intellectually engaging enough, and thought-provoking enough, to avoid being a true "guilty pleasure" watch. Female cast members are insanely cute and endearing, while the male lead is pretty strong compared to your standard harem anime male lead. If you like moe, look no further.

Name of Series: Moshidora
Episodes Watched: Completed
Grade: B
I once described the female lead as being like the hypothetical daughter of Haruhi Suzumiya and Kyon, and I continue to think that fits. As such, she manages to keep this anime dynamic and fun whereas otherwise it might be a touch on the dull side. This anime also has a complete lack of fanservice, which I found very refreshing. Very tight plot, with a slightly slow start but an excellent ending. If you like baseball anime, and/or if you like The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, and/or if you desperately want an anime with no fanservice in it, Moshidora's for you.

Name of Series: X-Men
Episodes Watched: Completed
Grade: B-
X-Men is easily the best of the Madhouse Marvel Comics adaptations to date. On the plus side, the action scenes are good, the visuals are good, the protagonists are all largely fine, the drama is rock solid, and this is probably the absolute best I've ever seen Scott Summers (i.e. Cyclops) in any medium, anywhere. On the minus side, the villains are a bit one-dimensional, the pacing can feel a bit overly methodical at times, and it could perhaps benefit a bit from having a touch of Tiger and Bunny's lightheartedness. Still, this is a good watch for action/shonen fans and X-Men fans alike.

Name of Series: A-Channel
Episodes Watched: Completed (Not including Specials)
Grade: B-
Fairly straightforward "cute girls doing cute things" anime. Generally lighthearted, upbeat, and with a few chuckles along the way. As a slice of life comedy, it's pretty good. If you like K-On, you'll almost certainly like this. Ironically, it actually has more music in it than K-On did.

Name of Series: Ao no Exorcist
Episodes Watched: 4
Grade: B-
Solid, competent shonen. I have no major complaints here, but it didn't wow me either. I've decided to put this one on hold as I like to marathon most shonen titles all in one go (and also since Ao no Exorcist had the misfortune of airing during a very deep anime season).

Name of Series: Sengoku Otome
Episodes Watched: Completed
Grade: C+
True guilty pleasure anime for me. Good action scenes. Usually good visuals. Story is very simple and straightforward, but it's decent fun. Fairly standard action/comedy/fanservice mix. You know the type (i.e. think Kampfer). If that's what you want, Sengoku Otome should fit what you're looking for.

Name of Series: C: The Money of Soul and Possibility Control
Episodes Watched: Completed
Grade: C
C fittingly gets a C from me. It would have been higher if not for a true trainwreck of an ending, in my opinion. Its conceptually fascinating, but has very poor execution overall. Visuals were also relatively poor (just compare them to all of the anime I've already discussed above). Still, if you're looking for a wild ride and a "fun mess" anime, this may be just what you're looking for.

Name of Series: Sket Dance
Episodes Watched: 4
Grade: C
Most seasons, Sket Dance would not have been a drop for me, but sheer numbers of quality shows resulted in me having to drop a couple decent ones just for the sake of basic time management. Sket Dance has good comedy (sometimes very good comedy) but just couldn't maintain my interest in a season loaded with good-to-great anime storylines. I heard that the drama side of it gets much better as you go along, but I didn't get much of a sense of that early on.

Name of Series: Nichijou
Episodes Watched: 9
Grade: C
Unlike the three posters above me, I neither hate nor love Nichijou. Whereas some anime shows have good episodes and bad episodes, Nichijou has good scenes and bad scenes. Each episode had some of both for me. Each episode had enough "good scenes" to make me want to watch more, until I finally lost interest in the anime as a whole. I'm a bit biased here as I'm not keen on Kyoto Animation's direction as of late, and I also like plot in my anime shows. If you're looking for surrealist comedy, and you don't care about plot, then Nichijou is worth a try. To its credit, Nichijou does try some truly unorthodox animation approaches at times too.

Name of Series: Dog Days
Episodes Watched: 4
Grade: C-
Dog Days does a few things very well. Great action scenes, likable male lead, colorful visuals. However, Dog Days has one fatal flaw that led me to dropping it. That flaw is that it effectively has no drama whatsoever due to how "war" is setup in it, and also due to how it doesn't really take itself seriously enough. Action without drama holds little if any interest to me.

Name of Series: Hidan no Aria
Episodes Watched: 8
Grade: C-
Aria had an interesting series premise, good potential, and great action scenes. For awhile, it did pretty good filling an "action blockbuster" anime niche for me. Then it seemed to forget entirely about action, and turn into nothing but a total fanservice comedy. That's greatly exacerbated by how frankly annoying most of these characters are when they're in fanservice comedy mode. Much like other KugRie characters (Shana in particular), Aria is at her best when she's kicking ass and taking names, not when she's competing in the most cliche of romance conflicts imaginable. Still, if you liked Zero no Tsukaima, you might like Hidan no Aria.

[Flower]

Hmm ... good question.

To answer briefly with my top anime of the season, in order:

Ano Hana ... definitely my favorite, although I thought the conclusion was a little too fast paced for me. They could have done okay with stretching the anime to 12 eps and I don't think anything would have been lost. But still my fave of the season without a doubt. [A-]

The World God Only Knows S2 ... stupendous adaptation of the manga. Although I wished they had eased into the series a little slower, the storywriters did an amazing job of making the heroines of Chihiro and Jun come more alive (as they did with Kanon in S1). [A-]

Hanasaku Iroha ... I am still watching this one. I really, REALLY like this one too, and in the past 4 episodes it seems the story has turned up a notch. The coming of age storyline works very well for me, and the other characters in the story are very engaging for me as well. Ohana's growth thus far has been very "real" and convincing. And the animation is plain gorgeous. [B+]

Gosick ... my only carryover from Winter season. I really enjoyed the storyline and the relationship of Victorique and Kujo. For me the mysteries in the first half felt a bit rushed at times, but they were never my main focus. Kujo in the second half became gradually more loud/annoying a bit at times, too. [B]

Nichijou ... I really have enjoyed this surreal 4 koma comedy series and find myself laughing out loud at almost every episode, although the ones who "steal the show" for me are almost always Nano, Hakase and especially Sakamoto. But I can definitely see how it would not be to everyone's tastes. [B]

Denpa Onna ... this was my first "surprise" watch (i.e. I did not intend to watch it when the season began). The characters and the story were engaging and a good watch. A pity that ep 13 did not air during the season itself ... kinda left me hanging with ep 12. [B]

A-Channel ... what can I say? I like this sort of slice of life/comedy/fluff. Did not enjoy it as much as I did K-On seasons or Lucky Star (my fave of this general genre), but it was good. I did not follow this one during the season, though, I watched it after season 11 aired and followed it through to ep 12. [B-]

Tried and Dropped:

Dog Days
Hidan no Aria

[Dawnstorm]

To me, last season had one top show: Steins;Gate. I'm still watching it. I loved it from episode one, and my enthusiasm hasn't dimmed. I was sort of worried, since what I loved most about the show, in the beginning, was the banter and character interaction. Would they be able to make the transition? Oh, they were. Now that the plot has picked up speed, we reap the benefit of the relatively "light" first half: We know exactly how the characters feel about each other, and - oh - the emotional impact. Now, of course, I'm worried that they'll botch the ending, but at that point I doubt they'll mess up so badly that I can't forgive them. Lol.

My other favourite was Hanasaku Iroha. Many people complained about the lighter episodes, but I like them, too. Yes, there are clear highlight episodes (and I tend to agree with the crowd which they are), but I like the show even when it's being silly. I'm not really passionate about this show; it's more of a slow burner. It's pleasant and re-assuring. A nice place to come back to each week. I really like all the characters.

Interestingly, both my favourite shows carried on into this season.

The show I miss the most is, oddly, A-Channel. It's because I felt so connected to the characters. It's like missing your vacation friends. I also loved the way the show used setting, whether it's fireworks or cracking ice-puddles or cherry blossoms. Nothing you haven't seen before, but the setting somehow always seems to mirror character. A lot of love went into the making of this one.

Then there's Denpa Onna, which didn't end, but just stopped. I hear an out-of-season epsiode 13 is coming? Makes sense. I thought the show was strongest in the middle, but coming apart slightly after the plastic rocket launching. Not a drop in quality so much, as a change of direction too late in the show. It feels just cut off. Still, a great show to watch.

Ano Hana had a strong start, ran a bit stale for me in the second half, before making a stellar comeback for the finish. Probably the best ending I watched this season. A very satisfying show while watching, but - and this surprises me - I'm already starting to forget about it. I thought it would leave more of an impression, and I don't really know what happened.

Apart from A-Channel, there were two more feelgood shows: Astarotte no Omocha, which was surprisingly cute and warmhearted, and Sengoku Otome, which was mostly goofy and depended on Hideyoshi's charm (with a strong support cast). I'd look forward to Astarotte, while I might have dropped Sengoku Otome had it aired on a busier day. But both were shows I'd enjoy while I watched them, and leave a bit happier than I went in. I remain fond of Astarotte.

The World od Only Knows II was great. All in all, better than season one, due to character development on Keima's side (which wouldn't have worked without the set-up of season one).

I'm still watching Ao no Exorcist and Nichijou. Both shows grew on me. Ao no Exorcist is the more reliable show: I'll enjoy every episode, but I'll never really love it. It's just the right mix of pretty pictures, likable characters, drama and humour. Nichijou is very uneven. One moment it's great, then it drops to meh-ness, then it's downright awful, and then it ruins an initially good joke by overdoing it. But when it's great it's really great. And some of the still images are visual poetry. Sometimes I feel like watching a haiku, and then a zen-koan. And then it all comes apart in pointless slapstick. The only thing I consistently like is the way they use music.

Moshidora was fun. The by-the-book structure worked well enough for me, the characters were likable and distinctive. It was nothing to write home about, but quite enjoyable... until the ending. Holy ****. I could see it coming, but I wasn't prepared. Very emotional. Great voice acting and scene dramaturgy. The ending couldn't have been better. A really odd experience, having such an impactful ending tucked onto a decently enjoyable show.

Deadman Wonderland had a couple of characters I liked, but they overdid the drama, for my taste. I hated Ganta in episode one, and he kept demonstrating why during the show. They also overdid the depravity: it was so over-the-top that I had trouble taking it seriously; I'm not saying the what so much, as the how. Hard to express, why. Not so much a criticism of the show; just not my taste. Still, it was interesting enough to watch. Not sure I'd pick up a second season (depends on what else airs on that day, I suppose).

I didn't get [C]. Many people whose opinion I respect like it, but I find it's a loosly tucked together show, with no real center. Introduce something interesting, but don't follow up. Not fond of the fights. Main character starts out interesting and then fades into the setting and behaves like a fighting-show cliché. Disappointment of the season, much like Fractale the season before.

I almost forgot Sket Dance, and I'm not surprised. It's occasionally funny, but mostly meh. Just not my style. Unlike [C], I can see why others like it, though.

I dropped Tiger and Bunny after only one episode, mainly because I disliked Bunny, but I haven't given up on it. Similarly, I dropped Dog Days, though this one I'm not ever going to watch.

[Echoes]

The following are series that I've completed this season.

X-Men.
Ranking: Mediocre
The best of the marvel adaptations so far (I couldn't finish Wolverine), but that's still not saying much. It had a strong start, and a coherent plot, but the actual quality waxed and waned. The art design was strong, the characters looked detailed and just plain cool. The biggest problem for me was that the plot simply wasn't interesting. It felt forced for the most part, and large parts of it were simply boring; the cardinal sin for entertainment.

Moshidora
Ranking: Good
A pretty unique concept that was executed competently. It never blew me away, but it was interesting all the way through. It also had a surprisingly powerful emotional climax which really hit home. The strong female lead led this series to victory.

Dog Days
Ranking: Good
I did really not think I was going to like this. The first episode gave off the air of a juvenile show, but it got better; boy did it get better. The show is incredibly colorful and fun. The character designs look absolutely gorgeous, and the voice work is impeccable. While the plot is nothing to write home about, it has a simple charm, like a Saturday morning cartoon. Charm and great characters carried this show, I was longing for more when it came to an end.

Oretachi ni Tsubasa wa Nai
Ranking: Bad
A mess from beginning to end. The show was ambitious, but in my opinion it reached too far. Focusing on a lot of different protagonists could have worked, but when I find all of them either uninteresting or even worse, annoying, it doesn't. While it was really original with its humor, most of it fell flat, and some of it was so juvenile you felt dumber just watching it. The ending was very interesting, and I loooooved Naru (Goto Yuko is just amazing), but it's not enough to justify sitting through it. Had its highlights, but overall, one of the season's worst.

Hoshizora e Kakaru Hashi
Ranking: Decent
This was an anomaly. It was so typical that it somehow transcended the cliche and become really fun. It had every trope of the visual novel adaptation, but it was still incredibly charming and fun. The girls were cute, and I fell in love with the small town setting. The show had a lot of flaws, and a weird obsession with the lead's little brother, but it was a solid watch. Well worth watching for anyone who enjoys the genre.

Sengoku Otome
Ranking: Very good
Incredible show. It's hard to put into words, and reading the synopsis, this one is easy to write off as just another historical ecchi show. The show doesn't actually have much fanservice, its focus lies elsewhere. While it was a sexy show, more importantly it was a genuinely funny show. I laughed and smiled through the whole thing. The colorful designs were great, the voiceacting lovable, and the characters kicked some serious butt. This show was a booming success, one of the season's best, with several of the season's coolest characters to boot.

Hidan no Aria
Ranking: Mediocre
You get what you expect. Kugimiya Rie as a gun-wielding loli. Hijinks, fanservice and the occasional smattering of action. I enjoyed it for what it was, and so could anyone who doesn't set their sights too high. Riko was a blast, I'd watch it just for her, but it has a lot of major flaws.

Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko
Ranking: Very good
This show is gorgeous. Erio is moe enough to kill a small village, and so are a lot of the other characters. The show has a unique appeal. It's moe, yes, but there's an indefinable charm here that you will not find replicated elsewhere. The typical Shaft style is hard at work here, and the results are wonderful. In a nutshell: quirky, cute with spurts of emotional impact.

The World Only Knows II
Ranking: Very good
The return of the capturing god, and it is glorious. While I think it's slightly inferior to the first season, it is still outstanding. The same charm is present, the arcs are briskly paced, and the girls are still insanely cute. A pleasure all around.

C
Ranking: Good...ish
An interesting idea, not since Spice and Wolf have I seen a show this economics-heavy. The art design is groovy, all of the characters look great (with the possible exception of our male lead) and very distinct from each other. The plot starts out strong, but in my opinion, falls apart a bit towards the end. It's a noble attempt, and it turned out well, but there's this lingering feeling that it could have been so much more.

Deadman Wonderland
Ranking: Good
It's great to see a dark, edgy show without any sense of compassion or distracting comic relief. The setting for this show is great, and shows great use of imagination on the part of the creators. A cast of unique and compelling characters, some completely insane, in that great, over the top way. Looks great, sounds great. The animation was a bit inconsistent, and unfortunately the male lead turned out to be a bad apple, but I kept coming back every week, on the edge of my seat to see what was going to happen next.

Ano Hana
Ranking: Masterpiece
An emotional masterpiece, wonderfully put together, with a perfect cast of incredibly human characters. This show meant a lot to me, I cried at the end of several of the episodes. It has been a good while since anything has affected me this strongly, and it has also been a while since I have seen anything I would classify as a masterpiece. I have no complaints; a nigh-perfect series.

Maria Holic Alive
Ranking: Excellent
More Maria Holic! I'm in utter bliss, enraptured by comedic joy. This show is criminally underrated, it's one of the funniest shows I've ever seen. The cast of characters is very strong, and the voice acting is a gift from above, especially "God." She's such a pleasure to watch, and so is this show. The references cover such a wide range of topics, it's hard to keep up, but when I see them bringing up discussions on the pronunciations of Lovecraftian deities, I pinch my cheek to see if I'm caught up in some wonderful, wonderful dream.


Overall, a pretty damn good season. A lot of good shows, a few great ones, and one true masterpiece. I feel privileged to be an anime fan in these times, and I can't wait to dig into the summer season as soon as I get time.

[Isegrim]

Dororon Enma-kun Meeramera, Completed
Rating: 7/10
Weird. No proper action, no proper plot, an annoying main character - but it works! Lots of 70s references.

Yondemasu yo, Azazel-san, Completed
Rating: 8/10
Pretty funny. I like faecal houmor and can't help but to find Rinko sexy, especially in the one episode where she did pin up her hair. The episodes are not too long to make it boring, and Azazel speaks Kansai dialect :-3

Maria Holic: Alive, Completed
Rating: 6/10
Not as good as the first season. Less focus on Kanako and her delusions (or did I get used to them?), didn't like the new side characters.

Dropped:
Ano Hana
Rating: 2/10
The scene with the Anal Jelly in ep. 2 pretty much sums it up, Okada needs to grow up and leave puberty behind. Why is it so hard to create a drama series without supernatural elements? Because the authors are not able to constuct a proper plot without overused stereotypes? Sorry, I'm too much of a cynic to cope with that.

[Dawnstorm]

Originally Posted by Echoes

Oretachi ni Tsubasa wa Nai
Ranking: Bad

Oh my, how could I forget this one. Apart from pointless ecchi and a rushed ending, I actually liked it a lot. One of the better shows last season.

[Echoes]

Originally Posted by Dawnstorm

Oh my, how could I forget this one. Apart from pointless ecchi and a rushed ending, I actually liked it a lot. One of the better shows last season.

I can definitely see that. It didn't do it for me at all, but at least it brought something original to the table.

[Kotohono]

Finished:
Name of Series: Astarotte no Omocha!
Episodes Watched: Finished
Rating: A-
Comments: Ending was a bit weaker than it should have been, but the series was on a whole was cute, heartwarming, and enjoyable still one of my favorite shows of the season.

Name of Series: A-Channel
Episodes Watched: Finished
Rating: B
Comments: Remained good, cute, and funny the whole, nothing genre changing or mind-blowing, but a well executed slice of life/comedy series. On par with K-On season one really for the genre.

Name of Series: Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae wo Bokutachi wa Mada Shiranai
Episodes Watched: Finished
Rating: B-
Comments: Little weak start and ending, but actually managed some good drama during later part of the series with a fairly well balanced cast.

Name of Series: Hidan no Aria
Episodes Watched: Finished
Rating: C
Comments: A bit generic and silly of a start, but overall a decent action/tsundere kugumiya rie/harem series that was enjoyable and ended decently for once and Riko was win .

Name of Series: Kami nomi zo Shiru Sekai II
Episodes Watched: Finished
Rating: A
Comments: Very solid sequel to original better in execution and all the captured were interesting with plenty of comedy in the series too; keeping the romance/game/capture/comedy balance just right .

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Not Finished

Name of Series: Hanasaku Iroha
Episodes Watched: 16
Rating: C+
Comments: Enjoyable slice of life/drama so far, but quality for episode contents varies a bit much, and I am still not sure what they're trying to build up to, but it's still decent.

Name of Series: Nichijou
Episodes Watched: 16
Rating: C-
Comments: Started off good with the comedy, but started slowed down a bit 8~12 peaking slowness in 13 with a few scene types getting a bit over down and been recovering since then; overall funny though.

Name of Series: Sengoku Otome
Episodes Watched: 6 + final battle episode
Rating: D-
Comments: Not the worst thing ever, but definitely well below average, comedy decent, characters meh aside from the main girl, plot/fanservice ugh, meh action and final battle was could not have possibly be more predictable . Overall greatly disappointed me seeing it wasn't a harem for once.

Name of Series: Steins;gate
Episodes Watched: 15
Rating: A+
Comments: This series has just got better and better, a really great sci-fi/mystery/time travel with great characters and plot has been getting more impressive by the episode since the events of 12, favorite of the spring by far. And Okabe might be the best male character of the year .

[Lord of Fire]

In alphabetical order:

Name of Series: A-Channel
Episodes Watched: Completed
Rating: 9/10
Comments: Simple, slice-of-life show similar to Lucky Star and K-ON!, good music and a relaxed atmosphere that makes this a good show to zone out to if you had a busy or stressful day

Name of Series: Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae wo Bokutachi wa Mada Shiranai
Episodes Watched: Completed
Rating: 9/10
Comments: Drama done right. Losing someone very dear to you is something I could relate to. Wasn't a big fan of the music, else it would've ended up on top.

Name of Series: Ao no Exorcist
Episodes Watched: 11/25
Rating: 8
Comments: Quite an enjoyable show. Nice balance of humor and action.

Name of Series: Astarotte no Omocha!
Episodes Watched: Completed
Rating: 8/10
Comments: I like how this didn't become that which the premise made it look like and turned out to be more of a romantic comedy with ecchi undertones. However, it is a show you either like or don't like without much of a middle road.

Name of Series: Deadman Wonderland
Episodes Watched: 8/12
Rating: 6
Comments: Maybe I expected too much from this show, but for some reason, I had a hard time truly getting into it. I'll probably finish it eventually.

Name of Series: Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko
Episodes Watched: 12/13 (I'm counting the Blu-Ray exclusive as the true final episode)
Rating: 8/10
Comments: As a huge fan of anything SHAFT, this show didn't disappoint me. It looked gorgeous, though the fact that it will take 6 months for it to be truly completed is a bit of a downer. Would've liked to see more about Erio's background, or even how Meme coped with Erio's disappearance. Hopefully, the true last episode will give some closure to the story.

Name of Series: Dog Days
Episodes Watched: Completed
Rating: 8/10
Comments: Highly enjoyable show. Characters were likable, though the plot took a bit long to truly get underway and it was over before I knew it. That, and the serious bits didn't really fit the more comedic parts IMO.

Name of Series: Hanasaku Iroha
Episodes Watched: 14/26
Rating: 7
Comments: Started out very promising, but lost a bit of steam halfway. Hopefuly, the latter half of the show makes up for it.

Name of Series: Hen Zemi (TV)
Episodes Watched: Completed
Rating: 8/10
Comments: As disgusting and seriously perverted as this show was, it managed to crack me up plenty of times nonetheless. Main gripe I had is that the episodes were far too short. I liked the unique character design, though.

Name of Series: Hidan no Aria
Episodes Watched: Completed
Rating: 7/10 (though probably more close to 6.5 than an actual 7)
Comments: Started good, became utterly predictable and nonsensical near the end. Still, I have yet to grow truly tired of Rie Kugimiya's voice and overall, I still enjoyed the show somewhat.

Name of Series: Hoshizora e Kakaru Hashi
Episodes Watched: 9/12
Rating: 8/10
Comments: Charming show with equally charming characters, nice humor and some fanservice as icing on the cake.

Name of Series: Kami nomi zo Shiru Sekai II
Episodes Watched: Completed
Rating: 8/10
Comments: Better than the first season. I noticed an significant increase in animation quality, which is always a good thing.

Name of Series: Maria†Holic Alive
Episodes Watched: 10/12
Rating: 6.5/10
Comments: The show took far too long to gain momentum for me and I seriously considered dropping it at first. The later episodes redeemed the show for me a bit. One of the lesser SHAFT shows I've seen thusfar.

Name of Series: Moshidora
Episodes Watched: Completed
Rating: 9/10
Comments: This show was pretty much the surprise of the season. All I knew about it was what the synopsis read, so I went in expecting very little. Even though the baseball terminology was mostly unfamiliar to me and the product placement for Drucker's book being way too obvious, it didn't take away the enjoyment I got from this show.

Name of Series: Nichijou
Episodes Watched: 15/26
Rating: 6/10
Comments: Expected a lot of this show, but a lot of jokes weren't funny or were way too random to truly appreciate them. The second half seems to be dong better, though given that this show is very unpredictable, it could still go either way.

Name of Series: Oretachi ni Tsubasa wa Nai
Episodes Watched: Dropped @ 7/12
Rating: 5/10
Comments: Story was way too confusing for me and hard to follow.

Name of Series: Softenni
Episodes Watched: Completed
Rating: 8/10
Comments: I'm a sucker for shows like these. A bit more focus on the sports element would've been nice, but this show had me in stitches quite a few times. The Blu-Rays will probably boost the rating.

Name of Series: Steins;Gate
Episodes Watched: 14/24
Rating: 10/10
Comments: I like shows about science and time-travel is definitely relevant to my interests. Add to that a cast of quirky, yet enjoyable characters, good music and good character design/animation, and unless something seriously goes wrong plot-wise, we can pretty much call this the winner of the season.

[synaesthetic]

Finished:

Nothing. This season's been a total letdown. Actually, the past few seasons have been a major letdown.

Unfinished:

Name: Steins;Gate
Episodes Watched: 15
Rating: 6/10
Comments: Interesting plot idea, even if I usually hate time-travel stories. What dragged it down was they spent far too much effort exploiting otaku references and catering to the hardcore-neckbeard demographic. Grew bored. Dropped.

Name: Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko
Episodes Watched: 4
Rating: 2/10
Comments: I was sold a bill of goods. I went into this show expecting a Higurashi/Madoka-esque blend of "moe mindfuck" and all I got was generic moeblobby harem. The lead annoyed me. The fact that every female character seemed intent on getting in his pants annoyed me. Every part of the show except the art (which is why it gets two points) annoyed me seriously to the point where I could no longer watch it.

I heard later that at like, episode 10, finally there was confirmation of Weird Shit Going Down, but it was too little, too late. Dropped.

Complaints:

Where the hell are the new Darker Than Blacks? Where are the new Black Lagoons and Canaans? What happened to innovation in anime like Eve no Jikan?

Why is it that all we have is moe, moe, moe, some slice of life, a bit of harem, and shonen martial arts? I guess this is why I've been sticking with PC gaming recently.

Well, at least we were lucky enough to get Madoka earlier this year.

[klare]

Name of Series: Ano Hana
Episodes Watched: Completed
Rating: 8/10
Comments: Like the characters, the interactions, the ending and the amazing ED. A bit slow sometimes but does not affect it as the best drama (supernatural) in spring for me.

Name of Series: Ao no Exorcist
Episodes Watched: 14
Rating: 6.5/10
Comments: Nearly drop this but still continue after some characters being introduced. Has good animation quality.

Name of Series: Deadman Wonderland
Episodes Watched: Completed
Rating: 7.5/10
Comments: The surprise in spring for me. Did not expect it to be this interesting. However, some of the illogical scripts pull down the rating.

Name of Series: Nichijou
Episodes Watched: 16
Rating: 7/10
Comments: Enjoy this as the best comedy in spring but the unsatisfying thing is i do not understand some of the jokes.

Name of Series: Steins Gate
Episodes Watched: 15
Rating: 8/10
Comments: The most interesting series in spring. At times a bit silly but when the plot gets serious, it is very good and addictive.

Name of Series: Tiger & Bunny
Episodes Watched: 16
Rating: 7/10
Comments: Fun to watch in the first half and the second half shows signs of a darker plot.

Name of Series: X-men
Episodes Watched: 9
Rating: 6/10
Comments: The best Marvel anime so far. The plot and villains design could be better.

On-hold: The God Only Know World 2, Denpa Onna
Dropped: Hidan no Aria

[Reckoner]

Originally Posted by synaesthetic

Where the hell are the new Darker Than Blacks? Where are the new Black Lagoons and Canaans?

We've been lacking such animes (Though I could care less for Canaan), but there's plenty out there in other genres. You'll probably end up liking Fate/Zero this Fall (Kajura + Gen + ufotable) at least.

Originally Posted by synaesthetic

What happened to innovation in anime like Eve no Jikan?

There's innovation everywhere in 2011. I would agree with you about some recent years being utter crap overall, but 2011 has shown tons of innovation. Just because you're very limited and confined in what you watch doesn't mean they haven't been pushing things in all sorts of genres.

[Marcus H.]

Originally Posted by synaesthetic

Nothing. This season's been a total letdown. Actually, the past few seasons have been a major letdown.

You might need to lower your standards. Darker than Black is at most two years ago, Black Lagoon is five years ago (excluding the OVA), Canaan is also two years ago and so is Eve no Jikan.

I've discovered that higher standards will tend to cause higher amounts of frustration when looking at more recent anime series, and at the worst-case scenario, would cause you to quit watching anime altogether. So it's best to try to ease yourself up from those high expectations and try to enjoy, rather than to be a connoisseur.

However, I might be nudging my expectations up as well, as I've somewhat become cautious at J.C. Staff productions ever since Hidan no Aria.

[Sheba]

Originally Posted by Marcus H.

However, I might be nudging my expectations up as well, as I've somewhat become cautious at J.C. Staff productions ever since Hidan no Aria.

Likewise, then I remembered: Tsukihime anime. By JC Staff. Typemoon fans can deny it with all their might, even accusing me of being delusional like they did it on Jason Miao's blog, but a Tsukihime anime exist. It was made by JCStaff.
Remembering that, each time someone bitch about JCStaff butchering a light novel or visual novel adaptation because JCStaff decided again to focus on the harem and romcom antics instead of hilighting what set the LN or VN apart from the flock, I will answer, "Pah! What did you expect? JCStaff made Tsukihime anime."

[Archon_Wing]

If one looks for shit, they tend to find shit; (And yes, don't watch Dog Shit, err... Dog Days) That's what ruined my anime watching for the longest time. In all seriousness, Shakugan no Shana II utterly wrecked my confidence that they have writers that have are intelligent enough to not fling their own poo. So I tend to avoid Jc staff... and that.

Overall, I'd say Spring was fairly decent for what it did, but I'm in more into storytelling than any particular type of genre; I could care less who they are pandering to as long as they transmit it as such. Kaiji II was a healthy injection of GAR as well. In general, I see a lot of more experimentation with various stuff. It's not always good, and of course there's a lot of fanboy pleasing stuff, but it's only natural that sales has to take priority. But definitely, there's more than your standard crappy ecchi comedy, though there's obviously a lot of that flying around too.

On the other hand, I definitely would want a heavy action series for once.

[synaesthetic]

Originally Posted by Reckoner

There's innovation everywhere in 2011. I would agree with you about some recent years being utter crap overall, but 2011 has shown tons of innovation. Just because you're very limited and confined in what you watch doesn't mean they haven't been pushing things in all sorts of genres.

Give me an example that isn't Madoka.