Autumn 2009 Anime Review Thread: Post Your Opinion and Grade

[-Sho-]

Sora no Otoshimono: 2/10
Dropped at episode 3
Seriously this anime ... well for kiddos fanservice .

Kämpfer: 4/10
Still watching (skipping part)- 8 episodes
Well , not a good anime , the plot , the male lead huh? , so much yuri ..

Tatakau Shisho: The Book of Bantorra: 5/10
Still watching - 8 episodes
Well , some good part , some a bit annoying ..

To Aru Kagaku no Railgun: 6/10
Still watching - 8 episodes
Well , fanservice for Mikoto and Mikuru !I like Saten

11eyes: 6/10
Still watching - 8 episodes
Cheap anime with good art , cute girl , (Misuzu ftw) .

Seitokai no Ichizon: 7/10
Still watching - 8 episodes
Hilarious anime , like Ken the male lead

Seiken no Blacksmith: 7/10
Still watching - 8 episodes
Good anime ,still viewable , i like the male lead too (Luke)

Darker than Black: Ryuusei no Gemini: 8/10
Still watching - 7 episodes
Looking forward to S2 , it's still great , a bit less than S1 but still pleasable .

Nyan Koi!: 2/10
Dropped at episode 1
Oh god ...

Fairy Tail : 7/10
Still watching - 7 episodes
Good anime , i like the plot with the guild .

Inuyasha : Final act : 7/10
Still watching - 8 episodes
Finally , the final arc ! Its great but fast . I like the ED so much

White album S2 : 8/10
Still watching - 8 episodes
Continuation for S1 who's still good . The male lead , omg , this guy ! Must watch him !

Nogizaka Haruka S2 : 5/10
Still watching - 8 episodes (maybe will drop)
Not as good as S1 .

For Ultra Eicchi :

Kiss x Sis Oav 3 : 9/10 XD
Kanokon : 5/10

And the Final : Bakemonogatari 9.5/10 A must watch .

[WanderingKnight]

Darker than Black 2: It's BONES, so me watch. Even if it's not really a very good show, but there's not much more to watch so vOv.

Trapeze (Kuuchuu Buranko): It's artsy, it's original, it touches upon social issues, it's awesome. The artsy part might put a lot of people off but this is certainly one of the most interesting shows in 2009 (which is not much to say, to be honest).

[Guardian Enzo]

As we wind down, in hindsight I think Autumn '09 turned out to be a pretty good season. I've found several series that I could not just watch but really enjoy - DtB II, Sora no Otoshimono, Seitokai no Ichizon, NnA II, Inuyasha... Even Seikon no Blacksmith had it's moments. DtB, NnA and Seitokai constitute really good series too, in my view. On balance, that's not a bad season.

[Nosauz]

I really don't get the appeal of DtB, am I stupid or something, I constantly see people put this at the top of their season, when in fact it was one of the shows that I was least compelled to watch. I mean don't get me wrong, I love bones, and DtB s1 but I just don't see why there is sooooo much love for the average-good dtb s2? I can see it being rated good to great, but not cream of the crop.

[Cyrus17]

Originally Posted by Nosauz

I really don't get the appeal of DtB, am I stupid or something, I constantly see people put this at the top of their season, when in fact it was one of the shows that I was least compelled to watch.

Majority is stupid, you aren't. It's just you don't belong to the biggest audience stratum anymore.

Originally Posted by Nosauz

average-good dtb s2

Average-bad to be more precise.

Originally Posted by Nosauz

I love bones

I thought E7 movie was just some freaky accident. But now, after watching DtB2, I'm not so sure...

[-Sho-]

So you say that we are stupid because we like Dtb , wow good speculations you got there ...

[hinakatbklyn]

Darker than Black. The second season did give me a reason to want to watch it, but in the long run, I feel like I should go back and watch the first season which was mostly too dramatic for me. With other shows this season, (too many this season), not enough time.
The only series that did not start this season but I went back to check out was Needless.

[chikorita157]

End of Season Reviews:

Seitokai no Ichizon - 8.79/10 B+ - I felt that the series have turn great on the second half. Better than Lucky Star since there wasn't that much moe in it (and the excessive Haruhi references which got VERY tiring) and also had references that fit in pretty well and were really funny. Of course, this series is not completely plotless, especially towards the end since it reveals Ken's past... one by one... I think this series deserves a second season... pretty much.

Nogizaka Haruka Purezza - 8.1/10/10 B- - Enjoyable, but way too much fanservice and the focus less on Haruka and on other characters because of the source material covered, which I didn't take points off. The points were taken off because of the unnecessary fanservice, which made the series worse than it should have. Panty shots and cleavage... and excessive too... I thought it was better than the harem romance comedies that are fanservice-laden... but I was wrong... so wrong. The redeeming factor is the music and also the extremely sweet Yuuto and Haruka scenes... Otherwise, the first season was better... The second season? I was disappointed.

[Legato_C]

Naruto: 8/10
ITACHIIIII!!! No-oooooo!!!

Bleach: 2/10
More fillers. Seems a little better than the previous filler arcs since it has Hollow Ichigo kicking butt.

Kämpfer: 4/10
Was expecting a little more from the series since this is probably my 1st gender bender anime (I think).

To Aru Kagaku no Railgun: 6/10
Only 1 memorable character, the stripping woman. Very nice animation from JC Staff.

Seiken no Blacksmith: 6/10
The main male lead needs to speed up his character development. Gets very boring, especially on the loli princess arc.

Queen’s Blade: Heir to the Throne: 5/10
Bad animation, but contains much more fan service than season 1. It also has a story.

Darker than Black: Ryuusei no Gemini: 9/10
This show got me hooked from episode one. Great action scenes, a little fan service, some comedy (Burger speed guy running into a tree), not too focused on love, bloody, great animation/VA, lively settings, and Hei; He is like a modern day Guts (sort-off).

Fairy Tail: 4/10
I'm a fan of the manga so I had to watch this. It was disappointing. But I'm still watching it since it's Fairy Tail.

[Nosauz]

So DtB has come to end, and man talk about away to fuck up a show. Ok introduce mahou shoujo elements, okay then strip character defining traits, then have misaki be mopey and shit. I think in the end the best character in Dtb 2 was mao, he retained some semblence to his character with somewhat realistic development where

Spoiler for series end spoiler:

Hei deteriorated but then is given his redeeming scene with yin at the end.

WTF did it all mean, this was just a mess. I'll give myself a month then rewatch and hopefully by then I might be able to pick up a supposed meaning from this promising dissappointment.

While I'm here I guess I'll give my season overview:

Sora no Otoshimono: Takagi made this show, although there were many moments of huh, how did you know that, he was something that made that show really more than the typical mysterious girlfriend setup. Tomoki being oblivious to any romantic feelings was also a plus because him at his pervertedness was just something completely new and different to watch. Good, a bit too much fan service, more comedy would be better and more clear direction for the male lead, but that last one is more due to the manga than anything.

Seitokai no Ichizon: I like meta, and this show almost gave me the same chills I had watching genshiken the first time. This series although somewhat formulaic in the setup becomes something really special, although there is some emotion whiplash that could have been handled better, but the again the juxtaposition of touching and funny was funny in itself so i guess the rule of funny takes precedent. Also who can't love key-kun? or Mafuyu's BL daydreams. Still Genshiken's sasamada BL fantasy was the best <3 oguie. Probably the best of the year and atleast best of the season.

Seiken no Blacksmith: SHOCK! Luke is not the main character and thank god! The whole katana is greater than everything is so damn boring, and his blacksmithing is somewhat impractical, but again it was the minor characters like aria, and the lightning demon soul who really made this show. Average fantasy, but the va for Aria is quite talented.

Railgun: Biri Biri x Tomoya, nuff said. The most interesting character in index definitely deserves more screen time, but as of now the series is quite light on action and heavy on talking at people which is just subpar. Because I enjoy seeing mikoto I don't mind but this would fall into the average series, well animated but in the end as an anime it fails, back to the light novels.

Darker than Black: Season 2: Again I loved DtB, awesome characters like otaku girl in the ova, yin, amber, and a whole slew of other badass contractors that Hei defeats, this was just a mess. ME scrambler? i don't even know how it works or how it fits within the DtB universe, is it powered by the gate? Overall compared to other bones works, this is at the bottom of the barrel of some really great stuff, so in the end it's the worst of bones but still a good watch even if the story was not really intriguing.

Cross Game: this is the first anime I've watched of adachi's works, it's amazing pure brilliance, especially since this time I went anime first then manga, it made me like baseball, kou/azuma single handedly/two handedly made me love baseball. The characters are so lifelike that fiction from reality is sometimes hard to distinguish, their emotions are so real and powerful. Best Drama since Clannad/eff tale of memories which was quite a great season too. Excellent.

FMA: Brotherhood: Don't really care too much, the manga is much farther ahead, and the action scenes just don't live up in animated form. Still a good series but after spending money on the manga I will not be buying the dvds for this.

Kampfer: Shizuku was the best part of the show, kamfer akane and mikoto were awesome too, but two ballless natsuru and super sacharrine sakura were just grating. The show was good up to first half of episode 11. The show was good.

[Pellissier]

Kämpfer : so so. Could have been better with some more focus on that little plot that there was. At least it was entertaining, and that's what kept me watching it. Rating 6/10

Nyan Koi!: Finally a good comedy, in a "Seto no Hanayome" style but with much lighter tones. Excellent characters and funny from the beginning to the end. 8/10

Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu 2 - Purezza: Largely disappointing, though I sort of figured what this season was about after the first episode. Still the same jokes reused all over again (with the difference that the show wasn't new anymore) and the himitsu of the title basically forgotten for the sake of some gratuitous melodrama or blatant fanservice. Irritating. 5/10

Umineko no Naku Koro ni: Not an autumn show, but it ended in autumn. A lot of potential, but imho it never really shone as I would expect. I assume the plot was too thick to contrive in a bunch of episodes, with the results of many scenes/situations feeling unclear or rushed off from the point of view of an anime only watcher; I guess that, out of the four arcs shown in the anime, I truly enjoyed only the third one. Also, too many characters made it almost impossible to really care for them as in - say - Higurashi, and probably the only character I felt attached to was Beatrice. 7/10

Seitokai no Ichizon: Biggest surprise of the season and probably of the year. It turned out to be more than your average school reference-based comedy and it could actually manage to have a respectable plot, closing the circle at the end in a neat way. Meanwhile, it was the show with the biggest laughs of this year, and with some of the best characters, Ken is unique, the girls are unforgettable for a reason or another. Very high re-watching value. Fantastic. 9,5/10

11eyes: It's a known issue for these game-anime conversions. A huge plot must be contrived and in its animated form loses almost all of its charm. I guess this turned out to be at least better than Chaos;Head , with even an interesting middle phase, unfortunately followed by a poor ending. 6/10

Shin Koihime Musou: More of the same seen in the first season, and more to come in april. I guess this series is entirely harmless but good for some mindless fun and if you want to enjoy cute girls in action. As far as I'm concerned Kan'u and Karin confirmed as my favourites, with the addition of Ryuubi. 6,5/10

White Album (whole series): Stylish and peculiar. White Album really differentiates itself from the rest, with its old fashioned approach and scenario. It stayed quite consistent until the end, although not expanding on certain points and leaving some question marks here and there. Still, it was a nice ride. 7,5/10

Sora no Otoshimono: Funny and original in terms of pervertedness, poor in terms of plot at the end. Impressive animation value, I guess Ikaros is a serious candidate for the most beautifully drawn character of the year (actually I can't even think of a serious opponent). Tomoki was a in a sense refreshing, yes perverted beyond imagination, but didn't show real romantic feelings, which was good for the show. 7/10

Sasameki Koto: Another good slice of life shoujo ai anime after Aoi Hana. Not on par with Aoi Hana, but this anime had its moments. I've not seen the last episode yet, so let's say that the rating will be 8 if there'll be a resolution, or a 7 if they leave an open ending. Ok, completed. 8-/10

Ongoing series:

To Aru Kagaku no Railgun (seen 13 of 24): Brilliant show, finally Mikoto can shine on her own, although I must say the other girls could easily steal her the spotlight. Especially Saten-san, a character whom I adore. Anyway, some fanservice episodes to fill the huge space given by 24 episodes, but the first arc was excellent, particularly on the final episodes where it's been sad on a moment, an adrenalin explosion on the other. Hope it will keep this pace in the next arc. 9/10

Kimi ni Todoke (seen 12 of 24) : Awaited (by me) as a potential new Bokura ga Ita, it turns out to be quite different but nonetheless very interesting. It has all those typical shoujo features such as slow start, focus on the characters so you can grow attached to them, and since a few episodes ago it started getting right to the core. Animations and music are all well above average for a shoujo. Great. 9/10

Kobato. (seen 11 of 24): Smart concept but kinda slow at times and not always interesting. Kobato is utterly cute, but the "case of the week" formula weakens the show, even though I know it's supposed to be like this. 7/10

Cross Game (seen 39 of 51): Actually a spring show, but it's ongoing so... To be short, at the moment a serious candidate for an high spot in my all time favourites list. 10/10

[Guardian Enzo]

Seitokai no Ichizon - A. The most fully realized show of the season. It started out as a fluffy meta-comedy and ended up being so much more, effortlessly switching between screwball comedy and serious character revelations. Also has easily the best final ep of the fall series that have concluded.

Darker Than Black RnG - B+. The most accomplished show of the season. Ambitious, intricately plotted, well-animated, great BGM and OP/ED. A full-scale BONES production that lived up to the franchise but loses points for a rushed, unsatisfying conclusion. Really should have been 26 episodes.

Natsu no Arashi Akinaichuu - B. Like Seitokai, has the ability to smoothly transition between comic and serious. But compared to the first season it suffered from being even more episodic and not sufficiently giving time to the serious, plot-driving episodes. Still has the best cast of the season and at it's best was fantastic, but desperately needs another season to wrap things up.

Tegami Bachi - Letter Bee - B (appropriately). Started out as an "A" but recent eps haven't fared quite as well. Beautiful visuals that perfectly capture the unique look of the manga, and indeed the anime generally does a fine job of capturing the manga. I love the way this series is so very un-Japanese in wearing it's emotions openly, and I suspect we're about to see an uptick in quality again as the storyline really starts to get interesting now.

Inuyasha - the Final Act - B. As feared, has often struggled by trying to cram at least 52 eps worth of manga into 26 episodes. But so far, the good eps have outnumbered the bad and Sunrise is again doing a gorgeous job with the animation. Plus, it's just awesome to see these guys on screen again.

Sora no Otoshimono - B-. Occasionally hilarious, occasionally quite moving, but inconsistent. There was no better gag this year than the flying panties (even Seitokai paid homage to it) and Tomo-chan is one of the best anime pervs ever. Look for a S2 with this one.

Fairy Tail - B-. So-so animation and about as deep as a mud puddle, but it's a fun example of the shounen genre with an agreeably zany sense of humor. Plus, Happy is "Aye!".

Kimi ni Todoke - C+. The show has improved after a rough start, but the material, for me, falls far short of the great shoujo storylines out there. Kazehaya is still a one-dimensional abstract, and I find Mamiko Noto's work as Sawako a bit annoying. At least there's Kurumi, one of the better examples of the evil bitch trope...

Seikon no Blacksmith - C. Inexplicably wasted 4 eps on a pointless side story and left itself with no time to wrap up what was a fairly interesting main storyline with the title character. Lisa was moe in a good way, and that's hard to do - but Cecily never took off as a main character. Could be comically bad when it was bad, but there were enough moments I liked to drag me to the finish line.

Dropped: 11 Eyes, Kampfer, Railgun.

[hinakatbklyn]

Originally Posted by Guardian Enzo

Dropped: 11 Eyes, Kampfer, Railgun.

11 Eyes: I couldn't keep up with this series

Kampfer: Could of put in a few more episodes, but quiting while ahead, good idea.

Railgun: Difference of opinion? Maybe. But the later episodes were much better. I wouldn't give up on this series (at least not the first half).

[WanderingKnight]

Darker than Black 2: Beh. I still <3 you BONES. But beh.

Trapeze (Kuuchuu Buranko): Awesome. We need more series like this one.

And more people to watch them, too.

[Archon_Wing]

I had a pretty low expectation of this particular season, as nothing appealing appeared. Most of autumn season was spent on finishing Umineko, which didn't fare that well either. With the exception of one gem, I didn't end up watching much new shows; winter looks even worse.

Here's my final words on Autumn season:

Aoi Bungaku (8 episodes, 9/10, A-) This is a great show; it's unfortunate I only started watching it lately. But it's gonna probably enter my all time favorites. The directing is masterful and captures all the emotions every moment of the show. There is practically no wasted scene in this series.

To Aru Kagaku no Railgun (12, episodes, 5/10, C-) After being dropped after a couple of episodes, I had a friend that was watching it again. Well, it looks like they cut down on the unfunny yuri fanservice crap, and actually is kinda funny when done sparingly. There's also a bit more action, but it feels unusually boring. I'll try to get back to it again if I have nothing better to do. It's watchable now but nothing spectacular.

Kampfer (1 episode, 3/10- Dropped, D) I suppose it could be a "So bad it's good" show, but whether it got there is debatable. Mostly forgetful. I did laugh at the nonsensical beginning for all it's worth. It also has the worst pacing ever.

[kobejin]

TV series

Kimi ni Todoke (finished) - 8.5/10

Tatakau Shisho: The Book of Bantorra (finished) - 8.5/10

Sora no Otoshimono (finished) - 8.0/10

WHITE ALBUM (Second Season) (finished) - 7.5/10

Aoi Bungaku (finished) - 7.5/10

To Aru Kagaku no Railgun (finished) - 7.5/10

Darker than Black: Ryuusei no Gemini (finished)- 7.0/10

Nyan Koi! (finished) - 7.0/10

Kobato (finished) - 7.0/10

Sacred Blacksmith (finished) - 6.0/10

Kūchū Buranko (finished) - 5.5/10

Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu (Second Season) (finished) - 5.0/10

Sasameki Koto (3 ep dropped) - 4/10

KIDDY GiRL-AND (3 ep dropped) - 3/10

11 eyes (3 ep dropped) - 3/10

Letter Bee (3 ep dropped) - 3/10

Kämpfer (3 ep dropped) - 2/10

Seitokai no Ichizon (3 ep dropped) - 2/10

Movie

Macross Frontier : Itsuwari no Utahime (theater) - 9.0/10