Summer 2011 Final Impressions: Post your opinion and grade

[Archon_Wing]

Now that summer season is coming to a close; it's a good time to get some closing thoughts on this season.

You may post about any and all anime that aired during the summer, 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 summer. (But of course keep it to summer episodes whenever possible).

In short, beginning and end date is irrelevant. All that matters is the anime has episodes in summer 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:
Rating:
Comments:


I'll start with mine...

Name of Series: Steins;Gate
Rating: A+
Comments:
Despite a slow first half and some occasional moments where the lighting gets too dark and the visual quality drops, it managed to be consistent entertainment all along. The payoff from viewing the group's activities was great since it led to a lot of emotionally tense moments at the end, and the conclusion wrapped things up really neatly. Although the scifi aspects could have been handled better, they aren't that important in the grand scheme of things, since the anime is about the character interactions and also the intrest of the internal/external conflict that plagued Okabe. Okabe is definitely one of the most awesome characters in the last part. Kurisu is an excellent foil for Okabe, and Mayuri manages to show us that one can be moe but not annoying. Steins;Gate manages to use many common tropes in anime yet never come across as overly obnoxious

Name of Series: Tiger and Bunny
Rating: A
Comments:
Strong action with a imaginative setting, with two very impressive leads that have a great deal of depth. The best part about this anime is that it was quirky and fun as hell, yet managed to have a decent plot that threaded everything to near perfection.

Name of Series: Kamisama no Memochou
Rating: B
Comments:
I was initially drawn to the show by the excellent double premier and the appeal of the somewhat witty but insecure female lead. I stayed though due to the male lead's personal growth and the awesome character that is the fourth. The anime took a dip in quality near the middle, but managed to come out of the doldrums near the end. A bit rocky, but overall enjoyable and gives me some respect for JC staff. But those JC staff moments... Oh well, Alice is cool and it looks good.


Name of Series: Hana Saku Iroha
Rating: B-
Comments:
Rocky as hell throughout it's run, Hana Iro manages to deliver heartwarming tales finely crafted together alongside the most retarded patronizing bullshit within the span of a couple of episodes. This must be one of the most bipolar series I've seen when it comes to quality. I think it would have been better as 1 cour and excise all that useless stuff. Of course, this is the Ohana show, and she's a great character, so it deserves the benefit of the doubt despite the fact that half the cast is retarded, especially with a fairly decent concluding arc. Plus it has great and consistent animation.


Name of Series: No.6
Rating: C-
Comments: No.6 started out fairly solid with a good amount of action scenes in a futuristic scene with a fairly humorous duo in Nezumi and Sion. However, the last part of the anime is rushed as hell and the character development yielded nothing but a bunch of crap where in the end I just wanted to slap them all. The last episode was pretty god awful as well. If it weren't for the nice production values and entertaining interactions in the first half, this would be tossed in the trash can, but as it stands, it's just wasted potential.


Name of Series: Usagi Drop
Rating: A
Comments:
Heartwarming, honest, and to the point, Usagi Drop is a rare gem for its time. It's a show that manages to be peaceful and cover the mundane aspects of life while still remaining constantly entertaining. Plus Rin and Dakachi are just funny as hell. The art is also excellent and not something you always see.


Name of Series: Kaiji season 2
Rating: B
Comments: Solid overall, although they really dragged the hell out of the second arc. However, it is largely entertaining because the godly soundtrack manages to keep the atmosphere going in the most silly of moments. I mean they sure make a single ball rolling around pretty damned exciting at parts. Also, more tears than Ano hana. Last episode really pulls in the themes together.

[Echoes]

I feel pretty stupid for having watched a lot of what ended up being mediocre series and leaving a lot of more promising ones behind due to time constraints... hopefully I'll catch up on them in the near future.

Ro-Kyu-Bu
Rating: Mediocre
The show has a cast of outstanding voice actresses, and solid character designs. Other than that, it's pretty bland. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Overall, something I could have easily done without.

Usagi Drop
Rating: Very good
Very endearing and unpretentious series. The relationship between Rin and Daikichi feels very genuine, and the rest of the characters are well rounded and feel like real people. It has a warm and subdued art-style that goes well with subject matter as well.

Uta no Prince-sama
Rating: Mediocre
This was a curiosity. It's not a good show, but it has some simple charm. It's rife with cliches and ridiculousness, though. Approach with caution.

Sacred Seven
Rating: Average
Pretty good characters and a plot that's less than stellar. It's decent entertainment and pretty nice to look at, but don't go into it excepting grandeur. I had more than enough fun with this one to justify the time spent, though.

Ikoku Meiro no Croisee
Rating: Good
A show with a unique setting and pleasant outlook on life. Par for the course if you know who's behind it. I enjoyed this show; I really did, but I still felt like I missed out on something. I wanted to love this, but it just never happened. At its worst, I found it a little uninteresting, but for the most part, good times were certainly had.

Blade
Rating: Mediocre
A lot happened in the short time allotted to the show, but unfortunately, most of it wasn't very interesting. A couple of the episodes were actually very good, but they were clearly outnumbered by the bad ones. Did a short review of this series in the series' thread.

Yuru Yuri
Rating: Excellent
Amazing series. Fantastic characters, lovely visuals and incredible chemistry between the cast. It's also genuinely funny. Not everybody's cup of tea, I'm sure, but I found it one of the season's, and indeed the year's, best series so far. Great opening, ending and character songs too.

Baka to Test to Shoukanjuu Ni
Rating: Good
More of the same we saw in the first series, but with some great additions of more serious flashback episodes fleshing out the characters. The humor is solid and the artsy directing looks great, and while I don't love every character in the show, it has a pretty good cast. Small weak points would be recycled jokes and exaggerated stupidity displayed by the protagonist.

Morita-san wa Mukuchi
Rating: Mediocre
This is alright, and if it had been longer it would have gotten a better rating. 3 minute episodes feel really pointless. The humor isn't bad, and I love the protagonist's eyes, but ultimately there's no reason to watch this. Stick with the one full length OVA episode.

Natsume Yuujinchou San
Rating: Excellent
Brilliantly evocative and positively inspiring series. Natsume is a fantastic lead, and as with the previous two seasons, the characters he encounters are all fantastic. Ranging from scary to heartwarming to funny, this show is a panacea for the soul; good for whatever ails ya. The episode where Natsume's past was detailed and the episode where he revisited the too-cute-for-words fox-youkai were particularly memorable.

Some quick thoughts on some of the carry-overs from the last season.

Steins Gate turned out just excellent. While the first half was no slouch by any means, the second half really upped the ante and made me fall in love with the series and its characters. This is one of 2011 strongest, and both Makise Kurisu and Okabe Rintarou are amazing characters.
Rating: Fantastic

Nichijou got a little better in its second half, I found. It wasn't a sudden spike in quality, but I felt like it improved slightly over time. Maybe it just grew on me. I used to think that the segments with Hakase were amazing, while the rest ranged from alright to annoying, but by the end I thought almost everything was pretty good. This show was original, and apparently to its detriment, but I enjoyed it and would happily watch another 26 episodes if fate had been kinder to Nichijou.
Rating: Good