thin slicing the new season, spring 2008 edition
Categories: anime, code geass, commentary, fanservice, fourkoma, kamen no maid guy, kanokon, l33t, macross, seasonal thin slicing, series, site news, the tower of druaga
Tagged: allison and lillia, amatsuki, code geass, code geass:kallen, crystal blaze, da capo, daughter of twenty faces, golgo 13, haruhi suzumiya:kyonko, kamen no maid guy, kanokon, kurenai, kyouran kazoku nikki, library wars, macross frontier, moe:bunny girls, nabari no ou, penguin musume heart, soul eater, special a, the tower of druaga, to love ru, wagaya no oinari-sama
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This was one of the tasks set forth at the beginning of this campaign– to continue the long march of those who came before us, a march for more fanservice, more sensical plots, more animation frames, more melonpan, and more bunny girl mecha pilots. We hold common hopes, that we may not look the same and we may not have come from the same place, but we all want to move in the same direction– to another season of great anime. YES WE CAN!
It’s spring! Flowers! Birds! Baseball! Love! Human-raping canids! NFL draft! And, yes, it’s time for another thin slicing the new season post. For people who aren’t familiar with my old thin slicing posts, these posts are where I watch as many new shows from a new season as possible and rank them in order of “if I received one episode of all the shows at once, which one would I watch first? Second? Last?†The end ranking is not meant to be quality ranking but rather a “What do I want to watch the most?” There’s going to be shows ranked high and shows ranked low for reasons that may go over your head. Deal with it. For a show to be ranked high, one must be ranked low.
The premise of thin slicing is explained in the entertaining book Blink from Malcom Gladwell that argues how a person’s ability to quickly judge what is really important and what’s not important from a very limited experience like reviewing a movie based only on its trailer or an anime only with two episodes. Oh wait, that’s exactly what thin slicing is about. With that spirit, most of these shows I have only watched the first few episodes… and that’s usually more than I need to form an opinion, justified or not. (And, guys, read Blink. You’ll impress more girls with that than with all the crap you ever learn in philosophy class.)
Spring 2008 is interesting in that by the time I returned from vacation, the first three episodes of most series had already aired. In sense, it is almost thin slicing in its almost purest form as I decide what I wanted to watch first, and that weighed on the rankings. Plus, because of this crazy schedule, I watched a lot of anime in a very short time and I felt like I was Homer Simpson at the end of the Guess Who’s Coming to Criticize Dinner episode. This season also features significantly fewer sequels as a percentage of shows than the previous few seasons with more new franchises launching. New blood is always a good thing. It is also the second season in a row where none of the top three studios in my book (Kyoto, Gainax, Doumu) launch any series, and none have any anime airing presently leaving JC Staff, Madhouse, Production IG, Gonzo, and Bones to pick up the slack.
Omissions this time: xxxHolic Kei (because I can’t stand watching the original) and Fireball (because I didn’t feel like it).
#26. MISTER. IRRELEVANT.
Delicious: Zzzzz
Gratz to Vampire Knight, which is the only show on this thin slicing that I couldn’t make it through a whole episode of. Why? Because I feel asleep. Twice. On two separate viewing attempts. It wasn’t like I wasn’t well rested or anything. Somehow, this really generic vampire story has the same effect Unisom, codine, and shoujo anime has on me. The anime world really needs to move away from vampire stories about bad vampires getting walloped by bad-ass “good” vampires. Seriously. Or someone might be dumb enough to make a roto league out of it.
#25. PRETTY. BAD.
Delicious: Pokemon vs. Pretty Boy Battles
Wow, in the first minute, we got exposed to one ridiculous jargon (“orb hunter”), one ridiculous breaking of physics (dodging and reflecting lasers like they were kickballs), and one ridiculous all pretty boy male team. Konichiwa, Neo Angelique ~Abyss~! A quick sampling of the dialogue: “You’re injured!” “Yeah, I was fighting a Thanatos in the forest earlier.” “A Thanatos!” “Yeah.” “You must be a Purifier!” Um, thanks, but I think I’ll pass.
#24. CENSORED. LOVE.
Delicious: Pretty Boy Action
Okay, the good for Monochrome Factor: the animation job by A.C.G.T. (an actual company and not a DNA sequence) is superior than what they recently did for They Are My Noble Masters. And that’s about it. The series is yet another supernatural action series about a boy who suddenly receives magical powers to save the world from the evil army. Nothing is particularly interesting, and I would have called this a poor man’s Kaze no Stigma except that the boy who receives his magical powers received them after getting a kiss from a creepy and highly effeminate guy. I would have tossed this series into the yaoi pile except they censor and fog up the kiss, and I’m not sticking around to see if it happens again. It seems more for comic effect than for actual romance so I’m sure the fangirls and unconventional males are disappointed. Meanwhile, I’m thankful I didn’t have to gouge out my eyes.
(Can probably sense a pattern I’m not down with pretty boy action series.)
#23. CYBERNETIC. DIVING.
Delicious: Seafood
I’m very perplexed about Real Drive. It seems to be some sort of dystopic sci-fi mixed with Ghost in the Shell, and its set of jargon (“metal”, “meta-real”) makes no sense nor is there any real attempt early on to explain them. What I can seem to make out is that there’s a dystopic future involving some underseas menace, and that they really confuse real life diving metaphors with web surfing metaphors.
(Mitigating factor: Why is the Secretary General in such a… pose… when she contacts the scientists?)
#22. Fated. Couple.
Delicious: Rejection
First of two shoujo anime with a “placed in a class that you are ranked” gimmick. Needless to say, like the main character, Itazura na Kiss (Mischievous Kiss) is the F-class compared to its other series (that we’ll get to that one later in this thin slicing). But on the bright side, the animation of this series looks like cut outs bobbing up and down, and there’s a fat girl. The “twist” is that the main female characer, Kotoko, has her house devastated by an earthquake so she moves in with the guy of her dreams, Irie. My main problem with this series is if it’s supposed to be a romantic love story, why is Irie such a horrendous asshole? He’s just completely not likable and a tier lower than the Kimikiss males. Assholes in shoujo anime are like the Shinji Ikaris of dramatic anime. Seriously? We’re supposed to believe? Oh well, at least now Irie is now well qualified to write an anime blog.
(“No matter how hard he bullies me, I’ll still love him.” I just hope after Kotoko hooks up with Irie, we don’t see Irie wearing a wifebeaters shirt and talking like a cast member from My Name Is Earl.)
#21. GONZO. AMALGAM.
Delicious: Gonzo Failure
Probably the most interesting thing about Blassreiter isn’t the anime itself but how it’s available for purchase on various sites (like Google Video and Crunchyroll) the same time it airs, with decent English subtitles no less. But it still doesn’t hide the fact that Blassreiter is yet another jargon-overloaded Gonzo anime about bike riding demon cyborgs.
(Mitigating factor: Gerd-o has a slim chance in making the Zero / Light-o Deification All-Stars. I especially enjoyed the scene where the little children join hands in prayer and chorus for Gerd-o, who was too busy to notice since he was choking the life out of his ex-lover.)
#20. L33T. OMGWTFBBQ.
Delicious: Rifle Specs
I’ve never heard of “The Answer Studio,” but they’re the production house for Golgo 13, a quasi-military thriller about an l33t sniper. Golgo 13 feels very formulaic, and with the Duke’s calm, cool exterior, nothing really phases him. There’s no real suspense as the main character is impeccable and efficient, and the story just seems to go from A to B to C in a fairly linear fashion. It’s not like Initial D where even though you know tofu boy is going to win, a lot of effort is still placed in trying to make the races interesting and suspenseful. I just don’t get that from Golgo 13. Maybe it’s because the lead character is so businesslike and professional that it detracts and hurts from the storytelling narrative. Now if he had the personality of a Shinji Ikari or a Lulu, I’m sure things would be a lot more interesting.
(Mitigating factor: Military junkies, feel free to pleasure yourselves to all the rifle specs in this one. We’ll forgive you.)
#19. LITTLE. SISTERS.
Delicious: Imoutos
The best thing about Da Capo II SS (Da Capo II SS is just a horrible series name. It’s like the Core 2 Duo of anime naming.) is that Otome and Yume return. Of course, Otome and Yume are Junichi’s and Nemu’s granddaugthers while Sakurai is Junichi’s and Nemu’s theoretical grandson, which makes me think that the Da Capo franchise is based off of Mulder and Scully’s discovery in Home, Pennsylvania. Oh well, Otome and Yume are huge upgrades over Nemu, at the very least. Da Capo II is supposed to take place two generations after the original Da Capo. If the characters are Junichi’s and Nemu’s grandchildren, why is the world so technologically and aesthetically similar to the original? Shouldn’t both progress like WWII America to present day America or present day America to Union America / Britannia America? And why is anime always placing America as the big bad guys? And why do we get 78 episodes of Da Capo when the episode count for Haruhi is stuck at 14 Baccano at 13, Nodame at 23.5, and Dragonball Z at 29,821,381?
(Mitigating factor: Believe it or not, I never finished watching the original Da Capo II, but it didn’t take me long to figure out what happened. Sakurai dumping the girl that he’s not related to? I’m shocked. Koko would be a first ballot inductee into the Nochance Hall of Fame.)
#18. HOLODECK. MALFUNCTION.
Delicious: Hair Scarf
Everything that you need to know about Amatsuki you learn in the OP. Hey, it’s a dude who travels from the present to Edo era Japan (real or virtual, haven’t figured this one out yet). Hey, there’s a possible tsundere swordswoman who is the second coming of Revy. Hey, she’s a possible dog spirit a la Horo. Hey, Amatsuki is by Studio Deen. I’m not sure if there’s anything else that I need to add.
#17. TRANSGENDERED. FOX.
Delicious: Transgendered Fox Spirit
Wagaya no Oinari-sama is yet another animal spirit anime, only it’s light on the fanservice and features not just a transgendered fox spirit but a transgendered fox spirit who doesn’t remember its own original gender. Wagaya feels like a Pokemon-ish scenario with the various spirits battling it out using elements that they are either greatly weak or strong against. Sadly, there’s not much to this anime. The fights are mediocre, the plot is borderline ridiculous (especially the boy’s carefree dad), the slice-of-life elements are vanilla, and there’s a lack of fanservice in a season swimming in fanservice. Imagine Inukami without fanservice, Nadeshiko, gay jokes, domestic violence, and humor, and that’s still more entertaining better than Wagaya.
#16. UNDERAGED. PILOTS.
Delicious: Tea
Allison & Lillia (Allison to Lillia) is a merger of Allison and its sequel Lillia and Treize light novels. The story deals with adventurous duos from both sides of a multinational conflict between the nations of Roxche and Sou Beil, and the first half of Allison & Lillia deals with Allison, a Haruhi-lite, and Wil, a bookworm marksman with a photographic memory. The story feels like a standard childhood adventure story on par with Nancy Drew or the Hardy Boys. It’s actually quite light and fluffy and doesn’t have the same heavy moralistic overtones that Kino’s has. The animation by Madhouse seems average, and the CG work is limited to just the flying scenes.
(Wait, if Allison and Wil are supposed to be middle school students, why is she a military pilot? What country lets thirteen year old girls pilot military aircraft? How bad has this war gotten that the country is desperate enough to use middle school students in the air force?)
#15. MNEMOSYNE. LITE.
Delicious: Silica-based Fanservice
Crystal Blaze is Mnemosyne-lite. It has the sci-fi overtones, the mystery, and the detectives, Mnemosyne revels in its violence and sexuality whereas Crystal Blaze shies away from it. Crystal Blaze is yet another misfit detective agency (they had to find a pet turtle as well as transport a biological weapon in the same episode, for example) in over its head. Stereotypical roles include the bad-ass womanizing detective, the side detectives for comedic effect, and the okama. The animation quality is noticeably poor, and many times the close-ups of characters speaking resemble a typical Flash animation or Flash game, and for that reason, it’s a step lower than the next series, which is basically the same formula of an agency protecting some randomly important girl.
(Mitigating factor: Localized moving shadows and fog. Boo-hiss!)
#14. DISPUTE. MEDIATOR.
Delicious: “It’s all sticky and gross!”
An odd couple pairing of a seven year old girl from a wealthy family and the poor high school boy assigned to protect her is the basis of Kurenai. I have a difficult time classifying this series as it seems to be overwhelming slice-of-life yet the setup is a dramatic one (kidnapping a little girl) with some sci-fi elements (Shinkurou’s body) as well as comedic elements (pretty much every odd couple scene with Shinkurou and Murasaki). I’m not sure who this series is targeted at, but I don’t find a lot that’s interesting about this series since it is mostly about the two trying to coexist together. Now, if you’re on Chris Hansen’s watchlist, your opinion might differ significantly than mine over that regard. The animation production from Brains Base (Baccano!, Kamichu) is excellent, which makes it only slightly above average for this season.
(Mitigating factor: Benika is Balalaika-lite, right down to the power suits that they wear.)
#13. LIBRARY. WARFARE.
Delicious: Books
Fantastic animation job by Production IG for Toshokan Sensou (Library Wars), but the premise itself is completely ridiculous and broken. The Japanese government turned Chinese and enacted draconian anti-media laws and created a special military force for enforcement (do they block YouTube as well?). They also simultaneously enacted a law that gave local libraries special powers to create their own special military forces to oppose that media enforcement force. Overlooking the ridiculousness of having the government sponsor both sides of a book-based civil war, Library Wars is actually a decent war/love/slice-of-life/librarian story. Though I still don’t understand why the book gestapos censor at the bookstores instead of the distributors… wouldn’t it make more sense to stop the importation of the books than to raid the local Barnes and Noble? I give it points for fantastic animation and decent execution but I’m floored by just the horrendous setup premise.
(The local San Jose libraries are having trouble with funding and a few branches have closed recently. You’re telling me that libraries in Japan are rich enough to field paramilitary troops? Oh well, at least you can check the availability of Gladwell’s Blink in the local branches.)
#12. COZY. FAMILY.
Delicious: Waifu
The best (and only way) that I can describe Kyouran Kazoku Nikki is what if Hosaka had a fantasy where Kyon and Haruhi had a shotgun marriage, with the rest of the SOS Brigade as their children. And Mikuru’s a jellyfish. That’s basically it. Childish, impulsive, and self-centered demagogue Kyouka marries overwhelmed everyman Ouka who have six “children,” ranging from a Ghost in the Shell cyborg reject to a jellyfish (wasting Rina Satou’s talents) to the DFC version of the Sonozaki twins. Oh, did I mention that the eldest son works at an okama bar? Kyouran Kazoku Nikki is a fun romp by the Rozen Maiden team with a style similar to Dokkoida mixed with Di Gi Charat with some Dual! for garnish, but I can’t say it’s superior than Dokkoida just yet. Kyouran is a fun series with promise.
(Mitigating factor: Yes, I’m still waiting for the true childish, impulsive, and self-centered demagogue who could destroy the world on a whim to return. Oh wait, I mean this one. Wait, maybe th– nevermind.)
#11. CHAOTIC. GOOD.
Delicious: Anime Cosplay Lesbian Freak
Penguin Musume Heart is yet another over-the-top vapid fanservice fest in a season full of over-the-top fanservice fests. It’s crazy, energetic, hyper, and provided in easily digestible 13 minute morsels. The show follows hyper cosplay freak Nankyoku as she tries to spread her religion of meido cosplay around to her classmates. Needless to say, I enjoyed this one quite a bit. I ranked it over Kyouran because they’re both in similar genres, but Penguin delivers a lot more fanservice. Especially meido fanservice.
#10. NINJA. NONSENSE.
Delicious: Carefreeness
Seeing Rie Kugimiya voice a pretty boy male character is the highlight of Nabari no Ou (King of Nabari). On the surface, it’s a typical modern day shounen action series with ninjas, and, really, it doesn’t get much deeper than that. I do give JC Staff credit for having Rie Kugimiya voice the main character (Miharu), whose main asset is no different from Reiji Maigo in concept: he holds some ultra secret yet ultra powerful item inside of him, and bad guy ninjas wish to extract this from him. Miharu’s only fighting skill (that has been revealed) is that he uses his charms and feminine good looks to stun and confuse his male assailants. Probably not a coincidence, but Miharu looks too like like Chiko from JC Staff’s other offering this season, which only makes things even more confusing. Fortunately, Miharu’s femininity and Raimei’s swordsmanship (she’s like 10x better than Shana) gives Nabari no Ou a higher ceiling than similar modern day action team anime like Tokyo Majin and Zombie Loan.
(Mitigating factor: Rie Kugimiya should really voice Raimei with Satoshi Hino sliding over for Miharu. That would restore order and balance to the universe. In other news, pigs are flying across Northern California.)
#9. SECOND. BEST.
Delicious: Bourgeois Thighs
By AIC & Gonzo, Special A is a cross between Utena‘s student body hierarchy and Ouran‘s style. It’s a violent shoujo slice-of-life romance story situation in a special (Special A) class inside a school and features the constant battles between the #1 student (voiced by Lulu, using the Lulu voice) and the #2 student (voiced by Mikuru, not using the whimpering voice). Despite its shoujo nature, the comedy mostly stems from physical gags as the #2 student (Hikari) tries to out the #1 student (Kei) in various forms of combat. It brings back many fond memories of Miki and Kankuro, though it’s extremely obvious that Kei wants to jump Hikari’s second place ass by the 15 minute mark in the first episode. Lightweight, low calorie, but enjoyable nonetheless.
(Mitigating factor: Nowhere as bourgeois as Ouran. They don’t even have servants or meido or high powered motors. What’s going on?)
#8. SLAPSTICK. BLEACH.
Delicious: Souls
Bones takes a stab at Toriyama-like material with Soul Eater. The basic problem with Soul Eater is that it’s really D.Gray-Man / Bleach that tries to be cooler and hipper than the previous series before it, but it still can’t hide the fact that, well, it’s of the same ilk. Bones does a good job at prettying it up as well as injecting some slapstick, but death themes in Torimaya anime is like WWII themed first person shooters. There’s only so many times one can storm Normandy. (Of course, Call of Duty won Game of the Year, and Soul Eater is top ten in a tough season, so, as usual, I have no point.)
(And, yes, Death the Kid should hook up with Chiri from Zetsubou Sensei. Done and done.)
(Mitigating factor: Patty, Liz, Tsubaki, and Blair. Oh my! The bakery is well stocked with melonpan today.)
#7. SAME. OLD.
Delicious: Typical Harem Moments
To Love Ru really has no business being a watchable series. It’s overloaded with typical harem themes and cliches. It’s fanservice appeal is limited to boob and panty shots, it’s comedy can’t compete with Kamen no Maid Guy, and the animation production is lacking with its 4:3 format. I mean, how do you have a fanservice romp in 4:3?! I docked a spot for this. But it’s well done and has a weird entertainment factor complementing the haven of melonpan. The pacing is superb, and there’s never a slow moment. There’s always something chaotic going on to the point that there’s no time to sympathize with the plight of the poor typical overwhelmed male lead (who reminds me a lot of Negima). The point of watching anime is to be entertained, and To Love Ru does a great job of it.
(Reader kaze wondered, “Xebec seems to be switching to doing soft core porn this season. I don’t remember watching any thing by them since Nadesco so I couldn’t tell you if this is a new trend.” XEBEC is responsible for single handily modernizing the ecchi fanservice harem genre with Love Hina. Kinda shocking that it took them 8 years to deliver another ecchi fanservice series. Well, 2 considering Kanokon is theirs as well. Andohbytheway, the ED to To Love Ru is just as lame as Kimi Sae Ireba for Love Hina. Still pictures being randomly blocked out 4tl. I docked points for that as well.)
#6. ANIMAL. LUST.
Delicious: Human-raping Canids
Ever wondered what life would be like if a well-endowed fox spirit battled with a flat-chested wolf spirit for the love of a petite shouta who sounded like Mamiko Noto? Well, that’s pretty much the scenario for Kanokon. I’d say Kanokon is in line to be the next Goshuushou-sama Ninomiya-kun, which isn’t a bad thing in itself, and the Chizuru/Nozomu/Kouta love triangle has a higher ceiling than the Mayu/Reika/Ninomiya love triangle which gives this series an even higher overall ceiling. Chizuru and Nozomu are significantly more aggressive fanservice machines, and either would jump Kouta at first chance. I would call Kouta a typical lucky loser harem male lead… except… Kouta’s voiced by Mamiko Noto in her standard Hecate/Enma Ai voice and is exceptionally cute. (So there are Minami-ke withdrawal symptoms after all.) So I’m definitely cheering for Chizuru and Nozomu to force themselves on poor Kouta just to hear Kouta’s fruitless defiant screams.
(Mitigating factor: Kanokon could go Nagasarete on us. Be wary of any mushrooms.)
#5. TWENTY. FACES.
Delicious: DFC
Another Bones anime! I guess without Kyoto (shockingly), Gainax, and Doumu airing new shows this season, Bones is taking up the slack. Chiko, Heiress of the Phantom Thief / Daughter of Twenty Faces / Nijou Mensou no Musume is an interesting show with some throwback art. I honestly don’t have a good idea where this series is going from the first few episodes alone (my first reaction was “OMFG Roger Smith is stealing an eleven year old DFC!”), but it feels like a cross between Lupin and Jing, King of Bandits. That’s a good thing. Aya Hirano is the lead, and Nobuou Tomizawa (Muteki Kanban Musume) is the director are more good things. What isn’t a good thing is that there doesn’t seem to be a lot of meat to the series, and things just tend to… well… happen. The Fiend with Twenty Faces is originally the villain from Edogawa Rampo’s Mystery of Rampo stories, and it seems like Daughter of Twenty Faces will take place from the antagonist’s standpoint. The concept and direction of this show is enough to keep me interested for now. I bumped it up a few spots because it’s a good change of pace show, kinda like having a course of veggies between healthy doses of mecha and fanservice.
#4. MACROSS. 00.
Delicious: Variable Geometry Fighter Caramelldansen
There’s three things that the Macross franchise is known for: missile contrails, variable geometry fighters, and the Minmay Defense. To be successful, Frontier has to nail all three of them. But there’s a hidden fourth criteria, and people familiar with Macross 7, Macross II, and Macross Dynamite know too well: train wreck. Long Macross series tend to veer towards Gundam more than Banner of the Stars. Some warning signs: Why is a civilian organization armed with the best pilots and weaponry instead of the military? Why do the uber bad guy aliens so easily cut through the military gunships in seconds yet spend a ridiculously amount of time chasing after a little girl? Why don’t the aliens blow up the city ship as easily as they do every other ship? Why does the city ship have so many frickin’ mountains and graveyards? Worse yet, three more kicks in that pants: first, Maaya Sakamoto and Yoko Kanno are reunited to provide the music, and it’s not on par with their other work or even Macross 7. Second, my gosh, Maaya Sakamoto isn’t even voicing one of the main roles. Sin beyond sins. Third, the mecha design is aging. I can understand if the original mecha were based on the Tomcat… and the Tomcat was retired from the US Air Force in 2006. Nonetheless, I’m hooked on this series just to see the next nyan nyan dance, the inevitable Minmay Defense, and more cute Renka cuteness.
(Boy meets girl: Girl gets soaked then peeps on boy stripping, only the girl mistakes him for a girl.)
(Mitigating factor: If this series were a reality TV based show called “The Miss Macross Frontier Contest” and was just 26 episodes of that, I would have given it a hard, hard look at the #1 spot.)
#3. TANK. LFG.
Delicious: Shoji Gatoh Scripts
The Tower of Druaga ~The Aegis of Uruk~ has many things going for it, the biggest probably being that a legal, subtitled, and free version is available streamed on the day of airing (CR / YouTube). A higher quality version is also available on a “pay as much or little as you want” menu. Beyond that, Druaga is actually a very enjoyable series about a standard, stereotypical RPG dungeon crawl. The characters are all interesting with the hero Jil oscillating between hilarious, hero-like, and emo facial distortion worthy. The story is paced well, and there’s always enough every episode to keep the viewer hooked and interested in the next episode without resorting to cheap cliffhangers (*cough* Sunrise *cough*). The only worry, of course, is that Druaga is a Gonzo series, and hopefully the Shoji Gatoh/Koichi Chigira tag team can dispel the Gonzo curse. On the bright side, the last time I wondered if a studio could break its curse with an anime, it was 2007’s spring thin slicing concerning one Gurren Lagann.
(Swinging is the best OP of the season. Highly imaginative, well animated, and fits the show nicely. Of course, I also liked the random Fatima gym shorts cutaways.)
(Mitigating factor: Please tell me that Jil can do more than just stick his shield into the ground and then hold his position.)
#2. MAID. GUY.
Delicious: Meido
Maid Guy says to go read my episode 1, 2, and 3 posts for the gory details, but Kamen no Maid Guy has all the proper nutritional requirements for anyone who regularly follows this blog. My biggest doubt is the Madhouse (whose production values have been slipping lately) and IMAGIN (Spice and Wolf) tag team. Watching them make a highly entertaining anime together is like watching Gordon Ramsay work nicely and politely with a Denny’s cook. And right after I wrote that joke, Maid Guy beat the crap out of me. Also, for whatever reason, Kamen no Maid Guy is turning into Minami-ke ~Okawari~ when it comes to fansubbers (with Kanokon being serviced by 5 groups no less). Maid Guy demands better.
#1. DELICIOUS. GEASS.
Delicious: Stuffed Crust Pizza Bunny Girl Kallen
Probably my favorite moment of any series of the new season has to be (brainwashed) Lulu tossing away Bunny Girl Kallen to save his (fake) brother. Yep, I think that’s all we really need to know about Code Geass ~Lulu of the Rebellion~ R2. That’s why it’s #1 for this thin slicing… and yes, Code Geass is the first series ever to be ranked #1 for two thin slicings.
In Conclusion
There’s one big running theme this season, and it’s that the animation quality has seriously jumped a level. Almost all of the shows look great, and the animation quality of shows like Macross Frontier, Code Geass ~Lulu of the Rebellion~ R2, kurenai, and Soul Eater is starting to make past stalwarts like Haruhi Suzumiya and True Tears seem more ordinary. Even shows from lower tier studios (*cough* Amatsuki *cough*) look passable and look better than past offerings from the same studio. While it’s fantastic that the studios are upping the animation quality (especially impressed with Sunrise), it does make the shows that are sub-par animation-wise even worse (*cough* To Love RU *cough*), and it places even a higher emphasis on plot and execution as to how the series can separate themselves from each other.
The other running theme is that the shows this season are on average better than most other recent seasons. While there’s no pantheon class series, the top twelve shows of this season are very solid and beat the tar out of the top placeholders of most other seasons. This season does feel like it has a small middle class in that the top shows are very watchable, the bottom shows are very unwatchable and sleep-inducing, and there’s only a few swing series in the middle.
And, finally, some random observations:
Series with ridiculous motorcycle missiles: Blassreiter, Daughter of Twenty Faces, Hayate the Combat Butler 52
Series with okama: Kyouran Kazoku Nikki, Crystal Blaze
Series with typecast female seiyuu voicing male characters: Kanokon, Nabari no Ou
Series with animal spirits: Kanokon, Amatsuki, Wagaya no Oinari-sama
57 Responses to “thin slicing the new season, spring 2008 edition”
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I couldn’t wait for this post. I actually use it to weed out some shows because of the sheer volume even though I often disagree with many points.
-There’s little to say about Code Geass. It will be grand train wreck entertainment.
-Maid Guy earning the #2 position is almost perfect. I agree. I still think it’s the best show of the season despite horrid animation quality.
-Druaga, I disagree with a little just because Jil is just as stupid as all those other useless male leads.
-I think Soul Eater has done great with the comedy. I can’t get over Death the Kid OCD’ing and his twin fanservice (especially when the Pharoah ties them up). Black Star is kind of annoying but funny at the same time. I give thumbs up to Tsubaki bath scenes.
-I can’t believe you didn’t make any loli/pedophilia comments with Kurenai, cuz it’s awfully shady
-I thought you’d like Kyouran Kazoku Nikki a lot more. It’s just… broken.
He did make loli comments: that’s what the Chris Hansen thing is, heh. Nonetheless, I was interested by the first episode but that has been going down as it hasn’t been going anywhere in a hurry. Disappointing!
Also, I’ve been really disappointed with RD. I really enjoyed GITS and Ghost Hound but this makes me confused, and not in a good way like Ghost Hound. Ghost Hound had that unique laconic atmosphere and made out like it was going places later on (which it didn’t, but it was enjoyable anyway). RD seems to think I should already understand wtf it’s on about, and I don’t. The ninja robot meido or whatever she was supposed to be is kind of out of place in such a dystopia too.
Da Capo II SS is actually pretty good. The story is very engaging. It’ll be one of the more memorable series of Spring 2008. No offense but throw away series like Kamen no Maid Guy won’t be remembered in once summer comes around.
I meant to say one joke throw away series like Kamen no Maid Guy. It’ll be fun for a few more episodes and then the characters will become static and the jokes will become stale (just like Minami-ke ~Okawari~) The rest of the top 10 will be pretty forgettable too. Soul eater? Kanokon? Horrible shows. And I know horrible. I watched Da Capo II all the way through.
…instead of trimming my schedule you have added two more shows to my list…damnit. Odd how both of those are for you telling me who’s voicing the lead. Speaking of, really enjoying special A for Yuko Goto. Even if the op is not worth watching.
Otherwise, Wagaya’s episode 3 puts it past Allison for me. That and the convenience store god amuses me.
Oh, and fireball is worth the minute thirty seconds it takes to watch. in a good way.
“I can’t believe you didn’t make any loli/pedophilia comments with Kurenai, cuz it’s awfully shady”
I knew this was coming. All I’ll say is that people really need to learn to differentiate between the OMG SO CUTE kind of loli fanservice and the fapping type. Kurenai clearly has a lot of the former. However, it only has the latter if you interpret it as such – and as far as I’m concerned that’s your problem, not the show’s.
I cringed to see Code Geass R2 at #1. Maybe it’s just my memories of the horrid last few episodes of season 1 and the shaky start to the new season, but if I had to drop a show this one would be under consideration. That’s despite the fact I like Sunrise trainwrecks in general and LOVED the bunny girl outfit.
I have to say though, I’m surprised that Kyouran managed to rank relatively low on Jason’s ratings, as it’s pretty much the surprise series for the season… theeeeeeeeeen I saw that Kanokon and To Love Ru ranked higher, and understood immediately why. Can’t really go against the blogger’s taste neh? :) Also, Rina Satou’s talent *isn’t* wasted, despite being cast as Gekka the jellyfish (who really *isn’t* a a normal jellyfish in many ways, as a brief browse through the novels show) as shown in Episode 03 of Kyouran.
With the exception of Kanokon, To Love Ru, Kamen no Maid Guy, and Penguin Musume, the series that managed to creep into Jason’s are all in my watch list. Geass and Macross aside, Allison and Illya and Kyouran are turning into my favorites, but that’s just me.
Blast, I meant ‘crept into Jason’s Top 12’. Stupid lack of edit function…
Allison may be a middle school student but she is not a fighter pilot. In fact she was barred from flying fighters, but ended up as part of the Roxche Air Force as an auxiliary pilot who piloted planes from one place to another i.e. from factory to the base. In that light it makes sense for a country that had been waging total war for decades to use kids to pilot in non-combat roles. I take it you never heard of WASP.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W.....ice_Pilots
As for Itazura na Kiss so long as Kotoko makes one cutting remark to mock her target at the end it makes it all the more sweeter. For me its like watch Manstein’s backhand blow ala the 3rd Battle of Kharkov, sure the asshole runs wild for the first phase, but in the end the female lead delivers a blow so devastating that the asshole ends up behind his starting position.
Despite your fear mongering I still hold Macross Frontier as my favorite this season, it leaves me in shock and awe after every episode so far. For some reason Code Geass has lost much of that old shine for me, the body count is still too low for me, and the RolloxLulu thing made me cringe even when I was drunk.
Does anyone else find it strange that Jason mentioned how he didn’t include a series like Fireball in the rankings, yet he doesn’t even mention Kaiba, Himitsu, Junjo Romantica or Zettai Karen Children?
You also forgot Himitsu: The Revelation
Well, I’ll agree on Code Geass as #1….. past that this has been the most differing ranking from my own I’ve seen since I’ve started following this blog.
Seeing Kanokon and To-Love-Ru so high up is just insane, so far it’s relied on the same comedic tactics (more so Kanokon than To-Love-Ru), and it’s only been 3 eps, I cannot fathom 26 eps for To-Love-Ru, it feels like another Yoake mai Yori… with redundant comedy.
I feel like checking out Penguin Musume Heart, and I will not go near Kamen no maid guy for the same reason Mako-cakes should have never put that meido fuku on.
I saw a strange trend though, as I read from the lower ranked to higher ranks shows it seems like the comments get harsher and harsher until around rank 5. It almost felt like you disliked the shows you ranked better more.
Last blasphemy is Kurenai being in the lower 50%, maybe we’ll see some surprisingly positive posts about it later on like we did for True Tears, Shigofumi and ef.
You’re not watching Kaiba?
When was the last time I enjoyed a comedy anime in despite of its horribly subpar animation quality? Yeah, Cromartie High School.
Now, it is Maid Guy.
Ah, the Macross entry is missing the
melonpamaguro-man, the third coming of Revy, and traps. Maybe its time to get Jason drunk to watch it all, or he’s still recovering. I personally like Aimo and Nakwjima’s singing so far, newcomer she is.I’m surprised that Vampire Knight is in your last place..
It’s actually my favorite anime this season..
Considering that I only watch 4 animes this season (lol)
You watch an impressive amount of shows..
What do you mean, Chiko from J.C.Staff’s other offering this season? How is there something else besides Nabari from J.C.Staff this season without me being aware of it? It’s not on jcstaff.co.jp! Now I have to check it out.
Anyway, this J.C.Staff whore is quite pleased with Nabari. Sure, it’s a typical shonen action series, but it’s good-looking and exciting, with J.C.Staff repenting for past sucky fight scenes, low animation frame counts, bad pacing, and boys named Kouichi voiced by Satoshi Hino. Pigs are indeed flying.
Finally, for a season that seemed to generate little interest when it was first discussed on this blog, I find myself watching more shows (Nabari, Druaga, Kyouran, and possibly Chiko) than I thought I would.
>this has been the most differing ranking from my own I’ve seen since I’ve started following this blog. Seeing Kanokon and To-Love-Ru so high up is just insane
I must agree! But I guess its what you watch it for ;)
Another surprise for me is:
1. Kurenai being so low. It is definitely one of my top 5.
2. Druaga being so high, I didn’t think we would agree on this one.
Probably my favorite moment of any series of the new season has to be (brainwashed) Lulu tossing away Bunny Girl Kallen to save his (fake) brother.
Unfortunately, if you are referring to episode one you are actually wrong about what happened. If you notice after she grabbed him they showed a flash of Rollo’s locket and then Kallen was all of a sudden on her ass stunned. It’s because Rollo used his geass, not because Lulu tossed her away.
Aside from that I mostly agree with your list, with a few changes, I don’t think TLR or Maid Guy are anywhere as funny as Kanokon, and Druaga was dull.
Series you forgot:
Himitsu – the Revelation
Kaiba
However, good job at thin slicing, I didn’t expect Druaga to be quite so high, although it’s definitely one of my favorites this season.
>>I knew this was coming. All I’ll say is that people really need to learn to differentiate between the OMG SO CUTE kind of loli fanservice and the fapping type. Kurenai clearly has a lot of the former. However, it only has the latter if you interpret it as such – and as far as I’m concerned that’s your problem, not the show’s.
Okay, Mr. High and Mighty. Just by stating “I knew this was coming” gives an indication that you know what to expect from 1) the blogger 2) the blogger’s readers; it’s a sign that you were thinking along the same lines. No, I don’t mean thinking about the show as the loli “fapping type.” I don’t like DFCs or lolis and a half dozen other things Jason thinks are amusing, but it doesn’t take a genius to predict when the opportunity to make a comment appears. As far as I’m concerned, you can leave your Freudian psychoanalysis for yourself.
Excellent thin slicing as always. And while I disagree on many things (most specifically, rating vapid fanservice shows over well-animated, well-paced shounen that is actually actively NOT trying to be the next Dragon Ball) I found your usual wit to be quite welcome for this season.
And now I agree with the others. Where the hell is your impressions of Kaiba?
i would rate both the gender-bender fox and the loli-catgirl-waifu higher then both the fanservice aliens princess and fox-girl. other then that i got no problems with the rest of the ranking. And i absolutely agree with you regarding vamp.knights, i couldn’t even finish the first chp.
“Okay, Mr. High and Mighty. Just by stating “I knew this was coming†gives an indication that you know what to expect from 1) the blogger 2) the blogger’s readers; it’s a sign that you were thinking along the same lines. No, I don’t mean thinking about the show as the loli “fapping type.†I don’t like DFCs or lolis and a half dozen other things Jason thinks are amusing, but it doesn’t take a genius to predict when the opportunity to make a comment appears. As far as I’m concerned, you can leave your Freudian psychoanalysis for yourself.”
Okay, I think I took your comment a lot more seriously then it was intended to be. My bad. I’m probably just sensitive to the issue because I know anti-loli types (including in real life) who would make comments more vicious than that and are dead serious about it. Tends to get a bit grating after a while. The “I knew this was coming” was due to the fact I thought you were one of them.
For the record, I am not pro-loli or DFC (I’m more into balanced chest sizes, and my fetishes are animal ears/tail, glasses, and thigh highs), I just think Murasaki is insanely cute.
Nice slicing, as usual. I lack the time right now to write my own dissection of my faves of this season, so I’ll just put down my own slicing top 5. They would be:
5 – xxxHolic Kei
4 – Macross Frontier
3 – Maid Guy
2 – Soul Eater
1 – Code Geass R2
I thought my biggest objections would be ToLoveRu and Kanokon .- fanservice and melonpan are all good but they alone don’t beat better shows – until I scrolled down to your #3. Seriously? Druaga’s been rather bad and likely rates somewhere in the last quarter of my list. I applaud Gonzo for taking a huge step forward with the digital distribution thing, I just wish the offerings were… little better than these (Blassreiter especially).
And regarding money, to make good of my earlier talk about being willing to pay for downloaded content, where can I drop a few euros direct to Gonzo for the episodes I did watch? I refuse to deal with Crunchyroll in any manner.
Wasnt too surprised you rated Vampire Knight so low, it is a fucking shoujo beat series.
@Northernshadows,
Bost TV http://www.bosttv.com/
$1.99/ep or $19.99 for entire series
@Northernshadows: Try at BOST, they also sell the episodes.
The gems of the post:
“Mitigating factor: Military junkies, feel free to pleasure yourselves to all the rifle specs in this one. We’ll forgive you”
Mmm, rifle specs.
“(Da Capo II SS is just a horrible series name. It’s like the Core 2 Duo of anime naming.)”
So rather true.
“Sakurai dumping the girl that he’s not related to? I’m shocked. Koko would be a first ballot inductee into the Nochance Hall of Fame.”
Honestly, Season 1 was a waste of time.
“The best (and only way) that I can describe Kyouran Kazoku Nikki is what if Hosaka had a fantasy where Kyon and Haruhi had a shotgun marriage, with the rest of the SOS Brigade as their children. And Mikuru’s a jellyfish. That’s basically it.”
HAHAHAHAHA, yeah, that’s an awesome way to put it.
“Penguin Musume Heart is yet another over-the-top vapid fanservice fest in a season full of over-the-top fanservice fests.”
It’s Lucky Star. With real fanservice.
“Mitigating factor: Rie Kugimiya should really voice Raimei with Satoshi Hino sliding over for Miharu. That would restore order and balance to the universe. In other news, pigs are flying across Northern California.”
LOL. Pics plz. But yeah, quite surprised to see them reverse roles for the Satoshi Hino – Rie Kugimiya partnership. I hope they don’t apply the romance part too.
“So I’m definitely cheering for Chizuru and Nozomu to force themselves on poor Kouta just to hear Kouta’s fruitless defiant screams.”
I want that too. Seriously.
“If this series were a reality TV based show called “The Miss Macross Frontier Contest†and was just 26 episodes of that, I would have given it a hard, hard look at the #1 spot.”
I would too.
“Of course, I also liked the random Fatima gym shorts cutaways.”
Ahh~ they stopped changing her outfits since 04… :X
“Please tell me that Jil can do more than just stick his shield into the ground and then hold his position.”
LOL, same here.
Other things:
1. Wagaya is actually getting rather good, as of episode 4. To be honest, I’m enjoying the LACK OF FANSERVICE in this series, mainly due to the fact that after Horo and Chizuru, more fox/wolf spirit fanservice would just be unoriginal. They play out the transgender-ness pretty well, and the Yukana-Nakamura Yuuichi combo does a fine job coordinating with each other to bring out Kuu’s character well. Wait until episode 04 to see Hocchan in a non-standard Hocchan role too. :wink:
2. “The Japanese government turned Chinese and enacted draconian anti-media laws and created a special military force for enforcement (do they block YouTube as well?). They also simultaneously enacted a law that gave local libraries special powers to create their own special military forces to oppose that media enforcement force.”
Yeah, Toshokan Sensou’s premise is ridiculous… almost surreal infact. It’s like having the US government acknowledge the Taliban and al-Qaida as legitimate organizations.
Conclusion:
Awesome post. Thank god for no more random sports references.
“Okay, I think I took your comment a lot more seriously then it was intended to be. My bad.”
Well, sorry for snapping at you. Even though I don’t support certain things Jason says, when he says them, I think they’re hilarious or at least amusing. (Hmm, wait a sec, is that hypocritical?)
But yeah, I actually have Kurenai in my top 5 watch list. I’m also rather surprised he didn’t mention xxxHolic (love that Yuuko) and I’m also liking Wagaya as well. Druaga (and I guess Daughter of Twenty faces) is only high on my watch list because Jason is blogging it. Jason rarely fails me.
Thanks, I’ll look into BOST soon. Considering the weak dollar (1 euro buys ~1.56 dollars right now) this might be a good deal for us on this side of the pond… :D
Bleh, have to disagree with Kanokon. That thing made me cringe. Each to his or her own I guess.
I post here to comment on usage of the kyonko tag. That is all.
Most of the series this season I find to be under par exapt for the Superior Retarded-ness of Kyouran Kazoku Nikki and Soul Eater. Even though you could parallel the plot to that of Bleach, its the show that doesn’t put me to sleep. Well…Its also hard to fall asleep with fan-service romps too.
PS: They censored the kiss in Monochrome Factor? What kind of world has this become where Japan developed the decency to censor homoerotic situations!? Give me my yuri and yaoi now.
Not mentioning Kaiba makes about as much sense as calling Billups Mr Big Shot.
I don’t know what you guys are talking about but sports references = awesome.
Oh and heres to hoping for bunny girl C.C.
If Death the Kid and Chiri paired up their combined analness might cause them to take over the world just to make it more symmetrical..
>> Re: kurenai
I really felt it has no point. In terms of story, it’s pretty much the same formula as Crystal Blaze. Does it look pretty? Well, for this season, it’s only slightly above average… and it’s really moot since it’s not a fanservice show (Chris Hansen may disagree). I’m actually more impressed with Library Wars’ art just because it has no business being good, and it’s one of the three best this season.
>> Re: Druaga
One thing about thin slicing is that thin slicing is never about the quality or absolute ranking of an anime. PEOPLE ALWAYS FORGET THIS!!! WHY THE FUCK DO YOU THINK CODE GEASS HAS BEEN #1 TWICE?! It’s just simply “What do I want to watch next?” And as such, you have to project out sometimes from just the first few episodes (and for most adventure series, they tend to be slow). A lot of people bitched about Gurren Lagann pretty much until episode 8. (But I believed in you Sim– errr– Kamina from the first moment you called Yoko a fat cow.) I think Druaga can make that leap. Plus, the fact that I don’t have to wait for subs or raw or anything makes it a no-brainer to watch.
>> Re: Kaiba
Honestly, I forgot about it. If I forgot about it, it must be good. As a reference point, I forgot about Mushishi and Nodame Cantible in past thin slicings. I do keep a list of shows to thin slice, but usually at some point, I’m fed up enough with the post that I say hell with it and publish. That happened yesterday when I said hell with it and published so I could watch Carrier on PBS.
>> Re: Kanokon
I’m going to devote the next few weeks to subtle and not-so-subtle digs at the “plot is more important than fanservice” people. You know what’s really important? Entertainment. I think there’s a huge fallacy in shunning fanservice as fanservice is something unique to anime and is something that really distinguishes anime from other mediums. The ridiculousness of fanservice in anime is one thing that really sets it apart, and for a lot of people, why they ventured into the land of oversized eyeballs in the first place. I feel really dirty in shunning fanservice… it’ll be like Obama shoving his pastor under a bus.
(I did like Obama’s basic, “He screwed up, but I still love the adorable bastard anyway” response. That’s what a real man would do. Only a coward would toss a friend under a bus.)
>> Re: Kyouran
Just to remind people again, thin slicing is all about what to watch if I had an episode of everything. If I had an episode of everything and wanted a laugh, would I go for Kyouran… or Maid Guy? Would I go for Kyouran… or Macross Frontier (Sheryl’s dresses are a godsend for comedy… welcome to 1980!)? Would I go for Kyouran… or Code Geass R2? Would I go for Kyouran… or Kanokon (which has fanservice as well as a moaning Mamiko Noto)? There’s so much good comedy and unintentional comedy this season that wacky comedy just seems blah. If Kyouran had some fanservice, maybe I’ll change my mind. And, oh, plot is unnecessary for Kyouran. Even if it had some, I wouldn’t change my mind. Who watches vapid wacky comedies for plot… but you would watch them with fanservice. (I guess that was a not-so-subtle dig.)
>> I post here to comment on usage of the kyonko tag. That is all.
Yep… these are my readers.
“I feel asleep”
Typo, or Metal Gear reference?
I’m just surprised Junjou Romantica isn’t MisterS Irrelevant in this post :P
“I really felt it has no point. In terms of story, it’s pretty much the same formula as Crystal Blaze. Does it look pretty? Well, for this season, it’s only slightly above average… and it’s really moot since it’s not a fanservice show (Chris Hansen may disagree). I’m actually more impressed with Library Wars’ art just because it has no business being good, and it’s one of the three best this season.”
I had a different take on the first couple episodes… while the first couple episodes were definitely slice of life, it had enough of a dramatic undercurrent to it that I was certain it was going to go somewhere, and I was actually very interested in watching just to see where that would be.
As for the animation… as much as this season is choke full of technically competent shows, I felt Kurenai was a cut above in terms of atmosphere, texture and quality of movement. That might just be me, though.
“I think there’s a huge fallacy in shunning fanservice as fanservice is something unique to anime and is something that really distinguishes anime from other mediums. The ridiculousness of fanservice in anime is one thing that really sets it apart, and for a lot of people, why they ventured into the land of oversized eyeballs in the first place. I feel really dirty in shunning fanservice… it’ll be like Obama tossing his pastor in front of a bus.”
It’s taken me a long time to get comfortable with talking about how much I like fanservice shows sometimes. Still, even I have some limits… if I’m entertained, it’s all good, but if my primary thought is that I’m feeling stupider for watching, that’s bad. Kanokon episode 3 and 4 were great, but the early parts of the series actually tended towards the latter for me.
Also, as much as animated fanservice benefits from movement and sound, it sometimes just can’t compare to things like game CGs. For all the animal eared girls this season, none of them is this pretty:
http://img91.imageshack.us/img.....ailut7.jpg
I wouldn’t mind having her touch lips to something other than her tail, if you know what I mean.
And I still don’t get all you guys ranking Code Geass as #1. Sure, the first season had it’s merits, but didn’t anyone else cringe at the end of season 1? Looking forward to the show is like sticking with the fox eared girl who trashed your house, crashed your car, and put your little sister in a coma because she gives you great head.
Given the tastes of Jason, aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaabsolutely no comment (nor surprise) here. :) Still steering clear of the fanservicey shows though.
My reasons for ranking Geass as #1 on my watch list are multifaceted.
Firstly, we don’t have TTGL OVAs or O-Haruhi’s Second Coming to drool over. That already makes the season’s #1 spot available to shows beyond those two.
Secondly, all the stuff we have in Geass. I can’t get enough of Lulu’s sometimes bordering on ridiculous JUST AS PLANNED moments. We also have (some) fan service, especially Pizza Butt, OH GEASS NO ambiguously gay relations and moments, lots of mecha combat, MELODRAMA, Lulu’s over-the-top grandstanding as Zero, more JUST AS PLANNED, NOOOOODLE PEOPLE designs from CLAMP still shining through, plot twist N+1, a cast so large you may need to take notes, and of course YOU KNOW WHAT THIS BADASS MOTHER CAN DO. Last not directly related but adds to Geass’ meme power.
And of course, trainwreck.
Geass is no high literature and does not strive to be. It is much more entertaining than say Gundam 00 or SEEDs moves along at a faster pace, doesn’t have WOE IS ME angsty pilots, nor does it stop to contemplate or dwell on things like “dude, war is bad, mmmkay” (at least for long).
And THAT is why Geass is on top of my list. Now if we want to discuss what show deserves to be called the best show of the season, it is a much more difficult question.
Kyouran is more than just wacky comedy. It has 75% as much cuteness and 100% as much heart as J.C.Staff’s masterpieces (Mahoraba, Azumanga, Potemayo, Sugar), despite not actually coming from J.C.Staff. Like Hare+Guu, Kyouran derives as much appeal from its touching message about (dysfunctional) family as from its caffeinated craziness. As long as Kyouran doesn’t slip up, we don’t have to wait for Kemeko DX to see the next Guu.
OMG I’m quite thinking the same way than u about vampire knights, since hellsing (….. well a lot before that i think, but hellsing was a reborn to anime’s vampires) I’ve seen a lot of vampire vs vampire anime but none of them was really interresting (well maybe exept for black blood brothers), always trying to use the same plot, I’m starting to get tired of this……. but i think that a plot is not so bad so i would have given to it somthing like 50/100, to be honest with you i think that the main character is really stupid and that all the show is saved by Zero………
For Druaga i’m quite desapointed cause since the first episode (i’ve seen 3 or 4 , can’t remember) there are no randoms happenings, I’m fearing that Druaga could return to a typical boring gonzo-type anime (thought i liked SOEX)…….. If anyme’s god is reading this message plz do not let it be so
finally i’ll say that I’m really desapointed about what u think of Kurenai, first shinkurou and murasaki are not a couple (well sorry for the loli people but it definitly not seems to be) but it’s more kind of a sister an a brother (Murasaki come’s with Shinkurou in the male compartment without any tsundere or other kind of reaction, no special Op because of this???? no u can’t make a love anime like that….. modern society is based on multiple and complex rules :D)
secondly I do not think that there is really Sci-Fi elements in Kurenai (I’m not sure about that but it seems like Shukurou geted his special powers/body from a doujo, well the girl that is in his class and who is from the doujo knows about his body and even gives him medecine for it…)
Well I for me this anime is getting 68/100 (which is not bad at all) and I think that the mark will improve since it’s getting more an more interesting.
when I was saying “male compartment” I forgot to say “in the sento (public bath)”
I really like Kurenai. Nothing else really hits any spots, though I watch A&L, ToLoveRu, Kanokon, Soul Eater and Druaga for various reasons. Real Drive is really dissapointing right now, is it really made by Production IG…
Probably my favorite moment of any series of the new season has to be (brainwashed) Lulu tossing away Bunny Girl Kallen to save his fake (shota) brother.
Fixed.
Kurenai is one of the best shows of this season and deserves an higher ranking. I am also enjoying Vampire Knight. Come on, it’s not that boring! There is comedy in it as well, and the main character is genki. Oh well, tastes are tastes.
My Top 5 would be:
1. Geass R2
2. Macross F
3. Kurenai
4. Soul Eater
5. Druaga
Heh I realized the only shows I watch\enjoy are the top 3. In that order. Bravo, Jason.
Vampire Knight is a shoujo beat manga turned anime. The potential manservice just turns Jason off
Just noticed Death the Kid from Soul Eater is voiced by King Tamaki from Ouran. Another point to Soul Eater.
>>> Series with typecast female seiyuu voicing male characters: Kanokon, Nabari no Ou
well, i guess you missed kurenai, whose male lead is voiced by Sawashiro Miyuki AKA shinku-sama
I really enjoy the character design of the protagonists in Vampire Knight enough that I’ll stick with it for a couple episodes. Besides that not much has happened in the first two episodes but I did enjoy some cheap laughs.
I really want to enjoy Macross F but so far it’s been bloody boring. That and everytime Roy Focker–errr Ozma Lee sorties I keep expecting him to die from his anti-plot armor and have Alto replace him as the new skull 1orz. Oh well, maybe they’ll take the Geass route and put the space opera on hold while they improve Alto’s harem.
Shiro: If you’re looking for harem hijinks or Kanokon-style fanservice, I can see why you’d call it boring. For those of us who like mecha fights which aren’t basically people slamming together huge swords or screaming the names of their dead sisters, then it’s promising so far. ;)
Besides, Alto wouldn’t be the new Skull 1; he’s too new to the role, and both
Max JeniusMikhail Buran and just about anyone else there beats him in rank AND experience. And currently, Mikhail may beat him in skill. We’re more likely to see angst due to the Vajra or someone dying in the near future than that.Sorry mate but Kanokon really isn’t my cup of tea. I say boring since ep 3 reallt felt filler’ish, and ep 2 was a bit of a letdown after the climactic ep 1. After just watching ep 4 I can assure you of my rekindled love of
robotech-errrr macross dog fights.I really feel that Macross F is to Macross as Gundam Seed is to Gundam. A series that pays homage to the original and loosely follows the same formula. What with your boy hopping into the gundam, intense atmospheric reentry scene, obligatory desert combat arc, and the eventual return to space for your final self-destructing battle. I enjoyed that sort of nostalgia when I first watched F’s ep1 a month or so ago. That being said Alto seems like the best fit for Rick Hunter who as I recall became the leader of Skull squadron. Then again it’s been forever since I watched it way back on the sci-fi channel.
I just hope that angst isn’t due to Ozma dying. His seiyuu has had a track record of enough untimely death’s recently. And yes Sunrise’s battle choreography tends to be inversely proportional to how many episodes into the series they are.
Wow, I suck at the strike tag.
It’s a sad sign of breakage when you’ve enjoyed the fact that Kyonko’s a bunnygirl (and next to Kallen in the same mode) in that last picture more than the thin slicing itself. D’ARRRRRGH.