thin slicing the new season, spring 2010 edition

C’MON LET’S DANCE! GET CHILL AND GET REAL YO! FUCKING CRAZY! DON’T STOP DANCING!

(Somewhat abridged. Stupid NBA playoffs/NHL playoffs/NFL draft/MLB opening day/The Masters featuring Tiger Woods/Shark-splitting Katanagatari/Conveyor Belt of Love.)

Like clockwork, the granddaddy of gimmick posts is once again upon us. That’s right– try to contain your bursting glee– thin slicing has returned!

Thin slicing is based off of Malcom Gladwell’s Blink, a book about the ability of someone to quickly judge what is really important and what’s not important from a very limited experience. And that’s basically what I do in watching, at max a fourth, of a weekly anime series and trying to rank all the shows from a new season. As a 2010 twist, Gladwell builds on Blink a bit in his 2009 book, What the Dog Saw. Here’s an excerpt from that book:

Our instinct as humans, after all, is to assume that most things are not interesting. We flip though the channels on the television and reject ten before we settle on one. We go to a bookstore and look at twenty novels before we pick the one we want. We filter and rank and judge. We have to. There’s just so much out there.

And that’s exactly what thin slicing is for. To find the Araragi’s and Kogarashi’s and Lulu’s… and maybe even a few Detroit Metal Citys along the way. And in this orgy of ranking new shows from 1 to whatever, the only guideline I go by is simply, “if I received one episode of all the shows at once, which one would I watch first? Second? Last?” The ranking is not a quality ranking. It’s a visceral instinct ranking. And, of course, for shows to be ranked high… some will be ranked low. Deal with it. Also, because I have finite time, I might just decide not to thin slice something. Especially series that are crappy sequels *cough* Koihime Musou *cough*.

Well, what are we waiting for? Let’s roll…


#20. MS. IRRELEVANT.

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Jack Bauer: “What is the audience for B Gata H Kei!? What is it! Time is running out! TELL ME! TELL ME NOW! WHAT IS THE AUDIENCE FOR B GATA H KEI!!!” Just shaking my head. An unfunny “comedy” about a girl aiming for 100 sexual partners before she leaves high school (even Paris Hilton wasn’t this ambitious), except she’s both entranced yet terrified of sex. I’m trying to pinpoint exactly what I don’t like about this show, and maybe it’s the fact that Yamada is just such a stupid character. Maybe she should just get it over with and fuck Battlestar Galactica’s Baltar, since that’s the only other recent character on that level of stupidity. Well, actually, The Twelve Colonies were stupider by having a single power-down code, but that’s another story. In any case, not even the skanks on Conveyor Belt of Love are this desperate.

(Mitigating factor: Seeing Hal Film Maker bring up the rear is quite disconcerting considering that there’s a crappy Studio Deen anime in the mix. But if Yamada makes a hook up list, I’d reconsider this ranking.)


#19. URABOKU.

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I watched only about five minutes of UraBoku before I gave up on it, which is probably four minutes too generous. Shounen ai, and it doesn’t even feature Lulu or Suzaku.

(Mitigating factor: Lowest thin slicing ranking I’ve ever given a JC Staff show?)


#18. HAKUOUKI SHINSENGUMI PRETTY BOY.

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Not a good sign if as of when I’m writing this, there’s no Wikipedia entry yet for Hakuouki Shinsengumi Kitan. If I had to start off the Wikipedia entry for this show, I think it would go like this, “Based off the uninspired otome game of the same name, Hakuouki is about a lot of pretty boy shinsengumi cursing their fate of being stuck in this low budget anime by Studio Deen.” Out of curiosity, would any heterosexual male watch this show? And if you do, can you still be considered a heterosexual male?

(Mitigating factor: Shinsengumi outfits get more and more fabulous.)


#17. STAN LEE’S HEROMAN.

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No, seriously, let’s get Stan Lee the fuck away from anime. We don’t need stereotyping, bland, uninspired shows like Heroman. I’m not sure what’s worse… the fact that Bones is wasting their talents on this show… the overused red, white, and blue color scheme (yes, I get it, they’re in America, sheesh)… the fact they’re in Seattle, yet there’s a period when it didn’t rain (?) and there’s palm trees… no one ever changes clothes… Joey just presses one button to command Heroman to do all sorts of things… sigh. At least Ash screams commands at Pikachu.

(Mitigating factor: I think Stan Lee is Al Davis’ long lost brother.)


#16. KISS×(SIS^2).

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I fell asleep fifteen minutes into Kiss×sis, so that’s probably not a good thing. On the other hand, it has no name seiyuus, a bad animation house (Feel), lackluster animation, and uninspired/creepy premise (guy has two stepsisters who toss themselves at him) just scream “Hey, watch anything else, even Conveyor Belt of Love.”

(Mitigating factor: Can we get Ritsu to start hiding pr0n in Mio’s bedroom? Please? Pretty please with a cherry on top?)


#15. ROYGBIV

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The whole point of thin slicing is to rank shows by order in which I’d watch them… well… Rainbow 二舎六房の七人 has some promise. It’s a dark, grimly lit look at the lives of seven youths trapped in a prison camp. Unfortunately, I don’t watch anime to depress myself. I watch for enjoyment, and it’s really hard to derive enjoyment from such suffering. On the bright side, the cheesiness factor, the bromance factor, and the Madhouse using its C team factor are all very high.

(Mitigating factor: Anal rape is probably not the best way to start off episode one. Code Geass waited at least eight episodes.)


#14. <BLANK>

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I can’t believe we have yet another season featuring Koihime Musou and Ikkitousen going head-to-head… this is like watching Art Shell and Eric Mangini battle it out in a high-stakes game of Go Fish. Seriously? We need three seasons for both of these anime about dead Chinese generals re-incarnating as buxom high school girls?

(Mitigating factor: Where the hell is my season two of Kamen no Meido Guy?! Or Mushishi? Or Bakemonogatari?)


#13. SENKOU NO NIGHT RAID

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How not to start an anime: five minutes of the worst Chinese dialogue ever. I’m not kidding. I’ve heard better in a first year university Chinese class. Atrocious. On the plus side, it made the rest of Senkou no Night Raid seem not that bad by comparison. I don’t think that they’d be using that as a promotional blurb, unless they get really, really desperate.

(Mitigating factor: Basically, X-Men during WWII China.)


#12. MAYOI NEKO OVERUN!

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If you act now, you can get this absolutely bland harem comedy for one low price plus shipping and handling. Yes, that’s right, all the stereotypical male lead, the generic heroines, and the wacky twist of Mayoi Neko Overrun! (迷い猫オーバーラン) can be yours if you act now. Blah. The loser male lead, is, once again, stereotypically boring. The heroines are bland, except for the older sister who needs to cause even more mischief. The wacky twist… well… hey, it’s a cat-girl! That never happens in anime. *rolls eyes*

(Mitigating factor: The socially awkward rich girl with an army of meido who wants to be included in the main gang and has that annoying “Ho-ho-ho” laugh? That never happens in anime either! *rolls eyes*)


#11. <BLANK>

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Blank.


#10. GIANT KILLING.

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Four big issues with Giant Killing: One, it’s done by Studio Deen. Two, it’s about soccer, which I rank behind curling but ahead of cricket in terms of sports hierarchy. Three, the main lead character is an annoying sonuvabitch. Four, it’s done by Studio Deen. Let’s just move on.

(Mitigating factor: The whole recipe of sports anime never gets old. Some ragtag team aims for the top… classic. Just I want to learn a bit about the strategies about the sport as we go through it… it’s not clear to me if the author of Giant Killing knows more about soccer than I do, and I don’t know a lot about soccer.)


#9. WORKING!!

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A family restaurant staffed by freaks awaits you in Working!!, a very generic single room comedy anime. However, that’s not necessarily a bad thing… in terms of character comedy-driven anime, this one isn’t bad. The male lead is a self-described “minicon,” the female lead makes Shana look like Mikuru Prime, the manager is a borderline psychopath, there’s a poorman’s Yamamoto-sensei involved, and the man-hater looks like Mako-cakes. What’s keeping it from a higher ranking? Sparse animation, complete and utter lack of moe/fanservice, male lead not obsessed with little girls enough, generic OP/ED, et al.

(Mitigating factor: I did enjoy Takanashi’s proclamation that twelve– TWELVE!!– is too old. A few Keima-like moments like that, and I think I’d enjoy Working!! a bit more. At the very least, we need Takanashi to come up with some crazy proclamations like Keima. Takanashi’s minicon is the iPad to Araragi’s lolicon’s iPod.)


#8. ICHIBAN USHIRO NO DAIMAOU

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Ichiban Ushiro no Daimaou (いちばんうしろの大魔王) wins the Seikon no Qwasor Watch Me Uncensored Memorial Award (even though SnQ is still airing, but anywho)… there’s some comedy-like substance (Noblesse oblige, I pray you become a magnificent demon, Sai), a haremette who wears rope as underwear, a male minion who looks ready to suck Sai’s cock at a moment’s notice, an android more obsessed than H Gata‘s Yamada about Johnnies, and Fujiko. Who is Fujiko? She’s the little sister so obsessed with her older brother that she keeps his head around in a jar. She’s the character who is always talking on her book/app phone while wearing different lingerie. She’s the character who has pleasured herself while in the company of said older brother in a jar. Needless to say, B. M. W.

(Mitigating factor: Watch this one uncensored. Also, if you like Asura Cryin’, you’ll probably like this show because they’re so damn similar. Except fewer breast missiles in this one. So far.)


#7. HOUSE OF FIVE LEAVES

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Manglobe’s latest entry is House of Five Leaves (さらい屋五葉, Saraiya Goyou), which is about a gang of thieves. However, can we really call them “thieves” when they steal people? I’m intrigued. The animation style is haunting (the eyes… THE EYES!!)… we have an episode director and Suzaku from Code Geass involved… and there seems to be some sort of moral art to each episode. I think I would enjoy this show more if it had better swordplay. Seriously, it’s Manglobe! How can we not get better samurai on samurai action?

(The OP Sign of Love is enjoyable, except it doesn’t fit the tone or message or anything of the anime it’s leading in. I think we need to swap this with Meido-sama‘s brooding ED. That’s the right thing to do.)


#6. <BLANK>

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Blank.


#5. <BLANK>

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Blank.


#4. ARARARAGI UNDER THE BRIDGE

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Things I like about Arakawa Under the Bridge (荒川アンダー ザ ブリッジ): Rie Tanaka, over-the-top humor, eccentric cast, Shaft somewhat being Shaft, Venus and Jesus, the bridge. Things I don’t like: Kamiya dominating prime male roles much like John Holmes, Shaft somewhat being Shaft, the constant mind-fuck, the weird feeling in my stomach after watching an episode. Sometimes, I love this anime. Sometimes, I hate this anime. Nonetheless, thanks, kinda, Akiyuki Shinbo. At least this isn’t yet another season of Hidamari Sketch.

(Mitigating factor: You know that headache you get if you eat ice cream too fast? This show is that headache.)


#3. KAICHOU WA MEIDO-SAMA

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I’m enjoying Kaichou wa Meido-sama (会長はメイド様). It doesn’t succeeds as either a shoujo or a shounen series, but it’s enjoyable nonetheless. Since I’ve been blogging about it, I don’t have much to write here except Meido-sama features Cecily and Luke as Misaki and Usui. Not quite Spice and Wolf‘s Kallen and Lulu, but not bad.

(Mitigating factor: If this show would only follow my suggestions, I’m sure it would be much higher in the rankings. And if they combined my suggestions… OMFG… Kogarashi wearing the Sawa-chan Mk II… !!!)


#2. K-FUCKING-ON!!

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MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO

(Mitigating factor: Listen. I put a lot of effort into this entry for K-On!!.)


#1. THE ASTONISHMENT OF HARUHI SUZUMIYA

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Would I like Angel Beats! more if it wasn’t such a blatant rip-off of Haruhi Suzumiya by Jun Maeda? I dunno. I enjoy it greatly as is. The OPs are fantastic, the animation by PA Works is respectably top tier, Girls Dead Monster is a worthy challenger to Afternoon Tea Time, and TK is the Thunder God Cid of this season. Even though he had a total of like four lines thus far. Since I’ve been blogging about this show, I don’t have a lot to add… except it’s really the opposite of Haruhi Suzumiya whereas “Haruhi” knows what is going on in the world yet “Kyon” does not. Does that make Angel “Yuki” or “Canadian-tan”? Who would be the Mikuru analogue? Oh well… my well-publicized problem with this show: Kamiya. Why? Why does he have to do lead male vocals for almost every A-list harem series? Can we please get a different voice actor? Do I want to see Dirk Diggler’s dick all the time? How ’bout some variety guys? On the fripside, Kamiya is voicing the male lead for two of the top four shows. This is another thin slicing record.

(Mitigating factor: Have you seen the 30 minute special about this show? My gosh, Jun Maeda can go on and on…)

(Andohbytheway, the best part of this post is Mio taking Kyou’s place in the basketball bouncing scene. If only Mio were wearing Kyou’s short shorts instead… sigh. Can I blame Kyoto for this?)

35 Responses to “thin slicing the new season, spring 2010 edition”

  1. Picked up again: Kaichou wa Meido-sama
    Dropped: Heroman

  2. Hey! I rather like ! Stop rating it so low! ;)

    On the serious side, I’m wondering why people looked at Mayoi Neko Overrun as being a serious drama, or serious comedy – it’s basically To-Love-RU with a catgirl, and 200% more Meido…. and they screwed up the fanservice in the anime anyways, just like To-Love-RU.

    Also, Night Raid’s a letdown – I was hoping for something more like GITS:SAC with a semi-serious theme (especially given it’s WW2 China, and we’re dealing with Japanese), but instead it’s basically X-Men, so they’re going to dodge the whole Japan-was-a-Racist-Imperialist-Power issue which I was hoping would be touched on someday.

    You should look up Ep 4 of Arakawa – we’ve got a Mini-Senjougahara and Maria whose words are poison but who has hopes and dreams akin to Sheryl Nome’s – she’s an Evil Sheryl.

  3. As much as most of my favorites of the season end up being in your top 5 as well, I’ve never been able to agree with the positioning of the lesser shows. Yes, they are lesser and do belong somewhere below the top 5, but B Gata is the worst? really? it’s worse than uraboku? and Heroman? Holy lord those were bad. I mean I’m not saying B Gata is a great show by any means, but compared to a lot (A LOT) of the crap this season It belong somewhere around 13-15 at least. I mean she was hitting on her lil’ sisters boyfriend for christ sake, that’s humor at some level alone that should place it better at least. Actually, as far as sex and lust crazy girls goes it also beats KissxSis EASILY.
    Before we look forward to Bakemonogatari second season can we please get episode 15?!?! Thanks SHAFT.

  4. Despite its lackluster setup, Heroman’s environment is such a rich and accurate portrayal of SoCal, that I just keep watching to see if they’ll slip up and have someone bow or something. But yeah, despite its apparent budget, no one changing clothes iirks me too.

  5. Not a fan of sports anime? Oh, yes I know all the formula for each and every single anime storyline goes along the lines of an underdog and their quest for the top, but sometimes there are times when you need that bland, never-changing formula. For one, it’s not a bad one (like, er, you know, harem) and there’s no real bad exits out of it (aside from a shock loss, but that’s usually the author wanting S2).
    I’m guessing at time of this writing you’re still working on the post (if the blanks mean anything) so I’m eagerly F5’ing and waiting to see if Ookiku made it on.
    .
    I mean, Giant Killing did, after all.

  6. Usually I can agree with your thin-slicing but not this season. Like Chumara said before, B gata H is’nt the worst serie this season, actually I kinda like it. It’s not like aggressive female leads are that common, and I like the absence of blatant fan service and echiness like in kiss x siss.
    Oh and I still don’t know why (it’s not only blogsuki) rate Angel Beats so high. Yes it has great animation and music, but the story so far is completly incomprehensible and boring. Sure it can become sensible but I don’t want to wait 9 episodes or so for that to happen.

    Besides that, great post though. I always enjoy reading the thin slicings ;)

  7. Guess what, I watched Hakuouki Shinsengumi Kitan and I am a Heterosexual male. Top that…….

    Anyway Angel Beats is surprisingly good for the over the top animation and music, I still get the WTF moments about the plot and hopefully that maybe they will shed some light on the whole dead part. Still I think this show feel like a drama with a loner girl who gets beaten up from the popular group just because she want to join in their activities. Except instead of getting beat up, she gets pistol whip and she somehow have GTA codes installed so she don’t have to worry about taking too much damage.

    Arakawa under the bridge, I can’t stop laughing because of episode 4. These words kept on coming into my head, “HERE COMES A NEW CHALLENGER.” lol Saitou Chiwa come back as loli, a very scary loli. All I have to say is the author of this series and Capcom need to get together and make a new fighting game. Ryu’s got nothing on Stella with her ground to air combos lol

    And lastly Jason, What sort programs did you use for the K-On with CLANNAD OP? You need to get to Japan, they need you man. I would pay top dollar for you to make Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann with Minami-Ke and Lucky Star it will be epic lol. With Kana at the helm, imagine what sort of universe she creates (shudder…….)

  8. gragh, this season is different than last season in that the shows that are appealing are much more appealing but the shows that aren’t are soooo much worse. It’s a rough season if you don’t like historical looking stuff (since I care nothing for either the 3 kingdoms or the shinsengumi/samurai era…) Damn my Bones fanboyism, I’m still watching the absolutely terrible Heroman because it looks so damn pretty. Mayoi Neko is (I shudder to say “okay” but it’s passable I guess) – it’s like a soulless version of ToLoveRu, which is saying something.

    I also lobby for Oofuri to make the list, it’s a much better show than it gets credit for. There’s Major, too, but Major has been consistently terrible for a few seasons now anyways.

  9. Rainbow also seems interesting to me but I stilll haven’t watched episode 1,Mayoi Neko ep 4 is amazing you have to check it out.You watched five minutes of Uraboku,I watched 2 eps my brain must be malfunctioning.I agree that B gata isn’t that funny I only had some grins time to time but yeah like others said it’s at least better than kisxsis and all.About Working they didn’t do any fanservice even with the slut sister coming it was disappointing yeah.

  10. Mio bouncing a basketball…

    Where was I? Oh yeah, everyone loves TK. Many people don’t even know WHY they love TK.

  11. I’m gonna watch Mayoi Neko Overrun just for one reason: Azu-nyan’s seiyuu is voicing for the cat-like girl…

  12. Well at least you haven’t seen the Sd Gundam series retelling Romance of the Three Kingdoms, it is Horrific and just plain boring and bad

  13. I don’t really care for any of these shows sadly..Its sad when you enjoy a blog post on an anime more then the anime itself. I remember it was a time I used to watch half the shows airing in a season. Now all that left for me is Durarara!! I wonder what happen to good action shows…

  14. aaah I know why I managed to watch Uraboku,I skipped the OP.

  15. MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO … I’m obviously in agreement.

    Side note: The TK pic is fantastic.

  16. Why no mention of Oofuri or Tatami Galaxy? One’s a great baseball show and the other has only aired a single episode so far, but it has been magnificent!

  17. b Gata H kei hater! I will keep enjoying my Yamada, and you can keep enjoying your vagina-less girls, Yui and Mio.

  18. @Rockmanshii : but the OP was the only highlight, and the Marina Inoue character with the quiet, awesome hot guy.
    Wow, for once I’ve actually watched almost everything on this list, minus Ikkitousen coz yeah… cbs other 3 seasons was it? Although, why so many blanks? lol
    MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO MIO

  19. TK is like underage yuri, meido, traps, or Korgarashi: there’s no show his addition wouldn’t improve.
    .
    B Gata H Kei: Yamada’s voice actress uses her Togame voice! I’m positive this means something significant, just no idea what.
    .
    Heroman: Best thing about this show is watching it made me want to play X-COM and Marathon again. So I dropped it and did just that. Nicely done, Heroman, nicely done.
    .
    Mayoi Neko Overrun: Gah! Uncanny valley 3D meido! Kill it! Kill it with fire! QUICKLY BEFORE THE ABOMINATION SPREADS!
    .
    House of Five Leaves: Couldn’t you tell from the faces that it’s by the same person who made Ristorante Paradiso? It’ll probably have exactly as much samurai on samurai action as Ristorante had sommelier on maître d’hotel action.
    .
    <blank>: You make a good point about the <blank>, but you’re overlooking the <blank> and the fact that <blank> (especially compared to <blank>). Sorry, but I just can’t agree with your ranking here. At least give it till episode <blank>.

  20. …But I liked Heroman. I am sad now. :(

    Ah well, it’s probably because I’m not American is why I’m actually entertained.

    Also, I say it once, and I’ll say it again: EVERYONE HERE IS FUCKING NUTS!

    …Er, I mean the only reason why I’m on board Arararagi Under The Bridge is for Koyasu as the awesome Sister, and his pet killer loli Stella Senjougahara.

    Also, the only other anime I’m really following this season besides the occasional Keroro Gunso episode is the SD Gundam series (SD Gundam: Legend of The 3 Kingdoms: Brave Battle Warriors), but that’s because I mainly watch shows “aimed at little kids” that are actually fun, so yeah.

  21. I would like to see a Stella vs. Noda deathmatch, with Wagnaria the venue.

    Maria and TK can provide live commentaries.

  22. When watching Working!!, I can’t stop imagining what the second or third seasons of Minami-ke would have looked like if animated by A-1 Pictures. It would have been… perfect.

  23. Glad to see that I’m not the only one who thought Yamada is such a stupid character. I do think that Giant Killing is ranked a bit harshly. Yeah, the animation isn’t great, but the characters and footy action are pretty good. Working!! is also fairly enjoyable, and I agree that Arakawa Under The Bridge is just fantastic.

  24. @Rei: Yeah I guess Marina Inoue made it better with her few lines but roses and pics with 2 males enchained together isn’t my cup of tea.
    Speaking of which, she will voice a character in the upcoming Broken Blade movies.
    Andohbytheway Chiwa Saito will be voicing the female lead.

  25. Angel beats has “top tier” animation? Jason what are you smoking brah? I admit that I have warmed up to Angel Beats like a pedophile in a preschool, but lets be honest the show has alot of QUALITY moments.

  26. I heard about some of these a while ago, none of them drew my interest. For Mayoi Neko Overrun! I can see it going horribly wrong, mostly because the Manga has like 3 or 4 episodes out. It will either be it’s own plot line, or start out just like the Manga and then spin off into their own plot.Kaicho Wa Meido Sama is intriguing enough to keep me watching it….Maids ftw?
    The whole “Get it on with 100 people before I grad from Higschool” idea is just…..wow. Back in MY day, If i got it on with lets say…5 people, that was an accomplishment….Lucky me I got it on with just one….still do…err…ehem…Look, Mio-pantsu!

  27. B Gata H Kei at dead last?

    What the heck Jason, what the HECK?

    (By the way, currently in San Francisco for business. At least the weather is lovely.)

  28. Wait, wait, Angel Beats has “respectably top tier” animation? Someone needs a trip to Sankaku Complex… :D

    Heroman’s OK, and I think it’s SoCal and not Seattle. Jusding from the setting, I’d say it’s somewhere in LA County.

    I’m hoping for Night Raid to be pick up in the next couple of eps; they’ve started an interesting arc starting episode 3.

    Also, no one’s gonna pick up on the “GO TO HTT” meme?

  29. “the best part of this post is Mio taking Kyou’s place in the basketball bouncing scene.”

    yes I was drooling a bit after seeing that. some one needs to redo the infinite Kyou storage room loop with Mio. better yet do the whole scene and replace Tomoya with Mugi.

  30. What, no baseball? I can’t believe Ookiku Furikabutte didn’t make your list at all! The animation quality is pretty damn good, and the story… well, it’s sports anime. What more do you want?

  31. Still, Arakawa’s ranked way too low this season – yes, SHAFT’s being SHAFT and the animation budget’s nothing special… but it has its moments. Maria’s like a herding girl version of Matsurika, Stella’s the little Street Fighter Senjougahara… and Nino has her sweet moments. And Kou’s an idiot who’s as crazy as the rest of the cast, but thinks he’s normal despite his neurosis about not owing anyone.

    I mean, he didn’t even notice Nina was cute until Episode 2…

  32. Nino, even.

  33. I’m seconding Myssa Rei’s comment on B Gata… The fact you’re panning the same show as ANN’s notoriously anti-fanservice reviewers makes me wonder if I should expect the apocalypse or something.

  34. I will be disappointed if #5 isn’t Oofuri. :(

  35. The most disappointing show is working!! Watch the first ep, and it’s actually enjoyable, but then it comes to the stupid man-hater or whatever she’s called. Seriously, what the f with her? Things can be ridiculous, but there should be a limit. If scared that much of men, why not just go eat crap instead (seriously o_O)

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