thin slicing the new season, summer 2010 edition
Categories: seasonal thin slicing
Tagged: amagami, high school of the dead, mitsudomoe, moyashimon, occult academy, ookami-san, strike witches
36 Comments »
Now with 140 characters! Tweet! Tweet!
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 Fail Whale Kanade’s 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* Kuroshitsuji Sekirei *cough*.
(Pretty sure I’m forgetting other shows besides Cat Shit One. But I don’t care.)
Well, what are we waiting for? Let’s deploy some Gundams…
#MS. IRRELEVANT. SHUFUKU NO CAMPANELLA.
I started checking my e-mails and Twitter timeline about six minutes into Shufuku no Campanella… not an encouraging sign. Also not encouraging? It’s been three weeks, and there’s still no Wikipedia entry to this show, and it’s hovering around 4.4 on Anime New Network’s rankings. (Compared to 7 for Strike Witches 2 or 8.3 for Bakemonogatari. And gotta love the people who ranked Bakemonogatari “worst ever”… really? Worse than Shufuku no Campanella? They should have their voting rights revoked.) My gist of the story: dude meets tons of magical girls in a tropical island paradise. He can’t decide between any of them. The end.
(Your gist of my review: I got bored during the episode, didn’t pay any attention, and mailed-in the last paragraph. You would be right! In any case, not a sign you should watch this show.)
#13. ASOBI NI IKUYO.
Alien girl? Check. Childhood friend? Check. Mysterious schoolmate? Check. Hawt teacher? Check. Let me put it this way… there’s not a lot of things Asobi ni Ikuyo (13 eps, AIC) does not check. Loser male lead wakes up with alien girl next to him? Check. Grabs her melonpan during that scene? Check. Alien girl has cute mascot? Check. She likes to eat? Check. I mean… you name it, this show rips it off. Only it sucks. I cringe at the thought of AIC trying to cram some plot into this massive fanservice-fest.
(My main problem with this show… you can’t have an enjoyable harem show if the harem sucks. Outside of the girl who works for Lagoon Company– you know which one– they’re all way below average. They’re like the Pittsburgh Pirates of haremettes.)
(Is “creativity bankrupt” the new “it” phrase for anime bloggers? Seeing it everywhere. Except, well, it’s anime! It’s creativity bankrupt to begin with! It’s like saying basketball players are tall. Duh-fucking-duh. Though I love the subliminal message they’re making– “Hey, I’m a creativity bankrupt anime blogger that really doesn’t contribute anything new because there’s like 10 million of us! But, here, let me rip on something because it lacks creativity!” Pot calling the kettle black.)
(Note: I don’t consider lack of creativity a bad thing. I rather have a well-made steak than some neo-modern fusion food-like substance.)
#12. THE LEGEND OF THE LEGENDARY HEROES LEGEND ALLEGEDLY
The Legend of the Legendary Heroes (Densetsu no Yuusha no Densetsu, 26 eps, Zexcs) has an awesome name, and it has a legendary cast: Lulu, Kyou, and Itsuki as the three major male leads? This like Queen’s Blade, only with male seiyuu. OTL. Good news though, the animation is subpar for Zexcs, the humor is lacking, and the story is slow to develop to say the least.
(I wonder when the anime executives finally get it. Anime needs a hard-hitting hook. I’m not suffering through 22 episodes of a 26 episode show to get to the good stuff. Show it to me already. I want my Bunny Girl Mikuru, my Fully Armed Senjougahara, my Double Rainbow Hitoha, my Gar Kamina, my OH GEASS NO Lelouch in the first few episodes. A big reason for this is simply that anime is so derivative of itself that you need to tell the viewer why he or she should be watching this show instead of that other derivative.)
#11. NURAIHYON NO MAGO.
I’ve seen Nurarihyon no Mago (ã¬ã‚‰ã‚Šã²ã‚‡ã‚“ã®å«, ?? eps, Studio Deen) before. Or, more exactly, the shoujo version of it when it was called DNAngel or something like that. Animation is good for Studio Deen, but everything seems so generic and uninteresting. Feels like reverse Pokemon where Ash manages to catch them all, but now must live with them all. He’s like the anime fanboy who bought shitloads of PVC statues… now… what to do with them? Especially the naughty ones.
(Mitigating factor: Aya Hirano and Horie Yui as the main haremettes? And they sing the ED together? This should have been Amagami‘s play.)
#10. SENGOKU BASARA DOS.
I must be one of the last hold-outs for Sengoku Basara (13 eps, Production IG). I don’t see the appeal of this show besides watching fabulous samurai hunks stare down each other so fiercely.
#9. SHIKI.
No clue what to make of Shiki (22 eps, Doumu). Can’t say I’m big into slow developing psychological thriller anime. Unless they involve killer lolis and emo facial distortions. Interesting part of Shiki is that it’s the other half of the original Minami-ke team (Kenji Sugihara and Tetsuro Amino)… they seriously updated their animation capabilities since then, but isn’t this like the exact opposite type of material as Minami-ke? Isn’t this like Kyoto doing Franken Fran for their next project, or Akiyuki Shinbo directing the next Ghibli feature film?
(Luckily, the other half of that awesome team split off, formed their own material, and have a show this season.)
(I feel asleep during episode two. I don’t care that I was tired. Should keep my attention.)
#8. OCCULT ACADEMY.
Occult Academy (世紀末オカルトå¦é™¢, 13 eps, A-1) is basically Terminator. I called it even before the frickin’ androids from the future showed up. Except… Sarah Connor is now a bad-ass version of Mio in a revealing white dress. I’m not sure if I should applaud, cry, or look for Muglicious fanart.
#7. OOKAMI-SAN.
JC Staff has the market cornered on self-centered, ultra-tsundere, violent haremettes with melonpan complexes who fight well and their weak male counterparts. Ookami-san to Shichinin no Nakama-tachi (Ms. Wolf and Her Seven Friends, 13 eps, JC Staff) continues that trend! I was surprised Ookami herself wasn’t a foot shorter. I think recently, we’re in the “We know what we do, and we make no excuses” era for anime. JC Staff’s manifest destiny was to animate this. Too bad it’s nowhere on level of Shana, Index, Railgun, or Toradora.
(Mitigating factor: Can’t wait for the Ookami-tan BD special.)
(URACHAI! URACHAI! URACHAI!)
#6. MOYASHIMON.
If you like overacted j-drama that you already know the plot of, live action Moyashimon‘s for you. I’m actually enjoying this remake. One, the microbes, as they should, steal the show. Love them, even you e. coli. Two, it features a gothic lolita trap and an S&M goddess. Three, the actress or Hazuki is kinda cute. Could be the best live action adaptation since Detroit Metal City. Four, forgot how badly Japanese TV shows are acted (or overacted). I can only imagine what a live action K-On! might look like… YES! OH YES! YES PLEASE!
(Still disappointed we didn’t get more Moyashimon anime. That franchise should have gotten more burn.)
#5. SEITOKAI YAKUINDOMO.
Seitokai Yakuindomo (13 eps, GoHands) is growing on me. It is zany, it is funny at times, and the cast is so tragically broken. I guess my complaint is that the show could be so much better. They try to make the cast perverted, but I feel like they don’t go far enough. With the Marui sisters also appearing this season, it’s hard to believe that the student council here is anywhere as perverted as those triplets. It’s like debuting a homoerotic giant mecha series the same time Code Geass is running. You’re pretty much dead out of the gate unless you really have some serious homoerotic giant mecha action.
(Short characters in anime are always stereotyped the same way. Can we please get a short anime character who isn’t as obsessed with her height as Glenn Beck is obsessed with himself?)
(I like how this show is a bizarro Seitokai no Ichizon mixed with Kaichou wa Meido-sama… because both of those shows fall short of their potential as well.)
(Mitigating factor: Second work from Princess Lover team… and Princess Lover wasn’t exactly, uh, fantastic.)
#4. STRIKE WITCHES II.
Strike Witches (ストライクウィッãƒãƒ¼ã‚º, 12 eps, AIC) is a series that is popular because it occurs in an alternate WWII timeline that bonds humanity together against the anti-spirals… and pants do not exist in this alternate world. To be exact, the men all wear pants, but pants, skirts, anything more modest than a bathing suit bottom do not exist for little girls in this world. Sorry. That’s just how this dystopic (utopic?) world rolls. But… I’m actually enjoy this series in the early going. The upgrade from AIC to Gonzo is kinda like going from dinner at Denny’s to dinner at Chili’s. Sure, still not as good as Alexander’s Steakhouse (Kyoto Animation), but palatable enough.
(Mitigating factor: Just absolutely lazy narrative– season two is about a bigger, upgraded bad guy from season one showing up. Come on. You can do better than that. This is the Gundam trap where the story just continues to be upgrades after upgrades after upgrades instead of, well, telling a story. Then again, if the backbone of this show is being pants-less, I probably shouldn’t expect much of a story.)
#3. AMAGAMI SS.
Best way to describe Amagami SS (アマガミ, 24 episodes, AIC)? A poor man’s Clannad season one, only with one big twist: they made the mistake of listening to me. Remember, during the first season of Clannad, I pushed for the omnibus format where each heroine would just do their entire arcs. Instead, Kyoto kinda merged everything into one big Nagisa arc… which turned out for the right decision for that series due to the phenomenal season two. For Amagami… I don’t think it’ll ever venture into Clannad season two territory, so the omnibus format is probably right for this show. Except I don’t really care about any of the haremettes. Oh look, the generic cocktease! The generic little sister who goes, “Nii ni!” like she’s the star of a Monty Pyton act. The generic class rep who doesn’t even wear cat-imprinted pajamas. Great example of paint-by-numbers harem anime.
(Shizuka Ito gets major burn as a primary heroine… four in the last six months. That’s almost half of Kamiya’s workload!)
(Makes me think Kimikiss and possibly Kaichou would have been a lot better with AIC than JC Staff. AIC is palatable center, i.e. Joakim Noah, with these harem shows. Kyoto would be Dwight Howard, which focuses on the defense, i.e. Nagisa, and not so much on the offense, i.e. Mio fanservice. JC Staff, I think, is Pau Gasol… a power forward masquerading as a center.)
(Mitigating factor: I got sucked into it. Mainly because I kept looking for Yet Another Harem Anime trope. And, guess what? The main character’s desk… you wouldn’t believe where it was… towards the back and next to the left-side window! This never happens in anime!)
#2. HIGHSCHOOL OF THE DEAD.
BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS BREASTS BRAIN BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS
(Mitigating factor: Thank you. I put a lot of effort into this entry for HIGHSCHOOL OF THE DEAD.)
#1. MITSUDOMOE.
Loving the troublemakers of Mitsudomoe (ã¿ã¤ã©ã‚‚ãˆ, ?? eps, Bridge), the spiritual successor to pantheon-worthy Minami-ke. Good times having Mitsuba, Futoba, and Hitoha running a muck and causing chaos.
36 Responses to “thin slicing the new season, summer 2010 edition”
Leave a Reply
I am so very sad that you didn’t like Asobi… But oh well, it’s your blog. I like the show for both an unusual catgirl and an unusual male lead. And it does have a plot.
Did you watch the 3rd ep of legend of the legendary legend legend? You said you don’t feel like suffering 22 eps, imo you only suffer 2 eps.
funny though that the only 3 summer shows i intend to properly follow, happen to be top 3 here…
There’s obviously an absolute scale for anime quality after all..
Mitsudomoe at the top and Asobi ni Ikuyo almost at the bottom? And HOTD isn’t #1? Sekirei II not even ranked? You sir, have crimes to answer for. Granted, it’s the second episode where Asobi ni Ikuyo really starts to get funny. Still, even in episode one, the lampshades were flying:
Him: It’s ridiculous, how can you be aliens? You look almost just like us, except cat-like!
Her: I know, when we discovered you, we thought it had to be some kind of joke!*
Him: So where are you from?
Her: We call our planet “Earth.” So we’re Earthlings.
Him: “…”
Her: But that was too confusing, so we decided to call it Catia.
*I was so expecting a line about monkeys, but no joy.
This list makes total sense coming from you, but honestly I have to agree with Vallen and Ubu Roi, Asobi ni Ikuyo was great after the first half of the show. It started out bland, the main guy isn’t really my cup of tea either but once I saw the situation they were setting up, I put it at the top of my list for what I want to see next. Not only is the shit storm that’s about to hit going to be awesome, but they played off the whole alien-coming-to-Earth aspect well; they didn’t use amnesia or “I was banished from my planet” plot devices, they just introduced her as an exploring alien who doesn’t have any reservations about using her technology on a lesser-developed world. Not only that, the animation looks fantastic.
I’m also kinda curious how Amagami made it to #3 on a “What would I watch first if I got everything” list, but I won’t question it further since I do enjoy the show to an extent as well. (Shizuka Itou does a great job here)
Seeing how much you rave about Mitsudomoe though, I suppose I will give it a shot along with everything else that I literally haven’t gotten a chance to see yet when I get back to the states. Stupid dorm restrictions…
I agree, did you happen to watch the 3rd episode of The Legend of the Legendary Heroes? Like Vallen mentioned before, plot was nonexistent in the first episode, and second wasn’t at all interesting, but the 3rd episode is where everything kicked off. Also my thoughts exactly about Asobi ni Ikuyo that its getting better
If I wanted to, I could sit down in the garden and watch my dog’s poop decomposing. I know it will eventually get better and turn into grass, but I’ll still be looking at a steamy turd for the foreseeable future.
I’m not saying out loud that this season sucks for now, I’m only thinking it out loud because last season proved me wrong, but really this looks really bad, I only watch some shows because of thighs: Ookami’s thighs, Maya’s thighs. Only show that attracts me for something other than melonpan/thighs is Shiki, and truth to be said Megumi’s backless dress in episode 1 helped a lot.
Have the previous comments missed this fact this is a “thin slicing” post? It’s our-bloggers impression after the initial episodes, not after several or even an entire series. To be honest I’m more surprised Strike Witches is rated so highly.
When you lay it out like that, it really is a weak season, huh… other than Mitsudome, there’s no show that I immediately watch when it comes out (not counting stuff that’s been running for a while – I still immediately watch all my shounen-shows)
When Moyashimon beats out more than half the anime on an anime blog, and it’s not really anime, we have a problem methinks. I think the biggest issue is that all the potential harem girls this season are either bland or annoying.
“Have the previous comments missed this fact this is a “thin slicing†post? It’s our-bloggers impression after the initial episodes, ”
That, I am aware. However, I strongly disagree about Asobi being “generic”. It makes fun of the trope by making it clear that a cat alien who speaks Japanese is unlikely, but about as likely as anything else. Even the 1st episode showed that everyone is more than just copies off somewhere else.
This blog evidently hasn’t broken me enough, I can’t bring myself to watch Mitsudomoe based of the episodic posts about it. Any show that combines grade schoolers, mature themes and segments devoted to piss is definitely outside my comfort zone.
So sad that there are only 14 shows and so many fall into the haremette-capture category. Similar to how the video game industry has so many uninspired FPSes. The only difference is that Americans like guns and I don’t know how long the Japanese will keep shelling out for expensive DVDs with generic looking haremettes. Is this the death of anime? What will Jason blog about then? Well, there is always the NBA (gonna love watching the Heat next season)…
>>(I wonder when the anime executives finally get it. Anime needs a hard-hitting hook. I’m not suffering through 22 episodes of a 26 episode show to get to the good stuff. Show it to me already.
Like Macross Frontier’s pre-season teaser ep, or Ghost in the Shell:SAC with the action packed first episodes involving terrorists?
“Like Macross Frontier’s pre-season teaser ep, or Ghost in the Shell:SAC with the action packed first episodes involving terrorists?”
Asobi got terrorists, humanoid weapons AND spies in the first episode. How is it not action packed? It even started with combat!
Vallen: Depends on whether you can get past the cliches or not. They didn’t get past Jason, but not everyone’s Jason either. Personally, I find the secret agent cuter than the busty alien girl… and a bit more action wouldn’t have hurt Asobi earlier. I mean, those two shows I named hooked you right from the first five or ten minutes, or at least did so before the episode’s end.
*Looking at ss of yakuindomo*
Are she seriously get raped by a deer!!?
Watching 3+ episodes of all the shows defeats the purpose of thin slicing. I don’t feel like I’m off. Asobi is behind both in rankings and votes against Strike Witches, Amagami, and Mitsudomoe on ANN. And, really, the girl who can materialize guns is the only redeeming value of that show… and I wrote this in the post. Everything else is just generic, bland harem. Denying it doesn’t change it. And, really, this season, anything behind 6 is a crapshoot.
I haven’t done the math (yet), but I think your HSOTD BRAINS:BREASTS ratio is a bit off there.
.
Shukufuku no Campanella may be boring, and even I might find the innocent-cute plus shiny-ero combo it’s trying to pull off slightly creepy, but it’s also a technological pioneer: http://www.animenewsnetwork.co.....for-3d-tvs
Hopefully Shaft will take notice and release a special edition Hitagi Crab Part 2.22
I am happy to see you worked a Denny’s joke into the post. Moyashimon might be the only thing I watch this season, if my internet ever not sucks.
This was a tough thin-slicing to do a first set with, but I think I pulled it off ok: chartsuki.posterous.com/thin-slicing-summer-2010-tldr-edition
Copy-paste fail! http://chartsuki.posterous.com.....dr-edition For encouraging my charting, you have no one but yourself to blame, Jason!
I’m really liking Ookami-san. Having Kuroko as the announcer makes it much more fun to watch, plus Sheryl does the OP. More women need to wear dresses like Ookami with the sides split.
“Watching 3+ episodes of all the shows defeats the purpose of thin slicing. I don’t feel like I’m off. ”
As I said, this is your blog, you can write what you want. I certainly wasn’t trying to change your mind on your turf.
Really, in the end I was just disappointed to not being able to see your interpretation of the events in Asobi. It really would have been a blast.
Can’t be helped that Clannad really set a high standard which all romance anime should aspire to be…
And according to this, Denny’s is actually right up Kyoani’s alley…
http://yunakiti.blog79.fc2.com.....-5863.html
I for one am used to Jason disagreeing with my opinions on Thin Slicings. Ever since K-on polluted his brain, he hasn’t really been the same. So I’m not surprised about Asobi, Legend Legend Legend, or Ookami not being high on the list.
I’m not surprised that Amagami IS so high on the list either. He as much as tells you why. Right before lambasting it for pretty much the exact same reasons he lambasts Asobi, he mentions that they’re using his “arcs for each heroine” idea. Can’t vote that one low now…
I am a bit surprised that Occult Academy isn’t higher, though. It’s an easy top three for me (top two, really), and I figured the Maya fanservice and campy humor would be right up his alley.
(Hold on a second… Got sidetracked thinking about Maya…)
What does amaze me is that Strike Witches is even on the list, much less top-five. Has Jason really fallen so far into the Pit of Moe (and let’s be honest…when a franchise’s most visible internet presence is probably Sankaku Complex, that really is the pits…), or is this just pandering to the base, trying to BB&S lolicon panchira votes for the midterm elections…?
But really, Jason… You should be watching (and enjoying) Asobi (and Ookami) for at least one reason… Kanae Ito. I’m betting her Eris (and Ringo) voices are a lot closer to her eventual TWGOK Elsee voice than her Saten voice was… And we already know TWGOK is already pencilled in at #1 on the Thin Slicing the New Season, [whenever] Edition, and rightly so. Satoshi Hino ain’t doing shit for me this season, though. None of his characters sound at all like Keima should…
Or Hiro Shimono, whatever the hell his name is…
hey jason i thought i would like to let you know that i love that firetruck user icon you had for twitter
Ookami-san’s first two episodes were nothing special, but the third was rather excellent. For the first time in the series, there was much laughter, emotion and loli. Problem is, the animation remains substandard and is unlikely to change. Still, if they keep pumping out new episodes like that third one, i’ll definitely keep watching.
Seriously, personal attacks because you’re butt hurt someone doesn’t like the same Japanese cartoons that you do? You’re worse than Apple and Google fanboys? I always thought I had the best readers. I guess I’m wrong. Stick to the facts, like paparaharaha or Haess.
All people don’t like the same thing? What a shock! Hang on, I better write this down…
Eh. The whole POINT of thin-slicing is ‘does this catch my attention, or do I flip the channel to move onto something that’s hopefully more interesting in the same slice of time than this was?’. Which is why the ‘wait three episodes for the story to pick up idea doesn’t carry through on a post like this – this post is all about “did this show get my attention with the first episode?”
Most of the shows here… didn’t. Asobi’s debatable, since it does drag in all the cliches but has a fetish for just about everyone, but at the same time… doesn’t have much story, and episode one didn’t have much action. Yes, they’re also dragging a young girl named Futaba out in that one as well, but usually the first episode is what makes or breaks a show to begin, since people who aren’t already fans of the material may end up moving on and spending their time on something more obviously entertaining to start… even if it trainwrecks or goes to hell early. That’s also why Slice of Life shows often have issues getting an audience – they often start slow, which means without a built-in fanbase for the source material or some odd hook, you don’t get a lot of viewers to start and by episode two or three, unless things get massively better or worse, your viewership numbers are pretty well set in stone.
Or, if you want to put it another way, look at what shows are memorable a season or two after they’ve finished. Does Happiness get any attention outside of the fact it features Jun Watarase who got his own OVA out of his insane popularity? It went up against Ouran Host Club and Haruhi Season one… and got slaughtered. Do people still talk about most of the harem series similar to Asobi or Campanella two seasons on? Not really. Minami-ke, on the other hand, still gets referenced by other shows (on occasion) or by viewers. Mitsudomoe may be similarly looked back on a year or two down the road, whereas most of the shows in this Thin Slicing aren’t likely to be mentioned except in a Hall of Shame somewhere.
For me, very few shows beat the weirdness of Haruhi Broadcast Episode One or the utter visual treat and cliffhanger ending of Macross Frontier Deculture Edition which aired on Christmas 2007 (December 23rd) for hooking me on a show. This season… not so much. Hell, Minami-ke’s first episode with Kana assaulting Chiaki and trying to pin her down for nookie… only to have things get weirder from there on. Or OtoBoku’s episode one with Mizuho having to dress as a girl and getting ambushed by Mariya. Or Maria+Holic episode one, involving another memorable Mariya, a shoujo-anime style sparkly scene, only to move into the ‘You’re late, yuri-girl” thing at the end.
In about three years of reading this blog, I have never disagreed with your thin slicing, until today. I thought Asobi started off great, then by the end of episode 2, things are looking rather predictable. But the one thing that puzzles me the most is how amagami is ranked so high. After 2 episodes of watching it I was ready to put it down. Why? The god-awful male lead. Maybe its the VA that really tests my patience, but there are so many things to hate about him, but most importantly, he makes all interactions with the awesome Shizuka Itou just unenjoyable. Itou is the ONLY redeeming factor that makes the show even watchable for me.
Although I must admit you did nail Mitsudomoe :)
So just recently, the Anime distributor here in Australia announced a number of titles that had picked up. Air, Kanon, Seto no Hanayome, Haruhi season 2 just to name a few. So now Im caught between Starcraft II, my Car Rego, and a crapload of anime I need to purchase and watch. My wallet is not going to like me.
Oh wait, there was a new Anime season? Where? *checks Tokyo Toshokan* I dont see it. I know HSotD is out, but where is this season you mention?
SC II wins obv
@waista: I wonder… when Blizzard sent off the final trucks to the distribution centres, did they play “Nuclear Launch Detected” audio out loud?
Honestly, I don’t think it can be said enough that Mitsudomoe goes way way too far in a lot of ways. It goes way beyond the status of “Guilty Pleasure” like Strike Witches and into the realm of “I need to call Chris Hansen right away…”.
I don’t just disagree with this choice, I condemn it.