Subete ga F ni Naru episode 1

So, I was really looking forward to this anime because I watched the drama (based on the original novel from 1996) and it was amazing. This series has great promise as the original is mind-blowing, the characters are very well written and the story has a clear direction.

First off, above is the main female lead, Nishinosono Moe. She is wealthy from her father’s inheritance, who was a company owner and president of the college she attends. I like her, but in the anime, they kinda portray her as a trendy rich girl who just likes her college professor, whom I will get to in a bit, but that’s not it at all. However, Moe is a really intelligent woman and you’ll understand more as the show goes on. I also liked her better with black hair. Because of her position, she is attending college to be closer with her professor, when she could easily have graduated early. She has a special relationship with him, which I think they will explain in episode 2.

This is her college professor, Saikawa Souhei. He’s pretty much an intellectual badass who doesn’t believe anything, he only trusts the facts he sees with his own eyes. He is probably the smartest “man” in the world, having won many prizes due to his research, but there is a woman who is smarter than him, who he idolizes. All Saikawa wants to do is be in his mind, his happy place, where he can think with himself (I know that sounds weird, but they should show how his mind “works”  later ;) ). He gets dragged along by Moe a lot and doesn’t seem to mind, but that’s expected, they have a special relationship.

This is Dr. Magata Shiki, the most intelligent person in the world, graduated with a Ph.D when she was 11 and worked as an engineer, basically improving on science all by herself. She is known worldwide as the best innovator in the world. However, she is locked up in a facility, of her own will, and continues her research in peaceful solitude. I don’t think the animation does her justice, but she is really a beautiful woman who aged very well despite the trauma in her life, which is explained in this episode.

This whole series is about these three characters and their interactions. It is a very smart, full of banter, full of murder, full of mystery and thought provoking show. I highly recommend this to anyone that likes character driven stories and fast paced plot.

Spring 2013 Anime Season Impressions

Here are my thoughts and first couple impressions on the shows that are airing as of April 2013. Read TL;DR at the bottom to see the shows that are absolute must sees or worth watching. There are 17 shows on this post so here it goes.

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Aku no Hana….where do I start with this? This attracted a lot of attention for the wrong reasons and probably getting a lot more hate than it deserves. Although, I’m not saying its great; its actually not that interesting. The art style, although unique, takes so much away from the shows and differs from the manga so much that it has caused quite an uproar. That being said, there are a few plot points that might be worth checking out but honestly, I’d just stick with the manga

TL;DR: Please, don’t watch.

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Dansai Bunri no Crime Edge, another unique anime, although better than Aku no Hana. Authors are people who hold their ancestors murder tools, called Killing Goods and are cursed as long as they possess them. They have the urge to kill people with their tools, but there are two ways to avoid this: have a person called an Instead whose sole purpose to to help relieve that urge, or kill the Hair Queen, who is the source of these curses. The main guy, called Kiri (which also means cut) possesses a Killing Good that is a pair of scissors and meets a girl with “uncuttable” hair that causes her much grief. When he is able to cut her hair with his Killing Tools, they become attached. However, she happens to be the descendant of the Hair Queen so now he has to protect her. Hmm. Well, sounds all good an all, but the art is kinda too moe, the story seems really weird, especially with all of the random english names and doesn’t really seem all that gripping.

TL;DR: Only watch if you have the time

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Date A Live is an interesting romcom about a guy who tries to save the world by going on dates. YEAH. Also, Tohka is best girl. No exceptions. Spirits come into the world and create “spacequakes” which are apparently really dangerous and a big problem in the world, which is why the military tries to kill them. But MC dates them instead. Bam.

TL;DR: Watch it

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I pride myself that I’ve played most of the Shin Megami Tensei games that have been released (with the only exception being Persona 1), and I was excited when I heard they were going to animate Devil Survivor 2. It didn’t quite meet my expectations, but its still fairly interesting. Imagine demons threaten taking over the world and the only thing stopping them is a small government sect that uses a demon summoning/controlling program to fight back against them. Sounds badass, but nothing cool has really happened yet but I’ll hold out until the end.

TL;DR: Worth watching

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Ginga Kikoutai Majestic Prince has been getting a lot of hate for being “bad” but I don’t see why. It’s a fairly standard mecha that has no real big flaws, but also no real strengths either. The five worst students in the academy start to do shit and realize they can actually be badasses if they try. The character designs could be a little nicer, but the battles are fantastic. I’m definitely going to watch this.

TL;DR: Worth watching if you like mecha

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Haiyore! Nyaruko-san W is the much awaited sequel to the comedy series Haiyore! IMO its pretty brilliant in that it combines a decent plot with tons of different comedy skits and sexual innuendos. I’ve never once found this to be boring and definitely worth the watch. The characters are also really awesome and if you don’t like this then you don’t like fun.

TL;DR: Watch or be lame

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Hataraku Maou-sama is about a Demon King who, on the verge of being defeated, is transported to the human world and forced to make a living as a normal human being. Everyone loves it but I’m not quite sure its to my tastes. I would have preferred a little more seriousness or action but it seems to be solely a comedy series. There were a few funny scenes in the first episode but I hope something actually happens in this very unique setting.

TL;DR: Worth watching

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Hentai Ouji to Warawanai Neko is about a fun and outgoing guy who is secretly a pervert and a girl who is too open for her own good. There is a cat shrine that is supposed to grant wishes, so when they find it, he wishes he could express his inner pervertedness and she wishes that she could hide her feelings better. It’s like the legend of the monkey paw that grants wishes in undesirable ways: he finds himself unable to stop shouting his perverted thoughts and she becomes devoid of emotion. So this romcom is about them trying to reverse this effect. Definitely a fun watch and may have you going “wtf” several times

TL;DR: Worth watching

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Karneval(TV) is kinda hard to explain, but here it goes. The main character Nai, is searching for his old buddy but is kidnapped somehow and is saved by the other main character, Gareki. They become wanted fugitives and are caught up in battles with a secret organization called Circus, which Nai’s friend is supposed to be connected to.

TL;DR: You should watch this because its really interesting

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Namiuchigiwa no Muromi-san is a short 12 minute comedy series about a guy who fishes up a perverted mermaid named Muromi-san (who is voiced by Tamura Yukari HNNNNNNGH) and shenanigans ensue. Pretty fun series but sometimes skits are a little dry. Still worth watching

TL;DR: Its fun, worth.

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Ore no Imouto ga Konnani Kawaii Wake ga Nai. or OreImo season 2 is the much awaited sequel that we have all been waiting for since the end of the true route. It actually follows the story after the true route. So yeah. It’s really good and you should feel really bad if you don’t watch it. Just best girl has to be either Kirino/Kuroneko/Ayase or you’re doing it wrong. Watch season 1 and true end definitely too.

TL;DR: SO GUD

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I was actually looking forward to Photokano because I heard it was a good game or something and it’s supposed to be the spiritual successor to Amagami, which I loved. However the fist episode left me kinda disappointed and instead of getting feels, I was just kinda creeped out. Hopefully main guy alphas up and does something that doesn’t piss me off and it gets better later.

TL;DR: Worth checking out

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Shingeki no Kyoujin is probably the most hyped show before and after this season started. It’s very good, I’m not gonna lie. I was looking forward to it just from watching the PVs and seeing what it was about but it definitely fulfilled my expectations: its just as dark/gruesome/realistic-with-alternate-reality-setting as I thought it would be! The only fault is the main character is voiced by Kaji Yuki. Derp :(

TL;DR: Watch or you fail at anime

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Suisei no Gargantia is the token sci-fi show of the season and it’s actually really interesting. MC, Led, is fighting off in a distant galaxy and is supposed to retreat with his comrades when he called thrown out of the wormhole (on accident of course) and winds up millions of light years away in a foreign world, Earth! He doesn’t know what to do, but the civilization is much more primitive than his own and he cannot communicate with them. What’s going to happen next? Awesomeness hopefully.

TL;DR: WATCH IT

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Toaru Kagaku no Railgun S is the much awaited Railgun sequel that is so glorious and everyone likes it and so should you. It’s really fun, has a decent plot, great characters, and Misaka beats people up in the name of justice.

TL;DR: Yeah, watch it, but watch season 1 first

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Yahari Ore no Seishun Love Come wa Machigatteiru. or as I like to call it, Ore no Love Comedy, or as some retards call it…..SNAFU….please don’t call it SNAFU. Anti-social main character is forced to join the public service club whose president is a cold yet attractive girl that loves solving peoples problems. Drama and romance ensues!

TL;DR: It’s good so watch it

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Zettai Bouei Leviathan has dragon girls, dragon lolis, fairies, comedy, moe and little plot. What more could you want? Hana Kana? It’s got that too. It’s kind of a niche show but fun if it has what you like.

TL;DR: Worth

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Overall, this is a really good season, much better than last season I think. I’m going to rate impressions based on their watchability, from Must Watch to Kill It With Fire.

TL;DR

Must Watch: OreImo, Shingeki no Kyoujin

Recommended: Date A Live, Haiyori W, Karneval, Suisei no Gargantia, Railgun S, Ore no Love Comedy

Worth Watching: Everything else except for whatever is in Kill It With Fire

Kill It With Fire: Aku no Hana

Psycho-Pass Review

When this first aired, I thought it had a very interesting and unique premise so I knew it was going to be a good show. I’ll say this from the start: it’s very similar to the movie Minority Report in the sense that premeditated crimes are prevented by a special police force. However, unlike Minority Report where people are arrested before crimes are committed and whose crimes are predicted by a clairvoyant machine, Psycho-pass introduces the concept of latent criminality. An arbitrary number decides how likely you are to commit a crime, the higher it is the worse it is for that person. Scanners are placed all throughout town and its recorded whenever you are in public. Either it becomes high through emotional instability or committing a non-premeditated crime, then an alarm goes off and that person is apprehended. That’s the basics, now to get into really into it.

TL;DR at the end!

Tsunemori Akane is a new detective that just got high scores on her aptitude test administered by the Sybil System, which is also the system that scans people for the Crime Coefficient, a person’s criminal latency. This system basically rules everyone’s everyday life and it decides how many and what jobs are available to you and whether or not you’ll be arrested or even executed for having a high Crime Coefficient.

This show is really serious and brings in a lot of dark themes but its very appropriate for the plot. Despite this, Akane still managed to be very moe and she is also voiced by the goddess seiyuu Hanazawa Kana. GG. I mean, just look at her, and listen to her voice. Anyhow, Akane is just getting into being a detective because it is thought of a well-to-do government job, a real honor. She gets introduced to her subordinates who are called Enforcers and are latent criminals that are put to work instead of being arrested or executed. They are kept on a leash by weapons that detectives carry called Dominators which scan a person’s Crime Coefficient and determines which method to secure the objective: either paralyze mode to capture the target or eliminator mode to kill the target.

This bamf right here is Kougami Shinya, an Enforcer that works under Akane. Despite his rough and criminal nature, he is actually very intelligent. He’s often at odds with Akane but its made clear that he has ulterior motives. The other Enforcers are just plot devices and not that important.

While Akane nonchalantly stares at Kougami’s crotch, she gradually gets used to her job. Her solving cases involves her taking her Enforcers to the scene of the crime with Dominators in hand, ready to perform Sybil’s judgment. Eventually, after a few episodic arcs to get the feel of the show and a little character development, the overlying story finally appears in the form of an unsolved case. It brings in deeper themes that question the fabric of reality. Serious.

This show doesn’t give you an opportunity to get bored because it attracts you with an intriguing plot, deep characters and sinister themes. Are people with high Crime Coefficients not worthy of living in society? Are they just victims of circumstance? What about people with low Crime Coefficients that are unstable? Is the Sybil System really that effective? While these questions are running through your head, more mysteries appear and the world is expanded and all of a sudden you get thrown into something that just becomes bigger and bigger as the show progresses.

The story direction is top-notch, however at times it feels like it’s a little slow. No spoilers, but toward the end, one of the revelations is kinda ridiculous, but still acceptable. The original storyboards were written by Urobuchi Gen, so at first I was kinda skeptical because of Fate/Zero and Madoka, but it turned out a lot better than I thought. I was really impressed. Instead of just being plain depressing, it was dark with a lot of intrigue.

Also, Production IG, GJ. Art style very appropriate for the story. No complaints here. Just seeing how everything looks make it seem like shits about to go down.

Since this is a two-cour show, sometimes shows get multiple songs, which this does. Its two openings are “abnormalize” by Ling Tosite Sigure and “Out of Control” by Nothing’s Carved in Stone. I’ll admit I really enjoyed both of these songs and they make you pumped right before the action begins. They are also great car ride songs. Nothing beats blasting Out of Control while en route. The endings are “Namae no nai Kaibutsu (名前のない怪物)” by EGOIST and “All Alone With You” by EGOIST. I have to say, I’m a sucker for really nice, slow songs and especially if they are done by supercell (EGOIST is the band supercell with two new vocalists), and even though its not Yanagi Nagi anymore, her voice is really beautiful in these songs, so I really enjoyed it. It kinda gives a feel of the impending doom and sorrow that comes with the revelation of the plot.

Overall, I think Psycho-Pass was so well done, the only reason to not like it is if you just don’t like dark stories. The plot was gripping, the characters are realistic and each development keeps you wanting more. The struggles that Akane goes through as she figures out more truth about how the world works is interesting. The tragedies that befall many people are grimacing and give more seriousness to the show. And the final arc could be worthy of Gen’s quote, “his masterpiece.” Although, the only thing keeping this from a perfect score, is: the pacing a little odd, sometimes it rushes, sometimes it spends too much time on one thing; a couple very important plot points aren’t explained thoroughly enough but still acceptable. So this show gets a 9 out of 10 for me.

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TL;DR this show gets a 9 out of 10 for its brilliance, seriousness and realistic near-future setting.

Mondaiji-tachi ga Isekai kara Kuru Sou Desu yo? Review

Mondaiji for short (or Problem Children Are Coming From Another World, Aren’t They?), this show is about three bamf humans with special powers being summoned to another world to help an extremely moe girl named Black Rabbit who is a part of an unnamed community. This was based on some light novels, which are known for their excellent content, so I had high hopes for this show.

tl;dr version at the bottom so let the wordy review commence.

I should reiterate that MC, otherwise known as Izayoi, is such a bamf that he redefines what it means to be a good protagonist. There are many things that recent MC’s lack and the stereotypes that Japan has bestowed upon the unfortunate beings that are central to the enjoyment of the show are, frankly, really boring. Nothing ruins a show like a wimpy protagonist that can’t even make a decision without someone holding his hand. Izayoi is different though; he not only accomplishes everything by himself, but he does so in a manner most spectacular. Instead of thinking, “Boy, I wish this MC grows some balls later on in this show” you’ll think, “Damn, does this guy ever turn off his l33t sauce?” He is just so so overpowered that you can entrust your unborn baby to him and call him goshujin-sama while wondering what awesome feat is he going to perform as the story progresses.

Black Rabbit, the other important character in this series, seems to be a generic moe stereotype but quickly surpasses that as she consistently captures your heart. You’ll find yourself hnngh-ing everytime she appears on the screen and can’t help but enjoy the scene. She’s even cute when she’s angry. She has very good legs which are the reason she can move very fast and why everyone covets her, as seen below.

The story is very simple, MC and his two lackeys (so to speak) help black Rabbit to defeat the Demon Lord and give his community social status. Sounds simple, except for the fact that everyone is ridiculously strong, but that’s okay but MC is OP. Izayoi never fails to meet Black Rabbit’s expectations but also is quite a free spirit and hard to deal with. The gimmick in this show requires people to overcome challenges called Gift Games where people compete using their own “Gift” or powers instead of just fighting to the death. They are quite interesting at times and provides a good feel for how the world is different from the human world. These “communities” or more like families or gangs of like-minded or close individuals who gather to promote their name. Prominent groups get to hang their flag, a symbol of their community, in the sky as a constellation. Honestly, this show was really interesting and I never got bored with it but it was kinda short (10 episodes) and had a lot of material to work with so I was kinda disappointed.

The artwork was done by Diomedea who have done good series like Hidamari s3, Nogizaka Naruka, Arakawa and Soremachi. Their style is clean and pleasing to the eyes but nothing mindblowing. They definitely did a good job with Black Rabbit though, dang was she moe ;_; Nothing much more to say about this other than there should not be any complaints; it was pretty solid all around.

The OP was Black † White by Iori Nomizu, who is a pretty decent singer, I really like her songs and this one was particularly catchy. I can’t stop playing it on Osu. The ED was To Be Continued? by Kaori Sadohara, a rookie talent who has only appeared in Nichijou and Upotte thus far. But I have to say this song is pretty catchy as well, especially with the animation, so damn fun. You can tell she’s had a lot of practice since those two roles and now I’m looking forward to her role in Date A Live, even though she’s only going to be the homeroom teacher..

Overall, this show was fairly enjoyable and I never got bored with it. I would actually recommend this to people who want a quick, fun and/or badass watch. The only things that keep this show from getting a 10 (and happen to be fairly significant) are: the story seems a little rushed and things escalate quickly without much explanation, but is still really enjoyable to watch. There is little to no character development; the main characters are really strong from the start and gags are necessary for character interactions. There isn’t much conclusion to the story. So this show gets an 8 out of 10.

But wait! One cannot forget about best girl on the left, Deen.

TL;DR, this was a good watch, perform visual confirmation of this fun if you have the time, 8/10.

Kamisama no Memochou Review

I’ve kept this show on hold for a long time and just decided to finish on a whim. Brief synopsis: this show is about Fujishima Narumi who comes into contact with a self-proclaimed NEET detective through his friend Ayaka. He and Ayaka are sole members of the gardening club at his school but he frequently hangs out with Ayaka outside of school, at the Ramen Hanamaru shop, where other NEETs associating with Alice, the NEET detective, hang out. The show pretty much covers their activities.

Now Alice commands you to read the actual review. TL;DR VERSION AT THE BOTTOM.

The first episode was a double feature that lasted 45 minutes and I’ll admit at first it was daunting to try to get through. But it was worth. All of the important characters and many small details in later episodes are introduced. At first glance it appears to be a generic detective show, but I think it’s more appropriate to label it as psychological dramatic mystery. It really focuses on character relations and how they get by in their lives. Each case that Alice works on brings out more and more of the overlying plot and leading up into a climax of the multiepisode final arc.

Narumi, the stereotypical bland MC, comes off as a normal kid who gets involved with people he doesn’t really want to associate with, but likes them anyway. The lucky bastard gets to be Alice’s assistant, which is a position any man would want to take upon themselves, and he connects to a very complicated network unknowingly. Luckily he mans up a little each episode so he becomes worthy of Alice’s attention. He’s not as annoying as many other bland protagonists and he’s not afraid to speak his mind, in fact he retorts quite often.

Alice, of course, is best girl. She takes pride in her job as a NEET detective and enjoys the deliciousness of Dokupe on a regular basis. Any man not willing to serve her needs has to rethink their priorities. With her extremely large network of information and technology, she can acquire any piece of evidence no matter how hidden. And she has an amazing mind as well. How can you not love her?

Ayaka, the Ramen shop owner Min (or Master), and the thug Sou-san are all important characters in the story and get a lot of screen time. Ayaka is MC’s one and only normal friend and they are close friends as fellow members of the gardening club. She introduced the MC to all of the NEETs at the ramen shop and is central to the overall plot. Sou-san is leader of a group that is pretty much a yakuza family and is the token bamf of the series. Here he is drinking sake with MC.

Min is the eldest and wisest in the group and is just an overall bad ass for a woman. Don’t know why I took this screenshot of her but here it is.

Next on the list is art. It was animated by J.C Staff and I’ll have to say, well done. It was nice and clean so no complaints here. Plus they made Alice adorable so that’s bonus points. They normally are pretty solid and most of the crap they get comes from having to decide how to adapt the source material, which could happen to anyone. There was little action that required a lot of frames so they had plenty of time to animate scenes carefully.

The music was also well chosen. Kawaru Mirai, sung by ChouCho, was the OP song (which is orgasmic to listen to btw), and the two ED’s were Colorado Bulldog by Mr. Big for episode 1 and Asunaro by Kenichi Suzumura after that. The EDs were alright. The BGM was done by Iwasaki Taku whose memorable work includes Read or Die, Black Cat, Kuroshitsuji, Katanagatari, C[control] and Jormungand. Overall pleasant to listen to, but OP was best.

The one thing this show did poorly was plot direction. Early on, it seems kinda pointless until you get about halfway through. “Random” cases need to be solved that come by like a case-of-the-week kind of deal except none of the actual fun aspects, like getting everyone in a room to discuss and figure out the mystery, ever occurs. It’s all Alice getting pieces of information from everyone else and putting them together inside her head, and her telling them the solution. The story isn’t really supposed to be a traditional detective story so thinking that it is may detract from your opinion of it.

This show is really about how humans interact and react to each other and how Alice discovers more about human nature through Narumi. MC also gains a lot of life experience, which from his perspective, is interesting to watch. Just think of Kamisama more of a show that has an also omniscient detective in it, and it’s a lot more enjoyable. I also don’t need to say this, but Alice is cute as fuck.

So next time you want a serious show that has an adorable loli, this is a good choice. I give this show an 8/10 for originality, good art work, nice music and strong finish, but it’s weakness was the slow and seemingly pointless first half.

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TL;DR: IT WAS GOOD SO I RECOMMEND IT. ALICE IS CUTE AS FUCK SO WATCH IT. ENDING AND LAST COUPLE ARCS MADE UP FOR SLOW START. 8/10

Winter 2012/2013 Anime Season Impressions

Okay, here’s a list and my thoughts on 17 shows that just started airing this season. In my opinion, there are about 4 have-to-see shows and the others are at least worth checking out to see if you like them. EDIT: TL;DR version at bottom.
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Ai Mai Mi: A nice short comedy series that’s fun to watch when you’re bored. Cute girls and manga. Only pick up if you want a quick laugh.

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Amnesia: A very shoujo anime based off an Otome Game. Generic heroine with lots of bishounen that fawn over her, jealous girls, and of course MC has amnesia so she has no idea whats going on. Watch if you like the genre, but its fairly average.

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Boku no Imouto wa “Osaka Okan”: Another nice and short comedy show. Watch if you like Kana Asumi, otherwise no point.

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Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai NEXT: the shenanigans continue in the second season of Boku Suku S2. So far, it’s proving to be just as good as its predecessor so if you liked the first season, watch dis nao.

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Chihayafuru S2: I really liked the first season but so far it’s only okay. It really needed a sequel since the ending to the first season was kinda lacking and it seems like they took a step back with this one. Well, it just started so hopefully it picks up.

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Cuticle Detective Inaba: A unique comedy show that is about a detective that has a hair fetish. And can identify a culprit by a single strand of hair. Made me lol a couple times, definitely worth checking out.

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Da Capo III: So I’ve been waiting for another season of this series forever and now it’s finally here. Hasn’t disappointed me yet. Still has the Sakura tree and the legend and it starts out with the new characters trying to figure out its mystery. Very strong start, I recommend even if you haven’t seen the other series because they aren’t direct sequels but occur in the future.

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GJ-Bu: A comedy show about girls doing stuff. Haven’t seen that before. Nothing that hasn’t been done before, but characters are unique and might be an interesting watch.

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Inferno Cop: To put it politely, this is a unique satire based on American comic culture. In other words, it’s very vulgar and random but you can’t stop watching it. One of those shows where you watch for the wtflolz. It’s also like 3 minutes per episode.

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Kotoura-san: Okay, now we’re into the good stuff. At first glance, it seems like a generic romantic comedy, but it starts out with an unexpected amount of drama that has you at the edge of your seat, not entirely sure what is going to happen. All the feels for Kotoura ;_; Then it becomes even more amazing when they turn everything right-side up and and more stuff happens and HNNNNNNNGH MY HEART CAN’T TAKE THIS. Just watch it.

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Love Live School Idol Project: I went into this expecting High School IdolM@ster, but ended up slightly disappointed. Just a show about noob idols trying to stop their school from shutting down D: Had a great song in episode 1, but that wasn’t even sung by the main characters but their rivals. I don’t really have much attachment to the main girls yet, but if you like this kind of show then its worth keeping up with it.

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Mangirl or Mangaaru: A short comedy series about these girls that want to create a mangazine. It’s okay, could be watching better shorts.

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Maoyuu Maou Yuusha: Another one of the great shows this season. A lot of people liken it to Spice and Wolf because of the many similarities like Main Character meeting a slightly less than human Heroine and going on an adventure and all the economics. Plus the main girl is even voiced by the same seiyuu as Holo. That aside, Spice and Wolf is much superior and therefore you should not be comparing them anyway. Maoyuu is still very much worth watching though and very enjoyable.

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Mondaiji-tachi ga Isekai kara Kuru Sou Desu yo or Mondaiji for short : Main characters are summoned to a different world to help overthrow a demon king. Has some cool moments where the MCs pull some OP moves and Black Rabbit is kinda moe. Not sure how I feel about this yet, but worth checking out.

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Ore no Kanojo to Osananajimi ga Shuraba Sugiru or OreShura for short: MC is anti-love and never plans on getting in a relationship, until he is blackmailed by another girl who is anti-love and is tired of being confessed to. He is forced to become her pretend boyfriend while the whole school assumes they are a lovey-dovey couple. Let the romantic comedy commence! I really recommend this, especially because one of the main girls is voiced by Yukari Tamura.

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Sasami-san@Ganbaranai: Probably the weirdest show this season, but also one of the most glorious. I blame Shaft. Episode 2 actually tells you what it’s about, so I’ll let you watch episode 1 and be completely blown away. That being said, main girl, voiced by Kana Asumi, lives alone with her brother who takes care of her. She’s pretty much an introverted shut-in so he has to do everything for her. But of course, he has a sister-complex and completely wants to. Understandable. Then so whack shit happens. Watch it.

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Senran Kagura: Fanserice show of the season. About girls who secretly train at school to become ninjas. Not much more to be said.

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Tamako Market: *sigh* I don’t know why I’m watching this show. Honestly, I’ve gotten tired of KyoAni’s art style for a while, but the main girls keep acing cute and I can’t stop watching. FML. I guess the show is about a girl whose parents own a mochi store, and so does her childhood friend’s parents, and they live right across from each other. And stuff happens.

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Vividred Operation: I don’t know why this is on here. It was bad so I dropped it.

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TL;DR: Kotoura-san, Sasami-san, OreShura and Maoyuu are the best shows. Tamako Market, Mondaiji, BokuSuku, Da Capo and Cuticle Detective are worth checking out.

That’s it for now. I’ll try to write a review or two from last season but might be too lazy and not get around to it.

Fall 2012 Anime Season Impressions

So here I am again, watching a whole bunch of shows that I have no idea are going to turn out (except for Bakuman 3, that’s gunna b amazin’). Alphabetical order FTW.
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Bakuman Season 3: Directly following season 2 and finishing up the rest of the manga, this story follows Mashiro Moritaka as he aims to become a great mangaka with an anime and his “technically” fiance staring as a seiyuu in it. It goes through all the ups and downs that are expected in real life and brings up what actually happens behind the manga publishing scenes. Very good watch and I’m looking forward to finally finishing this since I haven’t read the manga yet >_<

tl;dr very good, watch it
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Btooom! has got to be the most retarded show this season. Who came up with this idea? Some SAO fanboy who wanted to make a story about grenades? Grenades and bombs aren’t even that cool compared to guns and swords. Meh. So long story short, this guy is really good at this grenade throwing game and gets into the top 10 in the world, gets challenged by the top 2 guy, then gets thrown into a real life challenge of the game. Oh right, they are throwing bombs at each other and don’t even get a scratch when they explode 5 feet away from them. Plus the main guy didn’t even realize his bombs worked by a timer, WHEN HE SAW THE NUMBER GO DOWN AND HAD A DELAYED EXPLOSION. Seriously, how retarded can you get? Bad show, going on my dropped list, so don’t watch it.

tl;dr I hate it, it’s so bad
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Busou Shinki is set in a world where little robots called Shinki serve their masters to the best of their abilities. Busou Shinki are the Shinki that are equipped with weapons and made to fight each other for fame and glory I guess. Besides the plot being completely cliche and average (guy moves to new place, gets settled in, gets harem), a couple of the robot girls are cute and the battles are well done, but that’s about it. The show doesn’t have much promise but I’ll continue watching it to see if it surprises me.

tl;dr it’s meh, watch only if you’re bored
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So. Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai. Sometimes I ask myself, “Why am I watching this?” The OP has superb potential to unlock epilepsy in the strongest of individuals, but there are many good gifs out there so… WELL DONE GOOD SIRS. *cough* The main girl is slightly autistic but is fun. Don’t know what the story is about, but pretty much just a character driven slice of life with derpy but funny characters. I’d say it’s worth a watch to see if you like it, I’ll probably keep up with it and hope it gets better.

tl;dr watch it I guess, its fun
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Code:Breaker. *sigh* Why do I always see a show in PVs and expect too much? This show is pretty average; your generic bishie guy who’s a bauss but you know nothing about but he knows everything. Then he turns all emo because no one understands how evil he is and because the main girl is too cold towards him. The plot is basically there are people called, you guessed it, Code: Breakers who have the ability to kill someone with elemental powers. They are supposed to be “evil” because they kill people, but then spout out how they only kill trash who don’t deserve to live. And apparently they are outside of the law because MAGIC. The background of their organization probably won’t be divulged because SHOUNEN MANGA. Average show, wouldn’t recommend it, but I’ll probably finish it because SEIYUU.

tl;dr it’s okay, but wouldn’t recommend
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I have mixed feelings about Girls und Panzer. On one hand, I shouldn’t like it because it has a retarded idea for a plot and its moeblob, but on the other hand I love it because its cute girls do cute things WITH TANKS. I wouldn’t recommend it unless you would like that kinda of slice of life show and the occasional German word play. But I’m gonna enjoy the shit out of this show. /end subjective matter

tl;dr girls and tanks, fuck yea
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The long awaited Hayate no Gotoku season 3~! Sadly JC Staff isn’t involved in the animation so it looks a little different, but it happens. It still has the same flow you know you love. All new material, so even manga maniacs will find something new. Highly recommend as a comedy series.

tl;dr watch for some lulz
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Hidamari Sketch Honeycomb, aka Hidasketch4, how can I say this, is very glorious. Love all the characters, and once you think you know them, you fall in love with them all over again. This slice of life involving 6 friends as they go through high school is very relaxing and fun. I recommend it :3 But of course watch the first three season first （　´_ゝ`）

tl;dr watch for some HNNNNNNGH
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What’s up with the SAO bandwagon? Everyone on it? Even Ixion Saga DT? Okay. Well, even SAO isn’t a masterpiece and neither is this. This guy plays a game, talks to a girl in game about meeting, he thinks its about IRL so he’s like “OMFG YEA DOOD”. So gets his chance to meet her by actually going inside the fantasy world of the game. At this point in time, I don’t think he’s actually physically in the game, that is to say, you can’t log in and find him, but I think the world existed somewhere else and that’s where he his. The cutest girl in the show turns out to be a guy (/–)/~┻┻ you’re welcome. Show is okay.

tl;dr its meh, don’t recommend
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Jormungand: Perfect World Order. Why is this show so good? I expected it to be a Phantom and Black Lagoon rip-off but it’s actually pretty original. The characters are nicely done, both in style and personality. Koko is amazing. The plot is deep. Fighting sequences are well done. What more can you want? Yuri? It’s got that too! Not to say it’s a clusterfuck-conglomerate but it has a nice balance of seriousness and comedy. I highly recommend this show. BTW watch season 1 first.

tl;dr it’s pretty fucking good
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I seriously have no idea what this show, K, is about. It’s like its Guilty Crown the Sequel: dafuq is dis shyt? The only good part was in episode 2 when the fan service started, but then even more ridiculous shyt happened. As far as I know, this guy killed some one, this organization wants this killer dead, and this killer appears to be the seemingly harmless main character. Meh. I’ll withhold my opinions until later, but don’t expect too much.

tl;dr it’s okay, watch for it later
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Kamisama Hajimemashita, for some odd reason tranlated as “Kamisama Kiss” when I would write “First Time God” but oh well. This seems like a very generic shoujo, girls meets a fantastical guy, guy turns tsundere, girl gets hots for him. Girl becomes a god, guy serves girl. Only watch if you want to watch meh shoujo. I’ll probably end up dropping it, better shoujos out now.

tl;dr watch other shoujos
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Little Busters! Where do I begin…. how about, what is this show about? I mean, from my experience with Key, it’s usually character driven so I shouldn’t expect much more than a drama/romance then the usual Key magic. The magic is usually a hit or miss with me, and honestly, I have no idea where they are going it. They seem to really like keeping people in the dark and I hope it doesn’t take too long until something happens. I’ll give them until they finish introducing the characters. Guess I’ll be watching this. Guess you should be too if you like Key or want to see more by them.

tl;dr John says yes, I say maybe
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So throwing this out there: I was honestly expecting generic shounen manga shit in Magi. I read the plot then thought “oh god, this is going to be so bad.” But when I actually gave it a chance, it turned out MUCH better than I originally thought. It has a very real, dark feel to it and there is nothing too outrageous in it. It’s like a classic fantasy story done well. I’m really looking forward to see how the characters develop and how they handle the challenges later on :3 Highly recommended.

tl;dr watch dis nao
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Medaka Box Abnormal. There was a lot of beef for season 1 because fans raged at the change of development. I wouldn’t be surprised if people didn’t know about the author’s writing style, and I can see where they are coming from. But I don’t see how they can call it bad. Nisioisin is a genius writer and after first I was disappointed when I started Medaka Box. Now I see that the initial episodic school life was just for character introductions and the real story started later. I can easily say he knows where he wants to go with this story and it will definitely be enjoyable. It is kind of a battle story with fantastical elements. If you liked the direction the first season was going, you will enjoy season 2.

tl;dr watch if you like nisioisin craziness
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Onii-chan dakedo Ai sae areba Kankeinai yo ne! aka If we have love, it doesn’t matter if he’s my brother, or abbreviated OniAi. Like all the imouto shows that have come out recently, she loves her big brother. Her obsession with her brother is quite comical and refreshing so well done and breaking the generic stereotype. There’s really no more to say about this, but it you like ecchi/romance it’ll be enjoyable.

tl;dr watch for lulz
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Psycho-Pass gives off a feel very similar to Ghost in the Shell and Zetman (the art, lulz). The main character, Akane, becomes an officer for managing crime. And what better way to do that than with high tech gadgets that read the potential crime level in a suspect and paralyze/kill them! And might as well have criminal subordinates while you’re at it too. Has some thought provoking themes and overall pretty dark, but a decent watch. I’m looking forward to see how this develops.

tl;dr definitely watch this, good potential
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Robotics;Notes. The successor to Steins;Gate. Honestly, after hearing that you have high expectations for it, but don’t. It’s a pretty average school life story about a robotics club that doesn’t want to get disbanded so they enter a robot competition. Or so I thought. Then they throw the famous line from Chaos;Head “Whose eyes are those?” and I’m like “FUUUUUUUUUUUU”. I don’t know what I’m supposed to think anymore. Did I get trolled or wut? I dunno. Damn. I gotta watch it now. Fuck you 5pb.

tl;dr wut is dis, I don’t even….well maybe, watch for this later
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I shouldn’t like Sakurasou no pet na Kanojo as much as I do, because it’s so generic. But I just can’t help liking the main girl. Kuudere is definitely win. Generic girl lives under same roof as protagonist + childhood friend misunderstandings are always fun, but there is only so far you can go with this. Either you’ll find this very fun or just annoying. Oh yeah, the fan service is nice though…. just saying ( ¬‿¬)

tl;dr watch for fun and moe
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I’ve been looking forward to a sequel to Seitokai no Ichizon for 3 years and finally its here (〜￣▽￣)〜 So yeah, if you like hard slap stick comedy and obvious parodies this is just the show for you. The main characters goal to create a harem in the student council is admirable as well. As a comedy it is pretty fun, but don’t expect anything else.

tl;dr watch for slap stick so heavy it leaves marks
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Shin Sekai Yori, or From the New World, is probably the most unique show of the season. I cannot believe how much it has impressed me so far, into episode 3. There is definitely something behind the scenes that nags at the main characters but they have yet to realize how dark the world is. THE THEMES. THE MUSIC. HNNNNNNNGH. WATCH IT.

tl;dr SO GOOD
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Suki tte ii na yo, or Say “I Love you” is a good shoujo and romance. The main girl is a really shy girl (just my type :3) who meets the most popular guy in school by accidentally kicking him down the stairs, mistaking him for her perverted friend. He becomes interested in her behavior, because he’s secretly an M who likes to be ignored (okay maybe that last part is made up, but definitely feels like it). Later he gives her his number. She gets stalked on the way home from work and she calls him in panic then Yamato to the rescue. Stealing her first kiss like a bauss to ward off the stalker. Generic situtation however the main girls personality is definitely unique and you won’t get bored/annoyed with it. I recommend it.

tl;dr pretty good, watch for shoujo
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Okay. I’ll admit it. I’m watching To LOVE-Ru Darkness for the ecchi. I watched the OVA and was immediately suckered in. Heck, I even watched seasons 1 and 2 because of Momo and Nana. Not much to the story, except Rito is an annoying guy who somehow gets a harem and all the girls want his dick. Tons of ecchi, even straight out tits if you watch the version aired by AT-X. As far as the genre goes, it does what it set out to do. That is all.

tl;dr watch for ecchi-goodness
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Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun. Just wow. Love the characters. Love the development. I’m not a huge shoujo fan, but this is really good. The normally anti-social Shizuku tames the school’s wildest delinquent and he becomes her first friend. It’s definitely a relationship filled with confessions, coldheartedness, forgiveness, shenanigans and hilarity. I highly recommend this one.

tl;dr watch for awesomeness
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Hate to end with Zetsuen no Tempest, but it must be done. I don’t really know where this show is going, but it has potential. The main guy’s friend attains powers from a witch but has disappeared. Later, he gets caught up in his friend’s world and knows just as much about it as I do. Interesting watch, but I’ll hold on my opinion for now…

tl;dr watch for this later

Jinrui wa Suitai Shimashita Review

Okay, so Jinrui wa Suitai Shimashita (Humanity had Declined) is one of the first shows that ended for the summer 2012 season and I’ll have to say, for the expectations that I had for it, thankfully it didn’t disappoint me at all.

The first impression you get from an anime is usually the art style and I’ll have to say, it’s very unique. However, despite the vibrant colors and and bold character designs, it not only stands out but works well with the setting. One might be wary of this kind of art style and wonder “Is this show even going to be good?” but don’t worry. I’m glad I gave this show a chance. I’d like to thank Team Till Dawn for this amazing art design because it’s very clean, the backgrounds aren’t skimped on and every character is memorable. I’d also like to point out that they did the art for Persona 4 (the anime at least) and Kamisama Dolls so I’m surprised it came out this well (that is to say I thought they didn’t do their best for those shows). The main girl is so lovable and probably one of my favorite characters now and not only because of her design, but because of her complex nature, but I’ll talk about that later. For now enjoy a picture of her badassery before I get to the real meat of the review.

From the title of this series, you can tell this isn’t your average show. In fact, the happy, colorful portrayal of this black comedy, seinen satire is a nice contrast. The story follows a girl named Watashi (meaning I or me in Japanese, so I guess technically she is nameless but for reference I’ll call her Watashi) and she works for the UN as a mediator between Humanity, who are the fairies and the Former Humanity, which are the original humans. Basically humans have evolved into fairies and are superior in pretty much every way, which is why the old humanity is going extinct. Sounds interesting right? I know :3

So Watashi’s first job is to help make food for this village where her grandfather lives. Apparently meat production is a lost art in the future, just like manga! However, things get interesting when the chickens outsmart her and her three friends try to capture them. All of the adults where away on a hunt so couldn’t help them and, of course, they didn’t manage to catch anything. Well, I guess they are eating veggies for dinner again. Not only do the chicken come back to mock them, but apparently they have evolved into a more intelligent life form, the form of a skinned, headless chicken and run a factory that is distributing fairy-made products for the citizens of the town. Hooray! Of course, Watashi only figures this out after a long trial of investigation which involves a lot of /facepalm.

The rest of the story is a bunch of her quirky adventures so I won’t spoil it, but it’s worth mentioning the story doesn’t quite go in chronological order. It has a couple arcs where it goes back in time to show you how since met other lovable characters in the show like Y and Joshu-san (Assistant). Y is one of her friends, who went to school with her, who is a yaoi maniac and takes spreading the love very seriously. The other major characters are Watashi’s grandfather, who is called Grandfather and the fairies, who don’t have names. Watashi usually keeps some fairies with her, which increases her luck parameter, occasionally saving her from certain death.

Watashi is the type of girl that keeps to herself because she doesn’t trust any humans, besides Grandfather and Assistant, but at times can be very outspoken and make sarcastic retorts. She isn’t surprised very easily and takes things at face value. Plus she’s smart and looks adorable, need I say more? She’s always having dilemma whether is being caught inside a manga, caught in an endless loop of time, caught in the creation of a nation, but all of her problems are caused by the fairies. But she loves them anyway.

So now that I’ve talked as much as necessary about the plot and the characters, time to get to the other stuff. This show doesn’t put a huge emphasis on music, but when it does use music, it uses it well. Both the OP and the ED were well done and fit with the show. The OP is done by nano.RIPE who are most well known for the OP and other inserts for Hanasaku Iroha and recently, Sankarea. It’s a very upbeat song that mindless represents the fairies frivolity despite the troubles of the old humanity. The ED is Yume no Naka no Watashi no Yume by the ever glorious Masumi Itou whose earliest work includes Galaxy Angel and Azumanga Daioh. It’s a nice song with ups and down that I think fits very well with the series.

As for the genius who wrote this story, Tanaka Romeo (I can’t help but think of how derp this name sounds), turns out this was who first novel. I’m impressed. Normally he only writes for bishoujo and H-games but Jinrui was something I would not have expected from him. I take off my hat to you Good Sir. So yeah. I guess there isn’t that much to say about this since this is pretty much his first work in the anime/manga industry. AIC, the studio who worked on Jinrui (well, a division of AIC did), did a pretty good job. I think the last amazing show I remember by them was Hourou Musuko. But they usually do a good job anyway. Good pacing, good perspectives, and all around good job for their work on Jinrui.

I definitely recommend this as Jinrui is probably the best show of the Summer 2012 season. It not only kept me watching from beginning to end, but it exceeded my expectations as “just a black comedy show.” If you don’t watch this now….

9/10

Summer 2012 Impressions

Okay, so I decided to write a post with my thoughts on some shows that are currently airing.

Arcana Famiglia is a battle/reverse_harem/bishounen anime with an emphasis on the female market. It’s about a girl who the daughter of the boss of Arcana Tarroco, which is sort of like a mafia organization in Italy. In order to choose his next successor, he orders them all to train for a battle royale which will be held in a couple months and the winner will be the next boss and be allowed to marry his daughter. Sounds all good and all except its more about how the girl faces her every day situations and her interactions with all the people in the group. Not surprisingly, there are many seeds for romance but nothing gets resolved quickly, being very true to its genre. A decent watch, but wouldn’t recommend it to everyone.

Binbougami ga! Honestly, I wasn’t expecting much from this show, but it has proven me very wrong; I’m actually enjoying this slapstick comedy a lot more than I thought I would. I only checked it out because the main character is voiced by Hanazawa Kana, but it was worth the find. It’s not quite the level of Nichijou or Danshi Koukousei no Nichijou, but still you will not find a funnier show this season. The gags are well done and the characters are interesting, plus the plot is pretty decent, why ask for more. I recommend this show highly.

My first impression of Campione was, “this looks like it could be pretty badass” and didn’t let me down. However, although it has potential, it could still fuck up later so we’ll have to see. So far, there is a lot of action, moe, ecchi and badassery so it’s a good show if you are into that sort of thing. Some scenes get pretty raunchy and I liked very much :3 The main girl is like-able so it’s easy to seem her and the main guy in a relationship. In theory, a show about god-slayers should be very eventful… If they take the story and the romance to the next level it will be a solid show.

Chitose Get You is a cute little short that is great for killing time, getting a small laugh or checking another show off your list. I enjoy it enough to say if they make a full series out of this, I would check it out, but these shorts aren’t really worth the time if you only want to watch “great” shows.

*sigh* Dakara Boku Wa, H ga Dekinai is an ecchi. It has supernatural and romance elements to the point where I could say its about a horny teenager who wants to fuck a sexy demon. But I digress. It’s aired on an uncensored channel so you see bare breasts, which are pretty nicely done. I love the art style and the girl looks sexy. However, the main character is wimpy, which is a real downer, especially when he seems retarded. Besides the plot, it seems very generic. It’s not worth watching unless you only like ecchi, since that is the only good thing about this show. I don’t recommend it…but it’s okay ._.

Dog Days’…what else can I say about this other than it’s exactly like season 1, only with more heroes. Yes, Shinku brings his girlfriend and his sister back to Flonyard. Eh, I don’t recommend this show unless you liked the first season, it’s a direct sequel. If you haven’t watched season 1, Dog Days is pretty much a generic battle anime with moefied characters.

I decided to check out Hagure Yuusha no Estetica because it reminded me of DenYuuDen. It has a little less ecchi and a little more action/intrigue than I thought at first. It’s pretty decent. However, the main character is pretty indecent, since in the first scene, he is seen escaping from the land he saved (he is a hero that saved the world) and steals the panties of the maid guards that are chasing him. He makes it back to his world with the Demon Lord’s daughter and a foreshadow of devastation occurs. The main character is supposed to be a badass but hasn’t showed his full potential yet, so I guess this has promise. I don’t really recommend it unless you like mature action/ecchi shows, but it’s okay.

Jinrui wa Suitai Shimashita greatly surprised me. Don’t let the art fool you; this dark comedy is a masterpiece. From its original art style, to intriguing plot devices, to engaging dialogue, I have enjoyed every episode that I have watched so far. It’s not just a dark comedy either, there is a very solid plot as well, which is always very nice. I highly recommend this show if you like any kind of comedy or humor.

Joshiraku is a show about five girls talking about random things on their stage show. It’s pretty generic and they make some obscure references and puns, but it’s alright. The jokes don’t always make me laugh and there really is no plot. If you don’t care and just want to watch cute girls talking and doing retarded things you might like this show, but I don’t really recommend it.

I had high hopes for Koi to Senkyou to Chocolate because it has an interesting plot and really good character design. I really like Michiru (and she’s voiced Imai Asami HNNNGH). But this show kinda disappoints me, besides Michiru, the characters are very bland and don’t seem interesting. The plot is turning into a weird school politics battle. But at least the opening song is good. I don’t really recommend this show.

Kokoro Connect had potential but you always run into trouble when you come to the idea of switch bodies. I think this anime took it a little weirdly. They actually do go in the direction of thinking about what the soul is, but it just seems like a convenient plot device to explain things and I don’t think they are going anywhere with it. But that would be nice. It has comedy but only light chuckles and a little generic. I’m a little disappointed with this show and so far nothing has really hit me as amazing. Don’t recommend unless you like weird dramas.

Honestly, I thought Kono Naka ni Hitori, Imouto ga Iru would be a bad show. It seemed very generic and predictable at first, but episodes 3 and 4 turned it around a little bit. The girls are your normal stereotypes and are a little interesting but it’s a harem. Meh. I suppose if I was the heir of a wealthy company and transferred to a school to find my future bride I would have fun too. If you like harem then watch it but I don’t think it’s very good.

The long awaited Moyashimon season 2! It’s good. Watch it.

I had high hopes for this show because all of the josei anime I watched have been excellent. However, the main character turns out to either be very rude and ignorant or both. I dunno, he rubs me the wrong way. Oh well. Anyway, it’s about a guy who buys flowers from this shop every day because he has a crush on the owner. Cool story bro. Then he ends up working there. Then there is odd romance. The lady’s late husband hovers around the shop as a ghost and for some reason the main guy can see him. Okay. The ghost tries to interfere for some odd reason, guess he has some regrets but doesn’t really make himself clear. Okay, I lost interest in this show, I don’t recommend it.

Okay. Holy shit. Sword Art Online is the best show this season. Fucking watch it. It’s about a really hyped virtual reality game that gets released and when people rush out to buy it and connect to it, they come to the realization that they cannot log out until they clear the game. Okay, no biggy, dey got dis. Except if you die, you die in the real world. Damn microwaves. Well, fuck, this show just got a gold star for badassery. If that isn’t hardcore enough for you, then the main character was a beta tester for this game and knows a shitton and even leads the main group of gamers to help clear the game. Plus he kills all the things. The art style seems like it doesn’t really fit but it works, especially in battles. There is some tasteful romance as well. OMG JUST WATCH THIS SHOW.

Tari Tari is a little odd, but the characters are love-able and has some good songs. It’s a decent slice of life with some drama and depending on how well it’s developed it can get better. It’s about a girl who failed at a recital and wanted to perform again since it’s her last year in high school, however she has to make a new club to do it. So now she has to build a new choir club with her friends as they develop….meh….good songs but it seems a litte awkward.

Fate Zero

Okay, so this will be a review for both seasons 1 and 2 of Fate Zero without much regard to Fate Stay/Night. I’ll try to be objective, since that is my goal, and I’ll admit I wanted to like this series. Cue bashing.

So the story starts out with the masters being chosen and masters summoning their servants, sounds good so far. Not going too into the details for the story, since this is a prequel and very straightforward so I’m just going through all the things I thought were well or poorly done. The whole first season, 13 episodes, was really slow. It was also basically just an introduction to the characters and the story, because nothing actually happens until the last episode. The was some political intrigue that didn’t make sense: Tokiomi working with the Church, which is supposed to be neutral (and wasn’t explained). The first “real” fight was extremely anti-climatic, as were all of the other fights. When they introduce Caster, who is a messed up individual, they show him derping around for the whole first season doing what he pleases and gets himself targeted for no obvious reason. The church sets a bounty on him, the reward being a command spell, because apparently Caster was dangerous. Okay, so he broke a few rules.

The Grail is supposed to grant a single wish for the winner of this battle royale which is pretty cool, but nothing about how the grail was fight discovered or why it grants a wish is ever explained. It’s just said that the original three families summoned the grail and had to fight for it because it only granted one wish. OKAY TYPE MOON. This only creates a contradiction. If the grail chooses the masters, how come the three families are always in it and get to summon it? Great.

The role of Caster and his Master was unclear in the story. They existed only to stir things up and they had no reason to participate in the Holy Grail War. Also Caster’s Obsession with Saber, besides looking like his lost long love, was entirely unneeded. He basically has no connection to Saber. Why would the Grail choose those guys… Cue picture of Caster’s equally insane master:

We also find out that Saber’s and Kiritsugu’s ideologies don’t match up so they argue. Since they have the same goal the argument was completely pointless. Also, the reason why Irisviel is a “dummy” master for Kiritsugu is not clearly explained. Besides the fact that Kiritsugu refuses to use magic, he still has enough mana to supply to Saber. If he wanted to hide himself he could have just done the same exact thing Lancer’s master did; stay in the shadows. But of course, Kiritsugu does that anyway so using Irisviel as a tool didn’t appeal to me.

Although Illya is a fucking awesome character. HNNNNNNNNNGH. I’d pick acorns all day with her. /end fangasm. Saber is pretty much how she is in Stay/Night; very chivalrous and outspoken, not a bad character. And despite being almost worthless with regard to the plot, Irisviel was a good character. Actually, everyone was a decent character except for Archibald and Maiya. And if I were a woman, I would bear Rider’s children. He is the biggest BAMF in the series. I mean, come on, look at that smile.

So, more characters. Kariya, Berserker’s master, was probably one of the better characters, even though all of them were pretty average. He was the only one that actually underwent decent character development. Turns out he never wanted to be a master for the Matou family but changed his mind to protect Sakura, who was his only link to happiness and sanity. Sola-Ui and Maiya were just bitches for Archibald and Kiritsugu respectively and aren’t important. Lancer is a cool guy who upholds knightly honor but seems too naive and useless. Except for that one time when he could have done something and waits until the last minute to do it. Bullshit. Berserker’s role, other than being a “rival” for Saber was completely unnecessary because he didn’t do anything meaningful. He showed up, derped up a bit then left. The characters in Kiritsugu’s back-story are irrelevant.

The plot needs a serious rework. Whoever wrote this script was too eager to make it “deep” and “cool” that it just seemed over-complicated and ridiculous. I just wanted a nice story that was simple to understand and straightforward. It’s supposed to be a story about 7 Masters and Servants fighting for their rights to the Holy Grail but it just turned into a random fight to protect their ideals. Everything was more philosophical than it should have been and it seemed extremely forced.

Sort of related to the above paragraph, the character interactions were OMGWTFROFLCOPTERSKATES. I mean seriously, besides Waver and Rider, all of the other conversations turned into a philosophical discussion. The script would have been much better if it were more simple and not everyone trying to outwit everyone else. In some cases, you can’t even tell what some characters are thinking because they are either being too vague or change their mind every episode.

Can’t blame these two though. Aren’t they just so cute and innocent. Loli Rin isn’t bad :3

In the second half of Fate Zero, it seems like things are starting to pick up. But I thought wrong. At the start of the second half, none of the Servants have died, so I assumed there would be a shitsickle of action. But no. They spent 1/4 to 1/3 of the second half on background story for Kiritsugu which was completely unnecessary. That whole arc was just a sob story for Kiritsugu and was just bad writing on Type Moon’s part. Though to be fair, Type Moon isn’t known for their award-winning writing.

There isn’t much to say about the rest of season 2 either; more ridiculous political intrigue, pointless dialogue, anti-climatic battles and inconsistency. Saber beats a guy in one hit with her Noble Phantasm right at the start of the match and doesn’t blink an eye, but never does that in Fate Stay/Night. Archer/Gilgamesh had a close fight, but when his opponent uses his Noble Phantasm, Gilgamesh was like TROLLOLOL and uses his anti-Noble Phantasm weapon and neutralizes it. Umm, can you say broken as shit? At least Rider was the best. Such a BAMF. His last moments were clearly epic. I cried man tears for him.

See you in my next review. This gets a 6/10 for me. Very average and I won’t recommend it unless you liked Stay/Night.