The winter anime season is well underway. Like most years, there are few blockbuster shows to be found. Thankfully, I’m not a blockbuster kinda guy. No, more often than not, my favorite shows are the “diamonds in the rough,” of which the winter season always seems to provide plenty. Here are the diamonds (and a lump of coal or two) that have caught my eye this winter…

Hanbun no Tsuki ga Noboru Sora
Good things come in small packages, it seems. A mere six episodes in length, Hantsuki will be over before I know it. Still, I’m inclined to love every minute. As much as I like bittersweet endings, I’m actually hoping for a happy ending this time around. Rika’s too cute to die.

Kashimashi ~ Girl Meets Girl ~
I know this show is pandering to the first degree, but I don’t care. It’s still hilarious. The drama is pretty generic in presentation, but the absurdity of the setup more than makes up for it. It helps that the show hit the seiyuu jackpot: Tamura Yukari, Horie Yui, Ueda Kana, and Asano Masumi, all together? Not since Ichigo Mashimaro have I felt so lucky to be alive.

Kage Kara Mamoru
It’s great to see a show tackling the serious issue of mental retardation, so often ignored in modern Japanese media… oh, wait… you mean Yuna’s not… oh, geez, my bad. Well, there’s ninjas, at least.

REC
Salaryman meets ridiculously cute voice actress. Cute voice actress’ apartment burns down. Salaryman provides cute voice actress place to stay. By the end of the first episode, they’re doing the horizontal tango. I should’ve stayed in Tokyo.

Binchou-tan
I’m kind of surprised it took so long for this show to be made. Perhaps the production team spent all this time raising funds, as the budget for the show looks to be “giant bag of yen X ?.”

Yomigaeru Sora ~ Rescue Wings ~
Mature slice of life. My favorite kind of show. Some might find Rescue Wings dull in its realism, but it’s that very realism I find riveting. It’s like a straight-laced Patlabor, minus the giant robots. It helps that the show is set on the Sea of Japan coast; outside of Hokkaido, it’s my favorite part of the country.

Fate/stay night
I already dumped on Fate/stay night here. Chances are, had the show premiered in any other season, I wouldn’t bother with it. But, you take what you can get this time of year.