Since I was bumming around Japan when the current anime season first began, I’m a little behind the curve. However, I’m making an effort to catch up with what’s currently airing now that we’re entering the cold and dark part of the year and I have nothing better to do. Might as well watch some anime! Note that I still need to check out Sasameki Koto and To Aru Kagaku no Railgun, so no comment on those two shows as of yet.
Anyway, you know the drill…
Nyan Koi - Easily my favorite show of the season thus far, despite my initial low expectations. It plays the harem card effectively without getting too bogged down in harem conventions - almost to the extent I feel like I’m mischaracterizing the show by mentioning the “H” word in the first place. The show’s true charm, however, is its humor, which gets surprisingly wild at times. Some of the recent episodes have had me roaring with laughter.
Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu - Purezza - I enjoyed the first season more than I should probably admit (there’s a podcast out there with record of that, so I guess I’m screwed as is), but I’m having a difficult time with this second season. Some episodes have been fairly enjoyable - the opener and the Hayate no Gotoku homage, for example - but others, such as the Christmas episode, have been tough to stomach. Not only have the two leads misplaced the better parts of their personalities, but the show as a whole has misplaced the plot. Hello, writers? See the show’s title? Perhaps you should try doing something with that. It worked last time, you know.
Kimi no Todoke - This show feels an awful lot like the second coming of Bokura ga Ita both in presentation and premise. I really enjoyed that show, so it stands to reason I should enjoy this one as well. And I do… for the most part. Sasaki Nozomi for teh Mamiko is a fair enough trade (both voices make me think dirty thoughts, I admit) and the lighter tone is a nice counter to Bokura ga Ita’s propensity to wallow. On the other hand, a lot of the drama in the initial episodes has felt manufactured enough that I can’t help but feel uneasy. Good shoujo can go sour in an instant.
White Album - More of the same, but with twice the budget! Or three times, maybe. Kind of difficult to multiply by zero, I guess. I half wonder if Seven Arcs kept production going full steam during the show’s six month intermission in an effort to stay ahead of schedule. Anyway, it’s more of the same silly soap opera drama and opaque writing that has no business being as enjoyable as it is. Touya is still every bit a spectacular douchebag. Legendary, really.
Kobato - So, I found this time machine in the coat closet the other day, and I thought, “what the hell,” and punched in 1998, and when I got there, I was totally in Japan (a bonus feature, I guess), and Cardcaptor Sakura was totally on TV, and so I totally watched it, and then I woke up, and I was back in 2009, and I got to feeling sad, because Sakura was surely some old lady by now, and the only decent CLAMP anime adaptation in the past ten years had been fucking Chobits (of all things), but then this Kobato show totally came on TV, and the birds started singing and the clouds started dancing and then I started thinking I shouldn’t have eaten those brownies after all.
Seitokai no Ichizon - I almost gave up on this show after the second episode, but I’m glad I stuck with it. There’s a certain low budget, taking-a-piss charm to the entire production, and the humor, while unbalanced, leans more to the “funny” side than the “not-so-funny” side. And, for a show that relies heavily on referential inside jokes, it doesn’t pull any punches. None of this, “we can only make fun of our own properties,” crap (I’m looking at you, Lucky Star).
Completely agree on Nyan Koi, I didn’t have high expectations for it either, but it continues to surprise me with how funny it is - not quite as over-the-top funny as Seto no Hanayome, but feels like it’s in the same vein. It’s funny you almost dropped Seitokai no Ichizon, I had the same reaction after the second ep, but it’s gotten better, although I really wish they’d get out of the clubroom. It’s like they’re trying to compete with Maico 2010 for the record of “most time shot in a single room in an anime series”. I think you’ll like Railgun - it’s up there with Nyan Koi for me anyway.
I was had with that Kobato commentary! XD Very nice to see these impressions here this time of year.
I’m not all that into Purezza and I could not take Winter’s W.A. for the life of me, but I’m following everything else. Kimi ni Todoke is my bread-n-butter, but Nyan Koi is extremely fun and easy to watch. The two other moderate lookers for myself are Darker Than Black 2 and Railgun, with Railgun being in the same easy to enjoy boat as Nyan Koi.
Cheers.
My immediate first-episode love for SeiZon is feeling less and less embarrassing as time goes by. Two episodes of Nyan Koi left me cold, but I guess I’d better try again. For some reason, I find I preferred Sasaki Nozomi’s amateurish mewling burble to Noto Kawaii’s professional sweetness. Darker than Black has me riveted every week. I didn’t know Hanazawa Kana was this good at anything but moe. I wonder what you think of Tegami Bachi. Some episodes have been well-nigh perfect for me.
I ended up laughing more than I should have at the Kobato bit.
And I didn’t notice until today, but welcome back to the blogosphere Jeff.
To Aru Kagaku no Railgun : I think you will like it. It has some interesting character dynamics, and I even see some signs of slowly changing the dynamics as part of character developments.
Nyan Koi: If I hadn’t seen so many other romantic comedies, I might enjoy it, but now, it feels too much like, seen that before.
Nogizaka : Having similar difficulty as you described, thus dropping it.
Kimi ni Todoke : This is the series I most look forward to this season. I initially feared that Noto Mamiko might make the character too sweet, but luckily they have decided to use the contemplative side more which works to Mamiko’s strength.
Kobato : I consider this as more of guilty pleasure.
Seitokai no Ichizon : I like the parodies and humors so far. Don’t know how long they can keep this up.
Finally, I am very curious at how Jeff thinks of Cross Game.
The comic timing of Nyan Koi has me coming back for more every week. Doesn’t hurt that they keep paying homage to “Battle Without Honor or Humanity”
Best description of White Album ever. Can’t really get enough of Rina myself. I’d add king to Legendary Douchebag, myself.
Welcome back
“Since I was bumming around Japan when the current anime season first began, I’m a little behind the curve.”
lol, wouldn’t that put you ahead of the curve?
Kimi no Todoke - I’m holding off on this series until it finishes airing (in fact, I’m going to be doing that with all anime from now on). But hearing it compared to Bokura ga Ita (which I looooved) is music to my ears, even if that comment is followed by a critique.
White Album - Don’t jinx the budget! Remember what happened during the final episode of last season? Seriously, we could see an animation collapse at any point in the future. Don’t jinx it!
Kobato - I just love the way you wrote that segment.
Seitokai no Ichizon - I try not to think just how much better the show should be. For what it did end up being, it’s surprisingly good. Plus, I love the one room dynamic (keeps the show focused and pure).
oh my goodness… I can’t believe you’re still alive after all this time…
I watched the first few episodes of Railgun last night, and I think I like it. I couldn’t make it past three episodes of Index, but this is entirely different and more up my alley.
@maglor: Back when Cross Game first started, I watched a few episodes… I enjoyed it, but not enough to where I felt like keeping up with it for however many episodes it ends up being. This movement toward single cour shows has killed my attention span, I think.
Nyan Koi has been a highlight of the season for me, I really didn’t expect to be laughing so much so I’m really glad I gave it a chance.
I haven’t seen Kimi no Todoke yet but it’s been getting a lot of praise. If it’s anything like Bokura ga Ita I’ll be sure to give it a try.
While I was looking for ammo on Seitokai no Ichizon I revisited this post, and felt to leave my 2c, even when I didn’t previously.
1. How are you feeling about Seizon now?
2. And Railgun? It feels strongly like a good old fashioned late 90s anime! That’s what I like the most about it.
3. Cross Game is going to be on Momotato’s annual blog post, so it’s probably good to get our disses out of the way before end of year. But oddly enough I’m watching it, and I don’t know why.
4. We would love you in our circle of google reader shared item thing, if you haven’t been scooped up yet.
Agreed on NyanKoi - not exactly my favourite of the season, but then again I’m only following three very carefully selected series so it’s in good company.
Railgun currently has pride of place on my viewing list. For the record, I’ve never seen Index; seems like you have so I’d certainly be interested in your take on this series.
Thanks for the reviews. Now, I just need to park my behind on the couch and go through the list! Looking forward to it!
ohohohohohoho… “only decent CLAMP anime adaptation in the past ten years had been fucking Chobits”
so true