(Editor’s Note – This only has reviews of the Spring and was done in the summer. Therefore it is less interesting, feel free to skip)
As you may not know the new season of anime starts in just two weeks, and it’s going to mostly suck. It’s going to suck a lot, because while I’ve been saying anime isn’t dead for dead for years now. This time. I’m wrong. You see I’ve heard that the quality of anime has dried up and that everything is shit for over 5 years now and honestly I’d wish the talks of anime being dead would kindly just die as well. But looking back at the previous 3 years we get things like Casshern Sins, Maria Holic, Sengoku Basara, Eden of the East, Ef Melodies/Memories, Baccano, Zetsubou Sensei, and Dennou Coil. Clever readers will note that some of these shows have a common element to them which subsequently leads into my reasoning as to why for the next season of anime is dead.
Now it’s no lie that I absolutely love everything Shaft makes. Normally I feel shows should be mostly judged on whether they are any good, not by creator/company. Shaft breaks this rule, and I’m fine with that. It’s okay. I accept it. As such for the previous 5 weeks or so I’ve been catching up on what I’ve missed from the last season. And in case you have been neglecting anime and wonder what you should watch over the summer since chances are high it’s not going to be anything from the next season here’s what you’ve missed. Note: Review length may vary.
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Name: Angel Beats
Review: If I had done a preview of Angel Beats by the first episode I would have told you that despite the combined powers of Key, Aniplex, and PA Works that it’s all gone wrong, and that the show is if anything mediocre. And by the first few episodes it was. However after a few more episodes it really comes into its own, combining elements of comedy, violence, drama, and above all death, and I don’t mean the fact that the characters are technically dead. It also has the best character in anime to date namely TK, who is so amazing that if they made a spinoff sequel about him it wouldn’t involve boring lesbians with some boring fight scenes.
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Name: Arakawa Under the Bridge
Review: Yes its shaft. Yes I can’t write a review on it because I’m biased. No I don’t care. Arakawa manages to be drop dead amazing. First off and I know this is a tangent but god I love shaft intros, they’re one of the best companies to give an opening that isn’t just a blatant display of some action scenes and characters. Anyway Arakawa is amazing on all grounds, The Premise? Great. The Story? Considering the type so far so good. The Art? Shaft. The Sound? Amazing. The Characters? Quite possibly the best of the best. I can’t find a single fault with it and the fact that it ends in the next two weeks is enough to send me into despair.
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Name: B Gata H Kei
Review: Is somehow a contradiction. There is no reason anyone should like it, and there are plenty of reasons as to why you shouldn’t. And yet I can’t bring myself to hate it. Maybe it’s the fact that the main character is essentially a cocktsundere (half cock loving slut, half tsundere (which is a half thing already), Maybe it’s the fact that the show manages to be funny in the non-funny set aside sections, maybe it’s because it’s just so stupid it’s like a deranged panther. Harmless, but still loveable.
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Name: Heroman
Review: JOEY JONES. Ahh so we come to Heroman the by-product of Stan Lee, Japan, and Blatant America. I honestly believe that this show was made and the producers said wait it’s not American enough and people may catch on to that! We need to make it more American. Cue the robot’s armor covered in stars and stripes, cue American flag, cue a football playing massive teenage bully with a color scheme that makes you stand up and sing the National Anthem. Normally I would use this leverage as reason enough to discuss why this show is bad. Unfortunately it’s not. It’s actually quite good. I wouldn’t say it’s perfect by a longshot, but it’s a fun ride.
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Name: Hetalia World Series
Review: It’s Hetalia which means most people should hate it due to the fangirl fodder it provides. And yes that is lamentable. I still maintain though that Hetalia is amazingly funny. A recent episode had the Chinese character showing a blurred out Hello Kitty figure (from Japan of course) to his “boss” which apparently is the dragon from DBZ. I literally laughed out loud covering my mouth with my hand at 2 in the morning having to tell my brother who woke up sorry don’t worry about it, as I tried to stop myself from giggling.
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Name: House of Five Leaves
Review: At least this period is like most period animes (outside Bakumatsu Kikanetsu Irohonohoetio and Tenpou Ibun Ayakashi Ayashi <-Spelling errors) which is to say that it’s boring unlike Hakuouki which was also released this season though I am not watching that because despite having the occasional vagina when it comes to anime I don’t want a cock in me. Again though House of Five Leaves is boring, it will remain boring, move on.
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Name: Ichiban Ushiro no Dai Maou
Review: Is unfortunate because if I’d have previewed this show I would have said that it’s actually quite good. And it was until about 5-6 episodes in. Then it all went to shit. And it’s not the blatant fanservice trying to keep on par with Queen’s Blade and Qwaser, because it’s actually not that bad and surprisingly rational? No the problem with Ichiban is that it’s a 26 episodes series but the animation company was given 13. Things move too fast, the character development comes to a point and then just fully stops and you get the general feel that they are rushing things through the end of the series. This is quite sad because the premise and characters are good enough to merit a well done release that would have made a fairly good series, but no.
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Name: Ikkitousen Xtreme Xecutor
Review: Business as usual.
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Name: Kaichou wa Maid-sama
Review: It’s a standard shoujo school life and I mean the standard standard not the John loves this shit standard. It’s okay to watch but not really.
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Name: K-On!!
Review: I would have dropped this were it not so I can intelligently inform my friend that it really does suck. I’m not going to explain in detail why, I will however show you why even in the category of a show like this K-On!! is in fact the worst of worst. Azumanga > Hidamari > Minami-ke > Ichigo Mashimaro > Manabi Straight > Lucky Star > Hyakko > Shit > K-On > Having a cucumber in your ass > K-On S2
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Name: Rainbow
Review: Is dark. It’s a gritty Madhouse series, (<- I guessed there totally right tho) it’s good for one thing only and that is actually making you care. You care about the guy getting out, you hate the guard enough to want to destroy him. Rainbow as I learned watching the first few eps is not something you should watch at once, and you should intersplice it with something cheerful enough to love small animals, because it is heavy. Still very good though.
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Name: Senko no Night Raid
Review: Is bad. It would appear Anime no Chikara should not be around for long because so far it’s given us this and Sora no Woto and both are just terrible. You don’t feel like it’s truly going somewhere, you don’t care about anything, and despite the characters even having superhuman abilities it’s just boring and useless.
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Name: Working!
Review: Truly the sleeper hit of the season. Working manages despite being a slice of life comedy to have that certain spark I mention that truly makes an anime above the rest. If I was asked why Shaft (Note Working isn’t a Shaft series) is so good I would say well the art is top notch but mostly it carries this spark this other factor that can’t be explained until you feel it. Working has great characters and even more impressive comedy. But that’s not what would convince you to watch it. It’s the enjoyment you get from it. Working manages to make itself so good that when an episode is released it becomes priority to download and watch it. (after Arakawa of course I am still me.)
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Other animes released that were so shitty I’m not watching/reviewing Hakuouki, Kiss Sis, Kohime Musou 2, Giant Killing, and all the other stupid little ones no-one ever subs anyway.
So there you have it. The next season looks to be outright terrible though with only Highschool of the Dead to satisfy me with its tits, guns, and zombies.
Cheers mates.