Hidan no Aria
Taking place in a world where terrorism has gotten so bad the world has started giving licenses to high school aged kids to work as mercenaries, this series is your standard fanservice-y action anime. I must say, I had high hopes for this show at the beginning, but it’s kind of failed to live up to them so far. The action scenes are well done for the most part, but the storyline leaves much to be desired. It follows a high school boy named Kinji who goes to a school for mercenaries. During an attempt on his life, he meets a high ranked mercenary girl named Aria, who becomes interested in an innate ability of his. The two go on to solve various situations together. Just going to say one more thing about this show, and it’s a bit of a spoiler so ignore this if you like what you’ve heard so far. Somewhere around episode 4 this show turns into the descendant of Sherlock Holmes versus the descendant of Arsene Lupin. I couldn’t facepalm hard enough at this. This isn’t even a mystery series in any respect, it is a bunch of teenagers with swords and guns and knives trying to kill each other. Where exactly does Sherlock Holmes fit into this at all? Why does it matter? Are we just name-dropping now? Trying to get some credibility going? It’s not working. Next.
Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko
This show is definitely visually beautiful, not your usual Shaft series as far as the artwork goes. Then again, after Madoka, I guess they have budget to spare on that sort of thing. The series itself is about a boy who moves in with his aunt in order to go to a new high school, only to discover he has a weird cousin that no one else in the family seems to know about. How weird? She thinks she’s an alien. At heart it’s a series about trying to find your place in the world after something goes horribly wrong in your life, wrapped up in gags that actually manage to kind of add to it. The characters are all really fun, and the series presents itself really well. My only complaint is the opening theme. It’s a nice track, and the music itself is catchy, but I can’t help but think it would be so much better if not for the girl singing it. She’s a little off pitch. Good show so far, give it a look.
Ao no Exorcist
Now, I was really looking forward to this show after all the trailers I’d seen over the months before the season started. Now, it hasn’t necessarily disappointed me yet. The first few episodes were great. Set up the situation really nicely, awesome visuals and plotline. Unfortunately, they’re currently doing something I really, really hate. They’re doing that thing where they take a few episodes of the series, and the plotline they just got you all hyped up for takes a back seat so they can spend a few pointless episodes introduce a bunch of characters who’ll probably be more important later. That’s usually more of a J.C. Staff thing to do. Anyways, the show itself is about the son of Satan, being raised by a priest. They hid his true identity from him until finally the seal they had placed on him gives and he discovers the truth. Though rather than join the ranks of his real father, inspired by the man who raised him, he chooses to become an exorcist himself. The show seems promising still, whenever it gets started finally anyways.
Sekai-ichi Hatsukoi
Someone’s going to make a comment about this one, I just know it. Yes, I’m watching this. Yes, I picked it up knowing full well what it is, and yes, I’m actually enjoying this series as of so far. For those of you who don’t understand what I’m talking about yet, you’ll figure it out soon enough. So yeah, this series is about a man who goes to work for a publishing company, only to get stuck in the Shoujo Manga department. He weathers it at first, but soon discovers that his boss is actually his first love from high school, who had betrayed him. Not only that, but it turns out that they’re now neighbors. It’s a somewhat serious series about people in the publishing industry, and old love resurfacing no matter how much one tries to avoid it. I find myself sitting down, watching this series, enjoying the plot, laughing at the gags, and then on occasion, I look at the main character’s boss, laugh, and go “This guy’s a dick.” This reaction is usually followed by an immediate thought of “Oh my god, I’m watching a Shounen-ai series and enjoying it…” That’s right, the first love in question is a guy, and a few episodes so far have come just a little short of Yaoi rape. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go watch some lesbian porn and grow my testicles back…
A-Channel
Speaking of lesbians, its time for the light-hearted comedy of the season. A-Channel is a slice of life comedy, not unlike Azumangah Daioh, in which one character seems to be a little too protective of her best friend. Nothing too special about this one, nothing out of the ordinary, nothing original. Then again, it’s a format that’s proven at least to be entertaining. This is a decent series if you’re bored and have nothing to do, and nothing else interests you.
Steins;Gate
Made by the same guys who brought us Chaos;Head, this series follows in the same sort of genre. In fact, this is supposedly a sequel to Chaos;Head, though that only seems only to extend to it taking place in the same world. The show revolves around a scientist by the name of Okabe Rintarou, and his associates after discovering that one of their inventions actually allows them to send text messages into the past. The series revolves around mysteries surrounding time travel, government cover-ups, and the outright insane moment that Okabe has, being not quite right in the head and all. Okabe discovers that for some reason when history is altered, he still maintains his original memories, leading him to some really awkward moments of confusion. While this series doesn’t quite live up to its predecessor, it’s still a pretty good series. Lots of twists and turns to keep it interesting, and the interactions between characters are usually pretty entertaining. It’s a good show to keep your eye on, although I can already predict a coming twist.
Dororon Enma-kun Meerameera
Okay, let’s first get the title out of the way. The title, loosely translated, is “It’s Enma-kun! *Sparkle Sparkle*”. After hearing that, if you’re expecting any sort of seriousness from this show, there is something wrong with you. This is a ero/gag anime, meaning the majority of it is perverted gags, with a very minor amount of plot. What little plot it does have involves a gang of youngsters from Hell come to earth in order to stop other demons from having their way with mankind. It’s a monster of the week style series, a new demon every episode, loosely connected by plot and gags. It’s not exactly the best of shows, in fact, I spend a lot of my time watching it face-palming over stupid jokes and references. Why am I watching it? Easy, this series is based off an old manga by Go Nagai. One of his first I believe. With that in mind, you know I have to watch every single minute of it. Also, the theme song is absolutely amazing. I can’t wait for the single to come out. Anyways, if you’re looking for randomness, give this series a shot, though don’t say you weren’t warned about how weird some of the gags can get.
Hoshizora e Kakaru Hashi
I’m going to make this quick. This is yet another anime based on a dating sim. Guy and his little brother move to the country because the little brother is prone to sickness and the clean air will help him. The older brother’s stayed there as a kid, and a few girls seem to have memories of him from way back, though he remembers none of them. Love triangles abound, the standard fare for this genre. Nothing too special about it aside from a few weirdoes that seem to have taken a liking to the main characters little brother… you know, the token trap character. Not even going there, so let’s move on.
Oretachi ni Tsubasa wa Nai
This one’s an interesting one to watch. Parts have a fantasy feel to it, some feel like it has the same spirit to it as Durarara. I’ve also never seen a show go back and forth between interesting and just painful to watch so fast though. At first this show seems to be about three different people, and their completely unrelated lives, but a few episodes in they turned that idea on its head. As it turns out, the three unrelated people, are actually the same guy. It’s explained as multiple spirits inhabiting the same body, though there are still parts of that explanation I don’t buy. It’s one of those shows where you’re not entirely certain if the person whose perspective the series is seen from actually knows himself what is going on. One personality is a high school student who also thinks he is a warrior from some far off fantasy world he occasionally gets teleported back to in the middle of the day. I personally think he’s just nuts. The second is a womanizing playboy who frequents a local café. Not exactly a character I particularly like either, though he has grown on me a bit. The third is Dora, and Dora is just awesome. He hangs out downtown in the middle of the night, doing odd jobs for people. He knows everyone, and everyone knows who he is. The interactions between him and all those he knows are just fun to watch. Anyways, this show’s a fun one, and I recommend you take a look at it, though be prepared to sit through some awkward moments I swear were written by a six-year-old sometimes if you do.
Dog Days
Speaking of ideas children come up with, we have Dog Days. This series is a fantasy story about a hero summoned to a medieval world from a modern day world in order to aid in fighting a war. Don’t let the plot or the high action opening sequence fool you though, this war is anything but dangerous. Wars in this world are fought like sporting competitions. Magic is used to reduce defeated warriors into what I swear look like In-Training Digimon. War is a game in this show, one where no one is hurt, and everyone involved has fun. There’s even obstacle courses involved sometimes. Definitely sounds like something a kid would come up with, eh? Anyways, I actually kind of like the idea once you get past the initial obstacle course episodes. It’s kind of a refreshing way to have the action take place without the characters getting all moody about taking lives. It’s a fun, entertaining series, though I find myself more willing to side with the antagonist of the series then the good guys. That says something I suppose.
Sengoku Otome ~Momoiro Paradox~
Yeah, this is a simple one to explain. A girl from modern day Japan accidentally travels back in time and ends up in the Sengoku era, except everyone is a woman. Think a weird love child of Inuyasha, Sengoku Basara, and Koihime Musou. The plot is lacking, and some episodes are just pointless and stupid, but all in all it’s not quite as bad as I had thought it was going to be. The only thing I really can’t get over is just how stupid the main character is. I mean, I understand how hard it would be to accept being in such an illogical situation, but there has to be a point at which it becomes the only explanation. It seriously took her until episode 2 to figure it out. “Man, there’s a farm village on fire in my home town.”, “What kind of house doesn’t have flushing toilets in this day and age?”, “Hmm, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a house this big around my neighborhood.”, and my personal favourite… as she leaves a castle town, and wanders into a forest…“I wonder if there’s a convenience store around here.” Ladies and gentlemen, the current leading contender for retard of the year.
Astarotte no Omocha
I think this one just proves it, I watch some weird stuff. This show… *sigh*… is about an 8-year-old succubus princess in the midst of forming a harem, because a succubus needs “life seed” to sustain herself. Only issue is, she has an irrational hatred of men, that the first member of her harem, a 23-year-old human named Naoya, has to try and fix. So yeah, that plot description makes this seem a lot more perverted than it actually is. First of all, despite being a member of her Harem, Naoya treats her more like a daughter than anything else. Which is kind of funny now that I think about it, considering he slept with her mother a few times. Secondly, apparently “life seed” can be extracted simply through kissing, and not the way I’m sure everyone who read that the first time thought they must have meant. While the show tries to be the usual perverted loli anime, I have to say it doesn’t actually seem to accomplish that. In fact, it seems to have developed into a light-hearted sort of father and daughter drama. Though the fact that Naoya is supposed to be a romantic partner is ever present, they never quite feel like it. I will give this show a little credit as well for a few plot twists that I totally wasn’t expecting right near the beginning. It’s a decent show, and if you can get past the age of the heroine, then I recommend you give it a look.
Deadman Wonderland
This one’s a little morbid, but still pretty good. The basic premise here is that after watching his entire high school class get slaughtered by a super-powered maniac, a boy named Ganta is charged, and convicted of all of their murders and sent to a special privately run prison known as Deadman Wonderland. A theme park-like place where the owners make profit off using the inmates as labour and attractions. In the prison, he discovers he has a power much like the killer’s, and in fact the only reason he was the sole survivor of the attack was because the criminal took an interest in him and gave it to him. He also discovers the only reason he was convicted is because his lawyer, in reality the warden of the prison, messed around with evidence to guarantee that anyone with that power was contained in his prison. The story revolves around Ganta, and the living hell he has to endure in this prison. The story is interesting, and the setting is surreal and emotional stirring. The only real issue I have is that Ganta is a little much of a whiner for my liking. Then again, he did get pulled into a load of crap that would break most people instantly for no real fault of his own, so maybe he’s allowed to be.
Hanasaku Iroha
This is a show about a city girl forced to grow up and learn how to work when her deadbeat mother decides to run away with her deadbeat boyfriend to avoid all the people who he owes money to. So much money that he apparently put their apartment as collateral instead of his own. Nice guy, real keeper. Anyways, she gets shoved off to her Grandmother, who disowned her mother a long time ago. So, why she was the first choice seems kind of weird. Anyways, Grandmother owns an inn in the country, and forces the girl to work for room and board. I swear the setup for this show is one step away from being Hayate the Combat Butler… and that one step involves borrowing money from the yakuza using your son’s internal organs as collateral. Anyways, this show has some real promise, following this girl as she is forced to mature through all sorts of trials and errors. It’s a nice dramatic series about a girl trying her best to adapt to her new life, and I recommend it to almost anyone.
Hen Zemi
Yep, not going into depth here. This show goes really far at every turn. It follows the students of a university seminar on the subject of deviancy. What do they do? They do experiments about the weirdest, most perverted things imaginable. Not even kidding. This show takes things to a whole new level every other episode, with some strange visuals all around. Though I do give it credit for the very creative new years episode that showed nothing, and left everything to the imagination. Which somehow made it the most disturbing episode of all. Anyways, if you’re up for some serious shock value, this is the show for you.
SKET Dance
This is an old style gag anime that follows around a school club dedicated to helping other students with their problems. It’s a nice series, with a set of characters that really work well together, and play off each other’s strong suits nicely. It gives the series a good flow, and makes it fun to watch. It’s nothing plot heavy, it’s just something fun to sit and watch. So, if that’s what you’re looking for, this a good series for you.
X-Men
Following in the almost year long tradition now, comes the next in a line of Marvel anime projects. This time, one of their biggest franchises, the X-Men. It follows Cyclops, Storm, Beast, and Wolverine as they travel to Japan (You know, like the last two series had the superheroes do for some reason). There they try and investigate a massive incident involving mutants and something blocking out Professor X from seeing what’s going on in the region. It also adds a new character to the mix, a Japanese mutant named Hisako who can summon some sort of energy armour around herself. Personally, I very much appreciate the Japanese mutant voiced by Tamura Yukari. Anyways, as of so far it seems much better than the previous two Marvel anime. Having an actual continuing plot instead of being episodic like Ironman, or messing with the characters like Wolverine. It actually seems to stick true to the franchise, and has a proper plot going on. I’m liking it so far, but I’ve been put off by endings before, so we’ll see how this goes.
Anyways, that’s it for this season. As usual, I’m not including sequels, or OVAs, so you’ll have to check those out yourself if you’re interested. See you around, and don’t forget to keep an eye out for IXI Studios at Anime North in Toronto starting tomorrow. I’ll be in attendance as well as everyone else.
