Welcome again to my usual installment on the site. Before we get started, I’d like to point out that I have been really looking forward to this season since the beginning of the Summer season. There were just so many things announced that I had been waiting a long time for, and from the sound of it, the same is going to go for Winter 2012. Anyways, being forewarned, let’s begin with my first impressions of this season, barring the usual second seasons and OVAs that won’t come out for a month or so.
Phi Brain – Kami no Puzzle
I have never wanted so much to make a Professor Layton joke as I have with this show. In fact, I made several while watching the first two episodes. The show follows a young boy who loves puzzles and insists there is no puzzle he can’t solve. Over the course of the series he finds himself wrapped up in a battle against a group who make puzzles that could potentially kill you if you get the answer wrong. All in all, it reminds me of a cross between a Professor Layton game and the original Yu-Gi-Oh. Oddly enough though, that’s a pretty awesome combination in my books. Unfortunately, the puzzle in the first episode was so unnecessarily complex that almost everything after it seem like child’s play. Talk about setting the bar just a little too high for yourself. Anyways, the series seems to be pretty good, so I’m looking forward to it despite that. If you enjoy a bit of intellectual action and suspense, I’d definitely recommend giving this a shot.
Maken-ki
This show is shaping up to be the obligatory fanservice show of the season. Basically, main character who has been stuck going to an all boys middle school, gets into a high school that had been an all girls school until the previous year, thus being filled with female students and very few male. However, unbeknownst to him, this school is special in the fact that it teaches students to fight, and use mystical weapons called Maken. Anyways, fairly simple series aside from that, nothing really to note about plot, though by the end of the first episode, the main character ends up living with three girls. They include, his childhood friend, a random girl who just showed up out of the blue claiming to be his fiancé, and a girl who has marked the protagonist as her destined rival after seeing what appears to be Sasuke’s curse seal on his chest. So yeah, standard harem fare, though that does have its audience. Give it a look if you’re into that kind of show… or just looking for something to look at while you… well, you get the idea.
Kyokai Senjou no Horizon
This show is about… I really don’t know. Two episodes in and I have absolutely no clue what’s going on in this series aside from some sort of combat training high school setup. The first episode told us nothing, just had some major brawl in the middle of a flying city to showcase some of the massive cast’s abilities, and the second episode focused on someone else completely. For a series that seems to have a really complex back story to it, it certainly hasn’t explained much. Anyways, the main character is a messed up pervert who plays dating sims a bit too much, and the majority of his class seems to accept that fully. Not only that, he’s the class president. Usually people like that get avoided like the plague for a reason. Anyways, this one doesn’t seem like it’s going to be very good, the only reason for watching it I can see is the fanservice element… which has been promptly censored right out of the broadcasts.
Maji de Watashi ni Koi Shinasai!
Okay, never before have I seen this happen so fast, but I already have an example of a show like Horizon done right. This one follows a single class at a school where martial arts has become part of the curriculum. This means school sanctioned battles, and job requests that allow them to make money. Just like Horizon, the first episode was essentially just a massive brawl, but unlike Horizon, it was an interesting one full of twists and turns that showcased not only character abilities, but their personalities as well. I mean, it has the usual elements of fanservice, but the characters are actually interesting, and the battles make for a good show. If I had to compare it to something, I’d say it was like Baka to Test, with martial arts instead of summons. Anyways, this may be a good one, so I’d give it a look.
C3 – Cube x Cursed x Curious
This is an interesting one, I’ll give it that. Basically, the main character lives in a spiritual hotspot, and due to that, has developed an immunity to curses. His father, in the midst of traveling the world, sends him a strange metal cube. It is quickly established that this is by no means the first time he’s done something like this. Anyways, the cube later turns into a young girl, that says his father sent her there to cure her of her curse so she could live a normal life. The boy, totally unphased by this, allows her to stay with him, as her curse will not affect him. The setup sounds kind of strange, but it actually pulls it off rather nicely. The story seems to be more of a heartwarming story about finding one’s place in the world, and escaping from your past. There’s a fair bit of action too, as the girl is being hunted by those who just want to destroy cursed objects. Anyways, so far it seems like a fun show, so I’d give it a watch if you’re into supernatural anime.
Persona 4 – The Animation
This anime is of course based on the Shin Megami Tensei game of the same name, and is one of the ones I’ve been looking forward to. Of course, with being a fan of the game comes all the doubts about the anime version. Will they do it right? Will they mess up like they did with Trinity Soul? I must say, I’ve never had my doubts about a show dispelled so fast… like, literally within the first three seconds of the first episode. The episode begins, and all I hear is the original musical score from the game. They even threw in the opening theme from the game for the first episode. It seems like they’re going all out to try and keep this as close to the original as possible, with a few exceptions of course. I mean, they can’t put everything in exactly as it was, that was a really, really long game. For the most part though, they’ve been spot on. I even noticed a few instances of the game’s narration finding its way into the protagonists lines, word for word. The only thing I find odd about the show, is hearing the protagonist speak so much. I mean, the only actual voiced line he ever got in the game was yelling the name of his persona when he scored a critical hit. Anyways, fan of the game or not, you should definitely give this a try. The game had a great plotline to it, so I definitely recommend this to everyone.
Mirai Nikki
Yet another show I was really looking forward to. I’ve been hoping for an anime adaptation of this manga for years now. The story focuses on a boy named Yukiteru, who has no friends, and goes through life taking notes about everything he sees around him in a diary on his cell phone. However, one day, God makes it so that his diary automatically updates itself as he would have up to thirty days in advance, effectively giving him the ability to know what is going to happen before it does. He also gives the same ability to eleven other people, pitting them against each other in a deadly game where the last one standing replaces him as God. Each individual’s diary is updated only with the things they would have written, and how often they normally would have written it, giving each person a very different kind of method to tell the future. Yukiteru’s is just random observations, another guy has a list of his good deeds, one a diary of escape routes, and one has a diary of everything to do with Yukiteru, updated every five minutes. As you can imagine, some of these characters are pretty messed up. The series seem to be sticking close to the manga, if not going for a creepier atmosphere, so I’m predicting that it should be just as good. If you enjoy suspenseful thriller-type series, you’re going to absolutely love this one.
Guilty Crown
Only one episode of this out so far, so not much to say just yet, but the premiere for this had some serious impact. In a futuristic world where Japan is more or less ruled over by the rest of the world, a small terrorist organization fights to regain control of their own fates. A young boy with a mysterious power, the protagonist of course, joins their ranks after a meeting with a mysterious girl. Why do I feel like I just described the premise for Code Geass… Anyways, the similarities are there, but it seems like this series is going to focus more on use of that special power as a weapon instead of mech fights, though the mechs are still there of course. Anyways, the show itself seems very good, and I’d definitely look into it if you’re not averse to action anime.
Mobile Suit Gundam AGE
As the newest installment in the Gundam franchise, you’d expect people would have been incredibly excited about this one, but even before airing there were some seriously mixed reactions. Most of the press releases shown beforehand made it look a lot less like traditional Gundam, and more like a Super Robot series. Now, obviously it doesn’t matter to me, being a Nagai fan and all, but Gundam fans were kind of up in arms over that. However, despite all the rage, and talk about how this was going to ruin Gundam, the first episode is still the same as every Gundam series ever. Establish that there’s a war going on, enemy forces invade space colony where mobile suits are being developed, young kid gets in the cockpit of an experimental new suit instead of an experienced pilot, kicks ass. The usual formula. Despite that, it still doesn’t seem like a bad series as of so far. It still contains all the elements that generally make up a good Gundam series, even if it does kind of venture into Super Robot territory with some of the technology in use. If you’re a Gundam fan who’s avoiding this series because of what you’ve heard, give it a try anyways. It’s not hurting anything, I guarantee you that.
Mashiro-iro Symphony
This is a story about an experimental class from a coed high school being tested out at an all girls school planning to go coed the next year. The teaching staff at the all girls school are using it as a test run to see how their staff and students will take the changes, and the staff of the coed school are testing it with their students because of a possible merger between the two schools. It follows the students of these classes as the boys strive to be accepted in an environment where they are horribly unwelcome. The series seems to be pretty entertaining so far, with both its funny moments and its surprisingly serious moments. It makes a good balance of the two, and sets a good tone. If you aren’t totally sick of high school romance/comedy anime by now, give this one a shot.
Kimi to Boku
I think the best description of this show I’ve heard so far is “K-On! with guys.” While I don’t completely agree with that, its probably the best way to describe it. It follows a group of friends who have known each other since kindergarten as they go through high school. That’s pretty much it. There’s no real plot to the series, it just shows their school life, and trust me, a few of these guys are really boring people. There’s no point to each episode aside from character development, and generally a small resolution to an almost nonexistent problem by the end, and yet… it actually pulls it off pretty well. I don’t know what it is, but you really feel for these characters as the episode goes on. Not to mention the song that plays during important moments. I just love that song, it’s like a Japanese version of Stand By Me. If you like character driven plotlines, I think you’ll enjoy this series too.
Chihayafuru
This is a series about a card game, and a girl a little too obsessed with it. So, what kind of trading card game does this involve, you may ask. None, it’s a traditional Japanese card game involving classic poetry. Yep, so nothing the majority of Western anime fans would be too familiar with aside from the odd cameo in New Years episodes of various anime. It’s pretty simple to understand though, even if you don’t know the poems involved in the game. Someone reads the first line of the poem, you grab the card on the floor that has the second line on it before your opponent does. Simple, but this show is essentially a sports anime, so it treats it so seriously. So, if you like sports anime, and shows like Hikaru no Go, this is probably worth a look.
Digimon Xros Wars II
I know my usual rule is no second seasons in this segment, but this is about as much of a second season as Adventure 02 was a second season of the original Digimon. The old characters are still around, and help out a bit, but otherwise there’s a whole new cast and setting. Set a year after the events of the first Xros Wars series, this series is set completely in the human world, with Digimon appearing there and attacking humans. To fight them, humans called Digimon Hunters use their own Digimon partner to fight and capture the hostile Digimon. You know, like Tamers meets Pokemon. The premise for this season is essentially a cross between Adventure 02 and Tamers, so nothing really original this time, and I can see them putting limits on things so they don’t end up with the same overpowered Digimon from the finale of the last season again. Still though, the new protagonist Tagiru is kind of useless. I mean, every time, he goes in, gets his ass kicked, Taiki shows up and god modes his way through everything, and lets Tagiru take the spoils of battle. It’s like watching a max level character run a low level dungeon with a newbie friend. There’s just no challenge to it. Anyways, if you like Digimon, I’m sure you’re already watching it, but there’s my two cents.
Ben-To
Okay, now this show is just surreal. This show follows a group of high school students who go to grocery stores around town and battle over half priced food items. Yep, and the weirdest part? The show treats it so seriously, as if it were the most important thing in the world. I’ve heard of trying to save money, but this is just ridiculous. I’m talking serious, hand to hand combat over limited time sale items. The first few times ended with trips to the hospital even. Anyways, the series itself is oddly entertaining despite this, so it might be worth a look.
Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai
This is a show about making friends, about striving to shed off your antisocial ways and putting yourself out there. Or at very least that’s what the main characters are supposed to be doing between bouts of being at each other’s throats. The basic premise is that two classmates discover that neither of them is very good at making friends, and want to change that about themselves. So, instead of the obvious solution to this problem, they form a club dedicated to making friends with people. They’re even joined by the most popular girl in school, because she wants real friends and not just posers who hang around her because she’s pretty. However, the people within the club seem to be off limits for friendship because they really don’t get along. It’s funny, for a club about making friends, just seeing that there’s three members that hang around with each other after school, you’d assume it was going really well. Anyways, the series is a good comedy anime, so it’s worth a look at least. If you enjoyed Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko a while back, you’ll probably enjoy this as well.
Fate/Zero
A prequel to the popular Fate/Stay Night series, adapted from a novel of the same name. Frankly, this another one I was looking forward to for a while now. Considering that the novel was never brought over to North America, and there are no translations anywhere online as far as I’ve seen, the novel has more or less been inaccessible to me. Now that they’ve made an anime of it though, I can finally see the full story. The storyline takes place during the fourth Grail War, the one prior to the War in Fate/Stay Night. You know, the one they make references to over and over again throughout Fate/Stay Night? So far it’s been living up to my expectations fairly well, and looks to be an excellent addition to the Fate franchise. If you haven’t seen Fate/Stay Night, I recommend you watch that first of course, but this show is definitely going to be a good watch.
UN-GO
In a post-World War III society, Japan has kind of been roughed up a little bit, and is slowly recovering. This series uses that setting to create a detective series, featuring a young detective who solves high profile cases but gets no credit for any of them. In fact, his reputation has become pretty horrible because according to the media, he’s always been wrong. In fact, he is always the one to solve it, but in order to keep the fragile country together, the media is being given false information by law enforcement so that public heroes can save face. He also has this creepy little boy that turns into a creepy full grown woman as a partner, who has the ability to ask any one question and have it answered completely truthfully. You know, like the Geass, except less easily used for devious means. Anyways, the first episode was very interesting, so I’m going to keep my eye on this one, it might be quite good.
