Sea Slugs! Anime Blog

As expected, this month was a bit of a vacuum for good continuing series, although School Rumble, Yakitate, and Starships Operators would certainly have cracked my top 5. However, since I don’t usually like to include series that I’ve only seen 1-2 episodes of with series I’ve watched for a while, I’ve devoted this month’s top 5 to new series that look particularly strong after their initial offerings. I feel like the last two months of anime have been especially good, and have kept me from getting sucked too deeply into World of Warcraft.

Top Five in This Month’s Newcomer’s Battle:

1. Sousei no Aquarion: Is this series actually a parody? I can’t even tell! Regardless, this series have been strongly divisive so far, inspiring a hate-it-or-love-it reaction in most viewers. I for one can’t get enough of the uber-cheese mixed in with the typical angst. I don’t usually like mecha series, but this one is unlike (and yet in some ways just like) any mecha series I’ve seen before. The music is great so far, and the gattai scenes need to be watched to be believed.
2. Futakoi Alternative: Rentarou is actually kind of likeable, especially for a harem male lead. I know the wicked twin action and the high production values get a lot of attention, but I think that Rentarou’s importance is overlooked. Harem males have the bar set so low that getting beat up by some bully for one of their flock is like the epitome of “he cares for me”. Rentarou, on the other hand, is not afraid to lay the smackdown when the going gets tough. Plus, his dad has really interesting hair. Afro’s sure have been popular in anime lately!
3. Bokusatsu Tenshi Dokuro-chan: As you can tell, I’ve been digging the silly series so far this season. Bokusatsu Tenshi Dokuro-chan (what is the accepted abbreviation of this? T_T) has even more of the bizarre humor I’ve been craving, combined with really great animation and a catchy, violent OP.
4. Speed Grapher: This one’s a bit of a downer, but with all the funny funny out this month, I can handle it. Gotta keep the brain working! Rubber dude would probably be an awesome baker, since he could do all those wacky hand movements that they showed in the Yakitate manga during the Monaco Cup.
5. Eureka 7: It’s rare for a series with such high production values to suck, and so some of the goofiness of the first episode is forgiveable. I haven’t seen too much originality plot-wise in Eureka 7 so far, but the groundwork has definitely been laid for a memorable cast of characters and some hot robo-surfing. For some reason, I get visions of Back to the Future Part II whenever I watch the mechs on their boards…

Rising:

• The quality of OP’s: Wow, there have been some really good ones so far, both musically and animation-wise. Even shows I don’t like (e.g. Erementar Gerad) have OP’s that I can’t stop listening to.
• Top wo Narae 2: Not really old, and not really new, this series got a bit stiffed in the rankings. Nonetheless, the second episode was excellent and Top wo Narae 2 has provided everything I want and expect in an OVA. The animation and music are both fantastic so far, and you really do get that old school feel without the old school production values.
• Mahou Sensei Negima: Now that the animation isn’t terrible, I can like this series again. I think they’ve done a fabulous job of adapting the story to animation, and I don’t feel bored watching it, even though I’ve read the manga. It’s probably a good thing that they toned down the fanservice, and the Fafner crew really did make a huge difference.

Falling:

• Uber-Shounen series: Is it just me or does the current crop of hardcore shounen series really suck? I usually love me some endless battling, but I don’t like any of the characters in this season’s series!