We’re getting close to the Spring season, and we’ll be able to get rid of the pretenders. Several shows continue to earn viewers due to the weak competition, but there were a few decent ones this month.
Top Five This Month:
- Gun X Sword: What a strange series! The ending came like a rollercoaster, and I really enjoyed those last few episodes. Claw Man was great as usual, and Fasalina’s stripper act was totally out of the blue. No wonder Michael was swayed!
- Shakugan no Shana: I cannot say enough about the unintentional comedy that Alastor adds to this series. However, I also have to applaud Hecate’s orgasmic gattai skills.
- Fate/Stay Night: I know it’s going to end up this way, but I can’t picture Shirou and Saber as a powerhouse team. It’s like each one makes the other dumber when they’re together! Still, I’m digging the slow burn buildup.
- Magikano: This show is so dumb, and yet I continue to watch it and be entertained…
- Ergo Proxy: The excellent quality continues, and the mystery is really drawing me in. One of the few really intelligent shows this season.
Rising:
- Anticipation for Nana Anime: I think it’s hilarious that everyone makes the point of saying that this will not be Paradise Kiss. The movie got me really psyched, and I can’t wait to hear some great music.
Falling:
- Mai Otome: Ugh, why is Shizuru still captive? She needs to just clean house before Mai or Arika even get to the site. This show has been dragging from the start, and I don’t see it pulling out in the next few episodes.
10 Comments
“This show is so dumb, and yet I continue to watch it and be entertained…”
For this alone, I must watch it. *proceeds to download ep1*
You must, Ten. You must. Magikano has been THE pleasant surprise show of this season for me. There was NOTHING to expect from it, yet it has the highest “laughs per minute” ratio I can think of this season. We have enough harems, but harems with EVIL witches as girls seems fairly new, and it delivers. Utter greatness.
I was quite cold at first 2 eps of Magikano. But after ep.3, I’m totally owned by this show. It’s a parody into another parody, and, believe me, you’ll end loving the cast. If you love anime in general, there are TONS of cross-references, puns(some very cheap, some really over-the-top),jokes, fireworks and whatnot.The animation, simple as it is, has strong points.Ep 10 is epic.
Ah and Mai-Otome makes me puke. And not for the “event” in ep.24. This anime looks like Yamato (from Suzuka) when he wasn’t able to pass the stick in the relay race. He tried and tried, but the baton falls, and falls, and falls to the ground. I simply hope that after this fiasco, they close curtains on this Hime universe, but I believe “money does not smell” - I don’t know if I rendered the concept well, cope with me.
I opt to disagree on the Otome bit
… while it’s true that the past-middle arcs (especially the painful AAAA - Annoying Angsting Arika Arc) were poor, the show still manages to keep my interest. It won’t reach HiME level, but I continue to feel well-entertained. Mostly due to Nao.
I make my point clearer: probably I expected much more from Mai-Otome, and I rant out of frustration.
Albeit a bit cheesy, the first 7-8 eps or so were quite good to me: I love complicated and brainy plots. But the story, imo, has simply collapsed over his own weight, and we get only blows of hot air (I was about to say farts). I know that often (and I believe us all are used to it) the plot is not very shiny in anime (with all this mahou goin’ around…) but this has gone overboard. Somehow, it felt like our national (ITA) football team: we have some of the best world-class soccer clubs(and players), but when they play together, they suck horribly.Sunrise had a hands-down winner cast, but they played like amateurs. Ok, rant-mode OFF - for good - this week the suffering ends ^_^
I think I gotta blame Arika for part of the dropoff from Mai Hime to Mai Otome. As much as I didn’t like Mai, she was really interesting. Arika though, she’s got some is she/isn’t she mystery past or whatever, but does it really matter? We all know she will just zerg her way through anything with her super enthusiasm. The whole thing is just very shounen.
I gotta agree with Wyk72 about the show collapsing under its own weight. This criticism considers the series independent of Mai Hime; Mai Otome just has too much unnecessary stuff going on, and hasn’t done a good job of letting us know why we should care about the vast majority of the gigantic cast. Then you throw in the absurd intrigue, and I’m not sure even Nagi completely understands what is going on.
I’m not saying that Mai Otome completely sucks, but who can deny that the series has been seriously disappointing? Some may say it’s unfair to compare it to Mai Hime, but I think that people who hadn’t seen Mai Hime would have dropped Mai Otome long ago.
Nobody watching Solty-Rei?
ZOMFG teh Rei!
http://www.solty.net/img/main_top_st00.jpg
Hmm, Mireille dresses up as Saber, Kirika cosplays as Mikura and Saiga lost his camera? 26:40? Sorry, that’s too late for me.
If you know the seiyu, Mamiko Noto is the voice actor for Hacate - I love her voice, especially in Jigoku Shoujo as Enma Ai and Tsukamoto Yakumo in School Rumble!!! + bunch of random shows like FullMetal Panic, Ichigo 100%, Ichigo Mashimaro, and wutever you can name!