Thank goodness this season is shaping up to be a winner. Even the mediocre series are actually watchable. Although I have to say, the 3rd Naruto Movie was even worse than I expected. Glam-rock evildoers aside, the animation looked like it was done by the C-team.
Local Maxima:
- Seirei no Moribito: Amazing animation plus period piece stylings = win. I get a strange 12 Kingdoms vibe from this series. The attention to detail in the background scenery is breathtaking and helps differentiate this entry from the rest of the rabble. Here’s to hoping that there’s enough money in the bank to keep this thing rolling.
- Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann: Cracks me up every time. Animation quality dropped sharply in episode 4 though, leaving me wondering if Gainax has already gone overbudget.
- Claymore: Dark medieval gore-fest is lookin’ good. Art and animation aren’t exactly top-notch, but I like the mood. The ED song is growing on me as we speak; I really should take a sponge to that thing.
- Darker Than Black: Sharp production values lend much credibility to this uncertain beast. I hate the writers for making me care about a character and then killing her off so quickly. What a waste!
- Emma: This really has no right being here, as only 1 episode has been released - I’m just a total sucker for this series. Strangely enough, Emma isn’t even my favorite character. Take a wild guess who is!
Gradients:
- El Cazador de la Bruja Robin: An interesting variant of the Bee Train formula, sporting some interesting double edged swords. The wonderfully humorous tone in this series has done wonders for the characters’ likeability, yet makes it hard to take anything seriously. The Kajiura soundtrack has some nice Spanish themes woven in, but some pieces (accordians, anyone?) seem to lean more Mediterranean than Tejano. Still, this one’s moving up in the charts with its sheer fun and accessibility compared to Noir and Madlax. It also alleviates the hurt caused by Avenger.
- Hitohira: Looks purdy - the colors are solid and full of depth. Plus, it’s a school anime that is not harem or unigender. Feels very niche. Has potential! (function)
- Kissdum - Engage Planet: Grisly alien war series are far and few between. The gruesome monster designs look right up the alley of Blue Gender or Gunparade March. The sense of scale is impressively handled, and there aren’t any supermechs to save the day. I’m not so happy that the guy attained some superpowers though; I was liking it a lot more when the conventional forces were slugging it out with the aliens.
- Romeo X Juliet: Not bad, though very silly and logic-defying at times. According to the Nyquist theorem, Gonzo needs to increase the sampling rate by *much* more in order to recover the original story.
Local Minima:
- Hayate the Combat Butler: Sorry Hayate fans, but the anime adaptation comes across as being too heavy handed. Stick to the manga for a more satisfying chuckle.
- Sisters of Wellber: Oh gawd, the first episode was incredibly bad. When you try to mix murder with goofy masks and talking tanks, you”re in for a disaster of epic proportions. Unless of course, you’re talking about Murder Princess, which happens to blend all these eclectic elements into a surprisingly decent mystery meat.
Singularities:
- Lucky Star: I know, I know, I’ll have to watch this sometime.
- Moonlight Mile: I’ve been meaning to catch up on this too.
- Overdrive: I need my sports anime fix! Is this the answer?
25 Comments
I don’t usually go into Naruto movies with high expectations, but it really was TERRIBLE. At least Rasengan was not abused, but the animation was so shoddy. I actually kinda liked the hair band villains a bit more than usual, and the part with Rock leaping up the chain was badass. Other than that, though, it was pretty bad. It always amuses me how they have to think of ways for Sakura to not completely suck.
I was really excited about Kissdum, but I was so disappointed by how becoming Necrodiver involves having a goofy gun on the arm. Everything was going so well until stupid Necrodiver started inputting cheat codes and getting the audio walkthrough. Bleh.
Is the Hayate manga any good? I watched the anime and was completely unimpressed.
Anyway… these engineering jokes are way too goofy and you need to skip episode 1 and watch the rest of Lucky Star already. It’s too hard to get on Vent and constantly remind you!
Episode 4 of Gurren-Lagann was done a guest director who is known for doing weird/experimental stuff. If you notice in episode 4, everything was a bit off, not just the animation, but also the sound and voice acting, and Kamina, Simon, Yoko, and even Boota were all out of character. Episode 5 everything goes back to normal.
My cat was the guest director on the third Naruto movie.
I hear there was a big hubbub about the choice to hand over the reins to the guest director in eps. 4 of TTGC.
Watching Gainax series means being constantly paranoid that the studio will run out of money.
I especially like how right off the bat, Sakura can’t even handle the scrub desert raiders by herself, and Kakashi has to come and save her. So lame!
I didn’t find the Hayate manga to be super funny (maybe because of personal taste), but the humor seems to translate better in the comic format.
Damn, you beat me by a few minutes.
I’ll reveal a secret…
I’M NOT ACTUALLY LEFT-HANDED!!!!!!
BTW, after marathoning a few series in the last days of March, if I had a do-over, my list would be:
The Hayate manga must be really good, because I find myself laughing a whole lot while watching the anime. :p
Ok, so you already gave your opinion about the Hayate manga making my comment look pretty superfluous.
I should refresh for new comments before posting I guess.
Kabitzin - I’m gonna give Kaze no Stigma a chance because you said that, since I avoided it in the first place just because it was screaming Shakugan no Shana in my face.
Please tell me your favorite Emma character is Hanz. Cause he’s mine! (it’s probably Hakim though, isn’t it?)
I’ve watched the first few Over Drive episodes through http://www.myanimeplanet.com. I can say that it’s pretty damn generic so far. Basic wimp kid gets introduced to bicycles through his dream girl (he thinks about her way too much) and discovers his passion and a hidden talent.
I’m giving it a few more episodes grace, partly because my father used to run a cycling club so I’m interested, and partly because the side characters (like the captain of the Cyclying Club) are keeping me in my seat. But the main chara just might be too pathetic for his own good. (he’s no Sena from Eyeshield 21, that’s for sure)
I will say this though. The OP is addictive!
Nope, not Hans, although he is a total badass and is definitely up there out of all the second season chars. Hakim grates on my nerves and is actually in the lowest bracket. Small hint: it’s a female (not that this really narrows things down much…)
Uh, no. That doesn’t narrow it much. The girls far outnumber the guys in Emma. At least in terms of prominent characters.
Uhhh . . . . . Dorotea? Adele? If you say Tasha I’ll laugh . . . . *starting to think it’s Monica*
Those are pretty good guesses, though I’m actually an anti-Monica personality; that kind of archetype just rubs me the wrong way. And what’s wrong with Tasha?!
I would have guessed Williams’s Dad, just cause he can go SEED.
Although his personality is not the type I can imagine you liking at all… LOLOL at the anti-Monica comment… does that mean you don’t like Sousei Seki of Rozen Maiden either?
Ah, so hard to guess your “type” there Ender. I haven’t seen much of Emma, but just based on what I have read, I am going to guess:
Mrs. Trollope
Woot, that last comment was my 666th, so rejoice that your post about anime and engineering jokes inspired my DEVIL COMMENT.
The description of Over Drive sounds like Suzuka on Wheels. I think I’ll stick to my Mega Drive instead.
Has anyone watched “Lovely Complex”? It has a nice kick to it…
I watched the first half of the first ep of Lucky Star and stopped - I thought it was an Azumanga Daioh wannabe. Does anyone agree?
Lucky Star gets much better after the first episode.
I personally think Monica kicks ass, but maybe that’s from my viewpoint as a girl.
Hmmm . . . . . . . I guess that leaves me with . . .. Aurelia (pre Mrs. Trollope!) or maybe Maria, the *ahem* statuesque maid.
I absolutely have to disagree about Hayate, which I consider one of the best comedies of the last year. What you seem to consider “heavy-handed” is what I consider eye-winking humor which indicates that this show doesn’t take ANYTHING seriously, particularly not itself. But alas, de gustibus non disputandam
Agreed on the Claymore ED song. I’m surprised, because I’ve disliked most of the stuff Riyu has done for the DDR/IIDX series, but this stands out for some reason. Also amazed at the pace that Madhouse seems to be running through the manga. 2.5 volumes in the first 4 eps? Nice.Freaking.Clip.
Yup, Aurelia FTW. Tasha was numero dos though. Monica strikes me as being too domineering. Someone needs to buy her an oversized pair of scissors to complete the cosplay outfit.
Mwahaha, I don’t even watch the show!
You had most of the choices eliminated already though!
I would never have guessed those choices, and you cleverly threw out Tasha as a decoy.
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