Summer 2012: Overview

Here’s my short commentary on currently airing shows, including anime which have started some seasons ago.

Also: Tetora~-onee-san is the best Joshiraku. You suck if you don’t agree with me.

First of all, here’s my disclaimer for idiots, morons, bakas or whichever way you prefer to get insulted:

Let me remind you that this is just a post about my recent impressions on certain currently airing anime, meaning that it only holds value in regards to some episodes of the shows listed here. That’s actually kinda self-explanatory, but throughout my past blogging career which has been lasting three years so far up to this point and hopefully even further, I’ve seen people scream in shock at me for criticizing a few episodes, believing that I had made some remarks on the entire series. _Do not do this._ Otherwise, you’re going to make an idiot out of yourself and get mocked by me which is a fate even worse than death.
Anyway, just don’t do something ashamingly stupid.

I also decided to go for the “My light novel title can’t be this shitty [1234/1234]: dis show sucks balls. -10000000/10, FUCKING DROPPED!” format, since it’s short, easy to understand and to the point.

I got the episode counts either from ANN or MAL, sources which aren’t all too trustworthy in that regard. This also proved to be quite tricky, seeing how MAL claims that Muv-Luv will be airing for 24 episodes, whereas ANN insists that it’s just 12 episodes and judging by the DVDs/Blu-rays, a count of 18 episodes also seems to be rather plausible. Being cautious, I decided to go for 24 episodes but don’t blame me if I’m wrong about that. Onto the shows then!

Binbougami ga! [4/13]: Do you love shounen anime about crazy people yelling at each other most of the time? Then this is your show. It’s certainly better than most other shows of its kind, seeing how the jokes and their delivery aren’t all too bad due to Tittyko and Momiji making up for a great pairing and there’s energy as well as some nice animation to it, but that’s basically all there is to it. The content can get pretty redundant as well. 5.5/10.

Campione! [2/12]: I just can’t be bothered to care about the setting. It’s basically your usual light novel story about fighting against X with your new magical girlfriend Y, just needlessly complicated. Seeing how the writer doesn’t even know how to make people stay in character, there’s basically no hope left for this one. Sure, turning the tsundere bitch into a deredere slut does help matters quite a lot, but that’s not really strong writing. 5/10, dropped.

Chouyaku Hyakunin Isshu: Uta Koi. [5/12]: Very mediocre execution of an interesting premise. Seeing how each episode tells its own story (or two!), there’s not that much room for emotional depth, even though it does quite a good job every now and then. The quality of its stories varies significantly – sometimes you get an interestingly written, amusing story, but sometimes you’re also in for some shallow and mundane philosophy lessons about living and loving. Still beats a lot other shows this season. 6/10.

Dakara Boku wa, H ga Dekinai. [1/12]: Generic tits show airing on ATX, done by feel.. It’s quite amazing how you can easily tell what the show is like just by mentioning a few keywords. So no, this wasn’t any good, even though the art was great. According to rumors, both animation and “originality” must have taken quite a big hit from episode 2 onwards, so there goes all my interest. 4.5/10, dropped.

Ebiten [1/10]: Bad show, very bad show, just get it away from me! I outright dislike all of the characters except for the vice-president. Seriously, this has all the things I didn’t like about Haruhi back then and it’s basically a bland Seitokai no Ichizon clone, just so much worse and more fanservicey (lol, is that even a legit word?). With both the jokes as well as the execution sucking, this is just the pits. 3.5/10, dropped.

Hagure Yuusha no Estetica [1/12]: Just like with DakaBokuDekinai (or whatever the official abbreviation is), this is your obligatory tits show airing on ATX. The only difference is that it’s not animated by feel. but by ARMS which isn’t any better. So, uh, no. 4.5/10, dropped.

HUNTER x HUNTER (2011) [41/?]: This is still kind of a mixed bag. Episodes tend to be a hit-or-miss affair, sometimes, the direction is downright terrible, on other occasions it is anything but. The pacing is too slow but the overall solid story helps a lot when it comes to overall enjoyment. Things have gotten much better though and now that we’re at the godly Spiders’ arc, this has some chances of making every other anime look like shit in comparison. We’ll see. 6.5/10.

Jinrui wa Suitai Shimashita [5/12]: Probably both one of the most overrated as well as one of the most underrated shows this season. Overrated by English bloggers who consider this is “deep” and “totally new”, underrated by Scumkaku readers/German anime fans who consider this as a “Weird mind fuck show which doesn’t make any sense at all and has some shitty animation style from the 80s”. All in all, Jintai is a clever satire, never directly addressing problems in society and being rather subtle about its criticism, but the whole thing is just shallow and very, very heavy-handed. 6.5/10.

Joshiraku [3/13]: Probably J.C.STAFF’s first decent show since… since… uhm… well, it’s been a while, let’s just leave it at that. There are some things that set Joshiraku apart from other comedies which is a good thing. First of all, there’s certainly energy to it. There’s always something going on on screen and the good animation helps matters. Characters tend to be lively and go for the cutesy angle, but they never really become annoying (except for emo girl. Fuck emo girl.). The jokes are surprisingly decent and the same goes for the delivery. Yeah, feel free to watch this. 6.5/10.

Koi to Senkyo to Chocolate [3/13]: Rather unusual premise and certainly not as crappy as pretty much every other harem show out there, but it does little to nothing to keep the audience interested. If you’re really cheering for the food club’s existence, then there’s something wrong with you. Also, very few characters are not downright annoying or useless and considering that most characters don’t even have the looks going for them, there’s nothing that holds me onto this one. 5/10, dropped.

Kokoro Connect [4/12]: Weak start but keeps getting better and better. As of now, it’s a good example of how otaku melodrama shows are done right – characters talk in a very outspoken fashion about their problems instead of delivering a huge cryfest, the drama is rock-solid and doesn’t wander off to lulztastic spheres and the character interactions are a pleasure to watch. It’s intriguing and makes me care for its characters, something many other shows of its kind have never really pulled off. There are still quite silly and cliched bits to it, though. 6.5/10.

Kono Naka ni Hitori, Imouto ga Iru! [4/12]: Wins the seasonal “It’s so hilariously stupid that it remains barely watchable!” award. Seriously, this show is just so fucking ridiculous wish-fulfillment that I don’t even know what to write about. Well, I guess large parts of entertainment coming from this are also due to the English blogosphere’s ruthless efforts to make as much fun of this as possible… which is something quite appreciated, given that there are also some quite boring parts, so I wouldn’t recommend this to anyone, but it’s fast food entertainment and purposefully serves its job… I guess. 5/10.

Kuroko no Basket [17/25]: Putting it positively, this is an energetic, not-so-serious as well as over-the-top sports anime. Putting it negatively, it’s just stupid and shallow. It’s still way too decent to ignore it or drop it. The character interactions are quite good and really enjoyable and even though the characters are based on stereotypes, you never really lose interest in them. They are also quite hilarious. Seeing how Midorima just can’t leave his house without his daily lucky item makes me crack up every time and unlike certain other shows, this is currently on a strong run. Way to go, Basket. 6.5/10.

Kyoukai Senjou no Horizon II: No, no, I haven’t become senile… yet. Don’t be afraid, I’m still aware of the fact that every fanservice show out there is supposed to be shit that’s killing the industry. However, my fellow elitists, this is one of the few shows you shouldn’t judge by its tits. Rejecting shows just because of their fanservice appeal isn’t really the same as being indifferent about it (which is something a lot of elitists strive for!) and Horizon deserves a fair chance – the plot may be messy, but the universe is unique, intriguing and interesting, the characters are simply awesome and the splendid use of side characters deserves special mention. Also take into account that this is one of the light novel adaptations with something like a budget behind it. So yeah, I watch this for the plot/setting/characters/action and not necessarily for the fanservice. And so should you! 7/10.

La Storia Della Arcana Famiglia [1/12]: Piss-poor animation, rather annoying art style, terribly weak premise with an even more terrible execution…. yeah, no. It certainly doesn’t help that characters love to spew out some really bad exposition. Fantastic job on this one, J.C.STAFF. 3.5/10, dropped.

Moyashimon Returns!: While I’m at it, the title isn’t quite accurate, to be honest – Moyashimon has yet to return. Sure, both the setting as well as the characters are pretty much the same as with the first installment, but they aren’t doing anything all too interesting with them anymore and lectures on brewing certainly aren’t helping, either. There are also some really troubling pacing issues with this one: We’re at episode 4 and pretty much nothing of importance has happened yet. Okay, there’s the thing with the lover, but that’s a recurring theme in the series, no need to get your panties wet. It’s by no means bad and actually quite enjoyable, but it somehow pales in comparison to the first season. 6.5/10.

Muv-Luv Alternative: Total Eclipse [5/24]: Do you like brain-dead, outright flat moe girls, contributing nothing to a show and being a general annoyance most of the time? No? Then this is your show since all of them died by episode 2. That was quite a pleasing sight, to be honest, CG penis monsters and QUALITY aside. Afterwards, the only survivor turns into a competent leader and all dead girls are replaced by people who know what they’re doing. Charming people, to be precise. People you care for, because their character interactions are a lot of fun and you just don’t want to see them die. For what it’s worth, both this as well as the surprisingly believable conflict between Top Gun and Yamato Damashii (as well as monsters killing people) make this a positive surprise. 6.5/10.

Natsuyuki Rendezvous [4/11]: One of noitaminA’s best™. It certainly lacks energy as far as the directing is concerned and occasionally, it does pull off a stupid twist, but the overall quality of the writing is astoundingly good. If you’re into josei shows in general, you better not miss this show, if you’re not, you should still give it a try. With no shred of doubt, this is one this year’s highlights and the best airing show this season. 7.5/10.

Oda Nobuna no Yabou [1/12]: This made me lose a few braincells. Actually, scratch that, I didn’t just lose a few of them. Goooood, this was just bad and so very blatant about it. There’s nothing redeeming for this show and you’ve seen this premise thousands of times and you have yet to get any good show based on it. Good luck with that, this one is yet another failed attempt at both harem and comedy antics. 4/10, dropped.

Phi Brain: Kami no Puzzle II [8/25]: If you liked the first season, then I see no reason for you not to like this one. It’s still the same show as it was half a year ago and you basically know what you’re in for: The characters are as amusingly fun as ever, the whole premise still makes no sense at all, you actually care about the villains and the overall execution is very pleasing. It’s not any better or worse than the first season was. On the upside, it doesn’t confront you with a slow and needlessly stupid start (which made most people drop the show after a few episodes), on the downside, however, the second season somehow lacks variety and the key members of the Orpheus Order group face off Kaito and his friends from the very beginning, ruining what could have been a decent build-up. I still don’t follow this weekly, as the show works much better with my way of watching it. 6,5/10.

Sword Art Online [4/25]: OH MAN. THIS IS AWESOME!!!!111 AND SO DEEP! AND ORIGINAL! THE SETTING IS VERY INTRIGUING! THE ANIMATION IS FANTASTIC AND JUST LOOK AT THE SCENERY! ASUNA IS REALLY CUTE, TOO, AND THE WAY HER PERSONALITY DEVELOPS THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE SERIES IS JUST AMAZING! AND OH BOY, IT FEELS JUST LIKE A REAL MMORPG! *SIGH*, I WISH I COULD LIVE IN AINCRAD AND MEET KIRITO! BTW, HE IS SUCH A BADASS AND NOT SOME LOSER LIKE ALL THE OTHER PROTAGONISTS OUT THERE! HE MAKES ME WET EVERY TIME! ALSO, F*** THOSE HATERS! THERE AREN’T ANY PLOTHOLES, THE STORY COMES UP WITH A LOT OF EXPLANATIONS IN THE LIGHT NOVELS! DON’T YOU DARE WATCH THIS OR TALK ABOUT IT IF YOU DON’T LIKE IT! 10000/10!!

TARI TARI [5/13]: If the only redeeming qualities going for your show are the great art and chunks of above-average animation, you should consider dropping it. The characters are flat stereotypes, the melodrama parts are downright terrible and character interactions have little to no impact on anything. The screentime of the characters is unbalanced, the “plot” is predictable, the pacing unstable and if you watch this for the whole music angle, then you’re just an idiot. Just go watch Kokoro Connect instead, it’s the better show by far. This is just a poor man’s coming of age anime. 4.5/10.

Uchuu Kyoudai [18/?]: Eh, the last few episodes were kinda boring to watch. It lacks development in general and unfortunately, the execution doesn’t make up for it anymore. If you spend entire segments on background information of some characters we are all all too familiar with by now, then it’s time to shift your focus towards other characters. Maybe Nitta…? Or team C, which hasn’t been on screen for 1 month now (no I’m not kidding)? Mind you, it’s still one of the better shows around and the character chemistry works really well, so don’t let you get fooled by my false criticism. There are enough reasons to watch this. 7/10.

Also, have some seasonal awards:
Best show this season: Natsuyuki Rendezvous
Everyone loves this although it’s shit: Sword Art Online
Everyone hates this although it’s kewl: Horizon
We need to go DEEPER/ohsodeepjapanesecartoonscodswallop: Jintai
Most unambitious project: TARI TARI
We watch this for the meta: WHO IS IMOUTO?
OH YEAH TENTACLES: Sword Art Online
Worst fanbase: Sword Art Online
It’s all about the source material!!!!: Sword Art Online
Best female character: Inaban~ (Kokoro Connect)
Best male character: Hazuki (Natsuyuki Rendezvous)
The token Josei anime: Natsuyuki Rendezvous
This could have been a video game: Sword Art Online (DUH!)
Most unlikeable characters: KoiChoco
Worst English Exchange of the season: Ebiten
Worst German Exchange of the season: TARI TARI
This isn’t any good for your history lessons: Oda Nobuna
Most blatant ripoff: Ebiten
Considered as a blatant ripoff although it’s not: Kokoro Connect
Silly CAPSLOCK title: TARI TARI

Btw, I think the most fascinating criticism I got to read this season went like this: “Yeah, Kokoro Connect was okay but when people told me that there are Hentais with the same premise, I immediately dropped it. This show is just for people who are afraid of watching Hentai and I’m far too old/mature for watching such an anime.”. Hilarity ensues!