The Impression Series: Spring 2011 [Part 1]

New anime season. Honestly at first I really don't plan to watch much series since I'll be graduating soon and actively involved with my job, while also occupied much with several ps3 games that I borrowed last March. But since I've finished most of the games in my wanted list (except a few newly released games and oldies like Eternal Sonata), I thought it's best to catch up with the recently aired Spring series. The March 11 earthquakes that struck Japan seems to partially disrupt the schedules of some of the series, which saw some series were only recently aired, while other went as far as the 3rd episodes. As usual, I somehow ended up watching many of the new series, although will likely drop a few later.

A rather massive list, might as well split it into a few parts. Randomly selected for first part of spring series impression.

Maria†Holic Alive
MAL/Official
Genre: comedy
Studio production: SHAFT
Number of episodes: 12

Comments: I had a good laugh when I watched the first season some seasons ago (despite the yuri/lesbian theme). A comedy series typical of SHAFT - the unique visual art and the presentation so funny matching that of Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei that never failed to amuse me. The continuation tale of the pure (!), innocent (!), incurable perverted lesbian schoolgirl Miyamae Kanako in her quest to follow the footsteps of her parent who met each other in that high school, except this time what she seek is a female soulmate, aka a yuri partner...The jokes almost always centered around Kanako's perverse thoughts toward other female around her, as well as times when she had to endure Maria (the trap in the series)'s bullies. Fine comedy series.
Verdict: 3.5/5 (watching)

Nichijou
MAL/Official
Genre: comedy, slice of life
Studio production: Kyoto Animation
Number of episodes: 13

Comments: "SELAMAT PAGI!" Honestly this single, simple greeting phrase used several times in ep1 and 3 were enough to (surprise) and attract me to the show. And then there's "selamat malam" and "sepak takraw" too (which apparently was also the case in the manga it was adapted from). Okay, back to what the series is about. It is a cute, light, slice of life comedy with simple and neat animation to complement the nature of the series. A robot with a corkscrew spring key at her back (and various "secret weapons" stored all over her body) created by a genius 8 years old girl, a friends of 3 schoolgirls that do random things, and some other weird people doing things in weird/funny/cute ways. This show is awesome, nuff said. It's random like many other comedy slice of life, but enough to make me laugh, good to relieve stress.
p/s: wow, who would have thought KyoAni would make a nice comedy series like this. Oh wait, they had one a few years ago (Lucky Star)
Verdict: 4.5/5 (must watch)

Astralotte no Omocha
MAL/Official
Genre: comedy, romance, supernatural
Studio production: Diomedea
Number of episodes: 12

Comments: aka Astralotte's toy. Kugimiya had another loli tsundere character Astrarotte Ygvar, a spoiled succubus princess, added to her rich collection. Nonetheless, The synopsis in MAL was rather...enticing, but I really doubt that was the focal point of the series. A succubus princess of fairy, magical world of Ygvarland who supposedly hates men because of childhood trauma, but as a succubus eventually she needs to suck the seed of life (guess what it is) out of man and create a harem of her own, or else she'll die. Then comes Touhara Naoya (Satou Rina voicing him kinda turned me off, really seems off), a normal human from a modern day world summoned to the fairy world to save the day... A rather unique and bold premise. I personally have nothing against the story, but at the same time I also don't really find anything interesting about it (although I do love fantasy series), so I guess this would be one of the series I don't mind not watching.
Verdict: 2.5/10 (most likely dropped)

Sengoku Otome~Momoiro Paradox~
MAL/Official
Genre: action, history, samurai
Studio production: TMS Entertainment
Number of episodes: 13

Comments: aka Battle Girls - Time Paradox. A schoolgirl, Yoshino Hide (aka Hideyoshi Toyotomi) somehow ended up drifting in an alternate dimension of Japanese warring era where only female exists; and she eventually aids Nobunaga Oda in her quest to collect Crimson Armors and conquering the land. An all-girl themed like this (and eg Koihime Musou) usually is not the kind of show that I would follow, but the 3 episodes I've watched so far had been pretty enjoyable, to say the least. Especially since even Hideyoshi herself addressed the peculiarities of the world where only woman exist, and even questioning how human in that world were born. Despite not having comedy as it's main genre, I personally find the series pretty amusing. Nobunaga Oda was a rather nice and considerate warlord (she'd even blush roflol); Mitsuhide Akechi (how did eyeglass exist in sengoku period is beyond me) was a bit tsundere; Yoshimoto Imagawa had personality exactly as I expected, at least from the Sengoku Musou game (laid-back, not serious, vulnerable to provocations, and "that" laughing etc); and even more funny moments from Shiro and Hideyoshi herself. The animation was good enough for me, and I really like the OP song. Interesting way to use post-ED/episode preview too. There seems to be director's cut version coming, but for now I do like the anime as it is (though a bit of flashing is nice too :3)
Verdict: 4/5 (watching)

Steins; Gate
MAL/Official
Genre: sci-fi, thriller
Studio production: WHITE FOX
Number of episodes: 12

Comments: One of the most anticipated series in my spring list. I’ve always like the mentally challenging theme used in Chaos;Head, and I expect Steins; Gate to deliver the same dose of mind-blowing twist. I’ve never had the chance to play the game (how I wish the game, which were released for ps3 and xbox 360 were translated), so the story was definitely a total mystery to me when I first watching the first episode. Wikipedia did somehow ease my understanding of the concept, in fact I ended up knowing things I’m not supposed to know (aka spoiled) about the plot… Well good thing the anime seems pretty faithful to the game. Anyway, the main theme of the story is time travel & paradox, where one day the main character Okabe RIntarou, ended up seeing many irregularities concerning things he did see but others didn’t and later discover that the microwave in his lab can perform time-traveling task and from then on, much plot twist occurred as more time traveling occurred. And hence many real life theories, devices & organizations were already thrown in the series mostly involves the concept of time & dimension (World Line, LHC, CERN (for SERN), Hund’s Rule etc). Heck, we might as well say the the game got such name is because of the time paradox occurring throughout the game (Stein's phenomenon). Having watched 3 episode, I could say that I’m liking what I’ve watched so far. Great animation, nice OP/ED songs (I’ve always like Sakakibara Yui’s FES/Phantasm Persona), and the voice acting was really amazing too (I really like Makise Kurisu (aka Christ)’s seiyuu. The characters also had intriguing/interesting personalities – a self-proclaimed mad male scientist who believes in time travel, a genius female scientist who didn’t believe in time travel (reminded me of Satou in NHK ni Youkoso, with all his belief in conspiracy), a hacker well versed in otaku culture (“your banana is all floppy” LOL), a clumsy girl who loves sewing cosplay costume, a TRAP miko, and many more. Chaos;Head was good, and so far I would say Steins; Gate was better. Definitely a show I don't want to miss.
verdict: 5/5 (definite watch)

Hanasaku Iroha
MAL/Official
Genre: drama
Studio production: P.A. Works
Number of episodes: 26

Comments: When I first read the synopsis and then watched halfway through episode 1, I thought it was an average drama series which normally didn't caught my interest (I admit episode 1 was a little depressing for me). But as I continue watching further episodes, I am starting to like the series. Having to cope up with carefree parent, the main character Ohana eventually had to move to her grandmother's inn to live, but life's not easy there (much less expected from her imagination), as her strict grandmother told she had to work at the inn to cover her living expense. And then it's pretty much drama all over the series, with a bit of comedies added to liven up the mood. The animation was absolutely beautiful, but really IMO the series is worth watching because of the message and moral story (finding one's self, and the concept of being independent and being able to depend on others), as well as the strong personality possessed by Ohana. Not to say other characters were not interesting since girls like Minko (I wish her seiyuu was someone else) had her moments too (trying hard to show her hate toward Ohana), and Nako certainly surprised me when her usually timid and shy attitude changed when it comes to swimming. A good watch so far.
verdict: 4/5 (watching)

That's it for part 1, there's still a lot more to come.