Mirai Nikki
MAL/Official
Genre: action, drama, romance, thriller
Studio production: asread
Number of episodes: 26
Comments: The story is focused on Yukiteru Amano, an average middle school student who had trouble mixing with other people, and instead prefers to be a bystander and record whatever he see in his diary. One day, his “imaginary” companion, the God of Time and Space Deus Ex Machina granted him the Future Diary, a power that allowed him to see the future. And soon enough he was engulfed in a fierce survival war along with 11 other Future Diary holders (possessing different kind of Future Diary), including his classmate, a crazy yandere stalker Gasai Yuno. If I had to say whether I’m a fan of Mirai Nikki manga, I would say yes, but not the level of a “die-hard-fans”, because I stopped reading the manga midway through the story and so far has no intention of going back to finish my reading. Putting the manga aside, I am still anticipated Mirai Nikki anime, and guess what, I am certainly impressed with how it went so far. Heck, I’d watch it just for more Yuno. The manga has one of the most interesting, unique, psychologically intriguing, well thought-out story in recent years, and the anime didn’t disappoint by faithfully followed most of the contents, added with great animation, sound effects and cast of seiyuus (the current Yuki still pissed me off for being a wimp, while Yuno is awesome as always). There's even a mini side story explaining the little bit of small stuff related to the main story at the end of each episode, giving a more logical flow to the story. The last time I read the manga is when "a certain parent" was killed, and judging from how the anime looks so far, I hope I won’t miss anything by just sticking to the anime.
p/s: Y-Y-Y-YOUSEI TEIKOKU!!!!!!! I thought they’d gonna stick with the OVA ED The Creator, but this new OP song is still great.
verdict:4.5/5 (must watch)
Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai
MAL/Official
Genre: comedy, romance
Studio production: AIC Build
Number of episodes: 12
Comments: After I watched the short OAD some months ago, I knew the TV series is gonna be one of my topmost priority in my fall watchlist. The story focused on people who have little to no friend, try to make friends by creating a club to find more friends, and do things together to try gaining more understanding toward each other. Or at least that’s what Mikazuki Yozora, a girl who’d rather talk to her “imaginary” friends than finding real friends had in her mind when she formed the Neighbours Club, and unceremoniously inducted a transfer student Hasegawa Kodoka who had the same trouble as Yozora, as the 2nd member of the club. This show amazed me in so many ways. The comedy is thoroughly entertaining, from the time Kodoka made the rather unfortunate bad impression on his first day of transferring, to the moment Kashiwazaki Sena (aka Niku) joined the club as the 3rd member, and then the fact that she and Yozora simply can’t get along with each other is always amusing to watch. The animation was impressive, and the expression of the females (especially the erotic lips) extremely resembled those in Denpa Onna, which made me think that it was a SHAFT product. The studio production used just the right cast for the character especially the main two female leads (Marina Inoue is perfect as the bad-tempered Yozora, so does Kanae Ito for the spoiled, perfect ojou-sama Sena). The ending was great; love it (the air guitar). And most importantly, the show actually had a mild message to convey – as a certain someone’s mom would say “Just make real friends that you care about 100 times as much”
p/s: "half-assed boobs like that are pretty much the same as having none" (c) Sena, 2011.
verdict: 5/5 (must watch)
Working!! 2
MAL/Official
Genre: comedy, slice of life
Studio production: A1 Pictures
Number of episodes: 12
Comments: I had a lot of good laugh when the season 1 was aired a year ago, and this sequel is much welcomed. But just like Ika Musume 2, I really don't have a lot to comment on the sequel because the story remained the same - Takanashi still with his nano fetish, Taneshima with her height concern, Inami with Inami punch, and Satou, Souma and the rest of Wagnaria remained pretty much how they were in season 1. The only thing that changed for me is that somehow I find the entertainment value slightly less than what I had when I watch season 1. Maybe because over time the recycled jokes worn me out.
verdict: 3.5/5 (watching)
Fate/Zero
MAL/Official
Genre: action, fantasy
Studio production: ufotable
Number of episodes: 12
Comments: Prior to the airing of Fate/Zero, the only background knowledge I had about the series (and that coming from the little past stories told in Fate/Stay Night) is the fact that it’s entirely focused on the 4th Holy Grail War happening 10 years prior to the events in FSN. With no reasonable expectation toward the show, I just proceed on watching the first episode, and my, ufotable delivers greatly with Fate/Zero. The 40+ minutes they spent on episode 1 to build the core of F/Z was very well executed, it gives a fairly good background about the major characters (Kotomine Kirei and Kiritsugu Emiya), the Mage’s blood and Holy Grail War while at the same time providing brief intro about the other Masters involved in the upcoming War. And it didn’t take long for the War to take place, with all seven Servants successfully summoned by episode two and a (not so much) battle took place soon after that (I’m actually shocked that Assassin got crushed pretty easily, but later episodes had the explanation). I’m especially glad to see Gilgamesh and Saber back, definitely missed the awesome Treasure of Babylon and the invisible sword. The production overall was also amazing, with great emphasis was put on the animation (beautiful background and special effects) and BGM (some which fits nicely with the scenes). Overall, Fate/Zero definitely did much better than FSN in many aspects (please blame DEEN for that), and I’d like to see how the event in F/Z eventually leads to the story of FSN.
p/s: did Saber's chest somehow got smaller?
verdict: 4/5
Guilty Crown
MAL/Official
Genre: action, science fiction
Studio production: Production I.G.
Number of episodes: 11
Comments: Holy crap, I can't believe I’m revisiting my old biochemistry lesson in an anime. Extracting hidden power from DNA's intron into technology they called Void to convert human's idea/imagination into physical weapon, really? What’s next, reverse transcriptase technology to create a perfect human clone? Ok, serious thought after watching 2 episodes: I was mesmerized by the beautiful art throughout the series (nothing less to expect from Production I.G), including the great special effects used in the fights. But the story kinda put me on the fence – an ordinary student who found himself in the middle of chaos, met a mysterious girl, received a special power to fight off evil doers, joined by some resistance group. When did we last hear this generic flow? Sacred Seven? Code Geass? The slight twist is that we see the main character Ouma Shuu declining the offer to join the resistance group Undertaker and decided to go back to his normal life (and “surprisingly”, the mysterious girl Inari transferred to his school), but you know thing is not going according to his plan simply because of the Void power he held. Nevertheless, I don’t think the generic buildup of the story will hold back my interest toward the series, because there are more things I like about it than things I didn’t like. As mentioned, the animation quality is awesome. The weapons were nicely designed. The mechanical robots were nothing new, but I like the way they were operated remotely, yet the operator’s sense is still directly connected to the mecha. The fighting scene was splendidly done, though I thought the bgms in those battles was a little distracting. All in all, a nice addition to my watchlist.
p/s: this feels like Code Geass, Guyver and Chaos;Head were all mixed into one.
verdict: 3.5/5 (watching)
Un-Go
MAL/Official
Genre: mystery, supernatural
Studio production: BONES
Number of episodes: 11
Comments: Un-Go is “yet” another detective series, taking place at post-war era where the likes of vocaloid is ancient relic of the past. The story centered on Yuuki Shinjurou, a private detective who along with his assistant Inga, works on various cases (especially murders), interrupting police investigation and uncovers the real truth/culprit that most often not disclosed to the public. Detective genre is always my type of thing, and Un-Go has the added bonus because for once it’s not involving any kind of loli since Shinrei Tantei Yakumo (another one that I like). Having watched 2 episodes, it seems like each episode will introduce a new case, and solved in the very same episode. Which is a shame because each case won't be approached in detail, it limits the emphasis on “who dunnit, how dunnit and why dunnit” aspects that were often thoroughly elaborated in “real” detective series. But the thing is, you can never have a decent detective story with intricate, proper build to the cases in an anime without going to a couple dozens of episodes. Therefore as far as Un-Go goes, I would say it’s still a decent detective series. At least I like the cases better than those in Gosick and Kamisama Memochou, although as I said above, I still wish the cases to be presented with greater details. Inga is probably the only sore spot in the story for me, because it made as if Yuuki cannot find the concrete proof to back his deduction if Inga didn’t transform and force the culprit to spit out the truth. But based on the first scene in episode 1, Inga might have a more important role than a mere assistant for Yuuki.
verdict: 3.5/5
=========================
Not in the list:
Chihayafuru – Like Saki (mahjong)/Nabari no Ou (shogi), I can’t really enjoy a series where I don’t understand/can’t enjoy the game being played (karuta). So no, dropped.
Maji de Watashi ni Koi Shinasai– I’d watch a few more episodes cuz I enjoyed it to a degree, but I don’t think I need to give a long written thought about the show.
Last Exile-Fam the Silver Wing – I really like the original Last Exile, so I'd be watching it for sure, but most likely a marathon after the whole show ends.
Kyoukai Senjou no Horizon – Jun Fukuyama or not, the main character is way too goofy for my taste. Phoney world, ideals, history, boobs; and too many generic fanservices. Dropped.
MAL/Official
Genre: action, drama, romance, thriller
Studio production: asread
Number of episodes: 26
Comments: The story is focused on Yukiteru Amano, an average middle school student who had trouble mixing with other people, and instead prefers to be a bystander and record whatever he see in his diary. One day, his “imaginary” companion, the God of Time and Space Deus Ex Machina granted him the Future Diary, a power that allowed him to see the future. And soon enough he was engulfed in a fierce survival war along with 11 other Future Diary holders (possessing different kind of Future Diary), including his classmate, a crazy yandere stalker Gasai Yuno. If I had to say whether I’m a fan of Mirai Nikki manga, I would say yes, but not the level of a “die-hard-fans”, because I stopped reading the manga midway through the story and so far has no intention of going back to finish my reading. Putting the manga aside, I am still anticipated Mirai Nikki anime, and guess what, I am certainly impressed with how it went so far. Heck, I’d watch it just for more Yuno. The manga has one of the most interesting, unique, psychologically intriguing, well thought-out story in recent years, and the anime didn’t disappoint by faithfully followed most of the contents, added with great animation, sound effects and cast of seiyuus (the current Yuki still pissed me off for being a wimp, while Yuno is awesome as always). There's even a mini side story explaining the little bit of small stuff related to the main story at the end of each episode, giving a more logical flow to the story. The last time I read the manga is when "a certain parent" was killed, and judging from how the anime looks so far, I hope I won’t miss anything by just sticking to the anime.
p/s: Y-Y-Y-YOUSEI TEIKOKU!!!!!!! I thought they’d gonna stick with the OVA ED The Creator, but this new OP song is still great.
verdict:4.5/5 (must watch)
Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai
MAL/Official
Genre: comedy, romance
Studio production: AIC Build
Number of episodes: 12
Comments: After I watched the short OAD some months ago, I knew the TV series is gonna be one of my topmost priority in my fall watchlist. The story focused on people who have little to no friend, try to make friends by creating a club to find more friends, and do things together to try gaining more understanding toward each other. Or at least that’s what Mikazuki Yozora, a girl who’d rather talk to her “imaginary” friends than finding real friends had in her mind when she formed the Neighbours Club, and unceremoniously inducted a transfer student Hasegawa Kodoka who had the same trouble as Yozora, as the 2nd member of the club. This show amazed me in so many ways. The comedy is thoroughly entertaining, from the time Kodoka made the rather unfortunate bad impression on his first day of transferring, to the moment Kashiwazaki Sena (aka Niku) joined the club as the 3rd member, and then the fact that she and Yozora simply can’t get along with each other is always amusing to watch. The animation was impressive, and the expression of the females (especially the erotic lips) extremely resembled those in Denpa Onna, which made me think that it was a SHAFT product. The studio production used just the right cast for the character especially the main two female leads (Marina Inoue is perfect as the bad-tempered Yozora, so does Kanae Ito for the spoiled, perfect ojou-sama Sena). The ending was great; love it (the air guitar). And most importantly, the show actually had a mild message to convey – as a certain someone’s mom would say “Just make real friends that you care about 100 times as much”
p/s: "half-assed boobs like that are pretty much the same as having none" (c) Sena, 2011.
verdict: 5/5 (must watch)
Working!! 2
MAL/Official
Genre: comedy, slice of life
Studio production: A1 Pictures
Number of episodes: 12
Comments: I had a lot of good laugh when the season 1 was aired a year ago, and this sequel is much welcomed. But just like Ika Musume 2, I really don't have a lot to comment on the sequel because the story remained the same - Takanashi still with his nano fetish, Taneshima with her height concern, Inami with Inami punch, and Satou, Souma and the rest of Wagnaria remained pretty much how they were in season 1. The only thing that changed for me is that somehow I find the entertainment value slightly less than what I had when I watch season 1. Maybe because over time the recycled jokes worn me out.
verdict: 3.5/5 (watching)
Fate/Zero
MAL/Official
Genre: action, fantasy
Studio production: ufotable
Number of episodes: 12
Comments: Prior to the airing of Fate/Zero, the only background knowledge I had about the series (and that coming from the little past stories told in Fate/Stay Night) is the fact that it’s entirely focused on the 4th Holy Grail War happening 10 years prior to the events in FSN. With no reasonable expectation toward the show, I just proceed on watching the first episode, and my, ufotable delivers greatly with Fate/Zero. The 40+ minutes they spent on episode 1 to build the core of F/Z was very well executed, it gives a fairly good background about the major characters (Kotomine Kirei and Kiritsugu Emiya), the Mage’s blood and Holy Grail War while at the same time providing brief intro about the other Masters involved in the upcoming War. And it didn’t take long for the War to take place, with all seven Servants successfully summoned by episode two and a (not so much) battle took place soon after that (I’m actually shocked that Assassin got crushed pretty easily, but later episodes had the explanation). I’m especially glad to see Gilgamesh and Saber back, definitely missed the awesome Treasure of Babylon and the invisible sword. The production overall was also amazing, with great emphasis was put on the animation (beautiful background and special effects) and BGM (some which fits nicely with the scenes). Overall, Fate/Zero definitely did much better than FSN in many aspects (please blame DEEN for that), and I’d like to see how the event in F/Z eventually leads to the story of FSN.
p/s: did Saber's chest somehow got smaller?
verdict: 4/5
Guilty Crown
MAL/Official
Genre: action, science fiction
Studio production: Production I.G.
Number of episodes: 11
Comments: Holy crap, I can't believe I’m revisiting my old biochemistry lesson in an anime. Extracting hidden power from DNA's intron into technology they called Void to convert human's idea/imagination into physical weapon, really? What’s next, reverse transcriptase technology to create a perfect human clone? Ok, serious thought after watching 2 episodes: I was mesmerized by the beautiful art throughout the series (nothing less to expect from Production I.G), including the great special effects used in the fights. But the story kinda put me on the fence – an ordinary student who found himself in the middle of chaos, met a mysterious girl, received a special power to fight off evil doers, joined by some resistance group. When did we last hear this generic flow? Sacred Seven? Code Geass? The slight twist is that we see the main character Ouma Shuu declining the offer to join the resistance group Undertaker and decided to go back to his normal life (and “surprisingly”, the mysterious girl Inari transferred to his school), but you know thing is not going according to his plan simply because of the Void power he held. Nevertheless, I don’t think the generic buildup of the story will hold back my interest toward the series, because there are more things I like about it than things I didn’t like. As mentioned, the animation quality is awesome. The weapons were nicely designed. The mechanical robots were nothing new, but I like the way they were operated remotely, yet the operator’s sense is still directly connected to the mecha. The fighting scene was splendidly done, though I thought the bgms in those battles was a little distracting. All in all, a nice addition to my watchlist.
p/s: this feels like Code Geass, Guyver and Chaos;Head were all mixed into one.
verdict: 3.5/5 (watching)
Un-Go
MAL/Official
Genre: mystery, supernatural
Studio production: BONES
Number of episodes: 11
Comments: Un-Go is “yet” another detective series, taking place at post-war era where the likes of vocaloid is ancient relic of the past. The story centered on Yuuki Shinjurou, a private detective who along with his assistant Inga, works on various cases (especially murders), interrupting police investigation and uncovers the real truth/culprit that most often not disclosed to the public. Detective genre is always my type of thing, and Un-Go has the added bonus because for once it’s not involving any kind of loli since Shinrei Tantei Yakumo (another one that I like). Having watched 2 episodes, it seems like each episode will introduce a new case, and solved in the very same episode. Which is a shame because each case won't be approached in detail, it limits the emphasis on “who dunnit, how dunnit and why dunnit” aspects that were often thoroughly elaborated in “real” detective series. But the thing is, you can never have a decent detective story with intricate, proper build to the cases in an anime without going to a couple dozens of episodes. Therefore as far as Un-Go goes, I would say it’s still a decent detective series. At least I like the cases better than those in Gosick and Kamisama Memochou, although as I said above, I still wish the cases to be presented with greater details. Inga is probably the only sore spot in the story for me, because it made as if Yuuki cannot find the concrete proof to back his deduction if Inga didn’t transform and force the culprit to spit out the truth. But based on the first scene in episode 1, Inga might have a more important role than a mere assistant for Yuuki.
verdict: 3.5/5
=========================
Not in the list:
Chihayafuru – Like Saki (mahjong)/Nabari no Ou (shogi), I can’t really enjoy a series where I don’t understand/can’t enjoy the game being played (karuta). So no, dropped.
Maji de Watashi ni Koi Shinasai– I’d watch a few more episodes cuz I enjoyed it to a degree, but I don’t think I need to give a long written thought about the show.
Last Exile-Fam the Silver Wing – I really like the original Last Exile, so I'd be watching it for sure, but most likely a marathon after the whole show ends.
Kyoukai Senjou no Horizon – Jun Fukuyama or not, the main character is way too goofy for my taste. Phoney world, ideals, history, boobs; and too many generic fanservices. Dropped.
Tales of Grace F
Warrior Orochi 3
FFXIII-2
0 comments:
Post a Comment