There aren’t much shows that really stand out this season besides Shingeki no Kyojin, but as usual there are lots of cute and moe shows for those who wish to succumb to the desires of 2D.
Not the best season but not the worst season either, at least there are some shows worth watching this time around.
Here’s a preview from Random Curiosity as usual and a chart so you can follow along!
Date A Live (03/30 Sat)
At the moment there’s nothing more I hate than plain, boring, goody protagonists that come from cookie cutter builds. Other than that, it feels more like I’m playing through a visual novel as I watch the main character date every girl in his path. However, the most memorable thing is the first episode’s imouto dance… can’t get enough of that …. <3
DROPPED
Dansai Bunri no Crime Edge (04/03 Wed)
As the only person in the house and a loli, I’ll let this stranger into my house~
Like I told Zen, only in anime can you get away with letting a stranger into your house as you witness him staring at you with a crazed and hungry expression. As far as the rest of the anime goes, it does feel as stupid as the first episode as we get into a “killing game” that involves our protagonist protecting his loli with some scissors. It’s hard for me to get into this anime, and it doesn’t help when the protagonist prefers hair over hugging a girl.Who knows how sex would eventually play out, but I bet it’ll involve more hair than you can imagine! >_O
DROPPED
Hataraku Maou-sama (04/04 Thu)
With a mix of comedy and occasional bursts of action, Hataraku Maou is among my favorites this season. Although it doesn’t take itself very seriously, there’s more to the story than our demonic overlord trying to get a full time position at his MgRonalds. Add in a part-time twintail, a female hero, and a faithful demonic general that seems more like a housewife, we’ve got an anime that has a pretty strong level of character interaction. I didn’t think I would find an anime this season that would be both entertaining and witty. And after episode 3, I don’t think I can look at Uniqlo in a positive light anymore :3
WATCHING
Standard romance comedy format using a what if for a demon lord protagonist. As usual I don’t have much hope for a real ending to the series and although the characters are likable there is a feeling of running on a treadmill as each sequence of events is repeated in a slightly different way to create something like a story. Definitely not the worst offender as far as lack of creativity, but not really unique either it is nice to see something watchable taking the setting out of high schools, just don’t expect much else as there is little depth to the story.
WATCHING
Ginga Kikoutai Majestic Prince (04/04 Thu)
I think the most hilarious thing that I’ve noticed this season is that we have two Gundam Seed copies out at the same time. Besides having the same animation style as the Seed series, there are two factions battling it out in space. In a way, it does remind me a tiny bit of Gundam ZZ, as they have a team of “Gundams”. But I I’ll pass on this as I do not want to witness the rebirth of Kira “Jesus” Yamato… with 5 pilots this time, that’ll be too much plot armor to add on.
DROPPED
Follow the adventures of team dumbass as children who act like they were the result of inbreeding are given expensive experimental military hardware to play around with. Along with a story that amounts to generic aliens who happen to look just like humans invading to wipe out humanity or something because they feel like it or something along those lines, not that I can find fault or blame them for this after we are responsible for creating this series. But of course our emo teen protagonists are out to save the world so its ok, at least they could mimic Ender’s Game and make some sense as to why a child was entrusted with such a role and how to go about using them.
DROPPED
Yahari Ore no Seishun Love Come wa Machigatteiru (04/04 Thu)
Zen and Wanko :3
As I originally thought, this series does feel slightly similar to the Haganai series, however.. I am enjoying this series a lot more! Sure there isn’t any Kobato or moe overload in the series, but what really stands out is the main protagonist. For a guy that seems introverted and pessimistic, his analytical mind provides a lot to the character interactions in this anime. Seeing him go at it with the female protagonist reminded me more of the Bakemonogatari series, as Araragi and Senjougahara come to mind. So if you’re looking for something witty and a huge side of sarcasm, this couldn’t hurt. Don’t let my dog-filled screen cap deter you :(
WATCHING
Surprisingly not as bad as I had expected, but still a pretty typical romance comedy with a downtrodden style of protagonist. Thankfully though they tried to emphasize the story and character development more than just throwing lolis in your face mixed with random traits and hope for the best. Certainly not revolutionary but at the same time manages to retain a more down to earth feeling that really helps the viewer feel for the characters, even the ones they may dislike since none of them are as ridiculously over the top compared to many similar anime these days. Of course a few of the characters do their best to come close. Mix in a fair amount of the standard jokes and situations found throughout the genre and of course what is likely to be an unresolved there is hardly anything especially memorable to turn it into a classic that influences the genre in a positive direction. At the same time however there is nothing here so completely repulsive that it should be grounds for justifiable homicide either, which really says something in this day and age. To sum it all up, not a spectacular series, not a god awful series, just a simple standard show of a tried and true genre that works well as relaxing entertainment.
WATCHING
Devil Survivor 2 The Animation (04/04 Thu)
Starting off with a high level demon partner and having the main protagonist be the most overpowered summoner from the get-go isn’t exactly going to help boost its story here. I enjoyed the Persona 4 adaptation, but I guess I was expecting too much from a tactical RPG game. After seeing how likeable the main protagonist of Persona 4 was, I don’t think I can handle the emotional Kuze Hibiki of Devil Survivor 2. Episode 5 especially solidified this with his disappearance, and when he finally appeared in the episode, he ended up seeming more distant to me.
DROPPED
At the end of the world our protagonist summons Tigger from the Hundred Acre Wood to fight for him while he whines, cries, and emos in the background for dramatic effects that make crappy directors feel artistic. Of course cell phones figure prominently into things as we all know the days of complex circles drawn in the blood of sacrificed virgins are so 90s now that there’s an app for that.
DROPPED
Wait till Google Glass gets its demon summoning app!
Aku no Hana (04/05 Fri)
2D please :( I don’t even have to watch this, the screen caps are more than enough.
Words cannot appropriately describe the true horrors of this hideous sin against eyesight. Whoever thought beating characters with an ugly crowbar was a good idea needs to be fired from life. There is already a show about ugly people bumbling around meaninglessly, its called reality, and generally it sucks. Rather than watch Aku no Hana it would be easier to look out my window and see the same thing.
“Rather than watch Aku no Hana it would be easier to look out my window and see the same thing.” If I had twitter, I would retweet that.
I guess I should praise them for being realistic, even with animated series?
Ore no Imouto ga Konna ni Kawaii Wake ga Nai S2 (04/06 Sat)
The second season of Oreimo is pretty amazing… we see Kyosuke’s downward spiral as he goes full siscon! Honestly, I’m just in this to see what kind of monster Kyosuke ends up turning into at the end. I don’t think his previous self would have ever kept swimsuit pictures of his sister. He’s definitely different from his first season self, and it’s a change that a couple of friends and I have noticed. Although to be fair I should re-watch season 1 to see if he was anything close to this by the end of that season’s final episode.
WATCHING
Yondemasuyo, Azazel-san Z (04/06 Sat)
Chibi demons are so cute :3 As usual, I’m enjoying all the messed up situations that they end up getting themselves into. I don’t think this would be the same series if the demons spent more time in their actual forms, so it’s nice to see that they can create an adult-oriented comedy using their cuter demon forms. Ahhh…. End of Son ^_^
WATCHING
Ah Azazel, one of my favorite comedies, while the humor may be crude at best there is just something lovable about how they go about it with the demonic theme. Those who enjoyed the first season will most likely enjoy the second so not a whole lot to say that hasn’t been said already, at this point either you like it or you don’t.
WATCHING
Shingeki no Kyojin (04/06 Sat)
Santa is watching you~
It’s a bit sad, but I don’t think there are any other series this season that would compare very well to Shingeki no Kyojin. It’s not often that a series so dark and tragic as this gets pulled out and even maintains that same intensity throughout every episode. Most series would normally give a long breather or two, but they’re really pumping out the story without pause. As much as I am currently enjoying the series, it’s a bit hard to watch something as tragic as this, when you don’t know if your favorite character is going to get taken out like small fry. However, if they can manage to keep this series as engaging as it currently is, it’ll be very interesting to see how they’ll survive and win in the fight against these titans.
WATCHING
Ok honestly it should come as no surprise that this is probably the major attraction for this anime season. The surprise however is that at least so far they have yet to completely butcher the adaptation. Of course the director does feel squeamish at times trying to avoid the excessive gore and violence as much as possible, considering its not the 80s-90s anymore I’ll take what I can get there. Other than attempts to minimize the violent scenes they have done a surprisingly good job of adapting without cutting out huge chunks and staying surprisingly faithful to the story. I can only hope this trend continues throughout the series all the way to the very end as it would be a shame to screw it up now.
As far as the series itself I feel the biggest fault lies in the protagonist, he suffers from generic hotheaded protagonist syndrome which can be pretty annoying at times. Of course as with all such protagonists they tend to be completely useless outside of one skill or ability and he continues this trend, adding further layers of annoyance to his single dimensional character. Throw in the Shinji with a brain that sometimes works, but only in clutch moments sidekick, along with the rather generic cool headed female lead that goes around killing everything while looking good doing it character they abducted from shows like Queens Blade for what seems like a deliberate attempt to capitalize on the character and the primary cast is set. Well to be fair Mikasa probably is closer to a Ghost in the Sell solution where the the Major did everything that mattered ever and was always the best at everything, but still the issue is they went way over the top with her character, to the point it feels like they just wanted some form of sexy femme fatale that fit into this story for the appeal rather than a character that meshes well with the setting, story, and rest of the cast. Otherwise the story at least so far is pretty good, although it is still too early to tell whether that will hold true all the way to the end or not, the characters are all pretty bland and poorly developed as the emphasis is definitely on the setting and story here. I am going to stick with this one till the end, even if they manage to screw up every single moment of the series henceforth just to resolve how they decide to solve the major mysteries of the series.
WATCHING - Worth it despite the generic and sometimes disappointing cast.
Never question the logic of the potato girl. When there is food, it must be eaten!
Ok, to be fair that scene was pretty amazing, while funny in the manga I laughed pretty hard seeing that animated.
Suisei no Gargantia (04/07 Sun)
I have to wonder if this is going to play out all peacefully, or if I’m going to be in for a surprise near the end of the series. But from what I can see, this is just some sci-fi slice of life… Well, at the very least it’s relaxing to watch, and the anime has a lively cast of characters. As usual, things will probably pick up near the very end and we’re probably going to be preached about mutual coexistence and peace. Going to see if it ends the way I think it will…
WATCHING
Arata Kangatari (04/08 Mon)
They should have just stuck with a female protagonist because Arata is another Shinji. After seeing him watch a massacre play out in front of him, I don’t think I have a need for more useless protagonists. I don’t think even a cute pet mascot could save this show now… but then again.. I think one will probably show up in the future :3;;
DROPPED
Herd of pretty boys waving around magical phallic imagery while fighting over the right to claim the scarce few pairs of breasts that exist in this brave new world.
DROPPED by the way.
In a way, you kind of described Fushigi Yuugi as well XD;;
Kakumeiki Valrave (04/11 Thu)
Despite this being a mix of Gundam and Code Geass, I’m finding this to be quite funny after a few episodes in. With vampires, body switching, psycho boy band soldiers flooding each episode, they really jam packed every concept they could squeeze out of their head. I definitely wouldn’t say this is a great series from what I’ve seen, but it’s a huge laugh if you can get over the useless protagonist.
WATCHING
This is about as blatant a Gundam Seed ripoff as is legally allowable, and every bit as stupid. If there was a poster child for everything I hate in mecha series this is probably the closest anyone can get. Not only does the protagonist suffer from Shinji syndrome, the story just goes from ripoff to bad to worse to how can anything be this terrible and still be allowed to exist.
DROPPED – Very few series can compete with how bad this is, takes a special brand of suck like Railgun, Madoka, etc. to top Valrave.
Hentai Ouji to Warawanai Neko (04/13 Sat)
I wasn’t expecting very much of this series in the first place, but in the end I found it more entertaining than I thought it would be. Although that doesn’t change the fact that it’s a romance comedy, the perverted main character’s hilarious actions really separate him from other similar generic protagonists. Despite being a pervert, the amount of confidence Yokodera Youto displays constantly livens up the show, and it’s great to see a main character that doesn’t deny what he is. And besides, he makes a great dog ^_^ And of course, lots of pettanko to go around <3
WATCHING
