Dilettante Fascination
So, Crunchyroll posted a news article about a preview Robotics;Notes episode one. I’m not sure if it means they’ll be simulcasting the show, but I hope that’s what they’re alluding to. I’ve never watched Steins;Gate (*adds to list of shows to watch*) or the Other;Show in that lineage of shows-with-oddly-punctuated-titles, but R;N seems like it could be cool. I mean, how can a show about building robots not be cool? Just look at Medabots - that show ruled.
Oh, hey, BTOOOM! premiered last night on Crunchyroll. I have to say, it didn’t blow me away (heh). I was unimpressed with the main character, for the most part. For a top-notch player of BTOOOM!, he seemed pretty stupid when he finally got a real explosive in his hand. Also, his mom gave me the creeps.
I’m sure I’ll watch the show to completion, but I sure hope it ramps up the excitement in the upcoming episodes. There is practically an explosion every few minutes, and the show still managed to be pretty boring. The next episode is introducing a new character, which is good, but she brings along a story of sexual assault, which could go very poorly. As long as it’s not just fan service (though, I’m betting it is), it could add to the character later on. I don’t even know why I’m pretending it won’t be handled poorly. I mean, the girl has pretty much only been shown in her bra so far, so I imagine they’re going to make that her defining characteristic. She’s a cute character, but they don’t have to make her a sexual object.
On the recommendation of a friend, I started watching K, or K Project, or Project K, or whatever. I had no idea what it’s about (still kind of don’t), but it’s been getting good feedback from what I’ve seen. Unfortunately, the show is available to stream on Hulu. It’s unfortunate because that means I have to use Hulu, and I hate Hulu. At first I didn’t like the ads, and then the player started acting up and forcing me to reload the page, sometimes requiring more ads. I tried to get around the ads when I watched Accel World by torrenting the show, and just playing the Hulu stream muted in the background so the ad revenue still went through. This worked for a little, until the player started screwing up and forcing me to keep tabs on the Hulu player. Eventually it was just easier to watch it on Hulu and deal with the problems. Hopefully things go smoother with K than it did with Accel World.
Back on topic, I watched the first episode of K (on Hulu, bleh), and it was fantastic. The shots of Yata skating are perfect! Whoever directed those shots knows their stuff. And that main character, Isana, what a guy! Is there a name for that archetype - the too-kind-and-oblivious-to-everything-going-on-around-him character? I’m always a fan of that guy. So, yeah, I’ll be following K this season for sure.
Also being added to my list is Zetsuen no Tempest (Blast of the Tempest). Another show on the list? I know, it’s getting to be a pretty lengthy list. I think I’m currently at 9 shows right now (not actually that many, I know). The nice thing is that I’ll have at least one show to watch everyday, and then some. I don’t know that I have a show airing every day, but I at least have enough to stretch out through the week.
So, anyways, Zetsuen no Tempest. The scene with Fuwa magic-ing all over the place was awesome. That alone blew BTOOOM! out of the water, in terms of action (and everything else, really). The characters seem neat, and the twist with Takigawa’s girlfriend in the end was unexpected. I’m excited to keep watching.
You have very good tastes :)
And Btooom! will go places (this is coming from a guy who’s read the source material), just give it some time.
I will say that it’s not going to be an excessively fanservice-y show as it’s leading you to believe. In fact, I think there’s only going to be one particular scene in which her “assets” are “focused on” in the story (not counting the sexual abuse story which is set for next episode). No spoilers. You won’t see it coming.
- Nanoha Movie
- Hyouka
- Fate/Zero
- Accel World
- Gundam Age
- K-On!
- Sword Art Online
- ?
- Eureka Seven AO
- Tari Tari
- Tiger and Bunny
- ?
- Rinne no Lagrange 2
- ?
- Madoka
- Smile Pretty Cure
- ?
- Dog Days’
- Kyoukaisenjou no Horizon II
- YuruYuri 2
Take it however you will. Since a mag is just another form of media, there’s always an inherent form of bias, but it seems to be an undeniable fact that Hyouka’s a success. The popular character poll hasn’t changed much, with the top male/female being Hyouka’s main two. Furthermore, it takes top pick across many different polls.
Do I personally agree with this poll? Meh. No. I think SAO should be above Accel World (although another poll does show it to be the most addictive watch of the season). But hey, that’s the point of polls, right? The inherent form of bias comes from the crowd they select to question, so mileage varies among different populaces.
FUCK
YOU
FUCK YOU
FUCK YOU
FUCK YOU
FUCK YOU RANDOM BULLY
FUCK YOU BASTARD ANTAGONIST
FUCK YOU PATHETIC PROTAGONIST
…FUCK YOU FOR A TOTALLY DIFFERENT REASON
TL;DR—Get the message? I hate everyone in this show. Well, almost everyone besides Taku and Kuroyukihime. Hell, I’d rank Niko, Sky Raker, Ash Roller, and Aqua Current (all side characters, mind you) higher than the main characters. That’s bad.
The fact that I’m willing to devote energy to make this post filled with expletives is really bad.
This show’s riling me up even worse than Aquarion EVOL did. And that series was made to deliberately troll people.
As the Spring season comes to a close this week and the Summer Season starting right on its heels, it’s about time I bring this season proper closure.
I had a whopping 17 shows on my list this season. It’s a lot more than I usually take up which is normally 5 or 6. There were a lot of interesting shows in the Spring preview, so I thought it would be a good idea to check them all out.
…I’m never doing that again. While I’m an avid supporter of expanding one’s mindset (in this specific case, by watching shows with diverse elements and of various genres), keeping up with 17 shows was a burden which actually dulled my excitement towards watching anime as a whole. Most of the time I’d stockpile a specific show for weeks on end and then marathon later. Of course, most of this was due to the end of semester finals studying, but I never recovered from the three week backlog it caused.
This season was on the verge of being a hassle, which is what something done for enjoyment should never become. Fortunately, there were just enough interesting shows to keep my motivation up to complete the season on time (for the most part).
That said, I’m posting my final priority list with scores, with a mini-blurb of thoughts on each show in twenty words or less (not unlike my Spring 2012 watch list post). Consider this a follow up to the initial Spring 2012 post, and note how priority doesn’t always equal the highest objective score. A * denotes a series continuing into the summer season.
- Fate/Zero 2nd Season — 10 — It’s a pity that such an amazing show is limited by it’s status as a prequel to F/SN.
- Sakamichi no Apollon — 9 — Manga fleshes things out a bit better, but anime cuts corners in all the right places.
- Lupin the Third: Mine Fujiko to Iu Onna — 9 — The tongue-in-cheek “Story of Mine Fujiko” thing at the end was very witty.
- Aquarion Evol — 8 — Troll anime of the season. Best soundtrack of the season too, though.
- Eureka Seven AO* — 9 — Very “Evangelion”-like with real world political themes interwoven into it.
- Tasogare Otome x Amnesia — 8 — The final arc trumps the original content by miles. And I don’t say that often.
- Tsuritama — 8 — Melodrama was excessive at times, but seeing everything tie together at the end was cool.
- Sankarea — 8 — The ending is literally an open door for a second season.
- Acchi Kocchi — 8 — Gotta watch the calorie intake. Very “sugary”.
- Nazo no Kanojo X — 8 — Simple first love story. Ended as simple as I thought it would.
- Accel World * — 8 — I think otaku like to project themselves onto the main character…
- Mouretsu Pirates — 8 — At least the last arc is somewhat interesting.
- Natsuiro Kiseki — 7 — Ha. Rocks can have cousins. All lessons it tries to teach are undermined by the rock’s presence.
- Hyouka * — 8 — Just because it’s animated well doesn’t mean it makes for good mystery. At least some character development is starting…
- Medaka Box — 7 — Ha. Cheat code moment happened. Why does it have a second season?
- Uchuu Kyoudai * — (8?) — On-hold. Got bored.
- Jormungand — (8) — Dropped. Bored.
TL;DR—Final Score for the Spring 2012 anime season—8.176. ~B. Not half bad.
Stay tuned. I’ll have an “Anime Watch List for Summer 2012” in three weeks :D
- Fate/Zero 2nd Season —stunning quality
- Sakamichi no Apollon —jazz
- Lupin the Third: Mine Fujiko to Iu Onna —exquisite plots hidden in retro style
- Uchuu Kyoudai —Space bros
- Sankarea ** —different spin on zombie genre
- Tasogare Otome x Amnesia ** —lighthearted but has a deeper plot to it
- Nazo no Kanojo X ** —panty scissors (weird premise but legit interesting love story)
- Medaka Box * —cheat code student council president (it’s making sense for now…)
- Jormungand —he f*cking deflected a javelin missile with a frag grenade.
- Aquarion Evol —sex puns everywhere
- Acchi Kocchi —cute antics
- Accel World —Action?
- Eureka Seven AO —Post-apocalyptic world
- Tsuritama —The color palette’s so damn colorful
- Mouretsu Pirates —Where’s the plot?
- Ozuma —Character designs look 80s, yet everything else looks modern
- Natsuiro Kiseki —stop flying please. I mean…yuri?
?. Hyouka — ? (It hasn’t aired yet. Airs next week)
Not on this list is Mirai Nikki ** (—batshit, insane crazy), which ends its run this week. If I were to place it, it’d probably take the third slot.
To be honest, I’m slightly uneasy about watching 18 series this season. Normally I watch 3 or 4. However, the first four have such high potential to them that I can’t forgo them. The following four are adaptations of mangas I enjoy reading, so I can’t let them go either. The others are just icing on the cake. This is one hell of a departure from the norm.
Furthermore, I actually have a life in which I have to study for exams, so I can’t even watch most of these regularly (you’ve probably noticed the lack of activity during the beginning of every week. Mon-Wed are my hell days >.>)
Again, I don’t blog about what I watch during their run, so as to not create unnecessary spam (but I do post if I find something extremely noteworthy). Just thought I’d put up a post like this one just to show people what I think of the current season, and maybe convince them to check out ones they haven’t heard of before.
