Fall 2010 Anime Season is here!
So the fall 2010 anime season is finally upon us. If you're watching all the new awesomeness that Japan has to offer, then share your thoughts on the pilot episodes and series so far. Hopefully it'll be better than reading ANN's craptastic reviews.
So, my impressions:
I've pretty much sampled everything so far, and I'll basically be following 9 major series this season.
In no particular order:
Bakuman
Studio: JC Staff
The series deals with two high school students who join forces to become mangaka, or manga authors. Their ultimate goal is to have their manga published in Jump, however, their path does not come without perseverance and hardships. It is the new project from the artist and writer of Death Note, but is completely (and refreshingly) different. Having read the manga for quite some time now (and actually it's one of the few I follow), I was eager to see how this adaptation would pan out.
And as it turns out, JC Staff has done a great job. One of the things I enjoy the most about Bakuman is the slice-of-life nature it maintains while still being a shonen series, and this translates over to anime very well. From the spacey direction to the soft-rock opening, it almost brings forth a Genshiken-like vibe, and that's a great thing. It's awesome to see all the characters come alive, and although the romantic comedy bits have already begun to peek through, I can't wait to see those fully realized because Bakuman is also a damn good drama at heart.
The World God Only Knows
Studio: Manglobe
I haven't seen a lot of Manglobe's stuff (or maybe I have and just don't know it, they're very elusive like that) but if TWGOK is any indication of how they do things, then sign me up for their fanclub. The manga of TWGOK is the only other series that I follow and for good reason. The series is freakin' hilarious. The concept: Keima is revered around the internet for his ability to capture any girl's heart in a visual novel game, however, he has cut his ties to the 3D world and real women. And rightfully so, because the girls make fun of him constantly for it. But one day after an anonymous challenge sent to him, he must now capture the evil souls residing in the hearts of real girls using his visual novel skills as a basis, or he gets his head cut off along with his new found demon friend Elsi. I seriously wish I'd thought of this. It's genius.
The supposed charm of the manga basically lies in the fact that even though Keima is reluctant to capture real girls, you know he must eventually learn that they're not so bad. However, the REAL charm of it is that the series completely blindsides you, with girls that kick visual novel archetypes in the keister, and are ridiculously and increasingly difficult to capture, making the guy's experience with the girls even worse. It really makes for hilarity. The anime adaptation is pretty much the manga, which is great, and I love the OP (opening) to death.
Shinryaku! Ika-Musume
Studio: Diomedea
If you want something cute and fluffy, count on Diomedea to do it. And this season's cute and fluffy thing is...a squid girl.
Yep, you heard right. This series is about a squid girl who wants to invade all of the world's land. Why? Because of all the pollution that has made her home under the sea virtually unlivable. She decides to start her invasion at a small beach with a quaint restaurant. Can she take it over and realize her dream?
Of course she can't, but it's sure fun to watch her try. Unfortunately for her the restaurant is owned by two siblings who are...not quite normal. They force her to work in the restaurant due to damages caused by the "invasion", and the plot is set. It's going to be a wonderful, cute, heartwarming series. The humor is 4-koma style so it reminds me of Azumanga Daioh. That's enough reason for me to keep watching.
To Aru Majutsu no Index II
Studio: JC Staff
There are 2 things that you do not talk to me or Austin about unless you want to have incredibly involved discussions over whether Shirou's Nine Lives Blade Works can be nullified by Touma's Imagine Breaker. Those things are Fate/stay night and To Aru Majutsu no Index. Put simply, I love this series, and love its spinoff, To Aru Kagaku no Railgun.
This new season did not disappoint. Everything in the episode made me fall in love all over again, and remember why I liked the first series so much. If you haven't seen the first series and looking for a good action-packed magic series, watch it, and then watch Fate/stay night. Then join in on our discussions...if you dare.
Fortune Arterial
Studios: ZEXCS, feel
We now begin the anime that are adapted from adult visual novels. Woo! First up is Fortune Arterial, which seems to have your typical harem setup with lol vampires. But this seemed different for some reason. Something sinister. Like the fact that it takes place on a remote island, and there are mysterious goings-on every night. The end of the episode alone suggests that this series has something up its sleeve. So even though it's rather generic at first glance, the characters are nicely done, the females are hot; the males are, well, hot (by that I mean I don't think fangirls will have any difficulty appreciating this series), and, well, I'm going to keep watching. So there.
Yosuga no Sora
Studio: feel
Here we go. Studio feel always has to have an obligatory incest/pseudo- incest series every season, so...this is it! Yay! And I'm going to admit it right here: I like incest stories a lot. I don't have a little sister though, so maybe that's why I'm able to enjoy them.
What is especially enjoyable, though, is that this is yet another adult visual novel/eroge adaptation! Yay! So yeah, there's loli tits, and ginormous cow tits, and a sex scene at the end. If you're not expecting them, it throws you completely off guard. Be warned. So, being in the 2% of people that enjoys stories like these (basically me, Zach, and Austin), I'll keep watching. Seriously, though, all the girls in this series have balloons for breasts. wtf
Arakawa Under the Bridge x Bridge
Studio: SHAFT
It is stipulated in one of my many contracts that tethers me to this world as a human being that I must love every single series that SHAFT makes. Luckily, this one was easy to love. We watched it in club--well, most of it, and this is the second season.
It's more of the same. More of the glorious, glorious same. It also has the honor of having the best fucking opening I've ever seen or heard in my life. I pretty much jizzed my pants when I watched this episode. Enough said.
MM!
Studio: XEBEC
MM!, as the name might imply, is a series about masochism. A guy who is trying to overcome his masochistic tendencies in order to ask the girl of his dreams out properly is referred to an organization that grants wishes. Maybe they can help him! Unfortunately, the members are a girl who is sadistic and the girl who caused his masochism in the first place. To boot, the girl that he has loved for so long turns out to be his best friend with a crossdressing fetish. Yeah, things don't look too good for this guy.
As anyone who knows me knows, I love series with absurd premises, and this is about as absurd as it gets. So of course, I love it. The sadistic girl is totally cute too. She reminds me of Taiga, Louise and Shana but crammed into one character and made really pissed off. I've already been to 4chan and acquired some art of her. I like her. So I can't wait to watch this one every week.
Ore no Imouto ga Konnani Kawaii Wake ga Nai
Studio: AIC
The title translates to My Little Sister Can't Be This Cute. Guess what type of series this is?
Actually it's not what you think. The series is more Lucky Star than KissxSis or Aki-Sora. A guy finds out her little sister is a closet otaku who plays imouto (little sister) eroges. A relationship is not really established between them yet, so it's not incest (yet!) What it is, though, is hilarious, and the sister Kirino is so adorably cutely hot that you should probably watch it just for her. And the borderline-copyright-infringing references to many popular visual novels.
Last but definitely not least is one that will be controversial, polarizing, and the bane of many people's existence.
But I love it.
Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt
Studio: GAINAX
GAINAX has really gone outside the box lately. Abandoning their comfort zone of hot-blooded mecha action series like Evangelion, Gurren Lagann, and even FLCL, they have chosen to go for lighter, (coughcoughbetter) fare with their previous outing, Hanamaru Kindergarten. And this season, a...wait, just what the fuck IS this?
There are many words you can use to describe it: Crass. Vulgar. Rude. Offensive. Garish. Misogynistic. But only one word really fits the bill: Cool. If you ever watched the cult anime hit Dead Leaves, then you might know what to expect--you know, same director and all. From its rip-roaring, rocking soundtrack to its eye-popping color to it's, Western-influenced bubblegum deformed chibi art style, P&SwG is basically Powerpuff Girls if Craig McCracken had gone with his original idea of the "Whoopass Girls", had then been given a near-lethal injection of cotton-candy flavored narcotic, and then handed over to Adult Swim's Williams Street where they added numerous sexual references and a 15-minute runtime. The end result is pretty much amazing. But yeah, a lot of people are going to hate it for one reason or another. Haters gonna hate.
And that's pretty much it! There are others that I didn't include because I want you guys to report on them! What do you guys think about the shows? Do they suck? Are they awesome? If you haven't watched any of the new shows, go ahead! It's fun! I promise!
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(Austin & Steven)
Originally Posted by Shadegem
