Winter 2012 Anime Season

[theultimatebrucelee]

watched High School DxD with low expectation and surprised that its somewhat enjoyable. I like the kind anime thats humorous and objective at the same time...even though its got quite a bit fan service uncalled for. gonna add this to the watch list for now and hope it doesn't become another princess resurrection.

[Keropi]

What I DO like about High School DxD:

Small Spoiler For Future Events - but it's more of a character discussion:

Someone else brought this up, but High School DxD is unusual in that usually when an anime's main protagonist is perverted and a skirt chaser, the female characters are tsunderes or in the very least they are cold to him, beat him up and whack him around a lot. And usually when the main protagonist is a NICE, INNOCENT guy, he's reserved around girls (in some way) and the girls are pursuing HIM (unsucessfully). But neither is the case with High School DxD and...that feels...somewhat refreshing to me.

[Keropi]

Well, I guess I'll keep watching "Papa no Iukoto wo Kikinasai". I liked the fifth and sixth chapters of the manga more than the previous chapters and I heard hints as to where the novel went. Since there are parts I like, I'll just deal with the fanservice stuff and look forward to the other stuff. It should be alright in the long term at least. I was surprised by the first episode because it started in a much earlier spot than the manga, but that would only make sense I guess. Makes the anime feel more well rounded to start things off with

Last Exile's story so far has been more simplistic than I would have hoped, but the artwork still looks great.

The first episode of Brave 10 sure played out like an Otome game didn't it?

[Keropi]

BIG SPOILERS FOR MADOKA MAGICA AND SYMPHOGEAR'S MAIN PLOT:

Small SPOILER for Kurogane no Linebarrels:

Symphogear Episode 2 BIG SPOILERS:

I'm still unsettled on how they've already shown the main female character (Hibiki) is supposed to die later on in the series while her best friend finds out. Maybe they'll play around with that later and it'll turn out that Hibiki's not really dead or what not, but revealing that so early sets up the storyline like it's already heading for a grim outcome. Syphogear feels a like Madoka Magica in several ways: 1. The fighting magical girl aspect. 2. The seemingly grim destination (death) that the main female lead (Hibiki) is heading 3. The very tough fighting girl that seems to have lost a lot of her heart through the death of her close friend. 4. The close female friend that the female lead (Hibiki) is willing to sacrifice her life for. For #3 and #4 it's as if Homura was split into two characters - Homura as a friend to Madoka and Homura as she later became after closing herself off. Also Hibiki's seiyuu is the same as the one for Madoka (Aoi Yuki)! Gee...that underground welcome party in this episode reminded me so much of scenes from Kurogane no Linebarrels. They would always do goofy stuff like that all the time. People would die. Mayhem would ensue. Then they would have a party. Almost like nothing happened. Complete mood shifts. ^_^

[darksuzaku]

Well, here's my report for the 1st/2nd week of each series....

Amagami SS+ -> Having watched the 1st girl arc (2 episodes) i can say i'm more or less pleased. Don't know yet if this series is anime original or based on some kind of visual novel.

Ano Natsu de Matteru -> Why does this series remind me so much of "Onegai Teacher"? I can easily make 3-4 character matches between both series. I'm not sure if i'll be happy watching the same thing "twice".

Another -> Quite good for the 1st 2 episodes. It's refreshing to have different styles of series for what they ussually decide to air.

Area no Kishi -> Again.... Why does this series remind me so much of "Touch"? I'm not that much of a fan of sports series except when the character development takes a big chunk of the series. But for this series, i'm not willing to watch "Touch" a second time (even though a liked Touch a lot).

Brave 10 -> With only the 1st episode wacthed it's still too soon for me to decide. Looks watchable.

Highschool DxD -> "Fanservice detector activated". Well, at least they don't add those nasty censorchip bands that plague other series.... But still, if fanservice is the only thing the series will have to offer i'll end up dropping it.

Inu x Boku SS -> Only 1 episode wacthed. I'm still not sure if i'm going to like it or not.

Mouretsu Pirates -> Well, it's better than i expected so far. Lets see how the series developes.

Nisemonogatari -> Well, since i'm a fan of the 1st series i'm wathing this.... otherwise i would have probably dropped it right away -_-

Papa no iukoto... -> Only 1 episode watched.... but if the reviews i read are true i don't think i'll be watching this for too long.

Rinne no Lagrange -> Robots.... "Alien" robots.... once again.... How many series like this have been aired already? Will probably drop in a few more episodes.

Senki Zesshou Symphogear -> While i can say that i love the songs on this series, it's a little silly to go battle singing a song.... I'm not sure if i'll get used to it, but for sure i'll get all the mp3s

Besides those, i have already dropped a few. From those, i remember "Kill me Baby" and "Recoder to Randoresu".

[Keropi]

Amagami SS ------ I believe it WAS anime-original, but they made it to fit in with the game ending. So the game ending was the outline they used to come up with something for the anime.

Ano Natsu de Matteru ----- I heard it has the same character designer and writer as the Onegai series. But I'm still surprised by how many elements they reused from Onegai Teacher. I don't mind an anime/manga being cliched and repetitive. I just want it to be entertaining. Unfortunately the second episode didn't interest me much. It has the same director as AnoHana so perhaps the guy's just not the best at making mundane dialog scenes interesting to me.

Another ----- I agree. Something different is always welcome...so long as I like it of course.

Area no Kishi ----- Cross Game was an updated version of Touch though. I'm not watching that one however.

Brave 10 ----- I liked the first episode, but I didn't like the second as much. It didn't feel as sharp and the villains felt kind of bland to me. I'm not sure if I will finish the series now.

Highschool DxD ----- Fortunately they didn't show that really ugly guy from the manga and did something different instead. Not sure where the story is heading now except for a bit with that blonde girl because they showed some of her very early in the manga. There isn't much manga material to read.

Inu x Boku SS ----- I liked it. I can see why many people think the manga was shoujo because there are a couple of crossover elements to it. The main girl is a shounen kind of character while the main guy is more of a shoujo kind of character. It's funny because the manga art style is sort of shoujo, but I thought other parts of it seemed more shounen. Turned out the manga WAS shounen. I've only skimmed through the manga though.

Mouretsu Pirates ----- Kana Hanazawa is using a voice that's closer to her Mahiru (Kamisama Dolls) character this time and I rather like it.

Papa no iukoto... ----- It's about family, comedy, fanservice and some romance. I can understand why some people won't like it. It's like Usagi Drop with less drama, a lot more comedy, two more girls and with added fanservice and romance.

Rinne no Lagrange ----- I thought the first episode was fair/okay. I liked the second more because it was funny. I like Madoka. She was just so casual given her situation. We need more casual characters in anime. We don't get many main characters like that. The second episode felt a bit like Zegapain to me...excluding the serious stuff.

[Yupa]

After watching 1-2 episodes of almost every new show, I decided to watch these shows this season:
Ano Natsu de Matteru
Another
Aquarion Evol
Danshi Koukosei no Nichijou
Inu x Boku SS
Mouretsu Pirates
Natsume Yuujinchou Shi
Nisemonogatari
Thermae Romae (later Black Rock Shooter)
Zero no Tsukaima F

And continueing from last season:
Bakuman 2
Chihayafuru
Mirai Nikki
Shakugan no Shana III

[animeobsessed]

After a couple episodes - here's my summary:

Natsume Yuujinchou Shi - still really like this one
Aquarion Evol - looks like it's different enough from the first one to watch.
Area no Kishi - I haven't watched Touch or Cross Game, so I will watch this one.
Shin Tennis no Ouji-same - starts out like the manga, but I will stick with it for awhile.
Recorder to Randoseru - very short episodes, kinda humorous, on the fence
Bravo 10 - I'm sure i will stay with this one...samurai and swords though it's has the typical helpless girl with some unknown power
Dashi KouKousei no Nichijou - looks like another Kimi no Boku, but not really...not sure on this one yet
Another - I like this one so far - something different, lots of mystery, little spooky
Inu x Boku SS - first episode was ok, depends on what direction they take it
Mouretsu Pirates - This was better than I thought it would be
Gundam Seed remastered - I forgot some of the beginning so it nice to see it again

Continuing from last season:
Bakuman 2 - follows the manga
Chihayafuru - love this one
Mirai Nikki
Phi Brain
Guilty Crown

[Keropi]

I haven't started watching everything I plan to watch yet, but these are what I plan to watch at the moment:

Natsume 4th season ---------------- I'll get to this eventually
Amagami SS+ plus ------------------ Enjoying it for what it's worth
Another ------------------------------ I'm liking it so far
Mouretsu Pirates -------------------- Liking this too. It has a good seiyuu cast
Inu x Boku ---------------------------- I'll probably like this series
High School DxD --------------------- Too much forced fanservice compared to the manga, but I still like it overall
Thermae Romae --------------------- Funny and educational. Too bad there's not much manga material when they adapted this
Aquarion Evol ------------------------ Kind of campy, but that's partially why it was fun to watch
Nisemonogatari ---------------------- More sexual innuendo than the first season. I hope there's a plot later on
Ano Natsu de Matteru --------------- I'm okay with it so far, but I'm not expecting much
Papa no Iukoto wo Kikinasai -------- I'll watch this since I'm already prepared for how the rest of it is going to go
Brave 10 ------------------------------- Not sure I'll finish this. Probably not I would think.
Recorder to Randoseru -------------- Warm and cute is how I'd put it. Seems like just when they're starting to get into something the episode ends
Senki Zesshou Symphogear --------- I'll probably watch this all the way through. Probably.
Rinne no Lagrange ------------------- I like it so far after seeing episode 2
Busou Chuugakusei_ Basket Army -- Hope it's more than one episode

I'll see how Gokyuju is later. Not sure how I'll feel about that one.

I dropped Kill Me Baby

Still watching from last season:

Guilty Crown ------------------------- Haven't seen the last episode yet to know how it's going after the event
High Score ---------------------------- Not much to see here, but I'm watching it
Last Exile Fam ----------------------- The story is not very complex, but the anime makes for great eye candy!
Mirai Nikki ---------------------------- Watching
Persona 4 ----------------------------- I'm going through the not-so-interesting middle part right now

Sengoku Paradise Kiwami ----------- Might as well see this through. Depends how long it is though and how much I'll be able to take it. If the episode lengths were longer I wouldn't be watching it

[JWR]

Well I'm limited to what I get from Cruncyroll since I don't use torrents.

So far I am enjoying Nisemonogatari , Mouretsu Pirates & Another.

[theultimatebrucelee]

so far I'm only watching high school DxD and Symphogear from new season, base on all the reviews I see there isn't much good stuff this season. continue watching last exlie, mirai nikki, shana final and guilty crown.

I was a bit confused on 12 of guilty crown:

so the girl that's in shuu's past, did she get infected with that turn to stone disease later during the time gai was already around or was she a carrier to begin with?

[Thanatos]

Well, after reading about half the Another's manga, I tried to watch the anime. Well, it's quite accurate, even some changes were made. By the way, seeing how the backgrounds are drawn and the characters design, it reminds me a little of some animes. Does anyone know more about the production's studio ?

[Keropi]

P.A. Works seems to be the primary studio behind the Another anime. These are the anime they've worked on in some capacity from ANN:
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclo ... hp?id=4769

Does it remind you of anything from any of those anime?

Looks like Symphogear is going to get streamed by NicoNico:
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/20 ... y-holmes-2

[Thanatos]

Yeah, it seems I have seen well . The anime I was thinking was Rebuild of Evangelion, and I see they have worked on the first chapter "You are (not) alone". Maybe have they worked on "You can (not) advance" too ?
By the way, the third episode is great.

The end is quite bloody, by the fact the body is still moving.

Thanks for the link.

[Quacker]

Does anyone know more about the production's studio ?

P.A. Works seems to be the primary studio behind the Another anime.

P.A. (short for Progressive Animation) Works - offhand from what I can remember.......they are a small studio compared to some of the more well known studios (Madhouse, BONES etc) and are considered in-between 'specialists'.
They have fully produced the animes of Angel Beats!! (a fantastic show from Jun Maeda), CANAAN as well playing a major part in the production of both 'Full Metal Alchemist' series'.
A small majority of the artists originated from or have previously worked for Kyoto Animation, hence why Angel Beats!! & CANAAN both have a similar look & feel some Kyo.Ani titles.