Fall 2012 Anime Season

[Keropi]

Oh wow. That was a pretty emotional episode of Shinsekai Yori episode four.

Looks like the fifth episode will get pretty crazy too.

[GuyvarIII]

So far, in regards to this season (there are too many shows )-

From what I was planning to watch:

JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQUXG2zPaxY) is my favorite “new” show of the season. Everything in the show is just so extreme that it’s awesome. Dio elucidating his despising of dogs for their subservient nature, as well as later following up his KO punch with a thumb jab to JoJo’s eye while gloating about it, was a lot of fun. Also, the retro late ‘60s-esc ending can only be described as “groovy” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKr46XveL6w).

Psycho-Pass (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_A_wsT5WQE) is pretty cool. From the first episode, it looks like its going to end with a Cowboy Bebop-esc showdown, and it definitely wants to pay homage to Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner. However, the idea of a future city where cops not only apprehend real criminals, but also psychologically profile and take down deviants who haven’t done anything wrong, is interesting. It delves into the grey area of right and wrong, as well as how society shapes us and our values. Still, I don’t like the look of the CG-modeled backgrounds and robots. I wish the show had a grittier look, more like an OVA from yesteryear … like AD Police (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FsFHIIkvwZg).

Code: Breaker (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qIsgdTTTeFE) seems like too much of the manga is going to be crammed into too few episodes. I think they should’ve cut and combined some characters, instead of adapting the story, so that they all show up early.

Lychee Light Club (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jq97VCNbIco) … I was punked.
But, I always like the chibi-zation of violent things, so I’m enjoying it.

Jormungand 2 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTYOPu4ZVJc) I’m terribly disappointed in this show. In this same season, in just one scene, Psycho-Pass showed how a character was on the borderline of good and evil, by having him try and kill a victim, whom he was originally going to protect, just because his city-controlled, psychological profiling gun told him to. Jormungand: Perfect Order has talking heads spend an entire episode blathering about how Koko is on the edge, turning into a “monster”, with nothing shown to support this and let me believe it.

R, who was almost non-existent in Season 1, is suddenly given a guess-whose-about-to-buy-the-farm involved CIA spy back-story, out of nowhere. Why wasn’t he meeting occasionally with Saw in Season 1 to lay the groundwork for this? The cutesy “calm-down kids” scene of Valmet and Karen, whose deadly grudge match was the dramatic climax of the previous season, made me grind my teeth. Then, after having a long build up to super-operative Hex’s approaching attack (in fact her plan is mentioned about three times before it happened) they easily defeat her and have her disposed of almost immediately afterward. Maybe the rocket launch will lead to Koko getting more of an edge,

but I’m not sure I wanna take any more of this neither fish nor fowl show.

From other shows I’ve checked out:

Blast of Tempest - the Civilization Blaster (http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XNDYxMDQzNDQ4.html) is the best looking show of the season, and the animated fights aren’t bad. But, now the story seems to have stalled, and neither the gathering of small metal objects, nor the characters themselves are very interesting to watch; and it’s so low key, any suspense has deflated. Still, I’m hoping for more cool fights.

Btooom! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vH2Ar5RcenA) is the second best looking show of the season. I’m hoping this show will turn into a leaner Gantz (or Violence Jack?). But, currently it doesn’t seem to want to go all the way and make our leads completely small, ugly and unsympathetic, or make their situation as petty, demeaning and insulting. If they don’t have as far to climb, or fall, it’s not going to be as fulfilling a character journey.

From the New World (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8J-Vw9WfQs4) I don’t like the bland character designs, but it has the most interesting setting and plot: humanity evolving into a new species with telekinetic powers, in a future with new types of flora and fauna. Where, unbeknownst to these evolved children, they are genetically manipulated and are raised like lab rats (or livestock?) under strict observation.

Kami-Sama Kiss (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftAOAHhKu4o) from the advertising image, and the opening, I didn’t think this show would be any good. But, even though it seems to be a story about a girl meeting a bunch of pretty-boy demons, its situations and its stories are cute and fun so far.

Say “I Love You” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6P38kTo5U0) I only saw episode 1, but I’m not continuing with this. Mei thinking back to her elementary school rabbit, only made me snicker. And Yamato is the "faultless", fantasy male character I hate. I also didn’t understand a lot of the characters reactions to events. Yamato gets mistakenly kicked in the head by Mei, which he enjoys and this perks his interest in her. Then, he just kind of pushes his contact information on her. The scene where Mei calls Yamato to walk her home almost made sense … but, the kiss seemed unnecessary and unbelievable. In the real world, he would’ve just walked her home, and the stalker would’ve backed off. Why wasn’t she creeped out by the kiss? Even if Yamato is fantasy Mr. Perfect, she isn’t supposed to just automatically know that. Wouldn’t she be worried that she just called one creepy stalker to protect her from another?

My Little Monster (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LcigAiYTnbY) I dropped after a couple of episodes. As I guy, I felt Haru’s character was a little demeaning. He seems to love Shizuku like a dog loves its master, and she seems to treat him, as a pet, and a problem to be fixed. I also didn’t care for internet Wicken moe-moron Asako. However, having experienced a similar situation, I did find it funny that Shizuku couldn’t teach product pricing and markups to her father.

Ixion Saga DT (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Dzp73tsZ-c) is a lot of fun. It speaks to my inner twelve-year-old. I even like the gratuitous trap character. And, it has the silliest ending sequence of the season (http://nicoviewer.net/sm19123797).

Aoi Sekai no Chuushin de (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j92WSUhl4OE) I really enjoyed seeing a buff evil Mario on a giant vicious Yoshi, with a drooling maniac Link by his side. Busty women are popping out of their clothing for no reason; but then video-games are demeaning and misogynistic like that. I don’t know if this joke can be sustained for more than one episode, but what I saw was guiltily funny.

Robotics; Notes (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9r0rviRBBT0) I couldn’t get past the implausibility that in the future there will be a High School robot club that will be unable to find members and have no funding, even though it has access to an entire airplane hangar … with a partially built giant robot!

Magi (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZcmYNmfHTj8) I didn’t really like either of the two leads. Ali Baba is like a doormat, and Aladdin seems to go out of his way to screw up things for his supposed buddy. It’s really taking away from the whole little kid adventure feeling of the show.

K (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SOF2K44Ej7Q) The plot is jumping around to too many characters, and none of them seem appealing enough for me to want to continue watching. However, when I saw Suoh show up with his gelled hair, fussy collar, tight pants, gleaming earring, bolo-tie, and attendant Goth-Loli... I questioned why I’m still an anime fan.

Gyrozetter (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2O0FUifE_JA) I think I’m regressing … I think it’s cool eight year-olds are driving red sports cars that change into robots. I just wish the transformation scenes, from cars to robots, actually showed the cars changing into the ’bots, instead of a sparkly magic CG “poof”.

[Keropi]

I haven't been keeping up very well, but I've been working more hours and have been busy with other things.

The only shows I didn't bother with at all were ----- Battle Sprits, Monsuno, Yorinuki Gintama-san, Hidamari Sketch x Honeycomb, Bakuman 3, Haitai Nanafa (can't find it), Oshiri Kajiri Mushi, Cross Fight B-Daman eS and Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal II.

And the only shows I started getting and then stopped were ----- Kamisama Hajimemashita and Litchi De Hikari Club.

Yeah...there are too many shows this season that are at least slightly interesting to me and I want to find out how they turn out. I have difficulty completely dropping everything else.

Since I don't have much time I dropped some shows that I was less interested in ----- Code Breaker (because I already know it through the manga), Ixion Saga DT, K and Busou Shinki. But I'm still getting the episodes anyway. Talk about being time consuming.

From last season I'm still watching Sword Art Online and Muv Luv Alternative.

From what I've seen from this season, I've been enjoying Shinsekai yori and Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo the most. Psycho Pass would be third. Zetsuen no Tempest is alright though, yeah...it is a bit slow at times. Girls und Panzer is fun. To LOVE-Ru Darkness is just like the manga, but I still don't mind seeing it. It's probably because it's been longer since I read it. Robotics Notes is kind of slow too, but I'm sticking with it.

I'm hanging in with Jormungand S2. I can't seem to find the motivation to watch past the first episode of Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun and Btooom. Btooom is another story I'm already familiar with from the manga so there's little motivation for me to fully watch those episodes. The story relies so much on tension and mystery and I already know what's going to happen.

"Onii-chan Dakedo Ai Sae Areba Kankeinai yo ne" is like an ecchi version of the Monogatari series because it relies so much on long sharp dialog and static setups. It does seem a little awkward though having Akiko voiced by a fourteen year old seiyuu considering all the ecchi stuff she's saying, but at least she's not voicing Ana's character. That would have been really crazy if she had done that.

I'm finding Chuunibyou to be okay. It's hard for me to get too excited about it. It's cute and sometimes funny, but that's about it. Little Busters...uh...I'm not much into the humor, but I'll see if I can watch more of it. Magi kind of lost me after that first story arc. If I don't like it more pretty soon I'll have to let it go. I've got to get back to watching Jormungand S2 and Jojo's Bizarre Adventure TV. Yeah, that Jojo's Closing song is great. I was surprised to hear it when it came up...classic rock!

Im' not too excited about Teekyu and Uchurei, but the episodes are so short it's easy to watch. I found the second episode of Uchurei funny, but not the first or the third episodes.

[Keropi]

It seems like there are at least four shows from this season that COULD end up with sad, bittersweet and/or tragic endings:

Zetsuen no Tempest, Jormungand, Shinsekai Yori and Psycho Pass kind of give me those impressions sometimes. I'm not familiar with any of the original sources for these, but they all do feel like they could be heading toward a darker and sad direction (no hints please ). Could be pretty interesting.

And it took seven episodes before the main storyline started rolling out in Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai! (Regardless of My Adolescent Delusions of Grandeur, I Want a Date!). The latest episode felt like a KEY game story arc.

[Keropi]

Someone took the Gundam08th Team anime Opening song and used it to make a video for Girls und Panzer:

The original Gundam 08th MS Team OP:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_PKgztP0zw

The MAD Girls und Panzer OP:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tetlPB6S8Oc

Gee...I can't remember how many times I used to watch that 08th Team Opening. I liked it so much. The music sounded so good in stereo too.

[theultimatebrucelee]

that is pretty cool, those tank scenes worked well. perhaps they could make an ending too. I thought that song was pretty nice also...and the magazine flashing was really creative lol

[Keropi]

Okay...the final tally for the one cour series from this season:

I finished:

1. Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai ----- I liked it. Mostly I liked it for the final five episodes or so. I thought the ending was decent for something they completely made up for the anime.
2. To Love-Ru Darkness ----------------- I liked it. It went pretty much like how the manga went -- lots of ecchi and heavily censored multiple times each episode.
3. Jormungand Season 2----------------- I liked it. I liked the first ten episodes or so. But I was disappointed by the ending. I understand what they were trying to do by Kasper's final speech, but it was still disappointing for me.

Still watching:

Shinsekai Yori ---------------------------- A lot of viewers dropped it after the homosexual/bisexual stuff, but I'm finding it quite interesting, dark and suspenseful.
Zetsuen no Tempest ----------------------I'm enjoying this a lot. Lots of plot twists. This is a series that could easily be destroyed by spoilers though.
Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo -------------Enjoying this. Lots of good parts.
Psycho Pass---------------------------------Enjoying this, but not as much as the above three.
Girls und Panzer----------------------------Enjoyed it. Waiting for the final two episodes.
Robotics;Notes-----------------------------I'm still hanging with it...waiting for the eventual payoff.
Onii-chan Dakedo Ai Sae Areba Kankeinai yo ne!----Liked the first four episodes or so, but not too much of the rest of it. Anastasia is pretty funny sometimes.

Eventually hope to finish Uchurei and Teekyu...even if I didn't like them so much.

How did you guys do for this season?

[Keropi]

So did Sakurasou get to be too annoying for you Darksuzaku? A number of viewers seem to be annoyed with the show lately. I have no idea what is going on in it though as I haven't kept up with it.

Shinsekai Yori has become quite creepy lately while Zetsuen no Tempest is still quite fun for me.

How is Psycho Pass going? I haven't kept up very well with that show either. I guess that one got a little creepy too eh? Well, most of those shows that guy writes become creepy.

[darksuzaku]

So did Sakurasou get to be too annoying for you Darksuzaku? A number of viewers seem to be annoyed with the show lately. I have no idea what is going on in it though as I haven't kept up with it.

Shinsekai Yori has become quite creepy lately while Zetsuen no Tempest is still quite fun for me.

How is Psycho Pass going? I haven't kept up very well with that show either. I guess that one got a little creepy too eh? Well, most of those shows that guy writes become creepy.

Well, Sakurasou just became too predictable, and for this series it's not fun. The whole thing of tearing down Sakurasou apartment is the typical way of "lets get everybody together" to give the series a happy ending, but in the end the series will end without the main guy picking a girl......

Psycho Pass is a very interesting series. But they exposed the true nature of the Sybil system 2 episodes ago, so i'm not sure if they still have a few surprises yet to be revealed..... Well, the one i believe and probably i'm not the one who does....

is that the detective girl (the main cast, what was her name...), probably has the same hability as Makishima, about not raising her psycho-pass

Shinsekai Yori is living up to my expectatives.... Well, i would prefer that Saki took more protagonism, after all, she is suppoded to be the villages leader now. But well, the whole thing about the queerats revolting was very well prepared during the series. Maybe a little too obvious with Saki acting as narrator. Can't wait for the next episode. This is a series that i always watch the raw as soon as it comes out, so go figure how impatient i am

[Keropi]

Hmm...I wonder if they are making up that ending to Sakurasou just for the anime because it sounds like an ending someone would come up with.

I don't read any message boards about Sakurasou or Psycho Pass's progress. Zetsuen no Tempest I really go out of my way to avoid because that show could be spoiled so easily just knowing one spoiler. But I can't help but read at least a little discussion on Shinsekai Yori because that series has TOO much to discuss.

But I don't want to read too much discussion on Shinsekai Yori either because some people are too good at guessing at what is going to happen and there are a few people that spoil things by acting like they are guessing when they know. Fortunately, it seems like there are a lot fewer people that know Shinsekai Yori's source compared to Zetsuen no Tempest. Zetsuen no Tempest has the manga out while Shinsekai Yori was originally a novel right?

I heard that there was some strong sexual content in the Shinsekai Yori manga.

[theultimatebrucelee]

I'm really enjoy shinsekai yori, psycho pass and thought Zetsuen no tempest was just a bit slow at around early midway

when they're trying to figure out who killed the sister part. samon appeared super unprepared and pathetic for a few eps even being the second in command aside from their leader that's sealed away

, otherwise its not bad. I thought shinsekai yori is especially entertaining right now(on ep 19) with the sudden revolt going on. they really did a great job crafting out that dark and mysterious theme and the speed of the anime is great not to mention unpredictable. at the same time the plot makes a lot of sense unlike some of those older animes of the similar genre.

[darksuzaku]

But I don't want to read too much discussion on Shinsekai Yori either because some people are too good at guessing at what is going to happen and there are a few people that spoil things by acting like they are guessing when they know. Fortunately, it seems like there are a lot fewer people that know Shinsekai Yori's source compared to Zetsuen no Tempest. Zetsuen no Tempest has the manga out while Shinsekai Yori was originally a novel right?

I heard that there was some strong sexual content in the Shinsekai Yori manga.

Yeah, there are people who know the Shinsekai novel and post as if they were guessing when they really know. Fortunately there are not many of them because it has not been translated yet and when some of them appear their posts are edited by the mods (on animesuki at least), that's why i tend to read the forums a few days after the episode is aired to give time for those comments to be edited.

Yes, Shinsekai Yori is based on a novel, and not a light novel but a full length novel. Maybe it's the reason why it has not been translated yet (It's a 1000 page novel it seems). So far it seems the anime is making a very close adaptation of the novel.

The manga however is doing a completely free adaptation of the novel changing a lot of things. They just pick things they "like" from the novel and place them on the manga when they feel like it. And, as you say, they have overexposed the sexual content of the novel. On the manga it looks as if they were living for sex -_-. I have read the 8 manga chapters releeased so far and i ave been quite dissapointed. Not going to read anymore.