Every Saki scene:	My reaction:

If I have to see Saki’s pathetic, hang-dog, self-defeating, high-school crush angst, perma-depressed face again I’m going to claw my eyes out. Every scene she’s in is a complete bomb. She’s the biggest waste of digital ink since Taiga Aisaka. Oh and for standing up Ohsugi, may a thousand beef bowls descend upon a thousand of her dresses.

In other news, I don’t like killer-model Kuroha’s voice. It doesn’t strike me as very… pretty.

And I wish Akira had done something a little more evil with the NEETS than send them to Dubai. I sort’ve want to be unsure whether I’m rooting for or against him. But otherwise, his character’s been growing on me, and I think they’ve done a really nice job developing him over the last few episodes.

Just some random thoughts that ran through my head as I got around to watching some of the season’s premieres. On tap? 07-Ghost, the second worst title of the season next to Requiem ~Requiem for the Phantom~.

Fansub group: Dattebayo

Things I liked:

• Solid animation, good action sequences.
• Promising ending, a nice turnaround for a mediocre beginning.
• Ringwraiths in the OP

Things I didn’t like:

• Mikage, stop winking at Teito. And no, sharing beds is not cool.
• Character designs were meh.
• Another lead with childhood amnesia!? Geez, people are so fragile.

Random other thoughts:

This may be my last first impression post of the season as it’s probably unlikely that I’ll watch any of the other spring shows that are on right now. 07-Ghost flew under my radar this season, but I picked this up at the behest of zilch, who mentioned that it was worth checking out. It felt sort of like Chrome Shelled Regios at first (not a good thing), but it got better in the second half, once Teito realized that Ayanami killed Teito’s father years earlier, and decided to go for Ayanami’s jugular. Not bad for a so called softee. No sign of those so called Ghosts, but they were in the OP, so I imagine they’ll be showing up soon. I’m interested to see where they fit into all this.

Studio DEEN’s done some good shows that fall into the dark/action vein. Most notably the Higurashi series, but also Fate/Stay Night and the Hell Girl series, so at the very least I’m sure they’ll be able to knock out the dark vibe.

Oh, on a separate note, don’t bother reading the character profiles on MAL. Apparently, some major character is killed at the end. I averted my eyes maybe a second late, so I’m going to try to forget the names in that sentence. Stupid spoilers.

Damn wraiths always after my preciousss

Just some random thoughts that ran through my head as I got around to watching some of the season’s premieres. On tap? Eden of the East, another potential Production IG winner?

Things I liked:

• The show looks great. The stylized character designs really pop against the realistic and detailed backgrounds. I also like that they’re using a pretty broad color palette.
• English, not Engrish! The English voice actors didn’t sound like pros, but it shows that even the worst voice “acting” sounds even better than the best Engrish. I also like that they picked English speakers who sounded “American.” I’ve seen too many K-dramas that have picked some random dude, who’s most likely Russian or in some cases British, pretend to sound like an American. So kudos for the detail to attention.
• Very nice OP/EDs. Oasis’ song fits the show really well, and I liked the animated sequence. The ED doesn’t sound as good as the OP, but I love the paper animation.
• Plot is interesting and diverse. An apparent budding romance against a backdrop of sociopolitical intrigue.
• DC! I’ve seen that place in person!

Things I didn’t like:

• Does everyone have Babel Fish embedded in their brains? I didn’t like that the Americans reacted to spoken Japanese like it was nothing. Sort of takes away from the realism they established by getting English speakers in the first place.
• Uh, johnny? Amusing, but completely ridiculous. Besides, flashing is a crime in of itself.
• I don’t want to be the reality police, as I realize this is anime, but Saki would’ve been arrested and sent to Guantanamo for tossing coins at the White House, and Akira, who was walking naked and waving a gun, would’ve been shot dead on the spot. I’m just saying
• Sum of the parts were underwhelming. Lots of interesting pieces, but it didn’t cohesively click for me.

Random other thoughts:

Maybe I shouldn’t have watched this late at night while I was tired. Because while I really liked certain aspects of the show – the design, the animation, the characters, the setting, the story – I didn’t walk away from it thinking “oh, that was awesome.” I can tell that it’s going to be a very unique show, and one worth keeping an eye on, but for whatever reason, I was a little underwhelmed. Perhaps I’ll be singing a different song after watching the second episode. I’ll make sure I’m wide awake for that one.

Just some random thoughts that ran through my head as I got around to watching some of the season’s premieres. On tap? Sengoku Basara. A show 21stcenturydigitalboy refers to as Gurren Laggan with samurais. Pretty accurate description actually.

Fansub group: Shinsen-Subs

What I liked:

• Everyone. I mean everyone is GAR like their lives depend on it. It’s like a show full of Kaminas.
• Awesome seiyuu cast. I especially liked hearing Souichirou Hoshi doing his Maebara Keichi with spears.
• Good character designs, excellent animation. IG Production did a great job capturing the movement and just giving it life.
• Excellent soundtrack. OP/ED are just ok, but the in-anime soundtrack pumps you up.
• Great, over-the-top action scenes.
• Kasuga is the first dere dere ninja I’ve ever seen. Plus, she’s half naked.
• Did I mention everyone is completely GAR on an insane level? You won’t find any of your standard, sniveling, shameless harem lead guys here.

What I didn’t like:

• No one died. This just seems like one of those shows where at least one or two people should die each episode and there should be a grand massacre in the finale.
• It’s a historical drama.

Random other thoughts:

Next time I’m going to either have to be more thorough with my season preview, or not do one at all. But to be fair to myself, I had no intention to watch this show originally. On an exponential scale, if Mahjong rates a -1 on things I’m interested in, historical dramas with samurais and crap are like a -7. I don’t know why. I like sword fighting. I like martial arts. I like most samurais not named Tom Cruise. But I hate historical dramas.

But my interest was piqued after reading digitalboy’s glowing first impressions. And after he continued to cream his jeans over the second episode, I figured I had to give it a shot. And what can I say, he hit the nail on the head. Sengoku Basara is definitely the most over-the-top GAR shounen series I’ve ever seen. It really is like watching a bunch of Kaminas, Kittans and older GAR Simons dressed up as samurais fighting each other. Even the guys that like each other beat the crap out of each other. I don’t know if I’ll write about this series on a weekly basis, but it is definitely, definitely worth watching. Helluva surprise.

 
With friends like these…

Just some random thoughts that ran through my head as I got around to watching some of the season’s premieres. On tap? Pandora Hearts. The generic anime with a generic name.

Fansub group: Mochi

Things I liked:

• Genuinely creepy at times.
• WTF? ending.

Things I didn’t like:

• Lame, uninspired characters.
• Crappy designs, lazy animation. They overused dark colors and shadows like they were trying to hide details.
• Generic as hell. Looks like it’d fit right into the Yugi-Oh, Pokemon weekday afternoon lineup that I remember as a kid.
• 4:3 aspect ratio.
• Yaoi fodder.

Random other thoughts:

Chains. Shotas. Master-servant relationships. Pain. I’m starting to think this show was created only to give the Yaoi doujinshi fans some new material to play with.

The story was pretty crappy for the first 18 minutes or so. I watched it while reorganizing my CDs and DVDs. Apps in one spindle. Games in the other. I was actually more engrossed in my reorganizing than I was in the show. But then I did find the last few minutes interesting, when Oz stumbles upon the grave and later when Gilbert meets that witch or whatever she was and gains some courage and an evil grin to boot.

I’ll watch a couple more episodes to see how this goes. I’m always intrigued by Alice in Wonderland themes, and the dark turn it took towards the end of the episode piqued my interest.

Just some random thoughts that ran through my head as I got around to watching some of the season’s premieres. On tap? Oh, just the show that everyone and their mother seems to be covering and fansubbing.

Fansub group: gSS

Things I liked:

• Unnecessary remake or not, you know FMA’s gonna be a good show.
• A fair amount of seiyuus back in their original roles, notably Rie Kugumiya and Romi Paku as Alphonse and Edward, Keiji Fujiwara as Maes and Kenji Utsumi as Alex Louis Armstrong.
• Nice designs, excellent animation.
• Exciting and engaging story for a re-introduction.

Things I didn’t like:

• Shinichiro Miki (Lockon Stratos) as Roy Mustang. He wasn’t bad, but Roy Mustang sounded a little too nice. The Roy Mustang I know is a real smart-ass.
• I’ve seen this before.

Random other thoughts:

So FMA: Brotherhood (I notice it has a subtitle now) is probably going to the best show of the season. The writing should be tight, we know the characters are cool, and since Bones is producing it, it’s gonna be pretty sweet on the eyes. But I think it’s just not going to be as fun a ride, if you’ve seen the first go-around.

The premiere was a pretty exciting first episode, especially considering that it was largely a reintroduction. We get a new, short-lived villain, and are introduced to old, familiar villains. We get a lot of Edward and Alphonse, a little bit of Roy Mustang (the useless in rain bit always gets me), with a healthy dose of Maes Hughes and Alex Louis Armstrong doing their thing. Otherwise, it looks like the real story kicks off next week.

Knowing everything I do about all the characters, should I be surprised when things go awry? The ending may end up being drastically different, and I’m sure minor details will be different, but that doesn’t change what we know about Lust and Gluttony. About Envy. Or the other homunculus. Or Roy Mustang’s boss King Bradley. Or the excellent Maes Hughes. Are things going to be that different for these guys at the end of the show? Probably not.

But regardless, FMA is definitely a must watch. For those who are new to FMA – because it’s a fantastic story with great characters. And for those watching it a second time around – because it’s still a fantastic story with great characters, and to see if Bones can successfully weave the tale without dropping too much déjà vu on us.

Just some random thoughts that ran through my head as I got around to watching some of the season’s premieres. On tap? Valkyria Chronicles, an adaptation of an RPG produced by A-1.

Fansub group: Ayako

Things I liked:

• Loved the character designs. They’re bright, attractive and the watercolor effect makes it stand out. Animation was pretty solid too. Hopefully it stays that way and A-1 doesn’t cheat like they did with Kuroshitsuji. That show featured more pans than a bakery. *rimshot*
• Welkin and Alicia. I haven’t played the game, but the two had good chemistry, IMO.
• Alicia. Gotta keep the tsundere around to make it interesting, right?

Things I didn’t like:

• Alicia’s probably the worst soldier I’ve ever seen. From randomly arresting Welkin and not telling anyone about it, to chasing him around instead of heading out with the rest of her group, to walking nonchalantly past windows when she’s in Welkin’s mansion, there’s nothing to make me think that she would survive a real battle. I realize she’s actually a baker, but c’mon. I don’t see how she’s going to survive past the next episode at this pace. This also probably doesn’t bode well for the show’s “military tactics”

Random other thoughts:

I thought this looked interesting, but didn’t cover it in my spring preview, because I wasn’t planning to watch it. I prefer to play the game first before watching the adaptation. But then I realized this was a PS3 exclusive, and since those are still like $500 or whatever, I realized that it’d probably be years before I got around to playing the game.

I really liked the first episode. I immediately liked the characters, pacing was solid, story seems… different for an RPG-adaption – this is a good thing. I don’t know how long the game is, but I hope they pace this well enough so the inevitable rushing and condensing of content at the end of the season doesn’t happen. I can only hope it doesn’t go down the same route of mediocrity that Tales of the Abyss did.

There’s an outside chance I may continue to write about this show. The 26 episode length is a knock on it, but right now since I’m only planning to follow K-ON! on a weekly basis, it’s a possibility.

Just some random thoughts that ran through my head as I got around to watching some of the season’s premieres. On tap? Well, less of a first impression than a 54th impression. Yet here they are, doing character re-introductions.

Fansub group: SS-Eclipse is back for season 2, with fabulous karaoke effects to boot.

Things I liked:

• New studio, but it’s pretty much the same old HnG that I remember. Character designs may be slightly different (perhaps a bit rounder) and I think the color palette seems to be more on the saturated side (although it could just be video quality), but you wouldn’t really notice a difference.
• Character reintroduction profiles. I always reading generic profile information about characters for whatever reason.
• Hina ED! (The EDs even better once I understood the words. They fit perfectly. It’s such a sweet song.)

Things I didn’t like:

• Not much to dislike. Not that it was a great episode, but there’s not much to say about a reintroduction episode. Umm, not enough Hamster?
• There was no obligatory Hamster eating scene, nor the typical otaku references, but I didn’t miss either of those.

Random other thoughts:

With all of my preoccupation with Hina, I completely forgot that Nagi’s technically the lead gal in the show.

If you haven’t watched HnG1, you can still probably pick up HnG2 and not miss a beat. It’s not one of those shows that believes very strongly in continuity. Although if the JC Staff version is following the manga, perhaps there’ll be some development this year, which would be nice. Last season felt like 52 episodes of empty calories. Not the worst thing in the world, but sort of a wasted opportunity.

I’ll definitely continue watching HnG2, but I’m not planning to write about it unless an episode is predominantly Hina, Hamster or Izumi focused.

Just some random thoughts that ran through my head as I got around to watching some of the season’s premieres. On tap? Another Gonzo show, Saki. A slice of life about Mahjong. Hurray. I think.

Fansub group: Underwater-Mahjong

Things I liked:

• Good character designs, solid animation. I liked the CGI Mahjong board. I’ve never seen Mahjong presented in such an exciting way.
• Likeable characters (a prerequisite for slice of life shows).
• Great seiyuu cast: Ami Koshimizu, Jun Fukuyama, Rie Kugimiya, Kana Ueda, Shizuka Itoh et. al.
• Rie Kugimiya in a non-tsundere role. I forgot how much I liked her when she’s just being moe.

Things I didn’t like:

• It’s about freaking mahjong. I equate mahjong with grandmas.

Random other thoughts:

I didn’t even bother mentioning this show in my season preview, because a.) I’m a lazy bastard and b.) I didn’t plan on watching this show. But after reading a couple solid reviews, I thought what the hell. Why not.

There’s nothing extraordinary about Saki the show (although Saki the character seems to be Strike Witch Miyafuji’s separated-at-birth twin). But perhaps I would’ve enjoyed it more if I liked Mahjong, or at least even knew what all the strategy and terminology really meant (definitions don’t mean much, if you don’t know zip about the game itself). I’m guessing that Saki’s skill at getting zero-scores each time out would be sort of like someone always drawing 17 while playing Black Jack. Or maybe just getting two-pair in poker? Yeah, there were probably some chill-inducing scenes for Mahjong fans that just went over my head.

Otherwise, it was pretty entertaining nevertheless. And with the awesome seiyuu cast, it should be a nice way to waste 20 minutes a week. Maybe I’ll even learn something about Mahjong along the way.

Just some random thoughts that ran through my head as I got around to watching some of the season’s premieres. First up? Gonzo’s Shangri-La.

Fansub group: AoT

Things I liked:

• Lush backgrounds, nice character designs for Kikuni, our heroine and Mikuni, the heterochromic loli.
• Good action sequence at the end. You don’t see boomerang fights too often.
• A WTF? ending.
• Kikuni’s skirtline.

Things I didn’t like:

• Character designs for all of the background characters. They all look so dull and lifeless. That may have been intentional, but it’s depressing to look at.
• Boring story. They were tossing around some pretty technical terms. Carbon trading discussions don’t exactly make good fodder for anime. I mean, I liked the economics discussions in Spice and Wolf, but that was because it was usually Lawrence or Horo talking about it, and they’re interesting. Random politicians talking about carbon on the other hand is boring.
• All the adult women looked and sounded like men. Ugh.

Random other thoughts:

I said before, that I wasn’t sure if the story is really interesting or really stupid. After watching the first episode, I can say, I still don’t know. But I do know that I was disappointed by the first episode. The dialogue and pacing were quite poor. And while the pacing may get better, I don’t know if the dialogue will. It wasn’t like all the boring talk was to just set up the background. I think all that eco-babble is going to be a pretty integral part of the show, which does not bode well. However, the last three minutes were pretty interesting, and if they can build on the WTF ending, maybe it’ll be ok. I’ll keep watching it to see if it improves, but the first episode definitely squashed any chance that I’ll write about SL on a continued basis.

Also, Kikuni’s skirtline was ridiculously high. With all the jumping around she was doing, I give Gonzo credit for showing some restraint and not turning Shangri-La into a pantsu-flashing fest.