It's almost the end of the summer anime season...
I guess I'm reviewing (and not doing a good job at it, but oh well) now rather than later.
Morita-san wa Mukuchi (as of ep.9)
Original impression: Short (~5 min) and episodic slice of life episodes. Cute character designs, not overly loli.
Current opinion: Pretty much the same. Not boring, very simple. Usually puts a smile on my face when I watch it.
Mayo Chiki (as of ep.9)
Original impression: Parts reminded me of Maria Holic. The whole sheep/butler wordplay pun... As cliche as the whole setup is, it's still cute, and as long as they manage to make it interesting, then I have no problems watching it. As for the character design, the design of the eyes is particularly appealing to me. The audience appears to be mixed -- there's the fujoshi stuff for the girls, and the censored ecchi stuff for the guys, LOL.
Current opinion: As a harem anime, this is bound to end one of a few ways. In this way, I still think it may be cliche, but the course of the show is still fun to watch.
Kami-sama no Memo-chou (as of ep.9)
Original impression: Very high quality animation. Unavoidable to think of it as a modern-day GOSICK. Right off, they tackle the tougher stuff, that's different. I'm curious to see what other types of topics they cover.
Current opinion: Originally, it seemed like they might handle touchier topics, but it lightened up a little. Just a little.
Itsuka Tenma no Kuro Usagi (as of ep.9)
Original impression: OVERLY CUTESY. Nice character designs, and I like the bright neon color palette. This doesn't prepare you for surprise "horror" scenes...
Current opinion: Luckily after the beginning of the show, there weren't anymore such scenes as in the first episode. I kind of got tired of the interactions between the characters, the story doesn't seem as interesting now. I'm mainly sticking to it because I still really like Himea's hair and the unusual highlighting in her hair (namely, the moving white lights).
No.6 (as of ep.9)
Original impression: Character designs by toi8! Lots of BL undertones in the beginning, which may throw off some people. Concept of the place is similar to the Coliseum episodes from Kino no Tabi.
Current opinion: By far, this is my favorite show of the season. Though, the pacing started to change with the later part. According to those who've read the novels, they jumped ahead a lot... I'm planning to read the novels once the show is over.
Mawaru-Penguindrum (as of ep.8)
Original impression: Considering the Utena roots from Ikuhara, I was expecting something out of the ordinary with this series, and it sure didn't disappoint! The running theme I'm picking up on is "things are not always as they seem."
Current opinion: I'm still confused as I was (well, maybe a little less confused, but still confused nonetheless) at the beginning of the show. This may be one of those shows that won't explain things until the very end, if even then. There are also still a lot of WTF moments...
Uta no Prince-sama (as of ep.10)
Original impression: The OP (which is later the ED) grows on you as you keep listening to it. I can't really say much about content...
Current opinion: After watching the most recent episode, all I can say is "I have no words..."
Kami-sama Dolls (as of ep.9)
Original impression: Initially, it made me think of Bokurano as it gave off a similar atmosphere to that series. It starts off showing a scene from the past, then comes to the present, sets up how the characters are... and then shows you how dark this series will get. The way they set up the episode, it makes you think about and wonder what went wrong in the past and what changed those characters.
Current opinion: They do in fact get to the point eventually of what was set up in the beginning. As for now, the ending could go a number of ways, but I can't guess which way it would go. I think they did a good job of fleshing out the humanity of the antagonist, though. Somewhere around the middle, I was thinking of dropping this series because it wasn't holding my interest, but then I let a few episodes queue and watched them all together, and was glad that I didn't drop it. It gets pretty interesting.
Usagi Drop (as of ep.9)
Original impression: This series has a very fuwa fuwa/fluffy feeling from the animation style. It reminds me of Natsume Yuujinchou and a little bit of Hourou Musuko, in that sense. As for the content, first thought is, "Wow, what a complicated family relationship." But the main little girl, Rin, it adorable. She's like an older Yuzuyu from Aishiteruze Baby. =)
Current opinion: Slowly seeing some changes, but my initial opinion/impression still stands. I like watching this one.
Yuru Yuri (as of ep.9)
Original impression: MOE. The OP is catchy. I laughed at some of the awkward developments, and couldn't help but see that there was some Card Captor Sakura references/parodies. For one, Akari looks like Sakura, and even does the "hoeee" sound. And then the Mirakurun fictional character... doe the staff spinning like Sakura. XD; No hesitation to make this yuri-ish, huh?
Current opinion: They really did go there...
Ikoku Meiro no Croisée (as of ep.9)
Original impression: Another historical one by artist Hinata Takeda (also did GOSICK). Yune, the main girl, is sooo petite. Sadly, I'm comparing this to GOSICK too much, and my preference is for that show. This is still very slice of life. I'm still waiting for more fulfilling development. Not to say that the stories contained within each episode aren't cute. =) They're slowly fleshing out building up the relationships between the characters.
Current opinion: They fleshed out a few character relationships, which was nice. Otherwise, I still find myself waiting...
Sacred Seven (as of ep.10)
Original impression: Troubled protagonist with a bit of dark past. Cliche. XD; And Medusa thing for the first villain? LOL. I'm not sure how much I can comment coherently on this... Onigawara does those Japanese kaomoji in STONE, how comedic. XD Also... they way those stones get dispensed, won't they need an endless supply?! How are they going to explain this...?)
Current opinion: I was going to drop this one, but like Kami-sama Dolls, I let it backlog a little bit and then caught up. It got more interesting in the middle (though I felt one ep was superfluous), but overall, I think it's getting better.
Nyanpire The Animation (as of ep.9)
Original impression: Another show with short episodes. Trying to get over the portrayal of the character while still thinking the character design is cute. XD;
Current opinion: Save the owner, ALL the characters are males... OTL
Blood-C (as of ep.8)
Original impression: Another Blood remake of sorts, after the Blood: The Last Vampire movie and Blood+ TV series. CLAMP took part in this series, and it shows. The main girl, Saya, is cute and bright, but also serious when she needs to be. While watching the background, one of my thoughts was, "Why aren't there any people around besides at school?" It's kind of mysterious, I hope they will explain it better than they did in episode 2.
Current opinion: The plot development took too long, and some things could have been shorter. I have my thoughts on the ending, but since it's supposed to end soon, I'm not so sure it'd be enough to actually address the things that need addressing. In this show, it's inevitable someone will die... and lots of gratuitous gore (censored...). I also see that a lot of other people have lost interest in this show because of the directing and character portrayals...
R-15 (as of ep.8)
Original impression: LOL at the premise, and a teenaged genius erotic novelist at an elite academy... needless to say, this is very fanservice-y. But it's always that one girl who will make all the difference, right? XD;
Current opinion: Still as gratuitous as ever. Might as well just have a completely censored screen... The main pair development is really slow, and then there's that this is another harem-ish show. Not sure if I should expect anything to come of this one.
Dantalian no Shoka (as of ep.8)
Original impression: First thing I thought was that it had nice music to start off with. As for the background scenery, some of it looks like it was taken directly from real life! I also like the premise of this one, it's very interesting, after having watched GOSICK. Though, I do find it kind of funny that the seiyuu for Victorique's mother Cordelia (in GOSICK), Sawashiro Miyuki, is now voicing someone much like Victorique. I think there were even a couple of spoken lines that made me think of Victorique. XD
Current opinion: Very episodic, reminiscent of Kino no Tabi. I'm still waiting for them to address the whole Dalian and the other lady thing. This is another show where I originally thought it was going to be inevitable that people would die, but now towards the later part, they're actually doing something about it, huh.
Natsume Yuujinchou San (as of ep.9)
Original impression: Yay! More Natsume~
Current opinion: Same overall feel-good feeling from the previous two seasons, but alas, like the other two seasons, this season also has those episodes with the creepy and scary youkai that make me wish I hadn't watched those episodes at night right before going to bed. ;_;
Inazuma Eleven GO (as of ep.8)
Current opinion: I've got up to 17 queued... The way they took stuff from the original series and change it about to make it a different premise for this new series was pretty interesting. I like how they're slowly bringing out the original characters into their new roles in this series as well. But I'm having a harder time remembering the new characters names... The original ones were so much easier. I also have questions about how certain things came about, but I wonder if they'll address those later in the series... And also -- ENDOU-KANTOKU! XDb
----
Continued from last season:
Ao no Exorcist (as of ep.21)
Current opinion: I heard it went a different direction, but since I don't know about the manga, I really can't say. I'm just watching this one because I am...
Hanasaku Iroha (as of ep.23)
Current opinion: It's finally coming full circle to the beginning! I can't wait to see how the last few episodes play out. =)
SKET Dance (as of ep.22)
Current opinion: A lot of this had too much humor for my tastes, but there were a few episodes that were definitely better than others, such as the rock band episodes. I'm waiting for more deeper character development episodes, but am I expecting too much? It seems like there's only 23 episodes announced for now, so... my guess is probably not?
Steins;Gate (as of ep.22)
Current opinion: Somewhere in the middle, I was thinking about dropping this one. The pacing in the beginning was really slow because they really focused on a slow exposition. And then in the middle, they kept repeating things over and over... I was starting to get tired of it. But then they finally got to a point where it got interesting. And I'm glad I kept on watching. The most recent episode actually moved me to tears.
Morita-san wa Mukuchi (as of ep.9)
Original impression: Short (~5 min) and episodic slice of life episodes. Cute character designs, not overly loli.
Current opinion: Pretty much the same. Not boring, very simple. Usually puts a smile on my face when I watch it.
Mayo Chiki (as of ep.9)
Original impression: Parts reminded me of Maria Holic. The whole sheep/butler wordplay pun... As cliche as the whole setup is, it's still cute, and as long as they manage to make it interesting, then I have no problems watching it. As for the character design, the design of the eyes is particularly appealing to me. The audience appears to be mixed -- there's the fujoshi stuff for the girls, and the censored ecchi stuff for the guys, LOL.
Current opinion: As a harem anime, this is bound to end one of a few ways. In this way, I still think it may be cliche, but the course of the show is still fun to watch.
Kami-sama no Memo-chou (as of ep.9)
Original impression: Very high quality animation. Unavoidable to think of it as a modern-day GOSICK. Right off, they tackle the tougher stuff, that's different. I'm curious to see what other types of topics they cover.
Current opinion: Originally, it seemed like they might handle touchier topics, but it lightened up a little. Just a little.
Itsuka Tenma no Kuro Usagi (as of ep.9)
Original impression: OVERLY CUTESY. Nice character designs, and I like the bright neon color palette. This doesn't prepare you for surprise "horror" scenes...
Current opinion: Luckily after the beginning of the show, there weren't anymore such scenes as in the first episode. I kind of got tired of the interactions between the characters, the story doesn't seem as interesting now. I'm mainly sticking to it because I still really like Himea's hair and the unusual highlighting in her hair (namely, the moving white lights).
No.6 (as of ep.9)
Original impression: Character designs by toi8! Lots of BL undertones in the beginning, which may throw off some people. Concept of the place is similar to the Coliseum episodes from Kino no Tabi.
Current opinion: By far, this is my favorite show of the season. Though, the pacing started to change with the later part. According to those who've read the novels, they jumped ahead a lot... I'm planning to read the novels once the show is over.
Mawaru-Penguindrum (as of ep.8)
Original impression: Considering the Utena roots from Ikuhara, I was expecting something out of the ordinary with this series, and it sure didn't disappoint! The running theme I'm picking up on is "things are not always as they seem."
Current opinion: I'm still confused as I was (well, maybe a little less confused, but still confused nonetheless) at the beginning of the show. This may be one of those shows that won't explain things until the very end, if even then. There are also still a lot of WTF moments...
Uta no Prince-sama (as of ep.10)
Original impression: The OP (which is later the ED) grows on you as you keep listening to it. I can't really say much about content...
Current opinion: After watching the most recent episode, all I can say is "I have no words..."
Kami-sama Dolls (as of ep.9)
Original impression: Initially, it made me think of Bokurano as it gave off a similar atmosphere to that series. It starts off showing a scene from the past, then comes to the present, sets up how the characters are... and then shows you how dark this series will get. The way they set up the episode, it makes you think about and wonder what went wrong in the past and what changed those characters.
Current opinion: They do in fact get to the point eventually of what was set up in the beginning. As for now, the ending could go a number of ways, but I can't guess which way it would go. I think they did a good job of fleshing out the humanity of the antagonist, though. Somewhere around the middle, I was thinking of dropping this series because it wasn't holding my interest, but then I let a few episodes queue and watched them all together, and was glad that I didn't drop it. It gets pretty interesting.
Usagi Drop (as of ep.9)
Original impression: This series has a very fuwa fuwa/fluffy feeling from the animation style. It reminds me of Natsume Yuujinchou and a little bit of Hourou Musuko, in that sense. As for the content, first thought is, "Wow, what a complicated family relationship." But the main little girl, Rin, it adorable. She's like an older Yuzuyu from Aishiteruze Baby. =)
Current opinion: Slowly seeing some changes, but my initial opinion/impression still stands. I like watching this one.
Yuru Yuri (as of ep.9)
Original impression: MOE. The OP is catchy. I laughed at some of the awkward developments, and couldn't help but see that there was some Card Captor Sakura references/parodies. For one, Akari looks like Sakura, and even does the "hoeee" sound. And then the Mirakurun fictional character... doe the staff spinning like Sakura. XD; No hesitation to make this yuri-ish, huh?
Current opinion: They really did go there...
Ikoku Meiro no Croisée (as of ep.9)
Original impression: Another historical one by artist Hinata Takeda (also did GOSICK). Yune, the main girl, is sooo petite. Sadly, I'm comparing this to GOSICK too much, and my preference is for that show. This is still very slice of life. I'm still waiting for more fulfilling development. Not to say that the stories contained within each episode aren't cute. =) They're slowly fleshing out building up the relationships between the characters.
Current opinion: They fleshed out a few character relationships, which was nice. Otherwise, I still find myself waiting...
Sacred Seven (as of ep.10)
Original impression: Troubled protagonist with a bit of dark past. Cliche. XD; And Medusa thing for the first villain? LOL. I'm not sure how much I can comment coherently on this... Onigawara does those Japanese kaomoji in STONE, how comedic. XD Also... they way those stones get dispensed, won't they need an endless supply?! How are they going to explain this...?)
Current opinion: I was going to drop this one, but like Kami-sama Dolls, I let it backlog a little bit and then caught up. It got more interesting in the middle (though I felt one ep was superfluous), but overall, I think it's getting better.
Nyanpire The Animation (as of ep.9)
Original impression: Another show with short episodes. Trying to get over the portrayal of the character while still thinking the character design is cute. XD;
Current opinion: Save the owner, ALL the characters are males... OTL
Blood-C (as of ep.8)
Original impression: Another Blood remake of sorts, after the Blood: The Last Vampire movie and Blood+ TV series. CLAMP took part in this series, and it shows. The main girl, Saya, is cute and bright, but also serious when she needs to be. While watching the background, one of my thoughts was, "Why aren't there any people around besides at school?" It's kind of mysterious, I hope they will explain it better than they did in episode 2.
Current opinion: The plot development took too long, and some things could have been shorter. I have my thoughts on the ending, but since it's supposed to end soon, I'm not so sure it'd be enough to actually address the things that need addressing. In this show, it's inevitable someone will die... and lots of gratuitous gore (censored...). I also see that a lot of other people have lost interest in this show because of the directing and character portrayals...
R-15 (as of ep.8)
Original impression: LOL at the premise, and a teenaged genius erotic novelist at an elite academy... needless to say, this is very fanservice-y. But it's always that one girl who will make all the difference, right? XD;
Current opinion: Still as gratuitous as ever. Might as well just have a completely censored screen... The main pair development is really slow, and then there's that this is another harem-ish show. Not sure if I should expect anything to come of this one.
Dantalian no Shoka (as of ep.8)
Original impression: First thing I thought was that it had nice music to start off with. As for the background scenery, some of it looks like it was taken directly from real life! I also like the premise of this one, it's very interesting, after having watched GOSICK. Though, I do find it kind of funny that the seiyuu for Victorique's mother Cordelia (in GOSICK), Sawashiro Miyuki, is now voicing someone much like Victorique. I think there were even a couple of spoken lines that made me think of Victorique. XD
Current opinion: Very episodic, reminiscent of Kino no Tabi. I'm still waiting for them to address the whole Dalian and the other lady thing. This is another show where I originally thought it was going to be inevitable that people would die, but now towards the later part, they're actually doing something about it, huh.
Natsume Yuujinchou San (as of ep.9)
Original impression: Yay! More Natsume~
Current opinion: Same overall feel-good feeling from the previous two seasons, but alas, like the other two seasons, this season also has those episodes with the creepy and scary youkai that make me wish I hadn't watched those episodes at night right before going to bed. ;_;
Inazuma Eleven GO (as of ep.8)
Current opinion: I've got up to 17 queued... The way they took stuff from the original series and change it about to make it a different premise for this new series was pretty interesting. I like how they're slowly bringing out the original characters into their new roles in this series as well. But I'm having a harder time remembering the new characters names... The original ones were so much easier. I also have questions about how certain things came about, but I wonder if they'll address those later in the series... And also -- ENDOU-KANTOKU! XDb
----
Continued from last season:
Ao no Exorcist (as of ep.21)
Current opinion: I heard it went a different direction, but since I don't know about the manga, I really can't say. I'm just watching this one because I am...
Hanasaku Iroha (as of ep.23)
Current opinion: It's finally coming full circle to the beginning! I can't wait to see how the last few episodes play out. =)
SKET Dance (as of ep.22)
Current opinion: A lot of this had too much humor for my tastes, but there were a few episodes that were definitely better than others, such as the rock band episodes. I'm waiting for more deeper character development episodes, but am I expecting too much? It seems like there's only 23 episodes announced for now, so... my guess is probably not?
Steins;Gate (as of ep.22)
Current opinion: Somewhere in the middle, I was thinking about dropping this one. The pacing in the beginning was really slow because they really focused on a slow exposition. And then in the middle, they kept repeating things over and over... I was starting to get tired of it. But then they finally got to a point where it got interesting. And I'm glad I kept on watching. The most recent episode actually moved me to tears.