Servant x Service (streaming on Crunchyroll on Thursdays)
I have some expectations for this, because it’s
made by A-1 pictures and the guy who did Working!!,
but this is one hundred times better because its cast is adults instead of high
school students. I bet that they’ll act
like high schoolers, though… So, I’m
betting that I will enjoy this, but not love it (same as my feelings for
Working!!, really). It’ll just be an
episodic comedy, probably… Those can be
entertaining, but can never really be great unless they do something very surprising.
Kin-iro Mosiac (Crunchyroll on Sundays)
I have no
expectations. Well, I guess I do, but
they’re all negative. With my
clairvoyance, I detect a Cute Girls Doing Cute Things™ anime with some topical
British/Japanese stereotyping.
Stereotyping jokes based on nationality can be funny (see Hetalia, for
example) but I doubt that this will pull off the so-offensive-it’s-hilarious
thing that Hetalia’s got going (and it will have less variety and less fun
character designs), so it will probably be boring. And probably just mocking the British and
making the Japanese look perfect. The
most positive thing I can say may be that girl on the right’s epic British flag
coat, which I’m totally jealous of. Cute
Girls Doing Cute Things™ just bore me, that’s all. I guess I’m not their target audience, but
the sheer prevalence of them annoys me.
Blood Lad (streaming on Viz/hulu)
I bet that I will like this.
I will be compelled to read the manga after it. At least, that’s what I bet will happen. Its writing won’t be top notch, but will be
entertaining and have personality (thinking Soul Eater here). It looks like it has action, romance, and
real vampires, and I’m a sucker (I swear that pun’s unintentional) for all
three.
And it’s
done by the studio Brains Base, who I respect because of Baccano!, Durarara!!,
and Mawaru Penguindrum.
Gin no Saji: Silver Spoon (Crunchyroll on Thursdays
I originally overlooked
this anime. City boy in the
country? Sounds boring.
Then, I
learned.
Hiromu
Arakawa wrote the manga.
I’m watching
this.
(she’s
totally making a cameo in that picture, by the way)
(and I may
check out the manga, too. I hear that
it’s good)
Brothers Conflict (streaming on FUNimation's website on Tuesdays)
Oh, crap. Why do these shows scare me more than Cute
Girls Doing Cute Things™ shows? Is it
because they’re supposed to appeal to me?
Is it the implied incest? I mean,
it’s about a girl gaining eleven step-brothers!
How could it not be a reverse
harem? But… it’s made by the
actually-pretty-good studio Brains Base! They did Amnesia, though, so it’s not
impossible…
I guess that
my enjoyment of romances increases in inverse proportion to the number of
people romantically involved with the protagonist. One person=perfect, as their
relationship gets all the focus.
Two=less perfect, but still okay love triangle. Three=annoying harem. Four and up= Are you kidding me? Thus, on this scale, Eleven=FAIL.
And a lot of
the guys look like chicks. Just
sayin’. I’m not into the
essentially-female-but-with-flat-chest look, myself.
I detect a
whiff of fail around this, so I hope that this may end up being enjoyably
bad. But the fanservice/technical incest
may scare me away.
(And how the
HELL does she not get ANY sisters?)
Kitakubu Katsudou Kiroku/ Chronicles of the
Going Home Club (Crunchyroll on Thursdays)
Yay. More Cute Girls Doing Cute Things™ over
here. And I don’t even see any possible
racism to make it more bearable. I mean,
the description has the word ‘hijinks’ in it!
THERE IS NO HOPE!
Fate/kaleid liner Prisma Illya (Crunchyroll)
I’ve never actually
watched any Fate/whatever, but this will be okay since it’s an AU. I’m not going to let this color my opinions
of the actual Fate/Stay Night franchise, because I’ve heard fans of it pissing
and moaning about this one, which re-imagines one of the characters of a
magical girl. I bet that it won’t be
very good, but I’m not holding that against Fate/Stay Night and Fate/Zero when
I actually do get around to them. And,
plus, besides Madoka Magica (which I like) and Princess Tutu (which I LOVE),
I’m not a big magical girl fan. Most magical girl anime are only one step
removed from Cute Girls Doing Cute Things™ after all, so I only like them if
they avoid that habit. And, looking at
that picture, I detect that it won’t because it doesn’t have an insane writer
and insane animation like Madoka Magica or an awesome plot and the incorrect
male/female ratio like Princess Tutu.
Monogatari Series Second Season (Crunchyroll)
More Araragi? More Senjogahara? More insane Shaft animation? More fast-talking? That’s enough for me to watch this. No, really.
You could probably stick Senjogahara into a Cute Girls Doing Cute
Things™ anime and I would watch it and love it.
Even if I can’t spell her name.
Uchouten Kazoku/ The Eccentric Family (Crunchyroll on Sundays)
I have allowed myself to get REALLY hyped for
this. Why? First of all, the fairly good P.A. Works is
handling the animation. Second, I like
the character designs, which were made by the guy who did Sayonara Zetsubou
Sensei. Third, it has Tanuki in it, and
I really like Tanuki (I don’t know why, I just like shape-shifty raccoons for
some reason). Fourth, based on a novel
by the writer of the impeccably-written The
Tatami Galaxy. Yay!~ I
detect some enjoyably weird here!
Inu to Hasami wa Tsukaiyou/ Dog &
Scissors (Crunchyroll on Mondays)
Boy turns to dog. Um, okay.
I guess that means that they don’t have to bother making a nice male
character design. The dog isn’t even cute. He meets a sadistic novelist (who I just know will be insanely fetishized), who
abuses him with scissors. Because violent
animal abuse is funny, I guess. Based on
a light novel, because we know how well light novel adaptations go
nowadays. Animated by Gonzo, which
doesn’t make a lot of good stuff nowadays.
It’s an ‘absurd mystery comedy’, which is a phrase that’s been a bit of
a trigger for me ever since Cuticle Detective Inaba.
…crap.
Rozen Maiden (New Series) (Crunchyroll on Fridays)
I haven’t seen the
original Rozen Maiden, but I figured that I’d check out the reboot so that I
know what’s going on with that fairly popular series. I heard that the original suffered
plot/character problems, so I hope that this anime fixes them, as well as
offering higher production values. I
hope it doesn’t go the ecchi magical girl (with dolls) route. And I hope the male lead isn’t lame.
Gatchaman Crowds (Crunchyroll on Fridays)
I’m a little excited
for this one. It apparently has to do with
some old series that you don’t actually have to see to get this. I just like the way it looks (the character
designs interest me, especially the girl telling us to peace out up there), and
the plot (assorted people fight alien forces in powersuits) is one of those
that never gets old. I guess I’m not too sure why I’m excited, but I have this
weird feeling that it may be good. God,
I hope that doesn’t come back to bite me on the butt.
Chou Jigen Game Neptune The Animation (streaming on FUNimation's website on Fridays)
An adaptation of a
video game (and we know how well those usually turn out, right?) of an RPG that
apparently is only notable for having cute girls in it. I detect a fanservice fail show, here! An ecchifest!
CRAP!
Kimi no Iru Machi
I’m going to summarize
the premise of this. Please facepalm with me when you encounter something that
you’ve seen before.
Kirishima
Haruto is an average (*facepalm*) high school student (*facepalm*). A new girl comes to his house (*facepalm*) to
live with him and his family (*facepalm*).
A love triangle forms (*facepalm*).
And it’s a
Gonzo show (*facepalm*)!
That’s got
to be the most frightfully generic thing I’ve ever heard. Parodies
of school shows have summaries that read like that!
I also
detect some obnoxious ecchi stuff, especially from some manga scans I found
while looking for that picture. Yes, I
know, you must be shocked. It’s not based off of a light novel, but a manga!
What a rarity nowadays.
Love Lab
…okay,
that’s not it. But that is totally what
I imagined when I read the title. And I
would totally watch an anime about a mad scientist that makes love potions in
order to TAKE OVER THE WORLD! or something like that. Hmm… *scribbles something on notepad*
What is it with this
season? ANOTHER Cute Girls Doing Cute
Things™ show? Why can’t we get a
bazillion action shows this season?
Fantasy shows? Sci-fi shows? Horror shows?
Thrillers? Romance shows that
focus on one monogamous couple? The summary
isn’t even trying! It says that it’s
about girls at a high school, and even describes them as tsundere and meganekko! Love Lab, honey, if you yourself can describe
your characters with one word… *whispers* there’s a problem. And you suck.
Danganronpa Kibou no Gakuen to Zetsubou no
Koukousei The Animation *which I
will officially call Danganronpa for
short* (streaming on FUNimation's website on Fridays)
Negatives first. I don’t like the art style very much, but the
character designs all look unique, at least (especially the female characters,
who I don’t mind as much). It’s a video
game adaptation, and those usually suck.
HOWEVER, I
hope that this one doesn’t. Because it
has one of the greatest premises ever. A
bunch of colorful characters are locked in a school and, to leave, a person has
to kill another without getting caught.
After a murder, they all hold a trial to find out the murderer. If they figure out who did it, the murderer
dies. If they don’t, they all die and
the murderer graduates. At least, that
seems to be the premise. And… that… is…
AWESOME! Please tell me we get a
mystery/horror/thriller show! And,
please, don’t make it stupid like Future Diary.
*falls on knees* Please don’t mess this up, studio Lerche! IF you do, I
will never forgive you!
(and there’s
also an evil teddy bear, apparently. Greenlight it!)
Makai Ouji: Devils and Realist (Crunchyroll
on Sundays)
Every season has one of
these shows. This season, we had
Karneval. Last season, Hakkenden. Farther back, we’ve had shows like Nabari no
Ou and Pandora Hearts. These shows, if
you read the summary, seem to be fairly normal action/supernatural shows. And then you watch them.
I’m not
entirely sure what to call this genre, but there’s always one show running
(actually two this season, if you count Hakkenden’s second season) that is full
of pretty guys acting slashy towards each other and there’s some supernatural
backdrop.
I actually
tolerate these a lot more than
reverse harems, because, even though they are often fanservice-y, they are
fanservice-y on a more sub textual level, and can actually have pretty good
plots and characters. Not always, of
course, but I liked Pandora Hearts and enjoyed Nabari no Ou, so hey. Thus, I’m not really dreading this one, which
seems to fit the bill of this genre with pretty guys and devil summoning and
this Emperor of Hell schtuff. The plot also seems kind of fun, so I may
actually be looking forward to this.
Only a little, though.
Kamisama no Inai Nichiyoubi/ Sunday Without
God (Crunchyroll on Tuesdays)
During my first look at
this season’s shows, this one immediately caught my eye. Because it’s a Madhouse production, and their
shows usually look really good.
Intriguing premise (in the future, God abandons the world and thus
people stop being born/dying) and an AWESOME looking PV (with epic music, too!)
make me want to watch this. The main
character appears to be a loli, though.
However, I will just hope that she isn’t annoying. And there appears to be a white-haired pretty
boy who has an AK-47. I’m watching this.
Gen’ei o Kakeru Taiyou/ il sole penetra le
illusioni ~ Day Break Illusion (Crunchyroll on Saturdays
Another magical girl
show. However, I have less ire for this
one because it does seem to be aimed at a younger audience than me,
really. And it actually looks pretty
visually inventive. I can respect
that. And it’s an original work!
Fantasista Doll (Crunchyroll on Sundays)
I have to commend this
anime for its boldness. Essentially a
Rozen Maiden ripoff (fighting dolls that look like cute girls) running in the
same season as Rozen Maiden. Probably
will have some magical girl/Cute Girls Doing Cute Things™ in it, so I’m not
exactly looking forward to this. It
would be hilarious if it ended up being better than Rozen Maiden. Hmmm… I wonder…
Tokurei Sochi Dantai Stella Jo-Gakuin
Koutou-ka C3-Bu/ Stella Women’s Academy, High School Division Class C3 *which
I will call Stella Academy for
short, as C3 is accepted shorthand for another show* (Crunchyroll on Tuesdays)
Even though this will probably be a Cute Girls Doing Cute
Things™ show, I am still a little excited.
Why? Because it involves those
cute girls playing military survival games.
And the PV is incredibly awesome, and reminds me of Cowboy Bebop’s
opening and has oodles of style. If the
show is half as stylish as the PV, it will easily be one of the best shows this
season.
Watashi ga Motenai no wa Dou Kangaete mo
Omaera ga Warui!/ WATAMOTE ~No Matter How I Look at It, It’s You Guys Fault I’m
Not Popular! *WataMote! For short*
(Crunchyroll on Tuesdays
Another episodic
comedy, but I have hopes for this one.
Because I think that I’m going to love the main character. From the show’s description, she looks like a
female version of Keima from The World
God Only Knows, a character I really liked.
A socially maladjusted girl who doesn’t look like an otaku wet-dream
with a quirky personality, headphones, and raccoon eyes? Sounds like an extremely refreshing twist on
the formula. Sign me up!
Free! – Iwatobi Swim Club (Crunchyroll on Wednesdays)
Oh, look. A Kyoto animation show. That means it’s about Cute Girls Doing Cute
Things™, right? I mean, look at their
repertoire! A lot of harems,
feel-good-shows, moe shows, all with a noticeably large amount of cute girls
who just happen to do cute things with high production values and tearjerker
moments to make them a bit more substantial.
Okay, I’ll watch the PV.
…
Kyoto
animation? Are you… okay? I mean, this isn’t exactly a bad thing, but…
Kyoto
animation. Did you just make a Cute Guys
Doing Cute Things show? Did you? I mean, you’re not the first (Daily Lives of High School Boys and Kimi to Boku kinda beat you to it), but
you’re… Kyoto animation! Chuunibyou,
Air, Kanon, Lucky Star, Clannad, K-On… Free.
One of these things is not like the others…
Okay, this
show got an obscene amount of hype exactly for this reason. However, I’m not really looking forward to
it. I mean, beyond its pedigree, it’s
just a fanservice show about guys swimming.
That really doesn’t do anything for me.
I mean, at least Makai Ouji
has some stuff about the king of Hell.
This just has… swimming. And Brothers Conflict has the potential to
be pretty funny, albeit unintentionally.
Kyoto, come
on! Ignore this and make Chuunibyou
season 2 already! Or that one you have
in production that claims to be a ‘Dark fantasy’ on Wikipedia! But especially Chuunibyou season 2.
The World God Only Knows: Godesses (Crunchyroll on Mondays
Yay, new season! TWGOK is one of those series that just gives
me a warm, fuzzy feeling inside. I doubt
that it will be a whole lot different than the previous seasons, but S2 ramped
the stakes up a bit, so maybe this will be even better! And I get to see more of Keima, who’s the
best school anime protagonist ever. And
Elsie, who is literally the most adorable thing ever. Even if everything else goes catastrophically
wrong this season, I will have at least one show to enjoy. Yay!
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