At this point in the season, there’s just Studio Arms (actually Arms Corporation if we are being completely accurate) series Isuca left to air. So for the most part we can consider that all of the good shows have already started to air. That’s mostly good news for the anime fans out there that aren’t me. What lies ahead is probably one of the most sad first impression posts of the current season that you will read, but that’s mainly because this season has been so meagre from my point of view.
Cute High Earth Defense Club LOVE!
First episode of the year was a lot better than last year’s horrific ***** *****. That said, I wasn’t feeling particularly anything from this episode. Just doing magical boy transformation sequences and having dumb looking monsters of the week isn’t enough for me. After all, even Twintails did a lot better with the latter judging by the chikuwa monster in this episode. Dropped
Absolute Duo
I knew going in that this was going to be pretty appalling. They basically remove the best girl from the show early on (only to have her reappear and become a co-worst girl) and the appalling excuse for humanity that licensed this appears to think the main character has come from Asgard bearing a shield instead of a hammer. Dropped with extreme prejudice
Kancolle
The browser game that amuses me with reading tweets like “Why is 3-2 so hard?” and knowledge that it is possible for the player to marry one of their ships for an extra level boost had an anime adaptation for this season. This turned out to be one of those shows that is just impenetrable for someone who is not a fan of the games, or I’m just incredibly dense. Hence, I spent most of the time already wondering if I would be watching anything come the end of the month. Potential Future Sleep Aid
The Testament of Sister New Devil
I’m not sure that title is actually English even if all of the words indicate that it is. This is one of the fantasy harem shows from the season. In this one, the protagonist Basara gets a couple of surprise new family members one of whom turns out to be a succubus and the other is a future demon king…oh and he happens to be a Hero and not some normal kid. Unfortunately, he proves to be unworthy of the name Basara as he is yet another harem lead who waffles over what to do like almost all of them are. Will be forced to watch as part of The Classiest Anime
Yuri Kuma Arashi
And with this episode, all desire to ever watch Utena has disappeared. I’m sure others will be writing long form blog posts that explain all the intricacies of every single second of Ikuhara’s new masterpiece. I’d rather not have to have a reference guide to accompany each episode I watch. Maybe I will come back and revisit it, but I think this is best marathoned all at once. Will be assigned to me in a future Secret Santa
Military!
I will give this 3.5 minute short series all the time in this post it deserves. I’d rather watch the dad as a mercenary. Sentenced to fight in the jungles of Southeast Asia
Assassination Classroom
A monster with the ability to end humanity decides to become a teacher to a bunch of rejected students who attempt to kill him to save humanity. He’s also really good at his job, which is why this first episode disappointed me. I really just wanted these students to start accepting their fate to die in a year, but they are just going to get more driven to kill him while becoming better people. Fired in vain at the moon
Koufuku Graffiti
And so Shaft made a show about eating that isn’t very serious at all. It turns out that it happened to be like Hidamari Sketch with a hedonistic food tilt to it. The very act of eating is portraying in the most sexual way possible for all foods consumed in this series. It’s like having the toothbrush scene potentially happening multiple times per episode. It wore thin pretty quick, even if I did like the food being consumed. Dropped unlike the weight of these characters if they were real.
Durarara!! X2
Hey, a sequel that I can actually watch this season. It’s been a while so maybe I’ve forgotten why I really liked the first season. I think the only thing that I could recall after this first episode was that Dojikko Celty was very fun to watch and the rest of the cast are incredibly dull and boring in their eccentricities. That’s disappointing and I probably overrate the first season now. Memories can be a bad thing after a certain amount of time has passed. Quickly forgotten
The Rolling Girls
So this show was really vibrant and really pretty to look at. Which is why ultimately it got worse in my mind over the days after I watched the first episode as I couldn’t seem to grasp what the show is actually about. I really liked those first few minutes too, but I cannot find the substance underneath the bright shine. Rolling off of the road into a ditch
Dog Days”
By this point, desperate for something to actually watch going forward I was getting pretty close to accepting anything. At least Dog Days seems to get the whole consistency down. Add a new character or two between seasons, but generally stick to the same light-substance story that gives each of the characters on this loaded cast some time of their own. Cinque is going to keep adding girls to his harem, but at least he is an athlete who does impressive stuff as a hero, even if his balls haven’t dropped yet. It will be so bad when Becky wins because she’s nowhere near Best Girl material. Like the Oakland Raiders it took 11 attempts to finally break through
Maria the Virgin Witch
I really wanted to like this show about a witch who trolls the people of northern France while also being mocked incessantly about her virginity that is essential to keeping her witch powers. However, it just felt a little too all knowing about everything that is to come and kind of snide if I had to put a word to it. I’m sure this one turns out to be a great show, but I am going to be on the sidelines to seeing that happen. Banished back to Britain
Samurai Warriors
Some stuff happens in the first episode, it’s not very effective. The fans of the game this was adapted from would probably like it. I’ve been saying that about a bunch of different shows lately and maybe I should start playing some of these games someday. But not this one though if it is this boring. Sent to the bargain bin
World Break: Aria of Curse for a Holy Swordsman
That’s another title that doesn’t make sense in this particular fantasy harem show. This is basically about how people retain past lives and our main character happens to have multiple so that he has girls all over him because they were lovers in a past life and we also get an incest show that involves characters not even related to each other in anyway. Honestly, this one is appalling after an ironically funny opening few minutes. At least give us a joke that can stay consistently funny as it is repeated each time…Somehow struggling to think of something beyond dropping
Unlimited Fafnir
And this is instantly undroppable with a line like that. Officially Klay Thompson’s favorite anime
Saekano – No One Should Come Up With As Terrible a Subtitle As This
And finally, the most anticipated Noitamina show since they decided to stop caring and give two seasons of Guilty Crown to all of humanity. This proved to be my favorite show of the season to date, but alas I can only call it pretty good. I don’t think this can really be considered a harem either like everyone else will refer to it. The protagonist Tomoya could not give less of a shit about the romantic feelings the other girls have for him. Friendship, on the other hand, that’s what he really wants, but Megumi is his number 1. I just want to see where this goes as it will be the only real bit of adventure I get this season. Kept without much else to do this season
So you may be asking why there are just 17 shows in this list above when there are several more series airing this season? In general that’s just because I have a simple rule with two exceptions.
“I shall not pick up a series that is originated from another series that I have not completed.”
The exceptions to that particular rule are a) if someone I really trust with in their taste makes a compelling argument as to why I should watch it; and b) it is adapted from a Leaf visual novel which automatically makes it worth watching (see White Album 2).
I shall be watching in all likelihood three shows this season, but what are others saying about this group of shows:
https://twitter.com/jolyisgay/status/556120206310133761
So that’s me on the lonely taste island again. I should have kept Koufuku Graffiti because at least the food would taste good.
Lower Mid-Table 