Every year watching anime you start to notice patterns where very little is surprising in terms of quality. Just do a little research on a studio and director and your own tastes and 9 times out of 10 it will be exactly what you expected. This post is going to focus on those few shows that failed to live up to my expectation where tomorrow’s will be about those that exceeded them.
While in the midst of messing around in spreadsheets that are part of The Best Girl Project, I realized that I should probably get around to telling the few of you how I experienced a season in which I dropped just one show and completed 27. Including the “movie” that was also part of the season, it means the Winter 2014 season now has the joint most anime I’ve watched matching the Spring 2011 season. It’s also my lowest rated season with at least 10 shows, so make of that what you will.
This is the most fake form you will see this season.
When a show uses a word like “barristers” in the title, my expectation is to compare it to all of the episodes of Law & Order and other legal procedural dramas that I’ve watched. So when the guy who killed people in the opening scene was sentenced to immediate death, I thought it was a little unfair. He should have the right to appeal damn it. Also, with the scene where Cecil was questioned by police, I was shocked that the police wouldn’t invent a reason to search her bag like they would in real life. Finally, I can’t get the thought of Jack McCoy fighting wizards using magic powers. Basically, this episode review is going to be entirely unfair.
A picture from the real Season of Discontent. That pile of trash does not represent the anime this season.
“No man really knows about other human beings. The best he can do is to suppose that they are like himself.”
― John Steinbeck, The Winter Of Our Discontent
I suppose I should preface this season preview post as coming on the basis of a rough couple of weeks personally and an evening of impromptu off-road driving. Anyway, winter usually is a dead period for my anime viewing and because of the quote I used above I can only suppose it is the same for you my lone reader. I’ve been in the anime viewing business for a long time, so I’m going to spend the time reflecting on all the great anime that I watched in the winter season of 2004. That’s because everyone gets jaded and remembers how good things were, right?
Let’s see, there was Paranoia Agent, Kon’s TV masterpiece which was surreal and filled with important social commentary at the same time. That really wouldn’t come to air now would it? Then I also watched, what was it…
Lower Mid-Table 