The season thus far has been packed with so much great potential akin to that of the fall 2008 season. As such it looks as if keeping up with all the shows will be an enjoyably hectic ride. Continuing our joint activities (Honya [Lyrical Spark] and Aorii [Major Arcana]), here are our fall 2010 impressions!
Loved!
Ore no Imouto ga Konna ni Kawaii Wake ga Nai
Current Episode: 2
Honya: As a certain recent post of mine kind of spelled out in more detail than I had originally wanted, I honestly do connect with Kirino and her struggle with otaku life issues. I can say with confidence that it will make its way into my favorites if it keeps up.
Aorii: Favorite of the season at the moment. From top notch production quality that delivers visual cake to my eyes to the otaku subcultural meta-story that’s hitting on a personal level with nostalgia, OreImo feels like a more heart-to-heart version of Genshiken, and thus far I’m glad not a cent of my expectations have been betrayed: very faithful to the novel~
Shinryaku! Ika Musume
Current Episode: 2
Honya: Ika Musume is just so cute and funny. It does a great job with the squid and water jokes and capturing the naivety of a native inhabitant of the sea unfamiliar with the strange workings of the surface. I want her to invade my house this instant! 10/10 tentacles approve!
Aorii: Adorably cute, mindlessly funny, and promotes both environmentalism and exploitation of child labor at the same time; obviously we should force our kids to clean up their elders’ messes— oh wait… that’s exactly how the World rolls isn’t it ;-;. But until the day when politicians squeeze out our ink for the sake of corporate profits, might as well sit back and laugh along as humans continues to browbeat nature to do its bidding… after all, what can the naive & idiotic hippies do against the tanks and jets of industrial might? SHINRYAKU SHINRYAKU SHINRYAKU— boom!
Otome Youkai Zakuro
Current Episode: 2
Honya: I was pleasantly surprised by this show. How it combines the relations between youkai and humans, Westernization and tradition is really well done and wonderful. In a sense it really reminds me a little bit of Touhou. Specifically the youkai and related beings in the pre-Gensoukyou world must have faced the same threats of modernization and their own diminishing importance that the youkai and spirits in Otome Zakuro do as well. I wonder if the youkai girls will be able to find harmony with the modernizing Japanese society or will they be driven to obscurity?
Aorii: Zakuro sure flipped the low expectations I had for this series. Not only is the series delivering cuteness and great shipping potential, but the cultural Westernization of the Meiji Era is playing a consistently major role in our story. Historical sociology and shoujo melodrama combined into one series? Well— it’s not like I love it or anything, but it simply wouldn’t be me to pass up on such a gem, so… keeper~
Kuragehime
Current Episode: 1
Honya: Oh wow. Kuragehime does a fantastic job capturing the world of fujoshi and the social separation between them and the stylish strata. Its cast seems to cover all the basics like train and historical epic otaku but they are all brought together under a common roof. It’s presented pretty comically but I can really relate anyway. The little details were impressive such as the part where Tsukimi reveals not knowing anything about makeup which reminded me of one of my close friends (Didn’t remind me of myself since I know makeup stuff lol). Can’t wait for another episode.
Aorii: Referrence-rrific OP, a great cast spanning all the major otaku fields from trains to ichimatsu dolls, well flowing jokes, not to mention the fujoshi realism that’s getting personal again— one episode and I’m already in love~ <3. Kuragehime even fujoshi-fied our beloved T.K. of Angel Beats xD. It’s such a shame this series is only 11 episodes.
Bakuman
Current Episode: 2
Honya: As I have mentioned multiple times this is my dream animated albeit with more shounen elements than I could ever generate. So far the show has progressed more or less according to the manga with just a few minor additions to make the presentation smoother. Once it introduces the behind the scenes affairs of the manga industry, it should become more interesting.
Aorii: So far, so good; we have two immateur leads aiming for their dreams in a pseudo-realistic way people can relate to, poised to dive into the fascinating world of the manga industry. Fluid animation, solid storytelling, my only issue is that after two episodes it feels like only Mashiro has gained any development past that of a stereotype — hope this pace picks up soon once we get off the premise.
Enjoyed
MM!
Current Episode: 3
Honya: My first worry was “Please don’t let this be Ladies Versus Butlers!“ I thoroughly enjoyed the lewd reactions of the protagonist and how the show successfully shifted to a much more serious tone later on. Thank goodness this isn’t just a generic fanservice fest. With every episode it defies all my expectations and proves to be a surprisingly good watch.
Aorii: MM! wasted no time as it digs deep into traumatic character pasts by the second episode: a masochist guy once shunned by his class due to his lack of control, his best friend with a complex over his hobby of crossdressing, and an androphobic girl trying to overcome her scar of being sexually assaulted. A story of social outcasts trying to find love, healing, and acceptance— and here I thought this series would just be fanservice trash. I wouldn’t call it good yet, but it certainly has more potential than most people think.
To Aru Majutsu no Index II
Current Episode: 2
Honya: The production values are still pretty top notch which isn’t a surprise. The first episode was mainly just refresher but the tail end and the next episode went into the next major plot arc. Following up from the end of the first season it looks like it will get into more of the large scale conflict between the various churches which should be fun to watch.
Aorii: Returning to boss rush with a single episode arc? Can’t say anything else about it— maintains the same pace, tone, and animation quality as first series really.
Yumeiro Pâtissière SP Professional
Honya: If you created a cake by combining Roller Coaster Tycoon with sweets and topped it with American stereotypes then you might get the second season of this cute show. It’s actually kind of refreshing since the predecessor essentially became Iron Chef Sweets after the Grand Prix. Thankfully the changes like just mentioned and the swapping out of main characters keep the show from becoming stale and static.
Aorii: Just when you think the Cake Grand Prix is over, we now enter Cake Tycoon Survivor, International Edition— not that I’m complaining, since these contests truly bring out each of the characters’ specialties, from Ichigo’s creativity and optimism to Makoto’s hard work and guts. Of course a new team also came alongside the timeskip, trading Hanabusa’s fabulous roses for Johnny’s lolwut Americanism; we have to rebuild the team but— you got to love those stereotypes.
Motto To Love-Ru
Current Episode: 2
Honya: The sequel to the original TV series and OVAs features roughly more of the same except episodes are divided into three parts which actually gives a little more character development than in the precursors. Did I mention I’m just watching this for more Mikan and Yami?
Dunno
Fortune Arterial: Akai Yakusoku
Current Episode: 2
Honya: As the show is taking a slice of life approach things still need to build up so I’ll just see how things progress for the time being. Finding more gay than expected and the nice OP by Lia came as pleasant surprises though.
Aorii: You have to hand it to Augustsoft for their art design: the characters look great and the campus they’re in is absolutely beautiful. But at the same time, every cliche in eroge is being used in the setup, and Fortune Arterial couldn’t have been more generic if it tried— except for the intense vampire eyes: the main character of a vampire series must always have tasty blood. Nevertheless, the slice of life is very enjoyable, and hopefully it’ll keep up until the main story that the visnov is famous for hits.
Kami nomi zo Shiru Sekai
Current Episode: 2
Honya: Unfortunately this is the weakest of the otaku-centric shows thus far. The concept is a bit crazy so a little more exaggeration and fabulous could have enhanced the presentation. The second episode was better than the first so hopefully the rest of series follows suit.
Aorii: Tbh, not impressed. I’m reminded by how the manga’s girl-per-arc bored me, especially when the girls are flatter than generic eroge heroine stereotypes. The trailer promised me more flashy entertainment— well where is it Director-san?
Yosuga no Sora
Current Episode: 2
Honya: For now the show seems quite standard but there are two things keeping me interested. First is the unbelievable amalgamation of kuudere, tsundere and yandere called the main character’s sister. I haven’t seen anything quite like her which is always a plus in my book. The other is the storyline between Akira and Kazuha which looks to be explored in the next few episodes.
Aorii: This mess of a series is Yosuga? I was as amazed as Choux, and she actually played the eroge too. Signed up for twincest melodrama yes, but the eroge isn’t suppose to be loaded with harem fanservice or every girl falling in love on sight with delusional fantasies (<_<;;). The interesting thing about this is--- Sora seems to be a kuutsunyandere, disastrous combination, and I'm intrigued how this'll go over without being NICEBOATed.
Tantei Opera Milky Holmes
Current Episode: 1
Honya: Not really sure what to make of this. It certainly is supersaturated with moe which tests even my body’s power to survive it. It does have a dream-crushing series of events which could set up some interesting stuff later on.
Soredemo Machi wa Mawatteiru
Current Episode: 1
Honya: I have no clue what happened here. The original manga seemed like easy moodo for Shaft to animate given its quirky humor but they sure did drop the ball on this one. The main gags were still there but the delivery was off and added Shaftness fell flat. I’ll stick to my adage that “Shaft shows are hit or miss.”
Aorii: Shaft really messed up this gag comedy; it’s just not funny (=_= ), and to make things more unenjoyable, the main girl annoys me through her sheer whiny-ness…
Didn’t Watch
Arakawa Under the Bridge x Bridge
Current Episode: 2
Aorii: While I don’t think the brilliance from early/mid first season has fully returned yet, Arakawa at least stays enjoyable as it continues its mission of illuminating the inherent insanity of mainstream society using the apparent insanity of the society under the bridge. Bridgex2’s first episode also firmly entrenched Ric x Nino as one of the best ships of the year~
Star Driver: Kagayaki no Takuto
Current Episode: 2
Aorii: Now how to describe this show more meaningfully than ‘fabulously awesome’, hard— they still haven’t presented enough information to string together any coherent thoughts on how the Star Driver universe really works. But chosen individuals? special powers available only in zero-time hour? Is this Super Robot Persona 3? I mean Tauburn is certainly a fitting match for our Galactic Pretty Boy… just need more fabulous accessories to gattai with his robot now 😀
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“the part where Tsukimi reveals not knowing anything about makeup which reminded me of one of my close friends”
Oi, oi, oi.
Author
I love you too~! ♡
Nothing much to say since I said what I wanted to say at Major Arcana… but there is something I wanted to say about Milky Holmes.
After watching the second episode, it feels like a guilty pleasure in a way because of the cuteness of the 4 girls to the point that I can explode with moe. I compare it to Detective Conan on Crack and LSD… Nevertheless, I’m going to continue just for the sake of it since I have nothing else to do, except the Anime Blogosphere Secret Santa event.
Author
The second episode was definitely more entertaining for me. It was enjoyable seeing the hilariously impoverished state of the girls and Cordelia’s amusing attempts to keep the team together.
Yumeiro Pâtissière FTW !
[…] out to be pretty good. I picked it up because Honya mentioned that it reminded him of Touhou in his Fall 2010 Impressions post, and I see where he’s coming from. I do like the whole clash between East and West theme, and […]