Spring anime season!

So, I decided to make some short-review introductions for all the anime airing this season
(yeah yeah, I know there has been similiar posts about this, like dronebabo's blog, but this is a little bit more elaborated). Hopefully some of you will appreciate it. I didn't post it anywhere else. This is going to be lengthy... Brace yourselves.

Some notes: No, I'm not following DBZ Kai. Konnichiwa Anne isn't subbed, nor Soten Koro (which
looks very promising). I'm not reviewing any OVAs, and skipped some of the short shows for children like Chi's Sweet Home, Higepiyo (it's pretty fun though), Mainichi Kaa-San, Charade no Joke na Mainichi, Sugar Bunnies,Jewel Pets and Marie&Galie. But apart from these I've
covered all of them. Zenbu.

Exile Generation
[Episodes:4/24] [Based on: Nothing!]

This anime is airing in 12 minute episodes instead of the more normal 24. Kind of low-budget anime about 'back to the future' samurai gathering to fight the evil abomination Kagura. It is actually better than the description sounds. The bad-ass characters are complete with manly beards, cold remarks, technolike background music which makes it an enjoyable and a pretty light action show to watch. Don't expect it to be anything special or you'll end up disappointed.

5/10

K-On!
[Episodes:2/13] [Based on: Manga]

The most anticipated anime this season (apart from new FMA). It's about four high school girls joining their school's Light Music Club and having fun... The retarded klutz, Yui, play guitar.
The socially anxious Mio is on bass. The energetic one, Ritsu, play the drums and the rich,
composed and shy girl Tsumugi is the one playing keyboard. I'm not having as much fun as they do, for various reasons. So far it has only been a lot of jokes regarding the eccentric personalities
of the band members. It feels very predictable if you have watched similiar high school comedies
before. Yes, I'm sure (or actually I'm not so sure) it'll grow more serious with harships and
music dreams to fulfill later on in the anime. But as it is now, I'm not very excited. If you enjoy school-comedies however, don't let my criticism stop you, because this isn't the worst one by a long shot.

6/10

Asura Cryin'
[Episodes:2/?] [Based on: Light Novel/Manga]

This is a story about a guy named Tomoharu, who is a normal high school student but in fact, he isn't normal! He's 'haunted' by some spirit of his best friend who died. The hectic plot starts
already in the beginning of the first episode, and a lot of characters are introduced from the
start. It naturally becomes slightly confusing when lots of big breasted females (yes, there's a
LOT of breast jokes) storm into his house to help him, or to kill him. Magical battles and action and a lot of stupid terms that isn't making any sense - because they aren't even explained, not even later on. This is like the new season's To Aru Majutsu no Index. But to be fair, this anime still has potential to grow a background-story and deeper characters to make things more involving. But somehow I doubt it.

4/10

Pandora Hearts
[Episodes:2/25] [Based on: Manga]

The story revolves around a wealthy boy, Oz Bezarius. He is the heir to one of the duke houses and has a coming-of-age ceremony to attend to, yet strange things happen. The death gods try to throw him into the Abyss, and a rabbit named Alice saves him from his dark fate. light and innocent humor is exchanged with supernatural happenings and darkness in this anime and it works well so far. This madness and cuteness simultaneously is quite similiar to Higurashi no Naku Koro ni, even if the environment is different (think Rozen Maiden - plush dolls and music box-like soundtrack). This seems promising even though the plot is barely introduced this far. I have pretty high hopes about this one.

7/10

Saki
[Episodes:2/13] [Based on: Manga]

This would be easier to review... If I could play Mahjong! I have a set at home and I've played it a few times with my family, but the strange score calculation confuses me. If you've seen Bamboo Blade, this is pretty similiar - if not - I'm going to try to explain.
Miyanaga Saki doesn't like Mahjong, but she gets dragged into the Mahjong club at school against her will. When she played with her family, she lost on purpose not to make them angry, but also not enough to get them suspicious. In the Mahjong club, she finds out about her super-mahjong-powers and tries to make new friends!
Fun and relaxing, you don't have to get the rules to enjoy this - odds are you'll learn them while watching. I generally don't like sports anime though (and not moegirls either), so I'm a bit
skeptic to how long this will entertain me.

6/10

Phantom ～Requiem for the Phantom～
[Episodes:2/?] [Based on: Manga]

Phantoms are the assassins who work for the company Inferno. Their memories have been erased and they're being trained until they lose every trace of emotion, being dragged into a world with violence, corruption and conspiracy. Raw, minimalistic assassination action. Think Noir. This anime focuses a lot on the psychological aspects of killing, with a melancholic touch. I really like this so far. No humor and no useless chatter. Sure, the plot is very stereotypical, but it is well executed and I believe it will continue to develop in the same direction - searching for their identity while dealing with the future and the past.

8/10

Hayate no Gotoku - 2nd Season
[Episodes:2/?] [Based on: Manga]

To be honest, I haven't seen the first season, but who cares! This is really easy to get into, they even did a reintroduction of the characters in the first episode. Also, the story seems kind of nonexistent, so there's nothing to catch up on. A butler, Hayate is working to repay his debt to the rich Nagi and uh... various things happens. But I won't be too harsh just because it's a generic comedy (with tsundere V.A Rin). It has actually been pretty fun so far, if you can handle the silly and random humor then you'll smile a lot.

6/10

Natsu no Arashi
[Episodes:2/13] [Based on: Manga]

A boy falls in love with the beautiful Arashi, who is a ghost with strange powers to travel in time. A lot of the time is spent around the cafe where this previously mentioned girl works with strange coworkers and guests. Nostalgia, youth, romance! It is mainly a comedy though. The art style is a bit different but serves its purpose. First episode was kind of confusing and silly where they had to save a strawberry cake by traveling back in time. By the second episode, however, it introduced the backgrounds of the characters better and was relatively enjoyable.

6/10

Queen's Blade
[Episodes:2/12] [Based on: Visual Combat Books]

This is probably one of the most well-produced ecchi or soft-hentai show ever. Queen's Blade is a competition between certain contestants to determine the next Queen in the country. I think there will be a 'tournament' later on in the anime. The first episode was pretty bad, they introduced the characters and there were a few battles without any real 'meaning'. Only reason it was discussed at all was because of the acid-nipples. Second one, slightly better and almost no ecchi scenes. But who am I kidding? The story is just an excuse for women fighting in a medieval fantasy world and losing their clothes in the process. Possibly even worse than the similiar type of anime called Ikkitousen.

3/10

Slap Up Party - Arad Senki -
[Episodes:2/26] [Based on: beat-em-up game]

This one is about some kind of Demon Knight running around in a fantasyworld with a genie and some other companions having fun. A cartoonish feel and lots of lame jokes mixed in with fighting scenes. I have nothing more to say about this show except that it's possibly the worst one this season.

2/10

Hatsukoi Limited
[Episodes:1/12] [Based on: Manga]

Innocent and pure 8th grader Arihara Ayumi receives a love letter from a big beast in high school, Zaitsu Misao. You can probably imagine the outcome. I believe that the story doesn't revolve around one single characters love interests, but several schoolmates. As the name describes (Hatsukoi - first love), this is an anime about school romance! What makes this anime unique? Well, it's slightly ecchi and the characters conversations feel kind of 'down to earth' with their gossip and chatter, aside from the occasional exhaggerated jokes. What i mean is... the characters themselves have surprisingly realistic personalities for this kind of genre. Overall it seems pretty fun if you like innocence and romance and the drawing style is quite pleasant. If you like shit like School Rumble you'll probably enjoy this. I kind of did, even though I'm hesitant to admit it.

7/10

Tears to Tiara
[Episodes:2/26] [Based on: Visual Novel/Tactical RPG]

The evil Holy Empire is repressing the rebellion of the Gael Tribe. They are ruthless and capture a heroine named Riannon to sacrifice her in order to please The Great Demon King. It's almost like I'm watching some shitty fantasy hen-... Oh, the game is an eroge? Well, that certainly explains it! The characters act extremely predictable and it feels like I've seen them all before. If you turn a blind eye to the painful dialogue and the embarassing RPG elements, it isn't all that bad. The anime is well produced and mildly entertaining thus far.

5/10

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood
[Episodes:2/?] [Based on: Manga (Big fucking emphasis)]

This is pretty difficult to write anything about. Most of you who want to follow it already do. I won't write an introduction because everyone who is remotely interested in anime know what it's about. Those who already read the manga will have a good picture about what is going to happen. It's extremely difficult to make any real comparison between this and the original anime. One side has their nostalgia goggles on and thought the first anime was very good (I'm one of them). The other side believes that the manga was better and 'WHAT, NAZI GERMANY IN MY FMA?' therfor this anime will also be superior.
So far, I only have a few things to comment on. Brotherhood doesn't seem to picture the story as dark as the original anime does. The art style is also a bit eh... 'funny faces and strange mouths'. Most voice actors stay the same as the original anime, except a few, like Mustang. So yeah, basically everyone is just waiting for the moment when the plot is separated from the original anime. Until that moment, it's not Brotherhood - it's just a renewal. Nice OP though, that'll be my only subjective comment!

7/10

Shin Mazinger Shougeki!
[Episodes:2/26] [Based on: Mazinger Z]

Mecha! Resurrection of the 70s superhero anime! Fuck yeah! Dr Hell wants world domination, but Kouji, who pilots the super robot Mazinger Z, is set to stop him. I think. I honestly didn't understand anything from the first episode, as it was only pieces of high paced battles. My hopes grew slightly in the second episode when the tempo slowed down and the characters were introduced for real, but I still haven't decided if I like it or not. It'll either turn out to be very good, or a clear disappointment. Let me explain: It's not supposed to be a remake or sequel to the previous Mazinger. You could see similiarities with last season's Casshern Sins, both based on old anime yet make a new story with the same theme. I loved Casshern Sins, but this is somewhat different. Cartoonish art, super mechas and a lot of action. Plus points for being a fresh wind in this anime season (ironically). And the soundtrack is very good.

7/10

Valkyria Chronicles
[Episodes:2/26] [Based on: Tactical RPG]

1930s Europe (Fictional). The Empire attacks a village named Gallia situated in the middle of everything. Alicia must help with the evacuation of the village, she receives help from Welkin, a strange man. The war has only begun, and many battles are to come! If war was ever "cute", this would be the definition. Small-scale battles, beautiful and colorful nature, a peaceful little. Even the tanks are cute. The atmosphere is very relaxing but the plot is hectic, if that makes any sense. Alicia and Welkin come off as extremely stupid characters, it was irritating at first but then I was embraced by Alicia's aura of 'moe'. The same parallel could be fit to the whole show. Throughoutly enjoyable, if you're not a weapon expert or hate moe.

7/10

I decided to split it in two because the amount is just too huge (Even though I've seen everything it takes a while to structure). I'll be posting the next batch in a few days. The ones I have left:
Sengoku Basara, Cross Game, Shangri-la, Guin Saga, Ristorante Paradiso, Basquash!, 07-Ghost, Hanasakeru Seishounen, Eden of the East, Shinkyoku Soukai Polyphonica Crimson S, Tayutama, Gokujou!! Mecha Mote Iinchou and Souten Koro.

Spring anime season!

Completed

Ongoing

Upcoming