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Since I'm starting to become a fullgrown otaku and already following several anime this season I decided to make a blog about it - to recollect my thoughts, but also to share what I liked and didn't like so far this season.
I wouldn't normally do this but since there has been a couple of anime blogs recently there might be some interest for it. I'd like your opinions on what you are watching presently - the anime of this season that is.
They are only at 9th screening episode, so the 'mini-reviews' are just observations I've made so far.
Clannad - After Story
A continuation of the original Clannad anime. If you thought Clannad lacked story, this one is even worse. Very sentimental but beatuiful in the same way the other visual novels by KEY (Air, Kanon) were. An anime about everyday life - with humor, romance and sadness in moderate doses.
The music is perfect, but also very repetitive. Overall, every episode of After Story has been a relaxing watch, but on the other side, not much has been memorable so far. But it gets better after a couple of arcs. And Sunohara is awesome.
8/10
Casshern Sins
I love this one. The OP is good, the old-school animation is artistic and wonderful, the conversations are straightforward yet poetic at the same time. It's a remake from a 70's anime, it's about a man or robot - Casshern - without memories, trying to find out what actually happened that made the world turn into a complete dystopia and who he really is. The whole anime has been very dark so far. The negative aspects is that the whole robot vs human topic is getting a little old.
And the last episodes had nothing to do with the 'main' story. But so far it's one of my favourites this season and I believe it'll grow even better.
9/10
Shikabane Hime: Aka
I don't think this is my type of anime. We live in a world where corpses become alive and 'Shikabane Hime' is a gungirl whose objective is to eliminate all corpses. It feels like Hellsing, but even worse and more cheesy. Characters are ok, but stereotypical. Animation is good and the atmosphere and the surrounding elements are pretty nice.
That's the best I can say about this overall mediocre anime though. It didn't fascinate me at all, but then again I stopped after 5 episodes. Who knows, it might get better.
2/10
Chaos;Head
The male borderline hikikomori protagonist is frustrating with his endless stuttering and screams of denial. It's part of the charm with this anime though. The thing that separates Chaos;Head from every other school anime with supernatural elements is that... it's confusing. Not only the illusion/delusion parts, but also that you don't get anything explained until later in the anime. The motives behind the characters actions and feelings are being kept secret, it's almost like a thriller. I'm split about this anime. I'll keep watching, but I don't really know what it is I'm watching...
7/10
Kurozuka
The main character, Kuro, meets a beautiful woman in the 12th century in Japan whom he falls in love with. The woman however, carries a terrible secret.
Beautiful colors and nature mixed into a dark, dark world. Serious, actionfilled and quick-paced. Pretty good, but nothing extraordinary even though I haven't found anything in it to complain about yet. It's not very memorable... I forget the plot for every single episode.
7/10
Michiko to Hatchin
The sexy (crazy?) diva Michiko runs away from prison, while Hatchin is trying to escape her horrible foster parents. Well produced anime (from creators of Cowboy Bebop and Samurai Champloo) that seems to be set in Mexico or somewhere similiar. It has the 'latino' feeling, society sucks and basically all people are more or less evil. Even so, it's a feel-good-styled anime about Michiko and Hatchin's journey to find their father.
7/10
Kannagi: Crazy Shrine Maidens
Some kind of nature goddess assembles into a human when the student Jin is working on his statue. Very stereotypical start for a bad harem anime, but it's been pretty good so far. Focus being on humor, but the story looks pretty shallow. Fun and entertaining watch - and it's not pretending to be anything else than lighthearted. A whole episode of karaoke? Yeah sure, why not!
5/10
Hyakko
Super energetic school anime. Even more shallow than Kannagi storywise, but makes it up with crazy situations and jokes. I've only seen a few episodes so far and some of the jokes are getting a little bit monotonous already. Extremely exaggerated personalities which can be both good and bad. Either way, this anime does not hold any real value to me, but it's good for a laugh. Bit too much fanservice for my taste though.
5/10
Toradora
This one could be compared with the two above, as it's also scool-drama-humor-romance anime. But this one is actually pretty good objectively. Interesting characters, hilarious dialogue and most importantly mixes the jokingly atmposphere with sincere feelings. Instead of a love triangle, it's like a love square where the two main characters form a friendship to be able to act more courageous in situations together with their love. I don't like the drawing though, it's a bit too simplistic and the faces looks ugly.
8/10
EF: A tale of melodies
The screenshot doesn't do this one justice. The one of the best thing about this about this anime is the experimenting with colors and scenes.
It follows two unhappy love stories from different perspectives. Because of the extremely poetic style that isn't too common in anime this leaves me with a very positive impression. But be warned, it's very sad and it has some kind of sensual relationship to the german language.
I'm a sucker for sentimental love stories, so consider this before watching this anime.
9/10
Toaru Majutsu no Index
I waited with this one, which might have been a good thing. If I had reviewed it a few episodes earlier, the score would have been lower. The plot is pretty ridiculous. The world consists of espers, scientists and magicians with special abilities. A loli nurse comes to live in the male protagonists house because she seeks shelter from the evil magicians who are following her.
His loli teacher and his loli nurse are embarassingly unfitting characters which makes me unable to take the story even remotely serious. It feels to me like a bad version of Fate/Stay Night... but then again it's been 10 episodes and they've barely introduced all the characters yet. It gets better and better, but is still very flawed and doesn't make things as exciting as they could be.
5/10
Akane-iro ni Somaru Saka
Incest. Cast from Slayers! Generic school romance comedy! What more could you ask for?
A school student, Geno Killer, encounters a beautiful wealthy girl who suddenly shows up in school and moves into his and his sister's house.
Drawing style is pretty nice, with lots of cool hairstyles and details! It's well done for the most part, but it doesn't have any trace of originality which makes this anime very... pointless. Don't get me wrong - it's still entertaining and relatively good humor. While Toradora is more 'raw' and straightforward humor, this Akane-iro is more toward the cute and shy-direction.
6/10
So, what anime are you/will you be following of this season?
  
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thedeadhaji
39487 Posts
all i know is that I read on 2ch that shikabanehime has the worst voice acting EVER and that the 3 main chars are utterly terrible...
in fact pple are making references to Mouri's "3 arrows cannot be broken" saying from the feudal era b/c the 3 VA's are "stick actors" (meaning their acting is terribel)
LOOOOOOOOOL
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Out of all those i have only seen Michiko to Hatchin and i love it, the animation is fucking awesome as usual when its from Gainax (i think).
Definitely recommended.
Oh yaeh i forgot, i'm also watching Hyakko, it's good but it's no Azumanga Daioh.
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This post is great! I don't like to watch shows until after they've finished airing (I like to marathon them on a weekend) and stuff like this helps me immensely in deciding what to watch since I hate spoilers. Did you like season 1 of Clannad? Your high rating of Toradora gives me some hope since I liked the manga and J.C.Staff are terrific at messing up shows. I won't forgive them for the wreck that Shakugan no Shana became or the sequel seasons of Zero no Tsukaima.
From this season I had already decided to watch Clannad, Ef, and Toradora, and didn't have any intention of watching the others. I haven't heard much about Casshern since I've been studiously avoiding spoilers, maybe now I'll have to consider it. I'd be interested to hear from you when the show gets nearer the end.
About Michiko to Hatchin: If I wasn't especially crazy about Cowboy Bebop, do you think that would have any bearing? The shows sound totally different so I doubt it. Maybe I'll have to check this one out too...
edit: On November 28 2008 11:15 grobo wrote:
Out of all those i have only seen Michiko to Hatchin and i love it, the animation is fucking awesome as usual when its from Gainax (i think). Actually it's Shikabane Hime that's by GAINAX :/
I'm kinda surprised since it seems bad and generic and GAINAX has a pretty awesome track record as far as making non-generic stuff.
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Yeah, I liked season 1 of Clannad. I was easily captivated, but somehow it felt a bit... meaningless. It's like only character portraitings without any thread to follow. After Story is more of the same, but feels even more meaningless. I was hoping for it to evolve into a 'real' story after a few episodes but so far it's been disappointing.
Toradora is no 'quality' anime as in unique or good drawing or good story, but wow... I can't help but grin throughout every episode. Not sure how good you'd expect it to be exactly.
Michiko to Hatchin... Well, to be honest, I wasn't crazy about Cowboy Bebop either. And Michiko to Hatchin does the same thing to me. I can't help but feel I should love it, because it's a quality show, but I can't really relate to it. I was weighing between 7 and 8 on this one but decided to go with 8 because it's considered one of the best shows this season and I don't have anything I directly dislike about it. It captivates you from the start. It might be that I have something against the feel-good-slice-of-life-drama genre, there's just not enough sadness!
I'm also interested in what is going to happen in Casshern Sins... the thing is; the story hasn't even started for real, there has just been some background explanations. The character wanders around in the universe meeting different people and robots with different views upon the world... It feels a bit like Kino no Tabi so far. Even so... I really love it so far and I don't think my opinion will change. I realize it's not for everyone though. Some might have problem grasping the simplicity of the dialogues and the extremely empty world.
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I think your taste and mine are quite similar. I liked some parts of Clannad but had a lot of reservations, much like Kanon. I disliked Fuko and felt Kotomi's arc was weak, but I liked the twins and Tomoyo. The main story was OK but aside from episode 18 I was a little underwhelmed (I'm a huge KyoAni fan for Haruhi and FMP: TSR).
About Toradora!, "I can't help but grin throughout every episode" is exactly what I hoped for. I liked ZnT season 1 (also not a very "quality" show) despite fanservice and nonexistent plotting because it was just so much fun! I went in expecting a very weak show and was pleasantly surprised. The sequel seasons (I've only seen Futatsuki no Kishi) seem to be a disaster by comparison.
Casshern could really go either way, it sounds. I've only seen the first episode of Kino, but I've seen more of and love Mushishi which I think is similar.
To be honest, I still haven't finished Cowboy Bebop and I'm stalled in some other shows I think I should like more than I do (Denno Coil, Gankutsuou, Ghost in the Shell). I think I'll pass on Michiko to Hatchin for now.
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I actually love Kannagi >.> probably the one i most anticipate every week and compared to other anime, the fan-service is like, non-existent.
I'm watching Toradora as well and the drawings are just like you say, wouldn't say 'ugly' but it's definitely plain but the characters come out well.
Chaos;head is the anime whose drawings i don't like. It's like worse than plain.
I'm watching Kurogane no Linebarrel but i haven't caught up to the recent episodes. It's okay so far, well maybe because i was a fan of gundam seed and the guy thats doing the character designs is the same guy.
To Aru no Majutsu no Index is okay at times but im not really 'into' it.
But Bounen no Xamdou is definitely one of my favorite anime right now. Beautiful drawings, so fluid and great action and plot development. Good stuff. I can't believe i almost forgot that one.
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I was a bit confused writing that... Kannagi has some fanservice but Hyakko is way 'worse', I'll just edit that.
Interesting hearing about the anime I'm not following this season too...
Oh and I've never heard of Bōnen no Xamdou before. Maybe I should check it out.
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I'm loving Clannad After Story, but I was a huge fan of the first season and an even bigger fan of the visual novel. I think it has the same lovable charm as always, despite structural issues. It's the only series I'm following this season. I wish there was more Tomoyo screentime though, she was always my favorite.
Oh, and I watched ef ~a tale of memories~ last year and was hooked right up until the last, (over)dramatic scene... but I just couldn't get into melodies. I got bored in the first episode. 
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I'm starting to get the anime bug too
Watching Kannagi and ToraDora, I'm such a sucker for light romance. ToraDora is pretty awesome, I love Ami's character and the writing for Minorin in the last episode (9).
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Watching Clannad and Chaos;Head at the moment, saving ef for after I'm done finals...don't think I can carry that much free time at the moment... xD
Although from your description of Toradora, might watch a couple episodes...haven't really found a good comedy this season...
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Not too excited about this season. Other than some on-going animes I'm following (One Piece, Bleach), I'm only following Gundam 00 this season. Everything else doesn't really interest me.
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On November 28 2008 16:17 Sentenal wrote:
Not too excited about this season. Other than some on-going animes I'm following (One Piece, Bleach), I'm only following Gundam 00 this season. Everything else doesn't really interest me.
Same. I'm only watching Bleach and Gundam 00 so far.
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On November 28 2008 18:16 dronebabo wrote:
after story 8/10 onii-chan
toradora 7/10 picha bibi teru hey hey hey
kannagi 10/10 its a sony
michiko 8/10 drunk hatchin
chaos;head 6/10 cokehead
Laughed my ass off at that part.
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@OP: not gonna lie, after I saw 7/10 for clannad followed by 8/10 for toradora, I automatically lost what possible online respect I could have had. Ef is ranked higher... Somehow, you're waiting for Clannad, essentially a series of mini-stories interspersed throughout a main story, to grow a story, while Ef is pretty much a shit-ton of mini-stories that don't actually lend to each other or anything. This isn't to say that I dislike Ef (shit, I love the series to death), but Clannad >>>> Ef for me and I kinda felt like saying something about it. If Clannad is about everyday life to you, then I really have no idea what to say to that...
Oh and, somehow, two shows with insane animation (the two aforementioned), were both aired on stations with crap for broadcasting. How suck is that?
Over fall (roughly starting in September), I've watched or am watching:
+ Show Spoiler +
all but rahxephon are first time watches... I saw that one as a dub O.o
Bounen no Xamdou
Seikai no Senki
Kurozuka
Kannagi
Toradora
Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann
Gundam 00
Gundam 00 s2
Stranger ~ Mukou Hadan ~
Clannad AS
RahXephon
Nodame Cantabile Paris Chapter
Kara no Kyoukai
Michiko e Hatchin
Ef - a Tale of Melodies (though Menclave is insanely slow about this)
Dennou Coil
FLCL
Aria the Natural
Detroit Metal City
Aria the Natural
Aria the Arietta
Lucky Star OVA
Higurashi no Naku koro ni
Higurashi no Naku koro ni Kai
shit, that's a lot more than I thought to watch for one season's worth time
Most of the stuff in my list is generally good... but that's more because I get an opinion or two before starting things. Exception's Toradora, which is relatively okay minus: Taiga is just Shana who lashes out more (same VA, both say "urusai!! urusai!!", both are short, long hair, in school, violent); pink haired girl is suuuuuuuuch a ripoff of Tsuruya from Haruhi (omfg I really thought that was Tsuruya's VA, too, 'cause they sound so alike); and I'll bet that the lead 2 will hook up instead of their desired couplings.
@dronebabo: did you see the video where Okazaki's and blondy's sister's voices were swapped out for counter-genderfication and such? "Oniisan" reminded me of that, haha.
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ToraDora 09 HAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHA
One Outs = best best
Toradora = best
Casshern Sins = good
Clannad = ok
Kannagie = hehe lol
Toradora is totaly diffrent from Shana they may look the same but ToraDora is really fucking funny while Shakugan No Shana is more emotional
edit: Gundam 00 S2 I guess its decent i really like the OP & ED but i think S1 was better, tho we are only at ep 8 so hopefully it gets a little better.
edit: FUCK LOL - forgot ONE OUTS damn i'm watching to many animes =| for everybody that isnt watching this one its just a must see, as SC players for sure. Its about a dude thats like uber gosu in manipulating and mind fucking stuff. Definitely best anime this season.
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On November 28 2008 19:23 xxsaznpride wrote:
@OP: not gonna lie, after I saw 7/10 for clannad followed by 8/10 for toradora, I automatically lost what possible online respect I could have had. Ef is ranked higher... Somehow, you're waiting for Clannad, essentially a series of mini-stories interspersed throughout a main story, to grow a story, while Ef is pretty much a shit-ton of mini-stories that don't actually lend to each other or anything. This isn't to say that I dislike Ef (shit, I love the series to death), but Clannad >>>> Ef for me and I kinda felt like saying something about it. If Clannad is about everyday life to you, then I really have no idea what to say to that...
I'm not exactly 'waiting' for Clannad to grow a story. I enjoy it so far, but some of the arcs have been better than others. I liked the 5th 6th episode one, but other episodes has been worse in my opinion - espeically the latest ones.
+ Show Spoiler +The saving gangmembers arc was just plain silly and too sentimental for my taste...
Because I liked the original Clannad more, I might have come off as a bit negative to the After Story anime.
Don't stare yourself blind at the ratings, it's only a general guideline...
I actually skipped One Outs because I don't like sport-anime in general. But maybe I should give it a chance.
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the first episode of Chaos was interesting imo, but then it just kinda failed, or not juts my taste of anime.
you forgot animes as kuroshitsuji, kurozuka, Ga-rei Zero, tales of abyss
especially the new sports anime one outs really excites me, imo its really intersting, but the autumn-winter anime's isnt the best, imo its the worst season of anime's.
also there are some new manga's coming up which very is interesting, i dont know how much you guys read manga, but you should try it, even tho it might sound "annyoing to go through each sites, but it is worth it imo
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Chaos Head I say lol, we are at 50% of this series and absolutly nothing happend except for this fucktard screaming when he sees a girl most anoying anime this season forsure. Tales of the Abyss is even worse.
Lungo do you read manga only or do you buy them, where could I download some ?
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EPT![[image loading]](http://img361.imageshack.us/img361/9308/clannad1dn5.jpg)
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