Forum - View topicSummer 2010 season - postmortem.
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Spastic Minnow
 Bargain HunterExempt from Grammar Rules  Posts: 4630 Location: Gainesville, FL |
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The review thread for the end of the season instead of the preview for the beginning. Obviously you don't have to go into as much detail as I am, just say what you liked and didn't.
Excellent: Asobi ni Ikuyo: Bombshells from the Sky It had one of the best first episodes I've ever seen,everything in it was familiar yet unexpected. It seemed no one was who they were supposed to be and all these cute girls were on a collision course. If it continued at the pace of the first episode this would have been a masterpiece, but that's a hard thing to do and things did slow down a bit and go into some more typical territory. Yet, they still played around with genre conceits, it stayed fun from beginning to end and the plots were much smarter and thoughtful than you'd think. The final episode didn't resolve things too well though so I hope they somehow pull out another season somehow, despite some clues that maybe it didn't sell fantastically well in Japan and hasn't been licensed in the US. we need more shows like it- Sexy without being obnoxious, fun without being stupid, a harem (or love quadrangle) show with strong girls. Very Good: Seitokai Yakuindomo Simply, very funny. At times this season this was the show I looked forward to the most just because I wanted a good belly laugh. In fact it is the only show of the season that I have already rewatched. It's usually very dirty-minded but in a more appropriately mature way than the other sometimes dirty minded show of the season, Mitsudomoe, not to say it's extremely sophisticated, it's more mature in the sense that it trades pantie and pee jokes for dildo and masturbation jokes. And while the sex jokes are a mile a minute it does not emphasize obnoxious fan service. There are a couple bath scenes but they are legitimately used as part of a joke instead of an excuse to show of cartoon boobies. K-On!! I may bump this up to Excellent once I rewatch it. It's ashow about girls spending time together and having fun, so it only makes sense that the more time you spend together the more fun you'll have- so it works well as a show to marathon in a few bunches. Tono to Issho (OAV) If you watch (or tried to watch) this on Crunchyroll in it's weekly gag format you're probably surprised at this rating, I suggest watching it as the complete OVA, when the jokes are constant it is SOOO much better, when a joke misfires you just have a second to adjust before the next one hits and compiled together it is very funny- therefore the very good rating. Good: Kaichō wa Maid-sama! I really liked Misaki and the supporting cast, didn't like Usui- which hurts it a bit, considering it's a romance series. It ends incomplete, which isn't uncommon for a romantic series with more story to tell, but the way it's incomplete bugged me. I don't feel like doing spoikers so I'll have to go further into it in the series thread. However, if you take each episode (or paired episodes) by itself than it tells a series of very fun stories. Okamisan When it focused on the separate adventures and interaction between the companions than it's quite enjoyable. Bring in the plot with its out of proportion dark secret and absolutely boring sadist villain and it's not as enjoyable anymore. Luckily there's more enjoyable material than not, so it's worth watching. Mitsudomoe I barely laughed or even smiled during the first two obnoxious and often gross episodes. Luckily it got much better. The girls each got their own thing and the point stopped being about torturing the teacher. The jokes are often quite cheap little double entendres and misunderstandings, but they're still funny. Yumeiro Pâtissière If Crunchyroll had suddenly lost the rights to stream this show- I probably wouldn't have cared too much, not sure I'd even put any effort in finding alternate ways to watch the rest of the season. But it grows on you, the show is as sweet and diverting as its subject matter and it's hard to hate. Occult Academy This could drop down to the "decent" rating. It had its problems negotiating the differences between drama and comedy and when that dissonance really didn't work it could be bad (The one that starts with the dead cows- skip it!) but it was overall a good story. Decent: Amagami SS (Continuing) The first arc was weak and strange but I'm not sure you could say "bad," it was supposed to be odd I guess- because the subject of the first arc was odd. It has since elevated itself to something more like "nothing special," it's occasionally sweet and a bit funny. watch it if you have the time and want some lite romance. Strike Witches 2 (eight episodes) Just edited this in. But forgetting to include it in this list is appropriate as I eventually basically forgot to keep watching it. It's incredible how they just kept repeating the same things from the first season. There was nothing original going on in the show and because all of the character progression happened in the first series you couldn't even count on character growth. They were the same characters doing the same things in a slightly different place... and though they were all a year or so older- they even looked the same. So-So: Sekirei ~Pure Engagement~ I don't think I'll bother with this if it gets a third or fourth season. The show's brand of ginormous breasted women fighting each other in duels to the "death"? may be a step above the others but that's not saying much. The villains are still populated with cliched cackling morons and the fights are still clothes shredding affairs that rely on silly special moves and powers. The characters do show some personal development but not enough for me to care about and it still comes down to the same 'ol story of girls who don't want to fight but have to in order to protect their friends! And please, Tsukiumi, you're 22 years old- not the usual high school dweeb harem lead, when are are your balls going to drop! Someday I hope his voice changes and he'll learn to enjoy beautiful women throwing themselves at him, but I'm not going to stick around to find out when. Not Really Good: Blessing of the Campanella Not agressively bad but devoid of anything special. I stalled at episode 8 and I believe I'll just leave it there. Characters are boring and cliched, Story is nothing special, setting is a minimally adequate fantasy world. Everything about it is bland, bland, bland. Even if they tried to play to it's eroge source material more I don't think there'd be anything to get excited about. Everything is so cheery and pleasant you want to kick that little cat puppet into the sky just so something will make an impact. Barely started but may continue at some point: (awaiting your reviews) Shiki (only watched two eps) Not a big horror fan, no character to bond with, slow. Legend of the Legendary Heroes (three eps) This just might be better to watch when it's finished. Moyashimon (three eps) I'm having problems with American sitcoms for being too exaggerated, you can imagine my problem here.. Plus, I've seen the anime- I haven't seen much new material yet. Last edited by Spastic Minnow on Sat Oct 02, 2010 2:55 pm; edited 5 times in total |
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garfield15
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I forgot about this.
My favorites of the season were Occult Academy, Mitsudomoe and Shiki. Especially Shiki. I'm so mad about that hiatus because I am totally into the show. K-ON!! was entertaining enough to keep me watching it each week so I guess I'll give it points there. I'm neutral on Legendary Heroes. I think it's pretty good but it's gonna need to get a lot better. Digimon Xros Wars is my obsession right now, but that's expected Overall, this wasn't a bad season as there was no gigantic influx of pure fanservice/moe showings though it wasn't like Spring when there literally seemed to be something for everybody that was into anything. Still, not too bad. |
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Eivion
Posts: 569 |
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Heroman - Good action and animation along with solid characterization and story telling. Its probably one of my favorite shows for this year.
High School of the Dead - Plenty action and fan service that borders on the ridiculous. That said it also had some really good characterizations and build. Probably was my favorite show for the summer season and one of the few I see as a future purchase. K-ON!! - Thought this was nice and pretty sentimental towards the end. I liked it a lot more than the first season which I thought was decent and enjoyable enough on its own. Occult Academy - This was enjoyable and had some good moments, but overall I didn't think it was put together well. Its a big step down from Anime no Chikara's first project, Sora no Woto. Mitsudomoe - I felt odd watching this one. It was fairly dirty with its jokes which I can be generally fine with, but having it come from 6th graders and having the odd fan service moments from Futaba's drawings made me feel awkward watching. Still enjoyed it though as there was plenty of decent comedy and times where you can't help but laugh and feel sorry for the normal people who get pulled into the weirdness. Seitokai Yakuindomo - This was much easier to digest and enjoy than Mistudomoe. Similar dirty humor, but with older characters and no real fan service. Shiki - Not fond of the art style, but the writing has been solid to very good so far. I enjoyed this one much more than I thought I would after the first episode. Kaichō wa Maid-sama! - Decent comedy and love story dragged out too long. Okamisan - See OP. Pretty much sums up my feelings. Asobi ni Ikuyo: Bombshells from the Sky - Pretty enjoyable. You get a lot of your usual harem stuff, but there is a decent amount played out more seriously than the usual along with some fun action. Legend of Legendary Heroes - I've enjoyed it to an extent, but it feels like its not paced out nearly as well as it should have been to make everything hit home emotionally. Sengoku Basara 2 - Same action packed adrenaline rush the first series was with a bit of growth for Date (my favorite) and Yukimura. Dug the hell out of it, and I can't wait to see the film coming out next year. Kuroshitsuji II - Actually thought this was better than the first season with a more focused, better told plot. Still not sure how I feel about that ending though. Nurarihyon no Mago - This started out pretty weak, but has gotten much better as the man character has begun to accept his duties. |
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Ggultra2764
 Subscriber Posts: 3968 Location: New York state. |
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Only checked out three titles from this season:
Amagami SS- Dropped the series after one episode as I felt it had the cookie-cutter mold of a dating sim game spinoff despite seeming more down-to-earth compared to many similar titles I've been exposed to. Occult Academy- What started off decently enough with Maya and Abe teaming up eventually led to a big mess with many of the show's two-part arcs doing little to advancing the plot and rushing through developments in the show's final three episodes. Shiki- While not yet complete, the show's my favorite of the three titles for this season. While not as visually detailed as Occult Academy, the series does well with mystery and horror by taking its time at slowly unraveling the cause of the many deaths occurring within the town and building up suspense from characters who slowly come to deal with those responsible for the problems plaguing the town. |
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Unicorn_Blade
 Posts: 1153 Location: UK |
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I must say Im waiting for Shiki to come back again. I love it. I am so glad I have not sropped it after second/thirs episode, the thing only gets better and better. Actually I really considered getting the books to know how things will follow, I cant wait for the second half to be aired.
Occult Academy- I am not decided about this one. One the one hand, there were bits I liked, on the other, I overally found it quite meh. Two good episodes are simply not enough to make up for the rest that is beloe average. I dont know if House of Five Leaves still count as a summer season show? If yes, that definitely is one of my favourites. Different, engaging, with an interesting plot and quite nice art. I had so much fun watching it... And would like to see more series of this kind. |
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Mister V
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Everything around a Good so far.
Seitokai is only Decent - the best description of it is that "I didn't lose my time". Legend of Legendary Heroes so far potentially Very Good, even despite being fantasy, thanks to its dark take on the genre. Occult Academy had its moments, but honestly couldn't find itself, but it's still enjoyable, so a neutral, Good from me. Ookamisan was dropped without regret. |
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Aylinn
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There are only two series I checked in the summer.
Shiki – not bad, but not great either. Characters are fairly interesting, some of them are not sympathetic, but at least they are annoying because they are intended to be annoying. I like some elements such as the fact that vampires cannot enter a human house uninvited; it’s nice that this less popular myth is used instead of something more generally known like their vulnerability to garlic or crosses. I also like the fact that those who turned into vampires have difficulty to talk at the beginning because they don’t breath. There are, however, things I don’t like, I’m not a huge fan of conversations between this vampire girl and this priest, whose name I forgot, they are boring. When she was talking about how death treats everyone equally I felt as if I were in school reading yet another piece of Medieval literature where this concept was beaten to death. 7 out of 10. Legend of Legendary Heroes – I have seen one episode and everything about this show is so absolutely average that I was not interested in seeing another episode. It’s not bad, but it consists of elements that were used thousands times and were sometimes executed thousands times better. 4 out of 10. Last edited by Aylinn on Sat Oct 02, 2010 2:57 pm; edited 3 times in total |
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asimpson2006
 Posts: 3151 Location: USA |
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I only finished Mitsudomoe and I already said what I wanted to be fore about it, so I won't repeat what I wrote about it.
Seitokai Yakuindomo I stopped around episode 8 because I wanted to get some of my other back log taken care of. I will probably finish it this week. Asobi ni Ikuyo: Bombshells from the Sky - I enjoyed what I watched so far (up to episode 3) but the censorship just takes all the fun out it. I'll wait until the uncensored eps come out, then finish it off. HSOTD I will wait until the Sentai release next year. I did download the first episode of Amagami SS but have yet to watch it. |
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Spastic Minnow
Bargain Hunter Exempt from Grammar Rules Posts: 4630 Location: Gainesville, FL |
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You know, I hadn't realized before this comment. I think the censorship basically stopped after the gun fight in the street, or rather they changed it so characters wear skimpy clothes instead of "nothing that has to be glared out" or if they are naked, they simply don't bother having anything on the screen that needs glare/fog/ whatever. In the least it was never as obnoxiously present as the white light from the first episodes. |
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Blood-
Bargain Hunter Posts: 24166 |
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I stuck with 9 series that began in the summer and overall I found the lot of them to be solidly entertaining. Nothing, for me, rose up and presented itself as a future entrant into the Anime Hall of Fame, but they all delivered 20+ minutes of enjoyable viewing each week.
If I had to pick my fave, I would have to say... ...Highschool of the Dead - this one tended to be the series that I would most eagerly anticipate a new episode. I loved the situation, characters, fanservice and gore. Gave me my favourite scene of the season: a bullet being shot between a set of heaving breasts. Nice! Would be very disappointed if there are not future seasons. Rating: Very Good. Next fave... ...Occult Academy - Really loved the look of this one. Maya joined my posse of Awesome Anime Chicks. I dug the humour and the episodic structure. I liked the interplay between fierce Maya and wimpy Abe. The cast of secondary characters was pretty strong and colourful, too. Sadly, the ending of this one was spoiler[pretty emphatically wrapped up, so it's hard to imagine a second helping]. Pity. Rating: Good. Pleasant Surprise of the Season Award goes to... ...Seitokai Yakuindomo - I had low expectations for this one, figuring it probably be similar to Seitokai no Ichizon which I was not a big fan of. It turned out to be a very enjoyable string of sexual gags strung together. Not all the comedy was dirty, but a lot of it was. I thought the four panel gag origin of the anime would start to wear thin after a while, but it never did. Rating: Good. Started Slow, But Picked Up... ...Shiki - Interesting character designs. Even when the series was slow, it never really was in danger of losing my interest. There's a core ensemble cast and then an outer ring of more secondary characters and the show does a good job of making most of these characters distinct and interesting. Show has been on hiatus for two weeks now and apparently a new eppie won't be available until Oct. 14. I miss it. Funi licensed it and I look forward to the dub. Rating: Good. Started Strong, But Then Sort of Faded... ...Asobi ni Ikuyo: Bombshells from the Sky - Really enjoyed the first few episodes, but my interest did dwindle as the show went on. I think this is primarily because more emphasis started to be put on conventional harem dynamics and really who cares about that tired old shit? Seriously, if I have to watch one more bland, totally clueless male harem lead I may just have to punch somebody. Rating: Goodish-Decent. As for Okamisan, The Legend of Legendary Heroes and Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan, I pretty much felt the same about all of them - fun little shows but nothing terribly memorable. Collective rating: Decent. My One Kinda Disappointment... ...Sekirei: Pure Engagement - It's not that I had massive hopes for this one, but I did enjoy the first season and the second just didn't match the fun of the first. It's pretty clear there will be at least one more season (perhaps more) and I'll watch but without the same level of enjoyment that I had. Rating: Decent-ish/So-So. |
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asimpson2006
Posts: 3151 Location: USA |
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I'll keep that in mind. I did just download the BD release for the first episode and probably give it a watch either later tonight or tomorrow. |
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Dorcas_Aurelia
 Posts: 5344 Location: Philly |
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Occult Academy - Started with promise, but it's failure to successfully become either a comical parody of sci-fi/supernatural stories or a dramatic save-the-world tale (instead jumping back and forth between the two) ruined it for me.
Shiki - My favorite show of the season. The slow-burning suspense and dread created by the eerie atmosphere is probably the series greatest strength. The characters may not be endearing (and the hairstyles are straight up bizarre), but they are interesting. I'm eagerly awaiting for it to pick up from its brief hiatus. Sengoku Basara 2 - More of the same from season 1: ridiculously over-the-top battles and warfare. Yukimura is a little angsty this season, but given that its because of reconciling his ideals with his actions, it's not a problem. Asobi no Ikuyou - During the Summer preview, after almost all of the shows had started airing and nothing looked like a clear winner yet, Erin (I think) made a comment about how this show was yet to air and, despite it's incredibly generic premise, wasn't ruling it out yet. I mentally scoffed, but darned if it didn't turn out to be one of the best harem series I've ever seen. Mitsudomoe - I lasted an episode and a half. It was just too gross for me. How long can one stretch a bodily fluid joke? Too long. Moyashimon live action - I've seen the anime version, so I know that it's not as though this show needs to be incredibly classy, subtle, or refined, but this was so blunt, exaggerated, and in-your-face with it's humor I had to stop watching in the middle of an episode. As oxymoronic as it sounds, you can have gross-out humor that isn't too crass, but this just got obnoxious. |
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garfield15
Posts: 1535 |
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I really think you should go past the second episode for Mitsudomoe but if you don't want to....
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Spastic Minnow
Bargain Hunter Exempt from Grammar Rules Posts: 4630 Location: Gainesville, FL |
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Yes, I second the recommendation to go past episode two of Mitsudomoe. In fact I'd suggest a new viewer of the show should just go straight to episode three.
and I added another series to my OP... I forgot Strike Witches 2(decent) which is appropriate as I basically forgot to keep watching it. |
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wandering-dreamer
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Occult Academy Haven't watched the last episode yet but I've really enjoyed this series. The characters were a blast by and large (even Fumaki once he grew a freaking spine) and I didn't mind that a lot of the episodes were episodic and focusing more on character development than plot centric. Hoping I'll like the ending too, I've seen mixed review so I'm a little worried.
Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan Blah, the manga is enjoyable but this anime just feels awkward. I can't quite place it but somehow it doesn't flow as well and the art looks strange at times to me. I'll keep following the simulcast but I'd rather buy the manga than the anime. Black Butler II Well that was weird, it feels like the anime studio tried to think of the strangest plot twists possible and mess with some fans in the process. I like the manga sometimes but since this had nothing to do with the manga I disliked it more than the first season, glad I watched it streamed so I don't have fansub guilt. Shiki Why oh why are you on hiatus now? Probably my favorite show of the summer season since it takes an overdone genera and it manages to avoid the cliches and it has some pretty creepy moments. Funimation, get this on DVD and I will buy it in a heartbeat, can't wait for the second half! Legend of the Legendary Heroes I like some of the episodes and feel rather "meh" about the others so it's not a bad show. I feel like the show doesn't have that extra "punch" it needs to be amazing and I know that it can do it (episode 3 anyone?). But I'm still looking forward to the second half of the show, it seems to be hitting it's stride a little better now and now that I know there's a map of the countries on the show's website I'm not lost by the politics anymore. |
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