Now that the summer season is underway, I'd like to share my final thoughts on series that have ended and my current thoughts on series that are still airing. Please keep in mind that the following is my own opinion; I'm just a fan with a blog, not a professional reviewer.
Finished Shows:
Deadman Wonderland
"A person who doesn't go mad here was crazy to begin with."
Final Thoughts: What started out as a creepy look at what would happen if a private organization owned a death row prison turned into a thinly veiled excuse to have increasingly disturbing characters fight each other in Colosseum-style combat. This gets worse in the second half, where the animation values go down and the show suddenly introduces the rebel group Scar Chain and it's counterpart, the Undertakers, who have barely explained powers over Deadmen. While Owl's story does carry an emotional punch, everything else in the second half feels too rushed. This show had great potential at its start, but dropped its most interesting concepts in favor of shock value when it could have easily had both.
Bottom Line: Great for those who enjoy gory action, but be warned that the plot and the production values disappear after the halfway point.
Hoshizora e Kakaru Hashi
"If you have something that you want to say, then just say it."
Final Thoughts: Why is the airhead the main girl? She has all of the character depth of a cardboard cutout, with her "quriks" being that she eats a lot and has a brother complex. Not that the other girls in this show fare much better; only the childhood friend character has something approaching substanence, but from what I've read, this is a problem with the source material, not so much with the show itself. It's an adaptation; if the source material it's based on is shallow to begin with, there's not much to be done. Aside from the fact that the plot has the depth of a wading pool, there's little here that breaks away from the norm of harem romances, with the exception of the little brother being forced into the fanservice as well. While it's not horrible, it's all just so bland and predictable that it leaves little to no impression at its end.
Bottom Line: Not much to see here; whether someone will like it or not is up to individual taste.
Sekaiichi Hatsukoi
"This is not love! This is not love! I will never admit that this is love!"
Final Thoughts: Like I said in the the Midseason Impressions post, once non-consensual stuff started happening, I gave up on the romance. However, I did end up liking one of the couples, the one with the manga editor and the bookstore employee, since the only non-con that happened was a kiss in a cafe. That said, the fact that my "favorite" is based off of the lack of non-con material is a strike against the show. The manga publishing part was the most enjoyable part for me, since the main couple never gets a resolution (even though it's obvious what will happen eventually anyway). At the end of the day, Sekaiichi is a standard yaoi show that knows how to use shoujo tropes to its benefit, but it's a cotton candy sweetness; all sugar and no substance.
Bottom Line: Hardcore yaoi fans will get the most mileage out of this one. Anyone not familiar with yaoi tropes but looking for gay romance might be better off with a light shonen-ai series.
The World God Only Knows II
"If an ideal can be found in a crappy game, then perhaps in the real world..."
Final Thoughts: What started out as a story about an otome game freak being forced to court real-life girls has evolved into something more. The biggest revelation comes at the end of the series, when Keima finally admits that the real world may not be that bad. That's not to say that he's completely graduated from his avoidance of reality; just like in the first season, Keima uses his insane knowledge of all things gal-games to fill the hole in the current heroine's heart. This season does mix it up a bit though, as not all of the girl's problems stem from a lack of love. This season also brings back the great sense of humor that the first season has, and Elsie continues to be a great (and adorable) foil to Keima's insanity. If you watched the first season and didn't like it, there's little here to change your mind, but for those who enjoyed the first season, the second is a delight.
Bottom Line: Improves on the formula introduced in the first season and adds some much-needed character development for Keima. If you liked the first season, you'll love this.
Shows still Airing:
Blue Exorcist
Episodes Watched: 12
Thoughts: This show is a great example of how it's not tropes that define a series; it's how those tropes are executed. While there isn't anything particularly original about Blue Exorcist, the execution of its premise makes for a enjoyable show. That's not to say that there aren't occasional missteps--the Kraken episode was just silly--but for the most part the show creates an interesting blend of the fighting, high school, supernatural and comedy genres, with just a touch of drama thrown in for good measure. Although there are some concerns about the adaptation (the manga is still ongoing), it looks like this will turn out to be one of the better examples of the shounen genre.
Nichijou (My Ordinary Life)
Episodes Watched: 13
Thoughts: Nichijou continues to plug away at its unique brand of humor, expanding into character-driven humor as it uses the personality and relationship bases of the three best friends and the quirky family made up of a child genius, a robot and a cat to it's best advantage. It's still not the kind of humor that will work for everyone, and there are jokes that I flat out just don't get (every time the Helvetica Standard bit comes up, for instance) but at it's halfway point, Nichijou seems to have finally hit its stride.
SKET Dance
Episodes Watched: 13
Thoughts: While its premise of a group of students helping people is nothing new, SKET Dance does do some things right; many of its characters are reoccurring are there are a few episodes that did pull some heartstrings (episode 7 and the latter part of episode 6, in particular). However, it does use a "problem of the week" format, which can be annoying to some, and there are moments when the characters are simply yelling at each other, as if loudness directly corresponds into laughs. The show is at its best when it is doing parodies; as a shoujo fan, the character Roman never fails to make me laugh, and the Kimi ni Todoke parody is a must-see for anyone who has watched that show. While it hasn't really distinguished itself from other shows of its kind yet, the unique cast of characters and the genuinely funny moments make this show worth checking out.
Steins;Gate
Episodes Watched: 13
Thoughts: Despite its first half being largely dialogue driven, Steins;Gate tells an interesting sci-fi story centering around time travel. At its halfway point, it's clear that the show still has many more tricks up its sleeve aside from the twist that happened at the end of episode 12. While I'd recommend the series to any science fiction fan, there are a lot of jokes and references that are clearly intended for the hard-core anime crowd (Mayuri makes cosplay outfits, Makise is a secret @channer, Feiris the maid is apparently resposible for moe culture in Akihabara). However, they are easily ignored in favor of the larger story which revolves around the changing world that the main character finds himself in due to his time travel experiments. If the concept of time travel alone is enough to interest you, give this show a look.
Tiger and Bunny
Episodes Watched: 13
Thoughts: I think that people are a little too hard on T&B. It's not a mecha show, nor the deep commentary on commercialism that some people (including myself) were expecting. But what it does do right is borrow heavily from the tried-and-true narratives of everyone's favorite superhero stories and balance out the cliches with an interesting character cast and a world that seems similar to ours, yet at the same time is foreign. It suffers from some off-model animation, probably due to the fact that the CG used to animate the powersuits must cost a lot, but this tends to happen when characters are viewed from a distance or are standing around talking, not during action sequences or other important scenes so it's not a huge concern at this point. This is a show intended for sheer enjoyment. It's the kind of show where you can just sit down, enjoy the characters, root for your favorite and boo the bad guys. It also helps that the Hulu simulcast goes up on Saturdays, which puts things in perspective. If you're looking for classic superhero fun, this is it.
Images from Safebooru, Random Curiosity, Crunchyroll.com, and Hulu.com.
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