Fall 2011 First Impressions

      
And we're off! Although there are less titles than the summer season, there are plenty of shows floating around that look interesting. So without further ado, here's my seasonal first impressions post based on the premiere episodes of the simulcast shows I plan to watch. Please keep in mind that the following is only my opinion and that it is subject to change during the season. This post will be updated as more series become available/as I watch them.

Shinryaku!? Ika Musume
  
Thoughts: This is one of the titles I've been really looking forward to in this season, since the first season was equal doses of cuteness and hilarity. And the first episode does not disappoint, starting with yet another failed invasion to reintroduce the main cast, and we're off running. Everything remains unchanged from the first season, which is a good thing here, since as the saying goes, "If it isn't broken, don't fix it," and that advice should go double for comedies. Thankfully, it doesn't look like the sudden success of Squid Girl has caused anyone to try to change the formula, and the premiere episode promises more of what made the show so much fun the first time around.

Fate/zero
  
Thoughts: In my season preview post, I said that I was going to wait and see if this newest incarnation of the popular franchise would be newbie-friendly before going into it, since I haven't seen the original series or anything related to it. I know who some of the characters are through internet osmosis, but their circumstances and how their world worked were a mystery to me. That's why the first forty-seven minute long episode was great for me as an exposition dump, since the characters' respective situations, the rival families and general world structure are all explained in enough detail that now I feel that I can follow what will happen in this prequel, even if I don't have the context of what will happen in the "future." Actually, I think that not knowing will make this a more enjoyable viewing experience, since I have no idea how this is going to end and I intend to avoid spoilers like the plague. Overall, as a first episode it did a great job of getting me hooked, even with the scary bug scene wall of dialogue.

Hunter x Hunter
  
Thoughts: Like Fate/zero, I'm coming into this series completely fresh; I've never seen the original, so I have no nostalgia or expectations of this remake other than for it to be an entertaining Shonen Jump adventure. And the first episode meets those expectations, jumping headfirst into the start of its story with all the excitement one would expect from this kind of show. At the moment, it seems like the show is preoccupied with attracting a younger audience (it does air at eleven in the morning in Japan) but that doesn't mean that it isn't fun to watch anyway. Even without the internet's promise that the series does get darker and more mature, I'm interested in seeing where this adventure will lead.

Working'!!
  
Thoughts: Another sequel I've really been looking forward to, the first episode of Working'!! is a great re-introduction to the quirky staff of Wagnaria. Thankfully, the character development of the last season doesn't seem to have been spontaneously forgotten in favor of rehashing old jokes. That said, being a comedy show, character development is not the highest priority and the character's individual problems still persist: Popura is still focused on getting taller, Inami still punches men, and Takanashi still obsesses over small things, to name a few. However, this is far from being a problem, since it was those traits that made these characters so engaging and hilarious in the first place. I'm excited to spend another season with them.

UN-GO
  
Thoughts: I really enjoyed this episode; finally, a mystery series that knows how to actually create, you know, a mystery! Except here it wasn't so much about who was the killer--that was painfully obvious--it was why and how. Since this is a Bones production, the animation is stellar and consistent and the music score was a perfect fit. I'm sure that others will find problems with the supernatural element, but I think that it could be played in very interesting ways depending on which direction this series goes in. With that mentioned, apparently Inga is a newcomer here since the original story didn't include him/her (I'm going off of heresay on the internet here, feel free to correct me), but I think that this is meant to provide a new spin on an old story, and it worked for me. This first episode also promises some mysteries to be solved about the characters as well, and hopefully this will become the intelligent mystery show I've been waiting for.

Guilty Crown
  
Thoughts: By all indicators, I should like this show; it's got a great staff behind it that has created some of my favorite shows. But something about Guilty Crown felt off to me ever since I saw the trailer, and that feeling continues into this first episode. Basically, I don't think that it deserves the hype that it's getting, at least not yet, since there's a lot of room for improvement. The lead character is whiny and cowardly and obtains his new power completely by mistake (sound familiar?) and the leading lady a bit too much of an enigma (apparently when she's not stealing things from the government, she likes to recreate Miley Cyrus videos). That's not to say that this first episode isn't enjoyable, but I enjoyed it on the level of a relatively decent action movie that you find when flipping through the TV channels when nothing else is on. It has a ways to go if its going to live up to the hype that it generated.

Last Exile: Ginyoku no Fam
  
Thoughts: I admit that I was concerned when the episode started out with the title character stripping, but aside from that random digression, Last Exile is back with a bang. Everything that made the first series so compelling is in full force in this episode, with most of the episode focusing on the start of a war. The lead-up to this could've been handled a bit better ("they've killed so many people"=we've found the series' villians) and the younger princess was a bit grating, but I'm really interested in seeing how all of the other characters develop. I wouldn't say that watching the first season is a requirement for watching this show (yet), but you definitely get more out of it if you watched the original series. I'm obviously referring to Dio here; you have no idea how happy I am to see him. Anyway, here's hoping that this second series tackles some of the unanswered questions from the first, but even if it doesn't, it looks like we're in for quite a ride.

Images from NicoNico and Crunchyroll.com.