[Ended] Medaka Box Abnormal: Simple Pleasures

I have to say when I started this season of Medaka Box, I was not expecting much from it. To my surprise, however, it's far more enjoyable than I though it would be. Unlike a story with massive complex plot, Medaka Box Abnormal is all about simple pleasures: simple plot, simple fights, simple twists, and, most importantly, simply trolling around. Yet it isn't like most other simple minded anime, it has a rather...classy feel to it. So long you don't nitpick on the trolling, I think you'd enjoy it.

Final Scoreboard:

Drama: 84 (Shounen)
Comedy: 87 (Some are pretty funny)

Action: 92 (Very exciting)

Art/Animation: 88 (Good)

Sound/Music: 85 (Not bad)

Character: 90 (Trololololol)

Plot: 86 (Troll)

Ending: N/A

Re-watch value: 50 - Maybe

Overall: 89 - Trolling More

Recommendation: With the amount of trolling it involves, I'm not positive whether the ending really indicates there's another season or it's just their trolling as usual. 

[Ended] Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun: Interesting Way to End

Like many other animes of similar type, as the anime progresses, it starts to slowly complicate the story by "diluting" the character set. When that happened, in my opinion, Mitty and Haru's progress kind of came to an stand still while all the people around them start to run the show. Though it's clearly a delay tactic by author who doesn't know how or doesn't want to resolve the main conflict, generally I don't consider it a bad thing for this type of anime, because this particular style of comedy gets dull and repetitive rather quickly, without having more characters getting involved to help in terms of the depth and complexity of the plot, my attention for this would run out rather quickly.

As more characters got involved, the story become less of an in-your-face way of making people laugh because most people are not nearly as weird as the main pair. On top of that, the evolving plot also has gotten a bit more serious which made it slightly more difficult to just try to make people laugh all the time. 9 out of 10 animes of this type would not have the main pair resolve their relationships, so how well animes like this end is mostly dictated by how well they can make an conclusion to existing segment. Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun, in my opinion did it rather brilliantly. This is definitely one of the smartest "non-ending" ending episode I've seen.

This series has an additional plus for me: "Mitty" is voiced by my no.1 favorite voice actress, Haruka Tomatsu. While I'd much prefer her to play a more playful role like Lala or Nagi, her voice fits the role of "Mitty" quite well, too.

Final Scoreboard:

Drama: 89 (Lots of it)
Comedy: 95 (This is where it shines)

Action: N/A 

Art/Animation: 88 (Interesting)

Sound/Music: 85 (So so)

Character: 90 (Unique and colorful)

Plot: 86 (Slightly diluted)

Ending: 90 (Very smart)

Re-watch value: 60 - Might still be funny

Overall: 91 - Comedy of the Season

Recommendation: This is hands down the best comedy of the October anime season that no others would come even close. It's definitely

Comedy of the Season for October 2012 Season

[Ended] Code: Breaker : Awkward

I can't quite put my finger to it, but there's this overall awkwardness throughout the series. I think it has something to do with how people were not acting appropriately according to the situation, like towards the end the prime minister's attitude talking to everybody, etc. In addition, Code 1 seems to be jumping from one extreme to another without much of a transition, nor a rationale on how he comes to such extreme plan without considering a plan with, say, lesser extreme methods. It just feels extremely awkward.

Final Scoreboard:

Drama: 76 (Awkward)

Comedy: N/A

Action: 84 (Not bad) 

Art/Animation: 80 (So so)

Sound/Music: 82 (Ok)

Character: 74 (Very one dimensional)

Plot: 78 (Not that good)

Ending: 80 (Somewhat of a climax)

Re-watch value: 20 - Not Needed

Overall: 78 - Mediocre

Recommendation: I'd say you don't need to waste your time on this, even if you have too much time to burn, you can still find better to watch.

[Ended] Sword Art Online: Lesser Epic

Sword Art Online is probably one of the most talked about anime over the internet in this year. For the most part, I think it's caused by audiences possess different level of background knowledge about SAO series prior to the start of watching the anime series. Sparks fly as people who have seen the story for the first time clash with the light novel loyalists who see this as an adaptation of the original work disagree upon whether certain things in the series have been done well. Since I've never read any of the light novel, my opinion is purely based on the anime itself, not how well the anime adapted the light novel like much of the online discussions are about. On top of that, I've been intentionally avoiding any online discussion related to this topic just so that I won't be tainted by unnecessary information.

Overall, Sword Art Online is a very enjoyable experience. Honestly, you can't talk about SAO without thinking about or comparing to the anime started this genre, the .hack//sign. In fact, SAO is a lot more similar in concept to .hack//sign than many others in the same genre since. But the SAO really brought this genre up to a new level. First half of the series, it focuses mainly on the struggle of how people would behave when they found themselves trapped in a virtual world, while the second half introduces a slightly complex picture where family and friends are involved and the virtual reality is no longer life threatening. You can definitely tell SAO's heritage in light novel as you wouldn't exactly call the story smooth flowing. It feels quite...chuncky. Because of that, there's a lack of "epicness" where it usually require a bit more continuous build up to achieve. Also, I think lack of climax of in the final fights attributed to it as well.

During the final episode, there's an interesting situation, where I think soon we might have to start to coup with in our own world: when the virtual reality you have experienced is so real, even life and death becomes part of it, how would you be able to hold your emotion within the virtual reality without letting it spill over into the true reality.


Final Scoreboard:

Drama: 93 (Highly dramatic)

Comedy: N/A

Action: 94 (Rather epic battles) 

Art/Animation: 90 (Pretty good)

Sound/Music: 96 (Great music)

Character: 94 (Character centric)

Plot: 88 (Arcs)

Ending: 86 (Slightly anticlimactic)

Re-watch value: 60 - Could still be interesting

Overall: 89 - Lesser, but still epic enough

Recommendation: Purely from the anime itself, I think this is a rather epic and enjoyable. Maybe your opinion would be different if you have read the light novel and you're looking at it as an "adaptation". But as far as I'm concern, this is a good series that is well worth your time.

[Ended] Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai: Deeper Than Appears to Be

At first glance, it looks no different than a blend of extreme moe anime for the purpose of producing more moe. However, the latter half of the series made a 180 turn and painted a rather gloomy picture for rest of the story, very much like how a Key anime usually turns out.

The core of the story is the process how the main character learned to stop using illusions to escaping reality and learn to face it head on. At the same time, however, it also asks the question whether facing reality is where the answer really lies. Would we really be better off rid of chuunibyou? And who to say life isn't really just a huge chuunibyou?

Final Scoreboard:

Drama: 90 (Very well done)

Comedy: 93 (Highly enjoyable)

Action: 91 (Rather impressive for a comedy) 

Art/Animation: 90 (Moe and Action)

Sound/Music: 90 (Fun)

Character: 91 (Significant Depth)

Plot: 93 (Very well done)

Ending: 93 (Great)

Re-watch value: 60 - Maybe, though you won't get much out of it

Overall: 92 - Funny and Emotional

Recommendation: Early on, I almost dismissed it completely because I thought it's just another anime that sells moe. But the latter half of the changed my opinion completely. As for recommendation goes, I think I'd go as far as this is one of the must-watch of the season.

[Ended] Btooom: Supposedly Smart People Do Dumb Things

The biggest problem I have, throughout the story, is the fact you would think longer a character survive in this game, higher their survival IQ would become. Well, it's true for most part of the story, until something critical is about to happen. A that moment, somehow they decide to make dumbest choice, or, acting like a complete noob when he supposedly the top ranked player in the world. On top of that, the amount of naiveness people display in a life and  death situation is just simply stunning.

Final Scoreboard:

Drama: 77 (Very artificial)

Comedy: N/A

Action: 81 (Not exactly impressive) 

Art/Animation: 80 (so so)

Sound/Music: 82 (Eh...)

Character: 78 (Naive, and not bright)

Plot: 74 (Awkward plot devices)

Ending: 80 (Not exactly)

Re-watch value: 0 - Once is More than Enough

Overall: 78 - Naive (and Supposedly Smart) People with Dumb Decisions

Recommendation: If you ask me, I'd say don't waste your time on it.

Btooom: Bouncy Boobies

Currently finished: Episode 11

Not only we get to see Himiko uses her natural deflective armor, we get to see it in sloooow motion. And, um, she seems to be getting an orgasm in the process...

As far as the story goes, so far the story is...just exciting enough for me to keep watching. Aside from the first couple of episodes, the story is more or less linear. I don't think we're going to see any surprises in the last episode, that is, unless they decide not to end the story in this season...

Zetsuen no Tempest: Interesting Twists

Currently finished: Episode 7

Among all the over-hyped series of this season, Zetsuen no Tempest has largely gone unnoticed. But from what I've seen so far, this is probably one of my top three series of the season.

The first two episodes are somewhat weird and confusing, especially when it's accompanied strangely by some rather depressing background music throughout almost the entire episode. But once everything is settled in and the story itself starts to unfold, I found this is highly interesting, in many ways. The action scenes aren't stellar, but it's cued in right and pretty exciting. What I found most interesting, though, is the constantly changing plot line. There has been some major twists and turns so far and I'm really interested in how all the hidden agenda and conflicting information would play out.

I think I'd even go as far as saying this is one of the most underrated series of the season. I highly recommend you to pick this up if you can.

[Ended] Horizon on the Middle of Nowhere II: Coherence On Top of Nonsense

Though  it was actually among the first several series from last season I finished watching, it ended up being the last series in the end-of-season review block--it took me quite some time to write up a review that in my opinion is worthy of the series it's reviewing. On top of that, save the best for the last, right? So here comes:

Even towards the end of the second series, I still find myself asking the same question once a while: "What is this I am watching?!! It looks like a bunch of nonsense!" Yet at the same time, lack of coherence is never an issue, throughout the story. That may sound a bit contradicting, but it really isn't. Let me tell you why:

As I said during season one's review, in order to understand and appreciate this story, you have to wipe your mind clear of the realm you currently exist in, i.e. throw away everything you know as "common sense" or "indisputable fact" in the universe you live in, and then rebuild a new one from scratch with whatever this story gives you, at its face value. Then you'll have an universe that everything in this story just makes complete sense, period.

No doubt, denying everything you know since birth as the truth is a bit difficult to do. That may be one contributing factor that Horizon does not have as many stellar reviews as it deserves. But if you manage to do so successfully, you're bound for a wild ride with some amazingly interesting characters and lots of massively complex plots. I know this may come out sounding a bit, um, arrogant, but I'll say it anyway: don't hate the anime, hate yourself for not understanding it.

From time to time, I did forget to tune out of our reality. Those are the times I would roll my head side way and think "WTF am I watching?" But it usually wouldn't take too long before I was able to snap out of it and enjoy what to come.

Now I'm finished ranting about how you should prepare yourself for the series, let's talk about this second season. While it feels very much like the first season, the elements they decide impose emphasis upon has shifted slightly--during season one, due to the fact the audiences were forcefully thrown into an unknown universe, they placed more emphasis on character development, especially on the main group, so that audience would have something familiar they can feel attached to while desperately trying to not drown in the flood of unfamiliar building blocks for this new universe. In this second season, however, since those who are continuing on most likely already have a pretty good grasp of the settings, the story branched into a bigger scope where you see a larger number of additional characters come into play in a much more complicated political situation, which in my opinion, is the sweet spot of this series at.

If you honestly tried, but still have trouble getting everything, then I would recommend you to go through the "Preface" and "Glossary" of the novel (which, unlike normal novels, they are at the beginning of the book) that is available in fan translation by baka-tsuki (though it's a bit difficult to resist the temptation in continuing reading the rest of the novel once you're there :-)

One thing did bother me a bit during this season, is that either the animator or the author of the story up-played a bit too much on the "naked Tori". As I see it, aside from a very few situation that his "naked-ness" actually contributed to resolving certain situation (yeah, surprisingly), for the most part, it's just down right unnecessary.

Though there's no clear announcement like it had in the end of season one, the final moments of this season two showed some new characters that are relevant in the future story. It's possible they simply pulled them directly from the novel's original artwork, but I do hope they keep make more.

All in all, if you can shift your mind into the universe, this is one amazing story, even though it still gets my

WTF of the Year for 2012

award. 

[Edit 11/14/12] One thing I forgot to mention because I was a bit too absorbed in recalling the story of Horizon, is that there's an anime that came out in 2009 that is equally amazing in terms of building a completely coherent story with elements that you couldn't make any sense of. It's called "Sora wo Kakeru Shoujo" (US release translates it to Girl who Leapt through Space, not to confuse it with Girl who Leapt through Time which is a completely different anime has nothing to do with each other). If you liked Horizon, you would like it equally.

Final Scoreboard:

Drama: 92 (Quite dramatic)

Comedy: 90 (No lack of that)

Action: 93 (Over the top, hilarious, and exciting) 

Art/Animation: 88 (Original design from the novel)

Sound/Music: 90 (Quite good)

Character: 93 (Lots of interesting ones)

Plot: 97 (Wild ride)

Ending: 92 (Good wrap up point for the moment)

Re-watch value: 80 - You might need to do that to wrap your brain around it

Overall: 92 - Get ready to be Blown Away

Recommendation: If you get it, you'll love it. If not, well, sorry, you're missing out on one amazing story.

MAGI: They are...Um...Pierced...

Let me just say I was a bit surprised when they just popped up uncensored, front center shots, repeatedly. Consider how aggressively they're censoring ToLoveRu Darkness, I'm a little puzzled about the standards for censoring for broadcast animes. If it's because blue genie is not human, well, neither is Lala. But I guess being blue-skinned makes a difference as far as censoring concern...

[Ended] Kokoro Connect: Twisted People with Twisted Problems

Kokoro Connect really is just another coming to age story that several friends, each has some personal problems as well as some problematic pasts come together helping each other out in time of their most desperate needs. What's unique about this story is how their problems surfaced: if they had gone on with their daily lives as normal, their problems probably would never be seen by others. It is when they were put through some strange phenomenons, their problems were discovered, some in rather brutal manners.

Final Scoreboard:

Drama: 86 (Problems after problems)

Comedy: 83 (For what it had)

Action: N/A

Art/Animation: 82 (Looks like K-ON)

Sound/Music: 84 (Average)

Character: 90 (Well developed)

Plot: 90 (Unique)

Ending: 87 (All problem solved?)

Re-watch value: 60 - Wouldn't be necessary

Overall: 88 - Unique Story on a Common Subject

Recommendation: In my opinion the story itself is pretty flat, though there's certain degree of creative uniqueness to it. I have to say it's one of the better anime of the season, if you have time, you should make an effort to watch it.

[Ended] Binbogami Ga!: Typical

Honestly, I don't really know why everybody thinks so highly about this anime. In my opinion, it's really just another typical in-your-face style comedy that isn't much different than the rest. And this growing out of an irresponsible brat thing, that's only been used like a thousand other animes... Don't get me wrong, by no means this is a bad anime, it's just in my opinion overrated.

Final Scoreboard:

Drama: 82 (So so)

Comedy: 82 (In-your-face style)

Action: 82 (Exaggerated)

Art/Animation: 82 (Typical)

Sound/Music: 84 (Not bad)

Character: 81 (Interesting)

Plot: 80 (Flat)

Ending: 86 (Not bad)

Re-watch value: 20 - Not really 

Overall: 81 - Interesting, but a bit overrated

Recommendation: If you like anime of this style, go right ahead, you'd probably enjoy it. If you just want something to watch, it's not a bad choice either. But if time is a precious commodity for you, I think you can leave it off your list without missing too much.

[Ended] Koi to Senkyo to Chocolate: Building Excitement, One Block at a Time

Honestly, I never had much expectation for this series. But turns out, this is a very interesting story, built one block at a time. It actually feels like a twisted Japanese version of the Chris Rock's movie, Head of State, where someone started to run for office for the wrong reason, but ends up becoming a real candidate for the right reason.

Like most game adapted anime, almost every single side character has a problem, and the whole show is about how the main character helps them solve their personal problems while slowly grow into a worthy candidate with his own ideas about what leadership is.

Final Scoreboard:

Drama: 88 (Politics)

Comedy: 86 (Pretty interesting)

Action: N/A

Art/Animation: 88 (Typical)

Sound/Music: 84 (So so)

Character: 86 (Growing up)

Plot: 80 (Rather predictable)

Ending: 89 (Highly predictable)

Re-watch value: 50 - Maybe

Overall: 84 - Intriguing, but highly predictable

Recommendation: It's good, but it's not great. The plot, you can see both problems and solutions coming miles away. So there isn't really much of a twist and turn, it's just people solving problems, straight up. Nevertheless, it's still an interesting story. If you have extra time, it may worth your time.

[Ended] Accel World: The Case of Being Shinji, Repeatedly

Now the new season is settling down, I think I'll finish wrapping up some series that I did manage to finish from past season. (The drop rate from last couple of seasons is rather significant, partially due to the quality of anime, partially due to my ever shortening free time that I can afford to spend on animes. >_< But I do make an effort to finish all series I deem worthy) I think I'll just proceed with a rapid fire style, since there really isn't much I want to talk about these, except Horizon on the Middle of Nowhere of course.

Anyway, here it goes: Accel World is generally good story with a rather nice wrap up in the end. Though there is one thing that annoyed me throughout the series: Haru keeps "Shinji-ing". Before we go any further, let me explain what "Shinji-ing" means: most of you probably guessed that the "Shinji" I'm referencing here is no other than the Shinji from Neon Genesis Evangelion (if you haven't seen it, shame on you, go watch it, now), who constantly gets depressed and act like a crybaby due to him not believing he has what it takes to do things. (This term was coined over a conversation with one of my friend, who thinks Eva is the best anime ever produced. That's a separate topic, I'm not gonna talk about it here)

So in this case, Haru, who not only have the low confidence to begin with (like Shinji), he also keeps going back to the "I'm worthless" mode every time he encounters a hurtle down the road. That, as a character, is very annoying. Other than that, I think it's quite an intriguing story with some pretty interesting characters.

Final Scoreboard:

Drama: 90 (Shinji-ing)

Comedy: 80 (Maybe just a little)

Action: 91 (Not bad)

Art/Animation: 88 (Interesting)

Sound/Music: 92 (Great theme songs)

Character: 86 (A bit overly dramatized)

Plot: 83 (Too much shinji-ing)

Ending: 91 (Nicely wrapped)

Re-watch value: 60 - Maybe, could be interesting

Overall: 89 - Solid pperformance, except a bit too much crybaby

Recommendation: I'd say this is probably one of the top 10 animes of the year 2012. I'd say it's worth your time to go through it.

[New][October 2012] Jormungand: Perfect Order

Japanese title: ヨルムンガンド PERFECT ORDER
Info: http://myanimelist.net/anime/13331/Jormungand:_Perfect_Order
Watch online: http://www.hulu.com/jormungand
Genres: Action
I've watched: 3 episode

Summary: The ruthless arms dealer Koko continues on with her business.
 
First impression score: 90 - Still Explosive, More Involved Plots

Personal comments: This is not really a new series, just resuming where it left off. So far this second season actually feels bit like how Black Lagoon: the Second Barrage compared to the first season of Black Lagoon: everything got a power up, whether it's the gun battle or the grand conspiracy. If you haven't seen the first series, you're missing out a lot. It's probably the best action series in 2012. 

[New][October 2012] Medaka Box Abnormal

Japanese title: めだかボックス アブノーマル
Info: http://myanimelist.net/anime/14527/Medaka_Box_Abnormal
Watch online: http://www.crunchyroll.com/medaka-box
Genres: ???
I've watched: 1 episode

Summary: The story of the mightiest student body president continues...
 
First impression score: 81 - Random, Very Random

Personal comments: Supposedly, the author (who also wrote Katanagatari and Bakemonogatari as well as Nisemonogatari) made it clear that the entire story is just a big troll. So you need to keep that in mind when you're watching it because depending the mentality, you could get a very different impression for this story.

[New][October 2012] Robotics;Notes

Japanese title: ロボティクス・ノーツ
Info: http://myanimelist.net/anime/13599/Robotics;Notes
Watch online: http://www.hulu.com/roboticsnotes
Genres: SciFi
I've watched: 1 episode

Summary: Story of a robotics club that is on the verge of being disbanded.
 
First impression score: 83 - Hm...

Personal comments: For one, the world divergence factor at the very beginning of episode one indicates either this is in the Steins;Gate's universe, or, it has something to do with that story. It's also possible that it has nothing to do with it what so ever and they're just throwing that in there for the fun of it. Either way, it looks...average so far, we'll see what comes out of it...

[New][October 2012] Psycho-Pass

Japanese title: サイコパス
Info: http://myanimelist.net/anime/13601/Psycho-Pass
Watch online: http://www.hulu.com/psycho-pass
Genres: Action / Drama
I've watched: 1 episode

Summary: In the future, people are examed by a system called Sibylla to test their Psycho-Pass value, which determines a person's state of mind and how likely they are going to commit crime.
 
First impression score: 81 - Interesting Concept

Personal comments: It's an interesting concept, but it'll have to do better than the first episode for me to get into it.

[New][October 2012] Girls und Panzer

Japanese title: ガールズ&パンツァー
Info: http://myanimelist.net/anime/14131/Girls_und_Panzer
Watch online: http://www.crunchyroll.com/girls-und-panzer
Genres: Comedy / ??
I've watched: 2 episode

Summary: In this world, tank operation is considered a prestige martial art subject (what??) for females. A girl from a tank operator family transferred to a school to avoid becming a tank op. But luck has it, the school is starting up a new tank op program.
 
First impression score: 83 - Bamboo Blades clone with Tanks instead of Kendo

Personal comments: Ok, the setting feels very much like Infinite Stratos, except instead of giving a half-assed explanation why IS existed in our world, GuP just threw away our existing world view completely and insert a ridiculously new world view, which, in my opinion works way better. While the first episode is just "Blah", I was rolling on the floor laughing throughout the second episode. It reminds me very much of Bamboo Blades in terms of the style of comedy. Come to think of it, it may as well be a clone of Bamboo Blades, but instead of kendo, it's "tank-do" (lol). And because of the way it's setup, it's really not much different than any other animes about rebuilding a school club, except this is a much more ridiculous settings that they can make extra laughing stock out of. Honestly, when I saw the title of this anime, I didn't think this would even last me more than one episode. But now, I think most likely I'll be watching it all the way to the end of this series.

[New][October 2012] Busou Shinki

Japanese title: 武装神姫
Info: http://myanimelist.net/anime/14237/Busou_Shinki
Download: available through http://nyaa.eu/
Genres: Um...huh?
I've watched: 2 episode

Summary: In the future, tine robots called shinki are built to assist people. Some are used for competitive combat, which is called busou shinki.
 
First impression score: 80 - Um...Ah My Mini Goddess?

Personal comments: Though not exactly the same, it's also giving me a similar vibe as Eve no Jikan. It's kind of interesting at the moment, but I'm not sure if it's something gonna get squeezed out when my watch list gets too long...

[New][October 2012] Sakurasou no Pet

Japanese title: さくら荘のペットな彼女
Info: http://myanimelist.net/anime/13759/Sakurasou_no_Pet_na_Kanojo
Watch online: http://www.crunchyroll.com/the-pet-girl-of-sakurasou
Genres: School / Harem / Comedy
I've watched: 1 episode

Summary: For some reason, a dude ends up living in the dorm called Sakurasou that is full of genius yet problematic residents. His goal: move out of Sakurasou. One day, he was asked to go the train station to pick up the cousin of a teacher (who's also the dorm RA), who will be moving into sakurasou and attending he same school as he.
 
First impression score: 86 - A Group of Unusual People

Personal comments: It started off like a typical harem apartment anime, though the introduction of the teacher's cousin changed the beat a little. I think it has potential, but it's still a bit hard to tell which way it's heading at the moment. 

[New][October 2012] Little Busters

Japanese title: リトルバスターズ!
Info: http://myanimelist.net/anime/13655/Little_Busters!
Download: available through http://nyaa.eu/
Genres: School Drama / Comedy?
I've watched: 1 episode

Summary: A group of five friends, call themselves "Little Busters", looking for something to do in order to have a memoriable final year of high school.
 
First impression score: 84 - Um...Sket Dance?!

Personal comments: Though it's a completely topic, it's giving me a very similar vibe as Sket Dance did. The randomness the style of comedy which literally tries to make fun of anything comes around the corner feels just like how Sket Dance does it. Personally, I was quite fond of Sket Dance, so this has gained my interest...at least for now.

[New][October 2012] ToLoveRu Darkness

Japanese title: To LOVEる -とらぶる- ダークネス
Info: http://myanimelist.net/anime/13663/To_LOVE-Ru_Darkness
Download: available through http://nyaa.eu/
Genres: School Drama / Comedy / Ecchi
I've watched: 2 episode

Summary: Momo is planning to build a harem for Rito.
 
First impression score: 80 - Too much fan service

Personal comments: I still remember that once upon a time, ToLoveRu is a comedy anime that is sprinkled with few fan services here and there where it would actually enhance the comedy instead of getting in the way. Ever since the first OVA series, the entire series has taken a turn towards everything is for the sake of squeezing more fan service into the anime. At least this time besides fan service, there are something else going on. But my hope for this series is not that high. One reason I watched the series in the past is because Haruka Tomatsu is one of my favorite voice actress, but this time around, she's not a major character any more, so there are even less motivation for me to actually follow through to the end of this...

[New][October 2012] Sukitte Ii na yo

Japanese title: 好きっていいなよ。
Info: http://myanimelist.net/anime.php?id=14289
Download: available through http://nyaa.eu/
Genres: School Drama / Romance
I've watched: 2 episode

Summary: The most popular guy in the school become interested in the biggest social outcast girl in the school.
 
First impression score: 83 - She's all that...

Personal comments: Instead of counting how many romance anime (in this particular case, we'd include all the teen movies that flourished in the late 90's and early 2000's) had the exact same setup, it'd probably be easier to count how many of them doesn't feature this kind of relationships (popular guy + unpopular girl). In terms of the setup, this actually comes as close to Kimi ni Todoke without being accused of plagiarizing. There is however a somewhat significant difference between the main character here (Mei) and Sawako from Kimi ni Todoke: Mei has the ability to speak her mind very directly and it seems that situations caused by misunderstanding plagued Sawako's relationship is not likely to cause too much of a problem here. So, it'd be really interesting to see what problem it does run into in this story, because as of episode 2, the plot is moving at light speed. On a side note, after the main characters are established, the first thing popped into my head, instead of an anime, is actually the decade old US teen movie, She's all that, because the characters just feels so similar.

[New][October 2012] K

Info: http://myanimelist.net/anime/14467/K
Watch online: http://www.hulu.com/k
Genres: Action / Fantasy? / Scifi?
I've watched: 1 episode

Summary: ...Not exactly sure...there are some people with power to create fire...then a high school student is being chased by the...got saved by some dude with sword...

First impression score: 80 - ...Huh?

Personal comments: I need to see more to know what's going on...

[New][October 2012] MAGI

Japanese title: マギ
Info: http://myanimelist.net/anime/14513/Magi
Watch online: http://www.crunchyroll.com/magi
Genres: Fantasy
I've watched: 1 episode

Summary: Alibaba who's working hard to go to the labyrinth and obtain wealth met a mysterious boy named Aladdin who has a magic pipe who loves breasts... -_-'

First impression score: 83 - Um...a weird adaptation of Arabian Nights?

Personal comments: This is just too...weird...

[New][October 2012] Onii-chan Dakedo Ai Sae Areba Kankeinai yo ne

Japanese title: お兄ちゃんだけど愛さえあれば関係ないよねっ
Info: http://myanimelist.net/anime/14199/Onii-chan_Dakedo_Ai_Sae_Areba_Kankeinai_yo_ne
Download: available through http://nyaa.eu/
Genres: Comedy
I've watched: 1 episode

Summary: A girl with rather extreme brother complex syndrome comes to live with her brother...and his harem, which happens to be the entire student council... -_-'
 
First impression score: 72 - Brother Complex...

Personal comments: Brother complex seems to be a rather popular topic lately, and mixing it with harem, well, that's so very creative... I don't think this is going to last the whole season for me...

[New][October 2012] Code: Breaker

Japanese title: CØDE:BREAKER
Info: http://myanimelist.net/anime/11703/Code:Breaker
Watch online: http://www.funimation.com/codebreaker/videos
Genres: Fantasy / Drama / Reverse Harem?
I've watched: 1 episode

Summary: Sakura thought she saw someone burning somebody alive one night, but when she gets there, she couldn't find anything. The next day, that exact person is transferring into her class.
 
First impression score: 82 - Rather Generic

Personal comments: For whatever reason, this feels very generic to me. Though not 100% sure, it seems to be somewhat of a reverse harem. We'll see...

[New][October 2012] Zetsuen no Tempest

Japanese title: 絶園のテンペスト
Info: http://myanimelist.net/anime/14075/Zetsuen_no_Tempest
Watch online: http://www.crunchyroll.com/blast-of-tempest
Genres: Fantasy? / Drama?
I've watched: 1 episode

Summary: Um...what? Supposedly someone is trying to do some bad thing with magic, and somebody else is trying to prevent it, and in the process, try to find out who murdered his sister...
 
First impression score: 80 - Huh?

Personal comments: Almost the entire episode is accompanied by some rather depressing background music. It's rather unusual for anime. It does however put a somewhat different mood to it. So far I'm rather confused what's going on...

[New][October 2012] Bakuman 3

Japanese title: バクマン。
Info: http://myanimelist.net/anime/12365/Bakuman._3
Download: available through http://nyaa.eu/
Genres: Drama
I've watched: 1 episode

Summary: The quest to become the greatest mangaka continues.  
 
First impression score: 88 - Continuing the greatness

Personal comments: There's really nothing much more to say about Bakuman, it's simply GREAT!

[New][October 2012] Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai!

Japanese title: 中二病でも恋がしたい!
Info: http://myanimelist.net/anime/14741/Chuunibyou_demo_Koi_ga_Shitai!
Download: available through http://nyaa.eu/
Genres: School Comedy
I've watched: 1 episode

Summary: Some dude who had a rather forgettable middle school life as a weirdo now ran into a girl that is as delusional as he was. 
 
First impression score: 83 - ~~Moe~~

Personal comments: It feels like a crossover between Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko and Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai with some extra K-ON style moe splashed on. People who like moe stuff wouldn't want to miss this.

[New][October 2012] Btooom

Japanese title: ブトゥーム
Info: http://myanimelist.net/anime/14345/Btooom!
Watch online: http://www.crunchyroll.com/btooom
Genres: Scifi / Action
I've watched: 1 episode

Summary: One moment some dude is playing his favorite video game Btooom (and really good at it), the next moment he found himself parachuted in a remote island in the middle of the ocean with one meal and box of bomb that is similar to the one he uses in the game and being chased by other people equipped with same thing.
 
First impression score: 81 - Explosive, literally

Personal comments: This feels like a concept we've seen a lot lately, Accel World, Sword Art Online, Deadman Wonderland, Mirai Nikki. So far the main character doesn't seem to be Shinji'ing (that's the term a couple of friends often use to make fun of one of my friend as he thinks Eva is the greatest anime ever made and Shinji is the character countless animes have modeled after) as much as some of the characters in the anime mentioned above. It could be interesting to see where exactly this is heading.

[New][October 2012] Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun

Japanese title: となりの怪物くん
Info: http://myanimelist.net/anime/14227/Tonari_no_Kaibutsu-kun
Watch online: http://www.crunchyroll.com/my-little-monster
Genres: School Drama / Comedy?
I've watched: 1 episode

Summary: A girl, who cares about nothing except her grades, ends up delivering class notes to a male classmate who become attached to her as his only friend.
 
First impression score: 90 - Yet another in-your-face style romance comedy

Personal comments: It seems we have quite some in-your-face brutal humor styled comedies. I couldn't stop laughing throughout the first episode. Though it's mostly comedy, it is mixed with quite some dark scenes with some rather melancholy moments. It reminds me very much of Lovely Complex, except this is has a lot more of a take-no-prisoner brutality feel to it. In terms of character, it actually feels like gender reversed duo from Hyouka. This, in my opinion is definitely a keeper.

[New][October 2012] Kamisama Hajimemashita

Japanese title: 神様はじめました
Info: http://myanimelist.net/anime/14713/Kamisama_Hajimemashita
Download: available through http://nyaa.eu/
Genres: Comedy / Fantasy
I've watched: 1 episode

Summary: A high school girl, who just lost her home trying to find a place to stay, accidentally become the local deity.
 
First impression score: 82 - In your face humor

Personal comments: As far as the style of humor goes, it feels very much like Binbougami Ga!--a very much in-your-face style of humor where you can't even ignore. Somehow I like this much better than Binbougami Ga!

[New][October 2012] Shinsekai Yori

Japanese title: 新世界より
Info: http://myanimelist.net/anime/13125/Shinsekai_yori
Watch online: http://www.crunchyroll.com/shin-sekai-yori-from-the-new-world
Genres: Supernatural / SciFi? / Fantasy?
I've watched: 2 episode

Summary: 1000 years from now, civilizations reclined to a primitive state and the world is now being controlled by people with psychic powers.
 
First impression score: 82 - Mysterious

Personal comments: If you ask me to explain real quick to someone hasn't seen it, I'd just call it "Deadman Wonderland, a thousand years later, when civilizations have fallen". Really, it feels very much like Deadman Wonderland in a dystopia society, without the whiny main character that is.

[Ended] Tari Tari: For the love of Music

I think I'm a sucker when it comes to slice of life anime that mostly have to do with friendship--the type of anime that you have to allow it to "grow" on you. It seems that without out failure, almost every single time, an anime of this kind "grew" on me, like Hanasaku Iroha or Natsuiro Kiseki did.

That said, I don't think just any slice of anime would gain my favor. One common element that all the slice of life anime I really like is that there's a hardship somebody has to overcome. That's true for Hanasaku Iroha, Natsuiro Kiseki, as well as Tari Tari. I guess that is what moves me, especially when it could be connected to the daily life of common folks like you and me.

Final Scoreboard:

Drama: 82 (School drama)

Comedy: 80 (To certain extend)

Action: N/A

Art/Animation: 80 (Typical)

Sound/Music: 86 (Like the songs)

Character: 88 (Realistic)

Plot: 83 (Slice of life)

Ending: 87 (With resolutions)

Re-watch value: 50 - Maybe, most likely not

Overall: 85 - For love of music and life

Recommendation: It's actually hard for me to recommend this series to people because I don't think everybody has the taste for slice of life anime as I do. I'll just leave the judgement to you.

[Ended] Hyouka: Interesting Story, Weak Ending

Hyouka is a story about a guy who goes out of his way to save energy by avoiding any situation that could cause him extra effort to resolve. But luck has it, he runs into a girl who's curiosity is comparable to a new born kitten. It was actually interesting to see how he went out of his way to create puzzles to satisfy her curiosity so she wouldn't go look for other puzzles to cause him more trouble.

At first, it looked not much different than a simple slice-of-life after-school activity anime with some logical puzzles which aren't really that impressive. But as it progresses, the puzzle got more and more complex, at the same time, darker. But the indirect involvement rather than a direct contact with puzzle itself kept it from fallen too dark as GOSICK or Kamisama no Memochou or UN-GO did (which by the way are the three best detective animes of last year).

The only complain I have against it is that the ending is a bit...weak. On top of that, the big climax came a bit too early in the series where the series died off quietly instead of with a bang.

Final Scoreboard:

Drama: 90 (Rather dramatic)

Comedy: 87 (The curious purple eyes)

Action: N/A

Art/Animation: 90 (Cute purple eyes)

Sound/Music: 89 (Good)

Character: 90 (Interesting)

Plot: 88 (Multiple climax)

Ending: 85 (A little weak)

Re-watch value: 70 - Could still be intriguing

Overall: 89 - Lighthearted detective story

Recommendation: or anybody who likes a good detective anime, this would definitely be a good one to pick up. While the ending is a little weak, it still worth the time.

[Ended] Jinrui wa Suitai Shimashita (Humanity has Declined): LOL

Though this too is like the Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya where the broadcast order does not follow the chronological order, it did so in a bit more deceiving fashion--while arcs are out of order, they didn't break the arc and insert some other random episode in the middle as Haruhi did where it blatantly made you aware that the episode orders are not correct. Here it merely rearranged it in a lot less noticeable way but if you have paid attentions to the details, you'd totally notice some referencing inconsistencies. Here is a list of key points that I managed to pick off:

• Arc 1 (ep 1-2): Short hair, immediately after arc 3.
• Arc 2 (ep 3-4): "They are STILL working on the human monument project?", chronologically after arc 3, but with long hair, so it would be after arc 1.
• Arc 3 (ep 5-6): Assistant present, chronologically after arc 4.
• Arc 4 (ep 7-8): First meeting of assistant.
• Arc 5 (ep 9): Um...where does this one go...it looks like a finale of some sort...
• Arc 6 (ep 10): Just graduated, no assistant, immediately after arc 7 but before arc 4.
• Arc 7 (ep 11-12): School, the beginning of everything.

It's basically a logical puzzle where you use clues to try to arrange a correct chronological order. With those clues given, there are some definitive orders can be arranged with exception of episode 9:

11-12-10-7-8-*-5-6-1-2-*-3-4-*

Since there's no clue given for episode 9, as far as I can tell, it really could go on any one of those (*) spots. But since episode 9 looked like a finale, I'd say for now I'd just put it in the end, unless someone could tell me a reason it should go elsewhere. So my final conclusion on the chronological order would be:

11-12-10-7-8-5-6-1-2-3-4-9

Put technical stuff aside, this anime is by far one of the smartest anime I've seen in making hilariously humorous yet direct-to-the-point remarks about the problems that exist in today's society. In addition, it found the most hilarious and creative way I've seen anywhere dealing with time paradox heads on: the time paradog. It is by far the best line I've heard from this anime all season, not the part when the assistant named it, rather, the explanation grandfather gave right afterwards in the background: the universe would produce time paradogs in place of time paradox whenever time paradox is about to occur, which in turn, would prevent time paradox ever from occurring--you'll just end up with a bunch of time paradogs lying around. Brilliant!!

One reason it can afford to make the crude direct-to-the-point criticisms of today's society is the usage of the so called fairy, the smartest creatures in the world who aren't capable of producing sweets and other stuff they like. In my personal opinion, both of them represents human, but at different level: fairies in the story represents today's society at a macro level whereas humans in the story represents today's society at a micro level. So depending on the issues being address, they would use either human or the fairies, because certain issues exist only in micro level and others are better made example at a macro level. 

Final Scoreboard:

Drama: 97 (Hilariously over dramatized)

Comedy: 98 (Plain hilarious)

Action: N/A

Art/Animation: 93 (Strange, flat, colorful, different)

Sound/Music: 95 (Catchy)

Character: 97 (Fun)

Plot: 94 (Cleverly out of order)

Ending: 97 (Very well)

Re-watch value: 80 - Still hilarious, and you can try to pick up more clues on the chronological ordering

Overall: 97 - Blunt and Funny

Recommendation: It's pretty save to say that no other short season series from the summer season could beat this in terms of ... anything. So go pick it up and watch it if you still haven't done so, because it is

Anime of the season for Summer 2012 Season

Moyashimon Returns: Still Amusing, Still No Closure

Moyashimon is one of those series that you try to convince your friends to watch it, but when they ask you what's so great about it, you really couldn't think of exactly why. Come to think of it, it's not that there's a single exceptional element, it's the sum of all that is in this anime made it great. Light and somewhat whacky comedy packed with lots, I mean lots, of knowledge about fermentation. In spirit, it feels very much like Nodame Cantabile series.

Without know the story of the first season, you'd probably be mostly lost. If you haven't seen the original series, I'd highly recommend you to watch the first season before even start this one.

Final Scoreboard:

Drama: 89 (Whackily dramatic)

Comedy: 94 (Whacky)

Action: N/A

Art/Animation: 86 (Weird)

Sound/Music: 89 (Like the music)

Character: 90 (Rather intriguing)

Plot: 83 (Somewhat chaotic)

Ending: -- (To Be Continued)

Re-watch value: 60 - Not really, but might still be amusing

Overall: 88 - StillAmusing

Recommendation: If you have seen and liked first season, you probably want to see what's happening next, since the original series had a somewhat weak ending (not that this one had a much better one...)

[Ended] Natsuyuki Rendezvous: Love Beyond the Boundry of Life and Death

Having seen so many romance animes that are based on immature feeling of love between school boys and girls who are more or less experiencing for the first time in their life, it is quite refreshing to see a love story about grownups like Natsuyuki Rendezvous.

While the main focus is how people deal with their emotions towards the loved ones, what it doesn't have, is the series of misunderstandings that caused by timidness and shyness of characters as we see so often from teenager romance animes that we have all grown to hate (well, not exactly, but close enough), which by the way has been one of the biggest annoyances I have against them. But even if the story is about grown-ups, it really wouldn't make much of a difference if the characters aren't mature. Fortunately, as I see it, the level of characters' maturity does match their age--it is a grown-ups' story about grown-ups' issues. 

Though there really isn't much in common, the pacing and overall feel reminds me much of Ristorante Paradiso which in my opinion is another strangely intriguing story of love.

One thing I feared, before I saw the end of it,  is that it would not bring anything to closure in the end. Now I can can assure you, not only it gives you the closure you expect, but also a lot more.

Final Scoreboard:

Drama: 92 (Dramatic)

Comedy: 90 (Some nice and interesting moments)

Action: N/A

Art/Animation: 93 (Beautiful scenes)

Sound/Music: 91 (Lovely music)

Character: 93 (Mature)

Plot: 93 (Strange but good)

Ending: 94 (Complete closure)

Re-watch value: 70 - Might still be moving

Overall: 92 - Romance for the Grown-ups

Recommendation: The bottom line is that if you're looking for the typical romance of people that just coming into puberty, they you probably wouldn't be too interested about this. Otherwise, it's a very good story of love where both heart wrenching and sudden bursts of laughter moments exists. And this earns my

Romance Anime of the Season for Summer 2012 Season

award.