[New][October 2013] Gingitsune

Summary: Gintaro is a fox spirit that has been protecting the small Inari temple since the Edo era. Makoto's family possesses the power to see the gods' agent, but the ability is limited to one living relative at a time. With the help of fox spirit's power, Makoto and Gintaro help the people of their community, in spite of their many differences.

First Impression: Very light hearted. Slice of Life'ish.

First Opinion: Gintaro is...Not standard of what you'd expect anything Fox themed to be like. Maybe they're going to tie that to him being from the Edo era, but...well it was hilarious for me. They start the show out in a position that could have played on sorrow and tragedy easily but...quickly brushed over it and skipped ahead. That felt rather awkward, but really I have to admit that trying to get the audience to care about the sorrows of a character that literally has only been on screen for 5 seconds is a bit much, so I'm going to say 'good move'. I'm not in a position to say much about this one, as I personally love Foxes, but here's my two-bits: This looks like a very slow, light-weight drama show. If you're not the kind to let yourself be interested in stories that aren't action packed or deeper than the ocean, you may want to just pass over this one. If Slice of Life is your kind of show though, pick it up.

[New][October 2013] Yuusha ni Narenakatta

 Summary: The story revolves around Raul, a boy who did not become a Hero, since the demon lord was already defeated just before his Hero exams. His dreams dashed, Raul spends his days working at a magic shop in the capital.

First Impression: Comedy and Slice of Life appear to be the core right now, but there's likely going to be some romance in the future.

First Opinion: Wasn't there just one like this last season? I hadn't seen that one yet, so I can't say anything on that front, but what I do know is there is a hell of a lot of Demon-Hero anime is coming out lately. For now, this is pretty interesting. They almost completely scrap anything to do with the generic fantasy setting thing with Demon Lord and Hero, and quickly reset the tone down to everyday life. In fact, the Demon/Hero thing so far just seems to be a free character background plot dump, that saves them having to animate and explain the characters backgrounds in detail. Personally, I think this is a good idea, as it will provide an entry point of interest for a lot of people, but still gives it plenty of room to be original with its material, unlike say...Hagure Yuusha.
For now, this is on my list, but with so many other nice things, this will likely be one I don't keep up with week to week.

[New][October 2013] Golden Time

This statement is about to become humor in a few seconds

Summary: Tada Banri, a newly admitted student at a private law school in Tokyo, found himself completely lost after the opening ceremony, trying to find his way to the freshman orientation. At that moment, he ran into another lost freshman from the same school, Yanagisawa Mitsuo, and they hit it off at once. Somehow arriving at their intended goal just on time, there appeared in front of the two a beautiful girl holding a bouquet of roses.

First Impression: Drama Romance roller coaster.

First Opinion: H'omigosh. Omigosh. I have an informed opinion for the first time...ever! I know this one, I've been reading its manga as its been slowly translated into English. So here's my best advice, and informed opinion:
If you like the Slice of Life and/or romance anime, you will very easily find this one very refreshing and original, but I must warn you: Take nothing at face value. Things start off simultaneously cut-n-paste, and out of place original in the first episode. If you find anything you like, put this one on your list because it's gonna roller coaster you in multiple directions, emotionally.

[Aside]
I just wanted to take a moment to say that the animation studio doing this so far has done amazing work, turning one manga chapter into one anime episode. That has a long running record of not going well. Especially in mangas like this one, that have a lot of thinking instead of talking and doing, it's generally considered taboo to put thinking into TV, shows, Movies, Et C.
[End Aside]

[New][October 2013] Nagi no Asukara

Summary: Hikari Sakishima and Manaka Mukaido are Sea Dwellers and childhood friends. When their school in the sea is closed they are forced to attend a land school.

First Impression: Romance and Drama are going to be central here. A little bit of Slice-of-Life with a light spice of fantasy.

First Opinion: This one's going to be much more mellow than the other releases, a good way to wind down before or after them. It seems the central tone will be romance, but as with any high school setting for a Japanese anime, it's gonna be slice-of-life too, especially with the light fantasy setting. I'm looking forward to it, they've already painted a very colorful world so far, with some at least standard characters. Haven't got enough to fully judge the quality of the characters, the heart and life of a show like this one.

[New][October 2013] Kill La Kill

Yes I have actually, concept-wise

Summary: The story is set on a high school that the student council president Satsuki Kiryuuin rules by force. Wielding a giant Basami scissors sword, the wandering transfer student Ryuuko Matoi brings about upheaval on the campus.

First Impression: Action. Radical hyper-humor. Reminiscent of the overdramatic style of Jojo's Bizarre Adventures, with Panty and Stocking's art style.

First Opinion: It never ceases to amaze me how unbelievably boring some websites summary's can make a show sound. This show is off the hook BONKERS. Unless you're absolutely sure you had hyper stylized art and comedy, I recommend you watch the first episode to try it out for how trippy it is, if nothing else. This is clearly going to be the most absurd show in my lineup. Even if Outbreak Company's comedy style is more to my taste, I do love these kinds of comedy action shows.

[New][October 2013] Outbreak Company

OMG This face was perfect

Summary: Kanou Shinichi is a thoroughbred Otaku. However, he does not have any special power except for his broad knowledge, sharp insight, and impeccable instinct about Moe and its products, from manga, to anime, to games, to light novel, to figures. Suddenly he finds himself in a fantasy world with a task...as a Diplomat.

First Impression: Grade A original Comedy.

First Opinion: This is a keeper. I'm going to enjoy the hell out of this one. So far, I don't see anything of Harem in here, and what fan service is technically there, is all old school fan service, the stuff that was Service when I was still young in my anime ways. Feels Good Yo, a nostalgic enjoyable sensation, that doesn't feel like some money grubbing company's trying to seduce me via my crotch to love their cheap product.
I was gasping for air half way into this first episode, I'm gonna have to make a note to close doors when I start this one, or everyone within a three wall radius is going to be annoyed by my guffawing.

[New][October 2013] IS: Infinite Stratos 2

Summary: Second Season to the guy all alone in a metal suit, in a world of women in metal suits, Denser-than-leading his way through a cluster of girls that like him.

First Impression: More harem humor.

First Opinion: Harem with robosuits and a high flying opinion about its own plot. That's about it. For me this shows worth will ride entirely on how the plot goes. I've had more than I could stand of harem well before the first season even came out. The first episode is...unique in this regard though. I can't say I've ever seen anything like condensing a swimsuit episode into half of an episode. It bespeaks good things if they're willing to do what is essentially a slap-in-the-face to fan service lovers. The logic that would normally go into it, is that some pressing need for more space later justifies the theoretical reputation damage it would cause...but this is the first episode. Just what are they trying to skimp for?
In any case, I find it in good taste, but that's just me.

[New][October 2013] Strike the Blood

Summary: The Fourth Primogenitor: The world's strongest vampire that should only exist in legends. Accompanied by twelve Kenjuu and spreading calamity, this phantom vampire appeared in Japan. For the observation and obliteration of this Fourth Primogenitor, the government and Lion King Organization decided to dispatch an attack mage known as a Sword Shaman.

First Impression: Better than the Summary sounds. Original pieces and a solid foundation for an action or drama setting so far.

First Opinion: Vampires have been beaten right back into life. Nobody could just leave the undead rotters alone. Personally, nothing ever will beat Trinity Bloods triune race setup, just for nostalgia reasons, but I still recognize original effort when I see it. So far, the tone for the anime is extraordinarily serious in context. Not only do they get technical enough to layout a vampire drinking his own blood as a placebo for his hunger, but the main heroine actually acknowledges an accidental flashing of her underwear as accidental and doesn't fly off the handle over it. .. After flying off the handle and beating the shit out of a thug that flipped her skirt. So like I said, in context. I'm placing this one on my list of High hopes.

[New][October 2013] Kyoukai no Kanata

Summary: Although Akihito Kanbara appears human, he is half youmu and invulnerable to wounds because he can heal quickly. One day, Akihito meets freshman Mirai Kuriyama when it seems she is about to jump from the school rooftop.

First Impression: Standard Fantasy, Refreshing Main Character

First Opinion: Setting wise this couldn't be more basic, but I like the first main character, Akihito, already. He literally recites cliche's in rejection of them. I enjoyed it thoroughly all of the first episode. I'm partial to surreal settings, so the 'Suspension of Disbelief' is strong in me. I can't give a impartial judgement of the story so far, it will largely depend on whether you like your fantasy or realism. If you like your surreal settings, nothing out of the ordinary at present. If you like your realism, you may find a few things off-putting very fast, and gaining momentum.

I find it a little strange that she takes the time to explicitly make a scimitar sword, and not something more basic(like a needle for her first use), but the first episode showcases her using it fluently, and gives her a character setting which would afford training for it. Trivia Time: In case none of you have ever tried to swing around an actual metal sword, let alone a scimitar, that shape on the end really makes swinging it awkward if you don't know what you're doing. Even if it is made of blood and lightweight, having that backcurve on the tip puts a bit more weight on the end than anywhere else, which affects swinging it. It's a benefit if you know what you're doing, a hindrance if you don't.
...
Then again maybe I'm being far too picky and the author just likes how it looks. Yeah, that's probably it. I'm going to go drivel a bit of my brain out, I'm getting far too technical.

[New][October 2013] Coppelion TV

Summary: In 2016, a meltdown of a nuclear power plant creates a big catastrophe in Tokyo. 20 years later, the city has become a ghost town due to the high levels of radiation. From that area a distress signal is received. The Self Defense forces dispatch three girls from the special unit Coppelion to search for survivors.

First Impression: Interesting, perhaps Drama centered?

First Opinion: This looks like it could be an interesting story. The first stones they're laying down for the foundation of the world story are fairly solid, especially the news broadcast near the end. They've got a nice big set-piece to work with, and they set the opening tone nicely with the man in trouble after the seriously out-of-place three girls in what is clearly a massive ruin. I'm gonna look forward to this one for now.
Minus one thing.

School uniforms.

Why the HELL are they wearing school uniforms into a ruined city!? Ok, so the National Defense Academy school-thing is their home, that doesn't mean that it's at all reasonable for them to be deployed wearing skirts. Skirts dammit. Come the end of the first episode, it makes my argument even better, that they should at the minimum be wearing light survival equipment.
  So they don't need the special equipment, sure I get it, so they can wear whatever they want, and comfort is obviously nice, but they clearly are being sent in for a long time, so why don't they at least have weather prepared clothes on? Jeans in case they, y'know, trip over the rubble that will be every damn place? Shirts that at least look like they might keep out the wind? How bout some GODDAMN BOOTS? Instead of the dress shoes?
  Really I'm just raving right now, but if you tried this kinda thing anywhere but the anime industry everyone would call them out on account of something like this. This is something that would only be allowed without an explanation like it is right now, because we have this lovely thing they can justify it with called:
Fan Service.

'Hey why are they wearing these impractical uniforms into a rescue operation?'
'Because, Fan Service'
'Oh, okay sounds good'

Inu to Hasami: Pleasant Comedy

In case anyone notices, Apologies for this thing bouncing back on to the top of the posts. I can't figure out how I caused it, or how to fix it.

Last seen: Episode 6
  To be perfectly honest, it took me 3 episodes to fully comprehend that Inu to Hasami was a comedy-centric anime. That's more of a problem with me being thick, than a flaw in the shows design. I'm pretty sure the term 'Slap-stick Comedy' applies here. While there are shows that are pure comedy, and shows that are purely intense drama, Inu to Hasami falls in a lovely niche right in the middle, just a few notches towards the comedy side. I've been going to it frequently to rub my mood the right way after dealing with idiots elsewhere.

  Some of you may have noticed (or maybe my hermit is playing up again, and it's common knowledge now), that lots of seriously framed and paced stories in shows are receiving varying doses of comedy in them. Some part of this, is the idea that you can't be all-serious all the time, or it starts to cave in on itself and become absurd.
  The other half of it though, is that people are people, are people, and we've always found various ways to cope with extreme situations. It's beyond an accepted and proven fact, that psychological stress can have negative effects on you physically. So the trend of spicing serious and drama with comedy is actually a bid to increase realism, to make characters seem more human, and less one-dimensional. On the other side of the coin, Inu to Hasami spices comedy with gratingly down-to-earth serious moments and dialogue. Typically this causes an almost audible *clunk* of tone shift in the viewers immersion, but Inu to Hasami has never really thrown me when they shift tones. As a matter of fact, I've often felt they shifted tones right when one side or the other was about to become too exaggerated.

  Which brings me to my next point: I don't seem to enjoy the humor of exaggeration like I used to anymore. Perhaps I've just seen too much of it at this point, and it all sounds like something I've heard before, but when Inu to Hasami uses over-the-top, or exaggeration comedy, it just doesn't get me laughing like I feel it should. When they're doing the slap-stick skits, I'm either chuckling it up, or straight up laughing. They also haven't done a single verbal exchange where Harumi was cutting in playing straight-man where I wasn't chuckling fit to burst the entire time.
  From the last episode I just completed, they finished the most recent plot arc, and toward the end of it is when I was really feeling the exaggeration going over my head. Just gonna stop to say one thing here: 'Tuna-Eater'. Honestly, I'm chuckling now as I typed that, but when it was on-screen, I just had this kind of moment: , where I could see my past self in my head, jabbing an upturned hand towards the screen going 'What the hell is this?!', laughing the entire time, and yet I don't feel like they were doing the jokes poorly. T'was a weird feeling.
  On a completely different note, there are some really tasteful details in the show, that I just personally love. I love the little detail they have where they'll exit out of a scene and play Harumi howling, and I love the howl they chose for it, it fits so well. Other than that, I love the detail on the rendering of the dog sometimes. The gambit with details, is that you could invest alot in them, and have no one even notice. But the payoff, is when someone like me notices and really appreciates it, sometimes it just adds that little lovely bit to the scene, that the dogs animation seems so fluid. Maybe that's just me.
  I think writing for here is starting to affect the way I watch anime...I've never paid attention to details of animation before now... oh well, it can't hurt to notice more details, I'm fairly sure.

Rozen Maiden Zuruckspulen: A little too fast?

Last Seen: Episode 10

I liked the original Rozen Maiden. It wasn't a spectacular epic of a piece, but it gets my recommendation. It was an interesting story, with interesting characters, and a good plot. It also, was incomplete. That's where Zuruckspulen steps in. Zuruckspulen, (that's the last time I'm typing that, from now on its RM2013), is not a remake of the original, or a side story. It's the continuation of the first, and the first episode was just a very fast recap, possibly with some rewritten points...it has been a noticeably long time since it, and my memory is addled over the highly disappointing ending. Disappointing because it was a shows ending, not a story's ending.

So far, after the recap episode, I've been content with this new season. We're somewhere completely different, but the story makes sure we're aware that this is still irrevocably the same place from before, the same story-world, just a new place in that world: The 'Will not wind'-universe.
We've just been given a good amount of instruction on what Kirakisho is, and is about, which is good because Kirakisho was a 'from out of the dark' blindshot in the first season, and not at all explained or introduced well enough in the first season. RM2013: +1 point. The new characters introduced are also interesting, RM2013: 2 points. The story has been moving at a steady pace, not too fast or too slow for me, RM2013: 3 points.
The most recent story eruption: -3 points pending. The show is starting to smell like a 12-13 episode termination season...which will royally piss me off because they just set up an entire load of plot points, and if they don't tie them together fast enough, they will decay into plot HOLES.

This just in: plot holes are bad.

Now, I'm happy to say that the last episode I've seen has the foundations for them to resolve things within the potential time limit they're under, but as always;
High hopes, Low expectations.  

[SPOILER WARNING]
My biggest complaint right now is that I don't feel the whole 'wound vrs unwound' world has gotten enough explanation. Certainly, the most recent explanation that when Shinku(replica) and others leaves, the last traces of the Rozen Maidens intrusion into the world where they never arrived, the 'unwound world', will reverse itself as if they were never there, indicates that it was just a place Shinku escaped to, to hide for a time, and all of this can just be explained away with something involving N-fields, the Rozen Maiden worlds special plot magic, but...
[SPOILER WARNING END]

The part that's tripping me up, is something that may just be a personal problem:
I don't fully understand why Shinku is here in the replica body in the first place. I understand the reasons given for why she's there, but I don't understand the need for those reasons in the first place. I don't remember the last episode of the first season well enough to recall what kind of, if any, compromising position Shinku and Jun(original) were in that this all would be necessary. As stated, maybe if I just go watch the last few old episodes again, this would quickly be resolved, but my point is this: I have an immense capacity to retain Story plots. Example: I could have you pull one of my Novels (notice: plural), off my shelves, any of them, and if it's one I've read, I could look at it and its title, or the brief description on the back, and immediately recite all the plot highlights of the entire story without having to open it. Let me just take a quick headcount...53 that's just on this particular shelf. That's 53 novels (300 page minimum books). That's a moderately impressive talent, that not everyone has. The key point though, is that this applies to anime as well as my books. I retain story plots immensely well. I couldn't give you all the details, but if I know the title, I know the story plot. If the old ending was so vague to me after this much time...How completely non-existent is it going to be in the memories of most people? Not everyone will be able, or willing, to go back and rewatch the previous season to be filled in. Whether or not the last episodes have my missing information, it's going to be a negative for the latest season:
A) Either their recap missed something, or
B) it's currently ungiven information.
If it's missing information, it stinks of an excuse to start a new season that may not be consistent with the original story, wherever the original story may be from. If it's a lack of recap, anyone picking up from this season, which would be the whole point of having a recap(to fill in the new people), has been inadequate.
...
Or maybe my lack of detailed memory has robbed me of the recaps details, since I wasn't paying very close attention to it as soon as I figured out it was a recap. Just mentally skimming the episode to look for any potential rewrites of past information, which I didn't see. (Could just be that I don't remember, though so...
)

Summary:
Overall, I'm having concerns that if this proves to be a short season anime, things are going awfully fast to have an adequate resolution. There will undoubtedly be an end, but I'm getting the first few feelings that maybe it will be less than I'd hoped. Just on what has been though, this has been a good show to watch, provided you watched the first season and wanted a second.