[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...