Does anyone have an opinion on all the new series that have begun recently?
New favourites this season:
Fate/Zero: Nice multi-character action. Pretty to look at, plus a Yuki Kajiura soundtrack. Haven't seen any other
Fate stuff, so this is new to me.
Kimi to Boku: Take the cute-girls-do-cute-things genre and use boys instead of girls. Works like a charm. So far, the twins carry the show for me, especially dead pan Yuki.
Chihayafuru: About Karuta tournaments, what dreams mean, and how to belong to groups. (Karuta is a game where you compete in matching poetry lines. They played it in
Maria sama once, I think.)
Ben-to: The comedy of the season for me. Over-the-top concept played straight. Shounen parody for the sake of social satire (living in Tokyo is expensive). A winner.
Tamayura - Hitotose: Overcoming grief (and other problems) by opening your senses to the world. Don't marathon this: it's so sweet, you're arteries will clog. But at one episode per week, this is a nice uplifting show.
Other than those:
Working and
Ika Musume are pretty much what you'd expect if you've seen the first seasons.
Persona 4 is an odd experience. They're sticking very close to the game, to the point of importing interface aesthetics and soundtrack almost one to one. I was half expecting seeing a cursor choose attack... They get some things right and some things wrong. The biggest problem the show has is that they stick so closely to the anime, but due to time constraints cut lots of stuff, so that things that have a huge impact in the game fall sort of flat in the anime. On the other hand, when they add their own touches the show's pretty good. I hope they gain confidence as show the goes on. This could be really good, yet. The talent is
there.
Tomodachi ga sukunai is good fun, on the level of
Mayo Chiki. Character design by whoever did Denpa Onna. Nothing to say other than that.
Mashiroiro Symphony looks like a typical harem with - IMO - dull character design, but I'm still enjoying it to a surprising extent. Don't ask why; I don't know. (It seems to be very light on ecchi; that could help.)
Un-Go is interesting (takes the Gothic/Dantalian slot). Not sure what to make of it yet.
Guilty Crown is pretty much what I expected. Unsuspecting high-schooler accidently aquires super powers. Well done, and fairly cruel for the genre - I'll keep watching, but unless this show surprises me, it's not going to be a priority.
I haven't watched more than one episode of
Mirai Nikki. Since I'm in a slump, I don't want yet another show with a down-on-his luck teenager (who finds himself being targeted by psychos, and defended by a super-obsessed stalker). Bad personal timing, and not good enough to push through that. Not watching.
Both
Maji Koi and
Horizon could be interesting, but with both I haven't watched the latest eps yet, and not sure I'm going to. I'm terribly afraid that
Maji Koi will waste a good set-up and pull an ecchi
Infinite Stratos.
Horizon has an interesting setting but suffers from torpedo breasts and caricature ethnic design, which is sort of a turn off. I'll probably pick up both again, later. Or maybe not.
C3 is... interesting. Episode one had the main character fingering a cube who then came to life as a girl. Made me think of a cross between Hellraiser and Chobits. Turns out that's what it is. Episode one speeds through slice of life (with in-your-face pantyshots); episode two has typical fighting action. I'm ready to quit on it (that I don't like the character design doesn't help), and along comes episode three: a surreal journey through despair - pretty well done. The show's on probation. (I love the opening animation with the swirling cherry leaves. That's just beautiful.)
That should be it.
