Anime Winter 2011 Second Impressions

Well, the first impressions are my thoughts before watching an episode, so here goes my thoughts after watching at least one (on most of them).

Last year, on the same season, I found gold such as Durarara!!~ Looks like this year this season also has its promising shows~

::::: SEASON FAVORITES :::::

(1) Level E

(ROFL)

I really loved the manga (speaking of which, I need to finish it already ^^;) and I'm so happy that the anime did it justice xD Great animation and it had the coolest OP theme and ED theme this season~

This hadn't been typical shounen (I'm still confused on whether it's shounen or seinen) and rarely do we see anime about aliens that aren't pretty whores who want to be molested by the leading character so badly (or in other words, it's not ecchi). Not to mention that it was really really hilarious xD (Oh Namikawa Daisuke, you and that puppet act xD Bwahahhaa!) Epic~

(2) Kore wa Zombie Desu ka?

(Most of my favorites are the hilarious parts... this is one of the few cool parts)

Its stupid plot written in animanga info sites ruined the series... because it made the show sound cliche where in fact it isn't! It's a crazy parody yet awesome story involving supernatural creatures.... from zombie to magical girl to necromancer. I thought it was something serious but when the comedy started.... I instantly fell in love with it xD I don't care about the panty fanservice, it had the most hilarious first episode this season~

And oh I looooooooove the leading guy. I almost disliked the magical girl... especially when she reminded me of Sakura from Cardcaptor Sakura.... until I saw the CHAINSAW. Magical girl with a chainsaw... I'm totally cool with that~

And am I right that there are mythology/science references on this? (Gaia, Schwarzschild, etc.) That got me sooooo intrigued~ I like that~

(3) Beelzebub

(Entertainingly badass~)

It was one of the shounen manga I fell in love with when I started to get tired of the likes of the super popular ones (Bleach, Naruto, etc.) So when its first episode debuted, I got really excited~

I see it as a gag show with a mix of GAR, cute, and supernatural stuff. It's so awkward for a human to raise a child that's destined to destroy the world, haha!

It made me laugh a lot with its very lame jokes xD I love Furuichi and worship Hilda-sama~ Hehe. I'm excited for Kunieda to show up... her one-sided crush is really really cute~

(4) Yumekui Merry

(I like her best when she's on this mode~)

Like the Zombie series, its plot (in animanga sites) made it seem crap when it fact it was more interesting that it appears! The dream part scenes were really cool~ I like the action scenes (some parts seem slow... thought the moves are cool... the style seemed familiar... and finally knew why when someone said that its director is the same as Casshern SIN's).

I also thought that the leading guy would just be some ordinary kid who suddenly got involved on supernatural stuff. It was true in a sense, but he turned out to be not-so-ordinary at all, for he can predict one's dreams! And I'm pleased that even if he doesn't have other special abilities... and isn't exactly a fighter... he has the guts and wits to fight back when attacked. People may think he's a bland character... but for me he's a really interesting fellow xD

His childhood friend is the most decent among the childhood friends among the series this season. But I'm more interested on his relationship with the leading girl... seeing their young versions in the OP got me so intrigued. Yeah, yeah, I'm shipping them, hahahaha!

::::: THEY'RE OKAY :::::

(5) Horou Musuko

When I've read the first volume of the manga, I've acknowledged that it was good (crossdressing taken seriously and not for the LOLz) but really couldn't continue it because serious slice of life series get me really really bored. I was expecting to see the same thing on the anime adaptation, but to my surprise, it didn't follow the manga's story flow!

I'm pleased with the changes, it got me focused on the screen instead of closing my eyes. Hmmm... but even so, it hadn't been enough to make me decide to try my best to watch it weekly (I really prefer slice of series shows that have crazy comedy like Honey and Clover) until I saw that guy (the one that the leading boy's sister shooed away when she was posing for the camera)! He's cute xD and seems to have an interesting relationship with the sister xD Hehe. *excited* I'll watch for him, ohohoho~

(6) Fractale

It had the most imaginative setting this season. The art's nice, and it felt like watching a series version of a Ghibli movie, hehe. I really liked the OP theme of this series... really creative~

Too bad it focused on its setting so much that it gave little about its plot. It was fun overall but I really don't like the idea of the leading guy meeting a babe out of nowhere at first then when she was gone, a loli from nowhere appeared to him all of a sudden next. Whut =_=
*sigh* Its cast doesn't seem that great... but I'm still highly interested on the braided girl's brother (which didn't show up yet in the anime). Hopefully it focuses on its story eventually, because the characters bore me =_=

(7) GoSick

I'm a huge sucker for the historical + mystery + supernatural combo... and this should've been my favorite but sadly, except for the music, animation, and setting (which were WOW! I lreally love the visuals of the OP and Ed themes on this), everything else here SUCKED =_=

It's a huge embarrassment to mystery shows... it sucks in writing about murder cases. The girl's just too "intelligent" that she gets to "deduce" the "truth" without much thinking or investigation at all.

I really doubt that intelligence of hers if she doesn't even know what an ice cream stand is =_= What if a case occurred on such a place? I will not be surprised that she'd still be able to "solve" it quickly even so. The writers are just that "great".

I can't stand the characters... especially that teacher. So annoying... ugh, and even if a lot adored Victorique, I can't make myself appreciate her. Pfft! I think they just like her because she's a gothic lolita =_= Ugh, but she's the usual chibi tsundere. Her smoking habit don't make her look cool. It was funny when she rolls around if bored though, haha.

On the bright side, I'm happy that the anime didn't follow the manga's plot devotedly but... the changes were still horrible =_= I guess this series is just so bad that even a studio as awesome as BONES couldn't fix it >_>;;; It also felt too fast paced, and so many things aren't explained (the manga at least mentioned why the leading guy's called a Shinigami, while the anime just remained vague about it).

*sigh* I hate it but the magician dude in the OP got me curious. This show is torturing me =_=

(8) IS: Infinite Stratos

The usual harem mecha crap... but at least it didn't have much ecchi scenes... and they weren't piloting a giant robot... but have mecha armor instead.

The show's lame (one of the shows with extremely lame comedy this season)... and like on GoSick, I found another teacher that I really want dead asap. =_= Leading girl's yet another tsundere.... and oh those gossiping females are freakin' annoying.Go die die die die die die.

Most didn't like the British girl for being so full of herself.... but I'm one of those that liked her xD Hahahaha! I prefer bitches that act as bitchy as they please... not those that try to be nice but actually annoyingly bitchy deep inside.T_T

The show has a crappy story that for some reason got really nice budget.... it's the type I would no longer bother to watch more... but HE happened to be the main character xD Aaaaaahhh!!! One of the decent harem leads.... he isn't the shy type... and has the guts to speak up his mind. Moreover.... he's cute, has blue hair, voiced by Kakihara Tetsuya (if my guess is correct), and reminded me so much of Gurren-Lagann's Simon..... aaaaaaaaaaaahhhhh!!!!!!!! Damnit, why is this character in this crappy show?! Please show up in a show with a better story... you don't belong here deary!!! Waaaaahhh!!!!!

(9) Wolverine

I'm relieved that it was much much better than the Ironman adaptation. The romance's kinda... cheesy though (all the smile thing... whu...) but it was really cool~ I like the music in it a lot~

I still find it weird to see Wolverine with a sword though ^^; They were like trying to make him as Japanese as possible... ahahaha. I don't get what's with the wooden swords if Wolverine could just fight against a katana with his claws ^^; Wolverine's fight scenes with his actual weapons were cooler than the others. It looks like Sabertooth's gonna show up... looking forward to it ^^

Hmmm... though I find this pretty cool... I really prefer the live-action movie version of Wolverine... ehehehe...

(10) Dragon Crisis

To my surprise it wasn't as bad as it seemed. The leading girl may be annoyingly clingy, but at least she didn't have the body for ecchi use.... oh fine, she was still loli fanservice. But the boobs disturb me more recently...

The dragon and Lost Precious stuff seemed pretty interesting.... I look forward to those characters in black to show up xD I'm also pleased with all the butterflies I see, haha!

::::: CANNOT WATCH :::::

(11) Kimi ni Todoke 2nd Season - I still love this shoujo series though I've got to admit I no longer love it as much as before.... I hadn't even bothered to catch up on the manga or finish the first season as soon as possible ^^ Hehehe.

(12) Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica - Yes, the art's pretty and really creative. It's cool to see a dark themed mahou shoujo series.... but the story's still crappy shoujo. Stereotypes and cliche here and there. Except for the scene at the other world, everything else had been freakin' boring. I absolutely couldn't stand the leading girl either.... just die die die die die. Why do these pure pure clumsy heroines still exist?! They're not cute!!!! (to me) Where's my chainsaw???!!!

(13) Freezing - I like the gore and the sister complex... but I can't stand too much nudity even on fighting scenes. Not my type.

(14) Cardfight Vanguard - Too typical shounen for me. And oh stop the card shows, nothing's gonna replace the original Yugi-Oh!

(15) Starry Sky - Majority of reverse harem shows suck, and this is no exception. And oh gawd that horrible OP! =_= Sorry, I'm not the type who watches only for the bishies.

(16) Rio - Rainbow Gate - I saw more boobs and asses that casinos and gambling stuff... what a shame.

(17) Mitsudomoe Zouryouchuu! - The prequel disturbed me with its extremely perverted children. It got me so scared; no way I'll be watching more of this.

(18) Onii-chan no Koto nanka Zenzen Suki Janain Dakara ne!! - I cried so much that there are people who write about such things. I can understand incest and respect those who are into it,  but little sisters desperate to be raped by their beloved brothers(it seemed that way to me. Creepy!)? Nooo... please. Waaaahh....

(So many of the shows this season has a childhood friend thing o_O More particularly, with the female childhood friend in love with the leading guy. Ugh, what's with that overused stereotype =_= )

Among my favorites, I don't think I'll be following Beelzebub because I expect the anime series to have many episodes like other shounen jump series that got an anime adaptation ^^; I'll keep myself upto date with the manga though~

While for the other three, I'll definitely be following them weekly~ I want to blog Kore wa Zombie desu ka but its schedule is too inconvenient for me ;_; (why Mondays! Why not close to the weekends?! ;_;) Ah well, I'll see tomorrow if it's something possible to blog.

Yes, I do like Level E more, but it's also on a Monday and I have manga background only. I'd rather do episodic posts on anime series that I'm not that familiar with, hehe.

Yumekui Merry is what I can blog with no schedule problems but.... I don't have much to talk about it =/

As for those on the second category.... I'll just spoil myself on those... or marathon when I felt like it (which I doubt would be anytime soon, with my current watch list ^^;) As for those on the third category, I wouldn't bother at all T_T (except for Kimi ni Todoke).