Anime Chart Fall 2013

[Kyubey]

Since Morc isn't here, I guess this falls on me...



It's Anime Fall 2013, aka the season of romance and stylistic action shows

So far, the ones that seem to be getting the most talk are Kill la Kill, Log Horizon, and Madoka 2 the Movie: All About Homura. Then again, there are a lot of interesting things this time around, and any one of these could possibly be the Big Thing of the season.

Obviously, as a man with my sense of fun still firmly intact, I've gotta watch Kill la Kill, it being by the same team that brought us the heaven-piercing Gurren Lagann and all. And of course I'll watch the Madoka movie, though it'll probably take another year or so for decent subs. Just from first impressions, Galilei Donna has a really intriguing premise, and I'm also rather curious about Toaru Hikuushi e no Koiuta and Pupa.

And finally, the Best Title of Fall 2013 goes to... Samurai Flamenco. Even if the show ends up sucking... it still has that title.

[Kyubey]

So I just watched the beginning of every show I had planned to watch (Toaru Hikuushi e no Koiuta seems to have been pushed back to winter, and upon further reflection I decided to not watch Pupa) with a few surprises I checked out on a whim as well! and so, here is my grand definitive review of all the anime I thought might be worth watching in Fall 2013, based on the first episode.

Galilei Donna: Meeeh. Could've been really neat. Wasn't, really. There were some neat things going for it, though. The director does obviously know how to pace an action scene, and the moments of excitement were rather nice, but the characters were boring and there was no compelling reason for any of the plot to happen. The three leading characters are of the cookie-cutter Instant Stock Girl, Just Add Bland variety, and the antagonists weren't much either, though the writer was at least trying with them. Also, for a show that takes place in Italy, there was absolutely nothing distinctly Italian in any of it. It's more than clear that the people who made this show have no knowledge of the setting, which makes me wonder why they bothered in the first place. I did like the relationship the parents had, however, even if it wasn't the focus at all, and it what good things there were were enough to make me give it another shot. Let's see if you can do better next time, Galilei Donna. I... kinda believe in you?

Golden Time: Not sure why I watched this. Not sure what I was expecting from it. I really don't know why I thought Golden Time was going to deliver something other than... this. But I watched it. I had hopes for it. I was let down. Golden Time has the same writer as Toradora, and if you like that show, you should also like this. Guess what, I fucking hated Toradora. I will admit, there was one moment in Golden Time that made me laugh, and I do still like that there's a college setting rather than the boring ol' middle/high school fare, but... yeah, not coming back for another episode.

Kill la Kill: This show is crazy and a half. Exactly what I expected from the makers of Gurren Lagann. The action is wild and vibrant, there's always something going on, the animation is pretty and stylish, and it's all around a wacky blast of a show, just like GL was, in it's bigger moments. And that's just the beginning! However, while it did inherit GL's over-the-top flair and then some, at the same time it lost the sense of wonder and heartfelt sentiment that really made Gurren Lagann special to me. Remember that moment in the first episode of Gurren Lagann, where Simon and Kamina burst out onto the surface for the first time, and the show took a few moments for them to stare out at the wide horizon before them, a mere glimpse at a world and all the possibilities it held, that they were only just beginning to understand? Yeah, there was nothing like that at all in Kill la Kill, which, I'm not gonna lie, did disappoint me. Still though, for anyone who's in it for the fights or the art should get plenty of both in this series, enough to make even me satisfied. I also appreciate them putting a solid, badass female in the leading role, a rarity for this genre in particular.

Nagi no Asu Kara: Holy hell, look at that animation! Are you seeing that shit? It's incredible! You see that boat? Look at that boat! That is a really nice looking boat! I just wanna sink into this world and live there forever! I mean, damn! Wowzers! Anyways. I gave this one a chance because of Studio PA, who, earlier this year, made the truly wonderful show The Eccentric Family. The plot is not anywhere near as strong as the previous PA work, not even worth mentioning in the same breath, really, but the quiet beauty of the setting is enough to carry the story's weight. Not gonna be following this too closely, but I may stomach the crappy story every now and again, just to get another look at the pure artistry that went into the visuals.

Samurai Flamenco: BABY OOOOOOOOOOOOH! This one's by the director of Baccano!, one of my favorite anime, so I came in with some pretty high expectations. And... it's cool! Not quite Baccano cool, but I liked it. I'm digging the bromance between the two leads, and it has a good, honest message behind it, with a strong promise that future episodes may be even better. Looking forward to seeing where it goes.

That's it for now! I'll probably come back here at the end of the season, to give my final thoughts on these. What shows are you all watching this season?

[Morcombe]

I've watched the first 2 episodes of:

Kuroko no Basket: Excellent series everyone should be watching this.

Hajime no Ippo: about time this came back. a little rushed in episode 1 though.

Yowamushi Pedal: watched it on a whim and turned out to be surprisingly good. It's a sport manga about BMX

Diamond no Ace: New Baseball series, will probably find myself comparing it to Major but I hope it can become something good. first 2 episodes were ok. I don't even like Baseball lol but anime Baseball is a different story.

Sekai de Ichiban Tsuyoku Naritai!: Ecchi female wrestling anime, that's pretty much it.

Outbreak Company: this show is weird lol. Guy gets taken to another world and has to introduce moe culture for some reason that makes no sense. surprisingly it addressed racism and social classes in episode 2, didn't see that coming at all. This one might just have potential.

and lastly
Kyoukai no Kanata: Dunno how to explain this one. Cute girl with sword made from her blood attempts to kill monsters, kinda. I liked the first 2 eps.

I intend to watch everything on your list at some point kyubey

7 down, a lot more to go. how many will I finish this season.
I did pretty well in spring I finished in double digits, summer I didn't watch anything.

[Kyubey]

Oh, silly Ky, you wrote up little reviews for all the anime you watched this season, and yet you forgot to watch the best thing that ever came out of Fall 2013! Possibly this year! You moron! What ever are we going to do with you?

So yeah, I just watched Kyousogiga. To put it very simply, I was absolutely blown away completely throughout. The world is insane, the story itself is hyperactive, and it's not at all afraid to be really, really confusing, but at the same time I can't do anything but love the hell out of every solitary second.

The story takes a lot of inspiration from Alice in Wonderland, which is nothing new at all in any genre, but unlike pretty much any other Alice in Wonderland adaptation/knockoff/whimsyfest, which all end up just using the exact same imagery and archetypes and characters and all turn out the same, Kyousogiga just uses some of the basic elements of its source material, and proceeds to do its own thing for the rest of it. It's not bound to any given rules or sense of style save for its own, simply taking what it needs and spinning something entirely new out of it. In that sense, it may actually be the truest adaptation of Lewis Carroll's work there is. Likewise, it's not even bound to using elements simply from Alice in Wonderland either, freely drawing inspiration from other sources as well, be they literary, mythological, cultural, or whatever the hell the show feels like doing at any time. When combined with the quirky writing, the end result is, to put it bluntly, madness, but it's a good kind of madness, the kind that knows what its doing, and is mature enough to do it well. While much of the imagery and storyline is chaotic and strange, it clearly has logic behind it, even though it doesn't always seem to feel the need to clue the audience in on that logic. Still, it explains enough to get the basic point across, which is good enough.

At the current moment, I really can't think of anything to hold against it, save for a few complaints that entirely have to do with how I watched it, and not anything having to do with the show itself. I am of the opinion, that Kyousogiga is a series that needs to be dubbed. Now, there was nothing wrong with the subs, and the Japanese voice acting was fair enough (I think, though I never can tell), but there's so much interesting stuff going on onscreen at any given time, that it's a crime to miss so much of the detail by staring at the bottom of the screen during all of it. Though if it does ever receive a dub, they would have to find someone really good to write a script and hire actors that can match the tone and feel of the original. Also, I watched this series on Crunchyroll, without a subscription, and I must say, the advertisements were horribly placed. And as a final point, there's an Episode 0, but it's just a reairing of the original OVA, and, so I'm told, has nothing in it that won't be covered by the series, so it's pointless.

All in all, though I've only seen two episodes, Kyousogiga is magical and wonderful and you should watch it like, right now. Don't let all the insanity fool you, there really is a good story there, with animation and directing that will make you wish Toei cared about some of their other series (cough cough One Piece cough hack cough) And, um... the main character's adorable.

[Morcombe]

Guess it's time for another update!

I've reached episode 4 of my previous 7 anime and have also watched teh first 3/4 episodes of a further 5 anime.


Kuroko no Bakset: still awesome. Rematch against Midorima justs tarted in episode 4, tis gonna be good, bring on Aomine!!

Hajime no Ippo: Latest epsiodes have focused on Aoki's first title match.

Yowamushi Pedal: Really glad I decided tow atch this as I was gonna skip it since it looked boring. Turns out it's pretty funny. Ep 3 was a good racing ep and 4 introduced a new main character.

Diamond no Ace: Dunno what I think about this. the good guy is shoved to the sidelines and is only allowed to run during practice because the coach is an asshole. Hope it doesn't drag too long cause I aint gonna be interested in a sport anime where the main guy spends ages on the sidelines.

Sekai de Ichiban Tsuyoku Naritai!: Still an ecchi wrestling anime, the main girl is a moron. the gym she works under are idiots and it took 4 episodes for the girl to actually gain any sort of resolve to compete seriously, the show/writer doesn't know the rules of the sport and ep 3 just pissed me off becaus eit made no damn sense. Ep 4 was a little better but the pacing is terrible.

Outbreak Company: A terrorist group try to kill the "invader" bringing his moe culture to their country and ep 4 deals with a spy from another kingdom. This show is surprisinglyd eep, not what I expected at all, this is good.

Kyoukai no Kanata: This show is awesome, good development between the main guy and girl. awesoem action, good charcters, interesting premise. Really like this one.

and now for the new shows.

Gundam Build Fighters: Not what I expected from a Gundam series, this is seriously Gundam's version of yu-gi-oh. kids build plastic model gundams and put them in a machine which creates virtual images where they do battle. shame this is really just a commercial to sell models. Disappointed in this one Sunrise, you can do better. Well episode 4 seemed to introduce a plot so hopefully it will get better.

Walkure Romanze: A Jousting anime. Can't really say much it's just a bunch of girls wanting to win the summer jousting tournament.

Samurai Flamenco: This show is awesome, I can't stop laughing at this one, that guy wanting to be a superhero is awesome. manager lady needs her arse kicked though, don't like her. That umberlla episode was really good though.

Strike the Blood: awesome show, love it. Good action, good characters, the villain of the first 4 episodes was pretty cool and kinda justified. I like it .

and finally
Pokemon XY: Ash is no longer a noob like he was in black and white. no apparent regression as of yet, Ash seems to have retained his knowledge as he uses actual strategy in his fights again. After the disaster that was black and white this one is much, much better.

[Morcombe]

Update Time:

Ongoing:

Hajime no Ippo Rising - Finished Episode 13, Continues into Winter 2014
Ippo vs. Sawamura in animated form was BRILLIANT!!!
bring on Takamura vs Eagle and the Kumogawa flashback.
excellent show.

Kuroko no Basket S2 - Finished Episode 13, continues into Winter 2014
Kirisaki Daichi match was brutal to watch, cheating scum beating on Teppei!
Winter cup begins, at long last it's the rematch against Aomine.

Strike the Blood - Finished Episode 12, Continues into Winter 2014
Show just continues to be awesome, second arc (episodes 5-8) saw an evil terrorist group try to revive a super weapon and the third arc (episodes 9-12) saw a mad scientist abuse poor girls and transform them into "angels" so they could become "higher beings" wether they wanted to or not and the terrorist organisation wants to sell them as weapons of mass destruction.
Needless to say our hero a super powered Vampire wasn't just gonna sit back and let any of this happen without a fight.

Tokyo Ravens - Finished Episode 12, continues into Winter 2014
I like it, typical action show based around magic and stuff.

Samurai Flamenco - Finished Episode 11, continues into Winter 2014
This show is amazing, absolutely brilliant. the Genre shift in episode 7 was insane and the second shift in episode 11 was even better. it's just one hilarious action packed piece of epic and awesome.

Yowamushi Pedal - Finished Episode 12, continues into winter 2014
still like this, Onoda has finally joined the cycling cluba nd thur now training for the big tournament. it's a good show.


COMPLETED:

Outbreak Company
I liked this alot, touching on racial abuse and social status was very unexpected and the ending although wa ssomething you could see coming it was done pretty well.

Freezing Vibration
had to wtach season 1 before starting this but was pretty good.
Satella's brother is a complete prick and he got off way to lightly.
Then you have a crazy asshole sacrificing poor girls to create the ultimate super warrior to fight the nova. after 2 seasons though they still aint explained what a nov actually is or what the hell it wants.

Infinite stratos 2
another show I had to watch season 1 of first lol
I liked that this season actually had proper villains even if they weren't that good an dthe last 2 episodes were filler. not bad but nothing special.


Still playing catch up:

Kill la Kill
Watched the first 3 eps a couple days ago, it's hilariously awesome

nothing new to report with Nagi no Asukara, Sekai de Ichiban Tsuyoku Naritai!, Walkure Romanze, Kyoukai no Kanata, Diamond no Ace will hopefully finish/continue them sometime soon.


Dropped:
Gundam Build Fighters: Gundam's version of yugioh with plastic models instead of cards is not for me.