Spring 09 Mid Season Review-What to Watch (Not a Haruhi Second Season Post)

As much as I am a fan of Haruhi I imagine the many of you who were surprised by the unexpected launch of the second season have already seen a number of Haruhi posts. I didn’t think it was likely we would be getting a new Haruhi season this soon. However, this is not going to be a Haruhi post as I probably would spoil something from my reading of the light novels.

So!!!! This post is going to be about my impression of the animes this season in no particular order. I didn’t number them this time, and I certainly didn’t cover all the anime playing. I hope you can pick out from my writing what I thought was worthwhile and what I thought was a waste of time.

Phantom~ Requiem for a Phantom (Why is phantom in the name twice…)

Frankly this season has left me a little depressed and uninspired to write anything about anime. I’ve enjoyed seeing Hayate animated, but it’s really just more of the same. Phantom is alright, but it’s no Darker than Black and I feel like all of the episodes leading up to this last one (ep eight) were just so this one episode could be written. Personally, I feel good writing does have a climax, but I also believe good writing keeps the anime interesting from the get go instead of throwing loads of exposition at us. That may be hypocritical since I loved Darker than Black, but, I felt like that series two episode arcs really were interesting and conflicty all on their own while telling a much larger cohesive story right behind the curtain. Phantom is just an argument a single argument (The morality of murder). Truthfully, I don’t believe the premise they seem to have implied in this last episode (episode eight) that not knowing your past relieves you of your guilt. I believe that the lead is still very emotional the whole time about murder so how would the revelation of your real name and memories make much of a difference? Maybe he remembered his real mom telling him not to kill anyone. The most interesting character in the series is Phantom instead of the lead. Probably because she’s a copy of my favorite emotionless dolls that learn about their hearts. She also seems to be the most intelligent character in the anime. I don’t have much more to say about this anime because it hasn’t offered up much else (yet). The op/ed are trying to be philanthropic and reminiscent but all I can think about is they’re trying way too hard.

Eden of the East

Eden of the East is slightly more interesting. They have a cool story that is engaging from episode one. The lead character reeks of likeable providing us with the first normal but totally awesome male lead I’ve seen in a long time. He has the online drugstore extraordinary power of money, but he doesn’t do some weird willpower, power up before going and fighting the bad guys. He’s an observer who acts when he needs to: Not the typical shonen hero who rushes in relying on pure strength. As for the buy online tabs story we’re thrown into the weird world of the Selecao who are trying to save Japan (well at least some of them) with ten billion yen. I don’t know the definition of saving a country, but I doubt you could ever really satisfy someone’s definition of saving. Is any country ever really completely ok? Despite the rules being rather hazy the incorporation of the growing NEET population in Japan and the younger generation being uncomfortable with the older generation is nicely played. I really think this anime does a better job of incorporating the problems in Japanese culture than any other anime I’ve seen in a long time (This isn’t to say Japan is a messed up society, they have problems like all countries have problems: People are quick to point out America’s faults). My favorite character is the computer genius loli, but that’s for personal reasons. Saki is interesting. She obviously has the princess complex, but she’s close to understanding the impossibility of it. When Taki does show up she see’s him as her last chance to have the fairy tail romantic relationship while throwing away a perfectly good guy who’s crazy about her. It’s easy to condemn her as being an emotional, finicky girl, but she’s acting on a societal stereotype. This anime, being a work of fiction, has felt the most real out of the animes I’ve seen in a long time. The characters are good representation of different people. The girls have real problems and don’t come attached with their own ransom notes. The lead is cool, but he’s a representation of a modern day male who still manages to be cool. All and all you should give Eden of the East a watch. It has some weird themes (What’s up with the Johnny Killer? Kind of hilarious), but overall well worth your time.

K-ON!

I really want to demonize this show just because everyone else likes it. I’ve enjoyed the episodes so far and I’ve also really liked the songs but I’ve been thinking a lot this season about how girls are portrayed in anime (thanks to the paper I chose to write) and I’m not sure I agree with K-ON!. The most popular character Mio has a lot of good qualities: She’s a hard worker, practical, and a good student. However, I look at many of the qualities she has that the fanboys are drooling over and I really have to wonder what that says about us as a society. For one thing her character is a juxtaposition, how can she be strong and confident while shy and afraid of everything. In the end she’s led around by all of the other characters while deathly afraid of looking bad. For instance, when she was shown the picture of her spooning the pillow she freaked out. What’s she so afraid of? There’s also the ruined for marriage factor. I’m really not sure what to say as everyone should come to some conclusions about Mio from just that. Those are some pretty tough standards. The only thing I’ve really garnered from this series after watching it this long is Ui is a clapper. You know the people I’m talking about. The ones that clap along to everything, normally they’re standing right beside you and they can’t keep time. It’s loud and obnoxious and you wish they’d stop, but instead they try to get you to join in. I had such high hopes for her. This doesn’t rule out the massive positives in her favor. I was a bit surprised truthfully by the additions KyoAni made to the anime that weren’t part of the original manga. Many of the Ui-Yui scenes I don’t remember and I was paying attention. I’m getting an argument from Kyoto that goes something like “You can be a useless all the time, but as long as you’re kind every once in awhile, that’s ok”. I don’t think it’s ok, but whatever. Kindness can be cruel sometimes (The opening line from the op in TSR: I recently rewatched it). How can Ui do anything for herself if she constantly has to take care of a useless sister? That’s like Mikan in To Love-Ru being satisfied with doing the housework even though she’s far more competent than her brother. Sometimes the older sibling just needs to step it up. Alright I’m done ranting. Despite all I’ve said it’s actually a particularly fun series to watch and has some great moments. I love how Kyoto totally shattered my preconceptions during the first live and I’m happy that it was a bowl of rice! That was such a great way to mess with the audience.

Queen’s Blade

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaahaha!! If you actually were thinking I could do a serious commentary, I’m sorry, there is nothing to say. This is a ridiculous piece of trash. However, if you do want to find some anime companies best effort reproducing the moe modes that fanboys have liked over the years, you’re watching the right anime. The real problem is they’re trying to incorporate all of them and then provide an exponentially increasing amount of fanservice. I will say this for Queen’s Blade: At least it knows what it is and isn’t trying to hide it. You also have to hand it to the characters not being embarrassed by their own bodies.

Valkyria Chronicles

This is the show that frustrates and entertains you at the same time. The tactics aren’t ingenious and they make no sense. The frustration comes from the total lack of realism in a war based anime. This is supposed to be a World War II like setting, the same setting as Saving Private Ryan. Why then is it a silly love comedy with bleak attempts at everyone is equal (racially, although not apparently sexually)? Oh well, Kana is voicing the lead girl so it’s still pretty enjoyable.

Tears to Tiara

I’m not sure what’s more entertaining: The bloody battles in an otherwise kidsy show or the demon king already having three prospective wives at this point… or was it four… What can I say about this anime? It’s pretty fun. You have a semi-interesting plot and ridiculous over the top characters. The animation isn’t amazing, but a lot of shows don’t have amazing animation. I really like that this show doesn’t take itself too seriously. Unlike Valkyria it’s not trying to hit you over the head with some moral message that doesn’t fit with the context. Instead it just gives you a demon king actually getting all the girls. He’s engaged to three… what episode am I even on… How can he have so many wives already… What is this show promoting? Arawn, the demon king, is pretty funny. The best part is his relationship with Arthur and the traditions of the Gael tribe. The Holy Empire are the bad guys which means one of two things either Empires are bad or the church is bad. It hasn’t gone into which yet. I like the new empire girl. I hope she doesn’t end up in Arawn’s harem as well… There is really nothing to say if this is all I can talk about.

Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood

I don’t feel like writing a lengthy entry about this. If you’ve seen the original Full Metal Alchemist you won’t be too surprised. If you’ve read the manga then there is absolutely nothing new. I’m a fan of the new animation style and I’m much happier with the pace of this retelling. The first season had some moments I thought would never end. The first episode was some new ground, so I’m still not sure how accurate they’re going to be. I can understand it though; they wanted to start out with an interesting conflict that displayed the alchemist’s powers. It was also a cool way to show off their new animation. This series overall has always been really good. The concept of alchemy is by far one of the most interesting. It has solid rules that cannot be broken (even through extreme willpower power ups) making the show emphasize Ed/Al’s brilliance as the way to solve problems over brute strength. The solutions aren’t always right either. The moral grey is perhaps what this show does best. There is no such thing as a completely good or evil character as they all have their demons (or Homunculi). The plot only gets better from here and of course I’m always up for more Winry!

Asura Cryin’

Is this post still going? Geeze I’m still watching a lot of shows. This show isn’t that good. I’m sorry to say that I find it pretty low quality story wise. The best character has got to be Shuri. I’ve really enjoyed her antics. She drags the poor male lead, Tomoharu, around by the nose while maintaining the air of bad ass. I was sad to see them make her the damsel in distress the last couple of episodes but at least she thought she was someone else while it was going. I want to ruin the twist for you, but I won’t. The real problem with this anime is the two-dimensionality of characters. You know who they are and what they’ll do from the first episode. It really leaves nothing to the imagination. If there is character growth it will only be in the way we all expected. Here’s a question: Why do anime’s often give girls badass powers when they’re just going to render them unable to fight within the first few minutes of the conflict. I just read all the chapters of Fairy Tail last weekend and the question has been running through my mind ever since. In the end every conflict is going to end with Tomoharu saving the day and in my opinion that’s rather boring. Oh well, this show has its moments as well. If you have an over abundance of time and you’ve watched all the amazing stuff from seasons past give this a watch.

Hayate No Gotoku: Second Season

I already said a little something about this, but there isn’t much more to say. The pacing is so much better than the first season. The animation is slightly worse but with an anime like Hayate you really don’t need amazing animation. One problem I’ve had is the over abundance order online pharm of the Hinagiku related arc’s lately. Don’t get me wrong Hinagiku is my favorite character in the manga/anime. The best reason for liking her though is her lack of screen time. She’s not the lead character so every time she appears it’s a treat. When she’s in every episode though she just becomes a normal haramette and Hinagiku deserves more than that. This is nitpicky and counter intuitive, but I think you might understand me. The studio has been banking on her popularity: releasing character cds, making the ed Hinagiku. I like the Hinagiku who hates zithromax buy online standing in the lime light: The one who has a problem with her popularity. I want the Hinagiku who just wants a simple relationship with the idiot lead of the series who can’t do anything right. Oh well they have done some of my favorite arc’s this season so I won’t complain anymore. Hina’s birthday arc is still coming up so I’m still somewhat excited.

The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya

This is the buy acomplia best news I’ve had in a long time: A show that resounds with awesomeness. I’m giddy about the new episodes. I love the story and the original series. I can’t wait to see Kyoto’s rendition of it.

This concludes the post that was not about the new Haruhi Season. I guess you can call it a mid season review, but we’re closer to the back end now. I didn’t say anything substantial, but I hope you are now aware of shows you might not have been aware of.

This is a picture of Yin being cute, because Yin is cute!!