A Seasonal Review: Fall 2011

Same drill as last time.

I’ve loosely ranked the season’s shows from worst to best (rough guide: A=awesome, B+=great, B-=good, C=decent, D=bad, F=fail). The numbers in parentheses are how I ranked that series’ first episode at the start of the season. Let’s see how much things have changed.

I’ve tried to keep this post concise. Let’s begin!

Dropped: Maken-ki! (22), Tamayura ~hitotose~ (21), Kimi to Boku (20), Mashiroiro Symphony (19), ϕ Brain (18)

Fallen Behind: The iDOLM@STER, Gintama’

19.  Kyoukai Senjou no Horizon — F (17)
WTF, Japan.

18.  Guilty Crown — Ongoing (2)
It keeps getting dumber and dumber.

17.  Working’!! — C- (13)
Decent humor, but most of the jokes are getting old.

16.  Maji de Watashi ni Koi Shinasai! — C- (16)
Started out promising, devolved into an especially perverted harem with pointless battles while somehow managing to be pretentious.

15.  Nurarihyon no Mago Sennen Makyou — C- (6, from the summer)
Too shounenesque for me: endless training and fighting.

14. Shakugan no Shana III — Ongoing (15)
Much better than the last season. Although I’m not entirely clear on what’s going on, putting Yuuji on the other side definitely spiced things up.

13.  Chihayafuru — Ongoing (10)
Solid, but just not my thing.

12.  Mobile Suit Gundam AGE — Ongoing (5)
Again, solid all around, but I’m not the target demographic. The last arc with the mafia warfare was a step back though.

11.  Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai — C+ (11)
Had its good moments, but all in all, a disappointing adaptation.

10.  Hunter x Hunter — Ongoing (8)
It’s good, but the hunter exam is really starting to drag.

9.  C³ : Cubed X Cursed X Curious — B- (9)
Crazy girls with weapons! Yes!

8.  Persona 4 — Ongoing (14)
Greatly improved after the lackluster first episode. It’s funny and I love the main character’s personality.

7.  Shinryaku!? Ika Musume — B- (4)
The same old squid girl fun!

6.  Mirai Nikki — Ongoing (1)
Doing great at capturing the insanity of the manga. And the slowest parts of the manga are past us now!

5.  Fate / Zero — Continuing in Spring (3)
I can’t stand Saber and Irisviel, but the rest is superb, particularly Rider and Waver.

4.  Ben-to — B+ (12)
Ridiculous and hilarious fights for food.

3.  Last Exile: Fam, the Silver Wing — Ongoing (7)
This has turned out great after the first episode. A fantastic world, an enticing story, and charismatic characters.

2.  UN-GO — A- (6)
A show filled with fascinating mysteries, lovable characters, and an engrossing setting.

1.  Mawaru Penguin Drum — A (1, in the summer)
It was a spectacular lead up to a spectacular conclusion. I did like the first half better though, when Ringo was a crazy stalker and I had no idea what was going on.

What did you think of this season’s shows? Feel free to share in the comments!

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17 thoughts on “A Seasonal Review: Fall 2011

  1. How are you able to watch it all?! I would get tired of it quickly.

    Anyway, sad that you dropped Kimi to Boku, but otherwise, sweet list!

    1. It’s not that bad. I watched 19 shows, that’s 19 episodes a week, about 3 a day, or about an hour a day, longer on weekends. I work 40 hours a week, spend maybe 10 hours watching anime, 10 hours blogging, 50 hours sleeping, and I still have 58 hours left!

      Yet somehow it still feels like I spend too much time working…

  2. You know, I’m kind of feeling the same about Chihayafuru right now … not that it’s not my thing, because it totally is, but more that parts of it are ringing a bit hollow. Like it’s trying a bit too hard to be shoujo-ish, but not so much that it’s offputting. It’s just a bit weird. I still like it, but I’ve definitely felt my enthusiasm waning by the week.

    Hunter Exam will continue for a while yet. Hopefully what they do next will keep your interest.

    1. Yeah, there are parts that seem shoujoish, like the flowery still shots of Chihaya.

      Hunter x Hunter still has my interest, just the hunter exam has taken a long time… I still have high hopes for the series.

  3. Great list!! I really liked Ben-To for being just so crazy and the whole fighting for food theme was so hilarious , I would love to see another season where they travel the world in search for new food…resulting in fights with the locals xD

    Yeah Chihayafuru is good! But I let three episodes pile up because I wasn’t feeling in the mood…good stuff but I am getting bored…

    Penguindrum! Well deserved #1 pick and easily the deepest themed series I have seen! Then again I don’t really get to deep in any convo about it…still fun to see others jump on it and break it down for people like me ;P

    1. Yes a road show Ben-to series would be awesome haha!

      I do the same thing with Chihayafuru and fall behind quite easily
      .

      Half the fun of Penguindrum is coming up with crackpot theories, you should join the fun next time!

  4. It’s funny how much we agree on some shows and so utterly disagree on others. I wanted to cry seeing Chihayafuru, Working’!!, and Haganai rated as low as they were, and was appalled that C3 beat them for grading. On the other hand, the appreciation for 7 and up are fairly similar, excepting the inclusion of UN-GO.

    I like UN-GO and respect what it tried to do, but still can’t get past the lack of character backgrounds and the whole fantastical element of Inga and Bettenou.

    I always have fun reading these end of the season posts, and you keep yours nice and succinct.

    1. Well, it’s good to know that there’s somebody that likes every show! Apparently some people even liked Horizon!

      The fantastical elements in UN-GO were a bit weird, but I didn’t mind too much. I actually liked the lack of detailed backgrounds in UN-GO, it made everything feel more mysterious.

  5. I would have given Tamayura one of the top spots.

    It seems that you became bored w/ the first ep which was not representative for the whole series. The show became much better – sure, it did not have much of a plot, but it had likeable and cute characters, gorgeous backgrounds and decent animation and music.

    If one day you should look for a relaxing show as a contrast to series w/ lots of action like Mirai Nikki or Penguindrum, I can recommend it!

    1. Hm, I might have to give the second episode a try if the first episode isn’t that representative. I kept falling asleep (literally) during the OVA too though. I actually was bored with Aria as well, which some people swear is the best anime ever. I think this kind of show is just not for me.

      But it is a good thing to keep in mind when I need something relaxing, maybe it requires the right moodset.

  6. 11. Boku wa Tomohachi (:<)
    10. Chihayafuru (…one season would've been enough)
    9. Tamayura (…ok)
    8. C^3 (…ok)
    7. Kimi to boku
    6. Fate/Zero
    5. Hunter x Hunter
    4. Shinryaku Ika Musume 2
    3. Phi Brain: Kami no Puzzle (understanding the feelings of puzzles??)
    2. Persona 4
    1. Penguindrum

    Not an amazing season for me, but I didn't watch 3 of your top 4, so who knows.

    1. Yeah, I think you missed three of the best shows this season. 🙂 But still, this season wasn’t the greatest. It wasn’t particularly bad, but it wasn’t as great as the last season.

      Phi Brain is pretty hilarious, but I just couldn’t get motivated to watch it. I got through about five episodes though.

      1. I wouldn’t have watched Phi Brain except that Horizon, Guilty Crown, and Un-Go were disappointing…It’s just stupid fun and nothing more…

        HxH isn’t dragging that much yet, IMO. Shows like Shakugan no Shana season 1 and Full Metal Panic season 1 are peppered with filler episodes. Although I liked FMP.

        OTOH, every episode of HxH (2011) has some progress.

        1. But, but… the filler episodes were the best part of FMP!

          HxH does make progress, I do like it, but this has been a long test.

          1. Tessa definitely had the best parts. 🙂 Although I enjoyed seeing Sagara blow up the school and things too. I’m guessing you’ve seen Fumoffu?

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