I’ve loosely ranked this season’s new offerings from worst to best. I did the same thing this summer as well, since I was away and couldn’t make individual first impression posts. I found the last list useful, both for reference and to compare with how things turned out at the end in my post-season post. This time the list will be more concise since I’ve already written at length on every first episode.
Overall, this seems to be a step back from the last two seasons, but last season especially was an outlier. So I’m not going to read much into it. Anyway, Penguindrum is still airing, so I have no complaints.
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22. Maken-ki!
Pointless fighting and fanservice show of the season. This has to have the most worthless protagonist I’ve ever seen in an anime. And I’ve seen a lot. Dropped.
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21. Tamayura ~hitotose~
I already said everything that needs to be said in my post. Dropped
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20. Kimi to Boku
Tamayura, but with cynical whiny men. Dropped.
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19. Mashiroiro Symphony
Makes Hoshizora e Kakaru Hoshi look inspired. Dropped.
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18. ϕ Brain
Starting to bore me. What’s the point of a show about puzzles, if you can’t solve the puzzles? Soon to be dropped.
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17. Kyoukai Senjou no Horizon
As the show progresses, it’s less and less clear what it’s supposed to be about. It’s terrible, but in such a way you can’t tear your eyes from the unfolding disaster.
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16. Maji de Watashi ni Koi Shinasai!
The first episode was pretty good. But then they dropped the fighting, lost all sense of focus, and turned it into your typical harem.
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15. Shakugan no Shana III
Off to a good start. But it’s Shana.
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14. Persona 4
Too faithful to the game. The second episode slowed down and was a vast improvement.
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13. Working’!!
Still funny (esp. Yamada) but the jokes are getting stale.
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12. Ben-to
Ridiculous, humorous premise.
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11. Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai
Second episode was better, it’s been pretty funny.
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10. Chihayafuru
I’m usually not fond of this kind of thing, but Chihayafuru is quite solid.
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9. C³ : Cubed X Cursed X Curious
What can I say, I like crazy people.
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8. Hunter x Hunter
Off to a great start, especially for the notoriously slow shounen fighting genre.
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7. Last Exile: Fam, the Silver Wing
I still have no idea how this will turn out. Could go either way.
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6. UN-GO
Same thing: no clue where this will go.
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5. Mobile Suit Gundam AGE
Childish, but solid and enjoyable.
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4. Shinryaku!? Ika Musume
Still going strong, they aren’t out of jokes yet.
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3. Fate / zero
Starting off slowly, but I’m confident it will get better once it gets going.
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2. Guilty Crown
It sure looks pretty. So far the characters are lacking, but hopefully the first episode was just a tease.
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1. Mirai Nikki
It’s intense and thrilling, but wouldn’t have made my top five last season.
What did you think of this season’s shows? I look forward to hearing your thoughts in the comments!
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Dropped: Shana, Mashiro, Maken-Ki, Phi Brain, Maji de Watashi, Horizon, Persona 4
12. Kimi to Boku.
11. Un-Go
10. Tamayura
9. Boku wa Tomodachi
8. Mirai Nikki
7. Ben-To
6. Guilty Crown
5. Hunter x Hunter
4. C^3
3. Chihayafuru
2. Shinryaku!? Ika Musume
1. Fate/Zero
Fate/Zero looks by far most impressive, with great character interactions…episodes 2 and 3 were really good.
Mirai Nikki doesn’t have great artwork, some things are left unexplained (for non-manga readers), and the pacing or storytelling feels off. Fate/zero is also doing a survival tournament at the same time, and C^3 also has crazy characters. The jury’s out on Guilty Crown.
I think that if I hadn’t read the manga I wouldn’t be enjoying Mirai Nikki as much. Fate / zero is looking good, and based on the second episode it looks like I jumped the gun on Guilty Crown.
i wanted to avoid dropping shows as much as i can.. i’ll also share my short thoughts on the shows i’ve decided to watch for this season..
-Bakuman 2 >> somehow faithful to the manga && entertaining but personally not as good as the 1st season.
-Ben-To >> really interesting. fighting over half priced bento = EPIC!
-Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai >> haven’t watched ep2 && already thinking of placing it on-hold. but w/ what you said, i just might check out ep2 before doing so.
-C Cube >> somehow caught my interest 😀
-Chihayafuru >> finally gain interest in the story but not w/ karuta after 2nd ep.. the art is really good, hoping i won’t be disappointed.
-Guilty Crown >> seemingly interesting story + great art.. i’ll definitely stick to this and see how it’ll progress.
-Hunter x Hunter >> i wasn’t able to reach half of the original anime so i’ll take this remake as an opportunity to be able to do so.
-Kimi to Boku >> caught my interest from the very beginning && certainly liked it more ’cause of ep3. the relaxing atmosphere && comedy could probably keep me going until this end.
-Kyoukai Senjou no Horizon >> thinking of placing this on-hold ’cause of the ep1. worst case, i might even drop this…
-Mirai Nikki >> really good adaptation + amazing art = definitely worth downloading && watching. hopefully i won’t be disappointed somewhere..
-Gundam AGE >> getting pass the childish art && the young protagonist, i think that it’s interesting enough to keep me watching…
-Persona4 >> have never played the game && find this anime interesting.
-Phi Brain >> definitely hate ep1 but after ep2, despite not finding this anything promising, i decided to stick to this anyway… the idea of puzzles somehow just gets to me.
-Ika Musume >> comedy = similar feeling from season1 but still sticking to this because Ika Musume is the best invader ever!!
-UN-GO >> ep1 isn’t that interesting but i just have the knack for mystery that’s why i’m definitely sticking to this until it ends(:
haven’t watch: Tamayura && Working’!!
Thanks for sharing! If you liked Kimi to Boku, you might want to give Tamayura a try (although they both bore me). You wouldn’t be missing anything by dropping horizon.
i’ll give it some try one of these days but honestly speaking, the ova actually bored me… as for horizon, i guess i’ll go drop it since i haven’t really read anything really good about it..
Need to watch the second episodes of the Noitamina-block first, before creating a list.
Ok, you should make it the inaugural post of your blog!