Fall 2012 — First Impressions

As usual, here’s my rankings of the season’s new shows based on the first couple episodes. You can click the links for details, so I’ll keep the discussion of each short. We’ll see how well this matches my ending thoughts. Sorry this is pretty late, I was lazy. But it’s not like anyone reads these anyway, they’re mostly for self-reference.

25. Teekyu
Gonna give you a headache.

24. Litchi DE Hikari Club
What?

23. Busou Shinki
Wish fulfillment with dolls.

22. Medaka Box S2
Quite possibly the worst adaptation I’ve ever watched.

21. Kamisama Hajimemashita
What I hate about shoujo romances. 

20. Sukitte li na Yo
Not bad, just not my thing.

19. Code Breaker
Again, I’m not a fan of shoujo romances.

18. ToLoveRu Darkness
At least Momo is entertaining. Aside from that, this is getting old…

17. Little Busters
I hate Key and their emo amnesiac squealing girls. It usually gets worse as it goes on…

16. Aoi Sekai no Chuusin De
Would be better if I knew anything about Sega.

15. Hayate no Gotoku: Can’t Take my Eyes Off You
How is it possible to screw up Hayate this badly?

14. Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojou
Mediocre all around. But it has been getting better…

13. K
Well produced, but aside from that…

12. BTOOOM!
Entertaining, even if it isn’t well thought out.

11. Onii-chan Dakedo Ai Sae Areba Kankeinai yo ne
Slightly redeemed by the fact that no one takes the sister seriously.

10. Ixion Saga DT
Has no balls.

9. Jormungand S2
Same crazy fun as before.

8. Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun
A shoujo romance that’s so good like it.

7. Zetsuen no Tempest
I like it when it has fighting in magic, but with flashbacks and feelings, not so much.

6. Robotics; Notes
Remote controlled humanoids and passion!

5. GIRLS und PANZER
So dumb it’s good.

4. JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure
Bizarre, in the best sense of the word.

3. Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai!
Hilarious.

2. PSYCHO PASS
Great world and action, thought provoking and very moe.

1. Shin Sekai Yori
Crazy Buddhist conspiracies? Count me in!

 What are you looking forward to this season, and dreading? What did I get wrong? Feel free to share in the comments below.

17 thoughts on “Fall 2012 — First Impressions

  1. These sorts of lists are fun because they always show just how different everyone’s tastes are, which is why anime’s nice for covering so many different genres each season.
    For me I’m enjoying Shin Sekai Yori, Kamisama Hajimemashita, and Zetsuen no Tempest the most. Which is probably already enough for me. I’m going to be so busy the next few weeks (I think).

    1. Kamisama Hajimemashita? I may have to give it another shot. I really didn’t like the two mascots in the first episode though.

      1. Really? I thought they were rather tame as far as mascots go. I don’t think they do as much in the episodes following the first one or two, since they were answering all of Nanami’s questions then.

        1. Hm, if they don’t do much later I may give it a chance again. Still, I just don’t really like shoujo romances.

  2. It’s been a pretty packed season so far. In your top ten alone there’s five shows I’m watching and three I’m trying to catch up on (Chuu2Koi, Shinsekai and Robotics;Notes).

    1. Yep, there are a bunch of shows that are pretty good this season. Usually fall and spring are the strongest seasons.

  3. I AM reading your rankings 😉

    I’m surprised that Oniai ranks so (relatively) high in your list! What about Magi? I also kinda like Code: Breaker but this is certainly not one of the top series.

    My top 3 are the same as yours. But I also really like the shoujo series, in particular Kamisama. TMS has become one of my favourite studios, I just love their drawing style.

    Do I miss out something on Girls und Panzer? I’m already following two trashy series (Oniai and Busou Shinki, the latter is on the drop list, though) but if you’re ranking it that high it must be entertaining/ funny/ thought provoking in some way!

    1. Glad someone reads them. 🙂

      I like Magi a lot! It has this youthful enthusiasm and excitement that’s great, and this sense of childish adventure. It also helps that the show’s *not* about fighting, which is usually what leads me to dislike shounen.

      I may have to give Kamisama a second chance, everyone seems to be saying good things about it…

      I think based on your tastes that you would *love* Girls und Panzer. It’s about cute girls dressing up in weird costumes and driving tanks. It definitely isn’t thought provoking, but it’s entertaining and funny just because the premise is so absurd.

      1. As unwatched episodes kept piling up on my HDD recently I finally decided to drop a few shows: Busou Shinki (no bad loss here), SAO (the elfin ears looks ridiculous), K, Zetsuen and possibly also L.B. So alas there’s no way I could add Girls und Panzer. But I hope you’ll enjoy it!

  4. Chuunibyou is good! My trust on KyoAni might has been restored once again. I hate last season’s detective pretense anime. Come one, KyoAni, that’s not your style. Your show should be like this, moe characters doing retarded things.

    1. I loved Hyouka too! But moe characters doing retarded things is great. Honestly I’ve liked their most recent series the best, I would have to say now that Haruhi and K-On were two of their weaker series.

    1. I like robotics; notes enthusiasm, despite the fact that nothing much has happened so far. For Zetsuen no Tempest, the last episode with the silly backstory, the half naked girl on the island, and the random quotes from shakespeare annoy me. Monster Next to You is good but not really my thing.

      Girls und Panzer is great!

    2. Vat? How can vou not like zee panzer? Ver’e wunderbar!

      I will agree though that I find Robotics Notes as boring as Little Busters. Unfortunately, I made my decision to sit through those, and I will. Yeah, I screwed myself, didn’t I?

      @draggle As for some of those anime above, I could not get past Ixion Saga DT, Sakurasou, or the Oniichan anime due to how unfunny (and one-note) they were. Sakurasou I especially hated because the drama was so pathetic. I mean we’re four episodes in. Are you that desperate for rain already?! Goddammit Mari Okada!

      Dropped Tempest at the latest episode as well. Constant angst is not what I want to see in an anime, especially one with Mari Okada’s name on it.

      1. yeah, it’s overdramatic, tumbling and running to the point of almost dying from running out of breath. The pet girl isnt going anywhere! It’s not like your girl is lying on her deathbed?!

      2. As far as bad harem drama goes, Sakurasou’s is actually pretty good. Not to imply that this is a high bar we’re setting for Sakurasou…

        Ixion Saga and Onii-chan are pretty much one-note comedies, but at least their one-note isn’t that bad. The balls thing was pretty funny. And I kind of like the girl in Onii-chan who sexually harasses him. I’m not trying to say they’re good by any stretch of the imagination, just not the worst thing this season.

        Episode 4 of Tempest was awful. I hate the angst as well. The rest of the show wasn’t that bad though.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *