Summer 2011 Checklist

I better do this before Otakon washes me out. This being just a run-through on the interesting titles this season.

As usual, just because I couldn’t fit a show in here doesn’t mean it does not deserve it. I think it’s self-destructively amazing that I can still watch so much anime given my usual hours. And I’m writing about it. Probably just so I can then forget it and do something else. Anyways…

Are you ready? I’m ready. At least my body is ready, so they say.

Mawaru Penguindrum wins the visual award. I’m blogging it elsewhere, but hopefully it’ll make me want to write more about it here too.

Mood-wise, I am pretty partial to Kamisama no Memochu and Kamisama Dolls. The latter just makes me want to sing UNINSTALL for some reason. The former has that DRRR chic with match eccentric NEET-types. But I don’t know; both shows are wildcards in execution and plot departments.

A supposedly safer bet is Blood-C. In a lot of ways Blood+ was really flawed. Like a PS3 is flawed. Blood-C has potential to reboot the brand, while retaining what is attractive and boot what isn’t from its predecessors. But each reimagination sucks the life out of the original concept a little more than before. It’s also my Nico experiment target #1–something relatively high profile, good viewer numbers, and hopefully some slick comments will feature-add over the dumb comments.

Twin Angel is also a Nico experiment, except for the reverse of course. I now truly understand what people mean when they said they’ve watched really crappy anime on Nico that they would not have otherwise.

I thought the same for  R-15. The truth is, it’s the creative sort of crap anime that is sufficiently enticing that I would probably continue to watch it even without the Nico snipping. It may be a typical harem kind of show, but it’s sufficiently deviant from the norm to be amusing and thought-provoking (at least a little).

And that is way more praise than I can give for shows like Black Rabbit. I feel all Kuroneko about this anime, in the sense that it’s some pathetic chuunibyou attempt to cash in on some thing by using the most unoriginal source material. That is probably too harsh, but at least in Yumekui Merry there’s some kind of moe factor along with a sharp directional sense. We don’t get either in this. And why am I slamming Yumekui Merry? Obviously Index is the real true public enemy #1.

Dantalian at least looks passably okay. Nico comments do help it go a little farther, like Blood-C. But I’m not excited.

Nekogami Yaoyorozu is… Touhou animu. Too bad it’s not even funny.

The real dark horse this season is Ikoku Meiro no Croisée. I mean, it’ll be all culturally relevant and iyashikei with moe power over 9000. “A Jasc show” by all means. It’s got that huge advantage only because there is nobody pissing on it as everyone is too busy pissing on Usagi Drop. Grrrr.

Total aside, isn’t it ironic how a bit over a year ago Funimation has noitaminA on that partnership lockdown? Look at things now! Zero shows!

I think Number 6 will get its audience; the drama (in the noitaminA format) should be compelling as long as there’s some substance. It can’t be worse than Jyuohsei. And I watched Jyuohsei. Oh poor me.

The real guilty pleasure this season is obviously Ro-Kyu-Bu. And I’m doing it for the seiyuu marketing. Yeah. That’s it. But more seriously, if it can stay true for its three-episode-pilot about team building and your garden variety sports drama tropes, I can’t see how it’ll turn out badly. Unless you count the FBI breaking things up as a bad end.

Oh, speaking of those 3-ep-pilots, I thought R-15 ep2 was in every way superior than ep1. It’s like watching two different shows, the differences. Ro-Kyu-Bu also had a similar difference, but that’s more because the plot stuff didn’t kick in full gear until episode 2. What’s up with that?

Then again some shows are still playing true to formula. I’m not sure what I’m suppose to do with Sacred Seven. I probably will pass on it until I catch up on Blue Exorcist. Or something equally unlikely. It’s not bad, just not good enough.

But sometimes not good enough is fine, if you’re the only thing that airs on CR (so I can watch it on the road via 3G streaming) on Monday (man I miss Kaminomi). YuruYuri is just that.

Kind of wish that is true for Mayoi Chiki too. As is tho, it might not matter–if I can’t get to episode 2 by the time episode 4 airs, the odds are low that I will ever watch it.

Is this it? Probably not. I have a couple more shows that I want to try (ie., Manyuu!). I think I’m watching still a lot of shows left over from last season, which cuts into the new shows I can pick up. And then there’s stuff coming back like Bakatest. Oh well.

So the net total is pretty good; we’re talking about just two shows that I find even at all notable that isn’t getting a simulcast. Even Morita-san has it. Now we can argue about 1 hr or 24 hr or 72 hr or 144 hr or whatever, or if we can even call it simulcast (I don’t think we should), but in my book any of those is better than never.


10 Responses to “Summer 2011 Checklist”

  • 21stcenturydigitalboy

    >>The latter just makes me want to sing UNINSTALL for some reason.

    I know what you mean, I end up listening to it and singing along after every ep.

    I’m with you on most of this, except one thing:

    >>Nekogami Yaoyorozu is… Touhou animu. Too bad it’s not even funny.

    I’m weirdly biased towards this show, but anyway, I don’t think the point is to be funny – it’s yukkuri anime. I’ll admit, the second episode wasn’t successful yukkuri anime the way I felt the first one was, though. I will certainly be watching in any case.

    Definitely check out Manyuu it’s amazing.

  • omo

    Ya definitely will check out Manyuu. Just have too much crap to do between now until forever.

  • jpmeyer

    That Kurousagi show is our only-watching-this-on-Nico show this season. It’s just soooooooooooooooo cliche and chuunibyou (man, people keep spamming 中二 over and over in the comments). We joke that it’s like they crammed in every stale cliche from the last 20 years of anime into that show.

    Is there an uncensored version of Manyuu? The censoring is so totalizing in that show that it’s practically an audio drama.

  • dm00

    Yumekui Merry also had some fine artists working on backgrounds. A waste of their talent, perhaps, but there was some dazzling work in there. Well, Merry’s personality was a bit above Index standards, too, I think. But if not for those things, a pretty average show.

    I think I’ve given up on Nekogami. Maybe in a few years FLIPFLOPS’ other manga, Suzulog will have enough material to start animating it. Or maybe ZUN will relent and Variant Youyoumu will get animated.

  • omo

    AT-X airs a “less censored” version. I haven’t seen either version of Manyuu so I can’t say how much better it got.

  • Taka

    Heh you are watching almost everything I am except I’m not watching Twin Angel but I AM watching: Gintama’, Exorcist, Toriko, Beelzebub, Fairy Tail AND Sket Dance. (I approve of the Hime picture btw. That was mainly my cause for commenting) I fell behind on Pokemon BW but I think I’m getting my fill of shonen. Nvm the fact that I want more. Though I plan to actually *GASP* drop some of it. I already dropped Blade 1st ep, didn’t give Morita-san a chance, and scratched my head at the first ep of Double-J. I’ll probably drop Kuro Usagi thing for sure (as soon as I give it 1 more episode) and maybe R-15 and Mayoi Chiki but the rest is pretty much staying. With Steins;Gate, Tiger and Bunny, and Nichijou continuing into Summer this is just way too much. Maybe even more than the 30 I watched during Spring.

  • omo

    This is way too much indeed.

  • Mushyrulez

    >get a life

    I shouldn’t be talking should I ._.

    Anyways, how many shows do you think you’ll drop by midway through, and how many do you think by the end of the season?

    (I think that the creator of Nekogami is actually a Touhou doujin artist, so you can obviously see some inspiration there, haha)

  • ubiquitial

    >Obviously Index is the real true public enemy #1.

    Truer words have never been said.

    >it’s yukkuri anime. I’ll admit, the second episode wasn’t successful yukkuri anime the way I felt the first one was, though. I will certainly be watching in any case.

    It’s not yukkuri anime unless you have people stepping on them and sucking the bean paste out of their bodies.

    > I think Number 6 will get its audience; the drama (in the noitaminA format) should be compelling as long as there’s some substance.

    I read a post by a certain Matsumoto fanboy which really turned me off to the show. I might take a look once it’s over, though.

  • omo

    >> Anyways, how many shows do you think you’ll drop by midway through, and how many do you think by the end of the season?

    I’ll probably drop a bunch this or next week. Otakon is a good filter.

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