Winter 2011/2012 Impressions (Half-Way Report)

As always, I usually keep up with the current anime season, no matter how far I can get behind in watching it. This season has actually proved to be exceptionally interesting, with anything from romance stories to tales of demons to tales of piracy. (not that type of piracy).  For the mid-way point in this season, I think the anime that are airing right now are doing pretty decently.


Amagami SS Plus+

This is the second season to the omnibus anime Amagami SS. Each arc starts where the first season arcs left off, and this time, we start with Ayatsuji Tsukasa, the crazy, tsundere class representative (from hell). Although its too soon to tell how well each of the arcs will come out, the two that are complete (with each arc being 2 episodes and there are 6 girls), Ayatsuji's is the best done so far. Now for Sakurai, I think that one ended badly, just because she sort of ends up with the guy of her dreams (Juunichi) but still gets cut short in action, as it was basically: confess love, be happy, end arc. Now for the other arcs, I hope that they are all superb extensions to the original stories.

Black ★ Shooter
After the music video for vocaloid was so popular, they decided first to make an OVA of it. Apparently the OVA did so well that they thought "Ok, let's make  a TV series." Already, the TV series is showing more potentional than the OVA, with a chance at more developed characters, though I am almost not expecting much. I can honestly just hope for better, though I am not really expecting so. The characters are well drawn, I'll give them that, and honestly, I would not mind cosplaying as Black Rock Shooter. However, the other character designs are meh at most; they are not good, they are not bad, just K-On like, and the story line that seems to be driving is ok, just not that interesting.

Danshi no Koukousei no Nichijou 
The Daily Lives of High-school boys in other words. The anime is a lot like Nichjou and Azumanga Daioh, but with boys instead of girls. The humor is about the same, except that it is oriented at guys trying to get girls (and failing horribly). A good watch to kill some time and for a good laugh I will admit. The characters I can actually see happening in real life, and it feels like some of my friends are like that. However, I don't think this one will do to well over all because of the similarity to Azumanga and Nichijou, and the fact that it is guys. Lesson for anime: Moe female slice of life sells. End of story.

High School DXD
Ah, this anime. Every week, twenty-three minutes of  uncensored boobies and chicks...and wait...is there a story? Yes there is in fact. This one is about a guy who nearly gets killed by a fallen angel, and when a Scandinavian Red head names Rias Gremory comes and saveshis life, he becomes a demon, just like her. He has a tool called the  Sacred Gear, which he uses in battle against the Fallen Angels and Exorcists. This anime quite frankly doesn't need to sell to be honest. Every week, we get pure boobies, nipples and all, no annoying light censors, no censors what so ever. In fact, it could be put at Seikon no Qwaser level porn (minus the tit sucking.) Sadly for me, I actually look forward to this anime every week, and not for the boobies.

InuXBoku SS
What to say about this anime? It feels so familiar with the set up, yet unique. We have a young girl names Shirakiin Ririchiyo, a girl who says rude things out of habit to others and in order to get away from people, she moves to the Ayakashi Kan. There, she meets Miketsukami Soushi, a member of the Secret Service, or SS, and he has been assigned to serve her. Now, Soushi is basically a fox demon, and the residents of the Ayakashi Kan are also super-natural beings, though we are not sure on Ririchiyo's. A few complaints I have about this anime are as such: One is the fact that it is kind of like Kuroshitsuji, with the super special butler guy that serves to protect a younger individual, and even the interaction between tow of the characters is the same, and two: that all of the names are hard to remember. The names are older names, however, they could always use nicknames, but I don't see that idea being enacted anytime soon.

Mouretsu Pirates
Since Pirates of Carribean, the world has fallen in love with pirates. This anime is another pirates adventure...in space...and the lead pirate is a girl. The story follows Marika, the daughter of the great space pirate captain of the Bentenmaru. Her fathers subordinates find her, and say that she is the captain of the ship. With this anime, I do feel like it's just something fun for me to watch. The story puts an interesting spin on piracy: instead of traditional pirates that sail on water, these are space pirates that crusade through space. An interesting twist is that piracy in this anime seems perfectly legal, even down to the point of people getting pirating licenses. Marika is the type of person you would least expect to even be involved with pirating, but she must embrace her destiny and become the best pirate she can!




Nisemonogatari 


As you know, I am a major SHAFT fan, and when the sequel to Bakemonogatari came out, I had to watch. Bakemonogatari was the one that got me into SHAFT's style, and Nisemonogatari was a must watch. The sequel follows Araragi Koyomi's sisters, Karen and Tsukihi. The art in the anime is still superb and the story line is still awesome. Although it's a bit shorter than the prequel, I hope that it can tell as good of a story in eleven episodes as Bakemonogatari did in 15. All I pray is the fact that                        SHAFT does not pull a troll move when airing this.

Papa no Iu Koto wo Kikinasai!
Tragedy is unavoidable in life, no matter how old you are. In this anime, Segawa Yuuta takes in his nieces, Sora, Miu, and Hina, after their mother goes missing while on a trip. The anime follows his struggles to take care of three kids, balance college and work, and trying to make a family balanced. To be honest, i really do like the anime. The art style is vibrant, and each of the characters is distinguishable. Also, even though the scenario is somewhat believable (personally I  don't think that a college kid would take on a kid, much less thre), the results of his decision is somewhat believable; he realizes that he has to work more hours in order to bring in more income to support the children and that he must also get home in time in order to take care of them. I must admit, I await some of the tension between the adults, and even some of the tension between the kids and adults.


Recorder to Randoseru 

This is one kind of flew under my radar at first. Miyagawa Atsuhi is an overly tall eleven year old who gets in torulbe for potentially preying on children because of his height, when in reality, he is just trying to catch the affections of his classmates. His sister, Atsumi, on the other hand is overly short, even though she is in high school. The anime is bizarre in the way that it shows the relationship between the two. As it stands, it appears that the little kid is taking care of a grown man. Also, I don't think that  Atsuhi's case is helped by the fact that his voice also sounds like it has hit puberty. Though I do feel sorry for the fact that he keeps getting arrested for "preying" on little kids, I have to laugh. Now, if only each episode was a bit longer, as each episode is only two minutes long.

Rinne no Lagrange 
This anime is strange. A regular girl names Madoka is called in to pilot the robot that only she could pilot. It sounds just like GUNDAM except with a girl no? Exactly. The plot for this one in my mind is still a bit fuzzy, but they have a bit of a ways to go before this anime finishes, however, I am not expecting much out to this one. It almost makes no f*cking sense what so ever, ad the girl is a spazz and robot outfits are unnecessary; they don't do much to protect the pirate against harm. They mostly just show off boobies.

Tantei Opera Milky Holmes: Dai-Ni-Maku 
Our beloved detectives are back for a second season and they are...lazy? That's right. After getting their toys back in the first season, they basically refuse to use them, and become lazy. Though the adventures of lazy are not all that bad, however, they seem almost boring. To be honest, I wanna see some more of the Phantom thieves, mostly Twenty though. (Propeller nipples are awesome). Whe they said a second season, I wanted it to be somewhat like the first, with Milky Holmes still being somewhat useless, and the Thieves being blissfully stupid, but still, this is not what I bargained for. Oh well, I can hope it gets better.