So here's one of what I assume shall be many little summaries of where I am in a season and what else is going down. Find out what I'm watching and what I make of it below...
Mawaru Penguindrum - 7 episodes (first so I don't have to get another picture in)
What can I say about this really? The sheer randomness/insanity of this series appeals to my base nature - both random and insane - and it also appeals to my love of penguins, which is overwhelming all things considered. Unfortunately it's gone down in my estimations steadily after the first episode which was godlike; I suppose they set themselves too tough an act to follow. Essentially a lot of the randomness is now just sort of "...what?" than the laugh-out-loud hilarity of the first couple of episodes, not to mention the weird shift of focus to creepy stalker girl isn't exactly my cup of tea. Hopefully it will pick up again, but at this point it's not going to live up to my prediction of possible 'show of the season'.
Ao no Exorcist - 19 episodes
I really want to like Ao no Exorcist. I feel like I should like it. But I just can't get into it properly. Sure I've managed to last through 19 episodes which is fair going, but each time a new episode comes out I toy with the idea of dropping it. The characters aren't particularly interesting, as I said before it has no real plot to speak of and the last episode was solely about a birthday party...I've also forgotten whether or not this is going to continue on or stop at 24, so it's hard to decide whether to give it up or not - perhaps a bit of a spoiler in my watching list.
Beelzebub - 30 episodes
Sometimes I also toy with dropping this one, but then every episode gives me at least a couple of glorious tidbits to convince me to carry on watching. There are some brilliant moments hidden away in this one, despite an often bland exterior. The main characters (Oga, Furuichi, Kunieda to an extent) don't really interest me at all, but some of the supporting cast are great. I mean, what's the story behind the effeminate looking guy who can randomly own all the toughest customers and yet acts as an underling? Anyways, this is pretty funny from time to time but the action isn't all that great.
Blade - 8 episodes
Far and away the best of the Marvel anime adaptations, Blade has kept me entertained every episode with brilliant action, even if the dialogue is a little flimsy. Wolverine cameo wasn't great, but that episode had some great fight scenes. I just wish that they'd pad out Blade's character a bit more, maybe explaining these ridiculously powerful "special moves" that he pulls off to end any fight in his favour. Or at least come up with more than two or three of them. Anyway, will definitely see this through to the end - good watch.
Fairy Tail - 94 episodes
That's a whole lot of episodes right there. In essence Fairy Tail remains an absolutely brilliant series, definitely overtaking the Naruto anime at this point (which is still faffing around with filler). The latest Edolas arc has been spectacular and seems to have now come to a close - I'm looking forward to Gajeel getting Lily as his cat.
Fullmetal Alchemist - 6 episodes
I KNOW. I NEED TO HURRY UP AND WATCH THIS DAMN THING. And credit where credit's due, I have really enjoyed the episodes that I've watched, it's just that I'm trying to keep on top of the currently airing shows and watch this at the same time. Some things have gone a bit unexplained and inconsistent, but I'd imagine they'll be cleared up in no time - and I'm loving the characters of Hughes and Mustang. Once I finally get this out of the way, bring on Brotherhood!
Hanasaku Iroha - 21 episodes
21 episodes in and still no move towards some kind of overall conclusion. That does grind my gears quite a bit. Whilst it does certainly entertain me from episode to episode, I couldn't imagine sitting down and watching all of it through. The characters and setting are both fun though, and a weekly dose is probably ideal for this one. It's not like I'm going to stop watching or anything.
K-ON! - 2 episodes (not to be confused with K-ON!!)
I guess I can't really call 2 episodes a week or so back "watching" it, but I've started on it nonetheless. From the people who brought us the Melancholy anime, we have a show about the floundering light music club at a school. Only characters appear to be girls, but I wouldn't say it was aimed at girls as such - after all there are some obvious character archetypes here. But I've said it before and I'll say it again: "I'm very much in favour of all-girl anime rock bands." I'm just looking forward to the bit where they inevitably get really good, though I doubt it'll be anything to rival Girls Dead Monster.
Kamisama no Memochou - 7 episodes (not to be confused with this season's 'Kamisama Dolls' or any of the J.C.Staff's previous works)
An anime about a group of unemployed detectives eh? That's a NEET idea!....anybody? No? Ok then. This show has its bad moments - the actual cases are nothing to write home about, and a lot of the characters don't exactly reek of creativity - but it does have some good moments (Daisuke Ono). Seems a bit bland on the face of it, but there's something here that's enticing me to watch which I can't quite put my finger on yet. Maybe it will come to me in time.
Naruto Shippuuden - 225 episodes
Blegh.
Ro-Kyu-Bu! - 7 episodes
So it turns out I've carried on watching the anime about the elementary school girls' basketball team. Why? Good question. Bad answer. It's alright, I guess. Nothing special whatsoever. Not exactly sure why I tune in every week...
SKET Dance - 21 episodes
Can't remember if this one's going to carry on or not either, but I really do hope it does. This show is absolutely brilliant. Hilarious. Switch is one of my favourite characters ever, and Bossun is also a genius creation. Some of the ongoing references and background characters (Yabasawa essentially) I don't quite get, but everything else comes together great. Not to mention there was a music festival episode in which they used an insert song by 'the pillows'. Bring on more SKET Dance!
Steins;Gate - 21 episodes
I'm not sure if Steins;Gate has fully recovered from the trip-up it had around episode 14ish, but it's certainly finding its feet again. As with all things to do with time travel, things go a bit crazy and stop making sense, but they're marginally back on track now. The whole thing about reversing the D-mails doesn't seem to me to be actually logical, but hey, it makes for interesting TV.
Tiger and Bunny - 21 episodes
The last of the series that's still lasting through from the previous season, and also one of my favourites. Kotetsu is just such a loveable protagonist. Great characters, great comedy, great plot, fun action. This one really lives up to its fantastic premise. Apart from Bunny of course. What a prick.
Usagi Drop - 8 episodes
Probably winning the 'show of the season' title currently. As I've said before, it's just such a perfectly nice anime. Not to mention it's worth watching just for Daikichi's facial expressions alone.
YuruYuri - 8 episodes
I rarely go in for this sort of show, but this one is genuinely funny quite often. Some stereotypical characters, naturally, and some annoying parts (essentially those twins who I forget the names of who were the subject of the last episode) but overall entertaining. Got a very 'Lucky Star' feel about it. If you've already got a packed schedule though (not me at all....honest) it's probably not worth picking up.
And that just about sums up what I'm watching at the moment. Some descriptions are fuller than others, but I imagine I'll be writing about a lot of them again in the future.
Just a little tidbit for you as well; I can now be found on Last.fm here if you fancy a slice of my amazing music taste. There's a link in the sidebar as well. There may even be a widget on Blogger for it somewhere - I'll have a look.
Cheers,
K
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