In the first few minutes I thought ‘Maybe they’re spoofing Macross Frontier??’ And then as the episode progressed, I realized, wow, they’re serious…And when the bugs came out I just forwarded randomly until the ending.
It felt like a copycat right from the start (though I don’t know the motivation for making this series). I’ve seen more awesome singing, more awesome character designs, more awesome animation from that other show. I don’t want to watch anything that’s been done better before, unless there is a compelling reason to. And I don’t feel any compelling reason to watch this SymphoWTF.
So yeah, this is the first winter show to be cut from my to-watch list.
P.S. I totally forgot to post what I want to check out:
Muuretsu Pirates/Bodacious Space Pirates
Rinne no Lagrange
Ano Natsu de Matteru
Gokujyo-
Aquarion Evol
Nisemonogatari
Natsume Yuujin-Chou Shi
Senhime Zesshou Symphogear
Black * Rock Shooter
Another
Danshi Koukousei Nichijou
Recorder to Randoseru
Thermae Romae
This post is very late because, well, I had a awful start to my Christmas vacation–caught a fever and have been feeling sluggish ever since. Haven’t done much and the result is delay in the things I wanted to do. Adding to the delay was my purchase of a new monitor that led to rewatches and viewings galore…
Anyway, I have got to say that 2011′s crop was better as a whole than 2010′s. The top 5 contenders each have the quality to be considered the best show of the year 2011 for me. To illustrate the close fight, the five categories that I used to compare the shows (namely Characters/Entertainment Value/Story-Plot-Ending/Music/Animation) were divided among 4 of the top 6 shows. The 2 shows that didn’t get a first place ranking had 2 second-place rankings each.
My viewing has picked up a bit over 2010′s 14 shows. Maybe because as I said earlier, the quality of the shows for 2011 was actually better than 2010′s. Am I watching more because of this? Hehehe. For 2011 I’m supposed to be ranking 19 shows, but Fate/Zero, Last Exile – Ginyoku no Fam, and Chihayafuru are still far from finished. So I have decided to bump these 3 to 2012, saving me a few moments of deliberation with the 2011 ranking. Hunter x Hunter is also unfinished, and I doubt if I really can complete it. With these unfinished shows the ranking process would’ve been tougher.
I have also decided to exclude movies except for Break Blade. If I did not, well, Sayonara no Tsubasa would have been this list’s best anime–blowing away the competition hahaha…
16 Kimi ni Todoke 2
One of the disappointing shows, I had a hard time finishing this. It was boring. I don’t really remember much of what happened in season 2, that’s how forgettable this show was.
15 Dantalian no Shoka
I was hoping something really interesting would happen here. Unfortunately I think this show wasted its potential. Just when you thought it would get interesting, the story would veer off to something else. Still I like the OP.
14 Honto ni Atta! Reibai Sensei
One of the 3 comedy shows in this list. It’s really funny because of its randomness. The only minus was in the latter part where I couldn’t ‘get’ the jokes and I think they overused the alien cats.
13 Nyanpire
Speaking of cats, there’s lots of cats in 2011 hehehe. Nyanpire is the 2nd comedy show in the list and is about a vampire cat that’s soooooooooooo cute! The only downside is that the ED is so annoying and too long. Yeah, I really DIDN’T LIKE the ED.
12 No. 6
There are lots of dogs here instead of cats hehehe. One of the sci-fi shows I was looking forward to. Unfortunately the ending was more fantasy and took the whole series down a notch. The only advantage this show had over KNT 2 and Dantalian was that the series was more coherent and interesting up until that magic ending.
11 Sekaiichi Hatsukoi (1 & 2)
Ah, something from the BL world for the first time in the history of the rankings (I think). Actually I had tried watching Junjou Romantica in the past but I thought the story wasn’t that coherent and decided it was a waste of my time. Sekaiichi on the other hand centered around editors of a shoujo manga department and as such the stories revolved around the editors there. It caught my interest even though I was watching this more for laughs and curiousity and not really taking things seriously. Still there were episodes in Sekaiichi where I didn’t care that much about and were forgettable. How this series ended up at 11 is also a little surprising. And it doesn’t mean I’ll be watching more BL shows–this series was an exception.
10 Break Blade
The only mecha show in the list. I had decided to ignore the Gundam shows as I think I’ve had enough of it. I have closed my heart to it and decided that Turn A Gundam is the best Gundam series for me. (Though I would probably check out those that would not be in the UC timeline.) OK back to Break Blade. I really like the animation, the story, and the fights here. And I’ve noticed that most of the big-breasted well-endowed females were not only for show but are competent–be they mecha pilots or the Queen herself. Not bad at all. The only downside is that the ending is a little inconclusive with regards to the over-all war. The battle ended quite satisfactorily for me though.
09 Yondemasu Yo! Azazel-san
The 3rd comedy show in this list. With the sex jokes, shit jokes, and violence, you’d think it really disgusting. But it was damn funny (though not Arakawa funny which is wholesome fun for me). The only thing I didn’t like were the dick jokes at the end. It’s like they were trying too hard to be funny.
08 Ano Hi Mita no Namae o Bokutachi wa Mada Shiranai
Finally, we’re starting on the heavyweights of 2011. Well, this show about a dead girl and her childhood friends almost got dropped. Menma (the dead girl) was totally annoying in the first ep, but eventually she got less annoying. Or the story got more interesting for me as it went on.
07 Natsume Yuujinchou San
Another show with a fat cat! However for some reason I haven’t been excited about Natsume. Although there was an episode that was really scary I just wish that he’d be a little more aggressive like his grandmother and not just rely on Nyanko-sensei to get him out of trouble.
06 Moshidora (1st in Story/Plot/Ending)
I really liked Peter Drucker’s Managing Oneself, so I had to watch this show (fortunately there were subs). Merging high school baseball and business management, this anime had me in tears in the end. What I regret is having watched all episodes in one day–I think this series needs a rewatch.
05 Mawaru Penguin Drum (1st in Animation)
Nothing compares to Mawaru Penguin Drum in visuals (Madoka Magica is a far second). So why is this in 5th place only? Maybe because I was expecting something to top Revolutionary Girl Utena, but perhaps I should not have made such expectations. The nature of the curse on the major characters really baffled me, and maybe that’s why I couldn’t appreciate the show more. Along the way I thought about how watching Utena as it aired would have felt–would it feel like Mawaru Penguin Drum? The scary thought is I probably would have dropped Utena. I still enjoyed watching Mawaru Penguin Drum though.
04 Hanasaku Iroha (1st in Characters)
If there’s any show of 2011 that’s a near guilty pleasure for me, it’s this one. Three generations of girl power is a rare sight (for me) in an anime. And despite being set in a hot spring inn, there’s not much of the annoying fanservice that is normally seen in other anime.
03 Hourou Musuko
Cross-dressing is the theme of this show. Although some people might not find this a good draw, the way it is handled makes the show unique. With its soothing atmosphere and pacing itreminds me of Aoi Hana. And I love the background music too.
02 Usagi Drop
Another show with good handling of touchy subjects, mainly in this case, raising a kid that’s not even yours. However, a word of advice: don’t read the manga or the wikipedia entry. Just be content to remember Rin as a cute little girl.
01 Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica (1st in Entertainment Value, Music)
What if becoming a magic girl has its hidden consequences? If Mawaru Penguin Drum is (probably) the number one anime for 2011 in the guessing game activity, second would (probably) be Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica. (Of course I don’t hard stats to back me up. My gut just tells me. Like Gibbs’.) For once, having (magical) power has its consequences, which is uncommon. For once, a normally cute stuffed white animal looks creepy. For once, the personal motivation for fighting bad witches isn’t only about saving people. In short, Madoka Magica stood out in 2011 for me.
Who wants to be a magical girl?
Okay, the dropped list:
Ao no Exorcist – Not bad but not that interesting to me either.
Bakuman – I dropped this to read the manga. Now I haven’t read the manga for months hahaha.
Beelzebub – Not that funny for me.
Blood-C – I hated the singing, thank God I did not waste more time on this.
C The Money of Soul and Possibility Control – It had a nice premise I just got bored along the way.
Deadman Wonderland – I wasn’t in the mood for violent shows then, not really keen on revisiting this one now.
Fractale – I dunno. Just slipped from my radar.
Freezing – Tits. Lots. Do not like.
Gosick – Sick with boredom.
Guilty Crown – Guilty of wearing the Crown of Not That Really Interesting or Unique.
Ikoku Meiro no Croisee – Boring.
IS: Infinite Stratos – Infinite shots of fanservice I don’t like.
Kimi to Boku – Boring.
Kore wa Zombie desu ka? – The first episode was the only one I enjoyed.
At last, the journey that started in 2008 has finally come to its conclusion…
I delayed my viewing of the 2nd Macross Frontier movie so that I could have something to really look forward to on the 24th of December (aside from the food of course). I ended up downloading 3 versions (LOL) but I decided to stick to the one with FLAC audio. Ditched the 1080p version too because my laptop couldn’t play it well. ^_^;
Since I’ve already tackled comparisons to the Macross DYRL movie in the Itsuwari no Utahime post, I won’t be tackling that much again here. Why?? Because the most important item in this movie is just this: WHO WILL ALTO-HIME CHOOSE???!!!
So I was at this bookstore that was having a sale. I overhead two girls discussing manga as they browsed (forgot if they were still in college or working but they were wearing uniforms). One girl picked up a copy of Honey & Clover and said ‘This manga’s supposed to be sad so I didn’t read it.’ I was very much tempted to say ‘No, it’s not that sad! Hagu and Takemoto just don’t end up together, that’s all.’
Then I realized it would totally spoil the whole thing for them. And since I have strong anti-social instincts I just let them be. Maybe next time, I’d get another chance to say, ‘It’s not that sad!’
I may not be blogging that much, but I am watching anime, a lot of it now, in fact. As I am still new at work, I don’t have a lot of responsibilities yet so I’m not that busy at the moment. For the past few months I have divided my time between anime, books, Internet, and other stuff I didn’t get to do like shopping left and right (obviously getting paid means spending power hehehe). Of course I don’t spend everything because it’s important also that I replenish my savings that got depleted when I resigned without a new job.
Now enough of that RL talk. Since I wasn’t able to do the Spring impressions, I’m combining it with a post about the Summer anime season.
This blog finally turned 5 a few days ago. I planned on writing a long post but as usual I never found the energy to do it.
So what’s happened?
When I started out in 2006 I was full of energy, watching a lot of shows both old and new. I watched more shows in the 5-year span I was blogging than when I was still in school. ^_^;
I was able to celebrate my 1st and 2nd year in blogging. I managed to avoid the burn-out that afflicted many other bloggers, by posting less (though I can’t say the quality was inversely proportional), and dropping shows I don’t feel like watching. However, I failed to anticipate the signs of the worst thing that happened to me so far: I got burned out at work.
How is that related to blogging, you ask? Well, my growing dissatisfaction at work was affecting me. I don’t remember celebrating my 3rd and 4th year of blogging. Not only did I have to deal with issues outside of work, I had to deal with the stress of long working hours and a demanding superior that took a lot out of me. What made things worse was that I was dilly-dallying on finding less stressful work. I had trouble moving on.
Finally I couldn’t take it anymore; I resigned. I took some months off to recover. Now I’m working again but I still can’t say that I’m fully recovered.
I still managed to blog something every now and then during those ‘dark’ days. I did finish Legend of Galactic Heroes during my time as a NEET. I got a copy that originated from usagijen (circa 2009, I think), but I never found the time to watch it before I tendered my resignation.
As for the long-term direction of this blog, I’m not really sure. I had thought about starting over again with a new blog, but, what for? I had also made a side blog that I’ve forgotten after a while. Starting over again is just another hassle. I’ve also thought about recruiting another writer but I’m not too keen on spending energy trying to find somebody who shares my tastes.
I think that’s all the significant things that I can remember. (Though Japan-wise 2011 is the year of the tragic earthquake that struck.)
Anyway, I’m still having the itch to write, there are still new shows that are good to watch, so I may be blogging for another year. Hoping for a good second half in 2011!
