This post should have been up a couple weeks ago at the true midseason mark, but despite being way, way behind I still want to do this post. I dropped quite a few shows from the fall impressions post, but eight shows have survived my watchlist, which is actually surprising since I usually watch four new shows each season. After the jump I do some ranting on Akane Iro ni Somaru Saka, Chaos;Head, Clannad, ef – a tale of melodies, Kannagi, To Aru Majutsu no Index, Toradora and Liptia Teatania Tytania.

Akane Iro ni Somaru Saka
7 episodes watched

Akane Iro started out as a generic H-game harem and guess what — It’s still a generic H-game harem. The plot borders between ridiculous and totally outrageous. Junichi’s parents are super spies of some sort, he’s engaged to a tsundere girl with a petite frame and he and Minato have some sort of massive forbidden sibling love going on. The entire cast is composed of stock eroge personalities from the clueless Junichi to all the girls who could be swapped with girls from other H-games and we would be none the wiser. With all that said it’s not like I hate this show though. I know it sucks and is generic as hell, but decent execution keeps me coming back. Also because Yuuhi is nice to look at.

Chaos;Head
7 episodes watched

C;H started out with promise but is gradually becoming a chore to watch. This is looking more and more like a case of the dreaded ‘botched visual novel to anime adapation’ syndrome. My prognosis is that the writers tried to do too much with the limited time frame of 12 episodes, and the entire show just derailed. I like the story and premise, but the show is quickly going south between the horrid pacing and increasingly shoddy animation. In time the C;H fanboys will probably disavow its existence much like the Tsukihime fans do with the Tsukihime anime… If it existed.

Clannad After Story
9 episodes watched

Ah, gotta love Clannad. Since I’m still stuck at episode 9, I haven’t hit full bawl mode but it’s going to happen since Key is going to sucker punch me a couple times before this is all over. The story of each character so far has been poignant yet heart warming, and it’s a good way to wrap up the school life portion to the After Story and ensuing baaaaaaaawlfest. Not much more to say about Clannad really. Key knows how to create endearing characters and Clannad is no exception.

ef – a tale of melodies
6 episodes watched

I’m contemplating dropping ef due to apathy of both the plot and characters. I never really connected with this cast and the disconnection turned into apathy. The thing is that I just don’t care about their plights and the story. The first season gave me a reason to keep watching with Chihiro’s enrapturing story, and I persevered despite the massive annoyance personified that was Miyako. To me the second season of ef really upped the level of pretentiousness with more focus on the artsy visuals than anything else. Enough is enough. The art direction is just too big a distraction for me. Bad pacing speaks for itself and is the icing on the cake that is ef – a tale of melodies.

Kannagi
10 episodes watched

Bloody brilliant show. Subtly funny and equal amounts clever. Love the characters from top to bottom. They all bring something to the table and do it well. Nagi is the goofy goddess/miko, Zange is a hot slut, Tsugumi has a few odd quirks and the rest of the supporting cast is rock solid.

One could look at all the otaku references contained within as acknowledging the audience. On the other hand, I would say the show tends to pander a bit too much to keep the ratings up. Goodie, let’s squeeze in as many otaku related things as we can in a show that really isn’t about otaku. Otaku dood that the audience can relate to since he will talk about otaku stuff whenever possible? Check. Cosplay cafe? Check. A whole karaoke episode chock full of anime song singing and Lucky Star cameo? Check. Sure, Kannagi may be pandering, but pandering doesn’t always have to be a bad thing.

PS: Zange is a whore but I rabu her anyway.

PSS: It’s a Sony.

To Aru Majutsu no Index
8 episodes watched

Index started off extremely strong and is fizzling in the middle, much like the first season of Shakugan no Shana, which is an apt comparison. To be fair though, the past few episodes have been dedicated to exposition to set the stage for greater things to come. If J.C. Staff’s track record is any indication, Index will pick up a lot of momentum in the middle of the show before fizzling to a stop in the finale. I don’t mind the current slow pacing though. As long as I get more railgun-kun and KoMOE and I’m happy.

Toradora!
11 episodes watched

Toradora is still a humdrum but enjoyable light novel adaptation. Good cast, above average story and a good mix of drama and funnies. It would be too much to ask for Toradora to blow me away like a .44 Magnum, but color me impressed anyway.

Tytania
8 episodes watched

Ty-effing-tania is more like it. Tytania knows it’s badass. Tytania knows it’s epic. Tytania can be campy and manly at the same time. Tytania knows that it can have its cake and eat it too, or in the context of the show, have a grandiose space battle and make it back home in time for tea. My only regret is that I have but one life to live for Tytania. Glory to Tytania!

PS: This is not Tytania propaganda. Anyone that says otherwise will be conquered by Tytania.

This entry was posted on Monday, December 15th, 2008 at 8:04 pm and is filed under Anime, Rants.You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.