The journey is still on for the best anime of 2013. This is fall season of anime so let’s get ready, shall we? For you guys, I took the time to watch 11 new anime episodes to determine what is so awesome and what is not so awesome. I’m sure that you guys should find something that will appeals to you from this list.
As always, I picked the titles at random from the list that Crunchyroll provided. However, I did change up for this season. As fanboy of Blazblue, I could not omit it from this list so I opted to watch it from Funimation website. Still, I thought it was interesting to watch brand new anime on other website so I may do that for future articles.
Like what I did for last season, I’m providing the link to each episode after short comment so you guys can find it easily.
There’s a good mix of anime from this list that should be interesting to you guys so please try the one that catch your attention. This list is just an overview of what this season is like. Enjoy!
Galilei Donna
If I were to summarize this show up, it’s about dysfunctional family trying to deal with each other while mach is thrown in for a good measure. This combination makes it even more interesting because of the main characters’ being descendant of Galileo.
In opening sequence, we see 3 sisters being pursued by the baddies and we are left with why someone would chase them when they really have no aspirations in life at all. This triggered pretty funny reaction from their mother whose kept reminding them that they’re descendants of Galileo. But the sisters just shrug it off as if it’s just inconvenience.
I really like this show a lot because one of the sisters seems like she has a lot to contribute, despite the lack of aspirations. She really made the second half for me so I’m interesting to see what happen in next episode.
Based on this opener episode, I will definitely recommend this one.
Click here to watch the first episode of Galilei Donna
Strike the Blood
What a shame. I really like the premise of this anime. However, the entire opener episode was just lacking for me. I felt that the episode wasn’t consistent enough for me to maintain my interest.
I thought the main character was well done and I like his personality. However, this is supernatural anime and I feel that the main character just feel so out of place because of his personality. If this is slice of life anime, he would be right at home but with supernatural stuff occurred around him isn’t just interesting enough.
Also, the girl whose pursued the main character doesn’t gel with the main character very well. She feels like she’s one of those annoying girls whose insisted on following him everywhere he goes. As of result, it feels very taxing for me to watch the whole episode.
The ending of this episode doesn’t feel urgent enough for me to watch more future episodes. It’s bit frustrating because I really like the main character whose I can relate to a lot. But it’s just that the secondary characters and story really let him down.
I’ll give this a miss.
Click here to watch the first episode of Strike the Blood
Nagi no Asukara
I’m not sure what to make of this show. I thought it’s one of the stunning beautiful animated shows I’ve seen in a while. Also, I like the concept behind this show. However, the execution of the story is bit questionable for me.
It’s about the people whose live undersea has to deal with the surface people. As of the results, the main characters from undersea have to go to school on the surface where they faced the prejudice from surface people. Also, there is a lot of tension between the main characters that serve as the main story for this episode.
I can’t help but feeling that this anime is an allegory of what is currently going on in this world. Great example would be where the male main character show up at workers’ meeting in undersea to complained about the surface people taking away their business.
I find it pretty hard to enjoy this show because the main characters can be very grating and unlikeable at the time, despite that the secondary characters are much more likeable. Also, it doesn’t take the rocket scientist to see love triangle/pentagon to explode in future episodes.
This is a miss for me.
Watch the first episode of Nagi no Asukara
Non Non Biyori
I really enjoyed this anime a lot. I love how the characters, story, and animation just gel together so well. Prior to this episode, I was bit jittery but this show really calm me down a lot, which surprised me a lot.
Truthfully, I was expecting the variation of school anime but I was pleased to learn that the school element doesn’t play much role in this anime. Instead, it’s about city girl is trying to learn how to adjust to the country lifestyle. It’s very challenging for her but fortunately, her 3 classmates tried their best to help her out.
There are few genuinely hilarious scenes, i.e. the boy classmate kept getting left out and the whistling scene. But the ending of the episode is truly beautiful that it’s very hard to describe it without seeing it first.
I believe that this anime executed the concept of the cultural difference much better than Nagi no Asukara, which I saw previously prior to this anime. For one, the main character isn’t hostile to the others, which is refreshing. Also, she’s trying to learn the culture of the country side while sharing her experiences in city to her classmates.
I can truly recommend this anime with 2 major thumb ups.
Watch the first episode of Non Non Biyori
Arpeggio of Blue Steel
This is pretty enjoyable science fiction action anime. However, it reminds me of Full Metal Panic. I’m not sure if that’s good thing but the character designs are so similar that I was having a flashback to Full Metal Panic. Still, that’s not bad thing since the story itself is decent.
This anime take a place in future where the ocean became impossible to access, due to the crisis. Thus, the people are forced to be stuck inside the lands so they have to battle those whose control the ocean. It’s pretty interesting concept.
This episode focuses on flashback about how the protagonist met the girl whose control the submarine so we can understand their motives. However, the animation is bit too jarring for my liking. It just feels weird to see CGI being utilized for specific characters, whereas its right fit for others. I hope that they can fix this for future episodes but I’m not holding my breath.
I’ll definitely give this a recommend.
Watch the first episode of Arpeggio of Blue Steel
Log Horizon
It is inevitable to compare this anime to Sword Art Online. Both of those anime have same premise but they both executed the story in different way. In Sword Art Online, the motive is made clear from the beginning and it emphasized more on the solo players.
However, in Log Horizon, the motive for trapping the players in MMO world is unknown. Thus, it forced the players to team up for safety and to exchange the information. I felt that this anime is more true to MMO, compared to SAO. In SAO, it’s hard for me to accept for high level solo player just dominated everything in the sight while rarely asking for the assistance. Whereas, in Log Horizon, each player has their strengths and weaknesses so they depend on each other.
The behaviors of the characters in this show are more realistic in how MMO players would play. For example, there’s a pervert guy whose run around to drooling at the girls and there’s calm guy whose always formulate the strategy. It’s much easier for me to relate to the characters in Log Horizon compared to SAO.
There are a lot of questions that are left unanswered so I’m eager to watch more episodes. I have a strong feeling that this will turn out to be very solid enjoyable anime.
Yes, I strongly recommend this one.
First episode of Log Horizon is here
I Couldn’t Become a Hero, so I Reluctantly Decided to Get a Job
I was surprised that I really dig this anime a lot. Judging from the title, I kind of knew what I was going to watch but it’s impressive how they make this episode even more enjoyable. Still, I don’t understand why they have to use the long title, which is basically a summary of the anime.
This anime shows what happen when the hero can no longer use his skills anymore and has to get a job in retail to just survive. He is struggling to make a sale while his boss is trying to encourage him to do better. As former retail worker, I can relate to him because it’s pretty tough work.
The story took an interesting turn when the hero’s enemy applies for a job at the store. The hero has to train his enemy on how to serve the customers and interacting skills. I find the chemistry between them to be very dynamic and fun to watch because they are now in same boat, which is trying to survive in the real world.
Definitely recommend this one for sure.
Watch the first episode of I Couldn’t Become a Hero here
Golden Time
This is pretty fascinating stuff. I strongly believe that this may be one of the brilliant anime to come out from this season so far. This is based from the author of Toradora, which I adored very much. So I was very thrilling to learn that Golden Time had just come out.
It focused on young protagonist whose is entering the law school at university in Tokyo. Along the way, he met quite few intriguing characters. Some of them actually resembled the characters from Toradora. I can’t help but feeling that Golden Time is spiritual successor to Toradora.
There are few hilarious moments where the protagonist’s friend is deliberately avoiding someone, which results very memorable scenes. It’s very rare to see romantic comedy being well done in anime so I’m happy to see it in this anime.
Based on the opener episode, I believe that this anime has a lot of promise so I will keep on watching for sure.
I will recommend this one with absolute extreme prejudice.
First episode of Golden Time is here
Walkure Romanze
Basically, this is school anime but with bunch of knights and horses. I find it hard to enjoy this episode because it contained too much fluff and not enough substance to hold my attention. All I see is a lot of obsessions about the upcoming competition but not enough on the characters themselves.
Ah, that horse! I really enjoy the scenes with the horse but I felt that it’s bit too random for my liking, even if it’s connected to one of the main characters. In fact, I’m not sure who the main protagonist is since the story was bit all over the place.
If this opener episode is any indication, I don’t have a lot of hope for future episodes.
Give this a miss.
Opener episode of Walkure Romanze is here
Kill la Kill
This is one of the most hyped anime for this season and so far, it has live up to the hype. I was really impressed with how stylized this anime is. It reminds me of FLCL and Gurren Lagann, where anime can be so surreal that it’s impossible to believe it unless you actually see it.
This anime reminds me of spaghetti westerns because of how chaotic it is. The protagonist appeared at school out of nowhere, only to find that the school is pretty dangerous place to be at. I kept getting Clint Eastwood vibe throughout this episode, which is good because I love that guy.
Still, this anime contained a lot of fan service, especially the battle suit of the protagonist. So you may want to keep this in mind that this is not definitely for kids. However, don’t let this stop you because the story is very enjoyable and it doesn’t take itself too seriously. Come on, we see hot chick battling with half scissor against guy with crazy huge boxing gloves. It’s just too comically to take it seriously and I think that’s why this anime will turn out to be amazing if it stays consistent.
Yes, this gets my top recommendation, no questions about it.
Check out the opener episode of Kill la Kill
BlazBlue: Alter Memory
As a fanboy of BlazBlue, I was very delighted when they announced that they would be making Blazblue. However, I was very surprised to see that it doesn’t receive a license to show up on Crunchyroll. Thus, I had to watch it on Funimation website instead.
The adaptation of fighting game rarely translated well to other mediums, i.e. Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat. However, it works for BlazBlue because of strong characters and the decent story that makes sense. It also helps that this episode has quite few amazing fighting sequences.
I was very pleased to see 2 of my favorite characters, Jin and Noel, are being awesome. Thus, it makes it more enjoyable to watch. I like how they incorporated the back story for Ragna whose may not appear as he seems to be.
The overall vibes from the characters are very fun to watch so I’ll be sure to watch more episodes in near future.
Definitely recommend this one for sure, although I think you have to be fan of Blazblue to appreciate this one a lot more. However, if you just like action sequences with even more cooler characters then check this one for sure.
Be sure to check this out
I still think that summer season is still the best with terms of quality in anime. However, there are quite few strong candidates from this season so I’m eager to watch more episodes. Nonetheless, if something from this list doesn’t appeal to you, Crunchyroll has even more longer list that will provide something that will suit your tastes.
Hopefully, this guide has been very helpful to you guys. Remember, be sure to enjoy anime and please let me know what you think below.