Its been a long time since I’ve done a round-up, but here we are again with another anime season and with 3-4 weeks behind us, it’s time to sort through the good and bad. As usual, I won’t be covering sequels or spin-offs, though I am introducing ratings for each show from 1 to 5. For those who want a quick recommendation, go with Charlotte, Gakkou Gurashi, or Gate.
Akagami no Shirayuki-hime
Synopsis: A fair-skinned red-haired girl (Shirayuki) meets a prince and they flirt
Thoughts: The animation is beautiful, but pacing seems slow so it can get dull at times. It reminds me a lot of Soredemo Sekai wa Utsukushii.
Nopy’s Status: watching
Rating: 3
Aoharu x Kikanjuu
Synopsis: Hotaru is a tomboy forced to join pretty boy Masamune’s survival game team.
Thoughts: Girls that look like boys hanging out with boys aren’t really my thing. This anime seems like a cross between Ouran High School Host Club and Sabagebu.
Nopy’s Status: not watching
Rating: 2
Bikini Warriors
Synopsis: Girls in bikinis fight monsters.
Thoughts: Well if that’s your thing…
Nopy’s Status: not watching
Rating: 1
Chaos Dragon: Sekiryuu Seneki
Synopsis: The prince of a fallen kingdoms kills people in order to kill people on his journey to find a mysterious dragon.
Thoughts: I love the character designs; the story makes no sense.
Nopy’s Status: watching (note: I’m watching it anyways for the character design)
Rating: 2
Charlotte
Synopsis: Kids with superpowers have to hide from evil scientists.
Thoughts: Take Lelouch and stick him in Little Busters; the result is Charlotte.
Nopy’s Status: watching (note: I’m a huge Key fan so I may be biased here)
Rating: 5
Classroom Crisis
Synopsis: A teacher can’t control the kids in his space classroom.
Thoughts: I’m not really sure what the appeal of this anime is.
Nopy’s Status: not watching
Rating: 2
Danchigai
Synopsis: Boy + 4 sisters = incest harem
Thoughts: One of them isn’t a loli? Blasphemy!
Nopy’s Status: not watching
Rating: 1
Gakkou Gurashi
Synopsis: Four girls have fun living at school.
Thoughts: Chasing a dog around school seems bor-…. ZOMBIES! WTF!? Nitroplus sure knows how to strike terror into an audience in a psychological way.
Nopy’s Status: watching
Rating: 5
Gangsta
Synopsis: Two killers are hired by various gangs and the police to clean up messes.
Thoughts: It’s rare to see an anime with adult main characters. They’re also badass.
Nopy’s Status: watching
Rating: 3.5
Gate: Jietai Kanochi nite, Kaku Tatakaeri
Synopsis: Modern Japan invades Middle Earth and an otaku is part of the invasion.
Thoughts: This looks like a more violent version of Outbreak Company. I’m not complaining.
Nopy’s Status: watching
Rating: 4
God Eater
Synopsis: A teenager has special powers and fights monsters.
Thoughts: This is getting old.
Nopy’s Status: not watching
Rating: 3
Himouto Umaru-chan
Synopsis: Pretty girls get away with everything, even acting like a slob otaku.
Thoughts: That annoying little sister voice is so grinding.
Nopy’s Status: not watching
Rating: 2
Jitsu wa Watashi wa
Synopsis: Boy finds out girl is a vampire and has the hots for her.
Thoughts: Another harem.
Nopy’s Status: not watching
Rating: 1
Joukamachi no Dandelion
Synopsis: A royal family uses a popularity contest to determine who becomes the next king. Oh, and they all have special powers.
Thoughts: Terrible story, but nice animation and Kana Hanazawa actually talks quite a bit in this one.
Nopy’s Status: watching
Rating: 3
Kangoku Gakuen Prison School
Synopsis: Perverts enroll at a practically all-girls school and enjoy getting their butts kicked (literally).
Thoughts: If you’re into S&M, this could be for you.
Nopy’s Status: not watching
Rating: 1
Kuusen Madoushi Kouhosei no Kyoukan
Synopsis: Magic users fight off magic insects in the sky.
Thoughts: Combining Strike Witches with Seirei Tsukai no Blade Dance doesn’t give you a better anime.
Nopy’s Status: not watching
Rating: 2
Makura no Danshi
Synopsis: A guy talks to you.
Thoughts: You must be one desperate girl (or gay boy) to watch this.
Nopy’s Status: not watching
Rating: 1
Million Doll
Synopsis: More idols!
Thoughts: Isn’t this just Locodol from a blogger’s perspective?
Nopy’s Status: not watching
Rating: 1
Monster Musume no Iru Nichijou
Synopsis: Harems are fun if they’re composed of monster girls.
Thoughts: Zoophilia isn’t my thing.
Nopy’s Status: not watching
Rating: 1
Okusama ga Seito Kaichou
Synopsis: “You’re married now, have fun!”
Thoughts: There have been dozens of forced marriage anime before, this is nothing new.
Nopy’s Status: not watching
Rating: 1
Overlord
Synopsis: A man gets stuck in a game, which gets stuck in another game.
Thoughts: It’s not quite Hack Sign or SAO, but the characters are cool and the story seems to be developing well.
Nopy’s Status: watching
Rating: 4
Ranpo Kitan: Game of Laplace
Synopsis: A
girl
boy solves homicides because the police are incompetent.
Thoughts: There isn’t much detective work going on for this type of show. It relies solely on the gross factor of the crimes.
Nopy’s Status: watching
Rating: 3
Rokka no Yuusha
Synopsis: Six heroes must stop some evil thing and save the world.
Thoughts: The bunny girl is so cute! Seriously though, the animation and character designs are nice, but the story is so cliché.
Nopy’s Status: watching
Rating: 3
Shimoneta to Iu Gainen ga Sonzai Shinai Taikutsu na Sekai
Synopsis: A girl tries to convince you that it’s ok to act like a pervert in public.
Thoughts: No, it’s not.
Nopy’s Status: not watching
Rating: 1
Sore ga Seiyuu
Synopsis: Learn about the voice acting industry by following a rookie voice actress.
Thoughts: I like watching anime, not so much learning about how its made.
Nopy’s Status: not watching
Rating: 3
SuzakiNishi
Synopsis: Random things happen to two girls.
Thoughts: I don’t care.
Nopy’s Status: not watching
Rating: 2
Ushio to Tora
Synopsis: Boy unleashes demon; demon tries to run but get beat up by boy; demon and boy work together to kill other demons.
Thoughts: I swear there was an anime just like this before, but I can’t put my finger on it.
Nopy’s Status: not watching
Rating: 3
Venus Project Climax
Synopsis: Idols have sing-offs while their virtual monsters fight in the background.
Thoughts: Angelic Layer and Macross were good anime, but I don’t know if sticking them together will work.
Nopy’s Status: not watching
Rating: 2
Wakaba Girl
Synopsis: Four girls become friends and hang out.
Thoughts: Seems like a rehash of Gochuumon wa Usagi Desu ka minus the café aspect.
Nopy’s Status: not watching
Rating: 2
Wakako-Zake
Synopsis: A girl drinks sake by herself.
Thoughts: Forever alone :'(
Nopy’s Status: not watching
Rating: 1
Charlotte is by far my favourite anime this season. Key has returned to fielding a snarky guy as their main character who even cheats on tests and manipulates girls into liking him. Of course, it wouldn’t be a Key anime without some hilarious food moments and some kind of magic happening behind the scenes. It’s a nice balance of comedy and drama. I’m also looking forward to seeing how the story plays out in Gakkou Gurashi and Gate. Both of them seem to have potential for thoughtful reflection as well as bloody endings.
Perhaps I’m getting old, but the majority of the other shows this season seem to be average or mediocre. As always, there are some weird fetish-pandering shows out there such as Monster Musume and Prison School. I guess it’s a sign that people are getting tired of the plain old fanservice a la Bikini Warriors. Overall, I’m happy with this season because of the few gems I found (Charlotte, Gakkou Gurashi, and Gate) and it has some decent filler anime to kill some time too (Akagami no Shirayuki-hime, Chaos Dragon, Gangsta, Joukamachi no Dandelion, Overlord, Ranpo Kitan, and Rokka no Yuusha).
For more anime season round-ups, click here.