Michael is Low on Hit Points
RideBack shows promise, Toradora looks brilliant, but Index is still the king
- Posted February 16th, 2009 at 10:40 AM ET
- Subjects Black God, Gundam 00, Munto, Maria Holic, RideBack, Soul Eater, Clannad, White Album, Toradora, A Certain Magical Index
- Tags impressions, mid-season
- Image sources
1- Index [unknown] - Video searches
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Considering that I'm following ten shows as they air, I'm turning this mid-season impressions post into Michael's top ten anime currently airing. At the end, I'll highlight what I'm missing and what I'll eventually get caught up in. All rankings are subject to change as the season continues, but not ranking them would be such a cop-out.
10) Black God
This show is simply ridiculous, even if you're the type that considers all anime ridiculous. Don't cross the fucking street, man! The first episode reminds me of Minami-ke's Sensei! Ninomiya-kun!; cars are bloodthirsty murderers in this town. The abrupt pacing and almost random insertion of the final traffic fatality in ep#1 had me laughing out loud. It was that bad.
I'm not against making up your own terminology for your show (evidenced by what's at #1), but sometimes it just comes off silly. This is one of those times. The characters all suck, and the lead character every blogger in existence has been bitching about is probably the best... yes, the cast is that weak. And while the fundamental concept is pretty neat, the execution is just atrocious.
So why in the world am I following this show. My God, that street fight in ep#1 was glorious. No fight in the series has a chance in hell of living up to that impossible standard, but the rest have been pretty good so far. I should be getting my fist fights from the new Hajime no Ippo, but that's 76 episodes of catching up I need to do...
9) Gundam 00: Second Season
I'm still catching up on this (currently at ep#14), but forget what I said before about this series improving as it goes along. Really, a super space laser? Ugh. Can we just drop the plot already and have the final episodes be one-on-one mecha battle after mecha battle?
I said it before on another blog's comments: 00 would be so much better if the Gundam Meisters were Graham, Ali, Patrick, and Nena. Now that would be one fucked up but always interesting Celestial Being. The only thing keeping me going is that Sunrise sure can animate some action as of late. Same studio as anime #10, along with the same reason for watching.
8) Munto TV
Three episodes in, and the material from OVA 1 has been completely covered. This method of structuring the series is a bit odd, as it created an abrupt "ending" which is -- of course -- not the ending. But odd as it may be, I feel that it hasn't really hurt the show either.
The argument against Munto is that it really isn't all that interesting. There really hasn't been anything to hook me in. It's a perfectly likable anime, but that's about it as of 3 episodes. I don't see it rising above it's current level either, but that's hardly the end of the world.
7) Maria Holic
Come on Shaft, I know you can keep this up. Don't go off the deep end just yet. The series is working. No need to go nuts. You got this. Please, please don't take this anime any further into crazy town. The edge is just fine for me. Dip into the madness a little bit, I'm fine. But let's keep our sense of direction and "plot-line."
Shaft can drive me nuts sometimes. Their style of directing and animating do work when kept in line. When they go crazy, it can ruin a series for me really quickly. Maria Holic is funny and loaded with interesting personalities, but that won't save it if Shaft decides to ratchet it up a notch. So I'm hoping it stays as it is, as the current flow works well for the series.
6) RideBack
I really should have done a first impressions post on this one, but I've been incredibly lazy as of late. For the first three episodes, RideBack was pretty much a sports anime. Episode four finally brings that whole anti-government thing (or pro-government, I don't know yet) into the picture. In other words, the real drama starts here.
The show has been good so far, but it's the current direction that could take this anime into the category of greats. Maybe. I'll have to wait and see. For now, I'll just gawk at the ridebacks some more. Tell me you wouldn't trade in a kidney for one of those. The main heroine is gorgeous too, by the way. The image the show creates of her, in a dress, on to of that rideback... beautiful.
5) Soul Eater
I'm a huge fan of Soul Eater's look and it's style. It's a series that doesn't take itself too seriously, and has a lot of fun packed into it. But, how in the world is Studio Bones going to resolve all of the dangling plot arcs by the end? Are we getting a "to be continued" here? There's no way they can wrap everything up at this pace.
What's ahead looks really good though. A final (?) battle with Medusa. And Asura. God I love Asura. Shinigami needs to get in some action too. Plus we have Maka's mother, the demon tool Brew, Eibon... ok, way too much stuff to finish off in 7 episodes. If I wasn't setting myself up for disappointment, this would have been ranked higher.
4) Clannad ~After Story
The Kyoto Animation and Key collaboration is the lowest ranked harem show on my list!? It's not that After Story isn't good. It's great. Believe it or not, it's the shit outside of the show that's weighing the series down. Having to wait weeks for the proper version of the show (widescreen) to air is really just pissing me off at this point.
I also gave up on waiting for Eclipse to encode the widescreen version. Thankfully, someone else put forth the effort to time Eclipse's subs onto the widescreen raws. But it had been a while since I'd seen any Clannad, and the overall experience of following the show has just felt disjointed. It shouldn't affect my rating of the show, but it has.
I swear to God if Kyoto Animation pulls this shit with Haruhi... well, if there ever is another Haruhi, but I'll save that rant for another day.
3) White Album
I've already said what I love about White Album. But what am I worried about? Same thing as Soul Eater. I see this is scheduled as 13 episodes, and I'm wondering if they can finish off every characters' story by then. They should be able to, but probably not in the detail I'd like to see. However, this looks like it will be much less of a cluster-fuck than Soul Eater.
2) Toradora
What in the world is going on here? This show has no business being as good as it's been lately. Taiga turns out to be no Louise/Shana, and currently leap frogs Ami to take first place in my Toradora harem rankings. Minori used to bug me, but now she's showing way more depth than I ever believed she could. And when Ami gets some more screen time... suffice it to say that I have high expectations.
Episode 19 was just spectacular. Actually, the ending of nearly every arc lately has been wonderful. The show continually shows a surprising amount of subtlety and symbolism. It's deeper than the series first appeared to me. Toradora is my surprise anime of the current crop. Who ever thought it'd turn out to be this good?
1) A Certain Magical Index
Something about Index just clicks for me. It's my favorite show many times over; no other series airing right now comes even close. The world of science and religion is my perfect little playground. Both subjects fascinate me, and even if this is a fairly surface level mix, I still enjoy it nonetheless.
The author comes across as quite the creative genius, as each and every arc has brought something different to the table. Each arc has won my favor, and each one brings it's own unique surprises. They keep on adding new characters, and I haven't disliked one yet.
I'm not following the novels (God damn moon runes), so I don't know if the stuff in the OP hints at an anime original ending for the season or not. With the way this series is going for me, I'm praying JC Staff doesn't throw the plot-line off by doing something stupid. Because there are all those books still left to be animated!
Sixteen novels out, and the anime is currently on book five. That's 11+ more novels of material already available. That makes me so very happy.
Some final notes...
Gintama would be near the top of this list, but I'm far from up to date with it, so I left it out. The two shows that I think have potential that I haven't picked up yet are Michiko and Hatchin and Blade of the Immortal. Maybe there's more, but those are the first two that come to mind.
Both could rank high, but I thought that too about the last show I failed to pick up until it finished: Bounen no Xamdou. And I'm not exactly loving that series. Sure it's fine, but I couldn't even rank it above Munto TV at where I currently am in the series.
So what about you? What anime gets your irrational love like Index gets mine? What's your personal ranking, and just how off do you think mine is?
Edit (2/17/2009): I'm an idiot. Catching up on a few episodes, let me flip the order of 2-4. Clannad ~After Story (2nd) is excellent, regardless of broadcasting difficulties. I'm losing my mind letting that get in the way. White Album should come next (3rd) and Toradora -- still amazing, but episode 19 was too fresh in my mind -- should be 4th.
1 kadian1364
I'm not following as many titles as you are this season, nor am I going to rank them, but I'll give some personal impressions.
I just finished Bamboo Blade, and it became a show I liked a lot. A nice series about sports and high school clubs. Friendship, hard work, overcoming challenges, et al. It certainly reminds me of a slice of my high school experience.
Toradora is a show I love and hate at the same time. There are certain spots, very special scenes, that stand out among the episodes, but little else. Most of time, the characters are annoyingly indecisive and the inbetween plot developments are cliche at best and mind-numbingly moronic at worst. I'm talking about the culture festival, student council election, and most recent the Christmas party, and how they are handled for the most part. But like I said, Toradora delivers one or two exceptional moments every story arc or so that brings me back.
I just started Soul Eater and am up to episode 11, but I'm not really feeling it. The jokes don't click with me and Black Star and Death the Kid have especially annoying character traits (not to mention stupid names).
And good Lord, I gave up on Gundam 00 some time ago. I loathe with a passion what the Gundam franchise has become: emo (or the opposite but equally bad robotically emotionless) boy band Gundam teams surrounded by incompetent national militaries and a bufoonish and nerve-grating ancillary cast, all rounded out by some faux political plotline small children could poke holes through. Hypocrites and irrational idealists, all of them. What does it say about Seed and 00 that the only emotions I feel when I watch episodes of them are anger and frustration (unintentional comedy aside)? Gundam used to be a pretty good and sometimes great war anime, spotlighting the cooler robots for good measure. Or at least that's how I choose to remember it.
Finally, I'm watching Minami-ke the 3rd if only because I'm a sucker for strange, character-based humor (and crossdressers (and reverse traps)).
2 Martin
Munto is wonderful from an artistic perspective, but something tells me it's not geared to people as old and cynical as me! I'll watch ep #4 and see where the story goes from there before making up my mind.
rideback is still all about a pretty girl and a cool motorbike but even if it stays that way I'll be happy with it. She is a great character, yeah.
I'm following Clannad AS on widescreen too, so the delay when the story is finally firing on all cylinders is a little frustrating. I'm glad I watched it this far though.
White Album's another one I'm a couple of eps behind on but I'm keeping the faith about its quality. Unusual is good.
Toradara! is indeed a surprisingly great series; that's all I'm able to say about it (beyond "I'm so glad I gave it a second chance!").
I reckon you should check out the second season of Natsume Yuujinchou, but I haven't found the time yet to do that either! It's definitely on my 'to watch' list though.
Re Michael is LoHP
@ kadian1364
Bamboo Blade is a series I tried to pick up when it first aired. That was one of the first seasons I tried following a bunch of anime airing, and I ended up putting it on hold. No real reason looking back at it, but at the time I just wasn't into following stuff on a weekly basis.
I agree with you that Toradora has those certain special scenes that crop up every now and again. The rest of the anime doesn't bother me, and has surprisingly kept me amused. If anything, the normal direction suckers me in before the really stunning scenes make their impact on an unsuspecting viewer. It may not go down as the best harem on this list when each series ends, but right now I really, badly want to see more of it. And that's what puts it higher than the rest as of right now.
Black Star talks loud, but he backs it up. He's a surprisingly good character as the series progresses. And I just love Death the Kid. To me, he's just hilarious. The best episodes in Soul Eater start around episode 18, but that's actually kind of typical for a Bones anime. Fullmetal Alchemist and Eureka Seven both get really good around that time too.
Do you mean all of Gundam SEED, or just Destiny? Cause I thought the original SEED was fantastic. Sure they recycled way too much footage and nearly every Gundam battle sucked, but the plot and characters were gripping. Leagues above 00, without a doubt.
I loved the first season of Minami-ke, but avoided the second one after the bad reviews streamed in. Truthfully, I felt like avoiding it out of spite from moving away from a good studio. I kind of want to get back into the series, but I'm still a bit worried that I'll spoil good memories.
@ Martin
With the reuse of the original OVA material, I think Munto is more geared to Kyoto Animation's financial officers! I wonder if that has anything to do with the lack of popularity for the series? Or maybe it's just the show in general?
Totally agree with you on RideBack. But I do feel a greater potential here. I doubt I'll be that disappointed if it doesn't succeed expectations, though. I'm cool with it being just as it is, if that's the direction Madhouse decides to take things.
Sticking to the widescreen release of Clannad once the series is finally complete in pan-and-scan is going to really suck.
I'm sure White Album will end fine. Nothing really says otherwise this far in, except my own worrying about the episode count.
Toradora never had me thinking about dropping it, but early on I was hardly that ecstatic about it. My how things change!
Natsume Yuujinchou is on my to watch list. Unfortunately, it joins a million other shows that I also need to see. But I have heard good things about it.
3 21st-century-digital-boy
I'm not caught up with anything, but the first 11 eps of Toradora were enough to solidify it in my favorites. I'm very interested in catching up with Index, especially with someone here loving it so much. I still say the first half of episode 3 is one of anime's greatest scenes of the last year.
I have to very strongly disagree with you on Maria Holic. SHAFT is the only thing making the show really watchable for me. I don't give a fuck of a shit of ass about plot in anime, and SHAFT provides everything I do care about. I too am excited about soul eater, but I'm on ep 41 and prolly gunna wait till it's over to finish it off.
Re Michael is LoHP
@21st-century-digital-boy
I was still a little wishy washy on Toradora by that point, but I love it as of current. So I'd say you're going to like it even more moving forward. There's some damn good material coming up.
The first half of episode 3 of Index was just amazing. I love how they set up and executed that whole scene. They create their own lure for both magic and science, and I love every time they set aside scenes like that to delve into it. It's too bad most can't seem to appreciate it, as I saw numerous bloggers panning that scene as "boring." Weird.
And actually, we agree quite a bit on Maria Holic. Maybe I stated it wrong up above, but I do really like Shaft. ef season 1 and Hidamari (oh my god, Hidamari) are two series I think they did great with. But I find in pure comedy series, they seem to ratchet it up a notch too high for me. But so far so good.
I like most of what Shaft has done with the series. And yes, their style provides most of what I like about the show too. But they can go too overboard with it, less with the animation style and more with the actual manner of storytelling. They can go all out with the style, as long as it doesn't start to hinder getting the actual content across. Am I making more sense now? If not, feel free to hit me back again.
I think your plan with Soul Eater is the right one. Waiting week to week, especially when there are fights going on all over, is messing with my perception of the series. I keep expecting more content per episode. I just wrapped up episode 45 and... 6 episodes left!? Good luck with that Studio Bones.
4 Gavo
Xam'd is worth seeing, if only to emotionally break even with the cost of starting the series. Beyond that, it could have done with a shorter plot line. Even after finishing it, I'm not sure I understand all of the characters' motivations or entirely what to make of the conclusion. ho-hum
Michiko and Hatchin is also worth checking out. It has a great sense of style, reasonably modular but connected story line, and somewhat unique setting. As an artist, I get a special something seeing the characters wearing new clothes and accessories in each episode. I know it silly, but it goes a long way to make the show's production values feel the opposite of cheap.
Re Michael is LoHP
@ Gavo
I'm finding Xam'd to be not as bad as I made it out to be above. I'm a little past halfway through, and it's actually pretty damn good in spurts. It's not amazing all-around, but I'm glad I picked it up.
I'm sure most people would agree with your assertion on new outfits throughout a series. It's a nice touch that goes a long way in my book. When I get around to Michiko and Hatchin, it sounds like I should do a fashion post similar to what I did for Amu from Shugo Chara. If only I had a better fashion vocabulary...