Dear Readers,

Don’t worry, this isn’t a post to say I’ve decided to quite blogging, in fact this post is here to say the exact opposite. I want to revive Anime Princess. So why has my blog dramatically slowed down in the past few months? Well, I was writing elsewhere because the opportunity came, but it has now fallen through. There is more than one reason as to why, but mostly it’s because I came to a point where I just wasn’t enjoying my writing.

Lately, I feel lost about life. Nothing feels right and I’m not really sure how to fix things. I’m in a rut you could say, and my writing was reflecting that. Not to mention, I’m not one to follow schedules, and due to not being able to find much time in my life for anything, I had to dedicate all my time writing for another site over this one. I’m still happy for the time I dedicated over there, but I feel for this summer I need a break from at least a few stressful things in my life. I need to figure out how to manage my life and find joy in the things I once did. Blogging was never supposed to feel like a chore. I want to write things when the inspiration strikes and be able to create content that really reflects the emotions I need to have written out on a page. My writing is something very personal, and I know it’s nothing fancy, but it’s the only way I know how to express myself and I wouldn’t want to change that.

I just needed to get this out there, and I apologize for the rather cryptic rant. All this is to say that I want to try to go back to the days where my life wasn’t one giant stress. Where I could watch something without trying to think of what I need to say about it or dreading each week where I had to come up with new content. I want to go back to the aniblogosphere, read more blogs, and socialize more on twitter. If a new opportunity knocks on my door, I won’t hesitate, but in the meantime I just want to sit back and try to return to those good old days.

Thank you for listening, I hope to talk to you all much more in the coming weeks!

A new season for me to fall behind on again has arrived! As spring season goes, there isn’t as much selection as usual, but at least there are a few very solid series that will keep me interested. We also kick off the season with a bunch of controversy with Aku no Hana, I have no idea where that argument went, but last time I checked people were at a point where they believed we shouldn’t categorize it as anime at all. Fun times! 

I’m also part of FAL (Fantasy Anime League) this season, and I’m failing miserably. Blame Oregairu which ruined everything! Either way, if you’re part of it too, I’d love to hear what you made as your choices…So without further ado, I present my list of top picks for the season!

14. Aiura

This anime is worth watching just for the intro. WATCH IT! Otherwise, it’s reached a new level of slice of life by not providing much entertainment and instead really just being about the ordinary. Hey, at least there’s that intro!

13. Dansai Bunri no Crime Edge

The anime has the weird hair fetish thing for going for it, but otherwise I found it rather dull. The weird factor can only take this series so far and if the focus switches more towards shounen, I still won’t be too impressed. Whether I keep up with this one or not will mostly depend on where this story goes and if it gets to be a bit more interesting.

12. Yahari Ore no Seishun Love Come wa Machigatteiru.

This was probably my biggest disappointment of the season. I saw the promotional art and how it was going to be produced by Brains Base, so my excitement was there, but then when it aired it just fell flat. The story was generic and the animation is weak. It just doesn’t have the ability to really be remarkable at all. It’s watchable, but the whole thing just feels under-whelming.

11. RDG: Red Data Girl

I feel there is a good show somewhere in this, but I have really yet to find it. The animation is consistent and the setting is interesting, but everything else just seems lacking. The lead girl is bland and the story just doesn’t seem all that interesting. I have only seen the first two episodes, so for those who are ahead, does this series improve?

10. Kakumeiki Valvrave

This is an original series by the guy who created Code Geass, so I did have some expectations. There was some potential in there, but it mostly just felt flat. As mecha series goes, it’s exactly what we’ve seen a million times. Oh, except for the fact that this guy volunteered to pilot the giant robot, and he may or may not be a zombie. Either way, this series needs to have a bit more feeling to it before I can really call it good.

9. Devil Survivor 2 The Animation

I had heard of the game this anime is based off a while ago, but I had no idea the story was so close to Persona’s. I guess it explains why this anime is surprisingly popular. Anyway, the first episode had some good animation and managed to be entertaining. The characters also weren’t all that bad. The downfall was when the persona-like creatures who just looked lame, and I’d honestly prefer if they just didn’t exist. Hopefully this series will go down more of a Mirai Nikki route than a Persona one.

8. Hentai Ouji to Warawanai Neko.

This was one of the more hyped series of the season, and it actually didn’t disappoint. At first thought I was expecting this to be some ecchi series, but as the episode went on, that clearly showed to not be the case. Sure, it’s still about a pervert, but it isn’t the usual generic character with no personality who just forms a harem, there’s an actual story! It was an undeniably amusing start, and hopefully it keeps up the energy.

7. OreImo 2

The insanely popular series is back for another season! I was never a crazy fan of the first season, and I still don’t feel totally ecstatic over this season, but it’s fun and it manages to succeed in some ways. Kirino is still not cute at all, but at least there’s Kuroneko who makes this whole series worth watching. The second episode was much better than the first!

6. Aku no Hana

I don’t care about the animation controversy with this series. It looks unique at least and it adds to the ambience this anime seems to be creating. It’s weird and slow moving, but you can tell it has purpose to what it’s doing and I’m excited to see what that is. Though, I hope we don’t have to wait too long because although I’m liking the atmosphere, there isn’t much else that has truly grabbed my attention yet.

5. Karneval

This show is over the top, has bishies with top hats, and adults who want to play hide and seek. But that’s the look it wants! It’s so much fun and I can’t help wanting to watch it. The animation is also top notch, and has really managed to capture the look of the manga. It’s not something for everyone, but it’s exactly what I need to brighten my week!

4. Suisei no Gargantia

I had relatively low expectations for this one, but was pleasantly surprised by how it turned out. The animation is beyond fantastic, and it’s no doubt the mecha-to-watch this season! It has an interesting premise, and the characters have already peaked my interest. The girl may be a bit annoying, but I’ve seen much worse.

3. Shingeki no Kyojin

This anime is just some powerful stuff. It really grabs you tight from the moment it starts and doesn’t let go. The first two episodes seem to have been prequels to the story, so I’m interested to see where this anime will go from here. I’m also already curious to find out more about the giants. It’s an anime that you really need to just be watching to understand and appreciate its greatness.

2. Toaru Kagaku no Railgun S

YeSS! I remember watching the first season by fluke because I found Index to be quite boring, but Railgun is no doubt something else. It has such a great cast and the story is really fun! The first episode was probably one of the most action packed pilots of the season and jumped right into the action without ever taking a breath. It was a great way to remind everyone why this series is so awesome! Kuroko FTW!

1. Hataraku Maou-sama

The hidden gem of the season! If you haven’t already, watch this series! The first episode was probably the best pilot of the season, and a good deal of the jokes were genuinely laugh out loud worthy. It’s a show about a Devil King who ends up working at McDonalds. What more needs to be said? It’s funny and hella entertaining! If this anime manages to stay as consistent as its first two episodes, it definitely has a good chance at staying my favourite of the season!

Rating: 6.7/10

A bit more than a year ago, I wrote a post making a promise to watch the Naruto with an open mind. As you all must probably already know, I’m a bit of a procrastinator, but I finally have seen the original series and am here to finally review it!

To put it simply, Naruto is…an average series. It has some positive aspects, but there’s also a lot worth complaining about. Before I start to go more into details, I just want to get it out there that I pretty much skipped all the 80 filler episodes from hell. I tried to get through at least a few episodes, but it was unbearably bad. There isn’t much to say about them besides the fact that they are unwatchable, so rather than boring you throughout this review by complaining, I’m going to instead ignore those episodes and focus on the parts that were adapted from the manga.

This is the story about a kid with a demon sealed within him who wants to become the best Ninja ever. It’s as generic as it gets, but I know to never expect too much out of the shounen genre. What I expect from the genre is mostly a lot of action and progressively more exaggerated powerups. Maybe I’m being unfair, but that’s what it’s ultimately all about with those other shows like Bleach, D. GrayMan, Fairy Tale, and whatever else. So what makes Naruto so popular? I think there are several reasons, but if I had to pick one I’d say because of the giant cast of dynamic characters. I’ll get more into that soon…

One thing worth mentioning about Naruto is this Chakra business. Much like most shounen that I know, there are variations of powers similar to Chakra. I’m referring to all those other shows that have things like Devil Fruit, Innocence, Nen, and some other stuff I’m sure. As you’ve probably already noticed, I don’t have much I can compare against since I don’t watch much shounen, but I do have a good idea about how Nen works in Hunter x Hunter. When you contrast the two, you can immediately notice the simplicity of Chakra. It’s just an excuse to add a new dimension to the story so that people can use special moves. There’s not much else to it, and so I didn’t really enjoy this aspect of the series since it just felt boring, especially in training episodes.

Another fault in this series is its pacing. In the case of a fight, even if it’s about a side character it will usually only take an episode to get through it. This is expected and it worked because it stayed interesting and didn’t have enough time to get repetitive. The problem lies more with the main characters, and not even when they were fighting, on one occasion when Naruto and his friends were trying to chase someone down, it took them at least five episodes to get anywhere. It was legitimately five episodes of Naruto just jumping through a blur of trees! Who could have thought that was a good idea? I’m guessing it was the same person who thought making 40 percent of the series just filler seemed logical.

So to take a break from all the negative, I do have some positive things to say in regards to the cast, which for its size had a good number of enjoyable characters. I think the best part about Naruto is its supporting cast, who seem to only grow more and more on you as the series goes on. Even within the main cast, I felt Naruto eventually almost grows on you. The only times that I was truly annoyed by the characters were with Sakura and Sasuke. Sakura just feels consistently one dimensional while Sasuke was cold to the point of being annoying.

Luckily there were characters like Kakashi and the other older characters, as well as the villains which all really managed to shine. Orochimaru, for example, was as entertaining as he was engaging, especially in moments like when he didn’t care to become a young girl if it meant escaping old age. I also ended up really liking Gaara, who went through a compelling character change as the series progressed. In fact, he was one of my favourite characters in the series! I had no idea he was going to be presented as a foil to Naruto, and the way the story used hat to develop both the characters was surprisingly good.

In a way, you can pretty much view these 220 episodes as just a way to set up for Shippuden. The way the story leads up is only to setup for the later events. The ending is pretty unsatisfying, but it managed to sell me enough that I’ve already started watching Shippuden. In all, this was a series that was fun to watch. When you learn to accept some of its fault and start getting into the rhythm of it, you can’t help but get absorbed in the high energy of the series. The low rating has to do with the fact that despite some good things, there are a lot of problems and I can’t completely forgive the fact that a large portion of it is unwatchable. Nonetheless, this was a series that did surprise me and it is somethign worth watching if you enjoy other shounen series or are looking for a good place to start.

As the title suggests, I’m here to bring my opinion on the series of this season a bit later than usual. The list only includes the series that I’m pretty much caught up on, so on account of that you won’t be seeing my opinion on series such as: Zetsuen no Tempest, Sakarasou, Little Busters, Jojo, and Hunter x Hunter. It’s safe to say I have my work cut out for me in playing catch-up.

Although there are some good series this season, there are still a lot that can simply be described as boring. On account of that, I’ve been spending more of my time trying to catch up with some old series I’ve been wanting to complete (rather successfully may I add). With that said, here’s my late thought on the anime I have seen from the spring season! 

Amnesia

Oh, Amnesia… what to say? The main character is still as boring as ever, but the other characters are at least starting to flesh out. The way in which the story is being told is also a good way to keep the audience’s interest, and it seems things are soon going to finally be revealed. It’s not a terrible show, but some guys were so douchey to our lead girl that it pained me to watch.

Boku Wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai NEXT 

This is my guilty pleasure It’s one of those series that manages to have a whole episode take place in a clubroom, and still manages to be interesting. There are only two things that have been bothering me in this season. The first one is that ever since last season they’ve been making a big deal that Yozora and Kodaka used to be friens, and now that it has been revealed to everyone, it just seems to be no big deal at all. It has really only served to make Yozora act even more rude and bratty. My second problem, is the show’s whole concept of “I don’t have many friends”. Having Kodaka say to Sena’s face that he has no friends is just sorta awkward and rude. Point is, when Haganai sticks to random nonsense, all is well.

Chihayafuru 2

I’m so glad to see that this series has not changed! It’s still as fantastic as ever, and I can’t help but eagerly await it every week. I love the episodes all about the actual gameplay, ans we’ve been seeing a lot of that lately, with clearly more on the way. Also, the charcater development and romance seem to be going in good directions too. Each episode just seems to surpass the last! I cannot get enough of this anime!

Kotoura-san

Ever since day one I’ve gotten the impression that this anime seems to have no idea what it wants to do. On some days it’s happy go lucky slice of life, and on others its a melodramatic. When this series decides to go that dramatic route, it just plain fails. It’s so over the top that it makes me wonder if they’re doing it on purpose, like it is actually a parody in disguise or something. They just always go that extra mile to make sure the drama is bad. It may not make all that much sense to me, but what I do know is that this series needs to stick with simplicity.

Hakkenden: Touhou Hakken Ibun

I actually quite like this series. It doesn’t really stand out in any aspect, but it’s extremely entertaining. Sure, most of the characters fall under the cateory of bishie (nothing wrong with that, right?), and it becomes more and more apparent as it goes on that this was written by Miyuki Abe, but it works for me! This series just needs to keep up exactly what it’s doing considering that seems to be enough to keep me amused, which is all that really matters at times.

Magi

I just don’t understand why this series is so popular! It’s not terrible, but it doesn’t seem to have much going for it. The conflicts are all pretty much the same thing where people are fighting against slavery or the mistreatment of someone or another. Is that all they’ve got? I don’t hate it, I just expect a little more than what I’m getting. At least I can agree that the animation is fantastic?

Maoyuu Maou Yuusha

In all, this anime is just boring. The only reason why we all gave it a chance at the beginning was because of its economic aspect, but not too surprsingly, a story about medieval economy could only hold the audience’s attention for so long. Luckily, they’ve since tried to work around that problem by making the romance a more prominent feature. It works at times, but I still don’t really have too strong an interest in this series anymore.

Ore no Kanojo to Osananajimi ga Shuraba Sugiru

 Bland. That is all that really needs to be said. The story has been done, and has been done better. The characters are…probably the worse part. None of them are interestin to watch at all. They’re as generic as every other aspect of this show is. The only good parts in this series is when they talk about Jojo.

Psycho Pass

I’ve liked psycho pass from the beginning, but I never came to love it as much as others seem to have. The characters, and their backstories, always seem to disappoint me. Also, although the animation is at times fantastic, at other times it just looks stiff. I get they have an excuse for that, but it still needs to be said.  On the plus side, I’ve really loved where they’ve gone with the story. It’s reached a point where everything’s starting to unravel.Episode 16 and 17 were definitely some of the best!

Robotic;Notes

In the first cours of this series, I gave it the benefit of the doubt. It seemed as though this series was building up for its second half. Now that we’ve reached that point, it just feels lacking in its plot. I think a lot of the problem has to do with the fact that this series has terrible pacing. There’s only three episodes left, and I have no idea how this series will manage to wrap everything up and makes sense of it all. In the least, the story has no doubt picked up the pace and the character have definitely grown on me. I’m surprised by how much I actually like Kaito now, but the anime just has so many problems with its story.

Sasami-san@Ganbararai

This anime feels uninspired to me. I know it has a bit of an outrageous story, but Ive already seen a format similar to this one in other Shaft series, mainly Denpa Onna. In both series, the structure is that the first three episodes tell a complete story, and then the rest just drags along. It still isn’t a complete bore, but its in a state where it has no idea what to do with its story. It has a lot of style, but all other apsects of it seem to fall flat.

Senyuu

Senyuu is stupid, but still surprisngly funny. It’s downfall is its inability to switch up the format in which it tells its joke. Nonetheless, it’s still pretty good and worth five minutes of my time.

Shinsekai Yori

What an amazing series! There was a point where it seemed to have lost some steam, but it quickly proved me wrong by brining new twists and dark themes that I could have never seen coming. It’s incredible, and if you aren’t watching it, you are really missing out! It’s creepy, psychological, sad, and dark. Amazing.

Tamako Market

This is just a really wonderful anime. It’s filled with whismy and adorableness. It also knows how to keep the audience interested. The characters work well, and unlike with chuunibyou (a bit of an unfair comparision), these characters are consistent and true to themselves. As long as Tamako Market keeps up its energy and doesn’t decide to get melodramatic, I’ll be satisfied. At the moment, I’m really loving every minute of this series!!

Yama to Sume

Yama to Sume is a series that definitely needs its episode to be a bit longer than three minutes. A full length may be too much, but if it was ten minutes long, I think we may have had a cute series on our hands that had some actual substance to it. There’s not enough development that can actually be accomplished in this short a series.

Kai of Deluscar has decided to ask the classic question to her readers about why we watch anime. I feel like I’ve wondered about this in the past and may have even given a simple answer before, but I figured this may finally be a good opportunity to really get to the route of as to why.

Everyone has their reasons, and probably a good deal of you have a much more concrete explanation than myself. Although I love anime, I still probably watch live action TV series and films almost as much. In fact, at the time when I rediscovered anime back when I was about twelve, I had been obsessively watching films (I’m not kidding. I watched about five a week back then). All the different mediums of entertainment are constantly clashing in my mind, but for some reason anime managed to become the one that overtook all the others. The closest explanation I can come up with is that it may have to do with the imagination and endless possibilities that anime creates.

Perhaps that may sound ignorant, but if you think of an imaginative film like Princess Bride or even Inception, they’re great in their own ways, but even they don’t get anywhere near as wacky as a single episode of Arakawa Under the Bridge or Shirokuma Cafe. Anime is a crazy world where magical girls and moe actually makes sense. How could I not want to be a part of that?!

To further that point, where else outside from anime could you find all the visual themes and creativity found in Mawaru Penguindrum? Heck, even something like One Piece or Naruto wouldn’t/shouldn’t be found outside the world of manga and anime. All this is to say, I watch anime because it offers something that can’t be found elsewhere.

Anime has genres like mecha and slice of life, these two are probably some of the most produced, and the experience of watching series that fall under these categories cannot be found anywhere else. I could name a few other genres that are also only found in anime, but the point here is just that idea that anime is a world like no other. It can create a romance as dramatic and heartwarming as Clannad, and even though it plays out realistically enough, it decides to throw in some fantasy elements near the end and we all just accept it. Characters can be cat hybrids, see ghosts, change on the spot into girly outfits to fight evil, travel back in time, share a cup of tea with their friends, or even pierce the heavens! That’s what anime is, and it something like nothing other!

Story aside, not too surprisingly, anime also offers something unique in the way it is animated. Studios like Shaft, Gainax, and Madhouse are all producing series that are constantly breaking the conventional mold of animation and trying things you don’t see elsewhere. The West is still constantly improving their own ways of creating animation, but often enough its more in a direction towards a realistic look to the backgrounds and movement in characters. That’s not bad of course, but from what I’ve seen in anime, often enough it’s more about being self-reflexive or being as grand as possible. The genius way in which a show like Bakemonogatari makes dialogue shine, is something that others outside of anime have yet to discover on such a level that it can have such a broad appeal.

All this is to say, I watch anime because it offers me an experience that I can’t find elsewhere. As much as I continue to watch films and live action series, anime is going to be something I constantly return to get my fill of a world outside of what I’m used to. For that reason, I feel like as the years go by, anime will be something I have a hard time giving up!

I have never really been one to write segments on my blog, but I decided to try one out about a director who I seem to never have enough to say about. As the title suggests, I am referring to Miyazaki. As both a director and individual, Miyazaki is extremely interesting and expresses a lot of important ideas through his films.

In these posts which I have no set date to even be completed, I hope to explore some of the motifs and themes seen in a good deal of his films. And trust me, there are many! To start things off, I’m going to be talking about his repeated motif of water throughout his films.

The importance and use of water throughout Miyazaki’s films is something my sister had pointed out to me on account of her teacher some time ago. At first mention of this, I got instantly hit with the reality of this fact. The most instant explanation one could give to this motif would be Miyazaki’s environmental concerns, but I think it’s clearly much more than that.

To start off with one of this earliest works with one of the most prominent uses of water, we begin by discussing Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind. This is one case where environmental concerns clearly are present, but the water also seemed to be expressed as a life force. This idea of water being the source of all living things carries throughout his other films as well.

Most people appropriately view water as the thing that prevents us from dying, but rarely is it seen in the light as the reason life is created. In Nausicaa, areas of the jungle continue to thrive because of an untainted water source. Insects become giant in order to fight back against the humans, while humans continue to decline and head in the direction of their eventual extinction. Water is what should join both the world of humans and nature seeing as it creates life between them both, but it ends up being the cause of what separates the two.

The thought of an inability to coexist between nature and humans (I guess adding in spirits would be appropriate) is what leads us to Princess Mononoke. The story where humans once again try to fight nature. In this case, the water present throughout the film isn’t nearly as present as the last film, but the moment where it is presented, is clearly very significant. It is shown as a small sorta of mote where the spirit of the forest lies. It is a source of water that heals and brings life (or death) to humans and spirits, and also the whole forest. It is the one little area in the whole film that holds the most power to effect every other area presented in the world of Princess Mononoke.

To go back a few years from that film to back in 1988 with My Neighbor Totoro, water also has it’s own spotlight in it too. Of course the most significant use of water in this film is while it is raining at the bus and with a sleeping Mei, Satsuki meets Totoro for the first time. As pretty much all of Miyazaki films present, this scene is dedicated completely to the magic children possess. Satsuki’s only reaction to meeting Totoro, which at first is almost fearful with his big feet being all she sees passed her umbrella at first, turns into a new friend made.

In contrast to the inability for humans to coexist with nature, this is one of the few instances where the exact opposite happens. Satsuki offers an umbrella which Totoro turns out to love. The gift she gives turns out to give her access, along with her sister, to the spirit world with the catbus. This rainy encounter is what connects the two worlds.

The idea of a world connected by both spirits and humans, leads us to Spirited Away. The uses of water throughout are extremely varied, and it no doubt has some strong roots to Japanese cultures and religions, but I’ll try my best to interpret it as I see it personally.

The first scene with water is when Chihiro discovers what was once the path to go home is now just a river that she is unable to pass. In Japanese tradition, there is an equivalent to the River of Styx known as the Sanzu River, which ways out your deeds in life to determine how difficult it will be for you to be able to cross it. I won’t read too much into that since that’s just a guess, but clearly the idea presented in this theme was to show that Chihiro was not ready to cross and couldn’t until she experiences the growth seen throughout the whole film.

The story is one where she is presented with a series of trials that she grows from to reach her ultimate goal. One of them was the one with what was at first thought to be a “stink spirit”. Chihiro was given the task to take care of this customer because nobody wanted to accept such a smelly thing. Although Chihiro is at first repulsed herself, and her old self probably wouldn’t have been able to handle the situation, she soon sympathizes with the spirit and ends up helping him and is rewarded with the “key” that saves NoFace. The water is what engulfs her and allows her to be present with this spirit.

Another instance in the film was when it rained for so long that the world outside became similar to a sea. In the times where it was raining, was when NoFace had swallowed three people and tried to communicate in any way he could to Chihiro. He bought everything and offered everyone around him as much money as they wanted, still, when presented to Chihiro she rejected it. Eventually, he had literally puked all the bad in him and went to cross the river with Chihiro by the train.

In this scene, the area is seen to be vast and wide, and also empty. Greed and desire are gone, and instead it feels much more like a giant breath of fresh air than anything. This water came from rain against a dark side, but managed to become a cleansing ocean. This can be seen as the new rebirth for both Chihiro and NoFace, as well as Yubaba’s henchman and her child. Each of them has at this point reached a new understanding in their life where, and have become “new people”.

The last important instance of water in this film is with Haku, the (spoiler) Kohaku river. He is the one who saved Chihiro back when she was young, The significance in this, I feel, is mostly to show the role reversal now seen between the two. In the other world Chihiro was a girl who was apparently selfish and spoiled. In this instance, much like he did a long time ago, Chihiro manages to save Haku from death. The reuniting between the two brings Chihiro to tears, and although she was once critiqued for being a crybaby, this is to show that not all tears are a sign of weakness, and in this case shows her strength. All this leads her to her final test which she passes and then allows her to cross what was once a river with ease.

Miyazaki often uses water as both a way to bridge two worlds or to create a way to show growth in characters. This was seen throughout his most recent film Ponyo. Also, much like with Nausicaa or Princess Mononoke, it is shown to be life, and not to mention beauty. This is directly implied with Ponyo’s mother, who is literally the mother of the sea. In contrast to the father, she is a giant godlike person which really brings home the message that water is the foundation of life and rebirth.

To conclude, I’m sure there is more that can be said, and if I were to brush up on East Asian Religions, I could probably rewrite this whole post. I’ve come to the end of my first analysis, and I hope you enjoyed reading it, as I have plenty more to say about other themes in Miyazaki’s films!

I know I complain nearly every season about the lack of good anime, and this one isn’t really an exception, but instead of just being negative, I’ll give it credit for having a couple of series I totally approve of . The sequels are good and if you don’t count the dozens of short anime series released, you get left with a few good things.

For the most part, I can at least say everything seems to be entertaining. Also, in a time in my life where I’m having trouble organizing everything, a smaller anime load is probably for the best. Anyway, before I start to rant, enjoy the list that can be found after the jump!

11.Yama no Susume

Well, it’s not very good, but it at least offers a bit more than the rest of the three minute shorts from this season. Instead of just trying to condense a dozen terrible jokes in a short amount of time, it’s instead trying to genuinely just tell a short story about friends who get re-acquainted and try to enjoy the past time of climbing that they once bonded over. It’s nothing great, but it at least has some substance to it.

10. Amnesia

These series based off an otome game, and this fact is as clear as day. The female lead is beyond dull! Sure, she has amnesia (thus the title! Genius), but it doesn’t mean she has to be emotionless about everything! Also, I don’t even care for the male characters, they’re all a little too over the top. The four represent each suit of cards and they have kaleidoscope eyes, and it’s just too stupid. I’ll watch it for now, but this was even worse than Arcana Famiglia’s first episode.

9. Senyuu

Out of all the short anime series I’ve seen, this one has managed to provide more laughs than most. The animation is abysmal, but it adds to the comedy, and it’s not like I really care if it’s that good for such a short series. Anyway, for what it offers I’m pretty satisfied with watching it.

8. Kotoura-san

The first half of episode one was a bit of a disaster. It went all over the place and created melodrama where it wasn’t necessary. At least it offered something different to what I originally expected to be a show about nothing, but it’s not like I was really asking for such an unnecessary long back story that from here on out doesn’t seem to deliver much to the story besides telling its audience that the lead can read minds and everybody hated her for it.

7. Ore no Kanojo to Osananajimi ga Shuraba Sugiru

I don’t know what to think about this one. The animation seems consistent and good, but it looks to be a harem that’s complete even with the childhood friend. I need to see a few more episodes to really form my opinion about it, but at the moment not much of it really interests me.

6. Hakkenden: Touhou Hakken Ibou

This is an anime where you can’t really be sure what it’s actually about. Some kid has powers and can talk to animals while a priest turns into a dog, I don’t really understand it all, but it’s entertaining. The animation is great and the potential is there. I’m just hoping that it’ll flesh out better as it goes on.

5. Maoyuu Maou Yuusha

As I expected, this is a copy of Spice and Wolf with a few differences. I don’t mind that too much though, the political aspects and the characters are actually pretty engaging. Of course there’s some fanservice, but from a studio that would normally abuse censorship laws in a plotless mess, this is definitely a step up. I’m impressed.

4. Sasami-san@Ganbaranai

It’s definitely not Shaft’s best, but it’s definitely one of their most well animated series! This is much of the same stuff you see in their works, and as per usual the dialog at least amuses me, but this series has a lot it needs to do improve. The most important being to create characters that somebody in this world actually cares about!

3. Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai NEXT

Haganai is one of those series that really managed to surprise me in its first season by actually being good. The sequel looks to be delivering much of the same stuff from the first season, but I’m not bothered at all by that. This is a really entertaining anime. The characters should be annoying, but they actually work, well except for Yozora who is just jerk.

2. Tamako Market

This just hits all the right notes with me. It’s adorable and such an enjoyable watch! This is a story that really shows the power of slice of life because it really brings the extraordinary to the ordinary. The characters are interesting and the plot has a good mix of the weird and the fun. The OP and the ED are fantastic!

1. Chihayafuru 2

Of course this had to take the top spot! I loved season one, but the only problem I had with it was that it needed a sequel, and here it is! Watching the first episode reminded me right away of all the reasons why I loved this series in the first place! I am beyond happy that I get to see more of this series!

This has been a terrible year for anime. Sure, I’m someone who likes to be entertained above all else, but at the end of the day I still like to find good quality series. With that said, this year has been seriously lacking of just that.

Anyway, this is my attempt to come up with my favourite series from the past year. Although there are a good deal of series I still need to finish watching, I still managed to complete 40, and from those I present to you the few that I actually found to be good. I hope you enjoy the list!

PS: I only count anime that finished in 2012.

10. Inu x Boku SS

At a glance, this seems to be an anime that doesn’t offer much, but it actually manages to deliver a pretty solid series for only having thirteen episodes. It had some good comedy and the romance actually developed to something. The highlight was no doubt Watanuki and Karuta. If only they were the main characters of the show! Anyway, every year there has to be one series on my list that many will disagree with, but it’s there because it just really entertained me, and this year it’s this one!

9. Kuroko no Basket

Seeing as I know nothing about basketball, all the problems I read on how people dislike the lack of realism in this series means nothing to mean. This anime managed to make watching a sport I don’t really care for, totally entertaining. It’s strength lies in its ability to create dynamic characters that are interesting to watch both on and off the court.

8. The Daily Lives of Highschool Boys

I’ll give 2012 some credit for delivering some relatively good comedies that ranged from Acchi Kochhi to even Poyopoyo. Though, without a doubt, Nichibros turned out to be one of the best anime comedies I’ve ever seen! With hilarious characters (literature girl!) and some fantastic sketchs, this is a comedy you cannot pass up!

7. Jinrui wa Suitaishimashita

In most cases, a series like Jintai just shouldn’t work. It’s weird and covers deep philosophical questions with bright colours and creepy fairies. It also spends two episodes just to make one terribly pun. But it somehow actually works! This is an anime that leaves me curious no matter how many half answers I’m giving. It’s weird in all the right ways!

6. Fate/Zero 2nd Season

I never really had expectations for Fate/Zero, so from all I’ve seen, this series just manages to wow me. Although I feel season one was better (not enough Waver and Rider in this one), the sequel was still pretty awesome! There are several moments I can think of that really are very memorable, such as Kiritsugu’s backstory, Saber and Lancer’s battle, as well as Gilgamesh’s “parting”outfit!

5. Nisemonogatari

This sequel actually lived up to my expectations. All I expect from this franchise is some amusing dialogue and unique animation. Ya, it’s safe to say I got both. I also really liked this season’s focus on Shiro, Karen, and Tsukihi. Also, episode eight was both one of the most messed up and best episodes of the year!

4. Tsuritama

This is a series that from what I’ve noticed, some managed to enjoy much more than others. I think a lot of that has to do with whether the show really captured you or not. This was an anime that was unique and seemed to have so much love put into it. It was quirky and bursting with energy!

 3. Hyouka

This series was exactly what KyoAni needed. It some ways, it seemed as though the studio was delivering much of the same generic things, but Hyouka managed to break that trend by delivering a series with compelling characters. It chose the mundane over the extravagant in the case of its mysteries, which turned out to proove that creating realistic storylines can sometimes be much better.

2. Chihayafuru

Who would have guessed that an anime about a card game that is completely native to Japan could be so damn interesting?! Chihayafuru is fantastic for so many reasons, and I honestly loved watching the games as much as I enjoyed the drama that happened between them. It was a series that needed a sequel, and I’m so glad that the new winter season is going to deliver just that!

1. Natsume Yuujinshou Shi

Ever since it first aired, every season of this series has made it onto my top ten list. And you know why? This series is just that good. Every season of Natsume Yuujinchou somehow manages to top the next. The cast is incredible, and the way they still manage to be constantly developed is fantastic. There really wasn’t a weak episode in this season, and so without a doubt I knew it had to take the top spot as my favourite anime of 2012!

Rating: 7.5/10

This is my second year taking part in secret santa and this time I was given the choice of watching Giant Killing, Galaxy Angel, or the original Mobile Suite Gundam Movie Trilogy. I decided to go with the Gundam Trilogy, which turned out to be nearly seven hours of mecha action!

My knowledge on the Gundam world is weak. I’ve only ever seen the first season of Gundam 00, and although I enjoyed it, most people seem to think it’s one of the weaker ones in the franchise. I’ve wanted to venture more into Gundam series, so this film trilogy which covers the original series was the perfect place to start! 

The story takes place in a time known as 0079 where both the world and the space outside it where people live is in turmoil. A boy named Amuro ends up piloting a mobile suit only to get caught up in a war to fight a guerilla group from a society of people known as Zenos. As mentioned before, this trilogy is a condensed version of the original series which was 43 episodes long. With that said, even without having seen the series, you can tell the first film was rushed.

The next two have relatively good pacing throughout, but the first film really skims through a lot. In a lot of ways, it was probably for the better. Seeing those beginning scenes with a normal boy who by some weird fluke ends ups in a giant robot is something we can all agree that we’ve seen plenty of times (even if this may have been the original). After the first film, the only real problem you can find with some of the pacing is when they decide to just narrate through several events in the story.

Each film is comprised of about five fight scenes with dialog thrown in between. This was one of the downfalls I felt this trilogy had. As boring as it sounds, I’m not too big fan of the action, and much prefer the scenes reserved for character development. It’s not like many of the fight scenes really stand up all that well to what we see today anyway, so except for in the cases where the battles were really emotionally involved or in the case of the final one, some of them were rather dull.

In my opinion, the battle scenes were not even all that well animated. Okay, being a 1981 production, I’ll give it a lot of credit. For the most part, nothing looked too lazy and it was just the style of the time. My problem had more to do with how often enough an important hit in battle was simply emphasized by zooming in and out of a still frame. I just feel they could have done better.

The area where this film really shines in is its characters. It’s a fantastic cast who are all well fleshed out and have convincing development throughout the three films. To start with, the main character Amuro was really interesting to watch. I’m sure many will think he’s too angsty, but it works well with the content presented in the series. It’s a story about a war that must be fought by the young. One of the most presented themes that can be seen throughout the films is trying to justify murder. Amuro is constantly trying to convince himself that he’s not really killing anyone or it’s for the greater. When his mother first finds out he’s taking part in the war, she practically disowns him because she claims no son of her’s could be hurting anyone.

Not to mention, the progression of Amuro’s skills as a pilot were very well done. At the start of the series, they represent his inexperience by going so far as to have him open an instruction manual in battle! Of course some of his talent has to do with just luck, the rest of his improvement was shown through each battle, and him discovering his drive for piloting the mobile suit.

As for the other characters, they all manage to have at least a bit of time dedicated to them throughout the three films. I ended up really loving this slimy jerk of a character named Kai. Having somehow ended up on the “good side”, he just turned out to be a really entertaining addition to the series. I also was surprised to see the amount of time they allot to flesh out the characters on the opposing sides, the Zeons. Char, the mask wearing “Red Comet” was no doubt one of the highlights in this trilogy. He was awesome, and pretty damn fabulous! Though, he sadly barely made an appearance at all in the second film. Anyway, a good measure to understand how endearing these characters were, is that even the annoying kids added in for comic relief had some charming qualities.

To conclude, I feel this is a trilogy that every anime fan needs to see at least once. It’s a classic to its genre! I may have been a bit disappointed by the battle scenes, which a large part of the film did consist of, but the character and even the political banter really had me intrigued. Watching this has definitely convinced me to further delve myself in the vast Gundam world!

And so, my end of year lists begin!

I wait every year for this moment because they’re pretty much my favourite posts to make! This time we’re beginning with my favourite anime openings of the year! I may not have felt there were many good anime series from this year, but I’ll at least give it some credit for delivering a high number of awesome openings. There were even a lot of great endings, I might even make a post for them too, but it’s not on the top of my priority list right now. Anyway, enjoy the list!

10. Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai! - ”Sparkling Daydream” by ZAQ

It’s nothing short from obnoxious, but I somehow still manage to like it. It stands out and manages to fit well with the show. To put it simply, it’s cute, and that’s exactly what this show is all about!

9. Inu x Boku SS - ”Nirvana” by MUCC

Teamed up with a good song and some interesting visuals, this makes for one very solid anime opening. It follows along the lines of being a classic OP, but does enough to change it up to become something that’s very memorable.

8. Space Brothers - ”Feel So Moon” by Unicorn 

FEEL SO MOON!! I think it’s hard to hate this opening. The visuals and the song just go together so well and create something that really emits hope and wonder!

7. Psycho-Pass - ”abnormalize” by Ling Tosite Sigure (凛として時雨)

I’m not a big fan of the vocals (at least they’re unique?), but the visuals are great. They stand out and definitely create a much needed atmosphere for the series. In many ways it reminds me of Ghost in the Shell!

6. Sankarea - ”Esoragoto (絵空事)” by nano.RIPE 

I know it may not be anything really special, but somehow everything about this opening just really works for me. I see it and I end up with a smile on my face. The song is fantastic and it really manages to deliver it’s own unique flare throughout.

5. Nisemonogatari - ”Hakkin Disco (白金ディスコ)” by Tsukihi Araragi (Yuka Iguchi)

Do you have a soul? Then you love Platinum Disco! I’m only slightly kidding about that, this is just one of those songs you sorta hate to love, but then feel no shame and love to love it. I’m listening to it right now as I write this! The visuals also work too in delivering pure adorableness, but also have subtle hints you can read into about later events that happen in the series.

4. Sakamichi no Apollon - ”Sakamichi no Melody (坂道のメロディ)” by YUKI

This is an anime all about music, so I think it’s valid to have high expectations for a good OP. With that said, this one does deliver! Teamed with a fantastic song, the visuals are all top notch, but most importantly really convey the importance of music and the love that can be attached to it.

3. Lupin the Third: Mine Fujiko to Iu Onna - ”New Wuthering Heights” by Naruyoshi Kikuchi y Pepe Tormento Azcarar feat. Ichiko Hashimoto

This is an opening that truly stands out. It’s gorgeously unique! I love the choice of making it a poem instead of singing that were always used to. It’s something very special that people will look back on for decades. Oh yeah, and nudity!

2. Hyouka - ”Mikansei Stride (未完成ストライド)” by Saori Kodama

I like cute. I have no problem admitting this, and it’s one of the main reasons why I love this opening. It also helps that KyoAni is really trying to show off their skills by creating a visually diverse opening that just hits all the right notes!

1. Tsuritama - ”Tsurezure Monochrome (徒然モノクローム)” by Fujifabric

This is just perfect in every way possible! Everything about it just makes me smile to no end! The song is great, visuals are unique, and it’s just so charming! Also, the dance is obviously awesome! I love everything about this so much!