Anime of Winter 2011, not as bad as I had feared . . .

So last year I posted up an early list of the anime that would be airing in the winter and from those descriptions, things didn't look to be very promising. Fortunately, after I had a chance to watch the new shows, it turns out that the winter season is turning out to be better than I had originally thought. Anyway, here are some of my thoughts on the new winter lineup: 
 

Beelzebub 

Production: Studio DEEN

Let’s make this clear from the onset: Beelzebub is a shounen comedy that’s in the vein of something like Gintama, but with a baby that happens to be the son of a demon king. That alone probably already means it’s sort of a love or hate type of show. If you like the type off-beat, wacky, sometimes nonsensical humor of Gintama, you’ll probably like this show. Otherwise, well you’ll probably hate it. Personally I found the first episode to be pretty damn funny at times though the problem with these shows is always maintaining the laughs throughout its run time. Even with Gintama, there were spurts were I kinda of got tired of the style of humor and had to take a break. Hopefully since Beelzebub is only slated for 12 episodes, we shouldn’t run into this type of problem. 

Dragon Crisis

Premiere: Jan 10th

Fractale

Premiere: Jan 14th

Production: A-1 Pictures, Ordet

Something about Fractale’s animation style and fantasy backdrop reminds me of Studio Ghibli’s past works. While this is definitely a plus in my book, the show itself, however, doesn’t quite deliver as I thought it might have in the previews--at least not yet. As you may or may not be aware, director Yutaka Yamamoto has said in the past that he was “putting his life on the line” to make this anime happen and from what I’ve seen of Fractale so far, it definitely doesn’t live up to that hype. Still, this is an original series (always a selling point in anime these days) by a director responsible for the likes of Haruhi Suzumiya and Kannagi so I’m definitely looking forward to the rest of the episodes (it’s only 11 episodes long). And hey, the story (which seems so far to be a futuristic fantasy) at least looks to be very promising. 

Gosick 

Premiere: Jan 7th

Production: BONES

As a mystery series set in the early 20th century, Gosick certainly will attract some attention for it's non-typical setting as well as the fact that it's a mystery series (there aren't a lot of those around these days). Despite what can be considered a dull setting though, BONES isn't messing around when it comes to the storytelling as so far it's been fast-paced and to the point. This means that we should expect the narrative to be delivered quickly but it also means that there's somewhat of a lack of character development (so far at least). And as with any BONES series, the animation is well produced, despite the lack of any big action sequences. There's also some bits of wit and humor spread about as well, which is always nice to see in this type of show. I just hope that the mysteries in this series end up actually being mysteries, and not the type that you can see coming form a mile away.

  
 

Infinite Stratos 

Production: 8-Bit

Infinite Stratos is one of those shows that on the surface sounds like just another generic seinen sci-fi series with harem overtones. The first couple of episode definitely showcases the show’s use of classic anime tropes (really, Ichika is the ONLY male in the world that can operate an IS, really?) as well as a questionable backstory, but despite these shortcomings, I still quite enjoyed the first two episodes. The character designs are attractive, the animation is competent, and the overall story has some promise, and while I don’t particularly care for the designs of the IS themselves, the action sequences are fairly well done. Also, I appreciate how the relationship between Ichika and Houki are being handled so far and that Houki isn’t being portrayed as just your typical tsundere heroine. 

Kimi ni Todoke 2nd Season  

Premiere: Jan 4th

Production: Production I.G.

There’s not much that needs to be said about this series other than it’s basically a continuation of Kimi ni Todoke’s first season. Now to be honest, my feelings towards the first season were a little ambiguous. While I did enjoy the story and the characters, there were quite a few frustrating moments (mainly due to the pacing) that left me a little disappointed with the show. Still in the end, I did find the first season quite enjoyable to watch, I just hope Production I.G. paces the second season a little better than they did the first. 

Kore wa Zombie Desu ka? 

Premiere: Jan 11th

Production: Studio DEEN

Level E  

Premiere: Jan 11th

Production: Studio Pierrot/David Production

Level E is a strange adaptation as it’s based on a 13-year-old manga from the well-known creator of Yu Yu Hakusho and Hunter X Hunter. It’s also clearly designed to be more of a sci-fi comedy than anything else. As such some supposedly-serious parts of the show need to be looked at with this in mind (i.e. the ending reveal in the first episode isn’t what you think). Also, given that this is a Studio Pierrot show (co-produced with David Production which has assisted with shows like Code Geass and Soul Eater), the animation and character designs are surprisingly good. Still, the dry humor is probably not to everyone’s liking and as such, I’m still not quite sold on this series yet. Like any comedy series, the main hurdle will be to maintain the laughs through its 13-episode run. 

Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica  

Premiere: Jan 6th

Production: SHAFT

Wolverine  

Premiere: Jan 7th 

Wolverine is the second part of the four-part Marvel Anime project by Marvel and Madhouse. Wolverine was always one of my favorite comic book characters and with his background and skills, he’s probably one of the better fits as far as of anime inspired by western comic books goes. As such, I was somewhat looking forward to this series (despite Madhouse's disappointing Iron Man) and Madhouse didn’t let me down with the first episode. While I’m not a huge fan of the character designs (for the record, they are pretty typical Madhouse), the animation is pretty well done and the plot so far seems to be focused on Logan and his life before he joins the X-men. Also, so far we haven’t been given a heavy dose of backstory (I doubt many people watching anime don’t know who Wolverine is), though I expect that there will be some backstory told in the form of flashbacks at some point. But as enthusiastic as I am so far, I’m still keeping my expectations in check as a 12-episode series about Wolverine is probably going to run into a lot of backstory/pacing issues so we’ll have to see how Madhouse chooses to resolves this problem. 

Yumekui Merry  

Production: J.C. Staff 

About 30-seconds into the first episode, I said to myself: "Man, this is so J.C. Staff." Yes, indeed the animation is very typical of a J.C. Staff series (or better or for worse) and the story/premise has some intriguing elements to it (it’s certainly not your typical seinan premise) though not nearly enough is shown in the first episode for the viewer to gauge exactly what the hell is going on. Also, J.C. Staff is clearly being budget-conscientious with the production values, and as a result the animation can feel stiff (not a surprise to me as most of J.C. Staff’s efforts is probably still being put into Index) and unlively. Still, like I said the premise is not your typical seinan, Merry is a pretty kawaii character, and there were some pretty weird scenes involving cats so all and all my interest is peaked. 

So last year I posted up an early list of the anime that would be airing in the winter and from those descriptions, things didn't look to be very promising. Fortunately, after I had a chance to watch the new shows, it turns out that the winter season is turning out to be better than I had originally thought. Anyway, here are some of my thoughts on the new winter lineup: 
 

Beelzebub 

Production: Studio DEEN

Let’s make this clear from the onset: Beelzebub is a shounen comedy that’s in the vein of something like Gintama, but with a baby that happens to be the son of a demon king. That alone probably already means it’s sort of a love or hate type of show. If you like the type off-beat, wacky, sometimes nonsensical humor of Gintama, you’ll probably like this show. Otherwise, well you’ll probably hate it. Personally I found the first episode to be pretty damn funny at times though the problem with these shows is always maintaining the laughs throughout its run time. Even with Gintama, there were spurts were I kinda of got tired of the style of humor and had to take a break. Hopefully since Beelzebub is only slated for 12 episodes, we shouldn’t run into this type of problem. 

Dragon Crisis

Premiere: Jan 10th

Fractale

Premiere: Jan 14th

Production: A-1 Pictures, Ordet

Something about Fractale’s animation style and fantasy backdrop reminds me of Studio Ghibli’s past works. While this is definitely a plus in my book, the show itself, however, doesn’t quite deliver as I thought it might have in the previews--at least not yet. As you may or may not be aware, director Yutaka Yamamoto has said in the past that he was “putting his life on the line” to make this anime happen and from what I’ve seen of Fractale so far, it definitely doesn’t live up to that hype. Still, this is an original series (always a selling point in anime these days) by a director responsible for the likes of Haruhi Suzumiya and Kannagi so I’m definitely looking forward to the rest of the episodes (it’s only 11 episodes long). And hey, the story (which seems so far to be a futuristic fantasy) at least looks to be very promising. 

Gosick 

Premiere: Jan 7th

Production: BONES

As a mystery series set in the early 20th century, Gosick certainly will attract some attention for it's non-typical setting as well as the fact that it's a mystery series (there aren't a lot of those around these days). Despite what can be considered a dull setting though, BONES isn't messing around when it comes to the storytelling as so far it's been fast-paced and to the point. This means that we should expect the narrative to be delivered quickly but it also means that there's somewhat of a lack of character development (so far at least). And as with any BONES series, the animation is well produced, despite the lack of any big action sequences. There's also some bits of wit and humor spread about as well, which is always nice to see in this type of show. I just hope that the mysteries in this series end up actually being mysteries, and not the type that you can see coming form a mile away.

  
 

Infinite Stratos 

Production: 8-Bit

Infinite Stratos is one of those shows that on the surface sounds like just another generic seinen sci-fi series with harem overtones. The first couple of episode definitely showcases the show’s use of classic anime tropes (really, Ichika is the ONLY male in the world that can operate an IS, really?) as well as a questionable backstory, but despite these shortcomings, I still quite enjoyed the first two episodes. The character designs are attractive, the animation is competent, and the overall story has some promise, and while I don’t particularly care for the designs of the IS themselves, the action sequences are fairly well done. Also, I appreciate how the relationship between Ichika and Houki are being handled so far and that Houki isn’t being portrayed as just your typical tsundere heroine. 

Kimi ni Todoke 2nd Season  

Premiere: Jan 4th

Production: Production I.G.

There’s not much that needs to be said about this series other than it’s basically a continuation of Kimi ni Todoke’s first season. Now to be honest, my feelings towards the first season were a little ambiguous. While I did enjoy the story and the characters, there were quite a few frustrating moments (mainly due to the pacing) that left me a little disappointed with the show. Still in the end, I did find the first season quite enjoyable to watch, I just hope Production I.G. paces the second season a little better than they did the first. 

Kore wa Zombie Desu ka? 

Premiere: Jan 11th

Production: Studio DEEN

Level E  

Premiere: Jan 11th

Production: Studio Pierrot/David Production

Level E is a strange adaptation as it’s based on a 13-year-old manga from the well-known creator of Yu Yu Hakusho and Hunter X Hunter. It’s also clearly designed to be more of a sci-fi comedy than anything else. As such some supposedly-serious parts of the show need to be looked at with this in mind (i.e. the ending reveal in the first episode isn’t what you think). Also, given that this is a Studio Pierrot show (co-produced with David Production which has assisted with shows like Code Geass and Soul Eater), the animation and character designs are surprisingly good. Still, the dry humor is probably not to everyone’s liking and as such, I’m still not quite sold on this series yet. Like any comedy series, the main hurdle will be to maintain the laughs through its 13-episode run. 

Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica  

Premiere: Jan 6th

Production: SHAFT

Wolverine  

Premiere: Jan 7th 

Wolverine is the second part of the four-part Marvel Anime project by Marvel and Madhouse. Wolverine was always one of my favorite comic book characters and with his background and skills, he’s probably one of the better fits as far as of anime inspired by western comic books goes. As such, I was somewhat looking forward to this series (despite Madhouse's disappointing Iron Man) and Madhouse didn’t let me down with the first episode. While I’m not a huge fan of the character designs (for the record, they are pretty typical Madhouse), the animation is pretty well done and the plot so far seems to be focused on Logan and his life before he joins the X-men. Also, so far we haven’t been given a heavy dose of backstory (I doubt many people watching anime don’t know who Wolverine is), though I expect that there will be some backstory told in the form of flashbacks at some point. But as enthusiastic as I am so far, I’m still keeping my expectations in check as a 12-episode series about Wolverine is probably going to run into a lot of backstory/pacing issues so we’ll have to see how Madhouse chooses to resolves this problem. 

Yumekui Merry  

Production: J.C. Staff 

About 30-seconds into the first episode, I said to myself: "Man, this is so J.C. Staff." Yes, indeed the animation is very typical of a J.C. Staff series (or better or for worse) and the story/premise has some intriguing elements to it (it’s certainly not your typical seinan premise) though not nearly enough is shown in the first episode for the viewer to gauge exactly what the hell is going on. Also, J.C. Staff is clearly being budget-conscientious with the production values, and as a result the animation can feel stiff (not a surprise to me as most of J.C. Staff’s efforts is probably still being put into Index) and unlively. Still, like I said the premise is not your typical seinan, Merry is a pretty kawaii character, and there were some pretty weird scenes involving cats so all and all my interest is peaked. 

I saw the first eps of Beelzebub, Wolverine and Dragon Crisis. All 3 are piss-poor anime and the rest look even worse... 
 
I really held some hope that at least Beel would be decent since I love the manga, but it was a shoddy production with cheap animation and crappy music. Dragon Crisis is the single most cliche anime I've seen (ordinary highschool boy with no personality meets magical girl and gets a harem) and the less said about Wolverine, the better... 
 
Looks like I won't be watching anything this spring. :(

This is probably the first season where I've watched almost every show. Gosick and Yumekui Merry are probably my favorites so far and the rest aren't too far behind either. You probably shouldn't watch the Onii-chan anime, though. That was bad. 
 
Anime, jerks, etc.

"This is probably the first season where I've watched almost every show. Gosick and Yumekui Merry are probably my favorites so far and the rest aren't too far behind either. You probably shouldn't watch the Onii-chan anime, though. That was bad.  Anime, jerks, etc. "

" I saw the first eps of Beelzebub, Wolverine and Dragon Crisis. All 3 are piss-poor anime and the rest look even worse...  I really held some hope that at least Beel would be decent since I love the manga, but it was a shoddy production with cheap animation and crappy music. Dragon Crisis is the single most cliche anime I've seen (ordinary highschool boy with no personality meets magical girl and gets a harem) and the less said about Wolverine, the better...  Looks like I won't be watching anything this spring. :( "

Spring 2011? Um, you meant winter right?

I haven't watched anime in almost two years (practically the whole industry has gone down the shitter recently, with virtually everything coming out being either generic, boring shonen or fap-material for pedophiles and other perverts), but I think I'll give this Beelzebub a try. I fucking loved Gintama.

Really? I think the only things worth watching are Fractale and KnT 2. To each his own I guess. 

A pretty good winter. So far I have on my watch list 

• Mahou Shoujo Madoka★Magica
  
• IS: Infinite Stratos
• Yumekui Merry
• Gosick
• Kore wa Zombie Desu Ka?
• Fractale
• Wandering Son
• Kimi ni Todoke season 2
  

" Spring 2011? Um, you meant winter right? "

" @spazmaster666: I hated Gintama (both anime and manga), but like I said before, the Beel manga is one of my current favorites. While they didn't stray too far from the source, I feel like the characters are a lot more plain and unfunny and they really didn't do the action any justice.   And no, I'm not a fan of lollies period (or highschool life/romance/harem/moe/etc). Hell, it blows my mind at how popular the whole trend has become recently. I just don't see the appeal. I've tried to, but they're all so bad, from storyline to characters to dialogue... It makes me sad how associated the concept has become with the term anime. "

I don't how you guys keep up with the anime releases in Japan. I can barely keep up with the releases that get localised in the west.

" @Hourai said:

"This is probably the first season where I've watched almost every show. Gosick and Yumekui Merry are probably my favorites so far and the rest aren't too far behind either. You probably shouldn't watch the Onii-chan anime, though. That was bad.  Anime, jerks, etc. "

Ah, i was going to say the same thing about the Onii-chan thing. Glad to see i wasn't the only one. "

Beezlebub and Level E are the only things worth watching. The rest are C tier moe-blob animes. 
 
Even Beezlebub isn't being handled very well. It may just be the first episode (hopefully that's the case) but they're playing up the electrocution joke far too much. Hell, in the manga, Oga is the only one who gets shocked through the majority of the story, and in the first episode EVERYONE is shocked MULTIPLE times. 
 
Of course, it's being handled by the same people doing Naruto, so...it was a losing battle to begin with. 
 
Level E is interesting, but interesting in the same way that the new Golgo 13 was interesting. It's things you already know, but not as good as the original material. 
 
Bones is still doing Captain Fabulous right? ::Sigh:: Spring better be awesome.

Video games are for jerks. 
Wait, something feels off here... 
 
Also, don't watch anime, read manga. 
And that manga should be One Piece..
Or maybe Dragon Ball...
But One Piece is better....
Unless you don't like One Piece.....
Then Dragon Ball is probably better......

" @spazmaster666:   Gintama was stupid. Beel is just crazy. They're not alike at all imo. "

@spazmaster666: How are you gonna title the next one when Spring really comes up? :S "

I am not looking forward to anything this season either. I'm going to wait until I see something decent pop up on my RSS feed.
 
@MaFoLu said:

" Video games are for jerks. Wait, something feels off here...  Also, don't watch anime, read manga. And that manga should be One Piece..Or maybe Dragon Ball...But One Piece is better....Unless you don't like One Piece.....Then Dragon Ball is probably better...... "

Level E gets a raised eyebrow from me.  But the others...  
 
Just as well since rewatching Legend of the Galactic Heroes and SRW: OG -The Inspector- is taking up all my time as is.

" I am not looking forward to anything this season either. I'm going to wait until I see something decent pop up on my RSS feed.
 
@MaFoLu said:

" Video games are for jerks. Wait, something feels off here...  Also, don't watch anime, read manga. And that manga should be One Piece..Or maybe Dragon Ball...But One Piece is better....Unless you don't like One Piece.....Then Dragon Ball is probably better...... "

No offence, but I lost all respect for your opinion of quality manga. Out of the big 3 right now, the one closest to being consistently tolerable was Bleach, and that's even a stretch.  Dragon Ball was good until Goku grew up. Then to regard it as a quality manga with a straight face is akin to eating moldy oranges and not getting sick. "

No offence, but I lost all respect for your opinion of quality manga. Out of the big 3 right now, the one closest to being consistently tolerable was Bleach, and that's even a stretch.

" I saw the first eps of Beelzebub, Wolverine and Dragon Crisis. All 3 are piss-poor anime and the rest look even worse...  I really held some hope that at least Beel would be decent since I love the manga, but it was a shoddy production with cheap animation and crappy music. Dragon Crisis is the single most cliche anime I've seen (ordinary highschool boy with no personality meets magical girl and gets a harem) and the less said about Wolverine, the better...  Looks like I won't be watching anything this spring. :( "

" @spazmaster666: Hence why I claimed it to be "consistent" but still "a stretch". It should have ended once the Aizen arc ended. One Piece I've tried to pick up on several occasions, but I can usually only read it for about 3-4 weeks before I lose all interest in it. Naruto is just weird now. Weird to the point that it's stupid.  To be honest, all three suck. "

" @Aus_azn said:

" @spazmaster666: Hence why I claimed it to be "consistent" but still "a stretch". It should have ended once the Aizen arc ended. One Piece I've tried to pick up on several occasions, but I can usually only read it for about 3-4 weeks before I lose all interest in it. Naruto is just weird now. Weird to the point that it's stupid.  To be honest, all three suck. "

I dunno, I definitely feel that out of the three, Kubo has trolled us the most. Also in terms of consistency I'd argue that One Piece is easily the most consistent in terms of quality and storytelling compared to Naruto and Bleach which both have had some serious problems in recent years. "

Nice write up, I'll hafta check a few of these out (Gosick [which sounds like a play-on-words of "gothic", to me] and Fractale, specifically) :D Though no mention of Wandering Son? I am disappoint! Though I just watched the first episode of that today, myself. Really liked it as it tackles some delicate subject matter in a gentle way rather than making a comedic mockery of it like so many other shows have done.

" Nice write up, I'll hafta check a few of these out (Gosick [which sounds like a play-on-words of "gothic", to me] and Fractale, specifically) :D Though no mention of Wandering Son? I am disappoint! Though I just watched the first episode of that today, myself. Really liked it as it tackles some delicate subject matter in a gentle way rather than making a comedic mockery of it like so many other shows have done. "

I've seen the first 2 episodes of the Wolverine anime and they're complete garbage.

" @spazmaster666 said:

" @Aus_azn said:

" @spazmaster666: Hence why I claimed it to be "consistent" but still "a stretch". It should have ended once the Aizen arc ended. One Piece I've tried to pick up on several occasions, but I can usually only read it for about 3-4 weeks before I lose all interest in it. Naruto is just weird now. Weird to the point that it's stupid.  To be honest, all three suck. "

I dunno, I definitely feel that out of the three, Kubo has trolled us the most. Also in terms of consistency I'd argue that One Piece is easily the most consistent in terms of quality and storytelling compared to Naruto and Bleach which both have had some serious problems in recent years. "

Not to mention that Oda actually ties the characters he introduces to the world together instead of just making a bunch of new characters and throwing them against the wall to see what sticks like Kubo.  "

" I've seen the first 2 episodes of the Wolverine anime and they're complete garbage. "

" @Axxol said:

" I've seen the first 2 episodes of the Wolverine anime and they're complete garbage. "

I think the problem is that people are going into these Marvel/Madhouse adaptations expecting something that adheres to the comic book canon or is similar to how Wolverine is portrayed in the comic books. It seems to me from Iron Man, and now Wolverine that approaching these anime with this thought in mind is a bad idea as clearly Madhouse isn't interested in making the show similar to the Wolverine that we grew up reading. Which is just fine to me since I wasn't really looking for that anyway. "

There's a fine line of showing the character from a new perspective and bastardizing him. I was expecting something more akin to Batman: Gotham Knight. "

                @Dunchad said:

" @spazmaster666:    I also think Beelzebub is pretty different from Gintama. Both are pretty action oriented comedy series, but the humour is quite different. Gintama had a lot of "inside jokes" requiring knowledge of manga/anime culture and industry or Japanese culture as well as a lot of ridiculous characters and names/puns, not to mention the absurd futuristic Edo setting. While in Beelzebub the humour is much more character driven, relying on the personality of Oga, on baby Beel and the reactions of other "normal" people to Oga and the crazy stuff he says and does nonchalantly.

" @Axxol said:

" I've seen the first 2 episodes of the Wolverine anime and they're complete garbage. "

I think the problem is that people are going into these Marvel/Madhouse adaptations expecting something that adheres to the comic book canon or is similar to how Wolverine is portrayed in the comic books. It seems to me from Iron Man, and now Wolverine that approaching these anime with this thought in mind is a bad idea as clearly Madhouse isn't interested in making the show similar to the Wolverine that we grew up reading. Which is just fine to me since I wasn't really looking for that anyway. "

No, that's not the problem. The Wolverine anime just isn't entertaining. I actually like the Iron Man anime, I even wrote a blog about it. "

Wandering Son is the only thing I'm looking forward to.

Actually enjoyed the first episode of IS Infinite Stratos as well, and was pleasantly surprised by it.  Not sure why I liked it, since it's pretty heavy with the tropes, but something about the art style and characters just clicked.  Also was amused greatly by KoreZombie, in the mold of something so ridiculous it was holding my attention by wondering what crazy thing it would do next.  (And did it ever follow up on that with the TRAP sequence at the end.)  I tried to watch Freezing and after a few minutes the word "No" echoed through my mind clearly.  Just... No.   
 
May IS reach a Full Metal Panic? level of good in the end which I think is where the bar is right now for it.  May KoreZombie stay CRAZY and not run out of gags and momentum.  Ok, two series I found  so far that might be worthwhile this season, but that's a very strong "might".

So far I'm watching
 
Beelzebub - Pretty funny, too much baby penis, but still pretty funny. Kind of reminded me of Cromartie High School
Fractale - Seemed pretty good. I like the art style and the designs of the "doppels"
Gosick - Also seems pretty good. Reminds me of Umineko with the mysteries and all but they kind of get solved really quick
Level E - Currently my favorite out of all of the ones airing. I thought it was pretty funny.
Wolverine - Not good but kind of entertaining. I knew what to expect after watching Iron Man last season, but after only watching the first episode this is already loads better than Iron Man....but i guess it could always get worse right?

The only good one out of the bunch of new animes that  have come out is Level E. And as for the big 3 argument, Naruto is the best. I like the art style, the characters have developed, and the manga can actually bring out some real emotions from you, at least for me. Bleach was bad after soul society, then it became complete $#!T. Now it's trying to get out of the dung hole it's in. Bakuman is also a pretty good manga. 

Actually enjoyed the first episode of IS Infinite Stratos as well, and was pleasantly surprised by it.  Not sure why I liked it, since it's pretty heavy with the tropes, but something about the art style and characters just clicked.  Also was amused greatly by KoreZombie, in the mold of something so ridiculous it was holding my attention by wondering what crazy thing it would do next.  (And did it ever follow up on that with the TRAP sequence at the end.)  I tried to watch Freezing and after a few minutes the word "No" echoed through my mind clearly.  Just... No.   
 
May IS reach a Full Metal Panic? level of good in the end which I think is where the bar is right now for it.  May KoreZombie stay CRAZY and not run out of gags and momentum.  Ok, two series I found  so far that might be worthwhile this season, but that's a very strong "might".

Every time a thread like this pops up, I find myself shocked to find that people are actually into this stuff. Why am I posting here? I don't know.

" Every time a thread like this pops up, I find myself shocked to find that people are actually into this stuff. Why am I posting here? I don't know. "

" @TooWalrus said:

" Every time a thread like this pops up, I find myself shocked to find that people are actually into this stuff. Why am I posting here? I don't know. "

Don't worry bro, they're all jerks. "

" @oatz said:

" @TooWalrus said:

" Every time a thread like this pops up, I find myself shocked to find that people are actually into this stuff. Why am I posting here? I don't know. "

Don't worry bro, they're all jerks. "

Nah, they're good people, I don't care what Gerstamann says. "

Also, I'm pleasantly surprised that there's a blog post like this here. I actually made an exhaustive blog post on Anime Vice about my thoughts on practically everything here. Fractale and Wandering Son ended up with their own post - they were really solid as well.   Nice post, pretty much sums everything up well! "