Anime for Q1 2010

[firehawk12]

^
It just feels like every season is the "worst season ever" according to some people. I don't know, even among the bad stuff, I can find something interesting about them.

Then again, maybe I just don't take anime seriously enough.

You know, admittedly, my ability to enjoy random shows like "Kanamemo" comes from the fact that I see anime as mostly entertainment (with a bit of anthropological study, of course - where else would you have a female character molest little girls?! ).

I'm more baffled than anything else I suppose.

For me though, stuff like Chu Bra just sticks out at me because it doesn't make any sense in a western context.

It's a bit of an odd one for sure. What audience is it aimed at? The obvious answer is horny teenage boys, of course, but presumably the bra-size education stuff is aimed at girls. But why would they be watching a show like that? That would be quite different to guys watching shoujo. And there was a bit of stuff about bullying too, which seemed slightly odd. A noble effort to reel in drooling otaku and encourage some sensitivity about female issues? A misguided attempt to unite delicate young maidens on the cusp of womanhood and crude, ever-masturbating young males in one audience that they may better understand each other? Kinda curious to see where it goes, if anywhere.

It's strange. The magazine that publishes the manga chapter is apparently seinen:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comic_High!
But what's funny is that it's a shoujo book aimed at men... so I don't even know any more. :lol

I'm familiar with some of the other titles in the magazine and I suppose it explains the fanservice... but still, thematically they seemed to be aimed at girls more than men. Maybe they're titles for guys who think too much. (Present and accounted for )

 

[SlaveOfSeven]

The 1 to 3 ratio is probably about the same for me as well. Usually have one or two series from older seasons going as well that are generally well liked. So little time indeed.

I also have a kind of obsession to finish what I start even if it's kind of bad. So I rarely drop any shows at all.

I know how that goes. heh I've only dropped two series without hesitation so far (one for being so stupid it made Queen's Blade look highbrow and the other because I actually found it quite offensive), and a handful are in a sort of "will finish some day" limbo. I'm the same with books. As far as I can remember I've only ever given up on two books out of many thousands. Then again, like firehawk12 I can usually get something out of stuff I consider bad so it could be worse.

^
It just feels like every season is the "worst season ever" according to some people.

Yeah, as you mentioned there seems to be a lot of anti-moe feeling about; often expressed as if the writer is about to explode in manic rage. I dunno... I could see where people are coming from if the moe stuff was squeezing out intelligent SF series, for example, but somehow I doubt that eliminating the moe shows would result in a sudden proliferation of GITSACs.

I'm more baffled than anything else I suppose.

Anime can certainly cause a bit of head scratching, though it occured to me the other day that I've come to accept as quite normal in cartoon entertainment things that would make most people and back away in horror.

I'm familiar with some of the other titles in the magazine and I suppose it explains the fanservice... but still, thematically they seemed to be aimed at girls more than men. Maybe they're titles for guys who think too much. (Present and accounted for )

There does seem to be a niche for guys who like the more girlish stuff. Hell, Marimite is one of my favourite series, I'm embarrassed to admit. Still, there's a vast gulf between shoujo like Marimite and service-laden Chu bra. Oh well... I try not to think too much about anime myself, otherwise I start feeling like some kind of freak, watching it at my age.

 

[zakkrusz]

Well, I'm a guy and I've watched and liked Fruits Basket, Kodocha!, Honey and Clover, His and Her Circumstances, and Vampire Knight which are all shoujo. Of course those are kind of light in the girly department and actually humorous or have some action. I can't stand the heavy serious angsty shoujo though.

 

[firehawk12]

Honey and Clover can get pretty angsty though.

It's strange though, one of the titles in Comic High! is Girl Friends - which is basically Marimite but with actual Yuri instead of the supposedly straight yet EXTREMELY CLOSE relationships. So I suppose guys are supposed to like angst between girls or some such.

For whatever reason, I haven't really found another show like Macross F that I want to watch though. Then again, there hasn't really been anything "actioney" that has come out recently, hence my recent shoujo kick.

But yeah, it's probably best to try to avoid parsing demographics too much because you start to make assumptions about male/female audiences in Japan.

 

[zakkrusz]

Honey and Clover can get pretty angsty though.

It's borderline since it's broken up by humor. But yeah that's mostly in the second season which I didn't like as much.

Now 07 Ghost that's bad shoujo (well technically it's Josei), and it's 26 episodes of utter drag where absolutely f****** nothing happening at all. It just main character moping around and being a wet dishrag. I can also tell from the trailer to Peach Girl that I don't want to ever see that.

It's strange though, one of the titles in Comic High! is Girl Friends - which is basically Marimite but with actual Yuri instead of the supposedly straight yet EXTREMELY CLOSE relationships. So I suppose guys are supposed to like angst between girls or some such.

Maybe but I'm not a big fan of shoujo Ai or Yuri...don't care for shounen ai or Yaoi either for that matter. The only one I've seen that was any good was Kannazuki no Miko and that was mostly because it was epic, had mecha, and songs from KOTOKO like this one.

 

[firehawk12]

I suppose I watched shoujo-ai mostly because this last year was dominated by those types of shows. Shounen-ai doesn't happen in anime form that often, it seems. Most of it probably comes down to the fact that I'm more interested in watching people do normal, mundane things without resorting to watching J-dramas.

On the topic of weird cultural things - Hanamaru Kindergarten just aired... and yeah, I also have no idea who the show is for either (although I guess I just watched Aishiteruze Baby which is similar). But what gets me is that in the first episode, one of the characters is married to and knocked up by her teacher. Here, there'd be a riot. There, it's just a happy romance or something.

 

[zakkrusz]

There are series still around with undertones of it though like Pandora Hearts and the fore mentioned 07 Ghost.

As to the other thing it's definitely not okay in Japan either despite that show. It's probably not illegal since I think the consenting age is lower over there but it's seen as unprofessional conduct and the teacher in question would most likely be fired for having sexual relations with a student. A lot of things aren't as taboo over there either like large age differences between couples and marrying cousins you're related to.

Teacher/student in a high school setting is one of the most common premises for hentai as well strangely. Although when they're brought over here they're "over 18" and in "college" instead.

 

[firehawk12]

Well, in the context of just dudes in Tokyo (or real life Japan) going to school and hanging out I mean.
If I believe anime logic, it's almost as if all-boys schools don't exist in Japan.

Also, that Qwasar breast milk thing wasn't completely stupid. Just... full of crappy jargon.

 

[CorporalClegg]

There are series still around with undertones of it though like Pandora Hearts and the fore mentioned 07 Ghost.

As to the other thing it's definitely not okay in Japan either despite that show. It's probably not illegal since I think the consenting age is lower over there but it's seen as unprofessional conduct and the teacher in question would most likely be fired for having sexual relations with a student. A lot of things aren't as taboo over there either like large age differences between couples and marrying cousins you're related to.

Teacher/student in a high school setting is one of the most common premises for hentai as well strangely. Although when they're brought over here they're "over 18" and in "college" instead.

Which is one of the things I always found funny about Onegai Sensei. They played up the cliche, but went so far out of their way to make it not taboo, that it was anyway.

 

[zakkrusz]

The teacher in Mahoromatic was far worse though.

Omamori Himari became available for crunchyroll followers who don't pay, so I got a chance to check it out. I have to say it was pretty funny. I'll definitely watch it.

 

[zakkrusz]

Duradora is now available as well. It was kind of disjointed and it's hard to tell what this series is really going to be about. Interesting though.

 

[firehawk12]

I feel like Duradora is this season's Trapeze in so much as it's the show that gets the free pass in the cool community.

 

[zakkrusz]

^The second episode of Durarara was better.

Spoiler: episode 2

I have to say I really hate that informant guy who made her jump, though. What a prick. I hope he dies later in the series sometime.

Katanagatari's first episode is available now. It's good if you enjoyed the quirky converstational humor in Bakemonogatari and also has some decent action. I'm not a big fan of the character designs though. They're kind of a step backwards.

I've also been watching Cobra: The Animation. This thing has such a old retro feel to it, and the main character is just kind of your typical 70's Hollywood, big, dumb, action hero complete with cheesy personalized theme song singing about him.

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood and Inu Yasha: The Final Act have gotten really good.

Kiddy Girl_And has gotten worse.

Railgun and Book of Bantora are still entertaining but haven't managed to pull anything big.