Once a Stranger

Well this year I utterly lost my motivation of doing anime reviews. Partly that was due to being disappointed with many anime series, and I guess the anime fandom. Partially it's... I don't even know :/ Perhaps just an anime overdose. Only so many shows you can watch and pay real attention to and it's easy to get carried off into trying out a lot of series every semester.

Anyway I especially was concentrating on finishing watching series which I started last year so I could finally get rid of the clutter of shows-in-mid-watch. I still have a few left, though, but those are some I'm more interested in. So, yay!

The Awesome

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The Good

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The Okay / Average

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The Mixed Feelings

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The Disapointing

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The Dropped ones

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(2009 for comparison)
(I don't think I did this in 2010)

I HAVE FINISHED WATCHING MAWARU PENGUINDRUM. I DONT REALLY KNOW WHAT TO THINK EXCEPT THAT I HAVE DUST IN MY EYES.

I'm going to keep spamming you folk lately. Sorry. Figured that if I was to post some impressions on the anime series of this season, I better do it now, since tomorrow we enter the land of Dance with Dragons, and I'll be busy posting and reading about other things.

So:

N° 6: BONES production + intriguing SF setting + slashy vibe+Noitamina slot; this is hooking me fast and I really liked the direciton and pacing of the first episode and the chemistry between the two leads.

Usagi Drop : the other Noitamina series; quiet, delicate slice of life drama about a thirty year old man ending up adopting the young illegitimate daughter of his grandfather and his dad. I thought the cuteness/poignancy felt a little tiny bit forced there; but otherwise as gorgeous as you'd expect a series with this premise, and the little girl really is well characterised and adorable.

Mawaru Penguindrum : the return of the great Ikehura (aka director of Utena) to animation. I can't say I know what to do of the first ep. The premise wouldn't really appeal to me on the text, the animation/art was gorgeous and disconcerting, and the episode filled with intriguing weirdness. I'll take it on faith in any case.

Natsume Yuujinchou San: *squeeeeee* the return of my beloved Natsume Yuujinchou. Love the manga, loved the first two anime series, what do you expect? It starts with a nice episode that does it job of reminding us of the premise well, then tells its bittersweet story wonderfully.


Blood C: I may be a CLAMP fangirl, but I just finished watching Blood + which didn't impress me all that much (terrible pacing that show had), and this first episode didn't really impress me. Very boring characterisation overall, though the animation is pretty and I loved the colour palette. I'll probably pass.

Ikoku Meiro no Croisée: historical moe series set in Paris of the late 19th. Ok, I only watched the first episode cuz I was curious about how they'd handle Paris ^_^ anyway. It's not actually bad. I can see some appeal to the characters and their dynamics, the art does cute and gorgeous well, I love the focus on art nouveau ironworks (love that stuff ^^) Probably not enough to hold my attention though (given that I don't like moe much).

And I'll continue watching Tiger & Bunny and Ao no Exorcist

That's it for now (I dunno if there are other stuff down the line).