Medieval Japan. Ninjas, warriors, mercenaries, brigands, and priestesses (and only the priestess seems to dress in an appropriate fashion). Spells and chants. Ambushes and fighting, and a lot of blood.

Hey, it can’t go wrong, right? Right. These shows can go for 100% cliché content and still prove entertaining. Who doesn’t like some good old ninja fights sprinkled with Sengoku era heroic antics and shrine mysteries? I, for one, love these. There isn’t much to tell about this series. The quality is a little above average (which doesn’t really surprise me), but overall it’s done pretty well, and there were no real issues to note in the first episode. Isanami (the priestess) is adorable, and it seems the series will feature plenty of action.

With that said, I’m off to watch the second episode.

This is a series about football. However, unlike GIANT KILLING, this one is about young players who are members of the football club at their school. There’s a slight hint of romance in the series, as well, and there’s also drama (not quite sure if it can be called “forced”).

The main characters of the story are Aizawa Kakeru (the younger brother of a genius football player, Aizawa Suguru)  and his childhood friend, Mishima Nana, alias Seven (nana is Japanese for “seven”, and in their elementary school’s football club she was №7). Kakeru used to be in the football team, but after an incident he quit playing and became the manager for the team instead (which irritates his brother to no end). Nana, who spent a few years in Los Angeles due to her parents’ job-related circumstances, comes back and joins the football club as another manager; naturally, the romance bit comes from their relationship.

I should note that the budget of the series seems to fall into the “mediocre” category, as character art sometimes gets crude. Animation quality varies quite a bit throughout the first two episodes, too. But the series has this strange appeal, the one that almost all sports-related anime series appear to possess; it’s that feeling that rises up in you when you watch, for example, Initial D‘s races, or the shogi games in Shion no Ou, or when you follow a match in GIANT KILLING.

I hope they get over the drama that happens in the end of the second episode quick, because spending more than one episode on it would be a bad decision, story pace-wise.

To put it short: if you aren’t a fan of the sports genre, ignore this series.

Ano Natsu de Matteru might remind some people of a certain old series (or, rather, two, if they followed both). And they will be reminded of those right off the bat; maybe even earlier than in the opening video sequence. The opening theme doesn’t really make it more difficult, either. It’s performed by KOTOKO, and the character designs clearly bear resemblance to those other two series that also featured opening themes by KOTOKO (with Satou Hiromi for the second one, though).

Continuing to the character introductions, I’ve instantly marked down my favourite ones for this show, and, well, they aren’t the “main” ones. While the “main girl”, Ichika, is cute and all, I guess I’ll put both Lemon and Kanna far above her. Mio also looks like a much more interesting character compared to Ichika’s “good natured shy girl from somewhere far away” stereotype. I also feel sorry for Kanna; Kaito (the “main guy”) is as dense as it gets, probably way more dense than even Touma (from Index) or Tomoya (of CLANNAD fame). He’s probably on Ichika’s (IS: Infinite Stratos) level. We also have an already formed couple (or so it seems); Mio and Tetsurou seem to be pretty close, even though they don’t show it (and unlike Kanna with her unnoticed and unrequited feelings, both Mio and Tetsurou look at each other in a similar fashion — with the slight awkwardness of people who are realising they might be in love with each other).

Speaking of similarities, besides Ichika being almost a copy of the “mail girl” from the first series of those two bearing similarities to Ano Natsu…, we have Yamano Lemon who basically is the local Morino Ichigo (though a bit more classy, to my tastes). Her snarky comments and overall demeanour clearly remind me of Ichigo.

I cannot yet form an opinion about this series. While some certain acquaintances of yours truly find Fractale “filled with hidden sense”, I wouldn’t go that far.It’s a not so distant future. Since the 22nd century, the mankind lives in a world controlled by the Fractale System. There’s food and space for everyone; families often live far apart from each other, using so-called “doppels”—three-dimensional avatars—to communicate. The main character of the story, Clain, is an (introverted) boy who lives alone in a house located on a cliff. He’s a geek, and seems interested in old computer hardware and data media—especially anything that might contain music. His peaceful solitude gets destroyed when a girl dressed like a high priestess from Ragnarok Online appears riding a weird flying machine and being chased by a jet-propelled mini-Zeppelin.

The first episode’s animation quality is a bit unstable. Voice acting is fine; the insert song is also pretty decent. Otherwise, nothing special, besides the background art.

Overall rating: 7/10.
Why would you watch this: the backgrounds are fabulous.

The year, 1924. The place, Babylon 5… er, Sauville. The “hero” of the story, Kujou Kazuya, a Japanese student in Europe.

Gosick. A story about a stereotypical hard-working student and a gothic lolita with a knack for investigations.The TV adaptation starts with some slight alterations of the source. The new student at Saint Marguerite Academy, who has instantly gotten himself a nickname of The Black Reaper thanks to his eye colour (seriously? Black eyes aren’t common in Europe?), meets a weird girl, who is, apparently, his classmate—even though she never attends classes. The girl, Victorique (or Victorica), seems to inhabit the school’s library tower—or, rather, its top floor, which is essentially a glasshouse.

Welcome to Europe, Kazuya. Closed room murders, mysterious sacrifices, ghost ships, and disappearances are waiting for you.

Overall rating: 8/10.
Production value: low.
Animation quality: average.

Why would you watch this: Victorique; the plot (seriously).

Yeah. That’s the plot. In this series, everyone plays trading card games. The budget for Cardfight!! Vanguard doesn’t seem to be high, too, however if you like anime series about sports and table games, this one might also catch your eye.The main guy, Aichi, is your typical coward. He suffers from severe lack of self-confidence, and likes to be in denial. He was also a bully target in his previous school. And in this first episode the first thing that happens to him is… well, he gets his precious Vanguard card stolen. By his classmate. Who immediately loses to some bored TCG prodigy, called Kai.

And of course, to get the card back, our protagonist needs to fight this Kai.

You get the idea.

Now, about the other characters: Misaki is cool. She works for the store, Card Capital, as the cashier. She also has a really nice attitude. You can see for yourself on the screencaps. There’s also Aichi’s sister, but she doesn’t get introduced in the first episode. She’s cute, though.

Other thoughts: JAM PROJECT.

Overall score: 7/10.
Will I watch this? Yes, probably.

Important warning: this show is an adaptation of school comedy (with some hints of romance) light novel series. This isn’t AIR. This isn’t Kareshii Kanojo no Jijou.

This is… MM! — a plain depiction of the daily lives of a certain omnipotent goddess and her… uh… “friends”. Please don’t expect much out of it.

To put things short, if you consider yourself an “intellectual”, “highly distinguished”, or “stylish” individual, refrain from watching MM! and stick to, you know, masterpieces like Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt, Haibane Renmei, or Neon Genesis Evangelion and Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood. However, if you liked Toradora!, To Aru Kagaku no Railgun, Ranma ½, or Gintama — then you might like this comedy series as well.

Produced by XEBEC, this show is about a guy who has an issue: he’s extremely masochistic and finds pleasure in being abused by beautiful girls. The first episode also features a trap, a goddess (who is the actual main character of the series anyway, or so I think after reading the novels), and a moeblob who is kind of cute… if only it wasn’t for her bumper setup. The animation quality in the first episode is very solid; sometimes, for example, Mio’s facial expression changes 3-4 times per second, and each expression is perfectly distinguishable with smooth transitions between them.

Rating for the first episode: 10/10.
Chances I will watch this: 100%.

What the hell, Gainax. I mean, really, what did I just watch. This makes no real sense. Or does it? Experimenting with styles and designs looks pretty fun.

Anyway; this show is called Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt and the title lists the three (major) characters. Panty is a blonde who is kind of… slutty? No, that word is way too far from defining her. Whatever. Stocking is your gothic lolita with a craving for sweets — basically everything that contains sugar. They’re angels. Yes, seriously; they’re both angels. Garterbelt is the priest at the local church; he is, in essence, their “commander”. There’s also Chuck. He’s pretty weird. And elastic. Also he’s really, really green (when he is not being electrocuted). Panty and Stocking form a duo that fights evil. Literally, evil, as in “evil spirits”. For example, a poo-poo monster.

Be warned: this show is a trash comedy of sorts. You won’t see anything moe — besides this image up there and some other moments from the same timeframe featuring Panty as well — and while the animation is pretty good, the overall designs are crude and were made to be crude. Just for the sake of increasing the hilarity.

I’m not really sure if I’ll keep watching this. But yeah, it was a pretty fun ride for the first episode. Much unlike Sora no Otoshimono: Forte, which I am not going to review; that show is just pointless blatant fanservice and stupidity galore.

Rating for the first episode: 7/10.
Chances I will watch this: 30%.

The first thought that came into my mind when I watched the opening video sequence: Higurashiki no Naku Koro ni. It’s not the same, however it does feel similar. At least the atmosphere feels the same. The soundtrack delivers some chills to your spine, as well.

Megumi, seen smiling above, is a normal 15 years old girl, who is, however, unusually trendy and fashionable for her village, Sotoba. She hates the place she was born in, the villagers annoy her to no end with their chatter and rumours, her friends are “plain” and “boring”, and she wants to leave the countryside and move to a big city.

However, even in this small village in the middle of nowhere there are two points of interest for Megumi – one being a newly built western-style mansion up in the mountains, and the other is the subject of her one-sided crush. Yuuki Natsuno moved to Sotoba with his family just a while ago; he used to live in a big city until his parents decided to change the environment. He doesn’t like Megumi probably due to her stalking him, and ignores her most of the time.

One day, the new inhabitants of the mansion arrive in Sotoba in the dark of the night, and that’s where a chain of mystical events starts to unveil…

Nominating this series for the “probably the best soundtrack in the season yet” award. The background music really fits the events, and the opening theme is pretty nice, too. The ending song is fine, I guess, with the exception of lyrics. Animation quality is overall decent, if not better than that.

The story follows a 12 years old boy, Rikuo, who is ¼ youkai, ¾ human. His grandfather was the leader (the Second Heir) of the local youkai, known as the Lord of the Pandemonium, or Nuraruhyon. Of course, that said grandfather wants Rikuo to inherit the position as the Third Heir, but the boy just doesn’t want that as he is fine with his “normal human life”. He has some friends and a girl whom he likes (Kana; she’s pretty cute, too).

However, he already awakened once as Rikuo of the night, and challenged the acting Third Heir, Gyuki, emerging victorious in that fight; although he has no memories whatsoever about that night four years ago. Therefore, all youkai serve him (apparently including Gyuki), and there are also two of them who are more than dedicated in their service, always watching out for their master.