I picked up, let's see... one, two, three, four, five, six... seven animes during the course of the past few weeks since Fall season started. One is a holdover from Summer 2009 season, but I'll include it here anyway just from its sheer awesomeness.


Aoi Bungaku Series - 5 episodes in of 12 - I had been looking forward to this series ever since I first heard of it. It looked dark, it looked deep, and it looked just like my type of thing. I must admit, while overall it had the right feel and right aesthetics, I slowly began to grow bored of the first arc, simply because it went on for so long. It covered a number of years in four episodes, with what seemed to be a new woman for the UMC to marry in each episode, which got extremely confusing. In a story like this, trying to do so much in so little time, especially with only one episode a week, makes the story extremely difficult to follow. The overall message of the story is great, though. Dark. Just what I like. The second arc just began, and at first, the art style seemed to be done by a completely different person. Then, I began to notice subtleties - symbolism, multi-layered artistic designs in the background, etc. And as the story progressed, I started enjoying it more than the first arc. Odd, right?
Rating: 8/10


Darker Than Black - Ryuusei no Gemini - 5 episodes in of 12 - I thoroughly enjoyed the first series. Well, okay, that's not quite true. I attempted to thoroughly enjoy the first series, and ended up liking a few of the many arcs. Episodic series have never sat right with me, but when each of the arcs are brought together as a whole, then I have a huge "OHHHH" moment and everything is okay again. That's how the first season was. I found the ending to be perfect after the disappointment that was the first, say, 18 episodes. I went into the sequel expecting the same sort of feel and format, even though the series is half the length. What I wasn't expecting is an entirely new cast of characters. Though, I must admit, Suou has grown on me a LOT. However, it doesn't feel like the series is going anywhere. And I still miss some of the old characters. Though to say which ones would be a spoiler.
Rating: 7/10


Kampfer (with two dots over the A) - 6 episodes out of 12 - Nothing is happening in this series but blatant ripoffs, comedic throws, and completely unecessary fanservice. That being said, I'm actually finding myself enjoying it. Natsuru as a girl is really hot, and I have a thing for Student Council Presidents (Shizuru, Mitsuru, Hisa, etc). Oh, and let's not forget the shoujo-ai. I mean, Natsuru as a girl... is a girl to me. Looks like a girl, kinda acts like a girl, totally is a girl. So shoujo-ai. I totally support girl!Natsuru x Everyone.
Rating: 7/10
(Reality calls, actual rating: 8/10 no more lying for respect calidynd)


Sasameki Koto - 5 episodes out of 13 - This is completely slice-of-life. But it's cute, really. I'm loving the characters. Sumika and Ushio are both adorable and fantastic, and then the supporting cast is rather fleshed out as well, which isn't something that can be said about all animes. The comedy is also adorable, albeit slightly over the top. I do have a major complaint about this anime, though, and that is that the series doesn't take itself seriously enough now that we've gotten into it. The first ep was exactly what I was hoping for in the series, starting out as an urequited love story with a twist - that both girls are actually gay. Then we went comedy and I'm sitting here waiting for the plot to kick back in.
Rating: 8/10


Tatakau Shisho - The Book of Bantorra - 6 out of 26 episodes - I was actually expecting this to be the most promising series of everything I was going to watch this season. There was a lot of information out about it before it began, Ali Project was working on it, the preliminary art looked detailed, the synopsis looked really dark, etc. And then the first episode was a huge let down. As was the second. And the third. Then the fourth came around and everything got kicked up a notch. As it is now, the series is seeming extremely inconsistent, and I have NO idea where it's going. That's not a good thing this far into the series. Also, I really don't have any strong feelings of like towards any of the characters except Noloty, who is such a minor character that it's really not enough to get me through the series. Seriously, Hamyuts Meseta, drop that sewing shit and take that fucking bow out of your hair, because I know you're bad-ass, mmmkay?
Rating: 7/10


Toaru Kagaku no Railgun - 6 out of 24 episodes - This series is so different from Toaru Majutsu no Index that it's really amazing to me that they exist. I'm assuming they're made by the same people and everything, too. Wow. Anyway, I loved Toaru Majutsu no Index, was one of apparently like 10% of people that watched it that liked it. I mean, parts of it were thrown together and kind of dumb, and I really thought Touma was a bit of an idiot, and really, Index, why aren't you a little more intelligent? My favourite characters were always Kuroko and Misaka, which means Railgun is perfect for me. Kind of. It seems to be mostly comedy at this point, and also episodic. There are hints of future plots and stuff, but not enough to really satisfy me. There's a light novel that's apparently really plot-heavy that it's based off of, and so far, there is actually quite a bit of stuff just made up to make the series more amusing. Amusing is nice, but really, I want a plot. Or just more shoujo-ai, one of the two.
Rating: 9/10


Umineko no Naku Koro ni - 19 out of 26 episodes - Just... omg. I love it. So much.
Initially Umineko comes off as just as dark and brooding (and confusing) as is it's predecessor, Higurashi, also with the same comedic slur. Once you look past the similarities, though, you find a whole new (and obviously superior) show. The characters are deeper, the plot evolves more fluidly, the character designs are more mature and there are rules (yes, rules). While, individually, the characters aren't quite as endearing as with it's predecessor (well, except maybe Maria) the cast as a whole makes a much better unit and a much more complete setting. Not to mention the frequent introduction of new characters to keep things fresh. Where Higurashi was the King, Umineko is the Queen of the chess board and it can (and will) go anywhere. This includes some truly gruesome scenes and some truly dark humor. If you're squeamish, don't touch it. If you like an engaging, challenging show that will make you laugh, scream, shout and maybe even cry. Look no further. Flip the chess board and give this one a try.
Rating: 10/10


Definitely recommend:
Kampfer
Sasameki Koto
Toaru Kagaku no Railgun
UMINEKO NO NAKU KORO NI (always remember, your capslock is like non-verbal shouting and is relevant when recomminding THIS anime)


Everything else is pretty good, but research a bit about it first.


-- calidynd

Officially fucked with by Halo (because YES, I do like to ruin everything)




Mamiko Noto: Once (but she's in like 10 others that are currently airing, so it's okay)