May 2009 Anime in a nutshell or three

In the spirit of many anibloggers, I present to you a new feature of this blog: monthly lists and evaluations of the junk I’ve been watching, as well as general monthly information!

Top three (airing) anime

1. Cross Game
   This has got to be the most underrated anime this season.  A few people watch it, but many more people don’t simply because of the art style.  Usually for this kind of anime (sports genre), I’d hold back on a score until I see the first “match,” but Cross Game has proved to be an outstanding blend of slice-of-life and sports elements in a genre that’s mostly defined by fast-paced anime that go from one match to the next with an almost complete focus on these “matches” and none on the stuff in-between.
    
2. Electromagnetic Girlfriend
   Wow.  Total insanity right there.  I had no idea that this was going to turn out a Higurashi-esque horror anime, and I had an equal lack of expectations out of this three-episode OVA.  A real shocker, this one.  My only complaint would be the high levels of romantic elements – though they are effective in developing the story in a unique way, I’d rather see more yandere than a yantsunderemix.
    
3. Eve no Jikan
   No surprises here.  Episode four continued the absolutely excellent art, animation, plotline, etc. that defined the previous three episodes.

"...for being an average anime."

Random thoughts on some other airing anime

• Hatsukoi Limited is epic.  It probably would’ve made the list up there had it not been for the boob episode.  OBVIOUSLY, if you have big breasts, you should ditch your Olympic-level swimming skills!  Though teenage girls do have that problem of being too self-conscious, I doubt that it’d be at this level.
  
  
• K-ON! is getting slightly better.  Azusa makes things better.  I am not a lolicon.
   
• Basquash! owns.  Problem is, I still don’t know what the rules are for this mecha basketball game.  Is the goal to destroy your opponents, to make it in a randomly placed hoop, or to score more points than the other team in a given amount of time?  It’s totally unclear what Mr. Destroy-is-getting-old, Dan, and Parasite girl are actually trying to do.
   
• Is Hayate no Gotoku!! a second season?  Or is it a remake?  The anime makes references back to Hayate no Gotoku!, but it also redos some things (like Hinagiku and Ayumu meeting), so I’m confused.  Not keikaku doori?
   
• Higashi no Eden is failing.  A confusing and misguided episode seven foreshadows a crappy ending IMO.  I don’t even know the genre after eight episodes, come to think of it…
   
• Chrome Shelled Regios sucks.  I want some action from an action anime, for crying out loud!
   
• Kurokami has not been subbed in two weeks.  I guess AoT finally realized that it sucks too much to be subbed.
   
• Haruhi S2 was a bummer.  I’d’ve liked some good art/animation, or at least something vaguely consistent with S1, but KyoAni just had to revert to K-ON! moemoeblobfail mode.
   
• Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Rei is getting better.  It ain’t going to be anywhere close to the first two seasons, though.
   
• Slap Up Party decided to walk down the path of action rather than parody in episode seven.  What a terrible mistake.
   
• Pandora Hearts is good, but not as good as many are making it out to be.  The creepy scenes certainly are creepy, but some elements are just downright annoying.  Pointing the gun at yourself and believing in the Raven who believes in you, Oz?  Come on.  The power of friendship (or in this case, servitude) rules all once again!
   
• Saki had a filler episode.  Lol.
   
• FMA: Brotherhood isn’t that good.  I don’t know how good FMA was, but I don’t think that this deserves half the hype it’s getting.  The premise is incredible, but the random fights just chop up the plot into tiny pieces that are all the same size and shape, making for some pretty predictable episodes.
   
• Valkyria Chronicles is ordinary.  I thought that it’d have to be something interesting, seeing as how it got its own board on AnimeSuki, but it’s pretty average.
   
• I’ve heard good things about the recent episodes of Sora Kake Girl.  I’ve been putting it on hold atm due to my need to watch older anime (see below).

Non-airing anime that I’ve been watching

• Maria†Holic is very interesting.  There are some absolutely hilarious parts, and some downright boring parts.  Expanded alaria.
   
• Beck was epic.  If there were any anime able to compete with Gurren Lagann in terms of sheer epicness, Beck would be it.  Finest anime of the sports genre that I’ve ever seen.
   
• Blood+ wasn’t that good.  Saya was too weak, and the ending was too touching (well, intended to be*) for an action anime.
   
• Minami-ke: Okawari is certainly surprising.  I knew that the artwork was bad, but does the humor have to be equally bad?  Good lord, is this seriously the second season of that insanely funny Minami-ke?!
   
• Akagi is a lot better than Saki.  Saki is a wannabe.  Saki sucks.
   
• Haibane Renmei was ultimately a bit of a letdown.  I loved every moment until the ending.  I thought that more would be resolved other than Reki’s problem, but the last few episodes told me that the series would end as mysteriously as it started out.
   
• Kimikiss is nothing compared to Hatsukoi Limited.  Kimikiss’s girls suck while Hatsukoi Limited’s girls are equally awesome.
   
• Moetan is cute and funny.  I am not a lolicon.

Etc.

• Haruhi season two came out and just about everybody shat massive bricks.  Kadokawa just took marketing to a whole new level.  In retrospect, that Nice Boat on Haruhi-chan was still unnecessary! ):
   
• Kannagi 14 subs took too long to come out IMO.  Kannagi 14 should be hailed as the true Haruhi season two, not that K-ON! copypasta crap.
   
• I got a Naruto shirt.
   
• I trolled a lot this month.