Fall 09 Anime Season Ends

Well, the Fall ’09 season ended a week or so ago. I’ve been holding off posting, since I’ve picked up and finished some other Fall series over the Xmas holidays just there.

Now I can start looking towards the new season and see what Crunchyroll has to offer. Also got Clannad After Story DVDs on their way – can’t wait to get this one started.

Possible Spoilers ahead…

Fall 09 Finished Anime

11eyes (eps 7-12) END

Very disappointing. This could have been really good – but a confusing and illogical plot has totally destroyed this series. For episode 11 they had a “bad guys win” type ending. And to be honest, having an ending like that would be worthy of this rubbish series.

Then the final episode it all turns out to be a “vision”. Lame. Not to mention, one of the yandere characters suddenly stops being psycho. There’s just so much bad about this series I could rant for pages.

I really liked the characters & the art style. I’m sure the Visual Novel is great. I really wanted to like this series, but I just can’t.

4/10 – Bad

Natsu no Arashi! Season 2 (7 -13) END

Great ending to this series. I’ll miss it for sure. I enjoyed the crazy adventures they had every episode. Or when they come back to the fruit bombs and time traveling. Always a great laugh. And also an improvement on the first series without a doubt.

8/10 – Very Good

Queen’s Blade Season 2 (8 – 12) END

The final episode was quite epic. We had the final showdown between Reina & Aldra, and almost all the cast reappeared again. Everyone helped in the end in some way. I think with Queen’s Blade you either love it or hate it. I will definitely import the R1 DVDs when they are released in the US. Hopefully they’ll get the Blu-Rays as well.

8/10 – Very Good

Shin Koihime Musou (7 – 12) END

The end for this series was a bit cheesy. Everyone reappears in preparation for the “show down” with the Yellow Turbans. Although it’s not a giant battle, nope, it’s a sing off. Both sides end up trying to out perform each other; and in the end the rebellion is quenched.

I’m looking forward to the 3rd season (or 2nd “Shin” season). We’ll get to see the other characters that were missed out. Should be good.

8/10 – Very Good

Sora no Otoshimono (7 – 13) END

Another series with a disappointing end. I hope they are leaving it open ended for a possible 2nd season. There were certainly some fun moments in these last few episodes. Like when Tomo transforms into a girl to enter the girls bath house .

The ending was a big “wtf”. Random harpies (angels? Who knows) go nuts on our favourite angeliods. I like this series when it’s just jokes and crazy situations. Not so much when they attempt to go serious on us. It comes off a bit rushed I feel – or overly brutal.

8/10 – Very Good (only when it’s light hearted and fun; otherwise I’ll give it a 6/10 – Average)

Seiken no Blacksmith (1 -12) END

Picked this up by chance. It had a similar title to Seitokai no Ichizon, so I thought “what the hell”. Just as well since it was quite enjoyable.

We’ve got 4 main characters. Cecilly who is our “gung-ho” knight. She has a desire to protect her city and is trying to become a better knight. Luke who is a mysterious blacksmith and sword fighter. Lisa who is Lukes’ helper and helps him make special swords very quickly. And Aria who is the demon sword of wind (basically she turns into a sword).

The series then sets these characters up so that they ultimately protect the city from a major threat. I quite enjoyed the characters and seeing how everything unfolds. It had a bit of everything: fan service, humour, action. And the story was interesting and made sense! That’s always a good thing.

Sadly we got very little resolved by the end of episode 12, so here’s hoping for a 2nd season.

7/10 – Good

Seitokai no Ichizon (1 -12) END

Well. This was AWESOME. Without a doubt, the best show of the season.

The series is based around the student council members of Hekiyou Academy; which consist of 4 girls and 1 guy (who’s only there based on his high grades). So it starts out as a gag type show with various references out to different anime.

That alone is quite enjoyable on it’s own and extremely funny. Not to mention our hero is an eroge maniac and is after the “harem ending” with the 4 girls of the council . He’s made his way into my “favourite characters list” on MAL.

Although as you’re watching you’ll probably notice the odd serious moment thrown in. They seem out of place at first; but once everything is revealed at the end they lead to an extremely powerful and emotional ending. It was fantastic.

I would recommend this series to any veteran (I don’t want to use the word Otaku ) anime viewer. It is a fantastic series that should not be over looked.

10/10 – Masterpiece (okay that’s a bit strong, but it’s bloody darn good )

I should also note I’m still watching the series that are still running. These are:

• Letter Bee (7 – 13)

• The Book of Bantorra (7 – 13)

• Mainichi Kaa-san (31 – 36)

• Shugo Chara!! Doki (up to 92)

Other Anime Watched

I’ve also been catching up on a few other series I’ve been wanting to watch.

Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann (21 – 27) END

I can’t say I liked this final section of the Gurren Lagann story. I would have been satisfied ending once the Spiral King is overthrown.

It goes a bit nuts. Fighting in the future, then in space, then in dimensions. And the robots just get bigger and bigger. I felt it was a bit ridiculous. But still, I did enjoy the series. Definitely a must see I would say.

8/10 – Great

Shining Tears X Wind (1 – 13) END

So I decided to find out what the “Shining” universe was all about. Shining Tears X Wind is based on Tony Takas’ fantastic artwork and characters. Seeing these, I was curious to find out the story behind them.

However this series was a snore fest. It is without a question rushed and does not flow well at all. One minute you’re on a battle field, a rather dull one at that, the next you’re in a tower or suddenly with another group of people o.O

There are far too many characters, almost all of them have no development at all. And the few that do are extremely boring. Also, the decisions they make, OMG, do they even have brains. They all seem to have tunnel vision and are intent on having meaningless fights amongst themselves.

It really annoys me that these great character designs have been destroyed by this series. There appears to be 2 games; one of which is in English in the US. However, starting one and not being able to play the other is quite disappointing. Maybe these games a better than this anime adaptation.

3/10 – Very Bad

RahXephon (1 -26) END

Over Christmas and New Year “The Anime Network” were allowing free viewing of all their titles again. So I thought I might as well watch something. So based on various opinions I read, Evangelion is quite similar to this, so I gave it a go.

It starts out with Kamina, our hero, in Tokyo which just happens to be under attack. After some crazy stuff he ends up piloting the “RahXephon” which transports him outside of Tokyo. Here he learns what he thought was his “world” was actually a Jupiter-esc bubble containing “mulians”. Earth is at war with these aliens and now Kamina is dragged into the fight.

Yeah, it’s a bit like Eva, just with more backstory explaining what’s going on. And there’s actually a enemy that has been identified.

However, in my opinion, this is no way near as good as Eva. So now I’m going to stop comparing them .

On it’s own it was okay. I wouldn’t want to watch it again, but it was worth seeing it at least once. If you’ve got nothing better to do and The Anime Network are doing free episodes again maybe give it a try.

7/10 – Good

BT