Spring 2011 Anime Impressions

Good day blog reader, in this blog post I will be briefly discussing my impressions on the anime airing this season that I have watched so far. If you agree or disagree with what I think then feel free to leave a comment in the comments section of this post explaining what you agree/disagree with and why. Unfortunately, due to time constraints, this post is currently incomplete. I will be updating it periodically though and will try to complete it as soon as possible.

Note: This post is only going to cover the overall aspects of the shows that I am watching. If you would like a per episode review of the shows then check out the site listed in my "Other Awesome Sites" panel on the right hand side of the blog.

Anime that I have watched will be listed in alphabetical order. If you want to see what I am watching that is not currently listed in this post then check out my anime list here. Alright, here goes...

A Channel: The Animation

Synopsis:

The story revolves around the everyday life of four high school girls: the flighty Run, the reckless Tooru, the timid Yuuko, and the level-headed Nagi.

(Source: ANN)          

                                                          

Opinion:

I was a bit hesitant to watch this show at first but decided to give it a try after much persuasion from a certain someone who made it sound like it was the holy grail of anime. That sure was a mistake as I found this show to be complete and utter garbage. Why is this you might ask, well let me explain.

I found the entire premise of this show to be dull and uninteresting. Nothing happens in it! Seriously, it’s just about the mundane events of these girls’ lives. There is no plot whatsoever. Every episode practically bores me to tears. One entire episode focuses on one of the girls wanting to lose weight. Wow, so interesting right? NOT. I’d rather watch the process of photosynthesis take place than this. Seriously, why the hell would I care if this one girl wants to go on a diet or not? The answer is I don’t. Moreover, why would I or anyone for that matter find that even remotely interesting? Slice of life? More like slice of shit. I watch anime as an escape to the boring reality around me. I do not wish to subject myself to something that is even duller than my life. But that is exactly what I do when I watch this. Now don’t get me wrong, it’s not like I dislike the slice of life genre or the entire concept of “cute girls doing cute things” as a whole, it’s just this particular slice of life anime doesn't really click with me. Even K-ON has somewhat of a plot: it focuses on the formation of a music club by a group of girls (though most of the time the girls are just dicking around in the club, eating cake and drinking tea and doing other shit unrelated to music). This show, however, has nothing going for it. I do not find it stimulating or humorous. It is just boring.

Though I can understand why some people would take in interest in this show such as to see the quirky interactions between Tooru and Yuuko, this show is simply not my cup of tea. I have watched 5 episodes of it so far and do not plan on watching any more in the future.

My overall rating for this show so far: 2/10

Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae wo Bokutachi wa Mada Shiranai

Synopsis:
A group of childhood friends drifts apart after one of them, Meiko "Menma" Honma, dies in an accident. Years later, the leader of the group, Jinta Yadomi, has become withdrawn and lives as a recluse. An older Meiko appears to him, and says that she must have a wish granted, though she does not know what it is.
(Source: Wikipedia)

Opinion:

Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae wo Bokutachi wa Mada Shiranai (We Still Don't Know the Name of the Flower We Saw That Day), or Ano Hana for short, is quite possibly the best show of the season so far and is a sure candidate for the top spot of Spring 2011 overall. The art and animation is beautifully done and the story is original with great potential; most other shows this season seem pretty generic so far. The characters are excellently portrayed, with the show definitely having a focus on character development. The pacing of this series is pretty good too, not being too fast and concentrating on small pieces of each of the characters at a time. 

One thing that I don’t quite understand is the whole concept of Menma’s existence. Menma is a “ghost” but is still somehow able to have physical contact with things. There are multiple points in the series that show Menma interacting with physical objects; in one of the episodes she is even able to bake a batch of muffins and in another she jumps on the back of Poppo, who in turn is able to feel some sort of heaviness from her. So if this is the case, then why can’t Menma do something to show the rest of the gang a sign of her existence instead of just staring blankly at them? This small detail has been bothering me for a while now but I'm sure the writers will eventually come up with a decent explanation for this later on.

Overall, the show has been excellently executed up to now. It has its happy moments and also its drama filled moments, setting up an overall mood that I can fairly relate to. I'll make sure to watch the rest of Ano Hana as it comes out as I am expecting great things out of it and highly recommend it to anyone. 

My overall rating for this show so far: 9/10

Steins;Gate

Synopsis:

Based on the hit visual novel of the same name, Steins;Gate takes place in Akihabara and is about a group of friends who have customized their microwave into a device that can send text messages to the past. As they perform different experiments, an organization named SERN who has been doing their own research on time travel tracks them down and now the characters have to find a way to avoid being captured by them. 

(Source: Wikipedia)

Opinion:

Having played a few of Nitro+’s visual novels in the past such as Saya no Uta (what a thrill ride that was) and Chaos;Head (which has also gotten an anime adaptation but is vastly inferior to its visual novel counterpart in every possible way), I have actually had Steins;Gate on my backlog of visual novels to play for a while. When I found out that it was getting an anime adaptation I wasn’t sure whether I should play the VN first or simply watch the anime as it aired. Originally I was just going to play the VN, seeing how the adaptation of Chaos;Head was an absolute fail, but in the end, I opted for the latter option. This series is going to have 24 episodes, unlike Chaos;Head’s 12 episodes, so hopefully that will provide the producers with enough time to cover the overall story as it should be.

Judging by the first couple of episodes that I’ve currently watched, the story is very well-constructed and thought-provoking, touching on some very fascinating concepts such as time travel. There is not a single moment when I feel bored by it as it introduces some interesting sci-fi and thriller elements. I particularly like how the show alludes to some real life elements such as Kerr black holes and John Titor. The characters are also very interesting and unique; the dialogue and interactions between the characters is excellent: always interesting and some are quite humorous, providing comic relief to some of the darker elements of the story.

Overall, Steins;Gate has been off to a really good start, with a brilliant balance of suspense, mystery and humor and is pretty much the show that I’ve been enjoying the most this season. I eagerly await the next few episodes to come out and hope they don’t screw it up like Chaos;Head. This is a series that I recommend to mostly anyone as it is one of the few gems of this season. Its high quality story and interesting characters will get you hooked and keep you wanting more.

My overall rating for this show so far: 9/10