Look at all the beautiful foliage. You can blame Steins;Gate for this. Had it not been another snooze-inducing episode about Mayuri, I would have written the anime up instead. But here I am with a lack of anything better to do, so I guess I’ll take a look at the Fall 2011 season of anime. But before we get started, take a look at one of the many preview charts floating out there for synopses of the upcoming anime.
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Bakuman S2
Bakuman burnt its bridges with me a long time ago, which is too bad because all the parts about how to get a manga published weren’t all that bad. As for everything else, see this and this.
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Ben-To
The only thing remarkable about this show is that the main character likes Sega games. He doesn’t like Vega games or Smega games — it’s actually Sega. Other than that, it’s a show that features fighting for reasons I’m not entirely clear on. Apparently half-priced bento boxes are serious business. If this was an anime about a Japanese loli making bento boxes for her man, I’m sure someone would write a 2000 word post linking bento boxes to some buzzword like modality. Since it’s not, however, I bet nobody will watch it.
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Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai
Hot yet somehow friendless girls ironically form a club for similarly friendless losers like them, thereby forming, uh, friendships. Sure, whatever. Every character seems to have an inordinate amount of detail devoted to their lips. I blame Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko for popularizing this. Well, not really — I just wanted to blame that show for something.
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Busou Shinki Moon Angel
This isn’t a real series, is it? Doesn’t look like it. Punt.
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C^3
So a guy gets a black cube from his father and the cube is apparently “an instrument of torture.” While this immediately reminded me of Hellraiser, instead of Pinhead, we get a midget anime babe. Oh well, at least she didn’t fall out of tree. She just happens to be the cube itself. But hey, the show could still be interesting, right? I dunno — the trailer opens with a naked, floating loli. When marketing decides that “torture cube” doesn’t trump flat-chested girl in thigh highs, I’m not exactly optimistic. In the meantime, get your ‘dick in a box’ jokes out of your system now.
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Chihayafuru
Finally, a Madhouse’s anime series that isn’t tied to Marvel. The premise involves a girl playing some sort of card game. Hm. I’m not saying that this means the anime will be bad or anything, but that’s not exactly a premise that makes you sit up and pay attention. The interpersonal drama better be strong as hell, ’cause I don’t think I’m sticking around for some dramatic card-placing action, even if it’s a card game based around Japanese poetry. I spot two guys behind the girl in the promotional material, and I really hate love triangles so let’s hope the story doesn’t go there.
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Fate/Zero
I barely watched Fate/stay night — I saw maybe two episodes before it bored me — so I’m not sure if there would be much of a point in watching the prequel. I also haven’t watched a ufotable produced show since Futakoi Alternative and that was over half a decade ago. Punt.
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Fujilog S2
Uh, I didn’t even know the first season existed. Punt.
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Guilty Crown
The director’s body of work seems solid, but I don’t like the scriptwriter’s history. The anime is going to feature a shounen with a power called the “Ability of Kings?” Heh, what a dumb name! I would have called it the “Power of Kings” inste-… aw shit. I mean, c’mon, I know originality is overrated (no, really, I’m not being sarcastic), but you’re not supposed to be blatant about it. At least this will be a Production I.G. anime, and if the trailer is anything to go by, the animation quality will be top-notch.
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Gundam AGE
Three shows this season, Sunrise? Someone’s a busy bee. Brain’s Base is currently doing three shows, but they’re not exactly pulling it off. I’m enjoying Mawaru Penguindrum and everyone seems to be pleased with Natsume Yuujinchou San, but Kamisama Dolls sucks. I can’t help but think one of Sunrise’s shows in the fall will suck too. Between the trashy Kyoukai Senjou no Horizon and the lackluster sounding Phi Brain, it’s hard to say which Sunrise anime won’t disappoint. With regards to Gundam AGE, I don’t normally find kids compelling in anime so this will probably be annoying or boring to me.
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Hunter x Hunter
Oh sweet, this is a remake of a show I never watched. I guess I can just ignore the original then.
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Kimi to Boku
The preview text puts me to sleep, the PV puts me to sleep, and everything J.C. Staff has done recently puts me to sleep. Let’s hope there’s some juicy drama like one of the boys sleeping around and/or being a druggie. Otherwise, this is really no different than any other “[high school students] go about their youth” shows except we have guys now instead of girls.
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Kyoukai Senjou no Horizon
I’m positive Sunrise sold their soul to make Tiger & Bunny so this will probably suck. Then again, who knows? Maybe Sacred Seven will be bad enough. I must say, however, that I’m a little suspicious that none of the preview charts make any mention whatsoever of the story’s characters. Then I look up the light novel only to be greeted with this:
Good lord. The trailer doesn’t disappoint. Everything has giant breasts. Even the mechas have giant breasts. No wonder the protagonist looks like such a sleepy yet smug douchebag.
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Last Exile – Fam, the Silver Wing
Gonzo used to be good, then they got so bad, they had to disappear off the face of the planet. Well, here they are again with a sequel to their much-heralded Last Exile series. I wasn’t of the mindset back in 2003 to pick anime apart so I just remember thinking Last Exile was okay. Other than this, I can’t remember much else about the show, which is sort of strange when other people seemingly love the hell out of it. I guess this is a good excuse, then, to rewatch the anime… maybe when the current season ends but just before the fall season begins. From the PV, it looks like the animation’s CGI kinda sticks out a bit, but everything else looks nice. That song at the end is trash though.
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Lupin III Project
This would be like driving a Volvo when there’s a Lamborghini in the garage.
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Maji de Watashi ni Koishinasai!
It’s a hentai game adaptation. It’ll suck. I guess I gotta say more, though. Well, it’s another one of those shows where hot anime babes do samurai-y stuff, but unlike its earlier cousins, this anime isn’t magically transporting itself back to the Edo period (I think). On the other hand, girls look to be even more naked than usual. I can’t find any damn info on Lerche, the anime studio behind this show, other than the fact that this and Carnival Phantasm look to be all they’ve done.
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Maken-ki!
Ah, is this for real:
His maken is known as “Overblow”, which lets him cause his opponent’s maken to gain incredible power and overflow with element causing it to go out of control and force the user to not be able to use it.
So the shounen hero has the special ability to make others too strong. Woo boy, that sounds like a winner right there. I hope that works in real life too. Your bank account is bigger than mine? Well, here! Take all this money! Eh, it’s an ecchi show. What else can you really say about it?
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Mashiroiro Symphony
I love the preview text on one of the charts:
“Shingo’s school is going to be combined with an all girls’ school. As a selected student, he transfers to the girls’ school until they officially join. He meets unique girls there, but they all dislike male students. To change their minds, Shingo works hard and…”
And? AND?! Damn, I’m at the edge of my seat here! I mean, how often do shounen protagonists find themselves at a girls-only school? Like never, am I right? This is some fresh shit here and I can’t wait to find out what happens when a shounen buckles down for once and works hard. ‘Cause dem shounen heroes nowadays… they’re just so lazy. Smart and athletic, but lazy. I just want to see an ordinary “nice guy” for once — bland in every possible area; I want to see Mr. Vanilla finally win the day. Oh anime, won’t you let me see the “too pure pure boi” get the girl?
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Mirai Nikki
I was sort of excited at first when I thought this was gonna be an adaptation of Yume Nikki. Unfortunately, that is not the case. I don’t read manga so I go into all of these series cold. None of the preview text for this anime makes any sense. I’m sure the ultra-long Wikipedia entry contains all the answers I’m looking for, but I’m not touching the spoilers quite yet. A quick Googling led to this:
The only PV I can find on Youtube belongs to the OVA, which I’m not going to watch. I’m personally not big on Japanese stories where random Western phrases are used — there’s a god literally called Deus Ex Machina in Mirai Nikki — and it looks like dual-wielding butcher knife girl will upstage the show anyway.
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Persona 4
Although I loved the game (Fatlus!), my expectations for the adaptation are really low. Why? Well, the main character in the game is mute. The main character is supposed to be an extension of the player behind the controller. Not only will the anime give the main character a voice, he might also get a lame personality. Look, we all know that most male protagonists in anime are pathetic. How many shounen heroes in the past year would you willingly hang out with? Kotetsu of Tiger & Bunny and…? Plus, I’m looking at AIC’s recent offerings and their record definitely does not inspire.
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Phi Brain
Dangerous puzzles? That’s like death-defying Scrabble, isn’t it? Honestly, the premise doesn’t excite and neither does the trailer. The anime looks harmless but forgettable. There’s also something very odd about the show trying to make puzzle solving into this super cool activity. Puzzles are nerdy, but this doesn’t have to be derogatory. On the other hand, cool, spiky-haired protagonists solving the “puzzle of god” just seems a little dishonest to me.
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Shakugan no Shana III
Tiny, bossy tsunderekko munches on melonpan in between flinging insults at a doormat of a main character. Did I get that right? No? I don’t care. Punt.
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Sekai-ichi Hatsukoi S2
Another “romance” where rape is love. Pass.
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Shinryaku!? Ika Musume
Cute (squid) girl does cute stuff. Dance for our amusement, squid girl, dance:
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Tamayura
This looks like yet another inane slice-of-life series that bloggers will just latch onto. When it comes to reading entries about shows like these, I always feel like I’m listening to a sommelier: “This show is so cozy, but there’s a hint of citrus-y sunshine at the end of every episode.” Yeah, okay.
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UN-GO
BONES is pretty spotty lately (for every Gosick, there’s No.6), but with anime, it’s mostly about the source material, isn’t it? And I liked Ango Sakaguchi’s “In the Forest, Under Cherries in Full Bloom” too, including Madhouse’s adaptation of it. Still, a single work isn’t much to go by. Plus, I’m wary of BONES’ decision to change the time period of the story from the Meiji era to a more modern setting; it’s hard not to be cynical and attribute this move to BONES aiming for mass appeal. As a result, I’m not sure what to think of this show. I guess I could pretend to be a massive noitaminA fan, but I’m not. I didn’t like Fractale, Shiki, [C]… I could go on, but I won’t.
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Working’!!
What a creative title. I’m sure the sequel will be equally creative. Also, see this.
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Compiling my thoughts for all of these shows took way too long. To sum things up, this isn’t necessarily a list of what I will or will not watch. Honestly, I will watch anything I can write about, good or bad. I guess if I had to really pick one show I would definitely watch to the very end, it would have to be Persona 4 in spite of my pessimism towards it.
If you wanted other people’s opinions…
Autumn Potpourri 2011
Fall Anime 2011 – Brief Thoughts
Fall 2011 Anime Season Preview
Moe Sucks 
On I need friends really badly IRL: I was under the impression that this would be a show exclusively about females without friends. If there’s a male lead and a romantic relationship develops, how am I supposed to look down on these pathetic girls?
Also, is it bad that I got excited hearing “Nichijou” in the preview?
On Kyoukai Senjou no Horizon: Go to around 2:25 of the preview. You know a series is going to be bad if it has to resort to useless fanservice shots to attract viewers before it even airs.
Like that has ever stopped anybody.
Looking forward to Guilty Crown a bit. Otherwise going to watch P4 just for the heck of it, at least they’re using the same VAs (I think?).
I gotta say… I’m going to really miss the English VA. I don’t think Johnny Yong Bosch is as bad as people make him out to be.
Argh!! What a pain!! Most of the anime this season is not interesting. Ika Musume’s the only noticeable one. I’ll watch that one. It’s the only one not bogged down by fan service and It reminds me for Keroro Gunso. Definite Watch!!!
Really? Only Ika Musume? You could at least watch Guilty Crown for the animation, I think.
The mirai Nikki manga was pretty good, so I’m kind of looking forward to it.
I gotta be honest — it sounds a little silly.
i have to admit that I find it ironic that you argue that originality is overrated, and yet a fair number of your criticisms here boil down to “This show looks to be depressingly unoriginal”. ;)
Personally, I think that originality is actually underrated, at least amongst anime fans. I think that’s a big part of the reason why we do get so much endlessly recycled material in anime.
Thankfully, I’m a big Shana fan and I liked Fate/Stay Night well enough, so there should be at least three or four shows here that I’ll enjoy (along with Shana III and Fate/Zero, I’m cautiously optimistic about Guilty Crown and Persona 4 – Chances are that at least 3 of these 4 will be to my liking).
That being said, there definitely is a lot of recycled material here. Kimi to Boku honestly makes me think “gender-bent K-On” for example.
Short answer: I’m just taking the piss out of anime when I mock them for being unoriginal.
Long answer: Eh, originality is tricky. What do we really mean when we employ the term? Most stories adhere to the following rubric:
In this sense, it’s really difficult for anything to be truly original. I keep quoting Godard on this, however, and it bears repeating: “It’s not where you take things from, it’s where you take them.” So, I mean, stories will always feel familiar — and this is necessary because how else are we going to relate to them? — but it’s also important for stories to add enough of a twist to the same ol’ tropes and monomyths to give every tale a unique voice. It’s a subtle distinction, I think, but that’s the best I can explain myself at the moment.
Oh, I forgot to mention – I largely agree with you on Steins;Gate’s last episode. What a horrible time to bring the plot to a screeching halt just to focus on Mayuri even more. X-(
Yeah, I feel as though Mayuri’s only in the story to make people care about Okabe’s time-traveling odyssey when they otherwise wouldn’t. “He wants to save the future? Whatever… oh no! Mayushii died :((( C’mon, Okabe, you have to save her!”
Mirai Nikki’s OVA is basically it’s promo vid. Watch it. Kill 8 minutes. It’s just there to try and grab your interest.
Also, theory: You will hate UN-GO for the same reasons you argued against in https://moesucks.com/2011/08/16/the-issue-with-adaptations-were-asking-the-wrong-question/
You say modern times for mass appeal? Maybe they just want to tell their own story.
In the end I will be happy if just Persona 4 and Mirai Nikki are decent shows. I’m trying to keep my ratio of good to shitty shows I watch somewhere in the 2:1 margin. This upcoming season looks like it might test that ratio.
Maybe they do. But maybe they won’t. I feel as though you’re being argumentative. I’m fine with studios making a story their own in the adaptation process, but I don’t think it’s unreasonable to be cynical about a change that could be motivated by money.
I’m just ribbin ya over what I sort of consider a contradiction in the previous post. I agree 100% the choice could be and probably is motivated by money.
However, if the change is indication of something more and the show goes in a radical new direction, do you think it will be easy to be judge it fairly as it’s own adaptation? I know if I had an emotional investment in a source material (not saying you do; though you did say you liked it) an adaptation that was wildly different would be difficult for me to judge. It is one of the reasons I do not read much manga.
Sure, I guess it could be emotionally difficult to separate an adaptation from the source material. I know people can form attachments to something they particularly like, and they think any change is blasphemous. I will probably have to keep myself from picking apart every changes to the P4 adaptation. Nevertheless, I think everyone should try their best not to let personal feelings get in the way of creative license and adaptations deserve their creative license. Of course, if changes occur only for the sake of mass appeal, then that’s just weak.
The Mirai Nikki manga was pretty solid, although it was kind of drawn out at the end. Still, it’s not a story I feel the need to see twice. Kind of a dull season though. Ika Musume S2 will be good, and since Madhouse/I.G./BONES all have new series at least one of them will probably not suck. Other than that it’s pretty grm.
Oh well, every season looks dull but there’s always a surprise or two.
Well, out of that whole list, only Chihayafuru and Un-go piqued my interest. Ah well, at least they seem interesting enough to watch.
Well, you’d be betting on Madhouse and Production I.G. and while they don’t always deliver, it could be worse, I guess.
lawl the dancing squid scared me T^T
Nice writeup. :) I share your frustrations. Infact, I am pretty much entirely sure I won’t watch anything from this Fall. Bummer.
It wouldn’t hurt to try a few series out. Like I’ve said in a comment above, there’s always a surprise or two every season. I’m going to watch as much as I can reasonably manage, anyway. I’m not watching anime just for direct enjoyment. Sometimes it’s interesting to see why and how stories fail.
I’ll be following Persona 4 since I loved the game, Last Exile since I loved the first season, and Hunter X Hunter since I’ve heard so many good things about it. Aside from those, the PV for Ben-to looked crazy so I’m gonna check that out, UN-GO seems like it could go either way, and I was thinking of trying out Mirai Nikki… But then I read some of the manga and found it stupid and inane so… Yeah, fuck that.
Tamayura was a really enjoyable OVA, but I seriously doubt they can actually stretch it to a full TV series. It’ll just be too padded and boring.
Also, the original Last Exile wasn’t nearly as good as everyone says it was. It just benefits from having been watched by a lot of folks toward the beginning of their anime fandomage.
Cute girls + photography just doesn’t exactly set my loins afire.
I don’t really care for cute girls + steampunk either, but I bet Last Exiles has less of a chance to put me into a coma.
“…This show is so cozy, but there’s a hint of citrus-y sunshine at the end of every episode.”
But we like our citrus-y sunshineness…I think!
Anyways, I refuse to believe Maji will suck until I actually watch an episode. Then if it sucks, I’ll say it sucks!
Of all the shows to put your faith behind, you pick Maji?
Well, it is 15th on my list :D
There’s a list? You’ve ranked them already?
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Yep. I’ll find out what’ll actually stay where they are when I watch the episodes…
My opinions on the Ecchi shows:
Haganai: Liked the light novels a little bit, so the anime will probably be OK.
Horizon: Ecchi Mecha girl show in the same vein as Infinite Stratos. No thanks.
Guilty Crown: Plot intrigures me, artist is great, animation is top-notch. Will watch.
C3: Boring. And I don’t get turned on by lolis.
Maken-Ki: Character designs are very ugly IMO, and since character designs are the most important thing to me in ecchi shows, I won’t watch.
Watashi: Plot isn’t original, character designs are so-so, and the uniform they wear is hideous. Skipping it.
Mashiroiro: Character designs are OK, the uniform is waaaay too fancy and over-designed, and the eroge itself has bad reviews. I’ll pass.
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