If you’ll recall, I put up a poll in last week’s post, asking people to name their three most underrated shows of the season. According to my readers, those three shows are Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun (18% of the votes), Terror in Resonance (12%), and Tokyo Ghoul (8%). I can understand Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun‘s placement, because even though I have it ranked fourth every week, I rarely ever talk about the show. But the other two shows getting so many votes just doesn’t make much sense, especially Terror in Resonance. Don’t most people consider it the best anime of the season? And yet you guys still think it’s underrated? I mean, it’s okay to vote for a show you don’t particularly care for. As long as you think it’s underrated, it doesn’t matter if you like the show or not. If it’s underrated, it’s underrated. But whenever a poll like this shows up, people tend to just vote for the best shows. Ah well, I should have expected this. Oh, if you’re curious, Persona 4: The Golden Animation came in dead last with a single vote.
By the way, anything below fourth kinda sucks, so don’t make the mistake of thinking a show is good just because it’s sixth or something.
Dropped: Free! Eternal Summer
I’m just too lazy to bother.
18. Rokujyoma no Shinryakusha!?
Boring.
17. Seirei Tsukai no Blade Dance
Slightly less boring trainwreck is still superior to just plain boring.
16. Akame ga Kill!
The worst part about this week’s episode isn’t Seryu’s laughably stupid guns. The worst part is the show’s exploitative nature. Countless female characters are brutalized and tortured just to give our heroes a reason to go on their blood-filled rampage. Then when the dirty deed is all said and done, those brutalized and tortured female characters get nothing more than a throwaway line: “Oh, some doctor will take care of them.” That’s beyond messed up.
15. Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei
Surprise, surprise: the new arc fellates Tatsuya just as hard as the first two.
14. Captain Earth
The latest episode had unbelievably bad storytelling. It was so bad, I’m embarrassed for Bones. The show still tops Mahouka, though, because the latter has always been an embarrassment.
13. Rail Wars!
Every single week, readers tell me how stupid this show is. And every single week, the latest Rail Wars! post will outpace the latest Terror in Resonance post in views. I’m not complaining; I just find this really funny.
12. Sword Art Online II
Death Gun’s True Identity Revealed!
The show might as well call itself Talking Art Online, and sadly, what little action we get is uninspired. Worst of all, Kirito’s thought process still just incredibly stupid week in and week out. I won’t get into it too much here, however; I’ve talked about the episode’s flaws enough elsewhere.
11. M3 – Sono Kuroki Hagane
Boy troubles take center stage again in yet another Okada-led anime series. You can wish for anything you want when you win enough matches! Okay, I wish to bang my brother! We can make the Lightless Realm go away! We just have to convince Tsugumi that her sister didn’t steal her man! Yeah, it’s pathetic.
10. Glasslip
Y’know, Yuki’s a giant baby, but Kakeru’s just weird, man. Did you see the way he smiled after Yana dragged Yuki off? Like he planned the whole thing for Yana to take action. Fine, I don’t really have a problem with that. But when a concerned Touko considers going after her friends, he screams out, “LET THEM GO!” Dude, what the hell is wrong with you? He then spews out shit like, “Pieces that I need to make my fractured self solid and whole.”
Yeah, you said it, girl. Plus, what was up with the sideway-flying bird?
Sigh… The only thing this show has going for it is its “good” animation, which, in actuality, is just plastic-looking and sterile like most P.A. Works productions. Last but not least, can we get it a rest with the crooked mouths already?
9. Ao Haru Ride
Oh hey, another anime in which two girls fall in love with the same flawed asshole! On the bright side, at least the shoujos here aren’t literally trying to kill each other over Kou. Still, high school drama is high school drama, and really not worth all the undue attention it always seems to get.
8. Shirogane no Ishi: Argevollen
The scenes with Jamie just drag on and on and on and on… Yeah, I feel sorry for the girl. She ain’t a soldier, and she has no business being on the front lines. Still, that doesn’t make her scenes interesting to watch. Just a clumsy girl tripping over rocks, tearing her pantyhose, etc. It’s just all incredibly boring to me. The small bit of intrigue between Samonji and the 3rd Cavalry is, on the other hand, intriguing. Unfortunately, it takes up such a small part of this week’s episode. Maybe we’ll see more sabotage as the story unfolds, but until then, Shirogane no Ishi: Argevollen still has little to keep my interest.
Case in point, Jamie eventually reaches the Argevollen and gets it back on its feet. So the battle will finally kick off, right? Nah. The anime skips ahead to the aftermath where the good guys have captured the enemy base. Pretty anti-climactic; the fighting was so raw, we didn’t even get to see any of it! There’s also a very short and terse exchange between Samonji and his superior, but it ends up being rather short-lived. Instead, we get more interactions between Tokimune and Jamie, a couple with no chemistry whatsoever. But hey, this is a 2-cour series, so we’ve got all the time in the world to force these two together.
Oh, one more thing: some people think the fights in Argevollen are better compared to the other mecha series currently airing this season, and thus more entertaining. Hey, if you like the show, more power to you. But don’t start casting aspersions just because we disagree.
7. Persona 4 – The Golden Animation
Just the same ol’, same ol’. If you like Persona 4-related fluff, this is the perfect show for you. Otherwise, stay away.
6. Tokyo ESP
I’ll cover last week’s episode along with this week’s episode on Friday.
5. Re:_Hamatora
C’mon, there’s no way Murasaki’s really dead, right? Then again, just how many times will the show overuse this “You thought he was dead, but he’s really not!” gimmick? Anyway, the show’s getting better with every passing week, but I still hesitate to recommend it to anyone. After all, the build-up was so painfully slow and boring.
4. Aldnoah.Zero
I mean, yeah, the anime is still entertaining to watch, but my frustrations with the show are starting to mount. Yes, what we currently have is fine if all you want is a mindless action series, but Aldnoah.Zero could have been so much more. Unfortunately, it seems to be following anime’s recent trend of centering its story around a flawless, emotionless protagonist.
3. Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun
Third?! Well, it’s not because the anime is anything special. It jumps Aldnoah.Zero this week simply because the latter is starting to fuck up.
2. Tokyo Ghoul
I think the adaptation is doing fine.
1. Terror in Resonance
This show probably won’t budge from the top position unless the ending is a serious, serious trainwreck.
Let’s do another poll, and feel free to let me know why in the comments:
Moe Sucks 
This is so hard, man.
All of favorite characters of current season are males.
So, I am going to vote for Sakura Chiyo.
Even though Nozaki himself is the highlight of the show.
About Hamatora, I think Murasaki is really dead. Seeing how Art has no qualm about killing the old man who was his best buddy. Last time nobody died because it’s just the first half, but now everyone look like red shirts to me. Oh, well, as long as they keep Hajime-chan alive.
She doesn’t have to be one of your favorite characters, just the cream of the crop. I’m curious if people think any of these girls are written well.
I think that may be a lost cause, every female character this season just seems to be “along for the ride”
Every single one? Even Tokyo ESP where the girl is the lead?
(No reply button on your reply for some reason. :S)
I won’t lie, I completely forgot about that show. I’ll give it a go before I completely write off the female leads then.
Cant seem to reply to e minor comment as well.
I dont know about Tokyo esp, after the first few episodes, it feels kinda boring, so much so that i just glance through each episode, i am pretty sure i missed out on some character development, but as it is, other than fishes giving people ESP power, not really that interesting, and it doesnt help that rinno isnt giving her attack a cool sounding attack name too.
Come on, a flying kick, just look at kamen rider, it’s the same flying kick but the more recent one try to give it a cool sounding name, or just use it as an normal attack.
I still cant seem to give a rat ase about the villian motive, after all, last episode he just appear and say buhahaha i am here to cause chaos or something…
I don’t think he’s dead for two reasons.
1.) Disturbing jittery dude could make masks that perfectly look like a person, with the only catch being that he needs to see their face in fear of death
2.) Murasaki was powerless, in pain, and watching in horror as he realized that not only did he fail in killing Art, but he ensured Art and the Freemiums plans went without a hitch.
But Art said that he wanted to kill Nice…
Why would he keep his partner alive…
You have your points, though.
Art’s vendetta against Nice seems personal as opposed to obligation, I actually think Nice was indirectly responsible for his brother’s death, but time will tell.
I’m mainly saying Murasaki is alive simply because the prior series couldn’t go a few minutes without someone reiterating how dead Art was after he left, so I’m taking his death with a few doses of salt.. story-wise though he, like Chiyuu, could simply be being used as leverage for Art and his group should a plan not go how they intended.
I think people are saying that Terror in Resonance is underrated mainly because not many people are bothering to watch it, in comparison to, say, SAO 2. I guess that’s understandable since it’s not the kind of anime you can just sit back and relax while watching. It does require to think a lot and the theme of the story itself probably won’t be to a lot of people’s tastes.
I personally think you can sit back and relax while watching Terror in Resonance. It’s not like it’s Eraserhead.
why isnt space dandy an option, in this case, i understand, since there isnt a female lead, it’s mostly the trio getting into trouble..
i felt that this week episode of space dandy had honey as one of the best girl character,
and… this week’s poll is really tough, gonna have to go with alnoah, since that’s the only show i have seen with a female lead, lisa is just being a steph at the moment
‘Cause I’m not watching it.
Hey, E Minor are you sick lately or something? M3 is ranking way too high here, it even beat that awesome Freudian-inspired story that is Captain Earth and that Sword Art Online 2: which is a really deep look into the psychology of MMO gaming. Soon, you will be putting that show higher than the epic romance drama that is Glasslip.
So, what is wrong with you man?
Don’t forget the great shonen manga deconstruction called “Akame ga kill”. How can something that revolutionary be that low?
The reason why I said, “But if I had to vote, I’d say terror in resonances and Tokyo ghoul are the most underrated shows on this list” last week, was because I was joking. Since they were already the top two shows, how could they be underrated? But, I didn’t actually put it in the poll, because I felt that last weeks list was pretty much how I would have my list. I’m only watching 4 shows now, so it won’t be exact.
As for this poll, I’ll probably put “Tokyo Ghoul” because I like Touka.
I don’t see a problem with that plot too. Leonne is an evil bitch to begin with.
I still remember how she tricked Tatsumi into giving her all of his money.
That’s very evil, man. He might be forced to sleep outside and freeze to death.
The real problem to me is how Tatsumi thinks so highly of these evil.
Oh, well, that’s a country boy for you.
Zankyou no Terror has excellent female protagonists. Lisa, while weak, is strong as a character. I think that the story will rely on her making a decision that will force her to consider why she supports 9/12, because she is currently just going along with their plan, not affecting much. She is a wild card within the plot, because Five can’t manipulate her and the police don’t suspect her. I feel like many viewers hate weak or wimpy characters because they are “annoying”, but I really don’t mind. A weak character like Shinji Ikari or Lisa is more interesting than Tatsuya-sama-onii-chan because they have room for growth.
Five is also an awesome female character. An antagonist, but an interesting and crazy one. She seems like Kiryuin Ragyo 2.0.
Eh, I don’t find Lisa to be “weak” but more like irrelevant? Her role will probably be used to redeem Sphinx but so far it’s hard to relate to her in a middle of international terrorist/conspiracy plot. I expected more of her because she looked to be one of the MCs from the PV and ads before it aired.
Hey, that bird’s my bro, he has a condition that means he can only fly sideways, wow, way to be a shirtlord, whooooa, not cool at all, bro
For SAO II, does Kiriko count as the female lead?
Picked Rinko from Tokyo ESP. I don’t really think she’s all that special actually, but there really isn’t much of a selection here. Then again I’m only watching three shows from this list, so maybe I’m missing out on some kick-ass females from the other shows. I don’t think that’s very likely though…
The women from Nozaki-kun don’t have much depth to them either, which is to be expected from this type of comedy show. Chiyo’s the straight man and the others fall into other cliche (archetype?) characterization that are suited towards the shows comedy.
I’m a couple of episodes behind on it, but Lisa from ZnT will probably end up being well-developed by the end of the series and, as a result, be more interesting than the other women of anime this season.
Exploitative is the best way to describe what Akame does, I thought the same when I read the manga. It handles these serious topics in such a juvenile and half hearted manner. And it just gets more and more brutal. The ridiculous fight scenes I do find enjoyable though, but I’m a person who likes shounen action.
Your Hamatora impressions interests me but after the gay terrorist episode in the first season it was very hard to continue this. I’ll keep watch on it.
Forgot to say, Mikorin is definitely the best heroine this season.
You’re missing barakamon, a decent comedy.
Not interested.
I can only really vote for Hamatora because I haven’t watched the other shows besides SAO, and Asuna is just as flat as Kazuto.
After episode 6, I can’t choose Sinon anymore. And while I’m not really satisfied with how they handled Touka’s character, she’s probably one of the few female leads I actually care about this season. So I guess Tokyo Ghoul.
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Man Makishima sounds cheesy as a random image. Yet I eat up scenes like that in media in general. No one talks like that.
Nooo, how will we know if Haru will pursue swimming after graduation?! or if Rin will be scouted for a college swimming team?! It’s all very melodramatic even though nothing is happening each time orz.
I guess, if it sells, they’ll keep writing the same plots for the series =/
I admit, I would LOVE a series where the characters don’t end up some convoluted love triangle midway.
@P4: I started out interested and rapidly forgot about the show after a few weeks. I mean, I like Souji but I just can’t find myself caring about Marie at all. I guess, I’ll just stay around for the P3 movies instead.
@A.Z: Yes, Slaine finally does something on his own. I’m going to finish it just because it’s the few series that feels “unique” this season.
@Poll: Five is clearly the best female lead this season with no contest :>
Can’t say I know anything about her personality… I like the hair, though.