First Impressions / STAR DRIVER

STAR DRIVER: Kagayaki no Takuto – 14

「アインゴットの眼」 (Aingotto no Me)
“Ayingott’s Eyes”

It’s the midpoint of the series and with it come new opening and ending sequences featuring songs by 9nine and SCANDAL. That’s not all though, as the plot moves forward with the highly sought after third phase in sight, and some on screen confirmation on who the fourth and final maiden is. Much like the bus scene back in episode eight foreshadowed, the end of this latest episode has all signs pointing to Keito (Ivrogne) as the east maiden.

First Impressions / Series Introduction / Snapshots

Onii-chan no Koto Nanka Zenzen Suki Janain Dakara ne!! – 01

p>「兄と妹のヨコシマな日常」 (Ani to Imouto no Yokoshima na Nichijou)
“A Brother and Sister’s Wicked Days”

The romantic comedy that plays up the incestuous angle without being incest is surprisingly more entertaining than its manga counterpart. I attribute that primarily to Kitamura Eri bringing out all the perverted silliness in Takanashi Nao, along with with relatively high production values on ZECXS’ part. With Inoue Marina as the childhood friend rival Tsuchiura Iroha, who’s slated to arrive next episode, things should get even more out of hand… in a good way.

First Impressions / Tegami Bachi

Tegami Bachi REVERSE – 14

A heartfelt reunion that I’ve been waiting to see since the first season.

「瞬きの日」 (Matataki no Hi)
“Day of Flicker”

The truth behind the Day of Flicker is revealed and Gauche reawakens with his original memories intact? How could I possible let this episode go by without saying a few words about it? We have new opening and ending themes to boot, with Suga Shikao back for the former. For the ending we have a catchy song by Yamazaru, alongside a really cute sequence that busts it old school SNES Mode 7 style. Taking that all into consideration, I’m quickly reminded why I like this series so much.

First Impressions / FREEZING / Series Introduction

FREEZING – 01

「Untouchable Queen」

If you were only expecting big-breasted girls getting their clothes torn up in battle, you only have part of the picture for this adaptation of Dall-Young Lim‘s manga. Not only do the Void Texture “stigmata” embedded in their bodies regenerate their clothes, the female warriors known as Pandoras have to cope with getting their limbs chopped off, throats slit, and eyes gouged out too.

First Impressions / To Aru Majutsu no Index

To Aru Majutsu no Index II – 13

「使徒十字（クローチェディピエトロ）」 (Shito Juuji (Kurooche Di Pietoro)
“Cross of the Apostle (Croce di Pietro)”

All the jostling between Touma and Stiyl this episode may not have been just to throw Oriana off, as our righteous protagonist (except when it comes to hitting girls) looked like he was purposely prolonging Stiyl’s suffering. It was rather hypocritical, given that Touma was telling Oriana to place more value on other people’s lives. I guess that doesn’t apply to the guy behind him swimming in a pool of his own blood.

First Impressions / Infinite Stratos / Series Introduction

IS Infinite Stratos – 01

「クラスメイトは全員女」 (Kurasumeito wa Zenin Onna)
“The Classmates Are All Girls”

As with most premieres, the start of Infinite Stratos was primarily about character introductions and establishing the plot, most of which I already mentioned in the Winter 2011 Preview. What was nice though was the cold opening of some IS training that helped offset the lack of any scrimmages for the rest of the episode.

Best of Anime / Miscellaneous

The Best of Anime 2010


Now that 2010 is over, here’s a look back at some of the best series the year had to offer. Due to the subjective nature of it all and the fact that I’m constrained to what I’ve seen, I’m not trying to pick series that the vast majority finds agreeable. Instead, I’m here to convey my personal favorites for 2010, after which you’re more than welcome to chime in with your respective choices. Carrying over from last year, there’s an increased number of categories separated into corresponding areas, namely Production, Miscellaneous (fun stuff), Genre, and Notable Others. Also included at the end are the final results to the Reader’s Choice Poll.

 

Disclaimer: These are purely my personal opinions based on the shows that we’ve seen in the past year. While I’ve watched a lot of series (56 this past year), please keep in mind that I haven’t watched everything. For a show to even qualify for consideration, it had to have met the requirements outlined in the Reader’s Choice Poll. For OVAs/movies, the additional requirement is that it’s been either released on DVD/BD so that viewers outside of Japan have had a chance to watch it.

First Impressions / Gundam / OVA/Movie

Gundam 00 – A wakening of the Trailblazer

「A wakening of the Trailblazer」

Back in May when I posted about a couple of the trailers for the theatrical conclusion to the Gundam 00 story, there wasn’t a whole lot revealed about what Celestial Being would be getting into in this final installment. The official site only makes brief mention that it takes two years later in A.D. 2314, when a 130-year-old scrapped research vessel in Jupiter’s orbit makes its way towards Earth with a new crisis, so I really wasn’t too sure what to expect.

Season Schedule / Series Introduction

Winter 2011 Schedule

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday
Beelzebub
07:00 NTV (1/9)		 Dragon Crisis!
25:30 CTC (1/10)		 Bleach
18:00 TX		 Starry☆Sky
16:00 animate.tv (12/23)		 Wolverine
22:00 ANIMAX (1/7)		 Cardfight!! Vanguard
08:00 TX (1/8)
Suite PreCure ♪
08:30 EX (2/6)		 Kore wa Zombie Desu ka?
25:30 TVS (1/10)		 Rio -RainbowGate!-
23:00 MX (1/4)		 Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica
25:25 MBS (1/6)		 To Aru Majutsu no Index II
23:30 AT-X (10/8)		 FREEZING
09:30 AT-X (1/8)
STAR DRIVER Kagayaki no Takuto
17:00 MBS/TBS (10/3)		 LEVEL E
25:45 TX (1/10)		 Kimi ni Todoke 2ND SEASON
24:59 NTV (1/4)		 IS Infinite Stratos
25:25 TBS (1/6)		 GOSICK
25:23 TX (1/7)		 Bakuman.
18:00 NHK E (10/2)
Super Robot Wars OG: The Inspector
22:00 MX (10/3)		 Moshidora
22:55 NHK (3/14-18, 3/21-25)		 Yumekui Merry
25:55 TBS (1/6)		 Tegami Bachi REVERSE
23:55 TX (10/2)
FRACTALE
24:45 CX (1/13)		 Onii-chan no Koto ga Zenzen Suki Janain Dakara ne!!
24:30 tvk (1/8)
Hourou Musuko
25:15 CX (1/13)		 Mitsudomoe Zouryouchuu!
26:58 MBS (1/8)

* Others: SUPERNATURAL THE ANIMATION, Houkago no Pleiades

Legend: 7 Divine 3 Kiiragi 4 Takaii 2 Prooof Not covering

The start of the winter 2011 season is only days away, so here’s the quick rundown on what me and the writers will be covering. As I mentioned in the Winter 2011 Preview, I’m reducing my personal load to about half of what it was last season by only picking up a couple more series — Infinite Stratos and FRACTALE. To help compensate, both Kiiragi and Takaii have offered to pick up an additional series to cover, adding GOSICK and Kore wa Zombie Desu ka respectively to the ones they decided on in the preview. Prooof on the other hand is still too busy to pick up new shows, but will continue being the resident Bleach specialist like he’s always been.

* More after the jump on some plans for the new season.

Miscellaneous / Poll

Reader’s Choice – Favorite Anime 2010 Poll

It’s… TIME! Time to look back at 2010 that is, so I’d like to present the Fifth Annual Reader’s Choice Poll.

Similar to last year, there are two polls for you to vote on — one for regularly broadcast series and another for OVA/movies. The subtle change is the number of votes has increased from three to five for series and one to three for OVA/movies to further diversify results so they aren’t heavily skewed. With 98 series and 71 OVA/movies to choose from, we’re now asking for your top five and top three of 2010 respectively.

The criteria for a regular broadcast anime to be included is that it had to have been a TV series that finished airing in 2010. The general idea here is that you can’t really judge a series until it’s over, so shows such as STAR DRIVER and To Aru Majutsu no Index II will appear in next year’s poll. For OVA/movies, it has to have been released on DVD/BD in 2010 to qualify, ensuring that viewers outside of Japan have had a chance to watch it. This mostly pertains to theatrical offerings. I’ve loosened the requirement on being complete though, which is why you see Gundam Unicorn episodes one/two and Break Blade movies one/two included in the list as single entries.

As far as I’m aware, the anime series list is complete. The OVA/movie is purposely less so since there are a lot of really niche OVAs that aren’t really worth considering. However, if you feel there’s something the deserves consideration, please send me an e-mail and I’ll add it. Otherwise, you are welcome to vote for it in the Others option. Let the voting begin!

Note: The polls will close on Sunday, January 2nd at 8:00 AM GMT. Results will be posted in the upcoming Best of Anime 2010 post.

The Reader’s Choice Polls are after the jump.

Polls are now closed. Thank you for taking the time to vote.