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「テンパってフィッシング」 (Tenpatte Fisshingu)
“Panicked Fishing”
I didn’t know what I was getting into with Tsuritama. Even after spending time with the first episode, I honestly still can’t tell you what the show is about. What I can confidently say though, is that it’s the most refreshing show I’ve seen coming out of the last few seasons’ worth of anime.
So I guess it’s my turn to add to the long list of new writers joining RandomC! I’m going to skip all the praise and history of how I stumbled onto RC, however I do want to especially thank Divine for giving me the opportunity to blog for a site that I highly respect and love. I’ve been visiting the blog regularly since… 2006 and thought that now’s a good a time as any to be more vocal and active around here.
With that said, my history of anime is pretty mundane. I started watching Pokemon and Dragon Ball with my best friend years ago, not really knowing the differences between American and Japanese cartoons. To us, they were just TV shows. Sometime in high school (when I got bored of American TV shows), I went looking up old anime shows I loved. It started with Cardcaptor Sakura, followed by Inuyasha and Fullmetal Alchemist. Before I knew it, I was hooked. When university came along (with download speeds of 2MB/sec and unlimited bandwidth?!), I went crazy. All I would do is procrastinate, watch anime, eat a lot and sleep. I am not even lying, my first two years of university are the reason I keep up with shows now.
More after the jump…
Now that 2011 is over, here’s a look back at some of my favorite shows from the past year. 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 2011, after which you’re more than welcome to chime in with your respective choices.
Continuing from last year, there are numerous categories in the following areas: Production, Miscellaneous (fun stuff), Genre, and Notable Others. This year, I’ve also added some new genres and divided the seiyuu category into male and female. Included at the end are the final results to the Reader’s Choice Poll.
Please Read: I got a bit of flack last year for some of my choices despite providing more justification than necessary for an opinion, so please keep in mind that “best” is subjective. What’s best for me is not necessarily the best for you. I did manage to finish 72 of the 99 shows included in the poll (complete list here), so before you go knocking one of my choices, please make sure that you’ve at least seen it and know where I’m coming from. Finally, all I ask is that you respect my opinion, just like I respect yours. If you happened to watch more series than me in the past year, I’d love to hear what your favorites were.
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With the new year rapidly approaching, it’s time to look back on our favorites of 2011. This is the Sixth Annual Reader’s Choice poll, where it’s your turn to voice your opinion and have it heard!
Continuing the trend from two years ago, there are two polls for your to vote on — one for regularly broadcast TV series and another for OVA/movies. We’re asking for your top 5 picks in both polls to get a better spread of results that aren’t heavily skewed in favor of any unanimously popular shows. This year, you have 99 TV series and 57 OVA/movies to choose from, so have a careful look over the lists before deciding. Also, please respect other people’s choices in the comments and keep in mind that this is purely subjective. People like what they like.
…
Note: The polls don’t have a fixed close date just yet, but it will be sometime next week when the Winter 2012 season starts.
Update: Polls closed. Thank you for taking the time to vote! Results will be posted soon in the upcoming Best of Anime 2011 post.
| Sunday | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday | |||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HUNTER x HUNTER 10:55 NTV (10/2) |
Tamayura ~hitotose~ 09:00 AT-X (10/3) |
Bleach 18:00 TX |
Busou Shinki Moon Angel –:– PSN (9/22) |
Sekai-ichi Hatsukoi 2 25:05 TVS (10/7) |
Bakuman. 2 17:30 NHK (10/1) |
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| Mobile Suit Gundam AGE 17:00 MBS/TBS (10/9) |
Kimi to Boku. 25:30 TX (10/3) |
Chihayafuru 24:59 NTV (10/4) |
UN-GO 24:45 CX (10/13) |
Shakugan no Shana III (Final) 25:30 MX (10/7) |
C³ -C Cube- 23:30 AT-X (10/1) |
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| Phi Brain: Kami no Puzzle 17:30 NHK (10/2) |
Shinryaku!? Ika Musume 26:00 TX (9/26) |
Maken-Ki! 25:05 TVS (10/4) |
Guilty Crown 25:15 CX (10/13) |
Last Exile -Ginyoku no Fam- 26:00 CBC (10/7) |
WORKING’!! 23:30 MX (10/1) |
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| Mirai Nikki 23:00 Niconico (10/9) |
Mashiro-iro Symphony 26:00 TVA (10/4) |
THE IDOLM@STER 25:25 TBS (7/7) |
Fate/Zero 24:00 MX (10/1) |
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| Persona 4 the ANIMATION 25:30 MBS (10/6) |
Maji de Watashi ni Koi Shinasai!! 25:00 tvk (10/1) |
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| Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai 25:55 TBS (10/6) |
Ben-To 26:20 TVA (10/8) |
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| Mawaru Penguindrum 26:10 MBS (7/7) |
Kyoukai Senjou no Horizon 26:58 MBS (10/1) |
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| Legend: | 6 | Divine | 1 | Prooof | 3 | Takaii | 4 | Guardian Enzo | 2 | Guests | Not covering/watching |
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Shinryaku!? Ika Musume has already premiered and the flood of new fall shows is going to follow suit this Saturday, so here’s a quick overview of what the other writers and I will be covering this season.
As usual, this schedule is tentative and we’ll cover the first episode of some other shows that we plan to check out. If something catches our interest, shows might be shifted around and this schedule will be updated to reflect any changes.
…More after the jump.
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「夏目遊戯帳」 (Natsume Yūgi-Chō)
“Natsume’s Book of Play”
It’s great that season three ended with what I think even the harshest critic would call a superb episode. But it’s as if the gang at Brains Base had a direct line to my brain, because they used a story for the finale that tackled all the issues I’ve been kvetching about all season head-on.
Over the past month, anime has slipped quite a bit on my priority list. Work’s been hectic and I find that I don’t get home until seven or eight in the evening on some days, leaving very little time to watch anime let alone blog about it. Then there are other real-life priorities with family, a social life, and moments where I want to laze away and relax (maybe even play a game) — all of which have really taken precedence over the site as of late. I’ve managed to make do by squeezing as many waking hours out of a day as I can, hence why you see posts published in the early hours of the morning (i.e. 2-5 AM), but it’s become painfully obvious that I can’t — and shouldn’t — maintain such a grueling schedule for any prolonged period of time.
Addendum: Thanks for the vote of confidence everyone, but please don’t read too much into the post title. I simply used it to go with the image and the quotation marks around “survival” are intended to be sarcastic. This post is merely a formal way of letting everyone what’s going on and why certain shows and the RL post are being dropped. I can still manage a show a day so it’s not like the site’s in a dire state or anything.
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The first month of a new season is always one of the most interesting. It’s the perfect opportunity to get into a bunch of new shows, yet it’s easy to get overwhelmed by the sheer number of them. Here’s what we have to say about all the ones we’re following, which will hopefully give you a better idea as to what’s worth watching.
* For your convenience, the header for a series now links to its post archive if it’s being covered. Simply mouseover the title to see if it’s clickable.
Changes since last month:
Note: Once again, please be considerate of others who may be interested in picking up a series after reading about it here by placing discussion of any major spoilers in <spoiler></spoiler> tags. There will be little to no tolerance for anyone intentionally spoiling the enjoyment of others.
| Sunday | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday | |||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ao no Exorcist 17:00 MBC TBS (4/17) |
Natsume Yuujin-chou San 25:30 TX (7/4) |
Bleach 18:00 TX |
Nyanpire The Animation 22:54 Kids Station (7/6) |
Usagi Drop 24:45 CX (7/7) |
BLADE 22:00 ANIMAX (7/1) |
Nekogami Yaoyorozu 08:30 AT-X (7/9) |
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| D | P | T | E | D | P | T | E | D | P | T | E | D | P | T | E | D | P | T | E | D | P | T | E | D | P | T | E |
| Nurarihyon no Mago Sennen Makyou 17:30 MX (7/3) |
Kaitou Tenshi Twin Angel 25:45 tvk (7/4) |
Kami-sama Dolls 25:30 TX (7/5) |
NO.6 25:15 CX (7/7) |
Ro-Kyu-Bu! 23:00 AT-X (7/1) |
Uta no Prince-sama Maji LOVE 1000% 24:00 MX (7/2) |
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| D | P | T | E | D | P | T | E | D | P | T | E | D | P | T | E | D | P | T | E | D | P | T | E | ||||
| Hanasaku Iroha 22:00 MX (4/3) |
Yuruyuri 26:00 TX (7/4) |
Double-J 25:29 NTV (6/28) |
THE IDOLM@STER 25:25 TBS (7/7) |
Ouran High School Host Club Drama 24:20 TBS (7/22) |
R-15 25:00 tvk (7/9) |
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| D | P | T | E | D | P | T | E | D | P | T | E | D | P | T | E | D | P | T | E | D | P | T | E | ||||
| Ikoku Meiro no Croisée The Animation 24:30 CTC (7/3) |
Morita-san wa Mukuchi. 25:30 KBS (7/5) |
BLOOD-C 25:40 MBS (7/7) |
Itsuka Tenma no Kuro Usagi 25:05 TVS (7/8) |
Nichijou 26:20 TVA (4/2) |
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| D | P | T | E | D | P | T | E | D | P | T | E | D | P | T | E | D | P | T | E | ||||||||
| Manyuu Hikenchou 25:00 tvk (7/10) |
Steins;Gate 26:05 TVS (4/5) |
Mayo Chiki! 25:55 TBS (7/7) |
Dantalian no Shoka 25:23 TX (7/15) |
Sacred Seven 26:28 MBS (7/2) |
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| D | P | T | E | D | P | T | E | D | P | T | E | D | P | T | E | D | P | T | E | ||||||||
| Mawaru Penguindrum 26:10 MBS (7/7) |
Kami-sama no Memo-chou 25:30 MX (7/8) |
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| D | P | T | E | D | P | T | E | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Baka to Test to Shoukanjuu Ni! 26:15 TX (7/7) |
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| D | P | T | E | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Legend: | 8 | Divine | 2 | Prooof | 6 | Takaii | 5 | Guardian Enzo | Not covering/watching |
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First off, Happy Canada Day to all our Canadian readers and an early Happy Fourth of July to all our American ones. The summer season is upon us now, so it’s time to give a quick overview of what the writers and I will be watching, and more importantly, what we’ll be covering. As always, please note that this is a tentative schedule and shows may be shuffled around after the first week. Any changes will be noted on this post as they’re made.
…More after the break.
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As the summer season draws upon us, it’s time to take an in-depth look at what’s just around the corner. There are 26 shows to choose from, marking a significant increase from the 16 offered last summer. Brain’s Base is making a splash this season with three productions, all of which show a lot of promise. Sunrise is back with another original series, leading the way in the fantasy department. BONES and Production I.G are going the sci-fi and heartfelt drama route with their noitaminA shows, plus the latter is providing an original vampire series of its own. GAINAX also makes a rare appearance, providing the standout mystery series of the bunch, though J.C. Staff may have something to say about that with its own adaptation. It’s a bustling summer season with a lot of high school romantic comedies to round it out, which is great for getting back into the blogging swing of things.
* A season poll is available on the sidebar. It will automatically close on July 1st at 6:00 AM PST to coincide with the start of the season.
* This preview will be kept at the top for the next while, so be sure to scroll past it or check the Recent Entries on your right for new posts.