Well, I had planned one of those grand Best-of-Whatever-Year posts here, but that never came about. (A Certain Scientific Railgun S might have been my favorite last year.) I'll have to make do with quickly moving on to what's up for this season. With that in mind, I should say that I've still not settled on my final list! I usually have it planned out before new seasons even being, but not this time for reasons which escape me. Here goes.
Witch Craft Works
D-Frag!
Toaru Hikuushi e no Koiuta
Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai! Ren
Kill la Kill
Since D-Frag! and Toaru Hikuushi e no Koiuta air on the same day, I might put the former on pause. That won't bother me too much, since the first episode wasn't anything to rave about. The latter, however, might have something going for it. I just finished the 1st ep. and it reminded me a bit of Last Exile, and I really enjoyed that show. I also noticed an element of romanticism going on through the 1st ep., with just a touch of innocence-yet-to-be-lost. Plus, any anime which starts with an aerial dogfight is alright by me. (Okay, maybe Strike Witches really tested that...). D-Frag!, on the other hand, I'm not sure what kind of comedy it's headed toward. It involved plenty of screaming and shouting (I AM SHOCKED!!!), but you've gotta do more than that to make me laugh.
Witch Craft Works might have potential to be decent (not great, mind you, but watchable and enjoyable), so I'll look on the bright side and wish for the best. On a related note, to be fully content I think I now need to watch at least one show with witches in it (or, to generalize it further, magical girls, which many shows, like Witch Craft Works for example, are just variations on that genre.)
Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai! Ren was one of the more anticipated shows arriving this season, on the strength of its 1st season. Sure, some things toward the end of the 1st season bothered me, but overall it convinced me enough to watch the 2nd season.
And Kill la Kill continues to be loud as hell, haha. To watch it is to get more or less the same kind of buzz you get from listening to speed metal, if you've never listened to that kind of crazy music like I do. Kill la Kill is consistently loud and one-note, for sure, but it's an enjoyable note. It's also kind of like 3 chord punk, with those chords arranged in different patterns with each song. Can they keep it up for the remainder of the series? Honestly, I hope for a bit more subtlety and nuance in the second half to push it beyond being the one-trick pony it threatens to become. I can only wait...
So, I'll probably update this when I've got my list locked in. I'll add one or two more as they debut. Until then.
