A lot of people from various sites have been criticizing how
this anime season looks to be the most generic and “Moe” heavy one yet. At
first I agreed because my first impressions of some of the anime were not that
great but just when I thought there was no other anime worth picking up this
season, Sasami-san@Ganbaranai and Kotoura-san revealed themselves to me. The
site I use happened to showcase these two on the home page and after reading various
comments for each series I decided that it wouldn’t hurt to add two more anime
to my watching list.
Let’s start out with Sasami-san@Ganbaranai.
The first episode made me very interested in what this anime is trying to achieve.
The only way I can describe this show is that it is trying to have the
randomness and witty conversations of Bakemonogatari
while also having strange and likable characters such as the ones in Humanity Has Declined. The main
character Sasami seems to be able to change the world around her based on her
current feelings. This sort of plot device is just like the one used in The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya…in
fact it almost completely mirrors it in many ways. The main character is a
likeable but pushy female lead and her surrounding “friends” have to do various
things in order to keep the surrounding world in check…yeah sounds exactly like
The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya…Well
anyways the show is interesting, good looking, and has a really good
soundtrack. This anime has the potential to be the good non-“moe” anime of this
season.
Finally we have Kotoura-san,
my favorite new anime of this season (pending more consideration). This show does something that I think a
lot of anime tend to forget; first impressions can be almost more important
than the whole show’s running. If you are not initially drawn in by something
then it doesn’t matter that the show has an amazing last arc or ending (like Guilty Crown). Every
show/movie needs to grab your attention at the start so that you are
emotionally invested and actually care what happens in the show/movie. Kotoura-san’s first episode will pull on
your heart strings and make you want to seriously rough up some messed up
parents and kids. While I will not ruin the experience for you, the first
episode does an amazing job setting up Haruka’s unfortunate situation while
also introducing her new best “friend” Manabe. While the first episode has a
very serious tone, the second (and from what I can tell every episode for now
on) shows the anime’s true form; a romantic high school comedy/slice of life.
Now don’t go and immediately write this off as a generic copy like I did at
first, there are a lot of things Kotoura-san
is doing correct. The show quickly introduces all the main characters and
sets up where Haruka and Manabe will be spending most of their time; at the ESP
club. The very pushy club president Mifune will most likely be a source of
bringing Haruka out of her shell because in the second episode she pushes
Haruka a little too far with the fortune telling booth. The animation and sound
of this anime are both very good so far. Overall this might be my favorite anime
of this season so far (or a close tie with Ore
no Kanojo to Osananajimi ga Shuraba Sugiru). This is an anime you want to
pick up regardless of how you feel about high school “moe” series.
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