Spring 2011 - First Impressions

MaxonTreik

MaxonTreik

Chuunibyou
Seeing as the first episodes are out for several series, I'd like to hear about everyone's first impressions. Personally, I think this season has one of the best line-ups in years, so I may end up watching more than normal.

Gintama 202

Damn you, Sunrise. Stop making me laugh so much. This is seriously one of the best episodes of Gintama. I'd feel sorry for Shinpachi if my sides weren't splitting. It's nice to see the series finally go to 16:9. I anticipate them to troll us by going back to 4:3 for an episode or two.
 
Tiger & Bunny

Saw someone on another board describe this as a "more upbeat and lighthearted Watchmen" and I think that's probably not far wrong.

Nothing too deep going on plot-wise as yet, but their world building shows a lot of promise. The notion of corporately sponsored superheroes chasing down villains on a crass reality tv show is really rather brilliant and genuinely funny when you see it put into practice. I particularly liked the producer interfering with the main character's big moment by trying to get him to hold on while they run a commercial.
 
Stuart-says-yes said:
Everyday Life 1
Another Moe show by Kyoani except it doesn't seem like its being aired purely to shift merchandise so I don't mind.
The random humour of the show is in someways bemusing, however, I can't help but feel a lot of the jokes are being lost in translation.
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I don't actualy belive that Nichijou runs in Shounen Ace. If you've ever read anything from it you'd understand:
WHERE THE HELL ARE THE BREASTS!!
What kind of Shounen Ace manga is this, none of them are even a G cup.

KyoAni shows actualy shift BDs, they don't need to merchandise that much. There's a PSP game, that's it so far.
 
Will update this post when I see more:

Tiger & Bunny
I'll be honest, even after reading ANN's season previews of this series, I was still sceptical. However, as Kaze and ANN are being so kind as to stream the first episode for free, I thought I'd give it a go.

It certainly surprised me; why haven't I seen this concept shoved down my throat yet? A lot more entertaining than I thought it would be. Unlike most first episodes, it didn't drag on; every minute was great fun to watch. I'll probably be rewatching it before the day is over!

I will say though, I'm still not a fan of mixing CGI and 2D animation. I managed to sit through it in Linebarrels of Iron though!
 
Zin5ki said:
Spring 2011 - First Impressions
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It is slightly warmer.
There are a few more weeds.
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Weeds or Weeks??

X-Men
I have to admit that out of the 3 Marvel Adaptions so far i've only seen Wolverine before X-Men. But certainly X-Men strikes a better chord with me as the characters are as they should be. Cant wait to see how that goes despite it sounding weird hearing japanese voices for american comic book characters ;)

Tiger & Bunny

I saw the preview trailer for the series and i wasn't convinced. But after watching the 1st episode i think Tiger & Bunny will definately be on my weekly watch list. Blatant product placement done well, the yearly competition to see who the best hero was makes it very different from anything else i've seen so far. And actually for once the main character is not a teen!
 
Weeds makes sense? I'm still undecided about this Tiger & Bunny thing. I don't like the fact it's jumped out of no where and everyone loves it, I like preparation!
 
Tiger and Bunny #1
I'm calling this, if the show goes through with what I think it's trying to do, it could very easily be a Cowboy Bebop calibre show.
 
X-Men is decent, the team is fairly small compared to usual 5-7 members they have on average but it's decent so far, can't get over them all speaking Japanese though.

Tiger & Bunny I feel -could- be like Cowboy Bebop but I'm thinking it's more on the lines of Code Geass.
 
Nichijou - Thoughts on viewing journal. (I'm lazy, Deal with it.)

Tiger & Bunny - Found this first episode amusing and fun to watch, plus the intriguing hero show and point system seems to set up an interesting plot thoughout the series. This seems to be the best out of the Spring bunch so far.

Hanasaku Iroha - Really stunning visuals and a likeable main character seem to be the best coming out of this series. I think my only gripe at the moment is that the harsh drama seems to be implemented too early. Still I could see this becoming my favourite Slice-Of-Life of the season!

X-Men - It did impress me like how Wolverine did last season but I just hope it will keep my interest. Beast is my favourite X-men character so I can't complain that much. :D

Oretachi ni Tsubasa wa Nai - Most likely drop; my mind couldn't take anymore. Its just Random ecchi randomness that makes no sense.

I think thats it so far. Will post when I watch more.
 
Dog Days
I went into this expecting a rather generic war story with magic and kemonomimi where they summon an incompetent hero from the real who who will miraculously save them.
Instead we have "wars" being a cross between Gladiators and Wipeout.
A male lead insanely into sports who is actually competent and has just been offered a place in which he can test his athletic ability.
The originality of the show greatly picks my interest regardless of the "kiddyness" of a war where people don't die. At least its preferable to the generic alternative which has been done before.

Hanasaku Iroha
A nice start with a sweet lead. In some ways I'm expecting this to replace Kimi ni Todoke in my weekly viewing. Most of the plot points feel like they've done before, but the presentation and execution of them is excellent. This is a show that I will certainly be watching the entirety of.

Kaiji: Hakairoku Hen
What is there to say about this really? Its more Kaiji and it looks to be quickly getting back in to the gambling aspect of the show. This is entirely a reintroduction and set-up episode.

Nichijou
After having watched the episode 0 OVA I had very low hopes for this.
In the OVA the timing and humour seemed to completely miss the mark. This episode however turned that around completely. Absurd humour with ridiculous characters in over the top situations. KyoAni seems to have created another well executed comedy anime.

Steins;Gate
A delusional protagonist makes this very hard to judge. On paper the series concept is interesting. In execution I'm left unsure, is the confusion entirely intentional due to the male lead, or exacerbated beyond the intention from poor direction.

Tiger & Bunny, X-men
I'm grouping these two together as I have exactly the same things to say about them both.
The plot seems fine. The characters seem good. The execution suffers no problems. The art is fine. In the case of Tiger & Bunny the idea of a super hero show where the heroes are rated on their achievements is original.
Nonetheless I can't help but feel disinterested. I don't know whether this is just a change in taste and I'm becoming less interested in action shows. Or whether there's just something missing from the show itself.
I have the patience to try again, so I'll leave them another week. But I'm not sure that I'll be finishing either of these.

Edit:
Oretachi ni Tsubasa wa Nai
I almost forgot about this one. The start of the show suggests that we might have a harem parody on our hands. But this quickly changes as not only is the male of that harem ignored entirely focusing instead on two other guys with other problems. He's then brought back in the closing minutes of the episode and starts talking about being from another world.
Anyone attempting to watch this for the fanservice would be better off passing on it. The fanservice is in patches and quick flurries followed by total absence through some of the dullest dialogue I've yet seen.
Dropped!
 
Taylor said:
So far this season is very bland in my opinion, but still awaiting some releases. We can hope!
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Well half the series are on a week or so delay still.
It's 50 shows, going to take a while to pick out whats actualy good.
 
Adding some more.

Steins;Gate
A cool concept let down by poor execution. It's hard to tell what's going on. Being a mystery series is fine, but I would like to see more of the story outside of the main character's viewpoint so that I can at least gather my thoughts and come up with ideas. I get the impression it's trying too hard, and if it's not careful, it could end up like Chaos;HEAd.

X-Men
A decent start. This is what I expect from a Japanese adaptation of western comic book superheroes. I was a bit apprehensive about this after the atrocity that was Iron Man and I didn't even try Wolverine. My worries were put to rest so it'll make for a decent time filler. I just wish these shows would stop making excuses to take these western superheroes all the way to Japan. There are other countries in the world.

Tiger & Bunny
This show has the best concept of the season. It seems like a fun show and everything seems solid. The CG suit models leave a lot to be desired, but the designs are cool (I like Tiger's suit). I also like the art style. Outlining characters in red instead of black is pretty refreshing. I don't think this is Cowboy Bebop calibre, but it has potential.

Hanasaku Iroha
I think this has been the biggest surprise so far. There seems to be a wide range of characters, and the girl is quite bubbly and outgoing. She is very likeable. This series looks like it will be a welcome change of pace since everything else this season is a lot less low key and rather wacky. It looks like there is some good drama to be had. I notice some people seem to hate the grandmother, but I don't think she's a bad person. She's very strict but there was a very subtle glimmer of respect from her when she slapped the girl. I sense Hanasaku Iroha being the dark horse of the season.

Kaiji: Hakairoku Hen
ざわ…ざわ…
Only Kaiji can make drinking beer and eating food so tense. It's not good for my heart. It's remarkable how well Mad House are able to manipulate the viewers' emotions. There's not just tension. There's also a lot of rage to be felt. Not just at the people tricking Kaiji into bigger debts, but at Kaiji himself for falling for it every time. However, I can't help but root for him since he has had some close calls and lost many friends along the way. I guess you can say he's a lovable loser.

So far I think Hanasaku Iroha and Kaiji: Hakairoku Hen have the biggest potential this season.
 
Maxon said:
Kaiji: Hakairoku Hen
ざわ…ざわ…
Only Kaiji can make drinking beer and eating food so tense.
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I agree, that was some epic drinking. It's hard not to feel sorry for Kaiji when you see how hopelessly addicted to gambling he is at the start of the episode.

The new setup is quite a contrast to the previous season, but it looks as if it should continue much as before. Which suits me just fine :)

Also Kaiji's nightmare sandwich woman in the ED is genuinely worrying...
 
Just by watching the first episode Hanasaku looks like the best anime I have seen in years. It like the new evolution of genre of animes such as Azumanga Diaoh and K-on!.

In every scene Ohana is so Moe!

I think there will be one or two fanservice scenes because if you think about it. The inn has a hotspring, though the fanservice will be nowhere near even Love Hina.
 
Kaiji: Hakairoku Hen - If you have seen the live-action movie then you may have seen this certain scene before but it doesn't take away on how gripping the show can be. Never change Kaiji.
 
Reaper gI said:
Taylor said:
So far this season is very bland in my opinion, but still awaiting some releases. We can hope!
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Well half the series are on a week or so delay still.
It's 50 shows, going to take a while to pick out whats actualy good.
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Ive been looking at what is airing in the coming weeks, nothing really caught my eye. Will have to wait to see if the shows are better than the descriptions >.<
 
Sket Dance

Enjoyed the 1st episode, bit similar to Haruhi with the random requests club activities (even though Sket doesnt deal with mysteries). All 3 main characters seem rather interesting to say the least
 
A Channel- I'm a bit unsure with A Channel, it did have it's share of good humor but even at this point I found parts for it boring. I mean they use a certain joke three times and this is just the first episode. Again its another season anime that has yet to impress me.
 
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