It's that time again! The year is fast approaching it's end, finals are drawing near and the fall season is almost done. Time to see what shows I recommended from this past year that you should check out.
2012 was a strange year in terms of shows. You had your share of moeblobs, parodies and forbidden romance. As well as your widget shows and mind boggles that involve robotic suicidal loaves of bread, and your intentionally funny horror. From space pirates to wizards to zombies to socially inept boys and the alien blondies who join them. It's sort of "unique" to find something different and ironic about the rest. But then again this year has certainly been showy, but has been following a theme of irony. At least from my part.
Same rules apply from last year: I'm giving my opinion to what I saw this year and glanced at at others. For some I saw the whole thing and others the 3 episode rule. I'll even include Sentai and tokusatsu; Yes it may seem cheating, but it's worth to give them a chance. Who knows, you might like something you see. Also note that some of these shows are either readily available at your participating streaming sites or licensed. Check your regularly updated website to see which got picked. Here's the lineup from last year:
Papa no Iukoto o Kikinasai! (Listen to me girls, I'm your father) - 19 year old Yuuta Segawa just entered college as a freshmen at the literature department of Tama University, which is a big thing for him. Until a few years ago, Yuuta lived with his sister Yuri who was the only motherly figure to him since their mom died while he was a kid and her in high school. Since then both of them lived together sharing a bond that only a mother and child can share. Enter Shingo Takanashi who went and married Yuri and had 2 kids from previous marriages, Miu and Sora as well as their own daughter 3 year old Hina. One day while on a trip Yuri and Shingo went missing and after 6 months were presumed dead. During their a quick funeral, Yuuta's relatives argued and debated over who gets custody over the 3 girls. Yuuta jumps at the call and says that he will take care of them to which his aunt vehemently refuses. So Yuuta takes the girls to live with him, but juggling a college life, raising 3 girls, and a job shouldn't be that hard for him would it? Would it?
When I first saw the title, I instantly thought of this. Secondly I heard about this through an article that this series was one of those banned titles according to media hater and Former Governor Shintaro Ishihara. The reason why is because of some fear of incest overtones and loli fanservice that this would be made into a raunchy fanservice harem. Well, cast your fears aside because the anime adaptation averts for the most part the incest and most of the raunchiness of the light novel and turns it into a very sweet family drama. If this had an equivalent it would kind of be like Full House, you know, except done right. There were times where I felt some paternal pang kick in. It wasn't the moe kind either, but more of the "I feel sorry for them, I wish I could help." If I had an award for most adorably cute 3 year old it would go straight to Hina. Even though she's polite and cute as a button, she retains her innocence despite the complications that Uncle Yuuta and her family struggles with. There was one scene where she was yelled at by the landlady when Hina called her Auntie. Geez lady! You don't yell at a 3 year old because of your age! Not cool! There were other times that I didn't really feel much for the supporting cast. There wasn't much about Shingo that I knew other than this guy who married Yuri and had Miu and Sora. Raika is my favorite of the cast because she's so wacky and deadpan, but also very loving and supportive of the girls. You can tell she can be a motherly type that is lacking thereof in the Takanashi family. Sako himself creeped me out in the whole, "cause I like young girls, that's why." motif and is there just for comedy relief and getting hit with a fan by Raika. Papa no Iukoto o Kikinasai! is currently licensed by Sentai Filmworks and available to stream on Crunchyroll.
Baby, please kill me! - Sonya is an assassin, Yasuna is her not so smart friend, they go to school together. There's also a Ninja named Agiri. They have wacky jokes and adventures together. That's it. Yeah, I can't help but find this show harmless. If you are familiar with a Boke Tsukomi style humor this is kind of it. Yasuna says something stupid, Sonya retaliates and Yasuna says a punchline. Agiri is there as a Ninja who looks like she's stoned or something. Wait, wasn't there another character? Aw who cares, she's not important anyway. I'd give it a shot. Sure the show is inane, but then again it was kind of a slow winter anyway. Kill me Baby is currently unlicensed. Also note, the dance at the ending sequence is catchy.
Nisemonogatari - The black swindler Kaiki Deishu, who once deceived Hitagi returns to town and spreads the incantation which cursed Nadeko before. Koyomi's sisters, Tsukihi and Karen Araragi try to capture Deishu, but... I'll be honest, this show freaked out initially. Why? Toothbrush. Then I sat down to watch the rest of the show and, it's an acquired taste. If you know Studio Shaft, you know they like to use very obtuse and symbolic imagery to tell a story. Their raison d'etre is the use of the tilted neck and almost everyone does it excessively. But I'm sure you know this show from a certain scene involving a brother, a sister and a toothbrush. It's alright, but it's no Bakemonogatari. This makes Escher look like he took happy pills. Currently Aniplex of America secured the rights to Bakemonogatari so it's inevitable that Nise will be taken by them. You can watch both Bakemonogatari and Nisemonogatari on Crunchyroll.
Bodacious Space Pirates - It's Female Pirates in space, what more do you want? Sentai Filmworks has it and it's available to watch on the Anime Network. Give it a shot!
Upotte! - You know how there's a show about girls with guns? Well what if there was a show about girls named AFTER guns? That's Upotte in a nutshell. It's ok. You can catch Upotte! on Crunchyroll and Sentai Filmworks has their hands on it.
Gakkatsu - Eh... I don't know what to make of this short flash style few minute series of shorts where they debate over strange and random topics. That's it really.
Sankarea - Chihiro isn't very likable upon first glance. He loves all things zombies and undead. But he lives with his dad who is a Shinto priest, and her sister is named Mero (Get it? George Romero?) One day he finds a book and tries to make a revival potion because of his obsession to have a zombie girlfriend and to revive his dead cat. Enter Rea who is going through some emotional issues involving her dad and her bitchy mom. I'm talking daddy taking nude photos of her daughter on her birthday issues. Rea and Chihiro talk and chat it up in an abandoned bowling alley. When her dad finds out she's been sneaking out, he confronts her on the side of a cliff next to her mansion, accidentally knocks her off a cliff and Rea dashes her body on a stalagmite. Soon Rea gets up and Chihiro realizes she drank his zombie potion and is now a zombie. Chihiro is ecstatic about this, but soon he will realize that having an undead girl in your house isn't exactly the fun idea. Basically boy meets zombie girlfriend. Let's not mince words here, the pacing is slow as hell. What makes up the sluggish pacing is the development of the cast as you really feel sorry for Rea and the shit she went through, especially her dad who is supposed to be a sympathetic antagonist but just comes off as a really mentally unstable father who is obsessed with preserving his daughter's "purity". The ending is kinda weak as it ends on a cliffhanger, but if it sets the mood right and gives Wanko an excuse to wear more daisy dukes, you're in for an ok time. Funimation has Sankarea and you can check it out on Funimation's site as well as Hulu is the place to be to watch it. Give it a shot, it's kinda romantic in a sort of way.
Tsuritama - In Enoshima, Yuki is a transfer student who's is socially inept at making friends due to his poor communication skills. Haru is a self proclaimed alien who decides to teach Yuki to fish. Natsuki is an irritable born-and-raised local, and Akira is a mysterious Indian who watches them from a distance. These four meet, fish, and find big adventures on their little island. The best thing I can think of with Tsuritama is a Japanese branch of military consisting of men in rubber suits armed with overpowered blow dryers and an alien kid forcibly evacuating an entire island with a squirt gun and oil tankers and ships suddenly appearing on shore with yellow tanks from an organization named duck and... In short, this is psychedelic. It has a certain charm to be taken completely seriously and not so seriously. Also, a duck named Tapioca sitting at a table while men in black guard it while it has lunch with an Indian in front of a group of tourist. I quite like it. Sure it took a while to understand what was going on, but once everything made more sense, it got better and keeps you at the edge of your seat towards the finale. I would watch it again if I wasn't afraid to check if my Gatorade wasn't spiked again. You catch it on Crunchyroll and Sentai may bring it to DVD. I'd get it if I were you. Sometimes, an odd one in the bunch isn't bad.
Mysterious Girlfriend X - Speaking of oddballs! Here's a premise you probably seen before: Boy meets girl, girl drools on desk, boy tastes girl's drool (wait what?), boy finds it sweet, boy has fever over drool, girl finds boy and sticks her drool finger into boys mouth, they start an odd relationship. If you cast aside your fears and cringe past the whole drool aspect, it's actually a very sweet romantic comedy. What's also strange is that the show's animation style kind of reminds you of an late 90s, early 2000s style anime, but it was made in 2012. Now I may not be the right guy to give this a proper review, so here's someone who did. Crunchyroll has it, Sentai has it and there's some talk about how it might come to DVD soon. If you can look past the premise, it might be decent.
Polar Bear Cafe - It's about a Polar Bear who owns a cafe that serves animals and humans! Why aren't you watching this now?! It's on Crunchyroll! Watch it!
Persona 4 the Animation - I'm adding this in because it was airing at the time, but I didn't discover it till after I played the game. I wrote something about the show and to repeat myself, it's P4Outstanding. You don't have to have played the game prior to enjoy this. In fact, it's exactly like the game... minus the level grinding. Sentai has it out on DVD right now and Part 2 will come out Janurary 15, 2013. It's also available on the Anime Network. Get it now, you are in for a real treat. Oh and pick up P4Golden for the Playstation Vita while your at it? It's out now as well. Ooh, and Persona 4 Arena. And there's a true story and a movie. They're all are great! Now has never been a better time to fall in love with the game.
Haiyore! Nyaruko-san Nyaruko saves a boy who is being chased by aliens. Parodies ensue. In case you haven't figured out by now, Nyaruko is basically an Nyarlathotep alien and that has a link to Cthulu. It's not really my cup of tea, but I'm sure you'll like it. Watch it on Crunchyroll.
Natsuiro Kiseki - This is a story of 4 girls who spend their last summer together. Natsumi and Saki had a falling out and it's revealed that Saki is transferring to another schools. Yuka and Rinko try to help them make up so they go to a rock and wish on it. Next thing you see is them flying. This might be a summer they never forget. I'm sorry. I wanted to continue this, but I couldn't keep up. The furthest I've gotten was when the 4 girls switched bodies. Saki was in Natsumi's body and Yuka was in Rinko's body. After some suggestive positions that Natsumi and Saki were in they go look for the other two to wish themselves back into their own bodies. That's it. It was a Freaky Friday episode. Supposedly this show is voiced by the 4 four girls who form the band Sphere. It's alright, but not entirely not the kind of show I watch. It's unlicensed at the moment. But I'd still try to find it and give it a look.
Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger - Space Pirate Rangers! What more do you need? Oh, it's the 35th show in the series and you are going to bring back the past 35 Super Sentai to stop an evil empire from taking over the world to collect the bounty on the Space Pirates? Well, count me in! This was a breath of fresh air as this was the first time outside of Samurai Sentai Shinkenger that I actually got hooked on watching this show. And besides, it's the 35 anniversary. Let's let loose and have fun doing it! But wait, there's more! A crossover with the 40 Kamen Riders and Tokumei Sentai Gobusters? And a movie featuring all 35 rangers at once? Oh boy! This going to be extremely showy! Yeah, I think you can tell I loved this show. It's space pirate rangers and it's about making things showy, but finding the grandest treasure on earth. This was pretty rad.
Hikōnin Sentai Akibarenjā - The first unofficial super sentai that is a parody but also seriously a super sentai. Hell, Kamen Rider G was real and that was unofficial, why not give sentai one? It seriously was a bundle of laughs and I was really at the edge of my seat just laughing.
Kankyou Choujin Ecogainder - Oh, I can hear the sentai fanboys freaking out! A super hero that fights the evils of polution. At least it has Masaaki Endoh singing the opening. What else is there to say than the lady who looks like a Doronjo look-alike is from AKB48. Just watch the opening.
Jinrui wa Tsuitai Shimashita aka Declining Man. I wrote about my first impressions about it here. Upon further review, I loved it for bearing it's fangs on social commentary and that it really hits home to how humanity went into disarray and the how each of the mini arcs had something to do with Watashi. There's even a jab at Marimite that outright creeped me out. I pretty much liked this one the most of the summer. Sure it may be a little too talkative, but it really hits home with the connection the fairies have with the pink haired Female I. Sentai has it and is planning a DVD release. You can also watch it on Crunchyroll. Did I mention a suicidal robot loaf of bread? I need not say more.
Joshiraku - Traditional Japanese stand up comediennes shooting the shit and joking around. I thought it was kinda funny. A little culture lesson from yours truly, Japan has a different way of story telling and comedy. In the traditional sense, you have a rakugoka who sits in front of the audience using a fan and a cloth as props to tell some farce story that has 2 or more characters who are differentiated by pitch and tone. The only thing missing from that is those silly sounds you hear in the transition from Seinfeld. It's pretty good at quick paced puns and jokes, but it will fall on deaf ears if you are not familiar with Japanese comedy. Plus, one of the characters is named after a drink. Joshiraku is unlicensed at the moment. Gee, I wonder why.
Yuruyuri♪♪ The second season of Yuruyuri and in my opinion one of the most super homoerotic shows I've ever seen. It makes Cho Aniki look straight. Cute girls doing cute things, except you find more ways to get them into wacky hijinx. For example, did you know that some girls will go crazy and start kissing other girls, including their own sister if they eat too much chocolate? There were times that I actually got creeped out at Chinatsu. Not because she's incredibly horny for Yui, but the fact that her drawings are... avant garde. I'm sorry, I can't help but find this to be a guilty pleasure and that some people might not like Yuruyuri. Though some may have questioned me to why I ask that the show tone down the yuri overtones when yuri is in the freaking title. Plus, the opening is kinda cute. Right now, it's only available on Crunchyroll.
Kamen Rider Wizard - The 41st Rider series, Haruto is a modern day wizard who saves people from turning into monsters by way of losing themselves to guilt. If a human loses to guilt, they turn into a monster. Luckily, with the magic of elemental rings and a group of a supporting cast including a cop, an aspiring magician known unofficially as Goober, a ring maker who makes rings out of magic stones, and a doll, Haruto fights against the Phantoms to prevent evil from rising from the depths of one's soul. There's a running gag about Haruto eating donuts, and sometimes excessive mugging of the camera. The donut thing kind of makes sense because Haruto has to eat sweets to gain energy, or is there something deeper about the donuts than I am leading on. I would give it a shot. Just be prepared to hear please and fabulous a lot.
Unfortunately at the time of this writing, I haven't had time to follow the Autumn lineup due to time constraints. However, I did find Hidamari Sketch Honeycomb interesting. I saw the opening of Chūni-byō Demo Koi ga Shitai! and this came to mind.
And with that those are my recommendations for this year. It's certainly been interesting this year. If you have any recommendations that I didn't talk about here, feel free to leave a comment about it below. Next up is movies, because there have been some interesting movies that I actually took the time to see. Stay tuned for that.
