What you should be watching this season (Spring 2013)

Slim pickings once again
Full list here

New Shows

Shingeki no Kyojin
(Attack on Titan)

Looking like anime of the season if it keeps this pace up.
Mankind faces extinction from the titans, who are equal parts creepy as shit, and fucking badass (like this guy above). This show looks set to bring some strong character development along with some fantastic action scenes. Give episode 1 a try and see how you feel.
Oh, it also has the best opening this season

Suisei no Gargantia
(Gargantia on the verdurous planet)



I've yet to really enjoy a mecha anime, but this seems pretty ready to convert me. Visually stunning and with lots of lasers if you are into that sort of thing.

Hataraku Maou-sama!
(The devil is a Part-timer!)

Demon lord ends up on earth... working part time at a fast food joint.
Is a comedy for now, though something tells me it might mingle amongst other genre's later on, the comedy is pretty solid however.

Hentai ouji to warawanai neko
(The perverted prince and the stony cat)

A fun, if slightly juvenile comedy with its fair share of flat chest jokes, the female main character is moe to the fucking max. This show gets a recommendation almost purely for its adorable female lead, but the MC is quirky and pretty original as well (for the type of show that it is).

Sequel Tier:

Ore no imouto Ga Konna ni kawaii wake ga nai 2
(My little sister can't be this cute 2)

A second season if 'My little sister can't be this much of a bitch', Kirino maintains her 7 tablespoons 'tsun' to 1 teaspoon 'dere'. For fans only tbh as this seems to be leaning weaker than the first season.

Toaru Kagaku no Railgun S
(A certain scientific Railgun S)

I enjoyed the first season of Railgun despite not watching the related 'A certain magical index', season 2 seems to have grown up a little since its last appearance, and I'm thankful for it.

Meh Tier:

Haiyore! Nyaruko-san W (Nyaruko-san 2)
A disappointment, I rated the first season a 7, but this s2 is off to a very bad start.
edit. 3 episodes in and i've dropped it. Fucking awful.

Yahari ore no seishun love come wa machigatteiru (My teen romantic comedy SNAFU)
Holds both a terrible title, and terrible content. Unlikable main characters and generally unentertaining premise have made me drop this one.


There are loads of other shows I didn't even bother checking the first episode of due to bad reviews, low ratings and so on. The most promising ones of those I havent seen look like 'Aku no Hana', 'Devil Survivor 2' and maybe 'Date a live' I guess? You'll have to get someone else's opinion for those though.

What you should be watching this season (Winter 2012)

Not too many good shows this season, so this'll probably be quick.
Full list here

New Shows:

Maoyuu

Its almost like watching an anime based around playing Civilization V, the jist of the plot is a hero goes to kill the demon lord - who then convinces the hero that the war effort is necessary for the economy of the country because the kingdom is currently united against the demons. They then go about trying to fix the economy by travelling and helping towns/villages with their problems (food shortage, etc)
Its a weird show, and it has its own binges of rom-com mixed in occasionally, but on the whole it seems a decent enough watch.

Tamako Market

Tamako Market is this seasons Kyoani release (studio behind K-ON and last seasons Chuunibyou), it shows through its moeblob animation style, gentle pacing, and its 'nothing ever actually happens in this show' plot. Regardless however, its a comedy involving cute girls doing cute things - accompanied by an obese talking bird. Its entertaining enough to warrant a look.

Kotoura San

Im pretty on the fence with Kotoura-San, it had a pretty strong opening episode but as we're going into episode 3 im not quite sure how I feel about it.
Kotoura is a girl who effortlessly reads minds, interestingly however the show has gone in the direction of portraying it as a curse rather than a gift, focusing on the hardships of being outcast for not being normal. The show tries to balance it out with some cheap comedy and what looks like the beginning of a love story but its anyone's guess how I'll feel about this show come episode 10.
For now however, its probably worth keeping an eye on (and hell, i've got to blog something.)

Sequels:

Haganai Next
Boku wa tomodachi ga sukunai Next / I dont have many friends 2

If you liked the first season, you'll probably like this. If you haven't seen the first season, and want a non serious love polygon comedy with quirky characters (a goth loli, a nun, a pervert scientist, a bimbo who plays eroge, a cross-dresser and a bully) then check out season 1

Upgraded from last WYSBW Tier:

Sakurasou

I didn't have particularly strong feelings for this one after 2 episodes when I did my last WYSBW, but after getting to know the characters better (and watching them know their characters better) I can say that Sakurasou is one of the better shows currently airing, and was one of the better shows last season as well. Its a plot driven love polygon comedy, and I cant help but feel half the fun comes from rooting for your favourite character in the polygon. #TeamAoyama
It was revealed it was a 2-cour, so this will be airing until the end of the season at least probably.

Mediocre Tier:

Oreshura
aka. Ore no Kanojo to Osananajimi ga Shuraba Sugiru / My girlfriend and childhood friend fight too much

Yeah, with a title like that...
Not sure how I feel about this one yet, seems pretty mediocre, but its such a dismal season for anime i'll probably end up watching it anyway.
A hot girl forms a fake relationship to prevent other guys from hitting on her, and then the childhood friend gets involved...

Top 10 of 2012 : Anime

#10 - Sword Art Online
Just barely beating out the honourable mentions is SAO, which had an incredible first few episodes and generally good first arc, but then the second arc started to become a little bit shit, and the ending was admittedly pretty bad. However the first arc was strong enough to carry the rest of it into my top 10. Had it kept going at the first arc for the whole 25 episodes this would probably rank much higher.


#9 - Lupin 3rd : The Woman Called Fujiko Mine
Highly stylized self contained episodes worked in this show's favour, and reminded me how badly we need more shows like Cowboy Bebop and Samurai Champloo. This is a great standalone watch even for those completely unfamiliar with the Lupin 3rd series.


#8 - Psycho Pass
One of the more serious shows on this list, Psycho-pass is an interesting gritty take on the sci-fi police detective genre. Still only half way through the season as its a 2-cour but it has convinced me enough in 11 episodes to make it onto my top 10 of the year.


#7 - Sakurasou
Guilty pleasure of the year, with a formula and story which seems unoriginal and almost out of a newgrounds dating sim, this show somehow still manages to tick enough boxes to be a very entertaining 13 episode watch.


#6 - Chuunibyou demo koi ga shitai
Emotional rollercoaster, from straight comedy to romantic comedy, to romantic drama, to drama and all the way back. A good watch all the way, and very moeeee~


#5 - Danshi Koukousei no Nichijou

Schoolboy sketch show comedy, hit and miss jokes, but the hits can pack some serious punch (also, literary girl is the best background character this year)


#4 - Yuru Yuri 2

Still holds the award for most entertaining 'pointless schoolgirls doing fuckall' shows.

#3 - Binbougami Ga!


Fantastic comedy all the way through, brainless as fuck and with lots of needless fanservice, but i'll be damned if that ever stopped me from enjoying a show. Very lovable characters who get some good development as the show goes on.


#2 - Waiting in the summer

Lighthearted romantic comedy featuring an alien, with some not so lighthearted extra relationship drama thrown in. A few bumps here and there, but a great watch overall.

#1 - Kids on the slope

An amazing drama from start to finish, Friendships and relationships are formed and crushed, and the climax half way through features one of the best moments in anime.


Honourable Mentions: Another, Kokoro Connect, Tonari No Kaibutsu, Jojo's Bizarre Adventure Phantom Blood, Spaces Brothers (which has been consistently good all the way through, but runs at a slower pace than the others)

A summary of everything i've watched in 2012, red blocks are shows uncompleted/dropped half way, green blocks are shows finished. 

What you should be watching this season (Autumn 2012)

New Shows:

Psycho Pass

A future world where law enforcers can arrest/kill individuals based on their likelihood of committing a crime in the future, and the law enforcers are criminals themselves. Im enjoying this one mostly for the universe it has been set in, where you can change outfits at the press of a button, and your future can be dictated to you by the system. Its a slow moving action sci-fi with great art. Also gore if you get shot in the arm by one of those enforcer guns...

Tonari no Kaibutsu Kun (My little monster)

This is my personal favourite of the season by a landslide.
Romantic comedy with a very lovable cast of characters. not really much else to say here, Romantic comedies are pretty standard in their method but this one is well executed. Also an amazing Ska intro.

Jojo's Bizarre Adventure

Follows the first series of manga (the phantom blood arc), Its fucking Jojo vs Dio at its best, the art style is pretty cool in that it goes all manga style every now and then. The anime thankfully skips most of the boring stuff in the manga and condenses it mostly into the first episode, bare this in mind if you start watching in that the first episode is pretty boring but necessary to establish Dio as a complete asshole. I've read this arc in the manga and the action is going to keep ramping up until people are setting their hands the fuck on fire and punching through people.

Robotics;Notes

Another season, another school club. This time the robotics club in their attempt to build GUNVARREL, a giant robot, to enter into a competition. Seems pretty slow starting for now but is very watchable. This is also from the same writers as Chaos;Head and Steins;Gate, both of which contain some ridiculous twists as the series goes on, its been revealed in episode 2 of robo;notes that the main girl suffers from a syndrome where occasionally 5 minutes will pass by in a second for her - so something tells me shit is going to get crazy later on.

Suki-tte ii na yo (Say I love you)

A Romantic drama, which seems to be progressing pretty damn fast with confessions flying by 2nd episode, which is a nice change of pace for anyone who watches these sort of series (for comparison in Kimi ni todoke I think it took a 26 episode season). Its a decent watch so far, although the central male in this seems like kind of a rapist. This one is mostly a serious show, so if you want something more lighthearted watch Tonari no kaibutsu (above) instead.

Those fucking eyes.

Chuunibyou demo koi ga shitai
Regardless of my adolescent delusions, I want a date!

Moeblob of the season, from the studio that made K-on I believe. A comedy which reminds me a little of haruhi, with a straight man and a girl who is obviously high as hell. A fun watch if you can stomach the moeeeee~
Also, she has an eyepatch, because people are into that apparently.

Sequels:

Hidamari Sketch Honeycomb (S4)
Season 4 of hidamari apartments, if you've watched any of the previous seasons  you know what to expect, if you havent, and want a very chill slice of life comedy, check out the previous 3 seasons first.
When I started watching from S1 I finished all 3 seasons in 3 months (that is to say, it was good enough for me to come back for more)

Bakuman S3
Its Baku again. Still good. This is the one that was originally based on a manga about making manga.


'Okay' Tier:

Zetsuen No Tempest 
Semi-generic battle style anime, watch magical talismans. Guy trying to avenge his dead sister. Its okay. I'm probably going to stop watching this after watching episode 3 this morning.

The Pet Girl of Sakurasou
Comedy about.... Honestly I've watched 2 episodes and i dont have a clue what im watching. Its not bad, but its not very memorable either

Shin Sekai yori (from the new world)
From a future world where people have esper like abilities, bad students get murdered? Or something? Its okay. I've stopped watching though.


Hot Garbage Tier:

Onii-chan dakedo ai sae areba kankei nai yo ne!
Anything with onii-chan in the name is generally trash, this reaffirms.

Hayate no gotoku: Cant take my eyes off you
A reboot of a series which used to be good. Watch the original instead of this crap.

Btoom!
Guy gets sucked into a desert island which is also a call of duty 4 server, that is to say, everyone its battle royale and everyone has grenades.

K
Fuck knows what this is. Watched 2 episodes and I want my 45 minutes back.

What you should be watching this season (Summer 2012 Anime roundup )

I realise this post comes a little late as we're just over half way through the season, but its at this point where you can say for sure you are enjoying a series - in that, if you don't actively want to continue watching it, it probably wasn't any good to begin with...

Not much good showing this season, but here is what you should be watching...

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New Shows:

Binbougami Ga!

About a girl full of luck, and a god of misfortune trying to steal it from her. The show obviously doesnt quite play out like that though, and quickly just turns into a character driven comedy - which probably works out for the better as the characters are all pretty entertaining (a bitch, a god, a masochist dog, a pervert priest, and more as the show goes on).
The show (as can be seen in the picture) is also full of references to other shows, which is usually amazing.

Sword Art Online

aka. Gamers dream.
New MMO comes out, you jack into it matrix style, then the developer turns out to be peter molyneux and he has disabled the quit button. Everyone is trapped in the game, you die in the game, you die in the real world. The only way out is to beat the game.
The anime follows kirito, the black swordsman, who, like your typical tryhard gamer - solo's through the game and becomes overleveled and powerful as fuck. Its a great watch.

Other good shows:

Space brothers - Which you should still be watching from last season.

Yuru Yuri 2 - Sequel, more of the same, if you enjoy schoolgirl comedy you should check out the first season and then watch this as well. Its one of the funnier ones imo.

Almost worth watching tier:

Humanity has declined - bit too boring, confusing and nonsensical

Kokoro Connect - Very watchable, but I'm not sure if id recommend it.

The ambition of Oda Nobuna - Again, very watchable, but not really good enough to recommend. I think a lot of people would find it boring.

Not even worth hyperlinking tier:

Tari Tari, Total Eclipse, Nakaimo, H Dekinai, Arcana Famiglia
All of which are complete trash. Moyashimon 2 probably goes in this tier as well, but I didnt give it more than 1 episode because it bored me so much.