The Season So Far...

[Krozam]

My self-control failed, I just had to check out the first episode of Usagi Drop. Looks like a good adaptation, already the first ep almost made me tear up. The only thing bothering me is one of Daikichi's lines missing around the part where he decides to take care of Rin. I was kinda looking forward to that particular line. Still, looking like the best of the season indeed.

[Hanover Fist]

After weeks of Portal & Portal 2 replays taking much of my time I'm finally starting on this season's backlog. I've started watching and liking Ikoku Meiro no Croisée a bit. It's a visual and atmospheric show with a lot of it's attraction in the detailed visuals. The setting is nicely different in the late 1800s Paris. The depictions of the dual culture shock between Parisian and Japanese culture is also interesting. Not much action so far (through ep.4) so for me it's something to watch in large chunks when the mood is right.

[Hanover Fist]

Now that we're into the fall season, here's what I'll be watching. What about you?

Definitely
Boku ha Tomodachi ga Sukunai has a pretty art style (like a successor to Denpa Onna), but the plot is more interesting so far. I find the instant hatred between the two characters funny.
Fate Zero Certainly.
Guilty Crown is looking awesome. I love Production IG and the complex story so far.
Mirai Nikki: Yeah, this just moved from probable to definite after Ep1. The preview had faded from my mind, but Future Survivor is now in the forefront of the creepy as fuck category. 
Shakugan no Shana III another one for completionism.
Shinryaku! Ika Musume s2 is as fun as the first season so far.
Steins;Gate OVA whenever it's released
UN-GO This one snuck up on me, but it's looking intriguing, Meiji era detective stories recast in the near future.
Usagi Drop OVA (Oct 28 on BD1)
(and of course The Big Bang Theory s4 and Dexter s6 for my non-anime awesome).

Probably
Bakuman II is interesting enough for me to follow. No grand sweeping plot, but I like the insight into the manga world.
Beelzebub remains fun brainless humor. I'm not expecting much except for a few laughs.
C³ looked like it was going to be a typical fanservice based on Ep1 but got a lot more interesting with Ep2's darker plot.
Chihayafuru looks to be interesting, doing a game-based show in a good way, like Hikaru no Go.
Last Exile s2 is a faint but good memory, so I'll give s2 a shot.
Phi Brain is promising. The puzzle or die aspect isn't overdone.
Sket Dance is another light show I watch when the rest of the week's offerings are done.
Towa no Quan film series: I liked the first two, and I'll see how #s 3-6(?) go.

Maybe - the list is getting long, I may have to drop or wait/marathon some of these.
Bento I've watched the first episode and I'll give it one more. Another battle show. I'll see how it goes.
Kimi to Boku is interesting in how the friends don't really get along that well, much like reality. Worth watching a few more.
Maji de Watashi ni Koi Shinasai still has me curious after the first couple episodes. A battle-harem in the making?
Maken Ki reminds me a lot of Freezing but not so sadistic, I figure I shouldn't expect much outside of fanservice from this one. I might give it another ep, but there are too many battle shows already this season.
Mashiro-Iro Symphony it looks OK. Some suspension of disbelief is necessary with the catball pet - not quite reality.
Working!! Like s1, I'm not archiving this, but it's keeping me entertained for at least the one watch.

Dropped
Kyoukai Senjou no Horizon Dropped. Couldn't make it through the second ep. As one reviewer said, it's like you're dropped into episode 5 with no backstory.

[Krozam]

Doesn't seem like a very interesting season to me. Mirai Nikki is a must watch, but otherwise, I'm only mildly interested in anything. Boku wa Tomodachi seems pretty entertaining based on the first ep, and I'm a fan of Sena's character design (not that the other girls weren't pretty). Mashiro-iro seems okay - likely nothing more than just another romance VN adaptation, but I happen to like those, and the first ep left me wanting more. Maji de first ep isn't to my liking at all, requires way too much suspension of disbelief, but in honour of They Are My Noble Masters (the original VN's are from the same company), I must give it another ep. C³ first ep was moderately interesting, I'll give it at least one more ep.

F/Z will probably be worth a watch, but right now I have no interest, so I'll probably wait till it's complete. Maken-ki manga is actually kinda entertaining, I've read a dozen or so chapters, so I'll give the anime a try. And of course, I'll continue watching NuraMago S2.

[Chadwicke]

Based on my loose standards, this season is quite interesting. My list is too short for now because I've only watched a bit of this season, but I reckon this list will get even longer than last quarter's. Also based on the number of comments, suggestions and violent reactions, I'm sure I'll pick up more than I can watch so many of these I expect to watch only after they finish airing.

Watch every week:

Maji de Watashi ni Koi Shinasai - My #1 show so far - yeah, I'm weird like that. I really like the protagonist's wise and moderated confidence in his skills and flaws - he knows what he can and can not do. Greatly promising according to my weird standards, and also, I admit I'm a fan of harems. This would be my new weekly dose of action-comedy.

Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai - Have not yet watched ep 1 but I was instantly taken in by the Preview. No doubt about it, I'll watch this week per week. It's also been taken up by Doki, so that's definitely a plus.

Guilty Crown - Peer pressure urged me to research and it piqued my interest pretty quickly while reading about it.

C3 - Would be my new weekly dose of cutesy comedy.

Nurarihyon no Mago Sennen Makyou - Continued from last quarter.

Watch when completed:

Fate Zero - Of course.

Mashiroiro Symphony - I really like Seinen Drama/Romance, as most of them does not hold back the story; it becomes cruel where it needs to be cruel, it portrays sex where sex needs to be, etc. Sometimes I get tired of those Shonen innuendoes.


List to be updated later, as I'm really delayed this season. I need to watch more.

[Krozam]

Maji de might actually be worth watching if not for Momoya, who annoys the hell out of me. Reminds me of Shinra from KimiAru, but Shinra had enough depth that I eventually came to like her, and she wasn't such a broken and bitchy character even in the beginning. The beginning scene of the second ep is damn hilarious, but then there's a long period of utter boredom, until near the end it picks up and shows some interesting plot development. I might watch one more episode to see if anything comes of the interesting plot development right away, but I don't know...

C³ ep 2 turned out to be quite interesting towards the end of the ep. I'll watch further.

I'll be following Maken-ki. The first ep was quite well adapted. Also, the battle music is surprisingly good. The second ep went way overboard with the (unfortunately low quality) ecchi, though. -.-' The next ep should be much more interesting.

Mashiro-iro ep 2 has too many misunderstaning situations for my taste, but otherwise it's quite good. I like how the protagonist is somewhat more enterprising than the average harem lead and actively seeks to improve his circumstances. Also, according to his sister he's actually "good with girls". A bad lead character is what usually spoils a harem romance, but this guy seems quite promising, he's neither useless nor boring.

Boku wa Tomodachi ep 2 is another fairly good episode. Kodaka is a bit too much of a pushover, but otherwise it's quite fun to watch - and the girls' character designs are, after all, very beautiful. Too bad the dialogue is nowehere near Denpa Onna's level, only the art.

Mirai Nikki... Well, I expected it to be good, and I have no complaints about the first ep. Yuno is awesome.

[Chadwicke]

Ben-Tou actually piqued my interest this week. Yes, it's silly fighting for packed lunches but the characters and their relationships with each other are becoming quite the focus here. It's also the first time in a long time that I found physical abuse of the MC by a female character very funny and amusing. This one is now included in my watch every week list. Ben-tou kinda reminded me of Highschool of the Dead because I'm kinda like "wow, that's so cool of him/her" for most of the characters.

Maji de Watashi ni Koi Shinasai's Miyako attracted me and made me more hooked to the show, while Mayu weirded me out a bit because of the overused horsey – other than that she's also quite cute. Then I'm bombarded by Mayu fans and now I think I'm the weird one. I swear it's just the horsey that bothers me; I admire her during battle and her cute reaction when praised. Fair enough, Mayu fans? Hehehe. The censorship is starting to bother me though. Freaking horsey... again.

Cubed Cutthroat Cutie (C3) grabbed a small bite of Blood-C gore and it became more interesting.

Guilty Crown started strong, but at the end of episode 2, it is in danger of losing its momentum. Also, we all know that most series that start too strong end up like "meh, it was okay." Still worth following because of the female protagonist, who is definitely one of my type. Confidence is just oozing out of that hot chic.

[Haxton Fale]

Ben-To turned out great. At first I was kinda put off because of Shiraume (after reading through Infinite Stratos, this kind of girl is a bit tiring), but then ep3 makes the show worth it. And there's a completely new level of fanservice, which makes it the more interesting.

C³ looks fine too. I have yet to watch ep4, but at first there's good comedy with loli with screens in her eyes (heck, these icons were good), and after that a good fight. Looks like it's going a good way, and I hope they'll still keep some comedy.

Fate/Zero is probably the first TV adaptation of Nasuverse series, which is faithful to the original. Great looks with TYPE-MOON's original style, although some things were omitted (at the beginning of his summoning we already get to know one of his crest's abilities).

Maji de Watashi ni Koi Shinasai gets better with each ep. At first a great battle and some Momoyo. Then some more fine battling, and moar Momoyo. Eps 3 and 4 have a great deal of service, which makes me want to wait for BDs, since I don't have time for re-watching. Also, the best ep4 ever - for about a half of it Chris is standing stark naked on Yamato, when he's trying to convince her it's good to be seen the way she is now. And I found out that Momoyo likes girls. The only bad thing about this show is somewhat crazy censorship.

Mashiroiro Symphony is a case similar to Shiraume from Ben-To, but a lot lighter - Shingo's got lots of bad luck, Sena's not violent and there's also nora-maid and Miu. Seems like there'll be a lot more dere, so...

Shakugan no Shana Final started off at least strangely, with no explanation (these never were a strong point of this series). I've heard it makes some sense in novels, but not here. I'll probably watch it till the end to see what happens due to sentiment.

Morita-san wa Mukuchi, Shinryaku!? Ika Musume, Working'!! and Tamayura ~hitotose~ are good as expected; a bunch of amusing sequels, without any traces of disappointment.

[lolpopoi]

For the season, Steins;Gate was the greatest of all in my opinion. Now waiting for the new winter animes (cross your fingers for HOTD Season 2!!)

[Hanover Fist]

Fall shows that differed a lot from my first impressions:

Plus:
Ben-To - despite it's silly premise, it became a must-watch-every-week show. The show did a great job of not taking itself seriously. I still chuckle at how Satou lives up to his wolf name.
Chihayafuru is another that shot to the top of my To Watch list: A cute and sweet show that focuses on the characters rather than the odd poem-based card game of Karuta. Almost as cute as Usagi Drop.

Minus:
Guilty Crown I'll still watch the rest of this as it airs, but the initial shininess has faded into cliche.
Phi Brain was interesting for a few episodes but became tedious to me fast and I dropped it mid-season.

[Chadwicke]

I'm a bit delayed this season. Anyone care to give some 1st episode reviews so far?

Watching out for:
Nisemonogatari
High School DxD
Zero no Tsukaima F

[Hanover Fist]

I've barely started this season. I'll probably do a The more comprehensive post in a couple weeks, but... listing is below

High School DxD is this season's boobs show, but as one group put it "It has demon chicks." The first two eps have a more interesting plot than say Queen's Blade or Manyuu Hikenchou. I'm not expecting too much, but it's fun and I'll watch it.

Mouretsu Pirates is looking like a cool action show: Everyday girl learns that she's the heir to a space pirate's ship. Interesting and funny.

Natsume Yuujinchou s4 is holding up well to the other 3 seasons.

Nisemonogatari is looking quite similar to Bakemonogatari with some puzzling developments in the first ep.

Also, Random Curiosity is a great site for first impressions (and screencaps).


Winter shows I'm guaranteed to watch every week:
Amagami SS Plus - it will be interesting to see how well they can condense things into two episode arcs.
Ano Natsu de Matteru - while it has the vibe of a Please Teacher remake, it's fun and I'm loving it so far.
Chihayafuru - cute and interesting character driven continuation from last season.
High School DxD - yes, it's cheesy fan service, but entertaining so far. And that ED ... DAMN!
Mouretsu Pirates - has the relaxed feeling of a great show taking its time on the buildup.
Natsume Yuujin-Chou Shi - season four is looking good.
Finally, The Big Bang Theory over in live-action-land.

Probably:
Another - building up a nice creepy tension so far, more suspense than horror.
Black Rock Shooter - I've been waiting for this one since the OVA.
Brave 10 - good ninja fun.
Daily Lives of HS Boys - pretty stupid, but fracking hilarious slice of life show. Subdivided into micro-skits. Squid girl usually had three per ep while ep.2 of this one had eight.
Gokujyo - six minute short episodes, looking like a combo of goofy, funny and ecchi.
Guilty Crown - Ep 12 wrapped up a lot of things nicely, but we'll see if it escapes the land of cliche in the 2nd cour.
Inu x Boku SS - I'm impressed that the tsundere knows she needs to change. Funny so far.
Mirai Nikki - definitely more horror than suspense, creepy continuation from last season.
Nisemonogatari - I liked Bakemonogatari. So this one would be FakerStory? It's keeping my interest to date.
Zero no Tsukaima F - worth watching once. I liked the first three seasons, even if I didn't archive them.

Collect and marathon later:
Carnival Phantasm, Fate Zero, Last Exile-Fam, Shana III Final, The Walking Dead

Something's gotta give:
While I like all these to some extent, I don't have time to watch them all ... Area no Kishi, Bakuman II, Beelzebub, Kill Me Baby, Papa no lu Koto wo Kikinasai, Rinne no Lagrange, Sket Dance


So what are your picks?

[Hanover Fist]

So what are your picks for Spring?

There are fewer shows that really catch my attention. It's certainly a season of the abnormal: VR, zombies, ghosts, Lovecraft mythos - and my personal WTF Japan?! moment - moe assault rifles. Here are my plans for now (and edits).

Definitely:
Accel World - I wonder what kind of ulterior motives Snow Black has in mind? Looks good though. Ep 2 was good. Still promising.
Of course I need to finish the last Mirai Nikki ep. I didn't mention it before since it was virtually done.
Mouretsu Pirates - continuing the slow buildup from last season, I'm still liking it.

(click to show/hide)

It looks like we're finally going to see the yacht club on the Bentenmaru like the OP has been foreshadowing all this time.

Sankarea - while it's another on the zombie bandwagon, it looks shiny and original otherwise. But really - a zombie girlfriend fetish? Episode 2 gives a much darker tone to the story as well. I like it.
Tasogare Otome x Amnesia - nice art, interesting story, and I'm liking the humor of the one ditz who is oblivious to the ghost.
Finally I've got The Big Bang Theory and Game of Thrones on the non-anime front.

Probably:
Acchi Kochi - I hadn't planning on following it, but I'll give it a couple eps after the RandomC review. *watches ep.1*Cute so far and the nekomimi are used very well. *watches ep.2* Too cute and funny ... brain asplody! *moves from maybe to probably*
Kimi no Boku s2 - I liked the first season, a calmer (if more boring) Nichibros.
Haiyoru! Nyaruko-san - the flash shorts from last year were disappointing to me, but the anime is much more promising: A little Lovecraft, a goodly helping of fanservice, lots of humor along with some insanity.
Nazo no Kanojo X - A rather strange and kinky premise of being addicted to a girl's saliva. But the pacing is excellent and this is a great first role for Urabe's seiyuu.

(click to show/hide)

Also, they're dating in the first episode? No multi-episode indecision?! Nice! And I thought Ano Natsu moved fast.

Uchuu Kyoudai - With at least a year-long run it looks like this will take it's time. Reminiscent of Planetes and Moonlight Mile - favorites of mine - but I'm not a big fan of the animation and character designs so far.

Might follow, might drop:
Hyouka - I'm waiting to see what the first episodes bring.
Jormugand - very serious (and pretty action packed) anime. The intro & OP gave me a little deja vu for Black Lagoon. I'm undecided but leaning toward following it.
Lupin III/Fujiko Mine - the 70s character designs and music in the first ep put me off some. I don't know - I was never a big Lupin fan.
Medaka Box - I'll give it another episode or two but it might be an early drop.
Sengoku Collection - a good deal of cliche here, but the story shows some promise for humor.

Marathon Later: Eureka Seven Ao, Fate Zero s2 and Kore wa Zombie s2 - low priority for me. I'll get to them eventually.

Not for me:
I never got past ~3 eps of Area no Kishi and changed the perma-stall to dropped. Next, about a year each of Beelzebub & Sket Dance was enough for me. Last season they were "watch and delete"s. This season dropped. Finally, I broke my pack-rat habit and wrote off any chance I'd ever continue Bleach. I think I'd finished 40 or 50 eps years ago? That freed up 60+ gigs.
Phi Brain s2 - I dropped the first season after just a few eps.
Queen's Blade: Rebellion - boobs are great and all [HSDxD ], but I was never able to make it through more than a couple eps of the QB franchise.
Upotte! - I hoped there might be more comedy but it just left me with a creepy feeling after the first ep: Moe middle school girls who are really assault rifles having near orgasms/uncontrolled bursts of fire when visualizing the new teacher holding them.

[Haxton Fale]

Spring shows, eh?
I will definitely continue Mouretsu Pirates. While Marika sometimes has it too easy, the show is still brilliant. High school pirates in space - who needs more? Accel World enticed me with its preair, which is why I'll try to follow it further. For now it's considered a must-watch. Acchi Kocchi bought me during its first moments. Tsumiki surpasses nearly all moe I've ever seen, plus Hime and Mayoi being rather original. Haiyore! Nayrlko-san should explain a bit more of the universe, which was kinda skipped during the (rather amusing) flash animu. And I almost forgot about Kore wa Zombie desu ka? of the Dead, with ep1 fulfilling all my expectations about it. Poor Hiramatsu-san...

As for might continue part, I shall see about Medaka Box. I'm still not sure whether I like Medaka-chan, since she is the show's main issue, being kinda too perfect. Though all would be fine, if not for her attitude. I have also started Fate/Zero S2, which appears to be more dynamic than S1 and I hope it stays that way. Gun porn Upotte!! is... weird, and being produced by Xebec (dem noseless faces) does not help. High chances of dropping early. There is also Natsuiro Kiseki about middle school girls doing girly stuff and aiming for becoming idols. Why not? Especially with all these voices.

And it seems that my I don't think so list this season would be considerably longer. Sankarea, Nazo no Kanojo X... I might reconsider not watching Tasogare Otome x Amnesia though, since interesting summaries don't always mean interesting animu, and vice versa.

[Seiryuu]

Continuing from last season/long running.
Fairy Tail - and so we start a filler arc...sigh >.>
Hunter x Hunter - Seems like were going to have a recap ep every 13th ep...
Mirai Nikki - Waiting for the last ep and hoping they don't do what they did to the manga.
Moble Suit Gundam AGE - I gotta say this show started slow...but its getting better.  Also... so much angst!!!
Mouretsu Pirates - Still kind of slow but I'm still liking it.
Sket Dance - Eh no comment really. Its episodic comedy cant say much.

I've already watched 1 or more episodes from these series and I will continue following them.
Accel World - This was on my to watch list since I the announcement that Accel World and Sword Art Online (both are light novel series from the same author) were going to be animated. The AW novels have been on my to read list for a while but sadly the translation for them is going slowly. Anyways as for the 1st ep I rather enjoyed it and the preview for ep 2 is making me want more.
Acchi Kocchi - Wasn't really going to watch this but was bored one day and said what the hell, why not. As soon as I started it I was bought. Tsumiki was so hnnng.
Fate/zero 2 - Read the novels about a year ago and would wait for the BDs to marathon all 25 eps if I didn't know whats going to happen already.
Haiyoru! Nyarlko-san - Another one I wasn't going to watch but I really like Lovecraft's works and the Cthulhu mythos so again I said why not. I enjoyed it enough to dl the flash anime and ovas, both of which I found kind of lacking but they had their moments.
Kore wa Zombie Desu ka? of the Dead - Kind of feels like more of the same sadly. The 1st ep felt almost like a copy pasta of the 1st ep from season 1. The thing I found weird was that theres only 10 eps from what I've read so thats a bit of a downer even if it is more of the same. Anyways...I'll keep watching for more Eu.
Nazo no Kanojo X - Have followed the the manga for a few years now and have to say the 1st ep was pretty faithful. I also absolutely love the seiyuu they picked for Urabe.
Ozma - Another show from Leiji Matsumoto so its a must watch for me. I've watched up to ep 3(only 6 eps) so far and I'm liking every minute of it.
Phi Brain: Kami no Puzzle 2 - Season 1 just ended last week and from the 1st ep of season 2 it already seems like it will be better than season 1.
Sankarea - Another one that I've followed the manga for about a year and I can't say much besides that it was faithful. I am wondering how much they will censor though.
Tasogare Otome x Amnesia - I've followed the manga for around a year and a half. I did have some problems with the 1st ep. While it does follow the 1st chapter mostly there was 2 chapters published before the 1st chapter(something like a chapter 0 part 1 and 2) which introduce Teiichi and Yuuko and show how they meet in part 1 and again with Momoe in part 2. I believe that those chapters should have been eps 1-2. Also Kirei should not have been introduced this early. She was introduced in chapter 4 so thats why I think that this ep1 should have been something like ep 4-5. Well I'm interested to see how they fix this.

Going to watch.
Uchuu Senkan Yamato 2199 - 26 OVAs or 7 movies or both. I don't care which I watch but I will watch it as soon as someone subs it.

Maybes~
Jormugand and Zetman - Heard(read) some people in cbox talking about them and might give them a try later on.
Hyouka - Hasn't aired yet going to wait for the 1st ep.

Stuff I won't watch and have a reason for...
Eureka Seven Ao - I already suffered through 50 eps from the 1st series to have it throw some total bs ending in my face. Not gunna let that happen again.
Basically thats it. The rest of the stuff I'm just not interested in.

Also...
* high fives hano*
Game of Thrones S2!!!!