Fall TV watchlist
With baseball season over I’m not watching any network TV with the exception of Sunday football games on FOX, CBS and NBC. But I am watching TV, it’s just all anime. Here are my impressions, with ratings out of 4 stars; 4 being Excellent. (click a title for a show’s wiki page):
1. Darker than Black – Ryousei no Gemini (Bones) – Stong story with lots of mystery; intriguing new characters; some new takes on the old ones; creative action, spot-on character design/animation; bangin’ soundtrack…and a little Russo-Japanese girl with an enormous gun. Don’t Miss. 3 1/2 out of 4.
2. Spice & Wolf II (Brain’s Base) – (from Summer ‘09 season) Absorbing main characters; intricate world full of richly-detailed landscapes, towns, and cities; great sense of scale; clever banter; off-beaten-track concentration on commerce rather than combat/magic. Soothingly addictive. 3 1/2 out of 4.
3. White Album (Seven Arcs) – (Summer ‘09 season completed, now watching current winter season) – Straightforward romance-drama taking place in the 80s; effectively portrays the heartache of having an idol for a girlfriend; the male lead is satisfactorily flawed; female lead avoids being too annoying; the five(!) other potential female love interests all have distinct personalities and motivations; lack of cell phones/e-mail a bit overused as a plot device (but then it did seem harder to get ahold of people back then...good down-to-earth, real-world drama. 3 1/2 out of 4.
4. Armed Librarians – The Book of Bantorra (David Production) – Imaginative setting/mythos; eclectic costumes; unpredictable plot; different character focus in each episode (so far); steadily improving animation; powerful score. Strange enough to hold my interest. 3 out of 4.
5. Kimi ni Todoke (Production I.G.) - Vibrant animation; characters have a unique look; neurotic female lead; angsty inner dialogue; a bit of an overreliance on chibi cuts, and a will-they-won’t-they holding pattern; enjoyble. 2 1/2 out of 4.
6. Sasameki Koto (AIC) - Probably a typical Yuri series with another will-they-won’t-they holding pattern; but characters are liekable enough; enjoyable. 2 1/2 out of 4.
7. A Certain Scientific Railgun (J.C. STAFF) – Didn’t see Index, the first season; a slight teenagers-better-than-adults complex; brief but enjoyable action scenes; watchable. So this season there’s a railgun girl and a enormous sniper gun girl. Interesting. 2 1/2 out of 4.
8.The Sacred Blacksmith (manglobe) – Fairly standard fantasy piece; better-than-decent animation and some story potential; nothing special but watchable (for now). 2 1/2 out of 4.
