Mobile Suit Gundam 00
Originally planned by Tomino Yoshiyuki and Yatate Hajime (pretty much all other Gundams) and directed by Mizushima Seiji (Fullmetal Alchemist, Shaman King) Mobile Suit Gundam 00 is set a couple of hundred years after our times and tells a story about people’s last efforts to completely eradicate war from our society. The story is told via the eyes of a terrorist organization, Celestial Being, which is surprisingly honest with its cause - they want to eliminate war, and will kill everyone who will dare to wage it. Their base of operations is located somewhere in space and they possess technology which far surpasses anything Earth has; so it’s not like they are a bunch of bugs trying to attack a lion or something. Either way, even they themselves aren’t fully aware of the capabilities their technology has and their whole course of action is completely dictated by someone who they only refer to as “Veda”, whose plans might not be limited to something as simple as global peace…
Shiki
Originally written as a light novel by Ono Fuyumi (Twelve Kingdoms, Ghost Hunt) and adapted to anime by Amino Tetsurou (Macross 7) Shiki is tale about vampires, or rather “shiki” as they proclaim themselves to be, and their attempts to build up a society for themselves. The show starts as a somewhat strange Kirishiki family moves into an abandoned mansion on top of a hill in some rural village. They dress in most eccentric way possible, nobody ever sees them walk the village during the day and they talk in riddles. Ever since they do move in however, a strange epidemic begins in the village, people start dropping like flies from causes as light as simple anemia. And so it’s up to the village’s doctor, Ozaki Toshio, to find the real cause of this peculiar plague.
Mahjong Legend Akagi: The Genius Wh...
Akagi is a mind games show following the life of a genius mahjong player Akagi and his pursuits to find the essence of gambling, which he usually defines as meaningless death. While the show is no masterpiece, with little plot other then the mahjong games themselves, it’s highly entertaining. Why would you need profound character development when your mind is completely lost in the next strategy Akagi is going to use to shatter his opponents? This anime might not change your life values, but it will certainly entertain, as long as you can stomach its dark atmosphere and don’t mind to exercise your brain.
The Tatami Galaxy
Yojouhan Shinwa Taikei is an ingenious show depicting an unnamed protagonist and his attempts to achieve a “rose-colored campus life” in Kyoto University he currently attends. The show follows a loop motive and shows many parallel futures of his life, all the while being humorous as well as thought provoking. While the story is very well tied-up, characters and production values don’t particularly stand out. Nonetheless, if you are interested in shows which are different from general or you have it for Japanese linguistics (as the scrip the show uses is brilliant), you should definitely check this show out. It’s likely the best of the season.
Senkou no Night Raid
Senkou no Night Raid is a run of the mill action show depicting the events of Shanghai in 1931 and centered on an undercover squad of super power wielding agents. While the first half of the show is episodic, the second one tells you about how our squad clashes with one particular villain on whole Asia is in danger scale. Nonetheless, neither production values, neither the plot are any notable, or even interesting. What’s worse is that the cast of the show is completely dull. Unless you are a big fan of episodic super power squad shows or want to cure your insomnia, I wouldn’t recommend putting Senkou no Night Raid into your to-watch list.
Arakawa Under the Bridge
Arakawa Under the Bridge is a crazy gag comedy directed by Shaft. It depicts how a young and successful prodigy, Ichinomiya Kou, ends up living with a bunch of homeless and, frankly, crazy people under the bridge. The jokes in the show are indeed hilarious and it’s unlikely you’ll end up laughing not once or twice. However, at the same time, this anime never really attempts at doing anything else with its characters other and gags, and despite introducing a serious side never really attempts to finish it. So, it kind of depends on what you want, if you are perfectly okay with a barely advancing story and a lot of crazy gags, then, yeah, definitely check Arakawa out. If you are looking for a solid story - look elsewhere.
Working!!
Working!! is daily life gag show depicting the life of Takanashi, cute and little things otaku, working a part-time job in a cafe called Wagnaria which hires a lot of eccentric. The anime is all gags so there is no real plot to begin with, and even the funny part isn’t all that funny. Production values are so-so for a show made in 2010. You might like this Working!! if uneventful mildly funny daily life stories are your thing… but otherwise, stay away.
Angel Beats
To put it simply Angel Beats is a story about a bunch of dead teenagers who end up in a purgatory designed as school. However, rather than obediently accepting death they end up denying it and struggling against everything purgatory throws at them, so to exist there forever. Though nice on paper, and actually overflowing with potential, Angel Beats is just a bunch of unrealized or badly realized ideas, ending up as a hardly significant show. It’s still a nice watch if you have time to kill and can stand something which is simply screwing the potential right before your eyes.
