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.
Ichiban Ushiro no Daimaou
Ichiban Ushiro no Daimaou is an odd mix of fantasy, action, harem and ecchi. It follows the story of an unfortunate boy, Sai Akuto, who gets his future occupation predicted as “Demon King” thus getting him isolated from normal society. The show has an interesting premise, however, the horrible realization and the obvious inability to fit the whole content of the show to measly 12 episodes turned this show into nothing short of a trainwreck. Give it a shot if you like ecchi or mindless action, but, for the sake of all that’s holy, don’t expect anything solid or you’ll spend your whole second half through the show banging your head to the wall.
B Gata H Kei
B Gata H Kei is a romantic comedy based on likely the most perverted premise any non adults only rated anime ever had. It’s main lead is a completely sex obsessed beauty, Yamada, and its story revolves around her quest to find 100 sex partners after entering high school (though in essence it ends up being a quest to throw away her virginity). Kosuda, most average and boring person in the world, happens to become the first one in her list. From then on, the show pretty much concentrates on Yamada’s clumsy attempts to seduce Kosuda, which, of course, never work as intended. The show has lousy production values for the show of this age, and it’s story is silly and predictible… Nonetheless, it’s still plenty funny and fun. So in the end it comes down to how much do you like ecchi in you anime, if you love - go for this show, if you don’t - don’t. As simple as that.
Rozen Maiden
Rozen Maiden is a show that is a little bit hard to describe. The storyline follows seven imperfect animate dolls made by a genius doll maker hundred of years ago. All seven of them participate in the so called “Alice Game” which, bluntly, is a free for all death-match whose victor supposedly will become a perfect doll of the name of Alice. As a show Rozen Maiden though spends a lot of time on irrelevant things and has a very little stage (most of it happens in the space of a single house), its sheer originality and awesome sense of aesthetics makes it a show very well worthy of a watch, especially for an experienced viewer. Don’t pick it up if you are looking for action or for an unforgettable experience, but definitely check it out if you are getting bored with all of the cliches of anime world lately. Rozen Maiden wont stun you, but it will make you rise your eyebrow at least.
