Winter 2012 Anime First Impressions

We are about a week into the Winter 2012, and I've finally gotten around to checking out some of the new series of the season. Given my increasing tendencies towards lazy blogging, I'm just going to stick all of my first impressions into a single post instead of writing a post for every series I looked at. Less is more, or so they say, although I don't know if that applies to blogging or not.


Aquarion Evol

What's better than super robot gattai? Orgasmic super robot gattai!

A sequel series about giant combining super robots. I haven't seen the original Aquarion, but decided to watch Evol just for the fun of it. The first two episodes (combined into a special) looked very nice, but I didn't understand some of the terminology and other elements likely because I haven't watched the original. The whole thing with extra-dimensional beings kidnapping people need some more explanation. Still, the episode was pretty fun to watch once the action got started, with the "orgasmic" gattai scene being one of the highlights. If the series continue to push the super robot gattai stuff, this should fun enough to watch through the season. I'll definitely watch at least a few more episodes, but no weekly blogging.


Nisemonogatari

The return of Senjougahara Fascination.

The sequel to Bakemonogatari which a lot of people loved, the first episode of Nisemonogatari carries on the spirit of its predecessor. The first episode had our protagonist Koyomi Araragi having three lengthy with the beautiful but always formidable Senjougaphara, his little sister Tsukihi and Araragi's favorite target for molestation Mayoi. Those who loved all the witty dialogue from Bakemonogatari probably loved this episode. As for myself, the conversations are kind of fun (especially when Senjougahara is teasing/torturing Araragi), but the fact that I have to read the subtitles makes the scenes a little harder to enjoy. There were no battles in this episode, although Araragi molesting Mayoi and getting bitten can be counted as action. All of the stylistic cues from such as Bakemonogatari the clean and sharp backgrounds and the distinctive angle of the shots are back. The only thing that isn't back are those black text frames saying that "this frame hasn't been animated", and that's welcome news. Hopefully the series won't have any budget issues and will actually have all its frames animated. If the series has no production issues, then it would be a pretty decent show even for someone like me who doesn't enjoy the dialogue to its fullest. Just as with Bakemonogatari, I'll watch Nisemonogatari but won't blog the show weekly.


Rinne no Lagrange

The good ol' bridging German suplex works even for giant robots.

I like giant robots and mecha, so I decided to check out Rinne no Lagrange. From what I've seen in the first episode, the show seems to be about a trio of girls piloting giant robots against some alien but human-looking guys who also pilot giant robots. Basically, girls vs. guys in piloting giant robots. The first episode was decent and it introduced two of the girls who will be piloting the giant robots. There was nothing groundbreaking, but nothing that annoyed or disappointed too much either. The CG mecha looked alright, and it was kind of funny how a fight between giant energy weapon/field using robots ended with a German suplex. I'll probably keep watching, but won't blog the show.


Senki Zesshou Symphogear

With the power of song comes the power to make tornadoes?!

A show about girls using the power of song to fight strange creatures call "Noise" that threaten humanity and civilization. Symphogear had the most impressive debut out of the new shows that I've watched. The production quality was pretty good, the concert scene was getting close to (but not quite to) the Macross Frontier level, the monsters were both amusing and dangerous at the same time and the violence was fast-paced and well-animated with a distinctive stylistic cue (move names being splattered onto the screen). However, the main reason why the first episode was memorable was because the beginning foretells that the main protagonist won't survive the show and then one of the singer/magic girls who looked like an important character dies in the middle of the episode saving our protagonist from a "Noise" attack. That was quite an intriguing way to start the show, and I'm interested in seeing what happens next. How does our main girl die, and does she turn into the magical girl who died in the middle of the episode? I'm thinking about blogging this show weekly, but I don't know if I'll have the time.