Excellent Mediocrity
I think it sums up my feeling for the summer in terms of anime on the air.
And what is interesting is that I know there are shows worth watching, worth anticipating out there. The difference being, maybe, is just that I am not watching them? Maybe I should go watch some ordinarily unorthodox stuff like Shugo Chara or something? Burning passion is something I like no matter what genre it is in. Any bright ideas?
However, this late-summer blues feel is probably onset by other factors as well, such as the overall shark jumping as witnessed in Code Geass R2. However enjoyable it may be, it’s not the right kind of enjoyment. And it’s not alone. Potential smash hits like the Birdy anime turned out to be full of entirely predictable mysteries than enjoyable Arita ShionBirdy action scenes. Not that the action scenes are missing or is the subtle character drama with a moelicious Maaya Sakamoto performance undesirable. I suppose in both cases there are enough entertaining material to carry me home.
LOL, iPhone is what bad guys use.
On the flip side, crap fests like Sekirei and Strike Witches are more interesting than one may expect. Go figure. I guess that balances out some professed like of crappy anime from some people. Not sure if it’s more grievous for panning the cheap but effective style in Soul Eater. Anyways, more people ought to be blogging like this. We’ve got too many impartial-observer wannabes on the blog scene; we need more fiery, passionate souls preaching what’s good.
Sheryl is good. And so is the \m/ tag on Danbooru.
Soul Eaker and Xam’d continues to fight things out with Macross Frontier for my top slot in my imaginary, semi-linear ranking this summer. And I mean that–two shows against one. It’s like whenever Xam’d gets boring I’d watch an episode of Soul Eaker just so I have something offbeat. Don’t ask me why, but the combo seems to work for me. Xam’d is keeping it real though, even if right now it’s a bit like the slower parts of Eureka 7, in the first 26 episodes. Still, all it takes is one good song (and it seems like every episode is a new song) from Macross Frontier to return the ball on BONES’s court.
It doesn’t help that most anime I’ve seen this summer are shows I don’t really want to talk about. And it’s not like Strike-Witches-has-no-pants kind of “I don’t reallly want to talk about.” Like Natsume Yuujincho or Allison & Lillia. There’s just not much to say! I suppose this is all a subtle reminder that my growing stack of shrinkwrapped DVDs can use some tender loving care. Aria is suppose to come out this month, right?
I don’t have words to explain how impressive ZKC is. Thematic concerns buried it, not the show quality. It really is the only highlight of the season.
I guess I disagree, having dropped it after a couple episodes.
The title of this post is pretty incisive way of summing up a lot of shows I like, though coburn was ‘recently’ exploring the more subtle magic (no pun intended) of Natsu no Sora that probably warrants closer look yet.
Omo Soul Taker ended in like 2002. Get with the program.
I dunno, CG2 is painful but entertaining, Frontier is painful but predictable. I’ll go with CG2 personally. :V
That or I just listen to the Frontier OST without watching the show, which also works.
I’m glad I’m not the only one who thought this season was ass for all those reasons. Maybe I need to rewatch SoulTaker…
Also next season has at least 7 shows that look amazing and a lot of others that look good, so lets hope, shall we?
Right. Soul Taker is good and Soul Eater is LOL.
@houkoholic: CG2 is about as predictable as Frontier for me. And there are more screen time for the chicks in that show so…
@digitalboy: I don’t think next season is really any better at this point.
@lelangir: Natsu no Sora is actually yet another item on the list of summer shows that disappointed me. It’s nowhere as magical as the first anime series, at least at 5 episodes in.
I don’t think the current season is bad, but there isn’t that much stuff that interests me, coupling with the lessening of time that I have to watch this stuff than before. The only real stuff from this season that I’m currently keeping up with is x365 and Strike Witches, though there are other series in the backlog (which is a mixed result, to be sure). It’s a season of interesting shows to watch, to be sure, but most aren’t interesting in the way I would want it to be, I guess.
> CG2 is about as predictable as Frontier for me. And there are more screen time for the chicks in that show so…
True, what I meant to say is that the predictable stuff in CG2 is more the staff I predicted and want to see happen, whereas Frontier is stuff I predicted but don’t really want to happen (Ai is Vajera plot point that a lot of people saw a mile away was one). That’s essentially what makes it different on the entertainment value for the two shows for me. That and I think the psychology aka f–ked up minds of the characters in CG2 is more interesting to watch, the sort of you can’t look away type of wreck. Whereas Frontier is just “meh” type of a wreck.
Plus I still only like Sheryl (never liked Ranka, nor any of the other females for that matter), so the last few eps were even more painful in Frontier for me. Whereas I don’t hate any of the major CG girls.
bah. Next season has more ef, a new GAINAX show and a new Kou Matsuo show. Those are my 3 favorite things in anime, so for me it’s a damn festival : D
Perhaps, but a lot of good stuff was promised this summer too…
@houkoholic >> True, what I meant to say is that the predictable stuff in CG2 is more the stuff I predicted and want to see happen, whereas Frontier is stuff I predicted but don’t really want to happen
See, it’s the reverse for me. And for what it is worth, no matter what happens Frontier just executes it better.
@N >> I don’t think the current season is bad, but there isn’t that much stuff that interests me, coupling with the lessening of time that I have to watch this stuff than before.
See, I agree that this current season is far from bad, actually. But shows like X365 disappoints me more than it excites me, along with all the others I listed and I didn’t list.