With most of the Winter 2011 anime(s) ending either this week or next, thought we’d do a slight impressions post on the shows that have been airing.

Shows that aired in Winter 2011:

Bakuman
Beelzebub
Bleach [Arrancars Arc]
Cardfight Vanguard
Dragon Crisis
Fractale
FREEZING
GOSICK
Haiyoru! Nyaru-ani: Remember My Mr. Lovecraft
Hourou Musuko
IS: Infinite Stratos
Kimi ni Todoke Season 2
Kore wa Zombie desu ka?
Level E
Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica
Mai no Mahou to Katei no Hi
Mitsudomoe Season 2
Onii-chan no Koto nanka Zenzen Suki Janain Dakara Ne!!
Rio – Rainbow Gate
Star Driver
Suite Precure
To Aru Majutsu no Index II
Wolverine
Yumekui Merry

Out of the 20 shows that aired this season, we will be covering around 10+ shows, as well as some of the other series that ended in the Winter 2011 season (e.g. Bakuman, Star Driver, Index II)

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Bakuman

- M -

A truly enjoyable insight into the world of mangakas. That is how I would describe Bakuman. The plot is pretty central, following the lives of Mashiro and Takagi as they try to get published in Weekly Shounen Jack. ‘Cameo’ appearances by Bleach, OP and Naruto are often seen in the Shounen Jack office and on the magazines. Ending it’s run only this season, I must say Bakuman is highly enjoyable.

Even though it wasn’t that long since I started to read the manga, the show seems to pace the episodes pretty well, with only about 1-2 filler episodes. Then again, the fillers didn’t really feel that absurd as a filler as it helped build character development for characters in which weren’t as developed in the manga.

The art style is generic but the manga drawn in the show is just awesome. The intricacies of how a manga looks in an anime is just wow. They even spent the 3rd to last episode, doing Vomics for a fraction of the Golden Future Cup arc. Truly magnificent.

Honestly can’t wait for Season 2 in October. If you’re leaning on the fence cause this is based off a shounen manga, don’t. There aren’t ridiculous fights here. Just passionate characters constantly drawing and plotting their next manga storyline. On a side note, the manga is still on-going at present, but I personally do hope that there is an end to the series in the coming future, just so we see how Mashiro and Miho end up together.

Season Rank: 2nd

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Beelzebub

- M -

The winner of the 4th Golden Future Cup is Beelzebub and it finally got itself an anime adaptation.

The art-style is very shounen-esque and the plot is pretty straight forward: Demon King sends his baby son to Earth to destroy Earth. Delinquent Oga picks up the Baby and becomes the ‘foster father’ of Baby Bel, to nurture the baby’s inner demon. Hilarity ensures as Oga tries to prevent doom from befalling Earth.

The characters are pretty detestable actually, considering they’re all Yankees. They do become admirable later on in the series but up till where the anime has aired so far, they’re still antagonists.

I must say that the anime adaptation does fall short of the energy the manga brings. Also, as a shounen series, it does not have the oomph that most current shounen series has. Then again, even One Piece, Bleach and Reborn had pretty crappy first seasons, so here’s to hoping Beelzebub redeems itself after coming back from its 3-week hiatus.

Season Rank: 14th

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Bleach [Arrancars Arc]

- M -

The long-running Arrancars arc started its anime run in January 2007. At the end of Feburary 2011, the arc finally ended. Now…. how long is that??? 4 years? Yeah yeah, we’ve had fillers in between, but this arc is seriously long. Anyway, this season brought about the end of the long running arc and I must say the final battle was pretty impressive.

I was impressed when I first read it in the manga and became further impressed when I saw how well the final battle was adapted. My main gripe is that they intentionally lengthened the battle with never ending gazes by the characters. That apart, it was nice to see an ‘era’ pass. For most Bleach regulars, the end of Episode 310 also meant the departure of Bleach from their schedules from a while. With the manga not having much story built up yet, Bleach will probably be in filler hell for the better part of 2011.

Season Rank: 8th

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Dragon Crisis

- M -

How would I rate Dragon Crisis? Poorly. Why?  Cause it feels like an eroge when it’s not. Cause it feels like an action series when it really isn’t much of one. Cause ‘Ryuji!! Suki, suki, suki!!’ sounds pretty annoying? Yeah. I think all 3.

It isn’t a detestable anime. It has big names like Yukana and Kugimiya Rie as well as cameos by Horie Yui, so the casting wasn’t the problem. The characters while many weren’t really much of a problem. The problem I guess would be the pacing. Every 2 episodes, we’d get intro-ed to a new character and a new arc. Maruga’s arc didn’t last more than 2 episodes. Ai’s arc didn’t last more than 2 episodes. For a 12-episode series, the show should focus on 1 minor arc for character development, and 1 major one to conclude. Not throw a flurry of arcs to introduce new characters, only to make them disappear for a couple of episodes after their arc concludes.

Overall, do watch this when you’re bored and have free time.

Season Rank: 10th

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FREEZING

- M -

Violent, bloody, NSFW. Those are just some of the more common tags for FREEZING. It is a very action paced series, that rivals the action in most shounen-anime these days. Having read both the manga and watched the anime, I must say that the anime falls prey to a lack of character development.

Another thing I’d like to note, is that I did watch Episodes 1-9 in 1 stretch and somehow, each episode only felt like 10minutes to me, instead of the usual 20minutes. I noted that it was probably the fast paced action that made an effect on me, but it’s pretty evident on how much action there is in the series. Even in the first 5 minutes, we already had blood splattering everywhere.

The art style is very much Korean-ish, considering it was drawn by a Korean. Much like Kurokami, it is pretty good.

Overall, I would recommend this if you’re looking for something fast-paced pumped with action in every episode.

Season Rank: 7th

- Guuzen -

This is another show that I have been following closely every week. Now, we have seen this kind of setting many times in anime: there is a fictional school located in this fictional place teaching their students how to fight against fictional enemies in some fictional war.

However, I find that FREEZING was pretty refreshing to me. I like how instead of giving each students some sort of crazy power, males and females are required to work together interdependently. Add in drama and some romance, and this became quite a compelling series for me. Also, it is nice to see Mamiko Noto portraying such a violent character instead of the usual fragile and soft spoken characters.

Oh yeah, the uncensored version of FREEZING was broadcasted on AT-X, so you guys should know what that means. But I have to say, despite all the fan services the series did a great job on helping the viewers focus on the seriousness of certain situations.

FREEZING left me wanting for more, and I believe more is what we will get in the future.

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GOSICK

- M -

Victorica!!!!! Yeahhh. The mystery-based hit of the season. The stories are well conceived, with every 2-3 episodes being about a brand new case where Victorica and Kujo will solve. Can’t help but feel reminiscent about Tantei Gakuen Q and Kindaichi when I’m watching this.

The art style is pretty common style I guess, nothing spectacular about it. The characters are a smash hit though. Victorica is the shining star of the characters with her puffy cheeks and her tantrums. Kujo and Grevil are the other 2 main characters. Kujo is the typical knight in shining armor, always willing to risk his life for Victorica and Grevil, well, he’s just the dunce cop that gets all the credit.

If you want a decent murder-mystery anime, this is the show to go to.

Season Rank: 3rd

- Guuzen -

GOSICK is probably the most unique show that I have watched this season. It is so different from the others, which is good! It helps to add some variety into the Winter line-up. This is a murder mystery show set in fake olden Europe. Similar to M, I was reminded fondly of Tantei Gakuen Q and Kindaichi. Shinrei Tantei Yakumo was pretty good as well, though that show was more on the supernatural side.

GOSICK is still an ongoing show as it contains 24 episodes. We are at the halfway mark now and I have to say I am still really interested in it. The murders are not as cunning as those found in Tantei Gakuen Q or Kindaichi, but they still manage to keep me entertained. Each few episodes consist of a new mystery for Kujo and Victorica to solve, while slowly uncovering the stories of the main characters.

I feel this show has done well to keep viewers entertained in the first half of the season. The pacing is nice and it has the luxury of a 24-episode season to develop the characters properly. I am personally interested to see what lies ahead for the duo.

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IS: Infinite Stratos

- M -

Hmm. Honestly, I wouldn’t know how to rank IS as a whole. The characters are nice and appealing but 5 girls to introduce in 13 episodes alongside with a proper plot and introduction to all that IS tech seems a little messy. Which is actually the case for this show. You could honestly sense chaos in the plot when Cecilia was clearly antagonistic against Ichika in the first episode, only to have her personality flip 180 an episode later. Same thing happened with Laura.

Then there’s the fact that because there are 5 girls always fighting for screen time, you can’t help but feel cheated when your favourite ‘ship’ does not get much airtime alongside Ichika.

All that aside, the redeeming factors of the show lie in the  beauty of the IS machines and of course, Charlotte Dunoa. :D

Season Rank: 9th

- Guuzen -

Infinite Stratos started out strong for me. I was interested to find out what the hell’s gonna happen to Ichika, the only male in this special all-female school teaching students how to operate these mech suit called IS. But as the series progress, it feels more like some sort of typical harem anime. I was never really a harem fan, so this is more of a personal turn-off.

The series took its time to introduce each of the 5 female protagonists and even threw in a fan service beach episode. I usually wouldn’t mind that, but this is a 12-episode long series! I would have preferred they remove that and replace it with something more useful to the main story. Oh and similar to a number of harem series, the male protagonist is extremely dense. A naked girl can be hugging him in the bath and he’ll be like: “nah this is totally fine, we’re just friends!”.

As the series boil down to its final few episodes, the story starts to pick up but by then I found myself unable to take it as seriously as I started it. I’m guessing there will be a season 2 in the future, but I’m not sure if it is on my watch list. Seeing these 5 girls fighting over Ichika from the get go is really not appealing to me.

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Kimi ni Todoke Season 2

- M -

For Kimi ni Todoke veterans, KnT is back but in half swing. Compared to it’s first season that ran 2 cur, this season only runs for 1. The plot still chases around the main cast of Sawako, Kazehaya and their friends. I must comment that the plot is moving a lot slower as compared to Season 1, which isn’t good.

The art is good though, maintaining the same style used in Season 1.

For those new to the series, go catch Season 1, cause honestly, you won’t understand the bonds and links that the characters have formed.

Season Rank: 12th

- Guuzen -

Kimi ni Todoke had a promising season 1. It made me so interested in the series that I went on to read the manga. With that in mind, I already knew what was gonna happen in season 2. Compared to the first season, season 2 was extremely slow in terms of story progression. It wasn’t too bad for me to wait for a new episode every week because I already knew what was coming up. But for those of you who did not read the manga, it can get pretty darn frustrating.

Season 2 was geared towards the development of Kazehaya and Sawako’s relationship and how problems get resolved by two extremely dense characters, of course with some help from their friends. Since there are only 12 episodes (season 1 had 25 episodes), it was probably really difficult to pack in anybody else’s story. I’m not saying season 2 was a total disappointment. This is still a really awesome and relaxing series to watch or read.

For those of you who are into romance, I really recommend this series. The chain of events that happened are quite typical for a romance story, but it’s the characters that kept me attached to it.

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Kore wa Zombie Desu Ka?

- M -

Kore wa Zombie Desu Ka? is a pretty enjoyable series if you ignore all its loopholes. The character designs are nice. The random humor bits are hilarious, and the Masou Shoujos. Epicness ensures.

On to the loopholes, there are so many factions that the different character belong to (e.g. Vampire Ninja, Masou Shoujo, Necromancer, Zombie) that you kinda get lost. Even in those factions, there are further sub-divisions.

The power levels demonstrated on the show are also pretty damn ridiculous.

Plot wise, there wasn’t really much of a plot till Episode 9 where the actual plot kicked in.

The characters are a really diverse lot. Out of the main characters, there ain’t a normal human in there. Yea. Kyuketsu Ninja, Tensai Masou  Shoujo, Nceromancer and Zombie.

Overall, the show is a good watch if you have the time to pass. If not, you’re better off leaving it in your backlog.

Season Rank: 13th

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Mitsudomoe Season 2

- M -

Mitsudomoe is pure win. The Marui triplets are just awesome in every way. Mitsuba reminds me of my inner sloth and greed. Futaba just loves oppai. And Hitoha. Kyaaaaa. Hitoha is so win that words can’t describe her.

This season follows up the smash hit that was Mitsudomoe Season 1. The second season falls short on the number of episodes, but not on laughter. Oh no it doesn’t. Seriously, I can’t remember when I laughed that hard watching anime. Go catch Seasons 1 and 2. Truly recommended.

Season Rank: 1st

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Onii-chan no Koto nanka Zenzen Suki Janain Dakara Ne!!

- M -

Oh dear god, I’m not sure what I’m more pissed about this series. The fact that they wasted Episodes 10 and 11 on some anime original crap or that the censoring in this anime was just too absurd.

For anyone that watched this series, please tell me you’re disturbed by the penguins and cats flying over half the screen to block out pantsu. Even K-ON!! had pantsu and this incest-esque show can’t? Speechless.

Characters wise, we have the Non-blood-related sister, the childhood friend and the sexy kuropantsu classmate. Wow, where do I even begin. The sister found out that she’s not blood related to the brother, of which the brother knows nothing about, and she thus decides to sexually tease him at any chance she gets. The childhood friend tries to whore herself out to him the entire season and the kuropantsu classmate loves BL. What a stellar cast.

Oh, there are other characters other than the 3 main heroines. They would be the A.G.E Explorers. A really commendable and believable group of friends and their quest for their mecca of lewd magazines and the eventual Eden.

Plot wise, there isn’t much of a plot is there? For a 12 episode series, they took 2 episodes out for an anime-original arc and 4 more for character introduction. That leaves…. 6 episodes for character development and plot development? That ain’t enough. So yeah, it was a complete mess.

The only redeeming plus point would be…….. none. Yea.

Season Rank: 15th

- Guuzen -

I really can’t take this show seriously… Which is exactly how this show is meant to be watched! If you jumped in hoping for some sort of plot progression or character investment, man are you in for a big surprise. This show is just for pure fun, joy and laughter and then you can pretty much forget about it when the new season starts.

So after introducing the 3 main girls in this show, every episode was like a random situation and then they will play around with the characters’ fetishes to see which combination is more silly. This show is perfect for people who are bored and do not want use their brains much.

I ended up finishing the show and it went something like this: “Well… That’s over. Welcome Spring 2011!”.

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Star Driver

- M -

To be honest, I did not watch this at all till about a week ago. Having rushed 24 episodes in a span of 3 days, I must say, I really did underestimate the show. I was initially skeptical this show would last, what with the weekly ridiculous super sentai transformations into the Ginga Bishounen.

However, much like I’ve told Guuzen, taking out the zero-time fight scenes that fill a fraction of the episode, leaves a very nice story about friendship, personal desire, the island and three-way love triangles. The character designs are splendid with almost everyone of the main cast looking as bishounen and bishoujo as an anime character can get.

The conclusion of the series was beyond epic. How do I put it, it was like I was watching the most exciting episode of Gundam 00 mixed in with Gurren Laggan. It was just that epic.

Overall story throughout remains great and fluid throughout. DO watch it. KIRABOSHI!

Season Rank: 6th

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To Aru Majutsu no Index II

- M -

The sequel to the first To Aru Majutsu that ran between 08 and 09. Index II kicks off with full steam last season and this included. While the first season had a lot of terminologies to learn, Season 2 does not suffer from much of that problem.

Instead of dealing with issues like what the A.I.M. field is, Season 2 dives into the important issues: The battles against the Roman Catholic Church, the impending war of Academy City and the main cast of To Aru finally convening. Oh yes. If you’d thought the main cast consisted of only Index and Touma, you’re dead wrong.

Mikoto and Accelerator are also main protagonists in the storyline and I’m sure many fans are just glad to have more onee-sama around. I know a certain boss surely is.

With 2 arcs airing last season and 2 airing this current season, the pacing of the show is good. The action and fight scenes are a marvel. The characters are truly enjoyable. Just wish J.C. Staff would adapt more of the Light Novel more quickly.

Currently awaiting news on a 2nd season of To Aru Kagaku for more SATEN-SAN!!

Season Rank: 4th

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Wolverine

- M -

Marvel’s 2nd attempt into the anime season is wayyyyyyyyyyy better than it’s first run. God how awful was Iron Man. Did anyone honestly complete it? If you didn’t already know, Wolverine has had several Japanese links in his past (e.g. Lady Deathstrike, Silver Samurai), so it was pretty convincing to see him traveling to Nippon.

The plot is very straightforward which can be a problem for critics, but I’d say, the simpler the plot, the easier to understand and enjoy. The plot centers around Wolverine’s desire to rescue his girlfriend that was ‘kidnapped’ by her Yakuza father for an arranged marriage. And he travels all the way to Japan to rescue her. Simple aye?

Art style wise, I must say it isn’t top notch, but it is fitting. They didn’t completely change Logan’s design which will be a plus point as this will be aired in the US as well. Characters wise, marvel cameos include Omega Red and Cyclops which is always welcoming. Even the original characters (e.g. Kurohagi, Kikyo) are pretty fit for the series.

The conclusion, much like the entire premise of the show was straightforward and to the point but didn’t really echo the same continuity as the main Marvel timeline. Nonetheless, it’s still a good watch filled with a flurry of emotions from start to finish.

Season Rank: 5th

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Yumekui Merry

- M -

It’s beautiful, the artwork in Yumekui Merry. J.C. Staff did a great job adapting it. Plot wise, I had a hard time catching on to it. Purely because the first episode put the main male lead, Yumeji in some dream-world filled with Cats. Yeah.

Aside from that, the story and pacing did get much better as each episode past. Along the way, we got introduced to the true heroine (Merry), other side characters, as well as the ‘final antagonist’ of the series.

To sum it up, it’s pretty easy to get lost with this series but once you understand how the plot devices work, it’s a pretty enjoyable watch.

Season Rank: 11th

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With that, I’ve come to the end of LookBack (Winter 2011 edition). Hope our input would help some people catch some of the series they’ve missed this season. Please do post your comments if you have an opinion on any of the series covered.

Do look out in the Spring 2011 season, as Guuzen and I have something planned as well. Till then.