Things I will probably continue watching

hantom - I actually really liked Noir. Madlax was pretty decent. El Cazador was a pile of crap that I gave up on after five episodes, but so far this trenRAB towarRAB the former, and may even avoid the lesbian overtones thanks to a mixed-gender duo. I don't know much about the game but this was executed with enough flair, in a genre I'm predisposed to enjoy, that it'll have to really fall on its face for me to stop watching it.Shangri-La - Oblig. Gonzo show for the season; another Last Exile would be a treat, but I'm not convinced this is it yet. Pretty and entertaining, but the dialogue struck me as a bit stilted and overwrought at points, and the animators seem to have trouble pegging how large that boomerang is supposed to be. It seems to traverse a range from almost palm-sized to nearly as tall as Kuniko when extended. Still, there's enough promise here that it'll probably be worth it in the end.Basquash! - I wouldn't have picked it from the name, but the first episode was just plain fun to watch, and I like a show that can revel in its own ridiculousness. Fanservice is a bit much, but it's executed with a nod and a wink so as to go along with the show completely not taking itself seriously, so I can forgive it.Things I'll give a few more episodes:Fullmetal Alchemist: Redux - Gotta be honest, I was disappointed by the first episode. I found it to be an extremely amateur solution to rebooting the series, an almost crass attempt to cram as many character introductions as possible into a 25 minute episode. They're basically working on the assumption that everyone who's watching this has already seen the first series, and as depressingly true as that might be, the result comes across more like a poorly written fanfic. As a stand-alone episode, without prior story knowledge, this would have struck me as a rather generic wacky shounen anime and I'd have passed on it immediately. FMA is only getting a pass because of its pedigree.Valkyria Chronicles - I looked at this because there was generally positive buzz about it and I have to say, I really don't see what all the fuss is about. Far from a solid, meat-and-potatoes sort of anime, I felt like I was watching something MST3K worthy, given the absurdity of the character interactions. ZOMG spy is sappin' mah turrets! He must be trying to covertly steal our advanced windmill technology! Even though he is the son of a famous general and we live in a tiny border town with MAYBE 1000 people in it, I have never seen or heard of this person before in my life! I'll give this another episode to be sure, but my inclination so far is that this is generic crap with name-brand recognition. A rather childish treatment of a war drama, like Alison and Lilia or Zero no Tsukaima.Natsu no Arashi - This actually feels like it might be a step above the previous two, if only it has a chance to show me what it was driving at. I mean, I love stories about time travel and paradox when they're handled right. That said, the primary angle in this appears to be "wacky" comedy that's mostly average. Corabined with some wacky camera work. If I understand fans of the original manga correctly, most of them are wondering why they decided to start this at the 18th chapter instead of from the beginning. But it might show promise, so I'll give it a little time.Things I have yet to see but want to evaluate:Eden of the East - Straight away this looks to me like the most unique and interesting thing coming out this Spring, so unless it VASTLY disappoints on its trailer, it's already a keeper. Not sure I have a whole lot more to say at this point.Tears to Tiara and Guin Saga - Mostly in the search of some good fantasy, and because GWOtaku is looking forward to them and I think he's a pretty cool guy, eh watches...I'll drop that there. Tears to Tiara preview that I saw was incredibly meh, though, so I'm not super optimistic about that one.Sengoku Basara and Shin Mazinger Z - As a possible round out on the wackiness quotient. I'm more curious about the first, than the second, as I never did watch any Mazinger or Go Nagai, and have no real attachment to giant robot tropes (point of reference: I was completely underwhelmed by Gurren Lagann). Over-the-top feudal Japan could be fun, though.
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