I just gained even more respect for you, garfield. I figured you were the one person who watched everything, but now you prove it and post an epicly long review of everything so far this season. Nothing that Crunchyroll didn't simulcast looked interesting enough to me to watch anyway, but I'll share some of my thoughts for what I have seen.
You obviously thought this out a lot, so I'm glad to see that you decided on this as your favorite so far, and, this case, it was the one that pretty much everyone knew would be the best, ever since we heard it was by the creators of Baccano. Of course we were all happy when it was found to be on CR, then confirmed. Due to internet problems, I haven't posted in the thread as much as most of the people who have, but now that I'm all caught up, I definitely will. I'll save most of my thoughts for that thread. This just keeps reminding me more and more of how much I need to buy that Baccano set.
I hate to say I called it, because as much as I kept point out that it was a new Gainax show (finally!) and even directed by Seiji Mizushima to boot, everything we had seen of it until it actually started forced me to admit that there was no way it could be as great as that corabination promised. I was still happy to see CR get it, since I at least had to watch the first episode. So there I was, about to watch the first episode, preparing to be disgusted by this show made for 5-year-olRAB, to never watch another episode, to, at this rate, maybe wait another year to hope Gainax went back to coming out with some great anime, to never again think that just because one of the best anime studios joined forces with one of the best directors, anything good would come from it. Then I watched the episode, and you know what? It was just like we all thought. It was by no means another anime full of everything Gainax and Mizushima have both proven themselves to be great at. It was a simple show about a kindergarten. And yet, I wasn't disgusted. It certainly didn't try to force any fanservice in, yet it didn't feel like I was way too old to be watching it. I think of it as less of a show for kindergartners about kindergartners and more of a slice-of-life show from the perspective of the adult male teacher. And you know what? I love good slice-of-life shows. While it wasn't nearly as good as I thought it would be when I heard who the creators were, it also wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be when presented with every piece of promotional material in the following time. Now I'm happy to be able to legally watch the first new Gainax show in nearly a year and not feel bad about it. And in the end of the second episode, we finally got proof this was Gainax. That ED and "see you next time" screen were definitely the best part of the series thus far, and it's all thanks to the fact that Gainax, among many other great attributes, loves to references other anime, usually other Gainax anime. I hope we see more of that kind of stuff, because that would turn this surprisingly fun and enjoyable show into a surprisingly fun and enjoyable show with a touch of "that's our Gainax".
I can't comment on most of that, since I haven't seen K-ON. And even after 3 episodes, I'm still not sure what I think of this show. I guess it's better than I expected, since I expected it to be all about the moe and maybe have some pointless moe fanservice, since that seemed like the only reason they'd make a military show with nothing but cute moe girls as the characters in the military, but it turned to be a pretty respectful show. However, because of that, I can't figure out the reasoning for it being made like that, since it's not used for comedic purposes, either. Overall, I'm glad to see it hasn't been pandering yet, but it also hasn't had much of anything happen yet. I'll keep watching it, since I have faith that something will happen eventually, but so far I've just found it to be a nice, artistic way to waste a half-hour.
Chu-Bra. It's a show about 12-year-old girls' underwear. I have nothing else to say. As for Omamori Himari, I had slightly higher hopes, since it actually had a plot other than "FANSERVICE DEVICE", but the plot is generic at best and is usually used as a complement to the fanservice, if not absent in favor of fanservice altogether.
And there we go. Not only do you have thoughtful things to say about all the new anime, but, as I often find to be the case, I agree with almost all of it. Good job, sir.
