Everyone, I salute you! And I also salute this season which, I must point out, was quite the delight. Here in this post, every writer discusses their thoughts of the season through different categories, all in order to give you a great and (hopefully) a complete review of what you really should or shouldn’t watch. If you wish to take part and tell us what you think, simply copy and paste the outline in the comment box, and fill it up as you wish.
Please note: This post consists of the writers’ opinions only. Some shows may not have been watched by everyone, and some opinions may not be agreed on, but we ask of you to stay courteous and not to spam us with hate comments. Thank you very much!
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Overall Thoughts
Eva: It was a such a great season, that I’m really sad I wasn’t able to fully take part of it! ;A; I don’t remember the last time I’ve watched so many new shows in one shot so it was a lot of fun! 😀
ZeroG: Spring was a pretty bad season for me, there were no ecchi worth my time and most show were mostly aimed towards action more than anything else. It had been a long time since I was this bored with a season.
Myst: For a spring season, it was… decent I guess? It was good, don’t get me wrong, but I’ve seen better things that come out for Spring. If this goes on, Summer might have better shows, and Summer usually always sucks.
Kaitou: Decent season, it wasn’t all a lost cause. Quirky and different, as well as the return of behemoths like Fate/Zero made it worthwhile.
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~Plot/Story Category~
Crack of the Season
ZeroG: Kore wa Zombie desu ka? was by far the best comedy of the season, even if it wasn’t as great as the first season, the show was still funnier than any other show of the season.
Vantage: scratches head Funny…I dunno. I didn’t really watch anything I’d classify as humour.
Myst: Acchi Kocchi all day, err’ day. Honestly, I don’t think I’ve ever seen something so freakin’ hilarious in my entire life, save for a few One Piece episodes.
Kaitou: Didn’t see anything particularly funny this season. I’ll take Myst’s word. Perhaps Tsuritama, if you can stand all the airheadedness. XD
Most Intriguing Plot
Eva: Fate/Zero!!! My god, I couldn’t get enough of it!!!!!!!!
ZeroG: Fate/Zero is the only show that had something worth going for when it comes to plot, it is the only show this season that I would grant the title “epic”.
Vantage: Fate/Zero for this one. Urobuchi Gen takes things to a whole new level, man.
Myst: Fate/Zero 2 had a great plot, leaving me on edge every time, and I was really into everything that happened. Crying became a habit sob
Kaitou: Fate/Zero, all that back-story. drools It was most definitely not Hiiro no Kakera or ZETMAN.
Unexpected Awesomeness
Eva: Hands down to AKB0048!!!!! A lot of people weren’t sure what to expect, but it’s definitely one of the best shows of the season.
ZeroG: I was not expecting to like Zetman that much, I’m usually not a big fan of heroism and moral. But Zetman had his way to make it interesting, to show the different type of good and evil and to let the viewer chose which one he likes best.
Vantage: I definitely got a lot more out of AKB0048 than I expected – it’s probably the most underrated show of the season.
Myst: Haiyore! Nyaruko-san! Not because it was super duper awesome, but rather because I was actually disappointed that it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be, after having to endure the terrible, terrible flash anime of it a year ago.
Kaitou: Accel World. I was expecting the usual game-shonen motifs, but it was really good, and the animation was gorgeous.
Most Retarded Plot
Eva: Probably Polar Bear Cafe
ZeroG: Tsuritama by far…the show has retarded written all over. An alien comes to earth, convince a young earthling to fish for him to save the planet. Meanwhile some duck agent are trying to stop the alien and capture him, even a polar bear running a cafe doesn’t come close.
Vantage: Polar Bear Cafe. It was funny…but it was a show about a panda that works in a cafe…run by a polar bear.
Myst: Tsuritama? Um yeah, I guess I can’t say much more than that. It’s retarded enough that it doesn’t need an explanation.
Kaitou: HIIRO NO KAKERA. Take episode 1, multiply it by 13, and you get a season.
Terrible Storyline
Eva: Everything I watched was fantastic! I have no complaints for this season.
ZeroG: I’ll have to go with either Kore wa Zombie desu ka? or Tsuritama. Kore wa zombie desu ka? is expected to have a retarded plot and it did uphold its standard on that part. Meanwhile Tsuritama is just a boring, confusing and uninteresting story that makes you wonder why you even watched that piece of crap in the first place.
Vantage: Dammit, I didn’t watch anything that had a crappy storyline. Let’s just stick on Phi Brain S2 xD
Myst: Recorder to Randoseru! I’ll be honest here, I didn’t know the final episode of that show was Final until no more episodes showed up after 2 weeks. The ending was bad, and the plot was literally non-existent.
Kaitou: I watched all the terrible things. >Zetman. Zetman. Zetman. * cries *
Surprisingly Awful
ZeroG: I’ll have to go with Sankarea, so much I would like to love this show, there were just too many filler and nothing ever happened in the end. I hate filler!
Vantage: I guess I’ll go with Medaka Box. It gets better, and I know it gets much better, but in terms of this season…it wasn’t great.
Myst: Tasogare Otome x Amnesia. I liked the first episode 🙂 Then it turned ecchi. And into a lack of plot. So blehhh.
Kaitou: I tried Ozma and it didn’t work for for me, despite being old-school. :T
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~Characters Category~
The Cutest
ZeroG: I’ll have to go with Tsumiki from Acchi Kocchi, that girl is cuteness incarnate
Vantage: Chitanda Eru from Hyouka and Ilya from F/Z are both contenders, but…yeah. Tsumiki xD
Myst: Now why is this even a topic to discuss? Tsumiki just made this whole category hers as soon as Acchi Kocchi episode 1 came out.
Kaitou: Saber from F/Z. >///<
The Most Despised
Eva: FUCKING MYKAGE FROM AQUARION EVOL, I HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE x9000 HATE HIM WITH A BURNING PASSION. CONGRATULATIONS MYKAGE, YOU’VE CLAIMED SHIROU’S (FATE/STAY NIGHT) #1 POSITION. THIS MAN IS THE DESTROYER OF OTPs!!!!!! HOLY SHIT I HATE THIS GUY SO MUCH. HE DESTROYED ALMOST EVERY OTP I LOVED. THERE’S NOTHING MORE EVIL THAN THAT.
ZeroG: I hate Kouga from Zetman the guy is so stupid it pains me to know that he is part of one of the richest familly there is. He has such a wrong sense of honour and he believed too much in himself for the piece of shit that he really is.
Vantage: Haru, from Tsuritama. Admittedly he’s gets more tolerable as the show goes along, and I liked him at the end but there were many moments in which I just wanted to give him a good punch. There’s a limit to how bloody insensitive someone can be, human or not.
Myst: I’ll just take this opportunity to mention how much I despised Chizuru, from the Holy Knight OVA. Just the simple fact that a childhood friend like you has never even done a single impression on a guy you’ve liked for so long shows how long ago you should’ve given up and stopped swinging your boobs around -_-‘
Kaitou: Tamaki from Hiiro no Kakera– she is the most useless female heroine until episode 13.
The Most Loved
Eva: Rider (Fate/Zero), is my favourite character. He had quickly became #1 favourite servant for his awesomeness, and remained badass till the very end.
ZeroG: I loved Archer from Fate/Zero, he was simply radiant all throughout the war for the grail and he is so powerful that he is in full right to proclaim himself king of this world
Vantage: I loved all the delicious Saber despair faces more than I should have. She doesn’t deserve all that butthurt, guys.
Myst: In terms of personal favourites, I became a Saber fan as soon as she Excalibured Caster in the face. But honestly, in terms of most loved, I’d have to put down Io from Acchi Kocchi. Whether it was girls, guys, cats, fish… Everyone loves Io. I do also.
Kaitou: Rider is sooo GAR! But this goes to Kuroyukihime from Accel World.
The Most Hilarious
Eva: Mutta (Uchuu Kyoudai).
ZeroG: Chris from Kore wa Zombie desu ka? from the middle aged man to the rainbow puking fairie, she was hilarious.
Vantage: Mutta from Uchuu Kyoudai, and all his internal monologues were very amusing to follow. He’s such a unique guy, and we all love him for it.
Myst: Mayoiiiii! I feel like I’m repeating myself since everything I’m putting down is acchi Kocchi related, but man, these characters were awesome. All the inventions made by that girl were so damn amazing, and her randomness bought me over 🙂
Kaitou: Rider from Fate/Zero. He’s just so over the top, and DID YOU SEE HIM RAM THE BERSERKER WITH HIS CHARIOT. ZOMG
The Most Badass
Eva: Emiya Kiritsugu (Fate/Zero) – there’s no competition here folks.
ZeroG: I’ll have to go with Jin from Zetman, He was far more bad ass than anyone from Fate/Zero, he had the natural feel of a winner and a bad ass.
Vantage: Emiya Kiritsugu. He wants to be…a hero of justice.
Myst: Emiya Kiritsugu, from Fate/Zero 2. Oh, the emotion! That guy’s amazing, and so incredibly badass!
Kaitou: Jin from ZETMAN. He actually knows what the right thing to do is, unlike Kouga.
Best Couple
Eva: OH GOD, ARE YOU REALLY ASKING ME THIS?!!?! I’M JUST GOING TO LIST THEM ALL, I’VE SHIPPED SO MUCH THIS SEASON, IT ISN’T EVEN FUNNY!!!! (BE IT CANON OR NOT CANON, OR SOON MAY BE CANON)
Jin x Yunoha (Aquarion EVOL)
Andy x MIX (Aquarion EVOL)
Ritsuko x Kaoru (Sakamichi no Apollon)
ZeroG: Urabe x Tsubaki from Nazo no Kanojo X, their relationship was so strange that it was the best love and best couple one could imagine, the bond they had with each other was so strong and unique that it made me drool all over.
Vantage: Ritsuko x Kaoru and Junichi x Yurika were both amazing couples, both from Sakamichi no Apollon.
Myst: Sakamichi no Apollon ‘Ritsuko x Kaoru’ pairing was really fun to see! They both have a great relationship and should definitely stay together alllll the time 🙂
Kaitou: It always was Sentaro x Kaoru from Sakamichi no Apollon for me. Polygon~
The Biggest Exhibitionist
ZeroG: Urabe from Nazo no Kanojo X, she spent most of the time showing off her panties and walking around naked, she is by far the greatest exhibitionist this season
Vantage: Kurokami Medaka, a girl who’s not ashamed of any part of her body at all!
Myst: I ran away from all ecchi this season. Except Holy Knight. So I guess Camilla from that show can win that one, since she was basically stripping down everytime she went for a bloodfest.
Kaitou: Need I say Zetman? Except they made special clothes for Jin, so when he changed back from being Zetman, he wasn’t butt-naked with Grandpa Seizou watching him on camera.
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~ Production Category ~
Best OP
ZeroG: By far my favorite OP this season was Borderland from Jormungand, but I must give a thumbs up for Tsuritama OP too.
Vantage: Kalafina’s “to the beginning” from Fate/Zero was truly epic, and gave off a badass yet despairing feel to it.
Myst: Sakamichi no Apollon’s OP was beautiful! The animation of it was amazing, the music fit incredibly well with it and I never got sivk of hearing it!
Kaitou: I liked the Tsuritama OP, it suits the show, and you know exactly what you’re sitting down for.
Best ED
ZeroG: Sora wa Takaku Kaze wa Utau from Fate/Zero, it is catchy and sang so beautifully.
Vantage: “unfinished” by Kotoko is an epic end to each episode of Accel World. Even after the show I still know I have more to look forward to in the form of the ED.
Myst: Fate/Zero 2! Love, love, love, loooove the song, written by Haruna Luna.
Kaitou: I second Vantage for Accel World‘s ED.
Best OST
Eva: Oh this is really though. Sakamichi no Apollon, AKB0048
ZeroG: Jormungand beats every single show I saw this season on this category, nothing came close to it, it was the best part of the show for me.
Vantage: To pick AKB0048 would be cheating I think (since the songs mostly originated from AKB48) so I’ll go with Sakamichi no Apollon’s OST, which I have my very own copy of. I spam tracks on it every day ^^
Myst: Uhhhh… I’d have to go for… Sakamichi no Apollon? I’m not a big fan of jazz, but this was still really fun to listen to.
Kaitou: I really liked the Sakamichi no Apollon OST. Chet Baker, anyone?
Kickass Animation
Eva: Fate/Zero was able to maintain its quality from start to finish, there were bits of flaws, but they were forgettable and the film quality animation just blew me away, time after time again. If you want high quality action packed battles, Fate/Zero has it all!!!
ZeroG: Nothing came close to Fate/Zero this season, it wins hands down.
Vantage: Fate/Zero was produced amazingly by ufotable, and was almost movie-like quality throughout most of it. The scenery porn in AKB0048 was appreciated too.
Myst: I agree with everyone here. Fate/Zero.
Kaitou: Fate/Zero. Nothing even comes close.
Horrific Animation
Eva: Natsuiro Kiseki was absolutely horrendous. Almost every episode was BAD QUALITY.
ZeroG: Tsuritama was really ugly, like, bad overall quality of animation and art.
Vantage: Oh man, horrific is such a harsh word. Natsuiro Kiseki’s animation wasn’t consistent, but I wouldn’t call it horrific by any means.
Myst: Tsuritama’s animation was weird and… Ugh.
Kaitou: Hiiro no DerpyKakera. I almost lost faith in anime because of this. Inconsistent renderings, messed up faces, no attention to colouring, poor fighting sequences.
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Blogger’s Top 5 Favorite Anime
Eva
#1: Fate/Zero II
Animation Company: Ufotable
Genre:Action, Supernatural
Reason: Action-packed Master Piece with a lots and lots of FEELS.
#2: Sakamichi no Apollon
Animation Company:Tezuka Productions
Genre:Drama, Historical, Romance, Slice-of-Life, Music
Reason: Unspecified
#3: Aquarion EVOL
Animation Company: Satelight
Genre: Mecha, Romance
Reason: Great Romance
#4: Kuroko no Basket
Animation Company: Production I.G
Genre: Comedy, School, Shounen, Sports
Reason: Basketball that’s all. BASKETBALL. And they are doing a great job too! :Db
#5: Uchuu Kyouda
Animation Company: A-1 Pictures
Genre: Sci-Fi, Space, Slice of Life, Seinen
Reason: If you love or is just interested in space or NASA stuff in general, I highly recommend this. You learn a lot from it and it’s still fun to watch.
ZeroG
#1: Fate/Zero II
Animation Company: Ufotable
Genre: Action, Supernatural
Reason: The show had the best quality of visuals, music and story. No show came close to its awesomeness this season
#2: Nazo no Kanojo X
Animation Company: Hoods Entertainment
Genre: Romance, Ecchi
Reason: A romance, fucked up ecchi. The show is so unique and is so absurb yet cute that it takes a special place in my heart
#3: Zetman
Animation Company: TMS entertainment
Genre: Action, Super-hero
Reason: The show was interesting, while it felt rush a little, it was overall really entertaining
#4: Sankarea
Animation Company: Studio Deen
Genre: Romance
Reason: The show might be full of fillers, but it was still better than most of the other show I watched this season.
#5:Kore wa Zombie desu ka? Of the Dead
Animation Studio Deen
Genre: Comedy
Reason: The show might have been a total cliffhanger, but it was still funny and completely random and therefore was overall quite enjoyable.
Vantage
#1: Fate/Zero
Animation Company: ufotable
Genre: Action, Fantasy, Supernatural, Thriller
Reason: The definition of badass, fantasy and despair, all rolled into one.
#2: Accel World
Animation Company: Sunrise
Genre: Action, Romance, School, Sci-Fi, Shounen
Reason: Virtual reality is the cream of the crop of sci-fi, and this is VR done right.
#3: Sakamichi no Apollon
Animation Company: Tezuka Productions (aired on noitaminA)
Genre: Drama, Historical, Romance, Slice-of-Life, Music
Reason: You can’t say no to a combo of jazz and romance, especially with that setting.
#4: AKB0048
Animation Company: Satelight
Genre: Mechan, Music, Sci-Fi
Reason: Oh man, so underrated! It’s more than just moe idols, there’s some serious drama and hardships too.
#5: Uchuu Kyoudai
Animation Company: A-1 Pictures
Genre: Sci-Fi, Space, Slice-of-Life, Seinen
Reason: Really interesting premise, hilarious to watch, and keeps me on edge each week.
Myst
#1: Acchi Kocchi
Animation Company: AIC
Genre: Comedy, Romance, School, Seinen
Reason: IT’S JUST TOO HILARIOUS!!! And really cute ^.^ This was totally my type of show, and it was really well done, too.
#2: Fate/Zero
Animation Company: Ufotable
Genre: Action, Fantasy, Supernatural, Thriller
Reason: Awesome story, awesome animation, awesome action, awesome everything.
#3: Sakamichi no Apollon
Animation Company: Tezuka Productions
Genre: Drama, Historical, Romance, Slice-of-Life, Music
Reason: Awesome romance, with a bit of drama and jazz to spice it up.
*Myst hasn’t watched enough shows to make a top 5 *cries*
Kaitou
#1: Sakamichi no Apollon
Animation Company: Tezuka Productions
Genre: Music, Slice-of-life
Reason: Refreshing take on music anime that isn’t mired in moe.
#2: Accel World
Animation Company: Sunrise
Genre: Shonen, Action
Reason: Beautiful characters, genuine story of struggle.
#3: Fate/Zero II
Animation Company: Ufotable
Genre: Action, Fantasy
Reason: They managed to sustain a season of characters and fighting well.
#4: Uchuu Kyoudai
Animation Company: A-1 Pictures
Genre: Space
Reason: I loved Planetes, space just is such a great topic.
#5: AKB0048
Animation Company: Satelight
Genre: Music, Action
Reason: ALL THE GIRLS ARE CUTE. You need a little mecha idol in your life, right?
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