First off, let's start with the things I dropped after one episode or just didn't watch period. This list is huge because let's face it and not beat around the bush - I'm a pretty picky person. This applies to everything in my life really. Anyways, here's what has failed to get my interest or I'm not watching period because of some reason or another.
*.) Infinite Stratos
Slightly interesting mecha battle turns into high school hi-jinx. That's wasted potential right there.
*.) Freezing
Eh, I don't like fanservice anime. That's pretty much what this is and it is dropped.
*.) OnoKoto
Incest anime. No.
*.) Dragon Crisis!
Rie Kugimiya voicing a tsundere girl and the boy character's name is Ryuji. WHERE HAVE I SEEN THIS?
*.) Kimi ni Todoke Season Two
Never finished the first season and have no will or drive to do so. Sorry about that Sawako.
*.) Cardfight!! Vanguard
Eww, another card game anime. Doesn't Japan have enough of them already?
*.) Wolverine
I wasn't impressed with Iron Man, so I don't bother with this crap anymore.
*.) Rio - Rainbow Gate
Not going to touch this one with a ten foot pole. Looks, sounds and has been panned awful by almost everyone.
*.) Mitsudomoe Season Two
Never watched the first season.
Moving on to better news, here's the stuff I liked after the first episode and have deemed them worthy of a second episode. Now, they may totally fall flat and end up getting dropped, but they met the expectations I had for them. They can survive, but only if they get better in the second episode. It's tough to get out of this category once a series is in it. Let the best, oh second episode and so on, win.
8.) Beelzebub
It can either get really generic and become stale really quickly, or it can continue to be most fun and interesting. It's a shounen series, so I don't see it going very far. I fully expect it won't survive. It'd be nice if it did though. Did I mention how freakin' cute the interactions between Oga and Beel are? HNNNG.
7.) Yumekui Merry
The "so bad that its good" show of the season. I could only laugh at how ridiculous the thing was. That's all I could do the whole time. The opening and ending songs were nice and competent. Designs were just, ugh, generic in every way. I don't see it going much further. Merry is cute though, don't get me wrong.
6.) Gosick
The pacing problem was glaringly evident and Victorique is pretty annoying sometimes. The first mystery was just plain boring. Although I'm interested to see where it goes, this series is on borrowed time. It was one of the "core four" of my most anticipated, so naturally I'm quite disappointed with BONES here.
The following below are pretty safe as well and have bought themselves even more time as the first episode really wowed me and went above and beyond my expectations. I'm willing to give them a chance until the end, unless they royally screw up in later episodes, which has been proven to happen.
5.) Level E
It looks to be going into interesting territory. It had me engaged and enthralled for the entire episode. I couldn't take a break or anything, it was just spectacular. I really felt Men in Black vibes from the entire show, even the opening animation and song felt MiB to me.
4.) Kore wa Zombie desu ka?
The "sleeper" of the season as far as I'm concerned. I was laughing the entire time. Aikawa and his mannerisms and fantasies were easily the most entertaining portions and if they keep these elements fresh, it could be a real treat and heck, even a dark horse to win the season.
Last but certaintly not least, the top three shows this season. These shows had enormous expectations going into it and they managed to meet or beat those expectations. These shows are not exceptions either, they can just as easily fall into another tier. No series is safe from this scale. Not even the noitaminA series, which I have dropped before.
3.) Puella Magi Madoka Magica
Whoa. This has some potential to be a really dark magical girl series. Not to mention being absolutely gorgeous, but thats SHAFT and Shinbo for you. Music was pretty solid, the sniplets of the ending song were fantastic. The fights, wow, the fights. Spectacular stuff right there. Again, as usual from SHAFT-Shinbo.
2.) Wandering Son
A surprising upset. I was fully expecting this to be at the top of Winter, still time for such to occur but seems unlikely after a strong first episode from Fractale. Anyways, best animation of the season. Hands down. It reminds me a lot of Makoto Shinkai's works, from the animation to the general atmosphere. That's an excellent thing, by the way. It looks like a show that will merit constant rewatching.
1.) Fractale
Last but certaintly not least, the winner of the beginning of the Winter anime season - Fractale! From the beautiful opening song, to the interesting doppels running around to the trio of bumbling villains to the gorgeous ending song. It looks to be a real contender for best Winter series. It oozes originality in every corner of it. It felt very Ghibli to me in some aspects, which is certainly a positive thing. I am very interested to see where it goes from here. Gorgeous, simply gorgeous. It's every reason why I love anime.
That does it for now, I'll be posting again in mid-season to see where everything stands. It should be quite interesting to see where everything will be five or six weeks from now, don't you agree?
