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Ash Recommends: Spring 2012 Anime Season

Greetings all and welcome to my latest attempt at making sure this blog doesn’t appear completely dead, a mid-season recommendation list! The reason for this article mostly came from the fact that every season it seems I have numerous people ask me about whats worth watching, so I figured hey why not just make a central article that I can link people instead of continually repeating myself!

And honestly I can’t blame people for needing some guidance I mean just look at that monster of a list above eh? Daunting to say the least…

In any case I had actually planned to do this article around the time that most shows had released 3 episodes, but Kyoani decided they wanted to play the diva and be fashionably late by not airing until 2 – 3 weeks after everyone else thus throwing a wrench in that plan.

Thankfully though I think it was for the best that I instead made this post around the 6 episode mark in the end. 3 episodes allows you to discern the outright garbage from things that are at least somewhat watchable, but after 6 episodes I find I can answer a much more important question about a show and that is “Do I give a damn about these characters?”. Sadly the amount of shows that I answered “No” to that question and thus dropped them was extremely high between episodes 4 and 6 of shows.

So with that said lets dive right in eh.

Acchi Kocchi

Acchi Kocchi is probably by far the most pleasant surprise of the season for me. Based off a 4-koma it’s a downright adorable and heartwarming little show. The comedy almost always hits the right spots for me varying between high tension craziness laugh out loud situations to the more sweet and cute humor of the light chuckle variety.

The two leads interactions are what really sell the show for me episode after episode watching them make cute. While they sadly aren’t a couple they might as well be with the way they act and its those moments they share that really stand out the most. That isn’t to say the supporting cast isn’t enjoyable as they all seem to bring something unique to the mix.

So if your in the mood for something extremely cute and fun this ones for you.

 

Fate / Zero

I’m just putting this one on the off chance that someone whose never been on the Internet or was living under a rock or some such stumbles across this post for the first time….Seriously if you aren’t watching this show, first of all what the hell is wrong with you? And second go watch the show. Now.

Sankarea

Sanka is based off the extremely well written manga of the same name and thankfully DEEN has done an excellent adaptation job so far. The opening and endings ooze style in a way I’ve never seen from the studio thus far and almost makes me want to forgive them for all the injustice they did to their Type-Moon series adaptations…almost.

In any case the show is just plain brilliant. While the pacing can be a bit sluggish at times the overall faithfulness to the source is admirable especially the amount of loving attention they pay to capturing Rea’s beauty in the manga.

Great one to watch if your into Romance and likable leads. Oh and Zombies.

Eureka Seven: AO

I won’t lie I can barely remember the original Eureka Seven. I mostly just remember the music that’s still on my MP3 to this day. That said the vague amounts I do remember mesh well with this modern sequel and the small shout outs to its predecessor have been nostalgic, but not overdone letting the show stand on its own two feet thus far requiring little to no knowledge of its fore bearer.

Pair that with some really outstanding animation and a varied interesting cast makes for one enjoyable watch.

If you have a Mecha itch and want to see some drop dead gorgeous animation give the series a go.

Sakamichi no Apollon

Sakamachi is a wonderful return to form for the Noitamina timeslot after the horrible likes of Guilty Crown and Black Rock Shooter had begun to tarnish it’s image. Thankfully this show retains the more mature feel that the time slot does best and while its not quite at the level of say Nodame Cantable the characters and writing have a wonderful amount of depth you rarely get from the majority of anime.

I do wish that it involved music a bit more actively like the opening leads you to believe it will, but the shows current romance heavy focus has been extremely enjoyable nonetheless.

If your tired of the same old “Moe shit” and looking for something that approaches relationships a bit more differently then your average anime by all means check this one out.

So lets call the above my “Top recommendations” while what I’ll briefly list below is a list of the handful of other shows that I’m still watching that I would suggest to people who like the genre, but aren’t quite as excellent as the above ones to transcend the confines of said genre.

Accel World – While the show has potential its dragged down far too much by its obnoxious male lead and its need to explain every last thing in great detail…Only watch if you can stomach such things or if your like me and utterly in love with Kuroyukihime. (pictured above).

Ginga e Kickoff!! / Kuroko’s Basketball – Both of these are extremely competent enjoyable sports anime, but sadly neither really rises above merely being a “Sports anime” with all the tired tropes and story telling the genre entails.

Jormungand – If you liked Black Lagoon you’ll like this (They’re printed in the same manga anthology). Unfortunately it hasn’t really done much with its characters or premise, but if you like guns and violence this will be your kind of show.

One last aside I’ll make before I wrap up this article. is I think everyone should watch One Piece. Yes the show is almost 550 episodes long but if you asked me my honest opinion “Ash what do you think the best show airing right now is?” My answer without a shred of doubt would be One Piece it really is just that goddamn good and its WELL worth the lengthy investment in it.

Now with that out of the way I guess I’ll say a few words about the blog or at least speak for what I’ll be doing so you don’t think were quite so near-dead. So next month I’ll start doing figure reviews again (Shocking I know!) and I’ll also work on another Eroge article as soon as ones released that can actually bring me to stop playing TERA (Two most recent ones I dabbled in where underwhelming thus far). I also know for a fact Chag got at least one new figure so I say you all pester him to actually do a review for once as well! Until then cya folks!

2 replies on “Ash Recommends: Spring 2012 Anime Season”

I’m glad to hear you think the same of Sankarea, I watched it because exilehero had been hyped about the manga for a while. I think it was quite the most welcomed surprise and it became the show I look forward to the most each week.

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