Winter Season: First Impressions

I’m a little late to the party on this one, but no matter. I’ve still got a few more shows I need to look at, so I imagine there will be a follow up post to this one in the days to come.

Alphabetized for your pleasure.

Aria the Origination – A show where we see that more of the same can be a very positive thing. Since I haven’t read the original material, I don’t have any idea as to how much material this season will cover, but I hope we can see at least one of the girls become a Prima, and I imagine we will. The first episode had more Athena than I could’ve asked for, and the girls still look beautiful. The cats are up to their old tricks, and frankly, I’m delighted to see it.

Gunslinger Girl – Il Teatrino- Did anybody enjoy this? I sincerely hope not. I’m sure everything that could be said about this crying shame of a second season has been said already, but I’ll throw in my two cents. It sucks. They literally destroyed the characters’ appeal. Since I’m fresh off of season 1, the voices are really throwing me off, but that’s nothing compared to the way they raped their personalities. Voices and character designs are important, sure, but they aren’t even the same girls so many of us fell in love with. It’s just ugly. I will be riding this one out though because I don’t think many other people will bother, and I’d like to see if they can scavenge any redeemable qualities out of this mess.

Persona – trinity soul- I know nothing about the videogames that this show is loosely based on, and from what I hear, that’s a good thing. My inner gamer can’t stand videogame adaptations if they aren’t really true to the original. I’ve only watched the first episode, but the really dark feel of the show was nice. I enjoyed the short battle at the end mainly because I’m a fan of the little guy with powers he didn’t know he had cliche. The music is pretty good in this one as well.

Shigofumi – Probably one of my favorites from the first episode, but it’s going to be tough for me to watch this one. I didn’t even begin to expect the twist at the end of the first episode, and it depressed me more than it probably should have. I guess it’s better that it happened quickly so that it had less impact. I’m really loving Fumika and her outfit though. That and her relationship with her staff remind me a lot of Kino and Hermes from Kino no Tabi.

True Tears – This will be the only romance series I think I’ll keep up with. The girls are really cute, and that’s good enough for me.

Wolf and Spice – A show that’s currently riding on the shoulders of its lead female, Horo; shoulders that we get to see quite a lot of considering the amount of (albeit tasteful) nudity in these first two episodes. I’m not too into the story itself right now, and I’m not really a huge fan of girls with tails, but Horo is a truly delightful character that I can’t wait to see more of. I do feel the need to post what are probably my favorite opening and ending songs of the season, which are both from this show.

edit: Oh my God. How could I forget Zoku Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei. Wherever Itoshiki-sensei is, he’s certain to bring the despair and the endless amusement that comes along with it. I’m watching this one raw because I notice a lot more stuff when I don’t understand 99% of what’s being said, and I think it’s fun to try to interpret the dialogue by context alone. I’m also pleased that a.f.k. is getting the subs out in a timely fashion, considering how slow it was last season, but who knows how long that will keep up.