Anime Weekly 29/05/13

So, I'm starting this up again. Every Wednesdays at 10pm! We'll see how long I last this time... For this weekly feature revival, I'll touch upon a few stuff that interested me this week and then go on to focus on one particular topic if I have one to write about. Anyway, onwards to the first of many weekly posts!



As an introduction, here are the shows I'm following right now:

• Hataraku Maou-sama!
• Yahari Ore no Seishun Rabukome wa Machigatteiru. (oregairu)
• Aku no Hana
• Hentai Ouji to Warawanai Neko. (henneko)
• Ore no Imouto ga Konna ni Kawaii Wake ga Nai. (oreimo)
• Shingeki no Kyojin
• Suisei no Gargantia
• Hayate no Gotoku! Cuties

The twin moe giants, henneko and oreimo, really destroy all moe series in recent memory (except maybe Acchi Kocchi?). Especially henneko and its stellar voice cast. 'Veteran loli' Tamura Yukari, 'new moe queen' Ogura Yui, and 'best new female seiyuu' Ishihara Kaori push this moe (and slightly ecchi) show to its limits! However, both moe shows are doing a great job with their stories too. Oreimo is just finishing the "shironeko" arc while henneko has crafted some interesting scenarios and solutions.

Speaking of oreimo, Hanazawa Kana was absolutely killing it this week with playing that double role. Kuroneko and Hinata sound similar yet different, believably related. Hinata sure knows the right things to say. lol.

I think the whole reason why I'm still watching oregairu is right there in that screenshot. lol. Seriously though, this show has some nicely written dialogue but the situations they put the characters in feel a bit forced. But if the dialogue stays strong, I do see a nice final arc coming up soon.

After the last episode, I wondered how they were going to deal with the aftermath in Aku no Hana. The creators had guts, spending a huge chunk of the episode just showing Kasuga and Nakamura slowly walking home after their rampage, allowing the audience to reflect on the craziness and implications of their action. In the previous episode, I thought that the overhead shot of the classroom was not as impactful as the manga panel, and this episode showed that the scene was just too dark to show off all the "gory" details.

I already had Shingeki no Kyojin spoiled for me, but it was still awesome seeing Eren emerge from the titan and Mikasa rushing to see him. The titan-on-titan fights were suitably savage, but not quite Evangelion standards yet. Hype all over the internet for this series reminds me of the time Madoka was airing. It's like everyone is watching and enjoying it thoroughly. Unlike Madoka though, the manga fans already know what will happen in the plot, so there isn't that same frenzied speculations that made waiting for each episode of Madoka that much more exciting. I find it hard to believe any series can match Madoka's intensity, but this is doing well so far and it has 2-cours to delve out its secrets.

It's a pretty awesome mix this season. A great action series (shingeki no kyojin), something artsy (aku no hana), and some moe/romance/comedy (oreimo, oregairu, henneko). It's missing straight-up comedies and a proper sappy romance series, but this will do. See you next week!