Blog #1: Spring 2012 Anime Highlights

by Midday

I will be raising 2 titles I believe are worthy of watching this season. I may add more if I feel like it, or if there are any requests. I'm currently watching 66 animes simultaneously, 32 of which are from this season (my MAL). I've dropped 4 animes from this season so far (not necessarily because they're bad of course). I DO NOT PIRATE ANIME FOOTAGE. PLEASE DO NOT ASK ME WHERE PAST EPISODES CAN BE FOUND.

1) Hyouka ← I haven't watched this yet, so no major spoilers please.
It has been several seasons since Kyoto Animation's last new anime, Nichijou, which has been reairing for a third run on NHK. Anyone who watches anime regularly knows the name Kyoto Animation, which is famous for the Suzumiya Haruhi Series, the movie of which is 7th on MAL's top anime, and Key/Visual Art anime adaptations with its amazing visual novel storylines, as well as K-ON, which is probably the most trendy anime in recent seasons. Kyoto Animation, which has been challenging every genre, every aspect of anime directing there is since its first anime Full Metal Panic Fumoffu, has now moved on to the mystery genre with Hyouka. Many have been anticipating another to-be-famous masterpiece from Kyoto Animation, but there seems to be a large division in the reception of its production. Those who watch anime for what an anime is comprised of as opposed to other media of entertainment are fully satisfied with the maximum level of design consistency, background animation, and visual effects Kyoto Animation has to offer. However, many are also disappointed with its focus on moeblob and the lack of attention towards the mystery aspect involved. Gatoh Shouji, the script/series composer, explained on his twitter that Kyoto Animation intends to enforce the bittersweet human relationships found in the story over the mystery, and this comment has only fueled the concern for the possibility of another pseudo-K-ON work. However, no one denies its astounding animation quality, and this controversy is held due to the very high level of expectation that Kyoto Animation brings about.

The anime is planned to be 2 coeurs long, totaling 21 episodes with an additional OAD coming out with the 3rd volume of the manga in January 2013. This anime cannot be found legitimately online, and I recommend you watch it on BS11, which has superior graphics to Tokyo MX. Discussion topics may be found on the MAL forums.

UPDATE
The OAD planned to be released in January 2013 will be pre-aired on USTREAM at 24:00 July 8th, 2012. Note: the link is to the official news page, not to the USTREAM page.

2) Haiyore! Nyaruko-san
Probably the best received anime in nicovideo this season so far (with a successive top weekly ranked official anime video since its release back in April), this anime seems to be your typical moeblob, but is in fact literally a (Cthulhu) monster underneath the surface. The best way to describe this anime is a cross between Lucky Star (a hyper parody slice of life anime by Kyoto Animation, as well as the first anime to successfully encourage financial improvement in the local town the setting of the anime was based on) and Gintama (another hyper parody space samurai action anime by Sunrise, originally a Shounen JUMP manga, the second season of which is currently the top anime of MAL). Note first that "hyper parody" means that the anime can only be enjoyed to its fullest extent by knowing all of the references made in the anime. Here is a fanmade wikipedia which lists all of the references made, as well as a video series (nicovideo, free registration required) which compares them visually and by sound. The main story is an alien invasion based on Cthulhu Mythos, a fictional universe written in the American horror novel by H.P. Lovecraft. XEBEC, the animation company, manages to promote the wacky chaos of the original light novel series while mixing fan moe and preserving animation quality. The OP "Taiyou Iwaku Moeyo Chaos" has become a trend within the nicovideo subculture, and has given birth to the ascii art (」・ω・)」うー！(／・ω・)／にゃー！ If you're an anime watcher, don't be late for jumping in on the festivities, because the staff really knows what the subcultural fandom is looking for.

The current anime series is preceded by 2 flash animes released by DLE, but these are 2 series of shorts intended to be fan-service based on self-criticism, where the characters criticize the loopholes of her own story. Do not judge this anime by any impression from these flash animes. This anime will be 1 coeur, totaling a length of 12 episodes. Discussion topics may be found on the MAL forums. This anime is best watched on nicovideo with comments, which will facilitate reference recognition as well as participation in the festive atmosphere of the fandom. People outside Japan can watch this anime legitimately on Crunchyroll.

Sample Reference Video (nicovideo, but can be watched externally without an account)

I chose the second episode, because this episode contains many references that non-anime watchers would get as well (like Star Wars and Sagrada Famiglia). Note also that this video does not introduce every reference. I don't know if it's possible for any one person to know all of them.


If you would like more information, sources, other animes perhaps, please leave a comment.

I plan to write about Nicovideo Zero in my next article.