Spring is here, and with a new season comes lots of new anime for all of us to feast our eyes upon. I mean, we can’t just stare at cherry blossoms forever – we have to do something else with our spring days eventually. Just like last season (Winter 2012 in case you missed it), we have quite a few new shows on our hands here and a handful of sequels. Most are pretty average, at least two are great (one of which is Space Bros, the only anime this season to include a pug in a space suit), and there’s also a few that are complete rubbish. Which are which, you ask? Well let’s find out.
Sankarea
Sankarea is a zombie moe adolescent romantic comedy based on a manga. You with me so far? Good. So a boy who is obsessed with zombies and the occult happens upon getting involved with a girl who ends up becoming the living dead. What will happen?!!?
I think this anime would seem pretty average if not for the whole undead romantic interest thing. There’s nothing bad about the show, it just doesn’t seem as interesting as some of the other shows this season. If it sounds appealing to you though, it might be worth a shot. Who knows, it might turn out to be pretty good eventually.
[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1H2jEpeTNyg']
Who should watch this show: People who like romantic comedy shows centering around moe zombies.
Likelihood of me watching another episode: Not bad, but not good either. Maybe if the shows I like better so far end up not panning out so well I’ll come back to this one.
Sakamichi no Apollon
This anime has some real promise just by looking at the team behind it. Sakamichi no Apollon is set in the 1960s and tells the tale of a high school jazz band. It’s directed by the same guy who did Cowboy Bebop and Samurai Champloo, has its music done by Yoko Kanno, and is based on a Shogakukan Award-winning manga. What could go wrong?
Initially, this show (along with Space Bros) was the one I was looking forward to the most this season. I just recently started teaching myself piano as well as getting myself into jazz music, so this show really spoke to my interests right from the get go. The music is wonderful and the animation is no slouch either. Even though the story doesn’t seem that complicated just yet, the characters and everything are all presented very well. I’m excited to see how things develop.
[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzY6Y-AHEaw']
Who should watch this show: People who like jazz music and slice of life type animes about high school bands.
Likelihood of me watching another episode: Pretty good, I’d say. I can definitely see myself watching another episode but I’m not sure if I’ll watch it until the end. The story will have to stay pretty strong throughout.
Nazo no Kanojo X
Nazo no Kanojo is directed by the same guy doing Space Brothers this season, but boy are these shows different. This show is about a sexually frustrated teenage boy and the weird obsession he develops with a new student in his class. He ends up becoming addicted to her saliva, and convenient for him – her mouth overflows with it whenever she gets really happy so she is more than willing to spit on her finger and let him suck it off. Weird, right? I know.
Normally I wouldn’t watch a show like this all the way to the end but this show was just too weird to shut off. There were way too many wtf moments that just kept me glued to the screen. Not because I was enjoying it, but because I was overcome with appalled horror. I’m kind of terrified where this show will go with its odd sexual themes, but I’m pretty sure I don’t want to find out. Maybe somebody could just tell me what happens so I don’t actually have to watch any more of it.
[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ot26N18bBHk']
Who should watch this show: People who like sexually weird and more than slightly off romantic comedy anime.
Likelihood of me watching another episode: Nope, this is just too out there for me. I don’t want anymore.
Space Brothers
At last, the show we’ve all been waiting for. The show about a pug in a space suit. Space Bros takes place in the year 2025 with NASA and JAXA going to the moon on a type of practice run for the eventual colonization of Mars. It tells the tale of two brothers and their ambition to live out their dreams of going into space.
The show is definitely one of the funniest this season. I found myself laughing out loud quite a bit. But it’s like a feel-good kind of laughter and everything seems very natural. You can definitely tell it’s adapted from a highly successful manga series. I like it a lot and it makes me happy to watch. Space Bros seems very professional compared to the other animes this season, kind of like movie quality production I feel. I really like it a lot. This one definitely lives up to expectations in my opinion.
[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDrlh6VtglU']
Who should watch this show: People who like high quality anime involving space, ambition, dreams, and humor.
Likelihood of me watching another episode: Oh, yeah – for sure. This show is fantastic. I can’t wait to watch more.
Zetman
Zetman is the token full on action anime of the season. It seems kind of like a superhero-ish anime with the main character being a 10 year old orphan with strange superpowers. It’s bloody, violent, fast paced, and serious with lots of crazy happenings around every corner.
Unfortunately the story doesn’t really appeal to me. The action is fine, but there are just a lot of unanswered questions so far that I don’t really feel like investing the time into finding out. The action is fine, but the great lack of comedy here kind of kills it for me. Zetman just isn’t my kind of anime. I feel like it could be cool eventually, but the first episode just didn’t grab me.
[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9P4UPbLHu4']
Who should watch this show: People who like serious action shows with violent kid heroes.
Likelihood of me watching another episode: I’m not going to watch anymore of this. It’s just not my bag.
Tsuritama
What’s that you say? A show about fishing? Yup. That’s Tsuritama. This show revolves around the leisurely sport, but also highlights an alien and a goose as main characters. Sound intriguing to you?
Tsuritama is definitely one of the goofier shows this season, but it kind of works. The colors are brilliant and very pretty, making the show a joy to behold. The show is funny, kind of weird, and I have absolutely no idea where they are going with it. Fishing and saving the world? I can’t think of a better combination for an anime.
[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDc7GFWzHtM']
Who should watch this show: People who like fishing, weird alien characters, or saving the world.
Likelihood of me watching another episode: Probably. If I still want more anime after watching the shows I like better, I’ll probably come back around to this one eventually.
Jormungand
As the other action oriented anime this season, Jormungand is about guns, arms dealers, ladies with guns, action, guns, violence, and children with guns. Oh, and guns. The show has a heavy focus on gun-play and soldier type stuff but the story does not get developed very much in the first episode. The main character is a battle hardened child who ends up getting involved with a team of mercenaries and their arms dealing leader. What’s up with all the violent children this season?
As far as I’m concerned, Jormungand is a better action anime than Zetman is. I don’t really know where the story is headed, but the characters are pretty interesting and if you really like action anime, this show will probably suit you just fine. The action, animation, sound effects, and music are all great, but the lack of a gripping story lets me down here.
[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5FD2a9ddS4']
Who should watch this show: People who like guns, guns, and more guns.
Likelihood of me watching another episode: Doubtful. If I’m craving more action this anime season, I’ll turn to this show first though.
Accel World
Accel World does something you will very rarely see in an anime. And that is making the main character a bit of a fatty. The main character in Accel World is chubby and depressed, but soon he finds himself involved in some crazy stuff beyond his wildest dreams. The story is set way in the future and there are a lot of cool futuristic gadgets and tech to be seen here. It’s pretty cool.
But, holy crap – this show really surprised me. It’s awesome. I wasn’t expecting much from this show, but it really blew me away. The colors and animation are gorgeous, and I really enjoyed the soundtrack as well. It has a really interesting concept behind it and all the future tech is really, really cool. The end of the first episode was a crazy cliffhanger and I’m really excited to see where this show is going.
[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHOiqv3Xw1o']
Who should watch this show: People who like futuristic animes that are funny, exciting, and awesome.
Likelihood of me watching another episode: No doubt I’ll be watching more of this one – I might even watch them all! It’s great!
Shows That Are Really Bad And You Shouldn’t Watch
Upotte!!: This show (pictured above) is wretched. I didn’t like it right from the start. It seems very stupid and it tries to be funny, but it most definitely far from funny at all. It’s kind of inappropriate at times and no one should watch this. It’s bad. Shut if off before the 10 minute mark.
Saint Seiya Omega: I never got into the original Saint Seiya, so I didn’t have high hopes here. There were animation errors within the first 5 minutes and I shut it off within the first 10. It is dumb and boring.
Natsuiro Kiseki: It’s a really dumb slice of life girls type anime. It’s not funny and at the end of the episode they all wish they can fly and then they can fly. It’s silly. Skip it.
Ozma: I guess this show isn’t terrible, I just didn’t like it. The animation and visual style seems really dated and it just seems really boring. I couldn’t bring myself to care about it.
I also didn’t check out a handful of other anime shows this season because they didn’t really seem interesting to me and there were also a handful of sequels that I didn’t check out either.
But the bottom line this season is: Accel World and Space Brothers are awesome. Watch them. Oh and Sakamichi no Apollon might end up being pretty cool too, only time will tell.
So tell me, what are your favorite anime shows this season? Think I should check out a show I didn’t review above? Have you seen Accel World or Space Bros? How do you like them? Let me know in the comments!