Honorable mention's go to Hourou Musuko which is one part of the noitamina line-up and is produced by AIC - The series is a bunch of kids starting middle school but there is a lot of angst just as everyone starts to introduce themselves , its also a series that shows the awkwardness of the gender bender as boy's dress up as girl's and vice versa. The presentation is fantastic showing a very unique pastel coloring. Its a great show but my problem with it is that I couldn't figure out with character is which half the time. It looks like a show that needs re-watching but apart from that its a very dramatic show which looks like improving as episode go by.
Last show that has been on my mention list is Yumekui Merry - a surreal mysterious comedy made by the folks at J.C. Staff, its about a girl who tracks down different dream demons that effect human in the normal world and with the help of the male protagonist Fujiwara; helps her defeat them. Its a well paced anime with a lot of likeable characters and action. At episode 3 the plot doesn't seem to be advancing as well so i'm not punching my monitor for the next episode. (Off-topic - For some reason Merry goat eye's remind be of The Cooper Temple clause - "Blind Pilots" music video ending - NSFW)
Shows like Gosick, Wolverine (Yes I like it at the moment) and Fractale I'm still watching but have yet to blow me away.
These three signify the best of the bunch:
3.Level-E
Producers: David Production, Studio PierrotMy surprise (and many others) hit comes in the form of Level - E, a supernatural comedy about an alien crashing on earth and making friends with a transfer high school student but when I looked at that art work at the start of the season; you really wouldn't think that.
The alien (Prince) and the student (Tsutsui) have this great comical chemistry between them since Prince always seems to tease Tsutsui in certain unpredictable ways like using puppets to depict a certain situation and it really shows Prince's strange way of acting human; making him feel very alien inside at least. It reminds me of Cromartie High School sometimes in a good way.
Its not only that there is some fantastic moments when you at awe looking at these surreal moments and it sometimes makes it look beautiful, even the 3D models look believable.
With some charismatic characters introduced in episode 2 I can't wait to see whats in store for future.
2.Kimi Ni Todoke Season 2
Producers: Production I.GMost of you who know me already thought that I've been highly anticipated for this, not only did I watch the whole 1st season, I went out to buy all of the current English volumes before I found out this announcement.
After a short recap of the last season centering Kurumi past with Kazehaya, we have a short Valentine's episode before all of are main character's start the second year at high school. All characters are still like able as every but it feels that this season might be more angst that its previous season which I hope isn't the case.
I'm hoping that Sawako and Kazehaya interact more and hopefully become closer by the end of the series and that's about it, I just want more of the same and that's what I'm getting at the moment which is cool.
1.Mahou Shoujo Madoka★Magica
Producers: Shaft
I think I'm turning into some kind of Shaft fan boy but seriously I have my reasons to highly recommend Mahou Shoujo Madoka★Magica because it isn't some cutesy innocent magic girl anime (as the picture I've given suspects that) but on the inside the show is a dark and even terrifying take on the genre.
It helped that I had no idea who was directing (Akiyuki Shinbo) or writing (Gen Urobuchi) this show before, all I knew is that I was possibly expecting a zany and funny take on the Shoujo genre and I wasn't planning on rating it that high.
But instead these guys created an anime where magical girls aren't gods or have a happy finish to every episode, being a girl with magical powers has consequences and the reality is that you may perish or even suffer an even worse fate.
The story is pretty straight forward - ordinary second grade student Madoka and her friend Sayaka discover the cute looking animal Kyubey and it has the ability to grant one wish but to get that wish both must become magic girls and defeat these weird looking witches. They don't do it straight away since there Mentor Mami (who is a magic girl herself) helps them train to become one and shows the risks of what they could face.
The Presentation is one of the best showing anime; an innocent colourful normal world but when they enter a witches portal everything looks dark and unique with strange monsters and dark corridors. Mami's action scenes are some of the best I've seen this season.
However the biggest reason I'm putting this one at the top of the list is the very shocking end to episode 3, I wasn't expecting that at all and same goes for every anime blogger and fan out there. It was so well done and with it coming so early in the season it's surprising yet gets me very exicted for the next one. I'm not spoiling so if you haven't watched it yet, you must even if your not into the genre.
If you have watched any from this season please comment below!
