First Impressions for Fall

Chihayafuru (2 episodes watched):

This show's biggest strength is its protagonist. 

Chihaya is trying to recruit members for a karuta club at her high school. Her school mates are (and always have been) jerks who dislike her for being a non-conformist ("Yeah, she's pretty, but you'll realize that it's wasted as soon as she does something or opens her mouth."), but she doesn't care. 

Seven minutes into the show's first episode, it segues into a flashback about how Chihaya became interested in playing karuta. It seems like the flashback wrapped up in episode 2, and the show will hopefully return to Chihaya's high school years in episode 3. Chihaya and Arata, the class outcast who Chihaya sticks up for and learns to play karuta from, are the only truly likeable characters so far, but what little we see of the teenage version of the third lead, Taichi, doesn't seem bad. Younger Taichi is a raving brat, but he gets enough character development- mostly via his exchange with his mom and his admitting to having stolen the glasses- to elicit sympathy by the end of episode 2. It's hard to tell what the bulk of this show will be like from these first two episodes but it's interesting so far and, again, Chihaya is a delightful lead. 

Chihaya has one glaring moment of stupidity in episode 2, when she says that Taichi wouldn't do anything mean even though he openly bullied Arata and pushed Chihaya when she defended him. Hopefully there won't be any more of that. 

But yes, I'm looking forward to more.

Fate/Zero (3 episodes watched):

Color me surprised. This is my favorite show this season. Fate/Zero is more tightly paced than its predecessor from the outset (no surprise, since it's shorter), more sinister, and devoid of annoying or idiotic characters. Utterly deranged characters? Yes. Machiavellian? Yes. Clueless and overly do-goodery? No. As you can probably tell, I really didn't like Shirou. (Saber's new Master Kiritsugu was taken aback by the fact that Saber is a woman, but she called him out on it.)

For anyone unfamiliar with the premise: Long ago, the three most powerful mage families combined their power to summon the Holy Grail, which can grant any wish. Unfortunately, the Holy Grail can only grant one wish each time it appears. The three families fought over it, beginning the first Holy Grail War. The Grail normally appears every sixty years, sparking another war each time. The war in Fate/Zero takes place only ten years prior to the one in Fate/Stay Night. The Grail chooses seven mages, or Masters, who can compete in the war by summoning a Servant. Servants are the super-powered versions of legendary/historical fighters like Alexander the Great, King Arthur (who, according to the Fate franchise, is really a woman and the strongest Servant), Gilgamesh, Hassan-i Sabbāh, etc. The most chilling Master/Servant combo in Fate/Zero comes about when a serial killer summons Gilles de Rais. (I knew what the outcome of that scene would be, but it was still very...effective. I was like, "No, HE WON'T LET YOU GET AWAY THAT EASILY.") I really like the assortment of Masters, and the motivations, allegiances, and enmities among them. They're all adults, which is refreshing also. I've probably made it sound like the Masters are all unpleasant people. Kiritsugu is a mixed bag- which is what makes him quite interesting- but his wife Irisviel, who serves as Saber's proxy Master, is thoroughly sympathetic; one Master is a university student who intends to disprove the widely accepted idea that one's magical ability is limited by one's pedigree; and the younger son of one of the top three mage families trains to become a Master in the hopes of saving a young girl who his family "adopted" from one of the other top three families to make her represent them in the war.

If you haven't seen Fate/Stay Night, it won't be a negative if you try Fate/Zero. If you have seen F/SN, you'll know who dies, recognize certain F/SN characters as children, and have a stronger "Yay!" or "Oh, shit," reaction when certain Servants are summoned. If you're looking for an atmospheric action/suspense show or a fantasy series that isn't a joke, this is a good bet. Plus, Saber. Shame on me for forgetting how awesome she is. And am I the only person who really enjoyed her interaction with Irisviel in episode 3, as a yuri fan? (I swear to god, this show was my favorite of the season before episode 3, despite what the glut of Saber/Irisviel pics I'm posting indicates.)

Most perspicaciously, I have finally realized what the three hottest Type Moon characters have in common: ponytails.

Ponytail.

Ponytail.

PONYTAIL.

Bam. I just wanted an excuse for posting these.

Ugh.

Guilty Crown (1 episode):

An average, bored high school boy finds a scantily clad girl who needs his help. Things explode, he saves her, and he learns that he can use a super-powered sword.

Guilty Crown is a very well-produced show. But it's not what I want from Noitamina.

Hunter x Hunter (1 episode):

My sugar-coated memories of Yuu Yuu Hakusho were enough to made me try this, but not enough to keep me watching. 

This is another hyper-energetic-boy-wants-to-be-the-best-something-so-he-enters-a-tournament series, with nothing that stands out. The biggest problem is that Gon is boring. One Piece's Luffy avoids being dull even though he's a plucky shounen hero by being eccentric. (Admittedly, I've only seen a few episodes of One Piece. They were definitely fun, but I cringed at the idea of committing to a 400+ episode series with no end in sight.) Yuu Yuu Hakusho's Yusuke avoided being dull by being a snarky smart ass with a heart of gold. Edward Elric was instantly empathetic because of his motivations. (He's actually my favorite shounen lead.) Returning from my tangent, rote premise + unmemorable characters = definite pass on this series.

Kyoukai Senjou no Horizon (2 episodes):

Dear Horizon, 

To keep me from hating you, you'll need to give the yuri couple more screentime than the amount spent on the male lead groping another girl's chest before she slams him into a wall.

Sincerely,

Katherine

Mirai Nikki (1 episode):

If you find out that someone plans to kill you soon, shortly after you enter an empty office building, what should you do?

Run away from a busy street that's full of people (and likely to have a police box, which might be handy), into an empty office building in a desolate area?

That's what Yuki, the protagonist of Mirai Nikki, does after reading the details of his impending death from his future-predicting cell phone. (Like clockwork, he also follows the horror movie habit of fleeing his pursuer by moving to a higher floor.)

When Yuki later learns the rules of the battle royale that he and the other people who own future-predicting cell phones have to participate in, he protests that the future outlined on his phone changed even though he didn't do anything to change his future. So killing the person who the phone predicted would kill him doesn't count? Even though Yuki is an idiot, this episode has two interesting points: the other battle royale participants placing Yuki highest on their target list as a result of his being over-credited for 3's killing, and the only real ally Yuki has being his stalker. I predict that she will do some gut-wrenchingly immoral things to protect Yuki, whether they're necessary or not, freaking him out even more. Will he be willing and able to piss her off by completely rejecting her? As idiotic as Yuki is, I'll give this series another shot to see what the real survival game is like.

Tamayura: Hitotose (2 episodes):
My impression of the OVA was lukewarm, but I liked the first episode of the TV series quite a bit. It shows Fuu before she moves back to the charming, old-fashioned small town where her family used to live, when she's still grieving for her dad. She returns to photography, a hobby she hadn't pursued since her father died because he did it also. This was a poignant episode that could have easily stood on its own as a short film.

The second episode, taking place after Fuu moves, is about Fuu and her new group of friends deciding to have a sleep over. It was pleasant enough, but became heart-tugging again at the end, darn it. ^_^;

Admittedly, I still haven't finished Ikoku Meiro. Ikoku Meiro is a heart-warming show with likeable characters, but it hasn't compelled me to finish it. I probably will eventually. I just don't feel like adding another laid-back, feel-good Satou Junichi show to my watch list right now.

Un-Go (1 episode):

Boring, boring, boring, and the protagonist's sidekick Inga is as annoying as I'd feared. I appreciated that the outcome of the mystery presented in this episode wasn't obvious, but this series is still a pass for me.

I finished Blood-C. It became interesting towards the end, but pissed me off again when the entire series turned out to be a 12 episode long advertisement for the Blood-C movie. I would give Blood-C a D and No. 6 a B.

From what premiered this past summer, I'm still keeping up with Morita-san ha Mukuchi and Penguindrum. (I have watched episode 14 of Penguindrum. Holy crap, that ending.)

This will be my only post for this week.

Update on 10/22: Oh. D'oh. Just found out that Fate/Zero is planned for two seasons. The second season will air in the spring. Yay!