Now that the fall season has passed the halfway point, it’s time to see what series will be getting continuations and what won’t. Just announced in Japan, a Night Wizard game for PS2 and a second season of Hidamari Sketch (titled Hidamari Sketch x365).

I’m kinda surprised Hidamari was popular enough to warrant a second season. It was nicely done and had some cute moments, but I didn’t think it really stood out all that much. It does seem like a lot of slice-of-life series get sequels though, and I guess there’s enough manga to develop into the new series, so eh, whatever.

So we’re up to ~episode six in most series, which is the halfway point for the Fall season (though not necessarily the halfway point for each show). I figured I’d check in and talk about where I am with each show these days.

• Bamboo Blade: Miya-Miya owns the ass of every female character this season, hands down. Then again, it’s not like she’s up against a lot of competition. Status: Watching regularly.
• Blue Drop: The pacing is sooo slow, it took until episode three or four for anything to actually happen. But the promise of lesbians keeps me going. Status: Watching regularly.
• Clannad: I maintain that this show would be so much better if they would just ditch Nagisa entirely. Beyond that, I’m liking it better than I expected to. I do still wish that anyone looked somewhat close to how old they actually are / sound…but eh. Status: Watching regularly.
• Dragonaut: The Resonance: I can’t explain why I keep watching this show. I’m not really fond of the art style, the plot is pretty mediocre…and yet, I keep watching. I blame the boobies. Status: Watching regularly.
• Genshiken 2: Ogiue’s Sasahara x Madarama FTW. That is all. Status: Watching regularly.
• Goshuushou-sama Ninomiya-kun: GOOO REIKA! GO GO GO! Mayu’s cute, but boring. Status: Watching regularly.
• Jyuushin Enbu: Story-wise it’s gotten better, but the art and animation are still incredibly mediocre compared to FMA, and the characters aren’t as cool either. Status: Watching every so-often.
• Kaiji: I’m interested in seeing where this goes, but running out of space on my anime plate for watching it. Status: Dropped for watching later.
• Kidou Senshi Gundam 00: Major improvements in terms of developing characters, but I think I still like the ending theme better than anything else about the show. Status: Watching regularly.
• KimiKiss: I like this show, and I think it’s because it’s a dating sim but not one that focuses on one guy and a dozen girls, but rather a group of friends (male and female) and their love lives. Status: Watching regularly.
• Kodomo no Jikan: Epic yet uncomfortable win. But I’ve ranted about this show being undervalued as mere pedo fodder enough, so suffice to say Status: Watching regularly.
• Majin Tantei Nougami Neuro: I would totally be watching this show IF ANYONE WOULD FREAKIN’ SUB IT. I’ve actually already seen people cosplay from the manga, and yet no one will sub the anime? Am I missing something? Status: Watching…if it ever comes out.
• Minamike: I like the show a lot, but almost all the comedy comes from either crazy middle sister Kana, or crazy Kana-like characters (Chiaki and Haruka each have a classmate with a similar dynamic). And Kana is never given the opportunity to have any redeeming features. Hmph. Status: Watching regularly.
• Moyashimon: This one’s a little behind, but I like it…though the agriculture 101 bits can be a little dull, the rest of the batshit insane stuff makes up for it. Status: Watching regularly.
• Night Wizard: I’m getting a little tired of Eris being the sweet, cheerful, flock-of-birds attracting Mary Sue, and annoyed at Renji being the show’s whipping boy with, like Minamike’s Kana, no real opportunity to redeem himself. Status: Considering dropping.
• Prism Ark: …One episode was really enough. Status: Dropped.
• Rental Magika: It got so boring in episode three I just couldn’t continue. Status: Dropped.
• Shinrei Kari / Ghost Hound: I still have some issues with the art style, but the pacing has picked itself up nicely and I’m curious to see where it’s going. Status: Watching regularly.
• Shion no Oh: Mmm, delicious trap, must eat. Status: Watching regularly.
• Shugo Chara! Mmm, delicious magical girl, must eat. This is probably one of the more solid shows of the season, IMO, though it’s obvious not for everyone. Status: Watching regularly.
• Suteki Tantei Labyrinth: Looks cute, but pretty dull– I’m more interested in the dolls than in anything to do with the main character. Status: Dropped.

• Title: Night Wizard the Animation

• Studio: HAL Film Maker
• Genre: Adventure

Ratings (out of 5):

• Story: ♥♥♥♥

• Animation: ♥♥♥
• Character Design: ♥♥♥
• OP/ED Themes: ♥♥♥
• Overall: ♥♥♥♥ (A goodnight kiss is definitely on the first-date gameplan.)

Thoughts:
I’ll be the first to say that the individual elements of Night Wizard are, at least in the first episode, pretty mediocre. What I like about the show, however, is that it’s unabashedly a return to the sort of old-school adventure plot that is the backdrop of classics like Sailor Moon or even Dragon Ball Z. You’ve got good peons fighting bad peons, a good boss and a bad boss, characters who have been fighting, a character who’s new to the situation who has some special powers, and a set of mystical artifcats (in this case, seven secret jewels or some such nonsense).

Also, the male lead has a freakin’ clue what he’s doing, and is even a bit on the hot-blooded side (though of course he’s no Kamina). Instead of being the clueless new guy, he’s been around for a while and he spends the whole first episode getting dragged off to fight bad guys when all he really wants is to get to school and graduate. And he’s vocal about it. He’s not just some wussy nice-guy, an archetype which you probably noticed has been taking over as far as male leads go these days. (Even Gurren Lagann’s Simon started out as a wussy nice guy, even if he became a GAR nice guy.)

So, it’s all a bit of a throw-back, and it looks to me like it’ll be a fun romp.

No, not the Drew Barrymore flick. And not really 50, either, but I’ve got a nice pile of first episodes to watch, and I’m going to try to get through them all today. And ideally, I’ll write up all of my first date posts for them today too. I have Blue Drop, Myself;Yourself, Clannad, Da Capo II, Gundam 00, Night Wizard, and Kaiji. And I’m all in marathon mode too, thanks to a Heroes marathon yesterday.

So, time to get crackin’!

Seriously, if there’s a TGIF, there should be an OGISN: “Oh God, It’s Sunday Night*.”