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: Suteki Tantei Labyrinth (Great Detective Labyrinth)
• Studio: Deen
• Genre: Mystery

Ratings (out of 5):

• Story: ♥♥♥

• Animation: ♥♥♥
• Characters: ♥♥♥
• OP/ED Themes: ♥♥♥
• Overall: ♥♥♥ (You’re cute…but try again in ten years.)
  

Thoughts:
If Majin Tantei Nougami Neuro is going to be a sort of badass/silly detective drama, Suteki Tantei Labyrinth is going to be a “precious” detective drama. 11-year-old Mayuki lives in a creaky old western-style mansion in the middle of a forest in a city that has been abandoned by most of its population because of an earthquake. And from this house, he solves mysteries that happened elsewhere via a vaguely mystical intuition. And there’s something about him being unable to leave the city, too.

There was nothing particularly bad about this show, but it left me vaguely discontended. In the past, when young male characters were played by women, I’ve never especially noticed– but in this show, Mayuki does actually sound like a girl. (Then again, he’s only 11.) But when compared to Romi Paku, who plays a ~13-year-old boy in the show, it’s pretty astonishing.

None of the characters are especially interesting– except, perhaps, Mayuki’s butler and the “dolls” he uses. The “dolls” are adult human-sized women, who fight against a third such being (I think) in the first episode. That side of things leaves me kind of curious. But as for the mysteries and Mayuki? Eh, I’d leave them as soon as take them.

Ultimatum Talk reports that Manjou Meito’s manga Suteki Tantei Labyrinth is going to be made into an anime, according to the cover of Magazine Special.

This was rumored a couple of days ago when Moon Phase added it to their list of upcoming shows.

I couldn’t find much information on the series - it doesn’t appear to have been scanlated or anything - but the title translates roughly to Amazing Detective Labyrinth. (Okay, “Amazing” isn’t necessarily the best translation - awesome or superb is probably better - but with American naming conventions, “Amazing” works best. So there you go.)

No time frame for the series is reported, but Moon Phase says fall.