[Review] Anime of Fall 2013 Round-up

With the Winter season in full spring, we look back at fall and its season of anime. Our task: To find out if it was as great as we made it out to be!

This article is a quick roundup of all the things I quite liked and hated in the 2013 Fall anime season!

[Note: Spoilers abound!]

Kyoukai no Kanata

Synopsis:

Kyoukai no Kanata is a story which revolves around the life of Akhito Kanbara, a high school sophomore in the literature club (KyoAni, I see what you did there). His encounter with a girl by the name of Mirai Kuriyama, a freshman of the same school, changes the fate of both their lives and those around them forever.

Review:

Kyoukai no Kanata is an anime that has surpassed most expectations, specifically concerning those linked with Kyoto Animation (KyoAni). It is one of their latest works that tries to tackle on a slightly darker storyline, and they seem eager to prove that they are not just a company that does everything to be cutesy. But for all that it is worth, Kyoukai no Kanata did not disappoint, too much. As a whole, it is good, with character designs and animation that were above average. Add flashy battle scenes and you got yourself a recipe for a fairly decent anime.

Sadly, Kyoukai no Kanata did not break any new boundaries. It does indeed show that KyoAni is trying step out of their norm in the ‘Slice of life’ genre, but however still ends up having that ‘KyoAni feel’ to it. The main female lead ends up being just another two dimensional character, with the only thing fleshed out being her backstory, which honestly is very short and explains too little. What it tried to do is to be different in its story; where tragedy, conspiracies and ulterior motives run rampant, but are sadly never fully developed and lack a clear direction.

This could have easily been a 24 episode anime if they decided to build up and expand on the story. It could also have been a really great anime if they decided not to fall back on comedy all the time. The only reason this anime would pass for being above average is both the ending and the opening songs, the former being my main reason.

Just listen to it and you will see what I mean:

Summed up, Kyokai no Kanata could have been better by leaps and bounds, but ended up being much too safe. If they had decided to do something entirely different, in both character and story, it may have been the standout of the season.

Final Score: 7.5/10

Infinite Stratos 2

Synopsis:

The second season of Infinite Stratos. This story revolves around Orimura Ichika and his attempts to solve the mystery behind the appearance of a new enemy.

Review:

Honestly speaking, the second season of the IS (Infinite Stratos) is underwhelming.It had a lot of wasted potential, and ended up becoming a typical harem anime, with little to no development whatsoever. Even if it tried to drive the story forward with the appearance of a new ‘sibling’, that’s all it ever amounted to. There was no explanation as to why these events were occurring, and most of the story ended up leading to a cliffhanger.

This anime was a heaping pile of mess, and the only two redeeming factors are seeing the girls and the fights. But even so, the redeeming factors can’t save the show from it’s downward descent into a being just another crappy harem anime. I can rip into how generic the main protagonist can get, how the CG looks average at best and the anime managing to get such high profile seiyuus on board, but I don’t see much of a point in doing so as it would take me quite awhile to do so.

Final Score: 4.5/10

I Couldn’t Become a Hero, So I Reluctantly Decided to Get a Job

Synopsis:

Yuusha ni Narenakatta Ore wa Shibushibu Shuushoku o Ketsui Shimashita (Yuushibu) is a story about how our main character, Raul Chaser, a young man who dreamed of being a hero, was denied the chance to become a hero due to the death of the demon king, leading to the suspension of the Hero Program. He now works in a small magical electronic store, where he one day meets a girl by the name of Fino Bloodstone, who claims to be the daughter of the former demon king.

Review:

I can safely say that this is an anime I enjoyed. Not loved, but just enjoyed.

It was a different anime; featuring personal battles, coming to terms with acceptance, and growth. You’ll also note interesting bits which parallel reality, such as segments on the greed of companies and their preferences of profit over human interaction.

Yuushibu is a rare gem in its own right, once you manage to somehow get past all the fanservice. It does show a different spin on an idea that’s already done to death. Add that to its own little twists on how it’s world works, it also manages to make a boring concept seem like an epic adventure. I genuinely found it entertaining every step of the way, and definitely worth watching at least once.

Final Score: 7.5/10

BlazBlue Alter Memory

Synopsis:

BlazBlue Alter memory focuses on our main protagonist, Ragna the Bloodege, the most wanted man in the world as he hunts down the man who took away his younger sister, Saya. As he enters the 13th Hierarchical City of Kagutsuchi, an array of fighters descend upon the city, with the intention of collecting the bounty on Ragna’s head. But things are not as they seem….

Review:

If you want to watch this anime, I would highly advice you to do research about it beforehand. Even from the very first episode, you are already thrown terminologies that you may not be familiar with, and that would just decrease the enjoyment of the anime.

It would seem that this anime is catered more towards people who have already played the games.The characters have retained their original game designs and seiyuus.

While the action scenes are quite nice, it is clear that there are not enough.

This is clearly an anime that is trying its best, but as a whole it still feels extremely lacklustre. Although the main story deviates ever so slightly from the one in the game, it still seems okay. It would have been much better if characters were fleshed out somehow so as to give them more character, breaking from the character types that were in the game, and doing something largely different. That would actually be interesting to see how it all ends up.

Final Score: 6.5/10

So there you go, a short roundup of what I liked and hated, stay tuned as I continue to review anime from those that have past, and those to come.

Tell us how you felt about the anime titles in fall.

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