Fall's over, finally!

All of the Fall season's shows are up. Some good stuff this season, with Astro Fighter Sunred being a particular favorite of mine. Some absolutely terrible stuff this season, too. But, we carry on.

Winter reviews should start going up in a week or two, although there's not as many of those. The Spring season should last us plenty, but that's not for a little while. Don't worry, however, as there's still plenty of excitement in store. New anime isn't the only thing out there to review.

Epic Anime Meme

Just for fun, I decided to complete this meme that a friend posted to her Livejournal earlier today. Slash mark indicates things I've seen but not finished (at least one episode), x mark is for things that I've finished. Supposedly a score of 80 means that I'm an anime freak, so let's see how many I come up with:

Action and Adventure
(-) .hack//SIGN
(-) Airmaster
() Battle Arena Toshinden
(-) Bleach
(-) Blood+
() Burst Angel
() City Hunter
(-) Cowboy Bebop
(-) Dragonball
() Flame of Recca
(-) GetBackers
(-) Inu Yasha (unfortunately. Though not very many episodes, just some here and there).
(-) Lupin III (any)
(-) Mai-HiME (if this includes the Mai-Otome offshoot then yes, since a new one came out after I started reviewing).
(-) Naruto
(-) One Piece
(-) Tenjou Tenge
(-) TRIGUN
() Saiyuki
() Yu Yu Hakusho
Total Here: 14/20

II. Comedy and Parody
(-) 2x2 = Shinobuden
() Adventures of the Mini Goddesses
(X) Azumanga Daioh
(-) Bokusatsu Tenshi Dokuro-chan
(-) Di Gi Charat
(x) Dragon Half
(-) Excel Saga
(X) Fruits Basket
() Galaxy Angel
(-) Here is Greenwood (I think I might have seen the whole thing but I can't remember).
() Kodomo no Omocha
(-) Kyou Kara Maou!
(-) Midori Days
(X) Ouran Koukou Host Club
(-) Pani Poni Dash
(x) Project A-ko (a friend and I used to rent these all the damn time. I streamed the first one over Netflix recently and still had parts of the dub memorized).
(-) Ranma ½
(-) Tenchi Muyo
() Those Who Hunt Elves
() Urusei Yatsura
Total Here: 15/20
Total so far: 29

III. Drama and Miscellaneous
(x) Beck
() Full Moon wo Sagashite
(X) Gankutsuou
(-) Genshiken (haven't seen all of second season yet so I can't really mark as finished).
() Glass Mask (original or new)
(X) Haibane Renmei
() Hitsuji no Uta
(X) Honey & Clover
() Kaleido Star
(-) Last Exile
() Le Portrait de Petite Cossette
(-) Monster
(X) Paradise Kiss
(X) Princess Mononoke
(X) Read or Die OVA
(-) Speed Grapher
(-) Twin Spica
() Weiss Kreuz
() Wings of Honneamise
(-) Yakitate!! Japan
Total Here: 13/20
Total so far: 42

IV. Ecchi/Mature
() Agent AIKa
(-) Cutey Honey
(-) Ebichu
(-) Golden Boy
() Grenadier
() Hand Maid May
() He Is My Master
() Iketeru Futari
() La Blue Girl
() Lingerie Senshi Papillon Rose
(-) Mahoromatic
() Mezzo Forte (Just the part with the sex, so I don't think that counts).
(-) Miyuki-chan in Wonderland
() My Dear Marie
() Najica Blitz Tactics
(-) Negima
() Puni Puni Poemi
() Urotsukidoji: Legend of the Overfiend
() Yumeria
Total Here: 6/20
Total so far: 48

V. Fantasy and Supernatural
(-) Angel Sanctuary
() Aquarian Age
(x) Berserk
() El Hazard
(-) Final Fantasy Unlimited (unfortunately)
(-) Fullmetal Alchemist
() Howl's Moving Castle
(-) Magic Knight Rayearth
(-) Mushishi
(X) Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind
(-) Record of Lodoss War
(-) Scrapped Princess
(-) Slayers
() Tales of Eternia
(-) Trinity Blood
() Tsubasa Chronicle
(X) Vampire Hunter D
(-) Violinist of Hameln
(-) Vision of Escaflowne
(x) X: TV
Total Here: 15/20
Total so far: 63

VI. Historical and Alternate History
() Anne of Green Gables
(-) Basilisk
() Barefoot Gen
(-) Chrono Crusade
(X) Grave of the Fireflies
() Fire Tripper
() Kaidomaru
() Legend of Condor Hero
() Millennium Actress
(-) Nadia - Secret of Blue Water
() Ninja Scroll
() Otogizoushi
(X) Peacemaker Kurogane
(x) Porco Rosso
(x) Rose of Versailles
(-) Rurouni Kenshin
(X) Samurai 7
(X) Samurai Champloo
() Steel Angel Kurumi
(-) Victorian Romance Emma (I'd like to watch more than the first couple episodes sometime)
Total Here: 11/20
Total so far: 74

VII. Kids and Family
(x) Angelic Layer
() Astro Boy
() Beyblade
(X) Castle in the Sky
(-) Detective Conan
(-) Digimon
(-) Doraemon (In Japanese class :) )
() Hamtaro
(X) Kiki's Delivery Service
() Kimba the White Lion
() Monster Rancher
(X) My Neighbor Totoro
(-) Pokemon
(-) Samurai Pizza Cats
() Sazae-san
() SD Gundam Force
() Sonic X
() Speed Racer
(X) Spirited Away
(-) Yu-Gi-Oh (for the lulz)
Total Here: 11/20
Total so far: 85

VIII. Magical Girls and Boys
(-) Cardcaptor Sakura
(-) DNAngel
(-) Earth Girl Arjuna
() Erementar Gerad
() Hime-chan no Ribbon
(-) Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne (durr, I'm a thief and I'm gonna wear the most gaudy costume ever, tee hee!)
(-) Magic Users Club (baaack in the day)
() Magical Girl Pretty Sammy
() Magical Stage Fancy La La
() Mahou no Star Magical Emi
() Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha
(-) Mythical Detective Loki Ragnarok
() Ojamajo DoReMi
() Oku-sama wa Mahou Shoujo
() Pretear
(-) Sailor Moon
() Saint Tail
() Tokyo Mew Mew
(-) Ultra Maniac
() Wedding Peach
Total Here: 8/20
Total so far: 93

IX. Romance
() Ah! My Goddess (OVA)
() Ai Yori Aoshi
() Air
(x) Ayashi no Ceres (I'm embarrassed to admit... but it was at anime club).
() Boys Be
() Chobits
(-) Fushigi Yuugi (got sick as shit of this)
() Hana Yori Dango
(X) His and Her Circumstances
() Kimagure Orange Road
() Kimi ga Nozomu Eien
() Love Hina (hell no).
() Maison Ikkoku
() Marmalade Boy
() Peach Girl
() Piano
() Please Teacher!
() SaiKano
() To Heart
() Video Girl Ai
Total Here: 3/20
Total so far: 96

X. Science-Fiction
(x) Appleseed (Boooring)
() Blue Seed
() Bubblegum Crisis
(X) Crest of the Stars
(-) Galaxy Express 999
() Gundam
(-) Macross
(-) Outlaw Star
(-) Patlabor (Own Patlabor XIII, but haven't seen it yet.)
(-) Planetes
(x) Please Save My Earth (Wish the DVD wasn't out of print).
(x) RahXephon
() Saber Marionette
(x) s-CRY-ed
(-) Soukyuu no Fafner
() Space Battleship Yamato
(-) Stellvia
() Transformers
(X) Voices of a Distant Star
(-) Xenosaga: The Animation
Total Here: 14/20
Total so far: 110

XI. Shounen-Ai and Shoujo-Ai
() Ai no Kusabi (Though I downloaded it to watch at some later date).
(X) Descendants of Darkness
() Earthian
(X) FAKE
() Fish in the Trap
() Galaxy Fraulin Yuna
(X) Gravitation
() Haru wo Daiteita
(-) Kannazuki no Miko
() Kizuna
() Lesson XX
() Loveless
(-) Maria-sama ga Miteru (hard to not see this since there are about a billion seasons now).
() Mirage of Blaze
() Oniisama E
() Seikimatsu Darling
() Song of the Wind in the Trees
() Sukisho
() Yami to Boushi to Hon no Tabibito
() Zetsuai/Bronze
Total Here: 5/20
Total so far: 115

XII. Sports
(-) Ace wo Nerae
(-) Ashita no Joe
() Ayane's High Kick
() Baki the Grappler
() Battle Athletes
(-) Buzzer Beater
() Captain Tsubasa
() Eyeshield 21
() Ginban Kaleidoscope
(-) Hajime no Ippo
(-) Hikaru no Go (Hells yeah!)
(-) Initial D
() Major
(-) Monkey Turn (one episode raw back in the day).
() One Pound Gospel
(-) Prince of Tennis
(-) Princess Nine
(-) Slam Dunk
() Suzuka
() Wild Striker
Total Here: 10/20
Total so far: 125

XIII. Surreal and Psychological
(X) Akira
() Betterman
() Boogiepop Phantom
(-) Elfen Lied (Once she peed on the floor, I was right out).
(x) FLCL
(-) Gantz
(-) Ghost in the Shell (Haven't seen all of the second season of Stand Alone Complex yet).
(x) Hellsing
(-) Jigoku Shoujo
(-) Karas
() Madlax (Exlax?)
() Melody of Oblivion
(-) Neon Genesis Evangelion
(x) Noir
(x) Paranoia Agent
() Perfect Blue
(X) Princess Tutu
(X) Revolutionary Girl Utena
(X) Serial Experiments Lain
() Texhnolyze
Total Here: 14/20
Total so far: 139

So I guess I'm an anime freak, though really I've dropped a lot of stuff on that list due to thinking it was useless, so I suppose it's a little bit different.

Dropping Anime

I was surfing 4chan earlier today, and there was a thread in the Animu and Mango board about anime that people had dropped (essentially just stopped viewing without finishing). This might be a surprise to some people, but there are very few anime that I've actually viewed a significant portion of and then stopped before the end. I tend to be a good judge of what I'll like and only start shows that I feel have some potential, but there have been a few through the years that I just haven't finished for one reason or another. Sometimes life just gets in the way, and other times the show just turns sour partway through despite being promising at the outset. Here are a few examples drawn from memory:

Nabari no Ou: I watched a few episodes of this show and even had it as a suggestion on the handout for the "Shiny New Anime" panel I do at various local conventions. Heck, I even blogged a few episodes. I got bored fairly quickly, however, since it began to seem like a bishounen eye-candy version of Naruto. Many of my friends enjoyed it, I had just hoped for a little more, I guess. Pretty animation is great, but I need a little meatiness to go along with it.

Kemonozume: Don't get me wrong, I intend to finish this at some point. As a huge fan of Kaiba, I feel I need to view this other example of Masaaki Yuasa's work. I think what made me stop this show for the time being was its intense and adult portrayal of sexuality. I'm all for including this aspect of human interaction in art, but I think I wasn't prepared for it. The series doesn't lend itself well to watching multiple episodes too close together, either. Sometime I'll pick it back up and finish the second half, even though I've heard the ending might not be the greatest.

Hakaba Kitaro: This is one of those shows that I was almost convinced would get shown in the anime club I attend, so I decided to save the second half of it until that time. Unfortunately, interest in it seems to have trailed off and the likelihood of watching it is slim at this point. I only have maybe five episodes left of the show, so finishing it off shouldn't be a problem, I just have to make the time.

Hayate no Gotoku: I liken this show to Yakitate! Ja-Pan in that I really enjoyed what I watched of it, but I have almost zero desire to finish it for some reason. My tolerance for longer shows is very small even if the show itself remains entertaining. I enjoyed the comedic aspect of the show, but I think some part of me is worried that, if I finish it off, I'll be left disappointed.

The Daughter of Twenty Faces: This is something that I want to finish, but I'm waiting for the fansub group to release the last two episodes before I watch the second half. Knowing Live-Evil, this may take a while. I'm afraid if I watch what I have of it now, I'll get to some very intense bit of cliffhanger action and I'll have to wait an unreasonable amount of time to finish it, diminishing its impact.

So, as you can see, there are various reasons why I've stopped series. Rarely is it because the thing is outright terrible; sometimes I just lose interest or it wasn't what I expected based on the first couple of episodes.