Ask John: Is This the Worst New Season of Anime Ever?
Question:
I’ve heard certain fans saying this cour is the worst anime cour ever. I’m pretty sure they say that every cour, however, and it would be laughable if so many people didn’t actually believe it heart and soul. Well, anime is DEAD now because no first episode of a new series hit fans like a ton of golden bricks. Can you imagine such hyperbolic bull coming from any other fandom? Do music critics officially declare pop music dead if nothing revolutionary is on any given week’s top ten?
So now that you’ve watched many of the new anime premieres of the season, John, what do think of the opinion that this is the worst cour of anime ever?
Answer:
I sometimes think that I hold fast to the shocking and near un-American belief that anime fans should want to like anime. Unlike seemingly many American anime fans, I approach every new anime with the hope that I’ll enjoy it, or that it will surprise or impress me. I try not to approach new anime expecting the worst, or with the demand that new anime surpass my expectations just to earn my respect. I do admit that there are countless anime which aren’t very good. Periodically there are anime which even I’ve got to call awful in spite of my fervent desire to idolize anime. Every January, April, July, and October, when new cours (TV seasons) of anime start in Japan, I know that I’m not going to like everything. But I try to sample everything I can, and I hope to be surprised and pleased. The fall 2009 season has had the largest number of TV anime premieres since April 2007, which saw the debut of 45 new TV anime.
Among the 45 new TV anime to premiere this month, I’ve been fortunate enough to watch the first episodes of 40 of them. I haven’t yet gotten to, or haven’t been unable to locate and watch episodes of Battle Spirits: Shonen Gekiha Dan, Waimo-kun ~ Kiiroi Kao Shite Babanban, Tamagotchi!, Stitch! ~Itazura Alien no Daibouken~, and Hidamari Sketch x365 Tokubetsuhen. Like every season, this fall has brought us some less than impressive new fare, a lot of reasonable and good but not exceptional new titles, and a small number of immediately striking shows. Based strictly on first impressions, series including Kampfer, Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu Purezza, and Shin Koihime Muso have felt distinctly uninspired while 11eyes and Kiddy Girl-and have been pretty bad. Shows including Tatakau Shisho, Seitokai no Ichizon, Seiken no Blacksmith, Sasameki Koto, Miracle Train, and Kaidan Restaurant have had debut episodes that haven’t made a strong impression. Then there have been a handful of this season’s premieres, including Kobato, Kimi ni Todoke, Aoi Bungaku Series, and Kuchu Buranko that have been impressive with their production values or creativity.
Since I’ve done a little bit of comparative research, allow me to share some perspective drawn from the past two years.
The January 2007 season introduced 23 new anime TV shows. Highlights included Manabi Straight! and Nodame Cantabile.
The especially strong spring 2007 season introduced 46 anime premieres including Claymore, Darker Than Black, LoveCom, Lucky Star, Oh Edo Rocket, Ookiku Furikabutte, Seirei no Moribito, Gurren Lagann, and Dennou Coil.
The 2007 summer season had 20 premieres including Baccano!, Mononoke, Potemayo, Sayonara Zetsubo Sensei, School Days, and Shigurui.
The winter 2007 season had 38 new anime but only a few highlights, including Clannad, Gundam 00, Minami-ke, Moyashimon, and Shion no Oh.
January 2008 had 23 new TV anime including stand-outs Hakaba Kitaro, Okami to Koushinryo, and Shigofumi.
April 2008 was a strong season with 40 new TV anime and exceptional premieres including Nijuu Mensou no Musume, Code Geass R2, Fireball, Kaiba, Kurenai, Macross Frontier, RD Sennou Chousashitsu, and Soul Eater.
The July 2008 season had 22 anime premieres, with hightlights including Natsume Yuujin-Cho, Strike Witches, and Bounen no Xam’d.
October 2008 had 40 premieres highlighted by Casshan Sins, Ga-rei -Zero-, Kannagi, Kurozuka, One Outs, and Toradora!
2009 started with 24 new TV anime including Mariaholic, MariMite season 4, Ride Back, Sora wo Kakeru Shoujo, and Zoko Natsume Yuujin-Cho.
The spring 2009 season had 34 premieres including Basquash!, Cross Game, Guin Saga, Higashi no Eden, K-On!, and Ristorante Paradiso.
Among the 18 new TV anime to premiere this past summer were Aoi Hana, Bakemonogatari, Canaan, and Tokyo Magnitude 8.0.
So, in the context of the past dozen new TV anime seasons, the current season with new shows including Kobato, Kimi ni Todoke, Aoi Bungaku Series, Fairy Tail, and Kuchu Buranko really doesn’t seem out of the ordinary at all. I’ll admit that Kimi ni Todoke has been the only new TV anime of this season to immediately engross and enthrall me. But there have been other past seasons of new anime that have introduced only one show that immediately enthralled me. Rather than call the fall 2009 anime season unusually weak, I think that proper perspective reveals it as average, and a couple of unusually strong recent Japanese TV seasons have skewed the grading curve.
Related Posts
About The Author
john
Add a Comment
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Well, maybe it’s just a matter of taste but I can agree that at least a few of those from the earlier seasons are notable. Not the current one though.
I think its clear Kimi no Todoke its the big star this season, although unfortunately for US cutizens its the series they dont like much, I guess for them Fairy tail is more interesting, it has potential and looks good so its a great alternative for anyone tired of Naruto’s gayness alreade, **** Sasuke already.
I have yet to really get into the extremely bizarre Kuuchuu Buranko thou, and I am a HUGE fan of noitama series. Guess I need to watch another episode or .
BTW John or someone else no “NOISE” series this season? I became in love with relatively new Fuji TV noise timeslot, dont tell me it was canceled? Ive been unable to know what happened to NOISE or if there is a new series airing in that timeslot this season.
Unless people are only comparing the first episodes of past seasons, it is erroneous make comparisons to the current one. We can look back at the season once it is over to make a better (albeit meaningless, as whether or not you think Sayonara Zetsubo Sensei is a good series should not depend on whether or not it aired concurrently with Shigurui or Strike Witches,) comparison since we will have full knowledge of how good/enjoyable/original a series is. Many shows start great, but fall apart half-way through or their originality only lasts for 2-3 episodes.
I’ll keep watching shows from this season to have something contemporary to watch while trying in futility to watch all of the appealing critical successes of past seasons.
It seems like common sense, but John’s point about most American fans not bothering with anime that hasn’t been hyped up is par for course. I’m always excited about a new series and I’ll give anything a chance, but I’m usually met with apathy when I present an obscure series to the anime club I advise. And I’ve hit across a variety of genres. But it’s the same with every other form of entertainment. The same group will turn their backs on video games they’ve never heard of. We registered a lot of complaints at GarasuNoShiCon because we offered JAPANESE games, but no Halo 3 or Guitar Hero, games people have at home. Can’t account for taste, I guess.
Sorry to say that I don’t know what’s going on with the NOISE series right now. Ristorante Paradiso was the most recent installment, which wasn’t that long ago. So maybe we’ll get another announcement this fall or early next year.
>Zoko Natsume Yujin-Cho
Zoku (it means sequel or part II), not Zoko.