UPDATED
Just when I had given up on anything interesting showing up in the genre, the current crop of shows have been a welcome change. While it is too early to declare anything to be a classic, entertainment is to be found for all age groups. What follows is some short thoughts on the better shows, all of which are available on legal streaming services:
Space Brothers (found here)
A rarity in current anime, a story starring adults feauturing adult life, Space Brothers follows two brothers in their quests to become astronauts. Actually, it is only one brother’s quest, since his younger brother already has made it. Set in the near future of the 2020’s, the struggles and doubts of the main character, Mutta, are easily related to by adults dealing with hard economic times. Set to run 48 episodes, it has a breezy, laid back charm that is given additional warmth by flashbacks of the brothers growing up together.
Recommended to adults, those struggling in life, and lovers of serious science fiction/space exploration.
Dusk Maiden of Amnesia (found here)
A mix of comedy, mystery, horror, and mostly romance, this story depicts the first love of a middle school student who meets an older girl with amnesia. A much older girl stuck at an eternal fifteen since dying sixty years before. While there is too much ecchi fan service, I found myself forgiving it due to the beautiful animation and charming main character, the ghost Yukko. Light hearted in the beginning, it is getting progressively more wistful and dark. Gorgeous backgrounds make for a beautiful looking show.
Ostensibly aimed at a younger audience, it is only suitable for older teens and adults due to all the fan service. Lovers of atmosphere, style, beauty, and sexy comedy will like this one.
UPDATE: I am pulling my recommendations for this one. While visually lovely, the ecchi fanservice got to be too much, exceeding the even the source material. Fans of the original will not be pleased with the overall butchering of important scenes and story structure.
Folktales from Japan (found here)
Aimed at little kids, adults will find this interesting since it recounts well known folk tales from Japan – shocking given the title, I know. Narrated and performed by only one man and one woman, it reminds me a little of Fractured Fairytales, but done more seriously. If I were a little kid again, I would adore this show. As it is, I find it a fascinating glimpse into another culture and enjoy the moral fables involved.
If it were dubbed, I would recommend it for young children, but they will have to have very fast reading skills to keep up with the subtitles. Otherwise recommended to all ages interested in Japanese culture.
UPDATE: A wonderful show for little kids, it gets far too repetitive for adults as the series goes on. It seems like most of the stories are variations on a theme, which kids will not mind. But I have stopped watching it and have to wonder if breaking it into shorter episodes would have been a better idea than cramming three into a half hour show.
Nyarko-san: Another Crawling Chaos (found here)
Prepare to lose your sanity if you watch this. Seriously. The utterly mad idea to mix H.P. Lovecraft’s Chtulhu Mythos with moe (cute girls) while spoofing everything from Japanese otaku culture to big name science fiction movies should not work, for it is insane. But somehow it does, mainly due to the madcap antics of Nyarko aka Nyarlohotep, an alien obsessively pursuing a Japanese high school boy to win his love. Unwell in everyway, it suffers from too much fan service like far too many animes these days which limits it to older teens and adults again.
Recommended to Lovecraft fans with a sense of humor, Monty Python fans, the clinically insane, and Kamen Rider otakus.
UPDATE: Alas, the ecchi fan service got out of control very quickly with this show. It will be a monster seller on Blu-ray and DVD in Japan, but this show is just becoming otaku bait .
Accel World (found here, also available on Hulu Plus)
Viz Media suffered a blow when the Bleach anime was canceled in Japan, but wisely picked up this eagerly awaited light novel adaptation. A science fiction shonen action show involving a virtual gaming world, it has more depth than one would expect after seeing the character designs, one of which is very controversial. The main character is short, fat, bullied, self loathing, and completely insecure.
So when the most popular girl in middle school (what, high school isn’t young enough for otaku’s now?) takes an interest in him and recruits him into a hidden world of combat he becomes suspicious. Given her cold and calculating personality, this is to be expected, but things take an unusual turn as the episodes grow in number, culminating in a superb and emotional fourth installment. Worth watching for Kuroyukihime (Snow Black Princess in English) alone, the characters are all turning out to be well developed in this beautifully animated show.
Recommended for younger teens up, shonen action fans, and those who wish to see a most unusual romance.
UPDATE: Well, this is another disappointing descent into fan service. The show seemed to be a good one for the early teen set, but with the sexualizing and groping of a 5th grade elementary school girl clad only in a towel, it jumped the shark. No longer recommending it. While it is debatable that Japanese men tend to be pedophiles, I am coming to the conclusion that otaku males definitely are.
Tsuritama (found here)
First reaction to watching the debut show was to wonder what I had just beheld. It is hard to describe the art style, other than it is unique and calls to mind tempera paintings filtered through computer paint programs. Colorful in sight and story, it follows a group of strange boys slowly becoming friends while learning to fish. And save the world.
Did I mention one of the is an alien? Or that one of them is a 25 year old transfer student who carries a duck with him everywhere? Or the main character suffers from sever anxiety disorder?
No? Well, this show is impossible to describe, for it has to be experienced. Experimental would be a good word for it, but I also have to use the words bright and sunny. There is a possibility this will become an all time classic.
Recommended to those who like oddball things, fishing, ducks, and anxiety attacks. Suitable for all ages so far, but teens on up will get the most out of it.
UPDATE: The show has introduced darker and more serious elements involving “Bermuda syndrome” and the dysfunctional family of the “fishing prince.” There is no drop in quality and the character development is top notch. An utterly silly secret organization helps counter balance the drama.
Kids on the Slope (found here)
Another coming of age story with a protagonist coming to a seaside town and suffering anxiety disorder, like Tsuritama. But this is no fantasy story, but an impeccably crafted tale set in 1966 about friendship, romance, and jazz from the creators of Cowboy Bebop. The music performance scenes are some of the best animated sequences in cartoon history and the story is not lacking either.
Highly recommended to teens on up, this has been brilliant so far and adults will love this despite the high school setting.
UPDATE: Episode seven is an incredible stand out in an excellent series. It has one of the best music scenes in anything I have ever seen. The drama is painfully realistic when attempts at romance by the various characters simply go very wrong. So far this is the best of the season.
Korra: Legend of the Avater (found here)
Possibly the best show of the season is not even Japanese, but American. Following on the wonderful Avatar: The Last Airbender series and set a couple of generations later, it hits the ground running. Fans of the previous series should not be disappointed, though the show is a bit different. For one thing, it appears to be aimed a little older, but without losing the touches kids like. Three episodes in and it is already at the level of the best of the previous series.
Korra is a hot headed teenage girl and the current avatar. Raised in isolation, she has to deal with living in Republic City and training under Ang’s son to learn air bending. Political and ethnic strife, organized crime and revolution are all part of the plot. So far this has had all the magic of the original, but set in a steam punk setting reminiscent of the 1920’s.
Recommended to all of humanity.
UPDATE: Recommended to any alien visitors to the planet as well. This is what an all ages show should be like.
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