Winter 2010 Anime First Impressions

Here are some of my first impressions of the new winter 2010 anime that has been aired as at the time of this post. I am facing this weird problem where if I were to take a snapshot of a 1080i video, the aspect ratio goes funny, but nothing wrong when playing it. The screenshots are taken at random, so having fewer or more screenshots does not mean that they are very/not good.

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Ladies vs. Butlers (レディ✕ばと！)

Opening:


This opening is actually quite upbeat and good, but there are some hints of fanservice and signs that I won't be watching this.

Episode 1:
That's ridiculously thick and long!
A "lost kid"
Isn't she cute?
Haruhi with evil eyes
You could sense the evil aura from her
What and how is the bag hung up there?

A high school girl that looks like a kid, another with weird hair, one who had tortured the protagonist in primary school (who awfully looks a lot like Haruhi in the flashback). But this episode is just mostly about the protagonist being chased by the weird-haired girl for randomly accusing him of being suspicious in the school of a female-majority. I was waiting for it to get somewhere, but that wasn't until towards the end and the last scene (not snapshoted) confirms my suspicious of this being not what I would want to watch. This was produced by Xebec, which also did To Love-ru some time ago.

Ending:


It's just the two main girls sitting on a hill with the wind blowing. zzzz

Dance in the Vampire Bund (ダンスインザヴァンパイアバンド)

Episode 1:
Iogi, Tokyo See you tomorrowIs this a re-enactment?
What's that?
Even the program sponsors are fictional.
What kind of an anime is this?
Taxi driver?
Uh oh, there's trouble.

"What am I watching?" is my first impression when I first saw this. I wouldn't mind it for the first few minutes, but not the whole episode... This anime is produced by Shaft, which did Maria Holic and Natsu no Arashi, so there's the scary-looking eyes when shown up close, the annoying horizontal black bars in a widescreen image that they overused in Bakemonogatari. I would say that this is not a good way to start an anime, but the first episode of the 2006 broadcast of Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu also had the something's-not-right feeling (on top of the 1:1 or 4:3 aspect ratio in videotape quality) until the end of it (and the sudden switch to HD widescreen) where it was revealed that it was a film for their upcomming school festival. If they had not seen the trailer below or have heard of its related media, people might not have gone past before the surprise happened. It's not as impactful as the first episode of Ga-Rei Zero though.

Trailers:


(Couldn't find any without those Spanish subs)

Baka to Test to Shoukanjyuu (バカとテストと召喚獣)

Opening:

Glowing spinning cube

The title


This opening animation make me feel like I'm watching that of a visual novel with catchy music and animation.

Episode 1:
A nice way to start the anime.
The contrasts between classes 2A and 2F
You wouldn't believe how bad the classroom facilities are
Kinoshita Hideyoshi: He looks very much like a girl
Hey, I'm pointing at you. Why are you looking the other way?
What's with the weather stats for an indoor virtual fight?
You can loose HP by hitting yourself against the table
Looks like Hideyoshi finally decides to cross... oh wait, that's his fraternal twin, Yuuko.

The school has a system whereby whichever class they end up in is determined by their test results. The A class has sofas, coffee maker, computers, flat panel displays behind the teachers' desk, in a large room with posh finishing. F class however, has tatami flooring, floor cushions, with things falling apart. (Class D looks like an average class) During the test, however, Mizuki Himeji falls sick and ends up in F class. In virtual fights, the F class competes with other classes to take over their classes that has better facilities.

Ending:

The ending features the guys in the gakuran uniform. I think the words in the background is the English translation of the ending song.

Sora no Woto (ソ・ラ・ノ・ヲ・ト)

Episode 1
Nice drawing
Doesn't her face look a lot like Nodoka of K-On!???
Oh my, that's a huge doll!!
Water festival
The sunrise is beautiful.
Crap, I can't play the trumpet

This is the first of TV Tokyo's "アニメノチカラ" (The Strength of Anime) formed in April 2009 to produce original animation by various creators together, with this anime being the first. You can think of it as something like noitaminA on Fuji TV, but different in some ways. It's glaringly obvious for me to not say it, but I wonder if the character designs of K-On! are involved. Since it's an anime original, nobody knows what it will be about. I do know that the heroine joined the army because she thinks that is where she could play music or something like that.

Ending:
(Note: Video might be removed, and I don't know what language the subs are in)


The ending seems to be focused on what the girls (including those that are yet to be introduced) do together during peacetime.

Dyurarara! (デュラララ!!)

Opening:

The girl would only be introduced in the next episode.
What?
"I'm attacked by a can of soda!!!"

I'm surprised at how recent anime pay more attention to detail
"The First Things You Say" is the title. The reading order to read 2 x 2 kanji is confusing as you could start from the top right and then down or top left towards the right.
What's the point of setting up a cardboard person there?
Holo of Spice and Wolf?
A scary, yet friendly, gaijin.
This online chat conversation with narration seems to pop up frequently, with no revelation as to who's who other than their nicknames and avatar.
What happened to her? She has odd scar marks on her neck.

Ryuugamine Mikado wants an exciting life in the big city. So, with an invitation from his childhood friend Masaomi, he transfers into a school in Ikebukuro. The rest... I don't even know what's going on, but it does look like something I would pick up.

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I know there's more anime in the winter 2010 list, but, except for Nodame Cantabile: Finale (which has yet to air), none of those appeal to me. Among what I've listed above, it seems that I would only pick the last 3 titles (Bakatest, Sora no Woto, Durarara!) for the winter anime. I did want to mention Seikon no Qwaser, but when I read the summary on how the hero receives his power and saw the ending, I became disturbed and not watch it. Of course, I did not forget about the earlier anime that are still airing