Garten -- have you checked out "Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei"? It's the only series this season that has really caught my attention. It's bizarre and hilarious.

SZS is great. Looking at the content though, I don't think it's something that Garten would blog.

>>>...the numbers of the interesting series versus the mediocre one are quite imbalanced, with the mediocre winning.

Hasn't that always been the case for just about... everything?? I'm guessing you're looking at Clannad (I would have preferred Haruhi S2 though...) and maybe Gundam...?

I also have another question that's completely off, but who is Mentar and what happened to him?

That's true--the number of shows that are mediocre outrun the good ones. In fact the only series I am watching are Denno Coil and Baccano.

Glad to know you're health is okay, and I look forward to your Evangelion review.

..oops, I meant "outnumber" the good ones

i agree with annalisa, Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei is quite interesting. bsides, u'll hav a new mai-universe series to do soon xD

Garten -- have you checked out "Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei"?

Just one episode. But like Beowulf said, it's not really my kind of show.

Hasn't that always been the case for just about... everything??

Yeah, but usually there's something that really catch my interest. In the past few seasons, there hasn't been any.

I also have another question that's completely off, but who is Mentar and what happened to him?

Mentar used to write here for Mai series but he's been busy with his encoding side jobs so he rarely writes anymore. I can understand that lately. I got other interests apart from anime (games, tv series) and sometimes I just want to relax and see them instead of having to write something.

i agree with annalisa, Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei is quite interesting. bsides, u'll hav a new mai-universe series to do soon xD

I'm actually not that hot on the mai-universe series after that final episode of Hime and Otome in general.

Very interesting! You are not the only person who's feeling that way about anime. I am a huge anime watcher(?) but it's been almost 9 month since I really enjoyed watching a series. You know, one of those feelings that “you can't wait to see the next episode”. I don't feel existed when I watch a new episode, hell sometimes I don't feel anything at all! My university is about to start so i guess that isn't entirely a bad thing since it means I’ll be spending all my time on studying. This “Darker than black” is the only series that has brought some of the good old memories back to me. I truly enjoy watching it but that's about it for animes this year. Perhaps they've got really dull or I’ve watched too much that I’m fed up with most of them or maybe it somehow relates to age? I'm 23. Should this be the age I finally stop watching anime?

I don't know, I too feel lazy when it comes to anime. This really is a weird feeling and hopefully it won’t last long however if this is the end of watching anime for me, I want it to end a little more dramatic with a really good series or an amazing movie and certainly not with any of the current series!

I really have to second the recommendation of Dennou Coil, especially since it's (in my opinion) the greatest show of the season, and it isn't getting a great deal of blogger attention. Give it a look if you haven't already, at least up until episode 4, where the plot really starts to kick in.

Garten,

For now, I only see two guarantee animes in Fall 2007. One should be fairly obvious since you covered the first season *cough*Genshiken*cough*. The other series I'm looking forward to is You're Under Arrest: Full Throttle. The rest are up in the air.

By the Way, feel free to check out one of your blogsphere links, random curiosity. I have been invited last month to write segments and columns that may relate to anime. Unsung Heroes and Looking Beyond are my columns. Check it out :p

As for being tired of anime watching, it's a roller coaster ride or the stock market. Think of it this way. There was a time when anime peaked which occurred during the Haruhi/Ouran period. However, what goes up must eventually come down. I say this is the down period despite some of the strong strong animes out there.

I also like to add this. What is up with parody animes these days? Doujin Work, Sayonara Zetsubou sensei, Hayate no Gotoku, Lucky star, and even Moetan. I think there is just too much for that genre lately.

Lastly, It wouldn't hurt to blog the last episode of Genshiken OVA. It was actually pretty funny.

Remember Sturgeon's Law - 90% of everything is crud. It works for SF and it works for anime.

I loved Haruhi so much last year that when it ended it took months before I could watch an anime without comparing it to Haruhi. I still haven't found a show to match but Tengen Toppa Gurren-Lagann is currently at the level that I can't wait for the week's episode.

You could try different genres or slightly older shows, I recently watched Agatha Christie`s Great Detectives Poirot and Marple with my sister and we had a blast trying to solve the mysteries first.

Man between you, TL, and Hinano, this season has been claiming a lot of victims! I had a period of time last winter when I could barely find anything to talk about, but I was able to come back refreshed and get my groove back =D.

I'm on hiatus too right now. But not because I'm bored, but because I'm too busy with school for this week and next. I personally can't wait to get back in, I have to write something about Zero no Tsukaima 2 and the deliciously guilty pleasure it is!

Yeah, let me third the Dennou Coil recommendation. I think you had watched the first episode, right? I don't want to sound like I'm harassing you or anything, but did it not fit your tastes or anything?

It's okay if you can't find anything to blog about though. Sometimes it all gets so overwhelming that you get numb to anime in general anyway... Wouldn't the act of blogging about it drain enthusiasm from the show sometimes as well? Whatever it is, take it easy. Looking forward to what you have to say about the Eva movies!

For a while, I thought you were going to let this oasis fade away. I'm glad you came clean though, because it was clear you were getting pretty fatigued. I guess it becomes tough work, when you find yourself writing without passion. The thing is, memento was really my entry into this world, and that's why I hope you continue to blog. Before Suzumiya Haruhi there was Evangelion, and since then I've explored a little. Perhaps, whenever you find the current selection of anime lacking, you could give us a retrospective. Wouldn't looking back, with your jaded eyes, be interesting? Why not discuss something like Escaflowne? Watch the series again, and write about if for us. I often find myself much more interested in what you have to say about story and characters, than your overview of what happens. I mean, chances are I'll have watched the fansub before I read your entry, so why spend all the time and energy detailing things. And I certainly don't mind you branching out as well. Movies, games, and even music videos, why not? It's your personal space after all. Also, what makes you decide to follow a particular series? I've found that anime can tell some really thought provoking stories, and move you as a person. Is your primary focus just on animation quality?

Clannad? ^^

It's a shame that you lost interest in anime in this period. I think this is one hell of a season for animefans.
Summer brought us Zetsubou Sensei, Baccano!, ZnT 2 and Higurashi Kai, then there is a bunch of good Spring shows still airing (Gurren-Lagann, Lucky Star, Claymore, SetoHana, Bokurano). Then there is a plethora of lesser anime which are still enjoyable depending on your tastes (Hayate, El Cazador, RxJ, Idolmaster and so on).
There is really a lot of choice. I hope that you regain interest in anime, because I always enjoyed your commentary.

MGS4! A few of my random thoughts on it:

One thing I'm hoping for is the control scheme will be refined this time or at least more customizable. More specifically, the ability to toggle certain things like first person view and iron sights, instead of having to hold the buttons down. Maybe take advantage of the Sixaxis to handle leaning in first person also?

The bosses seem interesting; at least they aren't as over the top as the concept of a grafted arm transferring the personality of the donor (Ha! I doubt Liquid had a choice) onto the receiver. I can suspend disbelief at everything else the MGS universe throws at me, but the arm thing always makes me go wtf.

I wonder how Metal Gear Online will play. Personally, I preferred Splinter Cell's multiplayer over Subsistence's.

Yeah this years anime werent that great the best series I could think of were gurren lagann, death note and code geass . Death note was probably the best series of 2006/ 2007 anime season so much suspense every week even though I read the manga.
Hayate, El Cazador are great series I thought ZnT was perverted and bad compared to season 1 . I look forward to your eva review and I would like you do more opinons mainly on older series . This fall has very promising series Haruhi season 2 shana season 2 , xxxholic season 2 , gundam 00 , code geass season 2 , tsubasa ova . WoW lots of second seasons I really hope you blog xxxholic season 2 and hopfully someday finish reviewing season 1 you were so close .

I feel your boredom anime has just become some show you ignore it seems anime quality has slipped far the animation for anime maybe good but story wise no when I think of anime I think of great 90s anime like rurouni kenshin , dragonball and hunter x hunter . I think anime today lacks something even though I think death note and nana as great series theres just not enough good series today . The best anime today running is one piece but its been running really long . There are also popular long running shonen that are good like bleach but after the filler came in and then returned to the manga storyline it just became manga story + small filler but it seems next week bleach will become more manga based and have a better quality than we have seen in bleach in over a year seen the fillers started . I havent seen you write about series for a long time I dont know if you like bleach or naruto anymore . Hope there will be some series that isnt a sequel interest you I think you would like neuro a new shonen jump anime with amazing crazy art unique and story diffrent from regular sj series animated by madhouse . I look forward to your next update .

Hello, well I can`t say I don`t get how you feel. Ì`m from Latin America, Honduras, and we hardly have a good anime in the tv, mostly we just get shows like Inuyasha, Pokemon and Dragon Ball.

I remenber when I started college, I just have finished Sailor Moon, wich I feel like a really boring shown, so a I was about to give up anime, when a good friend of my older brother lend me Evangelion, and fell in love again. After that, I started washing series like mad, Hunter Hunter, I saw 66 episode over a weekend.

Not all have been great, after I saw Saikano ending, I told to my friends that if I wath one crappy anime again I will stop watching... lucky me, after that, they past to me Naruto, VIVA SASUKE, and Hikaru no Go Manga.

Righ now I am washing Lovely Complex, and Kaze no Stigma. The first one I`m enjoying it very much, Kaze no that much.

Well I hope you find something interisting to watch soon, I check your blog every day, loocking to find some good anime recomendation.

GOOD LUCK.

What of Mononoke?

Given the sheer volume of anime that airs in a given season, of course a large percentage of it is going to be mediocre. The same is true of American TV, or Hollywood films.

For every blockbuster movie or bestselling novel, there's dozens of others with rehashed plots, cliche characters, and unispired storytelling. There are always going to be only a very few brilliant shows that rise to the surface.

The hard part is wading through all the crap to find those works of genius. Fortunately, that's what blogs like this are for, where everyone can voice their opinion and give recommendations. :D

With that said, I highly recommend Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei and Dennou Coil. Zero no Tsukaima is fun too, but it's more a guilty pleasure than anything. :P

But this is a first with so many game conversion trash animes and fanservice induced perverted animes . In past sesons we had a lot of potienally excellent series with at least 10 or more good series during fall with at least a few good series. Im not against game chage to anime since I really enjoy megaman but most of the time they adapt fanservice trash pc games . fate night stay is the only pc game to anime I thought was interesting but seeing a little and hearing about so many bad series that were adapted from pc games or adult made the fate night ruined pc games for me but fate night stay proves that we can get a good pc game and anime . But anime today just doesnt have that flare 90s anime have although we get good series like H and C it just doesnt feel as good as the manga . Most animes today rely so heavily on the manga version theres no life in them even with good animation and music most animes do fillers now and there not even interesting . NO anime original endings today I d rather see that because there were so many good original endings like GTO and getbackers . It would save the anime in the ned even if you dont get to see more of the manga animated you arent stuck with series that feel medicore in the end with a load of fillers and have some life by having the director doing different things with the series besides re ordering the events or fillers.

Check out Claymore if you get a chance. I typically like most of the anime you review and this is one of my favourite series of this season. The first couple episodes are quite generic, but once it does the flashback arc (ep 4 or 5 to 7 or 8), it really picks up steam and finds its niche and became one of my favs.

Seirei no Moribito seems like something you might be interested in as well.

Quite frankly, Garten, if you don't want to write anything, it's not like you have to force yourself to do it. Like another anime blogger said (Jason over at AoMM), the day that blogging isn't fun anymore is the day that he stops. Once it becomes a burden you'll hate doing it. I personally don't mind a hiatus until shows of more interest come out. Just get some good R & R until then.

Keep writing - you can write about anything - just keep this blog running... I read this as often as the NYTimes.

I don't understand how Denno Coil wasn't worth your blogging time. Just watch the last nine minutes episode 4, and you will see its beauty. No other major blogs cover this - so it would be very nice if you can.

I actually recommend giving opinions without long summaries in each posts. It:

1) saves you time
2) makes the posts shorter
3) makes it more interesting because we care about what you think
4) is a good way to make you feel like you WANT to post
5) can give more room for your brilliant humor

Additionally, we can just read summaries on official sites...

But anyway - give Denno Coil ep4 a try - I'm sure it'll expand your interests. (And no, it's not a kiddie series, as many have asserted)

try Mononoke? i really like the unique style and genre of the story unfortunately it is not as popular

hey, lucky you! You get to watch evangelion movie in Japan! While most of us will be stuck at home, desperate to even get a glimpse of what the movie looks like. Have fun in Japan.

Thank you for the suggestion guys. I really appreciate it. As for Dennou Coil, it's not that I never considered it not worth my time. It's just that in order to appreciate it, I have to watch it and that's something which I haven't done. I think I'll start slow and see if I really like Dennou Coil before deciding to blog it. If I do blog it though, it'll just be with a short summary and an impression instead of my usual long-winded one.

You are so lucky! To be able to see Evangelion in japan. It 's already been 10 years since i watched it and it kind of make me feel melancholic when i think about it. I still remember the day i watched the first episode of evangelion.I didn't really want to buy it because i didnt like the idea of listening japanese voice and reading subtitles.I got so impressed that i watched and rewatched it many times.
Each VHS contained 3episodes and it took around 2 years to release the 9 VHS to complete the serie , it was kind of unbearable to wait for the next vhs to come out every 2 or 3 months.
Now its way easier to get the newest anime thanks to internet.
I used to watch and enjoy a lot of anime but now i'm much more picky and it became difficult to find a satisfying anime.
Lucky star is not that funny, there is too much nonsense in zetsubo sensei and the jokes are pretty weak,Darker than black looked promising at first but the characters and story devellopement is not that good, Baccano's funy characters are so irritating that it ruin the show's atmosphere....
A lot of anime that i may have enjoyed 2 years before are just cheesy or boring for me now.
I can't overlook inconsistencies or unjustified elements anymore, it's just getting on my nerve.
Sometimes i think that the reason is that i'm getting too old to keep watching anime , companies try to target the largest audiences and i may not be in their age range anymore...
Anime is changing and people changes too that may be the reason why some of them don't enjoy anime anymore.

By the way if you want something really entertaining I recomand you to watch some episodes of Claymore , i find the script really interesting and unpredictable.

ps: i'm sorry for my poor english, it may be misleading sometimes.

claymore, zombie loan and history's strongest disciple kenichi are pretty good ones, tho i wouldn't recommend u start blogging kenichi from the beginning, it's already up to it's 43rd episode or something... i do recommend u give it go if u have the time ^^

Heh, have a nice break. I just caught DtB 20, looking forward to seeing your post about it. Everyone needs a break now and then, and posting when you're not feeling up to it really blows.

man i totally agree, and i definitely interested in MGS 4. the pics and screens look awesome. Anime is great, but video games are better

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