Yes I just made up that word, but as you may or may not know I like Tsunderes. Now why don’t those of us in that category get our own complex huh? Well I just decided that we deserved one so there. Anyways, this is a new section we are trying here at THAT, where each month one of our writers writes up his or her three favorite shows of the current season and two of our other bloggers comment on it. Since it’s new let us know what you think of the format and the shows!

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1- Clannad

Calawain - You know it’s a great show when it’s still your favorite show of the season during your least favorite character’s arc. Fuko is too much like a mash-up of Ayu and Makoto’s arcs from Kanon for my tastes, in addition to the fact that she is kind of annoying. So her drama doesn’t impact me as much as I would have thought. However, she is a great source of comedy as a bottomless source of pranks and jokes for Tomoya to draw from, representing the strongest content of the show so far.

I know the massive drama is just starting to hit, but so far the show has been powered by humor, amazing character design and art, and a solid musical score. Things can only go up from here when you consider some delicious Kyou and Tomoyo action hopefully soon. I have no real opinion on Kotomi yet as we haven’t seen much of her, we shall see.

Impz - I cannot really share your love for Clannad right now, Calawain. Sure, it’s a very decent piece of comedy, but there are other shows in this season (Shugo Chara, Minami Ke, Bamboo Blade) that is doing comedy way better than Clannad. Moreover, I have a major issue with Fuuko, and it’s stopping me from enjoying my Clannad. I absolutely hate the “retarded moe” type of girl, and I really wish to bash her to death. It’s surprising for me how you can actually tolerate it.

Clannad really lags behind in terms of interest because there is little emotional draw in the series currently. To me, the emotional draw is often the central theme for most of Key’s works. I will probably love it better when they go to the Kotomi, Kyou and Tomoyo’s arcs, as stated by Calawain. However, for now, it cannot really be in any top 3 list.

Shokkeru - Why all the hate on Fuuko? ^_^ Sure she may not be the most tolerable of characters… and heck I don’t even like her sometimes. But there’s one thing that I think make Fuuko worth it for me (and it’s probably a bit shallow) and that’s her voice actress/seiyuu Nonaka Ai. I don’t know why but I loved her voice ever since she did Konoka from Negima.

But anyways, back to the topic of Clannad. I think Clannad has a strong chance to be one of the best series of this season… just not at this point. I feel a bit dissatisfied how the beginning of the series was really all over the place and you didn’t know what the main plot was really. Just as I thought it would be about Nagisa and the Drama Club we take a sharp turn into Fuuko’s story. Now, I’ve never played Clannad or knew anything about it before the anime so I don’t know whether or not this is how the story in the game actually goes. However, even if it is I’m not too sure I agree with its execution.

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2- Genshiken

Calawain - Episode 5 of Genshiken is the single funniest episode of any show this season. Also known as the yaoi parody episode, the way they managed to work all the characters in and change their personality in Ogiue’s warped mind was done with comic perfection.

Episode 6 was pretty damn good as well, as we got to see Ogiue struggling with her passion and looking quite adorable while she’s at it. I think Impz was squealing out moeeeeee throughout the entire episode when he watched it. They shifted from that to a more somber graduation episode for number 7, but managed to maintain a high level of quality, being able to provide enough finality and melancholy for the graduation to impact you, but not too much as to distract you from realizing the show is not over yet and good things are to come. A well crafted graduation episode for one right in the middle of a season, as usually these things are at the end of shows.

Impz - It’s perhaps right to say that Genshiken got better for me due to Ogiue. It is no surprise in my opinion that Genshiken has hit legendary status with Episode 5 and 6, with the epic yaoi episode giving a very different feel of the word “yaoi”. Many of us will no longer see anime in the same way again. I personally enjoy Ogiue’s attempt to remedy the situation at the end of Episode 6. It is so moe-inducing, that I want to take her home. Kohsaka in Episode 6 is also very bloody disturbing.

I cannot agree with Calawain more (considering how much we disagree on Ef, but I digress) that Genshiken is really very strong for November. I actually felt that the graduation ceremony is quite poignant, and done tastefully and realistically. Strangely (and rather expectedly), it is done in an interesting manner.

Shokkeru - I’ve always been a fan of Genshiken since the first season. While a lot of “second seasons” haven’t been doing that great lately, Genshiken remains strong. I know Impz never really liked the first season, so for him to start enjoying this series is a sign that the second season has some merit.

Ogiue may be the perfect addition to the cast. It almost feels as though Ogiue has taken the place of Saki as the “otaku hater” and I use that term loosely. Saki’s presence, while still present in the club, has seemed to dwindle compared to the first season allowing other characters to develop.

While I don’t know if Genshiken would be one of my top 3 series this month, it is definitely one of the better shows this season.

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3- Minami-ke

Calawain - November’s episodes of Minami-ke have really gone above and beyond the decent start of the show into the realm of greatness. The last three episodes have seen an epic beach adventure, the birth of Mako-chan, and the legend of Haruka-banchou. First, the beach episode was awesome because first we realize that no matter how mature and intelligent Chiaki acts, she can still be heavily influenced by her sister and completely change her mind on things, in this case to get Haruka-neesama a skimpy bathing suit (which she looked hot in of course). Then, in the grand tradition of trap-loving that is THAT, we have Mako-chan, the boy who inflicts unintentional and disturbing nosebleeds upon the viewer.

When I first commented on this show in my midseason impressions I was blow away by how funny Kana was, but the rest of the cast had yet to really become that interesting. What has happened this month has changed my perceptions, as not only does Kana get even better (Kana-sensei anyone), but Haruka really comes out in her interactions with her friends, teachers and the legend of the banchou.

Impz - I really want to go on a fanboy rant over Banchou, Bakayaro and Kana-sensei. In addition, I want to swoon how much Minami-ke rocks as a comedy. However, as words cannot represent my thoughts precisely, I will say just this.

“Mako-chan is the moe-est trap for this season!”.

Minami ke is definitely winning over the doubters (mostly due to the mouth shape, we anime fans seem to have issues with shapes all the time, huh?) after some strong comedy elements. It’s little wonder why our mature tsundere is in love with this series.

Shokkeru -There’s not much I can say about this series other than that it’s an incredible comedy. At first I thought it would just be another Lucky Star (which I loved btw) but, I was proved wrong. The comedy has a totally different feel and maybe even goes beyond the boundaries that Lucky Star seemed to stay within.

While I didn’t like this “Makoto” character at first, he instantly became one of my favorite characters to watch as Mako-chan. I think the most hilarious part was when Mako-chan went clothes shopping and was fondled by Haruka. ^^

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