The Evil Within \\ First Impressions Friday \\ #ReefTV

Alien : Isolation \\ First Impression Fridays \\ #ReefTV

Anime Spotlight : Top Picks from Fall 2014 Anime Season

We are two weeks into the Fall 2014 Anime season and the majority of the shows are out! I initially thought that this season was going to be the season of sequels, as the quality of some of the shows that came out at first were quite low. Shows like World Trigger and Ushinawareta Mirai wo Motomete had me quite worried.  

Luckily the better shows started to air and I compiled a list of the shows that to me had quite promising starts. Obviously my top shows of the season can only be decided at the end. And a lot of things can change on it. I excluded sequels from this list, as it's usually a given that if someone enjoyed the first season they'd be watching the second and enjoying it. Unless something horrible went wrong.

Nanatsu no Taizai

Synopsis : When they were accused of trying to overthrow the monarchy, the feared warriors the Seven Deadly Sins were sent into exile. Princess Elizabeth discovers the truth - the Sins were framed by the king's guard, the Holy Knights - too late to prevent them from assassinating her father and seizing the throne!

Now the princess is on the run, seeking the Sins to help her reclaim the kingdom. But the first Sin she meets, Meliodas, is a little innkeeper with a talking pig. He doesn't even have a real sword! Have the legends of the Sins' strength been exaggerated?

Tags : fantasy, adventure, comedy, action, manga, shounen

PV : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vF0lw017k0A

Thoughts : Nanatsu no Taizai started off with a grim premise, but quickly started showing it's more light hearted side. So far the show has some gore, some good laughs. a bit of fanservice and some good action. It seems like a promising adventure type anime, though it might return to it's grim roots later on.

Shirobako

Synopsis : Five girls chase their dreams. The story revolves around the everyday troubles and hardships that occur when working in the anime industry, and the results and conflicts that happen day-to-day among the group of girls.

Tags : daily life, coming of age, comedy

PV : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ZR6fCnPcvA

Thoughts : Shirobako gave me Hanusaku Iroha vibes with the characters and work place situations in the first episode. Added that direction is by Mizushima Tsutomu who also worked on Genshiken and Joshiraku. I'm quite interested to see how it progresses.

Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso

Synopsis : Arima Kousei is a former child prodigy who lost his ability to play the piano when his mother died. His daily life is monochrome, but it begins to gain colour when he meets a female violinist by chance. Miyazono Kawori is an audacious go-getter who is overflowing with personality. Enchanted by the girl, Kousei starts to move forward with his own legs at the age of 14.

Tags : manga, shounen, music, the arts

PV : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hcnuUOd0LKM

Thoughts : Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso seems to be a promising romance anime. The characters are all well defined, really loved the attention to detail with the animation and art, and the portrayal of classical music playing so far was quite impressive. I really hope this show keeps the standard set in the first episode or even improves on it.

Amagi Brilliant Park

Synopsis : Kanie Seiya, a high school boy, is invited on a date in an amusement park by a mysterious beautiful transfer student named Sento Isuzu. He is introduced to Ratifa, a real princess and the park's manager, and is asked to be the acting manager of this "disappointing amusement park in the Tokyo suburbs".

Tags : magic, contemporary fantasy, fantasy, comedy, novel

PV : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGMLDSTkvDo

Thoughts : Amagi Brilliant Park is a contemporary comedy with fantasy elements by Gatou Shouji. Known for Full Metal Panic, which shares a character in this show, namely the mascot Mofu. The first episode was enjoyable with hinting to some past truama with the protagonist in our tale. Very curious as to how this will turn out.

Ore, Twintails ni Narimasu.

Synopsis : Mitsuka Souji is a first year high school student who greatly loves twintails. One day, a beautiful girl named Thuearle, who comes from another world, suddenly appeared in front of him and gave him the power to transform into the twintails warrior Tail Red. Now Souji must fight in order to protect the peace on Earth with the help of his childhood friend Tsube Aika, who can becomes the twintails warrior Tail Blue

Tags : novel, comedy, twintails

PV : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5iS_9oQJlU

Thoughts : Ore, Twintails ni Narimasu. can only be described as a mix between a sentai rangers type show a bit of mahou shoujo a dash of gender-bender and comedy. The first episode had quite some good laughs. Even the lyrics to the ED were hilarious. If you want a show that doesn't take itself too seriously. This might be for you.

That's my current list of top picks for the 2014 Fall Anime season. As I've said before I've excluded sequels from the list and before people get up in arms, Fate/stay night UBW is the sequel to Fate/Zero. What shows are the ones you are most looking forward to this season? What are your feelings of the 2014 Fall Anime season? Let me know in the comment section below!