The year of 2011 has been nothing if not controversial in the world of anime.  The law banning “unsafe” sexual images in Tokyo, the massive tsunami that halted all production of anime for at least 2 weeks, and the extreme disparity between high and low-quality anime has affected the anime community in very profound ways.  Today, I’ll be reviewing what your friendly CSMAC Senior Staff considers the best anime of the Fall season.  Now, that might mean different things to different people, considering that the best anime of this spring was Madoka Magica, and the best animes from this summer were Usagi Drop and No. 6 (remember that disparity I told you about?).  That said, grab a snack (seriously, you’ll be sorry if you don’t) and the enjoy the “best” that Japan has to offer you for Fall.

Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai (I Have No Friends)

The story centers around Kodaka Hasegawa, a transfer student with Japanese-British ancestry.  As such he has dirty blond hair (which for some reason makes him look like a brunette with blonde highlights).  Apparently color gradients scare Christian high-schoolers, because everyone at his new school won’t go near him.  One person that will talk to him is the often-melancholic Yozora Mikazuki, a girl in the same grade who also, conveniently, has no friends at this school.  She decides to form the “Neighbors Club,” a club specifically for those with little-to-no friends in order to make it look like those pitiful people actually do have friends.  The club expands quickly to include the school chairman’s daughter, a super-scientist, a trap, an Index reference, and Kodaka’s Ore Imo reference sister.  Haruhi-chan brand hijinks ensue.

The premise of this show is interesting enough.  The main character explores the flaws and personalities of the various club members, and they in turn slowly grow closer as a group.  The show also explores a rarely-seen angle in social anime: the scenario where regular people are inadvertently isolated from society.  There’s no bullying, intimidation, or abuse to link these characters.  They just, somehow, all happened to go through life at this school without any real social interaction.  As someone who has always favored quality over quantity in terms of friendship, I find this anime rather refreshing, even if it is just another drop in a sea of slice-of-life shows.  However, there’s one glaring glitch I see about this show: all of these people are (in one way or another) physically attractive with manageable personality flaws.  If you’ve ever been in any kind of club (like, say, an anime club…), you would know that the aforementioned scenario is pretty much impossible to find.  Why?  Because there’s no way that such a club would have no social outcasts actually based on their personality.  Toss a couple neckbeards in, and I guarantee you that either that group would have torn itself apart in the first episode or you would have killed them yourself.  The premise of this show is almost exactly the same as that of Jellyfish Princess, except this set of characters doesn’t crank the level of obnoxiousness to 11.  It’s probably worth your time in the lazy evenings, but it does seem to be moving a bit further towards the harem side of things than I’d like.

Fate/Zero

Yes, it’s yet another story of the Holy Grail War, but it’s actually about the one before the War in Fate/Stay Night.  Since the Holy Grail War is waged every 10 years, and only certain Mage families are “allowed” to compete (since the Grail only chooses “those who are worthy”), it turns out that the storyline first seen in Fate/Stay Night extends back 50 years.  Fortunately, this series only contains about 2 years’ worth of information.  Various details are revealed about the nature of the War, the families of power and their plights (that only an omnipotent cup can fix), and the interactions between the Servants and their Masters that have helped to shape the world of Fate/Stay Night.  Now, while all of this is very interesting, the franchise is still a battle-style survival game with copious drama to fill in the holes.  However, now it’s the same thing, only with an origins angle to play.  That’s not to say that the characters and their developments aren’t interesting (because they are), and the new servants are quite memorable.

It’s just that Zero also tries so hard, almost TOO HARD, to tie in characters from Night, like Saber and Gilgamesh.  These are characters that we (viewers of the franchise) already know, almost to death at this point, and watching them do the same thing that they’ve likely been doing since the War first began adds nothing to the story, the script, or even the other characters.  Now, it would be different if said repeat characters actually change and grow over time (presumably into the people they are in Night), but they are totally static, which defeats the entire purpose of an “origins story.”

The story also drags its heels pretty slowly in the beginning episodes.  This may be to play up the tension felt on various sides in order to better pace the story later on, but that doesn’t make the episodes feel any less slow.  This plays into my personal belief that certain shows just have to be watched in different ways.  Some shows are designed to make the viewer think a lot, and any small details overlooked can alter the experience.  Those series should be watched one at a time, days apart.  On the other hand, the episodes of shows like Fate/Zero should be watched one right after another, because the show feels like one long movie (and at 24 episodes, I do mean l-o-n-g).  That aside, the animation and soundtrack are unsurprisingly top-shelf.  After all, Fate/Stay Night is by far Studio Type-MOON’s most profitable investment, so it’s only fair that it gets the most money thrown at it.  Overall, Fate/Zero is a show that newcomers to the franchise can enjoy, but don’t fool yourself.  It is a show made specifically for fans of Fate/Stay Night, and they’ll obviously be the ones that draw the most enjoyment from the experience.

Ben-To

The economic collapse known as [C] has brought financial despair to much of Japan, most notably its young population.  Many poor souls are forced into the ramen lines because they simply cannot afford a proper take-out meal.  However, overpriced food will always exist, and sometimes that food gets marked half-off, in the form of a boxed lunch.  The starved masses fight for these discount meals, almost to the point of killing one another, whether they be in coordinated groups or as lone wolves.  It is in this food fight free-for-all that the audience first finds the high school boy You Satou.  After slowly becoming aware of the situation around him (over multiple days), he joins the Half-Priced Food Lovers club, headed by Sen Yarizui, also known as the “Ice Witch.”  Over time, he learns the way of the fighter, and the love one has for cheap grocery meals.

It is truly a sign of the times when even the industrious nation of Japan is forced to have its youths destroy themselves to save a few dollars.  It’s hard to classify this show as slice-of-life, but it definitely reeks of sports genre.  Though a large percentage of each episode is devoted to the absolutely ridiculous fights that occur within the confines of narrow Japanese grocery store aisles, there’s still plenty of room for character interactions, comedy, fan service (in this universe, all hot girls are poor), and the thin fabric of an overarching plot.  Even with such an absolutely stupid premise, the show remains entertaining (at the moment, anyway).  However, I am a little nervous right now because the show feels like it’s shifting towards a West Side Story feel, which could very easily set up the series for a failure as bombastic as the fights.  It’s definitely one of those shows that most guys will appreciate, and it serves its primal purpose very well: raise one’s adrenaline levels and heighten one’s appetite.  Just don’t watch this show on an empty stomach.  You’ll be highly inclined to punch whoever’s sitting next to you if you do.

Tune in next time for Japan’s “less than best” Fall anime.  Also, your friendly CSMAC president is falling prey to boredom and an actual work ethic.  Therefore, we are looking for a new official club president to start in Spring 2012.  Of course, I’ll still be shadow-governing the organization, but a new mouth-piece is always welcome.  Come show your support for the bright future of anime at the Colorado School of Mines.