Anime of the season

The new anime season has started and there are a few surprising gems lurking amidst the mass of low-quality shows dominating the airwaves.

Here are my pics to look for:

First is BTOOOM! (airing on Tokyo MX TV Thursdays at 11pm). I watched the first episode, and I have to say I was impressed. The story is simple - loser high school graduate spending all his free time playing an online game gets sucked into a real life version of the game and must fight for his life. But the execution here is surprisingly good.

The pacing and sense of desperation and fear is very well done, and it's set up and shown in a very minimalistic way that is a nice change of pace from most anime in this kind of kid-has-to-fight-and-become-a-hero genre. Worth watching.

My second pick is probably going to be the best (and most watched) anime of the season: Chu-2 byo demo KOI ga shitai (中二病でも恋がしたい), another Kyoto Animation about kids in school acting like kids.

The main character Yuta Togashi, starting high school and wanting nothing more than to fit in as a normal kid, is befriended by the eccentric Rikka Takanashi who wears an eye-patch, rollerskate shoes and play acts like she's a hero defending the world from evil.

This, referring to the title (which could be translated as "I have sophomoritis but I still want to fall in love") is her crazy schtick. In Japan a lot of kids go through a rebellious phase their 2nd year in junior high, and Rikka is stuck in that mode.

Yes, it's a bit cutesy, but the character design and artwork is clean and well done and the animation is top notch. What also sets it apart from the rest of the crowd in the school kids doing nothing genre is that the characters feel like real people, like kids you may have known in school, and not just the overly stereotyped and assigned-role types you see in most anime.

And if you haven't seen it yet, check out the other Kyoto Animation The Melancholoy of Haruhi Suzumiya, the series that put the company on the map (and is probably still paying for all their later projects), and that is a truly great anime that will keep you thinking about it long after it's done.

OK enough talk, watch the PV of Chu-2 byo: