Winter 2015 Season Wrap

Winter is over and spring is officially here! At least, that’s the case in the Northwest–sorry if you’ve still got snow 😉 I am shocked at the number of shows that finished up this season, both one and two cours. My anime list was temporarily tiny before I started picking up new anime at the start of this month.

I apologize for the delay in this post; Sakura-con always seems to fall smack on the weekend between shows ending and beginning. iDOLM@S also hung around a week later than everything else and I wanted to include it in the season wrap. The 22 shows I finished up (and in the order discussed) are:

• Bonjour Koiaji Patisserie
• Akatsuki no Yona
• Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso
• Dog Days”
• Koufuku Grafitti
• Death Parade
• Log Horizon 2nd Season
• Daiya no Ace
• Shirobako
• Yowamushi Pedal: Grande Road
• Rolling☆Girls
• Tokyo Ghoul √A
• Sanzoku no Musume Ronya
• Aldnoah.Zero 2nd Season
• Kamisama Hajimemashita◎
• Kiseijuu: Sei no Kakuritsu
• Binan Koukou Chikyuu Bouei-bu LOVE!
• Yoru no Yatterman
• Durarara!! x 2 Shou
• The iDOLM@STER Cinderella Girls
• Garo: Honoo no Kokuin
• Absolute Duo
• Junketsu no Maria

Marina Eats: Traveling to Flonyard with Apple Blackberry Flaugnarde

“I want to make this a better world for people to live in.” – Clarifier, Former Ruler of Pastillage

JUMP TO RECIPE

The present Flonyard of Dog Days is a land of mostly peace, where neighboring nations are more like family and “wars” are excuses for friendly battles. The Flonyard of the past, however, was a place of darkness. Demons overran the land and prevented communication between the kingdoms. It was in this time period that Couvert’s ancestor, Clarifier, summoned the Legendary Hero, Adelaide. It was “Fi’s” wish to eradicate the demons and bring peace to Flonyard. She dreamt of a world where everyone could make safe travel and trade. Fi and Adel’s journey started out rocky, but through dedication and with good friends they laid the groundwork for the Flonyard in which Cinque finds himself at the start.

Winter 2015 Set Menu

We’re about three weeks into the 2015 winter season, and I’m still undecided on quite a few shows. I thought I wouldn’t be adding in too many this time around since the line-up didn’t impress me at a glance, but I’ve got a surprising amount clinging on to my continuations from the fall. I’ve broken my shows into three categories: watching, undecided, and ongoing. Fuller thoughts on new shows are given first, with quick summaries of my feelings on the shows still airing from previous seasons following at the end. Let me know what you think is missing from my list (any why) and I’ll give it a try!

The Pastries and Confections of Dog Days’: Biscotti, Galette, & Pastillage

When watching the first season, it never occurred to me that there were more food connections to Dog Days than just the well known eclair and biscuit.  Perhaps those with a background in European culture or knowledge of their foods would have been more receptive to the numerous sweets that populate the peoples of Flonyard; but, it wasn’t until the second season that I became curious enough to research some of the names’ origins and see how they might affect their owners’ personalities.  Not surprisingly, the foods after which characters like Eclair and Brioche, as well as the titles of the nations, are named do take significant part in shaping the large variety of identities.

Marina’s Summer 2012 Set Meal

Summer’s fabulous menu has me adding on ten new shows to my weekly anime, joining the already airing series Hyouka, Hunter x Hunter, Polar Bear Cafe, Poyopoyo, Space Brothers, Area no Kishi, and Phi Brain.  OH MY GOODNESS.

Joining the party are Arcana Famiglia, Dog Days’, Jinrui wa Suitai Shimashita, Moyashimon Returns, Muv-Luv Alternative, Natsuyuki Rendezvous, Rinne no Lagrange 2, Sword Art Online, Tari Tari, and Uta Koi.

Oh, and if you haven’t seen it already, check out my spiffy new summer banner, which I’ve added to the rotation.

2011 Spring Season Final Impressions

This season review discusses: AnoHana, A-Channel, Dog Days, Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko, Deadman Wonderland, GOSICK, The World God Only Knows 2, Maria Holic Alive, and Sengoku Otome: Momoiro Paradox.

This may possibly have been my busiest viewing season ever, totaling at 9 from this Spring 2011 season, and an additional 4 still ongoing shows.  The higher number of viewed anime also resulted in a wider variety of genre than I usually watch at once.  Forced to watch episodes one at time on a weekly basis, I found handling this many shows more manageable than I had previously thought it would be, most likely because of the different flavors each anime provided.  From dramas like AnoHana, mystery thrillers like GOSICK, satiric comedies like TWGOK2 and Maria Holic Alive, and fantastical fan service like Sengoku Otome, my table was covered with a number of savory dishes.  Though many of them followed through on their initial bursts of flavors, a sad number of them finished with not so pleasant aftertastes.

1st Batter up! Initial Thoughts on Hanasaku Iroha, Nichijou, Dog Days, and Steins;Gate

Since this is my first try at discussing currently airing anime in groupings like this, I’ve decided to break them down into 3-4 separate groups, starting with this first one.  I’ve chosen my anime based mostly on visuals and brief synopses alone, and not on others’ comments.  I’d rather not get sucked into the good or bad hype before actually tasting the shows myself.