One thing can be said right at the start. After the spectacular event that was Fall Season 2014, this one paled in comparison. And not just in a merely decent manner but in one that was so distinctively mediocre that very little can be pulled from it. Only one (three if you count returners from last season) anime I have watched could be really considered above the rest, another is a matter of taste and quite a few fall rather badly.
First let us go through each anime in order (like I have been doing weekly) for a final conclusion and rating. For the sake of keeping up the used format, I will even include those outside of the normal season constraints and give an appropriate rating for the episodes aired in this time frame.
Go Princess Precure
Also while the use of randomly picked victims leaves more room for the prime characters, it feels a little too random and as such might have really been better to be used without the "turn a human into a monster" theme. It lacks any sort of emotional connection to the victim.
Rating: 7/10 (upwards tendency if it can scrap the inequality with the characters)
Absolute Duo
But then Lilith happened.
At first it seemed like the show would keep its premise regardless, some of Julie's past was teasered... and then everything just changed. Julie was almost forgotten in favor of Lilith for a good while, then came Miyabi's involvement which was not just handled far too fast but also too incomprehensible to work. This was in turn coupled with an atrocious deliverance of the plot in great info dumps that were too much to comprehend and much less make sense of. And let's not even speak of the biggest stock villains with absolutely no appeal, backstory (which was delivered somewhat as an appendix after everything was done!) and as thus generally just terrible bad execution I have seen in a long, long, long time.
Absolute Duo made one mess out of a potentially strong premise which could have made it into a rather different and likeable anime, yet instead descended rapidly into all the standard tropes right down to the ugly base ones. The fact that the main heroine's backstory was first teasered, then dropped almost until the final and then delivered in a weird mess that just did not have the impact it was supposed to, is a shame considering I really liked Julie's initial character design. The creators all need to be send back to retake their lessons in proper storytelling because that was just an awful mess.
Rating: 2/10 (mostly for Julie's adorability at this point)
Yuri Kuma Arashi
On a pure artistic and narrative basis, Yuri Kuma Arashi is great, pulling out all the stops right from the bats with symbolism in almost every little detail. In that way much like Ikuhara's work it stands as one of these examples and point them out to the people around you still caught in the belief that anime are just for kids or hentai. This series alone could probably fill a whole university course in a semester to break down and discuss much like classic literature.
On the other hand there is the enjoyment factor. Here the overly-symbolic nature really works against Yuri Kuma Arashi. Whereas the likes of Utena could be enjoyed without giving the hidden meanings too much thought, it is almost impossible in a story setting of bears turning into humans and all the seemingly harebrain plot bunnies (or bears ^_^) this show is producing each episode. The story makes very little sense without understanding what it means and watched on its own wouldn't even warrant a passing grade.
The entirety of Yuri Kuma Arashi is centered around what Ikuhara wants to say, the plot is merely a means to an end, not the central aspect. The themes are driven home to a point of near blatancy. Where at first the show leaves you rather confused, once you understand the main points being conveyed, it's getting ridiculously obvious. A little bit too much so in my opinion. As such, if I could I would rather not give a rating, so what I put here is very tentative.
Rating (technical): 9/10 (decrease for the blatancy)
Rating (enjoyment): 3/10
Rating (overall): 7/10 (since the symbolism is the central aspect, the technical side should weight more but... it depends on who is watching)
Shinmai Maou no Testament
"With less heavy censorship this may have been a better series, but the characters never really develop and the art remains a little off to the end. Ultimately this is a demonstration of wasted potential, and we can only hope that season two will be better."
And amen to that. There is a lot of wasted potential going around in this season but Testament was incredible hard because this could have been a very good show, one of these few very good harem shows even.
Unfortunately the censor ruined most of it. While I understand the idea/reason behind the censor, I feel that this anime has simply hampered itself by being put on a station and timeslot that would require a censor. With a style that is very heavy on the skinship and raunchiness of scenes, the censor already takes away a vital aspect of its conception. At the same time by focusing more on the ecchi aspects this ultimately results in subpar plot and characters. Both held promise but were often stunted because of all the time and space the ecchi bits took... which we couldn't even enjoy. It's a double defeat on this front.
Let me ask you this? Would you enjoy an action series with its action scenes largely cut out? No, obviously not.
And speaking of action. There's even more wasted potential as the final episodes point out rather clearly. There was some decent stuff early on but instead of getting better, it only got worse. The final two battles did not even meet the remote standards a final battle should have in terms of action. For all her powers, Mio only stood around doing nothing, even in the final episode where she could just as well have stayed behind with Maria and it would have made no difference.
It's a real shame because unlike Absolute Duo which went south fairly early, Testament always remained a decent watch, just on the edge of something greater but never reaching it because of many things that could have been avoided.
Rating: 6.5/10
Kantai Collection
For awhile the anime seemed to genuinely try its hand on a story, even went as far as sinking a ship girl and risk alienating its fan base. However, it never fully followed through on this promise, getting cold feet halfway through. The constant war references and comparison to real time events also caused a lot of awkward moments (like Fubuki's recall), along with a lot of reference that probably only made sense to players (which I am not).
What would have been nothing more than a show to watch and forget unfortunately got a last damper to its already weak performance in a so utterly clichéd final that even I take offense. I am a sucker for good endings usually, but this showcasing for every ship girl to have a shot in the end while the actual battle was reduced to standing around and shooting at the Airfield Princess, plus sinking the carrier almost as an afterthought was just simply bad. I do not think I will watch whatever the sequel is.
KanColle tried and for some parts it was actually enjoyable despite some of the ridiculous things and setting but the final deliverance just wasn't enough to warrant anything other than "sinking" into obscurity for anyone not a fan of the franchise.
Rating: 4.5/10
Assassination Classroom
The strongest point of this series is obviously it's unique brand of humor. Assassination Classroom is not afraid to have laughs at his own expense often enough and Koro-sensei is just a delight the more you get to know him.
Unfortunately for the largest part that is mostly all there is to it. Plot revelations are few and far in between and often the more serious bit tend to feel somewhat alien in all the comedy. Yet, the often unique deliverance in off-hand comments during normal conversations or other unexpected means is good enough. The trend of assassins shows that the plot is moving somewhere deeper now. Just how deep a show of this genre can go remains to be seen though.
Rating: 7.5/10
Fairy Tail
At least it is over and the final few filler episodes... well, not quite made up for that atrocious long and boring arc, but at least managed to mollify the situation a little. Back to the main story now. FINALLY.
Rating: 1/10 (for THAT), 8/10 (for the final fillers, which were actually GOOD)... combine that however you like.
Rolling Girls
A lot of Rolling Girls' fault can be laid at the feet of ineffective time management. The anime (much like many others this season but nowhere near as extreme as here) wanted to do far too much in far too little time. It begun with an opening of pretty color fighting introducing characters that barely would play a role soon, went into a long phase of road trip scenarios, presenting them in little mini arcs of individual stories (and swallowing the supposed main cast up inside) and ended in an attempt of an actual binding plot by somehow trying to squish everything together in the last few episodes. This resulted in a jumbled mess that was neither this, that or anything else either. This team much like Absolute Duo's needs to go back to the basics of proper storyboard production and relearning the definition of plot and pacing please.
Looking back on it, as much as I griped about the road trip episodes, they may have been the strongest part of Rolling Girls. The theme held the longest and despite the lack of main character development, the individual stories were nicely wrapped, ending with the strong concert which was definitely the best (and last good) thing that Rolling Girls produced.
The animation alone cannot carry such a drastic lack of a strong cast and a jumbled mess of a plot. Especially if you add to it, that the colorful action scenes seemed to be actually getting less, reducing even the eye candy and exchanging it for questionable storytelling.
With a two coeur run this might have been better, granting proper time to develop the main cast and the plot for them. As it was Rolling Girls ended as a series stumbling over its own attempts to overachieve.
Rating: 5/10
Dog Days
First of all, a distinct lack of battle scenes. The opening episodes were promising but also fairly quickly resolved in distinct Dog Days fashion. The same could be said for the final. The lack of a proper war game with all its flashy fight scenes which are definitely one of the stronger suits of this franchise often leaves us with a lot of conversation and other stuff that just simply drags.
And it drags mostly because unlike the last two seasons everything here is pretty much established. The heroes and locals all had their confrontations, meetings, time to get to know each other... The new girl was just there for the beginning and the end, without proper time spend to bond and mix things up a bit in the comfortable circle of protagonists. Leaf was also not the most interesting introduced character either and had very little impact as well.
There was some good in the slow bits though. The story about Adel was a long time overdue and I am glad it was delivered but that's really about the only thing that really stood out to me aside from the opening conflict.
I fear Dog Days has become a little too comfortable with its leisurely approach and if some new motivation is not introduced, I fear a fourth season will feel similar as this one did. Maybe it is really time for an overreaching plot and perhaps some genuine threat persisting throughout a season. The characters all had enough time to bound and reassure their friendships, it is time to put them to the test.
Despite all that... In comparison to a lot of the other stuff here, even this season felt like a blessing. I did not expect much else going into this, having become comfortable with the way Dog Days worked so far. However, a potential fourth season needs something extra special again or things might get problematic.
Rating: 6/10
Log Horizon
Out of everything that is ending, this is probably the one (along with Nanatsu no Taizai) that I will miss the most. I will not dwell here on the question of a possible third season or not because that will only get me anxious/depressed.Log Horizon was a late discovery for me. I only found it around Christmas when the second season was almost halfway through already and caught up with it. Even more so it is a shame to already lose it again. While certainly with its flaws, Log Horizon has managed to actually pique my interest much more than an VMMORPG of this setting has done before. Interesting characters, a rather different approach and fantastic world-building. While some of the slice of life episodes tended to drag here and there I was never really bored with anything, not even with the kids (and I know some people don't like them). Something new and interesting was offered almost every week and kept my interest high.
That freaky out of place bit with the aliens aside... The only annoyance I can really give this show is that the supposed "main" female barely gets anything to do. Akatsuki is more like the show's mascot than anything else. Second season gave her at least an arc partway focused on her but then she got put to the side again. That she was part of the finishing blow in the final battle was as such a (nice but somewhat inconsistent) surprise.
Rating: 9/10
One Piece
Seriously I can't remember an arc as epic as this since the earlier ones. Not that One Piece has ever been bad. But coming of the somewhat lacking Punk Hazard arc (further aggravated by drawn out episodes to slow down the adaption speed), Dressrosa is definitely a major step up. Especially now that all the setups are done and the action is at its peak.
Above all stands a villain that is absolutely perfect. Whereas the trend tends to go towards grey villains who can be sympathized with, pure evil masterminds are hard to come by. Yet Doflamingo is one such villain. He makes you hate him with a passion but without him this arc would lose one if not THE central element that makes it so good. You don't see villains with such a strong presence very often.
Rating: 10/10
Seiken Tsukai no World Break
The highlights definitely being the at times rather good action bits. I found the writing spells in mid-air bit an interesting spin to begin with and the action actually cashed in one some of the promise of the opening sequence.
The animation was somewhat lacking, even I could tell, which is a shame considering there were enough flashy spells to go around. But as always, that is the easiest I can forgive if the rest is acceptable.
With its steady approach and an above average final stretch of episodes, World Break did not necessarily break the world or any sort of standards, but it clearly broke Absolute Duo (which wasn't hard at this point) and in the end even Testament (with the censor intact).
Rating: 6.75/10
Nanatsu no Taizai
And here's Number 2 of those I will miss (for the time being). Nanatsu no Taizai felt very promising to me from the start but it was during this season's run that the show really cashed in by thickening the plot and delivering some incredible high class action that does not need to shy away from the likes of Fairy Tail even if the very final battle did run a little out of steam.Indeed while Fairy Tail degenerated into filler madness, Nanatsu no Taizai stole the glory. The characters are all very unique with some surprisingly depth at times. A good example would be King where I couldn't initially understand his popularity in a certain poll until we got the flashbacks and inside on his past. I really wish there was more already. I will certainly miss these guys and their awesomeness.
Rating: 9/10
Maria, the Virgin Witch
Maria, the Virgin Witch had just about everything to make a well-rounded anime with an interesting story, well-designed characters which really grow on you, a heroine with a strong will and all this on a fairly accurate historical background and depiction on various religious themes.
I have to admit that normally I shy away from series of the latter. But Maria pulled me in nonetheless. It wasn't just a mindless criticism of religion but delivered its messages with a lot more depth. Everything had consequences and it wasn't just all black and white. The deeper insight on even the "antagonist" characters helped making them more human and only added further strength to the narrative.
I'd have to agree with Gabriella that this series managed to maintain a very steady high quality with only minor flaws perhaps in each episode. Such a steady quality is by no means something you see very often. Even similar highlight anime have their weak phases here and there, Maria never did. Instead here it was shown how to handle a one coeur run in terms of time management very efficiently. A lot of other anime this season could have learned a great deal from Maria, the Virgin Witch.
Rating: 9.25/10
Conclusion: You know that phrase on your report card? He/She always tried his/her best? (I do not the English expression or if there even is one, sorry) pretty much signifying that the person didn't stand out and just stick to the obscure middle? That could very well be the theme of this season. A lot of anime TRIED to be something they couldn't achieve. Be it through insufficient time management, poor plot and storyboard creation or other factors.
In fact many anime here tried too hard to be something they obviously couldn't be and failed because of it. Even those did not fail horribly, mostly ended up at just an average or slightly above average position. It is vexing to see so much potential – and pretty much all the anime I am discussing here did have potential – wasted so much.
With the exception of Maria and the continuation and (hopefully) temporary conclusion from Log Horizon and Nanatsu no Taizai (plus the questionable nature of Yuri Kuma Arashi) nothing stuck out as good or above. Following the highlight of last year's Fall Season this one was a letdown on almost all ends and I doubt I will remember most of the shows in a lot of detail in a year or so.
And now the...
Rankings
Ranking (One coeur and just started two coeur anime only)
1. Maria, the Virgin Witch (by a LARGE margin)
2. Assassination Classroom
3. (Yuri Kuma Arashi*)
4. Seiken Tsukai no World Break
5. Shinmei Maou no Testament
6. Dog Days
(6. Yuri Kuma Arashi*)
7. Rolling Girls
8. Kantai Collection
9. Absolute Duo
*depends on whether I rate the technical side or the enjoyment factor
Ranking (One and two coeur anime)
1. Maria, the Virgin Witch
2. Log Horizon
Nanatsu no Taizai
4. Assassination Classroom
5. (Yuri Kuma Arashi*)
6. Seiken Tsukai no World Break
7. Shinmei Maou no Testament
8. Dog Days
(8. Yuri Kuma Arashi*)
9. Rolling Girls
10. Kantai Collection
11. Absolute Duo
The One Piece arc would probably go the top of the list if I were to include it, Fairy Tail to the bottom, though still above AD.
Rating the newest Precure with the rest is unfair, so I'd say where I put it at its current state in relation to the other series. Not quite up there with my favorites (being Yes, Heartcatch and Suite) but definitely among the rest, definitely better so far than Fresh, Doki and the beginning of Happiness Charge. I cannot really say without some more episodes.
And that concludes Winter Season 2015. Onwards to Spring. I'm not quite sure what I will do about postings as the first weeks will mostly be spent on trying out things. Maybe I'll revamp this format slightly for that purpose.
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