I wonder how wrong I’ll end up being.

Umi Monogatari

So it turns out I was completely wrong about this. Episode 2 showed me that this is mahou shoujo with mermaids, something that is not relevant to my interests.

Yoku Wakaru Gendai Mahou

I watched the preview episode for this, which takes place in the middle of the story. The most interesting thing that I got from this is that what we associate with magic is actually oldschool magic and that modern magic is done through programming. I’ll probably keep this regardless of how bad it turns out, because it’s about programming.

CANAAN

There isn’t much to talk about in terms of story here. The first episode just kind of set some stuff up without any explanation. We do get some pretty cool action. I’m expecting this to be alright since it’s some sort of Type-Moon thing. Of course, there are magic eyes. Also, it has some pretty good production values for a studio that’s only done True Tears, which was entirely not action at all.

Bakemonogatari

So far, this is the most impressive show I’ve seen. It’s definitely the best looking show that SHAFT has done since ef and it’s actually done in real HD. The writing is great: it’s funny, it’s freaky, it’s hilarious. The story looks like it’s pretty interesting. It’s could be the best show of the season for me.

The seasonal ritual where I extrapolate broad generalizations about a show based only on its first episode begins today.

Umi Monogatari

Some mermaids find a ring that some girl threw into the ocean. They venture to the scary surface and try and give it back. In the process, they release some sort of dark evil. It looks like this is going to have an actual plot, which was kind of disappointing. I’d heard that this had Aria’s director on it and that sort of gave me this false impression that this was going to be Aria with mermaids. Oh well, I guess I’ll see if it continues to capture my interest.

Umineko no Naku Koro ni

So far, everything has been pretty good. The pacing is a little lightspeed, but it would have taken about a month to get to where we are right now if they’d followed the game. Good production all around in terms of animation, music, and voice acting. There were a few casting choices that had me worried when I read them, but they sure proved me wrong. And though the OP, 「片翼の鳥」, and ED, 「la divina tragedia〜魔曲〜」, aren’t from the game, they, together with their animations, are pretty good. Very much looking forward to when things start rolling at the first twilight.

Aoi Hana

This is some sort of yuri romance thing. I took a look because I heard it was worthwhile. I feel like the OP will tell you everything you need to know about this show: flowers and girls holding hands and slow music. I’ll probably watch another episode or two, at which point, I will get bored and drop it.