Spring 2013 Episode Rankings

Was it just me, or were this week's anime offerings much better than usual? There were exceptions, unfortunately, but for the majority of the series I'm following, I'd say their 9th episodes were a step up. Here's hoping they continue to improve as we near the end of the spring season.



Nice try, lesser anime, but it'll take more than that to topple the Titan.1 -




2 - (2)



3 - (4)



4 - (1)



5 - ( 2)



6 - (4)



7 - ( 5)



8 - ( 2)



9 - (4)



10 - ( 2)



11 - ( 2)



12 - (5)



13 - ( 2)



14 - (2)



15 - ( 1)



16 - (2)



17 - ( 5)



18 - ( 3)Chihaya's thoughts and reactions remain one of the series' best features.



MOVING UP:



The individual tournament starts, and suddenly CHIHAYAFURU 2 places higher than it has all season. As much as I'd like to think that's a coincidence, as I do enjoy the spirit, friendship and shared emotions of the group matches, the individual games have always appealed to me more. Maybe because they have to win each of their matches to stay in the tournament, there's no team mates to make up the points. Chihaya's injury also made things more interesting as expected - watching her learn to adapt her play style to suit her left hand was fantastic! And her draw for the next round should ensure that next week's episode is good too



As well as Chihayafuru, the two other non-spring shows outdid most of their newer competition this week! HUNTER X HUNTER's large rise I predicted, as Gon and Co. encountered more Chimera Ants, and we were treated to some epic shounen action! UCHUU KYOUDAI's increase, though smaller, was the bigger surprise - though Team E's last minute search for a way to waterproof their rover's tyres was undoubtedly a difficult challenge, it was hardly a life-or-death scenario like those faced in many of the shows I ended up ranking lower. Maybe I just found Space Bros. nice and relaxing compared with all that drama?



Great to get an update on Fukuda, too!



MOVING DOWN:



HAIYORE! NYARUKO-SAN W needs another story arc (or what passes for one in this series), as these generic, stand alone eps really aren't that great in my opinion. This week, they take Shanta-kun, about the only character who isn't a moe-bloband turn her into a moe-blob. She then spends most of the episode trying to reunite Mahiro with his phone, in an attempt to prove herself useful to him. Fun stuff. I'm sure the episode was intended to be cute, and sweet, but I've just seen it done before so many times now.



HATARAKU MAOU-SAMA! seems to be suffering from the same curse that eventually hits all comedy series I watch - once plot/drama-heavy series really get going, I just prefer them to comedy. Also, I find the show isn't making me laugh as much anymore to begin with. Ashiya's summarization of Maoh and Emi's relationship using rival construction companies in place of good vs evil was amusing, but the rest of the episode focused more on romance, and on the rival SFC branch (still not quite sure what the point of the short, wannabe playboy manager is yet, but hopefully all will be revealed eventually).



Shanta's bat-hippo form is far cuter, anyway.



And finally, KAKUMEIKI VALVRAVE leaves my Top 5. Through no real fault of its own, to be fair - the introduction of two new Valvraves, and the selection of their pilots (so glad that 'Thunder' got one!) was good, while Haruto and Saki falling for Dorssia's blatant trap reminded us that, immortal or not, these pilots are still children with no experience or training in military tactics. So overall, a pretty good episodejust not really an improvement on earlier episodes, so I couldn't justify it rating it any higher this week.



I'm not usually a fan of these school bully/delinquent types, but for some reason, I really like Thunder.
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