Guys, guys, I already have enough trouble keeping Say “I love you.” and My Little Monster distinct from each other without the former using the name of the latter’s protagonist in passing.

Someone give Chuunibyou’s director a raise.

(Edit: Also, totally did not see the character whose name sounds like “Dense Valley” having such a vitriolic streak. Just my kind of girl.)

Wholly premature judgments on anime quality, fall 2012 edition

Excellent

• My Little Monster (Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun) – Oh, man. Shizuku and Haru are easily the best anime couple I’ve seen in a while, and it looks like my worries that the relationship would get too one-sided have so far been unfounded. I am loving every moment.

• Regardless of My Adolescent Delusions of Grandeur, I Want a Date! (Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai!, or: how I learned to stop worrying and just copy-paste long anime titles) – I love it when a show just revels in its absurdity. The character interactions are off-the-wall hilarious, and KyoAni is definitely pulling out all the stops on the imaginary fight scenes.

Pretty good

• From the New World (Shinsekai Yori) – I wasn’t entirely impressed by how the fourth episode handled establishing the setting, as it just poured information at viewers, but the main cast is holding up all right in its characterization, and the atmosphere is top-notch. This is definitely shaping up to be the most interesting show this season, even if it may not be the outright best.

• Say “I love you.” (Suki-tte ii na yo.) – This is My Little Monster’s more serious cousin in more than a few ways, so much so that sometimes the solemnness drags the show down. Still, while the chemistry between Mei and Yamato isn’t all there, there’s enough of a spark to keep me watching, and it looks like the show’s main dramatic turns are just getting started.

On shaky ground

• Psycho-Pass – This may not be a fair assessment when less than a tenth of the show has aired, but Psycho-Pass is struggling to find out exactly what it’s trying to say, which isn’t a good sign when the setting seems explicitly designed to send some kind of message. Akane, too, has some issues as a viewpoint character. Madoka, the obvious point of comparison, could get away with being the innocent lead thrown into an incomprehensible jumble because Kyuubey didn’t give her much of a choice in the matter. Akane, on the other hand, chose to be a law enforcement officer, which makes her clashing personality and lack of preparation for the situations that she encounters seem more like incompetence than naiveté. I suppose I can afford to give Psycho-Pass some time to fill out its shoes, though, what with there being twenty episodes left.

• Robotics;Notes – Yeah, noitaminA’s not doing so hot right now, is it? R;N is suffering from some of the same aimlessness that Psycho-Pass is. In this case, it promises a tale of saving the world, but then fails to work in that direction in any consistent fashion, instead electing to cut back to something that seems like Tari Tari with robots. As you may be able to tell from the fact that I didn’t finish Tari Tari, I don’t consider that a positive thing. Again, there are still 1.818 cours to go on this, so I don’t want to be too harsh. But still.

My Little Monster (Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun) is an odd beast, if you’ll forgive the pun, and not just because the first episode feels like someone’s compressed an entire movie into twenty-two minutes. In more than a few ways, it reminds me of Maid Sama! from a couple of years ago, particularly in the personalities of its main pair: Haru is Usui, except twice as erratic and possessing half the social graces, and Shizuku is Misaki with loner tendencies and a stronger sardonic streak. Also like Maid Sama!, My Little Monster also has a mild self-awareness problem — not the lack of it that’s stereotypically associated with shoujo, but an almost positive excess of it. For instance, it’s almost unbelievable that Haru, poor communicator that he seems to be, manages to so often get straight to the point of his rather complex emotions. I say “almost,” because the idea that he can dispel the usual romantic confusion of teenagers so readily with his child-like credulity makes some sense. In any case, it makes for an entertaining show where Haru, intentionally or unintentionally, is constantly keeping Shizuku on her feet. I do hope that the teasing doesn’t get as one-sided as it did in Maid Sama!, but otherwise this is a promising, if puzzling, opener.

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LOS ANGELES HAS ISSUED A TOTAL
BULLSHIT WARNING...WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM 6 PM MONDAY TO 6 PM
PDT WEDNESDAY.

UTTER NONSENSE...BUILDING TO HEIGHTS OF WAIST TO NECK DEEP FOR
PORTIONS OF LOS ANGELES, ORANGE, SAN BERNADINO, AND VENTURA
COUNTIES.

TIMING...BUILDING THROUGH MONDAY NIGHT...PEAKING TUESDAY AT
NOON...THEN GRADUALLY DIMINISHING THROUGH WEDNESDAY.

RESIDENTS ARE ADVISED TO SEEK SHELTER AND RECITE SIMPLE
MATHEMATICAL EQUATIONS UNTIL NORMAL LOGIC IS RESTORED.

AGAIN...THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LOS ANGELES HAS ISSUED
A TOTAL BULLSHIT WARNING FOR PORTIONS OF LOS ANGELES, ORANGE,
SAN BERNADINO, AND VENTURA COUNTIES...