So, most series have had four episodes aired now. So far, the season is looking quite promising, with many good series that have debuted. I’ve been noticing an on-going trend though, about how much more 13 episode-series appear. It’s a shame, because a lot of these series could have easily been lengthened to 24 or 26 episodes.

#39 (new) - To Love-Ru - (4,6/10) - If it was only the fanservice, then this show could have been good, but everything about this series is crap: story, characters, nothing stands out whatsoever. Dropped.
#38 (new) - Kamen no Maid Guy - (5,5/10) - Ugh… This turned out disastrous. Any potential in this series has left due to the incredible overuse of unfunny fanservice-jokes. Dropped.
#37 (new) - Kanokon - (5,7/10) - Well, I guess nothing much can be said about this series that hasn’t been said yet. If you like young boys getting it on with horny fox-spirits, then this is a must watch. If you don’t, then stay far away from this thing. Dropped.
#36 (new) - Kyou Kara Maou - Third Season - (6,5/10) - The episode I watched was decent, but in no way did it make me eager to check out the rest of the series. Dropped.
#35 (new) - Monochrome Factor - (6,5/10) - Okay, so here’s a potential trainwreck. Stay away from this one. Dropped.
#34 (new) - Neo Angelique Abyss - (6,6/10) - Mary-sue, anyone? Dropped.
#33 (new) - Naisho no Tsubomi - (6,6/10) - I am so NOT the target audience for this. Dropped.
#32 (new) - Penguin Musume Heart - (6,9/10) - A very strange series, but I doubt that I’ll continue it with so many good series this season.
#31 (new) - Zettai Karen Children - (7/10) - The fun in this series quickly dies. Dropped.
#30 (new) - Net Ghost Pipopa - (7/10) - Good show for kids; not for me, though. Dropped.
#29 (new) - Kyouran Kazoku Nikki - (7,3/10) - This might become funny, but I don’t feel like finding out. Dropped.
#28 (new) - Nabari no Ou - (7,4/10) - I wish I could watch every series that came out this season, but unfortunately I can’t. Nabari no Ou wasn’t bad, but neither did it impress me. Dropped.
#27 (new) - Special A - (7,5/10) - I decided to drop this series after finding out that it’s only going to feature 13 episodes. Four lacklustre starting episodes may be excused for long series, but one-season long series really need to have delivered at least something at this point, and Special A never really seems to want to go anywhere.
#26 (new) - Golgo 13 - (7,6/10) - Duke Togo is an interesting protagonist, but 50 episodes may be a bit too much for a concept such as this. I’ve dropped it for now.
#25 (new) - Code Geass - Lelouch of the Rebellion R2 - (7,8/10) - Well, it’s getting pretty hard to take the different plot-twists in this series seriously, ever since the infamous episode 22 destroyed my suspense of disbelief, but I admit that Code Geass has been solid enough so far. However, I KNOW THIS SERIES. I wouldn’t be surprised if Suzaku ends up slaughtering the entire world population near the end of this second season, seeing as how this series is so eager to copy parts of the first season.
#24 (new) - Junjo Romantica - (7,9/10) - Yaoi aside, I admit that the romance in this series has been pretty good, and it actually does have a sense of humour. That said, I still don’t know why I continued to watch this series…
#23 (new) - Chi’s Sweet Home - (7,9/10) - It’s amazing to think how deep the creators dived into Chi’s mind. The adventures of Chi are an innocent way to spend 2 minutes
#22 (new) - Druaga no Tou - The Aegis of Uruk - (7,9/10) - Okay, I admit that this series turned out better than I expected it to do after watching the second episode. The band of idiots does make sense so far, but I really wonder what the creators plan to use to get them to the top of the tower when they already struggle at the first level.
#21 (new) - Toshokan Sensou - (7,9/10) - A good show, but for Noitamina, this seems to be missing something. Kaiba would have fitted this timeslot much better, I think. It’s just not a good sign that in an 11-episode series, the characters already start feeling a bit annoying after the third episode.
#20 (25) - Bus Gamer - (8/10) - A nice enough short series. The characters were dynamic enough to keep me interested.
#19 (7) - Zoku Sayonara Zetsubou-Sensei - (8/10) - Well, it’s taken a bit longer than usual, but Sayonara Zetsubou-Sensei is finally feeling the repercussions of the fact that it refused to develop its characters beyond their stereotypes. This series is still fun, but nowhere near as brilliant as it used to be.
#18 (new) - Vampire Knight - (8,1/10) - Solid so far. I personally like a healthy dose of angst, and Vampire Knight so far has done well in staying away from emo. However, the bishies and squealing fangirls are just as annoying as the hot babes and drooling guys in the shounen counterparts.
#17 (new) - Soul Eater - (8,1/10) - So far, Soul Eater has been a really stylish show. Now let’s hope that it’ll know how to remain fresh for 52 episodes.
#16 (new) - Allison to Lillia - (8,1/10) - This series has an engaging atmosphere so far. This series feels genuine, and it really succeeds in bringing across its sense of adventure, even though it sometimes struggles with believability.
#15 (new) - Wagaya no Oinarisama - (8,2/10) - A surprisingly fun and down-to-earth series for me. Great music, and finally the male main character looks at least a bit different from his counterparts in other series.
#14 (21) - Gintama - (8,2/10) - While Gintama has definitely been better, the transvestite-joke was priceless.
#13 (new) - Macross Frontier - (8,3/10) - At times, it’s a bit too silly for its own good, but the likable characters and godly production-values have really made up for this so far.
#12 (17) - Persona - Trinity Soul - (8,3/10) - Persona has developed into a pretty solid mystery-series so far, but I do hope that the creators have been saving the best for last, because this series still feels like it’s missing something.
#11 (new) - Blassreiter - (8,4/10) - Surprisingly, this turned into my favourite GONZO-series this season. It’s got the best action-sequences so far, and the characters are pretty likable so far. Now let’s hope it doesn’t go trainwreck somewhere in the middle!

#10 (new) - Nijuu Mensou no Musume - (8,4/10)

Great character-development so far, although it’s sometimes a bit hard to believe.

#9 (new) - Itazura na Kiss - (8,6/10)

Without a doubt the best romantic comedy this season. Heck, this series has the potential to be the best romantic comedy since years if it keeps up with this pacing.

#8 (new) - Kurenai - (8,6/10)

Without a doubt the best voice-acting this season. More anime should record the voices before the animation-process.

#7 (new) - Crystal Blaze - (8,7/10)

The animation and graphics may look just average, but to make up for it, Crystal Blaze has delivered us a very solid cast of believable characters that have already started to develop within four episodes. A recommendation for any mystery-fan.

#6 (new) - RD Sennou Chousashitsu - (8,8/10)

This series intrigues me like no other. It’s got a fascinating concept and a pretty good execution so far. It’s away from any stereotype so far, which also makes me very happy.

#5 (new) - Amatsuki - (9/10)

A surprise hit for me. I already somehow suspected that this series would be more than just pretty pictures, but I never expected that it would turn this dark, deep and emotional in such a short time.

#4 (new) - xxxHolic - (9,1/10)

What a wonderful way to start the second season. xxxHolic Kei has been just as good as the best parts of the first season so far, if not better!

#3 (new) - Himitsu ~The Revelation~ - (9,2/10)

I’m an absolute sucker for these kinds of series, and Himitsu has shown that it’s by far the cleverest series of the new season. Great themes, great characters, a terrific concept. This really is one of my favourites of the season so far.

#2 (new) - Kaiba - (9,3/10)

Without a doubt the best new series to air. Everything about this series has delivered so far! It’s a series that makes you think, and at the same time it’s got a wonderful story and cast of characters.

#1 (2) - Porfy no Nagai Tabi - (9,5/10)

April has been a sensational month for Porfy! Every episode delivered, there was no weak moment, and everything about this series was just so gut-wrenchingly sad. With this, this series earned it’s title of “World Masterpiece Theatre”.

Really, this is clearly the cleverest series to have come out this season. Kaiba may be good at other points, but Himitsu is a master in dropping hints that might solve the mystery. This series really draws you in like no other, also with the help of the terrific soundtrack. You really need to watch an episode at least twice in order to fully understand it.

The way the creators also revealed that Nanako fancies Aoki was also quite creative. Most series just show a very obvious and unsubtle blush, though Nanako instead just misses her chair, and you can also constant see her around Aoki, without him noticing it.

And the theme of this episode… it was really pushing taboos, as it reflected an issue of modern society that even Sayonara Zetsubou-Sensei didn’t want to enter: the bother that elder people are to their younger generations. The culprit is a guy who ritualistically kills off older people who aren’t wanted by their families due to poverty. That one scene where the kid asks when he can get his own room: “you’ll get your room as soon as grandfather dies”. “Oh, I hope he dies soon then”.

On a side-note: there’s something I’ve been wondering. It rather annoys me a bit how many people are dismissing this series because it looks “gay” (what’s wrong with homosexuals anyway?). But at the same time, you don’t hear anyone saying this about Death Note (a series that shows quite a few similarities with Himitsu, by the way), even though that too featured a number of *ahem*”bishies”, that even ended up washing each other’s feet at one point.

Heh, this episode finally featured an actually funny fanservice joke. When the horny doctor first appeared, I feared the worst, but his nurse’s BSDM have turned out to be quite hilarious. Especially the dog’s outfit was brilliant. Really, if series as Kanokon realized this, they would have been quite fun, though instead they just can’t think beyond the tried-and-true formula of groping, blood-noses and panty-shots.

Fanservice aside, I’m still surprised at how much I’m enjoying this show, seeing as it’s turned into one of the dark horses of this season in the rest of the anime-community. The budget is indeed quite low. Studio Fantasia is no Satelight or Madhouse, so the drawings and animation are quite simple. And yet this has never had a weak episode so far, in my opinion at least. This episode again was a great one, and it finally pushes the plot forward again.

We learn that the one who changed all the women to glass was indeed that little girl. This time, she kills Yuumi, who indeed went on her solo-debut, dropping Seiji without him even knowing it. The glass women like her and Sara were meant as humanoid weapons. Hence why the bad guys are so interested in retrieving her. They’re currently in the process of testing out their work, which has finally shown its fruits.

One thing I also like is how this series has managed to make characters likable who would have been really cliché otherwise. Especially Shu and Manami would have been incredibly annoying if they didn’t receive any development. Manami, however, turned into a really sympathetic character, who’s just finding out how naive she’s been in the past episodes. She’s a girl with real fears, instead of contractor-like behaviour (a la Darker than Black) of knowing what to do in any dangerous situation. Shu meanwhile turned into quite a refreshing main character, who neither is a stereotypical ambitious guy nor a carefree “cool dude”. This guy doesn’t care about being the best; he just cares about the people around him. For some strange reason, both of them have really turned into my favourite characters in this series.