Expectations are dangerous. If they become too high there is a large risk of ending up disappointed with whatever you had expectations of. As a way to counter this I tend to generally have low expectations and not hype too much, which generally means there are positive surprises to be had.

Yet there will still always be cases where you simply cannot avoid setting expectations, only to later on see them be shred to pieces.

Lately there have been cases where I have ended up disappointed in certain anime titles, many whom outright fooled me with their very first episodes. Attack on Titan, which is currently airing, is one of those titles. To get straight to be point: I am not a big fan of Attack on Titan.  There are too many problems in terms of the production, such as numerous lazily made scenes to avoid actually animating the series and a glacial pacing, and the story itself that I cannot help but feel disappointed.

The largest issue with Attack on Titan is that there are glimpses of how spectacular it could have been from time to time. The first episode in particular, and the few after, is a real tease since it is so well-made. It had atmosphere, gorgeous animation and a feeling of hopelessness. As a result I had expectations. This was, after all, an anime that was hugely hyped before it had aired due to the manga’s popularity.

Then one disappointment after another appeared. Less animation, less focus on the hopelessness and overall a feeling that Attack on Titan could not recover. But when it was at its worst the second arc started and once again the series impressed me as much as the first few episodes had done. My expectations had been restored…

… Only to be crushed a few episodes later when it yet again degraded into a bit of a mess with sometimes amazing moments. My expectations were once again gone.

And this makes me wonder.

What if Attack on Titan had not started out as great as it did? Would I have enjoyed, and accepted it, more than I do in its current state? This also applies to Sword Art Online, another popular anime, which had a great starting episode which promised a lot but later failed to deliver.

The anime titles themselves had put on a façade which led to false expectations.

This became 24 minutes.

My latest offender is Kiniro Mosaic, which started as the cutest little anime I had ever seen. I smiled throughout the whole episode like I had never done before. It was just so cute! So I expected cuteness overload each week.

But, of course, this also turned out to be false expectations.

It was revealed that the whole first episode of Kiniro Mosaic was based on a single 4-koma strip from the original manga. Basically it was completely anime original. So when the series actually started adapting the manga it became worse every week due to lame character chemistry and a poor transition between each joke. It was the polar opposite of the picture the first episode had painted.

The list could go on with anime that has made me disappointed due to my high expectations. Is it possible that I would have liked them a lot more if it was not for how they pretended to be something they clearly were not?

It certainly is possible, but one will never know.

Because in the end, all we know is that expectations are dangerous.

I do not normally write hype posts, but this time I cannot help but to do so. It becomes especially ironic since I earlier this month wrote “How Expectations Can Make or Break Anime”, in which I point out that I normally try to have low expectations so I am not let down.

But in this particular case I cannot help but let my expectations get ahead of me. The reason for all of this is Log Horizon, a new anime about people being transported to a video game world.

Virtual reality is something that has always fascinated me ever since I first heard of it. I imagined being able to discover and explore virtual worlds as if they were our own. You could wander about, touch, smell and hear everything around you. It would be like being transported to another reality.

This fascinating has always been with me, especially today with Oculus Rift and other similar VR-headsets being created as we speak. How will it feel to use them? With a video game properly made to work with virtual reality, will it feel as if you embark to a new land? As if you are one with it?

As I think of all the possibilities I cannot help but feel overwhelmingly excited about what the future holds in store for us.

.hack//Legend of the Twilight

Now let us jump back in time to the year 2006. Back then there was this manga called .hack//Legend of the Twilight being released here in Sweden. The story centered around, you guessed it, virtual reality! The story took place in the MMORPG “The World”, something which only made me enjoy it even more thanks to being a fan of video games.

Reading .hack//Legend of the Twilight was extremely fun as it did so many things right. It poked fun at virtual reality while also showcasing what a wonderful addition it could be to video games. Especially the latter really hit home, with our main characters leveling up, meeting other people, taking part in unique competitions and festivals in a way games never had, and still have not, done before.

Exploring zones to find a cure to a dying pet? Experiencing a tanabata festival? Or only walking around in the main city hub? For the first time ever with a medium I felt like I was there. The series perfectly captured what makes video games, and specifically MMORPGs, fun. It also made me long for such an endearing MMORPG as “The World” to become a reality. I wanted it, no, I needed it.

However, since .hack//Legend of the Twilight also wanted to tell a story and not only be about playing a video game, it ultimately decided to leave that aspect in favor of something more serious. A later entry in the franchise called .hack//Quantum sadly also followed in this manner.

Slightly let down over how two .hack titles decided to not fully focus on the lighthearted side of VR-video games, and without finding another series to satisfy my hunger, my love for the “genre” somewhat died.

Sword Art Online

Eventually the year 2012 came around the corner and this popular franchise Sword Art Online was about to be animated. There was some buzz before it aired, much due to the original light novels being fan translated and hugely popular in some internet circles, but it never got to me. I only looked at Sword Art Online as any other anime.

Then I watched the first episode.

Boom.

My love was rekindled.

With a great start, Sword Art Online seemed to be exactly what I had wanted. First of all the VR-headsets, called Nerve Gear, were much more exciting than the ones featured in .hack (which, from what I recall, only were normal headsets plus a gamepad). Nerve Gear actually “connected” to your body and stimulated your senses, providing an extremely real experience. Just thinking about the possibilities made me drool.

In addition, the fact that the players were trapped in the game opened up many opportunities to tell an interesting story. What if people simply stopped playing and decided to live their life in the virtual world? Perhaps we could see how the community teamed up to beat the game, or maybe even fight each other? And why not follow different types of players, such as forgers and knights? Not to mention the possible character drama…

Sword Art Online could have been a .hack that was slightly more serious, but still retained the fun. It could go places. But it decided not to do anything of what I mentioned above. The series merely briefly touched upon them, ignoring every little bit of potential in favor of breaking its own video game rules and having shallow characters. It was, mildly put, a shame and a disappointment.

Many tears later and we enter today, fall anime season year 2013. Log Horizon, a new anime about merging reality and video games, will air. At first I was not excited about it. It did not seem bad, but I could not bring myself to hype it because of my previous disappointments.

Then I came across an image from 4chan of all places. To sum it up here:

- The characters are not “trapped” in a game. Rather, a video game world has become the real world.

- It does not try to be grimdark. You die? You are resurrected at a town. This is used for comedy effect.

- The main character is a mage, aka a support role, and does not try to steal the spotlight. Nor is he perfect at everything.

- The development focus lies on the main character’s party members and not only the main.

- It is not a harem.

- Focus on MMO politics and economics.

Color me interested, to say the least. If this source is to be trusted, Log Horizon might be able to nail both the fun and the more serious moments. The little footage released sure looks fine at least. Overall, it almost sounds too good to be true.

But naturally there is some cause for concern. The largest reason is the original novel creator being Mamare Touno, the author of Mayouu Maou Yuusha. The anime adaptation of Mayouu Maou Yuusha felt very dull, with one-dimensional characters and a focus on politics and economics that became too much towards the end, especially when the anime explained those parts poorly.

Hopefully this will not be the case in Log Horizon, or at least the anime might present the themes in a much more captivating way. Let us hope.

Log Horizon can possibly be the anime I have long dreamed of. So, please, let that be the case.

If all else fails, we will at least have a protagonist who is a mage.

And we all know mages are the best.

With the new anime season recently having started, I figured it was time to look back at what aired during summer.

One thing that struck me as this season ended was how many episode finales surprised me both positively and negatively. Nearly every finale made me react in one way or another I usually do not do.

Often they made me look back at the series and think “Wait, what is wrong with this final episode!?”.

#18 Ore no Imouto ga Konnani Kawaii Wake ga Nai 2 Specials – 1/10
3 Episodes | Drama, Romance | Light Novel | A-1 Pictures | Summer 2013

No.

#17 Chronicles of the Going Home Club – 2/10 Dropped
3/12 Episodes | “Comedy”, School | Manga | Nomad | Summer 2013

When I first heard the title Chronicles of the Going Home Club I expected an anime about a bunch of people walking home after school. It would either be a wacky and energetic comedy about all the weird stuff they discovered during their walk, or it would be the complete opposite and have an overall calming atmosphere while pointing out small, yet wonderful, details in our daily lives.

I am not completely sure how I came up with these two scenarios, but either would be approximately a gazillion times better than what we actually got. In the end, everything about Going Home Club is bad. Horrible. Astrocious. The voice acting is poor, the art is bland, the comedic timing is terribly off and the so-called jokes are about as fun as being stripped naked at school.

And they even barely walked home. What the hell?

#16 Sunday Without God 3/10 Dropped
6/12 Episodes | Fantasy, Mystery | Light Novel | Madhouse | Summer 2013

I urge you to read Jinx’s blog post for something more substantial. To sum it up, Sunday Without God is poorly written. It had some neat ideas about a world people would not die in, but decided to use a little kid as the protagonist and completely ditch its own concept in favor of uninteresting short stories.

Am I supposed to care about anything when nothing is elaborated upon? When the characters are flatter than paper? When the, at least the first two, arcs end with completely random twists out of the blue? Am I? Whatever the case, I do not.

#15 Recorder to Randoseru Mi☆ – 4/10
12 Episodes | Comedy | Manga | Seven | Summer 2013

This is more of Recorder to Randoseru, basically. It is completely different from previous seasons, as it does not repeat the same joke for its whole run. In addition it has a brand new art style and also introduces many new characters. It feels very different, but at its core it is still the same dull-ish amusing-ish story about a child in an adult’s body and an adult in a child’s body.

#14 Kiniro Mosaic – 5/10
12 Episodes | Comedy, School | Manga | Studio Gokumi | Summer 2013

Ask me what I thought of Kiniro Mosaic after its first episode and I probably would have answered that it was the Anime of the Year. It was that good. Starting off with an episode so adorably cute that my face could not stop smiling for hours, it seemed as if nothing could go wrong.

So of course things went wrong.

It turned out that the first episode was essentially original and not true to the 4-koma manga, meaning it was totally different from the rest of the series. After the pilot my interested died quicker than you can finish reading this sentence. Left was a rather boring 4-koma adaptation that did not bother fleshing out its roots by making each skit flow naturally into each other. Add rather uninteresting characters and you have a loser.

Then something happened. The final batch of episodes made me regain my interest. The episodes now had focus, often centering around one single event. This made Kiniro Mosaic feel a little more alive, which was exactly what it needed.

As a welcome bonus, the final episode was a fantastic musical. That is not something you often see in anime

#13 Eccentric Family – 5/10
13 Episodes | Comedy, Drama | Novel | P.A. Works | Summer 2013

The best way I can sum up my reaction to Eccentric Family is with a simple shrug. I did not care the slightest about anything that happened in the series towards the end. Instead, I was only frustrated by every little small thing that did not really make any sense to me.

In the beginning Eccentric Family was an eccentric series full with energy, a lovely visual style and subtle character interactions. However, it seemed to lack a clear goal in sight when over half of the episodes had aired. It became hard to care about the characters which we never really got to learn about in the first place.

But then Eccentric Family decided it was time to somehow wrap itself up by adding a stock villain and drama that heavily conflicted with the first half’s upbeat tone. At this point I was completely apathetic towards the series. Was I supposed to care about characters we never really learned anything about?

I just do not know. Do I like Eccentric Family or not? As I write this, I heave a sigh and shrug.

#12 Free! – 6/10
12 Episodes | Comedy, Drama, Sports | Original/Light Novel | Kyoto Animation | Summer 2013

Oh Free!, how you started with a bang. It was a swimming anime featuring hot dudes with a silly tone and a great comedic timing, but most importantly, it was brimming with energy. It was over the top while still having its serious moments.

After a few episodes the Free! started to lose energy and soon shallow drama was added to make things worse. The backstory, about how Rin left the main group in hope of becoming a better swimmer, lacks depth and comes across as overblown. Instead of having developed characters with proper reasons to behave the way they do, Free! goes with flat ones screaming their lungs out over stupid things.

It does not really work all that well.

Yet, whenever the main conflict is not part of the series, Free! manages to enjoy. It still manages to keep its silly tone later on, even if it is no longer the main focus. Hopefully the rumored second season will ditch the poorly executed drama.

#11 Watashi ga Motenai no wa Dou Kangaetemo Omaera ga Warui! – 6/10
12 Episodes | Comedy | Manga | Silver Link | Summer 2013

Watashi ga Motenai no wa Dou Kangaetemo Omaera ga Warui!, or Watamote for short, is a comedy about the socially awkward girl called Tomoko. She lives in her own delusional world and wishes to be popular, which leads to many uncomfortable situations.

Watamote is not as funny as it is hard to watch, which is due to Tomoko doing exactly everything wrong in every possible situation. She wants to impress her cousin? She lies, which naturally backlashes. Or what if she wants to work at a place where you make cakes, but instead of a café she ends up in an industrial factory?

Everything goes wrong which is supposed to be the main appeal. And yes, it can be funny. The anime improves a lot upon the manga in my opinion, which mainly is thanks to Tomoko’s fantastic voice actor Izumi Kitta. Actually hearing the poor girl suffer makes you feel much sadder over her situation.

But therein also lies my problem with Watamote: it only stays a comedy. Tomoko herself is generally a despicable person and mostly lies, talks shit about others and harasses her only friend. Instead of these points being portrayed as failed attempts at being social, they only come across as Tomoko having a bad personality. Not once does she hesitate or even think about what she is doing, except for humorous instances such as “Crap, if I lie more I will be screwed!”.

Watamote stays a comedy and is fine with that. But despite this it at times pretends to be something else, a serious series about a girl with social anxiety. Why it does this I do not know. Even the very ending of the series completely laughs at any sort of fake development it had previously built up.

What is left is your better-than-average comedy about an awkward girl in uncomfortable situations you may, or may not, relate to.

#10 Attack on Titan – 6/10
25 Episodes | Action, Fantasy | Manga | Wit Studio | Spring 2013

What started out amazing soon became a production mess with a so-so story and so-so characters. Attack on Titan has a lot of potential, but it never manages to use it.

The story is slow and when you think back over what has happened during the span of 25 episodes, you realize almost nothing has happened. Many episodes are essentially the same, especially in the second arc.

The characters are weak, with the exception of Armin and Jean who both show some feelings over what is happening in the series. The rest of the cast are only there to fulfill different roles. Our protagonist, Eren, never develops more than wanting to kill titans. And his childhood friend, Mikasa? She serves no other purpose than to be in love with Eren and constantly worry over him.

Furthermore, we also have a production that does not try to improve the very slow and same-y storytelling that is prominent in the manga. Episodes progress so slowly it becomes hard to concentrate when you know that what happens on-screen is supposed to take place in only a couple of seconds or minutes. In an intense situation it does not work with minute-long monologues that in reality are only a few seconds. The intensity is lost.

Add re-used footage and an episode that was even unfinished, and it feels like Attack on Titan could have been handled better. After the first couple of episodes we are mainly greeted by still images with the occasional well-animated scene. Once again intensity is lost.

Luckily the final episodes managed to make me excited again thanks to them using the slow pacing in its favor, building up a very tense situation. The concept, mysterious titans that eat the few remaining humans, is so interesting it is easy to forgive Attack on Titan for its shortcomings.

And that is also how I would describe Attack on Titan: lots fantastic moments, but to get to them you have to wade through much wasted potential.

#9 Senyuu 2 – 6/10
13 Episodes | Comedy, Fantasy | Manga | Liden Films, Ordet | Summer 2013

A lighter, less insane, version of Teekyuu.

#8 Servant x Service – 6/10
13 Episodes | Comedy | Manga | A-1 Pictures | Summer 2013

“Solid”. That is the perfect word for Servant x Service. This is your typical comedy, this time featuring civil servants, for better or for worse. It never really reaches the heights of laughter, but at the same time it never really fails at delivering.

And as a welcome bonus, Servant x Service introduces slight romance later on, which gives it a certain charm. Even I started shipping characters and wishing them the best of luck.

If you want a solid series, this is it. It will not blow you away, but it will probably not disappoint you either.

#7 Gatchaman Crowds – 6/10
12 Episodes | Action, Sci-Fi | Original | Tatsunoko Productions | Summer 2013

I like Gatchaman Crowds, I really do. But I want to love it. The gorgeous colorful style is there, along with a super catchy soundtrack. You have neat concepts, such as putting traditional superheroes in today’s social network climate, and you have a plot that constantly moves forward.

Yet, it never manages to come together very well. Gatchaman Crowds feels very rough around the edges, as if it is a draft rather than a finished product. There are many things which could, and should if you want an emotional aspect out of the series, be developed upon. The characters, especially the insanely charismatic Hajime, remain fairly undeveloped. We learn about them in details, but not nearly enough to make it matter in the long run.

In addition, much of what happens in the series stops making sense the second you think outside the box, as in what happens off-screen. Where are the parents? Why did Hajime do that? And so on.

But if you manage to ignore these things, Gatchaman Crowds is one of the most exciting anime I have seen this year. I never lost interested and it always kept me guessing at where it would go. It uses its ideas very well (even if you wish they could be used more).

What I cannot ignore, however, is the final episode which frankly is atrocious. You can clearly see what Gatchaman Crowds wanted to pull off, but it does so in such a rushed and poorly explained manner it only becomes a mess. Not much makes sense. Barely anything. It ruins an otherwise cool anime.

Gatchaman Crowds is in desperate need of polishing. Sadly, it will never get that.

#6 Stella Women’s Academy, High School Division Class C³ – 6/10
13 Episodes | Comedy, Drama, Sports | Manga | Gainax | Summer 2013

Have you seen C3-bu? Go read THIS incredible post. Have you not seen C3-bu? Go watch it and be prepared that it is a character-driven story and not cute girls shooting cute things.

C3-bu is easily one of the more interesting series I have seen lately and all of it is thanks to the main character Yura Yamato. This is her story and no-one else’s. It tells how she grows as a person as she discovers her passion for airsoft. Whereas many anime would stop where the third episode of C3-bu ends, it instead continues developing Yura in a way I have not seen many recent anime do.

Yura’s development is far from perfect in execution, but it still remains surprisingly engrossing and is what separates C3-bu from other anime titles this season.

But when you start looking at the series from other perspectives, you will soon find an anime with many great ideas, but lacking the power to execute them well. Much like Girls und Panzer we have a large cast of different characters and teams, but aside from the main gang they never get any time to shine.

The same goes with the airsoft matches themselves, which remain fairly static animation-wise and are never exciting enough to make you cheer for Yura and her team. They are randomly introduced and are finished before you really know what happened. This is a shame, because if the matches themselves were engaging it would only help make Yura’s character development feel even better!

It never terrible, far from, but C3-bu actively avoids making itself a truly great series. It does what it does well, but it certainly could do it even better.

But please, pretend that the very final episode does not exist. It serves no purpose as the story finished the episode before, and is merely used for fan service to some degree. It does not fit chronologically, and I would argue that it would not even fit if it had aired earlier either. Stupid that it exists. Really stupid.

#5 The World God Only Knows: Goddesses – 7/10
12 Episodes | Comedy, Romance | Manga | Manglobe | Summer 2013

This weird season of Kami Nomi is a weird one. It skips a lot of content from the manga so it can animate one of the most recent arcs, completely screwing over anime viewers. But at the same time, it also messes with manga readers since this arc is rushed through in anime format (but still very well-made, I must add).

Taking a much faster approach than the two previous seasons, Goddesses conquers one girl per episode. It does so with style, however, having a much better comedic timing than before and a sense of urgency. Goddesses also has a more larger story, completely leaving the simplistic dating sim approach that once was. It even managed to make me feel sad for one of the characters.

Bar the very first episode, I had a blast when watching this new season. No longer was Kami Nomi dragging its feet. This slightly backlashes as the season progresses, however, since everything comes across as a bit too simplistic, most likely due to the time-constraint the arc had to suffer.

What I can imagine was foreshadowed and mysterious in the manga, is here straightforward and takes a few leaps in logic at times. Especially the finale showcases this problem, because we never really learn what has been solved or what the conflict even was about in the first place.

But despite this, Goddesses is the best anime season of the franchise. Now, if only we could get more to fill the missing gaps.

#4 Teekyuu 2 – 7/10
12 Episodes | Comedy | Manga | Mappa | Summer 2013

Kids, do not do drugs. Do Teekyuu instead.

#3 Love Lab – 7/10
13 Episodes | Comedy, School | Manga | Dogakobo | Summer 2013

Wacky comedy? Check.
Great comedic timing? Check.
Characters with personalities? Check.
Characters that plays off each other really well? Check.
Generally visually impressive? Check.

Love Lab is about a student council “researching love”, so to say. What can they do to be popular with boys and so on. While this easily could grow stale, Love Lab does everything it can to ensure it does not. It continues to introduce new scenarios to spice things up, even having what you could call a story! Add in great character chemistry and you are set.

What does not work as well, on the other hand, are the very few episodes focusing on putting our characters in tough spots. The more dramatic parts are not what Love Lab excels at, but at the same time it depends on them to move the story and concept forward. It is a give-and-take situation.

Plus there are some episodes that are heavily outsourced.  Overall these are not only less visually impressive, but they also lack the comedic energy Love Lab otherwise oozes. Lucky then that the rest of the series is so funny it does not matter in the slightest.

#2 Silver Spoon – 8/10
11 Episodes | Comedy, Drama, Slice of Life | Manga | A-1 Pictures | Summer 2013

Silver Spoon is a slow burner. It takes a while for it to get started, but when it does, you simply do not want it to end. Why, oh why, do we have to wait for the second half?!

The largest problem the series has is the start, when our main character Hachiken is completely new to this agriculture school thing. He screams, he whines and is mostly there as a stark contrast to the other characters that have been raised at farms. Instead of being charming it quickly becomes annoying. It also does not help that Silver Spoon entirely brushes over the early days of school, jumping from one event to another without a proper narrative.

But then, a few episodes in, the change happens: Hachiken starts to mature. While still being a city boy, he now starts viewing farm life from different perspectives and starts listening to others’ stories. He tries his best and is genuinely sweet. To make it even better, the chain of unrelated events is broken and in return we are shown Hachiken going about in his daily life.

I care about Hachiken and feel sorry for him when misfortune strikes, relating to similar happenings of my own. I want to learn about the other characters in the series, such as Mikage’s struggle with her own future.

Just when Silver Spoon had started to hit its stride it also ended. If the second half, airing in the beginning of 2014, continues this trend I cannot see anything stopping it from being short of fantastic.

As for now, however, we are left with a great, but nonetheless incomplete, series.

#1 Monogatari 2nd Season – 8/10
15/25? Episodes | Comedy, Drama, Supernatural | Light Novel | Shaft | Summer 2013

Monogatari is back from the bland and ecchi-filled experience that was Nisemonogatari. Unlike previous seasons, Monogatari 2nd does not necessarily follow Araragi’s lead. Instead, the story is told from the perspective of the girls he saved in Bakemonogatari.

Not only does this keep the series fresh, but it also makes us view these girls from a different perspective. We learn more about why Hanekawa acts the way she does. And maybe Nadeko is not as innocent as she seems to be?

This fact coupled with shorts arcs, spanning around four to five episodes each, makes that Monogatari 2nd never feels old.

The only problem this new season has is that it at times relies on another entry in the series called Kizumonogatari. The movie version of this has been delayed many times and might air before 2013 ends. This becomes problematic when we are met by characters first introduced in said entry. While it does not distract from enjoying Monogatari 2nd, at least I cannot help but feel like something is amiss.

Other than that? Monogatari is back, guys!

It may not even have been a full year since GJ-bu ended, but nonetheless it has managed to find a place deep within my heart.

Trying to explain the wonders of GJ-bu would be to no awail, as I actually have no proper way of actually describing why. When I look at GJ-bu there is not much about it that stands out.

It uses lovely and vibrant colors in addition to very soft character designs, which help bring out the unique charm of the characters and the setting. When I mention the setting, I essentially only mean the clubroom in which the majority of the anime takes place.

Our charming characters, each with their own unique trait, are generally gentle and never over the top. They do not exaggerate, shout or anything that could be seen as annoying.

Yes, the girls in the club tend to tease and fool around with the lone boy Shinomiya “Kyoro” Kyouya, but it is never anything more than lovingly banter. Even “Kyoro” himself does the same, especially to the orange-haired girl Mao Amatsuka. You can feel a genuine chemistry between the all characters as they do nothing particularly special.

This warm atmosphere is what embraced me as I watched GJ-bu. It never tried to be something it was not. No, instead it was merely being itself. As a result, GJ-bu feels honest. It welcomes you with open arms and wants to you be a part of the club.

When I watched GJ-bu I always felt at ease. I knew I would have a heartwarming time with an anime that does not stand out. It is not special, but at the same time it very much feels so. But to me, GJ-bu meant a lot.

As the final credits rolled, I felt sad to see it go. I would never meet the characters again, at least not in the same way. I was left with an empty and melancholic feeling. But all things that have a beginning must come to an end. That is precisely what allows us to appreciate them.

I miss you, GJ-bu.

Here I am, watching Love Lab and enjoying its wonderful character chemistry and comedy.  Then, completely out of nowhere comes…

… a song about lingerie.

On another note, you should totally go watch Love Lab. It is rather awesome after all.

Not amused.

Let us turn back the time a few weeks, back to when Samurai Flamenco was fresh out of the oven. It was a silly anime about a young man named Masayoshi Hazama who dreamed to become a superhero and help the world become a better place. To his aid, if you want to call it that, he had the police officer Hidenori Gotou who somehow got tangled up with Masayoshi’s quest of good.

In addition to fleshing out its characters and ideas, Samurai Flamenco also poked fun at how superheroes would function in real life and its consequences. Not to mention its cheeky social criticism.

But then Samurai Flamenco went bananas and pulled a Guillotine Gorilla.

WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAA—

Not only was this a completely absurd turn of events that had not even been foreshadowed before, but it in hindsight is also the very moment Samurai Flamenco became a wholly different anime.

The scene itself, however, was magnificent to experience. I literally sat with the hands over my mouth, in shock, while not knowing how to react. Some small laughs were made, my eyes were rapidly blinking and nothing else mattered. Only Guillotine Gorilla did.

A previously harmless anime now killed off people as if it was nothing. What about blood? Fill the screen with it! AND THERE WAS A HUGE FREAKING GORILLA WITH A GUILLOTINE IN HIS STOMACH ROMPING ABOUT!!!!!!!

In the midst of all madness I was waiting for the words “And cut!” to appear. There was no way this could be real, right? Right?!

The words have yet to come.

And Samurai Flamenco will never be the same ever again.

Attack on Titan came, Attack on Titan saw, Attack on Titan conquered. The series might not have amused me as much as it did with many others, but it was an experience nonetheless. One really fun thing that spawned from the anime’s first opening theme (紅蓮の弓矢 by Linked Horizon) was a lot of videos slapping the song onto anything possible. The Internet exploded with these videos, which was a hilarious sight to behold.

While listing all my favorites would be impossible to fit here – there are too many! – I have below mentioned the two which caught me the most off-guard.

Share your favorites too!

(WordPress does not embed the videos correctly, so there is a third “hidden” one here to allow the other two to be visible (I have no idea why, just roll with it))

“Shingeki on Anon”

“Attack on Christopher Walken”