Saturday, January 12, 2019

Winter 2019 Initial Rankings

Is it time for rankings? Yes, it's time for rankings.   These are the nine shows I'm pretty much still watching. I have 1-2 more shows to try, but one is a given (Precure) and it will be awhile before I get to Manaria Friends. Stiill we have nine shows to give my feelings on. So we'll start with the short of the season that's in my line up.


Mini Toji (0-1) Rank ??
Toji No Miko was a pretty good series. So this mini series is good for me. It's definitely fun so far. That being said ranking is kind of hard because well the episodes are only three minutes. It's probably best to treat this as unranked or whatever rank i feels like being.

Circlet Princess (1) Rank 08

This might in fact be the weakest show still on my list. While I like some of the moments between the lead, a lot of the episode felt lacking. It also doesn't help some of their methods to advance the plot forward such as how they set up the fight well a bit contrived. The fate of this series depends on how stellar episode 2 is.

W'z (1-2) Rank 07

Handshakers was an experience if nothing else so watching  W'z was a no brainer. Even if it will ultimately bad. Plus at least for now I have two reasons to watch. Sadly the main issue right now is the show is still in the set up phase and you're jus waiting for the characters to open the door already figuratively speaking.  Still I'll probably keep watching because curiosity and some cast members from the past I do want to see again. Such as Chizuru for example.

Pastel Memories (1) Rank 06

The first episode does suffer from character overload and it does feel like they took their time setting things up. Also the art made me take a pause. Still I do see some potential in this and I like some of the battle designs. If the show can be smart about juggling it's cast and episode 2 doesn't drop the ball, this will be a fun watch.

Colorful Pastrale (1) Rank 05

It's nice to have a show about mermaids. Also Canon is beautiful and is my canon favorite so far.  The main thing that keeps this from ranking higher is the first episode while good doesn't really have "impact". I don't just mean impact in terms of explosions, but just in general it feels like I need to spend a bit more time in this world because it can truly move up the ranks. Still it's number 5 of 8/9 shows, so it's already at a decent spot.
Grimms Notes(1) Rank 04

This show has already won me over. I have a thing for Fairy Tale references and there's something about the name Alice. I also like  their choice for first "story" to focus on and how they handled some aspects of it. Plus the battle music is cool. Also there's the whole magical girl and magical boy aspect. If nothing else tha was an interesting way to introduce our lead(s) of the series.

Egao No Daika (1-2) Rank 03

It's good for this show that I'm doing the initial rankings after episode 2. Don't get me wrong, I was already enjoying it after episode 1 and Yuki is a twin tailed princess. However episode 2 just seals the deal. Let's just say there are events and the promise of potential come up episode 3+.  Which better not be wasted. Oh and some scenes in the OP definitely help my motivation.
Bang Dream (1-2) Rank 02

If you're thinking 90% of the reason this is ranked so high is because Ako is our one true darkness then you'd be correct. Ok, there's also the fact I enjoy the musical aspect. Part of the fun is definitely going to be watching the performances of the various units. I expect my enjoyment of the show to fluctuate episode by episode. However if the first two episodes are any indication, I will likely enjoy even the weaker episodes on some level.
Endro (1) Rank 01
My current favorite series of the season. It gives us four wonderful "party members" that already have had plenty of great interactions together. I love them all. However for me the real selling point is Mao. She's so divine. Ok, poor choice of words.  Her dynamic with the group is great. She close to being ideal. Even my least favorite girl would be enough motivation to watch this. Add in more girls that are even better and it's a given that this show was destined to win already. It would have to actively try to be bad to lose.

Over All

This season is already supplying me with enough good series to watch. Even if I were to drop 1-4 more shows, I'd still have least five shows providing me with a good experience this season. And this is before getting into l series such as Aikatsu and Precure.