Anime Girl Rankings

I May Be Sick, but Not of Making Updates

I may be home sick from work, but that just gives me more time to work on entries for the site. Today we have six new series and a new character added to an existing series.

Ai Mai Mi is a madcap, three-minute-per-episode, two-series-long story about the ridiculous and surreal situations three manga club girls get themselves into. I get the feeling that a lot of jokes and references went over my head, but it was a fun diversion in nice bite-sized chunks.

Dream Eater Merry, about dream demons and their interactions with the real world and dream world, didn't quite live up to my expectations (particularly given its budget was clearly limited). Focusing on a dream demon named Merry who inexplicably ends up in the real world and a boy's attempts to help her find her way back, I still enjoyed it, but I admittedly have a weakness when it comes to themes centered around dreams.

Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet similarly didn't quite live up to expectations, despite its writing pedigree. It tells the story of a militaristic space fighter who gets thrown onto an Earth that looks primitive to him, forcing him to adapt to its residents' lifestyles and philosophies. The art and animation are a real treat - not to mention the girls are impossibly cute. I'm looking forward to see what the OAV is like.

Kanamemo is a moe slice of life series based on a four panel comic. The crew is a motley bunch, including an elementary school girl more responsible than any adult, a money-grubbing ronin, lesbian lovers, and a lolicon college student. It was an interesting mix of ecchi elements and pure innocent sweetness, which I enjoyed despite not being clear on exactly who the intended audience is.

Texhnolyze is quite possibly the most depressing series I've ever seen, and that includes various other famous downers within anime. In a dystopian underground city where lives are cheap but mechanical replacements for body parts are not, a man gets caught up in a power struggle between three groups. Throw in a reclusive group of mystics guided by a girl who can see the future, more death scenes than you can imagine, and Yoshitoshi ABe's cold character design, and it's nearly oppressively grim - yet I still might recommend it to those willing to give its observations about humanity a chance.

The Pet Girl of Sakurasou is a romantic comedy/drama that is better than it almost deserves to be. Like many, I was initially repelled by the spectre of a guy in a dormitory tasked with tending to a girl so helpless she can't even dress herself. What we find instead is what amounts to a situational comedy that explores the consequences of extreme talent - both for the one possessing that talent as well as for those around that person. While flirting with harem cliches it never really gives in to it, and many potentially risque scenes end up setups for important character development. Don't be fooled by the wretched marketing material that makes it sound like a salacious series. It has real substance.

Lastly, I've added Rouka Numachi from Hanamonogatari to the Monogatari Series entry. The deconstruction of all the Monogatari characters continues, and I can't wait for Yotsugi's arc over New Year's!