Winter 2014 Mid-Season Anime Status Update

Actually, if it wasn’t for the Olympics pushing a few shows back a week this would be more aptly called the 3/4 season report. 🙂

Well, the anime apocalypse that this winter season was supposed to bring turned out not nearly as bad as people feared. The sequels are holding their weight and the seasonal surprise hits arrived on time, like they always do, and there’s plenty of assorted goodness spread around the other shows to keep the wolves at bay. Anime is not dying yet. The placards and rhetoric can be put away for a future season.

That said, my attention is starting to drift towards spring. Dangle the promise of a series directed by Masaaki Yuasa  (Kaiba, Tatami Galaxy, Kick Heart) and you’d have to be an idiot not to get excited.

But let’s not get sidetracked.

Below the fold are my thoughts about each of the 21 anime series I watched that began airing this season. They are ranked from best to worst and grouped into six broad groups ranging from superior to poor. Before we start I wanted to quickly mention all the carryover series I’m watching and how they’re fairing: Hunter x Hunter > Kill La Kill > Nagi no Asukara > Space Brothers > Golden Time > Magi 2 > Tokyo Ravens > Samurai Flamenco. Oh Samurai Flamenco, how far you’ve fallen.