I still have lots of anime to catch up on as the Winter 2009 season draws to a close. However, I have been diligently following To Aru Kagaku no Railgun since its first airing in October of last year, and the completion of this series leaves me with some mixed feelings.

I’ll start off with the things that I didn’t really like as much. Since this anime just contains side-stories to To Aru Majutsu no Index, I wasn’t really expecting much of a main plot, but it still could have been more cohesive overall. Some of the mini-arcs felt a bit rushed as well. *shrugs*

Also, Touma appeared a very few number of times during the series. I was hoping to see more of him and his encounters with Misaka, but this could be due in part to the material that the studio had to work with (I’m not sure since I didn’t read that far into the manga).

As for the things I liked, they include the awesome OPs (loved both the songs and animations), the setting, and the cast of characters.

OP2:

It was an entertaining ride to watch their antics, especially Kuroko’s. So it mostly boils down to whether you like the cast of characters or not.

If you do, great! *high five*

Otherwise, there’s plenty of other series to watch.

My most anticipated anime of the Fall season: Darker than Black: Ryuusei no Gemini.

It was hands down the best action series of this season. The animation for the fight scenes were well done, but the amount of these scenes seemed to dwindle as the series went on.

The changes between the 1st season and this season felt out of place. I was surprised at Hei’s change of character along with all the focus on Yin. She didn’t seem to hold that much importance in the 1st season – at least not at the level of world affairs.

I also didn’t really like the focus on the new character (Suou) and preferred the old times with Hei masquerading as Li Shensun.

The 12 episode length of this season made the series simply too short. The ending felt a bit rushed and could have used some much needed explanations, but I guess they wanted some confusion/mysteries to remain as they work on another season.

Despite all this, it’s still one of the best anime for the Fall 2009 season. On a side note, Misaki needs to hook up with Hei already.

Seitokai no Ichizon uses a repeated formula to structure all its episodes, and it works surprisingly well.

This anime was one of the few series this Fall season that I was never behind on. I kept up with it and made sure to watch the new episode every week.

It mostly consists of comedy with parodies inserted now and then. Add in some glimpses of actual seriousness to complete it all. Nothing concrete really happens from episode 1 to episode 12 except that you learn more about all the characters, but that’s why it’s so fun and easy to watch. I’m definitely hoping for a second season of this.

Be sure to watch this anime for their bantering and epic statements like the one in the image shown above.

Kampfer is your typical fan service/harem anime. Nothing has changed much throughout the series. The ending is also set up so that another season is easily possible.

Watch this if you have a lot of free time or something. The main character is clueless to the point that it’s detestable; as is often the case in these types of anime.

We’ve had a ton of short series this past season. One recently completed one was Nyan Koi!

My impressions haven’t really changed since seeing episode 1. It’s a romantic comedy that was fun to watch every week. The cast of characters were both memorable and likable.

Definitely one of my favorite series for the Fall season, but don’t go looking for any depth or hidden meanings behind it. Just watch it to amuse yourself and to see if the male lead pairs up with anyone.

Hopefully there will be a second season since the manga continues on past the end of season one.

I think it’s around the middle of the Fall anime season right now, so here are some quick updates on my impressions.

My initial impressions can be found here.

To Aru Kagaku no Railgun: Lots of seemingly irrelevant episodes plot-wise, but still entertaining to watch.

Seiken no Blacksmith: I thought it would be better than this. Seems like I thought wrong. Now it has a lot of filler/fanservice type episodes, but I still watch it.

Seitokai no Ichizon: Lots of fun, especially when you understand the parodies. The main guy is awesome.

White Album 2nd Season: I stopped watching this. Just didn’t feel like it at the moment I guess.

Tegami Bachi: Better than I thought it would turn out to be, although the main character’s crying sometimes got on my nerves.

Takakau Shisho: Vastly better than my initial impression on it, with a plot and story that can leave you thinking.

Kampfer: Uhhh, fun to watch even with the fanservice.

Nyan Koi!: Harem building is hard work. At least the main guy isn’t your typical annoying male lead. I look forward to this series every week!

Miracle Train: Same impression as before, wtf.

Darker than Black: Ryuusei no Gemini: AWESOME. The action scene animations are amazing and the plot is perfectly aligned with my tastes.

Kimi ni Todoke: Too much focus on the misunderstandings. Speed up the plot!

11eyes: Getting better as the main character learns to harness his powers.

Kobato: Very episodic. Kobato needs to sing more often.

Sora no Otoshimono: Stopped watching this. The excessive fanservice got to me.

Sasameki Koto: Meh, didn’t really give it a chance.

Shin Koihime Musou: Same impression as before.

Yume-iro Patissiere: Good weekly dose of Shoujo. Makes me want to go eat some sweets.

Kiddy Girl-and: Hmm, haven’t seen more so I don’t know if it got better.

Kuuchuu Buranko: Meh, not my style.

Aoi Bungaku: Some pretty intense stories.

Winter Sonata: Where are the new episodes? They need to release them quicker!

Animal Detectives Kiruminzoo: No.

You don’t really realize you follow quite a few anime series until you list them all out.

Here’s a collection of all the posts I made related to the Fall 2009 Anime Season.

This post will be updated as I add more content. Will also make it look nicer when I have more time.

[Updated 10/30/2009]

Previews:

Preview of Fall 2009 Anime Season

Seitokai no Ichizon Promo

First Impressions:

Fall 2009 Anime Season: First Impressions (Part 1)

Fall 2009 Anime Season: First Impressions (Part 2)

Shin Koihime Musou: First Impressions

Yume-iro Patissiere: First Impressions

Kiddy Girl-and: First Impressions

Kuuchuu Buranko: First Impressions

Aoi Bungaku: First Impressions

Winter Sonata: First Impressions

Animal Detectives Kiruminzoo: First Impressions

Image Source: Safebooru