Ahhh the New Year. A time of beginnings, resolutions, and rebirths. A chance for everyone, everywhere, to start over with a fresh beginning. A chance to wash away the bumps, bruises, smudges, and stains of the last three-hundred and sixty-five days so that we may try again for the better. While the Winter season is sometimes considered part of the previous year, we here at NHRV like to use it as the starting block for what will come. Last year had so many great titles that it would be unfair to compare what will come with what has been. Still, 2011 got off to a great start with epic titles like Puella Magi Madoka Magica, Level E, and Rio: Rainbow Gate so it is only appropriate that 2012 must do the same to keep up. As Stan Lee would say: “Excelsior!”. Thus, we NHRV’ers have put together our first of the first thoughts for the year How does 2012′s start look so far? Read on and find out!
Introduction by: TypicalIdiotFan

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Copyright © 2012 Behind The Nihon Review. All licensed material are owned by their respective parties.
By NHRV Staff | Permalink | 9 comments | Add to StumbleUpon | Tweet! | reddit
Post tags: Amagami SS, Ano Natsu de Matteru, Another, Bakemonogatari, Danshi Koukousei no Nichijou, High School DxD, Kill Me Baby, Moretsu Pirates, Natsume Yuujinchou, Papa no Iu Koto o Kikinasai, Poyopoyo Kansatsu Nikki, Recorder to Randoseru, Rinne no Lagrange, Senhime Zesshou Symphogear, Sousei no Aquarion, Thermae Romae, Zero no Tsukaima

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With Christmas just around the corner and a whole new season in the wing, it’s time to look at how the fall’s harvests are doing. Though the quantity of anime does not seem to be as massive as the quantities of previous years, the quality (at least on the visual side of things) has never been higher. Among the usual suspects of adaptations and the sprinkle of anime orignals, there is a complete reboot, a fleshed out prequel and many sequels. If you haven’t been tasting this season’s offerings, you are missing out some quality shows.
Introduction by: Shadowmage

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Copyright © 2011 Behind The Nihon Review. All licensed material are owned by their respective parties.
By NHRV Staff | Permalink | 10 comments | Add to StumbleUpon | Tweet! | reddit
Post tags: Bakuman, Ben-To, Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai, C³ Cube x Cursed x Curious, Chihayafuru, Fate/Stay Night, Guilty Crown, Gundam (all), Hunter x Hunter, Kimi to Boku, Kyoukai Senjou no Horizon, Last Exile, Mashiro-Iro Symphony, Mirai Nikki, PERSONA -trinity soul-, Shinryaku! Ika Musume, Un-Go, Working!!

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I was foolish to expect this to be a quiet season. While the far and away best anime airing right now technically came from Summer (Mawaru Penguindrum), Fall has just gone “bang” with a number of new series worth getting excited about. There’s a slate of sequels (and prequels in the case of Fate/Zero) from popular franchises, included second seasons for Working! and Ika Musume, two of last year’s top comedies, as well as a new Gundam show. The much hyped Haganai and Mirai Nikki are getting long awaited adaptations, while slightly older series in Hunter x Hunter and Last Exile have both received a revival. The only major disappointment so far is Noitamina, which is screening two new series, neither of which have succeeded in firing a shot to date. It’s early days, but the expectations for shows that air on Noitamina are generally much, much higher.
Introduction by: Sorrow-kun

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Copyright © 2011 Behind The Nihon Review. All licensed material are owned by their respective parties.
By NHRV Staff | Permalink | 9 comments | Add to StumbleUpon | Tweet! | reddit
Post tags: Bakuman, Ben-To, Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai, C³ Cube x Cursed x Curious, Chihayafuru, Fate/Stay Night, Guilty Crown, Gundam (all), Hunter x Hunter, Kimi to Boku, Kyoukai Senjou no Horizon, Last Exile, Maji de Watashi ni Koi Shinasai!!, Maken-Ki!, Mashiro-Iro Symphony, Mirai Nikki, PERSONA -trinity soul-, Phi Brain, Shakugan no Shana, Shinryaku! Ika Musume, Tamayura, Un-Go, Working!!

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Introduction by Akira

It’s Mid-season, and the NHRV Staff have put the season’s shows through the grinder. We’ve found lots of crap, a few genuine gems (the ones that you’d expect, yes), and lots of little girls. It’s a bit disturbing how many shows feature petite nymphets this season, but since some of them are genuinely excellent, we won’t complain. We’re doing something a bit different this time— all of our individual contributions are now anonymous. We hope that this will give our midseason reviews a sense of unity. Enjoy.(WARNING: AHEGAO ALERT.)

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Copyright © 2011 Behind The Nihon Review. All licensed material are owned by their respective parties.
By NHRV Staff | Permalink | 15 comments | Add to StumbleUpon | Tweet! | reddit
Post tags: Blade, Blood-C, Ikoku Meiro no Croisee, Itsuka Tenma no Kurousagi, Kamisama Dolls, Kamisama no Memo-chou, Manyuu Hikenchou, Mawaru PenguinDrum, Mayo Chiki!, Natsume Yuujinchou San, No. 6, Nurarihyon no Mago: Sennen no Makyou, R-15, Ro-Kyu-Bu!, Sacred Seven, The iDOLM@STER, Usagi Drop, Yuru Yuri

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A year ago we were graced by the season of Summer 2010, when the flagship series were High School of the Dead, Occult Academy, and Amagami SS. We were thankfully saved by Shiki, but otherwise we left that season screaming for something better. It seems someone heard our pleas, because Summer 2011 has showered us with a quantity of promise we haven’t seen in a while. Sure, the worst of the season are still scraping the bottom of the barrel for ideas – and the less we must say about them, the better – but the cream of the crop should leave everyone highly satisfied for the next three months.
Introduction by: Elineas

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Copyright © 2011 Behind The Nihon Review. All licensed material are owned by their respective parties.
By NHRV Staff | Permalink | 9 comments | Add to StumbleUpon | Tweet! | reddit
Post tags: Blade, Blood: The Last Vampire, Idol Master, Ikoku Meiro no Croisee, Itsuka Tenma no Kuro-Usagi, Kami-sama no Memo-chou, Kamisama Dolls, Manyuu Hikenchou, Mawaru PenguinDrum, Mayo Chiki!, Morita-san wa Mukuchi, Natsume Yuujinchou, Nekogami Yaoyorozu, No. 6, Nurarihyon no Mago, R-15, Sacred Seven, Usagi Drop, Uta no☆Prince-sama♪ Maji Love 1000%, Yuru Yuri

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Considering the abysmal showing of some anime last season, it’s hard not to think better of this season’s shows. But Spring is also a traditional season for powerhouse anime, and this time around certainly seems to have its fair share of decent to good shows. Now that we’re at the half way mark into the season, it’s about time for NHRV members to discuss their takes on currently airing series. What seems clear, at least, is that the breadth of genres covered this time around provides plenty of shows for all different kinds of anime fans to watch.
Introduction by: Kylaran

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Copyright © 2011 Behind The Nihon Review. All licensed material are owned by their respective parties.
By NHRV Staff | Permalink | 10 comments | Add to StumbleUpon | Tweet! | reddit
Post tags: A-Channel, Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae wo Bokutachi wa Mada Shiranai, Ao no Exorcist, Astarotte no Omocha!, C: The Money of Soul and Possibility Control, Deadman Wonderland, Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko, Dog Days, Dororon Enma-kun Meeramera, Fireball Charming, Hanasaku Iroha, Hidan no Aria, Kaiji, Kami nomi zo Shiru Sekai, Maria+Holic, Nichijou, Oretachi ni Tsubasa wa Nai, SKET Dance, Steins;Gate, Tiger & Bunny, X-Men

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Spring has a reputation as one of the big two seasons, and in some ways this Spring is cashing in on that, and in others it is not. With such a wide swath of shows released, it’s inevitable that there will be something decent to watch — and through a few weeks, there is a solid number of watchable shows. However, so far none of those shows has leaped out as Something That Absolutely Needs to Be Watched (unless, like me, you went nuts for Kaiji’s first season). Of course, it took a few episodes for winter’s must watch shows — Madoka Magica, Hourou Musuko and Level E — to really get going, so there’s plenty of hope for the series that have flashed a bit of potential. Or more bondage and wet T-shirts would be nice, too.
Introduction by: Shinmaru

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Copyright © 2011 Behind The Nihon Review. All licensed material are owned by their respective parties.
By NHRV Staff | Permalink | 13 comments | Add to StumbleUpon | Tweet! | reddit
Post tags: A-Channel, Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae wo Bokutachi wa Mada Shiranai, Astarotte no Omocha!, C: The Money of Soul and Possibility Control, Deadman Wonderland, Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko, Dog Days, Fireball Charming, Hanasaku Iroha, Hidan no Aria, Kaiji, Maria+Holic, Nichijou, Oretachi ni Tsubasa wa Nai, SKET Dance, Steins;Gate, Tiger & Bunny, X-Men

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Nearly four complete seasons has gone by without what I consider to be a truly great anime. For 2010, I declared that there was no “best of”; that all the shows were good but there was not one great show that stood above the rest. Because of that, I have been pessimistic about the direction of anime. However, Sorrow-kun expressed “optimism” with this current season back when did our First Thoughts, and the staff agreed with him that things were looking up. Now that we are halfway into the season, NHRV is taking a second look to see whether or not these shows have held up their promises of good things to come or have delved back into the shadows of mediocrity.
Introduction by: TypicalIdiotFan

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Copyright © 2011 Behind The Nihon Review. All licensed material are owned by their respective parties.
By NHRV Staff | Permalink | 11 comments | Add to StumbleUpon | Tweet! | reddit
Post tags: Beelzebub, Dragon Crisis, Fractale, Freezing, Gosick, Hourou Musuko, IS: Infinite Stratos, Kimi ni Todoke, Kore wa Zombie Desu ka?, Level E, Mahou Shoujo Madoka★Magica, Mitsudomoe, Onii-chan no Koto nanka Zenzen Suki Janain Dakara, Rio: Rainbow Gate!, Wolverine, Yumekui Merry

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I can’t have too many complaints from what I’ve seen so far from this season. Summer 2010 was an atrocity against anime, while Fall 2010 had a few titles with potential, but no truly great series. This season has been one of the more promising for a while, with the likes of Madoka Magica, Wandering Son and Fractale all showing signs that they could be very memorable anime. It’s early days (although three weeks into the season, not as early as we usually share our First Thoughts), but I’ve seen enough from this season to be optimistic, and nothing to make me irate (other than Onii-chan no Koto).
Introduction by: Sorrow-kun

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Copyright © 2011 Behind The Nihon Review. All licensed material are owned by their respective parties.
By NHRV Staff | Permalink | 21 comments | Add to StumbleUpon | Tweet! | reddit
Post tags: Beelzebub, Dragon Crisis, Fractale, Freezing, Gosick, Hourou Musuko, IS: Infinite Stratos, Kimi ni Todoke, Kore wa Zombie Desu ka?, Level E, Mahou Shoujo Madoka★Magica, Mitsudomoe, Onii-chan no Koto nanka Zenzen Suki Janain Dakara, Rio: Rainbow Gate!, Wolverine, Yumekui Merry

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It’s half-way through another season, so it’s time for another Mid-season Impressions from The Nihon Review! There has been quite a nice variety of anime this season to fit most any taste or niche, and a number of very interesting and controversial shows to generate a ton of discussion. Thus, a few of us here at NHRV will talk about some of our favorites and not-so-favorites at the midway point.
Introduction by: kadian1364

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Copyright © 2010 Behind The Nihon Review. All licensed material are owned by their respective parties.
By NHRV Staff | Permalink | 7 comments | Add to StumbleUpon | Tweet! | reddit
Post tags: Arakawa Under the Bridge, Bakuman, Fortune Arterial, Iron Man, Kami nomi zo Shiru Sekai, Kuragehime, MM!, Ore no Imouto ga Konnani Kawaii Wake ga Nai, Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt, Shinrei Tantei Yakumo, Shinryaku! Ika Musume, Soredemo Machi wa Mawatteiru, Star Driver: Kagayaki no Takuto, Super Robot Wars, To Aru Majutsu no Index, Yosuga no Sora

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