So I had a list of around 20 anime, and I watched most of them. Dropped many after one episode and maybe a few more for those that had one or two promising elements but ultimately disappointed.
This is what I ended up with:
- Aldnoah.Zero
- Barakamon
- Fate/kaleid liner Prisma☆Illya 2wei!
- Sword Art Online II
- Tokyo Ghoul
- Zankyou no Terror
I'm not saying these are especially good by any means, but I'd find it hard to be bored by them. As bad as SAO's reputation is, SAO II is not horrible for a sequel anime of 24 episodes. If it weren't SAO and/or a sequel, then I probably won't still be watching it. As for 2wei!, I don't feel like the show takes itself so seriously anyway even if it does/will have some serious themes (not that I would know), so I wouldn't take it seriously either. It's a fanservice spin-off parody with lovely art and animations. That is good enough for me.
So if I ignore the anime that I'm just watching for their hype(?), that would leave me with Aldnoah.Zero, Barakamon, Tokyo Ghoul and Zankyou no Terror. Actually, screw that; it's quite obvious that I'm still watching Aldnoah.Zero because of its hype. Not enough has happened for me to call it good yet, and while quite a few things show a bit of promise here and there, it's really hard to not be afraid of Inaho ruining the show. I can't really judge at this point, though.
Edit: Okay, having watched episode 5 where even in-universe characters comment on Inaho's competence, I think it's safe to say he is this way for a reason. And Slaine makes for a good contrast/foil (even indicated in the opening?). Though it's not so much that Inaho is hyper-competent than the rest being complete incompetent fools, so there's still that to complain about. I liked how Slaine's actions backfired on him this episode, got me all interested again. Glad Vlad is gone for good, don't want to see another him vs Inaho. And Marito is still failing to get me interested in his backstory.
I didn't know that Tokyo Ghoul was skipping content, but since it was skipping and not rushing through content (allegedly, anyway...), I didn't feel it being rushed or anything. Regardless, I do like this anime the least out of all that I'm watching right now. Episode one, I enjoyed, but I was afraid Kaneki would get annoying and he did (though it's only a small part of why episodes 2 onwards didn't impress me as much as I would have liked them to). If we are approaching the end of the Gourmet arc then it is most definitely rushed, be it this way in the manga as well or not. I don't really care about Touka or anybody else really. I'm more interested in Hide and Rize, if she has anything more to offer.
Zankyou no Terror, I do not have much of a problem with. It is interesting, the writers have shown their work, and some characters are being set up for development (mainly Twelve, Shibazaki and Hamura, who is a little annoying though it's not unjustifiable), with some possible backstory for Nine and Lisa will have to make some decisions in the future for sure. The incompetence of the police is disappointing, but expected. I've heard some people disliking Shibazaki's ability, but so far I see no problem with it. My only complaint is that I'm a little confused on what Twelve is supposed to be. When he first appears, he saves Lisa from bullying, so I go ahead and think "Oh, what a nice guy." Of course, he has that smile thing going on. So far I thought it was only his personality, but then later he tells Lisa that he would kill her if she does something, all the while smiling like he always has. Then I notice in the opening that he smiles quite maliciously in that scene where the frame of his face multiplies by nine. So I start to feel that he's actually quite evil, and so is his smile. But then in the latest episode he finally drops his smile while obsessing over Lisa. And when they speak to each other in the motorcycle scene, he cracks up a smile again. And I'm sure that one was sincere. So I don't get it; are his smiles supposed to be sincere or not? There is the possibility of that last smile being his only sincere one ever, with all his previous "fake" smiles supposed to lead up to this, but I somehow just doubt that (especially since it's still quite early in the show). I really don't know.
As for Barakamon, I really have no complaints. I don't think I enjoy it the most or get most excited about it out of these anime, but only because it isn't really my genre. It is funny and tries to integrate life lessons through the SoL shenanigans and then also applying it to the MC's calligraphy (of course it's not such a strict formula and it works in other directions too). It could be better if they melded the SoL and calligraphy parts together even more, because at times it does feel segmented, but the way it's doing it now is nowhere near bad.
This is what I ended up with:
- Aldnoah.Zero
- Barakamon
- Fate/kaleid liner Prisma☆Illya 2wei!
- Sword Art Online II
- Tokyo Ghoul
- Zankyou no Terror
I'm not saying these are especially good by any means, but I'd find it hard to be bored by them. As bad as SAO's reputation is, SAO II is not horrible for a sequel anime of 24 episodes. If it weren't SAO and/or a sequel, then I probably won't still be watching it. As for 2wei!, I don't feel like the show takes itself so seriously anyway even if it does/will have some serious themes (not that I would know), so I wouldn't take it seriously either. It's a fanservice spin-off parody with lovely art and animations. That is good enough for me.
So if I ignore the anime that I'm just watching for their hype(?), that would leave me with Aldnoah.Zero, Barakamon, Tokyo Ghoul and Zankyou no Terror. Actually, screw that; it's quite obvious that I'm still watching Aldnoah.Zero because of its hype. Not enough has happened for me to call it good yet, and while quite a few things show a bit of promise here and there, it's really hard to not be afraid of Inaho ruining the show. I can't really judge at this point, though.
Edit: Okay, having watched episode 5 where even in-universe characters comment on Inaho's competence, I think it's safe to say he is this way for a reason. And Slaine makes for a good contrast/foil (even indicated in the opening?). Though it's not so much that Inaho is hyper-competent than the rest being complete incompetent fools, so there's still that to complain about. I liked how Slaine's actions backfired on him this episode, got me all interested again. Glad Vlad is gone for good, don't want to see another him vs Inaho. And Marito is still failing to get me interested in his backstory.
I didn't know that Tokyo Ghoul was skipping content, but since it was skipping and not rushing through content (allegedly, anyway...), I didn't feel it being rushed or anything. Regardless, I do like this anime the least out of all that I'm watching right now. Episode one, I enjoyed, but I was afraid Kaneki would get annoying and he did (though it's only a small part of why episodes 2 onwards didn't impress me as much as I would have liked them to). If we are approaching the end of the Gourmet arc then it is most definitely rushed, be it this way in the manga as well or not. I don't really care about Touka or anybody else really. I'm more interested in Hide and Rize, if she has anything more to offer.
Zankyou no Terror, I do not have much of a problem with. It is interesting, the writers have shown their work, and some characters are being set up for development (mainly Twelve, Shibazaki and Hamura, who is a little annoying though it's not unjustifiable), with some possible backstory for Nine and Lisa will have to make some decisions in the future for sure. The incompetence of the police is disappointing, but expected. I've heard some people disliking Shibazaki's ability, but so far I see no problem with it. My only complaint is that I'm a little confused on what Twelve is supposed to be. When he first appears, he saves Lisa from bullying, so I go ahead and think "Oh, what a nice guy." Of course, he has that smile thing going on. So far I thought it was only his personality, but then later he tells Lisa that he would kill her if she does something, all the while smiling like he always has. Then I notice in the opening that he smiles quite maliciously in that scene where the frame of his face multiplies by nine. So I start to feel that he's actually quite evil, and so is his smile. But then in the latest episode he finally drops his smile while obsessing over Lisa. And when they speak to each other in the motorcycle scene, he cracks up a smile again. And I'm sure that one was sincere. So I don't get it; are his smiles supposed to be sincere or not? There is the possibility of that last smile being his only sincere one ever, with all his previous "fake" smiles supposed to lead up to this, but I somehow just doubt that (especially since it's still quite early in the show). I really don't know.
As for Barakamon, I really have no complaints. I don't think I enjoy it the most or get most excited about it out of these anime, but only because it isn't really my genre. It is funny and tries to integrate life lessons through the SoL shenanigans and then also applying it to the MC's calligraphy (of course it's not such a strict formula and it works in other directions too). It could be better if they melded the SoL and calligraphy parts together even more, because at times it does feel segmented, but the way it's doing it now is nowhere near bad.