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For a digital camera, the Olympus PEN E-P1 is quite old already—practically ancient. It doesn't even have a built-in flash, and there are a number of four-thirds cameras that are quite a bit better. Nevertheless, I bought one anyway because it was pretty inexpensive and being "ancient" was part of its appeal.

That coat won't shelter your camera or your idiot hair, Maria.

I almost certainly chose the E-P1, however, because it is the modern equivalent of the Olympus Pen series half-frame 35mm camera depicted prominently in Canaan. As an anime series, Canaan is pretty flawed, but I guess as a product placement vehicle it's fairly effective. I could also go for some Pizza Hut right about now.

"I also loved how Minko still had that sushi plushie that Tohru won. Oh, if only he had gone for the tentacle!"
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Wait, what?

Minko's sushi plushie from Hanasaku Iroha episode 12.

Minko's sushi plushie from Hanasaku Iroha episode 26.

Well, I'll be damned. I didn't notice. The pattern is different, though.

Hanasaku Iroha could have used more Tomoe.

Despite the melodramatic Ohana + Kou angle, Hanasaku Iroha narrowly eeks out Usagi Drop as the best Summer 2011 show by turning the inn into a character. Love Hina did the same thing, although I didn't notice it until the Hinatasou reappeared in Earth Defender Mao-chan; I realized I missed the inn itself. As for Hanasaku Iroha, it is disappointing that the tensionless romance between Ohana and Kou was so uninteresting, but every other aspect of an otherwise engaging show earns it the top spot.

Go cry about the Usagi Drop ending somewhere else.

Usagi Drop likely would have fared much better were it longer than its mere 11 episodes. Every episode was good, earning it the No Bad Episodes award, but there simply needs to be more to the show to make it a solid series. With only 11 episodes, it's practically in OVA territory. Then again, perhaps it would not be better served with additional episodes. I know there are controversial events following a timeskip resulting in a widely disliked ending. Although I have a general understanding of these spoilers, I have not read the manga itself so I cannot speak for their execution. If the events are done well, perhaps more Usagi Drop episodes would make the show even better. If all they're going to do is antagonize most viewers, then maybe it's best that Usagi Drop ended when it did.

LISTEN TO MY SONG!

The IDOLM@STER succeeds by taking simple things and doing them very well. It also help that it has a deep cast of charismatic characters, allowing the viewer to latch onto his favorites. Ahem. Chihaya > Miki > Takane > Makoto > Ritsuko > Mami > Hibiki > Ami > Iori > Azusa > Kotori > Haruka > Yayoi > Yukiho. I am a little troubled by the slightly knobby faces, but they never cross into K-On! territory, so I'm satisfied.

Nice hat, Kaito.

I'm treating the Magic Kaito / Kid the Phantom Thief episodes of Detective Conan separately. Not quite a spinoff, and not quite OVAs, they aired in the regular Detective Conan timeslot to focus on the titular long-time Detective Conan side character before crossing over with the Detective Conan series proper. These episodes were very good, although I'm not sure how they fit into the canon. I'm a little confused as to the timelines and the ages of the characters involved, but this might be because there are large gaps in my list of watched Detective Conan episodes. Fujimura Ayumi does a really good cranky voice as Aoko, too.

It turns out Waon is kinda awesome.

Suite Precure♪ has been mostly good, benefiting from a well-done Cure Beat arc. Although I'm opposed on principle against [spoilers] making non-human characters bona fide Cures, I guess I'm okay with it since Ellen is stuck in human form and hasn't been able to transform back into a cat (or anything else). I'm hoping the Cure Muse episodes are as good, because right now I find Cure Muse hopelessly uninteresting. Worst Cure ever.

Dantalian no Shoka needed more Flamberge.

Dantalian no Shoka should have been better, but could have been worse. It's not much of a series, ending abruptly at 12 episodes, but it had enough good moments interspersed throughout to make it the anime equivalent of a collection of short stories. I did want more episodes with the fireman and Flamberge, though. Koshimizu Ami played Flam exactly the way I picture Marisa from Touhou. (I don't actually know jack shit about Touhou). I still don't know why Flam wears a straitjacket dress, though.

Sonoko gossips with Ran.

Detective Conan is Detective Conan, but if you leave out the Kaito episodes mentioned above, this was actually a relatively weak cour of episodes—enough to knock it down a bit, whereas the average Detective Conan cour would typically be above Suite Precure♪ and Dantalian no Shoka.

Dropped shows: I dropped Uta no Prince-sama - Maji Love 1000% after one episode because it didn't interest me. I considered watching a second episode for a long time, though. Likewise I dropped Nekogami Yaoyorozu after one episode semi-reluctantly. After all, it did star HOCCHAN and Haruka Tomatosauce, but I couldn't bring myself to watch more of it.

Cosprayers Line.

Kaito Tenshi Twin Angel - Kyun Kyun☆Tokimeki Paradise!!, at least the one episode I watched, was WORSE THAN COSPRAYERS. I only watched the first episode at all thanks to Asakawa Yuu's constant pimping of her new show on Twitter, but it just wasn't very good. Very likely it had a good episode or two somewhere down the line, but I wasn't sticking around to find out. If someone watched it all and can identify any must-watch episodes of Kaito Tenshi Twin Angel - Kyun Kyun☆Tokimeki Paradise!!, send me a telegram.

Scowling won't help you.

I'm really glad Hanasaku Iroha is a two-cour series instead of another dinky 12-episode flash in the pan. The strength of the show lies with its characters, not in their wacky adventures, so it helps to have enough time to get to know them. The strength of Usagi Drop also lies with its characters, which is why its brief 11-episode run is terribly short. I suppose there's a "just read the manga" solution to this problem, but I'd really like to see a much longer Usagi Drop anime, and I don't mean a bunch of 11-episode seasons sporadically introduced over a stretch of four or five years.

After nine episodes I still don't know Kouki's mom's name.

It seems most shows these days are single-cour, presumably because the current competition for consumers' shifting attention spans make two short series a safer investment than a single 26-episode one that might bomb. This is why I was pleasantly surprised to discover Hanasaku Iroha, The IDOLM@STER TV, and [a bunch of shows I'm not watching] are all normal length. With its massive cast, I can't imagine any IM@S series being very satisfying without a decent episode count. Really, it could probably use a 48-episode Precure-sized run.

Try a little tenderness, Tohru.

With regard to Hanasaku Iroha, the Minko & Tohru arc works much better after following them half a year. Both characters make pretty silly decisions and Minko is a very flawed individual. I'm not about to give Minko a pass for some of her more egregious actions, but I am more accepting of them because they're in line with her behavior established from the beginning of the series. She'll probably end up the Hanasaku Iroha Best Girl barring a late resurgence by Tomoe, but I haven't figured out if Minko will win it despite being a real bitch or because of it.

This tree is a goner for sure.

Usagi Drop has been very solid through nine episodes, but knowing it ends after two more takes the wind out of the show's sails. It guarantees there will be no real development or change to the (admittedly pleasant) status quo. This really is a "read the manga" show. It's not really a big deal, since I was going to do that anyway, to at least figure out what in blazes the troubling development past the time-skip has everyone so worked up about actually is. I hope it's not something lame like Kouki flattening Rin's tree after his ninja training goes bad. (That's totally going to happen, by the way. Calling it now.)

Potato-kun Otonashi and Yuri flirt some more.

I can't fight the hype. All the Angel Beats! talk, both for and against (mostly against) made me curious enough to watch it just to see how derivative it really is and find out whether or not Jun Maeda really is a snow-cancer-writing hack. Full-page Haruhi palette swaps aside, Angel Beats! isn't really any more derivative than most anime. You can't tell me there aren't shitloads of cookie-cutter shows every season.

Yuri introduces Iwasawa, Otonashi's enlistment bonus.

My biggest problem with Angel Beats! is I have zero faith in Yuri. I'd follow Haruhi on an ill-conceived Crusade any day of the week, but Yuri is just going to get soldiers killed for cafeteria food someday—even though they are already dead so they won't die if they are killed.

Shiina tries really hard to be goth even though
she has to wear a school uniform in Hell.

On the other hand, were I caught in the Angel Beats! battlespace with my loyalty up for grabs, I'd be fully on board with whatever Tenshi orders. Take that hill? Buff that floor? Clear that building? Police call all these God damn meal coupons and NPC condom wrappers? Got it, ma'am. I'm all over it. Whatever it takes to not be on Yuri's side with the rest of those yahoos, deadbeats, and douchebags. Hell, I'd be pissed enough the afterlife means being stuck in a Japanese high school until the career counselor turns me into a barnacle on Mio's side of Tsumugi's boat. Might as well stick a feather in my cap and join up with the winning side.

Poser Haruhi

VERSUS

The Shrike.

Dude, this is a no-brainer.