Over at my personal journal, I listed everything I watched at AX this year. Here, I’m going to comment a little on what stood out to me about the series, for good or ill.

Karin
Not a brand new series, and not really my cup of tea. People kept telling me I’d like it because I like vampires (yes, I’m one of those types), but Karin is just not… interesting, vampires or no. I only saw a couple episodes, of course, since the AX video rooms are specially made to entice and not satisfy, but I think this special kind of vampire (one that gives blood as opposed to taking it) is a flash in the pan. After all, it doesn’t seem like the trend has caught on with other series or books, soo…

Kore wa Zombie desu ka?
This guy’s a zombie? Seriously? Whaaaaaaaat. I don’t even…

Red Garden
Yager seemed to really like Red Garden when it came out, and I think I can see the appeal, but the first few episodes I watched didn’t hook me. And also, I watched it dubbed, which is automatically a huge turn off for me. I understand that some fans like dubbing because it lets them connect better with the characters, or they can show the series to a young person who can’t yet read English subtitling fast enough to follow along, or whatever. But I’m a snob when it comes to film—live action, animated, or otherwise—it needs to be in its original language.

Welcome to the NHK
One of the more surprising series I watched. It was dubbed (ugh), but I managed like it anyway. I was… sorely reminded of myself at points. Who knew that the Japanese have a word for hermit that’s even more severe than “hermit”? (Then again, maybe I shouldn’t be surprised.)

FLCL
Yes, I know this is a classic (and it’s not even that long), but I’ve never seen it. And now, I’ve seen the two middle episodes. I was even more confused than everyone else in the audience, if that’s even possible with this series. Good job, me. How fitting.

Gundam Unicorn
Booooooring. Maybe if you like other Gundam series, you’ll like this, but the only one I’ve ever liked is Gundam Wing and Unicorn is not GW by a long shot.

Shuffle!
Meh. Nothing to write home about. It’s based on an h-game, though, so it’s like a hentai without any actual hentai. If you want a harem story, just watch Aa! Megami-sama!.

Pandora Hearts
I am most definitely watching the rest of this series. It hooked me from the very first episode. Even though my “to watch” list is way too long already, hopefully I can get this series in before the end of the year. ^_^;;

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood
Seriously, I’ve probably seen the first three or four episodes of FMA: Brotherhood four or five times by now… and have never gotten any further in the series. (I’ve seen the entire first series.) It’s been on my list to watch for a while, if only to compare it to the first series, but I haven’t managed to find anyone with a legal copy to borrow for long enough to actually watch it.

Rumbling Hearts
Another harem anime? Really? Somebody else should watch these, because—seriously—I think they’re completely… not interesting.

Vampire Hunter D
Yes. Watch this. The original OVA is definitely worth your time, especially if you like vampires. I can see the influence it’s had on more recent vampire anime, like Hellsing, Trinity Blood, and even Vampire Knight.

Ergo Proxy
Pretty sure someone told me this was an effed up show before I watched it, and it didn’t help that I came it after the first couple of episodes had already aired. It looks like it could be worth the time, but I can’t really say without at least reading the back of the DVD case or something.

Blue Submarine No.6
All right, I could get into this one, especially since it’s only four episodes long. Seriously, though, no dubbing. (Hahaha, yes; I’m still a snob.)

Hunter x Hunter
The impression I got was Kenshin x Yu-gi-oh!, honestly. Not sure if that’s a good thing or not because I loved the former and thought the latter was… less-than-stellar. I’d say this one’s a toss-up.

Wagnaria!!
I like the waitress who walks around with a katana. I guess this could be a good show (and, from what I saw, it’s not a bad show), but I didn’t see enough of it to really know. Generally speaking, though, if it takes me more than a couple of episodes to get into it, I’m probably not going to finish it unless I have a damn good reason (usually that means external pressure). Just sayin’.

Revolutionary Girl Utena
The one and only. You have to watch this at least through the first season, even if you don’t like it so you’ll know what the deal with it is. It’s practically a classic.

Corpse Princess Shikabane Hime
I actually wanted to see Hetalia, which was showing at the same time as Corpse Princess, but the video room was over capacity already, so I didn’t get in. Which also meant that I missed the entire first episode and a half of this series, and I didn’t really get what was happening until right before the end of the last episode that was shown. What is it with people thinking that zombies that aren’t actually zombies are interesting? (And it’s not just this show, either. Red Garden and Kore wa Zombie desu ka? both had a similar premise.) Whatever, I’m not a big zombie fan, so…

Kenichi the Strongest Disciple
I thought this was going to be another harem anime (gods, will they never end?) but I was pleasantly surprised. Poor kid needs to toughen up, though, obviously.

Antique Bakery
Whaaaaaat how did I not know about this series before? How?

Ghost Slayers Ayashi
A friend mentioned I should see Advent Children if I hadn’t already (I hadn’t), but the room was full by the time I got there. This series wasn’t a bad replacement. Kinda reminded me of Trigun, actually. In a good way. I’d watch more of it, but I don’t think I’ll have time to actively search for it when I have a bunch of other “must see” stuff on my metaphorical plate.

The Manga Library was also a huge hit with many fans, including me. In fact, I liked it so much that I spent all of the last day there… 8:30 am to 3 pm, when the library closed. I was a little irked that I wasn’t allowed to have my stuff with me, but I understand why. (AX doesn’t want people walking off with their manga, after all.) So many shelves of manga, including an entire bookcase of non-English translated stuff, and a couple bookcases of adults only manga (explicit yaoi, hentai, and otherwise) that I had to show my ID to get to. I thought it was interesting, however, that there were many titles that probably should’ve been in the adult section that weren’t, and there were a few already in that section that didn’t need to be. If you attend a convention that has a manga library, I highly recommend visiting it, if only for a few hours.