Gurren-Lagann
Initial signs are good for this series. Director Hiroyuki Imaishi is the main reason I’m watching this show, and his frenetic cartoon stylings have been in full effect so far. This could well turn out to be the best TV show GAINAX have done since Evangelion, and tonally almost the opposite to that show.
Claymore
It was amusing to see some folks claim this isn’t a shonen show. The manga it’s based on appears in a magazine with shonen in it’s title, so I think it’s safe to assume it is. The animation is above competant, but nothing flashy. The story seems to be along the lines of Fist of the North Star, but with setting and genders changed. An incredibly powerful warrior wanders around the world with a weaker but more human sidekick.
Heroic Age
After hearing it was “Tarzan in Space” I gave it a shot, despite my previous misgivings.
There are a crazy amount of ideas flying round this show. It is Tarzan in Space. It is also “Jason And The Argonauts In Space”, and probably a bunch of other things in space too. It’s also fairly Tekkaman Blade influenced too. And has a giant robot capable of putting holes in mountains just with the shockwave of it’s punches.
However it also has the previously mentioned identikit character designs and a pair of really annoying, supposed to be cute, psychic girls. And theres probably too much CG.
I think it wants to be a huge balls to the wall epic like Ulysses 31, so I will check the next episode to see if it can manage it.