What the hell is Deli watching?

There have been a great deal of shows premiering this summer. I have (more or less) been watching most of them, so with most of the series being almost halfway through, I figured I should write my impressions thus far. Click any of the titles for a preview of the series. If you're really interested, I also added direct download links.

Shiki
In a small forest village, people are being killed off by an unknown force. As the body count piles up and the dead are spotted walking in the dead of night, some of the villagers decide to look towards the occult for an answer. For a horror anime, it has a nice organic feel to it. The characters are well written, all the drama seems somewhat realistic, and the horror aspect relies more on eerie ambiance rather than cheap scares. Recommended for anyone who likes horror or investigation shows.
Download Shiki

K-On!!
I'm utterly ashamed by this guilty pleasure, but I just can't escape it. With summer came K-On season 2, continuing the story of five girls and their high school music club. While unquestionably being a pure moe show, it's lighthearted charm cannot be denied. It's also the best animated show of the season, which is plain sad considering the content. Recommended for anyone who remotely likes any moe or slice of life shows.
Download K-on!!

Highschool of the Dead
I did an impression about this series before, but felt I needed to go over it again. The last few episodes have been less than impressive, by ratcheting up the fanservice to near hentai levels, and having he action sequences turn plain ridiculous. For a perfect example, feel free to click the link above. I also can't help but notice the majority of the production funds are being poured into the girls...assets, which is unfortunate. That being said, it's still quite a good series recommended for anyone who likes action and zombies.
EDIT: GOD FUCKING DAMMIT MADHOUSE CUT THIS SHIT OUT
Download Highschool of the Dead

Ookami-san to Shichinin no Nakamatachi
This series basically plays with various American and Japanese fairy tails, and twists them to be relevant in a modern setting. It all feels pretty generic, with most of the humor missing its mark and using plenty of standard archetypes. However, there are plenty of cameos and voiceovers of characters from other series (one of the characters even looks and acts like the child of a certain "Toradora" couple), which is entertaining enough. Recommended to anyone...well...who has nothing better to do.
Download Ookami-san to Shichinin no Nakamatachi

Amagami SS
An anime adaptation of a popular romance visual novel. The series basically spends four episodes on each of the heroines routes before switching to the next one. It's pretty standard romance fare, although each of the characters is quite likable and unique. Reccomended to anyone who's a fan of visual novels.
Download Amagami SS

DROPPED:

Asobi ni Iku Yo!
Okay. Here's the plot in a nutshell: A catgirl from space decides to visit earth, and ultimately live with a nerdy teenage boy. She invites her other catgirl friends to come visit, and various antics ensue. Basically, it's going down the otaku fantasy fan service route. However, the problem is that the fan service is almost nonexistent, and the protagonist is unbearably unlikable. That means all that's left is the "plot", filled with mass catgirl cults, alien cults, and an evil race of doggirls. FUCKING RETARDED.
Download Asobi ni Iku Yo!

Mitsudomoe
This one is a comedy series, based on the antics of three daughters in elementary school. The humor is basic potty humor and overly predictable punchlines. Basically, the humor is targeted towards creepy manchildren who like lolis and crude elementary level jokes, or for the most immature children imaginable. Since I fit in neither of these demographics, I quickly dropped this series.
Download Mitsudomoe

Occult Academy
An apocalyptic events occurs in 2012, placing humanity close to extinction. In order to change this, a time traveler goes back in time to the place where the event occurred: the Occult Academy. For a series named the occult academy, it unfortunately lacks anything remotely creepy. The characters aren't that likable (with the exception of Saya), the attempts at humor usually miss, and as a whole this series just could not keep me interested to keep watching.
Download Occult Academy


So, that's that. There's seems to be some interesting anime premiering this fall, so I will surely let you all know what to look out for when it comes around. Feel free to tell me your opinions on this summer's anime!

"Highschool of the Dead" impressions

Do you have a hankering for a good ol' fashioned mix of zombies, gore, and boobs? If you said "yes" to all three of these things, Highschool of the Dead (from the same makers of Black Lagoon) is certainly your must watch for this summer season.

The zombie infested madness starts off the bat in the first episode; a teacher gets bitten by a businessman at the school gate, and shit hits the proverbial fan almost instantly. High school student Takanashi knows something serious is about to go wrong, joins a crew, and they work together to survive and get out of the city. Sure, the plot may be cliche as far as zombie flicks go, but it remains to be a wonderfully violent and overly-sexualised production.

When I say overly-sexualised, I mean it. The creators have certainly made fanservice a main staple of the show, with ridiculous boob physics and panty shots abound. Normally I'd be turned off by such blatant sex pandering, but it does well in creating a certain message: "We're making this anime for dudes who love zombies, blood, and tits. Do not expect anything more."

That's not to say there aren't thought provoking moments, however. When society and order is crumbled away, combined with the aura of death a zombie apocalypse creates; some people will use this as an opportunity to completely indulge their dark nature. The show does well to show the audience this, which includes people murdering others for sport, rapists stalking the streets, and naive teenagers extorting the elderly (with one particular mention to a narcissistic teacher who uses his title to create a cult/student harem for himself). I also have to stress that as generic as the show can feel, there are some very genuinely eerie and disturbing moments which will undoubtedly get to most people.

Thankfully the main crew of students that the show focuses on is more or less likable, although I haven't developed any sort of emotional connection to them thus far. You have the generic apathetic teenager, annoying damsel in distress, pushy tsundere, coolheaded sempai, darksided nerdy kid, and ditsy school nurse (whom the creators decided to insert a "boing" sound effect whenever her enormous boobs bounce. Wasn't kidding about the fanservice). I'm hoping as the series goes on, more character development will be made.

If you want to check Highschool of the Dead out, it's currently being simulcast on the "Anime Network" in the US, with the dub coming out late this year or early 2011.