Those are some good points for Saki (which I’m learning to enjoy since the mahjong’s kicking in, but I zone out in almost every other aspect of the show) and K-ON! which could justify watching them as a good decision to someone less choosy… Which I was not too long ago. Nowadays, I’m a little more preoccupied, and ‘being well-executed’ but not exactly entertaining to me (or just not for me after all – K-ON) doesn’t exactly cut it anymore.

That’s where it’s at nowadays I think, viewers aren’t really looking for shows that are ‘worth supporting’ unless they’ve got loads of free time to spare, they just want something that entertains them at more than just a passing level. You may be right about the source material thing (I wouldn’t know, I seldom if ever follow any form of source material before watching the anime), but if studios focus on churning out something that hits them right buttons that really shouldn’t be the problem (in an ideal world anyways, yea I know)

@Baka-Raptor: Woah, woah, saying ANYTHING on behalf of all womanhood is WAYYY to much for me. But yea (Care to personally prove me wrong? Err, nvm…)

@usagijen: Yea, my gmail address is on my About page at the top (which I should update…), feel free to ‘add’ me or wtv it is you need my account for to this society/party(lol) thing (obviously new to this) so that I can constantly poke you to watch Ristorante XD

You serve as the living reminder that I have to get my lazy ass to catch up on Ristorante! XD

and on a totally unrelated note, do tell if you have a gmail account because I so want you to join the Google Reader Shared Items society/party (lol)

First off, I don’t know how far you are into Saki, but once you get to the prefectural qualifiers story ark, it is pretty much about mahjong. Cheesy or not, the anime is pretty faithful to the manga, and considering where Gonzo could have gone with this, I think its a pretty good show.

K-On! is certainly not for everybody, but it really is supposed to be a cute animated version of Linda Linda Linda. After all, there are only two volumes of the manga out, so the story does have to focus on atmosphere over plot. In any case, the animation is really well executed, and I think that Yamada Naoko is doing a stellar job. With so few female directors, that is alone a reason to root for this show, IMHO.

Ristorante Paradiso was my surprise favorite for the season. The characters are different, and I think because it is what Japanese think Italians are like, there is a lot of license for interesting characterizations. I knew a Roman back in grad school, so I’m pretty sure that the manga-ka has at least spent time in Italy. I’m sure the source material again is the reason why this is a good show.

Honestly, I think it is a no-win scenario for the studios nowadays with fans. If you’re faithful to the source material, then you get blamed for the problems with the original material. If you adapt the story, people complain you were not true to the source material.