Mahouka will Basil Exposition its way to the top
It’s back again, the bi-annual competition where stats driven gurus figure out that they don’t have a clue about the taste of a bunch of anime fans. For me, it’s that time of year where I show all of you that I don’t have a clue what the hell I’m doing. So I’ve set out a target of finishing in the top half of the table in the group. Even when legitimately trying, I’ve never come close and with rule changes I can’t even tank properly either. If only there were a place I could simulate tanking in a sandbox.
Light-novel type comedy at its finest
So here is my team:
Ryuugajou Nanana no Maizoukin
Seikoku no Dragonar
Black Bullet
No Game No Life
Bokura wa Minna Kawaisou
Bench
Kanojo ga Flag wo Oraretara
Mahouka Koukou no Rettousai
Obviously the plan is to stick Mahouka in after the first week since I will be down in the 400s on the table. For as generic and exposition-filled as it is, it will probably crush everything else this season. After all, I believe the MAL fanbase likes everything explained to them like they are 5. The second show on my bench, shortened to the ugly looking Gaworare in places, is a complete reach and will only see the light of day if I monumentally screwed up in my starting lineup.
Re the Shaft rule below: Remember this? I certainly don’t.
In picking my starters I started for the shows that I wanted to avoid. That meant the following categories of shows were eliminated:
- Sequels or Spinoffs of Any Kind
- Sports Anime
- Children’s Anime since I’m Actually Trying
- Anything with a Name-Based Pun Title
- Any Game Spinoff that is not from an eroge
- Anything with Mecha
- Anything with Idols
- Any Harem Show with a Female Lead (so called Reverse Harems)
- Anything that is plain Romance
- Anything Yuri that isn’t Fanservice Trash aimed at men
- Anything by Gainax/ZEXCS/White Fox/J.C. Staff
- Anything by Shaft that features NEET main characters
- Anything by ARMS because Wizard Barristers
With those 13 rules in place, I was left to pick 7 out of the remaining 8 shows. That meant I had to choose one to get left on the cutting room floor. So Hitsugi no Chaika it was because I couldn’t imagine people being interested in a show about a guy trying to find a job accompanied by a small girl. Wasn’t this exact plot used in a fall show?
Now for the reason why I used a post on this was to come up with a challenge for readers here. Of course coming up with this is hard since no one really comments here. So anyone who does comment on this or any other post tagged with “Fantasy Anime League” this season and has a team in the competition will be entered into a weighted lottery. Those who do worst in the FAL league will have a greater chance of winning but even the best placed commenter has a chance at it. The winner can pick a show I have to write on in any future season preview post for up to one year. I shall call it the “Emperor J Tank to the Bank” challenge.
Also, feel free to tell me how wrong my 13 rules are in the comments. They are in a state of refinement for future seasons and I would like to do better in the future with better defined rules.
