Finished my initial watchlist with Yumekui Merry and IS.
Merry was not bad, but not great either. Merry's skimpy little outfit aside, the writing is insanely hard to follow and at times just weird. Like when the main character spasmed out, then stared at the sky and said "Merry" during the fight scene; thought he was possessed or something. Animation is very spotty as well. Overall nothing really grabbed me, so this is dangerously close to being dropped.
Infinite Stratos has the honor of being the first episode I didn't finish. I tried, I really did. But everything about this show screamed stereotype. From the lone handsome male rejecting the looks of women to the tsun(dere) elite blond, nothing about this show broke the mold. Hell the introduction set the mood, what with a bunch of girls getting maybe 1 shot on an enemy before becoming useless, yelling for the guy to finish him off. Forget the blatent sexism of that scenario, I find that whole "everyone but the main is useless" battle strategy unforgivable in most mahou shoujo anime; why is it in a high-production shounen?! Cute girls, mecha, and beautiful animation were definite highlights. But alas they alone can't save this show.
In the end, a .500 season (3 follows, 2 dropped, 1 borderline).
(Sorry for the rants, I just feel better explaining my reasoning at times. If it bugs you just say so).
EDIT: On a whim decided to give Dragon Crisis! a shot. So far I'm getting Gad Guard vibes for some reason, likely because of the music. At first I was underwhelmed, but things definitely picked up after Rose appeared. A lot of questions with very little backstory or exposition, which is annoying, but was more than overwhelmed by solid animation, a unique sountrack, and Rose just being cute. In the end I'm just another hypocritical nerd. Lets see where it goes from here.
Hot-cousin Eriko is already contending for the bounciest boobs of 2011 award. :getdown: