Gah

So, I'm randomly reading reviews of new anime series this season (two episodes in, now; if you want a list of them, check out Random Curiosity's). There were a couple that sounded interesting or different enough to consider, but I was still reading reviews on them and others. A summary of the episode, from the review of episode 2 of Shigofumi on the same blog, sums up what made the decision a lot harder (I was originally considering watching that series):

It might be a little premature for me to say this, but out of all the new shows I’ve seen so far this winter season, Shigofumi has been my favorite. There’s just something about the way the plot continues to surprise me with themes that are a lot more mature than I was expecting, from multiple instances of death to child pornography.

Viva Japan.

On a tangentially related note, a philosophical question occurred to me: what would anime writers use as a medium for delivery of ecchi if group bathing wasn't such a feature of Japanese culture?