KyoAni really repaired my view of them once they actually started trying to make great shows, as opposed to trying to stay on top in Akihabara. It's pretty amazing in hindsight... First they became known worldwide for a jumbled mess pretending to be intellectual and starring a horribly abusive, borderline evil bitch we're all expected to love and worship, an extreme otaku-pandering show with no point trying and failing to be the next Azumanga Daioh, and a similarly pointless and slightly less pandering show with no clear goals set and characters who all look alike and whose personalities change depending on the nature of the scene...

But then, in the span of just two years, they released a show that succeeds at the whole "next AzuDai" thing, followed by a really entertaining albeit kinda slow mystery series that handles its characters and designs quite well, a surprisingly thoughtful and emotional show that rings true to life and has a great cast of very distinct and well-written characters, and a show that seemed like another pointless snorefest at first but has turned out to be alright once it got moving along. This is my review of that show.