Anime-This-Season Chat/Discussion

[Uchiha Shadow 44]

3 hours ago, Heliotropic said:

It'd be nice to see this series extend another season, and go say, 50 episodes if need be. I'd be pretty welcoming of that, and so far, it doesn't seem to really rush anything.

It will end on episode 25 according to MAL, but I'm sure it'll get a S2, since from what I've heard, the novel is quite long.

[Akazora 293]

Summer 2016 First Impressions

Not watching a ton of stuff, at least when compared to last season, but I won't really give long winded first impressions either becuase Pokemon Go has completely consumed my life and has barely left me enough time to eat or sleep, let alone do anything else.  I just churned this out as quickly as I could.  Also, the anime are listed in alphabetical order since I don't really feel strongly enough about any of them to put them in order from best to worst.  Spoilers tags also contain only a gif and my impressions, no blatant spoilers.

 

 

1.    91 Days
Very stylish and fantastic atmosphere.  Premise seems a bit typical, with the whole “getting revenge for killing of family” shtick, but there’s always room for the anime to put a unique twist on it.  Good animation, and decent characterization thus far.  Just hoping this doesn’t turn into the next Gangsta or Joker Game.

 

2.    Amaama to Inazuma
Really cute slice of life featuring a young child and single parent duo, as well as food.  This is a good watch for those looking for an SOL that doesn’t predominantly revolve around high school, as well as those looking for small child shenanigans.  I’m getting good vibes from this one, and I hope it continues to delve into the theme of family as the story progresses.

 

3.    Amanchu!
From the creator of Aria the Animation, this is Flying Witch done right.  The animation has moments of brilliance, and the character designs are easy on the eyes.  A slice of life that involves diving, this one seems to deal with themes of change, exploration, and discovering new things.  There are also some pretty heavy yuri undertones, if that’s your thing.

 

4.    Fate/kaleid liner Prisma☆Illya 3rei!!
Fourth season of the series that finally enters the highly anticipated third arc.  I’ve heard this is going to be like the Heaven’s Feel of the series, so I’m looking forward to it.  It would be nice if they toned down the fan service and focused instead on the fight scenes and plot.  This is also the first season to be 12 episodes as opposed to 10, which is a good start.

 

5.    Mob Psycho 100
Sakuga: The Animation, brought to you by the original creator who made One Punch Man.  Absolutely insane levels of sakuga all throughout, without any CGI used, even for background characters and vehicles (if it was there, it was very well hidden).  The plot and humor don’t seem all that special, as this seems mainly like something to watch for the animation and little else.

 

6.    Orange
I’ve heard good things about this shoujo.  The time travel aspect just seems like a plot device, but if the rest can impress me then I probably won’t mind that much.  First episode had great animation, second episode didn’t, which is a bit worrying.  The character designs bother me a bit too, but that’s probably because I don’t usually watch shoujo.  Hopefully this can live up to the hype.

 

7.    Rewrite
If you’re craving an old school visual novel adaptation than this is for you.  It has everything from the large number of love interests for the generic MC, huge bug-eyed character designs, and perverse fan service humor.  There’s also weird magic stuff going on, which makes this show seem a bit like Key’s and Kinoko Nasu’s illegitimate child.

 

8.    Shokugeki no Souma: Ni no Sara
It’s too bad this season is only one-cour, as the first one seriously benefitted from being two-cour.  The anime leaves right off from where the first season left off, which felt a bit weird.  Regardless, it’s the same over-the-top cooking show parody stuff as before.  It’s starting to get a bit repetitive and predictable at this point, and hopefully there are still surprises left.

 

9.    Tales of Zestiria the X
As expected of ufotable, the animation and CGI integration of this show is fantastic.  Unfortunately, the story feels a bit bland as well as too obviously based on an RPG.  And since people didn’t really like the game, I’m a bit worried that this might end up being the next God Eater.  I’m trying to be cautiously optimistic about this though.

--

Also, here are my full impressions for ReLIFE, which is a summer anime whose 13 episodes were released all in one day.  It's not part of my "first" impressions, for obvious reasons.

 

ReLIFE
This show was, surprisingly, a lot better than I was expecting it to be.  I thought I had seen all the different types of high school slice of life shows before, but ReLIFE’s premise, simple as it seems on the service, was executed really well.  It’s something I think older people (between the ages of 20 and 30) will get the most out of, but it’s a good watch for people out of that range as well because of the fantastic humor and, believe it or not, well done drama.  Animation was generally average throughout, but it was serviceable.  If I’m not mistaken, there are also 13 different ending themes, one for each episode, all of which are old school songs from many years past (to reflect the MC “deaging”) which is really awesome.  The messages surrounding regret, change, intervention, bullying, mistakes, friendship, and romance are something that a lot of people can learn from as well.  All in all, it was a fun watch, and since all episodes are already released on Crunchyroll it’s just asking to be binge-watched.

[machine 52]

I'm still working through the stuff I picked up over the spring but that's not important

The summer anime season has finally started

 

I'm not watching a ton of stuff, but the four series I was looking forward to the most are all started off on the right foot fortunately! 

Love Live Sunshine was arguably the series I was looking forward to the most. To be honest, I didn't like the original Love Live anime very much. (It felt generic and forgettable imo) However, I really like the Love Live School Idol Festival game, and because it's really hard to be a fan of SIF, but not also LL, I got looped into the rest of the fanbase.
Before Sunshine had even started airing, I already knew that I liked Aqours more than u's. Their character designs seem more cohesive and less like they just picked character designs at random. And, unlike u's, some thought actually went into who the voice actresses would be, and as a result, they harmonize really well! The characters also seem slightly less archetypal too, and that's always a good thing. Also, none of them are immediately dislikable. I only sorta dislike one girl in Aqours, meanwhile three girls in u's were dislikable right out the gate for me. The plot's nothing special, and is seemingly identical to LL's, but no one really watches idol anime for the plot, so it doesn't really bother me. The CGI in the opening also looks really good. People have been complaining about it, and yeah, it's not great, but in comparison to LL's first opening, it's a huge improvement.
and Dia's best girl, dont even fight me on this

Battery's the second thing I was looking forward to because it looks really angsty, and it's a baseball anime. There's only one episode out so far, so there's not much to say about it, but it looks like it has the potential to be really good. Gou and Takumi are a bit reminiscent of Mihashi and Abe from Oofuri to me in the sense that it seems like the catcher will be the one to draw the pitcher out of his shell, but from the looks of it, that's where the similarities end. If the opening's any indication of what the rest of the show is going to be like, I think I'm really gonna like this one. 

Amanchu's incredibly pleasant, and also 

The characters are cute and the atmosphere is just really nice. It's not relaxing enough to be grouped in with Aria and Natsume Yuujinchou, but it definitely seems like something that would be best watched in the evening after you've dealt with all your obligations for the day.
And I will be unbelievably salty if we get an ending similar to Oniisama e's. These not-so-subtle gay undertones are canon, and if they try to play it off like they're not and like it's just class s stuff I-- 

Orange is off to a pretty good start, and most people watching it seem to be enjoying it! The episode count makes me nervous though. The manga isn't very long, but they'll have to cut a fair amount of stuff out if they want to fit the entire plot into one cour. And, imo, they somehow managed to make the art style look not very good. It's too early to say whether or not this will be a good adaptation, but if the premise interests you, and you have the time, you might have a more enjoyable experience reading the manga. For now, it seems like they're doing an ok job though.
Also why do 90% of the male leads in shoujo manga look the same

I'm also very cautious about 91 Days. I learned from my mistake of getting super hyped for Zankyou no Terror a few summers ago, so I'm not expecting anything from this one. Hope it won't be terrible since I like the setting. I'm bracing for disappointment though, even though, as of right now at least, doing so is unwarranted.

As for Mob Psycho 100, I saw some cool fanart of this a couple months ago, so that's why I'm watching this one. Don't have much of an opinion yet. I wish the first episode had left a stronger impact though. 

And lastly is Saiki Kusuo no Psi-nan. The episodes are really short, and I think they air daily...? I don't really know, but it's a decent time killer. I think I'm going to wait for it to finish airing though, since after the 5th consecutive day, it started feeling hard to keep up with, especially considering how short the episodes are. 

[Akazora 293]

Summer 2016 Final Impressions

This is the last of these I'll be doing, mainly because school is taking up all of my time.  I was lucky even to have this finished on time for today.

All in all, this season was one of the best in recent memory.  There were a lot of very good shows, and only a few that were disappointing.

 

1. Mob Psycho 100

What starts off looking like a budget version of OPM quickly turned into one of my favorite anime of all time.  The animation is the best I have ever seen in a full series anime (not exaggerating, I’m serious when I say I think it’s the best).  It’s consistent from episode one to episode twelve, with no dips or drops in quality.  The artistic directing is far better than anything in OPM as well.  The story has some surprisingly amounts of depth and the characters are endearing.  Only downside is that the humor is still similar to OPM’s, so in my opinion not too strong, and the music is also a tad lackluster, aside from the opening song.  Still, anime of the season right here, potentially year.

 

2. Re:Zero kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu

Every year there’s that one anime that’s so popular, it’s apparently not as good as everyone on the Internet says it is.  Well, Re:Zero is that anime for 2016.  It’s been one heck of a ride, and all in all I really enjoyed it.  While I personally felt it peaked after the intro arc and during the beginning of the second arc, that’s not to say that everything that happened afterwards was bad.  It was all right, just not to my taste.  The animation is good, and occasionally exceptional when it needs to be.  The story itself is far from finished though, so the conclusion naturally doesn’t feel like much of a conclusion at all (hoping for a second season eventually).  Worth checking out even if just for the hype.

 

3. Amaama to Inazuma

Last season was a season of disappointing slice of lifes, while this season was a season of very good ones, the best being Sweetness and Lightning.  Between this and Shokugeki no Souma, I was virtually always hungry this past summer.  This show has lots of sweet (and sometimes strained) dad and daughter antics going on.  It touches upon themes of family, though nothing too heavy or complex.  The cooking portions are adorable as well.  Honestly, I probably only liked this as much as I did because of best girl Kotori but shhhh no one has to know…  Decent animation, average music, but too dang cute not to like.

 

4. Amanchu!

What a gorgeous show.  I didn’t expect to relate to a show about diving as much as I did.  The themes of trying new things, friendship, memories, and love were so poetically and beautifully woven into this seemingly episodic, mindless slice of life that spent more time on high school than on diving.  But it somehow works, and it’s everything Flying Witch wishes it could have been.  The key frames are just vividly detailed and appealing, even if the animation itself was, for the most part, average.  Also, the music during the diving/swimming sequences (two times in particular I recall) were some of the best compositions I have ever heard in an anime.

 

5. Tales of Zesteria the X

Ufotable proves once again that they’re the only studio that would probably be able to faithfully adapt Game of Thrones into an anime.  Not that something like that would ever happen, but still.  While Zesteria’s characters and plot were bland, the animation and CGI integration was far better than it was with the recent Unlimited Blade Works adaptation, if you can believe that.  Gorgeous scenes, paired with one of the best and most varied soundtracks I’ve heard in an anime made for some ridiculous moments of simultaneous eye and ear-gasms.  To be fair, I think the music was ripped directly from the video game soundtracks, but it doesn’t change the fact that the score was phenomenal.  If it ain’t broke don’t fix it.

 

6. Shokugeki no Souma: Ni no Sara

There’s not much difference between this season and the first season, apart from this season only being single cour.  Only reason it wasn’t as good as the first was because the majority of the season was spent on the tournament arc, which was kinda fun the first few times but started feeling stale and repetitive halfway through.  What made the first season so great was getting to know and bond with the massive cast of characters through other activities, not just one vs one cookouts.  Still, the animation was good and the cooking was still over-the-top crazy, so it was a fun experience, just not what I was expecting.

 

7. Kuromukuro

It’s a shame not many people paid this anime much attention, because it was pretty good.  It reminded me of Robotics;Notes (both in terms of atmosphere and music, as well as in terms of how it was received).  It’s a mecha show that focuses less on mechs and more on slice of life high school antics.  The animation is clean and the character designs are very endearing.  The conclusion left enough room open for a second season, though it’s self-contained enough to work as a standalone.  There were a couple of soundtracks, a few during the fight scenes and one during an emotional scene, that were notable very good.  For an anime original that lasted for two-cour, I found it pleasantly surprising.

 

8. Orange

Animation quality took a huge dive after the first episode, which never recovered unfortunately.  Aside from that, the anime was decent if not a bit predictable.  Some parts could have been better if not for the distractingly bad animation, which can really take the drama or tension out of a scene.  The characters were alright for the most part, though the two MCs were a tad too dense to really connect with them.  Music was decent as well, and the character designs finally grew on me.  In general, this wasn’t a bad show, just overhyped by the manga readers and not given the adaptation it deserves.  Props to the studio for extending the last episodes by a few minutes as to not rush the ending, that was nice at least.

 

9. 91 Days

This is near the bottom of my list, but only because this season was so fantastic.  Seriously, in any other season this show would be at the middle, but such is the luck of falling in the summer 2016 timeslot.  91 Days started really well and ended really strongly, but had a weak middle.  A lot of anime originals seem to face this problem, as most writers have the beginning and end of a story mapped out before the middle.  If more thought and effort had been put into the journey between point A and point B it would have been a far more compelling show, but otherwise it sits at average.  Fantastic opening song though, probably my favorite of the entire season, even with Tales of Zesteria the X’s two fantastic openings.

 

10. Ace Attorney

This anime started as it ended: not at all good for those new to the series, but decent fanservice for those who’ve already played the games.  I’ve already talked at great length about this in previous posts, and my opinion hasn’t really changed.  Only watch it if you’ve played the games, otherwise stay away.

 

11. Fate/kaleid liner Prisma☆Illya 3rei!!

You were the chosen one, Silver Link!  It was said that you would destroy bad animation, not create it!  This was the biggest disappointment of the entire season.  I was really looking forward to the fourth season of this series, since everyone said that this is where it got good.  As far as plot goes, yeah it was pretty good.  But god damn, did it look fugly.  The penultimate episode, the one which was supposed to cover the biggest fight scene in the entire series yet, was hideous.  Like, Tokyo Ghoul Rout A levels of bad, and that was baaddd.  It ruined the atmosphere and really ruined a lot of what the season was leading up to.  FeelsBadMan.  At least the flashback movie will be better, I hope.

 

12. Rewrite

/r/im14andthisisdeep: The Animation.  Nah, but in all seriousness, I appreciate what this anime tried to do, but its themes are just, really old and pretentious.  They might have been good in the early 2000s when environmentalism hit a feverish peak, but today it just seems silly and childish.  It’s like a mix of all the bad things about the Nasuverse and the Keyverse mashed into one silly mess.  Fan service juxtaposed with “deep” philosophy of people’s impact on the environment just doesn’t make for a compelling premise anymore.  Will I watch the second season?  Yeah probably.

 

--

And for the record, ReLIFE would have been the second best anime of the season (between Mob Psycho and Re:Zero).  It was only left out of the list because it released all of its episodes simultaneously and I had already given my full thoughts on it in a previous post.

[Uchiha Shadow 44]

My favorites of the summer season were Mob Psycho 100, 91 Days, Tales of Zestiria the X, and Danganronpa 3. It was one crazy season, and I don't think Fall will be on the same level, but we'll see.

[machine 52]

@Akazora Because you won't be doing a Fall First Impressions, what shows will you be watching this coming season? (If any at all. It sounds like your free time is thin and far between at the moment.)

----------

I'm still working through my spring and summer stuff, but that's not important

...I'm actually really looking forward to this fall's anime. There's the 2nd season of Hibike Euphonium, 2nd season of Gundam: Iron Blooded Orphans (the first ep was pretty hype tbh), the 3rd season of Haikyuu, and the 5th season of Natsume Yuujinchou. There's also some really neat looking new series like 3-Gatsu no Lion, Udon no Kuni Kiniro Kenmari, future anime of the season Gakuen Handsome, and, the one I'm most curious about, Yuri on Ice.

(I'm glad they're finally making an ice skating anime, but I'm really surprised it's an all/mostly male cast. My sister was a figure skater all throughout her middle school and high school years, so I spent a lot of time at ice rinks and even messing around on skates myself, and there were very few boys, and the few there were all (except one or two) interested in hockey. I thought if any sports anime was likely to have an all/mostly female cast, it'd be ice skating, but uh. . . . . n ope, apparently not,,,  Hopefully it won't suck and will have nice, fluid animation, because irl ice skating's pretty graceful and somewhat mesmerizing imo, and I'll be really disappointed if they aren't able to capture that even slightly. The pv looked pretty good, so hopefully the anime itself will be good as well.)

 

[Akazora 293]

On 10/3/2016 at 5:53 AM, machine said:

@Akazora Because you won't be doing a Fall First Impressions, what shows will you be watching this coming season? (If any at all. It sounds like your free time is thin and far between at the moment.)

Sure, here's the quick rundown (I've left very short comments on the ones whose first episodes I've seen):

3-gatsu no Lion

Ajin 2nd Season

Bubuki Buranki: Hoshi no Kyojin (same as last season, overall pretty weak but kinda stupidly endearing in its own weird way)

Bungou Stray Dogs 2nd Season (not gonna lie, it's looking better than the first season, hope to see a Noragami-style turnaround)

ClassicaLoid

Drifters

Fune wo Amu

Mahou Shoujo Ikusei Keikaku (mahou shoujos in a battle royale *muffled "I say cry" plays in the distance*)

Occultic;Nine

WWW.Working!! (good to see Wagnaria make a return, even if it's just a spin-off)

Yuri!!! on Ice (this was actually really good and, uh, nice to look at, no homo... ... ... .. .. . ok full homo, but only for Viktor)

 

I would have had the second season of Hibike! Euphonium on my list, as I planned on binging the first season right before the fall season started, but school has been busier than I expected and so I never found the time.  To be honest, I'm probably watching more shows than I have the time for, but that's never stopped me before (it has).

Also, this is the first season I'm watching in literally ever where there wasn't at least one multi-cour leftover from the previous season that I was still watching.  Starting off on such a clean slate is certainly a strange feeling...

[Heliotropic 139]

Been finding this season pretty lackluster, though I haven't had time to check out some of the shows I've wanted to get around to.

 

Been watching 3 gatsu no Lion, Drifters, Flip Flappers, Keijo!!!!!!!!, Bungo Stray Dogs, Occultic Nine, Trickster, Magical Girl Raising Project, and To Be Hero, and came out rather conflicted about most of it. 

 

Oddly, Flip Flappers is my favorite of the season. It's just a series I really like to watch, if only for the animation and color palette. It reminds me of something GAINAX would do, and I've always enjoyed their work, animation wise. The setting and concept is also intriguing enough and fun enough to keep up with, which is much more that can be said about the other shows this season.

 

Bungo Stray Dogs has been a lot better so far than its first season. I absolutely hated the constant comedic switches in the first season, and the tone just sort of ruined it for me, in what would have otherwise been a pretty solid show. The second season started off a lot better, and I hope it continues on the same path.

 

I've left Ajin out of the mix for now. I'm saving it for when its complete (and hopefully finished with no season 3?) to binge at the end of the season. I'll find time to watch it, but I have yet to touch it so far.

 

Occultic;Nine has me rather conflicted, mostly because the first couple episodes were so all over the place, and some of the decisions made with this anime really do confuse me, and some of them I can't even begin to comprehend... Anyways, the supernatural element is starting to pick up, and I think that this series can still turn around for me. It started off terrible, but it is getting better, at least I think.

 

For now I've dropped Trickster, since I was compelled to check it out based on title alone. Definitely wasn't what I was expecting, and very much doubt I'll finish it.

 

Drifters reminds me a lot of Hellsing, and I never found the time to really finish Ultimate, nor did I enjoy what I had watched that much. It seems like a series just to follow for fun, and I won't say it's bad or anything. It's got a very good concept behind it, but... I just don't really care that much. It's just struck me as pretty average so far, which is a let down as I had really high expectations for this series.

 

The new Madoka like magical girl anime is okay (though I don't know if that's a fitting comparison?), but I've never really particularly been into magical girl anime, or found Madoka to be the amazing series everyone says it is, so maybe I'm not enjoying it as much as I could be. I'm not a huge fan of the presentation and it seems like its trying a little hard to be that dark kind of series. 

 

I haven't felt strongly about March Comes in like a Lion, maybe because I haven't caught up with it yet, and still need to watch a couple more episodes. Everyone says the manga is really good, so I am looking forward to it, but it's done nothing for me yet... Art style is pretty neat though, and it's a nice change of pace.

 

To Be Hero has actually been much better than what I expected. I like potty humor, and To Be Hero does this well, literally, or at least I think so.

 

Keijo was something I was hoping would be funny in a different context, but can't say I'm really a fan. Tried the English dub, but the character voices were even more annoying and the dub for me couldn't save it. I will say that beyond being some random ecchi show, it's got the Shonen sports genre down pretty well... Still not really worth the watch though.

 

I can't remember if I posted anything about summer, though, but it was a pretty hit or miss season for me. Re:Zero, Mob Psycho 100, 91 Days,Tales of Zestiria, ReLife, Amaama to Inazuma, and Alderamin all held my attention reasonably well, and many others just really disappointed me (Rewrite, Berserk, Orange, New Game, Qualidea Code). Strangely enough, the only show I dropped in summer was Handa-kun.

 

Winter 2017 looks to be a good start to the new year, if only for a couple anime series I've been looking forward to (cough Konosuba S2).

 

A bit off-topic, but wrapped up Tora Dora, which was a romance anime I somewhat enjoyed as a whole, Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood, which left me very pleasantly surprised, seeing as how I didn't think I'd like it more than the original adaptation, and I've been enjoying what little of Slayers I've watched. Gintama also holding up pretty well after 150 episodes. Looking forward to finishing it, but I'm taking my time.

 

[Moonlit Flower 12]

On 10/6/2016 at 6:00 PM, Akazora said:

Sure, here's the quick rundown (I've left very short comments on the ones whose first episodes I've seen):

3-gatsu no Lion

Ajin 2nd Season

Bubuki Buranki: Hoshi no Kyojin (same as last season, overall pretty weak but kinda stupidly endearing in its own weird way)

Bungou Stray Dogs 2nd Season (not gonna lie, it's looking better than the first season, hope to see a Noragami-style turnaround)

ClassicaLoid

Drifters

Fune wo Amu

Mahou Shoujo Ikusei Keikaku (mahou shoujos in a battle royale *muffled "I say cry" plays in the distance*)

Occultic;Nine

WWW.Working!! (good to see Wagnaria make a return, even if it's just a spin-off)

Yuri!!! on Ice (this was actually really good and, uh, nice to look at, no homo... ... ... .. .. . ok full homo, but only for Viktor)

 

I would have had the second season of Hibike! Euphonium on my list, as I planned on binging the first season right before the fall season started, but school has been busier than I expected and so I never found the time.  To be honest, I'm probably watching more shows than I have the time for, but that's never stopped me before (it has).

Also, this is the first season I'm watching in literally ever where there wasn't at least one multi-cour leftover from the previous season that I was still watching.  Starting off on such a clean slate is certainly a strange feeling...

Yuri!!! on ice, tho. xD I agree, it's actually a really good anime, and soo far has been getting attention like crazy. Despite the Yaoi fanservice, and the fanservice in general, it has a really good story, and the characters are really realisitc. (Well, some. Don't know about those triplets though. They get in my nerves, tbh. :p) I heard it's going to have about 12 episodes. I expect a season 2, with how much attention it's been getting lately. 

 

I'm just here waiting for that 'new project' of Free! to be announced.   With how popular it is, my guess is that it's most likely going to be a new season. It should be announced sometime in March, I've heard. 

[Akazora 293]

Autumn 2016 Final Thoughts

(Okay I lied, summer wasn't the last season I was doing.  Thank the gods for winter break.)

This season was absolutely fantastic!  A lot of really good shows all around, and a great way to end the amazing year that's been 2016.

 

1. 3-gatsu no Lion
If I had to describe this show in one word, it would be “emotional.”  Something about this anime speaks to me on a sort of deep, intrinsic level.  It’s been a long time since I’ve found an anime I like as much as this one.  It’s subtle, symbolic, down to earth, tragic, thought provoking, and warm, all bundled into one.  The music is phenomenal, the set pieces are unforgettable, the characters are endearing (flaws and all), and Shaft’s unconventional directional style makes this show an extremely enjoyable watch.  The opening and ending, both performed by Bump of Chicken, are great and I’m extremely glad this show still has another cour to go.  You don’t even need to know anything about shogi to appreciate this story; it’s a character driven narrative that delves into themes of family and relationships, and it has universal appeal.  Without a doubt, this is my anime of the season, in fact, anime of the year.

2. Occultic;Nine
This anime deserves so much more love than it’s currently received.  The first episode turned a lot of people off because it was rushed like Bakemonogatari on fast-forward on crack, but those that stuck it out all tend to agree it was worth it.  Not only is it the best animated show of the season, it also has a fantastically unsettling atmosphere.  It’s not quite horror, but it certainly straddles the line between frightening and unnerving.  The fast-paced story and dialogue, while a bit much for some people, was actually really well put together.  It’s one of those anime best appreciated on its second watch through, so expect to be confused and to miss a lot the first time you see it.  The opening and ending themes are wonderfully representative of what the show is like as a whole as well, so give them a look if you’re curious.  My personal gripe with the show was that the characters weren’t particularly likable, though they weren’t hate-able either.  They served their purpose in the narrative just fine though.  This show never loses sight of what it is and where it’s going, though it very often leaves the viewer behind in its complexity.

3. Bungou Stray Dogs 2nd Season
This is everything I wished the first season of BSD was.  The show spends the first few episodes on an extended flashback, which was fantastically done, before continuing on with the original story and finishing the arc.  The animation was just as good as in the first season, though the pacing of the plot was vastly improved.  While the first season occasionally resorted to a “monster/problem of the week” format, only loosely throwing in hints of a story that never got nearly enough attention, the second season’s narrative was far more focused and compelling.  The anime itself was darker in tone and relied less on humorous tonal shifts.  Also, since the characters were just about already established in the first season, there was no need for a great deal of that in the second.  My biggest problem with the show is that the writer is too afraid of killing off his characters, and that for the most part it relies on “rule of cool” rather than any legitimately consistent power level for the characters.  Still, if you’re looking for a fun, stylish action anime, BSD certainly delivers in its second season.  (And the OP is amazing as well.)

4. Ajin 2nd Season
This was a pretty decent conclusion to the first season of this CGI anime.  From what I’ve heard, much of this season was anime original, since it overtook the manga it’s adapting.  And unfortunately, the liberties taken with the story and the characters are noticeable.  The plot doesn’t feel as focused as the first season’s, and the characters occasionally do things that feel OOC.  However, everything else, from the atmosphere to the animation to the music, are all still up to par.  And the ending, which I assume is the final, official anime-ending, was pretty satisfying all things considered (there is still technically room for a third season, but I’m fairly sure they don’t intend to continue it any longer since there is nothing left to adapt).  Since I hear such good things about the manga, I’ll probably check it out one day.

5. Drifters
From the creators of Hellsing Ultimate, we get this wild show that feels like Gate/stay night.  It’s super stylish, pretty fun, and decently animated.  While it didn’t have the budget or time that Ultimate had, it still managed to deliver an entertaining experience.  The music was pretty good, and the characters were likable enough (Yoichi best boy).  The art also has that distinctive Hirano style and shading to them, which is pretty pleasing on the eyes even if it seems a little bizarre at first.  My biggest complaint, aside from the slowly but surely deteriorating animation quality by around the last quarter of the show, was the occasional slapstick humor.  It was something I expected because I had seen Ultimate and it’s something Hirano is known for, but it doesn’t change the fact that it’s still not good.  A second season was announced, which I’m pretty hyped for, but apparently the first season had already nearly completely caught up with the manga, so it might be quite a few years before we actually get it.  Also, another fantastic OP to add to the ones I’ve already mentioned.

6. WWW.Working!!
This spin-off of the original Working series was pretty solid.  To put it shortly, if you liked Working you’ll like this, even if it features a completely new cast of characters.  The only thing to note is that the pacing and character development is significantly faster than the original Working.  What took Working three seasons and a special to accomplish, web Working took only 13 episodes.  This can be either a good or a bad thing.  The original Working took so long that at times the show felt unnecessarily dragged out, but at the same time it really feels like a journey getting from the beginning to the ending.  The web Working is short and sweet, but because significantly less time is spent getting to know the characters they don’t quite grow on you or “stick” like the original Working cast does.  Still worth a watch if you’re looking for romance and slice-of-life comedy.  Plus, the opening is catchy as heck, which is to be expected of a Working series at this point.

7. Mahou Shoujo Ikusei Keikaku
This was a solid battle royale featuring magical girls.  It doesn’t get unnecessarily gritty, but is as dark as you’d expect from an anime with a premise like that.  The animation is average, but the character designs are really good (I love how they draw eyes in this show).  I can’t really recall the music much, so it wasn’t anything special.  The thing this show did best was keep things simple.  Often times a show tries to be too much at once and it ends up a mess by the end (speaking of Mirai Nikki specifically).  Magical Girl Raising Project is just a good ol’ fashion battle royale.  It wasn’t a perfect adaptation of the source material apparently, but it was exactly what I was expecting from the show.  It also ends conclusively, though apparently this is only the first arc in the light novel so a second season might still be possible.  But there aren’t really any loose ends left by the last episode, so if you’re afraid of being blue-balled by a “read the source material” ending you can rest easy.

8. Fune wo Amu
This anime went largely underwatched this year, mainly because it was a Noitamina show and thus licensed by Amazon, but also because it was about a seemingly mundane topic: dictionary making.  Despite its premise and availability issues, the show was surprisingly good.  The character designs were simple but clean, and a lot of care and effort was put in the animation, even when it wasn’t necessary.  There’s some romance, if that’s your thing, but it’s not the main focus of the show.  The anime is mostly just the simple story of a group of people making a dictionary, and it delves into themes of words, the meaning of words, communication, and language.  It’s predictable, but not in a bad way.  It’s just a nice and simple story.  No convoluted fantasy or alternate timelines or plot twists.  Just a story, fit into a comfortable 11 episodes.

9. Yuri!!! on Ice
By far the most talked about and popular show this season was YOI.  I personally found the show to be average.  I was very impressed by the very first episode, but it quickly went downhill from there, and I don’t just mean the animation quality.  To be fair, considering how difficult it is to animate ice skating I can forgive MAPPA for dropping the ball on just about every skating sequence save for the ones featured in the first episode or two.  It would have certainly been nice if the ice skating parts were, well, nice to look at, but it’s not too big of a deal.  While the music was solid throughout, I was left unsatisfied with the story.  The pacing after the first few episodes was all over the place, and it just seems to end out of nowhere.  The characters weren’t very compelling outside of the tropes they fit, even if they are easy on the eyes.  It seems a lot of people are lauding the show as the second coming of Christ for its impressive portrayal of homosexuality, but I don’t really see what the big deal is.  It seems like most of the affection it’s getting is from blind fangirls, which isn’t necessarily a critique as I am a shameless fanboy about a lot of things. This anime just wasn’t all that special in my eyes, but it’s cool other people enjoyed it so much.

10. Bubuki Buranki: Hoshi no Kyojin
The second season of this honestly pretty cruddy CGI mecha anime was actually better than the first (and by cruddy I’m talking about the anime, not the CGI itself; in fact the CGI in this show is amazing).  Funnily enough, this show does best when it doesn’t take itself seriously.  When it breaks out into slapstick humor is when I enjoy the show the most.  The story isn’t compelling enough to carry the anime, so whenever they start doubling down on the plot and try to spin it as something the view should care about, it falls flat.  It’s hard to take the “serious” parts seriously just because everything about the anime is so cheesy and on occasion unnecessarily convoluted.  That being said, I have to give credit where it is due: this anime featured one of the most shocking and brutal scenes I have seen in an anime in a long time.  It’s probably because this anime was so hard to take seriously that a dark turn like that completely blindsided me.  If you’re one of the dozens of us who’ve watched this show, you know which scene I’m talking about.

11. ClassicaLoid
Funnily enough, the best and worst anime of this season are the ones that will continue into 2017.  Much like Bubuki Buranki, this anime is hard to take seriously because the premise is so silly and horribly executed.  And again, the best parts of this are when the show just lets itself go and tries to be funny, which it is far more successful at than trying to build any sort of genuine tension.  The animation is pretty shoddy, and the character designs aren’t particularly attractive.  Neither are the characters’ personalities to be completely honest.  There’s really nothing redeeming about this show, except for the occasional moments of comedic brilliance, so I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone.  And for an anime involving music, the music isn’t particularly good either.

 

--

I'm not watching much for winter of 2017:

ACCA: 13-ku Kansatsu-ka

Ao no Exorcist: Kyoto Fujouou-hen

Little Witch Academia (TV)

Rewrite: Moon and Terra

Seiren

Shouwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu: Sukeroku Futatabi-hen

Tales of Zestiria the X 2nd Season

(plus the second halves of 3-gatsu no Lion and ClassicaLoid from autumn)

 

Since there are only two shows I'm watching next season that aren't sequels or continuations of things I've already seen (technically only one, since Seiren takes place in the same setting as Amagami SS, a few years into the future), I don't think I'm going to bother writing up any first impressions (since they won't really be first impressions).  Any shows that you guys think look good that I'm missing

[machine 52]

^ Maybe Kuzu no Honkai will also be of interest to you...? 

-----------

I'm hoping to spend the next couple weeks clearing out my currently watching list with everything I've picked up over the past year since there's only 5 things on the winter lineup that seem interesting to me. In order of hype: Yowamushi Pedal s3, ACCA, elDLIVE, Kuzu no Honkai, and Youjo Senki. There's also IBO and 3-gatsu no Lion from last season that I intend to stick with once I get caught up. 

 

I'm not expecting elDLIVE and Youjo Senki to be very good for various reasons. I was really into KHR for a while (I watched the whole anime in like 4 weeks....), so I'm interested in seeing just how many similarities there'll be between KHR and elDLIVE since they're by the same author, but the bits and pieces of the manga I read didn't really impress me. With Youjo Senki, idk man.. I thought the cover art for the novels was really cool whenever I first came across them, and I ended up reading a very small portion of the first novel, but nothing about it really grabbed my attention. 
Yowamushi Pedal, excluding all the secondhand embarrassment it's given me, has been a pretty enjoyable series, and being that my two favorite characters hardly got any screentime in the 2nd season, I'm really looking forward to whatever season 3 will be like. So hyped to hime hime suki suki daisuki again tbh
And I don't really know what to expect from ACCA and Kuzu no Honkai. Unlike the other three where I have at least one thing to base a loose expectation off of, aside from a short summary and promotional image, I don't know anything about the remaining two. Hopefully they'll be at least somewhat decent though.

[Akazora 293]

On 1/12/2017 at 7:20 AM, machine said:

^ Maybe Kuzu no Honkai will also be of interest to you...? 

I remembering seeing that back when it was first announced and got some NTR vibes from the summary, which is why I've avoided it.  I'm surprised its rating on MAL is as high as it is, but then again I've found myself disagreeing a lot of the time with MAL scores.  Since you're watching it, let me know if it's worth checking out.

 

--

Also, ACCA's opening is fantastic.  It's not even particularly well animated (lots of stills), but the style and music are addictive.

[machine 52]

I've finished most of the things I picked up over the past year! 

 

Orange was a mixed bag for me. It felt like all the problems I had with the manga got amplified 10x over in the anime, and because of that, I ultimately couldn't enjoy it that much. I did really like parts of it (especially the first half), and to the script writers' credit, the changes made to accommodate the low episode count actually weren't bad, but that's not enough to make me have a mostly positive opinion of the anime. My biggest nit-pick with the anime adaptation was Hagita though. In the manga he came across much quieter and how loud he was kind of bugged me. It's just a case of different interpretations, but it was still a bit disappointing since I thought he was good comic relief in the manga, but I didn't like how he was in the anime at all. They also cut out my favorite joke of his

 

Gakuen Handsome was criminally under-watched and hilarious, plz watch it  none of the characters had yaoi hands. 0/10 literal garbage parody 

 

Saiki Kusuo no psi-nan was another decent short anime. I didn't dislike it, but it's not one of my favorite short series. It's a suitable time killer though

 

The 3rd season of Haikyuu, while not bad, was definitely inferior to the first two seasons imo. The pacing and everything was fine, but I'm just not a fan of when an additional season of a sports anime only covers one game and virtually nothing else. And because I used to keep up with the manga, I missed out on the enjoyment of not knowing who the victor would be too. I don't have any outstanding issues with it, and there's not really any reason for fans of the first two seasons to not watch it, but when I think about Haikyuu, s3's just not as memorable as the prior seasons or OVA. 

 

And Yuri on Ice's under a spoiler since, while I didn't write a ton, I think this post would feel too long without one. There's also one or two minor spoilers

 

It was a lot gayer than I was anticipating. I'd still classify it as queerbait though since, despite the extent of the "teasing", neither Yuri's or Viktor's sexuality, or what exactly their relationship was was never confirmed in the anime. (And as others have pointed out, the kiss was "censored"/not explicitly shown. Maybe it was to avoid falling under the shounen ai/yaoi genre and risk off-putting part of its audience, maybe it was intended to be just a tease to win the fangirls over, or maybe there's some other reason I can't hypothesize because I only have a western perspective at my disposal, but either way, it skirting around that was kind of odd. It makes me wonder why they even included it since they didn't directly show it or even mention it again) Maybe there'll be confirmations at a later date, but for now, regardless of your opinion on how well the undertones (to put it lightly) were presented, the ambiguity is bemusing and arguably disappointing. To give credit where credit is potentially due though, if they do end up being canonically queer and their relationship stays in the background and isn't made a big deal of, I'll be impressed. Considering that the majority of canon LGBT+ anime characters are only in yuri/yaoi/gender bender genre shows/manga, having them present, normalized, and unfetishized (though it's arguably a bit of a stretch on that last one here) in media outside of those genres is always a step in the right direction.

EDIT: When talking about this with my friend who really took a liking to YoI, they linked me a bunch of translated things from one of the creators of YoI that supposedly do confirm that, at least on one end, Viktor and Yuri are supposed to be canonically romantically interested in each other. And while knowing the intention of one of the creators does add quite a bit of clarity and explanation, that doesn't necessarily change my opinion of the anime being queerbait-y though. Even though it was intended not to be, and that's a notable detail that does change some things, the reality is that something prevented the anime from being more than queerbait. Maybe if/when there's a season 2, YoI will lose its queerbait status and actually entirely be what the creator(s) want it to be, and that'd be cool, but until that step is taken, it's still on the queerbait-y side of things to me.

I feel like YoI was primarily aimed at the same audience that enjoyed Free from a few summers ago, and, to be blunt, I'm not a part of that demographic. YoI lived up to my expectations, but because I, personally, don't necessarily enjoy the type of show I was expecting it to be, I can't say I enjoyed the experience completely. Shows like YoI and Free are definitely some people's cup of tea, but despite it not necessarily being my thing, it wasn't unenjoyable for the most part. Or maybe put more concisely, YoI caters to its intended audience very well and, depending on your personal tastes, can also succeed in appealing to those outside that demographic, so even though I didn't like it as much as some people, I can appreciate it having something about it that prevents it from being completely niche, if that makes sense. I'm mixed on it overall. It took a few episodes to grow on me, and after I warmed up to it, I did enjoy it quite a bit, but there were still a handful of things about it that just bothered me, and by the end of it, those things had added up. 

Hopefully with YoI being so popular, it'll have a similar effect to what Yowamushi Pedal had and sort of cause a sudden influx in sports anime of that specific sport. As said previously, when the anime was first announced, I was a bit surprised they didn't go with a mostly female cast since figure skating, generally, has a lot more women than men, and I'd just be more interested in seeing a figure skating anime that showed the side I'm more familiar with. And being that the animated skating parts were generally lower quality than the rest of the show, I'd be especially interested in seeing a higher budget figure skating anime too, regardless of whether its a YoI sequel or a different series with a new cast of characters.

The gold blades on Viktor's skates, Yuri's and JJ's skate guards being mixed colors, and having Yurio's coach(?) make him take up ballet were nice touches of realism though. The attention to detail in little things like that were probably my favorite thing about the entire anime.
 

 

On 1/14/2017 at 7:15 PM, Akazora said:

I remembering seeing that back when it was first announced and got some NTR vibes from the summary, which is why I've avoided it.  I'm surprised its rating on MAL is as high as it is, but then again I've found myself disagreeing a lot of the time with MAL scores.  Since you're watching it, let me know if it's worth checking out.

 

 

I'd more readily describe it as just a consensually unhealthy relationship rather than NTR. Due to prioritizing other things, I've actually only seen the first episode, and while it certainly made an impact, 1st ep's aren't always the best representations of their respective series. Solely going off first impressions though, I'm surprised by how high its MAL rating is too. I'll get back to you when the anime's done airing though 

[Shreevatsa 14]

Watching

INuyashiki

Just because

always 10 centimetre 

 

They're good anime

[Balthazar Manfredie 226]

Finally im gonna watch inuyashiki and recovery of an mmo junkie

[Ryo 73]

53 minutes ago, Balthazar Manfredie said:

Finally im gonna watch inuyashiki and recovery of an mmo junkie

finallyyyyyy

 

[Balthazar Manfredie 226]

48 minutes ago, Ryo said:

finallyyyyyy

 

i know

i have been waiting for them to end

i always read info on the anime and if they happen to be short i let them pile up and over the weekend complete them

im happy with inuyashiki