General anime discussion thread

Dawnstorm said:

I'm a boy who likes boobs. It's just that this show has designs I... can't take seriously. It's not that bad early on, but once the art quality starts to slip...

I prefer something more naturally looking to what looks like to be designed as a tray carrying device. Or a chin rest.

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I'll take as much fantasy anime as I can get! And I'm blind to "bad quality" animation.

Alexys said:

I think Yuri Kuma Arashi may be a little too tight. There's less incentive to care about the characters than in Utena or Penguindrum. That being said, I can kinda-sorta-maybe-almost see what it's trying to say, thematically speaking, although I can't quite articulate it yet.

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I haven't gotten far into Utena, because I can never find reliable links, and it's not really available anymore on Dvd (I found a used copy once, but three episdoes from somewhere near the middle don't help at all).

In Penguindrum, I never cared about any of the characters very much, though. I find it easier to care for the characters Yuri Kuma Arashi, actually, though I wouldn't say character is a paritcular strength of the show. I like the show for its inkblot of motifs, that result in a sort of manipulated Rorschach test. Saw something in this? Good. Now let's shake up the picture and see a different constellation of the same elements. Let's see how far we can go with this.

Finally, I much prefer the bears to the penguins (and that despite me usually preferring penguins to bears).

I think Binan Koukou Chikyuu Bouei-bu Love! works because not only does the show not take itself seriously, but the characters don't take it seriously either. At all. Except for the pink extraterrestrial wombat. (And I only brought him up because I wanted the chance to use the phrase "pink extraterretrial wombat". Like "lesbian werebear schoolgirl cannibals", it just isn't a sequence of words that comes up all that often.)

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Yeah, Bianan's humour totally relies on the delivery, because the jokes aren't actually funny by themselves. Easily exceeded my expectations, this one.

Speaking as an asexual who couldn't care less about boobs unless I'm trying to draw them, Madan to Ou no Vanadis was a mildly entertaining generic fantasy that I watched because I had an open slot and all the other choices for filling it were equally lackluster. And I liked the opening theme song. They definitely did use a third-string studio for some of it, though--I seem to remember noticing that the characters were off-model in a few sequences. ::shrug::

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The opening theme song was great. (Also, the last few seasons weren't exactly chock-full of great shows. I have no set number of shows to watch, but I definitely watched fewer shows (and dropped more) than usual.)

Also, I've never seen any Slayers. Maybe it's time to try an episode or two (if I can find them).

Miss Strawberrii said:

And I'm blind to "bad quality" animation.

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Sometimes I am, sometimes I'm not. I actually like being blind to bad quality animation: you can enjoy more shows that way (or enjoy shows more - or both).

On a side not, the chibi-mini-theater shorts that came with the disks (?) were actually fun for this show (those hardly ever work for me, but they did in this case).

I am really enjoying Akatsuki No Yona and Kamisama Kiss season 2. Their not my usually genre of anime, but... oh well!

c.m.n. said:

I am really enjoying Akatsuki No Yona and Kamisama Kiss season 2. Their not my usually genre of anime, but... oh well!

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I like Yona, but I don't quite like it as much as I thought I would after the very strong beginning. It's currently picking up a bit, though.

This season has a lot of sequels: Durarara!!! is as good as ever (though I still think the first half of the first season is the best part). Aldnoah and Tokyo Ghoul fall behind their first seasons, but they were never that good to begin with, IMO, and they haven't stopped being entertaining. Kamisama Hajimemashite is the one sequel this season that's actually better (IMO) than the first. I have a hunch (though I didn't check) that the show has updated its looks slightly: paler colours, rougher textures, starker difference between normal/SD... I'm really liking the new feel (except I'm not sure things actually changed in the show, or whether I'm misremembering).

Of the new shows, the best are, IMO:

Rolling Girls: Good wacky fun with great pacing and fun presentation ideas to go along with it. You're not going to find any deep revelations here, but for me it's the perfect feelgood show. Best new show of the season for me.

Yuri Kuma Arashi: Most interesting new show of the season. I already talked about it.

Junketsu no Maria: I'm surprised how much the show covers its tracks. The warfare is chaotic and scary. We get the older gods along with Christians (we've seen Cernunnos and Valkyries, so far). And on the whole the plot isn't as naive as I expected. Much better than expected.

An honorable mention in the case of positive surprises should go to Yoru no Yatterman. A rather annoying vocal performance by the female lead aside (I blame the voice direction, since there are hints of it in other characters), I'm quite liking the mashup of dystopia and wackiness. (Note that I haven't seen Yatterman, nor do I plan to watch any. But this one's fun enough to watch.)

I'm also liking Saenai Hiroin no Sodatekata. It's a fairly standard harem show, though well executed. The meta-aspect doesn't work for me, though it's clear the author knows what he's doing. The male protagonist is awfully annoying. But the titular "boring" girl is the sort of deadpan snarker I just love to watch, and she's done right. The opening animation and the first episode ("episode 0") suggest fanservice is more important than it actually is.

And I think Binan Koukou Chikyuu Bouei-bu Love! is hilarious, if a bit repetitive. (But we've talked about that as well.)

On a side note: I sometimes wonder what makes me stick with some dome fanservicy harems, but not with others. This season I'm still watching Absolute Duo and Isuca, but I've dropped the Fafnir show (that's an "i"; there's a Fafner show, too, this season, which I never picked up.) They're all equally stupid, but the epitome of harem stupidity this season must be that, in Isuca, being hit by lightning apparently completely dissolves your clothes, but leaves your skin nice and smooth. Hm.

So far this season, Assassination Classroom is my favorite new anime. I love that they took such an insane idea and play it completely straight. The characterization in this goes far beyond what was needed and is truly top notch. Koro Sensei and Karma in particular are fantastic characters. Also, the art style is pretty nice.

Another really good one is Death Parade. The first episode suffered a bit due to it being a first episode and being used to teach the audience what the show is about, but it improved by leaps and bounds after the first episode. I find the whole arbiter system they have going on fascinating, and the same goes for the people that run it. Best episode so far was definitely the 4th one, with the famous woman and the high school kid. That was pretty emotional.

Shadow Dragon said:

So far this season, Assassination Classroom is my favorite new anime. I love that they too such an insane idea and play it completely straight. The characterization in this goes far beyond what was needed and is truly top notch. Koro Sensei and Karma in particular are fantastic characters. Also, the art style is pretty nice.

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Forgot about this one. It's very entertaining; better than I thought it would be. Definitely the best Kishi/Uezo show since Jinrui wa Suitai Shimashita.

Another really good one is Death Parade. The first episode suffered a bit due to it being a first episode and being used to teach the audience what the show is about, but it improved by leaps and bounds after the first episode. I find the whole arbiter system they have going on fascinating, and the same goes for the people that run it. Best episode so far was definitely the 4th one, with the famous woman and the high school kid. That was pretty emotional.

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Lots of people like that one, but I find it lacking. The judgement episodes tend to be overly dramatic; as a result I tend to prefer the mythology episodes. The episode you mention did have a higher-than-usual quota of strong scenes.

Steins;Gate was so wonderful. I enjoyed every minute of it and I miss it terribly.

I finally got off my butt and watched Aldnoah.Zero, and wow, the first season was amazing and really helped me recover from the loss of Steins;Gate. But then... the second season happened. Ugh.

It's been a long time since I've seen an anime drop the ball so badly: half-dead people suddenly getting better (not just Count Saazbaum, but the entire crew inside the Deucalion), inconsistent technology, plot macguffins (Alnoah, the cybernetic eye), and an uptick in awkward butt-shots all over the place. It's just such a disappointment, I adored the first season but this is meh.

Cute High Earth Defense Club Love! is still doing its thing, and I'm still enjoying it. Love how self-aware it is.

Death Parade is great too, though the lack of Crunchyroll streaming is an inconvenience... and it's annoying because I really want to watch Yuri Kuma Arashi too. Right now I'm just using the Funimation free membership to see Death Parade episodes a few weeks later, but their PS3 app is so painfully clunky ughhhh.

EMaree said:

Steins;Gate was so wonderful. I enjoyed every minute of it and I miss it terribly.

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Yay! I really enjoyed Steins;Gate. Some people say the beginning is slow, but I loved the banter. If anything I thought the middle was a bit weaker, as it settled into an odd symmetry that felt a tad repetitivie. But it always always entertaining, and at times very intense.

Outstanding voice acting all the way through.

...Aldnoah.Zero...

and an uptick in awkward butt-shots all over the place.

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I didn't even notice that. I did notice an uptick of awkward "girltalk" about how not being cute means no boyfriends. (Ugh. I didn't need that.)

I agree. The first season was much more entertaining. I mean, the fights were actually creative, for one.

Have you seen Robotics;Notes? It's not nearly as good as Steins;Gate, but it's quite entertaining in its own right, and at times helped me understand the appeal of robots (which I don't normally get).

EMaree said:

Death Parade is great too, though the lack of Crunchyroll streaming is an inconvenience... and it's annoying because I really want to watch Yuri Kuma Arashi too. Right now I'm just using the Funimation free membership to see Death Parade episodes a few weeks later, but their PS3 app is so painfully clunky ughhhh.

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Well, if you aren't overly concerned with pirating stuff that isn't on Crunchyroll, there is animeshow.tv. It's the site I've been using for new stuff not on Crunchyroll this season and it's has a pretty good video player, not sure how well it'll work on the PS3 though.

Binged watched Parasyte yesterday. It was pretty good and creepy. The beginning was the best part, even a little funny, but then it got really sad, which was great too. Then the middle got relationship-y, which was annoying. Then it got into its philosophical phase, which animes tend to do. When it comes to insane concepts, anime is where it's at.

As I understand there are only four more episodes left and I'm eagerly awaiting Wednesday for it. No guesses as how it's going to end yet, but I'm hoping it'll be great!

Caught up with Yuri Kuma Arashi -- the first three episodes were a bit rocky (I think they were going for a bait-and-switch to lure in people looking for a shallower anime? Not sure, but I think it backfired and alienated a lot of people) but after that it turned out amazing. I really love the depth of symbolism and satire in it.

Still catching up with Death Parade -- once we start seeing more of the arbiter world it gets really gripping. The Twister episode was an absolute favourite.

Lastly, I'm still watching Yowamushi Pedal -- it's a great anime, and I find it a lot easier to relate to than Haikyuu!. It encouraged me to get into cycling for the first time ever... I never thought I'd hit a point in my life where anime would encourage me to like sports, but it's happened! It's so strange.

Free! made me want to take up swimming more serious as well. Just need to find some swimming buddies...

Dawnstorm said:

Yay! I really enjoyed Steins;Gate. Some people say the beginning is slow, but I loved the banter. If anything I thought the middle was a bit weaker, as it settled into an odd symmetry that felt a tad repetitivie. But it always always entertaining, and at times very intense.

Outstanding voice acting all the way through.

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Completely agree -- the repetition in the beginning would've been really annoying if I was watching it week by week, but the character development keeps unfolding steadily and it's well-suited to a Netflix marathon.

I didn't even notice that. I did notice an uptick of awkward "girltalk" about how not being cute means no boyfriends. (Ugh. I didn't need that.)

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Oh man, I think I blocked that part out of my mind. It was SO BAD. It smacked of someone who'd never actually spoken to women trying to imagine what women talk about.

Have you seen Robotics;Notes? It's not nearly as good as Steins;Gate, but it's quite entertaining in its own right, and at times helped me understand the appeal of robots (which I don't normally get).

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I haven't seen it yet! It was on my to-watch list because oh man I just loved Steins;Gate so much, but now I'm really excited to watch it. I really love mecha anime.

Some thoughts on episode 9 of Death Parade, not very spoiler-ish. This episode really reminded me of Death Note. Most of what that detective said sounded like it could have been coming from Light, and even the music that played when he was talking seemed straight from Death Note's soundtrack.

Anime in History. Best use of Twitter yet.

Been watching a lot of anime I missed.

Girls und Panzer is... I'm just... It's the best. Instant classic.

Blue Spring Ride - Just as adorbz as the manga.

Chunibuyo - Love this, the second season is a bit meh, but it showcases a lot of the side characters, which is great. The nap competition episode is the best.

There was more I think, but I can't remember right now.

EMaree said:

Cute High Earth Defense Club Love! is still doing its thing, and I'm still enjoying it. Love how self-aware it is.

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We accidentally started watching this one last night. It's just... so anime. It's the most anime anime that's animed lately.

Antonin said:

Been watching a lot of anime I missed.

Girls und Panzer is... I'm just... It's the best. Instant classic.

Blue Spring Ride - Just as adorbz as the manga.

Chunibuyo - Love this, the second season is a bit meh, but it showcases a lot of the side characters, which is great. The nap competition episode is the best.

There was more I think, but I can't remember right now.

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I really liked Girls und Panzer. I almost didn't watch it since the very first tank fight in the first episode gave me a headache with its 3D. Luckily, I stuck with it. None of the other episodes were as bad as the first (with respect to sickness-inducing 3D graphics).

I didn't warm up to the other two shows, although I thought the chuunibyou fantasy scenes were fun.

Are you watching the Rolling Girls? If not, do so. I think it might be right up your alley. Colourful, over-the-top, charming, and every song in the show is a cover of the Blue Hearts, a Punk Rock band from the eighties.

DawnStorm, AnimeinHistory is AMAZING.

Antonin said:

We accidentally started watching this one last night. It's just... so anime. It's the most anime anime that's animed lately.

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This is SUCH an accurate description of it, haha. I keep waiting for a big twist or something, but nope... it's pretty much exactly what it says on the tin, Sailor Moon with guys.

So Junketsu no Maria or (Maria the Virgin Witch on hulu) is pretty cool. It seemed super fanservicy in the title... but it's really not. Sure there's jokes about sex, but nothing of the caliber that you'd expect from most anime.

Dawnstorm said:

I really liked Girls und Panzer. I almost didn't watch it since the very first tank fight in the first episode gave me a headache with its 3D. Luckily, I stuck with it. None of the other episodes were as bad as the first (with respect to sickness-inducing 3D graphics).

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That's my normal reaction to 3D, but as a crappy WWII buff I was giddy with the amount of accurate detail in those tanks. I need to grab the OVAs.

And, just, I can't get over this

Are you watching the Rolling Girls? If not, do so. I think it might be right up your alley. Colourful, over-the-top, charming, and every song in the show is a cover of the Blue Hearts, a Punk Rock band from the eighties.

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Awesome, I'll give it a shot. Been looking for more since we got caught up with everything.

EMaree said:

Lastly, I'm still watching Yowamushi Pedal -- it's a great anime, and I find it a lot easier to relate to than Haikyuu!. It encouraged me to get into cycling for the first time ever... I never thought I'd hit a point in my life where anime would encourage me to like sports, but it's happened! It's so strange.

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But bikes are so expensive! Augh.

We need a running anime.

What's up with shows that had good/great/watchable first seasons having terrible second seasons?

The offenders:

Psycho-Pass 2, Log Horizon 2, Tokyo Ghoul √A, Aldnoah.Zero 2nd Cour, Sword Art Online 2

SpockSaid said:

What's up with shows that had good/great/watchable first seasons having terrible second seasons?

The offenders:

Psycho-Pass 2, Log Horizon 2, Tokyo Ghoul √A, Aldnoah.Zero 2nd Cour, Sword Art Online 2

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It's not rare, is it? Plenty of shows drop the ball after the first season.

It's a bit more suprising with Aldnoah and Tokyo Ghul, since they're obviously split-cour shows, and these used to be more even quality.

This season, it's not all bad second seasons. Durarara, for example, is slightly less entertaining the first half of the first season, but more entertaining than the second half. And Kamisama Hajimemashita is actually better than the first season.

kuwisdelu said:

But bikes are so expensive! Augh.

We need a running anime.

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Haha, this is very true -- I'm going to be stuck with my cheap, heavy "mommy bike" forever. The show's given me a taste for fancy road bikes I will never even have a hope of affording.

We definitely need a running anime. For now, I've got "Zombies, Run", which is basically a ridiculously fun audio adventure.

Dawnstorm said:

And Kamisama Hajimemashita is actually better than the first season.

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There's a second season???

Antonin said:

There's a second season???

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It's currently airing.

Have you guys seen the AOT trailer?

Yes. The special effects look a hell of a lot better than what I was expecting.