General Anime/Manga Discussion 14: Second Cour

[Rodin]

Nothing beyond that, nah. It's one of those shows where if it didn't grab you in the first two episodes, it won't grab you for the rest.

The main appeal for the show for me (apart from the initial twist, of course) is that it does a really good job of tugging at the old heartstrings.

[cobaltstarfire]

Spoiler: spoilery I guess

Show

I really enjoyed the introduction of the tiger....getting stuck in the mud, blowing its engine, and then catching on fire. Also the response of "oh it's on fire again..."

That's all I have to say for now, I don't remember how many episodes there are in the series but I think we're nearing the end.

[HMS Invincible]

Spoiler: spoilery I guess

Show

I really enjoyed the introduction of the tiger....getting stuck in the mud, blowing its engine, and then catching on fire. Also the response of "oh it's on fire again..."

That's all I have to say for now, I don't remember how many episodes there are in the series but I think we're nearing the end.

You really should label your spoilers...especially when it's not a spoiler. This is about Girls und panzer.

[Weimann]

Since there were multiple suggestions for Seirei no Moribito earlier, I decided to check it out. It turns out that watching it in tandem with Kill la Kill makes for quite the contrast.

That said, I must say that while I think the latter can make something interesting of itself if it really tries, the former had me grabbed by the collar from the first moment. It's beautifully animated, paced nicely, and well... it has Balsa in it. I'm not sure I can remember the last time I encountered an anime character with her particular kind of gravitas. Possibly Spike in Cowboy Bebop, but that's still not quite the same. Her character could carry the whole show. Not that it has to, since the story so far has taken care to present a pretty multifaceted view of the plot. I'm hooked on it.

[cobaltstarfire]

You really should label your spoilers...especially when it's not a spoiler. This is about Girls und panzer.

It kind of is a spoiler, sure it's a minor one but it's still a spoiler to certain developments in the series.

[CarpeGuitarrem]

The main appeal for the show for me (apart from the initial twist, of course) is that it does a really good job of tugging at the old heartstrings.

Definitely so. And I'm also a sucker for dramatic irony, which the show was serving up in heaping spoonfuls from the get-go.

That said, I must say that while I think the latter can make something interesting of itself if it really tries, the former had me grabbed by the collar from the first moment. It's beautifully animated, paced nicely, and well... it has Balsa in it. I'm not sure I can remember the last time I encountered an anime character with her particular kind of gravitas. Possibly Spike in Cowboy Bebop, but that's still not quite the same. Her character could carry the whole show. Not that it has to, since the story so far has taken care to present a pretty multifaceted view of the plot. I'm hooked on it.

Spike definitely carries the whole show, but not really because of gravitas. Almost the opposite: his easygoing mellowness runs through the entire show and gives texture to the rest of it, especially since it contrasts with some of his own character traits.

[Drascin]

Since there were multiple suggestions for Seirei no Moribito earlier, I decided to check it out. It turns out that watching it in tandem with Kill la Kill makes for quite the contrast.

That said, I must say that while I think the latter can make something interesting of itself if it really tries, the former had me grabbed by the collar from the first moment. It's beautifully animated, paced nicely, and well... it has Balsa in it. I'm not sure I can remember the last time I encountered an anime character with her particular kind of gravitas. Possibly Spike in Cowboy Bebop, but that's still not quite the same. Her character could carry the whole show. Not that it has to, since the story so far has taken care to present a pretty multifaceted view of the plot. I'm hooked on it.

Contrast indeed . Honestly, I would be hard pressed to call Kill la Kill so much as average, while Moribito is one my favorite animes.

And yes. Balsa definitely has presence. Her voice actress has a resonance that not a lot of anime VAs give their characters.

[Lethologica]

I definitely thought I would like Moribito a lot more than KlK going into each, but I didn't enjoy Moribito as much as I expected to, and I wasn't as annoyed by KlK as I thought I would be, so they came out about even for me. I think it's mostly down to pacing.

[ex cathedra]

charlotte was... oh, lord. i had a hard enough time with angel beats, and charlotte feels like its neither necessary nor desirable spiritual successor.

[kamikasei]

charlotte was... oh, lord. i had a hard enough time with angel beats, and charlotte feels like its neither necessary nor desirable spiritual successor.

Hmmm?

I thought it was fine. The tone shifts between silly and serious weren't handled brilliantly, making it feel like two shows awkwardly stapled together, and the silly one was both better constructed and more entertaining in my book, but I didn't have any "ugh god why" reaction. Maybe if they'd gotten a better grip on my heartstrings it'd have had more effect when they pulled on them.

[ex cathedra]

i've literally never seen a show with pacing as poor as charlotte's, and,

Spoiler: charlotte spoilers

Show

starting from the introduction of time travel,

the whole narrative just became ridiculous. it's deus ex machina after deus ex machina.

[CarpeGuitarrem]

Man at Arms forges Saber's sword.

Kinda epic.

[Rodin]

Hmmm?

I thought it was fine. The tone shifts between silly and serious weren't handled brilliantly, making it feel like two shows awkwardly stapled together, and the silly one was both better constructed and more entertaining in my book, but I didn't have any "ugh god why" reaction. Maybe if they'd gotten a better grip on my heartstrings it'd have had more effect when they pulled on them.

This is kinda how I saw it. Having a sudden swerve into darkness was fine, but the show just kinda stayed there and moved away from all the interesting characters onto a second set that we didn't really know.

A lot of the second half of the show just felt unnecessary - they should have gone through the first plot twist, then pulled it back and spent some time there. Instead, the show just went haring off into the sunset. There was probably another entire season's worth of plot that could have been put in to make the transition less jarring.

[kamikasei]

A lot of the second half of the show just felt unnecessary - they should have gone through the first plot twist, then pulled it back and spent some time there. Instead, the show just went haring off into the sunset. There was probably another entire season's worth of plot that could have been put in to make the transition less jarring.

There's also the fact that the entire last episode felt literally unnecessary - as in, they wrapped up what needed to be wrapped up in the penultimate episode, and would arguably have been better off leaving the events the last episode detailed as something that you assume happens (or not) offscreen after the end. Having another full episode to work with for the rest of the series might have helped.

Anyway, I've finished all the shows from this season I was watching live, though I may come back to pick up some later, most likely Rokka. So that's Gatchaman (a bit off near the start, but overall probably the best I watched), Symphogear (a huge disappointment), Ore Monogatari (exactly what it says on the tin, not stellar but plenty cute, could they please write out the obnoxious stalker college guy?), Himouto! Umaru-chan (also exactly what it says on the tin, and possibly my second favourite after Gatchaman, though the lack of any creepy incest nonsense is partly offset by the busty moeblob fanservice character), Charlotte (okay, but a bit too messy to be really good - didn't dislike it as ex cathedra did, wouldn't strongly recommend it), and Gangsta. And... does anyone know what the heck was up with Gangsta? It didn't so much end as just stop. It doesn't even look like it tracked a single full arc from the manga (he says, in ignorance of the manga, just going off how the show seemed). Is it a brazen play for a second season? Are they counting on a bonus episode or two on the BDs? It wasn't a bad show, but I really have no idea what to make of the total lack of closure.

[BWR]

Man at Arms forges Saber's sword.

Kinda epic.

Fun, but not quite Sokka's meteor sword or the scissorblade from KLK. Or Cloud's Buster sword.

[DoctorFaust]

Apparently, Manglobe studios has gone bankrupt. Which is a damn shame, since Genocidal Organ sounds interesting, and I really enjoyed quite a few of their shows.

[kamikasei]

Apparently, Manglobe studios has gone bankrupt. Which is a damn shame, since Genocidal Organ sounds interesting, and I really enjoyed quite a few of their shows.

That's not very Justice.

Guess it answers my question about Gangsta, though.

[Closet_Skeleton]

I haven't finished Charlotte but it does feel more like the author got bored with his original premise than that he actually planned this out.

Spoiler

Show

Anti-hero loses sister and moves on with his life was a lot more interesting than yet another 'save dead person through time travel' sound to me.

That's not very Justice.

Your Justice was flawed from the start.

[kamikasei]

Your Justice was flawed from the start.

[CarpeGuitarrem]

SIT. DOWN.

[Lethologica]

SIT. DOWN.

Is that John on the line? Why do I have the sudden urge to open up a window?

[cobaltstarfire]

We finished Girls Und Panzer, woulda finished sooner, but we had to watch some old star trek movies before they fell off of netflix.

I thought Girls Und Panzer was nice, the parts with tanks in them were fun to watch. I think the guy coulda taken or left it though, but it at least kept him engagedish and he laughed on occasion.


Next on the list is Read or Die, or Hanayamata

When we do Read or Die, it'll be the one with "The TV" appended onto it since as far as I can tell the OVA isn't legally available for streaming. I'm not sure which one whoever suggested it intended but that's the one we're going to try out.

[Ibrinar]

I would rate the series over the ova.

[VariSami]

I also prefer the series over the OVA, and watched them in that order (although in immediate succession). The OVA does however provide some information to which the series will allude, making watching it recommended but not necessary.

I just finished watching the best series I have seen since Seirei no Moribito called Rainbow: Nisha Rokubou no Shichinin. It is essentially a drama about seven youngsters in a centre for problem youth in post-war Japan. The creators do not save their punches when it comes to the feels, particularly hope and hate.

[mallorean_thug]

Hihi.

I haven't really dropped by to talk about anime recently, but I just finished watching Ojamajo Doremi Sharp, and it was really really good. Like, the first season was fantastic, and I think I raved about it earlier in the thread, but the second season managed to set the bar even higher. Especially with the arc from the movie to episode 40, and the last episode. I honestly don't know how the rest of the show (two more seasons!) can manage to live up to this, but I'm really eager to find out.

Seriously, if you have any tolerance for kids shows, give this show a shot. Its already easily surpassed Card Captor Sakura as my favorite mahou shoujo, and I'm only halfway done.

Ok, that's it.

(Gatchaman was the best thing last season by a mile, and my hopes for next season mostly rest on Subete ga F ni naru actually being good)

[Rodin]

There's also the fact that the entire last episode felt literally unnecessary - as in, they wrapped up what needed to be wrapped up in the penultimate episode, and would arguably have been better off leaving the events the last episode detailed as something that you assume happens (or not) offscreen after the end. Having another full episode to work with for the rest of the series might have helped.

I didn't understand this post at all for a few days, feeling that the last episode felt necessary to wrap up the plot. Then I realized that there was, in fact, a 13th episode after the one I was thinking of. And yeah, it was unnecessary.

The final episode itself was actually pretty decent - a bit of a step up from the couple episodes prior. However, it again felt rushed - there was probably an entire season's worth of content in that one episode. The show as a whole definitely felt like a 26-episode show compressed right the way down to fit into 13 episodes, which would explain the sometimes breakneck pace and wildly swinging mood. There was simply no time to process the plot twists.

[Closet_Skeleton]

Hihi.

Seriously, if you have any tolerance for kids shows, give this show a shot. Its already easily surpassed Card Captor Sakura as my favorite mahou shoujo, and I'm only halfway done.

I'll probably check it out once I've gotten sick of Pretty Cure. Which could be quite soon if what I've heard about the later seasons is true.

Or I could just actually watch Card Captor Sakura all the way through, but it never grabbed me (admittedly in dub).

Spoiler: Closet Skeleton rates girl's toy commercials

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Futari Wa Pretty Cure Spash Star
Has the most amusing villains, since all these series are monster of the weak shows the one that actually does the monster of the week part best is the best in my opinion. The heroes are only okay, but the dark magical girl turncoats are the best version of that plot-line I've seen. The final 2 episodes are dedicated to the best Dragon Ball Z fight (beating out all of the even good ones actually in DBZ by condencing it down to a sensible time). The slice of life development of the minor characters is also quite well done. Is moderately YuriGoggles friendly. The main heroine has the worst outfit ever.

Villains: *****
Slice of Life: ****
Heroes: **
Mascots: **
Character Designs: *
Long-term Plotting: ****
YuriGoggles: ***

(clearly the research needed to develop a superior set of categories for rating girl's toy commercials would not be worth the required funding. Crappy CGI is not rated because its all bad. Negative numbers in brackets are adjustments I could make if I wasn't feeling generous, not ones I've already factored in)

Yes! Pretty Cure 5
Has the best good guys. They're totally archetypal but that lets the writers focus on quality over innovation, giving us the best possible versions of those archetypes. Despite having 5 good guys, they're better balanced and get a good share of development and opportunities for individual awesomeness while all the other series focus more on the protagonist. Despite having less focus and being magical girl archetype no1, the main heroine is the best main heroine. Bad guys are okay. Also has the best cute mascots. One of them is an angsty bishonen whose true form is a equally angsty but ridiculously cute cartoon Squirrel called Nuts. I repeat, the mysterious angsty Bishie who every woman in town falls for is actually a Squirrel called Nuts, this is the most hilarious and awesome thing ever. Due to having 5 super heroines, mundane side characters get the short end of the stick. Sadly its also the most heterosexual Pretty Cure; on the other hand it is the only one that has real romance arcs. Is ironically actually the fourth Pretty Cure series.

Villains: ***
Slice of Life: ***
Heroes: *****
Mascots: *****
Character Designs: ****
Long-term Plotting: ***
YuriGoggles: *

Futari Wa Pretty Cure
The first series. Probably has the second best good guys after Yes! with probably more actual introspection and character depth, they just aren't quite as well drawn over-all. Also has the best flirtations into Girl's Love. Second half feels like they extended the plot, leading to pacing issues. The Fairy Mascots are also terribly annoying if that sort of thing bothers you. Has the best actual hand to hand fighting. The mundane side characters basically form cast herds of club members to the two protagonists so don't end up particularly interesting or memorable compared to Splash Star where they have recurring drawn out arcs.
Villains: ***
Slice of Life: ****
Heroes: ****
Mascots: *
Character Designs: ****
Long-term Plotting: **
YuriGoggles: *****

Heartcatch Pretty Cure
Terribly over-rated. The long term plot and character stuff is quite good, but the monster of the weak formula is overly simplistic and repetitive and the filler villains, of which there are only three of for 40 episodes; are dull. The two main characters are good examples of archetype breaking but they didn't interest me as much as Yes!'s well done , while the third wheel character is underdeveloped and on the whole it juggles 4 characters much worse than Yes! juggles 5 characters. It also crushes its characters identity by forcing them all into the Fashion club when the other series let its girls all have different hobbies and interests that are independent of their interpersonal relationships. There's some development of minor characters here, but nothing on the Splash Star level. Even the Utena-esque character designs don't help it beat out Futari Wa on the Yuri front.

Villains: **
Slice of Life: ***
Heroes: ***
Mascots: ***
Character Designs: **** (-2 depending on how I feel about the art style that day)
Long-term Plotting: ****
YuriGoggles: ****

Yes! Pretty Cure 5 Go! Go!
Is a unnecessary and inferior continuation of Pretty Cure 5. On the other hand, has some of the best magical girl clothes ever. It has to re-open character development wrapped up nicely in the first season of Yes! and doesn't really go anywhere with the new character threads. Also, since it actually is the fifth series in the franchise, it had to have the word 5 in the title three times as a stupid multi-language pun.

Villains: ***
Slice of Life: ***
Heroes: ***** (-3 for relying on knowledge from previous series)
Mascots: *****
Character Designs: *****
Long-term Plotting: ***
YuriGoggles: **

Futari Wa Pretty Cure Max Heart
Only seen the first two episodes. I've put it last anyway since that's where it will end up if its truly to the original series as Go!Go! is to Yes!

edit:

Spoiler: not actually girl's toy commercial magical girl shows

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Princess Tutu
Villains: ****
Slice of Life: ***
Heroes: *****
Mascots: ***** (there aren't any, since mascots are terrible this is a good thing, -5 if you like annoying critters)
Character Designs: ****
Long-term Plotting: *****
YuriGoggles: ** YaoiGoggles: ****

Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica
Villains: *
Slice of Life: *
Heroes: *****
Mascots: **** (reverse this with villains if you think the Witches are the mascots and Kyubei is the villain)
Character Designs: *****
Long-term Plotting: *****
YuriGoggles: *****

Mai Hime
Villains: ***
Slice of Life: **
Heroes: ****
Mascots: *****
Character Designs: ****
Long-term Plotting: ****
YuriGoggles: **** (-2 for not needing any)

Mai Otome
Villains: *****
Slice of Life: ***
Heroes: ****
Mascots: **
Character Designs: ***
Long-term Plotting: ***
YuriGoggles: ****

Cardcaptors (aka the dub)
Villains: **
Slice of Life: *****
Heroes: ***
Mascots: *****
Character Designs: ***
Long-term Plotting: **** (-3 with American broadcast order)
YuriGoggles: ****

Pretty Sammy (OVA)
Villains: ***
Slice of Life: **
Heroes: **** (-3 for relying on Tenchi Muyo)
Mascots: ***** (as above)
Character Designs: **** (mostly as above)
Long-term Plotting: *
YuriGoggles: ***

Lyrical Nanoha As
Villains: ****
Slice of Life: **
Heroes: ***
Mascots: **
Character Designs: ***
Long-term Plotting: **
YuriGoggles: *****

Lyrical Nanoha
Villains: *
Slice of Life: **
Heroes: ***
Mascots: ****
Character Designs: ****
Long-term Plotting: **
YuriGoggles: *****

Prisma Ilya/Prisma Ilya Zwei (they're about the same)
Villains: **
Slice of Life: **
Heroes: ***
Mascots: *
Character Designs: **** (only a -1 for stealing from Fate)
Long-term Plotting: **
YuriGoggles: *** (-3 for the show itself having them, ruining the fun)

Uta Kata
Villains: ***
Slice of Life: **
Heroes: *
Mascots: *
Character Designs: ***
Long-term Plotting: *
YuriGoggles: ****

Sailor Moon Crystal
Villains: ***
Slice of Life: *
Heroes: **** (-3 if being Iconic isn't enough)
Mascots ****
Character designs: * (+4 in rare circumstances where the art style works
Long-term Plotting: *
YuriGoggles: **

Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS
Villains: **
Slice of Life: ***
Heroes: **
Mascots: **
Character Designs: **
Long-term Plotting: *
YuriGoggles: ****

Saint October
Villains: ***
Slice of Life: **
Heroes: **
Mascots: *
Character Designs: *
Long-term Plotting: *
YuriGoggles: ***

[ex cathedra]

Owarimonogatari kicked off with a 48-minute double-episode. Ougi is quickly growing on me, she's shaping up to be a very compelling antagonist.

At the same time, the long awaited Monogatari prequel movie, Kizumonogatari, was finally given a release date: January 08, 2016. Bad (?) news might be that it's being released in three parts, only the first of which will air come January.

[cobaltstarfire]

We gave Hanayamata a try tonight....and Crunchy Roll is doing that thing where it refuses to really buffer the video even if you let it....

But it looks pretty interesting so far, what little we saw, maybe we'll be able to finish the rest of the episode tomorrow.

We'll try Read or Die tomorrow to see if it's a series Crunchy Roll will actually allow us to watch uninterrupted.

[Fri]

So... Iron Blooded Orphan is out.

First episode's pretty good. Three quarter infodump though. I assume that's so they can get it out of their system all at once and all other episodes will be fully giant robot punching each others non stop