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Winter-Spring 2014 Anime |OT3| People incapable of guilt usually do have a good time

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Sonicbug

Member
Knights of Sidonia 1
I'll be interested to see where this goes visually at least - the world design is excellent and the starkness of the visuals really suits the brutality of the action sequences. Manga readers - is the plot halfway decent?

The story goes in a few interesting directions, so far I've only read up through volume five. I have no idea how much the anime is going to cover. (And yes, the humor is weirdly awkward and usually violent.) It's probably the most accessible of that artist's work.
 

FelixOrion

Poet Centuriate
AIR 13 SUMMARY END

Nothing to say about this episode. Just a re-cap clip show.

Overall, it was an okay ride. It's not the prettiest thing out there, nor the best put together and reeks of KEY's worst tropes and flaws, but it's not horrible. Jun Maeda's music is always pretty good. While I can't say I'm a huge fan of his writing, I due like his music; he knows how to write bittersweet music and (for the most part) bittersweet, thought cliched, stories. Also, Yukito made for a interesting protagonist (poor snarky hobo isn't exactly common fare)...at least initially. Basically, uou've got the standard "Hey this came from a VN so we have squeeze the other routes in!" stuff and then, following suit, falls in the 'main' route, wherein Yukito suddenly takes a backseat and the heroine Misuzu is suddenly the protag, and well, they try to finish but the ending a bit of a let down, to be honest. Things feel resolved...and yet they don't. I don't know.

Anyways, while not bad and though I'm a sap for bittersweet love stories, the end was just too much of a mess.

Next up: the two-episode Air in Summer specials and maybe the Air movie

Angel Beats! 13 END

Pretty satisfying ending, aside from not getting to say goodbye to the rest of the team, which is kinda dumb. You build up this whole cast of colorful characters that are infinitely more interesting than Otonashi and Kanade and you just go "Oh those guys? Yeah they left already." and just give their signature items the sad passing shot? Man, fuck you, Maeda.

Anyways, it was good to see the goodbyes. The emptiness left by the remaining cast as they each took their turns passing on was almost palpable. That where this show shined and where it should've kept it light. I think this show would've been so much better off to just focus more on the characters - who they are, why they're here, give them resolution, and watch the pass on - and basically scrap the whole commando crap. I'll admit the action and the humor were pretty good at times, but overall it felt like they wanted me to care what happens to them in the fights and struggles, and it would've made more sense to structure that around their emotional passing on rather than the fights where you're not worried about anyone because they can't fucking die.

But all in all, I got more out of this than Air, to be sure, and it too isn't that bad of a ride. It looks pretty damn great, the cast is fun, the dub is good, and the music is top notch (as I expect from Maeda), but the writing at times is suspect (as I expect from Maeda).

Next up: The Another Epilogue OVA and the Stairway to Heaven OVA

Kiniro Mosaic 12 END

This has been an adorable ride start to finish. I'm not one for slice-of-life shows due to the general lack of overall plots, but there was just enough humor (thought not as much as I really wanted) and an absolute overdose on the cute, enough hold me over and keep me watching. It's a pretty fluffy show, but pretty short on substance, though that really wasn't its point, I'll admit.

Next up: Season Two when it comes out.
 

Dresden

Member
ping pong - 01

fantastic.

nanana - 01

trying to watch this dreck after ping pong is painful. The two faces of newtaminA. Kicking things off with a shitty nonsensical CG escapade and following it with a terrible opening, a series of infodumps and unnatural light novel conversations with fanservice baits--fucking terrible.
 

BluWacky

Member
Thanks to Vito for this, but those curious about how Knights of Sidonia looks may want to watch its OP - although the animation is obviously better here than in the main episode, it's not by much and will give you a feel for what the CG is like in motion.
 
AIR 13 SUMMARY END

Nothing to say about this episode. Just a re-cap clip show.

Overall, it was an okay ride. It's not the prettiest thing out there, nor the best put together and reeks of KEY's worst tropes and flaws, but it's not horrible. Jun Maeda's music is always pretty good. While I can't say I'm a huge fan of his writing, I due like his music; he knows how to write bittersweet music and (for the most part) bittersweet, thought cliched, stories. Also, Yukito made for a interesting protagonist (poor snarky hobo isn't exactly common fare)...at least initially. Basically, uou've got the standard "Hey this came from a VN so we have squeeze the other routes in!" stuff and then, following suit, falls in the 'main' route, wherein Yukito suddenly takes a backseat and the heroine Misuzu is suddenly the protag, and well, they try to finish but the ending a bit of a let down, to be honest. Things feel resolved...and yet they don't. I don't know.

Anyways, while not bad and though I'm a sap for bittersweet love stories, the end was just too much of a mess.

Next up: the two-episode Air in Summer specials and maybe the Air movie

Angel Beats! 13 END

Pretty satisfying ending, aside from not getting to say goodbye to the rest of the team, which is kinda dumb. You build up this whole cast of colorful characters that are infinitely more interesting than Otonashi and Kanade and you just go "Oh those guys? Yeah they left already." and just give their signature items the sad passing shot? Man, fuck you, Maeda.

Anyways, it was good to see the goodbyes. The emptiness left by the remaining cast as they each took their turns passing on was almost palpable. That where this show shined and where it should've kept it light. I think this show would've been so much better off to just focus more on the characters - who they are, why they're here, give them resolution, and watch the pass on - and basically scrap the whole commando crap. I'll admit the action and the humor were pretty good at times, but overall it felt like they wanted me to care what happens to them in the fights and struggles, and it would've made more sense to structure that around their emotional passing on rather than the fights where you're not worried about anyone because they can't fucking die.

But all in all, I got more out of this than Air, to be sure, and it too isn't that bad of a ride. It looks pretty damn great, the cast is fun, the dub is good, and the music is top notch (as I expect from Maeda), but the writing at times is suspect (as I expect from Maeda).

Next up: The Another Epilogue OVA and the Stairway to Heaven OVA

I am so glad you ended up liking Angel Beats! :)

I love that moment when
the characters leave one by one
. It was heavy and got the waterworks going when I first watched it.

Edit: People always say they want to know more about the characters, but Angel Beats was always planned to be in other mediums to expand it's story. For instance how the Battlefront got started and the exposition of side characters is expounded upon in the manga Angel Beats - Heavens Door. Read that if your interested in more Angel Beats and more of those side characters.
 

lonely

Member
Nananan - 1
This show has a stupid name but it also had Terraria in it so I'll give it up to 3 before dropping it at least.
 

Mature

Member
Thanks to Vito for this, but those curious about how Knights of Sidonia looks may want to watch its OP - although the animation is obviously better here than in the main episode, it's not by much and will give you a feel for what the CG is like in motion.
Doesn't do anything for me at all. The designs and everything look fine at a glance, but in motion they just look janky.
 
Nananana Batman's Buried Treasure - 1
il2Pgwzh5izaZ.JPG

A Jeffry player? smh
Despite some dodgy pacing issues and an insane amount of close-ups in the first half of the episode, I find it amusing how straight they're playing this whole NEET ghost thing. I get the living conditions that he's stuck in, but Juugo is almost immediately accepting of the fact that he's living with a ghost that others are also aware of. Although the gags were more hit or miss for me, I'm interested enough to continue to see how they're going to set up the other characters for this silly treasure hunt.
 

Narag

Member
Hyouka 10



Oreki being challenged like this is fantastic. Reminder about the
rope
at the end was great too as it's so easy to get caught up in his solutions and assume he's thought it all through.
 

Gbraga

Member
Thanks to Vito for this, but those curious about how Knights of Sidonia looks may want to watch its OP - although the animation is obviously better here than in the main episode, it's not by much and will give you a feel for what the CG is like in motion.

This actually looks pretty good, but I still can't help but feel like it would be better in 2D. Especially the animation, that looks like it won't age well at all.

Anyway, it's still a Nihei anime, so I'll watch it when it comes out on Netflix.
 
Cardfight!! Vanguard: Link Joker Episode 127 (engDub)

Two more engdub episodes this week. This match with the Link Joker clan was different than usual due to the bosslike dark nature it gave and Kai
continuously shocked and surprised. I remember in s1 he was always the most fearsome powerful fighter and now he continues being the underdog and potential loser :( . Though a Reverse Kai wouldnt be bad
.
 

Andrew J.

Member
Dai Shogun 01

Look, I've been an anime fan for a long time. I understand that limited animation is a practical necessity for the affordable, timely production of TV shows. But there's a difference between "limited animation" and "Wizard Barristers 11 levels of awkward still frames." Dropped.

Maybe I'll add Nanana to my backlog. Hasn't been much ghost moe since Dusk Maiden ended.
 

BluWacky

Member
Ping Pong 1

Better than I hoped it would be; Yuasa can be something of a... loose cannon, but he and the rest of the team working on this show have worked magic on it. I couldn't get into the live action film because I found Peco too annoying but he's much more tolerable here, and there are so many inventive visual and aural touches throughout that it was always entertaining to watch. A fun, interesting show - top marks all round.

firehawk was asking whether the coach had just one voice actor - apparently he does, some guy called "Tei Ha" who I can't find any other credits for at present. Just like "China", his actor is clearly Chinese.
 
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Naruto Shippuden 358

Splendid filler episode.

They handled the beginnings of the Coup d'etat with the village and Uchiha extremely well.

Loved those Shisui moments from his quick encounter with Ao, the betrayal with Danzo, and his untimely death.

Itachi activating Mangekyo Sharingan and reading the stone tablet were good scenes as well, but my particular favorite was that small scene when Sasuke and Itachi accompanied their mother to visit baby Naruto.

Always thought it would've been neat to see Kushina's best friend see her baby boy.
 

Acosta

Member
I'm getting depressed with so many "1". My backlog is starting to look like my Steam list of games (well, no, not even close lol, but it´s surprising how much stuff I have not seen from last two seasons).
 

Soma

Member
Knights of Sidonia 1

I'll be interested to see where this goes visually at least - the world design is excellent and the starkness of the visuals really suits the brutality of the action sequences. Manga readers - is the plot halfway decent?
Yeah I think it's pretty decent so far. Probably my least favorite outing from Nihei but it's still a pretty good Mech series. I've been seeing some comparisons to Attack on Titan which I guess is understandable from a conceptual standpoint.

Both are set in the far future and feature humanity on its supposed last legs defending itself in its last stronghold against a rabidly violent species. Minor characters get introduced and quickly killed off without much fanfare and there's this ever present feeling of dread among the lighthearted moments. There's probably a ton of other similar comparisons but AoT seems to be the most popular one to compare it to right now. It also has a protagonist who is (unsurprisingly) special from his colleagues but unlike AoT, I've been finding this one is actually kinda likeable and competent at what he does.
 

Quasar

Member
Nanana 1 - I liked this. After dropping 10 shows after 1 episode this season its nice to find a show I'm interested in enough to try a second episode.
 

wsippel

Banned
So I finally watched the first episode of Brynhildr, and while I probably won't continue because this looks like it will almost certainly get depressing and I hate being depressed, that episode raised two questions: a) Why do fanservice shows in general and ARMS shows in particular almost always have better than average OPs and/ or EDs, and b) why is ARMS still around? Their stuff doesn't even look like it's created on a shoestring budget and pretty much everything they do seems to bomb real hard, yet they're evidently still alive and kicking and produce roughly one show per season.
 

foxuzamaki

Doesn't read OPs, especially not his own
Accel World whereever I last episode I commented on-END
Well I really enjoyed it, the characters, art, animation, romance and even fanservice are much better than SAO, not to say that this was the best thing in the world, but it left a much better impression, the author was also able to build up off of the world SAO built in a positive way.

I dont know if there is a OVA or anything else after this, but I really hope there is, as it's just getting started all thing's considered. still dont know black snow's real name, they just got their "2nd power up type thing that all the stronger characters know and so becomes second knowledge as the series goes on" power with the incarnate system and a new organization is showing up, its kinda a shame it ended here and idk if accel world was popular, I knew of its existence, probably because i was popular at one point, but I would like to see it continue.
Also I love haru and black king's relationship, im totally for it.
 
Nanana 1

The amount of infodumping going on in this episode was ridiculous. I'm intrigued enough to see if all this bullshit they concocted for the premise goes anywhere, but not a great start.
 

Narag

Member
Record of Lodoss War 10

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Marriage material...

BJfiS9Jl.jpg

except for this little snag.

FRoApxjl.jpg

Never really noticed this before but even since
Ashram took up Beld's Demon Sword
, he's had little shots like this to, I guess, illustrate the corruption given his usual vanilla bishie design.
Notable for Parn getting his shounen protag on, more awesome Orson animation, the heroes wielding legendary dragon lances to slay an evil red dragon, and for Ashram's heart growing three sizes.
Totally forgot he literally dropped his ambition to save Pirotess. What a fuckin' bro.
 
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