Winter Anime 2016 |OT| Celebrating the New Year and PSO2's release in the west!

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hosannainexcelsis said:
If you only want to watch shows you will be happy with in the end, you should wait to watch anything until it finishes. Even after 3 episodes, critical opinion can change dramatically (see Erased). Even then you can't totally avoid disappointment, as other people may recommend something that you find poor (Soma for me). In the end, the only thing you can do is either not watch anything or be prepared for your expectations to possibly not be met.
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Weekly airing shows fit my daily schedule really well so I'd rather watch as they air than wait until they end.

I don't believe there's some sort of guarantee of its critical/entertainment standing till the end once 3 episodes air, just more likely to be good. This is just one of the factors I'm considering.

the text I made bold: that's exactly what happened

I've chosen worse, not my first disappointment; I just don't like to drop a show - I've come so far, might as well finish it. It's damaging to me, I realize that but it bothers me in a different way if I do drop it.
 
hosannainexcelsis said:
Fantastic Children 1-2

Three and a half years after the first time I watched these two episodes, finally back to this. Definitely going to push through to the end this time. The deliberate atmosphere being created here is really great; the scene with the Children in the library/underground in episode 2 is superbly done.
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Hurray! Do "push through" - it's a great show, if a little prone to melodrama.
 
Qurupeke said:
Yup, I also watch Dimension W just for Mira now. For an action anime, it surely doesn't have a lot of spectacular action. I'd say that episode 1-2 are still the best part of it and they weren't even that good.
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I haven't watched the latest ep, but the show so far appears to be little more than a framing device for drawing Mira in some pretty questionable situations (mostly talking about eps 4 and 5). It's quite obvious this miraculous life-like robot made by a mysterious super scientist is going to be the key to unravel the mysteries of the coils and put an end to whatever weird stuff the energy corporation might be doing to dimension W, all while we get male gaze aimed at her because hey, it sells!

Meanwhile, her sidekick is a grumpy kick-ass supersolider with a dark past who has survived some kind of coil-related catastrophe (I think) and has come to despise coils as a result... up until now, when he's forced to pair up with a coil-powered robot that ends up helping him carry out his assignments.

Comparing it to Psycho Pass S1 (mostly due to the similar genre and setting), it looks like Dimension W has set up several plot lines that might link into some bigger thing later, but none of them have been nearly as interesting as PP, all while the characters have also been much weaker in comparison.
 
Melodrama isn't always a bad thing; it can really work in some cases (like in a lot of Dezaki's anime) and make you addicted to a show. With The Rose of Versailles, I would always keep saying to myself "just one more episode!" because I wanted to see how a certain conflict would get resolved. Speaking of Dezaki, how good is Dear Brother? I might end up watching that after I go through Votoms for a change of pace.

On a different note, I watched Mai Mai Miracle last night. Really makes me wish I gave to the BD Kickstarter by Anime Limited, because I really liked how it was done. Loved the focus on both the power of imagination and growing up; it felt very realistic to me. I'm really looking forward to the director's next film, which I think is supposed to come out this year! I'm going to have to keep an eye out for when those non-Kickstarter, retail copies will come out. Anime Limited says that it'll be 6 months after the Kickstarter BDs ship out.
 
BluWacky said:
Hurray! Do "push through" - it's a great show, if a little prone to melodrama.
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The most impressing thing about FC to me was that it was ALL the product of a single mind. Nakamura had a story he wanted to tell and he knew how to tell it, and it shows. He did everything, the script, the direction and even the character design. He even managed to make use of Origa (RIP) bilingual capacities which was amaaaziiing.

If anyone is looking for something similar I suggest Please Save My Earth (manga).
 
All this Grimgar talk is funny. I think it's biggest problem is it's LN writing. Tropes, tropes, tropes and everything is predictable. I mean I forget who it was, but they scripted out the
Minato death
perfectly based on stereotypes in LN only. The show will now focus on Haru and how he will become McDreamy and all the chicks including Mary will start falling over each other to get a piece of his D as he starts leveling up to OP levels? Any other takers that this becomes a harem sooner than later?


Also, this Fantastic Children talk is killing me because it is on my backlog list to watch this year and there are two other watching it right now. I almost want to dive is as well.. I gotta finish Steins Gate first though..
 
I don't think Dimension W is comparable with the tone that PP had, it's not as dark, rather goes for a stylistic Champloo tone. I'm honestly fine with that. Every episode has been pretty sketchy on the details which would've been fine but the world and characters were anything but intriguing.
 
People blaming Ranta as the overwhelming source of Grimmar's flaws are being really generous to it. There's very little redeeming about the show. It's LN dreck that isn't even well directed.
 
nintendoman58 said:
I don't think I've ever seen a show as divisive with opinions on it as Grimgar in a while.
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Yeah, it's because the art style and story/setting have so much potential, but then you have constant tropes and annoying crap like Ranta and lots of other generic stuff. I'll keep watching it for what it is, but yeah, it's easy to see why it is so divisive....
 
There are two major things wrong with Grimgar: 1) Ranta, 2) male-gaze camera.

Beyond that, it's an interesting, albeit imperfect, take on the trapped in a fantasy world concept. It has potential to go somewhere really great, and it has potential to bomb hard. To say there's "very little redeeming" about it seems disingenuous when it's doing some stuff that's legitimately unique to the genre.
 
SliceSabre said:
I'll be frank:

Galko is appealing cause it is a show about an attractive, big boobed, slightly plump girl who is pure at heart and is easily embarrassed by the sexually crass questions her flat chested montone friend asks her along with some quips by their airheaded and rich third wheel friend. The three of them are charming in their own unique ways. Not to mention there's a lot of fanservice that isn't just those low tier panty shots like most LN adaptations. Example those scenes when Galko mentions spicy food making your ass hurt then they had those shots of her sitting down where you can't really tell if she was wearing any panties or the scenes with Galko at home with her sister.
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Her older sister is The GOAT, Bah Gawd. And Otako is such a troll and so filthy, haha

Honestly, if this was a regular 24 minute episode, then I most likely will not like it. The nature of it being a short is perfect.

GYARURUU~
 
Cornbread78 said:
Yeah, it's because the art style and story/setting have so much potential, but then you have constant tropes and annoying crap like Ranta and lots of other generic stuff. I'll keep watching it for what it is, but yeah, it's easy to see why it is so divisive....
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It must look good in motion or something but when anyone posts an image of Grimgar I think it looks hideous. And the characters designs are really bland.

Maybe still images don't do it justice though.
 
Cornbread78 said:
Yeah, it's because the art style and story/setting have so much potential, but then you have constant tropes and annoying crap like Ranta and lots of other generic stuff. I'll keep watching it for what it is, but yeah, it's easy to see why it is so divisive....
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And here I thought that Erased was the most divisive of them all right now given the reactions here. I didn't think that Grimgar had that many watchers.
 
Divine Gate 4-6

I uh...

...I like this anime, guys.

I have a pretty high tolerance for stuff people consider "edgy" or "tryhard" as I 1. often don't feel most things are deserving of that label and 2. like a darker touch or heavier atmosphere to my media. But I really think that the darker aspects of this show work really well. I can suspend my disbelief to certain degrees when it comes to trauma or things that seem a bit silly considering my personal history as well as of people close to me; we often had sorta ridiculous tics or idiosyncrasies that don't really make much sense even if you know our history but it does to us. Him not eating warm food tied to his past trauma as well as related to his power's particular manifestation just kinda works for me, especially contrasted with his brother who has the same manifestation but the underlying logic behind it being strikingly similar if in a different form (both became cold due to the treatment from their parents). I also enjoy that the happy go lucky girl has such a hard flaw to her because it's real interesting to see the mask she puts on get cracked.

The CG and action are alright, I enjoy the visual style as well with it's interesting outlines. The plot seems to be leading somewhere weird. I had some issue with the LN convention of naming everything some silly Western appropriation until I looked to my right and my stack of "The Wicked and the Divine" and realized that Western media does this all the time as well when they choose people as avatars for things or to represent that thing. So it stopped bugging me after a while as a symbolic gesture where these gods actually kinda sorta exist.

So yeah, after my big spiel about not getting stuff like Galko-chan, I have now completely cut my own legs out from under me by liking this show that is disliked by 99% of AnimeGAF (except DTL and we know why he likes it).

SliceSabre said:
I'll be frank:

Galko is appealing cause it is a show about an attractive, big boobed, slightly plump girl who is pure at heart and is easily embarrassed by the sexually crass questions her flat chested montone friend asks her along with some quips by their airheaded and rich third wheel friend. The three of them are charming in their own unique ways. Not to mention there's a lot of fanservice that isn't just those low tier panty shots like most LN adaptations. Example those scenes when Galko mentions spicy food making your ass hurt then they had those shots of her sitting down where you can't really tell if she was wearing any panties or the scenes with Galko at home with her sister.
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That's legit. I can understand that.
 
pbayne said:
It must look good in motion or something but when anyone posts an image of Grimgar I think it looks hideous. And the characters designs are really bland.

Maybe still images don't do it justice though.
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I actually really dig the water-color style the anime uses. It's not meant to look realistic at all, but definitely more artistic...


Line_HTX said:
And here I thought that Erased was the most divisive of them all right now given the reactions here. I didn't think that Grimgar had that many watchers.
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Don't let a few over-reactions sway you thinking Erased is terrible and/or as divisive as Grimgar. It's still a very, very good show, even with a few minor flaws.
 
Clov said:
Melodrama isn't always a bad thing; it can really work in some cases (like in a lot of Dezaki's anime) and make you addicted to a show. With The Rose of Versailles, I would always keep saying to myself "just one more episode!" because I wanted to see how a certain conflict would get resolved. Speaking of Dezaki, how good is Dear Brother? I might end up watching that after I go through Votoms for a change of pace.
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I agree, melodrama is not a problem if it's well done (not that I've found Fantastic Children melodramatic so far), and Dezaki is the unqualified master of melodrama. Dear Brother is my favorite work of his that I've seen, so do check it out.

Basileus777 said:
People blaming Ranta as the overwhelming source of Grimmar's flaws are being really generous to it. There's very little redeeming about the show. It's LN dreck that isn't even well directed.
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I've only watched the first two episodes, but there's definitely something there: incredible backgrounds, attractive character designs, good character animation, well storyboarded action, a nice somber atmosphere in some scenes such as the conversation between Haruhito and the party leader at the beginning of episode 2. If Ranta and his lechery were removed, and ideally if there was better music, I'm pretty sure the resulting show would be something I could recommend.
 
hosannainexcelsis said:
The thing with Grimgar is that much of the presentation is going for a low-key, somewhat realistic vibe. You can even hear this with the voice acting; Haruhito's acting is so subdued it reminds me of adult Satoru's voice acting in Erased. But then Ranta is Hiroyuki Yoshino hamming it up as usual, and everything about the character feels like he was pulled from a more cliche LN adaptation, and he forcibly drags the show into that territory every time he's on screen. The music as well often feels much more generic rock/pop than is appropriate for the rest of the show.

Actually, watching Grimgar has made me feel bad for Ryosuke Nakamura, as he seems to have a clear idea of what he'd like to turn this series into but feels hamstrung by the nature of both the source material and executive mandates such as Aniplex wanting to use the show as a promotional vehicle for [K]NoW_NAME.
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Exactly.

Russ T said:
There are two major things wrong with Grimgar: 1) Ranta, 2) male-gaze camera.

Beyond that, it's an interesting, albeit imperfect, take on the trapped in a fantasy world concept. It has potential to go somewhere really great, and it has potential to bomb hard. To say there's "very little redeeming" about it seems disingenuous when it's doing some stuff that's legitimately unique to the genre.
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This too.
 
I think the only thing I wish about Divine Gate was that he actually did kill his parents. Japan's stupid "BUT THEY'RE YOUR PAAAARRRREEEEENNNNTTTTSSSSS" trope is horrible and I think a show that had a dude who straight up killed his parents because they were pieces of shit that abused him and he didn't feel bad about it would be pretty boss. Like, they investigate his background and he just straight up is like:

Aoto: Nope, I killed them. Fuck em.
Green-haired Girl: But they're your parents!
Aoto: They put cigarettes out on my eyes
GHG: Well, I'm sure they loved you secretly.
Aoto: I had to pick razor blades out of my food every meal
GHG: B-b-b-ut murder is bad
Aoto: My dad put a knife against my throat and told me that every day he rolls two dice to decide if he kills me and it hasn't come up Snake Eyes yet
GHG: BLURF DURF PARENTS ARE GOD HERPA DOO
Aoto: My mom anally violated me with a crowbar then used it to rob a bank and my DNA was all over it so I was put into Deadman Wonderland.

Like, fuuuuuuuuuck his parents. I dunno if he's glad they're dead, but I am. I've only really seen seinen touch on stuff that isn't overt parent worship. At least Mirai Nikki had that going for it, fuck Yuno's parents. Glad they're dead.
 
hosannainexcelsis said:
I've only watched the first two episodes, but there's definitely something there: incredible backgrounds, attractive character designs, good character animation, well storyboarded action, a nice somber atmosphere in some scenes such as the conversation between Haruhito and the party leader at the beginning of episode 2. If Ranta and his lechery were removed, and ideally if there was better music, I'm pretty sure the resulting show would be something I could recommend.
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By episode 2 I would've agreed with that. I'd be surprised if you make it to episode 5 and say the same, though.
 
Majin Bone 9

When Shougo started punching the case in which Dragon Bone was being held out of frustration, I felt sure he would punch through it out of sheer willpower in a typical "shounen heart" fashion. But he didn't. Then he kind of did and was able to equip Dragon Bone and fight, but my expectations were betrayed as he and his fellow fighters continued to get bodied by the two enemies no matter how much willpower they summoned up. They were only saved by a just in time intervention by the researchers. I'm glad things turned out the way they did, not because I want to see the heroes defeated, but because it wouldn't feel right at this juncture to have them crush their enemies. They need to learn how to work as a team first.
 
So, Mailbox was kind enough to give me a Guest Pass for CrunchyRoll last night, so I ended up watching a few episode of Bleach and Naruto---some episodes I'd already seen and I was re-watching. I remember way back in the day there was a decent amount of viewers not happy with the subtitling in terms of translations. Is that any better? Or were people just being grumps to be grumps? I only ask because in the few episodes I watched there were a few lines that were like "Ehh......" and didn't quite fit right. Not many though! I'm trying to figure out if I'm being a grump, or if there are still some legitimate complaints about their translations.
 
Vincent Alexander said:
So, Mailbox was kind enough to give me a Guest Pass for CrunchyRoll last night, so I ended up watching a few episode of Bleach and Naruto---some episodes I'd already seen and I was re-watching. I remember way back in the day there was a decent amount of viewers not happy with the subtitling in terms of translations. Is that any better? Or were people just being grumps to be grumps? I only ask because in the few episodes I watched there were a few lines that were like "Ehh......" and didn't quite fit right. Not many though! I'm trying to figure out if I'm being a grump, or if there are still some legitimate complaints about their translations.
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Maybe that was just old episodes, its never been a problem the last years for Bleach and the many years for Naruto.
 
names2hard4you said:
If this is what the future of anime is going to be like, then I'm out LOL. It's just so jarring to see real human movements on cartoons.
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Really? I think it looks fantastic, personally. Rotoscoping is an expensive and time consuming process anyway, so it definitely would not replace regular animation in an industry as cheap as TV anime.
 
TUSR said:
this give me nightmares
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she on a pub crawl before that scene?

Anyways...

Precure 8

Even for kind of a stock monster of the week episode formula that the show has at the moment im still impressed by how consistent its animation is especially in regards to action-puts a lot shonen shows to shame.

Cute episode. The idea with the exchange diaries was nicely done. Nagisa using Honaka's fist name was the perfect way to end the episode.
 
Dedication Through Light said:
Maybe that was just old episodes, its never been a problem the last years for Bleach and the many years for Naruto.
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Hrm. That might be it? I watched episodes around 330 of Naruto and not much bothered me---it seemed pretty good. But I watched episodes 167-168 of Bleach, and there were multiple lines that made me go "Oof". But looking it up, I see that was back in 2008. Man, that makes me feel old....feels like it was just yesterday I was watching those episodes in college.
 
Is that from the im@s movie? Isn't that "technique" a little unnecessary?

I agree, throw TUSR into the Penalty Box for a 10 minute major.
 
Soultaker 13 END
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More proof that imoutos are bad and need to be banned from anime.

-----

This is one hell of a weird ass show and I have trouble not only with describing it but also with deciding quite how I feel about it. Even writing a simple plot summary is near impossible without making the story seem completely deranged (which it kinda is I guess) so I'll use everyone's beloved Mal here:
After the human colony on the moon was destroyed by disease, Kyousuke Date and his mother flee to Earth—separated from their family. They take refuge in a cathedral where his mother hides as a nun for reasons unknown to Kyousuke. After dangerous people find their sanctuary, his mother stabs him before she herself is murdered.

Days later, Kyousuke finds himself alive and in the house of a mysterious girl who claims to be his twin Runa—and she is not the only one! Runa suffered a similar fate at the hands of her adoptive mother; however her soul was divided into several pieces making "flicker girls" who are being hunted by the evil Kirihara Group. The reason Kyousuke survived: his body's DNA conformed to the disease and he is able to transform into a fearsome alien mutant known as the SoulTaker.
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Soultaker is kinda like a bizzaro mix of Hellsing and Shin Mazinger Z but with demons instead of vampires or robots (there still are some) Maybe with a sprinkle of Ergo Proxy too ? Given the abilities of the protagonist, his search for his past, the noir vibe and the use of Flicker/Proxy of the week for the considerable amount of time. (Ep 7 of this and 20th of EP struck me as really similar from what I can remember of the latter.) + of course Komugi, who with her slim role in this, I'm not quite sure how got a series of separate works centred on her. I'm also not quite sure how she managed to fit pretty well into this kind of narrative but once again - this is a weird ass show. I guess I'll have to check out her current show.

One thing I wanted to note and praise is the script which, while hammy in extreme and while I'm not a fan of where the last two eps went, was paced really well and never let one dour moment set in. Even the early episodes which always featured a "Flicker" of the week were kept interesting by keeping their role and importance highly variable and by keeping the plot revelations coming. I don't really want to sell this show as more than it is, in the end, I'd struggle to call it as more than "decent" but with its unique visuals and direction, the heavy noir vibe that dominates most of its runtime, it's an entry worth checking out when looking for some dumb entertainment.
 
phaze said:
Soultaker 13 END

Soultaker is kinda like a bizzaro mix of Hellsing and Shin Mazinger Z but with demons instead of vampires or robots (there still are some) Maybe with a sprinkle of Ergo Proxy too ? Given the abilities of the protagonist, his search for his past, the noir vibe and the use of Flicker/Proxy of the week for the considerable amount of time. (Ep 7 of this and 20th of EP struck me as really similar from what I can remember of the latter.) + of course Komugi, who with her slim role in this, I'm not quite sure how got a series of separate works centred on her. I'm also not quite sure how she managed to fit pretty well into this kind of narrative but once again - this is a weird ass show. I guess I'll have to check out her current show.
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It certainly was interesting seeing your trek through this show. Have to see just to figure out how the hell Komugi feature in it at all.

Also yeah give Nurse Witch Komugi a chance. Really charming, funny show that has such a bizarre in universe sets of logic. If you like magic girl shows it has has some nice meta parodies of tropes too.
 
Whew, so I've just finished the last episode of Majin Bone, and what a ride it was.

There's only one thing I really wanted to see, which didn't happen, so that was kind of a bummer. But on the other hand it's hard to hold it against the show because it would have went directly against its core theme, so... I feel conflicted.

I feel like I kinda have to do a proper writeup for this show, especially focusing on its CG. I've never really done that before and I think it might take a while... but we'll see.

In the meantime I'll just say that it was a really enjoyable show that accomplished everything that it set out to do.
 
brawly said:
Ako no Hana 5

Just burn the clothes already. Or throw them away. This is ridiculous.
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Saeki's gym clothes are a metaphor for a shameful, obsessive sin which you carry close by you: you hate it and wish you could be rid of it, but at the same time you can't bring yourself to give it up. Even if I can't sympathize with the particulars of Kasuga's situation, I can symphatize with his general psychological state.
 
Ace of the Diamond Second Season Episode 45 – The Field
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Did I mis where Harucchi knew or? Funny scene anyway, Eijun sticking up for Miyuki was nice to see.

shocked how Raichi just randomly fell apart there, Zono was really THAT scary but Miyuki wasn't, what?
 
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