• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Autumn Anime 2015 |OT| Like leaves on a tree… we’re falling one by one.

Status
Not open for further replies.

BGBW

Maturity, bitches.
Cinderella Girls End

BtJu5Qq.jpg


Hmmm… not really sure what to make of the ending to this. I think the word unfocused would best describe it. I've said before but while this show is entertaining, it didn't quite reach the heights of the original iM@S and this ending slightly cemented that fact. I actually watched the final episode (not counting the extra episode) of the original to compare and that has a much better and focused ending.

The show ends with the final performance of course, because that's the rule for every idol show ever animated and Cindy is no different. But funnily enough the concerts from Cindy and iM@S reflect my complaint of focus. In iM@S there was one stage with one performance; 765Pro. In Cindy there were multiple stages with multiple performances going on simultaneously made up of different units who sometimes even mixed themselves up. The show had to jump from one thing to another so we never really feel the story bringing everything we've experienced up to that point together.

Well, to be fair on them, they did try and bring things together by the end of the episode. In four different ways! First a where are they now scene, showing how they've grown, then a scene showing them all together with Producer-san, then a scene harking back to a scene at the beginning of episode one and then finally a scene where the main cast are the Cinderella Girls giving the Cinderella Girl performance seen in ep 1 to work as a kind of book end. Jump jump jump. It's like they couldn't decide how to end it so they just took all ideas on the table and put them together. That may have worked with DKC's Island Swing (little trivia: that was three different music demos joined together) but it doesn't work here and like I said, comes off unfocused.

And since we're on the topic of focus, it didn't help that all focus was almost all on New Generation. Now I have joked that iM@S is the Haruka show, but honestly, I think it did a good job of handling the complete cast and the final episode gaves each girl their fair share of attention. Oh no not here. If your favourite wasn't New Generation (like me) then tough luck buddy cos they may as well have been just an extra that only appeared in one episode previous since they got about the same amount of screen time as the extras. This is the final to celebrate the journey of the cast, yet it failed so badly to show the whole cast. This I feel is the biggest failure of it. Some of the story elements should have been tied up in previous episodes (heck I though we dealt with the New Gen drama in the last one) so this episode could focus on what it needed to be, an ending.

Basically, this episode didn't really feel like a good send off.

Also, a general point to end. The colour palette in the original is much brighter, with bold colours, whereas Cindy is actually quite drab/down to Earth. It kind of reflects that iM@S is a more fun show than Cindy and that's probably one of the reasons why I think it's overall the better of the two.

All in all, I was rather disappointed. I remember saying that if this was the only iDOM@STER anime I’d likely not have become a fan of the series and I stick by that. Don't get me wrong, you can easily watch it and enjoy it even if you're not familiar with the property, I mean technically I wasn't familiar with the Cindy Gal side of things before watching this, but iM@S is the better of the two at drawing people in, which, in some ways, is the job of an anime.

Oh yeah and the music isn’t as great, but I guess they naturally want to keep all the best tunes for the main series and not the spinoff. Though luckily they didn’t include a lot of the image songs they’ve released for some of the girls. I’ve played the new Cindy Gal rhythm game and boy are some of them bad.

Also I guess you want an idol ranking as that’s kind of a tradition. First is Miku and then it’s the rest. Funny how after the first episode I thought, ‘boy, a girl who says “nya” all the time, that sure won’t get tiring after a while(!)’. Amazing what a varied personality and expressions can do to turn your opinion around.

So all in all, where’s my final episode that actually rounds things up?

And all in all, where was Kate?

 

JulianImp

Member
TV channels have certain standards for the level of violent and sexual content they allow to be broadcast, so if there are shows which go over the limits they have to be censored for airing.

I know, but I was just saying that it was yet another thing shows with fanservice could get money from, but then again it probably happens only to shows where ecchi is the main selling point in the first place (like TLR) since I haven't seen any non-ecchi shows that actually used fanservice scenes that required censoring in the first place.

And that just reminded me of the censored scenes where Jotaro was shown smoking in the latest season of Jojo, which makes sense given Jotaro's supposed age but was still funny as hell since he sure doesn't look like a minor.
 
K - Return of Kings - 02

I continue to be impressed how consistently good this show looks visually and how good the soundtrack is. Can't say I cared too much about what was happening this episode, but I always have to chuckle everytime something sparkles, so I guess I'm still entertained all the time, lol.
They should just hurry up and bring Shiro back, though. He's a much needed counter balance to all the seriousness.

But he is now the most serious person on the cast. I dont know how shiro would go back to pre Silver King shiro.
 

Russ T

Banned
And that just reminded me of the censored scenes where Jotaro was shown smoking in the latest season of Jojo, which makes sense given Jotaro's supposed age but was still funny as hell since he sure doesn't look like a minor.

Also really awkward since that's a big part of his character. They even have a huge gag about it at one point (although in that specific instance it isn't actually Jotaro).

Censored shit really annoys me when I'm an adult and am paying for a stream. ):
 

JulianImp

Member
Also really awkward since that's a big part of his character. They even have a huge gag about it at one point (although in that specific instance it isn't actually Jotaro).

Censored shit really annoys me when I'm an adult and am paying for a stream. ):

Still, I can't blame them for releasing the same censored version for simulcasts since removing them black bars and publishing a separate episode for streaming services is probably not worth it, and might also undermine their DVD/BD sales.
 

Russ T

Banned
Still, I can't blame them for releasing the same censored version for simulcasts since removing them black bars and publishing a separate episode for streaming services is probably not worth it, and might also undermine their DVD/BD sales.

Yeah, I get it, but also the fact that it's available for streaming already undermines their sales, soooo I still hate them for it!
 
Heavy Object Episode 3

Loved the first. Qwenthur and Havia make this the best military series animated. I need more of it. More of the humans v Objects is definitely worthwhile.

Also again the future in science fiction continues to follow along with that age old syllogism.

All machines eventually fail. A heavy object is a machine. Therefore, a heavy object will eventually fail
 
Noragami Aragato 03

Yukine may be a little shit but he has a point about Bishamonten. Anyway, this season is kind of boring me. Also I'm really not sure just what purpose Hiyori serves in this story anymore.

Oh and this Doctor is a terrible villain. He seems to only exist so that there is a clear evil guy because Bishamonten isn't evil. Whats up with generically evil doctors that are obviously evil making bad villains? Is this guy a last action hero too?

iDOLM@STER Cinderella Girls END

Really odd (bad) decision to have that New Generations song's visuals just be a bunch of flashbacks. I didn't like that at all.

Overall I mostly agree with what BGBW said - too much going on. I didn't really feel resolution when everyone got skipped besides New Gens and the show didn't know how to end it so it just ended up kind of confusing. The show was good at handling all these characters before so to drop the ball (no pun intended) right here when it matters most? Sad. This really should've been a two parter or an extended length episode...but we all know how BBB turned out so guess not. Overall though I did like the show quite a bit, enough for me to eventually watch the original Im@s and Love Live. HERETICAL, I KNOW.

Anastasia and Ranko were my favorites. Ranko is like, the only chuunifuck I actually have ever liked.
 

javac

Member
Some nice looking Italian Ghibli Steelbooks. Out November 11th.
Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind
Run Time: 117 min
Audio: Italian: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0, Japanese: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
Subtitles: Italian
Audio Commentary: Japanese: 2.0 with Italian subtitles
Format: BD
EXTRA CONTENT: The storyboard (picture in picture), Audio commentary (Hideaki Anno & Kazuyoshi Katayama), Trailer & commercials.
vuZjCRS.jpg


Laputa - Castle in the Sky
Run Time: 125 min
Audio: Italian: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0, Italian: Dolby Digital 2.0, Japanese: Dolby Digital 2.0
Subtitles: Italian
Format: BD
EXTRA CONTENT: The storyboard, Original Trailer, Trailer, Promotional Video.
tmYQFj6.jpg


My Neighbor Totoro
Run Time: 87 min
Audio: Italian: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0, Japanese: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
Subtitles: Italian
Format: BD
ADDITIONAL CONTENTS: Trailer, The storyboard (HD), promotional video, TV Spot.
5Vtj81f.jpg


Kiki's Delivery Service
Run time: 103 min
Audio: Italian: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0, Japanese: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
Subtitles: Italian
Format: BD
ADDITIONAL CONTENTS: Trailer, The Storyboard (HD), The paintings of Ursula.
lzViFEs.jpg


Porco Rosso
Run Time: 93 min
Audio: Italian: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0, Japanese: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
Subtitles: Italian
Format: BD
ADDITIONAL CONTENTS: Trailer, Interview with Toshio Suzuki, Storyboard (HD).
JM2tIWp.jpg


Princess Mononoke
Run Time: 133 min
Audio: Italian: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, Japanese: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Subtitles: Italian
Format: BD
ADDITIONAL CONTENTS: Mononoke in USA, Storyboard (HD) Trailer.
w8VopSY.jpg


Spirited Away
Run Time: 125 min
Audio: Italian: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, Japanese: DTS-HD Master Audio 6.1
Subtitles: Italian
Format: BD
EXTRA CONTENT: The Storyboard (HD), the original spot.
ytxBnfp.jpg


Howl's Moving Castle
Run Time: 119 min
Audio: Italian: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, Japanese: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Subtitles: Italian
Format: BD
EXTRA CONTENT: The storyboard, Trailer, Interview with Diana Wynne Jones, Miyazaki visits Pixar.
RayMlTx.jpg


Ponyo
Run Time: 101 min
Audio: Italian: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, Japanese: Dolby Digital 6.1
Subtitles: Italian, Spanish, English
Format: BD
EXTRA CONTENT: The storyboard, Karaoke, presentation of theme, dubbing sessions, Official presentation of public debut, Interview with director, Dialogue: Toshio Suzuki - Toshio Tsuchiya, Five genius craftsmen, Pearls of wisdom of the director Hayao Miyazaki, Videotapes singing the theme, Trailer Italian. Subtitles Extras: Italian.
IELMOM9.jpg


The Wind Rises
Run Time: 127 min
Audio: Italian: DTS-HD Master Audio 1.0, Japanese: DTS-HD Master Audio 1.0
Subtitles: Italian
Format: BD
EXTRA CONTENT: The storyboard, Press Conference.
epkc1PC.jpg
 
Noragami Aragoto 03

Ugh this doctor man. Just kick his damned already. This guy is little by little getting things his way and it's annoying the shit out of me lol. I'm interested in seeing more of Yato's past too. Hope we get a flashback to show just what the heck made Bishamon so upset with him.
 

javac

Member
Live action talk I know but Guillermo Del Totoro talks a bit about the Monster live action adaptation. Still a thing I guess.

Can you give me an update on the status of 'Monster' project for HBO?

Guillermo del Toro: We are going to other companies to pitch it and see if anyone wants to do it. We finished writing a couple of the episodes, and so we have a sampler. We're going to go and see what happens with that, but very likely that will happen somewhere next year.

It's still at HBO?

Guillermo del Toro: No, it's out of HBO, and now we're going to take it to other places but it's not active active until we pitch it.
http://www.latino-review.com/news/exclusive-talking-crimson-peak-with-guillermo-del-toro
 
Noragami Aragato 3
Somewhat enjoyable tension though yeah a lot of the problems could have been talked out. The doctor is alright but he is so blatantly evil and I could figure out part of his twist after he used the phantoms. The gothic girl is pretty bad though

Noragami Aragato 03

Yukine may be a little shit but he has a point about Bishamonten. Anyway, this season is kind of boring me. Also I'm really not sure just what purpose Hiyori serves in this story anymore.

Hiyori seems to serve the purpose of grounding the series with some mortal perspective. Also probably the main reason Yato hasn't disappeared canonically. And with the ending of this episode,
a damsel in distress
 

Quasar

Member
ANN has a interview with the director of Pilots Love Song, and at least one question I had got answered.

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/int...ot-love-song-director-toshimasa-suzuki/.94287

From Zensunni: I really enjoyed “The Pilot's Love Song,” including the ending, which left many things unresolved yet seemed an appropriate place to stop the series. However, I have often thought that it would be nice to see more of the story. Are there any plans, or even hopes, to make a sequel TV series, OVA, or movie?

We followed the original work for the anime's ending. We did consider depicting a more resolved conclusion to the story, but we arrived at this ending because we thought that we could wrap up the story neatly if we left things up to the audience's imagination. At the moment there are no talks of making a movie adaptation, but we do hope for such an opportunity.

And here to me it felt like a deliberate halfway point. I wonder if theres sequel books that tell the other half.
 
Garo: Guren no Tsuki 02

Hey I ended up watching this anyway because I suck.

I dunno. It's not very good. I find myself not caring about what is happening. Seems Friday is busy again, so I might give this one more chance but as it stands I am unimpressed.

Lupin the Third 2015 03

Starting to wonder how many times I can say "Yeah this looks good but it's not that interesting" before it becomes a backhanded compliment.

Next episode does look interesting, though.
 
GARO: Crimson Moon Episode 2.
127.gif

Guys, I think this show is gonna kill me.

The first season of Garo was fucking awesome. I paused to reflect on this season, and how it compared to the quality of the first two episodes of the first....

And this....this isn't doing it for me. It's not terrible, it just has none of the flavor the first season had. It's a flavorless meal that's easy to consume, but leaves no lasting taste in your mouth. The exposition and fight scenes are all forceful, and lacking the charm of the original season.

It doesn't help that the show is seriously dull to look at in comparison to the first season. This might be the first Mappa show that visually just doesn't have any flare to it. It's not a good sign that we're only in the second episode, and parts of it look unfinished. I mean, LOOK AT THIS!

download.png

Even the worst looking episode of the first season, never looked this bad.

This show is gonna hurt me the same way the second season of Psych-Pass did.
 

Moaradin

Member
Garo season 2 is killing me. The first show was a slow build, but it was pretty damn good by the end of it. What the hell happened?
 

fertygo

Member
I know I had bad feel when Seimei presence is the only thing that felt right at eps 1.

Oh well the Alfonso's arc ended conclusively and being my AOTY, btw is we still getting the movie?
 
I know I had bad feel when Seimei presence is the only thing that felt right at eps 1.

Oh well the Alfonso's arc ended conclusively and being my AOTY, btw is we still getting the movie?

Yeah, they are making a film version for the first series I think. Also tons of live action stuff.
 

Jarmel

Banned
Crimson Moon had the worst looking episode of all the shows I've seen this season. Even worse than Lances N' Lolis. That's impressive.

I know I had bad feel when Seimei presence is the only thing that felt right at eps 1.

Oh well the Alfonso's arc ended conclusively and being my AOTY, btw is we still getting the movie?

Yea.

Yeah, they are making a film version for the first series I think. Also tons of live action stuff.

It's new material for the first season, so probably a sequel.
 
The first season of Garo had awesome Horror designs. They were great. They had an executioner horror that had guillotines for arms. It had a blacksmith horror that literally forged a sword in itself. It had a doctor horror that humorously cured patients before killing them.

So far two episodes in, we've had a generic statue monster, and a weird bug thing...

download_1.png

This is the most clear shot of it in the episode. It's like they're embarrassed to show it to us.


I know I had bad feel when Seimei presence is the only thing that felt right at eps 1.

Oh well the Alfonso's arc ended conclusively and being my AOTY, btw is we still getting the movie?

Yes we are still getting the movie. Hopefully, they bring back the original staff for that.
 
Heavy Object 3
The dialogue in this continues to be embarrassing bad, even by the standards of your typical LN adaptation. I can't help but cringe at all of the incredibly unnatural speech designed to hammer home every idea, theme, and point of exposition this show bothers to put in.
 
So the new Tokyo Ghoul OVA came out, and it really shouldn't surprise you to hear that it's pretty rushed.

They cram 7 chapters in 30 minutes, which is pretty short for an OVA. Some scenes/characters are cut completely.

That said, the music and animation are apparently of good quality.
 

kewlmyc

Member
Ushio and Tora 16

I guess we finally get introduced to Ushio's berserker mode. Feels like every battle shounen has one. It's fine, since they're usually hype, but it gets predicable after a while. I will give it credit that Ushio and Tora were around before the modern shonen made it stale. Also, lol at every girl needing to get naked at some point. I think the plane chick is the only exception so far. 90's shounen, so it's not really surprising I guess. Still better than Parasyte's treatment of girls.
 

Mr.Jeff

Member
Toddled off to see Animator Expo at the filmhouse today. Mostly a pretty rad time. Missed the Q&A session at the end but couple of nuggets from Ishikawa who directed Me!Me!Me!:
- It's uses the Japanese pronounciation of "Me" rather than the English
- When he was told to make some thing originally 4.5 minutes long, he wrote a draft that filled 10 minutes and was only the introduction so he took the main bits from that and made the film which explains why it feels a bit incoherent.
- Perhaps nerves but he never really seemed to want to go into explanation about what he intended it to be about.

Pretty sure I saw DiGiKerot so no doubt he can provide better notes than I.

Rankings of the shorts:
- Dragon Dentist - Really enjoyed this. Some great imagery. Gets the job done in the time allotted

- Me!Me!Me! - Anxious about this since when it was out it was just people spamming the gifs and webms and pointing out the tits. Ended up enjoying it a lot. A wonderful rush of fast shots and a really great song. Pretty depressing though.

- Carnage - Loved the look of this. Lovely style. Another short which nails all the points it wants to and finishes when it needs.

- Until you come to me - Some fantastic looking stills but I found it rather lacking. Probably more of a thought piece for people who care about Evangelion.

- Yamadeloid - Bright and colourful and overall really enjoyable. Some CG stuck out in places though. Great fun.

- Power Plant 33 - Wonderful concept but some of the scenes with the monster and robot looked a bit clunky. Some people mentioned they want more but I think it's a perfect standalone.

- Kanon - This was a rush. Maeda mentioned this was one of his favourite authours and it shows. Pretty dense with the information at times but very enjoyable.

- Evangelion:Another impact - Torn between thinking it looked impressive and thinking that everything still had an unnatural amount of light shining on everything at all times. Glossy finish Eva though is barf.

- Sex and Violence with Machspeed - Visually it's a frenetic treat which I expected. Content wise it was dreadful. It feels like the type of humour for people who laugh at shows where the catch is people saying "fuck" over and over.

- Hammerhead - I'm not one for superhero style ideas at all but this was fantastic. Depressingly grim without crossing over to the absurd.

- Comedy Hitmen - Awakward CG car to start with. Enjoyable gag routine otherwise.

- Bubu and Bubulina - Hmmmmm. Initially cold on the designs but I grew to the whole style by the end. Kinda feels odd as a concept. Bit too trippy for the young, bit too basic for the old. But perhaps the youth need something bizarre like this. Hmmm.

- I can Friday by day! - Great concept but I feel it was paced improperly. By the time you get a handle on the concepts presented, the short has finished and you have to work backwards from events. Really creative though.

- Tomorrow From There - Charming music video about seemingly a city girl out of her depth in (not) Tokyo. I'm probably dense but the catalyst from being out of her depth to suddenly making it in the big city and enjoying life seemed to have been lost on me.

Tomorrow: Miss Hokusai, Empire of Corpses and The Case of Alice and Hana.
 
Noragami Aragato continues to be at its best when it revolves around Yukine plots. This whole arc is finally somewhat comparable to his best moments in s1. First time Ive been emotionally moved this season so far.
 

Phatmac

Member
Anyone got a total count for how many times shit kid Yukine has cried? I'm surprised no one has been suspicious of the doctor has he screams untrustworthy to me from his interactions so far. I wish this season has more funny Yato moments as they're the best part of the show. It's sad to see how far Hiyori has fallen to bring a damsel in distress as I hoped her UFC love would make her a mixed martial artist instead of another love interest that needs to be saved. Hoping the Bisahmon stuff is dealt with soon as she isn't the interesting so far.
 

Canon

Banned
I know how you feel dude. Kawai Complex is my most wanted second season ever. Anyways heres some recommendations kinda like it.

Kimi no Todoke
My Love Story
Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun
Free
Lovely Complex
Barakamon
Azumanga Daioh
Nichijou
And Baccano since you liked Durararararara
Oh thanks I'll check them out
 
K Return of Kings Episode 3

The big plot development was very expected and pretty much strongy suggested and highly implied from even episode one. In any case beyond that, I love the continuing SaruMi developments and them once again having to face a powerful foe.
tumblr_nwbszjmlXn1rhe90to1_400.gif
tumblr_nwbszjmlXn1rhe90to2_400.gif
 

Mailbox

Member
God damn it, I haven't been posting here nearly enough :/


Ok, Opinion dump i guess.

Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet 1- 13[End] + specials.

Overall the series was a fun ride. Could have used a lil less CG since i really enjoyed some of the artwork this show provided. The twists are definitely a love it or hate it sort of deal. One of the twists has a better explanation and context in the second special, which I do recommend. The first special is straight filler though. That said, its not bad.

The fights are good, the character drama/dilemmas are good as well. Cast was fun with the exception of Pinion, who is a total dick-face.

Overall, I recommend it. I haven't watched the sequel OVA's yet, and I probably won't for some time.


Ushio & Tora 1-16

Okay. okay okay okay.

While I was watching this show, 1 thought kept coming about. "This show is really unrefined".

The art is Great, the action works, and I like the characters, but damn if episode and story structure leave a lot to be desired. It just feels off when you binge watch it. I think that this could be a great thing as a Saturday morning dub like I used to watch when i was younger (do they even do those anymore?).

I like the show, but it feels disjointed somehow. A whole that is slightly lesser than its parts, you could say.

I'll keep watching since i enjoy it, but those are my two cents.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top Bottom