Support NeoGAF

[Deputy Dangle]

Rozen Maiden (2013) - 2
This is the opposite of what I imagined Rozen Maiden would be like, but the gloomy tone and attention to detail really appeal to me when they are given such care. I won't be the first to voice my concern with the introduction of some of the other dolls though. Hopefully, the show will stay close to the strong atmosphere present in the second episode going forward.

 

[Quasar]

'cuz I'm out of Bunny Drop to wash away the rest of Astral Seven.

I'd suggest Aishiteruze Baby if you can get it. I actually liked this more than Usagi Drop, despite its crappier animation, and I loved Usagi Drop.

 

[firehawk12]

Well...things are starting to settle already.

Watching
Tamayura S2

Yay!

 

[Quasar]

Yay!

Its weird. I really don't know how to describe Tamayura aside from pleasant. And that town is just so umm cuddly. Makes me feel all warm and fuzzy. Would love to live there. Though most of the time it seems so very oddly depopulated given the number of buildings.

 

[EvilKatarn]

Dropped
Watamote

What are you doing

 

[firehawk12]

Its weird. I really don't know how to describe Tamayura aside from pleasant. And that town is just so umm cuddly. Makes me feel all warm and fuzzy. Would love to live there. Though most of the time it seems so very oddly depopulated given the number of buildings.

That's basically SatoJun. Aria was like that, One Off was like that, Croisse was like that, and even Umi Monogatari was like that. Add a touch of melancholy, some sakura blossoms, and you have perfect :firehawk.

 

[Quasar]

What are you doing

Dropping awful crap that has no entertainment value.

 

[RurouniZel]

Sounds like you would have loved this sequence of posts:

Wow, that's a pretty amazing string of posts! XD

Yea you missed a lot of the nuances of the game.

I don't think I did to be honest. I was looking for nuance and did not find, but again differences in opinion and all that.

I spoiled myself to the story so now I dont need to play it!

Probably for the best, the gameplay isn't that much to write home about.

 

[PorcellainThrill]

Dropping awful crap that has no entertainment value.

Well, Watamote is plenty entertaining though.

 

[Quasar]

That's basically SatoJun. Aria was like that, One Off was like that, Croisse was like that, and even Umi Monogatari was like that. Add a touch of melancholy, some sakura blossoms, and you have perfect :firehawk.

Yeah. It does remind me of One Off. I have wondered if its simply a animation budget issue and whether its saying something about the town.

 

[Quasar]

Well, Watamote is plenty entertaining though.

Well based on episode 1 I just found it painful. If I wanted to watch that sort of character I'd be watching Snafu, which was a 100 times more entertaining. She and the show is such a downer that she'd be someone I'd avoid.

 

[Regulus Tera]

Its weird. I really don't know how to describe Tamayura aside from pleasant. And that town is just so umm cuddly. Makes me feel all warm and fuzzy. Would love to live there. Though most of the time it seems so very oddly depopulated given the number of buildings.

You've discovered what iyashikei anime is.

EDIT:

Idol culture.

 

[Basileus777]

Well based on episode 1 I just found it painful. If I wanted to watch that sort of character I'd be watching Snafu, which was a 100 times more entertaining. She and the show is such a downer that she'd be someone I'd avoid.

Don't let them get you down, I dropped it too.

 

[sonicmj1]

Kiniro Mosaic 2

So I guess there isn't going to be all that much more language stuff. Ah well. I wish I could speak Japanese as well as Alice does.

I'd complain about the grammatical mistake in saying "She has been to London three years ago," but that's actually not that uncommon for Japanese teachers.

I liked the 4koma comedy in this episode more than comparable stuff in Servant x Service, perhaps because it seemed like it cohered into an actual storyline a lot better. I liked that the show seems well aware of the contradiction in Shinobu's supposed love of foreigners and her complete inability to learn English, and I empathized with Alice's concerns that other Japanese people were treating her like a child/strange other being. They just need some people to be shocked that she knows how to handle chopsticks.

In what feels like a pretty weak season so far, this might end up being my favorite show.

 

[cajunator]

Kinmoza! 01

The Engrish was messing with me because it actually was some of the best engrish I've ever heard, but the accent was still very obvious, so I really couldn't get into it. But the series is super cute and adorable and:

This show is next to the word ADORABLE in the dictionary. The engrish puts it over the top.

The Eleventh Episode

Spoiler

Finding out that you have been trapped in an endless time loop, doomed to watch the one person you can call your friend die again and again and again as it slowly kills you sucks. Finding out that all of your efforts to escape this cycle and the cycle itself are in fact the very reason why the Devil wants your friend's soul and causes you to suffer so much, or in other words discovering that the cycle itself is the reason for the cycle is twisting a salted knife in a mortal wound. Being praised by the Devil for doing him so great a favor is the salted knife being attached to a knee and driven into your groin.

I mean, damn. Just, damn.

I get that what Kyube is saying about treating mankind better than cattle has its point in that the contracts are made in respect of mankind's sentience, however it falls apart not simply because Kyube deceives people until they make them and actively pressures them into doing so, but also because Kyube apparently cannot turn someone into a Magical Girl against their will. Otherwise he'd have done it to Madoka by now. In other words, Kyube isn't offering the contract out of respect for mankind's sentience, but because he cannot accomplish his goal any other way. And all of this is without getting into the point that mankind would never elect to slaughter all the world's livestock wholesale just because he was plenty full today.

I think Kyube just implied that Cleopatra was a Magical Girl? And Joan of Arc? Who's next, Eve? Just come out and say that the seduction of Eve was Kyube offering her a Magical Girl contract, and that the Forbidden Fruit was a Soul Gem. Do it. Oh, and there's "Don't blame us, blame yourself or God."

Kyube makes a good point about wishing for things that are outside of the bounds of reason being inevitably bound for bad things. And while I reject that because it is wholly pessimistic, I can't help but ask: why doesn't Kyube see the irony in what he is saying? The girls all wish for something unreal and contrary to the natural flow of the world. Isn't his alleged quest to save the universe from dying out also wishing for something against the natural course of things?

Also on the list of things Kyube lied about: He told Madoka that one day mankind would leave the Earth for the stars and that it would be a shame if there was no universe there for mankind to see. Yet he tells Homura that Madoka will destroy the world. So basically he made that whole "Mankind leaving the earth" thing up.

Kyube hails from a planet where emotion is considered a mental disorder. His people were surprised to find humanity full of emotions. Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't surprise an emotion? What kind of bar has a painting of the Sistine Chapel hanging above the bar?

Come to think of it, if Madoka wins, she becomes the new Witch King. If Homura wins, won't she do the same? Meaning that Madoka will still have to become the Witch King? This is kind of a scary "no way out" situation.

Well so much for going to bed without seeing the end of the series.



I'll probably wind up doing it once in a while, but I don't wanna do it every episode of the rage shows. I dunno. I'm going to try.

Its so...faustian! Youre lucky to be watching it so soon after the last episode because we had to wait months >_

It's so cute though. Don't you want to give it a belly rub?

Yes

Being meguca is suffering

I wish this guy had made a full song instead of just one verse

This is still the greatest thing to come out of Madoka Magica.

Sailor Mars 10

I didn't expect Rei to show up this soon considering how long it took for Ami to appear.



Dammit Usagi, you're not fit to be a main. Anywho, it appears that Rei is capable of sensing evil spirits considering she's a shrine maiden, so she might have this as her advantage, much like how Ami is smart, and Usagi.... is Usagi I guess.

Luckily for us, Mars is also capable of killing Youmas, so it won't be a complete Moon fest after all

Is Rei DTF Tuxedo Mask? Ooooh snap.

Unfortunately Jupiter takes a good while to show up.

Nintendo also brought the FGC together, so I guess Nintendo is like SAO. Of course now I'm going to have to write off 20 years worth of my life.

Oh god. Not like this. Not like this.

 

[R_thanatos]

Hunter X Hunter - 88

Isn't that exactly what it means ?

This episode was kinda slow in his pacing , reminding me dangerously how slow things could be in the "old" hxh anime.
It's still not as bad , but they could have gone faster if they wanted to.
Now the trade-off is a much better , or should i say "polished" view on things to be sure that the viewer is aware of the stakes.

The added scene on

Spoiler

kaito state

& the third guard wasn't bad. Now next week should be a much intresting view on Nen, culmulating with the end of the waiting game.

 

[Gintoki313]

Blood Lad - Episode 2

Even though it was pretty short, the battle animations look really good. If this anime has a whole bunch of fighting in it then I'm more then gamed to watch this. The comedy on the other hand I'm not sure about anymore since I can't recall anything funny happening. Though as long as the action keeps up and they at least try a few comedy sketches every once in a while, I'll keep watching.

Most of the characters in the OP looks interesting anyways.

 

[Narag]

Amazon Gold Box has some Dragonball, Black Lagoon, FMA Brotherhood, and Hellsing Ultimate pretty cheap today.

 

[Alucrid]

Just watched Kickheart. It was enjoyable, worth the couple bucks I put towards it.

 

[Shard]

Dropping awful crap that has no entertainment value.

Good eye here.

 

[cajunator]

The Final Episode

I'm just gonna say if

Spoiler

Madoka doesn't use her wish

to do something big like

Spoiler

wish away all the evil and Kyube and this whole nightmare

I'm probably gonna be disappointed in her.

And. Here. We. GO!

Spoiler

So Madoka uses her wish to become Jesus and stops the devil's plan, changes the entire name of the game, and saves the souls of all Magical Girls and all of mankind and the entire universe in the process. It's a fair enough ending, but I guess I just REEEEEEEEALLY wanted to see Kyube get beaten up one more time. I get that Madoka's victory over him was an ideological one, that her plan was fundamentally kinder and better than his, even though it required that one sacrificial lamb's suffering for all.

In fact, I think that that is what I did enjoy most about the ending. Kyube taunts Madoka in the previous episode that humanity is only slightly better than cattle, and that all of its civilizations are built upon the backs of the suffering of many, and so what great loss are the souls of a few girls along the way? Madoka takes Kyube's taunt and uses it to utterly usurp him. She shows the worth of even just one girl by making her own sacrifice to save them all and end his designs once and for all.

Permitting me to wax religious for a moment, Kyube really does function as Satan. He claims that mankind would still be in the cave if not for him. Which would be true, from a certain point of view. The cave of ignorance that the Garden of Eden was would have held man forever if not for the devil's interference. And so intertwined was the cycle of sin and grief in man's history that it would not be unfair of Satan to suggest that, from a certain point of view, he was man's guide, who had inspired him to do great things and without whom much of history would be different.

Madoka, then, fills in as Jesus by making the sacrifice of herself to put an end to Kyube's plan. Just as Christianity considers the devil present post crucifixion, there's Kyube as well. He's even there to taunt Madoka as she begins to suffer for what she's done. Madoka, in turn, promises her best friend (Peter or James or Homura) that it is too early to give up hope of her eventual return.

I'm not saying that this parallel was fully intended by the people who made the show, but it certainly can be drawn. That said, I still would've liked to see someone smear the floor with that cat rabbit cretin one last time.

It's certainly been a wild, wild ride. The only question now is what to watch next? Do I try and take another crack at Glass Fleet? Or do I just go ahead and watch Casshern Sins?

Congratulations!
Watch Arjuna

 

[Shard]

Yea, only watch Casshern Sins if you feel like getting depressed, also hide the sharp objects.

 

[e_i]

Kin'iro Mosiac episode 2

This show is going to kill me before it ends.

Monogatari Second Season episode 2

Shinbo delivers.

Symphogear G episode 2

Can't we all get along?

Spoiler

Hibiki's power is holding hands? Holy shit! Also, the "villains" seem like the typical "We've been manupilated by an evil person but we don't know we're being manupilated.." The "villains" need befriending.

Servant x Service episode 2

Revenge of the IMOUTO.

 

[Turin Turambar]

Hunter X Hunter - 88



This episode was kinda slow in his pacing , reminding me dangerously how slow things could be in the "old" hxh anime.
It's still not as bad , but they could have gone faster if they wanted to.

This part is a relatively slow part by nature, in the manga it was the same. Alas, next episode will be the two fights, and then soon enough they will return to fight the Ants.

 

[nintendoman58]

The Final Episode

It's certainly been a wild, wild ride. The only question now is what to watch next? Do I try and take another crack at Glass Fleet? Or do I just go ahead and watch Casshern Sins?

You have achieved a great victory! Enjoy it. It may be a while before you experience something like Madoka again.

If I had to suggest your next show, I'd suggest Fairy Tail if you liked Slayers (I only saw the first episode of Slayers, and it reminded me a lot of that). Only problem is, it's 175 episodes and somewhat of a Shounen. But other than that, it's a pretty damn good fantasy adventure.

 

[R_thanatos]

This part is a relatively slow part by nature, in the game it was the same. Alas, next episode will be the two fights, and then soon enough they will return to fight the Ants.

Manga you mean ?

i realise that this part was slow, it's that they could have made it faster if they wanted to.
Now i hope they don't waste 1 episode for each fight, because now that will be being slow on purpose.

 

[KirbYuuYuu]

Ah, Corvo started Casshern Sins? How many episodes does he plan on doing a day?

 

[cnet128]

If I had to suggest your next show, I'd suggest Fairy Tail if you liked Slayers (I only saw the first episode of Slayers, and it reminded me a lot of that). Only problem is, it's 175 episodes and somewhat of a Shounen. But other than that, it's a pretty damn good fantasy adventure.

"Somewhat"? Fairy Tail is the shoneniest of shonens that ever shonened to shonen =p

 

[R_thanatos]

"Somewhat"? Fairy Tail is the shoneniest of shonens that ever shonened to shonen =p

Not sure i'm following you here, are you saying that fairy tail is a shonen ?

Spoiler

It's a joke post , don't reply seriously

 

[nintendoman58]

"Somewhat"? Fairy Tail is the shoneniest of shonens that ever shonened to shonen =p

I say "somewhat" because while it has all the elements of a Shounen, it's not up there with Bleach or One Piece according to others.

That and I've never seen a Shounen involving wizards, magic, and fancy spells as the basis for the entire world, so I like to say that Fairy Tail is Shounen anime's weird cousin.

 

[Turin Turambar]

Manga you mean ?

Yes. I'm drunk. Or something.

 

[R_thanatos]

I say "somewhat" because while it has all the elements of a Shounen, it's not up there with Bleach or One Piece according to others.

That and I've never seen a Shounen involving wizards, magic, and fancy spells as the basis for the entire world, so I like to say that Fairy Tail is Shounen anime's weird cousin.

i think that's the forte of fairy tail actually ... the world of fairy tail has a sense of adventure that is painfully absent in shonens ( except hxh ) while having a shonen based sense of action.

The way the author just decides to do something crazy almost on a whim for the setting is the main reason why i enjoy fairy tail ..

That and erza scarlet

Another cool things in fairy tail is that powerlevels are void ( despite being a shonen ).. this also please me greatly.

 

[Turin Turambar]

Kick-Heart.

Eh. It has the skeleton of a wacky, funny, heart warming story, but it's too condensed, too brief. I'm not asking for a 2 hour movie or a series, but I think a 30 min. short would be the ideal format, in 11 minutes (when you quit the credits) they barely have any time to establish the very basic beats of the story.

 

[Kurita]

Watching
Nothing

 

[Taruranto]

Gankutsuou #23

That was rather, uh, cheesy as fuck.

 

[zeroshiki]

Watching
Nothing

You should watch Ama-chan

Best show in years.

 

[cnet128]

Watching
Nothing

 

[SDBurton]

I love you dude. You have such enthusiasm and passion for this stuff.

Thanks man.

That scene was sooo good!

 

[Kurita]

You should watch Ama-chan



Best show in years.

I really want to but there are no subs

 

[e_i]

Hyperdimension Neptunia episode 1

Slimes love molesting young girls, don't they?

Spoiler

The plot is different from the games. I didn't want to be spoiled anyway.

It was okay. Nep Nep is still Nep Nep. I hope there's a shit load of yuri subtext in this. There better be.

 

[zeroshiki]

I really want to but there are no subs

Really? Its super popular. I would have thought someone would have taken it on eventually. Its also not something that lends to "winging it" because the main character speaks in the Tohoku dialect.

Although I guess it makes sense. I don't think anyone has ever subbed an Asadora before because the amount of work must be insane (6 episodes a week). Amachan is at episode 91 and its only been 3+ months.

 

[darkside31337]

Hyperdimension Neptunia episode 1

Slimes love molesting young girls, don't they?

Spoiler

The plot is different from the games. I didn't want to be spoiled anyway.

It was okay. Nep Nep is still Nep Nep. I hope there's a shit load of yuri subtext in this. There better be.

Theres a lot in the games, especially between IF x Compa and Nepgear x Uni. Hopefully the anime delivers!

 

[Kurita]

Really? Its super popular. I would have thought someone would have taken it on eventually. Its also not something that lends to "winging it" because the main character speaks in the Tohoku dialect.

Although I guess it makes sense. I don't think anyone has ever subbed an Asadora before because the amount of work must be insane (6 episodes a week). Amachan is at episode 91 and its only been 3+ months.

Yeah, morning dramas never get subbed...
Oh well, since I'm learning Japanese maybe one day I won't need subs...

 

[R_thanatos]

DokiDoki precure 24

Well so far dokidoki precure works much better when they aren't trying to be too serious.

So ...
Cure Ace arrived in the group , but not as a member , she is there as the hermit , the sage putting them on the right path.

You bet she is not !

I do love how she managed to look serious and giving such words with cream on her face and still being serious. Kudos to you , i'm beginning to like you more as time passes ...and this episode proved beyond a doubt my suspicions about her whereabouts. The hint is that they don't show her whereabouts , nor do they try to explain them... and all of this appeared conveniently when the princess went into hiding ... nice work toei , but you're making it a little too obvious.

Oh i forgot , this episode was about makopi, that was full of doubts , this just show how little work she actually did when

- she was unable to make a decision herself , she needed a talk with the princess ( really )
- While her speech was alright , the spotlight was taken by cure ace , again ( buy the toys BTW )

Meh , makopi wasn't where she needed to be for this episode , why didn't she fight ? Where is the renewed teamwork ? Where is my new animation ( didn't she free herself form her doubt ? she even had a light aura around herself )

Rich Cure powa.

Now this episode wasn't bad , in fact i'm very hyped by sebastien , that was awesome since the beginning and still great during his appearances for this ep.
But next week ?

Hype !

They can't miss such a great opportunity , can they ?
Next episode can't come soon enough

 

[amishpriest99]

Hyperdimension Neptunia episode 1

Slimes love molesting young girls, don't they?

Spoiler

The plot is different from the games. I didn't want to be spoiled anyway.

It was okay. Nep Nep is still Nep Nep. I hope there's a shit load of yuri subtext in this. There better be.

That's one reason I'll be watching it . As for as the games go maybe someday I'll finish Mk 2 and play through Victory. Perhaps this series will provide some additional motivation.

 

[Coxy]

Valvrave 7-11
oh god lol, this went from so bad its good to embarassingly awful. Ero Elf and his bullshitonium powers were at least entertaining but trying to take that mess and make it a drama, while also making it more of a mess at an accelerating pace make this a spectacular trainwreck. I kinda want to watch to see how much worse it can get...

 

[cnet128]

Oh well, since I'm learning Japanese maybe one day I won't need subs...

Ganbatte~!

You have the power to turn that :kurita upside down =p

 

[Li Kao]

I watched some new shows yesterday, so fwiw...

Gatchaman 1
Wtf did I just watch is a good summary of my initial reaction. Oh nothing really against it, it's just, I don't know how to describe it, maybe I have a hard time with a mix of what I perceive to be so many elements. Anime action, pure comedy, a little persona there, had some light use of poetry, science-fiction... this is so strange to me thus far. On a side note, as I don't follow anime very closely, are characters like Hajime common nowadays ? No because there is comedic character and comedic character, the girl is extremely funny but also high as a kite ( '°_°)
Verdict : very pleasant but need to see more, no insta-love.

Silver spoon 1
On the other hand, this... people will really finish to view me as a reality freak, but that was good. I passed a really great time with it. I suppose you could criticize the heavy use of low brow comedic effect if you are really not into it.
Verdict : laughed out loud several times and genuinely interested in watching more of it.

 

[firehawk12]

Kiniro Mosaic 2

So I guess there isn't going to be all that much more language stuff. Ah well. I wish I could speak Japanese as well as Alice does.

I liked the 4koma comedy in this episode more than comparable stuff in Servant x Service, perhaps because it seemed like it cohered into an actual storyline a lot better. I liked that the show seems well aware of the contradiction in Shinobu's supposed love of foreigners and her complete inability to learn English, and I empathized with Alice's concerns that other Japanese people were treating her like a child/strange other being. They just need some people to be shocked that she knows how to handle chopsticks.

In what feels like a pretty weak season so far, this might end up being my favorite show.

Are you tinier than your students?

 

[XiaNaphryz]

Idol culture.