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Summer 2014 Anime |OT2| Or, where Jexhius finally watches more Doremi for Hito.
- Thread starter Narag
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NaDannMaGoGo
Member
Chihayafuru S2 - 25 [Finished]
Not in the mood for typing a lot, so the short version: I ended up enjoying this more or less as much as season 1. I consider S1 to be a bit better, however, S2 benefits from you being already much more attached to the characters from the getgo.
Thankfully only 2 new members joined the school's club and, while initially annoying, they were somewhat fine afterwards. I think this season suffers a bit more from pacing issues, especially as some of the matches drag on a bit when not only every Mizusawa member but also the opponents get a lot of inner monologue and backstory exposition. In general I consider this a good thing of course, it's just that it became a bit much towards the half-finals and finals of the international schoolteam tournament. Am glad I wasn't watching this when it aired as it would've been painful to follow those matches with a week between every cliffhanger ;P
The characters, the actual Karuta sport and its presentation are fantastic in this show. Found myself rooting for our protagonists more and more as the anime went on. The humor was pretty good, too, actually. Loved the occasional little annotation next to the characters.
I'm not sure what to think about the ending. Wish they tackled the relationship angle just a tad more aggressive but I leave mostly satisfied. Overall it's still really weird how little screentime Arata gets, although when he does get it, it's quite important. I don't know anything about the manga but since this ending isn't really conclusive there's room for another season. If one should ever come out I'll certainly watch it.
I think I'd give Chihayafuru S1 a 8/10 and S2 a 7/10. Also I did end up writing a bunch... damn it.
edit:
Arata's eyes...are quite something.
Not in the mood for typing a lot, so the short version: I ended up enjoying this more or less as much as season 1. I consider S1 to be a bit better, however, S2 benefits from you being already much more attached to the characters from the getgo.
Thankfully only 2 new members joined the school's club and, while initially annoying, they were somewhat fine afterwards. I think this season suffers a bit more from pacing issues, especially as some of the matches drag on a bit when not only every Mizusawa member but also the opponents get a lot of inner monologue and backstory exposition. In general I consider this a good thing of course, it's just that it became a bit much towards the half-finals and finals of the international schoolteam tournament. Am glad I wasn't watching this when it aired as it would've been painful to follow those matches with a week between every cliffhanger ;P
The characters, the actual Karuta sport and its presentation are fantastic in this show. Found myself rooting for our protagonists more and more as the anime went on. The humor was pretty good, too, actually. Loved the occasional little annotation next to the characters.
I'm not sure what to think about the ending. Wish they tackled the relationship angle just a tad more aggressive but I leave mostly satisfied. Overall it's still really weird how little screentime Arata gets, although when he does get it, it's quite important. I don't know anything about the manga but since this ending isn't really conclusive there's room for another season. If one should ever come out I'll certainly watch it.
I think I'd give Chihayafuru S1 a 8/10 and S2 a 7/10. Also I did end up writing a bunch... damn it.
edit:
Arata's eyes...are quite something.
astrogamer
Member
Space Dandy 20
Awesome random musical group episode that doesn't actually play music 90% of the time
Awesome random musical group episode that doesn't actually play music 90% of the time
Save 'N Quit
Banned
He's the best.
Just simply the best.
Nozaki-kun 7
Protagonists with unrequited crushes are usually unbearable, but Sakura's pretty likable. She gets points for (mostly) having realistic expectations and (mostly) being normal around Nozaki. Mikorin pretty much steals the episode when he shows up. Seriously, what a guy ♥
Protagonists with unrequited crushes are usually unbearable, but Sakura's pretty likable. She gets points for (mostly) having realistic expectations and (mostly) being normal around Nozaki. Mikorin pretty much steals the episode when he shows up. Seriously, what a guy ♥
Log Horizon 4-5
While this is still incredibly enjoyable I have a handful of problems:
- The battle in ep 4 seemed incredibly stupid at times. Despite being vastly outnumbered, a large proportion of the the enemy side literally stood there and did nothing. Even if you discount the people under Naotsugu's ability, there was still this "highly dangerous" sorcerer who did fuck all.
- They stated previously that going to trained chefs in Akiba still resulted in tasteless food and yet Nyanta manages it? Presumably the other chefs were still trying to create it via crafting?
- This samurai and healer combo that Shiroe was with: why has neither side attempted contact???? Shiroe perhaps because he seems to be introverted but the other two???
While this is still incredibly enjoyable I have a handful of problems:
- The battle in ep 4 seemed incredibly stupid at times. Despite being vastly outnumbered, a large proportion of the the enemy side literally stood there and did nothing. Even if you discount the people under Naotsugu's ability, there was still this "highly dangerous" sorcerer who did fuck all.
- They stated previously that going to trained chefs in Akiba still resulted in tasteless food and yet Nyanta manages it? Presumably the other chefs were still trying to create it via crafting?
- This samurai and healer combo that Shiroe was with: why has neither side attempted contact???? Shiroe perhaps because he seems to be introverted but the other two???
Freezasaurus
Member
Man, I think that show still holds up as the best from that particular anime season.
Crash Station
Member
That one DBZ movie.
It's a magical series. Enjoy it!
Turin Turambar
Member
The series is very good and the first episode is especially good, yeah.
Enjoy.
Have you never played an Batman game or an Assassins Creed game? Lol.
Nozaki-kun 7
Not another School Days hatewatch!
Jex
Member
That works for NPCs but for real players? Even in large raids people swarm over monsters like ants.
Well as I mentioned, the only thing I recall is that the Guardian cast the ability which causes threat to be targeted onto him or face a counter but that only really applied to the melee classes. The healers and sorcerers just seemed to be standing there until they were all taken out at the end.
It's just frustrating considering the method of attack they used was the exact opposite they'd been using against everyone else.
Oh well, it's all minor points anyway.
Always some assholes afk.
phoenix296
Member
Kiniro Mosaic Series Impressions
A fairly typical "cute girls doing cute things" anime. There was a serious lack of structure during the entire series. It appeared to just be a bunch of random events show casing the girls doing random things. If you asked me what had happened in a previous episode while watching the series I wouldn't remember.
The premise starts with an English girl moving to Japan to live with her friend and learn about Japanese culture. This seems to be quickly forgotten as she becomes more Japanese than the natives. The way she acts does not seem believable as a foreigner in a different country. Even when another English friend is introduced they choose to speak Japanese with each other rather than English which would not happen in real life.
The final episode was amazing. It was a mix of several different Disney fairy tales combined together complete with Disney-esk songs. The animation was fantastic and the characters really came alive during it.
Overall I give the series a 7/10. The first and last episodes are amazing and if they had kept this quality throughout the series it would be for the better. Connoisseurs of Engrish will be very content just watching the first episode. The majority of it takes place in England where most of the spoken dialog is wonderful Engrish.
A fairly typical "cute girls doing cute things" anime. There was a serious lack of structure during the entire series. It appeared to just be a bunch of random events show casing the girls doing random things. If you asked me what had happened in a previous episode while watching the series I wouldn't remember.
The premise starts with an English girl moving to Japan to live with her friend and learn about Japanese culture. This seems to be quickly forgotten as she becomes more Japanese than the natives. The way she acts does not seem believable as a foreigner in a different country. Even when another English friend is introduced they choose to speak Japanese with each other rather than English which would not happen in real life.
The final episode was amazing. It was a mix of several different Disney fairy tales combined together complete with Disney-esk songs. The animation was fantastic and the characters really came alive during it.
Overall I give the series a 7/10. The first and last episodes are amazing and if they had kept this quality throughout the series it would be for the better. Connoisseurs of Engrish will be very content just watching the first episode. The majority of it takes place in England where most of the spoken dialog is wonderful Engrish.
Marimite ~Printemps~ 04-06
Sei's past, Sei's future and everyone's present. That was a good amount of time spent on the graduation ceremony, and it largely worked. The graduating cast have only been around for one and a half seasons, and having a graduation ceremony come in the middle of a show feels odd, placement-wise, but it was never their journey. Yumi and Sachiko are still there. Having seen Sei's past at great length back in the first season, contrasting it against Shiori - who I'm glad was brought up again - paints a fuller picture of just the kind of person Sei is. Flirty and fun-loving, but she does that to keep a distance so she doesn't hurt people, even if she doesn't want to be lonely. Having episode 6 be told both from Sei's and Shimako's perspectives was a good move. I wish Shimako the best of luck in her new role as Rosa Gigantea.
Sei's past, Sei's future and everyone's present. That was a good amount of time spent on the graduation ceremony, and it largely worked. The graduating cast have only been around for one and a half seasons, and having a graduation ceremony come in the middle of a show feels odd, placement-wise, but it was never their journey. Yumi and Sachiko are still there. Having seen Sei's past at great length back in the first season, contrasting it against Shiori - who I'm glad was brought up again - paints a fuller picture of just the kind of person Sei is. Flirty and fun-loving, but she does that to keep a distance so she doesn't hurt people, even if she doesn't want to be lonely. Having episode 6 be told both from Sei's and Shimako's perspectives was a good move. I wish Shimako the best of luck in her new role as Rosa Gigantea.
Nyanta and Shiroe successfully goaded Nemikas into having a one on one fight with Nyanta, hence why most of the enemies stood in place for most of the fight. They only attack after Nemikas gives the order, but they're stopped by Naostugu's ability (as you pointed out). As for why the sorcerer doesn't fight... it's probably because he's their strategist. He does do a fair amount of just standing around though, heh.
I loved this series a lot, personally. It doesn't do a lot differently, but what it does do it does well. The characters were really cute, and as you said, that last episode was incredible. I can't wait for the second season!
Yeah I understand that kind of logic but still, well....they're meant to be horrifically "evil" bandits with no sense of justice and only now do they decide that a one on one duel is fair?
Granted it only appeared that the boss and his lieutenant were the central driving figures and that the people they picked may not have had such a firm resolution but ehhh.
I think I'm probably picking at this too much. I'll let it drop
Edit: This was to PK Gaming. I'm too lazy to sort a quote out.
Granted it only appeared that the boss and his lieutenant were the central driving figures and that the people they picked may not have had such a firm resolution but ehhh.
I think I'm probably picking at this too much. I'll let it drop
Edit: This was to PK Gaming. I'm too lazy to sort a quote out.
VanillaCakeIsBurning
Member
Log Horizon 12
Decent episode. I'm interested in how the relationship with the people of the land will turn out and whatever crazy plan Shirou is cooking up next. I'm also starting to get suspicious of Crusty based on that ending scene.
Decent episode. I'm interested in how the relationship with the people of the land will turn out and whatever crazy plan Shirou is cooking up next. I'm also starting to get suspicious of Crusty based on that ending scene.
I thought you were going to end this post with "waifu"...
R_thanatos
Member
As for your spoiler : Who won't be
As for the rest : Everything will be clear when you'll get esdeath backstory.
I mean , she can't be craving ONLY for conquest , right ?
I stopped reading One Piece part of the way through Dressrosa, but my impression is that the story isn't making light of the fact that he's purportedly a really despicable person but rather the incongruity between his terrifying reputation and the fact that he's a fanboy of a relative goody-goody like Luffy and melts into a puddle of goo at the mere sight of him.
astrogamer
Member
Nozaki-kun 7
Sakura was so adorable and has great expressions. Mikorin is so enjoyable.
Sakura was so adorable and has great expressions. Mikorin is so enjoyable.
PLEASE DONT RUIN SHINON SHOW PLEASE DONT RUIN SHINON SHOW PLEASE DONT- oh who am I kidding?
Worth the wait.
Sengoku Collection episode 2-9
Pretty much on board with this show. The sheer variety in storytelling and breadth of themes, tones, emotions, is great. The general tone is uplifting and there's less fanservice than I expected after watching the first episode. I ended up really liking the clean art style too. Good shit, given the premise is incredibly thin (and ridiculous). The anthology format is perfect for this series and I'm honestly surprised at how much they can stuff into 20 minutes at times. A great course in how to establish characters in a single episode.
Really love the OP and ED song as well, manic and quirky as hell.
Ieyasu was a cutie!
Im seeing that. After Tuesday I will do that.
Not necessarily. Remember Fate Zero got a budget release after the initial LE ones.
I think TTGL will get a similar release in the future.
School Days 8
Fuck you, Makoto.
And now it's a soap opera.
School Days 9
So they're running a love hotel. In school.
Ohh how Ive missed these reactions!
Please, continue!
The lack of structure was a wall for me and I ultimately didn't finish the series, despite it being a pretty decent SoL, from what I saw. It just seemed to be missing an extra element for me to get hooked.
Your description of the finale makes me wanna check out that episode at least. Sounds amazing!
Doctor Decimate
Member
Black Lagoon had some hilarious neo-Nazis in a few episodes.
I wouldn't be surprised if at some point it got a cheaper, standard edition release from Aniplex (since the movies already have) but I don't think that would be as cheap as Woofington would like.
Still, I certainly would buy it.
firehawk12
Subete no aware
It's really Yumi's story, but you'll have to read the last few volumes of the book to see that happen.
Or to see Yumi's brother's "sidequel" story, unfortunately.
Log Horizon - 08-09
The idea was pretty obvious but the fine details of manipulation truly were absolutely magnificent. When the plan was finally revealed in all it's detail it was a wonderfully cathartic moment. Well done. If ther rest of the series keeps this up as people say, I will be very happy.
The idea was pretty obvious but the fine details of manipulation truly were absolutely magnificent. When the plan was finally revealed in all it's detail it was a wonderfully cathartic moment. Well done. If ther rest of the series keeps this up as people say, I will be very happy.
phoenix296
Member
Don't get me wrong, I liked the series. I've always found these types of anime have a rough start but find their footing in the following seasons. K-On and Hidamari Sketch's first seasons were pretty rough. K-On definitely got better and I still have to watch the next season of Hidamari Sketch. Lucky Star's first few episodes were also pretty weak but it got much better half way through.
I didn't know there was going to be a second season. Looking forward to watching that!
You can safely skip to the last episode and still have a great time with it. We have cute girl princesses, pirates, sailors, mermaids and sea witches with music and song to accompany them throughout the story sequence. It was fantastic and a great way to end the series.
what kinda blasphemous shite is this?!
Femmeworth
Banned
After watching Angelic Layer I want to check out Gundam Build Fighters, but only the TV version is available. :\
PriPara 7
We're moving on up in the world. New level of idoldom has its perks... Like their own dressing room and a really small, but growing fan base. It's weird considering how Sophie can draw hundreds of people despite being in the same tier. Wonder how far up the "Hatchling Idol" tier she is. The whole tiers within tiers is way to meta... Sheesh.
At this point, I still don't think Lala has noticed that the pickled plum girl and Sophie are one and the same. But, her efforts have truly paid off since Sophie has finally noticed her.
I don't understand how she's continuously eating entire Pizzas by herself and not gain weight. The whole "it's going to my boobs" argument shouldn't exist at her age... She's probably taking notes from this guy. But only extreme because it's much more than Cheese Pizza
We're moving on up in the world. New level of idoldom has its perks... Like their own dressing room and a really small, but growing fan base. It's weird considering how Sophie can draw hundreds of people despite being in the same tier. Wonder how far up the "Hatchling Idol" tier she is. The whole tiers within tiers is way to meta... Sheesh.
At this point, I still don't think Lala has noticed that the pickled plum girl and Sophie are one and the same. But, her efforts have truly paid off since Sophie has finally noticed her.
Motto! Ojamajo Doremi 2-8
Doremi... Doremi has changed.
The staff can cope well, fortunately. Shaking up the entire cast in the form of re-arranging classes is turning out to be a great decision -it plays on the dynamics established in the previous two seasons and renews them by introducing new characters and situations for the old ones to deal with. The SOS trio 'disband' episode was amusing due to having got to know them, and the whole situation with Reika might actually work to make her less of a shitty one-note character. Thanks to the familiarity all the writers have with the franchise, they can be more lax with episode structure and content, so the comedy and antics are being delivered at an impressively high rate, complemented by the classic funny faces and cartoon expressionism courtesy of the slightly improved production values.
My only question right now is where the emotional hook comes from, because cooking sweets for old ladies won't suffice alone. There's no clear overarching theme yet, and the general circumstances of the entire cast have been well established over 100 previous episodes. I was thinking that this season might deal with communication and the barriers between people that can hinder it. Language, cultural expectations, insecurities, all have been touched upon so far. But this kind of thing is much more abstract than something like 'parenting' and much harder to write consistently about, so I don't expect this season to be as committed as Sharp was to long-form thematic treatment. Momoko's arc of fitting in shows promise, at least.
Doremi... Doremi has changed.
There's something a bit different, somehow. If the OG season marked Doremi as a great show, Sharp proved it could work as a successful franchise. Motto! thus features the most blatant and shameless plastic mongering so far, with all the fluffy new items, overlong stock footage and even reversible costumes for the sake of more stock footage. Momo-chan is cool, but there's also that feeling of Toei adding more witches just to promote more merch and keep the sales up. Of course it's still the same Doremi beneath all that shit, and truthfully some of these episodes have been dope as hell. It's probably the strongest start to a season so far; it's just bogged down a bit by having to cope with all the obnoxious meddling.
...or maybe not.
The staff can cope well, fortunately. Shaking up the entire cast in the form of re-arranging classes is turning out to be a great decision -it plays on the dynamics established in the previous two seasons and renews them by introducing new characters and situations for the old ones to deal with. The SOS trio 'disband' episode was amusing due to having got to know them, and the whole situation with Reika might actually work to make her less of a shitty one-note character. Thanks to the familiarity all the writers have with the franchise, they can be more lax with episode structure and content, so the comedy and antics are being delivered at an impressively high rate, complemented by the classic funny faces and cartoon expressionism courtesy of the slightly improved production values.
My only question right now is where the emotional hook comes from, because cooking sweets for old ladies won't suffice alone. There's no clear overarching theme yet, and the general circumstances of the entire cast have been well established over 100 previous episodes. I was thinking that this season might deal with communication and the barriers between people that can hinder it. Language, cultural expectations, insecurities, all have been touched upon so far. But this kind of thing is much more abstract than something like 'parenting' and much harder to write consistently about, so I don't expect this season to be as committed as Sharp was to long-form thematic treatment. Momoko's arc of fitting in shows promise, at least.
Thanks for reminding me I need to watch this still.
I wouldn't be surprised if at some point it got a cheaper, standard edition release from Aniplex (since the movies already have) but I don't think that would be as cheap as Woofington would like.
Still, I certainly would buy it.
I mean it still wouldnt be "budget" but more affordable.
Chihayafuru 1
Wonder about the qualification of this as a sports anime. Even though I wouldn't classify this karuta game as a sport, I guess it makes sense if they're going to focus on Chihaya and the paper boy competing in it. But I'm a bit hesitant since I'm not sure I see how they could pull off a longer series focusing on a game like this. This episode was fine enough, but long term I dunno. Guess it'll depend on what they do with the characters.
Wonder about the qualification of this as a sports anime. Even though I wouldn't classify this karuta game as a sport, I guess it makes sense if they're going to focus on Chihaya and the paper boy competing in it. But I'm a bit hesitant since I'm not sure I see how they could pull off a longer series focusing on a game like this. This episode was fine enough, but long term I dunno. Guess it'll depend on what they do with the characters.
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