Support NeoGAF

[DeadRockstar]

Yuyushiki 8

Water so deep.

Yuzuko's attempts to diffuse tension are pretty good. Last time we got "Yui stabbed me in the butt with a sacred arrow," and this time "Wanna have a Smash Brothers tournament?"

This didn't really look any better than the last episode, but it was definitely more entertaining. Aikawa's friend group are all up in the show now, and her two friends are also pretty dippy as it turns out. It helps things feel more varied though; between them, the Googling club and Mom-sensei they can make an episode that never leaves the school work well enough. I won't post a screencap, but the olive branch extended by the girl who previously disliked Yui made me laugh; it was a very Yuyushiki way to end an episode.

Also, despite Yukari and Yuzuko often feeling a bit too similar, I like the occasional implication that they have a telepathic link.

 

[Westlo]

Happiness Charge Precure! 01

Holy shit I didn't know that based Nagamine was back for this one. Nice start, looks like they'll keep the good one, wack one trend they've been having since Heartcatch (I never watched any of the earlier stuff). Might as well pretend the next series doesn't even exist after this one.

And just like heartcatch purple is best again.

 

[Dedication Through Light]

If you didn't think Captain Earth character designs were silly enough, here's a couple more:

The fellow on the right is Amara, and he's voiced by Kenichi Suzumura. The girl on the left is Moko, voiced by Maaya Sakamoto.

I highly doubt their characters are married, though.

Silly? Amaras expression in that second one is lovely, and his outfit, perfect shirt length.

 

[Dedication Through Light]

It's sad, because Rightstuf/Nozomi went from having many features to just going to stupid art books and whatnot. Even NISA is just cramming art books into their sets and calling those "premium".

Sentai, for whatever reason, is somehow able to do releases with commentaries, interviews, and the random CD soundtrack. Heck, even their K-On movie release was surprisingly packed with extras - the only thing missing from it was the Yamada commentary track (which is a big omission, but what can you do?).

The fact that Aniplex can't even be bothered to sub its commentaries, or in the case of Nise, rip them out entirely, is just really disappointing to me.

Im so glad Sentai is giving us jpn character cast commentaries for Hakkenden. I wish the packaging would be better.

 

[cnet128]

Why would anybody willingly buy a standalone Hachune Miku figure of any kind when the normal Miku looks so much better? Even if it was for the sake of completing a set...

Well, that's the beauty of the Nendoroid Petit sets, where the individual figure you get is random, so you don't have to make the decision to buy Hachune, it's just a...pleasant(?) surprise. I believe she was the "secret" figure in this particular set, too, so EXTRA SURPRISING! She does have the bonus of being about twenty times more posable than all the other figures in the set, though.

At any rate, personally I just bought a full sealed box of 12 to get the whole set (plus one random extra, I can't actually recall which one I ended up with. I have a feeling it was one of the Meikos.)

 

[nintendoman58]

Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha A's Episode 13:

Series Review:

A much better outing this time around, the first season was plagued not just with the obvious let us spend half the series trying to be a magical girl show and then trans-morph into Gundam thing but also just the downright odd pacing issues. Indeed this season, while overhyped by the community, still enjoyed a consistency and pace that was pleasing. The fights were pretty spectacular, when they were allowed to happened, indeed I still have not forgiven the run-in twins for basically ruining many of which should have been the defining fights of the season. You know it is bad when even the characters were not happy with the results and wanted that good, clean fight. Anyway, the big weakness of this season undoubtedly goes to its "villians" if one could ever call them that. Not going to lie I found the Cloud Knights boring as fuck, basically being a watered down retread of

Spoiler

Season One Fate

and the big bad of the season, while being the epic encounter this show needed, was so convoluted I really had no idea what the heroes were trying to accomplish at first. Finally, it is amusing when this show attempts ship-teasing, because it is very evident that Fate and Naoha are going to be sharing a bed when they grow up.

Just gonna throw this out there again that the 2nd movie fixes most of the problems that you had with A's.

Spoiler

The twins are nonexistent and Reinforce is given a much bigger focus.

If you didn't think Captain Earth character designs were silly enough, here's a couple more:

The guy on the right looks okay, but...ugh. Not liking the design of the girl on the left.

 

[Thoraxes]

Witch Craft Works - 04

Oh god yes this imouto is fantastic. Thank you anime.

 

[Theonik]

Record of Lodoss War 02

This episode was a lot less animated than the last but still OK. Quality also took a small dive at points. The detail sort of makes up for it really. Music remains badass.
And Deedlit remains best even though she hardly appears in this episode.
Judging from how this went I'm guessing episode 1 was more in media res. This was a Parn back story episode.

 

[astrogamer]

Samurai Flamenco 01

The OP is a lie.

Actually, it isn't exactly too far from what actually happens in the show. I think its episode 9 when the show starts its dramatic shift

 

[Thoraxes]

Witch Craft Works - 05

SDBurton, did you watch this?

It has a story from the past of pureness mixed with cakes.

At the same time.

 

[cajunator]

Right Stuf is probably the largest anime distributor in the United States. Like any site that has adult content, you have to actually search for it to find it and agree you are willing to view such questionable content.

Still surprised that so many Anime-Gaffers do not know about Right Stuf.

I am too. Its a hugely popular site for anime.
I have bought...well its a lot from them.

AnimeGaf needs to do some sort of competition to see who can watch the most anime episodes in a week.

This has been done before.
I think it was with Law of Ueki and something else.

Spice & Wolf: Complete Series Bluray + DVD

Good value? Looks like a good value to me.

Spice and Wolf is always a good value!

How interesting... Ben-To now has a series page live on Funimation's site. License announcement incoming?

https://twitter.com/WTK/status/431280501811601408
http://www.funimation.com/shows/ben-to/anime

For a bit of history, it was one of a number of titles on a potential licenses survey that Funi did a couple years ago. Some of the titles on that were eventually licensed by them (Future Diary, Guilty Crown), some went to others (Anohana, Penguindrum), and some still sit in limbo.

YESSSSSSSSSS If this is true I am very excited!

 

[Midonin]

Aikatsu! 68

A girl named Maria from the mountains who loves singing. I see what you're going for, show. She's also super rich, but the reference has made its way through. Doubling up on Sakura's turf a bit by also using Aurora Fantasy, but I think I'll like her going forward.

 

[Thoraxes]

How interesting... Ben-To now has a series page live on Funimation's site. License announcement incoming?

https://twitter.com/WTK/status/431280501811601408
http://www.funimation.com/shows/ben-to/anime

For a bit of history, it was one of a number of titles on a potential licenses survey that Funi did a couple years ago. Some of the titles on that were eventually licensed by them (Future Diary, Guilty Crown), some went to others (Anohana, Penguindrum), and some still sit in limbo.

Oh please please please let it happen.

I was just looking up that survery the other day to see if this ever came out of it and walked away disappointed it wasn't.

I'd really love if they released it. I'd pre-order even.

 

[SDBurton]

Robot Girls Z 02

WATCH THIS SHIT YESTERDAY

Oh man I need to get on this asap.

Witch Craft Works - 05

SDBurton, did you watch this?

It has a story from the past of pureness mixed with cakes.

At the same time.

Not yet! I have it on my list of "shows to watch today". Pure cakes are best cakes.

 

[astrogamer]

Wonder Momo 1
Wow that was bad. The voice for Momo is kind of grating and she's ditzy to an extreme level to force the plot. The pacing was very awkward even for a 7 minute show. The action was kind of poor and I don't particularly the character design, mainly the faces.

 

[Hitokage]

Sailor Moon Stars 171

i've no idea if this was intentional or not but given the creative changes the series went through, i doubt this was some overarching villain arc planned to bridge shows. this is probably a bad analogy but this feels akin to when comic writer would come in after another writer's run and start undoing shit for the sake of their vision or editorial's. fucking chuck austen & xorn

Remember the beginning of R? Same thing. It's a repair arc. Everything that's happening, outside the antagonist's specific activities, is stuff that was supposed to have already happened in Supers. The anime plays it extremely loose with the manga, but there are certain points that can't be missed. Namely:

Spoiler

- They need to be in high school. Remember all that studying in S?
- Uranus and Neptune need to be around.
- Pluto needs to be alive and Saturn needs to have come back.
- Usagi needs to have already achieved Eternal.

 

[BassForever]

Desert Punk Dub 20

...
...
...
...
...

WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT

OH MY GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD!

Holy crap that was not what I was expecting at all! How many series do you know of that will MAJOR SPOILERS

Spoiler

kill off the main character 4 episodes before the end

 

[Hitokage]

Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS Episode 1:

Okay, well, I really call into this question the Mahou Shoujo portion of that title because holy fuck this show...

Been telling you!

 

[Lollipop Dave]

Oh man I need to get on this asap.

Me too, I watched a little bit and found it to be very charming!

 

[Vito]

Some people love spamming nice illustrations on twitter: https://twitter.com/KeiichiHonda/status/431429507484880896

I suppose I should try and fit in the thread more and write some opinions. Witchcraft Works is great, that Mizushima magic, I flipped through the manga again (and caught up with translations), but the anime is way more entertaining. I guess I should start thinking about how they're planning on ending it, a 2nd season would be nice.

 

[darkside31337]

Samurai Flamenco 01-04

I'm really enjoying this show. It's nice and laid back, thankfully doesn't take itself too seriously. It's pretty hilarious and both the guys and gals are hawt. Also dat

Spoiler

faux-yuri

came out of nowhere, poor girl is just getting taken advantage of though. Definitely gonna catch up on this one.

 

[Enron]

Blocking every single image from the thread for the sake of one series is overkill and something I shouldn't have to do.

I'm sorry everyone, I'm just massively pissed off at myself, my life, situation, decisions, and future, and the fact that this thread is 99% of my social existence, which is why I keep crawling back despite everything all the time. Every little thing has the potential to push me over the edge. At the very least I'm still sane enough to keep my health... though I'm not sure if some of you wish otherwise.

Oh good lord, really dude?

 

[nintendoman58]

Samurai Flamenco 01-04

I'm really enjoying this show. It's nice and laid back, thankfully doesn't take itself too seriously. It's pretty hilarious and both the guys and gals are hawt. Also dat

Spoiler

faux-yuri

came out of nowhere, poor girl is just getting taken advantage of though. Definitely gonna catch up on this one.

 

[darkside31337]

http://i.minus.com/iblC16X3xayPtP.gif

I don't even know how I should be reading this gif

D-Frag 05

Man the romantic developments in this show went from 0 to 100% in the course of 2 episodes and I totally approve of these developments.

Takao is still the best, the best moments in this episode were her trying to talk with MC but only to obviously fail. Other girls are okay. And Sean ConeCone is awesome. Rest of the episode was pretty meh.

Not really enjoying the show in general, its a pretty bad harem-lite school based romcom but I'll stick through it for Takao.

 

[Mr_Antimatter]

Oh please please please let it happen.

I was just looking up that survery the other day to see if this ever came out of it and walked away disappointed it wasn't.

I'd really love if they released it. I'd pre-order even.

Same, instant blu ray buy for me, loved that series.

 

[BGBW]

Ben-To is one of those series where you could just buy part 1 of a series and still get all you need from it.

 

[BassForever]

Desert Punk Dub 21

Feels like this should have been the final episode unless they plan to do more with the rebellion plot in the next few episodes. Still really surprised they are just rolling with this

Spoiler

Punk is dead Kosuna is the new Punk

plot line, truly wasn't expeting it at all

 

[darkside31337]

Hoozuki no Reitetsu 01

What an odd and quirky show. The comedy is very reminiscent of a poor mans Gintama and the setting is kind of interesting. I didn't really like what I watched of Polar Bear Cafe but it reminds me of that too, although this episode was more enjoyable than anything I watched from that series. Can see this getting stale fairly quickly but I'm going to check out some more episodes.

 

[FlyingSaucer]

Mouryou no Hako 1

The show is highly unlinear, you may want to take notes and rebuild the chronology of the events, it really help understanding the plot. And if the cultural side of the series interest you, you will love those Akihiko episodes

I much prefer the TV series to the movie. I don't think this works that well as a retelling. Most of the characterization from the TV series is gone and it's discordant as an alternate universe movie due to how dependent it is on the original source material. I was somewhat willing to go with the flow up until the cars segment. I much prefer how the TV series handled a lot of the themes.

Over the years I've found Utena movie is best appreciated as a wacky parody of the events from the TV series. Too bad they changed Akio's VA. Juurouta Kosugi was godly.
Are you familiar with the meta-meta-cycle theory from AoD forums btw ? ^^

 

[nintendoman58]

I don't even know how I should be reading this gif

I'd tell you how you should be reading it, but that would ruin the fun

 

[Narag]

Record of Lodoss War 02

This episode was a lot less animated than the last but still OK. Quality also took a small dive at points. The detail sort of makes up for it really. Music remains badass.
And Deedlit remains best even though she hardly appears in this episode.
Judging from how this went I'm guessing episode 1 was more in media res. This was a Parn back story episode.

1080Pirotess > HDeedlit

 

[Vito]

Gonzo's MMORPG anime is directed by Hiroshi Hamasaki & Hiroshi Takeuchi, series comp. by Atsuhiro Tomioka, character design by Eri Nagata. One VA listed: Aoi Yūki. Looks like it'll be airing on TBS in April: http://www.tbs.co.jp/anime/blade/ (site not yet up).

http://otakomu.jp/archives/53134.html

 

[Narag]

Remember the beginning of R? Same thing. It's a repair arc. Everything that's happening, outside the antagonist's specific activities, is stuff that was supposed to have already happened in Supers. The anime plays it extremely loose with the manga, but there are certain points that can't be missed. Namely:

Spoiler

- They need to be in high school. Remember all that studying in S?
- Uranus and Neptune need to be around.
- Pluto needs to be alive and Saturn needs to have come back.
- Usagi needs to have already achieved Eternal.

Ah, perspective helps. I still don't like it but its nice to understand the why of things!

 

[Hitokage]

Ah, perspective helps. I still don't like it but its nice to understand the why of things!

Blame Toei for meddling in Supers so that it had little continuity as they shifted target audiences.

The main part of Stars is pretty much, "OK, sorry about that."

 

[darkside31337]

Nisekoi 04

SHAFT truly are the gods.

You can really feel how generic and rote the source material is with each passing episode. Everything that happens here is so by the book and completely unoriginal, it should be painful and yet somehow SHAFT manages to turn this into a really enjoyable series to watch. The whole

Spoiler

locked together in a storage room

is one of the most painful tropes in all of anime but somehow this one was executed really well and was quite fun to watch.

Chitoge is still the best. Fuck Onodera. That new girl is aight. This series better end with Onodera's tears but it'll probably have some bullshit non-resolution type of ending.

 

[Theonik]

1080Pirotess > HDeedlit

All in due time.

 

[sonicmj1]

The show is highly unlinear, you may want to take notes and rebuild the chronology of the events, it really help understanding the plot. And if the cultural side of the series interest you, you will love those Akihiko episodes

Back when I was watching it for the first time, Jexhius put together a very thorough chronological recap of the show covering everything through episode 5 that I'll link here if you're feeling confused. The first episode is relatively straightforward compared when compared with what follows, and the show expects you to connect a lot of the pieces yourself.

 

[Maximilian Kolbe]

...Aoi Yuki will voice MC of Blade&Soul TV anime
Also director will be Steins;Gate director
Oh and screenplay will be Pokemon XY's screenplay

■アニメ「ブレイドアンドソウル」4月よりTBS、BS-TBSにて放送開始！

■スタッフ
監督：浜崎博嗣、竹内浩志 (モーパイの総作&#30435
シリーズ構成：冨岡淳広 (ポケモンシリーズ、イナイレシリー&#12474
キャラデザ：長田絵里 (絶対防衛レヴィアタ&#12531
アニメ制作：GONZO

■キャスト
ジン・ヴァレル：悠木碧(Aoi Yuki)

■公式サイト(多分2月10日公&#38283
http://www.tbs.co.jp/anime/blade/

 

[BassForever]

Desert Punk Dub 22

This series continues to get dark out of nowhere, seriously what a twisted ending. 2 more episodes to go. And of course a quick tease of

Spoiler

Punk actually being alive

 

[FlyingSaucer]

Back when I was watching it for the first time, Jexhius put together a very thorough chronological recap of the show covering everything through episode 5 that I'll link here if you're feeling confused. The first episode is relatively straightforward compared when compared with what follows, and the show expects you to connect a lot of the pieces yourself.

I have remarked that some dates are japanese traditionnal holidays (Obon, Shuubun no Hi); they may have a deeper signification, but I couldn't find any setting aside the obvious ones (day of deads...).

I miss those complex, unlinear anime series (like Boogiepop). Are there any recent series you would recommend ? I keep hearing about Steins Gate, but I'm not too keen on VN anime adaptations... ?

 

[Vito]

Mangaka-san to Assistant-san to, some character designs posted http://www.animate.tv/news/details.php?id=1391511435&p=2 they should probably show up on MoCa later as well, if they do, I'll edit it. Edit: here's MoCa but still damn small.

Some Chaika designs (re?)posted on MoCa when they sent out the PR for the VAs, which duckroll already posted.

 

[Midonin]

Engaged to the Unidentified 05

"Tengu" was in the neighborhood at least. They're really

Spoiler

wolf spirits

. So many supernatural love comedies put their cards up front, so the show's decision to hide it for a bit was an interesting one. Whether they're human or not, the character interaction that's at the heart of this show is still going strong. Kitty pajamas Mashiro is even more adorable than usual.

 

[cajunator]

Usagi Drop 01

I'm suffering a very complicated mix of emotions. But this is cute, so very, very, very cute.

Youve only just begin. your heart will grow 3 sizes.
If it doesnt youre broken or dead and should see a doctor.

The bit where

Spoiler

a giant car wash comes and turns Utena into a car

is the best scene in the history of film.

Its way up there thats for sure.

Kino's Journey 8

Feel good episode of the series so far, it's kind of nice to have a story with a minimum of melancholy for a change.

This is one of my favorite episodes. I love that sort of story and it was told in such a cute fashion.

 

[sonicmj1]

I have remarked that some dates are japanese traditionnal holidays (Obon, Shuubun no Hi); they may have a deeper signification, but I couldn't find any setting aside the obvious ones (day of deads...).

I miss those complex, unlinear anime series (like Boogiepop). Are there any recent series you would recommend ? I keep hearing about Steins Gate, but I'm not too keen on VN anime adaptations... ?

Steins;Gate survives the adaptation process fairly well, but it's also not actually that complex. The first episode's confusion is more the fault of the direction than the events.

I don't actually know a lot of complex, non-linear anime. The only ones that come to mind off the top of my head are Baccano and Trapeze, and Trapeze isn't really a plot show.

 

[BassForever]

Desert Punk Dub 23

Wut

Okay this show has a lot to explain in it's final episode

 

[FlyingSaucer]

Steins;Gate survives the adaptation process fairly well, but it's also not actually that complex. The first episode's confusion is more the fault of the direction than the events.

OK, so it's not really a priority then... thanks !

 

[Otakumegane]

Mikakunin 5
Da revelations. Mom is worst char though

 

[BassForever]

Desert Punk Dub Fin

This show really has some damn good writing, Punk truly has come full circle yet stayed exactly the same. Kosuna has really grown as a character and their relationship really made this show work. The ecchi stuff could have been toned down a bit but overall this was a really enjoyable show. Will have to check out the manga though the anime ending worked well enough.

4/5

 

[Solune]

Robot Girls Z 02

WATCH THIS SHIT YESTERDAY

Don't have a time machine but I am watching ASAP when I get home.

 

[Pancakes]

Spice & Wolf: Complete Series Bluray + DVD

Good value? Looks like a good value to me.

Very tempting....