Wow, newish hires Hiraoka and Kunogi are probably the worst characters at Musashino Animation yet. The former is a total asshole, and the latter has... some issues.
Great episode, as per usual. I liked how it explored a bit more how being a production assistant can involve trying to use your charisma to attempt to convince others to fulfill a job that the desk has assigned.
I don't know if it's because a few of the new characters are unlikable or if he's genuinely becoming a better character, but Tarou is actually growing on me. He was actually pretty decent this episode, competently finishing his work on time, dealing with the sudden emergencies like no car and eye revision without fucking up, and even tried to befriend the asocial loner at the after-party. Sure, his inflated ego could stand to use some more trimming down, but Yano will take care of that when she's back. He's just a ton more enjoyable than before.
And then you have Kunogi, Hiraoka, and Funny Story.
Oh come on, if you're going to make the villain a totally batshit insane mad scientest who revels in making people her guinea pigs to achieve her goals, you could at least have her shout: "NOOOOOOO" or something upon her defeat to make the victory more satisfying!
Eh, whatever. Both OPs played during awesome moments in this episode, and that's good enough on its own. The kids wake up, and the show ends on a super heartwarming, positive note.
So yeah, while this show had its dull moments here and there, I have to say there was quite a decent entertainment factor amongst it all. To the fights, the various entertaining slice-of-life episodes, etc. It was all really decent. Is it one of the best shows I've seen? Not really. But it was still a fun show regardless, and I totally don't regret making the watchbet.
The whole "flight-deck chest" joke was a little weird, in that jokes of that nature are almost universally aimed at the Light Carrier Ryuujou normally. Of course, none of the Light Carriers (or the submarines, for that matter) have appeared in the anime yet, so I'm now left wondering what on Earth they could actually do with Ryuujou, should she appear, now that her defining character joke has been stolen by a dastardly CV.
I really dont understand why Japan likes the flat chest joke thing so much. you would think it would get really old by now.
Is chest shaming a big thing there?
My experience with Hyouka is limited to having seen this first episode (I saw it when it first aired and remembered very little) and the unending praise that parts of AnimeGAF tend to heap on it. I've seen plenty of people run through this series before me and I am relatively privy to its visual identity. Namely, it's gorgeous moment to moment character art and backgrounds. Though in the context of a Kyoto Animation show, it's hard to tell where that begins and ends through screenshots alone— most of their (recent) shows have an above par polish to them. This first episode certainly makes a strong case for being on the far proper end. The school house is unquestionably the most played out setting in all of anime, but here it feels tangible in a special way. Aside from just being competent looking, the juxtaposition of a pretty typical highschool and the representation of Oreki's otherworldly subconscious looks to be an intentional emphasis. I enjoyed the way Oreki commented on highschool being a rose colored experienced, and the way the school is subsequently presented through a soft dream-like lens. There's an impressive cohesiveness between the script and visuals. But that wasn't what impressed me the most. The sound direction through this whole first episode was immaculate. Sadly, it served to highlight to me how inadequate a typical anime TV series can be in regards to audio. I wish I could articulate what made it exceptional, but that sort of falls outside my wheelhouse. There was a number of shots that shifted to varying perspectives, and hearing the voices reflect that in a natural and believable way was welcome and not something I'm inclined to usually notice. And, of course, the soundtrack sounds great. The name of the famous classical piece they're using escapes me, but they're using it to great effect.
As for the story and characters, it seems to be gliding along at a leisurely pace, but in a refreshing manner. I never found myself bored despite the "mystery's" being fairly simple— in a matter of speaking. I'm enjoying Oreki's character and the mantra he has for his life. It reminds me of the sort of taciturn, lackadaisical type of detective that I'm attracted to in mystery novels (and certain anime...). Not much else to say here other than I hope they're not a one-note cast. I would be surprised if they were, but i'm inclined to that default mode of thinking, seeing how this is anime and everything.
I'm already beginning to discover that the screenshots I've been seeing for this series, despite being beautiful, don't do enough to highlight how great this show can be. This is just the first episode though, so maybe I should keep my feelings in check! I'll probably spread this experience out a bit. Looking forward to more.
There is never going to be a performance of an entire song is there? Finally an episode with a concert and there is maybe 2 seconds of a song if we're lucky.
The Idol Master 14
Well they sure found success overnight. Their fruit dresses were cute.
Samurai Flamenco - 01
If I wasn't aware of how famous this show becomes due to episode 7 I think, I would not be continuing after this episode. Masayoshi's obnoxiously strict adherence to rules and laws combined with his irritating obsessive fixation for heroes makes him a pretty unlikable character even if he is a cheerful fellow with someone good ideas enforced in a misguided way.
Gotou's character feels like a necessary inclusion for viewers to empathise with as he becomes more acquainted with Masayoshi.
The final concluding scene felt very reminiscent of Kick-Ass which I imagine has already been said and even here it feels as out of place in reality as it did there.
Harakiri Man's special move is a little disturbing as well...
You are sure in for something. And while Masayoshi's character might seem a little strange and off-putting, it's a fairly crucial aspect of the show's writing and you could quite possibly find yourself thinking him as more agreeable by the end.
And Masayoshi is probably the most static character in the show.
Accepting the risk of being yelled at, I just started getting into anime. Could somebody give me a rundown of what I should be watching. I just finished Knights of Sidonia and obviously I've seen Attack on Titan and Fullmetal Alchemist. So yeah, thanks.
Hmm. There's something about this I don't like in my bone but I'm not quite sure how to put it. Is it the feeling of being trolled? That none of the Eva shout outs mean absolutely anything? Hmm.
This was some of the best CGI I've scene this side of Pixar. Like holy shit, I haven't been this impressed with the CGI in any sort of animation since the first time I saw Final Fantasy The Spirits Within. If the Evangelion Live Action movie ever gets out of development hell, they should just scrap the live action part and just make it CG like this.
This was some of the best CGI I've scene this side of Pixar. Like holy shit, I haven't been this impressed with the CGI in any sort of animation since the first time I saw Final Fantasy The Spirits Within. If the Evangelion Live Action movie ever gets out of development hell, they should just scrap the live action part and just make it CG like this.
Rather cliché but well executed and cute opening episode. Also: do shows actually get away with 'more' when displaying boobs without nipples? As in, better timeslots? Talking full frontal chest nudity, with just the nipples missing.
Tonari no Kaibut - 01
Rather funny premise and MC so far, though that Yoshida guy is hard to take seriously as a character. It's well enough for the first episode I just hope his actual background and development will explain his wacky character. The episde has a great ending with this little s.th. you so rarely get in anime: a kiss!
Nodame Cantabile - 01
Got little to say yet, definitely a solid start (and no high school!).
Kareshi Kanoyo - 01
That first episode had really great direction. First episode mirrors that of Tonari no Kaibut quite a bit with both female MCs trying their hardest to best the other brilliant mail student and manages to do so narrowly, just to then have some big realization.
Ai yori Aoshi is a heartfelt series but REALLY maddeningly inconsistent. when Aoi and Kaoru are together its good. Its very VERY good. but when its trying to be a harem, it is just mediocre and aggravating. not that I dontl ike the other characters, because they are actually really great and Enishi even goes further into their stories which makes you enjoy them even more...but this is ultimately about Aoi and Kaoru and their romantic relationship and when its about that its so good!
Didn't expect this piece to be aiming for live action quality CGI. But this is a good example for demonstrating just how much more suited some of these fantastical settings are for 'regular', stylized animation.
There obviously went a ton of effort into creating this EVA and yet...with all this added detail that's required to make it fit live-action, it still falls short. The head in particularly looks non-threatening, rather awkward and laughable instead.
If we instead got some strongly stylized artstyle, be it hand-animated, CGI or a mix thereof, this same short could've been done with a fraction of the effort and look more cohesive to boot. Maybe more effort can be put into the actual 'story' that took part in this short, which is completely forgettable.
Absolute Duo 1-4 - ... Let's just say that I've got a lot to complain about in this show... first and foremost, that I'm crazy enough to keep WATCHING this horrible thing! Why do I keep doing this to myself, this show is terrible, and full of attitudes I hate.
So yeah, Absolute Duo is yet another harem action series set in a school, and it's one of those where the guy ends up rooming with a girl because reasons. Unlike many such shows, though, this one isn't a school where he's the only guy; there are plenty of guys at this school. That at least does make this different from, say, IS, though it's nowhere near as fun as IS is, that's for sure.
What is this show? I'm not going to summarize everything that's happened.
It's awful garbage, of course. Sometimes it's stupid and sexist, sometimes just stupid, always awful. Let me list some of the major things that have happened so far, and some of the major issues (the list is pretty much the same either way ).
-In episode 1, the main character is forced to fight a girl, because the final entry exam to this school is to fight the person in the seat next to you at the "entrance ceremony"; only half of them get in, the rest are told to leave. Naturally, he doesn't want to; she's just a girl, you know. Now, in this world, people have magical weapons, and can fight without hurting eachother if they use them, and these use magical strength and not only physical strength, so girls do at least have a chance; some win their fights against guys in this episode for sure. The main character's weapon is a shield, though, so instead of learning to use it he relies more on a superpowered punch ability he has, if he really needs to win a fight. He doesn't want to use it much, though, because it can actually hurt people, potentially. He wins the fight with this ability, and his refusal to act like he's taking the fight seriously made him look VERY condescending to the girl he was fighting. And of course, in the end he wins with an insultingly condescending weak "hit". Then she leaves, because she lost; not a real waifu, I guess. Another girl, who was watching him, is the real main girl.
- When told he'll be rooming with a girl, the guy is super desperate to not have to go in that room where she is, to comical anime protagonist levels of avoidance. Of course. Naturally, she's just coming out of the shower when he enters. Seriously, when he approached the room for the first time, I was thinking "there is probably a 100% chance that when he walks in she is taking a shower"... and I was right, trope fulfilled. :S She doesn't care, though; she's not tsundere, more just 'rarely shows anger, and likes MC from the first moment she saw him because of course she does'. The girl is a European transfer student, I should mention, with white hair.
- The girl asks him to teach her his special punch ability, but he refuses, saying that no girl's body could possibly be strong enough to handle it. (How do you know if she hasn't even tried?) This hasn't come up again yet.
- The initial pairings were only temporary; after a few weeks, you can form your own Duo, as both fighting partners and roommates. Now, apparently this high school allows boys and girls to room together with no restrictions. However, of course, the MC and main girl are the only mixed-gender Duo; no others exist. I'm sure most people would want a same-sex roommate, but if it's allowed, I'd think there'd be a FEW others. No attempt is made to explain why they are the only mixed-gender Duo. Sure, the other students find the concept embarrassing, but as I said, you'd think there'd be SOME others if it's allowed no problem. (Of course, allowing mixed-gender roommates in high school is questionable for other reasons... a few colleges allow that, but boarding highschools? Probably never! But it makes for a more amusing story this way, so oh well.)
- Far worse than the above is HOW the MC gets main girl to be his Duo/roommate. Okay, so he was going to pair with a guy, as he had been claiming he wanted, but then he learns that main girl was turned down by another girl for roommates and thus wouldn't have a Duo, so he immediately runs off to look for her, because you know girls must be protected from themselves and stuff. Ugh! After searching all over campus, he finally finds her. He convinces her to stay Duos with him by saying that he will protect her. Because you know, she's a girl and you're a guy so you protect her even if she's actually quite competent and strong too, right? Must reinforce traditional gender roles, even while theoretically bending them! She, naturally, agrees to be Duos with him.
- Now, despite the MC's constant confidence and the events of the above, in the beginning of the next episode we learn that he's actually not all that great at fighting if he doesn't use his super-punch ability; he hasn't mastered that shield at all. Huh? But everything from the previous episodes made him seem to be quite strong and competent, and suddenly they toss that out in favor of "he's actually weak"? Too late for that, anime, you can't have him show his great strength and then be "actually weak"! It just makes the writers look even worse. This isn't a loser-otaku MC, after all; he's just a normal-ish guy who has trained his combat skills and such.
- At one point in ep. 3 the MC carries a girl (not main girl, a different one) on his back to the nurse's office after she passes out while training. Has this form of carrying a girl on a guy's back with one hand holding each leg ever happened in the real world, once, ever? Because anime sure LOVES to have it happen all the time to show how strong and protective the guy is of the girl he likes. I hate it, it's a horrible trope which exists for nothing but stupid stereotypes. Of course, to make things worse, he tells the girl that she shouldn't overdo it. Even after she wakes up, he continues to carry her... why? No actual reason, really, she's not hurt. He's just being over-protective for no good reason other than harem-relationship-building and sexism.
- Why does main girl come from a made-up northern European country, when other real countries are mentioned by name in the show? That makes no sense!
-'Hey, evil bunnygirl teacher woman only TRIED to kill you, she didn't succeed, so she's staying as a teacher here"
is NOT a good excuse, ms. school-chairwoman-who-looks-about-twelve. And on that note, the school chairwoman covers the very stupid anime trope of a character who's actually an adult but looks like a young girl, too. Ugh. At least she seems to be being honest in how little she cares when she says "I don't care about the means, only in results".
- The new haremite in episode four is an annoying rich British girl who wants to Duo with him and thinks she can have anything she wants. Where have I seen a version of this character type before? (Oh right, in the worst haremite in IS, Cecelia. This girl isn't tsundere like that one, but otherwise, it fits.)
On the positive side, lots of great things have happened in this show too! ... Well, not really. I'll try to think of something to list here despite the absence of any particularly good things to say.
+ The "guy tries to escape girl because she doesn't care if she's rooming with a guy (who she naturally likes because he's harem protagonist) and wants to sleep in the same bed as him for totally innocent reasons" stuff is vaguely amusing, maybe, once in a while, the first couple of times of the many it has already been repeated. It's more dumb than anything, but I guess it's occasionally kind of silly.
+ Dumb anime being dumb anime jokes can be amusing. Maybe it's just Stockholm Syndrome, though...
+ The static backgrounds in the mall in ep. 4, with people all standing there like statues because they couldn't afford actual background animation or something, is so dumb it's kind of hilarious.
+ It's nice to see a main girl in one of these shows who ISN'T a violent tsundere. They usually are.
+ Same goes for a male lead who isn't a not-smart loser otaku.
+ Main girl is quite strong (in battle) and competent, almost even to him (though not quite, since his punch attack is the strongest thing we've seen so far). It sure is .. lucky ... (yeah right) that he ended up with one of the strongest in the class as a partner.
+ This show may be awful, but it's not depressing or sad at all, which is nice; there's too much of that in a lot of anime.
+ Average fight scenes for this genre.
And that's about it for the positives. Overall, I'm going to keep watching this very stupid and sometimes unpleasant show I mostly hate. I want to watch episode 5 now, but it's too late, have to do that tomorrow.
Shirobako 17
Editor being a fucking dick as usual. Funny Story. Whoever lead editor in charge of him, please fire him.
Tarou somehow looks like a decent person now that he's not fucking up thing and actually become funny. Probably thanks to Hiraoka being a massive douchebag.
Kinoshita is still the most MOE character in this show. Lol at him suddenly doing the airplane during OST recording session
How the hell did that new key animator get a job!? She can't speak for herself and need Ema monitoring her.
I love how we finally know another reason why Satou trying to find a job near her home. To reduce the chance's she's getting lost due to her having no sense of direction.
Slim Honda. I see another doujin between him and Kinoshita incoming.
Great PV. I wonder if the next BD will feature Aerial Girl as their bonus OVA.
Oh man, my butt is ready for Shokugeki no Soma, Ninja Slayer, Nisekoi S2, Kirino Mosiac S2, and Euphonium. Not to mention all the other shows i'll be giving a watch to see if I like them or not.
Winter and Spring are fucking fantastic for me this year.
Well, this might be one of the least offensive things Aramaki has directed in his career. It's sort of neat from a technical perspective, and makes for a good demo reel to show how a live action Eva might look in terms of CG effects. I liked how the ruined cityscape looked, but the choppers had iffy physics. Looked like toys. I'm so glad Tetsuya Takahashi didn't compose the music for this, so at least I'm not deaf now.
Not quite sure what to make of Kasuga's actions in this episode. On one hand he showed regret and remorse over lying to Saeki but then, he seems to have completely snapped ? Dunno what the ramifications of his sudden understanding, if it can be called that, with Nakamura will be but we shall see. Their class is in for quite a surprise when they come to school in the morning. I do hope this is not the last I've heard of that delightfully creepy credits song.
This filler is by no means good but after like 140 episodes of war arc, it is a welcome reprieve from Edo Tensei's, Bijudamas and constant fighting. It's a shame that all of the characters suffer from Post-Naruto Stress Disorder and have to flashback to him like every other 5 minutes.
She thinks of "pursuing someone we can never have no matter how hard we try. Gazing at them, burning with love for them." That sounded like more than hero worship.
Ah i see. Was wondering if it was maybe a subcategorie of harem . Maybe a sharing harem , or an open type relationship thing of some kind, or everyone is bi.
Well, this might be one of the least offensive things Aramaki has directed in his career. It's sort of neat from a technical perspective, and makes for a good demo reel to show how a live action Eva might look in terms of CG effects. I liked how the ruined cityscape looked, but the choppers had iffy physics. Looked like toys. I'm so glad Tetsuya Takahashi didn't compose the music for this, so at least I'm not deaf now.
Hey, look, an advance of the next Re-Rebuild movie series! It will be a remake/sequel of the current Rebuild movie series.
The Eva body and the city looked fine, the only problem was the Eva's head, I didn't like it, I perfer Eva-00 or 02 models. But of course, silly heads/helmets were a thing in Eva, Eva01 had a samurai helmet...
Ai yori Aoshi is a heartfelt series but REALLY maddeningly inconsistent. when Aoi and Kaoru are together its good. Its very VERY good. but when its trying to be a harem, it is just mediocre and aggravating. not that I dontl ike the other characters, because they are actually really great and Enishi even goes further into their stories which makes you enjoy them even more...but this is ultimately about Aoi and Kaoru and their romantic relationship and when its about that its so good!
Hmm yeh, I was really not expecting this to turn into such a generic harem inclusive boob-fondler and what not. Dunno if I'll complete this. Episode 3 provided some really good background story and I was hopeful, but that it took this direction out of the sudden, eh.
Hmm yeh, I was really not expecting this to turn into such a generic harem inclusive boob-fondler and what not. Dunno if I'll complete this. Episode 3 provided some really good background story and I was hopeful, but that it took this direction out of the sudden, eh.
It goes back to the main couple throughout the series, and those moments are well worth putting up with the rest.
Its a cute story of friendship on the side too. Its quite more intelligent than the typical harem show. Kaoru and aoi are a lot older than the typical harem leads too so they have a different perspective on things.
