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Winter Anime 2015 |OT| ZA WARUDO is not square!

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M

Mr.Jeff

Member
gashikunFLCL said:
[Aria the Animation] - 09

Every time Aqua is compared with Manhome, and how you can't do things anymore in Manhome, I disconnect with the show a little and my mind go astray to think how fucked up Manhome must be, I wonder why people still live there, if you can't even cultivate food... all food on Manhome is shipped from Aqua?
Click to expand...
There's a rather over the top wordpress which suggests that Akari's optimistic nature isn't there by default but rather she appreciates Aqua more through having lived through Manhome's conditions.

There's yet again a fan-made doujin/comic strip called Dear Akari-sama which takes that idea a bit further but I don't really want to ruin if you decide to read it. It's pretty amateurish especially in it's themes but it's interesting all the same.

The anime tends to give off a vibe that Akari is just a natural, almost airhead happy-go-lucky person and it sorts of misses the edge of the original where occasionally the facade slips and her viewpoint seems to be more considered than you'd suspect.
 
T

Tye The Czar

Member
MetroidPrimeRib said:
Cross Ange 18
Honestly if Tusk dies and Ange ends up with a Norma Harem I will applaud this series for all of my life and push it harder then I ever did before because that would be a way better ending
Click to expand...

I agree with this. It feels like Tusk a.k.a. Kirito(Kira + Rito) is the token male stand-in for otaku beta males. Having him killed off or breaking up with Ange for a better match will restore more faith(I still have a lot) in the writers. Otherwise, I hope the fanfic writers come rolling in full force.
 
C

CheapJuice

Member
Non Non Biyori - 07

Lots of Renge. So by default best episode yet.
sxi2jno.jpg
Click to expand...
 
G

gashikunFLCL

Member
Mr.Jeff said:
There's a rather over the top wordpress which suggests that Akari's optimistic nature isn't there by default but rather she appreciates Aqua more through having lived through Manhome's conditions.

There's yet again a fan-made doujin/comic strip called Dear Akari-sama which takes that idea a bit further but I don't really want to ruin if you decide to read it.

The anime tends to give off a vibe that Akari is just a natural, almost airhead happy-go-lucky person and it sorts of misses the edge of the original where occasionally the facade slips and her viewpoint seems to be more considered than you'd suspect.
Click to expand...

I probably will read the manga later.

[Aria the Animation] - 10

Laid back hot spring episode in the winter of Neo-Venezia.
 
T

Tye The Czar

Member
Yui said:
The Testament of Sister New Devil - Episode 1

I like it.
At first it felt totally off and rushed, but I guess that was on purpose(?), because of what happens in the second half. Which felt a lot better to me.
Now please don't go overboard with the suffering. Those two short flashbacks seemed quite dramatic and I usually don't like that in this kind of show
Opening and ending are good and seem fitting.
Click to expand...

I've read up on the translated novels up to Vol. 2.

It feels like it's trying to steal High School DxD's thunder with:
  • A smart male lead that actually gets sorta laid and isn't prone to cockblocks.
  • Fanservice that goes further than DxD.
  • A darker and edgier plot.
With those, it succeeds. But why do I still like High School DxD more?
Well, there are issues:
  1. Very generic female characters. Testament has: Sexy teacher, tsundere imouto(little sister), loli fille fatale who's actually a thousands-year-old demon, childhood friend + Rei clone. Far and away inferior to girls like Rias, Akeno and Xenovia.
  2. A more boring premise. High School DxD's world is a fun mishmash of religion and mythology where you can see a ex-nun-turned-devil being mentored by Azazel about how to handle her dragon familiars. Testament is about... the cookie-cutter Demon Lord + Hero stuff in a Japanese setting. When done right, like in Maoyuu and Devil is a Part Timer, it can lead to great stuff, but Testament feels too droll.
  3. Taking itself too seriously, especially with fanservice. High School DxD's fanservice always knew how silly it was for the MC to gain powers from his love of breasts. In Testament, the sex feels like it's just there for weakly-justified titillation on the level of hentai. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to see DxD get more risque, but not to the point of fanservice at the girls' expense(the DxD anime had some of this, but not at all in the novels).

Regardless, at least the novels of Testament(in Japanese as Shinmai Maou no Keiyakusha) are good fun for those that really, really want the former.
 
M

Midonin

Member
Graffiti 05

I liked the way Kirin's "summer list" played out over the episode. And Miyu Matsuki did a great job as Shiina's mom.

Cross Ange 18

We're on a boat now.

Maria 05

Stop trying to tell Maria to end wars, people. That's a noble goal. Given what Maria's going through now, I think a quiet life of solitude with just Anna stopping by sounds preferable.

Yatterman Night 05

So many Yattermecha that never existed. I like that Takeshi figured out Boyacky and Tonzura's ruse - someone had to, eventually. Every time Leopard starts her speech, I love it. Heroic roll calls work, even for villains.

World Break 05

This is reminding me a bit of Maken-Ki, except not quite as lewd. Haruka's also started grabbing my attention. If nothing else, the sense of "What will they do next?" is keeping this show interesting.


Mission-E 07-12 + Final Thoughts

So everyone believed that Back to the Future was playing instead of that being a serious international incident. That's heavy, doc. While I'm not sure that Adol/Maori romance is the direction I would've gone for the series, it was overall... average, but it brought up some interesting ideas. Even though the 2020s feel a lot closer now than they did when it was airing. A different tone from its predecessor, but following up on the same themes. It's a curio, and I'm content with it being that.


The next show in my infinite backlog is Strawberry Marshmallow. After AzuDai, I want to see another show in that time period between AzuDai's rise to prominence and Lucky Star's winds of change.
 
M

Mr.Jeff

Member
gashikunFLCL said:
I probably will read the manga later.
Click to expand...

See this firehawk?! Someone who cares!

Samurai Flamenco - 03
Well I'm glad that my fears from last time have been put to rest but that ending seemed to be a bit out of nowhere. Kept waiting for some kind of fakeout or such. Also, people have non flip-phones! It's a miracle!

Doremi - 02
It's still fascinating how much the pack into an episode and it still feels so long! We had an explanation of what Doremi's going to be doing next, a note on witch rankings and immediately a story point about her friend which gets resolved in the same episode!

Non Non Biyori - 01
Ahhhh, I forgot how much I love this episode. Just absolutely perfect. For a first episode it introduces us to an unfamiliar location and cast which puts us in the exact same frame of mind as Hotaru. Nothing's overly rushed or forced which probably also ties into the countryside = more relaxed pace idea.
I have to make comment on the sound design though; So many lingering shots of just pure silence and then lovely bursts of music which aren't too overly intrusive.

If I didn't have some remaining memories of how disappointed I was by episode 2, I would be all over this series.

Now to fit in 3 episode of Votoms.
 
S

Sterok

Member
Koufuku Graffiti 5

Summer activities summed up in one day. If only I could be that efficient with my time. Shiina sure has a nice home.

Cross Ange 18

I never did like Jill. Or Salia. So it fits that those two are pretty close. So yeah, Ange officially wants to blow up stuff with dragons. Even Jill has to realize 5/7 riders aren't going to do jack, even with the Villkiss. Op keeps on changing. Hilda is super jelly of Tusk. And wants to bone Ange hard. Poor Rosalie gets no respect. Since when was Vivian the ace of anything?

Operation Kill All Humans has two humans kind of on board with it. Figures. Jill's plan is really stupid. All she wants to do is wipe out the humans at any cost. Or at least Embryo, but he can probably slip away real easily if they pose any actual threat to him. Threatening Momoka isn't exactly a viable long-term strategy, especially if no one else supports her. Tusk shared his plan with Vivian and not Ange why? Ange v Jill with an injured leg. Did Jill really think she had a chance? Hopefully this means Ange is now the de-facto leader of the Normas. Hilda will follow her easily, so it'll boil down to Rosalie. Time to get back to the princess. Who we haven't seen since she was attacked by Riza.

Go Princess Precure 2

10 bucks that we're going to hate Gokigenyou by the end of this. Someone really needs to tell Haruka that being a princess kind of involves some sort of royalty. And since she wasn't born into royalty, she's going to need to marry. Looks like Yui is going to discover her secret. Dyspear or something is the main villain. Way to close to Desperiah. Minami just so happens to stumble on one of the keys. Sure, why not. Haruka is stupid to make that sort of commotion. I guess Minami is set on helping even the idiots.

As expected, Minami is one of those people in anime that everyone loves and wants to be. Ballet lessons. Haruka sucks. Minami reminds her that this sort of stuff requires training. Fighting though, anyone can do. Looks like we're getting DokiDoki level monsters. Fighting is still good. Mermaid's transformation is good. A water cyclone is a nice attack. Transformation thingy lost. Welp. Doesn't seem like the third member is coming next episode.

Haruka is still boring. Minami is like Karen, but boring. I'm going to be placing my hopes on the third member when we get her. Nothing in this show so far has been bad, but nothing has impressed either. It's just there.
 
G

gashikunFLCL

Member
Mr.Jeff said:
See this firehawk?! Someone who cares!

Doremi - 02
It's still fascinating how much the pack into an episode and it still feels so long! We had an explanation of what Doremi's going to be doing next, a note on witch rankings and immediately a story point about her friend which gets resolved in the same episode!
Click to expand...

I remember being impressed by this too, the sheer number of things happening in these earlier episodes.
 
I

ibyea

Banned
Death Parade 4, 5
Episode 4:
Quiet a sad episode with a woman who has suffered a lot, and yet when attained fame and life took off, became a terrible person and seemingly neglectful of family (I assume that the lack of love is the implication behind the low damage her sons and daughter makes), and a man born to an unstable family, but gets to regret his decision to treat his mom with cold shoulder due to his resentment from his childhood.

Episode 5:
Nice to see the world of Death Parade expanded, and got to find out why she is assisting Decim. There was a cool action scene too. It was an excellent break from the formula.

5cm Per Second
Well, the best I can describe this is bittersweet. Basically about the way people who are very close, due to circumstances in life, go their separate ways, with the conclusion being that both sides of the relationship moves on. And of course, the movie simply is gorgeous.

Kaiji 1-15
Very suspenseful show in which Kaiji is tricked to gamble to get a chance at starting life fresh. Except of course, the bad guys who set up the game don't disclose everything and it is more akin to literally fighting with your life on the line. The bad guys also make disturbingly insightful commentary on society.

The decision the protagonist makes in order to win a restricted rock paper scissor make surprising amount of sense, and the hard focus on the psychology of the characters make this a very suspenseful show. Part two was them crossing a narrow metal bridge over a very high skyscraper, which somehow managed to make something that would take place in 15 minutes work with 3 episodes with the suspense ratcheted up. And if you think about it, it makes sense in that if that were me on that bridge, it would feel like the 15 minutes stretched forever.

If there is one thing I don't like is the narrator, who just loves to butt in all the time.
 
V

victreeb3l

Member
Mr.Jeff said:
Non Non Biyori - 01
Ahhhh, I forgot how much I love this episode. Just absolutely perfect. For a first episode it introduces us to an unfamiliar location and cast which puts us in the exact same frame of mind as Hotaru. Nothing's overly rushed or forced which probably also ties into the countryside = more relaxed pace idea.
I have to make comment on the sound design though; So many lingering shots of just pure silence and then lovely bursts of music which aren't too overly intrusive.

If I didn't have some remaining memories of how disappointed I was by episode 2, I would be all over this series.
Click to expand...

The opening few minutes of the first episode left quite the impression on me. Just beautiful art and music playing in the background. Wasnt expecting it at all so it was all the more enjoyable.

NNB was amazing. I dropped it around ep 3-4 but picked it up randomly one day and finished it in one sitting. Such a great show, especially the last couple of episodes.
 
F

Frog-fu

Banned
5 Centimetres Per Second

Beautifully animated, poignant, powerful - and yet I fucking hate it. The message isn't lost on me. Life is cruel. We grow up, we lose people that are close to this, some things just don't work out, and things that are seemingly meant to be just don't end up happening. I understood all of this, plainly, clearly from observing the characters. I have my own interpretation of what the few ambiguities left to us by Shinkai may mean, and though I tend to be an optimist and look at the brightside of things whenever I can, there is little reason to not be a little more depressed and a little pessimistic about life after watching this.
 
G

gashikunFLCL

Member
[Aria the Animation] - 12

Aria
Sachou leaping through time again, cats are a link between past and future?
Never heard that before.
Eh, this is the same as comparing Aqua with ManHole, I mean ManHome,
why did people move away from the old city to Neo-Venezia
?
By the episode preview, next episode looks like a recap...?
 
T

Thoraxes

Member
Frog-fu said:
I just finished the first episode and enjoyed it. Is there a particular reason why I shouldn't keep watching?
Click to expand...

You were just asking for yay or nays, and all I can really say is that I didn't think the end really justified the means. I thought the characters were shallow, and their motivations and developments were largely uninteresting and ultimately went nowhere outside of their skeletal, non-fleshed out personalities. And for a show that's primarily focused on the characters, this should be done much better. There is one good arc in the middle though, around episode 13-ish or so, but everything else besides that felt like a chore to watch. I found it really hard to care about any of the characters at all, and most of their problems are all self-inflicted and resolved without any real gusto or sense of accomplishment, all while moving at an extremely slow pace that doesn't get very far.

If you want some good visual porn and scenery for a TV series, i'd be hard-pressed to recommend you another show over Hyouka though. The show is very beautiful looking and the music is good.

A lot of people seem to like it, but I have to disagree with them.
 
G

gashikunFLCL

Member
[Aria the Animation] - 13 END

Ai-chan
came
for a surprise visit because ManHome
is shit! Shiiiit!
More time traveling!
Wait, what's the relationship between Al and Aika, Gnomes hardly had a presence in the first season, they just appeared now to commemorate the new year.
Ready for one more year or two( since the next season has 26 episodes) with the cast.
 
S

Syrinx

Member
gashikunFLCL said:
[Aria the Animation] - 13 END

Ai-chan
came
for a surprise visit because ManHome
is shit! Shiiiit!
More time traveling!
Wait, what's the relationship between Al and Aika, Gnomes hardly had a presence in the first season, they just appeared now to commemorate the new year.
Ready for one more year or two( since the next season has 26 episodes) with the cast.
Click to expand...

You can probably figure out the answer, but their relationship gets explored a lot more in the next two seasons.
 
F

Frog-fu

Banned
Thoraxes said:
You were just asking for yay or nays, and all I can really say is that I didn't think the end really justified the means. I thought the characters were shallow, and their motivations and developments were largely uninteresting and ultimately went nowhere outside of their skeletal, non-fleshed out personalities. And for a show that's primarily focused on the characters, this should be done much better. There is one good arc in the middle though, around episode 13-ish or so, but everything else besides that felt like a chore to watch. I found it really hard to care about any of the characters at all, and most of their problems are all self-inflicted and resolved without any real gusto or sense of accomplishment, all while moving at an extremely slow pace that doesn't get very far.

If you want some good visual porn and scenery for a TV series, i'd be hard-pressed to recommend you another show over Hyouka though. The show is very beautiful looking and the music is good.

A lot of people seem to like it, but I have to disagree with them.
Click to expand...

I appreciate you going through the effort of expounding on your nay. I was hesitant to watch this when it was airing and have kept putting off watching it since my To Watch list is pretty long. If there was a reason for me to bail, I probably would've done so before the third episode. I usually gives shows 2 episodes on average to determine whether I'll keep watching or not. The first one was good. Haven't watched the second one yet.

It is definitely visually pleasing, that's for sure.

Regret Upon Approval said:
Fun watch.
Easy going and very laid back. Not much in the big plot or drama angle.

It is a... soothing watch, relaxing.
Click to expand...

Thanks. I was actually looking for something just like that, something to just enjoy casually in between other stuff.
 
R

R_thanatos

Member
Kofuku Graffiti - 02

Everyone is happy, everyone is eating ...

How the hell are they so thin when they eat so much ????

Ps: shaft headtilt is still strong
 
Joe Molotov

Joe Molotov

Member
Syrinx said:
You can probably figure out the answer, but their relationship gets explored a lot more in the next two seasons.
Click to expand...

It's Aria, so their relationship is they're in lesbians with each other, as is the relationship of every character of the series to every other character.
 
T

Thoraxes

Member
Frog-fu said:
I appreciate you going through the effort of expounding on your nay. I was hesitant to watch this when it was airing and have kept putting off watching it since my To Watch list is pretty long. If there was a reason for me to bail, I probably would've done so before the third episode. I usually gives shows 2 episodes on average to determine whether I'll keep watching or not. The first one was good. Haven't watched the second one yet.

It is definitely visually pleasing, that's for sure.
Click to expand...

Nice to see your response. Ultimately, if you like it, that's cool. If not, that's just as fine. I figured i'd just share my viewpoints on it. And if you're really jonesing for a show to watch, you can definitely do much worse than Hyouka. If you end up not going through with the entire show, I can definitely at least recommend checking out the school-festival arc of the show (episodes 12-17). It was the only part I enjoyed.

Each arc is totally separated from the other arcs in terms of story, so you wouldn't miss out on too much jumping between them if you just wanted to get to the good stuff.
 
K

Kave_Man

come in my shame circle
Hi everyone,

I need recommendations for shounen series that have tournament arcs. I'm doing research!

That said I've watched/read a ton of them so I'm hoping you guys may know 1 or 2 series I haven't come across yet.

A list of series off the top of my head I've been through:

Dragonball
Flame of Recca
Yu Yu Hakusho
Hajime No Ippo
Fairy Tail
One Piece
Naruto
Hunter X Hunter
History's Strongest Disciple Kenichi

Thanks in advance.
 
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