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Winter Anime 2016 |OT| Celebrating the New Year and PSO2's release in the west!

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Can't say that was particularly great editing.

Shouwa Genruko Rakugo Shinjuu - 02

While I really enjoyed the first episode and the Rakugo therein, I didn't enjoy going through all of the badly executed Rakugo this episode. It was immediately clear that it wasn't good and that the audience wasn't enjoying itself and while one can argue you get to experience the same thing by showing all of it, I was simply bored throughout that section.
 
Erased doesn't seem like an Agatha Christie style mystery where its only interest is in the construction of a cleverly staged puzzle where the narrative tries to obscure the real culprit so it can pull the rug out from under you at the end. So I don't personally see it as a big deal if I know who the culprit is ahead of the official reveal.

Well people who have read the source material say that the mystery of the culprit isn't what the series main focus is. Since from what I gather for most it's easy to predict who the killer is especially if you've seen/read lots of mystery based series. However, the main focus is the character based drama and motivations.
 

Aki-at

Member
Watched and finished a few animes since the last time I posted in one of these thread, so...

Knights of Sidonia S1 + S2
How many times can one guy
keep seeing the same person die and die again, its like Kenny only with tears.
Really enjoyed it though after a friend's recommendation since I wasn't too keen on CGI animation. Really did well in the general design of the world too, had me engrossed in it.

Magi: Labyrinth of Magic and Kingdom of Magic
I started watching the first few episodes and was hooked, but by the end of season 1 I was just forcing myself to complete it and the follow up season. Has some good music and at times some great scenes
like Titus going to confront Mogamett was.
But the animation, general direction of the story and everyone going
super armoured
by the end had lost me.

But I'll probably watch season 3 when it happens just because I'm a completionist :<

Lupin the Third Part 4 - Upto Episode 14
What strange animation quality this show has haha, I loved the episode "Welcome to the Haunted Hotel!" which is probably the highlight of the series from an emotional and animation standpoint but then episodes like "The Italian Dream (Part Two)" feel rushed in both the pacing and animation. Generally I've been enjoying it a lot but I feel the series does get a bit Jekyll and Hyde on itself. Still highly recommended.

When Supernatural Battles Became Commonplace
Harem comedies seem to have become my guilty pleasure, enjoyed it but that intro is totally misleading, I was promised a big climatic battle! Show seems to have ended just when it was starting to take off with
both emotionally with Hatoko's meltdown and the fairy war plot.

Shirobako - Upto Episode 3
Just started watching it and so far this show has taught me everyone in the anime industry is a stunt driver for the Fast & Furious movies. Loving every moment so far though does get hard to keep up with the subtitles haha.

Assassination Classroom S2 - Upto Episode 2
How I missed Korosensei's antics, picking up the comedy where it left off. Also I could go for some pudding right now.
 

firehawk12

Subete no aware
Koufuku Graffiti 12 END

I like the sense of the passage of time that this whole series has had, moving steadily through the calendar year, and this graduation episode serves to cap it all off nicely. I think having that sense of time adds an extra dimension to these sorts of everyday life series. Hidamari Sketch, for instance, started out without it, since it deliberately told stories out of chronological order, but it moved more towards chronological storytelling as the anime progressed (partially I would imagine because there was less and less manga to select from), and I think that helped the later seasons.

This was a great show overall. It used the central concept of eating as a metaphor for relationships quite effectively, and sensitively depicted loneliness melting away upon contact with others. Of course, the production really elevated the material. Without such good music, such good backgrounds, such well-planned direction, such good animation - it would not have been as atmospheric and emotionally effective as it ended up being. I've said this before, but this show, handled essentially by the Nisekoi anime team in between the two seasons of that, is something of a miracle. Naoyuki Tatsuwa is definitely my favorite non-Oishi Shaft director.
I don't think I noticed that when I watched it. It's funny though, because this is the one show that they've done where they tried to make it realistic instead of surrealistic and it's just odd. Even Nisekoi has its moments of overt Shaftiness.
 

Russ T

Banned
The Steins;Gate movie felt utterly superfluous and pointless. Like they were trying to wrap up a series that... had already been wrapped up? The series did a really good job of that! The OVA was also superfluous, but at least it was additive. The movie just... rehashed a bunch of ideas with a different skin?

I mean it's not like it was bad, per se, but it just didn't need to exist.

Even more curious to see Steins;Gate 0, now. I hope it doesn't just retread the same emotional rollercoaster again. That'd suck.
 
The Steins;Gate movie felt utterly superfluous and pointless. Like they were trying to wrap up a series that... had already been wrapped up? The series did a really good job of that! The OVA was also superfluous, but at least it was additive. The movie just... rehashed a bunch of ideas with a different skin?

I mean it's not like it was bad, per se, but it just didn't need to exist.

Even more curious to see Steins;Gate 0, now. I hope it doesn't just retread the same emotional rollercoaster again. That'd suck.

Like most Steins;Gate media the film existed because there was money to be made. Apparently Steins;Gate 0 is actually good, so that'd be something unique for S;G spinoffs.
 
Grimgar episode 2

It's painful to see how much these guys suck. Like the fucking thief/rogue had the chance to sneak behind the goblin and do a surprise attack. But he's too much of a nervous wreck. Nobody else has gone through proper training apparently and all suck at swinging their weapons while this goblin was taking them like 1 v 6 without issues what a boss.

The highlight of the episode, just like with the last, is just HOW much I love the goblins in this show, this one would've whooped their asses and all he wanted was some water from the river you bunch of douchebags. I'm rooting for the goblins, fuck these bunch of useless obbers, except for the healer which if he doesn't die for being too competent the show is doing it wrong. Then we have a music video so the anime staff can brag over how nice their coloring and artstyle is. Why did they pump so much effort into this anime? Is it a popular book/manga?

Also yes, once again everytime that red haired girl appeared she needed to have her ass sticking out unto the screen because there's no other reason they'd give her short shorts in an anime.

I don't know why none of them haven't gone to find a proper weapon style trainer/teacher, if I were the thief I would be using the night to find a dummy to train against. Instead let's lay in the grass and have fun when we can't even deal with a single fucking goblin effectively.

Also was the scene the red haired girl looking at the guy helping out the other girl supposed to signify
she has a crush on him? I can't blame her, he's the only one here who isn't pathetic.
 

striferser

Huge Nickleback Fan
Gundam IBO 15
For a guy who's supposed to be smart, Savarin sure made one hell of a blunder. I though Kurdelia face is well known? I think in the first or 2nd episode, they show her talking to a mass media or something. Mikazuki sniffing on Atra shoe...oh my.
 

Russ T

Banned
Also was the scene the red haired girl looking at the guy helping out the other girl supposed to signify
she has a crush on him? I can't blame her, he's the only one here who isn't pathetic.

I mean, more than likely the answer is yes, because anime, but I more immediately interpreted it as she was just happy to see other people being happy, rather than freaking out about fighting goblins all day long. She smiled at the end, is the only reason I assumed that.
 
Dimension W 2

This show continues to be surprisingly enjoyable. Like I'm expecting it to drop the ball because it's really being decent right now. Visuals are on point, the dark colors and outlines are puuuuuuuuurty to look at. Robot girl still grinds my gears though, she's not as out of place now but their attempt to make her kawaii desu ^_^ is not helping.
 
Grimgar episode 2
*snip*

Also was the scene the red haired girl looking at the guy helping out the other girl supposed to signify
she has a crush on him? I can't blame her, he's the only one here who isn't pathetic.

I'd rather think she
herself is wistful for some love and thus a bit envious, which prevents her from just being happy for the other two.
 

Narag

Member
Damekko Doubutsu 13
TuHjeeBl.png

Cute little festival ep. Low time commitment reminds me why I like short anime so much.
 

Cornbread78

Member
Koyomimonogatari ONA2
Hell yeah, best opening with the best girl is just what we needed. That was good stuff. Senjougahara's is love. Good to see Oshino again as well.
 
I don't think I noticed that when I watched it. It's funny though, because this is the one show that they've done where they tried to make it realistic instead of surrealistic and it's just odd. Even Nisekoi has its moments of overt Shaftiness.

Koufuku Graffiti has plenty of "Shaft style" techniques; it just uses them intelligent for the most part instead of throwing them in randomly, and bothers to have good backgrounds.
 
Every time I think about watching Grimgar, I remind myself that I could be watching more Lord of Lords: Ryu Knight instead.

That's a fantasy anime from the 90s about a warrior, ninja, mage, and a priest all on one big adventure in a magical land to get to this giant sword that reaches the sky.

And they all pilot giant robots.
 
Is Aikatsu good? I was thinking of starting it.

It's a very sugary sweet show that is just a joy to watch. Most episodes could be described as friends coming together to solve an issue. If you're looking for drama you won't find it here. Be forewarned that the early CGI is pretty bad but it progressively gets better as the series goes on.
 

John Blade

Member
Man...Sakura Taisen: Gouka Kenran is very odd, pushing toward character development then expand the story. Not saying it's bad but with characters you have in the show, I don't know if they can make it interesting. Also, dat animation....the early computer animation.
 
Haikyu!! S2 Eps 5-12

2DiOYgv.png


I'm really liking the senpais during the training arc. I thought some of the powerhouse school aces would be jerks (especially the Nekoma one, dude just looks like a villain) but I was surprised at how helpful they were. Their chemistry and interactions are hilarious too.

The Fukurodani ace reminds me of some vintage cartoon character like the Vault Boy from Fallout for some reason. I think its the eyebrows and his droopy eyes. Maybe how his hair is colored? *shrug* He's great. I love his VA as well, very enjoyable to listen to.

I'm glad the other members of Karasuno are leveling up too. Cant wait to see these moves perfected during the upcoming tournament.
 
So Grimgar is not a masterpiece. It might not even be good as far as I know. I haven't read the original material or anything. I just watched the first two episodes. (And I find Ranta as annoying as most people do.)

That said, I would still put Grimgar well above most light novel works like The Asterisk War, because it focuses on the characters. Take the big knight, Mogzo.
He barely talks, but I feel like I know a fair deal about him just by watching his behavior. Despite his large frame, he doesn't appear to take a commanding presence in decision making. He has to be ordered around in battle.
He also doesn't mind doing typically feminine things like cooking and sewing. After
killing the Golbin
the first thing he does is go home and repair his sword, despite being told that he's on his own time.
He seems more comfortable on his own, and doesn't wonder around the town like the others do, shopping or eating. He seems a touched bothered by what he did, but he also shows a bit of creative side by Whittling.

They do it without having him say much, or having another character say "Oh wow, you're good at Whittling?" I can't say it's perfect character building, and it might just be dreck getting a good adaptation, but I enjoyed it. (It probably helps that I like quiet characters.)
 

Rainy

Banned
It's a very sugary sweet show that is just a joy to watch. Most episodes could be described as friends coming together to solve an issue. If you're looking for drama you won't find it here. Be forewarned that the early CGI is pretty bad but it progressively gets better as the series goes on.

Don't do it.

I don't mind a show without drama, would be nice to watch. And hah madp; I'll give the first episode a watch soon.

Shirobako 13

Well considering the unresponsive book company executive, I'm guessing they'll be some bumps on the road to getting everything ready for Aerial Girls Squad. Also looks like the original gang might all reunite at Musani?

Also the new OP and ED are much better than the first ones!
 

Squalor

Junior Member
Welp, Schwarzenmarken, I'm officially out.

Shitty première followed by a shitty second episode.

Came into this with low expectations (if any), and it still fell short. Anime clichés and tropes everywhere. Awful show.

Grimgar's biggest problem aside from the obvious Ranta and useless fanservice issues is the fact that it's heavy-handed as fuck. There's no subtlety in the show. There's no change of pace or tone or mood. If the first two problems weren't so prevalent, I could excuse the show, though. I'll refrain from dropping it for now, but it's on a thin rope.
 

duckroll

Member
http://bokumachi-anime.com/story/03/

Did you know?
Episode 3 of Erased will feature Takahiro Shikama as the episode director, storyboarder, and animation director. Shikama is an action animator mostly known for his work on Star Driver and Sword Art Online. Aside from being responsible for most of the major melee fights in Sword Art Online, he was also the main animator behind the duel in episode 18 of Garo the Animation. The episode is written by a certain Yutaka Yasunaga, a writer with pretty much no prior anime credits other than script assistance on the Magi Sinbad OADs, which suggests he was brought on by Taku Kishimoto.

Also, with regards to the discussion earlier... this does not look suspicious at all, no sir: http://bokumachi-anime.com/assets/img/story/thumb/03/03.jpg
 
Aside from being responsible for most of the major melee fights in Sword Art Online, he was also the main animator behind the duel in episode 18 of Garo the Animation.

Why does everything I love (Garo) end up being tied to things I hate?

Jokes aside, the man clearly knows how to set up an interesting fight scene.
 

Squalor

Junior Member
I'd rather think she
herself is wistful for some love and thus a bit envious, which prevents her from just being happy for the other two.
It actually showed she was happy for them. She showed a slight smile, then let them have their alone time.

That doesn't mean she isn't envious, which I believe she clearly way, but she hasn't shown any interest in the Paladin. She's just lonely.
 

duckroll

Member
Why does everything I love (Garo) end up being tied to things I hate?

Jokes aside, the man clearly knows how to set up an interesting fight scene.

Better hope he's working his ass off on the Garo movie then. Cause I bet there won't be any action in Erased! (I'm sure he'll do a fine job though)
 

Cornbread78

Member
Dimension W ep.2
Ok, that was a tippy ending right there. I really want to dig deeper into what these coils really are. Good stuff though.
 

Russ T

Banned
So Grimgar is not a masterpiece. It might not even be good as far as I know. I haven't read the original material or anything. I just watched the first two episodes. (And I find Ranta as annoying as most people do.)

That said, I would still put Grimgar well above most light novel works like The Asterisk War, because it focuses on the characters. Take the big knight, Mogzo.

He barely talks, but I feel like I know a fair deal about just by watching his behavior. Despite his large frame, he doesn't appear to take a commanding presence in decision making. He has to be ordered around in battle.
He also doesn't mind doing typically feminine things like cooking and sewing. After
killing the Golbin
the first thing he does is go home and repair his sword, despite being told that he's on his own time.
He seems more comfortable on his own, and doesn't wonder around the town like the others do, shopping or eating. He seems a touched bothered by what he did, but he also shows a bit of creative side by Whittling.

They do it without having him say much, or having another character say "Oh wow, you're good at Whittling?" I can't say it's perfect character building, and it might just be dreck getting a good adaptation, but I enjoyed it. (It probably helps that I like quiet characters.)

I wanted to bring this up myself, but got distracted as I was writing my post and forgot about it. I really, really, really like this aspect of the show. And I really like this character. I hope he doesn't die. D:

But man I hope Ranta does. Or that maybe they do something interesting with his annoying gross attitude, like he's just putting on a front to deal with the stress, but he's actually freaking out. I mean, it'd be pretty stereotypical, but at least it'd be something better than a pervert. He was definitely affected by killing the goblin, even if he doesn't want to say it out loud.

I want this show to be good. Second episode was a huge step up from the first, but that's not indicative of anything much.
 

Squalor

Junior Member
Oh, he's not involved in the script in anyway. That's fine.

Those two shows were bad, but they looked nice most of the time.

Boku Dake ga Inai Machi still safe. That's a relief.

You guys are expecting way too much out of Grimgar. It's not a deep show.
 

sonicmj1

Member
I feel like I'm late to commenting on Rakugo and Erased, so I'll just mention that the second episodes of both were great. Erased in particular really stands out. Great pacing and direction so far.

Hai to Gensou no Grimgar 2

This was a good improvement from the first episode. The fight had a good progression to it, but what stood out to me the most here were some of the quiet moments. The talk between Haruhiro and Manato at the beginning of the episode was a nice moment of connection, accompanied solely by the sounds of the night. As others have mentioned, it's been developing the characters and the town visually more than anything (most obviously with the montage in the second half of the episode), and that attention makes the battles outside town mean more.

Hh6QOWo.jpg
nWyFXAW.jpg

"Feel good episode"

I do worry a little that the production might be polishing a turd. Ranta's character is so inherently insufferable, and the peeping scene at the end, mercifully short as it was, would have been better off excised altogether. There's a strong idea at the core of the story, but I'm not sure if that idea can be explored properly with this kind of cast written the way they are. Still, there are enough interesting visual ideas going on that I'll stick around a while longer. I'd really like this to be good.

Grimgar's biggest problem aside from the obvious Ranta and useless fanservice issues is the fact that it's heavy-handed as fuck. There's no subtlety in the show. There's no change of pace or tone or mood. If the first two problems weren't so prevalent, I could excuse the show, though. I'll refrain from dropping it for now, but it's on a thin rope.

The show certainly isn't subtle with its mood-setting, but I'd say there were a few different moods in this episode, at least. The fight moved well between near-comedy and desperation.
 
Haikyuu!! 15

Johzenji was a fun team to watch. We got to see some very different plays, as well as seeing a side character earning Karasuno some points. Now after a stren scolding, the opposing team seems to be all fired up. I'm looking forward to seeing whether they will present our team a challenge next week or not.
 
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