For some reason I really feel like starting Oreimo as soon as possible. I guess I'll get to it this weekend along with Season 1 of JoJo to get ready for the WORLD
Once you get through S1 of JoJo, it's going to ruin you for everything else. Especially Oreimo. You're going to be brimming with such a magnificent amount of testosterone and righteousness, something like Oreimo will just feel weak and bland.
Like switching to herbal tea after getting used to the taste of black espresso.
Overall this series have been a mixed bag. Started ok in the first few episodes then it dragged on in the middle but the later end kick things into high gear and ended great. Ryuuko is still a terrible character and Satsuki should have been a main character instead.
There won't be a season 2 going the way of the ending despite at some people grasping straws about what Ragyo say about those life fibers.
Went in with proper expectations of what the movie was about. I liked it well enough I suppose. It wasn't quite so focused at first on it's themes and had some parts which might have been too heavy handed for me but overall it was a fairly enjoyable and charming movie with nice visuals.
Ending felt kind of rushed, but other than that, almost everything finished off the way I wanted it to.
Sucks that Senketsu had to go ;_;. But honestly, I wasn't expecting the happily ever after ending after all that. I'm glad it happened though.
Anways, that was Kill la Kill. Was it great?
Honestly, after all that, no. It wasn't. Did I enjoy it? HELL YES.
Despite the love I have for this show, I cannot deny its faults. The animation was really lackluster in many areas, the soundtrack, while having quite a few enjoyable pieces, still leaves much to be desired. The big
"clothing is evil" metaphor doesn't exactly go anywhere in the end and has little meaning.
But despite all that, I had fun watching Kill la Kill. What really held it up for me were the characters and all of their fun personalities. Mako was hilariously fun to watch all around. Satsuki was the amazing dominant badass. The E4 were all kinds of awesome with all their personalities constantly conversing with one another in the same scene half the time. Ryuko was.......uh.....Ryuko.
Kill la Kill isn't the anime I'd recommend to others who say they want to watch an amazing anime. If you want to watch Kill la Kill, go in with the expectation of having a fun time all around. If you're going in with the expectations of a super intense story with tons of consequences, then there are much better places to look. You'd be better off watching Gurren Lagann in that regard.
Now that I've had a sec to catch my breath, all I can really think to say about the ending of Samurai Flamenco is that I can't imagine it going down any other way now, but I still wish the show had had two more episodes to really flesh out the character stuff at the end.
Also the marriage proposal got rejected. In the end Cellphone > Your favorite love interest for Gotoh.
ALSO, I believe that
Admiral Woofington owes me something, since Cellphone's face was never once seen and she only appeared in flashbacks.
THE IDOLM@STER MOVIE: 輝きの向こう側へ!.
There are some parallels between the storyline here and the final arc of the TV series, but the differences give everything a lot more weight. Most of the conflict revolves around a group of rookie backup dancers, a crew that I guess I'd know if I followed Cinderella Girls. They have a lot of trouble keeping up with the pace of these top idols, and they don't have the effortless chemistry that binds the main crew together. On top of that, the producer stays out of things, putting the bulk of the responsibility for solving the problem on Haruka. And as much as the film shows how she's grown, exerting leadership doesn't always come naturally to her when things don't break her way.
Once you get through S1 of JoJo, it's going to ruin you for everything else. Especially Oreimo. You're going to be brimming with such a magnificent amount of testosterone and righteousness, something like Oreimo will just feel weak and bland.
Like switching to herbal tea after getting used to the taste of black espresso.
Goddamn, this is spectacular.. and wow the directing and art design level are really different from the actual show and looks like this can be standalone movie/OAV.
Wow has someone like Jex make detailed post about this yet? I want to read it.
Hajime no Ippo : Rising - 24
Hajime no Ippo never looked this good before this dammit.
This was pretty intense for the TV series, and didn't even have a real conclusion. Quality seemed better than usual too. Is this supposed to lead into something else?
An episode full of short pokemon battles.
I thought this was a nice setup for the eventual gym battle.
I'm hoping this means Ash-toshi won't have to fight the gym leader twice because he should already have an idea of what he wants to do.
Wake Up, Girls! 12 + Final Thoughts (Movie Included)
I know Yamakan has been known for his grandiose statements, and combining idols and the earthquake into a series isn't the first combination anybody would think of. I realized just how serious he was about this when the final WUG episode dropped a direct reference to 9/11. I was invested in the stories of these girls, and then I get that. Not out of nowhere, but it wasn't foreseen.
For the series itself, starting it with the movie (really just an extended first episode) was an interesting idea. I've seen a fair share of idol series over the years, and this one was one of the more cynical ones.
Though WUG lost the festival, they did get a record deal, so it's not a total loss.
Once the first few episodes passed, it felt more like a typical idol series, but the most cynical part of it came from I-1, and how they stood in contrast.
While AKB0048 glamorized AKB and made them into fighting space idols freeing the people, WUG presented a counterpart as being the ones imprisoning the people in the first place. The strict nature of it was memorable, and also wholly hateable. The I-1 girls did become somewhat more sympathetic later on, but Shiraki's 9/11 speech isn't enough to take away from what he did before.
The WUG girls themselves are likable, but not as easily distinguishable as some other idol groups. Mayu and Minami are the ones I remember the most, everyone else never made too strong of an impression. The show defined them as well as it could, and I can still pick out some unique traits for them, but not as much as say, Love Live or iM@S. It's a unique idol series, and while it can't overtake the greats, I'll call it an admirable effort.
There's something that I find that very few people do, that makes shows all that much better when they turn out good. That would be to go in with little to no expectations. That's something that I did with this show and Space Dandy, after seeing so many people hype them up. Did it help? Yeah, it did.
Kill la Kill is a ridiculous ride from begining to end. Is it perfect? No, not at all. There's several things that could have been done differently or better. The beginning drags a bit and the show doesn't really pick up until halfway through. But in the end, we're left with good characters, a satisfying story, and a nice conclusion.
I enjoyed the show, and its definitely one I'd recommend to those that I know are looking for something a bit on the wild side.
I was a bit meh on it myself, honestly - admittedly the annoying kids sitting behind me acting in an un-British fashion by talking most the way through it didn't help, but it felt an awful lot like someone had written a really tight Nick Fury movie only to realise that they had to shove Mr Rogers into there somewhere. The super-hero-y stuff felt entirely superfluous to much of what was going on, and weirdly underdeveloped.
So basically, this is Shakugan no Shana if it were actually good. Get a bit of that FMA feel, though, where it's like it can't seem to part with particular anime gags that hold it back.
I kind of prefer it when they go full gag for the non-arc OAD episodes that's got no relation to anything else. It seems a bit more fitting in that case but overall I think the show does a good job in developing the tone as the series progresses.
I was a bit meh on it myself, honestly - admittedly the annoying kids sitting behind me acting in an un-British fashion by talking most the way through it didn't help, but it felt an awful lot like someone had written a really tight Nick Fury movie only to realise that they had to shove Mr Rogers into there somewhere. The super-hero-y stuff felt entirely superfluous to much of what was going on, and weirdly underdeveloped.
Maybe the show did use the "This is my fight!" "No, this is our fight!" setup for its climaxes a little too often. As far as science-fantasy Raildex-type action shows go, this one was enjoyable. Plenty of action and some interesting concepts, and enough lewdness that always felt tasteful. Mostly tasteful. It was nothing like High School DxD or something of that ilk, but definitely present and a core element of things.
The characters were all likable. Akatsuki's a bit dense, but not too dense. Plenty of cute tsundere moments for everyone, and just about every girl got the spotlight once. There were a few weird moments like the Natsuki thing during the Alchemist arc, but that's the consequence of adapting something that's currently releasing material, part of almost any anime.
Nothing standout, but nothing I found that bad either. Just a middle of the road title that delivered exactly what I was looking for in it, and served as a showcase for a nice selection of VAs. Bringing in Asumin at the end is much appreciated. I almost forgot I was interested in these because they were written by Asura Cryin's writer. And like that series, these were filled with a lot of magical terminology that, while not too complicated, took a while to adjust to, and it had some interesting ideas behind it.
I liked all the OPs and EDs, and if I had to choose a favorite girl, Sayaka or La Folia are near the top. Overall, enjoyable.
Of the agricultural shows, this is the horse I chose to bet on, since it appealed more to my tastes. I'm glad with the choice I made. I got two amazing heroines and one amazing Yukarin, a ton of parodies and lewdness, and some genuine emotion out of this goofy little series. Minori's sisters are smart enough to not be fooled by the wallababy, and Kousaku's speech was really well done. Becky remains a fun character all around, and much of that is due to Chiwa Saito's tendency to give herself over to the manic characterization at full tilt. Sailor Becky was incredible, and kudos to Funi's translators for getting all the country slang and Becky's deluge of 80s lingo into an American context almost seamlessly.
This is the show that gave me Yoshida, one of my favorite heroines of the season. It had TL moments and yuri moments, plenty of lewdness and the kind of sense of humor I like to see in an anime. Wordplay gags, character driven moments, and even a bit of education about the farming life. Plus, idols. In some ways, Ringo's backstory fell right in line with what was going on in WUG. It all culminated in that a capella solo in episode 11. A real great moment for her.
Highly enjoyable, and easily in my top five for the season.
But they also don't have Nobunaga the Fool listed for an ongoing simulcast though we know the show is continuing into the next season. So I wouldn't put too much stock in their listing for now. Especially since they add TBD boxes on a whim.
TL
