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Winter-Spring 2014 Anime |OT3| People incapable of guilt usually do have a good time

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A

Admiral Woofington

Member
Quasar said:
Yeah. With the new OVA (and Mushishi gettinhg a second season) I really hope it happens.

Yeah. I adored this anime. It was my anime of the year for last year. And my adoration for it think caused my issues with Mushishi, as I tried to watch it straight after but frankly would have preferred watching more Natsume.

Now of course I need to make a second rushed attempt at Mushishi so I can watch season 2.
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Natsume was amazing.

Quasar said:
Well I'd say its the #1 youkai anime I've seen. Its pretty much a perfect show imo. Well 2 probably if you count Spice and Wolf.
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Yeah it still is the #1 show for me involving youkai and invisible beings (ala Mushishi).

Dedication Through Light said:
How could you forget his moments with his friends.
[im]http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lqp5gl5gXX1qaaehjo2_250.gif[/img]http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lqp5gl5gXX1qaaehjo4_250.gif[/im]

OTP
[im]http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m6hrxjAzvg1qhqi24o1_500.jpg
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DTL gonna DTL.

Witchfinder General said:
Fantastic review for a fantastic show. My wife and I discovered this show by accident when we were in Japan 18 months ago. We were walking in Tokyo station and there was a make-shift stall selling merchandise featuring a cute looking lucky-cat. My wife thought it was the most adorable thing ever and we moved on to our hotel. As we were flipping through the channels in our room I discovered an anime on with the very same cat i saw at the station. Although I didn't understand what was going on exactly I could tell this was a pretty good show. Using my google-fu skills on my iPhone I managed to work out the show was Natsume's Book of Friends and that NIS America had the first two seasons up fo pre-order. I ordered the set from my tiny Tokyo hotel room and a few weeks later back at home the DVDs arrived. My wife and I watched it and were instantly enthralled. Since then we have bought the rest of the series and every single volume of the manga. It's probably my wife's favourite anime/manga of all time and in my top three for sure. For my wife's birthday last year I made her a custom-designed Nyanko-sensei t-shirt. I only hope we get some more seasons. At the time we were pretty burned out on anime, having all but stopped watching it for years as we were sick of the vast majority of titles pandering to horny teenagers. Natsume's Book of Friends completely restored our faith in anime and for that it has my thanks.

Also, Nyanko-sensei coming home intoxicated saying "ta dai ma!" as boorishly as he can is probably my favourite thing ever.
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Natsume Book of Friends actually did refresh my faith in anime. Not to say that I feel there aren't many great anime, one just has to look, but the show's appeal was not one that is standard for me to enjoy, but it did it flawlessly. If you and your wife enjoyed the calm atmosphere and lovable characters, I can't recommend Polar Bear Cafe (aka Shirokuma Cafe) enough. It has a ridiculous premise of animals living out normal lives among humans, but it's a show that you can watch after a long day and it manages to put a smile on your face every single time. While not an emotionally-driven show it is one where peace of mind would be a perfect description. Also it has Hiroshi Kamiya as one of the main characters (Penguin-san) and again his VA work is freaking brilliant.

And agreed on Nyanko-sensei's voice acting. I saw a video of the VA in an anime-con doing lines and jesus he just kills it with the audience by saying "ta dai maaaaa".

Red Pencil said:
Great review for a wonderful series that I hold very dear! I recommend watching the OVA that came out earlier this year called Itsuka Yuki no Hi ni. It's a self-contained original story and it hits all the right notes that the series excels at, imo. If you want a pretty light-hearted side story involving Nyanko-sensei, go watch the LaLa special. I hope your review is able to convince others to try the series out if they haven't yet! I could talk about this series all day and it's one of the manga I ended up picking up after watching the show.

(And man, I feel you for those scenes. It's honestly the most invested in I've been for a series to date. I teared up for this show and I never outwardly cry for pretty much anything I watch or read. It's scary how easily you get attached to characters, even for the isolated character arcs. But man, the flashback arc kills me. Absolutely kills me. Just hearing or seeing the opening for the final season gets me upset.)
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Yeah still need to watch the snowman OVA, but I doubt it'll change my mind on the love I harbor for this show now. I cry pretty easily due to sad moments, such as Jurassic Bark in Futurama and the opening of Up!. Natsume had those and also had the 'so happy for him you can't help but cry' moments. The flashback arcs are just there to make you cry, plain and simple, especially the one of the last episode and the one I posted the picture up for, with the tree youkai who teased Natsume when he was a kid. That's easily my favorite episode.

Jexhius said:
Natsume is only 'similar' to Mushi-Shi in the sense that it's also similar to Mononoke and other shows featuring some kind of spiritual detective. Also Mushi-Shi is one of the best anime ever made.
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Hitokage said:
Nah, Mushishi is full-on moody and atmospheric. It doesn't really do cute.

Also, you made a mistake which is never too late to correct!
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dimb said:
not to say i completely dislike the show, but come on. it's like the definition of b-tier youkai.
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I'm pairing these up with the assumption that dimb is hinting that Mushishi is his preferred show about 'youkai'. I've watched the grand majority of Mushishi maybe... 2-3 years ago? But it was more of a background show I enjoyed because yes, it also had a very tranquil personality to it that just eased your mind.

The difference between Mushishi and Natsume and why I prefer Natsume as a show dealing with a man who goes around solving problems involving these invisible creatures comes from the characters. Like Hito said Mushishi is more moody and atmospheric, it didn't ever really dwell on expanding on the cast or making you care about the main character (again from what I recall). It was more of a show about using the protagonist as the plot device to show us around the world of Mushishi. It was all about building the world and this fantasy that was just absolutely amazing, but I never really got as emotionally invested in any of the stories as much as I did with most of Natsume's. I'll definitely be giving Mushishi a fair watch again while the second season is airing now that I've learned to appreciate works I fully didn't intend to watch before, see if it changes my mind on which show I prefer. But again like Jexhius mentions they don't have much in common besides a common theme to their main character and creatures, I just felt like pointing out mushishi due to this and due to my lack of appreciation for it when I first watched it.
 
S

Save 'N Quit

Banned
na1l3uzm.jpg
na2zyuid.jpg
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Naruto Shippuden 357

Opening: Better than the previous one, but I still don't really like the song. Has another Madara rape face though.
Ending: Great. Actually think it would serve better as an Opening.
Bonus points for both of them teasing the highly anticipated hand holding scene.

Anbu Itachi time is now.

Enjoyed the cameo appearances with Sasuke and Shisui.

Actually surprised myself that I recognized the eternal genin from the filler episodes.
 
Jex

Jex

Member
Articalys said:
Full sales list for March 24-30:

http://www.someanithing.com/?p=1155

Updated Winter 2014 Vol. 1 Rankings, new series/changes in bold:

As a reminder, some of these might be boosted by event tickets and other bonuses, so wait for the rest of the volumes to see the series' true strength.

Couple other things:
- The Eccentric Family final average is 1,649 across seven volumes.
Click to expand...

RIP. Still, nearly 6K sales ain't bad for Noragami and as it's shifting manga volumes I suppose that's a win.
 
S

striferser

Huge Nickleback Fan
Articalys said:
Full sales list for March 24-30:

http://www.someanithing.com/?p=1155

Updated Winter 2014 Vol. 1 Rankings, new series/changes in bold:

As a reminder, some of these might be boosted by event tickets and other bonuses, so wait for the rest of the volumes to see the series' true strength.

Couple other things:
- The Eccentric Family final average is 1,649 across seven volumes.
- Love Lab true calculated final average is somewhere around 2,700-2,800 across seven volumes; see something's post at the link for the explanation on this.
- Miss Monochrome averages 1,479 for both its BD volumes, which were released simultaneously.
- Hidamari Sketch x Hoshimittsu BD-Box sells 2,610; less than the other two seasons' boxes, but mostly because they didn't release on BD singles ever while this one did.
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Mikakunin number 1.
Awww yiissss. Here wishing for 2nd season, and i hope the OP and ED made by Junky again

Eccentric family avrg lose to Imocho? Not sure what to think, oh well, at least uchoten win an award
 
M

Midonin

Member
Z/X Ignition 12 + Final Thoughts

It was an anime. There were dinosaurs, samurai, angels, creatures of all stripes, and while the characters were never fully defined (I wanted a lot more Chitose, for one), they still had something to them, and the action was never terrible. At times, it felt like the various factions were competing to see who could be the most dickish. Blue and White both made pretty strong cases. Even if there was nothing particularly standout about the show, it was more cohesive than Magical Warfare. That makes it less of a trainwreck and maybe it won't leave as big of an impression, but as far as something to watch goes, it's good for simple action, characters with understandable (if not particularly deep) motivations and a decent world premise. Wixoss will be taking up the "card game anime" mantle in the late night slot... and one can only wonder how that's going to go.
 
A

AquaWateria

Member
looking on Amazon the blu ray of BuddyComplex releases on the 8th of April, how come it shows the sale here. Is it beause it released at Japan retails first.
 
C

CorvoSol

Member
Getter Robo G 20

"If I lead the operation, you're guaranteed success, Emperor Burai!" Said Hitler, unironically, as if unaware of the fact that he has personally ruined no less than half of all the Demon Empire's schemes up until this point.

And then a Soccer player, a Biker and a Baseball player beat the shit out of a computer programmer, proving that no matter how muscular, nerds are nerds and will never be able to beat jocks in a match of fisticuffs.
 
M

madp

The Light of El Cantare
One of these days I hope that there's an event ticket included in the first volume of an anime that ends up being a police sting.
 
R

Red Pencil

Member
Admiral Woofington said:
Yeah still need to watch the snowman OVA, but I doubt it'll change my mind on the love I harbor for this show now. I cry pretty easily due to sad moments, such as Jurassic Bark in Futurama and the opening of Up!. Natsume had those and also had the 'so happy for him you can't help but cry' moments. The flashback arcs are just there to make you cry, plain and simple, especially the one of the last episode and the one I posted the picture up for, with the tree youkai who teased Natsume when he was a kid. That's easily my favorite episode.
Click to expand...

First off, going to +1 your recommendation for Shirokuma Cafe. Literally the best thing to watch after a long exhausting day of work. It's funny how quickly you accept the fact that it's a bunch of talking animals in a slice of life/comedy show.

See for Futurama and Up! I did get hit emotionally, but no physical tears were shed. I'll admit, I'm kind of jealous of those who can more easily express their emotions. haha When it came to Natsume, yeah, both happy and sad tears were definitely shed.

As for the Mushishi talk, I had watched the series years back, and I believe it's definitely a show more focused on the big picture than Natsume is. For Natsume, I was immersed in the characters while for Mushishi I was immersed in the overall world. Mushishi felt more.. unearthly to me and more magical while Natsume was a bit more grounded, but still had magical elements to it. I enjoyed both shows for very different reasons even though they draw from similar themes. It's not like I didn't care about the characters in Mushishi but I remember not getting seriously attached to Ginko's character until they explored his own childhood basically near the end of the series. Needless to say, I'll be watching the new season.
 
C

cnet128

Banned
Nagi no Asu Kara 26 END

Ocean Akira get!
=D

So, as expected,
Miuna didn't end up with Hikari, but I don't feel quite as bitter about it as I expected to. This may be just because Hikari and Manaka can't even be bothered to get together properly, or it may be because Miuna seems to be doing a great job of moving on and she deserves better than that idiot anyway ~.~ It's his loss. maybe I should just ship MiunaxManaka instead

At least
I can take comfort in the fact that at least one of my favourite pairings in this show is working out nicely. Kaname and Sayu, so cute <3

All in all, this was pretty much exactly what you'd expect from the final episode of this show. The series has never really risen out of its comfort zone or done anything truly momentous, but that's probably to be expected from a show themed around a calm ocean. At any rate, I'm glad I watched it. I've really enjoyed the show's beautiful visuals, its great cast with outrageous quantities of waifu potential, and its gradual but heartfelt relationship development.

So long, NagiAsu. Winter is over. Bring on the Spring! =D
 
H

Hitokage

Setec Astronomer
Admiral Woofington said:
I'm pairing these up with the assumption that dimb is hinting that Mushishi is his preferred show about 'youkai'. I've watched the grand majority of Mushishi maybe... 2-3 years ago? But it was more of a background show I enjoyed because yes, it also had a very tranquil personality to it that just eased your mind.

The difference between Mushishi and Natsume and why I prefer Natsume as a show dealing with a man who goes around solving problems involving these invisible creatures comes from the characters. Like Hito said Mushishi is more moody and atmospheric, it didn't ever really dwell on expanding on the cast or making you care about the main character (again from what I recall). It was more of a show about using the protagonist as the plot device to show us around the world of Mushishi. It was all about building the world and this fantasy that was just absolutely amazing, but I never really got as emotionally invested in any of the stories as much as I did with most of Natsume's. I'll definitely be giving Mushishi a fair watch again while the second season is airing now that I've learned to appreciate works I fully didn't intend to watch before, see if it changes my mind on which show I prefer. But again like Jexhius mentions they don't have much in common besides a common theme to their main character and creatures, I just felt like pointing out mushishi due to this and due to my lack of appreciation for it when I first watched it.
Click to expand...
Mushishi is functionally a collection of short stories. True, there isn't any continuity building, but each story on its own is so well executed and told that it remains consistently compelling.
 
C

cajunator

Banned
Psycho_Mantis said:
Mikakunin outselling Nisekoi and Kyoanus's shit.

OmakeGifAnime-MikakunindeShinkoukei-Episode3-YaySunset_zps12250a07.gif~original




This gives me hope for season 2 :)
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Normally Id be upset at a Shaft show being outsold so much buuuut seeing Mashiro happily dancing to success is worth it.

Articalys said:
Something to do with Canadian shipping costs being three times as expensive as the U.S. ones, I believe.
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Ah yes I seem to recall that. Unfortunate.
Iowa is closer to Canada than it is to me lol.

Hitokage said:
Mushishi is functionally a collection of short stories. True, there isn't any continuity building, but each story on its own is so well executed and told that it remains consistently compelling.
Click to expand...

Kino's Journey is very similar for the most part.
 
A

Admiral Woofington

Member
Kino's Journey is another show I've been pushing off for a while now. Mushishi will have backlog priority this season as I need to reacquaintance myself with it before the new season ends.

I'm such a completionist that longer shows, which I've heard nothing but fantastic things for, get pushed off more and more down my list because they have 100+ episodes.
 
C

cajunator

Banned
Psycho_Mantis said:
Arrest them all!

Holy fuck can't believe I typed that into google images. I hope this post was worth. Time to run, FBI are onto me.....
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now look up Rizelmine and Astorotte no Omocha.

Admiral Woofington said:
Kino's Journey is another show I've been pushing off for a while now. Mushishi will have backlog priority this season as I need to reacquaintance myself with it before the new season ends.

I'm such a completionist that longer shows, which I've heard nothing but fantastic things for, get pushed off more and more down my list because they have 100+ episodes.
Click to expand...

REMEDY THIS
 
S

Syrinx

Member
Admiral Woofington said:
Kino's Journey is another show I've been pushing off for a while now. Mushishi will have backlog priority this season as I need to reacquaintance myself with it before the new season ends.

I'm such a completionist that longer shows, which I've heard nothing but fantastic things for, get pushed off more and more down my list because they have 100+ episodes.
Click to expand...

Kino's Journey isn't very long at all.
 
O

OceanBlue

Member
Admiral Woofington said:
Kino's Journey is another show I've been pushing off for a while now. Mushishi will have backlog priority this season as I need to reacquaintance myself with it before the new season ends.

I'm such a completionist that longer shows, which I've heard nothing but fantastic things for, get pushed off more and more down my list because they have 100+ episodes.
Click to expand...
I'd also go with Mushishi since the new season is coming up, but Kino's is definitely something you should try at some point.
 
A

Articalys

Member
A

Admiral Woofington

Member
I think those calling Space Dandy the worst anime of the season might be using the term 'worst' over 'biggest disappointment' depending on what you were expecting.

While the first half was generally lackluster with only 2-3 great episodes, the second half only has half an episode which I genuinely consider to be bad. The one with the flea people. I mean who puts that after a very touching first half with a space dog?
 
G

Gbraga

Member
AquaWateria said:
If you thought Mahou Sensou was crap, then you haven't seen Recently, My Unusual Sister.
Click to expand...

I actually thought it was "ok". Shouldn't be winning any awards and definitely shouldn't be outselling legit good titles, but I don't think it was the horror a lot of people seem to think

Admiral Woofington said:
I think those calling Space Dandy the worst anime of the season might be using the term 'worst' over 'biggest disappointment' depending on what you were expecting.

While the first half was generally lackluster with only 2-3 great episodes, the second half only has half an episode which I genuinely consider to be bad. The one with the flea people. I mean who puts that after a very touching first half with a space dog?
Click to expand...

You convinced me to go back to it. Dropped during the first half, glad to know it gets better.

Nothing will convince me to go back to Mahou Sensou though. Oh, god.
 
N

Nordicus

Member
Gintama 25

MY BODY WAS NOT READY!

An entire episode revolving around hot pot eating strategies. Every single second of the episode was about this. One. Meal. They teased about making the episode a flashback clipshow during the first minute, but the characters went off track immediately!

And it was glorious.

Narag said:
Show hits its stride come ep 25.
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Hits its stride so hard that it basically kicks all the previous episodes in the ass with an oversized concrete-covered army boot. This was fucking transcendent
 
C

cnet128

Banned
Admiral Woofington said:
The one with the flea people. I mean who puts that after a very touching first half with a space dog?
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People who want to make up for a boring first half with a fun second half?


Love Live! 3

Oh no, Umi is too nervous to get up on stage because she can't perform in front of people!

Turns out she needn't have worried.
 
A

Admiral Woofington

Member
Gbraga said:
You convinced me to go back to it. Dropped during the first half, glad to know it gets better.
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You have to watch the show with the intent of seeing what each episode's crew will bring to the table. This is as episodic as a show can get, with each episode having almost nothing in common with a previous one. I watch the show now because the animation is fantastic and to see the artistic flair. Not to mention the second half having some amazing episodes, such as the groundhog day one, or the hilarious episode where Branduil's and TheOnik's avatar comes from.

If you were watching it in hopes it'd be like a sillier Cowboy Bebop or in hopes it'd have arcs, then I wouldn't recommend coming back to it. This is more of a show for those who want to see creativity, not a plot.
 
A

AquaWateria

Member
I hope that BuddyComplex and Log Horizon sell more blu rays/DvD because I legitimately like both anime and feel that they are the best of the season for me.
 
D

dimb

Bjergsen is the greatest midlane in the world
Admiral Woofington said:
I'm pairing these up with the assumption that dimb is hinting that Mushishi is his preferred show about 'youkai'. I've watched the grand majority of Mushishi maybe... 2-3 years ago? But it was more of a background show I enjoyed because yes, it also had a very tranquil personality to it that just eased your mind.
Click to expand...
I don't really consider Mushishi to be tranquil. It's really subdued but the tone is often tilted to something more somber because of the subject matter. There is almost always some kind of loss inside the episodes, and even if things work out in some sense there is irreparable damage to someone. Often times the ideal outcome is that people can just move on with their lives.

Mushishi is not an exercise in world building. Each episode is focused on characters and how their lives have been changed by coming into contact with a specific type of mushi.
 
A

Admiral Woofington

Member
Next show I'll be watching is Tatami Galaxy. I'll probably just start doing series write-ups, as episode reviews work for currently airing stuff for me only because I don't have much of an option.
 
F

foxuzamaki

Doesn't read OPs, especially not his own
PhillipCostigan said:
hisashiburi animegaf

so I guess I should say what I've been watching before I start asking questions

Tasogare Otome x Amnesia (aka Dusk Maiden of Amnesia)

Coming to the end of this now. After reading the manga in like a day and a half (which I adored with every fibre of my being) I've been watching the anime, which I also love. Really like how they captured Yuuko's personality. It's a bit less bleak/dark at times than the manga but they do the humour really well. And again, Yuuko is amazing. I would encourage you to read/watch this if you haven't.

Bakemonogatari

Senjougahara. All that needs to be said.

Golden Time

I put off the last few episodes (when it all started going to shit) until the last episode came out and I knew it was a happy ending. wasn't disappointed. Koko <3

Nisekoi

Big fan of the manga and been enjoying Shaft's work on the anime.

P.S. Onodera sucks, Chitoge is best girl.

Hyouka

Finally watched this and loved it. Pity we didn't get more of the what-would-undoubtedly-be-adorable romance, but still.

Hanasaku Iroha

Only a few episodes into The Adventures of Ohana's Shitty Life, so I need to get back to this, but I'm enjoying it.

-----------------------------------------

Now that that's out of the way, what adorable/fluffy romance/slice of life shows are coming out this season? I have a Crunchyroll sub, for what it's worth.
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More people need to watch tasogare otome X amensia
 
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