Winter 2012 Anime

Officer_Charon wrote:Oh yeah... DEFINITELY going to have to check this show out

When I heard it was called "Miniskirt Space Pirates" I figured it was going to be some lame fan-service heavy show that I'd watch the first episode of on a lark and then dismiss. I just finished Episode 09 and if I am honest, it's probably my favorite of the season.

But then I see elemental hints of two of my favorite anime series - Starship Operators and Coyote Ragtime Show - in it, so maybe I should not be surprised that I like it.

Miniskirt/Bodacious Space Pirates is indeed remarkably light on fan service given the kinds of titles its been given. I guess the director decided to save all the fan service for Rinne no Lagrange. (Although I actually consider Rinne no Lagrange one of the top tier shows of the season at this point as well. In fact I think I actually favor it over Pirates.)

Actually I seem to remember reading somewhere on animesuki that the word used in the original Japanese title for Pirates that people had translated as "miniskirt" could also be translated other ways. I seem to remember the term meant something along the lines of "bold" or "audacious" or somesuch but could also be translated as "miniskirt." Unfortunately I've had trouble finding the discussion again.

Just finished watching a Madhouse movie that I didn't even know existed until today. It's called The Princess and the Pilot. It's about a pilot who gets assigned to transport a royal's fiance from a besieged island to the country's mainland. It's not perfect, but it's good enough that if I'd gotten to see a fansub of it earlier my pick for top anime movie of 2011 might have been different. I'll likely try to read the fan translation of the novel it's based on at some point.

Despite the jokes about us having opposite tastes I'm going to suggest that Kiskaloo in particular should give it a try.

That one sounds pretty nifty! Did you find it under that name, or under the Japanese name? (And please, dear GOD forgive me if I came off as extra-retarded... I've been reading crazy customer-service stories all night, and it might have been contagious...)

It was actually my brother who got ahold of it, but the the fansub group that did it (Mazui) seems to refer to it in English (both the filename and the name on their site was in English).

Piero wrote:Despite the jokes about us having opposite tastes I'm going to suggest that Kiskaloo in particular should give it a try.

Just finished it and I found it brilliant. Hopefully it gets an R1 Blu-ray release.

Glad you liked it. For some reason it just struck me as a film you might really like. I suspect the airplanes had something to do with that (although they probably weren't the only factor).

I certainly wouldn't mind a R1 release either.

Now eleven episodes in on each, I have a feeling I'm going to have a heck of a time deciding between Bodacious Space Pirates and Another as my favorite show of this season. They are polar opposites in genre, but they are both brilliant within their particular genre.

This would have made it easier...

Spoiler:

My top picks haven't really changed over the last few weeks. I've pretty much got Rinne no Lagrange in first, with Bodacious Space Pirates as a strong second and Daily Lives of High School boys quite a ways back in third.

Does anyone know if Pirates is going to continue in Spring? It's supposedly a two cour show, but I'm wondering if it's going to continue into the Spring season or take some time off between cours like Rinne no Lagrange will apparently be doing.

I've tried to get into Rinne no Lagrange, but so far it's been tough. Just don't like the heroine.

Ano Natsu de Matteru tripped just before the finish line and face-planted with Episode 11 and I expect Episode 12 to be no better. So looks like these last two episodes will knock it down to a B average.

Tantei Opera Milky Holmes 2 is even more ridiculous (in a good way) than the original.

Kiskaloo wrote:I've tried to get into Rinne no Lagrange, but so far it's been tough. Just don't like the heroine.

If you could give me some details about where you are in the series and why you dislike Madoka, I might be able to advise you on whether it would be worth giving it another couple episodes or whether you'd be better off just dropping it at this point.

I think it's a good show, but like anything it's not going to be to everyone's tastes.

I'm halfway through Episode 03. I just find her a ditz, but one blessed with luck/skill to counter it. Plus I am in general not a fan of mecha shows - the ones I have enjoyed appeal to me on levels that so far RnL has not. It's essentially now a "back burner" show I watch when I have nothing else to watch. Since most of my shows are on their last episode next week, I'll finish 3 and maybe try 4.

As for Bodacious Space Pirates, I have not seen anything about it getting a second season, but Sentai Filmworks will be releasing an R1 Blu-ray.

Lagrange can actually go for several episodes with little in the way of mecha action. In that regard being lukewarm on mecha isn't necessarily a bad thing.

Yeah, Madoka comes across as a bit sue-like in the first episode with how awesome she seems to be at everything she does. Thankfully that impression isn't as strong in later episodes. She still has more spirit than brains though. On the plus side she's shown some flashes of maturity and the show is willing to let her excess of enthusiasm and tendency to just act without considering things very deeply cause problems. I'm hoping she'll learn to counterbalance her enthusiasm with an ability to think things through as the series progresses.

As for the episode count, I wasn't all that impressed by the series after three episodes either. My opinion of it improved a lot with episodes four through seven though. Muginami's presence makes a pretty big difference to the character dynamics and the show in general.

All that being said, if you're not able to start getting into get into the show by the end of episode five you might want to consider just dropping it.

I'm pretty sure Pirates is supposed to be a two cour show (24-26 episodes or so). I've heard the plan is for it two adapt the first three novels and then do some anime original content. If that's the case it's probably covering the second novel right now. Hopefully it'll be continuing in Spring rather than taking a season off like Lagrange is doing.

Piero wrote:I'm pretty sure Pirates is supposed to be a two cour show (24-26 episodes or so).

Wikipedia says 26 episodes, so I suppose that is right. Which is fine by me - I love the show (just finished Episode 12).

Princess Jellyfish is nice
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9QxT37FJ5K0

Kiskaloo wrote:

Piero wrote:I'm pretty sure Pirates is supposed to be a two cour show (24-26 episodes or so).

Wikipedia says 26 episodes, so I suppose that is right. Which is fine by me - I love the show (just finished Episode 12).

Just finished Episode 12 a bit ago myself. I've generally really enjoyed the second arc, but I was rather disappointed by this episode in some respects. The conflict between the factions and ihow it was resolved didn't seem to be very well explained. I'm a bit unclear what Grunhilde objective even was (other than to stop Gruier from destroying the Rose Spring and its contents), let alone what kind of compromise the parties were able to reach to settle the issue.

Kill Me Baby (eps 5-12) -- The show has been light and silly. Great for the end of the day when you just don't want to think anymore for the day.

Another (Ep 4-11) -- Paranoia and violence done right. I loved how it built up until everything just exploded. The characters may have made stupid mistakes, but when people are dying around you left and right, you are not going to think clearly, especially when you might be next.

Recorder to Ranoseru (Eps 5-10) - The shortness of the show negates most of the problems with repetitiveness. Overall nice and pleasant.

Bodacious Space Pirates (Ep. 5-10) -- Not outstanding, but it has risen above the dreck it could have been. And there just might be a decent plot...who'da thunk it?

Papa no Iu Koto o Kikinasai! (Ep. 4-9) -- Frankly, I think the main character ought to have just sold the brats to the salt mines and used the proceeds to woo the his busty school club mate, or the landlords daughter...

Another - A-
Exceptionally well-done adaption of the horror novel by Yukito Ayatsuji. Definitely buying the US Blu-ray release and looking forward to the prequel OAV and live-action movie later this year.

Tantei Opera Milky Holmes: Act 2 - B+
Even more slapstick than the original at time, but overall, not quite as epic. Would still buy both seasons in a heartbeat if they are licensed for the US.

Ano Natsu de Matteru - B-
The final two episodes of Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae o Bokutach wa Mada Shiranai were so good they turned a B- show into an A- show. Unfortunately, the last two episodes of this show were so bad they turned an A- into a B-. It was everything I'd hoped up until Episode 10, when it started to go off the rails. I wasn't really bothered by Ichika being an alien, but when her sister showed up at the end of Episode 10, I started to worry. And then Episode 11 happened and the train wreck was in full effect.

Spoiler:

Like Kamisama Dolls, this is a show that I think could have been much better than it ended up. It did have an awesome OP and ED, which was most welcome considering how bad every other show's OP and ED was this season.

Daily Lives of High School Boys: I probably should have caught on to the graduation segment being a dream before the reveal -things were going way too smoothly in terms of character relationships. Anyhow this isn't a show that tends to have much of an overarching plot or drama, so this wasn't exactly a super dramatic finale -but it did fit the show. Overall a pretty funny comedy, even if the level of humour it achieved fluctuated somewhat.

Rinne no Lagrange: The last episode of the season was not quite what I expected. It was kind of jarring at times. They seemed to be trying very hard to wind things down and give a sense of closure despite the fact that the show will be continuing with a second season in the summer. It seemed as if certain issues were glossed over a bit in order to give the viewers a degree of certainty. On the other hand there were certainly things I liked about this episode and the first season as a whole is still pretty awesome. This is a show that didn't seem to have a whole lot of depth at first then showed that it actually had some pretty decent characterisation and backstory. I found its handling of the character's feelings and motivations to be a particular highlight. Definitely looking forward to season two -there's still quite a bit of story to be told with this one.

I guess my judgement on the first half of Bodacious Space Pirates was probably a little premature given that the show is twenty-six episodes long, not twenty four. That being said, Grunhilde's motivations and the resolution to the conflict between her and Gruier still raise question marks. Oh well. Guess it's best not to worry about it too much since the show seems to be moving on to a new story arc. Unlike Lagrange, this show seems to be maintaining momentum rather than doing a wrap up of sorts (which makes sense -this is continuing right on into next season while Lagrange is going on break until summer). Overall this was a pretty enjoyable show despite some issues (like the unclear motivations in this arc and slow pacing in the first arc). Here's to hoping the second half of the show is at least as good. And that the next arc features more Chiaki. She needs more screentime.

BTW there are a bunch of other shows I watched aside from Bodacious Space Pirates, Rinne no Lagrange, and Daily Lives of High School Boys. I even finished some of them. However these three were definitely my favorites, so they're the ones I concentrated on with my end of season wrap up reviews. I'm just not that inclined to bother with doing much in the way of write ups for the rest at this point.

Bodacious Space Pirates (Episodes 14+15)

Spoiler:

The Yacht club girls taking over for the sick crewmembers was indeed an awesome development, although it may have set my expectations a little high. Episode 15 was quite enjoyable nonetheless.

On another note, it occurs to me that I could perhaps take some cues from Chiaki and Lan if I want to try to make Adelina a less boring character in comparison to Elisabetta and Gina. Though then again adding those kinds of moe traits to a character who is supposed to be filling a leader/mentor role might not work out very well...

Bodacious Space Pirates (Episode 17)

This show just gets better with each episode.

Definite finalist for "Best Anime of 2012".

If it can consistently deliver episodes this good, it'll be a contender, although it's facing some stiff competition even now -and the year isn't even half over yet.

Also, I'm amused by the fact that the Academy yacht club seems to be full of yuri fangirls.

Watched Episode 18 of Bodacious Space Pirates over the weekend. While I enjoy the show, I'm also finding myself disappointed by it. It often seems like there are things missing (possibly because it's an adaptation?) and the conflicts of both the last two story arcs seem to have been resolved rather easily. The show has had it's good moments but it also seems kind of lacking at times.

Bodacious Space Pirates (Episode 21) - Someone is a fan of SyFy's Battlestar Galactica.

Fantastic episode.

Still like Marika the best, but Ai-chan is making a compelling case.

Just started watching BSP... I do believe I'm going to enjoy this show... Just got to the Princess' introduction.

Also, Marika can be my captain, anyday!

Another (Episode 00) - Lolita Mei Misaki and Lolita Misaki Fujioka for the win.

Just saw this on dA:


Fantastic. *chuckles*

Busou Chuugakusei Basket Army 3: Well, the third episode isn't subbed yet, but I managed to figure out was going on. About half of the (three minute) episode featured a flashback to the cast's days in the Defense Academy, including the students firing Howa Type 89s at a range, rather than the M4s they are using now. That begs to question: Do these "Defense Academies" really exist... and would they really hand middle schoolers assault rifles? It seems a tad bit unwise.

As for the second half of the OVA, it consisted of the main cast rigging claymore mines in a shoe lockers of the school. Also, if those ropes between the lockers are tripwires, they can't be very effective, you'd have to be blind to miss that. Although they did seem to have the remote detonators, so perhaps the ropes aren't tripwires.

Also, apparently the PMC that the main characters are fighting are actually the Helghast from Killzone.

Started watching Bodacious Space Pirates and I'm lovin' it. Espacially with a name like Bodacious Space Pirates, it just screams awsome.

Destroyer of Worlds ;D wrote:Started watching Bodacious Space Pirates and I'm lovin' it. Espacially with a name like Bodacious Space Pirates, it just screams awsome.

i havent started watching that... but i just watched (elfen lied) and i cried through the whole anime .!!!! It has made me so upset !!! great anime!!!! and is very Sad!!!!....

Bodacious Space Pirates (Episode 22) - There's a new girl in town, and she doesn't play nice.

It's unclear to me whether the last arc of Bodacious Space Pirates was anime original or an adaptation. I was under the impression it was original, but now I'm not so sure. At any rate it was a decent arc. It was the first arc since the first one where I didn't feel like the resolution was too easy.

Anyhow, the latest episode was the start of a new arc. It was going pretty well until we got towards the end of the episode, where things got a bit... over the top. We'll have to see how these new twists work out. Hopefully the show didn't just jump the shark.

Also, did anyone else find the thing with the gravity fields reminded them of one of the tactics Sinon used to turn the tables on a numerically superior enemy force in Episode 12 of Starship Operators?

Piero wrote:
Also, did anyone else find the thing with the gravity fields reminded them of one of the tactics Sinon used to turn the tables on a numerically superior enemy force in Episode 12 of Starship Operators?

Yeah me to,i guess it's fairly obvious,once you can control Gravity it makes perfect sense to make your spaceships inertialess, combine it with computer controlled weapons and hope to god you shoot first,

it always bugged me on Star Trek how they got thrown around on the bridge during an attack,WTF are your Inertial Dampners doing ? oh and wear seatbelts !

Awinnell wrote:it always bugged me on Star Trek how they got thrown around on the bridge during an attack,WTF are your Inertial Dampners doing ? oh and wear seatbelts !

On the more serious side though, as much as I enjoy Bodacious Space Pirates (and how couldn't I with a name like that), I can't really get into the space combat. 'Cept for the Elactronic Warfare stuff, that's cool. I blame it on the Halo books, more spceifically Fall of Reach because it was all in perspective, even when the Aliens fired thier enrergy weapons, it took some time for the plasma to close the space between ships, and if I remember correctly, the close quarters combat was within 100 kilometres. At least FTL includes Slip Space, that is the one mode of FTL I will accept.
But dayum, that was a big ship that had a spaz attack .

my favourite line from any TV scifi show space battle was from Blakes seven

Zen the Liberators main computer,"Plasma bolt launched ,plasma bolt running, impact in 20 seconds"

Bodacious Space Pirates (Episode 24)

In this week's episode: the Bentenmaru takes a licking, but keeps on ticking; preparations are underway at The Pirate's Nest; Marika meets her new rival; do androids dream of electric sheep? I don't know, but I now know they don't take laser blasts well; and Coorie does an epic anime Rick-Roll.

Bodacious Space Pirates (Episode 25)

Only one more episode left!

Spoiler:

Kiskaloo wrote:Bodacious Space Pirates (Episode 25)

Only one more episode left!

Spoiler:

I loved that part of the episode made me . Poor girl, she was so embaressed

Well it turns out my worries about Bodacious Space Pirates jumping the shark with its latest arc were unfounded. This new arc is awesome! (Well okay a lot of the other pirate ships look too much like the Bentenmaru with extra bits tacked on, but that's a relatively minor complaint. ) Anime original arcs can be pretty awesome if the writers know what they're doing.

Chiaki-chaaaaaaaaaann!!! *_*

SPARTAN 119 wrote:Busou Chuugakusei Basket Army 3: Well, the third episode isn't subbed yet, but I managed to figure out was going on. About half of the (three minute) episode featured a flashback to the cast's days in the Defense Academy, including the students firing Howa Type 89s at a range, rather than the M4s they are using now. That begs to question: Do these "Defense Academies" really exist... and would they really hand middle schoolers assault rifles? It seems a tad bit unwise.

As for the second half of the OVA, it consisted of the main cast rigging claymore mines in a shoe lockers of the school. Also, if those ropes between the lockers are tripwires, they can't be very effective, you'd have to be blind to miss that. Although they did seem to have the remote detonators, so perhaps the ropes aren't tripwires.

Also, apparently the PMC that the main characters are fighting are actually the Helghast from Killzone.

I'd forgotten about this show, since it runs one episode a month (why? It's only three minutes!), but Migoto published their fan-sub of Episode 03 today.

I'm guessing the West invaded Japan like they did Iraq - take out the military then occupy the capital before moving out to occupy surrounding cities. This would give time for these "Defense Academies" to be created just as insurgent groups in Iraq formed in cities like Fallujah. So now the PMCs have been called in to help the local police (now under foreign control) suppress these groups just as they did in Iraq.

Bodacious Space Pirates: A+

One of best shows of 2012 puts on it's best episode to carry the finale. When I heard the title - Miniskirt Space Pirates - I expected it to be a fan-service flop. Instead, I would not be surprised if it is still talked about a decade from now.

Spoiler:

Recorder to Randoseru: B

For a one-trick 4-koma adaption, they kept it entertaining across 26 episodes.

Busō Chūgakusei Basket Army - Episode 04
Remember this show? Me neither. And this episode was pure fluff with absolutely no story advancement.

Considering this isn't a very good show, the creators have serious attachments to take three months between streaming episodes - working out to one month per minute of animation. Then again, it appears that the only fansubber group doing the show - Migoto - understands nobody cares since they took three months to release this episode (it was streamed in August).