Spring 2013 Anime

by **Kiskaloo** Mon 11 Mar 2013 - 22:47

The first versions of the chart are starting to hit the web, so time to take a peek at new shows starting up that have peaked my interest:

Otona Joshi no Anime Time

A program to present stories for women. Its first installment deals with a woman returning from America to her hometown for the first time in five years with her four-year old son and pondering what could have been and the man she could have been with.

It might be for women, but I do love Japanese dramas.

RDG Red Data Girl

The story is about a 15 year old girl named Izumiko Suzuhara. She was born and raised at Tamakura Shrine, and always destroys any electrical device she touches. She decides to try living in the city, and enrolls in Hōjō High School in Tokyo. With her are her guardians son and Izumiko's childhood friend Miyuki Sagara. While she's there, an entity called "Himegami" appears. She learns she something called a "kami" a vessel for a shinto spirit, while Miyuki is a "yamabushi", a warrior meant to protect the "kami."

I'm also a fan of mysteries.

Ore no Imōto ga Konnani Kawaii Wake ga Nai. Season 2

Sequel to the original show.

Loved the original, so a second helping sounds mighty nice.

Yuyushiki

Anime adaption of a slice-of-life 4-koma about three girls in their school's Data Processing Club.

I am a fan of well-executed 4-koma comedies so hopefully this one holds up.

Shingeki no Kyojin [Attack on Titan]

Anime adaption of Hajime Isayama's original manga depicting the battles between humans and the giants who now rule the world outside humans' walled enclaves.

The trailer looks impressive.

Toaru Kagaku no Railgun S

Sequel to the original Toaru Kagaku no Railgun series

I was a bigger fan of Index than Railgun, but I really like Misaka Mikoto so I'll give it a shot.

Photo Kano

Anime adaption of a dating sim. Kazuya Maeda is an ordinary second-year high school student named Kazuya Maeda who gets a single-lens reflex camera at the end of summer vacation. He begins taking pictures of the girls at his school, and the photos may lead to romance.

It's Madhouse, so by default I have to at least look at it, but I also like dating sim adaptions in general.

Aku no Hana [The Flowers of Evil]

The "corrupt pure-love story" revolves around Takao Kasuga, a bookish boy who loves the poems of Charles Baudelaire (the original author of the poetry collection Les Fleurs du mal or Flowers of Evil). One day after school, he discovers and steals the gym clothes of Nanako Saeki, the girl he has a crush on. However, he learns that Sawa Nakamura, a girl he loathes, happens to catch him in the act. Nakamura blackmails Kasuga into a "contract," or else she will reveal his secret.

Sounds like Oreshura taken to a darker level.

by **Kiskaloo** Sat 30 Mar 2013 - 19:59

Otona Joshi no Anime Time - A-

At three episodes, it's like watching a BBC mystery. Razz

Seriously, I hope this scored well in Japan so they make more.

Also seen the first three episodes of Red Data Girl and it's been both interesting and confusing.

by Piero Thu 4 Apr 2013 - 0:06

While it's far from my usual tastes in anime, the Little Witch Academia OVA that Studio Trigger made as part of this year's Young Animator Training Project is a darn good way to spend twenty six minutes.

by Kurosaka "Ery" Erika Thu 4 Apr 2013 - 4:18

Kiskaloo wrote:

Ore no Imōto ga Konnani Kawaii Wake ga Nai. Season 2
Sequel to the original show.
Loved the original, so a second helping sounds mighty nice.

Toaru Kagaku no Railgun S
Sequel to the original Toaru Kagaku no Railgun series
I was a bigger fan of Index than Railgun, but I really like Misaka Mikoto so I'll give it a shot.

one word...ANTICIPATING...
i've been also been the fan of Misaka Mikoto n_n
as for Oreimo...i'm starting to watch it from the beginning first XD

by **Kiskaloo** Fri 5 Apr 2013 - 20:07

Aku no Hana [The Flowers of Evil] - Episode 01

WTF?

Not an auspicious start to this one. The first episode is crushingly boring, the male lead is kind of a creeper and the character animation sucks ass. Remember that shitty rotoscoping Ralph Bakshi used for the animated Lord of the Rings? Well it's back and it's gotten no better. I think they must record the audio in the actual environments they film the characters in for the rotoscoping stock because the sound of the voices has the echoes and such one would expect to hear in a classroom or hallway.

Photo Kano - Episode 01

While officially an anime adaption of a seven-girl anime dating SIM, I really believe this show is a cover for Canon to sell digital SLRs to otaku. The male lead gets a hand-me down Canon DSLR from his father and now every girl in school (plus his younger sister) wants him taking pictures of them.

This school has two camera clubs - the Photography Club, which is a(lmost) all-male and specializes in shooting up skirts and down blouses and the Photo Club, which is all-female and shoots landscapes and such.

Of course, he chooses the Photography Club. $W\'ever$

Have to say that for Madhouse, the animation is not all that great. Definietly not up to the level of Gunslinger Girl or the Marvel Anime series.

I like dating sim adaptions, but I can't see how I will like this one.

by Piero Sat 6 Apr 2013 - 2:31

Kiskaloo wrote:
Photo Kano - Episode 01

While officially an anime adaption of a seven-girl anime dating SIM, I really believe this show is a cover for Canon to sell digital SLRs to otaku. The male lead gets a hand-me down Canon DSLR from his father and now every girl in school (plus his younger sister) wants him taking pictures of them.

Well, you know what they say about guys with big cameras... :p (I'm reminded of a scene in B Gata H Kei where Kosuda gets flustered because the suave, handsome elder brother of the class rich girl has a larger camera than he does.)

Also, I'm probably influenced by my experiences photographing cosplayers at conventions, but shouldn't the main character be asking those girls for permission before he photographs them?

I was kind of anticipating Photo Kano because the game its based on is by the same company as Amagami, and I rather liked some of the arcs in the first season of the Amagami SS anime. However this anime seems to be taking a different approach then Amagami SS, which used multiple alternate continuity arcs to adapt various girls' routes. Also while Amagami SS was somewhat notorious for being a bit kinky at times, it didn't seem as blatantly fanservicy as this show does.

Hatakaru Maou-Sama: This is essentially the story of a Demon King who uses a dimension transfer to escape from a human hero and winds up in modern Tokyo, where he loses most of his powers and ends up working at a McDonalds. While not as good as I might have liked it to be (it was basically my most anticipated comedy of the season due to what I've heard of it) it was enjoyable enough that I think I'll continue with it and see where it goes.

Majestic Prince: This is fhe first of the season's three new mecha titles. Its heavy on the cheese and features rather unattractive artwork. Seeing it further reinforced my choice of Valverave the Liberator as my top pick among the three shows (the other new mecha title has Gen Urobuchi of Madoka Magica and Psycho Pass fame as its lead writer, and I'm not a particularly big fan of the grimdark/grimderp that is so prominent in his works).

by **Kiskaloo** Sun 7 Apr 2013 - 17:11

Piero wrote:While it's far from my usual tastes in anime, the Little Witch Academia OVA that Studio Trigger made as part of this year's Young Animator Training Project is a darn good way to spend twenty six minutes.

It was a better use of their time and money than Inferno Cop, to be sure.

With the weekend a lost cause due to weather, I spent it catching up on television - US, UK and Japan.

Haiyore! Nyaruko-san W - Episode 01

Looks to be as hilarious as the first series, which is a good thing. Good

Namiuchigiwa no Muromi-san - Episode 01

Manic moe mermaids. Rather unique as a "half-episode" (12 minute run time) show, I think it would have been better as a 3-5 minute one.

Oreimo S2 - Episode 01

Three months have passed since the end of the first series and Kirino is back from America. I don't know how she survived those three months away from Akihabara. Smile

Shingeki no Kyojin [Attack on Titan] - Episode 01

Production I.G. raised their game for this one, but at the moment I want the male lead to be eaten by a titan.

Suisei no Gargantia - Episode 01

Another Production I.G. show and the quality is even better than Titan. This and Red Data Girl are the two new shows that interest me the most.

by Three Dog Sun 7 Apr 2013 - 17:40

Kiskaloo wrote:
Shingeki no Kyojin [Attack on Titan] - Episode 01

Production I.G. raised their game for this one, but at the moment I want the male lead to be eaten by a titan.

I'm actually wondering if they made the male lead dislikeable, even contemptable, on purpose. Being eaten by a titan doesn't quite seem enough.

by Piero Sun 7 Apr 2013 - 22:47

Kiskaloo wrote:
Piero wrote:While it's far from my usual tastes in anime, the Little Witch Academia OVA that Studio Trigger made as part of this year's Young Animator Training Project is a darn good way to spend twenty six minutes.

It was a better use of their time and money than Inferno Cop, to be sure.

To be fair, I wouldn't be hugely surprised if LWA's one episode had a bigger production budget than all the episodes of Inferno Cop put together. Razz

Supposedly Trigger has indicated they might do more LWA if it gets a good reception, though I don't know how true that is.

Anyway, more reviews:

Attack on Titan: Given that the author of the source material was apparently inspired by the Muv Luv series, I wonder how Total Eclipse might have turned out if it had been backed by the kind of budget and production know-how this series has been. Though granted that might not have addressed some of TE's writing issues (I have mixed feelings on the writing in TE -I loved the anime original first two episodes, and I like a number of the changes from the source material, but I still think it could have been much better).
Also, considering how people here have been talking about the male lead I was kind of expecting a level of punch to the face worthiness comparable to that of the male lead in High School of the Dead, but he wasn't as bad as I expected.
Date a Live: Its really hard to tell where this one is going. Right now it seems like a cliche storm of epic proportions, but there are hints that it may have darker elements.
Muromi-san: The fact that the main mermaid is voiced by Yukari Tamura was one of the big reasons I wanted to watch this show. She's really good at crazy roles. Anyhow the first episode was decently funny. How the show is overall remains to be seen, particulary as so few of the characters have been introduced thus far.
My Youth Romantic Comedy Turned out Wrong as Expected: A blogger on a top anime blog stated "I don’t think I’ve had the pleasure of covering a show this cynical throughout my entire blogging career." Given that endorsement, I didn't actually find the first episode all that great.
Oreimo S2: I think maybe I should catch up on those special episodes, because I feel like I'm missing a bit. Laughing

The first episode was decently entertaining but didn't seem particularly focused.
Suisei no Gargantia: So far this seems fairly good (certaily better than Majestic Prince) despite being rather over the top. However its written by Gen Urobuchi, so I'm wondering at what point the eye rolling levels of grimdark are going to kick in.

by **Kiskaloo** Mon 8 Apr 2013 - 9:17

Piero wrote:
Date a Live: Its really hard to tell where this one is going. Right now it seems like a cliche storm of epic proportions, but there are hints that it may have darker elements.

Most of ANN's reviewers rated the show extremely low for what they felt was the absurdity of it's harem premise (one I happen to agree with based on what I have read), but Carlos Santos gave it a 3.5 because he felt it wasn't loaded with clichés. Mind you, I've watched some absurdly-premised anime as of late (Upotte! and Girls Und Panzer), but I'm going to give this one a pass.

by **Kiskaloo** Tue 9 Apr 2013 - 21:42

Aruvu Rezuru - Mechanized Fairies

Studio ZEXCS' entry in the Young Animator Training Project is an adaption of Yū Yamaguchi's cyber science-fiction novel. If you are a fan of The Matrix and Ghost in the Shell, you might find it worth a watch.

Yuyushiki - Episode 01

Meh. Maybe if it was 3 minutes an episode as opposed to 30.

Aiura - Episode 01

Hadn't planned to watch this one based on the plot description, but it's only three minutes and the animation style really appeals to me.

by Piero Tue 9 Apr 2013 - 23:59

Kiskaloo wrote:
Piero wrote:
Date a Live: Its really hard to tell where this one is going. Right now it seems like a cliche storm of epic proportions, but there are hints that it may have darker elements.

Most of ANN's reviewers rated the show extremely low for what they felt was the absurdity of it's harem premise (one I happen to agree with based on what I have read), but Carlos Santos gave it a 3.5 because he felt it wasn't loaded with clichés. Mind you, I've watched some absurdly-premised anime as of late (Upotte! and Girls Und Panzer), but I'm going to give this one a pass.

Anime is full of awesome shows with absurd premises, so that hardly seems like a good basis for criticism. That being said I'm hardly recommending the show at this point either. As I said its hard to tell where its actually going.

I watched the first episode of Space Battleship Yamato 2199. Its generally pretty good. One of my biggest problems with it is that I decided to watch a bit more because something else I intended to watch didn't pan out and ended up watching all fourteen of the episodes I could find subs for. Spring 2013 Anime 61015

Its going to be a bit of a wait before I get to find out what happens next...

Okay, I guess I have some issues with the series. I often felt that large spacecraft moved in ways that didn't give them a proper sense of mass, the entirety of humanity's defensive forces seem to be Japanese, and for all that this remake has apparently tried to make it so that a modern audience can relate to the characters the portrayal of the female characters and the attitudes other characters have towards them sometimes feels kind of dated. But overall I think this is a very good piece of space opera. The production values have been consistently good too, which is a plus.

As a Macross fan I found the show interesting because it gave me the impression Macross was very heavily influenced by Yamato. I'd read that the original SDF Macross was pretty heavily influenced by Mobile Suit Gundam, but in spite of knowing Yamato probably influenced the series as well I don't think I realised just how much influence there was there (and for that matter I probably still don't).

BTW, has anyone found any alternate sub groups for the series? Some of the episodes I've got have a problem with subtitles appearing and disappearing too quickly when multiple characters are speaking or translations of onscreen text is being displayed.

by **Kiskaloo** Wed 10 Apr 2013 - 10:08

Piero wrote:Anime is full of awesome shows with absurd premises, so that hardly seems like a good basis for criticism.

Anime is also full of terrible shows with absurd premises, so... Wink

Honestly, between the US, UK and Japan I could easily spend 40 hours a week on TV, which is insane. Since I can't watch anime in the background (my Japanese is not that good), I both limit myself to shows that sound interesting and anime are the first shows that I cull from the herd. Smile

Piero wrote:I watched the first episode of Space Battleship Yamato 2199. Its generally pretty good. (but) I guess I have some issues with the series.

I often felt that large spacecraft moved in ways that didn't give them a proper sense of mass...

As the ships have gravity control, I expect they can use it to defeat inertia. I'm brought to mind that ship towards the end of Bodacious Space Pirates. Then again, Yamato has used that kind of movement for four decades, so... Smile

Piero wrote:the entirety of humanity's defensive forces seem to be Japanese

One thing I do like is that it shows the other countries - the US, the EU, a unified Middle East, etc. It may very well be that since it is the UN Cosmo Navy, each nation has provided it's own ships, if not it's own fleets. As such, we may be seeing just the Japanese ships / fleets. It is also possible that the other fleets were destroyed in earlier battles (it looks like there was a massive battle at Mars). The Pluto mission was a feint to draw the Gamilas away to allow the Iscandarian ship to get to the inner solar system, so maybe that was just the Japanese fleet taking part (or perhaps they are one of the few fleets left).

Piero wrote:and for all that this remake has apparently tried to make it so that a modern audience can relate to the characters the portrayal of the female characters and the attitudes other characters have towards them sometimes feels kind of dated.

I love the new female cast on both the Yamato and with the Gamilas because while they all look good, that's not the main reason they were added.

Piero wrote:BTW, has anyone found any alternate sub groups for the series? Some of the episodes I've got have a problem with subtitles appearing and disappearing too quickly when multiple characters are speaking or translations of onscreen text is being displayed.

I've been buying the Blu-rays direct from Japan since they have English subtitles, but for the fan-subs, I recommend Nubles. They seem to be doing it the best (they might actually be using the BR subs).

by Piero Wed 10 Apr 2013 - 22:52

Kiskaloo wrote:
Piero wrote:I watched the first episode of Space Battleship Yamato 2199. Its generally pretty good. (but) I guess I have some issues with the series.

I often felt that large spacecraft moved in ways that didn't give them a proper sense of mass...

As the ships have gravity control, I expect they can use it to defeat inertia. I'm brought to mind that ship towards the end of Bodacious Space Pirates. Then again, Yamato has used that kind of movement for four decades, so...

Point, but I like it when animated war machines give the impression they have appropriate mass.

Kiskaloo wrote:
Piero wrote:the entirety of humanity's defensive forces seem to be Japanese

One thing I do like is that it shows the other countries - the US, the EU, a unified Middle East, etc. It may very well be that since it is the UN Cosmo Navy, each nation has provided it's own ships, if not it's own fleets. As such, we may be seeing just the Japanese ships / fleets. It is also possible that the other fleets were destroyed in earlier battles (it looks like there was a massive battle at Mars). The Pluto mission was a feint to draw the Gamilas away to allow the Iscandarian ship to get to the inner solar system, so maybe that was just the Japanese fleet taking part (or perhaps they are one of the few fleets left).

Point, but it might have been nice if we'd at least gotten a shot of one of the other fleets in that propaganda film or something.

Kiskaloo wrote:
Piero wrote:and for all that this remake has apparently tried to make it so that a modern audience can relate to the characters the portrayal of the female characters and the attitudes other characters have towards them sometimes feels kind of dated.

I love the new female cast on both the Yamato and with the Gamilas because while they all look good, that's not the main reason they were added.

I'll agree that the female cast have important roles to play rather than just being eye candy. My comment on the attitudes was more to do with how some of the male cast seem to treat them like they're made of china. (I'm exaggerating, but hopefully you get my drift.) That and there are a few occasions where I felt some of the female characters acted too much like teenage girls (to be fair this is hardly the only series where I've had that problem.

Overall I'd say its been a very good series though. I particularly like the consistent quality. While I love many shows that have issues with consistent quality, its nice to see one that is largely immune to such issues.

Aside from Yamato 2199 there are other shows that show promise, but none of that I'm convinced are going to be completely and totally awesome from just one episode. I'm hoping for good things from Hatakaru Maou-sama though. I also have hopes for Valverave and the second season of Railgun, but those aren't out yet. (Actually Valverave might have aired in Japan -between the time zones difference and my uncertainty about how to interpret Japanese TV guide times I'm not entirely sure.)

by Piero Thu 11 Apr 2013 - 0:04

I decided to check out a couple shows that tended more towards the fantasy side of the spectrum.

Zettai Bouei Leviathan: Despite the negative implications of the words "cliche storm" I think one could argue that a cliche storm is at least better than something utterly generic. Even the voice acting in this show seems uninspired.
Arata Kangatari: This is apparently based on a shounen manga created by an author whose previous work tended towards shoujo. Thus far its not really bad but it doesn't seem all that great either. Unless its compared directly to Leviathan, of course. Razz

I suppose I did enjoy the fact that one of the male leads got forced to cross dress.

by **Kiskaloo** Sat 13 Apr 2013 - 16:26

To aru Kagaku no Railgun S - Episode 01

Like Oreimo S2, pretty much picks up where the first series left off and the first episode was a winner.

Oreimo S2 - Episode 02

Ayase for the win.

Flowers of Evil - Episode 02

I'm guessing - hoping, really - this turns into some psychological thriller because right now it's just creepy teenagers animated terribly.

Valvrave the Liberator - Episode 01

Cross Gundam with Facebook/Twitter and add a dash of Walking Dead.

Wow... Just, wow... sweat

Spoiler:

by Piero Sat 13 Apr 2013 - 21:18

Saw a few more first episodes as well as some seconds:

First Episodes:

Valverave the Liberator: I had high hopes for this one, but my reaction to the first episode was mixed. It seemed to follow modern anime conventions a bit more than I would have liked. I guess I wanted more Gundam and less Code Geass/Guilty Crown. (Though given the limited breadth of my experience with Gundam maybe I shouldn't be putting it that way.)
A Certain Scientific Railgun Season 2: Its more Railgun, for all the good and bad that implies. The credits seemed rather spoileriffic...

Second Episodes:

Demon King at Work: The addition of the tsundere hero Emilia to the cast made for a hilarious second episode. Though I hope the real life Tokyo police take incidents of girls trying to stab their (supposed) boyfriends more seriously than the ones in this show. Spring 2013 Anime 61015

While it remains to be seen whether the series will come into its own or run out of gas when the novelty of the premise wears off, for now its among my top picks for the season.
Date a Live: This seems to be one of those shows that both parodies clichés and indulges them. As awful as one could argue it is in many ways I found myself laughing quite a bit when watching the second episode.
My Youth Romantic Comedy is Wrong as I Expected: This show can be rather mocking. The actual humor value of what was going on in the second episode varied, but the bit where the service club gives feedback on the chuunibyou’s awful light novel was pretty funny.
Gargantia of the Verdant Planet: I’ve actually been enjoying this one a fair bit, but I’m worried its going to go eye rollingly grimdark at some point since its written by Gen Urobuchi.
Photokano: Still not leaving a very good impression. I'd tend to recommend the first season of Amagami SS over this.

by **Kiskaloo** Sun 14 Apr 2013 - 21:54

Suisei no Gargantia - Episode 02

Of the non-sequel shows, I'd put this one up with Red Data Girl as the top shows I have started this season.

Shingeki no Kyojin - Episode 02

Have to admit I find this show a bit disturbing to watch, though it is nowhere near as graphic as Blood-C was. Considering how powerful the Titans are, the show is going to have to pull a deus ex machina to defeat them, but then since the Titans are based on Greek Mythology, maybe that is the right way to approach it.

Aiura - Episode 02

Don't really know what to make of this show. The story premise given by the studio is "three annoying, spirited high school girls with zero motivation whose daily life is about what happens when there is nothing happening". Have to say that didn't really sell the show to me, so I didn't originally plan to watch it. But when I found out it was a two-minute show, I thought I'd give it a chance because, well, it's two minutes. And since it's only two minutes, I guess I'll keep watching.

by MadHatChemist Sun 14 Apr 2013 - 22:29

RDG Red Data Girl - OK after the first two episodes, though I'd like it to ramp up a bit going forward

Ore no Imouto ga Konna ni Kawaii Wake ga Nai - Not a Kuroneko fan, an am rooting for Manami... though I know the fanbase would never allow it.

Yuyushiki - Standard vacuous teenage girl Moe stuff. Good for emtying the brain at the end of a long work day.

Shingeki no Kyojin - Nicely animated. I'm definitly interested in finding out what is going on.

Namiuchigiwa no Muromi-san - Manic and silly murmaid fun.

Hentai Ouji to Waramanai Neko - A pervert who has to voice his every though, a oujo-sama, and a stone-faced girl. Could be interesting if it doesn't degenerate into the usual crud.

Haiyore! Nyrauko-san W - More Lovecraftian goodness.

Toaru Kagaku no Railgun S - More Biri Biri goodness. The upcoming story should be a good one.

Aiura - Moe teenage girls + Steve Jobs + crabs...

by **Kiskaloo** Tue 16 Apr 2013 - 18:29

Sparrow's Hotel - Episodes 01 and 02

Satou Sayuri is the front desk clerk of the Sparrow's Hotel - and a closet ninja. Her big breasts make her a hit with all the male guests, but she's too clueless to figure that out and if they are more aggressive in their pursuit, she uses her ninja skills to take them out. Add in a 1980's anime look due to super low production values and you have yourselves a real winner - at losing. No Good

by Piero Wed 17 Apr 2013 - 22:20

MadHatChemist wrote:Ore no Imouto ga Konna ni Kawaii Wake ga Nai - Not a Kuroneko fan, an am rooting for Manami... though I know the fanbase would never allow it..

My Childhood Friend Can't be This Friendzoned Razz

I don't actually find Oreimo all that great but it certainly has its moments.

Red Data Girl: This may not be your typical moe/harem series, but for some reason a lot of the elements seem quite familiar -I feel like I've seen them before elsewhere and while I can't say they ruin the series, they do detract from it. I've found this to be a problem with more than one series lately.

Also, someone actually subbed spieode two of Gundoh Musashi. If you're wondering why that's significant, ask yourself what sort of show ends up with "Worst Ever" and Masterpiece" as by far the most popular user ratings on its ANN page (the third most popular category is "Awful" which has nine votes compared to forty six for "Worst Ever" and forty eight for "Masterpiece").

by **Kiskaloo** Thu 18 Apr 2013 - 22:09

Valvrave the Liberator - Episode 02

I just had to see if it could get any worse...and it did.

Spoiler:

by Piero Sun 21 Apr 2013 - 22:55

Aw, you don't want to keep watching just to see what they do next? Razz

Anyhow, my overall rankings haven't changed all that much at this point. Space Battleship Yamato 2199 and The Other Maouyuu Maou Yuusha (Hataraku Maou-Sama/Demon King at Work) are basically my top picks for the season, though there are others that I've enjoyed as well.

Worst shows I've watched this season are probably Zettai Bouei Leviathan and Photokano. Leviathan is lame and Photokano is sort of creepy.

by **Kiskaloo** Mon 22 Apr 2013 - 10:42

Of what I have decided to watch, I am enjoying Suisei no Gargantia the most.

by Piero Tue 23 Apr 2013 - 0:15

Gargantia has nice production values, but the elements that compose it (story, setting, characters, etc) seem rather familiar, and at times it seems indulgent of conventions, including fan service conventions. I'd kind of like to see the series do more to distinguish itself, but without going really dark in a way that feels forced to me like a lot of the other series I've seen that Urobuchi has been involved in.

by **Kiskaloo** Tue 23 Apr 2013 - 10:28

Piero wrote:Gargantia has nice production values, but the elements that compose it (story, setting, characters, etc) seem rather familiar, and at times it seems indulgent of conventions, including fan service conventions.

For a mecha show, I've found the story and setting to be new and fresh, myself. Smile

by Piero Wed 24 Apr 2013 - 23:23

To me classifying shows as mecha shows is often demeaning, as it classifies them based on one particular aspect/element and is often used as an excuse to dismiss them without much consideration of the other aspects and elements that make up the show as a whole. Gurren Lagann and FLAG are very different shows, why should they be lumped together just because they both happen to have robots in them? My favorite mecha shows tend to be ones that can be classified using more general genre classifications -Macross Frontier is a Space Opera for instance, while Full Metal Panic is part action/adventure and part romantic comedy. Both have what I consider to be memorable characters, which tends to be critical to making my top favorites list regardless of genre.

Okay, so that touched on a bit of a pet issue of mine. Spring 2013 Anime 61015

But really, why should the fact that Gargantia has some robots in it invalidate criticisms about the elements that compose it seeming familiar? Because honestly a lot of the elements in the show do seem pretty familiar to me. It may not always do exactly what I expect it to but that doesn't mean I find what it does to be all that surprising either (aside from not being quite what I would expect with Gen Urobuchi as the main writer).

by **Kiskaloo** Sat 27 Apr 2013 - 10:00

For those who may have been waiting for a fansub of the Blu-ray of Evangelion 3.33: You Can (Not) Redo, THOR anime have released their version this morning. They do really nice work (I used them for 1.1 and 2.2) so I expect this will be solid: http://thoranime.nyaatorrents.org

Having seen the movie already when in Japan, I'm not sure subtitles well help me understand it any better. Smile

by Awinnell Sat 27 Apr 2013 - 11:00

Kiskaloo wrote:For those who may have been waiting for a fansub of the Blu-ray of Evangelion 3.33: You Can (Not) Redo, THOR anime have released their version this morning. They do really nice work (I used them for 1.1 and 2.2) so I expect this will be solid: http://thoranime.nyaatorrents.org

Having seen the movie already when in Japan, I'm not sure subtitles well help me understand it any better.

Seriously ! I'm almost as confused by these 3 films as I am by the original Anime TV shows ending !

by **Kiskaloo** Sat 27 Apr 2013 - 11:56

Awinnell wrote:
Kiskaloo wrote:For those who may have been waiting for a fansub of the Blu-ray of Evangelion 3.33: You Can (Not) Redo, THOR anime have released their version this morning. They do really nice work (I used them for 1.1 and 2.2) so I expect this will be solid: http://thoranime.nyaatorrents.org

Having seen the movie already when in Japan, I'm not sure subtitles well help me understand it any better.
Seriously ! I'm almost as confused by these 3 films as I am by the original Anime TV shows ending !

Yeah... I like what they did with 1.0 and, especially, with 2.0 (adding Mari Illustrious Makinami was a brilliant move), but I was pretty much as confused watching 3.0 as Shinji was living it. Smile

by Alfisti Sun 28 Apr 2013 - 10:03

Awinnell wrote:
Kiskaloo wrote:For those who may have been waiting for a fansub of the Blu-ray of Evangelion 3.33: You Can (Not) Redo, THOR anime have released their version this morning. They do really nice work (I used them for 1.1 and 2.2) so I expect this will be solid: http://thoranime.nyaatorrents.org

Having seen the movie already when in Japan, I'm not sure subtitles well help me understand it any better.
Seriously ! I'm almost as confused by these 3 films as I am by the original Anime TV shows ending !

I always used to enjoy throwing the final DVD on just as all my mates were waking up with hangovers after a party of some description... Ahhh uni, happy days.

I've only seen 2.0 so far (big screen) and, amazingly, it actually made some sense... right up until the last five minutes and I walked out as confused as I had been every other time.

But hey, why stop when you're on a roll Razz

Shall have to go grab it.

by Piero Mon 29 Apr 2013 - 0:57

This week's Hataraku Maou-sama was considerably more serious than the first three episodes, which may have been part of why I found it somewhat weak compared to the hilarious second and third episodes. The other reason might have been that the episode was being pulled in too many different directions due to too many different things happening. Though on the other hand quite a bit of what happened was also set up for future developments. So the big test may be what's coming in the next episode(s).

Also, I don't know who deserves credit for this image, but it's awesome:

Spoiler:

Interestingly I ended up liking this week's Red Data Girl a fair bit. Which is interesting because the new episode is hardly straying far from the path of anime conventions (this was another show I'd criticized for having familiar elements).

Valverave continues to be pretty ridiculous. Razz

I'm not inclined to comment too much on the others at the moment, though to be fair I haven't seen the most recent episode of a few of them yet.

by Officer_Charon Tue 30 Apr 2013 - 1:58

Just watched the first four of Attack on Titan.

The intro sequence makes me want to go out and facepunch something, a lot of somethings. I need to find it and download it and add it to my workout track, because it is so damned motivating, it's not even funny.

As far as the hate for Eren Jaeger, I don't feel that it's particularly fair... he's a kid, with kid's dreams, and a kid's knowledge of the world around him. He acts like a petulant child because that's what he is. His coming of age through the military training was motivating to watch, and he never loses the consistent desire to better himself, because he doesn't want to be so weak that he can't help the ones he loves.

Also, Sasha Blause is perhaps the most adorable thing ever. Seriously. I want to sit her down and make her a platter of my spaghetti.

by Piero Tue 7 May 2013 - 1:36

Updates on a few of the titles I'm following:

Gargantia: This show has high production values and occasional sparks of brilliance, but for me the sparks of brilliance are largely drowned out by the waves of familiarity, predictability, and indulgence. Heck, episode five was basically a beach episode. Though to be fair the show may be trying to get that out of the way early or lull the audience into a false sense of security before dropping something on them.

Valverave: While this show indulges anime clichés/conventions quite a bit and bears something of a resemblance to Code Geass and Guilty Crown, it doesn’t seem overly predictable. However that’s partly because of how whacked out it is. Those who thought that Code Geass was an awesomely entertaining trainwreck may find things to like in this one.

My Youth Romantic Comedy is Wrong as I Expected: I wouldn’t call this the greatest show ever, but if nothing else it seems to be defying those who thought it was guaranteed
to turn into a generic harem series. I thought that was worth mentioning because I tend to dislike seeing shows get hated on because someone made incorrect assumptions about them.

Edit: Just saw the latest episode. Turns out one of the girls actually does have an interest of sorts in the male lead. However his handling and commentary on her interest in him is waaaaay outside the norms of the harem genre. How many male leads are anti-social enough to monologue about hating kind girls because they make you feel special even though they’re just kind to everyone?

Next episode is titled “At last, his and her beginning comes to an end” by the way. Very Happy

Hataraku Maou-sama: With Episode Five, this series has apparently reached the end of the first of its source novels and seems to be off to a fairly strong start. Despite some cool moments towards the end of this arc I still consider comedy the show’s greatest strength (though I’m a bit concerned that we’ll see less of Emi’s epic rage faces now that Maou has proven he has a nice side). That being said it also has a nicely thought out magic system and I see potential in several of the characters as well as the fact that things are still happening back on the other world. It’ll be interesting to see where things go from here.

by **Kiskaloo** Sun 12 May 2013 - 16:42

Mid-Season Report Card

Aiura - C
So it did end up being pretty much about nothing, but at only two minutes, it asks little investment.

Aku no Hana [The Flowers of Evil] - B+
Seriously creepy, helped by the animation (which I still think sucks ass - though it does look like the cast). The story evidently really goes off the deep end in later volumes, so once the anime is over I plan to start buying the English translations of the manga.

Haiyore! Nyaruko-san W - B+
About as nuts as the original, which is a good thing.

Oreimo Season 2 - B
Good, but not as good as the original.

RDG Red Data Girl - B+
Don't really understand what is going on, but it's an interesting story.

Shingeki no Kyojin [Attack on Titan] - B
Have to admit the more I watch, the less interested in it I become, however...

Spoiler:

Suisei no Gargantia - B+
Still enjoying it, even if it is appears to just be a slice-of-life show. However, perhaps the Hideauze have come to Earth, which should make things more interesting.

To aru Kagaku no Railgun S - A-
Have to say this show is better than Index, helped by the great ensemble cast.

by Kurosaka "Ery" Erika Sun 12 May 2013 - 20:52

Kiskaloo wrote:
To aru Kagaku no Railgun S - A-
Have to say this show is better than Index, helped by the great ensemble cast.

i couldn't agree more with you

by Piero Tue 14 May 2013 - 1:19

The latest Railgun episode was quite something.

Kiskaloo wrote:
RDG Red Data Girl - B+
Don't really understand what is going on, but it's an interesting story.

I've still got some issues with the show, but I've enjoyed it after the changes in setting. Though I tend to like it when its dealing with fairly down to earth stuff. Spring 2013 Anime 684325

Kind of notable given that its a show with supernatural elements.

Kiskaloo wrote:
Shingeki no Kyojin [Attack on Titan] - B
Have to admit the more I watch, the less interested in it I become, however...
Spoiler:

Frankly I wouldn't count on

Spoiler:

Kiskaloo wrote:
Suisei no Gargantia - B+
Still enjoying it, even if it is appears to just be a slice-of-life show. However, perhaps the Hideauze have come to Earth, which should make things more interesting.

I saw an interesting theory on animesuki that perhaps giant squid have religious significance to the Gargantians. The poster who suggested it came up with it because he felt the girls' costumes and dance at the festival sort of resemble squid. If so then it adds some interesting significance to a scene I had some issues with. Plus it indicates that Ledo is about to do something rather taboo. Very Happy

Kiskaloo wrote:
To aru Kagaku no Railgun S - A-
Have to say this show is better than Index, helped by the great ensemble cast.

You sure its not just the fact that you don't have to put up with Index? Razz

That last episode was quite something though. So much for this being all light and fluffy. Spring 2013 Anime 684325

(Then again this is dealing with Accelerator, so things being somewhat darker is to be expected.)

by **Kiskaloo** Tue 14 May 2013 - 9:30

Index was the reason I liked the show. Wink

by **Kiskaloo** Tue 21 May 2013 - 20:19

Piero wrote:Frankly I wouldn't count on
Spoiler:

According to the Wikipedia entry:

Spoiler:

by Il Direttore Sat 25 May 2013 - 2:48

So on a possibly unrelated note, I just marathon-ed Puella Magi Madoka Magica.

Holy-
Just-

Oh my God. This is the most ridiculously amazing story I've ever watched. GSG may be the most amazing story I've ever read (I greatly prefer the Manga to the Anime), but this is most probably the best Anime I've watched, ever.

I will probably need to re-marathon season one of GSG to confirm, but still. Bloody freaking hell.

by Piero Sun 26 May 2013 - 22:53

I think part of what makes Hataraku Maou-Sama so awesomely hilarious is the facial expressions of some of the characters. The staff seems to be putting quite a bit of effort into them. Though on the other hand the CGI background figures in some scenes look terrible when watched on a large enough screen (I didn't notice them so much on my desktop monitor, but I did on my friend's TV). I'm really hoping a second season of the show will be announced soon, as it looks like this one is only going to cover two of the eight novels and the third novel seems to involve the Demon King and the Hero having to look after a baby angel who's at the centre of a power struggle back on Ente Isla. That ought to be hilarious, particularly if she ends up taking more of a liking to Maou than to Emilia. Razz

Also, the serious pacing issues that haunted the second season of Index seem to be afflicting the second season of Railgun as well. I can understand wanting to show that Misaka's friends didn't just disappear off the face of the earth when she was waging her one woman war against those sick experiments, but do the writers really think that the audience wants to see Misaka's friends try to help an elementary school girl find something to give her friend who's moving away when Misaka herself is fighting to prevent numerous clones of herself from being killed in horrific experiments?

by **Kiskaloo** Mon 27 May 2013 - 9:52

What jumped out to me in that episode is the very different voice for Kuroko Shirai. I don't know if Satomi Arai had a cold that day or if they've replaced her as the seiyuu. The animation of the first half of the episode looked really poor, too...

by **Kiskaloo** Wed 29 May 2013 - 14:33

Yamato 2199 - Episodes 15-18

Best...volume...yet.

And yet Volume 6 looks to be even better. These two month waits are killing me. Smile

Nubles has released Episodes 15 and 16 so far.

by Entropy Thu 30 May 2013 - 12:38

Like most seasons, I usually find one show to grab on to, and in this season it's definitely Suisei no Gargantia. The world is very interesting, the characters are engaging, and it seems like Urobuchi isn't going to brutally murder the entire cast. It seemed to have strange amounts of fanservice and SOL early on, it seems to have picked up in the story department.

I also got into Girls und Panzer this season, despite it coming out a few seasons ago. Despite having a metric moe-ton of characters, it seemed to be paced fairly well with enough adorableness to go around the various school ships. I might also pick up some other series and try and catch up, as I've been quite busy lately.

by **Kiskaloo** Thu 30 May 2013 - 20:01

Suisei no Gargantia is the series I look forward to the most each week.

As for the fan service, it's a brave 25-minute series that tries to forgo it since it seems almost mandatory in order to sell BRDs and DVDs* and hey, like the poster says:

Spring 2013 Anime Fanservice

In Suisei's case, it's definitely in the "gravy" category, IMO.

* - I'll be watching Red Data Girl's video sales with interest since it has yet to show anything I would consider fan service. Same with Titan, though it may be banking on the "shock and awe" factor to sell to otaku.

by Piero Sun 2 Jun 2013 - 17:19

Kiskaloo wrote:Yamato 2199 - Episodes 15-18

Best...volume...yet.

And yet Volume 6 looks to be even better. These two month waits are killing me.

Nubles has released Episodes 15 and 16 so far.

I absolutely devoured the first fourteen episodes near the beginning of the season, but I think I'm going to wait until next season to start on the new batch. Then I can hopefully catch new episodes weekly until the end of the series.

Comments on shows I've been following:

A Certain Scientific Railgun S: In spite of that doozy of an episode a couple weeks ago this show seems kind of mediocre overall.
Attack on Titan: Despite the setting and characters not being quite my cup of tea, I've actually found the episodes after the first few to be pretty good.
Gargantia of the Verdan Planet: The production values are pretty good, but the writing seems rather by the numbers.
Muromi on the Shore: This has its own particular brand of humor. I personally find it entertaining enough.
My Youth Romantic Comedy is Wrong as I Expected: In spite of its flaws I'm tempted to describe this as "The show Oreshura should have been." Razz

Oreimo 2: Anyone felt this has been feeling a bit too much like an actual little sister show this season? Also, the drama in the latest episode... blah.
Red Data Girl: This show can actually be pretty good at times, though at other times certain familiar elements lower my opinion of it. Also it is not exactly the easiest show to follow.
Valvrave the Liberator: This show may be pretty whacked out, but its also entertaining in a sort of Code Geass trainwreck kind of way.

Perhaps unsurprisingly for those of you who have been following what I've been saying in this thread, my top pick of this season is definitely Hataraku Maou-Sama/Demon King at Work (or The Devil is a Part Timer if you go by Funimation's title for the series). I'm really hoping White Fox announces another season of it soon.

by **Kiskaloo** Sun 2 Jun 2013 - 19:27

Piero wrote:Comments on shows I've been following:

A Certain Scientific Railgun S: In spite of that doozy of an episode a couple weeks ago this show seems kind of mediocre overall.

I prefer the episodes where most of the cast is present as the ensemble is the strength of both this series and the original. We've already seen Misaka vs. Accelerator in A Certain Magical Index, even if it was one of the Misaka clones, so I admit the current story arc is kind of "been there, done that".

Piero wrote:Attack on Titan: Despite the setting and characters not being quite my cup of tea, I've actually found the episodes after the first few to be pretty good.

This is not a show I intend to archive or buy, but I agree it's been solidly entertaining. And the intensity of the episodes is such that each one has a "blink and it's over" feel. I just wish the production quality was better and evidently so does the studio, as the OAV DVD has been pushed back four months to allow more time to do clean-up.

Piero wrote:
Muromi on the Shore: This has its own particular brand of humor. I personally find it entertaining enough.

I did not get through the first episode, but Bamboo Dong noted on the latest ANNCast that she felt the show became "genuinely funny" after a couple of episodes and she now likes it. Since it's only 12 minutes, I may give it another chance when the batches hit.

Piero wrote:
My Youth Romantic Comedy is Wrong as I Expected: In spite of its flaws I'm tempted to describe this as "The show Oreshura should have been."

I kind of endured Oreshura, so not sure this is a plus or a minus in my book. Smile

Piero wrote:
Oreimo 2: Anyone felt this has been feeling a bit too much like an actual little sister show this season? Also, the drama in the latest episode... blah.

Yes, Episode 09 was kind of uncomfortable to watch. And overall, it's been much weaker than the original. If not for the awesomeness of Ruri Gokō and her sisters, I'd probably not bother archiving it.

Piero wrote:
Red Data Girl: This show can actually be pretty good at times, though at other times certain familiar elements lower my opinion of it. Also it is not exactly the easiest show to follow.

I am pretty much lost on the story, but P.A. Works is doing really good work so I keep on keeping on. Not sure I'll end up archiving / buying it, however.

Piero wrote:
Valvrave the Liberator: This show may be pretty whacked out, but its also entertaining in a sort of Code Geass trainwreck kind of way.

ANN's reviewers consider it the "Best Comedy" of the season, and not in a good way, but like Bill O'Reilly, "I can't do it". Smile

Piero wrote:
Perhaps unsurprisingly for those of you who have been following what I've been saying in this thread, my top pick of this season is definitely Hataraku Maou-Sama/Demon King at Work (or The Devil is a Part Timer if you go by Funimation's title for the series). I'm really hoping White Fox announces another season of it soon.

I intend to wait for the batch and then download and watch it.

On the Live Action Drama front, I finished xxxHoliC and overall found it to be pretty good.

And I am absolutely loving Itazura na Kiss ~ Love in TOKYO. Miki Honoka is absolutely adorable.

by **Kiskaloo** Sun 2 Jun 2013 - 21:51

Suisei no Gargantia - Episode 09

Things just became really interesting...

Kotonoha no Niwa | 言の葉の庭 | The Garden of Words

A masterpiece.

by Piero Mon 3 Jun 2013 - 0:31

Kiskaloo wrote:
Piero wrote:
Muromi on the Shore: This has its own particular brand of humor. I personally find it entertaining enough.

I did not get through the first episode, but Bamboo Dong noted on the latest ANNCast that she felt the show became "genuinely funny" after a couple of episodes and she now likes it. Since it's only 12 minutes, I may give it another chance when the batches hit.

Meh, if you hated the first episode, I'm not sure there's a lot of point in bothering with it. It's "entertaining enough" not the best thing ever.

Kiskaloo wrote:
Piero wrote:
My Youth Romantic Comedy is Wrong as I Expected: In spite of its flaws I'm tempted to describe this as "The show Oreshura should have been."

I kind of endured Oreshura, so not sure this is a plus or a minus in my book.

I'm not sure it'd be your cup of tea. I'm also not sure its an entirely apt comparison, as My Youth seems to be limiting itself to a love triangle instead of a harem (assuming you discount the pretty, girly looking guy whom the male lead keeps having reactions to). But there are resemblances between some of the characters. What defines this show however is how massively cynical it is (despite being kind of otaku at times). The male lead is a disillusioned loner who is very committed to staying that way and who has a tendency to make keen but very cynical observations about the social pecking order and what's going on in the social interactions of the people around him.

Actually, let's try a youtube clip...

by Entropy Mon 3 Jun 2013 - 14:28

Kiskaloo wrote:Suisei no Gargantia - Episode 09

Things just became really interesting...

To say the least...

Spoiler:

Kotonoha no Niwa | 言の葉の庭 | The Garden of Words

A masterpiece.

You saw that in Japan? Lucky...

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