Summer 2014 Anime

by **Kiskaloo** Sat 7 Jun 2014 - 0:42

Looks like some promising shows:

http://anichart.net/summer

by Alfisti Sat 7 Jun 2014 - 1:20

I definitely intend to give Rail Wars! a go, partly because I'm a fan of the original artist's work, but mostly because with a name like "Rail Wars!" it's either going to be amazing... or amazingly bad. Either way, I win. Plus, if it's as good as the last [non-warlike-word here] War! show I watched, that being Library War, it should be worth the time.

Other than that, I'll probably pick up Hanamonogatari, but only once its run has ended... if the rest of the series is anything to go by I would struggle to follow with a week gap between episodes.

There are actually a few interesting looking ones there, but they'll have to go on the "at some point" list.

by **boomer_gonz** Sat 7 Jun 2014 - 4:56

For the summertime; I admit that I like things that go BOOM. So my choices will go for...

-Akame Ga Kill!
-Aldnoah.Zero
-Shirogane no Ishi Argevollen
-Sabagebu!
and
-Rail Wars!
-Tokyo ESP

Also thrown in for contention are:

Himegoto because it seems that it might scratch a certain itch. sweat

~~Momo Kyun Sword~~ because that shit looks crazy
Ghost in the Shell: Arise 3 because GTS, nuff said!
Space Dandy 2 because no explanation necessary
and
Sailor Moon: Crystal because why not.

And for Triela I recc' this one for obvious reasons. Evil

by PolosElite23 Sat 7 Jun 2014 - 20:27

Well, the ones I'm interested in are:

Dramatical Murder
Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun
Glasslip [Trailer is what caught me. Looked good from that]
Rail Wars!
Sword Art Online II
Yama no Susme
And probably anything that I get pulled into. Razz

Looks to be a busy season. Very Happy

I also am kinda excited to find out Kirino Mosaic and Non Non Biyori are getting second seasons, although there isn't a set date of release. Also, is it just me or is there quite a bit of slice-of-life this season.

by Piero Sat 21 Jun 2014 - 12:33

Random C's more analytical previews are up now too.

Glasslip is one of the show's I'm interested in because it's a PA Works drama that has been drawing comparisons to Tari Tari. I really liked Tari Tari but felt it had a weak ending, so I'm kind of hoping that Glasslip will be kind of like Tari Tari, but better. Razz

One interesting thing about this show is that it has a completely gender balanced main cast which is quite rare nowadays.

Going by Random C's preview Barakamon could also be an interesting drama.

Also looking forward to Sword Art Online II. Phantom Bullet is one of Sword Art Online's better storylines. At the very least its vastly superior to the Fairy Dance storyline that was adapted in the second part of season one.

I don't really consider myself much of a mecha fanboy, but I've found that for some reason shows from that genre have an unusually high chance of making my favorites list. Perhaps its because a lot of such shows feature the types of characters and stories that I like. At any rate, my high success rate with the genre has me interested in Shirogane no Ishi: Argevollen/Silver Will Argevollen. I'm also somewhat interested in Aldoah Zero, though unlike a lot of people the involvement of Gen Urobuchi in the project is not a plus in my book.

Tokyo ESP sounds kind of interesting, and the source material certainly got high praise from the person doing the preview. Granted I don't always agree with Random C's staff, but it might be worth a shot.

Bakumatsu Rock sounded kind of interesting. The "dudes use rock and roll to fight an oppressive government that controls the people with idols" sounded kind of like an anti AKB-0048. But the preview video I saw a while back kind of put me off.

Akame ga Kill sounds kind of interesting but I'm not huge on uber grimdark.

There's a few other shows that sound interesting as well. I might check out the new version of Sailor Moon because the original is one of those iconic older series I'm largely unfamiliar with (I got into anime around 2005-2006). Not really sure if I'll like it very much though.

by **Kiskaloo** Sat 21 Jun 2014 - 15:28

by **boomer_gonz** Sat 21 Jun 2014 - 16:07

Upon deeper inspection thanks to Random C...

Akame ga Kill
-I love me some dark 'the surface is just that' kind of stuff and throwing in assassin's and some plot-bending and I'll reaffirm to assess this one.

ALDNOAH.ZERO
-Although I have yet to divulge myself into Fate/Stay; I still to this day hear good things. Expectations may be high for this to be the definitive blockbuster among the season 'originals', but the ride is what counts...right? sweat

Shirogane no Ishi: Argevollen
- I know I'm going to get static for this, but this is my frontrunner for the actions season to give me I've always wanted in a mecha series (and no, not Evangelion as we all know that there is only ONE Evangelion. I want
'Front Mission' the anime...there...I said it.

Sabagebu!
- OK, those of you who pay even the littlest attention to these rants of mine know that I adore the 'Mission: School!" manga and hope for an anime adaptation sometime in the near future or before I expire...whichever comes first. This one seems to be in the right direction though and so I hold out hope that if this one turns out good...then maybe someone out there will adapt "Mission:School!"

RAIL WARS!

- The more I hear about this series, the more it comes across as a niche series, much like how 'Captain Earth' is now. Hopefully, like 'Captain Earth', the characters will overshadow the plot and drive the story forward.

Tokyo ESP
- Looks to be 'Spiral' all over again, only this time with actual "likable" characters" Crossing my fingers for no ditzy or douchy main protagonists.

-Main ones done, more later-

by Alfisti Sun 22 Jun 2014 - 0:39

Took a look at the Random C write up... with Black Bullet just about finished, Captain Earth all but abandoned, and Rail Wars! looking promising to fill the "wacky-light/dumb-stuff" role, I might look to adding ALDNOAH.ZERO or Zankyou no Terror to watch this season as well. That said, both also look like they may be the sort of thing I prefer to watch all in one hit. Will wait for a few episodes to come out before watching and making a call.

by **Kiskaloo** Mon 30 Jun 2014 - 9:03

Sabagebu! | さばげぶっ!

Middle school girl Momoka is dragged into joining one of the strangest associations at her school, the Survival Game Club. Its members participate in various forms of paramilitary training under the watchful eye of charming and alarming president, Miou. How on Earth will the inexperienced Momoka survive her training, let alone Miou's company?!

An exact copy of Summer 2013’s Tokurei Sochi Dantai Stella Jo-Gakuin Kōtō-ka C3-Bu. Since I ended up not liking that one, I’m confident I will end up not liking this one, either, so auto-dropped.

by Alfisti Tue 1 Jul 2014 - 5:03

Kiskaloo wrote:
Middle school girl Momoka is dragged into joining one of the strangest associations at her school, the Survival Game Club. Its members participate in various forms of paramilitary training under the watchful eye of charming and alarming president, Miou. How on Earth will the inexperienced Momoka survive her training, let alone Miou's company?!

An exact copy of Summer 2013’s Tokurei Sochi Dantai Stella Jo-Gakuin Kōtō-ka C3-Bu. Since I ended up not liking that one, I’m confident I will end up not liking this one, either, so auto-dropped.

Reading the description for this one, I pretty much dumped it into the category of "take thing otaku like... add girls"... ideally enough girls that all the standard archetypes are covered, so there's one to everyone's taste (see last episode of Kisk & Alfisti's Anime Bitch Hour (tm) - coming to a chatbox near you, early-Saturday mornings, AEST) straight off, and immediately lost interest.

Though, to be fair, this is roughly the same formula éX-Driver used, that that's one of my all-time favourite shows (so bad, but so good), so I guess who am I to argue?

by **Kiskaloo** Thu 3 Jul 2014 - 13:48

Glasslip | グラスリップ

Tōko Fukami's family runs a glass-working business in a small seaside town. She hangs out with her four best friends at a cafe called "Kazemichi." During the summer break of their senior year in high school, they meet a transfer student named Kakeru Okikura, who claims that a voice from the future talks to him, and that it's led him to Tōko. His arrival sets off a series of events that will make their final summer together one full of hope and heartache.

Looks to be a bit more than your usual high school romantic comedy. The director has a pretty solid resume and as a P.A. Works show, that raises it’s stature a fair bit in my eyes.

Shirogane no Ishi Argevollen | 白銀の意思アルジェヴォルン

Y

The story takes place in a world where two countries, Arandas and Ingelmia, have been warring against each other for a very long time. Tokimune, a young man belonging to the eighth autonomous unit of Arandas, saves a girl named Jamie when she is attacked by enemy forces. In order to survive, he rides the new weapon Argevollen and fights.

Standard mecha show cliche opening aside, I am getting a bit of a Gundam 008TH MS Team vibe from this…

…which is a good thing.

The general mecha design, while a bit crude, actually looks more realistic because of that (the Argevolien, of course, follows the Gundam mode of looks over logic).

by Awinnell Thu 3 Jul 2014 - 16:13

Kiskaloo wrote:Glasslip | グラスリップ

Tōko Fukami's family runs a glass-working business in a small seaside town. She hangs out with her four best friends at a cafe called "Kazemichi." During the summer break of their senior year in high school, they meet a transfer student named Kakeru Okikura, who claims that a voice from the future talks to him, and that it's led him to Tōko. His arrival sets off a series of events that will make their final summer together one full of hope and heartache.

Looks to be a bit more than your usual high school romantic comedy. The director has a pretty solid resume and as a P.A. Works show, that raises it’s stature a fair bit in my eyes.

Shirogane no Ishi Argevollen | 白銀の意思アルジェヴォルン

Y

The story takes place in a world where two countries, Arandas and Ingelmia, have been warring against each other for a very long time. Tokimune, a young man belonging to the eighth autonomous unit of Arandas, saves a girl named Jamie when she is attacked by enemy forces. In order to survive, he rides the new weapon Argevollen and fights.

Standard mecha show cliche opening aside, I am getting a bit of a Gundam 008TH MS Team vibe from this…

…which is a good thing.

The general mecha design, while a bit crude, actually looks more realistic because of that (the Argevolien, of course, follows the Gundam mode of looks over logic).

As a general rule mecha make no sense whatsoever anyway, seriously you turn up on a battlefield in something that big and bleeding obvious and everyone will shoot at you !

including your own side if they had any sense as those things are major bullet magnets !

by **Kiskaloo** Thu 3 Jul 2014 - 20:53

Tokyo Ghoul | 東京喰種

Ken Kaneki is a bookworm college student who meets a girl names Rize at a cafe he frequents. They're the same age and have the same interests, so they quickly become close. Little does Kaneki know that Rize is a ghoul - a kind of monster that lives by hunting and devouring human flesh. When part of her special organ - "the red child" - is transplanted into Kaneki, he becomes a ghoul himself, trapped in a warped world where humans are not the top of the food chain.

The best true horror anime I have seen since Another. And the animation by Studio Pierrot is amazing.

Futsū no Joshikōsei ga Locodol Yattemita

High school girl Nanako Usami became her town Nagarekawa's local idol at the request of her uncle. She and her upperclassman Yukari- a girl who seems perfect but ends up being air-headed- both become idols of their provincial area. They get interviewed (by the town's shopping center), go on television (low-budget cable), and hold concerts (on the roof of the department store). The girls' salaries come from the town's taxes. Together, the two form the "locodol" unit Nagarekawa Girls.

I run hot and cold with idol shows and at the moment, this one is giving me a chill…

by Piero Thu 3 Jul 2014 - 23:44

Kiskaloo wrote:Glasslip | グラスリップ

Tōko Fukami's family runs a glass-working business in a small seaside town. She hangs out with her four best friends at a cafe called "Kazemichi." During the summer break of their senior year in high school, they meet a transfer student named Kakeru Okikura, who claims that a voice from the future talks to him, and that it's led him to Tōko. His arrival sets off a series of events that will make their final summer together one full of hope and heartache.

Looks to be a bit more than your usual high school romantic comedy. The director has a pretty solid resume and as a P.A. Works show, that raises it’s stature a fair bit in my eyes.

Shirogane no Ishi Argevollen | 白銀の意思アルジェヴォルン

Y

The story takes place in a world where two countries, Arandas and Ingelmia, have been warring against each other for a very long time. Tokimune, a young man belonging to the eighth autonomous unit of Arandas, saves a girl named Jamie when she is attacked by enemy forces. In order to survive, he rides the new weapon Argevollen and fights.

Standard mecha show cliche opening aside, I am getting a bit of a Gundam 008TH MS Team vibe from this…

…which is a good thing.

The general mecha design, while a bit crude, actually looks more realistic because of that (the Argevolien, of course, follows the Gundam mode of looks over logic).

These two are among my most anticipated shows of the season.

Glasslip is a bit hard to judge as this point as there's not a lot to go on. I like the way the main cast (aside from the one newcomer) is a tight knit group on the verge of graduation. On the other hand I'm not keen on the connection between the main girl and the newcomer which hints at a supernatural aspect -I want a down to earth drama like Tari Tari. Also I found the bit with some of the characters trying to keep chickens in their homes stretched my suspension of disbelief. I'm pretty sure keeping a chicken in a carpeted room is a recipe for a very nasty mess.

Argevellon's first episode was pretty solid. Having the protagonist randomly come into possession of a super prototype was cliche, but at least it had a slight twist with the "hey, why don't you pilot this since you're a trained pilot and I'm just a technician" aspect. Razz

I also like that the super prototype's advantages mainly seem to stem from superior agility, ease of control, and situational awareness rather than super powers. There were various minor issues (someone needs to equip those mecha with guns that are big enough to actually penetrate each other's armor) but about the only major issue I had is that the main girl seems kind of at odds with the rest of the show.

by **Kiskaloo** Fri 4 Jul 2014 - 10:46

Rail Wars | レールウォーズ

The series takes place in an alternate version of Japan where the nationalized railway system was never privatized. Naoto Takayama is an ordinary high school student who aspires to a comfortable life working at Japanese National Railways. He ends up working as a security force trainee, where he unwillingly has to deal with his strange colleagues as well as RJ, a group of extremists who are fighting to privatize the railway.

Honestly, not a very auspicious start, IMO - more Servant x Service than Galaxy Railways. Based on the OP and ED, I expect it to be an action-oriented series, so I’ll give it another episode too see if it improves any.

by **Kiskaloo** Fri 4 Jul 2014 - 12:24

Ghost in the Shell: Arise | border 03: Ghost Tears

Posing as lovers on vacation, Motoko and Batou work to try to stop a terrorist organization whose symbol is the Scylla. Meanwhile, Togusa investigates a murder of a man who possessed a prosthetic leg manufactured by the Mermaid's Leg corporation.

The show seems to be improving with each new episode.

by Awinnell Fri 4 Jul 2014 - 14:35

Kiskaloo wrote:Rail Wars | レールウォーズ

The series takes place in an alternate version of Japan where the nationalized railway system was never privatized. Naoto Takayama is an ordinary high school student who aspires to a comfortable life working at Japanese National Railways. He ends up working as a security force trainee, where he unwillingly has to deal with his strange colleagues as well as RJ, a group of extremists who are fighting to privatize the railway.

Honestly, not a very auspicious start, IMO - more Servant x Service than Galaxy Railways. Based on the OP and ED, I expect it to be an action-oriented series, so I’ll give it another episode too see if it improves any.

I got trolled by Horriblesubs, I downloaded their version of that and got a weird English dub made up of excerpts from other anime !

by **Kiskaloo** Fri 4 Jul 2014 - 14:55

Awinnell wrote:I got trolled by Horriblesubs, I downloaded their version of that and got a weird English dub made up of excerpts from other anime !

I don't believe they have an official release of it yet (no mention of it on their site or on their official torrent trackers).

I went with FFF Subs - http://fffansubs.org

by Awinnell Fri 4 Jul 2014 - 16:45

Kiskaloo wrote:
Awinnell wrote:I got trolled by Horriblesubs, I downloaded their version of that and got a weird English dub made up of excerpts from other anime !

I don't believe they have an official release of it yet (no mention of it on their site or on their official torrent trackers).

I went with FFF Subs - http://fffansubs.org

Yeah it is up on their site , I got mine off of UseNet, so it was probably the gag one they released first

by Piero Fri 4 Jul 2014 - 19:15

Rail Wars is really ridiculous. I know its directed at train otaku, but couldn't they have at least skipped over some of the more typical anime cliches like the main characters being high schoolers?

Also, there may be police officers who only shoot fifty rounds a year in practice but if there are they aren't police officers whose marksmanship I'd have much confidence in. sweat

by Awinnell Sat 5 Jul 2014 - 0:37

Piero wrote:Rail Wars is really ridiculous. I know its directed at train otaku, but couldn't they have at least skipped over some of the more typical anime cliches like the main characters being high schoolers?

Also, there may be police officers who only shoot fifty rounds a year in practice but if there are they aren't police officers whose marksmanship I'd have much confidence in.

This is Japan remember, they will probably never draw their gun in anger ever , not that it matters as the Japanese Police usually rely on making their suspects sign "confessions" anyway

by **Kiskaloo** Sat 5 Jul 2014 - 9:23

Piero wrote:Rail Wars is really ridiculous. I know its directed at train otaku, but couldn't they have at least skipped over some of the more typical anime cliches like the main characters being high schoolers?

I can actually buy them being in high school as instead of going to University after they graduate, they would instead be moving directly into the work force as civil servants (since the railways are nationalized). However, I think it silly for them to be in their high school uniforms with armbands while in training - I would expect them to have been in JNR uniforms so as to be properly visible to the public.

And let's not forget this show is for the "normal" otaku, as well - Haruka Kōmi is cute, a klutz and has perfect Gainax Boob Bounce. Wink

Summer 2014 Anime Tumblr_n86iezF39k1r3rdh2o1_500

I will note that other than the GBB, there was very little fan service even though there were plenty of opportunities to see Haruka Kōmi's pantsu when she was on the ladder looking for the dog. With it now being somewhat common for anime to see some re-work done between the television broadcast and BRD/DVD release, I wonder if they intend to re-animate those sequences so we get to see her pantsu rather than animate that in now and cover it with "censor pets", which is really annoying (not in the sense that I don't get to see pantsu, but in that it just looks ridiculous). Have to remember to download the first episode when the BRDs are released and see if they make the change.

by **Kiskaloo** Sat 5 Jul 2014 - 12:41

Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Crystal | 美少女戦士セーラームーンクリスタル

Usagi Tsukino was a normal second-year middle school girl whose own life changes one day when she encounters a black cat. The cat's name is Luna who can talk and bears a cresent moon on her forehead. Luna tells Usagi that she is the chosen guardian of justice with the power to transform into Sailor Moon. Usagi now has a new responsiblity which is a mission to find the Illusionary Silver Crystal as well as the other chosen guardians to protect the Moon Princess. During her mission, she must deal with various enemies sent by Queen Beryl who is also after the Illusionary Silver Crystal.

The first episode of the show covers the first chapter of the manga and therefore is exactly the same as the original series first episode. Add in Kotono Mitsuishi reprising her role as Sailor Moon / Usagi Tsukino (though I could do with her dialing the whiny delivery back a bit) and the nostalgia is strong in this one.

Since this series is a reboot of the universe, I do not know if they will continue to copy the manga/original show or work in some fresh angles and stories. The character designs look more mangaish to me (I’ve never seen the manga, so I don’t know how true they are to Takeuchi’s original manga character designs) and I admit I kind of like the original anime character designs better. The new OP and ED are properly "girl power strong", but again, still love the original OP animation.

Aldnoah.Zero | アルドノア・ゼロ

In 1972, the Apollo 17 mission discovered a hypergate to Mars on the surface of the moon. Soon a war breaks out between Earth and Mars, and Martian soldiers begin to descend from the sky, riding steel giants, intent on exterminating humanity.

I was hoping for a Tytania-style political drama, but it looks like it might be more a by-the-numbers mecha versus mecha show. Though with so many Martian factions, there is the chance it could indeed be more like Tytania.

by Awinnell Sat 5 Jul 2014 - 13:53

I'm glad they kept the anime style of Sailor Moon more or less like the original, with improvements, wouldn't be the same with Moe blobs

by **Triela** Sat 5 Jul 2014 - 14:58

Dramatical Murder, BRING ON THE YAOI!!!!! Muh-m-muhahahaha!

Free! Eternal Summer, Makotooooo!!! <333

A few other things sound interesting, I might watch a few shows. :3

by **boomer_gonz** Sat 5 Jul 2014 - 15:51

Triela wrote:Dramatical Murder, BRING ON THE YAOI!!!!! Free! Eternal Summer, Makotooooo!!! <333

A few other things sound interesting, I might watch a few shows. :3

Sounds like somebody heard Triela's wants and needs and decided to slap together gore with a yaoi subtext. Incoming!

by **Kiskaloo** Sat 5 Jul 2014 - 17:20

Piero wrote:
Glasslip is a bit hard to judge as this point as there's not a lot to go on. I like the way the main cast (aside from the one newcomer) is a tight knit group on the verge of graduation. On the other hand I'm not keen on the connection between the main girl and the newcomer which hints at a supernatural aspect -I want a down to earth drama like Tari Tari. Also I found the bit with some of the characters trying to keep chickens in their homes stretched my suspension of disbelief. I'm pretty sure keeping a chicken in a carpeted room is a recipe for a very nasty mess.

I also felt the show was like Tari Tari, which wasn't necessarily a good thing in my mind since I found Tari Tari kind of dull. So when they hinted at a possible supernatural aspect, I perked up. If Touko can literally see her future, that could open up some really interesting angles if played well. I do hope we see some more character development in the next few episodes, though.

by **Kiskaloo** Sun 6 Jul 2014 - 15:11

Space Dandy Season 2

As ridiculously entertaining as the last season. head bang

Monthly Girls' Nozaki-kun [Gekkan Shōjo Nozaki-kun | 月刊少女野崎くん]

Sakura Chiyo confesses her feelings to her schoolmate Nozaki. Due to a misunderstanding, Nozaki thinks Sakura is just a fan. She then discovers Nozaki's other identity; a shōjo manga artist. As she gets closer to Nozaki, she befriends Nozaki's quirky acquaintances who assist him and serve as inspirations for his manga.

Unlike the first episode of The Comic Artist and His Assistants, which I felt was terrible, I found the first episode of this show about a mangaka and his assistant to be a winner.

Akame ga KILL! | アカメが斬る！

Tatsumi is a fighter who sets off to the Capital in search of a way to make money to assist his poverty-stricken village. After falling victim to a robbery by a woman and losing all his money, Tatsumi is taken in by a noble aristocratic girl by the name of Aria. In the following night, Aria's place is attacked by a group of assassins known as Night Raid.

Another case of an intriguing idea that, if played straight and serious, probably would have been a great show, but instead suffers greatly from otaku-pandering and tropes.

While I expect it will have it’s moments, I just know that overall the decision to not go serious is going to really grate on me so I’ll spare myself and drop it now.

by **Kiskaloo** Sun 6 Jul 2014 - 21:02

Yamishibai: Japanese Ghost Stories (Season 02)

A series of short horror stories based around Japanese myths and urban legends. The series is framed around an old man telling these tales to schoolchildren on a playground using kamishibai, a traditional Japanese storytelling method using paper scrolls.

Happened to stumble across this on Crunchyroll today and at 4 minutes an episode, marathoner the first season (which was a Summer 2013 show) and the first episode of this new season.

As this is Japanese horror, it’s a fair bit different from what we in the West would consider horror and therefore the stories come across more as creepy than scary, though there are some pretty scary moments in the series, overall. Also, as the stories are based on Japanese myths and urban legends, they often don’t translate across well and I admit at the end of many of the episodes I was left scratching my head as to what happened (anime forums have helped in some regards).

And have some Korean scary web comics (translated into English):

http://comic.naver.com/webtoon/detail.nhn?titleId=350217&no=31&weekday=tue

http://comic.naver.com/webtoon/detail.nhn?titleId=350217&no=30&weekday=tue

by **Kiskaloo** Mon 7 Jul 2014 - 21:20

Blue Spring Ride [Ao ha raido | アオハライド]

Futaba Yoshioka has a few reasons why she wants to "reset" her image and life as a new high school student. She was ostracized by her female friends in junior high because she is cute, and because of a misunderstanding, she could not get her feelings across to the only boy she has ever liked, Kou Tanaka. Now in high school, she is determined to be as unladylike as possible so that her friends will not be jealous of her. While living her life this way contentedly, she meets Kou again, but he now goes under the name of Kou Mabuchi. He tells her that he felt the same way as she did when they were younger, but now that is the thing of the past.

Hanayamata [ハナヤマタ]

Naru Sekiya is an ordinary 14-year old girl who likes fairy tales, but is worried about her lack of other interests. She has a chance encounter with a "fairy", a foreign girl practicing dance at night. On a spur of the moment, Naru asks to join her, and she is introduced to the world of yosakoi dancing.

by Piero Mon 7 Jul 2014 - 22:30

Aldnoah Zero: I tend to be kind of hostile to shows that Gen Urobuchi (writer of Madoka Magica and the source novel for Fate/Zero) is involved with, but I actually kind of like this one so far. Despite the infodumping, credibility straining alternate history, indulgence of ridiculous tropes, and the fact that I thought the grimdark was a bit much. Razz

Barakamon: Hard to really judge at this point. Seemed decent despite the main character being a jerkass and the kid being a brat. I will say its a very different kettle of fish from a lot of what's airing these days.
Sailor Moon Crystal: Decided to check it out since the franchise is so iconic but I've never really seen much of it. Considering its age and the fact its one of the most famous magical girl shows I might have been expecting it to play ridiculous magical girl tropes completely straight and serious a little more. Then again having the main character bumble her way through/have to be told what to do in her first fight rather than knowing what's going on right off the bat probably is one of the major magical girl tropes.
Sword Art Online II: First episode was largely set up/infodump, so not a heck of a lot to go on yet without looking to the source material.

by taerKitty Wed 9 Jul 2014 - 21:42

Late to the party (as usual).

Sword Art Online II - never mind that it's actually the third world or story. Ep 1 is setup and filler. I'm neutral about it.

Aldnoah Zero - so far, no one is going shounen-silly. The plotting is fairly believable. Looks promising. I doubt we'll see anything like Tytania here. (And Tytania was trying to be another Legend of the Galactic Heroes, which I know we will never see the likes of again!)

Argevollen - this one start shounen-silly, with a main lead that's pretty egotistical and undisciplined. I can't really believe him to be a soldier, so that's a huge minus. Then, he's effectively deux-ex-machinaed into a super robot...

Yeah, they're trying to do a Camille or Amuro with this, but both of those whelps got taken down a few notches. From the looks of it, this show lacks the balls to do the same.

DRAMAtical Murder - So far, no murder, dramatical or otherwise. It seems to have some sort of idealistic, whitewashed 'gang rule' setting. The lead character is confident, mostly because he seems to know many powerful / intimidating friends.

Akame ga Kill! - This is shounen-silly. I wonder if I can sacrifice the brain cells to stomach it to the end. The worst part of ep 1 is how the author(s) took the 'easy' way out to isolate him and thrust him into Night Raid.

Summary - of them all, SAO II is probably my most solid bet for "didn't suck,' though Aldnoah Zero has a lot of potential. DRAMAtical Murder is a bit of a wildcard. Argevollen and Akame ga Kill! seem to be in a race for the bottom.

I need to get some more sleep so I don't fall over watching Glasslip or Interlude. Both look promising in the plot department, but not in the keep-awake area.

by **boomer_gonz** Thu 10 Jul 2014 - 0:47

Akame ga Kill
-Episode 1

So far it starts out with a likable (if a bit annoying) main protagonist. Despite the action paradigm, there are a few chuckles to be had, especially at the expense of Tatsumi which is a nice variable I hope the series continues in without sacrificing the action much akin to Tenjo Tenge did. For example; in this episode it's fairly light-hearted, but when it goes dark, it goes DARK.

There's enough intrigue in the opening plot to garner my interest so I'll continue giving it a shot. Also I must admit that the opening is kick ass and hopefully sets the tone for the rest of the series.
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Aldnoah.Zero

-Episode 1

The series starts pretty abruptly with no true opening. The characters get announced...sorta, but not with any real clear description. However, this is forgiven with the aide of some pretty gratuitous backstory exposition. After the initial exposition however, the story moves fairly fast with no real direction.

With no clear entry point to an actual center plot, I'm going to stick around and see about this story, if for nothing else than to see what the actual hell is going on.
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Argevollen
-Episode 1

Well it's got mecha, that's for certain. If there is a plot though, then I have to boil it down to either a slice-of-life or military drama and I'm not entirely certain if the show really knows in which direction to take. On the upside this actually is the closest thing to "Front Mission: The Anime" I've seen in quiet some time.

I'm going to dial in for the next epi to see where this goes. Fingers crossed and all that jazz.
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Rail Wars!
-Episode 1

The story seems to move fairly quick through the episode with days passing in mere minutes. That's not a bad thing though as we get used to the main group pairings quite early. To note though that I had to rewind a bit as I was laughing excessively at the appearance of Gainax 'Boob Bounce' along with obligatory Gainax 'Boob Grope'. sweat

Three of the main characters (Naoto Takayama, Haruka Komi, and Sho Iwaizumi) are quite endearing with Aoi Sakurai taking her place as group bitch. Also it seems to me that the Instructor Gono has a thing for Naoto, but judging by the episode ending, that won't go much farther.

The story progression needs a bit of work, but I'm hoping that'll get resolved by the next episode with the first being typical intro exposition. With a kickass opening and ending (pretty rare these days) along with one of the best animated fight scenes I've seen in a good long while, I'm dialed in for the next episode.
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Sabagebu!
-Episode 1

Quite possibly the least action oriented of my bunch; regardless it has more than enough entertainment to go around. Throw in a few cheap laughs, an announcer that just straight up delivers, with even a fourth wall break or two, and you pretty much have Sabagebu!. The characters are delightfully cute and there doesn't seem to be a central plot, but the short stories actual seem to fit the theme of the show.

I might be getting my hopes up, but I have high expectations for the show. Besides, announcer guy already said that the entire show was gonna be like this sooo...I'm dialed in for the next epi.
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-more to come-

by Piero Fri 11 Jul 2014 - 17:28

I don't really get the hate for the male lead in Argevellon. If anything I think the girl is more of a problem. She seems ridiculously incompetent. Though on the plus side the show kind of hints that maybe she's not what she seems to be. Let's see, she's from a small company no one has heard of, she doesn't know her product very well, and the truck she was on was being pursued by unmarked units that are implied to have something to do with the enemy's intelligence services. That's not suspicious in the slightest. Razz

I went into Sagebu with low expectations and ended up being pleasantly surprised by how entertaining it was.

Rail Wars remains ridiculous. There are some ridiculous series that are easy to buy into, but for some reason I have more trouble accepting this than accepting starving students brutally beating the crap out of each other for half price food in Ben-to. The method of defusing the bomb was pretty cool though.

by taerKitty Fri 11 Jul 2014 - 17:46

Argevellon's male lead is so typically shounen, and not in a good way. He's like the lead from Attack on Titan - a danger to self and others, out of control of his own emotions. He is playing to the worst part of the stereotype male psyche.

I didn't watch ep2 yet (and might not), but the female civilian strikes me as being as dumb as a potted plant. It took her gawdawful long to realize, "Hey, you're a pilot! You can drive this!"

The new vs. old mecha control and movement abilities were pretty trope-ish. It was a sign of obvious lazy writing, as is the idiotic characterization. We have VOTOMS style 'walking tanks' and all of a sudden, here's something sleek, shiny, slick, and ultra-modern!

The redeeming aspects aren't all that strong. The fact that the protag still can't trounce his opponents with the super-mech gives me hope that skill means something still.
The female mecha pilot wasn't horrible. At least she was believable.

I did like the teacher's fatalistic attitude, too.

The above show some effort in the story. The rest of it is all pulled from the Bin of Old Tropes.

I don't hate the male lead so much as I have very little hope for the show, end-to-end.

by **Kiskaloo** Fri 11 Jul 2014 - 19:45

Tokyo ESP | 東京ESP

Rinka Urushiba is a fairly normal high school girl, though she is a bit poor and her only family is her father. This forces her to work as a waitress after high school to raise money for them to secure rent and food. One day, she sees a penguin and some glowing fish swimming through the sky. Rinka might have thought it was a hallucination if there had not been another witness with her, a boy from her school with a strangely scratched-up face. Contact with a fish causes her to pass out, and when she awakens, she has developed the power to move through inanimate objects such as the floor of her apartment. She meets a fellow high school student named Kyotaro Azuma, who has the ability to teleport. The two of them use their ESP powers to take on individuals who have decided to use them for evil. However, there is an organization that plans for a bigger scheme to secure utopia with their ranks consisting of strong ESP fighters and users.

As he did with Gai-Rei Zero, Hajime Segawa uses the first episode as a MacGuffin - right down to starting with a cameo of Kagura and Yomi and having Toru and Natsuki of the Paranormal Disaster Countermeasure Headquarters 4th Division facing off against a katana-wielding girl.

Therefore, I assume this episode is a throw-away and the real story will start with Episode 2 (even though Rinka Urushiba does not appear until the last moment of the episode, there are multiple mentions of her as well as a hero ester called “White Girl”, who must also be Rinka). Hopefully it will be as good as Gai-Rei Zero ended up being. That the show appears to be Segawa channelling The X-Men, I have some hope.

Terror in Resonance | 残響のテロル

In an alternate iteration of the present, Tokyo has been hit by a terrorist attack that has devastated the city, with the only evidence of the culprits being a confusing video uploaded to the internet, which only spreads paranoia throughout Japan. Unbeknownst to the authorities is that the terrorist masterminds who call themselves "Sphinx" (スピンクス Supinkusu) are two teenaged boys, who go by the names Nine and Twelve, who apparently should not exist and have decided to wake up the world with their heinous plans of death and destruction with their fingers on the trigger.

Tokyo experiences their 9/11, though without the loss of life or damage that New York did.

The first episode didn’t really go anywhere, but since it’s an original story being run by Shinichirō Watanabe, I am willing to give it some time. If nothing else, I shall be buying the soundtrack since it’s composed by Yoko Kanno.

by Alfisti Fri 11 Jul 2014 - 23:13

I get the impression Horrible Subs is a week behind in their Rail Wars! releases. Either way, caught the first episode today: bit exposition heavy as it slogged through the groundwork in the first half, and it took a moment for me to get keyed into it but, to be honest, I'm enjoying it so far. Right now, for me, it's sitting in a category shared by things like Tron Legacy and the live action Space Battleship Yamato: is it good? No, but it's bad in a way I appreciate and find fun, so I'll keep watching.

As an aside, though I'm not a great train fan, the nerd in me appreciates the details put in... Jeremy Clarkson could possibly have stood watching some of this before Top Gear went back to the 1950s.

And now, if you'll excuse me, I have a mate who works for Queensland Rail and I need to go give him hell.

by taerKitty Fri 11 Jul 2014 - 23:29

Just watched the first episode of Tokyo ESP. It's not bad. High on concept, low on story. Too many characters, almost all of the defined by their powers. Still, it's pretty, it's active, and it has a good soundtrack. I'll give it another episode, at the very least.

Yeah, and the Ga-Rei Zero cameo was funny.

Given the paucity of stuff to watch, I'm going to give Argevellon one more episode. Right now, it looks like the first casualty of the season, but Black Bullet started out offal, too.

by taerKitty Sat 12 Jul 2014 - 21:12

Tokyo Ghoul - It's going to be challenging to watch. The opposition here looks to be self, not an external entity. This is something I inherently have problems with, so I might have a hard time identifying with the protag. And the diet is a little different.

Rail Wars - Looks to be empty headed fun. Episode is just getting the band together. It's not quite as pandering to the rail-nerd as I worried: there's still a bit of character interaction, etc. It's not all just talking about trains (though that does play a part in it.) There's a bit of fan-service, which gets in the way. Here's hoping it abates.

Aldnoah Zero - This is currently my "week delimiter" show. That's the show by which I mark the beginning of the week's worth of anime. Why? Because this is the show that I will anticipate most during the interim. By episode 2, ee have some character angst already, and it's not wangst like in some other shows (*cough*AoT*cough*). It was exciting, it was well-paced, and it actually had me caring about some of the characters.

SAO II - They're still slowly building up the background. The first episode was all about the world, and a minor intro to explain why Kirito is (eventually) going to be in this game. The second is all focused on the light-haired female sniper, Shinon. Sadly, it's mostly about her approach and ability, not necessarily her personality and background. (We do get to see her in real life, and she wears glasses! WOOT!)

by **Kiskaloo** Sat 12 Jul 2014 - 23:38

taerkitty wrote:Aldnoah Zero - This is currently my "week delimiter" show. That's the show by which I mark the beginning of the week's worth of anime. Why? Because this is the show that I will anticipate most during the interim. By episode 2, ee have some character angst already, and it's not wangst like in some other shows (*cough*AoT*cough*). It was exciting, it was well-paced, and it actually had me caring about some of the characters.

I agree it's one of the better shows so far, but considering that Earth's military is completely outclassed and useless against the Martians, you know that there will have to be some super Gundam class battle mecha at a secret research facility in Japan that Inaho Kaizuka is going to stumble across and be made the pilot of to single-handedly take on the Martians. sweat

by taerKitty Sun 13 Jul 2014 - 2:46

It's a Urobutcher show, so I don't think it'll be more of the "mo' bettah" approach like Argevollen. I expect heroic sacrifices, lingering decisions, and out-of-the-unexpected approaches, based on what little of his stuff I've seen (PMMM and Psycho Pass).

by **Kiskaloo** Sun 13 Jul 2014 - 9:43

Well that would be nice, but the man did give us Gargantia last year that featured combat mecha enhanced with pilot-supporting A.I.'s.

by taerKitty Sun 13 Jul 2014 - 10:44

... fighting pirates.

I always wondered how a Gundam X OnePiece crossover would have worked...

by **Kiskaloo** Sun 13 Jul 2014 - 13:15

Aldnoah.Zero [Episode 02]

See comments above.

Akame ga KILL! [Episode 02]

This show cannot take itself seriously, so I can’t be expected to, either. I do not plan to actively watch this at the moment.

Futsū no Joshikōsei ga Locodol Yattemita [Episode 02 and 03]

Started to warm up to the show with Episode 02, as Nanako is a fair bit more likable in this episode than the first. However, with Episode 03 it looks to be just a silly, fluff yuri comedy and I find myself not in the mood for that this season so no longer actively watching.

Glasslip [Episode 02 and 03]

P.A. Works + Supernatural = an interested Kiskaloo. The character dynamics could be interesting if played well.

Monthly Girls' Nozaki-kun [Episode 02 and 03]

This one is going to be a favorite. Yes Indeed

Rail Wars [Episode 02 and 03]

Not really bad, to be honest, but the show is 100% a fan service delivery vehicle - be it hot girls or cool trains. And what little story there is primarily exists to serve said fan service.

Shirogane no Ishi Argevollen [Episode 02 and Episode 03]

It's Gundam, but more Gundam 008 than Gundam 080 thanks to the team dynamic. Entertaining enough to keep watching, at least for the moment.

Space Dandy Season 2 [Episode 02]

Like season one, sometimes it will hit and sometimes it will miss, but it will always be interesting.

Tokyo Ghoul [Episode 02 and Episode 03]

Thoroughly enjoyed the ass-whooping Tōka Kirishima delivered on Ken Kaneki, who I generally find to be irritating. If only more shows kicked the crap out of their whangsty male characters. Smile

That being said, I can understand his wangst since he has just turned into a cannibalistic monster. That he’s a cross between human and ghoul could be interesting, but I just hope he acts more like Blade than Eren Yeager. Smile

And in surely what is a relief to Alfisti, should he become a ghoul he can at least still enjoy coffee. Incoming!

Significant background development with Episode 03 was welcomed.

by taerKitty Sun 13 Jul 2014 - 18:15

Rail Wars ep 2 for me was slightly watchable. This one might be the train wreck of the season, the show I watch to see if they can keep it from being a total bomb. Last season's expected train wreck was Irregular at Magic High School, but it's still on my watchable list. Instead, Brynhildr turned out to be the train wreck, about on par with Beyond the Boundary.

Akame ga Kill! - thanks for the warning, Kisk. I was on the fence about this (and gritting my teeth at the thought of giving it another 22 minutes.) Punted;

Argevollen - This is my other grit-my-teeth series of the season. I realize I've become a kitty of very narrow tastes. One of my pet peeves is that I can't stand most shounen heroes because they're so loud, anger-driven, and overall STUPID. That was why I ended up drop-kicking Attack on Titan after 11 episodes (that's 5 hours of my life I want back!), and that's what has me not enthused about watching Argevollen / delaying watching Akame.

===

TL;DR: If it wasn't for Aldnoah.Zero and Sword Art Online II, I'd cancel my CrunchyRoll subscription.

by **Kiskaloo** Wed 16 Jul 2014 - 10:44

Hanayamata [Episode 02]

I expected this to be another “cute girls being cute” kind of show - you know, the one where they spend most of their time as a group drinking tea and eating cakes.

But two episodes in, this looks like it could be much more. The topic of the show - the traditional Japanese dance form yosokai - is interesting. And unlike Golden Time, the director here seems to know what they’re doing and considering the show seems to have a decent budget, that translates into interesting visuals. And yes, the characters are stereotypical, and yet thanks to the strong writing and directing, are more than just visual tropes or cute eye-candy.

Overall, this one is surprising me - in a very good way.

Blue Spring Ride [Episode 02 and 03]

It’s almost like an anti-Kimi ni Todoke and yet I cherish it just as much. And I have a strong emotional resonance to the OP (both the visuals and the song):

That being said, in terms of music, I think I have to give the OP nod to Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun:

by **Kiskaloo** Sat 19 Jul 2014 - 10:52

Terror in Resonance [Episode 02]

Probably the most interesting show I am watching this season, though not my favorite.

Tokyo ESP [Episode 02]

I seem to recall Ga-Rei Zero starting out as kind of a silly show, only turning dark and serious later on. If it did, then Tokyo ESP might be following a similar track. But at the moment, the second episode didn't really impress me.

Since this show is being streamed by Funimation, I’ll continue to download it, but for the moment it’s probably one I’ll just squirrel away and try to watch in a batch.

Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Crystal [Episode 02]

Not a big fan of the new character designs, to be honest. And I do miss the original English dub. Still, it’s Sailor Moon so…

The new transformation sequences suck ass, however. The 3D CG is crap. Bring back the luscious 2D original transformation sequences.

by taerKitty Sat 19 Jul 2014 - 12:39

Aldnoah.Zero episode 3 already had me fist-pumping and saying, "Yes!" out loud. definitely my fave show so far.

by Piero Sat 19 Jul 2014 - 20:56

Aldnoah's third episode was actually pretty good. The second wasn't too impressive, but I guess I can give it credit for setting things up for the third.

Kiskaloo wrote:Tokyo ESP [Episode 02]

I seem to recall Ga-Rei Zero starting out as kind of a silly show, only turning dark and serious later on. If it did, then Tokyo ESP might be following a similar track. But at the moment, the second episode didn't really impress me.

The difference between Tokyo ESP and Ga-Rei Zero is that Ga-Rei Zero is a prequel while Tokyo ESP is more of an adaptation. Ga-Rei Zero was way better than the manga its a prequel to so don't expect Tokyo ESP to be on the same level just because of the mangaka connection. That being said, I actually enjoyed Tokyo ESP's second episode.

by taerKitty Sun 20 Jul 2014 - 2:08

Sorry for the double-tap. Meant to go back and edit my prior post, but I was so elated after Aldnoah.Zero episode 3 I wanted to post from my phone. (I won't be doing that again. Too painful.)

Sword Art Onine II - This is the Shinon show. Kirito looks to be only along for the ride. Or, at least that's what it feels like to me after the first 3 episodes. That said, the female lead is pretty watch-able. Glasses help. A lot. Her de rigeur tragic backstory was decently done, though it seemed a little compressed and convenient. Decent, but flawed, in other words. The whole psychological issues that arose from that are the same - I can see the PTSD, but I'm not sure I can buy the way she lives her life around it. That said, it's not like I can't believe it, so it's all a net-zero for me.

Aldnoa.Zero - A complete opposite to the ass-pullery that was the end of SAO season 1 & 2. SAO had its protagonist win because he had enough willpower to transcend the laws of physics. AnZ has a protag who keeps his cool but isn't the stereotypical 'bad boy'. He thinks, he plans, he forms hypotheses and then he tests them. The way the conflict was resolved was sheer genius. This is how I like my heroes.

Spoiler:

Terror in Resonance - Hulu only has episode 1, so I'm perhaps a few episodes behind the rest of you. It's not my go-to show of the season (that's Aldnoah.Zero), but it's not bad. The two male leads are intriguing. Their backstory seems a bit standard, but that didn't harm my enjoyment of other shows using the same sort of thing. The female lead is ... well, I'm not sure what to say because she's so protean at this point. If anything, she was the weakest part of the first episode, but not heavily so.

Spoiler:

I still need to watch Rail Wars and Tokyo ESP, but that's another day.

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