Spring 2015 Anime Season

No Random C preview yet, but here's a preview chart for the spring 2015 anime season:

http://www.anichart.net/spring

Here's my commentary on some shows that have caught my interest for various reasons.  I've bolded a few shows that I'm really looking forward to and have high hopes of being good.

Arslan Senki: Sound like it could be a good fantasy-adventure series if done well, and I tend to like a good fantasy adventure.
(The) Disappearance of Yuki Nagato-chan: Haruhi was a show that I found immensely overrated back in the day, but came to appreciate more after the hype overload had died down.  So I was actually kind of looking forward to a new season.  Though from the sounds of things this is basically a slice of life spin off featuring a non data entity version of Yuki crushing on Kyon.  I was sort of hoping that was just the initial premise and the new show would have the old Haruhi craziness...
Fate Stay/Night: Unlimited Blade Works Season 2: I've never really gotten the appeal of Fate Stay/Night, but Unlimited Blade Works seems decent enough.  It certainly has some slick looking action scenes.
Ghost in the Shell Arise: Alternative Architecture: Given how much I liked the OVAs, I should be excited about this.  However, it's apparently mostly a TV rehash of the OVAs with some new scenes added.  Fail.
Gunslinger Stratos: I guess Gen Urobuchi is now such a big name that a silly looking arcade shooter that he wrote the story for is now considered prime material for a big budget adaptation. (Yeah, I'm not keen on this one either.)
Lupin III: Could be fun.
Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha Vivid: Despite their issues, I appreciated the older Nanoha series for their drama and badass mecha inspired brand of super robot magical girl combat.  Unfortunately I do not have a very good impression of the Vivid manga.  The franchise has really gone off the rails since the last anime (which had its own share of problems).
Sound! Euphonium: A new series from Kyoto Animation featuring girls playing instruments. I'd probably be more enthusiastic if the main cast was a bit more gender balanced (as opposed to five girls and one guy who barely appears in the previews ).  For some reason drama is a genre where I really like to see a relatively gender balanced main cast.
Yahari Ore no Seishun Love Comedy wa Machigatteiru (My Youth Romantic Comedy is Wrong as I Expected) Season 2:  This sequel is probably one of my most anticipated shows of the new season. The original took a while to get going and was sometimes a bit otaku, but it proved to actually be a rather unique series thanks in large part to its cynical and anti-social protagonist and his scathing, often accurate monologues about the human interactions of his peers.  Yet the show managed to keep both him and many of the characters he was commenting on sympathetic, which prevented it from becoming a mass of butthurt and smug superiority.  It was a cynical show with a heart, if that makes any sense.

Because of the rainy nature of spring where I live, I'm all about sitting in and watching a good harem series. So without further ado...
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Baby Steps 2: I liked Baby Steps 1 so I'm looking forward to this one.

Denpa Kyoushi: I'm actually hoping this one will be like Strawberry Eggs, except from a NEET perspective.

Gintama: Because...you know...Gintama.

Dragon Ball Z Movie: Because DBZ.

Strike Witches OVA: You know...I think it's going to be a film season for me...

I'll take a look at Digimon Tri
Nanoha vivid is at least worth a look, but I'm not expecting much, although I actually liked the Strikers season.  This time I think they will go full on loli cute girl mode.
I am all in on I don't understand what my husband is saying.
The angel beats OVa is worth looking at in my opinion

Since I know what's going to happen, I am massively pumped for Sidonia no Kishi: Daikyuu Wakusei Seneki.

Hello! Kiniro Mosaic is also a given considering how much I enjoyed the original as is the case with Robot Girls Z+ and Teekyuu 4. And the connection with Teekyuu means Takamiya Nasuno Desu! gets a nod.

Hōkago no Pleiades was originally a 2011 24-minute Original Network Animation by GAINAX sponsored by Subaru (whose corporate symbol is the Pleiades). I recall liking it so I shall at least have to check in.

I will give Hibike! Euphonium the courtesy of at least a serious look since it is a Kyoto Animation show.

Setting the new Lupin the III in Italy was a good choice to pique my interest.

Haruhi Suzumiya no Shoushitsu is one of my favorite anime films so I will at least take a look at Nagato Yuki-chan no Shoushitsu (plus her being my favorite character doesn't hurt).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lIsvBEeLfiw

Having just seen the preview for Nanoha vivid, my expectations are lower, much lower, argh.. It just pisses me off.  The animation is bad, not the worse I've seen but bad.  All of the characters look like they have flat faces from being hit in the face with a frying pan repeatedly.  I'm also betting its a 12 episode show with cute girls doing cute things only covering up to when vivio and einhart meet argh.....

crazyidiot78 wrote:Having just seen the preview for Nanoha vivid, my expectations are lower, much lower, argh.. It just pisses me off.  The animation is bad, not the worse I've seen but bad.  All of the characters look like they have flat faces from being hit in the face with a frying pan repeatedly.

The lead animation team is A-1 Pictures, who have done some amazing work and some lackluster work so I can only assume that the budget for the show is low or it's not their priority (they are also handling Uta no Prince-sama, Gunslinger Stratos and Denpa Kyōshi this season).

Kiskaloo wrote:

crazyidiot78 wrote:Having just seen the preview for Nanoha vivid, my expectations are lower, much lower, argh.. It just pisses me off.  The animation is bad, not the worse I've seen but bad.  All of the characters look like they have flat faces from being hit in the face with a frying pan repeatedly.

The lead animation team is A-1 Pictures, who have done some amazing work and some lackluster work so I can only assume that the budget for the show is low or it's not their priority (they are also handling Uta no Prince-sama, Gunslinger Stratos and Denpa Kyōshi this season).

Lovely

http://randomc.net/2015/03/27/spring-2015-preview/

Random C's more analytical previews are out.  After looking at them, I'm inclined to add Kekkai Sensen and Shokugeki no Souma to my interest list.  Though despite my failure to mention them earlier I think those two were already on my radar (the second one definitely was).

Tentative list for me:

-Shokugeki no Souma (really REALLY enjoyed the manga)
-Strike Witches Operation Victory Arrow
-Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso OVA (after sighing deflatedly at the bittersweet end, I want to know what's going on there)
-Initial D Legend 2 (first Legend was awesome)
-Suisei no Gargantia OVA (finished the series, so much like Shigatsu, I want to know what's going on there)

Piero wrote:Yahari Ore no Seishun Love Comedy wa Machigatteiru (My Youth Romantic Comedy is Wrong as I Expected) Season 2:  This sequel is probably one of my most anticipated shows of the new season. The original took a while to get going and was sometimes a bit otaku, but it proved to actually be a rather unique series thanks in large part to its cynical and anti-social protagonist and his scathing, often accurate monologues about the human interactions of his peers.  Yet the show managed to keep both him and many of the characters he was commenting on sympathetic, which prevented it from becoming a mass of butthurt and smug superiority.  It was a cynical show with a heart, if that makes any sense.

So, after reading that, I picked up the first season and, yes, fully agreed and it's entertaining as all hell.

Every time their teacher turns up though, all I see/hear is...


...and that is not a bad thing at all.

Glad to hear you liked it.  I'm currently rewatching the first season in preparation for the second.

Strike Witches Operation Victory Arrow - Volumes 01 and 02

The Hartmann sisters and the Guns of Navarone for the win. 

And the OP is definitely going on my track day and pilot day playlists.

The two Victory Arrow OVAs that have been subbed so far are indeed very good.  We should probably make a discussion thread for them in the Strike Witches section...

Hu I wasn't expecting much beyond the cute girl angle for Victory arrow, but if there is action I will check them out

crazyidiot78 wrote:Hu I wasn't expecting much beyond the cute girl angle for Victory arrow, but if there is action I will check them out

The second one had tons of action and the first two episodes were dominated by my favorite witches, so I am very satisfied so far.

YES!!!!!!   CI wants big boom....... CI wants big boom...... CI wants big boom....... 

Heads up that fansubs are now available for the Bodacious Space Pirates: Abyss of Hyperspace movie.

Generally a very good film though it got a bit strange towards the end (plus I think it got a bit too caught up in hacking and electronic warfare towards the middle).

Plastic Memories - Episode 01

In a future not too far away, androids that look exactly like humans begin to spread across the world. The android production company SA Corp. produced Giftia, a new kind of android that has the most amount of emotion and human-like qualities out of any other model ever seen. However, due to problems in technology, the androids have a service life, and once they pass that, it gets pretty bad. For this reason, SA Corp. creates a terminal service in order to retrieve Giftia that have gone past their service life. A new employee at the terminal service named Tsukasa Mizugaki forms a team with the Giftia Isla to retrieve the other androids.

Like Your Lie in April, the first episode had moments of heart-aching drama ruined by moments of face-palming attempts at humor. And like Saekano: How to Raise a Boring Girlfriend, I find the cast to be mostly annoying, and yet there is something about the underlying story that wants to bring me back for the next episode.

I, of course, blame otaku. You can’t make an anime without pandering to them and this show covers the bases - to it’s general detriment, I fear. Isla nails the classic “broken girl” and “clumsy girl” tropes. Like protagonist Tsukasa Mizugaki, I too was struck by my first meeting with her (in the elevator), but towards the end I was just cringing at her antics. Michiru Kinushima is the classic tsundere and the rest of the cast seems to neatly fall into various tropes and stereotypes.

I’ll be honest - this season doesn’t look that good in general (reading ANN’s Preview Guide so far makes me believe it will be mostly a wasteland of terrible shows), so I’ll be staying with this one at least for the moment because I don’t actively dislike it. It also appears to be an original story, as opposed to a light novel adaption, which means they at least have total flexibility in what story they want to tell and how to tell it.

I'm coming to this pretty late, sorry.

Is it Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon lost me before the eyecatch.  It looks to be a mess of real fantasy and MMO.  People evidently do die Real Death in this series, not respawn.  Killing critters leaves no bodies, but do leave drops of crystals (and maybe other stuff, CBF to follow it.)  People refer to one another's levels in combat prowess.  The hapless hero (level 1) is the one and only servant of a goddess, who seems ditzy and eye-candy.  To be honest, when I saw the goddess, I decided I had better things to do with my time.

I watched Gunslinger Stratos prior to reading the above summaries. It looks to be another wreck, but it might be salvageable. TBH, Urobuchi's name doesn't draw me to this so much as the term 'Gunslinger' did.  It seems more Infinite Stratos than Gunslinger Girl in how much it respects the audience's intelligence.

Spoiler:

 

This one gets another episode, more because I'm curious to see if they can pull this one out of its collision course with ignominity than anything else.

watched, Show BY Rock ! the Moe is strong with this one






In less happy news, the next season of Suisei no Gargantia has been cancelled, apparently there are issues with production

So I actually did end up watching Nanoha: Vivid, and while it has its share of issues, I actually rather enjoyed it.  Not sure I'd recommend it to anyone who isn't already familiar with the franchise though.  It's certainly not very newcomer friendly.  Also, please stop toying with the yuri fans and make Nanoha/Fate canon already!

The Disappearance of Yuki Nagato-Chan is also not overly accessible to newcomers.  However, fans of the original Haruhi may find it to be decently entertaining if they can get over the fact that it's essentially fluff.

Food Wars was okay.  It was moderately amusing, but too heavy on the ecchi.  I'm not necessarily against characters having foodgasms for comedic purposes but it could have been better handled.

Is it Wrong to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? is actually better than some of the other LN adaptations I've seen recently.  On the other hand, some of those LN adaptations were pretty bad, so that's not saying a lot.

Arslan Senki seems more promising.  It starts off with a weakling prince encountering an escaped slave/prisoner of war about his own age.  I do have some concerns about grimdark, seeing as how I felt both boys' respective nations deserve to die (one for having an economy dependent on slavery, the other for being a bunch of religious fanatics who kill non believers) but at least its a far cry from what's typical for anime nowadays.

The  first episode of My Youth Romantic Comedy is Wrong as I Expected was a bit disappointing.  I still have hope for the series since the first season didn't have the greatest start either, but it would have been nice if the second season had been firing on all cylinders right from the get go.  I should note that the production values for the new season seem considerably higher than they were for season one, though the new character designs take some getting used to (there were a couple parts where I failed to immediately recognize characters).

The Disappearance of Nagato Yuki-chan - Episode 01

The setting is based on the alternate universe depicted in The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya, in which Haruhi Suzumiya never formed the SOS Brigade. The series follows Yuki Nagato, who in this world is not a stoic alien but rather a shy and tentative girl, as she develops feelings for her fellow literature club member, Kyon.

Color me somewhat disappointed, Batman.

On the one hand, this shows takes place in the same universe as the 2010 movie did and I really liked that movie.

On the other hand(s), the animation studio for this show is Satelight and not Kyoto Animation, who did all of the other TV and film installments. As such, the character designs and overall style is very different. On the plus side, the original voice cast resumes the same roles here. Unlike the movie, the characters here are more cheerful and I am sure the otaku will find Yuki downright adorable as they dialed her moe to 11. I much preferred her version in the movie and tended to start tuning out of the show watching her.

For the moment, I will keep watching, but it’s not a slam-dunk anymore.

taerKitty wrote:The hapless hero (level 1) is the one and only servant of a goddess, who seems ditzy and eye-candy.  To be honest, when I saw the goddess, I decided I had better things to do with my time.

As much as it pains me to say it, and whether it appeals to out demographic or not, going by the large amount of fanart that seems to have suddenly appeared I'm going to say the pandering is working for them.

Sound! Euphonium is off to a good start.  It's a Kyoto Animation series and it has their style of character design, but it actually reminds me of the kind of dramas that PA Works specializes in.  I quite like the lead character, and the gender imbalance of the main cast didn't actually bother me that much.  Though I was still amused that the recruitment poster for the Band stated "All experience levels welcome!! Especially boys!"

Blood Blockade Battlefront was very impressive to look at, and it's characters and setting may appeal to fans of series like Baccano! and Durarara!  Though for my taste it included too many alien looking designs and too high a level of havoc (seriously, why would any remotely sane person live in a city were the kinds of events shown in the first episode were a common occurrence?).

Sound! Euphonium - Episode 01

The Kitauji high school concert band club had at one time participated in national tournaments and was a champion school, but after the club's adviser changed, they have not been able to even participate in the qualifying tournament. However, thanks to the newly appointed adviser's strict instruction, the students are steadily improving and build up their strength. As they fight over who plays solos, some students give priority to studying and quit club activities. Finally, the long wished-for day of the contest arrives.

At first blush, one might think Kyoto Animation is again returning to the K-On! well as this show is about girls in a band in high school. However, this time around it's a concert band instead of a pop/rock band and Kyoto Animation has given the show their full, lush visual treatment and both dialed back the moe and taken full advantage of their ability to allow a story to slowly unwind (something they did with aplomb in Tamako Market and, especially, Hyōka) over time, not worrying about spending the majority of an episode on a single plot element or character.

I have good feelings about this one.

MY love STORY!! [Ore Monogatari!!] - Episode 01

Takeo Goda is a giant guy with a giant heart. Too bad the girls don't want him! (They always go for his good-looking best friend, Sunakawa.) Used to being on the sidelines, Takeo simply stands tall and accepts his fate. But one day when he saves a girl named Yamato from a harasser on the train, his (love!) life suddenly takes an incredible turn! Takeo can hardly believe it when he crosses paths with Yamato again, and he finds himself falling in love with her… But with handsome Sunakawa around, does Takeo even stand a chance?

I think I have found my #1 show for the season.

Gunslinger Stratos - I finished the second episode, and it's going on my 'rainy day' list.  Given that that list is growing seemingly without bound, this means I'm highly unlikely to ever watch the rest of it.

Spoiler:

===

Plastic Memories is ... wow.  Kisk, I agree with the face-palming mood whiplash, but, like Black Bullet, I think the creators were worried it would be too grimdark without it.  Actually, like Black Bullet, this made me cry, and in the first episode, no less.

Spoiler:

Having said that, the characters are all trope-y, and the girls' costumes are all otaku-bait.  (They're not fetishwear, like Olga the teacher from Gunslinger Stratos, and they're not fan-service like Strike Witches.)  They look like someone took a Hatsune Miku coloring book and decided to do away with the greens and blacks, that's all.

The second episode isn't as big an emotional sledgehammer, which I think is to it's credit.  If each episode ends in a tearjerker, it'll be both a) predictable, and b) unsustainable, as each would probably have to be bigger than the previous one(s).  Instead, this one ends in a subdued and mundane resolution, which seems more realistic given the staffing the office has relative to their workloads.

In spite of the teeth-grinding mood whiplash scenes, the ending of the first episode has sold me on this series.  Oh, and I like the fact that they actually make use of the end credits time, instead of an ED.  Think about it: an ED is basically a music video.  It's the same music video.  Each. Episode.

Instead of teasing/rewarding the audience with a possible post-ED Easter egg scene, they just make the time more story, which is the best way to ensure the viewers give the staff their due.

Wow.  Look at all I've written about Plastic Memories.  I think that says enough, right there.

So it turns out that Ghost in the Shell ARISE: Alternative Architecture started off with a TV take on the 4th OVA.  Hopefully that means it will have more than just two episodes worth of completely new material.

Saw the first episode of Kyoukai no Rinne.  It's a bit old school, without some of the excesses that haunt modern anime.  It did have a certain appeal, but overall it felt somehow lacking.

I also checked out the first two episode of the second cour of Fate Stay/Night: Unlimited Blade Works.  It's visually impressive and there actually is some interesting story, but like most Fate franchise stuff (indeed most Type Moon stuff in general) is just doesn't really quite do it for me.

Several of the series I checked out last week received a big boost from their second episodes.

Arslan Senki is looking like a contender.  The first episode was shaky, but had some promise, and the second was pretty solid.

My Youth Romantic Comedy is Wrong as I Expected still has some pacing issues, but the second episode featured another of Hachiman's solutions, and there's actually quite a big going on (though unfortunately I didn't really take much heed of some of it until I started reading discussion on the latest episode).

Even Food Wars! got a boost.  There's still ecchi content, but it was more tolerable in the second episode, which I also found more entertaining than the first.

(Nanoha Vivid got a boost from it's second episode two, but it's still not a show I'd recommend to people who aren't already a fan of the Nanoha franchise.)

At the moment, my top picks for the new season are Arslan Senki, My Youth Romantic Comedy is Wrong as I Expected, and Sound! Euphonium.

It may not be my personal favorite show of the season, but I think Kekkai Sensen (Blood Blockade Battlefront) might prove to be rather popular with the western anime fandom.

I was initially dismissive of Yamada and the Seven Witches because it sounded like a crappy harem show, but I gave the first episode a chance and I'm glad I did.  The body swapping through kissing thing is pretty ridiculous, but the first episode was actually pretty funny.

Knights of Sidonia - Battle for Planet Nine - Episode 01

Having narrowly avoided the collision with the asteroid, the Sidonia sets a course for the Lem system in order to wipe out the Gauna nest.

Picking up where the first series left off, needless to say I have been anxiously awaiting this one since it was announced last year. 

It didn’t disappoint. 

Hello!! Kin-iro Mosaic - Episode 01

With their second year in full swing, both Shinobu and Aya are having trouble getting used to not being in the same class as Alice and Yoko, while Karen is intimidated by her classroom's strict homeroom teacher, Akari Kuzehashi. In reality, Akari wants to get along with her students but always seems to end up scaring them. Later, the girls try to learn more about Shinobu, later learning a little about how she got interested in foreign countries.

The sequel to Kin-iro Mosaic, which I was a huge fan of.
 
 
 
In addition to Hello!! Kin-iro Mosaic, I am also actively following:

Sound! Euphonium

I find the cast entertaining and it’s less moe than K-On!(!) was. 

MY love STORY!! [Ore Monogatari!!]
I am as smitten with this show as Takeo is with Yamato.

Knights of Sidonia - Battle for Planet 9
Even knowing what will happen, it does not lessen my enjoyment of seeing the manga animated.
 
 
And for the moment, I am grudge-watching:

Plastic Memories

I have to say I struggle with this one. The mood the OP and ED animations set is awesome - it’s the part in-between that gets dicey. The first half of Episode 03 actively repulsed me, but the second half was significantly better.
 
 
The Disappearance of Nagato Yuki-chan

They have taken my favorite character of the Suzumiya Haruhi universe and pretty much ruined her by turning her into a moe-blob. On the other hand, they have taken my second-favorite character - Ryoko Asakura - and made her quite cool. It also looks like Haruhi is going to be a major player in this show (I don't know if she was in the manga).

As I noted earlier, Arslan Senki and Food Wars improved after their first episodes.  Arlsan Senki is my fantasy/adventure pick for the season, while Food Wars is quite entertaining, though still rather ecchi.

I'm liking Yamada and the Seven Witches, though I'm not that strongly sold on it just yet.  I'm not entirely confident it will be able to keep it up.  Then again it hasn't even finished introducing it's main cast yet.  Maybe it's too early to judge.

Sound! Euphonium is quite good, but somehow it doesn't seem to a show I'm that thrilled about despite my positive first impression.

Blood Blockade Battlefront may not be quite my style, but it definitely has style.

My favorite show this season is turning out to be the second season of My Youth Romantic Comedy is Wrong as I Expected.  I'm very impressed with how the new season is shaping up.  It actually seems like the series has leveled up with its second season.  The production values are higher, the otaku elements have largely disappeared, and there's lots of interesting stuff going on with the characters and their relationships.  It's not always that pleasant to watch because of the thorniness of some of the relationships, but its a very human show, and it's got me invested in it.

Plastic Memories is my weekly milestone - it is the show that I think about the most during the week, even if it's not the show I watch first.  It's painfully manipulative, obviously so.  In spite of that, the feelings it evokes in me feel genuine and deep, even if I'm aware that the way they generate those feels is transparent.

I can see the reason they put in the mood whiplash: to space out the feels so they're not a constant barrage.  A person can become deadened to that.  I wish they didn't fall back to the protective tsundere / hapless male / broken girl triangle and play it for comedy, though.  GSG has its downtime scenes/acts/episodes, but it doesn't break the mood, and I feel the story is stronger as a result.

Food Wars is over-the-top fun.  It's got no substance, no consequence, no investment, but it's fun.  I wouldn't post to this thread solely to discuss it, but seeing as I'm posting anyhow...

RIN-NE is Takahashi-sama's latest, so of course I'm going to watch it.  But, it's nothing all that special so far.

Food Wars: Shokugeki no Soma

Soma Yukihira is a son of a restaurant owner. He's talented at cooking and can make new dishes, mostly weird and epic combinations (squid and peanut butter) but this wide imagination of his also led him to create wonderful and unique foods. However, two to three years from now, the restaurant is on the verge of closing since his father will be working together with his friend. Before the time comes, Soma began studying in Engetsu Teahouse Culinary Academy, Japan's top culinary academy. For him to continue their restaurant business, he must learn and improve his cooking skills in this prestigious academy.

Piero and Taer have already given their endorsements to this show and I’m ready to add my own after watching the first four episodes.

Overall, the show is at times ridiculous, but in a way I approve - it’s genuinely funny and the characters are believable, even if over-the-top some times.

In terms of food porn, Koufuku Graffiti did it better - and this show tends to focus on the porn more than the food, though not to an offensive level.

Yeah, this show pushes my fanservice limit, but it's barely on the tolerable side.  The whole "feed good food to a woman and she experiences an orgasmic feeling" is pandering and distasteful, but the rest of it justifies it.

taerKitty wrote:Yeah, this show pushes my fanservice limit, but it's barely on the tolerable side.  The whole "feed good food to a woman and she experiences an orgasmic feeling" is pandering and distasteful, but the rest of it justifies it.

Well the girls in Kohaku pretty much had orgasms every time they ate and, to be fair, the male "land sharks" also experienced orgasm tasting his food so...

Worst case, it becomes a guilty pleasure.

Binged the first five episodes of Hibike! Euphonium, and was pleasantly surprised. Way more downbeat and serious than I was expecting out of KyoAni "girls with instruments" show, and that's a very good thing. Will be following this one out for the season.

Anyway, in lieu of there being a full length version of the marching band song, I guess I'll just have to listen to the original for now (not a bad thing either)...


...and see how long it takes for the first Destination Calabria crossover fanart to appear.

^Apparently in the original novel the marching band played a Beatles song during the parade.

taerKitty wrote:Yeah, this show pushes my fanservice limit, but it's barely on the tolerable side.  The whole "feed good food to a woman and she experiences an orgasmic feeling" is pandering and distasteful, but the rest of it justifies it.

Interestingly enough, Food Wars ranked higher with female viewers than male viewers in a recent poll by the Japanese website charapedia.  It scored sixth place with 462 votes among females, and ninth place with 394 votes among males. Though that 462 votes is pretty low compared to the 1438 votes scored by Gintama, which was the top pick among females.

Considering how meaningless those sorts of polls are, I'm probably a lot happier than I should be that my top pick for this season (My Youth Romantic Comedy is Wrong as I Expected Season Two) was the overall top pick in that charapedia poll.  The show doesn't seem particularly popular in any of my online or irl circles so its nice to see it doing well somewhere.  (It's also been getting top marks from the ANN reviewer who's been following it, but his coverage has been somewhat sporadic.)

Piero wrote:Apparently in the original novel the marching band played a Beatles song during the parade.

Wouldn't surprise me, though YMO works nicely too. I'm quite liking some of the little detail in the series... like Kousaka starting to struggle a bit during the march.

To be honest, it's making me want to go retrieve my trumpet from the folks' place and try to remember how to play the thing.

Woohoo for season 2 of I can't understand what my husband is saying, it really hit the spot

My Youth Romantic Comedy SNAFU Too...


...I don't know how a school teacher gets a manual Vantage, but I like her style.

While some may find Shizuka-sensei's Aston cool, I personally found it damaged the credibility of an otherwise brilliant episode that had been a long time coming.

Speaking of brilliant episodes, my enthusiasm for Sound! Euphonium may have waned a lot since my positive first impression, but I was quite impressed by this week's installment, which featured one of the most compelling romantic scenes I've seen in anime recently.

Piero wrote:While some may find Shizuka-sensei's Aston cool, I personally found it damaged the credibility of an otherwise brilliant episode that had been a long time coming.

Honestly, I think I've stopped trying to apply logic where Shizuka-sensei is concerned. Had it been one of the kids turned up in it or, frankly, anyone else from the series, it probably would have broken it for me but, this time... not so much.

Alfisti wrote:My Youth Romantic Comedy SNAFU Too...


...I don't know how a school teacher gets a manual Vantage, but I like her style.

I don't understand why she isn't driving a left hand drive one,  after all Aston martin is a British company and a British one would be easier to drive in Japan, of course it may simply be a case of foreign car must have its steering wheel on the other side !

Piero wrote:While some may find Shizuka-sensei's Aston cool, I personally found it damaged the credibility of an otherwise brilliant episode that had been a long time coming.

If it is a question of cost, Aston-Martins devalue like rocks thrown off a cliff. They lose something like half their value within a year, so within three years, what was a $90,000 car new can be had for less than $30,000 so that could explain how a teacher could afford one.

I admit I keep an eye out on the local dealer's used stock because of this. 

Awinnell wrote:I don't understand why she isn't driving a left hand drive one,  after all Aston martin is a British company and a British one would be easier to drive in Japan, of course it may simply be a case of foreign car must have its steering wheel on the other side !

Or if she is driving a grey-market import of a left-hand car, that could save even more money.

That said, I think your idea is the correct one - in the movie PAPRIKA, Doctor Atsuko Chiba's Aston-Martin DB7 is left-hand drive.

Piero wrote:Speaking of brilliant episodes, my enthusiasm for Sound! Euphonium may have waned a lot since my positive first impression, but I was quite impressed by this week's installment, which featured one of the most compelling romantic scenes I've seen in anime recently.

While I agree it’s not amazing, I do think it is solidly entertaining and definitely one of KyoAni’s better shows. While parallels can be drawn to K-On!, this is a fairly stronger show in terms of characters and story.
 
 
 
This has been a winner season for the most part in terms of what I am watching, the only real disappointments being Plastic Memories and The Disappearance of Yuki Nagato.

Plastic Memories - C+

A fantastic final episode, alas, cannot make up for the disappointment of the previous 12. A fair bit of that disappointment came from the show changing its tone early on from science fiction to romantic melodrama steeped in tropes and stereotypes. Then again, production company Aniplex pitched this show as a love story first and foremost so maybe it’s me setting false expectations. 

If I had been writing the show, I would have touched on what I felt were some very serious moral ambiguity around the Giftia. For nine years, the Giftia are parents, children, siblings or lovers. Their ability to replicate human emotions and empathy allows them to form very strong bonds with their owners – bonds which Terminal Services rips apart with what appears to be little care or concern outside of Terminal Service No. 1, who are treated poorly because they care and that costs money.

They finally decided to start touching on this in the last episode, alas, they didn’t have enough time to make a proper go at it. And that in some ways makes it all the more disappointing that they wasted all the time they did have on attempts at lame comedy and “otaku dearification” of Isla.

It is definitely my pick for "Best ED Theme", however:





Sound! Euphonium - A

Kyoto Animation has created a fair number of shows I have dearly enjoyed and they lived up to that reputation with this show, which I very much enjoyed. 

Superficially similar to the K-On! franchise, this show is the more powerful and…adult…one in my opinion. Where K-On! was cute girls being cute, Hibike! Euphonium was about cute girls giving it their all to improve sufficiently to qualify for inclusion in the Nationals. As I understand it, the advance Blu-ray sales may not be enough to warrant another series, which would be a shame as I would very much like to see Kitauji continue to advance.



Knight of Sidonia: The Ninth Planet Crusade - A

Both this series and the prequel played with the order of the early manga volumes they cover, but in a way I think the anime told the story a bit more clearly. And the anime allows a level of visual richness that the static page cannot, which really shines in the battle sequences.

Can we have a third season, please?



Hello!! Kin-iro Mosaic - A

Always brightened my day. Better than the original, which is saying something considering how much I loved the first one. At it’s most basic level, it’s another “cute girls being cute” show, but I found it to have a level of cheerfulness and earnestness that puts it a step above most such shows.



Teekyu Season 4 - B+

Another 36 minutes (over 12 episodes) of sheer insanity and lunacy - in a good way. It’s comedic shock and awe.

The Disappearance of Nagato Yuki-chan - B-

Overall, pretty disappointing. Really it could be considered the third Haruhi Suzumiya series as the entire cast was there. The actual "Disappearance of Yuki Nagato" arc consisting of Episodes 11, 12 and 13 were great because Yuki was like she was in the movie. The rest of the time, she was a moe-blob. I do like what they did with Ryoko's character - between her and the Arc, this saved the show a "C" grade.

I've been chewing through Ore Monogatari whilst working off-duty.

Oh. My. God. *clutches heart and pancreas* My diabeetus!

In all seriousness, I can relate a LOT to Takeo, being the big guy who got shot down a lot in high school, and was somewhat clueless, to boot. The more the story unfolds, the more I love watching the two of them interact.

I just don't know if I have enough insulin to handle it all.

MY love STORY!! - A-

This rom-com was so sugary it will rot your teeth and looking back I kind of feel that it would have done better at 13 episodes instead of 24 because it wandered or felt forced a fair bit of the time. But when I was watching it, I didn’t care because I was enjoying myself way too much. Which is why it gets an "A" and not a "B" even though it's not a show I plan to watch again or probably buy (I normally buy any "A" show I watch).