Fall 2015 Anime Discussion

[Jun Inoue]

Tfw Gintama gives you the feels more times than actual drama shows.

And hype for next week's Shogun Assassination arc!

I'm very torn with this arc. One of the reasons I love so much and look forward to every episode is how chill and gag-based the serie is. So I wonder what will happen now.

[Nosebleed]

Tfw Gintama gives you the feels more times than actual drama shows.

And hype for next week's Shogun Assassination arc!

I'm very torn with this arc. One of the reasons I love so much and look forward to every episode is how chill and gag-based the serie is. So I wonder what will happen now.

I'm expecting something like Kanketsu-hen or Benizakura-hen. Has some gag moments here and there but the overall plot is still serious.

Considering this will involve Takasugi though (or at least he was in the preview), I expect this to be more exciting than anything before.

The only thing I'm curious about is whether or not this will remind us that Gintama does have a plot and whether or not this arc will develop said plot.

[Nosebleed]

This latest Noragami episode has produced quite the shitfest among Noragami anime fans.
Basically every comment boils down  to: how dare that guy kiss my waifu!? He needs to die!

And what's funny, as a manga reader, is that I know this isn't even the worst thing that's going to happen.
I wonder how people will react to what's going to happen soon.

[HotTrax]

Gakusen Toshi Asterisk 09 - Eh episode OPMC in fight. Kirin exhibits nisekoi levels of blushing. 

Gochuumon wa Usagi Desu ka?? - Everyone is stalking everyone. Funny episode. 

Shomin Sample 08 - This shit is hilarious. 

Drop of the week. 

Perfect Insider - Painfully boring. 

[Abyssal Monkey]

Heavy Object is Heavy Object.  Nothing much new there.

Gakusen Toshi Asterisk continues to make me laugh at how painfully average it is.  At least the festa started. Maybe the show will pick up pace again with the fighting, it IS about that time in the books.  Honestly though, I can't see the show making it look entertaining.  I'm too far in to not regret dropping it now.  I'll look at the bright side of finishing it as now I have examples to use in arguments and conversations with people in how to make a show average.

Rakudai Kishi continues to be incredible.  Never before have I seen a show that is the perfect example of how to use common tropes and cliches properly.  Even though the show is entirely full of them, it sets them up properly and executes them well.  Everything about them seems natural in comparison to how almost every other show does them. I don't think I've yet to come across a romance trope in this series that I immediately think to myself "why the hell did they put this in here?".  Looking at scene to scene comparisons there is nothing different about the scenes than any other show, like this week's most recent "I've got to be serious about stripping my girlfriend, so I'm going to be tense as fuck", there is nothing different about it than any other attempts I have seen in any other anime, but the timing of it felt natural both within the series and with the character's personality.  It wasn't strictly for ecchi, and the author used it to provoke a moment between the two characters which helped progress them.

This really reminds me of the character archetype debate between "character archetypes are shit" and "character archetypes are useful".  Tsunderes are tsunderes are tsunderes, and you will find them anywhere, but writing the archetype off because it's fundamentally flat is wrong.  Sure the way most writers use them is terrible, but you occasionally get a writer who knows that he needs to fill in the character, and then you don't hear people complaining anymore.  I think Rakudai starts to fall into this second one.  Hopefully the author doesn't let me down.

[Jun Inoue]

This really reminds me of the character archetype debate between "character archetypes are shit" and "character archetypes are useful".  Tsunderes are tsunderes are tsunderes, and you will find them anywhere, but writing the archetype off because it's fundamentally flat is wrong.  Sure the way most writers use them is terrible, but you occasionally get a writer who knows that he needs to fill in the character, and then you don't hear people complaining anymore.  I think Rakudai starts to fall into this second one.  Hopefully the author doesn't let me down.

Rather I'd say it's that archetypes are always useful, but as a base to build and expand upon. If you pick one and leave it as is, then that's just a boring, 2D character with no essence.

 

Oh Saitama, you are so apathetic all the time, yet you actually care so much for heroes and their reputation! This sort of moments are kinda bittersweet in the anime.

[Diamon]

OPM episode of the week was just perfect. The little speech from mumen rider with the music made it much more emotional than in the manga, same goes for when Saitama tries to convince people that he is just a fraud. Props to the VA for that.

Binged the whole Rakudai series (up to ep 9), without any big expectations, and I was really surprised to find such a smooth animation, beautiful backgrounds, and more than anything a good romance progression. It's just an anime of the genre that does everything right : no harem, relatable characters, very good pacing, no forced drama... Feels like a better Zero no Tsukaima.

And also... Finally a damn MC that gets a boner instead of a fucking nosebleed. That's closer to how real human beings react.

The perfect insider is sloooooooow... The show better give a mindblowing resolution of the mystery and not pull some cheap ass tricks to justify my waiting...

Edited November 30, 2015 by Diamon

[FinalChaos]

Gakusen Toshi Asterisk continues to make me laugh at how painfully average it is.  At least the festa started. Maybe the show will pick up pace again with the fighting, it IS about that time in the books.  Honestly though, I can't see the show making it look entertaining.  I'm too far in to not regret dropping it now.  I'll look at the bright side of finishing it as now I have examples to use in arguments and conversations with people in how to make a show average.

Rakudai Kishi continues to be incredible.  Never before have I seen a show that is the perfect example of how to use common tropes and cliches properly.  Even though the show is entirely full of them, it sets them up properly and executes them well.  Everything about them seems natural in comparison to how almost every other show does them. I don't think I've yet to come across a romance trope in this series that I immediately think to myself "why the hell did they put this in here?".  Looking at scene to scene comparisons there is nothing different about the scenes than any other show, like this week's most recent "I've got to be serious about stripping my girlfriend, so I'm going to be tense as fuck", there is nothing different about it than any other attempts I have seen in any other anime, but the timing of it felt natural both within the series and with the character's personality.  It wasn't strictly for ecchi, and the author used it to provoke a moment between the two characters which helped progress them.

This really reminds me of the character archetype debate between "character archetypes are shit" and "character archetypes are useful".  Tsunderes are tsunderes are tsunderes, and you will find them anywhere, but writing the archetype off because it's fundamentally flat is wrong.  Sure the way most writers use them is terrible, but you occasionally get a writer who knows that he needs to fill in the character, and then you don't hear people complaining anymore.  I think Rakudai starts to fall into this second one.  Hopefully the author doesn't let me down.

Exactly my thoughts on Asterisk and Rakudai.

This latest Noragami episode has produced quite the shitfest among Noragami anime fans.
Basically every comment boils down  to: how dare that guy kiss my waifu!? He needs to die!

And what's funny, as a manga reader, is that I know this isn't even the worst thing that's going to happen.
I wonder how people will react to what's going to happen soon.

I have read the manga till the end of this arc and well with the revelation that's up ahead, it's pretty clear that the author did have the intention of making him a target for hate.

Oh Saitama, you are so apathetic all the time, yet you actually care so much for heroes and their reputation! This sort of moments are kinda bittersweet in the anime.

One-Punch Man continues to be amazing. The hype levels just refuse to go down. 

That smile

 

[Nosebleed]

Shogun assassination arc they said. It's "totes gon b srs" they said.

 

[Jibril]

Well there it is. Starting with a new milestone of episode 300, Gintama will change. Forever. That ending really got me.

[Nosebleed]

Well there it is. Starting with a new milestone of episode 300, Gintama will change. Forever. That ending really got me.

Yeah I definitely was not expecting it either.
I mean, I know Gintama can actually get serious, but I didn't think they'd go that far.
Part of me hopes it's just some ploy, but it seems very unlikely.

I wonder if they'll actually get super serious or if after this arc is done they'll just return to normality for another 100 episodes.

[Jibril]

I feel like WIT Studio just stumbles upon a treasure chest because those action animations in episode 9 of Seraph is just too damn smooth!

Oh and Sawano too, for the extra sprinkles of epic music.

[Abyssal Monkey]

Another episode of Rakudai. Another 20 minutes well spent on research of what quality animation is looking like.

Seriously, I look forward to Rakudai every week, if not only, for the excellent animation work Silver Link does.  They have proven to me that, at least recently, when they put in the work, they can create amazing action sequences.  I'm going to have to skim their other recent releases for the sequences, but at least with Prisma Illya and Rakudai, the animation is excellent.

Don't ask for commentary on the episode, I got nothing so far.  It was just a single 15 minute exercise in well coordinated combat sequences.  Fucking 10/10.  I mean I guess there was a bit of Shizuku development and a bit of a twist at the end, but that doesn't matter much after watching the fight and having my eyes bleed.

[shadowolf64]

Are either Rakusen or Rakudai worth checking out? Action/romance/comedy feels up my alley right now but haven't kept up with the newest season. Are either one any good? 

[Abyssal Monkey]

Are either Rakusen or Rakudai worth checking out? Action/romance/comedy feels up my alley right now but haven't kept up with the newest season. Are either one any good? 

Rakudai is one of the few modern takes on romance and doesn't have a harem.  I'd say it's kind of worth checking out, but note that the romance develops incredibly slowly, and due to it being a promo for the light novel you aren't going to get much payoff.  On the other hand, as an action series, I find the animation quite stellar.  It doesn't have much in the area of comedy though.

Also, what is Rakusen

[shadowolf64]

Are either Rakusen or Rakudai worth checking out? Action/romance/comedy feels up my alley right now but haven't kept up with the newest season. Are either one any good? 

Rakudai is one of the few modern takes on romance and doesn't have a harem.  I'd say it's kind of worth checking out, but note that the romance develops incredibly slowly, and due to it being a promo for the light novel you aren't going to get much payoff.  On the other hand, as an action series, I find the animation quite stellar.  It doesn't have much in the area of comedy though.

Also, what is Rakusen

Oh whoops, meant Gakusen as inGakusen Toshi Asterisk. 

Don't really like the idea of an anime as a promo for a light novel so I may not check Rakudai out...I may give the first episode a try though.

[Abyssal Monkey]

Are either Rakusen or Rakudai worth checking out? Action/romance/comedy feels up my alley right now but haven't kept up with the newest season. Are either one any good? 

Rakudai is one of the few modern takes on romance and doesn't have a harem.  I'd say it's kind of worth checking out, but note that the romance develops incredibly slowly, and due to it being a promo for the light novel you aren't going to get much payoff.  On the other hand, as an action series, I find the animation quite stellar.  It doesn't have much in the area of comedy though.

Also, what is Rakusen

Oh whoops, meant Gakusen as inGakusen Toshi Asterisk. 

Don't really like the idea of an anime as a promo for a light novel so I may not check Rakudai out...I may give the first episode a try though.

Well that's what most LN adaptations are, and due to the sheer nature, you are never going to get a payoff.

Personally, my opinion about Asterisk is that it's a hilarious study into how to highlight tropes entirely wrong.  Compared to the book which pads things out with thoughts and other details, the anime puts front and center all the tropes that Asterisk uses, and it's entirely worse for it.  I decided to drop it because I can't deal with it anymore.  That and I hate the animation quality.

If you want my current opinion on Action/Comedy/Romance in anime currently: There is none.  All of them are either promos for the original printed work, or have terrible qualities.  Not a single one has been finished as far as I can tell either.  That's just on the action adventure front though.  I haven't paid much attention to the romantic comedy areas, or the dramatic romance.  Those normally get picked up 2-3 years down the line when I scrapping the bottom of the barrel.

In terms of my opinion on quality, Rakudai is currently doing the best, but you won't get much romance out of it.

[Seth]

Damn, Sougo vs. Kamui was in the anime just as short as in the manga (still as awesome though). 

Aaaand best "Shogun ka yo!" yet.

[Nosebleed]

Wow, I can't believe it really was the Shogun this time, curse you Gintama for all this tension.

Was also not expecting to see Zenzo's face, that was some intense look he had. You know Gintama means business when characters break their initial tropes.

[Jibril]

Wait what? He's alive? What.... all my what...

Sougo vs Kamui, that fight of the year. Epic.

(and the fangirls be like, kyaa they're fighting for Kagura)

[Satsuki]

Owari no Seraph S2E10 in a nutshell

[Jibril]

^Truly the gayest non-gay moments in anime I've ever watched in my life.

[Jun Inoue]

Oh man, Utawarerumono 11, that was so friggin hilarious. Those cheap acting skills, with the soldiers just not giving a fuck and eating from the food post, oh boy.

 

The comments I'm seeing in most anime watching sites about Owari no Seraph's episode 10 convince me yet again of how disastrously slow the "anime fandom" is at keeping up with the times (or being decently mature). We need to start using warning signs for newcomers so they know most people are walking concentrations of homophobia and bigotry.

WHY ARE THE 2 BEST FRIENDS BONDING. THEY HAVE SWORDS. I WANT FIGHTS, I WANT BLOOD, MOREMOREMOREMOREMOREMOREMOREMORE. ARE THEY TALKING!? MEN TALK WITH THEIR FISTS, YOU WUSSES! GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY

[Abyssal Monkey]

Rakudai this week.  I just don't know.  Episode 11 was a true toss up.  i can totally understand what they were going for, but coming from the perspective of knowledge that it came from a light novel, I can't help but feel that this wasn't how it was executed and that they are rushing the end of it.  Quite literally rushing.  It's only that one fact that I can not feasibly imagine them skipping so much that I want to believe that this is somewhat how it went in the books, but everything about it is screaming "Ehhhhhhhh!!!" that I can't help but doubt about what the actual author of the books, or the director of the anime was thinking.  Progress is fine, speeding it up is fine, but it felt like that if this came straight from the books, that the author thought he was gonna be axed.  

I can't say I'm a fan of the warp speed that they pushed, and I can't point the blame at anyone either, but comparatively to what has been shown up to this point, with implied time jumps between matches, having this rapid fire "oh hey, we are at the end" leaves a somewhat bitter taste.  When the anime is over, and the LN translation catches up, I'm sure I'll have a better understanding, but overall, I would have loved filler time instead of what seems to be shoving an entire volume of a book in two episodes.

I guess the one good thing about this series is that it was done by Silver Link instead of Madhouse, which means that even if it doesn't have superior faithfulness to the original, we will probably see a sequel with fair accuracy.

[FinalChaos]

Rakudai this week felt different. I think that's the best way to describe it. I didn't feel it was too rushed, we had already gone through the selection matches for plenty so going to the end didn't feel too odd. But I do have complaints about the transition. It was just too sudden. The events in the branch itself were well done, but the change from the usual through-fare to suddenly going into the branch wasn't handled well. That shady Akaza just randomly appeared and bam.
Regardless I'm pretty hyped for the next episode.

Concrete Revolutio has been doing a good job, the episodes have definitely been getting better. We saw Kikko's true form this ep, well I expected her to be powerful but it seems that I was underestimating her who would've thought she would be demon realm's Queen. I was envisioning her as some queen of a small kingdom in a far away place. The anime had a rocky start but it's turning out pretty good.