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What Anime are you watching now?


Ryoji

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On ‎16‎/‎06‎/‎2017 at 0:28 AM, Adorabear said:

Just started watching KonoSuba since it sounded interesting to me, and so far I really like it! :D The story is unique and the characters are very likeable and funny! I hope the rest of the episodes are as enjoyable as the ones I have already seen.

It truly is art how the show makes somewhat terrible people so likeable.

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Just finished watching Fruits Basket after a long drawn out intermittent watching. I've known this ancient show has rated very high for a long time but at no stage while watching it could I see how it scored a median rating of 9 out of 10... till the last 2 episodes. I was mostly only mildly amused through it though it wasn't an unpleasant way to pass the time. However the last 2-3 episodes were totally unexpected and really the culmination of 23 episodes of apparently harmless build up but with some amazing emotional weight. No it's not a resolving harem happy ending or anything like that but it has a beautiful ending nonetheless. I was going to give it a 6/10 as "decent" but the ending pushed it up to 7. I can't very well rate the rest of the series on the ending only but I'm glad I watched it though I can easily see how anyone would struggle to watch it with today's anime sensibilities. One thing it doesn't suffer from that older anime usually does, though, is being slow. The dialogue and movement is rapid through the whole series except during dramatic scenes. It's an observation I've made that old series are usually so slow that I have to watch them at higher speed because the dialogue and pace are normally glacial and this was not like that at all. In fact quite a few of the more classic shows also did not suffer from that slow pace problem so perhaps that's why they became classics. These days most bad anime suffers from the other extreme - trying so hard to maintain interest through pace that they blast thousands of lines of mindless dialogue or meaningless action to give the impression of being dense thematically when they're just plain dense instead.

I never did quite figure out why they called it Fruits Basket by the way...

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14 hours ago, ittaku said:

A bunch of stuff about Fruits Basket.

This one never really clicked with me. I don't even remember the ending, TBH (it's been a while, though, so I might be doing that specific of it a disservice). My biggest problem was always that the characters felt a little thin (especially Tohru), even for a reverse harem; I'd rather watch Ouran any day, for the more interesting characters.

I never really got the name either.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Grimoire of Zero - 8/10

Me basically spoiling the whole thing and talking about what I liked and didn't.

Spoiler

I actually liked this a fair bit, but I keep seeing various reviews criticise it on many counts. Unlike what usually happens, where I attribute my differing opinions to a matter of taste, I've found that, this time, what people take issue with are things that I thought were adequately explained by the show.

Regardless, I've always starved for fantasy stories, or so I've found. If it's not absolutely and terribly dark, and it's a fantasy, I'll probably like it. It happened with this, it happened with the Familiar of Zero, and with Chaika. It seems I like fantasy settings more than I'd like to admit. I also especially like some of the circumstances in this particular setting, that is, Zero herself.

In this setting, Zero is the creator of 'magic': an advanced form of sorcery that does not need the drawing of magic circles or directly communicating with demons. At least in the kingdom of Weiss. She created 'magic' by writing down a tome of incantations, and these incantations hold power... for some reason. It was hinted at that she colluded with some high-level demon, but it was not explained in detail for this chapter of the story. Worthy of note is that, as the creator of this tome, Grimoir of Zero, she has the ability to cancel spells cast in its name (from what was seen there appear to be some restrictions: such as the spell not having been cast yet -- this lack of clarity may pose a problem to some, and it's one of the main critiques aimed at it).
She created it with idealistic intent: she wanted to make life easier on everyone; from healing wounds and protecting from danger to fishing and hunting.  And there we go. The presence of idealism automatically makes me like something. But more importantly, I really like the setting, because it means Zero is, by her very definition, overpowered. Uh... Yeah, that's a plus for me. I really like overpowered protagonists... when the anime has the decency to not pretend they are in danger "omg I am so threatened. this may be the foe that'll kill me. oh noes". It's always fantastic to see the power of good trash everything else. Regardless, there isn't actually much of that in this anime... just a bit, in certain occasions.

Its true strength lies in the character interactions and the characters themselves. Our main protagonist is not human, but a species of human-animal-beast which is generally discriminated against, and we can see how his current personality came to be from his past experiences. Zero herself is also heavily shaped by her past experiences, mainly the lack thereof, making her into a relatively naive and ignorant girl who nevertheless has an excellent head on her shoulders. Indeed, despite her general idealism, she takes a pragmatic attitude towards things, which I empathise immensely with. This pragmatism is one she shares with the main antagonist, Thirteen, and one of the reasons I thought their interactions were so interesting. Having set out to create Zero's dream Kingdom, he started spreading magic, and, in the process, couldn't help watching what humanity chose to do with this newfound power, without directly interfering too much. This lead to a bunch of disasters and whatnot, starting a war. To resolve this war and hatred on magic he finally began moving, creating the Sorcerers of Zero (I think they were only created after Sorena's death, right?) and putting his ultimate plot into action -- one pragmatic way to remove the hatred of magic from normal people's hearts. Because Thirteen had decided he was doing what Zero wanted he chose not to let himself be dissuaded, and stuck to his methods up until the point where he was assured his naive little girl was strong enough to face the real world. Her naivety is shown in actions like the magic she cast on her mercenary, or how she got so very attached to one of the first few people she interacted with outside the cave. Not to discredit the mercenary, of course. He has a fairly cute personality, trying to make himself look more roguish than he is, being adamant on little details like the "you have to order me, not ask".
I found Sorena's granddaughter less interesting (if a pretty good twist), but she had her own troubles. The Sorcerers of Zero actually just trying to kill her attendant made little sense to me. Did they judge her guilty right then and there? Why kill the attendant and not her? If she was innocent, why would they kill her attendant. No matter their judgement, the action just seems plain mean.
Hordem feels like he was a rehashed character that was initially just going to be a one-off. Given what we learn of his past, his behaviour when we first meet him makes sense... up until the slaves he owned were seemingly badly treated. That seems unlike a playboy, unlike who we later learn he really is.

Going back to what I like, seeing pragmatism on the part of Heroes just makes me giddy. When Zero and Thirteen so easily teamed up; when Zero so easily clarified that she was not Albus' ally, because she truly was not, and other such things.

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

  Watching Aria: The Origination, slowly, savouring 1 episode at a time, occasionally, over a month. Man I love this series for so many reasons. The music [THE MUSIC], ambience, the characters, the humour, conversations and scenes that evoke so much of emotions. There's so much passion and life in the characters. The world of Aria is so ideal, beautiful and serene. Everyone loves their roles in this world fervently, finding joy in their simple yet grand existences. 

  As a viewer, it fills my heart with happiness and love, watching this anime makes me feel that way in every single episode. It just can't help but gift me happiness in such a forward and honest way. I have literally shed a few tears just by how happy I get in certain episodes [okay a lot of episodes!]. I 'feel' Aria and it fills me with love and warmth. I think that's the simplest way of putting it. I don't think there's another show out there that is quite like this, or evokes such strong positive emotions from me. Every element just comes together so beautifully. 

  Of course there are bits that are melancholic, but that's fine, those scenes have a purpose in their creation, and it ultimately leaves you feeling content and humble.  I want to drag this season for as long as I can, I'm trying to sip and savour this smooth drink and remember the moments, so that I can tap into my memory banks when I need a smile. Every scene, every character, I love them all.

  I'll be sad when this journey ends, but i'm so happy that I got to experience it, and that I took my time with all the seasons. Beautiful.

Edited by DharmaFreedom
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Wrapped up Interviews with Monster Girls. I unfortunately watched the best episode before a long hiatus, so the last two episodes I watched just now couldn't help but be a disappointment, given how much I enjoyed my favorite episode, but the show remained lovely and sweet right up until the end. I really appreciated that it never fell prey to sacrificing its characters for its plot: every episode was well thought-through and the way each one played out was honest to the characters. That resulted in a truly marvelous episode 11, which was backed by a plot which in most other shows would have been a frustrating, predictable episode about a misunderstanding. Instead, we got a real, interesting, and incredibly beautiful episode about working through issues and forming new relationships.

In retrospect, Interviews with Monster Girls reminds me of what I loved in Kokoro Connect, a level of care which I hardly ever see in anime: all the characters are thoughtful, relatable, and believable. The last may sound ironic for a show featuring a vampire, a snow woman, a Dullahan, and a succubus, but of course that is exactly the point.

Edited by Fred the Barber
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  • 3 weeks later...

Making my way through Fairy Tail 2014 at the moment. It's not the best anime I've ever seen by some distance, but it is really quite enjoyable to watch on an evening after long day when you just want some mindless fun. I particularly like the vast cast, so there are at least a few characters I like in almost every episode. 

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  • 4 weeks later...

I actually watched a decent amount of animus over the past 3 weeks so it was pretty annoying to not have this place to vent my misc ramblings but here we go

KonoSuba S1&2, decent medieval fantasy comedy with a horrifically one dimensional meme-filled cast, Aqua the airheaded goddess, Megumi the one trick explosion Archmage and Darkness the 100% miss rate Crusader... Mhmm. at times the sheer ridiculousness of the characters and banter can give headaches but it's an ok watch overall

Saenai Heroine S1&2, liked the 'friends making a dating sim' aspect, very likeable cast with some excellent banter and chemistry, liked getting to see Megumi's hair change throughout, Kasumigaoka Utaha is one of the best older female characters I've seen.

Kuzu no Honkai, very awkward at first with the soft porn and you have to legit abandon any monogamy beliefs to be able to watch on without WTFFFing ripping your hair out at how horny and ready to have sex these characters are

Boku dake ga Inai / Erased, decent supernatural / travel to the past mystery thriller, though you could identify the big baddie from miles away and the travel-to-the-past mechanic felt more like a cheap for-the-sake-of-the-plot gimmick than a fleshed out pseudoscientifically explored one like say, Steins;Gate

Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso, i was wondering why this was rated so highly going into this, it's just a standard slice of life moe with emphasis on classical music, right? WRONG, of course they gotta throw in feelsy stuff. Very enjoyable though too melodramatic at times, Kaori is EXTREMELY likeable and although the "lie" was suuuper easy to find out early on along with the foreshadowing of what's to come being very drawn out, still a fun ride.

Kakegurui, this thing is Danganronpa levels of fun, I swear they based the characters and the entire premise on Danganronpa's Celeste, the Ultimate Gambler, man I wonder how she would stack up against Jabami Yumeko >.>

 

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Mk i kinda want a looong anime to watch, so im gonna go back to bakemonogatari because apparently it then goes to nisemonogatari and then nekomonogatari and then tsukimonogatari and finally hanamonogatari or some shit, point is it's long and i want long :makina:

 

I abandoned it years prior 'cos idk, i watched the first couple eps and it seemed like the only charm was the witty banter to be had b/w Koyomi and Hitagi but i'm mature now so les do this

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1 hour ago, Eclipsed said:

Mk i kinda want a looong anime to watch, so im gonna go back to bakemonogatari because apparently it then goes to nisemonogatari and then nekomonogatari and then tsukimonogatari and finally hanamonogatari or some shit, point is it's long and i want long :makina:

 

I abandoned it years prior 'cos idk, i watched the first couple eps and it seemed like the only charm was the witty banter to be had b/w Koyomi and Hitagi but i'm mature now so les do this

The *gataris are solid watching and the witty dialogue is kind of the whole point of the series. There is action and intrigue and stuff but that's really secondary to the dialogue. Having said that I find saturation from watching too much of it so if you feel like I do, you won't feel like watching another one immediately after finishing one series.

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I watched Plastic Memories, and I have complicated feelings about it. The characters were pretty bland, and the plot was ludicrously predictable every step of the way, but I'll be damned if I didn't enjoy watching those characters act out that plot anyway. The main characters were the blandest, none more so than Generic Male Main Character (I've long since forgotten his name, if I ever knew it), but even the female leads were forgettable. The further out side characters were a little more interesting, but not much.

I think the setting played a big part in my enjoyment, and the plot, while ridiculously predictable, still tugged at my heartstrings. The central motivating idea behind the show was, frankly, great. That, coupled with the way the story stuck to its central themes and morals all the way to the end, made for a compelling tale to watch, even while there were no surprises or twists, and no particularly interesting people. The sheer inevitability of it all was, perhaps, its greatest strength.

In the end, despite my gripes, I thought it was really good. Not great, but really good.

Edited by Fred the Barber
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2 hours ago, Fred the Barber said:

I watched Plastic Memories, and I have complicated feelings about it. The characters were pretty bland, and the plot was ludicrously predictable every step of the way, but I'll be damned if I didn't enjoy watching those characters act out that plot anyway. The main characters were the blandest, none more so than Generic Male Main Character (I've long since forgotten his name, if I ever knew it), but even the female leads were forgettable. The further out side characters were a little more interesting, but not much.

I think the setting played a big part in my enjoyment, and the plot, while ridiculously predictable, still tugged at my heartstrings. The central motivating idea behind the show was, frankly, great. That, coupled with the way the story stuck to its central themes and morals all the way to the end, made for a compelling tale to watch, even while there were no surprises or twists, and no particularly interesting people. The sheer inevitability of it all was, perhaps, its greatest strength.

In the end, despite my gripes, I thought it was really good. Not great, but really good.

Dahell is with the new Like system, gg ipb.

You make Plastic Memories sound very uh, plastic xD but I'll take 'really good'. backlogged


~~
Also picked up Koi to Uso, dunno how I'm able to binge anime so much right now (i've watched more in the past 3 weeks than the past year prob?)

The art is waay too moe, i mean jesus look how huge these character eyes are. I don't know who to ship, Neji x Misaki got the 'destined 5 year+ long crush' thing going on but their dynamics are actually really bland compared to Neji x Ririna. Episode nana finally officializes the love triangle, but goddammit this is an ongoing anime so now I gots to wait. Maybe might just pick up the manga...

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50 minutes ago, Eclipsed said:

Also picked up Koi to Uso, dunno how I'm able to binge anime so much right now (i've watched more in the past 3 weeks than the past year prob?)


The art is waay too moe, i mean jesus look how huge these character eyes are. I don't know who to ship, Neji x Misaki got the 'destined 5 year+ long crush' thing going on but their dynamics are actually really bland compared to Neji x Ririna. Episode nana finally officializes the love triangle, but goddammit this is an ongoing anime so now I gots to wait. Maybe might just pick up the manga...

I'm conflicted with Koi to Uso. Ririna is absolutely adorable and fun to watch and probably the sole reason I'm watching it. Everyone else is as interesting as cardboard. This became very obvious on the latest episode where she didn't feature. The only saving grace with whatshername is that Kana Hanazawa is voice actress but even that can't seem to add dimension to her on-screen persona. Yes the eyes are ridiculous.

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18 hours ago, Fred the Barber said:

I watched Plastic Memories, and I have complicated feelings about it. The characters were pretty bland, and the plot was ludicrously predictable every step of the way, but I'll be damned if I didn't enjoy watching those characters act out that plot anyway. The main characters were the blandest, none more so than Generic Male Main Character (I've long since forgotten his name, if I ever knew it), but even the female leads were forgettable. The further out side characters were a little more interesting, but not much.

Lol, it hasn't even been that long since I watched Plastic Memories, and I've even forgotten my favorite girl's name. :wafuu: But I do at least recall how I felt about the anime. The romance was very cute, and I remember feeling very strongly about the story, even though it could've been written a lot better. I think this is the kind of anime where just about any romance fan will find something to appreciate about it, even if it doesn't turn out to be amazing.

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13 hours ago, Dreamysyu said:

Just finished Akatsuki no Yona. It's strange how this show is full of things I would expect to completely break the experience for me, like some cliches and extremely overpowered male characters, but I still ended up loving this show. Definitely picking up the manga.

Akatsuki no Yona is simply amazing, especially if you're a fan of strong (in the sense of strength of character) female leads. One of my very favorites.

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