General Anime thread of whenever

[Ryong]

Not of the next season because there doesn't seem to be anything particularly good next season.

Where do our anime threads keep going, anyway?

Attack on Titan 25
That was the stupidest stinger I have ever seen. I heard the walls were made of titans, but ever since they started showing the skin hardening properties they have I expected some sort of crystalized titans being the walls, not actually a bunch of titans lined up.

I was going to watch The World God Only Knows but then I forgot about half of the characters and though I knew this plot twist would happen I'm not entirely sure I want to watch it now.

Will probably watch all of the "new" Railgun season one of these days.

:dance:ANIME THREAD GO::V:

[Bells]

Attack on Titan 25
That was the stupidest stinger I have ever seen. I heard the walls were made of titans, but ever since they started showing the skin hardening properties they have I expected some sort of crystalized titans being the walls, not actually a bunch of titans lined up.


Any bad that episode had (which is little if any) was negated by Eren being a better Evangelion than Evangelion.

That being said... it's going to take 6 months/1 year to this to return for another round of 25 Episodes so...

I have new Hajime No Ippo, Gundam Unicorn 7 On my awesome list, and i'm still watching Saint Seiya Omega and i'm going to watch the new Gundam Battlers anime from the "Oh my god i love this stupid bullshit" list

...so i'm good for the season.

[Gregness]

I'm finding this arc of One Piece to be sorta meh to be honest, but on the bright Side, Naruto's finally done with filler for the moment.

I watched The Devil is a Part Timer sort of on a whim, and was very pleasantly surprised; it's quite funny.

[Kyanbu The Legend]

Any bad that episode had (which is little if any) was negated by Eren being a better Evangelion than Evangelion.

That being said... it's going to take 6 months/1 year to this to return for another round of 25 Episodes so...

I have new Hajime No Ippo, Gundam Unicorn 7 On my awesome list, and i'm still watching Saint Seiya Omega and i'm going to watch the new Gundam Battlers anime from the "Oh my god i love this stupid bullshit" list

...so i'm good for the season.

there's a new gundam series coming out!?

[phil_]

It's about Gundam plastic models and the battling thereof, Kyanbu. So yeah, kinda.

I'm going to watch lots of stuff just like I always do. Probably not gonna discuss it here because "Wow, how about them animes?" 18 times a week might be a little spam-y. Having no taste in anything is both a blessing and a curse.

[The Artist Formerly Known as Hawk]

Attack on Titan spoiler stuff

Gah, why does Crunchyroll have to be terrible and make me wait an extra week for each episode? Tell me one thing, does episode 25 actually get straight to the action, or does it spend the first half backflashing to shit we already know? Because it seems every cliffhanger episode does that shit and it irks me.

[Bells]

Episode 25 is pretty much 20 minute action sequence.

As for new Gundam series, i got on board when i saw the new Astray Red Frame that has a touch of Gurren Lagann to it.

[phil_]

Eren gets mad rather quickly and then Bad Things Happen™. You have to listen to Armin monologue one last time, but it was short enough that I hesitate to call it a monologue.

[Ryong]

Trigger, the "studio" who made Inferno Cop is making a new series called Kill la Kill.

I have no words for the first episode other than OVER THE TOP AS HELL.

[phil_]

My thoughts were more along the lines of "So many names! Argh!"

But yeah, looks like it's a worthy successor to this year's best $2 puppet show.

Also, Coppelion was pretty (but first episodes tend to be) and has a nice end song; Outbreak Company stars an awful otaku in Fairy Town but wasn't as cringe-worthy as I expected; and Kyoukai no Kanata is low-energy, happens-every-day demon slaying as would become the norm in a world with demons and demon slayers. One of these cartoons has mole poblano, can you guess which one?

[Ryong]

Gargantia's getting a new season!

I'm going to watch Kill la Kill 2 later, will update post accordingly.

Also have to watch all of toaru kagaku no railgun S.

[phil_]

You know what was a good show? Non Non Biyori. Well, it's a good show for not having explosions and violence or likely a plot. It's very slow and peaceful, like it spent five minutes on establishing shots of the town before anyone got a line. That doesn't usually happen outside of movies, and in movies it's just there to make you read the opening credits. I'm pretty grateful that it's getting subbed.

Completely different, but Pupa got a preview on its website finally, so it may actually air for real. It's body horror, should be fun.Gargantia's getting a new season!I still haven't figured out what they could cover for a second season that would be worth covering. And Chamber's dead, so that's a loss to the show already.

[Ryong]

I still haven't figured out what they could cover for a second season that would be worth covering. And Chamber's dead, so that's a loss to the show already.

No idea either. I'd understand if they did some OVAs or something, but a whole season seems...Odd.

Kill la Kill 02
E-ecchi...

[Karrrrrrrrrrrresche]

Kill La Kill 02

Ryuuko is amazing, confused Ryuuko is cute as heck.

[Ryong]

Kill La Kill 03

Clear your mind and accept you're nearly naked and you'll be fine!

[Aldurin]

What the fuck is this, why is it so awesome, why do I want Platinum to make the inevitable game for this?

Kill La Kill: What a mysterious anime . . .

Actually, now that I think about it, the whole clothes-becoming-a-part-of-you theme could interact interestingly with the Bayonetta universe. So yes, Platinum must do this.

[Ryong]

It's like some sort of twist on Empowered.

Also, I've begun watching Watamote. It's nice.

[phil_]

The entirety of Saint Seiya Omega has been justified: Ikki came back, he has the same cloth he always had, he punched a dude in the brain, and he's voiced by Sugita. It took a year-and-a-half, but it finally happened.

Also, Log Horizon is a neat show. Mamorperger stuff, but without overwhelming special snowflake protagonists like .hack or SAO (not that Shiro isn't a special snowflake). Plus it's written by the Maoh Yuusha dude, who is watching Non Non Biyori this season, which just makes him doubly a cool guy.

[Bells]

The entirety of Saint Seiya Omega has been justified: Ikki came back, he has the same cloth he always had, he punched a dude in the brain, and he's voiced by Sugita. It took a year-and-a-half, but it finally happened.

EVERYTIME i goes "Oh this show is just so so so silly...." they pull something awesome like this.

I mean, next Episode... Shyriu in Libra Cloth, c'mon... that's awesome!

[phil_]

Libra cloth is always awesome.

---------- Post added 10-24-2013 at 10:40 PM ---------- Previous post was 10-23-2013 at 11:31 PM ----------

So, that last Kill la Kill was pretty awesome, once you get past the $2 puppet show animation. It could almost stand on its own as a very confusing OVA.

[Arhra]

So, uh, has anyone seem the previews for the third Madoka movie - Rebellion? Excuse my contortions as I try to thread my way through the spoilers minefield for the show.

It's chronologically after the end of the series, and it has Homura, Mami, Kyouko, Sayaka and Madoka in it? Charlotte is in it too and seems to be a pet or something of Mami's.

Plus Mami and Homura are fighting for some reason and it looks like they've both been watching Equilibrium?

What is going on?!

[phil_]

Why would Mami keep Charlotte as a pet? Why would Charlotte allow herself to be kept as a pet? That's pretty dumb. Shouldn't they just introduce new girls so they can sell new 1/8 scale figures in school uniform, magical girl, and yukata versions?

Wait, maybe we're getting a yukata Charlotte. It'll probably be an event exclusive, though.

[Arhra]

Why would Mami keep Charlotte as a pet? Why would Charlotte allow herself to be kept as a pet? That's pretty dumb. Shouldn't they just introduce new girls so they can sell new 1/8 scale figures in school uniform, magical girl, and yukata versions?

Wait, maybe we're getting a yukata Charlotte. It'll probably be an event exclusive, though.
Oh, they've got one of those too.

http://i.imgur.com/pF2UZx2.png

[Gregness]

So, Toonami's going to be debuting an anime before it airs in Japan. (http://toonami.tumblr.com/post/65032254047/big-honkin-toonami-announcement-hey-everybody)

That has to be some sort of record.

I'm not sure if Space Dandy looks like exactly my sort of show, but considering its pedigree I'm at least going to give it a shot.

x-Hz0DRrKLA

[phil_]

Well, nothing about that turned me off, Gregness, and the song was pretty cool. It probably helps that I've been purposfully ignoring how the "Boobies" restaurant shows up in every trailer. I mean, Hooters parodies are cringe-comedy gold (they are truely wretched places), so I'll just hold out hope that it's just part of one episode or something.

I'm looking forward to it, along with a lot of stuff in January.

[Gregness]

Yeah, I gotta admit the song has been growing on me. I really loved the Jazz theme from Cowboy Bebop, and I was starting to get into hip-hop when I watched Samurai Champloo, but I wasn't sure how this style would work for me. If it keeps on along these lines I'll be just fine.

[synkr0nized]

video

This looks really dumb.

[phil_]

This looks really dumb.Well, it's anime. That's kind of a given.

[synkr0nized]

There are plenty of anime I've enjoyed that I didn't think looked dumb. This wasn't an attempt at a "lol anime sucks" joke.

[Gregness]

Yeah, I said when I posted the video that I wasn't sure if it was going to be right up my alley or not, but considering how good Cowboy Bebop and Samurai Champloo are, I'm gonna give it the benefit of the doubt for the moment.

And damn that song's been growing on me...

[phil_]

There are plenty of anime I've enjoyed that I didn't think looked dumb. This wasn't an attempt at a "lol anime sucks" joke.Looking back, that was a pretty asinine response on my part. My barely contained, massive inferiority complex for liking the things I like got the better of me. Sorry for trying to paint you as the asshole in that exchange.

[MuMu]

now hug and go watch shitty anime together

[phil_]

Oh, they've got one of those too.

http://i.imgur.com/pF2UZx2.pnghttp://i.imgur.com/Ea8NTDd.jpg

Violent toy commercials

[phil_]

So, I started watching Gundam Build Fighters tonight and now I have one episode before I've caught up. Also, I want to build a new Heavyarms*. I think the show is working as intended.

*but Endless Waltz version or the upgrade in the show? Which would look better with just panel lining? Probably EW...

---------- Post added at 01:59 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:13 AM ----------

I was going to say "I've caught up now," but a new episode of Plamo went up just now. Bells, get back to me on the best bang-for-my-snap-together Gundam buying sets.

[Aldurin]

sr2PyNriPWI

Hey look we're getting an abridged series that looks pretty good. Spoiler-heavy for the first season, though.

[Bells]

So, I started watching Gundam Build Fighters tonight and now I have one episode before I've caught up. Also, I want to build a new Heavyarms*. I think the show is working as intended.

*but Endless Waltz version or the upgrade in the show? Which would look better with just panel lining? Probably EW...

---------- Post added at 01:59 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:13 AM ----------

I was going to say "I've caught up now," but a new episode of Plamo went up just now. Bells, get back to me on the best bang-for-my-snap-together Gundam buying sets.

Ya rang?

I really love Build Fighters. It's well animated, it's fun, has good pace. And it's dumb in all the right spots... i mean, talk about a discretely self aware show.

It's also following the gundam trope of "things seem so calm and peaceful now" but i just know the stakes are about to go up and be serious.

As for Plamo kits, you are in luck and in good time. Because of this show they have re-released a ton of awesome old kits. So now i have a full set of 1/144 Endless Waltz kits special edition (the clear ones) and the full set of Gundam Wing G Unit kits which i always wanted... i also managed to nab myself a 1979 re-release of a super rare kit at retail price because of that.

So, for anyone looking for a good looking kit that is not overly expensive and gun but easy to build, now it's the perfect time.

Just look for anything of the Gundam Age series or Gundam 00 series. Those are the best starters if the High Grade 1/144 category. Modern, look slick, not expensive, easy to put together.

Or, if you prefer more crazy stuff that will be sold out fast... there is the new Thunderbolt Gundam

http://www.amiami.com/top/detail/detail?gcode=TOY-GDM-2479&page=top

But if you really want a kit from Build Fighters, i think the best one is the Sengoku Astray. a Custom Red Frame Astray, look at this beast:

http://www.amiami.com/top/detail/detail?scode=TOY-GDM-2484

Easiest pre-order ever...

/CrazyRantOver

[RobinStarwing]

I'm waiting for Sailor Moon 20th Anniversary Reboot...

On a side note, Nanoha The Movie 2nd is amazing and I watched Macross Frontier...O_O Holy cow what the heck was I missing here?

[Ryong]

Kill la Kill 07

Fine, the two-star life was too much, but why didn't they just stay at one-star? They had a pretty good apartment and didn't seem to be having issues!

[Gregness]

Because the whole episode was an indictment of greed? I mean, Satsuki spelled it out at a couple of different points that she was waiting to see if affluence would corrupt them (and she was very nearly right).

[phil_]

Kill la Kill 07

Fine, the two-star life was too much, but why didn't they just stay at one-star? They had a pretty good apartment and didn't seem to be having issues!They didn't foresee the problem moving up, and after that it's not like they had the choice to drop anywhere but the bottom. Hindsight is 20/20 and all that.

The two star Fight Club uniform was awesome though. Its destruction is the real tragedy of this episode. Seeing what a motivated Mako is capable of was neat as well.Satsuki spelled it out at a couple of different points that she was waiting to see if affluence would corrupt them.In addition, even though her plan to corrupt Mako didn't work, her plan to commit a purge without dirtying her hands or her name went off flawlessly.

[phil_]

http://i.imgur.com/zLCQIyY.gif

_mike and I spent the entire last scene asking each other "This is a dream, right?" But it kept going. And then the credits rolled.

[phil_]

I finally got around to watching the latest Gundam BFFs. I loved that the American champ used a Wing mobile suit, and loved Nils' plastic-folded-a-thousand-times katanas. Plus Nils' making his graduate thesis "How to Gundam" is pretty great (for being weird and for finally bringing up that the particles are magic and we can do things with them besides toys). I look forward to the next episode because I love me some SD Gundam, aesthetically anyway (what I saw of the show wasn't bad).

Still haven't been able to watch the next SamFlam, so I still have no clue what's going on. Don't spoil that for me, empty anime thread.

[Ryong]

So, apparently, there was an interview with the attack on titan guy...

And he's revealed that he's now at a loss of what to do, since his original ending was supposed to be "shit happens, everyone dies" but now the anime had too much success and he feels he shouldn't do it.

Welp.

[Bells]

He will probably go for a bittersweet ending... cause unless he turns for a really stupid magic plot device that erradicate titans in a single sweep, there is absolutely no chance for the humans to win.

I always imagined that the end battle would be Eren + Mikasa + Levi against some sort of "Titan king" or Eren goes evil (or Mikasa turns evil) and they end up killing one another...

[Glabrezu]

Shit happens, everyone dies ? Ah ah, that's very much in line with the plot style. There is room for another plot development though, so I'm not expecting the anime to end with next season.

Titans are pretty dumb. The only clever titans are actually humans, even the gigantic one is human. That opens up many routes for the author to pick from, but it's always hard to pick the good one so I can understand his concern.

That humanity kinda deserves to die though. The whole earth has been filled with massive man-eating juggernauts for 100 years, and all they've done is to build walls and explore the wilderness on horse back ? How about digging loads of tunnels all over the place and farming on islands or using mirror tricks to farm underground ?

Not to mention gathering intel on the enemy. 100 years and they still know nothing ? That's almost begging for extinction.

It's still one of the 2 best animes I know though !

[Aldurin]

Kill la Kill:

The first two minutes of the latest episode have sold me on Trigger forever.

[Ryong]

Kill la Kill:

INTENSE PLOTDUMP
TOTALLY FINE WITH IT

[phil_]

I totally understand and agree with the above two posts now.

So, who's excited about new Precure starting this week? Anybody? Nobody?

[Ryong]

Kill la Kill 17
So everyone totally called what was going to happen in this episode last week and yeah, everyone was right.

We still have no explanation for junketsu's origins, though.

Also: I saw several comments - on 4chan, mostly - about how Satsuki's rebellion is fueled by being molested by her mother so she's chosen to be a direct opposite to her mother but I feel that's not how it went and that just seems like bad writing.

[Arhra]

Given she's been planning it since she was around five years old, judging by Nonon's flashback, I doubt it.

[Ryong]

Kill la Kill 18 and 19

EVERYTHING KEEPS HAPPENING
And Satsuki appears to have some anger-based power hidden within that Ragyou wants to use which is why she's been doing her damn best to molest her!

[phil_]

Thank you, Mako's mom, for reminding us that everyone's naked at this point.

[Arhra]

Thank you, Mako's mom, for reminding us that everyone's naked at this point.
She is an inspiration to us all.

[Ryong]

Thank you, Mako's mom, for reminding us that everyone's naked at this point.

And yet only one character has crotch, butt and nipple lasers.

[phil_]

http://i.imgur.com/T8ltUvH.gif

And then she clubs the monster in the face repeatedly using those two goons. It's a show for elementary school children.

[Ryong]

Kill la Kill 20:

IT WON'T STOP HAPPENING

[phil_]

Concerning Kills, I was amused when the umbrella popped up on deck. I was further amused when we found out why an umbrella popped up on deck.

[phil_]

Gundam Build Fighters' OST came out recently. You should get it to listen to while you build gundams.

[Ryong]

Kill la Kill 21

Shit was intense.

Kill la Kill 22

Calm before the storm OH SHIT MAKO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR ULTIMA UNIFORM!?

Kill la Kill 23

This was substantially less awesome than I expected.

[phil_]

These last few KlKs have strongly reminded me of 8-bit Theatre and the ending of every NPF Avatar RP ever, namely the "We're too insane to lose" stuff. I'm not saying that entirely negatively; it's kinda fun to see in an animated work. It's just that I've had my entire adult life to get kinda tired of that premise.

That said, Trigger sure knows how to please a crowd. I'm certainly entertained, at any rate.

[Red Mage Black]

With that in mind, I'll have to find a new set of anime to watch once the Winter stuff is over. I was *thinking* of checking No Game No Life, but I'm not sure how well the premise fits with me. Guess I'll know within the next couple weeks.

I guess I'll be asking for suggestions, but to cut out stuff I don't normally watch, if only to save people time: Big Mecha(not sure why I never got into it), Slice of Life(to an extent) and Magical Girl(obviously).

The rest is pretty touch and go with me. Not all Slice of Life stuff is out of the question, for example. There's also some of what I normally watch that can be overplayed and boring.

[Ryong]

Have you seen Nichijou?

Now, for general recommendation:
Eureka Seven ( mecha, romance )
Break Blade ( mecha, war is hell )
TTGL ( mecha, VIRILITY )
Sacred Blacksmith ( swords are cool, shonen, random fanservice )
Katanagatari ( endless talking )
Legend of Black Heaven ( power of rock vs aliens )
A Certain Magical Index ( shonen, harem, awesome )
A Certain Scientific Railgun ( super powered non-moe cute girl adventures )
Fate/Zero ( awesome fights: the anime )
The World God Only Knows ( meta-jokes about dating sim games and anime )
Watamote ( hikikimori girl adventures )
From the New World ( UNEASY ADVENTURES )
Mawaru Penguindrum ( "I ain't gotta explain shit" adventures )

This is what I've seen in the last few years, more or less.

[Bells]

i'm just going to put out there my thoughts on Saint Seiya Omega.

It's clearly no meant for me, it is meant for the 8 year old me. I love it because it's dumb. It's a easy dumb to love. They break a lot of the lore and staples i like (Like Armor breaking being actually kinda of a REALLY big deal...) but i still like it for what it is... but oh boy is it dumb. If i haven't grown up with the original series i would not have watched this... and apparently it's closing off next week. So catch up now if you want to see it's finale.

Also, learn this: Nobody is dead. everybody is just under rocks.

Here is a spoilered summary of the Dumb in this second arc...


We are introduced to the goddess Pallas. Goddess of love, who becomes jealous and possessive of Athena because Athena started to love mankind instead of her little sister.

But then we learn that the real main villain is not the goddess Pallas, but another higher God. Who is he? Well...

[villain] : My real deity is much more powerfull and it's behind everything and i'll never tell who it is but i'll continually referencing his existence!

[heroes] : OMG who could this God be?!

[Villain] : He gave us these CHRONOtector armors to fight you! And This CHRONO power to steal people's TIME, and one of the Golden Saints that betrayed Athena to serve him was rescued from the END OF TIMES dimension and he is the Saint with TIME powers but you will never be able to reach my God because he is protected behind the DOORS OF TIME.

[ Heroes ] : OMG!! WHO is this mysterious god!?

[ Me ] : It's Fucking Chronos!! ITS CHRONOS GOD DAMN IT!!

[ Villain ] : Oh now it' time, here comes my true lord the God SATURN

[ Me ] : FUCK YOU!!!



Also a very minor spoiler of a factoid in the penultimate episode



Saturn unleashes his full power and steals the time of everyone on earth. All of them. All Saints, the weakened Goddesses Athena and Pallas, all Golden, Silver, Bronze and steel saints... everyone.

Then Ikki... the Bronze saint of the Phoenix constellation comes from under a rock completely fine. Ikki is said to be a Brozen saint that can almost rival a Gold saint's power on his own.... but now is has officially surpassed God level on Canon material... and that's after he defeated one of the Main generals of Pallas by himself... when ANOTHER general of the same tier took 3 Gold Saint to fight against and they FAILED to beat him...

Ikki is forever.





On other news: Ippo continues to be unfiltered awesome.

[Red Mage Black]

Have you seen Nichijou?

Now, for general recommendation:
Eureka Seven ( mecha, romance )
Break Blade ( mecha, war is hell )
TTGL ( mecha, VIRILITY )
Sacred Blacksmith ( swords are cool, shonen, random fanservice )
Katanagatari ( endless talking )
Legend of Black Heaven ( power of rock vs aliens )
A Certain Magical Index ( shonen, harem, awesome )
A Certain Scientific Railgun ( super powered non-moe cute girl adventures )
Fate/Zero ( awesome fights: the anime )
The World God Only Knows ( meta-jokes about dating sim games and anime )
Watamote ( hikikimori girl adventures )
From the New World ( UNEASY ADVENTURES )
Mawaru Penguindrum ( "I ain't gotta explain shit" adventures )

This is what I've seen in the last few years, more or less.
Seen Nichijou? Yes, but it's not really something I'd watch through one sitting. It's one of those 'I need to be in a mood for it' type of things. (The humor was a little different from Excel Saga and Cromartie High School, which I think is the difference.)

I've been hesitating on Eureka Seven and I'm not sure why. Same with TTGL and Fate/Zero. Read some of the Manga to TWGOK, forgot how far I was into the anime though. Watamote, althought getting 5 episodes in... is another one I need to be prepared while watching, because for some reason I feel awkward while watching it. The last one I never got into, but its been a while so I forget exactly why. Might give it another chance.

Anything I don't mention is because of the names being fairly 'new' to me. Except maybe Railgun and Magical Index, which I know only by name.

[phil_]

I've been hesitating on Eureka Seven and I'm not sure why.It's an anime that is fun to analyze as literature. If you watch it, come back here and I'll explain the ending for the hundredth time because it's kinda hard to follow the first time and I won't mind doing it again.

Don't watch AO. There is nothing for you there. Don't watch the movie, either. Just, just don't. You have better things to do with your time, like watch anime.Watamote, ... for some reason I feel awkward while watching it.That is the intent behind the show.

If you want some blind recommendations from what I'm going to watch next season (and I know you do):

Haikyuu!!: It's about a short guy playing volleyball. He jumps high. I'm watching it because I have a short niece who plays volleyball and jumps high, so I'm sorta into high school volleyball. I heard the manga was good, so why not?

Hitsugihime no Chaika: It's about an ex-soldier and a lady with a coffin on her back wandering around fantasy land and mooching off her sister, since she's the only one with a job. At least, that's the synopsis I have.

Jojo: Jojo. You should watch this. You should watch the first season. You should read all one hundred ten volumes of the manga. I am ashamed that it took an anime adaptation for me to jump into this bizarre adventure.

And now to avoid all anime discussion on the internet until I watch the next Build Fighters and the last SamFlam.

Unrelated, hooray for another season of Log Horizon so soon.

[Ryong]

Don't watch AO. There is nothing for you there. Don't watch the movie, either. Just, just don't. You have better things to do with your time, like watch anime.

I agree wholeheartedly.

Also, I forgot to add about Eureka Seven: I hope you like surfer culture.

That is the intent behind the show.

Eh, I wouldn't say so.

And now to avoid all anime discussion on the internet until I watch the next Build Fighters and the last SamFlam.

Unrelated, hooray for another season of Log Horizon so soon.

I should watch Build Fighters.

Also, how IS that Log Horizon, after all? I heard it was SAO with less author avatar mary sues.

[phil_]

Log Horizon is very simple politics (very very simple in the anime) with likable characters. None of the main characters is the savior of the world with inimitable super powers, but our hero Shiroe does come up with some important ideas before any other characters in the narrative (though not necessarily the world). It's not great, but it's not bad. It's very good escapist entertainment; of the "trapped in a MMO" genre, I think it has the most expansive and inviting world, which is a virtue much left to the individual to weigh.

It's on my "If I'm pressed to recommend even more cartoons, I'll mention it" list.

[Red Mage Black]

It's an anime that is fun to analyze as literature. If you watch it, come back here and I'll explain the ending for the hundredth time because it's kinda hard to follow the first time and I won't mind doing it again.

Don't watch AO. There is nothing for you there. Don't watch the movie, either. Just, just don't. You have better things to do with your time, like watch anime.That is the intent behind the show.

I'll check it out and as for AO, I'll take your word for it.


If you want some blind recommendations from what I'm going to watch next season (and I know you do):

Haikyuu!!: It's about a short guy playing volleyball. He jumps high. I'm watching it because I have a short niece who plays volleyball and jumps high, so I'm sorta into high school volleyball. I heard the manga was good, so why not?

Hitsugihime no Chaika: It's about an ex-soldier and a lady with a coffin on her back wandering around fantasy land and mooching off her sister, since she's the only one with a job. At least, that's the synopsis I have.

Jojo: Jojo. You should watch this. You should watch the first season. You should read all one hundred ten volumes of the manga. I am ashamed that it took an anime adaptation for me to jump into this bizarre adventure.

And now to avoid all anime discussion on the internet until I watch the next Build Fighters and the last SamFlam.

Unrelated, hooray for another season of Log Horizon so soon.

Volleyball, huh? Knew I forgot a genre. Not really a fan of sports either, but I'll give this one a preview.

That one sounds like it deserves a preview as well.

Already caught up on Jojo. Was caught up before I started watching the Winter stuff. Heck, I've been waiting for the next season. Even while some of the dialogue and expressiveness of the va's is ridiculous, it just adds to it, in my opinion. Good stuff. Just the right amount of weird.

Been watching Log Horizon, too. Pretty interesting and easy to get into. Glad to see they have a second season.

What I've been watching:
Kill la Kill
Log Horizon
Space Dandy (Gotta admit, the English VA's aren't that bad. Its also got this retro vibe I'm digging.)
Nobunagun (I like shows based, even a little, on history. Plus, Nobunaga is cool to read about. I object to some of the uses though.)
Nobunaga The Fool (AU history is also pretty neat.)

And some stuff no longer updating, like Ghost In The Shell:SAC and Golgo 13. I also have a list in my favorites of suggestions other people have made. Like Mirai Nikki, Outlaw Star and Steins:Gate.

[Arhra]

Welp, Kill la Kill is over.

Parts of the internet seem to have burst into flames.

Felt a little rushed to me, but it was a solid ending overall.

[Ryong]

Did that seem like a mashup of Lord Gerome and the Antispiral for anyone else?

[MuMu]

Welp, Kill la Kill is over.

Parts of the internet seem to have burst into flames.

Felt a little rushed to me, but it was a solid ending overall.

About fucking time. Now to begin watching it...

[phil_]

Did that seem like a mashup of Lord Gerome and the Antispiral for anyone else?It seemed more like a mash up between the end of Dokidoki Precure and what's happening in Saint Seiya Omega right now, what with the "We grant our powers to Cure Ryuuko!" and breathing in space thing. I get where you're coming from though.

Poor Senketsu.

Edit: The ending to SamFlam was everything I could hope for it to be. It delivered the "Well, I didn't see that coming" all the way to the end.

[Ramary]

You people are all silly Kill La Kill clearly was the ending to Sonic Adventure 2, right down to "Super Shadow" falling back down to Earth after beating up the monster controlling a space station. Also the GamaDrop was the absolute best part of the last episode.

[Ryong]

I finished watching Log Horizon in less than a week.

It's pretty good and I wasn't expecting it to be so much about MMO drama politics.

I am only bothered by the whole workings of the MASTER STRATEGIST.

[Bells]

i didn't notice that the previous Hajime no Ippo episode was the last from this batch

the Ending was a BEAST of awesome, but i was sad that it ended!

I need my Ippo fix man!!!

[phil_]

Someone tell me what I'm supposed to hate about the end of Build Fighters. There's no way it could be as perfect as I think it is. Just, man, twenty minutes of robot fighting with a bit more on the line than "win the tournament," a proper Yuuki/Sei champion match (the lack of Amazing-ness was made up for by bone gunswords), all ships set sail, all loose ends were tied up (except for "gunpla mafia" which even the kids knew was stupid to begin with), and nobody died or was lost forever. Like, if you want to end a happy, feel-good show about a toy robot fighting tourney, I think that's how you're supposed to do it. It looked like they screwed up by having Aila and China "die" off-screen, but they fixed that after the commercials, so I'm gonna give them a pass on that.

Now, Saint Seiya, "I don't feel like killing everyone anymore because reasons bye," that was garbage. I'm glad it's over.

[synkr0nized]

I'd like to see KLK re-done with a better budget. It was so flat half the time thanks to poor animation that when I burned through it the other day I was disappointed just as much as I was smiling. I could have done without the Mankanshokus, as well, which may have been part of my issue.

[Bells]

Someone tell me what I'm supposed to hate about the end of Build Fighters. There's no way it could be as perfect as I think it is. Just, man, twenty minutes of robot fighting with a bit more on the line than "win the tournament," a proper Yuuki/Sei champion match (the lack of Amazing-ness was made up for by bone gunswords), all ships set sail, all loose ends were tied up (except for "gunpla mafia" which even the kids knew was stupid to begin with), and nobody died or was lost forever. Like, if you want to end a happy, feel-good show about a toy robot fighting tourney, I think that's how you're supposed to do it. It looked like they screwed up by having Aila and China "die" off-screen, but they fixed that after the commercials, so I'm gonna give them a pass on that.

Now, Saint Seiya, "I don't feel like killing everyone anymore because reasons bye," that was garbage. I'm glad it's over.

Build Fighters was just absolutely excellent. It totally deserved one more 25 ep round... maybe an OVA will come of this or even a movie... would be cool!

As for Saint Seiya... yeah, i watched the dumb thing get dumb until the dumb end... but i'm glad i watched it. I'm also glad it's done.

Maybe someone in charge there will grow a brain and actually get back to work on Lost Canvas... cause that stuff was awesome.

I don't know if i should pick up Kill la Kill now or if i should wait the innevitable Compilation movie/OVA for it...

[phil_]

I'd like to see KLK re-done with a better budget. It was so flat half the time thanks to poor animation that when I burned through it the other day I was disappointed just as much as I was smiling. I could have done without the Mankanshokus, as well, which may have been part of my issue.I watched it as a successor to Inferno Cop, and found that helped mitigate my disappointment at the shoe string budget.Build Fighters was just absolutely excellent. It totally deserved one more 25 ep round... maybe an OVA will come of this or even a movie... would be cool!I think what we got was enough. No point in running it into the ground. There's a comic if you want more, but it's harder to obtain than just going on youtube. Maybe Kadokawa's new internet manga thing has it, but I haven't checked.

[Kim]

I had a night of drinking and megukas with some sapphic sisters and I love Madoka 3 so much. Every time I think about it I get all hopped up on lesbians and wanna just roll around on the floor screaming about girls. That movie would have been hard pressed to be any better than what it was.

[Bells]

This is just in:

Attack on Titan OVA's are the greatest kind of nonsense thing ever. i love it.

[phil_]

This is just in:

Attack on Titan OVA's are the greatest kind of nonsense thing ever. i love it.I'm not sure why I started watching them, but I am watching them. They sometimes rely on shipping and stuff that I don't get because I'm not a True Believer™, but that's the target audience I guess so I can't complain. I get my chuckles out of it.

[phil_]

If Hitsugi no Chaika doesn't devolve into an endless loop of onsen scenes and wasteland powerlevel fights, it might actually turn out to be a competent fantasy story at this rate. There's nothing to indicate that it will so far, but there are only two episodes and I don't want to read the books and spoil myself like with Log Horizon.

[synkr0nized]

Sakamoto-san desu ga? isn't anime, but it's definitely fabulous. We don't have a manga thread, but you should find this. It's kind of terrific.

I am burning through this right now, and oh my God I love this guy.

edit2: toss all the "late" at me you want, as it seems this hit folks' radars a year ago; but if you haven't heard of it before go give it a look

[phil_]

Sakamoto-san desu ga? isn't anime, but it's definitely fabulous. We don't have a manga thread, but you should find this. It's kind of terrific.

I am burning through this right now, and oh my God I love this guy.

edit2: toss all the "late" at me you want, as it seems this hit folks' radars a year ago; but if you haven't heard of it before go give it a lookI just finished Jojo, so your timing couldn't be better.

[synkr0nized]

It's not very long; you'll finish what's out there quickly if you haven't already. But it was a good use of a break this afternoon, and I will try to remind myself to keep an eye out for more of it.

[Tev]

So my fiancee and I started watching Princess Jellyfish the other day. It's a show that I've had on my list for a while now, but never really had the motivation to watch. We were over at a friend's house and he was really excited about it so we watched a few episodes. I found it actually kind of endearing.

[Kim]

I've read through all the available chapters of Majyo to Houki to Kurobuchi Megane. The lil girl witch is me 110 percent. The punchlines are great too.

http://i58.tinypic.com/2817brd.png

[Ryong]

So apparently on the new season there's going to be Persona 4 Golden, an anime based on the vita version of Persona 4 which has additional content.

This will probably involve an entirely new anime, since you meet the main character of the additional content very early on in the history so hey, maybe they'll deal better with Kanji and Naoto and everyone's reactions to them.

And hey maybe we'll get a longer version of the "everyone has fully resolved any and all issues they could've had" epilogue.

[Aldurin]

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Eeeehhh . . . could be ok but I'm not feeling the same intensity from the Satsuki and Senketsu VAs in this than from the Japanese dub. It may just be that english sounds flaccid as shit compared to japanese.

[Premmy]

Eh Is the best description. Noone Sounds as insane,Senketsu sounds like a different guy(in terms of characterization) and Satsuki doesn't bring out my deeply-hidden inner sub the way she should.

[Aldurin]

Mekakucity Actors:

Fascinating story, would appeal to those who were interested by how Mawaru Penguindrum's writing was. Stylish as all hell. Probably gonna buy the soundtrack. A lot of the style probably comes from it starting as a series of songs adapted to light novels adapted to a manga adapted to this very pretty show. That soundtrack, tho.

[Overcast]

Yes, I've been interested since I ran through the songs a not so long while back which despite me being very distant from understanding the real plot in the backdrop have inspired a great deal of feelings in me. That and it being done by Studio Shaft have me very much interested. Though I am waiting to begin until I am a season behind, as is my custom.

[phil_]

There is going to be more Build Fighters this Fall, Bells (and the rest of you). I'm going to have to buckle down to watch all things Gundam if I'm going to finish by then, which means I'm not going to finish watching all things Gundam by then. At least I'll get the references through Zeta this time, rather than just waiting for Heavyarms to get blown up.

[Aldurin]

Knights of Sidonia:

Interesting space/mech anime taking the 3D style that RWBY went with. In terms of visuals everything except the characters stand out, unfortunately most people are generically designed and it gets even worse when their mech pilot helmets obscure most of their hair. Starts a little bit rocky, but it's picking up pace on the two main mysteries of the story: The true nature of the Guana, the zerg-esque super space alien menace, and the full story behind the seed ship Sidonia, which is traveling to another star system to colonize since Earth has long been destroyed by the Guana. Character interactions have some moments of depth but doesn't go far enough to make the development scenes interesting.

[Aldurin]

M3: The Dark Metal:

A mech anime with the vast majority of the focus being on the characters, primarily in a psychological aspect. The setup is interesting (an expanding area of the earth is taken over by some strange force that destroys psyches, corrupts physical objects and creates mysterious monsters) but the show is in no hurry to play all of its cards. If you're into mech stuff, you'll probably be disappointed, at least for the first 8 episodes that are out so far, since the mech combat is an afterthought since the mechs themselves get a very different role in the story. Definitely for those who like anime with a predominant psychological theme.

[Bells]

There is going to be more Build Fighters this Fall, Bells (and the rest of you). I'm going to have to buckle down to watch all things Gundam if I'm going to finish by then, which means I'm not going to finish watching all things Gundam by then. At least I'll get the references through Zeta this time, rather than just waiting for Heavyarms to get blown up.

Oh believe me, i'm splooshing all over for this... how would thought that an anime about kids saving the world by fighting with plastic robots would be so fun and engaging?

Also, they gave me the BEST re-imagining of Wing Gundam Zero since the original version. Makes me have High hopes that we will get a ''Endless Waltz'' revision this season :dance:

Also, from the teaser image, bets are up that one of the main Gunpla will be a revised Zeta (Others are betting a Xi + Zeta mashup ) both options would be great. For Zeta, you can just watch the revised movies "Heir to the Stars'' its 3 movies that compile a ton of stuff and looks amazing even today, totally worth it.

I expect some heavy influence from Unicorn into this season if you haven't catch up to it just yet...

[phil_]

For Zeta, you can just watch the revised movies "Heir to the Stars'' its 3 movies that compile a ton of stuff and looks amazing even today, totally worth it.I've got five episodes left of Zeta. I'm doing this the long way, no recap movies for me.

[phil_]

So, those last five episodes of Zeta were quite something, but I'm enjoying the beginning of ZZ more than the beginning of Z because I'm a child and prefer goofy hijinks to dead parents.

But that's not what I'm double posting about. I'm double posting to raise my hand as the only human being on the planet (we aren't counting more cunning chimps or gorillas here; I can't speak for them because I can't sign) who cheered at the end of last week's Jojo because the best "Stand of the week" showed up for next episode. I was sure they were going to skip Wheel of Fortune, because who gives a crap about Wheel of Fortune other than me, and I was wrong. My anticipation is immense. Maybe we'll even get The Sun and Sethan at this rate.

[Tev]

Does anyone know what anime this is from?

http://31.media.tumblr.com/290c04aa010f30e1f82b1ff5a7cc18a1/tumblr_n39kjaV5WE1qzqnxxo1_500.gif

[Ryong]

A quick google image search reveals it's Uch?ten Kazoku or The Eccentric Family.

[phil_]

Wheel of Fortune was ok, I'm disappointed that they didn't find a way to work in "No one cares."

Also, some company bought the rights to host a Leviathan server from GREE and Pokerobo, so that's revived. Season 2 never still remains an issue.

[Aldurin]

Retrospectives on a couple finished seasons.
Mekakucity actors:
It's a bit weird, figuring out the sudden and confusing ending takes a bit more thought than it should. The characters and commitment to experimenting with style are the strong points of it. I wish there was more of it, since the gimmick that brings the characters together doesn't get very much use at all.

Knights of Sidonia:
So the conflict turns out to be Mechs vs Resident Evil, but in space, and also the mech side dabbling in Resident Evil stuff, too. The show has maintained itself all the way through and has left enough unresolved questions visible to keep an interest for when season 2 comes out. I do have a few gripes, mainly that the animation is at a stupidly low framerate that borders on a claymation feel, then the fact that a passable knowledge of physics is evident in the writing yet some very basic oversights about how military protocol works (primarily the fact that Kunato's conversation logs aren't reviewed, meaning that he isn't executed for sabotaging one of the missions, the whole "humans photosynthesize through a genetic modification to save food upkeep" part of the setting loses its novelty when its used as an excuse to show characters naked, and finally the Higgs Boson particle being treated as an end-all ubiquitous energy source that would be mistaken for magic if everything that it powered didn't have Higgs in the name. The mysteries about the Guana, cool consideration to how gravity works (particularly in regards to accelerating Sidonia) and the dire stakes that the entire conflict is about are the strongest parts and the reason I'll pay attention to a second season.

[phil_]

Second season is going to be a harem cartoon, just so you know. It'll be a weird harem, but a harem nonetheless.

Nobunaga the Fool had a pretty tight ending, but getting there was a pretty slippery path that I can't recommend to anyone who doesn't get the shakes for Miyano and Sugita's voices if deprived.

[Arhra]

All harems should feature clones, a hermaphrodite, a bear, a robot and a suspicious tentacle!

Looks like the tentacle's pulled into the lead too.

[Aldurin]

All harems should feature clones, a hermaphrodite, a bear, a robot and a suspicious tentacle!

Looks like the tentacle's pulled into the lead too.

Shipping Nagate and the space bear with the robot arm, primarily. I almost want to point out that character to Scott Ferguson so he can experiment with talking, cybernetic bears in his webcomics.

[Arhra]

Shipping Nagate and the space bear with the robot arm, primarily. I almost want to point out that character to Scott Ferguson so he can experiment with talking, cybernetic bears in his webcomics.
The top one for anyone to beat is onigiri. Man loves his riceballs.

[pochercoaster]

Holy shit Sailor Moon Crystal.

You can really see Ikuhara's touch all over it (re: ROSES EVERYWHERE). The style is closer to the manga's and looks a lot cleaner and prettier. They basically basically skipped a few episodes of dumb villain plots (no chanelas :( ) and condensed it.

I am very optimistic about the rest of the series.

[Bells]

Anybody dared to take a look at Sword Art Online 2?

It's pretty dumb... look at it. Looooooooook at it!!!

[Aldurin]

It's not even Jojo dumb, so it's stuck in Dumb Uncanny Valley. I'll stick around and see what happens, even though I need to readjust from canonizing the amazing psychopath Kirito from the abridged version of season 1.

[Bells]

i know we don't often post videos in this thread, but i wanted to share this because this is a thing now

1Fn9NVdiklo

[Gregness]

Oh my god you guys, Persona 4 Golden the Animation is out now.

I'm preeeeety sure this is New Game + and it is glorious.

[phil_]

I watched the 18th episode of ZZ Gundam last night, and I'm pretty sure this is my favorite series so far. We got Judau eating an ice cream the size of his head in one bite twice, Haman wearing shutter shades, and Purupurupurupuru. These are the kind of things I like in my robot show, even though none of that was robots. I have awful taste and apologize for nothing.

So, Gregness, whatcha mean about Golden being NG+? 'Cause I had no intention of watching more Persona 4, but if it's weirdness like skipping through dialogue and other feats of precognition I might be interested in it for the novelty.

My offering today is that you guys should watch Zankyou no Terror. Or maybe just the opening and ending. Stick around for the rest if you can stomach our protagonists, Nine and Twelve, blowing up two towers in the first episode. I find over a decade of "Nine Eleven, buy Coca Cola™" makes it pretty easy to do so, but your mileage may vary.

[Gregness]

Well, without tipping Golden's hand too much, Yu handles the classroom introduction scene in what might be the most awesome way possible, and uses maziodyne and megidolaon during the tutorial fight.

Supposedly Golden is only getting 12 episodes, and the preview for episode 2 already has Kanji in it so I can only assume the pacing will remain at BREAKNECK whenever new content isn't involved.

Any of you guys checked out Aldnoah.Zero? The first episode was mostly setting information, but it was pretty boss nonetheless.

Edit: PS about Aldnoah.Zero, Gen Urobuchi (AKA the guy behind Madoka Magica) wrote the first 3 episodes and having just finished episode 2, his nickname (Urobutcher) seems pretty apt.

[phil_]

I think I watched these cartoons in the wrong order. Every time Usagi says something, all I hear is Hummy.

http://i.imgur.com/EtdWF1S.gif

[RobinStarwing]

Holy shit Sailor Moon Crystal.

You can really see Ikuhara's touch all over it (re: ROSES EVERYWHERE). The style is closer to the manga's and looks a lot cleaner and prettier. They basically basically skipped a few episodes of dumb villain plots (no chanelas :( ) and condensed it.

I am very optimistic about the rest of the series.

That's my take on it though I've run into people online who have shot it down for not looking like it was done with modern anime-making techniques and using all the tricks in the bag. Since when do all animes have to look the same again? (Granted, they made clear it was personal opinion but I digress.)

Watched Act 2: Sailor Mercury and it is good to see them sticking to the Manga more closely this time. Also...looks like Rei is in the next episode. Jadeite is screwed if they follow the Manga to the letter.

[phil_]

shot it down for not looking like it was done with modern anime-making techniques and using all the tricks in the bag.I would be interested in hearing what specific modern tricks and techniques a digitally drawn and colored cartoon with heavy use of CG animation for stock footage is not using. Is it that Sailor Moon lacks a browser game? Does Hanazawa Kana count as a modern anime-making technique? Maybe she can play Mini Moon in the sequel; it's too early to fault the show for not casting her.

[Kyanbu The Legend]

3 Episodes in and Aldnoah Zero has already proven itself to be the best mecha anime I've ever seen. That victory was glorious.

---------- Post added at 11:01 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:56 PM ----------

Oh my god you guys, Persona 4 Golden the Animation is out now.

I'm preeeeety sure this is New Game + and it is glorious.

It's totally a New Game +. Izanagi is way too op right now. lol

[Aldurin]

So . . . Sword Art.

Took me 3 episodes before it finally clicked that the dumbass using a sword in a gun-based MMO who's shown in the opening sequence is actually Kirito. I mean I expected the resulting character to be distinguished from Kirito by gender alone so it's probably not that bad of a mistake. Also the backstory for our new semi-protagonist is actually really interesting, but we'll have to wait for the first Death Gun encounter to see how it actually holds up.

[RobinStarwing]

Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann is coming to Toonami next month...

Also, got to watch Girls Und Panzer. It was fun!

[Krylo]

So my computer was dead, and I spent the last two weeks without one. I used this time to watch some animehs on my phone (technically I started watching a few of these while the computer was still going, like SAO and Some of Railgun).

And as I'm currently waiting for Windows Updates to finish installing, I've got nothing better to do than talk about them, so here goes.

SAO: Just through the end of Aelfwhatever. Up to episode 13 it was actually really good. All the various characters were well developed and believable as they dealt with the whole death thing, the twist in the final good episode was pretty great, they managed to make everyone seem worthwhile and interesting, and the romance was one of the better I've seen play out on an anime. Believable and led up to a proper marriage and what not.

Then came the second half. Which was shit. Firstly, you have the fact that the entire season didn't need to happen. They could have skipped everything going on there, nothing hinted to any of it happening, and it would have been a much much better place to end the series. Then you have introducing Kirito's sister as a love interest, which was pretty much entirely pointless. The whole story was about Kirito going to save Asuna because he loved her and they never developed him and Sugu in any way that made her seem like an actual threat to his relationship with Asuna and certainly not as a threat to him risking his life to save her. I mean, it was also creepy and incesstual but different cultures and what not, whatever.

But then to add to it you have the kid who liked Sugu and they tease with her maybe getting over fantasizing about her brother's dick and maybe dating the awkward nerd kid who actually shows some real gumption near the end (though to Kirito I'm pretty sure it was laughable, I mean, he didn't even REALLY die, come on now), but nothing ever comes of it. Hell in the wrap up she was still all over Kirito as they went back to the floating castle of Sword Art Online.

And then there's the bit where they downgrade Asuna from badass sword lady who is the only person who can keep up with Kirito enough not to hold him back to damsel and constant target of sexual assault. Like Jesus Christ, really? You couldn't have at least had her fight Admin guy with Kirito in the end instead of just hanging there getting undressed, abused, and molested?

The ONLY good thing about the Aelfheim part of SAO was Kirito logging in as the douchebag who invented SAO in the first place. Well that and 'A game where you can't die is just too easy'. Everything else was awful and bad.

And that's why I have zero interest in gun art fuck you you assholes.

End verdict: Watch the first thirteen episodes, and then quietly pretend that the rest of the series doesn't exist. Or don't watch it at all. Whatever you do, don't watch the Aelfheim bits unless you have sins to repent and just feel like self flagellation isn't punishing enough.

To Aru Majustu No Index: Pretty great, honestly. I had a lot of issues with it, but that's mostly because I watched To Aru Kagaku No Railgun first, which was just so much better, but I'll get to that in a bit.

Taking Majustu by itself, I found that they managed to actually limit the number of times I shook my head wondering how Touma was not getting viciously murdered by things (mostly only in his fight with Accelerator, really, who should have never allowed Touma to get close enough to touch him, as Touma couldn't cancel thrown objects/exploding ground/whatever else, though it's possible that, after watching more of Accelerator's character growth, that he threw the fight I guess? That's my head canon anyway.), and actually found myself more wondering why the fuck he wasn't just doing the incredibly obvious thing he should be doing (like why the fuck are you fighting the bishop asshole, Touma? Just fucking punch the giant magical orb that is CLEARLY the center of the fucking spell you don't want him to use. And why the fuck were you even worried about the cross thing? It's not going to affect you, and then YOU CAN JUST GO TOUCH THE CROSS LATER, goddamn.)

I do have one pretty major gripe though, which is Touma losing his memory in the first couple episodes served no purpose at all. It's never brought up outside of his internal monologue, other than when he doesn't notice his dad hasn't switched faces--and nobody calls him on this. Why even have it if it's not going to affect anything at all? Why? I mean, I guess maybe it was necessary so he wouldn't refuse to work with the Church of England? But they could have brought that up somewhere. Or made it affect more than just that. It's dumb.

That said the animation is great and most of the fights are very well done (Particularly the alchemist, just psyches the guy out after he cuts off his arm), and Touma is Shonen hero as fuck, which I tend to enjoy. And I did enjoy Touma actually requiring medical treatment a lot and it being something of a running gag.

All in all I give it a luke warm recommendation.

To Aru Kagaku No Railgun: Two words: Fuck Yes. Misaka Mikoto is everything a heroine should be, and I actually have no complaints at all about this show. The supporting cast is great. Literally the entire supporting cast. Kuroko, Saten, Uiharu, Banri, even extremely side characters like Kongou end up really growing and being important.

Both the first season and Railgun S also have incredibly fantastic 'pose like a team because shit just got real' moments which are one of the reasons Majustu just isn't nearly as good. Touma also has a huge number of side characters but he never really works with them as a team, whereas Mikoto, when shit gets srs, calls in favors and ends up with half the city working in perfect concert. And it is magical scientific.

I mean look at this shit:

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And, really, that misses the best part from the end of the episode before it.

The fighting is all also fantastically done and involves lots of creative uses of lots of different powers, that I don't really want to go into here because I'd be talking all day, but there's also a whole lot of slice of life stuff in Academy City which I'd normally find boring, but which was actually really well done in both Railgun and Railgun S.

I give this the strongest of all recommendations. Watch the shit out of this. Skip Majustu if you want, but this is great, and if you skip it you're missing out. I even recommend the Railgun OVA.

Baccano!: This show is fucking weird, and most of you have probably seen it already but whatever, fuck you I just watched it over the last couple days.

It's really hard to come up with things to say about it, though.

I will say at least this. The opening is the best part of the series, and I mean, that doesn't mean the rest of it is bad just that this is the opening and is completely fantastic:

Msg8ypnLqaw

Just amazing.

As for the actual series, it's really well written and completely, beautifully, gorgeously animated. Like, just, beautiful as fuck. Not the most attractive Anime I've seen (Gankutsuo still holds that honor) but really really close. The animation is fluid, the design is vibrant, I can not say enough how much of a joy it is just to watch, like, visually.

The one negative aspect, however, is that it's put together in a way that's rather confusing for quite awhile. It skips back and forth between scenes ranging from the 1700s up to 2001, though most of it takes place between 1930 and 1933 or so, about half of that on board a specific train trip.

That said, once you start wrapping your head around the chronology that stops being an issue, and the way it's put together is, in some ways, pretty nice because it's not telling the story of just one person like anime usually does. It's telling multiple stories from multiple points of view, each of which converge at certain points, and I don't think they could have done that with normal chronology, so I'm more than willing to forgive it.

I do, however, feel it could have ended a few episodes earlier than it did, but the last couple of episodes, unlike CERTAIN OTHER ANIMES THAT WENT ON TOO LONG, were actually very good as well, and didn't detract from the overall experience. However, they WERE mostly chronologically in tact and felt a bit tacked on as things didn't tie into each other quite as much.

Overall I give this the second strongest of recommendations. If you haven't seen it, do so. It's not that long, and you get to watch the opening before every episode.

[pochercoaster]

That's my take on it though I've run into people online who have shot it down for not looking like it was done with modern anime-making techniques and using all the tricks in the bag. Since when do all animes have to look the same again? (Granted, they made clear it was personal opinion but I digress.)

Watched Act 2: Sailor Mercury and it is good to see them sticking to the Manga more closely this time. Also...looks like Rei is in the next episode. Jadeite is screwed if they follow the Manga to the letter.

Honestly, I prefer more traditional styles of animation, but that's my own taste. They did use 3D, though, in the transformation sequence (which looks kinda weird to me but I guess it's well done.)

Second episode was good. I have a feeling Ami will be more likable in Crystal than the original (not that she was UNlikable, just kinda... bland.)

Upon further research, apparently Ikuhara isn't working on sailor Moon Crystal. Huh. Wonder where I got that idea.

Krylo: you confirmed my suspicions that SOA is gross/not worth it. Like Funka watched the first few episodes and said something about it getting borderline porny and now I know why all the dudes at work were raving about it and ugh.

[Krylo]

Krylo: you confirmed my suspicions that SOA is gross/not worth it. Like Funka watched the first few episodes and said something about it getting borderline porny and now I know why all the dudes at work were raving about it and ugh.

I don't remember anything in the first 13 episodes that was particularly bad, but, as I usually point out when I say things like that, I'm not very sensitive about that kind of stuff at all. Like, I try to be cognizant of if because I think you should be aware of awful shit your entertainment is doing as just being aware helps protect you from being influenced by it, but I still miss things a lot so it's possible I'm forgetting some stuff.

That said, the last however many episodes are pretty awful, though I don't think it goes far enough for someone to get their rocks off, so I'm not sure that's why the guys at work liked it? Other than maybe the last episode, which gets a bit explicit.

But, like, no, don't watch SAO, unless you're prepared to head canon away half the series and never watch it, and even then it's like. . . pretty good? But it's not on the level of FLCL, or Cowboy Bebop, or Gankutsuo, or even any of the To Aru ____ No _____s, so you aren't really missing anything, either. Edit: I guess like. . . almost as good as Yu Yu Hakusho or S-Cry-Ed? Or maybe as good but sufficiently different that I prefer the former two. But, like, those are pretty standard quality. Just good enough to stand out, not good enough to really care super hard about.

[Aldurin]

I don't remember anything in the first 13 episodes that was particularly bad, but, as I usually point out when I say things like that, I'm not very sensitive about that kind of stuff at all. Like, I try to be cognizant of if because I think you should be aware of awful shit your entertainment is doing as just being aware helps protect you from being influenced by it, but I still miss things a lot so it's possible I'm forgetting some stuff.

That said, the last however many episodes are pretty awful, though I don't think it goes far enough for someone to get their rocks off, so I'm not sure that's why the guys at work liked it? Other than maybe the last episode, which gets a bit explicit.

But, like, no, don't watch SAO, unless you're prepared to head canon away half the series and never watch it, and even then it's like. . . pretty good? But it's not on the level of FLCL, or Cowboy Bebop, or Gankutsuo, or even any of the To Aru ____ No _____s, so you aren't really missing anything, either.

I think the Super Best Friend Cast figured out pretty well why people watch SAO even though they might not enjoy it. The whole "anime of an MMO" genre is extremely thin right now, so it's the best you can get. And it's understandably a hard to enter genre because no one seems to really know what makes a great MMO, how you can create tension and consequence in a video game (refer to the SAO creator relying on an IRL death gimmick for the first and third story arcs), and whether or not that translates to making a great MMO anime.

Also, so far it seems that the second season has no actual consequence to the current Gun Gale story arc, which is nice since it allows that to be written off as filler or noncanon. But that doesn't change the fact that people like us watched the second season and don't have enough monkey paw charges to unwatch it.

[Overcast]

I never felt like anyone ever actually filled up my expectations of an MMO anime more than .hack//SIGN Mostly because it wasn't really all that action packed, it was very social with a slow pacing that almost bordered on laborious. MMO's to me while having good gameplay is distinct is only an aspect of it, you play it with other people, and other people should be the biggest part. Also that fucking music.

I've been dreadfully in love with Baccano! for a while. Along with all the things he said it probably has one of the best, if not the best, english dub I've seen for an Anime since ever. So much so I preferred it over the Japanese original, which has been known to happen with me when most of the characters are western. I'd even suggest walking it again in English if you haven't. Ladd Russo being my favorite of the changes, they really cast him well. I've also had a distinct interest in the light novels that the series is based off of, but then I always prefer to read things off of actual paper.

[Karrrrrrrrrrrresche]

I think the Super Best Friend Cast figured out pretty well why people watch SAO even though they might not enjoy it. The whole "anime of an MMO" genre is extremely thin right now, so it's the best you can get. And it's understandably a hard to enter genre because no one seems to really know what makes a great MMO, how you can create tension and consequence in a video game (refer to the SAO creator relying on an IRL death gimmick for the first and third story arcs), and whether or not that translates to making a great MMO anime.

That's not Log Horizon.

I never felt like anyone ever actually filled up my expectations of an MMO anime more than .hack//SIGN Mostly because it wasn't really all that action packed, it was very social with a slow pacing that almost bordered on laborious. MMO's to me while having good gameplay is distinct is only an aspect of it, you play it with other people, and other people should be the biggest part. Also that fucking music.

Oh hey that's Log Horizon!
It's basically a show that totally dodges the pitfalls that SOA decided to jump headlong into. There's no real primary antagonist for the characters, they're trying to deal with the social problems that arise for people suddenly trapped in the game, and the very much sentient NPCs they now live alongside. The main character plays a support class, and rather than being the goddamn center of the universe he delegates a lot of action to the supporting cast, which are all likable as fuck.

[phil_]

Log HorizonLog Horizon! Watch this for super heroes and simple politics and I wish I could play a Summoner in Elder Tales.BaccanoBaccanoBaccano! Watch this for gangsters and animation and Issac and Miria and trains and mysteries. I've heard the dub might grate on you if you're from New Jersey or New York, but I'm not from there and I enjoyed it.Yami ShibaiYami Shibai! Watch this for five minutes of sp00ky and Vocaloid end songs. It's on its second season now, but both seasons are on Crunchyroll I think.

Oh, also Hanayamata is my Cute Girls Doing Cute Things show this season, and I get really excited for each new episode, so I'm tentatively recommending it now as I haven't watched the third episode and I know how shows with potential can fail at living up to it. It's about dancing; specifically a very emotive, energetic group dancing called "yosakoi."

[Ryong]

SAO is about as porny as you could expect a anime where a guy and a girl are a couple but the guy still has a harem crazy for him that can't touch him. I liked it, I guess, but it wasn't all that great. The setting and some of the initial ideas were interesting but eh. Log Horizon is far, FAR superior to it in every aspect. Even the absurdly powerful main character is less so in Log Horizon.

The only thing that I feel worked well in SAO is Suguha's love subplot. This is Japan, so yes, incest is a problem and she recognizes it, so she decides to go for the guy who's been great to her in the game and whoops they're the same person and that's tragic and the episode where it happens and Suguha just sits down crying while Kirito goes "shitshitshitshitshitshit" works so goddamn well it just annoys the fuck out of me when they next talk and they're not even awkward about it.

ALO was ridiculous with Asuna being downgraded to damsel in distress who gets nearly raped several times. Also people playing tentacle monsters being rapey and doing what appears to be sexual VR experiments with brains of kids and teens? yeeeaaah, big nope there.

Also that part with Suguha going FINE IF I CAN'T HAVE KIRITO I'LL GO FOR THE GUY I'VE BEEN IGNORING felt dumb and I hear that in the new series they're a couple and they're happy together and I'm not sure how to feel about that.

Also, about Touma's memory loss: I believe the biggest reason for it is because he and Misaka have been in the same situation for longer and they were almost getting together but then Touma forgot everything and Misaka thinks nothing has changed.

WITH ALL THAT SAID

I have begun trying to get friends who are into anime to watch Shin Sekai Yori. I honestly feel like it's one of the best anime I've seen, ever. It just pulls off everything perfectly, the heavy atmosphere, the dread, the "there's something really fucked up is going on" feeling when the first thing two 12 year olds do when in a difficult situation is maybe fuck to relax and then think better that doesn't happen but comes dangerously close. I heard that the novel is absurdly explicit with things like that, with Saki wondering if she can apply her female oral sex knowledge to help her blowjob technique in that same scene but still delivers it in the same tone of "something really fucked up is going on"-style creepy... And then I read that in the manga they make Reiko, who disappears in between the first and second episodes, also be a lesbian, get rid of yaoi completely and delivers these lesbian scenes in a sexual tone instead of the creepy tone it has in everything else.

I've also been suggesting Break Blade because the way it delivers the message that war is terrible was really good and everyone is a great character...Even if the protagonist is a bit bland.

ALSO
GO WATCH LOG HORIZON IF YOU HAVEN'T
S'GREAT

Also a friend recommended me to watch Steins;Gate and now I have all of it and I dunno if I should actually watch it.

[Krylo]

The only thing that I feel worked well in SAO is Suguha's love subplot. This is Japan, so yes, incest is a problem and she recognizes it, so she decides to go for the guy who's been great to her in the game and whoops they're the same person and that's tragic and the episode where it happens and Suguha just sits down crying while Kirito goes "shitshitshitshitshitshit" works so goddamn well it just annoys the fuck out of me when they next talk and they're not even awkward about it.
See, I feel exactly the opposite about this because ithey didn't really play it as Kirito being all, yeah, see, here's the thing but no. They played it as actual romantic tension was supposed to be there, except Kirito's already married, has an adopted child, and the entire plot of the season is about him going and saving the woman he got married to. It's like if someone did a continuation of Shadow of Collosus where we find out the dead lady is totally Wanderer's Girlfriend, she gets kidnapped, and then we spend the whole game with some new girl hanging on his arm while he's trying to rescue her.

That one scene might have been okay, but the entire premise of the drama is just completely pointless.

Also that part with Suguha going FINE IF I CAN'T HAVE KIRITO I'LL GO FOR THE GUY I'VE BEEN IGNORING felt dumbBut this never happened. There was like 30 seconds in one episode of her kinda maybe thinking about it but then right back to wanting to hop on Kirito's dick again like immediately afterward. Like, I don't know what they do with it in the sequel, but it was dumb because there was just nothing to it. It was like she kinda looked his way for a second and that was that. Gonna pretend she continued never noticing him.

[Kim]

yama shibai is great everyone watch it.

[Ryong]

That one scene might have been okay, but the entire premise of the drama is just completely pointless.

Oh yeah no, I agree completely, hence why I said that's the only part that I was cool with.

[Bells]

What made me go through SAO 1st season was that i wanted to see how that was going to end... but MAN is Kirito a Mary Sue. EVERYBODY wants his Cyber D. GEEZ it's not even subtle about it... it goes from Teen Boy super hero MMO asshole power fantasy to ....that fuckery of a thing that is the second season.

[Ryong]

So I just saw the first 5 episodes of Steins;gate.

I feel I should've seen it sooner.

[RobinStarwing]

I will just leave this here. :)

Y1NFutzVgh8

EDIT: Changed my mind on the song...for obvious reasons.

[greed]

Why is everyone spending so much time talking about a shitty harem anime with a creepy ass generic insert lead? SAO isn't even the best vaguely haremy anime about people stuck in a VR MMO made in the last few year (Log Horizon wins here), that it loses even in such a specific field should say something.

On better anime, just got a CR subscription and decided to inaugurate that by watching the start of Jojo S3. That is fucking gorgeous in HD.

[Ryong]

We're talking about SAO because it was ridiculously popular, dragged people in with "it's an anime about a MMO!" and then turned out to be shit.

I don't think anyone had high expectations for Log Horizon after SAO managing to wreck the genre it tried to create on its own, but then it turned out to be really, really good.

Also, calling either "vaguely haremy" feels wrong. Log Horizon has a single love triangle where one girl is only part of it out of misguided feelings - "the older guy saved me, swoon".

Meanwhile, the only girl in SAO that doesn't want Kirito's D is his AI adopted daughter.

[Bells]

Does the rule of ''If it looks like it might be incest, it's incest'' still applies to the animes of this season?

[Aldurin]

Does the rule of ''If it looks like it might be incest, it's incest'' still applies to the animes of this season?

I haven't encountered any from the ones I've watched so far (Jojo, Mekakucity Actors, Knights of Sidonia and M3: The Dark Metal), but I noticed on last week's Super Best Friend Cast that Liam was talking about how most of the recent anime he watched was the "Might be incest, but it's totally incest" category. I'd say dive with caution.

Started watching Log Horizon (HOLY SHIT its good) and the only really bad part about it is noticing the discussions around it have too many people saying "SAO was better". Like holy shit, not being a Mary Sue power fantasy that brings all of the waifus to the yard doesn't register as being a good thing to these people.

[Bells]

I haven't encountered any from the ones I've watched so far (Jojo, Mekakucity Actors, Knights of Sidonia and M3: The Dark Metal), but I noticed on last week's Super Best Friend Cast that Liam was talking about how most of the recent anime he watched was the "Might be incest, but it's totally incest" category. I'd say dive with caution.

Yep. Saw that. I have a few reserved to watch at home... but so far, Only P4 Golden for me.

Also, JoJo is awesome and it's indeed not incest... but there is a Gorilla getting a bit too grabby-grabby with a naked little girl, so there is that...

But hey... ''Bizarre Adventure'' is right there in the title, so can't blame the damn thing of not living up to it's name at least!


Like holy shit, not being a Mary Sue power fantasy that brings all of the waifus to the yard doesn't register as being a good thing to these people.


Well... MMO.

[Ryong]

I saw all of Steins;Gate in two days because I had absolutely nothing to do on my first two days of break.

With that said, I really liked it.

[Kim]

where are you all finding this incest anime

(also the weird ways anime tries to make incest more acceptable are laughable cuz they never address The Actual Problems With Incest, which are p much entirely about power dynamics not blood relation)

[Overcast]

Where are you NOT finding all this incest anime.

[Kim]

the only one i've heard about that sounds like it might be incesty is that Listen to Papa or whatever one

[phil_]

This season is just SAO 2 and Ilya 2, and Illya has issues beyond her interest in her brother. Last season had "Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei," and arguably "No Game No Life" and "Kanojo ga Flag o Oraretara." Winter had "Saikin, Imouto no Yousu ga Chotto Okaishiin Da Ga," "Onee-chan ga Kita," and "Pupa," which are all about a messed up/semi-incestuous relationship between a brother and sister. Of all those, I've only watched Pupa, but it's not hard to notice that there're at least one or two shows like that every season.

Why are we talking about incest again? This is SAO's fault, isn't it?

[Ryong]

How many of you saw Mawaru Penguindrum AND Steins;Gate?

I feel they're oddly similar.

Similar to the point I kept hearing Mawaru Penguindrum's ending theme in my head after every episode of Steins;Gate.

[Arhra]

Wheee, finally got around to watching the second half of Knights of Sidonia. Some things are still a bit stiff but the general animation quality's really improved, especially in the battles. That first use of the railgun was just beautiful.

It makes sense for them to save the stuff with Ochiai for the second season but I was really surprised that Izana hasn't gotten injured yet. Benisuzume was supposed to survive too.

The streamlining they've done has been pretty good, but this 'Master Gauna' business they invented for the dwarf planet missile was a bit ridiculous. In the manga they just had to send the other platoon in to destroy the gauna forming the propulsion unit after the first group failed.

[Aldurin]

Could have used more people floating around naked in zero gravity for no better reason than "SCIENCE!".

Photosynthesizing is a good excuse, but they need to run that all the way to the finish line with that when they hit such a rich vein of gold.

[Kyanbu The Legend]

New Episode of Aldnoah.Zero , Idoah continues to be awesome and the earth forces are starting to feel a bit...dumb in some areas. The battles continue to feel more tactics focused which is great. I hope they keep this aspect up.

[shiney]

So I just binge-watched the absolute fuck out of Attack on Titan via Netflix and, while more is coming, it ain't here yet. I already intend to check into To Aru Kagaku No Railgun by Krylo's suggestion, but need more anime alone the lines of Titan where it's more or less hella action with actually decently engaging and interesting story. Thoughts? Reading through the thread has mentioned SAO a few times but greed suggests it's not even the best in its own rather restricted niche which makes me harrumph a little.

Thoughts? Should I just wander over to crunchy and make with the subscription and browse until magic happens?

[Arhra]

Saw the bonus episode of Kill La Kill. It was surprisingly satisfying.

All that speculation about the school's design ended up being right in the end.

[MuMu]

I got no where else to ask, so could I get a reccomendation for a short(I'm looking for 12 epis here, 24 max if it's REALLY good) anime where the protags are on an adventure and just having some dumb fun? I watched a couple of To Aru and I think that will tickle my fancy but I'd appreciate some more options.

Kill la Kill didn't click with me before anyone suggests it

[Ryong]

Try Katanagatari! It's exactly what you don't fucking do it, watch Sacred Blacksmith.

[phil_]

Zettai Bouei Leviathan is 13 episodes, they go on an adventure, and there is much dumb and fun.

There's also Slayers. Each season is about 24 episodes and each wraps up enough that you can stop watching if you're all Slayer'd out. It's like the quintessential dumb adventure anime, so you could give the first season a shot.

[shiney]

I've watched three seasons plus ova plus two movies of Slayers. It's silly but enjoyable.

[Ryong]

Log Horizon 2 episode 1 was interesting.

[Aldurin]

Log Horizon 2 episode 1 was interesting.

Yeah, the concept of having to break the economy in order to sustain the Round Table is an interesting premise, though I don't know how I feel about expanding the cast even more with this new army. I'm just waiting for the point where everything falls apart and players die regularly enough that it basically becomes Dark Souls.

[Ryong]

Butthis clearly isn't about sustaining the Round Table, it's much, much more. Shiroe said 80 trillion, that's 8 million months on their current rate.

[Karrrrrrrrrrrresche]

Remember they specifically mentioned the banking clan was related to the royal guard system.
I feel like whatever he wants might be related to that.

[phil_]

I just watched "To-y." I now want to be eighties cool and play guitar. Luckily, I've been here before and know it will pass in time.

[Ryong]

I know it's actually manga but apparently Naruto is now 6 issues away from its end.

That's actually surprising.

[shiney]

Is it worth subscribing to funimation?

I've been so out of watching anime for so long that nothing makes sense anymore. :<

[Krylo]

That depends on how ethical you are.

[shiney]

Well I mean, I have a ~40 gig folder on my computer entitled 'Completely Legal Videos' which, surprising probably everyone, has no porn in it (!!!) so let that say what it may, but I kind of want to actually support some of these companies for doing the work of making this stuff available. I just dunno if funimation is like "oh hey, cool, funimation" or if it's like "what a bag of dicks funimation is".

[Kim]

well you could also subscribe to crunchyroll they have a lot of good shit too

[shiney]

Oh I'm subbing to crunchy either way, but it appears there is some stuff at Funimation that CR doesn't have (such as Sacred Blacksmith). I'm toooooooorrrrrn.

[Magni]

So I just binge-watched the absolute fuck out of Attack on Titan via Netflix and, while more is coming, it ain't here yet. I already intend to check into To Aru Kagaku No Railgun by Krylo's suggestion, but need more anime alone the lines of Titan where it's more or less hella action with actually decently engaging and interesting story.


Hajime no Ippo: Boxing anime, so not overly technical in terms of story, but the characters and fights are spectacular. Packed full of action.

Katanagatari: More story than fighting. It flips actually, in the beginning it's an even amount of action/story and then slowly becomes heavier on the story. 12 50 minute episodes with an awesome ending.

Legend of the Legendary Heroes: Good mix of action and story with magics that aren't fully understood and a war over unifying a country.

Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei: Already mentioned in the thread. If you can look past the tone of incest, the magic system in the world is very technical and as the anime goes on it becomes more action oriented and violent. The incest vibe tones down rather significantly around episode 8 as the action and violence picks up.

Steins;Gate: Not so much hella action but hella engaging and interesting story.

Noein: Kinda like Steins;Gate (subject matter too, a bit) but with more action. Quantum physics and alternate dimensions, good times.



And did I miss something with Sacred Blacksmith? It came out 4 years ago... it wasn't that good.

[Ryong]

And did I miss something with Sacred Blacksmith? It came out 4 years ago... it wasn't that good.

It's dumb fun, but it's decent.

Katanagatari: More story than fighting. It flips actually, in the beginning it's an even amount of action/story and then slowly becomes heavier on the story. 12 50 minute episodes with an awesome ending.

I don't even know where to begin with this...

"Oh yes, lady who sent an assassin to kill my master/first-person-whose-existence-I-acknowledged. I was extremely sad because of her death which is why I came here, killed hundreds of soldiers and the assassin to get to you... but now that you told me you weren't to blame and that it actually was the shogun's fault for tasking her with a job that led her to hire me! Now that that's solved I'm going to kill the shogun and we'll travel all of Japan working towards realizing her dream, but only after you have a complete personality shift!"

How could you possibly consider that ending to be awesome? HOW?

[phil_]

And did I miss something with Sacred Blacksmith? It came out 4 years ago... it wasn't that good.I enjoyed Sacred Blacksmith more than I should, but I also have no idea why it would influence anyone's decision to purchase anything. It really isn't very good; on the surface it's mostly a show about Cecily's boobs, and the anime never really gets to the interesting problems, and to get to where stuff gets interesting in the books you have to go through Siegfried raping Cecily because Aria was asleep which is just not a pleasant thing to read and isn't really worth it for the politics and no-win situations you do get.

Not that folks need to justify watching what they like, but I would welcome someone explaining a new interest in the show at this point in the game. The only positivity I ever hear about the show is how Cecily is actually a pretty admirable character, and the one advancing that argument is always me, so hearing someone else's opinion on the show beyond "boobs and katana" might be fun.

[Magni]

How could you possibly consider that ending to be awesome? HOW?


Mostly the payoff after having a big downtime since an actual fight/anything happened. And all the things leading up to that...

Shishika flips and destroys everything. True that the literal end with the princess and Shishika being traveling partners is ass, but aside from that I thought it was good. Especially after Pengin is straight up executed and the revenge/flip because of Togame dying.

[Ryong]

So the ending has a terrible part, but it's good because the events leading up to the final episode were boring and because the final episode has good fights?

Not enough of a justification for me.

[phil_]

So the ending has a terrible part, but it's good … because the final episode has good fights?If I recall correctly, the final episode has great fights that felt like a culmination of everything that had already happened (even though almost all the goons were introduced that episode), which served as a catharsis for both Shichika and the audience after Togame died pointlessly.

It's definitely not a happy ending, but it is one that wraps up the story of the swords and the guy who made them.

[Ryong]

I'm not going to call the ending good because the anime withheld all the good fights until the end, specially after that fight that happens entirely offscreen.

[shiney]

As far as Blacksmith, it was something I watched an episode of a year ago and saw it mentioned previously in the thread which re-piqued my interest. If it's really just so-so then I'm less interested.

[phil_]

If it's really just so-so then I'm less interested.It's just so-so.

I'm not going to call the ending good because the anime withheld all the good fights until the end, specially after that fight that happens entirely offscreen.Fair enough, although regarding your spoiler, consider the fight/horror movie we got instead and how much more important the things it established about Nanami were to the story than the fight we skipped.

[Ryong]

That's a lazy excuse when most of the anime consists of slow, drawn-out conversations.

[Magni]

It's a -gatari anime. They're literally "X story." All of the -gatari animes are highly story driven. I found the conversations to be mostly enjoyable, and watching Shichika develop from a simple minded island dweller that knows nothing to somewhat of a person that is more than a blank slate is up there in my book for best character development.

And Nanami being crazy/awesome was also pretty spectacular.

[Ryong]

As far as Blacksmith, it was something I watched an episode of a year ago and saw it mentioned previously in the thread which re-piqued my interest. If it's really just so-so then I'm less interested.

If you saw the first appearance of the titular blacksmith you've already seen half of the anime's total entertainment.

That fucking katana-cutting-through-huge-sword noise is fantastic.

It's a -gatari anime. They're literally "X story." All of the -gatari animes are highly story driven.

Fair enough in that yes, it is the author's style but consider that there's a tease of what would be the second best fight in the series and that you're only regarding the ending as being good because it delivered on fights you were expecting to be delivered earlier.

[Magni]

Fair enough in that yes, it is the author's style but consider that there's a tease of what would be the second best fight in the series and that you're only regarding the ending as being good because it delivered on fights you were expecting to be delivered earlier.

Incorrect. The events that lead up to the final episode made it good. It has nothing to do with the lackluster fights. It is an exceptional payoff to the build up before it. True that some of the fights with Shichika before hand were a bit tame and anti-climactic compared to the first few, but that doesn't mean there weren't fights that were.

The fight Nanami has with the 2 Maniwani was great, the fight with her and Shichika was decent. The fight with Ho-o and Emonzaemon was good, the fight with Emonzaemon and Pengin is fucked up on an emotional level and is very close to the end.

It's a great anime. It's worth it if you have the time for it. I've watched it 3 times. When it came out new, which was once a month and twice since. It is by far better to watch in chunks/several episodes at a time. If you have a weekend to kill you wouldn't be disappointed.

[Tev]

So my fiance and I caught the first episode of Kamigami No Asobi (Mischief of the Gods?) yesterday and it was actually pretty enjoyable. Who would have thought that Zeus throwing a bunch of male gods into a magical high school with a human girl for reverse-harem hijinks and magical boy transformations would be so entertaining? It seems to have that over-the-top quality that Host Club had.

Has anyone else seen this? I think both Hulu and Crunchyroll have all 12 episodes up, but we haven't looked into it since yesterday.

[Ryong]

Fate/Stay Night 0 through 2
Pretty good so far and a lot of "TIME TO USE OUR BUDGET" scenes.

Log Horizon 3
Nothing too amazing except for that royal guard guy at the end, who appears to be the person that was cleaning said royal guards two episodes ago.

[phil_]

Third episode of new Log Horizon, I enjoyed how their explanation to Rudy of the true spirit of Christmas was "Santa and stuff."

[Ryong]

Well, they're Japanese, they could tell him it's a time to be with your lover and, possibly, eating fried chicken.

[Ryong]

Log Horizon 04

"Christmas means chicken and cakes, right?"

Ah yes, the cakes no one goes for after the 25th.

But yeah, this episode was kind of pointless, only serving to show Akatsuki's neurosis.

[Aldurin]

SAO II 19:

[EXPOSITION CLUNKING INTENSIFIES] Forgetting that the lack of IRL death threat makes these sort of story arcs less interesting, everyone appears to be crippled with having to explain a situation with the most important details for last. Normal people don't save stupidly significant things like that for last in conversations unless they're being excessively showoffy in their form of speech.

Also it looks like we're coming up on the second round of "antagonit(s) creep on Asuna".

Great. This will surely save the show.

[Ryong]

Log Horizon 06

Men in women's bodies are becoming women and vice-versa? Distance between points is increasing from a fourth of the normal? Food can be cooked by non-chefs? Flavor text is real? Holy shit Log Horizon is going to stop being a game.

[Aldurin]

Log Horizon 06

Men in women's bodies are becoming women and vice-versa? Distance between points is increasing from a fourth of the normal? Food can be cooked by non-chefs? Flavor text is real? Holy shit Log Horizon is going to stop being a game.

That is somehow even worse than my original long-term prediction, that Japan would fall into anarchy and players would die often enough that they would become identical to hollow undead from dark souls, blank husks whose only remaining memory is their muscle memory of basic fighting skills, while the guys that stayed high enough level and got good would literally forget their earth identity and become the character they pretended to be back in the regular MMO days, leaving pretend-villains as unstoppable rampaging badasses.

Now people are going to just straight-up die for good at some point. Though it was interesting looking into the respawn limbo.

[Ryong]

But they specifically lose memories of before the game when dying so if anything the people who died more would turn into their characters. No, this is going to turn into Inception where the people who didn't die much will keep telling everyone "THIS USED TO BE A GAME" "THIS IS ONLY KIND OF REAL".

[Tev]

My fiancee and I sat down to watch five of the six episodes that make up YÅ«ki YÅ«na wa YÅ«sha de Aru (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Y%C5%ABki_Y%C5%ABna_wa_Y%C5%ABsha_de_Aru). Apparently it's a relatively new release that's being simulcast by Crunchyroll, so we have to wait until later this week to actually finish it, but over all it has been a somewhat entertaining Magical Girl show.

[Karrrrrrrrrrrresche]

But they specifically lose memories of before the game when dying so if anything the people who died more would turn into their characters. No, this is going to turn into Inception where the people who didn't die much will keep telling everyone "THIS USED TO BE A GAME" "THIS IS ONLY KIND OF REAL".

No matter how often they died I don't think it would quite hit that point. No matter how many of their old, old old memories they lose there will always be new memories about having lost the old ones.

Crusty lost the memory of his sisters name or something like that, but he still remembers having a sister, and now he'll remember talking about that sister with the princess, and he'll remember the times that he felt sad about missing his sister.

[Ryong]

Right, but it'd cause some identity loss.

Maybe people could keep diaries. Shiroe can probably have a diary that works as an actual extension of his memories, what with being a maxed out scribe.

[Ryong]

Log Horizon 10

Holy shit that was a long speech.

[phil_]

Log Horizon 10

Holy shit that was a long speech.
Your tax dollars at work. Thanks, Abe. I actually think they did a pretty good job with William's speech. The ghost thing was weird, but they needed something happening visually.

[Gregness]

Are you guys watching Danna ga Nani o Itteiru ka Wakaranai Ken (I Can't Understand What My Husband is Saying)? Because you should be watching Danna ga Nani o Itteiru ka Wakaranai Ken.

It's an adaptation of a Japanese 4-panel webcomic about a woman who marries an otaku, and it is probably the best comedy airing this season. The episodes are very short (~3 min each) so you can knock the whole thing out in a half hour or so, but they do so much goddamn work with those three minutes that you'll hardly notice.

[phil_]

I'd say, as far as fantasy anime go this season, Danna is the best. I can't decide right now whether Chaika or Yona takes second place right this second and you can't make me choose. Oh, or maybe Bahamut should be number two... in any case I'm happy to have so many fantasy cartoons to watch.

[Aldurin]

Sword Art II 23:

It's not the usual stuff, but it's a nice uplifting side story regarding both disability and gamer stigma.

[The Artist Formerly Known as Hawk]

Yeah I gota say, I've been really liking this second season of SAO. I know a lot of people got turned off the show during the second half of the first season but they're really done a good job this time round.

And the feels on this latest arc, man.

[Aldurin]

Since Akame ga Kill! wrapped up I might as well talk about it as warning for wayward travelers.

Non-spoiler bit: It's an interesting concept for a supernatural combat-oriented anime in a fantasy pseudo-rpg setting ("leveling up" is a term used a couple times in regards to fighting "Danger Beasts", which are clearly bullshit rpg monsters that have no proper reason to exist in the otherwise normal ecosystem), and while it breaks some standard molds of the elements it utilizes, it ends up falling short due to others, and a bizarre case of taking the opposite of a really tiring anime trope from refreshing to ruining the experience. It's about a corrupt empire in a blatant classism divide where the rich nobles literally torture and slaughter peasants for fun, though it's only apparent near the capital. The show doesn't focus on Akame, oddly enough, but rather Tatsumi, a naive country teenager who receives the harshest wakeup call about how corrupt the empire is, and promptly joins Night Raid. Night Raid is actually a small division of the Revolutionary Army, which takes a very small team of elite assassins to eliminate the key components of the government's rotten structure. The show then enters a steady formula of having a couple of these characters get into impressive fights with their targets, involving "Imperial Arms" which are special equipment made from the strongest Danger Beasts in existence, each with their own properties and unique trump card move.

Unfortunately the show is very shallow. Aside from Tatsumi's "man up" character development that is resolved very early in the show, everyone is flat and their actions and decisions feel more like them reacting for the world around them than reacting to the world around them. Essentially everyone has their specific personality script where their attitude and judgement don't really change between the different situations, context being more or less irrelevant to their actions and dialogue. And the fights are dumb, too. They immediately open up with the combatants trying leverage the asymmetry between their Imperial Arms, and then at least one of them (usually the person currently losing in the fight) uses their trump card, which then falls back into the asymmetry leveraging that the fights live on. As spectacle fights, they're passable, but they're nowhere near a Jojo's Bizarre Adventure level of "smart combat". As for the latter-end of the show, without spoiling I'll just say that it's an emotional rollercoaster that just doesn't work at the end and leaves you disappointed.

Bad anime often gets a rap for death not being permanent with many characters, as they either were never dead because of bullshit or came back to life because of bullshit. Akame ga Kill takes the opposite end as everyone dies all the time and they don't come back, period. The writers took Andrew Hussie's character-killing philosophy (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R99Bgfp5Pqw) too seriously and end up riding it into the ground. Many deaths feel anticlimatic and so many characters are wiped out that there's only four named characters at the end. Akame, who I guess will finally be the focus of the series now, Najenda, who has explicitly shortened her lifespan due to the downsides of her trump card and will clearly soon die, and two other characters who are so boring and inconsequential that they might as well be dead because no one cares. Oh, and the final death of the show is shockingly dumb and avoidable, making it clear that the writing was compromised in favor of forcing the cast into a clean sweep for whatever comes in the future. And the characters and storylines to get the most emotional investment out of end up fizzling into nothing due to the aforementioned plague of character death, and feel wasted.

Recommendation: Don't, unless you're ok with shallow spectacle combat anime and can avoid emotional investment regarding what happens to the characters. The manga for this is still going so there might be more seasons in the future, at which point there is possibly a justification for watching this then, but even then my money is on it not even worth watching this season for the background context.

[Magni]

Aldnoah.Zero was amazing. I haven't seen it mentioned here (at least back to October) and that is a shame. It's 12 episodes, I plowed through it all in one day, for the most part.

The second season starts in January sometime.

[Kyanbu The Legend]

Aldnoah.Zero was amazing. I haven't seen it mentioned here (at least back to October) and that is a shame. It's 12 episodes, I plowed through it all in one day, for the most part.

The second season starts in January sometime.

You are not alone. I loved it so much. It has it's flaws but season 1 was a fun ride non the less. Looking forward to Season 2 which is now only a few weeks away.

[Ryong]

Log Horizon and Fate/Zero continue to be great and also what's up with doing Valentine's Day episodes?

I'm going to watch Aldnoah.Zero and am wondering about Amagi Brilliant Park. Something about it being roller coaster tycoon + touhou seems interesting.