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Anime |OT| Spring 2018 - We've dived in too deep!
- Thread starter BGBW
- Start date
- Status
What are some promising shows for next season?
after looking at a list and reading descriptions the only one that interested me was Asobi Asobase, mostly because this image looks nice.
after looking at a list and reading descriptions the only one that interested me was Asobi Asobase, mostly because this image looks nice.
I have a low opinion of the TV series to begin with, but I wouldn't expect much out of the movie. That trailer looks to have about the same production values as the TV series itself, which is always disappointing for a movie. I like to expect something truly "theatrical" in visual ambition when going from a TV series to an attached movie - Garo the Animation vs. Garo: Divine Flame would be a good example. When a TV series has a mediocre production to begin with, getting more of that mediocrity with a (presumably) throwaway story really bites.
Tada-kun 11
Felt sad for Mitsuyoshi and now is the time to get her back
Comic Girls 11
Lovely episode. It's a shame that the dorm is getting closed but finally Kaos is getting a chance to have her own manga published. It was a good feeling when Amisawa told her that it's not so bad and then we saw the title of the manga.
This caught me off guard. Kaos is too relatable :(
Felt sad for Mitsuyoshi and now is the time to get her back
Comic Girls 11
Lovely episode. It's a shame that the dorm is getting closed but finally Kaos is getting a chance to have her own manga published. It was a good feeling when Amisawa told her that it's not so bad and then we saw the title of the manga.
This caught me off guard. Kaos is too relatable :(
Hozuki no Reitetsu S2 21
This episode was fantastic. Mustard has always been one of the most colorful cast members since she was introduced, helped greatly by her charismatic voice actress able to switch tonal registers on a dime, and an episode focused substantially on her was as much if not more entertaining than I would have predicted. Series director Kazuhiro Yoneda personally co-directed this episode, and his predilection for varied stylized imagery can be seen all over, even including a parody of Bugs Bunny complete with mimicking the movement style of American animation:
People like to talk about girls of the season, and I submit to you that Mustard is a serious contender. Gotta love women who keep in touch with their feminine side but also their psychotic rage side:
This episode was fantastic. Mustard has always been one of the most colorful cast members since she was introduced, helped greatly by her charismatic voice actress able to switch tonal registers on a dime, and an episode focused substantially on her was as much if not more entertaining than I would have predicted. Series director Kazuhiro Yoneda personally co-directed this episode, and his predilection for varied stylized imagery can be seen all over, even including a parody of Bugs Bunny complete with mimicking the movement style of American animation:
People like to talk about girls of the season, and I submit to you that Mustard is a serious contender. Gotta love women who keep in touch with their feminine side but also their psychotic rage side:
Otaku Love ep.11
I don't care about Nao's developement. Why was this episode even here dammit..
I don't care about Nao's developement. Why was this episode even here dammit..
Who premiered it and where. I though AX is the world premiere.
Chihayafuru rewatch S1 - complete
The second half was unfortunately somewhat boring. I guess there's no arguing that Karuta isn't really spectator friendly and it's difficult to portray it in an interesting fashion when it ultimately always comes down to the players hitting one or several cards within a fraction of a second. How do you really visualize a difference of, let's say, 100ms of time? Morio Osaka and co. do their best but in the end it still all feels mostly the same. When even the first episode makes a big deal of kid-Arata basically instantly swiping a card it's difficult to get hyped for 'even more instant' swiping... As a result, the characters star to basically narrate everything in great detail and you have to take their word for it. Compared to that a show like Haikyuu has a million ways to e.g. demonstrate a strong serve.
Not only does all this narrating slow down the pacing tremendously, it feels strange when for example Chihaya is shown to be lightning fast in one match and then supposedly can't keep up against another avg. opponent in the next match. There are a lot of nuances and strategies mentioned, and I do find those interesting, but most of those can hardly be visualized.
It doesn't help that the team matches are basically just several individual matches played in parallel with some cheering for each other. That's a problem when team dynamic is often one of the most appealing aspects of sports shows.
That being said, I generally consider this show to be very well directed and even the worst matches were still somewhat enjoyable and I am really interested in the main characters' paths. As much as I like Chihaya, Taichi and Arata (who admittedly had very little progression past the first couple episodes), though, I dislike the stark contrast in character design between the main trio and e.g. the rest of Chihaya's team.
I suppose Chihaya and Taichi are supposed to be beautiful but still, Kana has a ridiculously large forehead and the other two a pig nose and glasses/slit eyes. They innately feel different and they pretty much are. Their design and character development just screams 'secondary' which is a bit boring, which is unfortunate when the Karuta matches themselves don't have quite that much to offer, as mentioned above.
Well then, time for season 2. I vaguely remember 2 additions to their Karuta team, one being a girl with a crush on Taichi (which obviously doesn't go anywhere) and some halfhearted dude... They certainly weren't the most memorable :|
I also recall more team matches and comedy in form of text annotations.
The second half was unfortunately somewhat boring. I guess there's no arguing that Karuta isn't really spectator friendly and it's difficult to portray it in an interesting fashion when it ultimately always comes down to the players hitting one or several cards within a fraction of a second. How do you really visualize a difference of, let's say, 100ms of time? Morio Osaka and co. do their best but in the end it still all feels mostly the same. When even the first episode makes a big deal of kid-Arata basically instantly swiping a card it's difficult to get hyped for 'even more instant' swiping... As a result, the characters star to basically narrate everything in great detail and you have to take their word for it. Compared to that a show like Haikyuu has a million ways to e.g. demonstrate a strong serve.
Not only does all this narrating slow down the pacing tremendously, it feels strange when for example Chihaya is shown to be lightning fast in one match and then supposedly can't keep up against another avg. opponent in the next match. There are a lot of nuances and strategies mentioned, and I do find those interesting, but most of those can hardly be visualized.
It doesn't help that the team matches are basically just several individual matches played in parallel with some cheering for each other. That's a problem when team dynamic is often one of the most appealing aspects of sports shows.
That being said, I generally consider this show to be very well directed and even the worst matches were still somewhat enjoyable and I am really interested in the main characters' paths. As much as I like Chihaya, Taichi and Arata (who admittedly had very little progression past the first couple episodes), though, I dislike the stark contrast in character design between the main trio and e.g. the rest of Chihaya's team.
Hmm... I wonder which two are the primary characters...
I suppose Chihaya and Taichi are supposed to be beautiful but still, Kana has a ridiculously large forehead and the other two a pig nose and glasses/slit eyes. They innately feel different and they pretty much are. Their design and character development just screams 'secondary' which is a bit boring, which is unfortunate when the Karuta matches themselves don't have quite that much to offer, as mentioned above.
Well then, time for season 2. I vaguely remember 2 additions to their Karuta team, one being a girl with a crush on Taichi (which obviously doesn't go anywhere) and some halfhearted dude... They certainly weren't the most memorable :|
I also recall more team matches and comedy in form of text annotations.
Sorry, that was a full on mistake on my part. Misunderstood someone.
I don't know what your tastes are, but I can talk a bit about the shows next season that interest me.
Yama no Susume Season 3 - The latest season of a wonderfully gentle climbing-themed slice of life series. It looks as well made as ever, with loose and round character designs that lend themselves excellently to animation.
Shoujo Kageki Revue Starlight - The theatricality inherent to a premise about seeking entrance to an elite theatrical troupe seems perfectly suited to being directed by an Ikuhara protege. I'm hoping for some thrilling stage melodrama.
Banana Fish - The original manga is well regarded, and this adaptation looks good and seems to strike the right sort of tone for this kind of story.
Sirius the Jaeger - Pulpy action featuring werewolves fighting vampires in Imperial Japan. I like the period setting aesthetically, and Masahiro Ando certainly knows how to handle action. Could be good fun.
Angolmois - This adaptation of a manga set during the first Mongol invasion of Japan appears to have solid production values and strike the right kind of epic tone for a historical war story, even though I'm not sold on all the post-processing on display here.
Hanebado - The badminton animation looks nice. Pleasingly full-bodied, with some ambitious camera rotation.
Hataraku Saibou - The premise is quirky enough that I'm willing to give it a shot based on that alone.
Attack on Titan Season 3 - People seemed to really like the second season. Maybe I'll get around to this series eventually.
Assuming you watched the first seasons and movie, Free! Dive to the Future is particularly interesting especially since its now in the "college age" realm and not high schoolers (mainly). And we all know how we need more college age focus in anime.
Assuming you watched the first seasons, Overlord III, but this time largely focused on momonga. Still even you are an Overlord outsider, is interesting since we get a lead who is now an overpowered antagonist in the morality of the game he's is trapped in which is different than the other trapped in a game world series.
Promising NEW shows to me, seem to be
Banana Fish, though it is questionable how they can adapt the whole manga in 24 episodes.
Muhyo & Roji's Bureau of Supernatural Investigation - anime adaptation of an old shonen jump manga full of supernatural intrigue and fun, could be interesting though could be a bit on the duller side if its handled like neo new Hakyuu Hoshin Engi, the most recent old Jump franchise given NEW life in the 2010's.
Lord of Vermillion - IT LOOKS INSANELY COOL AND THE CHARACTERS LOOK INCREDIBLY AWESOME PLEASE WATCH.
Sword Fart Online: Alternative GGO Episode 2
I'm having a hard time suspending my disbelief that a vr mmo wouldn't have a character creator and that it is a crap shoot of what appearance you'll end up with when transferring your account to a new game. Why wouldn't she just make new accounts instead of transferring to each game? Her gamer friend gave terrible advice. Seemed like it was just a contrived way to show Alfheim fanservice and to give a justification for why she ended up on GGO.
I'm having a hard time suspending my disbelief that a vr mmo wouldn't have a character creator and that it is a crap shoot of what appearance you'll end up with when transferring your account to a new game. Why wouldn't she just make new accounts instead of transferring to each game? Her gamer friend gave terrible advice. Seemed like it was just a contrived way to show Alfheim fanservice and to give a justification for why she ended up on GGO.
thanks for replying, i tend to watch comedy/drama (slice of life), so these definitely interest me. I forgot i watched the trailer for the badminton anime earlier and thought it was nice.
this also interest me. I don't normally watch violent shows, but this doesn't seem like it will be all about gore, so i think it's ok. i liked the music choices for the trailer.
So do I need to watch anything to prepare for the new Baki series?
I am planning on watching the series after I am done with a couple of shows but if nothing is required then I might wait until the new series and then go back and watch the rest.
I am planning on watching the series after I am done with a couple of shows but if nothing is required then I might wait until the new series and then go back and watch the rest.
Megalo Box 11
Well that rapping sure came out of left field.
First episode in a while that I enjoyed, tho they're putting too much on the cross counter here without laying the groundwork on how powerful it is to anyone who hasn't seen the original Joe.
Well that rapping sure came out of left field.
First episode in a while that I enjoyed, tho they're putting too much on the cross counter here without laying the groundwork on how powerful it is to anyone who hasn't seen the original Joe.
Hmm, looks like it's just Banana Fish & Grand Blue for me next season. Maybe Sirius if the action overweighs the edgy dumb stuff.
Probably, at least to get a good idea what happen and to get familiar with the characters. I don't recall if the this new series continues off where the older one left.
Hunter x Hunter - Yorknew City Arc (1999 2002 Edition)
I burned through all of this faster than I expected. Damn. Quality was just oozing from every crevice throughout this arc. This arc was a perfect match with the vision and tone that Kazuhiro Furuhashi was striving for. I'm a little surprised that Furuhashi was capable of putting out something this good as I'm more familiar with his work on Gundam Unicorn. Going through his background I see now that he was the Rurouni Kenshin director so I guess at one point he really was good. Everything for the most part seems to be clicking in this arc and results in the best adaptation of the material I've seen and judging of what I've read of the manga in relation to this arc, the best version overall.
The most immediate and striking change early on was the creation of a new OP that stands in sharp contrast to the first OP. The first OP contains tons of bright colors, a cheery pop song, characters smiling and bouncing around. The second OP starts with a picture of an eclipse(of sorts), an extremely dark color palette, a rock song, and the characters generally posing and looking serious. If that doesn't tell you that the happy times are over, I'm not sure what else they need to do. I should note though that the arc does have some comedy in it and isn't just constantly 'dead serious' all the time.
I'm not really going to talk much about the overall writing as Yorknew's arc is regarded highly enough by almost everybody so that would be a waste. What I will talk about briefly are some of the minor changes that help with characterization. One of these would be in the immediate aftermath of when Kurapika kills Uvogin. The show visually emphasizes Kurapika's emotional turmoil at the gravity of his actions as he looks thinner and downcast. Changes like that give additional depth to Kurapika's revenge quest and later when Gon/Killua are going along with the hostage situation to avoid Kurapika having to kill again.
Another two changes/tweaks that I was impressed by were in the final episode of the OVA. The first one is when the hostage exchange is occurring, Kurapika runs to meet Gon/Killua. Melody thinks Kurapika has lost control again and is going to try and kill Chrollo but he looks back and his eyes are normal again, signifying that he's happy to see his friends. That was a really powerful moment that isn't in the manga as Kurapika had been on the edge of losing emotional control for multiple episodes and seeing that his friends were safe again was enough to completely calm him down. Another is when Pakunoda runs into the cat in the alleyway and plays with it a bit before it rejoins its friends. It works on two levels. The first is the obvious symbolism of the cat pack representing the Phantom Troupe and the second is that it shows a softer side of Pakunoda right before she commits suicide for her friends. Small alterations but they have big emotional impacts.
One visual element that felt occasionally forced was the reflection off of a character's eyes. Yes that was a visual trademark for the TV series, so much so that I noticed how much the OVAs were lacking it, but at times it was a bit too much and distracting. That was less of a problem with Heaven's Arena as the tone of the arc wasn't so serious. The more grounded character designs really worked beautifully in conjunction with the darker art direction and grave material. From an animation standpoint, it didn't feel as flashy as previous arcs. The obvious standout was the Kurapika/Uvogin duel by Akira Matsushima. The Zoldyck/Chrollo fight was also pretty stellar. So they nailed the major moments and I never felt any of the major action setpieces were lacking in any way.
The storyboarding throughout the arc was great but two episodes in particular stand out, 45 and 59. Episode 45 for throwing spiders and webs everywhere so as to capture Kurapika's mindset. Episode 59 for capturing the tension during the kidnapping and when Nobunaga is 'babysitting' Gon and Killua. There's a good emphasis on physical space in the room and both how far and close the entrance feels to Killua. On the subject of direction, I expected a much bigger drop-off from the TV series to the first OVA set due to the change in direction. While you can still tell there's a different director as the color palette is a little darker and the storyboarding doesn't have as many flourishes as the TV series does, it's close enough. I think a lot of that has to do with many aspects still being in place from the TV series such as the character designs, art direction, and composer.
I wasn't really impressed with the Yorknew arc in the 2011 adaptation but was pretty blown back with it here. It's amazing what quality direction will do. Oh and where the fuck are the blu-rays? Why am I stuck watching peasant DVD quality for a popular TV series that was made on cels?
I burned through all of this faster than I expected. Damn. Quality was just oozing from every crevice throughout this arc. This arc was a perfect match with the vision and tone that Kazuhiro Furuhashi was striving for. I'm a little surprised that Furuhashi was capable of putting out something this good as I'm more familiar with his work on Gundam Unicorn. Going through his background I see now that he was the Rurouni Kenshin director so I guess at one point he really was good. Everything for the most part seems to be clicking in this arc and results in the best adaptation of the material I've seen and judging of what I've read of the manga in relation to this arc, the best version overall.
The most immediate and striking change early on was the creation of a new OP that stands in sharp contrast to the first OP. The first OP contains tons of bright colors, a cheery pop song, characters smiling and bouncing around. The second OP starts with a picture of an eclipse(of sorts), an extremely dark color palette, a rock song, and the characters generally posing and looking serious. If that doesn't tell you that the happy times are over, I'm not sure what else they need to do. I should note though that the arc does have some comedy in it and isn't just constantly 'dead serious' all the time.
I'm not really going to talk much about the overall writing as Yorknew's arc is regarded highly enough by almost everybody so that would be a waste. What I will talk about briefly are some of the minor changes that help with characterization. One of these would be in the immediate aftermath of when Kurapika kills Uvogin. The show visually emphasizes Kurapika's emotional turmoil at the gravity of his actions as he looks thinner and downcast. Changes like that give additional depth to Kurapika's revenge quest and later when Gon/Killua are going along with the hostage situation to avoid Kurapika having to kill again.
Another two changes/tweaks that I was impressed by were in the final episode of the OVA. The first one is when the hostage exchange is occurring, Kurapika runs to meet Gon/Killua. Melody thinks Kurapika has lost control again and is going to try and kill Chrollo but he looks back and his eyes are normal again, signifying that he's happy to see his friends. That was a really powerful moment that isn't in the manga as Kurapika had been on the edge of losing emotional control for multiple episodes and seeing that his friends were safe again was enough to completely calm him down. Another is when Pakunoda runs into the cat in the alleyway and plays with it a bit before it rejoins its friends. It works on two levels. The first is the obvious symbolism of the cat pack representing the Phantom Troupe and the second is that it shows a softer side of Pakunoda right before she commits suicide for her friends. Small alterations but they have big emotional impacts.
The background and art direction, as always, was outstanding. Nobuto Sakamoto did a great job and Shigeru Morimoto was able to fill in well enough for the OVAs. What makes this so impressive is how well Sakamoto was able to handle the urban environment as that's where a lot of shows falter. Part of this is due to the medium as this was pre-digital and done on cels so there is a grittiness inherent to the art but also the quality of the art team in capturing the beauty of a modern city.
hmmmm
One visual element that felt occasionally forced was the reflection off of a character's eyes. Yes that was a visual trademark for the TV series, so much so that I noticed how much the OVAs were lacking it, but at times it was a bit too much and distracting. That was less of a problem with Heaven's Arena as the tone of the arc wasn't so serious. The more grounded character designs really worked beautifully in conjunction with the darker art direction and grave material. From an animation standpoint, it didn't feel as flashy as previous arcs. The obvious standout was the Kurapika/Uvogin duel by Akira Matsushima. The Zoldyck/Chrollo fight was also pretty stellar. So they nailed the major moments and I never felt any of the major action setpieces were lacking in any way.
The storyboarding throughout the arc was great but two episodes in particular stand out, 45 and 59. Episode 45 for throwing spiders and webs everywhere so as to capture Kurapika's mindset. Episode 59 for capturing the tension during the kidnapping and when Nobunaga is 'babysitting' Gon and Killua. There's a good emphasis on physical space in the room and both how far and close the entrance feels to Killua. On the subject of direction, I expected a much bigger drop-off from the TV series to the first OVA set due to the change in direction. While you can still tell there's a different director as the color palette is a little darker and the storyboarding doesn't have as many flourishes as the TV series does, it's close enough. I think a lot of that has to do with many aspects still being in place from the TV series such as the character designs, art direction, and composer.
I wasn't really impressed with the Yorknew arc in the 2011 adaptation but was pretty blown back with it here. It's amazing what quality direction will do. Oh and where the fuck are the blu-rays? Why am I stuck watching peasant DVD quality for a popular TV series that was made on cels?
Finished my rewatch of Michiko to hatchin. Should've kept the avy on just for a little bit longer to speak on this. I still like this anime. It didn't have as much weird dialogue as I expected, but I'm still confused on some parts. In episode 17 I think
Atsuko let's Michiko go, but she was chasing her during this whole series up to now. I don't quite get why she let her go and in the first episode it seemed like Atsuko sent Michiko to get Hatchin, but I can't remember why, but then she ends up going after her.
2ndly, Hiroshi is an grade A shit and Michiko nor Hatchin asked why he kept trying to avoid them and how was he still alive because Michiko and Satoshi said he died in some bus crash. I'm still not sure who Hana's birth mother is. If it was Michiko I think her giving birth at some point would've been mentioned. Man, that series ends making you feel warm and bad. Bad because Hiroshi ends up abandoning his daughter and Hana has a baby and that man ends up abandoning her and her daughter too. But it was good once Michiko returned.
2ndly, Hiroshi is an grade A shit and Michiko nor Hatchin asked why he kept trying to avoid them and how was he still alive because Michiko and Satoshi said he died in some bus crash. I'm still not sure who Hana's birth mother is. If it was Michiko I think her giving birth at some point would've been mentioned. Man, that series ends making you feel warm and bad. Bad because Hiroshi ends up abandoning his daughter and Hana has a baby and that man ends up abandoning her and her daughter too. But it was good once Michiko returned.
HisoMaso 9
I'm pretty impress with how wack this show can get. Like even with it's initial premise we have this weird ass piloting method for the OTFs, a ritual that involves romantic love, and this particular episode had a darker tone.
Franxx is wack ass show too, but i'm able to put up with HisoMaso and still very much enjoy the show as well as compared to Franxx.
I'm pretty impress with how wack this show can get. Like even with it's initial premise we have this weird ass piloting method for the OTFs, a ritual that involves romantic love, and this particular episode had a darker tone.
Franxx is wack ass show too, but i'm able to put up with HisoMaso and still very much enjoy the show as well as compared to Franxx.
We all need some competent shonen from time to time in our lives. That is why.
Wake Up Girls no more then:
http://wug-portal.jp/news/detail.php?id=1062320
Group dissolving in March next year.
http://wug-portal.jp/news/detail.php?id=1062320
Group dissolving in March next year.
As fun as it is to (deservedly) dunk on Yamakan, I gather that WUGs long-time producer recently left Avex/DiveII, and whilst WUG continue to do relatively well as an actual minor idol unit, it's become a lot to manage versus the return. It doesn't really help that about half of them are also moderately successful and in-demand as VAs - several of them for other 2.5d idol franchises - and that theres not active anime project involving them all. Kind of a monumental bummer, and pretty shocking given how busy their current schedule already was (they just did a live-action WUG stage play last week), but thems the breaks, I guess.
Probably didn't help that the recent anime was kinda bad too? :p
I didn't actually hate that show in terms of the things which happened in it, but yeah, it's a little difficult to watch it and not have a hearty chuckle about the... quality of its production.
Seeing the above pictures I wish for a re-release or remake of Maple Town
HYPE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Whoa theres a really awesome character designs, the dude crouched. Will add to watchlist.
It's PA Works so it's worth a try, and same director of Hanasaku Iroha so that makes it a must to try.
I was just thinking that. They have two upcoming anime about yuri lolicons. And they're both comedies.
Speaking of which here's another PV for Happy Sugar Life:
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