What are you watching now?

[Deleted]

I'll give EVOL and evangelion a watch then because I hear that fullmetal panic is mostly comedy, and I don't usually enjoy comedy in anime. Also I hear that evangelion is one of those anime that YOU MUST WATCH BEFORE YOU DIE because of how influential it is, apparently.

[Indigo]

Majestic Prince episode 18 had some more rather breathtaking battle scenes... It's a great show if you don't expect any complexity from it, Metal liked it.

Full Metal Panic is everything. It does have a lot of comedy, but it's school, romance, action, and mecha. It has a pure-comedy season though. And in turn the third is almost completely focused on a darker story.

EVOL's my favorite mecha anime because it's just plain entertaining. A lot of over-the-top and unexpected, it never ceased to amuse. Never seen Evangelion though, and not very interested.

[Deleted]

Evangelion has so many different versions and so many different endings, plus it polarises so many people (it's so insane that the fans and the director had an argument over weather or not the show had any meaning- yes, the show is so incomprehensible that even the director himself was certain that there were no implied meanings and the fans were mostly just pretentiousness.) It seems like something worth watching though, especially with the 'rebuild' films which seem to be remakes with more action scenes, better animation, and more coherency. How could anyone not want to see something that garners this much mixed response? Ok, a lot of people but I'm interested, as it shows that it definitely has some unique elements to it that makes it worth a watch. At this point it looks like the fans are more entertaining to watch than the show, though.

[Rikuseroth]

Restaurant impossible is awesome, for a show on the food network

[The Regal RP Mod]

I WAS watching Accel World, but I had to stop after reaching the second season. People who are smug bastards who control through blackmail really induce rage in me. Understandably, as it was the antagonist, but really...

[Rikuseroth]

Attack on Titan. Gonna try and finish it tonight

[Stove]

Jan 1, 2014 5:22:42 GMT Rikuseroth said:

Attack on Titan. Gonna try and finish it tonight

From what I've heard (that means, from Al) It's subpar. What do you think of it?

[Rikuseroth]

Jan 1, 2014 5:25:36 GMT Stove said:

Jan 1, 2014 5:22:42 GMT Rikuseroth said:

Attack on Titan. Gonna try and finish it tonight

From what I've heard (that means, from Al) It's subpar. What do you think of it?

I like it. It gave that feeling that you think everything's gonna work out and they'll win, but then it crushes that feeling and shows how hopeless it really is. Then again, I'm only seven episodes in.

[Stove]

I'm suprised Al doesn't like it then.

[Rikuseroth]

The feeling it's all gonna work out is back lol

[Stove]

Back on topic, I'm actually watching Kill La Kill right now. It's...not bad, so far. I suppose the only thing I had against it was being very much like Guren Lagann.

[The Regal RP Mod]

If you think about it, Gurren Lagann was the story of a boy who had to deal with self-confidence issues, had to learn to rely on himself, and finally did what ever it took to save his beloved. Also, DRILL EVERYTHING! So far, Kill La Kill is about a girl who gets powered up when she bleeds(I foresee a week where she's going to have some issues[joking]), has to deal with accepting her body, and not be a manipulative psycho. So they're pretty much both stories of growing up.

[Deleted]

Jan 1, 2014 5:52:48 GMT Stove said:

I'm suprised Al doesn't like it then.

Imagine SAO, problems and positives all, but amplified in many ways. The music and animation are great. (although honestly something about the character design both human and titan didn't appeal to me) The characters aren't quite as bad per say as SAO but most of them die too fast and I really couldn't care less after a while. The 3 main characters have plot armour in a show that kills off everyone, and they become a bit too mary sue after a while. Oh, plus a disney death. Except perhaps Aramin who probably goes through a Simon from Gurren Lagann arc, which I don't think can be bested by a show where he isn't the main character. But I haven't watched it all yet, because the plot lines such as a titan invasion on a city last for so many episodes with such high tension that I blew a fuse and I couldn't be bothered to watch any more. There weren't any cathartic or slow moments, even the flash backs were incredibly intense. There was like one or 2 episodes where they're training and they introduce a bunch of characters only for most of them to either die or get eaten over the next few episodes and none of them had any major relevance overall.
Also, come on. Titan shifting. That's really retarded in my eyes and it really defeats the point of the show if you ask me, and it makes the late series plot twist disgustingly obvious.

[Deleted]

Ahh, the 2014 spring releases! I'll have to flick my way through them to see if there's anything worth watching. I hope there will be some stand out shows this year not related to any MMOs.

I haven't really started watching yet, but so far I've seen 'Tonari no Seki: The master of wasting time', a short 8 minuet animation about a boy named Seki's antics in class. Deliciously little dialogue and I found it very charming and amusing. Looks like there will be a couple of these, but they obviously lack substance.

The other one I saw was Pandering- the animation or more accurately 'super Sonico the animation' basically just an advertisement for Nitroplus product using a mary sue fanserive trope-riddled anime girl with just barely more character than a vocaloid. Cute, but the only reason I'm glad it exists is because hopefully it will pay for Nitroplus' more interesting work. For the record, Nitroplus is the company that makes visual novels such as Saya no uta (the complete opposite of Sonico) and the company that hired Gen Urobuchi as a writer. As a reminder, his most famous works include Madoka, Psycho-pass, Gargantua, Fate Zero, etc.

Lets hope that part 2 of Kill La Kill wont be the only thing I'll be looking forward to for 2014's first quarter.

[Deleted]

Ok, I found my show.
Nobunagun!
Adrenaline filled awesome! Actually the first part of the episode was quite slow, like a slice of life.
All throughout however the music and the animation was wonderful. ESPECIALLY THE ANIMATION! YES! It's simply gorgeous, no matter what the show is doing. See it to believe it.

Oh, and the protagonist. The protagonist! Such a kickass girl! Shio Spends most of the episode as a goofball loner, not an exaggerated character like Kuroki from Watamote- just a realistic goofball who simply prefers to be alone whilst still being capable of making friends. Someone geeky who has funny, embarrassing moments without them necessarily being soul destroying. And I really like her adoration for something geeky but not Otaku related- she seems to really like guns and war machines that have a sort of WW2 vibe to them. I think Claxus would really like this aspect of her character, she's a mech enthusiast with models and offbeat quirks like Aki from Robotics;Notes in everything but, well, mechs. And of course, her design isn't the least bit fanservicy besides the obligatory short school girl skirt which they don't milk for panty shots despite ripe opportunity. Except perhaps at the very beginning... bah, it was played for comedy and she still doesn't have a sexualised design.

What really sealed the deal was when she gains her obligatory powers at the end of the episode. Since this is an action series and all.



Oh my... that face! She doesn't go outright evil but the crowning moment of awesome when she gains her powers surpasses Lelouch/Light already for me. By the way, her hair isn't purple. It just looks that way for the scene- this show uses the colour palettes to effectively convey different moods in a very well done fashion. Why is the water red, why is the environment green, Why are her normally brown eyes and hair red and purple? ALIEN INVASION, DEATH, AND SUPERPOWERS! I don't care how good the director of attack on titan is when it comes to action scenes- this really got my blood pumping.

She seems very idealistic and moral to me ,(she is trying to selflessly save someone she doesn't appear to know particularly well at this point, after all) which is fine, but the last few moments of the episode alone make me hope that she has Villain-protagonist aspects to her character like Lelouch. I'm unsure if the series will be as 'intelligent' in the way the mind games and strategies are set up, like death note or code geass, but it's action is great (even though she hasn't done anything yet, that's just how well it was done) but I am hoping to see this moral grey area, though obviously I doubt anyone will become as big a douche as Light. She seems incredibly powerful based on the ending of this episode. The biggest clue to what her character might become is seen in Nobunga, a real life historical figure and respected Japanese warlord whose soul is supposedly reincarnated inside her. He appears in the episode and his portrayal shows clear menace.

This is all based on the first episode and I neglected to mention the other potentially cool character seen during the second half performing most of the action, but the animation, music, and potential really blew me away.
And of course, already I like Shio more than Kuroki, the most relevant comparison, and while I doubt she'll be as strong as Lelouch I must again repeat that the end of the episode was at least as good as when Lelouch first used his geass, although her 'weapon' isn't quite as creative as the geass which knocks the scene down a few pegs. Even if Shio looks evil at the end, even that I think is more realistic. Wouldn't anyone go a bit drunk with power at first? Perhaps I shouldn't be singing the show's praises too soon, but yeah. First episode gets an overwhelming recommendation. Fingers crossed.

[Indigo]

Seems like there's quite a bit of animes that may leave a mark this year. Animes going all out. They look beautiful and look like they'll have big original stories. There's this, too:


... And this.


Buddy Complex. Oh boy, can't wait for that one. Code Geass... And Guilty Crown? They're gonna combine?! Looks like it may be the next great mecha romance since Aquarion. With a shonen main character! (75% of the animes I've watched weren't partially chosen for brown spikey haired protagonists, I swear.) Yeah, it looks like some beautiful eye candy and like it may have more substance than the action. It looks like time travel will be a thing in it.

I'll also have to look at Nobunagi, but it's totally third wheel right now.

Well, all of it is... As always, I'm gonna be waiting for these series to reach near their end, because I like to do my anime-watching on a nightly basis.

So on that note... I actually just finished Majestic Prince, and I liked it a lot, but I won't be writing all about that here. Now, I'm on the verge of starting a new anime... There's Muv-Luv Alternative which is fairly new, and from what I hear, a borderline horror mecha anime against an alien invasion. Valvrave second season also finished, so I have to watch that to have finished all of 2013's mecha animes... If Gundam Build Fighters doesn't count, which is also about time to start. And yet, there's also the 1980s original Macross anime that I've always wanted to get around to watching. CAn't go wrong with the true classics.

[Stove]

I saw Lelouch about 50 times in Al's post.
May have been ploy to draw me in.
...Well it worked.
*Drops KLK to watch.*

[njayhuang]

I've heard Space Dandy is supposed to be a good one this season. I'm still catching up on last season's anime though.

[Deleted]

Jan 8, 2014 4:08:41 GMT Stove said:

I saw Lelouch about 50 times in Al's post.
May have been ploy to draw me in.
...Well it worked.
*Drops KLK to watch.*

I'm glad you like it, but surely you have to drop Kill La Kill to watch this.

Noragami looks good to me. I'm not sure what to think of space Dandy, on the one hand apparently it's visually pretty good but it's a bit of a mess (from what I hear) despite being from the cowboy bebop director... I should watch the supposed 'best anime evar'.

Is that everything? Probably not.

EDIT:Just saw Noragami that Claxus mentioned above. Totally worth the watch.

[Deleted]

So I saw Space Dandy and I think it came out pretty bad.
There are two notable things about this series however-
One, I watched the english dub. Yes, this show is already running on adult swim in America. Before the Japanese broadcast, I hear.

Two- the show is very much like a vastly inferior version of Sgt Frog, absent minded Narrator + 4th wall jokes and all. Also, breast jokes. Classy.
The director of this directed Cowboy Bebop, an ass kicking sci-fi action series.

Guess what the director of Sgt frog is directing right now? Yes, Nobunagun, an ass kicking Sci-fi action series.
Is this a freaky friday body switch?

But yeah from what I can tell this is similar to Cowboy bebop in set up (I still need to actually watch Cowboy bebop) except it's 'funny'. But yeah, it has the space setting and a similar main character in a similar position. I guess this director should stick to what he knows. Some lines got me to chuckle, but honestly I thought both Nobunagun and Noragami were both much more funny with much better action scenes and characters than this show, and more of an overall point. And of course, in terms of comedy anime with zany antics and meta jokes Sgt Frog still probably reigns supreme. I've been trying out a large chunk of the new shows this season and I would say Space Dandy is my least favourite, as at least Super Sonico had absolutely no expectations set out for it.

EDIT: In other news, Buddy Complex is interesting. I think Claxus will like it a fair bit.