It's not anime but Crunchyroll is now airing the 2nd season of the Wakakozake drama. Watch it. It's good shit.

 

From what I've watched so far, Boku dake ga Inai Michi is easily the best of the bunch. The plot is riveting and I like all of the characters, but what I love most about it is the atmospehere. Especially in the second episode. The only negative I can think of is having to wait for the new episodes every week. After the second episode ended I was like "Already?" It was just over so fast. It felt like I was only watching for 5 minutes instead of 22. I'm hooked.

Dagashi Kashi wasn't bad. I like the MC' interaction with the main girl and the comedy that is spawned, but his female friend is already annoying me. He just mentions a girl in passing and she gets all pissed and jealous. Ugh. Another thing I disliked was some of the comedy didn't work for me. I'll give it a few more episodes.

Hai to Gensou no Grimgar sucked. I didn't like any of the characters and I was so bored throughout the episode that it felt like it would never end. That I don't even remember what happened in the episode even though I just watched it yesterday says a lot. I'll watch episode 2 just to see if it gets any better.

I liked Kono Subarashii Sekai ni Shukufuku wo! well enough. Particularly the first half. The interaction between the MC and the goddess was fun (her reaction to his death was great). Once they got to the fantasy world it got boring. They wasted 3 mnutes in this episode on a montage of the main characters working, Those 3 minutes would have been better spent on plot or character deelopment. Still, I liked the episode. Things should pick up in the following episodes with the introductions of the other characters that were in the OP.

Shoujo-tachi wa Kouya wo Mezasu is really good. Its nothing unique or amazing but I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed it. The comedy works fine and none of the characters are annoying so far. I'm interested in how the game they're making will turn out. I'm rooting for them.

Musaigen no Phantom World was disappointing. I didn't care at all about the plot. The phantom threat as well as the show itself just feels so generic. I didn't dislike the characters though, which is really the only positive thing I can say about the show so far. Here's hoping episode 2 will be better.

As for Bubuki Buranki? The only things I liked about it were the MC's sister and mother. I'll watch the second episode just to see if they turn up and breathe life into this show. If not, I won't even bother with episode 3. Not with this MC.

My current ranking for the Winter season series I've seen so far:
1. Boku dake ga Inai Michi
2. Shoujo-tachi wa Kouya wo Mezasu
3. Kono Subarashii Sekai ni Shukufuku wo!
4. Dagashi Kashi
5. Musaigen no Phantom World
6. Bubuki Buranki
7. Hai to Gensou no Grimgar

 

Watched the first couple episodes, really enjoyed it. Not sure if I was bored or if I enjoyed it that much but I went on to read the manga last night. It's the first manga I've ever read and it was great.

Now I got to go find more manga to read. There is another 6 months of my life gone catching up on all the good ones. Thanks for that. :/

 

Also moved on to the Manga, really interested in what path it's going to take.

Prince of Stride also grabbed my interest, curious to see how it pans out as a show.

 

ROFL, what have you got me watching?!

Dat haxx boob Limbo mechanics though...

 

Yeah Erased (boku dake) is insane. I'm usually not in for drama but it doesn't even matter for this show.

I can't remember the last anime I watched where I was convinced I could show ep.1 to anyone and they'd be hooked.

Well, presuming they're not 'tards and ignore it because it's cartoons (read: my family).

 

It is really good. This, Musaigen, Dagashi, and Grimgar are my top picks right now.

 

Read the first few chapters of Erased, was dull as hell. Does the anime change things up/pick up the pace in comparison?

 

Probably, unless they somehow managed to stretch one or two chapters into an episode. Feels unlikely though, seems a lot happens.

 

I'm waiting for few more episodes before watching Erased, but the manga is really good.

It's going it have one of these bittersweet endings though, isn't it? If the main character's role mode (that of a lonely superhero) and the title itself wasn't enough then the chapters 31-34 all but confirm there will be (manly) tears before it's all done.

 

From what little we've seen of the anime yeah, the pace is faster. There is already a couple things they've skipped that are filler from the manga. But the animes only just started, be a couple months before it catches up. And who knows, they might end up doing their own filler.

Edit:

Also while the manga is good, hopefully the anime makes it less obvious who the culprit is.

 

Heard that Erased is going to have the actual Manga ending, so it's going to end ahead of the Manga, implying the show will have a much faster pace. Then again, I'm not sure how close to the manga ending they are, since the last 11 chapters are yet to be translated.

 

Seven episodes in and Erased is already very high on my top anime list. Depending how they handle the remaining five, it could end up in the top 10. It could get tricky since they're definitely going to cut out some things that where in the manga, but at the same time I can easily point out some scenes that don't need to be included in the adaptation. Even with them removed they may be forced to rush the finale though.

 

Yeah, I'd agree with you. Usually with mystery/thriller anime, they often start off great and go downhill which has most definitely not happened here.

Most of the time good mystery/thriller anime are often slow to pace it properly, but it often means you need to be in the right mood to enjoy the build ups. But so far every single scene of Erased has had me on the edge of my seat. When we're not in high tension plot critical scenes, we're seeing interesting interactions and character exploration. There's not a scene that has been boring so far.

 

I've not touched ERASED yet but given the ratings and the orgasmic reviews I'm quite confident that it's not just Anime of the Year but also a contender for Best Anime of All Time.

Looking forward to when it finishes airing.

 

As long as they don't mess up the ending which they easily can since it took them 8 episodes to adapt 23 chapters leaving only 4 episodes for remaining 20 chapters. It's doable, because like I said there is lot of stuff that doesn't need to be included in the adaptation, but it's not going to be easy.

If the series was 15 episodes long I would be more confident.

 

Erased has been great, but I have a hard time believing they can end it as well as it has been going if they are going to stay faithful to the manga, as time is running short on them and the manga itself doesn't have all too much extra fluff that could be cut without compromising the story in my opinion.

And Haikyuu! is still very much doing what it has done for soon 2 seasons, being the sport anime to take Kuroko's much loved spot in my anime schedule.

 

I finished reading the ERASED manga and yeah, there's no way they can wrap this up in three episodes without going off course. The best bet would be to end it at the obvious cut off point (manga readers will know what I'm talking about), and do the rest in a second season. Otherwise, uh, I wish the anime the best of luck. It'll need it. <_<

 

I'm not up to date on the anime, but from what I've been reading the obvious point would be

Spoiler

when he wakes up in his older body again after being pulled out of the lake.

Not sure if that has happened yet in the anime or not, I should finish watching it.

The problem there is if they want to finish the rest in another season, there isn't enough material to make an interesting second season. In comparison to the first part, the second is quite short and no where near as interesting.

 

Manga spoilers:

Spoiler

A couple of spare episodes would be useful if the anime wants to give the story an actual climax. The manga chose to stop right before the finale, jump ahead to afterwards, and then summarize what happened in the aftermath. I'm so pissed. There was no confrontation between Satoru and the murderer. What was even the point?