I can't honestly remember anything about the show itself except that it shit the bed in the end. Has it been able to sustain itself in Japan? I remember that the main female character kept winning the moe award for a good few cycles, and that the discs sold pretty well, but I haven't heard anything about that franchise in the last couple of years.

 

Yeah, I second the bit about the end. The last episode was good, but the two preceding ones totally jumped the shark. Way too much of an escalation.

 

Madoka magica to have a movie release.

Trailer

 

Yeah agreed. I remember feeling like that even when I watched it.

Looks interesting. That movie will be a direct sequel of the anime (where the first two movies were just reanimated footage of the series).

Pretty awesome that they're actually doing it as a theatre release in US, but shame they're not doing it down here too. Suppose I'll just have to wait till the BD release.

 

Finished my semester and I have some time to kill. Any new anime's I should by watching other than Kill la kill?

 

If you haven't watched Kuroko No Basket, I'd recommend it. It's a shounen about Basket Ball, but it's pretty fun. The second season just started airing too.

 

Yup I've watched it, a lot actually. Although the second season seems more subdued somehow? Or is it just the soundtrack.

Any other recs?

 

Kill la Kill and Eccentric family.

 

Going along with Luckylee's sports recommendation, I'm going to recommend Diamond no Ace.

 

It's Ruckyree now, Pink. And I'll def give that Diamond no Ace a watch, although idk how they can make Baseball interesting.

 

'tries to see if anyone has recommended Kill la Kill yet'

'it's just pages of random anime and people getting mad about Shingeki no Kyojin for half a year back'

Go watch this. It's directed and written by the guys who did TTGL. It occupies the hypothetical no mans land between TTGL, Trigun, and Madoka Magica. And they make it work.

Also, the Shingeki manga is better than the anime. Try that if you're not a fan of the anime. There's less bitching.

 

Ok, so this season is practically over and there's been hardly any discussion of the current shows. There's nothing truly groundbreaking, but I think there are at least a few solid offerings.

What I'm watching:

Kill la Kill: Who isn't watching this? It's entertaining, always strange, and often hilarious. The characters are interesting (I'm especially enjoying the backstories on the Elite Four), and the fight scenes are appropriately over the top. It can be divisive though - some say that the fanservice is too much, while others claim that it's secretly about female empowerment and taking control of your sexuality. Everyone else just enjoys the tits.

Aoki Hagane no Arpeggio: Also known as Arpeggio of Blue Steel. On the surface, this appears to be a simple show about building a harem fleet of cute, anthropomorphic battleships, but underneath...oh, who am I kidding, it's all about the ships. However, it has started to get a little deeper in the last few episodes by exploring the concept of humanity. It has some great music and is an excellent example of how a show can successfully diverge from its source manga in a dramatic fashion, and yet still make sense.

Yowapeda!: Everyone loves biking, right? Well, if you don't, you will after watching a few episodes of this. It's a fairly standard sports shounen with all that entails, but again, the characters really make it. The MC is earnest and likable, and the supporting cast is excellent as well. There really aren't any antagonists yet, but the authors still manage to keep the tension high when it's needed. This one is following the manga almost exactly, so if you want to know what happens next, you can read ahead. I would classify this as my "feel good" anime of the season. It's not the best, but it's good and guaranteed to cheer me up.

Log Horizon: I initially avoided this because it looked like yet another ./hack or SAO clone, but after a few weeks I decided to give it a chance and it's turned into my favorite of the season. It takes the standard "stuck in an MMO" concept and puts its own spin on things. Rather than focusing on combat and trying to escape, the main focus is on politics and building the world. If you like MMOs, you'll enjoy this - they go pretty heavily into game mechanics at times, and really capture the inter-guild squabbling that often occurs. My one complaint is that there's been absolutely no talk about why (or how) everyone got trapped and most of the characters seem to just accept it.

Golden Time: This was billed as the new Toradora (it's by the same author), and while it is a bit similar, I don't like it nearly as much. The main girl is extraordinarily unlikable (to continue Toradora comparisons, think early Ami crossed with a jealous hopeless romantic) and the MC tends to take it all lying down. It does have it's moments though, and it can be quite funny when it wants to be. This is probably my least favorite of the shows I'm watching.

Diamond no Ace: I'm primarily watching this because I love baseball, and I'm enjoying it, but I'm not sure it would succeed in holding the interest of someone who didn't like the sport to begin with. The MC is rather yelly (which gets annoying), and most of the development is rather predictable.

 

Nice summaries. I've watched Log Horizon which I think is amazing and is heading into a very interesting direction plotwise. Diamond No Ace which I also really liked since it reminds me of Kuroko(and I don't even know anything about baseball) and its Madhouse thats doing it and Kill la Kill.

I haven't watched Yowapedal. How is it compared to Diamond and Kuroko, kind of the same thing?

 

Haven't watched Kuroko, but it's fairly similar to Diamond. The pacing is slower, but the characters are better. Onoda is much more likeable (and less of an idiot) than Sawamura. It's also a lot more of a feel good anime; not much yelling or defeatism. Similar concept of "guy with basically no training takes up a sport because he enjoys it and turns out to be pretty awesome" though.

 

Loved season 1 of Kuroko's Basket but absolutely hating season 2. To start with, the OST is utterly terrible (and that's a pretty important thing in these energetic shounen) and whoever is directing it hasn't done a good job of creating that feeling of energy, tension, emphasizing major events, etc - something that they did quite well in season 1. Story wise, the attempt to elevate 'new' opponents via the Uncrowned Kings and all that just hurts the original premise of the Generation of Miracles. So yeah, pretty much on the verge of dropping this despite my love for the first season.


Diamond no Ace started quite strong, but I've found my interest waning in the last few episodes. It's still quite fun, but I'm struggling to get pumped up for future events. And the main character is extra annoying (even for a typical shounen hero).


Yowapedal has been utterly amazing from the 7 episodes I've seen so far. It's doing everything right for a shounen sports. Similar premise to Over Drive, but so far seems way better with better characters. I'd definitely recommend this over Diamond no Ace if shounen sports are your thing.

Kill La Kill I'm enjoying, but I don't really see the hype around it. I just find it tries too hard. Still pretty fun though.

Strike the Blood is just another typical action harem anime. Reminds me a lot of the Index series, so if you enjoyed that, you'll probably enjoy this. Apart from that...meh.

 

I'd say give KNB another couple of episodes, the prelims are of course going to be boring compared to the main course. Although I had similar feelings on the music myself :/

 

Yeah, I watched the first few episodes and enjoyed them, but I keep forgetting to go back and finish it.

 

So, is there anything actually worth watching this season? I wasn't thrilled by any of the descriptions, but I figured I'd see if anyone's found a hidden gem.

 

Nobunagun has been pretty good so far