Sakamoto desu ga is, unfortunately, a scene for scene adaptation of the source material. As someone who has read the manga cover to cover multiple times already, there is nothing for me in the anime. As much as I want to enjoy it (because I know how entertaining it is), I can't.

If you haven't read the manga, go watch the anime (it is a well done and funny show); if you have, don't bother.

 

There's a lot of potentials this season - more than usual. It's been a long time since I've downloaded this many "first episodes". Let's see how they go...

 

Heh, didn't notice that Re:Zero's first episode was a 2 part thing, so I was scratching my head a lot during the second episode.

Good thing the story is such that despite not watching half of the first episode I don't think I lost all that much.

Is it just me or the animation is kinda low quality? Ok, maybe not low quality per say but uneven is the word?

 

Whoa, what a season. Been a long time since I've had this many anime that have sucked me in so hard on the first episode.

The Super Hyped Category

Kiznaiver - The synopsis didn't really interest me, but I decided to give it a go because its a TRIGGER project (even though I found Kill la Kill to be overrated) and boy did it deliver. It hooked me with the freaking amazing visuals and cinematography techniques. It interested me with what seems to be an absolutely fantastic OST so far. It intrigued me with its concept and plot (which managed to avoid feeling too forced). The atmosphere is amazing. Only real downside is that the characters haven't interested me yet - but then, we're only at episode one. Really looking forward to this one.

Re: Zero kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu - Absolutely loving it so far. Despite being a super common trope in fanfiction, there's barely any anime that actually have a protagonist stuck in a time loop. The characters are likeable and fun. It's executed in a pretty decent way. Only complaint is how long it took the main character to realize what was going on - come on, he's meant to have been on the look out for video game/anime tropes. Thought it was pretty funny they completely skipped the usual obligatory build up to him jumping dimensions - literally took less than 2 minutes.

Joker Game - From the synopsis, it seemed like the sort of anime I'd find a bit dry, but the first two episodes completely drew me in. It's executed well, and so far has done a good job of keeping you on your toes. Probably not quite as much hype as the previous two, but I'm genuinely looking forward to the next episode.


The Needs More Episodes Category

Koutetsujou no Kabaneri - I'm sure with a few more episodes I'll get into this more, but first episode just repeated some of the annoying tropes that pulled Shingeki no Kyojin down. You know, super angry main character who spends most of his time yelling at people and a society full of narrow minded idiots. Literally is a Shingeki copy, with zombies instead of titans.

Boku no Hero Academia - Like any shounen jump anime, you need a lot of episodes before it really starts to take off. Didn't really enjoy the first few, but I can see the potential. Surprisingly only 13 episodes for this season though.


Most Likely Dropped Category

Macross Delta - I was pretty excited for another Macross. I had only seen Zero and Frontier previously and enjoyed both (even though the latter was riddled with problems). But so far Delta has been a real disappointment. I know Macross is all about featuring music/idol culture alongside mecha, but at least Frontier started with them as separate subplots and slowly worked its way up to integrating the two aspects in some sort of way that made it feel believable, rather than throwing you an idol concert as a way of fighting insane terrorists in mecha in episode one. I felt embarrassed watching that. The music didn't seem too special (or even mood appropriate. At least Frontier had a lot of music that actually fit the scene), but then again, Frontier is probably an unrealistic expectation given that was a Yoko Kanno soundtrack. Will probably give it a few more episodes though.

Bungou Stray Dogs - I kind of want to give it one more episode, but it seems like any other anime with that sort of plot. Guy joins group of eccentric detectives who use paranormal abilities, etc etc.

Sousei no Onmyouji - Exactly what you'd expect from the summary. Dropped.

 

The Phoenix Wright anime has been so frustratingly shit. Things that work well in a game haven't transitioned well to a show, the animation has been subpar at best, and everything about it screams low effort.

The thing that stands out the most for me is how it's obvious they put no thought in transitioning the game into an anime.

In the game it makes sense to reveal whodunnit before the case even takes place - because the game is focused around defending your client with logic, and connecting the dots with the evidence you have on hand. That doesn't make sense in an anime, however, as there isn't a player character. Phoenix is the one connecting the dots, not us. What was fun was connecting the dots as a player. Instead, they just have the evidence pulled together in the most obtuse way possible.

It's like none of the people involved have ever seen a mystery story before, or bothered to think about how to pace a mystery. What was an interesting logic puzzle in game form becomes tiresome and tedious in anime form.

It's infuriating as all hell - especially because I've heard good things about the director's (Ayumu Watanabe) other work - specifically Space Brothers. I had been planning to get around to watching it for a few years now, but the shear amounts of horribleness in this adaption leads me to believe I shouldn't bother.

I think it's probably the worst anime I'm watching this season, and I've been watching Hundred.

 

Any good action oriented anime this season that are not totally full of boring cliches and tropes?

 

Bungou Stray Dogs is my favorite so far. I love the voice actors (Mamoru Myano has such an incredible range, and for now he's pretty much using it all) and the humor also hits home 9/10 times. The last (3rd) episode cements that by also adding some darker moments and a hefty portion of action. Definitely sold on that series.

On the fence about Kiznaiver. I like the art and the episodes have been fun, but something about the concept of forced friendship just rubs me the wrong way. I'll probably keep watching it for a while, however. The music so far has been weird but good. At one point the OST definitely gave off psychedelic vibes, which I haven't heard like this in an anime so far.

Not much to say about Attack on Trains. The first episode made me want to watch more, but I'm not yet quite as hooked as I was after the first Attack on Titan episode. The shock factor was a huge pull back then, but that's somewhat missing right now. It's edgy and brutal and gory, but that's about what I expected anyway.

No real opinion on Joker Game yet. It's not bad, but so far hasn't really pulled me in either.

 

Boku no Hero Academia is my personal favorite action anime this season. That said, it hasn't really gotten to a lot of the cool fights that come later, and it has a real shounen feel to it, so you might not like it depending on your tastes.

Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress is really popular, and I can honestly say I enjoyed it. It's one of those shows where, if you liked Attack on Titan, you'll probably like this, but if you didn't, you probably won't.

Re:Zero and Sousei no Onmyouji have both had decent action scenes, but they're both filled with cliches. Bungou Stray Dogs is somewhat fun, but it's not exactly great, and other shows have had similar styles, but have done it much better.

 

The animation of the battle scenes in Zero has really, really impressed me. The movement they managed to convey is amazing.

 

^ The part where it switches to first-person view for Elsa was just amazing. I also like how they kept fighting instead of pausing to talk like in most other shows.