New year, new anime season. Show list of MAL is here.

Stuff that I'll be checking out.

Citrus: I followed the manga for a while and I periodically forget it exists, I still quite like it. So I'll be giving this a try.

Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card-hen: I always liked the CCS anime and manga when I was younger, one of the few series where I actually possess the physical volumes. That said, the very premise seems to be basically the same thing again, Sakura capturing Cards because something happened to them, whereas I would have liked the higher level stuff to be explored. Who knows, maybe it will do that or do something interesting with the characters. Gonna check it out at least.

Ito Junji Collection: I quite like his stuff. For those who aren't familiar with him, here is an interesting video by Super Eyepatch Wolf talking about the way it can be unnerving and rather scary. Not sure if the horror will translate to the anime format but no reason not to check it out. Think the first episode is even out on crunchyroll.

Kokkoku: This looks kinda interesting, first time I am hearing about this but dunno, it also sounds like it could be bad. Depends on the execution, really, so gonna check it out at least.

Violet Evergarden: This is the anime I have been eagerly expecting for a year or so now, ever since I saw those gorgeous gifs and later trailers. The animation is outright breathtaking and I love the character design. The story synopsis seems interesting as well, so I'm definitely going to give this one a try and hope it's as good as it looks. The trailers made it seem more romance oriented than I had been led to believe but maybe that's just trailer stuff, so not sure.

The one thing is that it's done by Kyoto Animation which isn't bad but the fact that it will be on Netflix kinda is as it will not be released outside Japan before spring 2018. Why Netflix outside Japan always has to wait a few months at best and about a year at worst before giving us access I don't understand but it is what it is. Then again, Netflix says new episode is coming out January 11th, so not sure at this point. Kakegurui still hasn't been released there so no clue. Would be weird if Violet Evergarden were to be released before that.

Well, we'll see, I guess. That's it for me at this point, maybe something that sounds shitty will catch my interest by being better than the summary indicated.

 

Very curious to see if Ito's work will translate well to motion animation. I would have been somewhat afraid that it wouldn't, but afaik he had a hand in the cancelled Silent Hills, and what we saw of that was very good, so I'm on a neutral state of hoping for success and not being sure what'll come of it. Will keep an eye out for sure. Junji Ito is damn good at what he does, and the success of an anime adaptation will depend on how involved he is with it, I think.

 

I don't like Ito in general (to make a good manga you need more than creepy pictures), but I can spare you the effort. The anime is badly drawn and barely animated, no reasons to bother with it unless you want to lower your average on MAL.

 

Fuck me I guess.

 

Overlord? Check. Even if it's the fucking lizard arc.

Fate/Extra? Eh, Fate spin-offs range from watchable to good. I'll give it a try at least.

Isekai - lol another isekai. Summary makes it sound like a shitty slice of life/adventure, might give it a chance.

I loved Cardcaptor like 15 years ago. Watched the entire anime. I wonder how I'd like it today. "Sakura loses all her cards and has to capture them again" sounds some Digimon progression level bullshit though.

Might watch the yuri thing too. Been a while. Like ten years. Inugami-san to Nekoyama-san didn't count.

 

If you're not watching Pop Team Epic get the fuck out.

 

I think my favourite part of new seasons is reading the utterly bonkers plot summaries of each show and then never watching them -_-

Though that 'Sucked into a gaming world #1948354' one where he's overpowered from the start sounds amusing.

And I don't know what Pop Team Epic is, but dat art tho, lol

 

Violet Evergarden is a GOAT-contender. You plebs should watch it.

 

With Anime Strike dead, everyone with Prime is now able to see the previously exclusive anime that was included in that service.

Finally I can see Made in Abyss and Lustrous.

---

Some day I'll get around to watching Overlord.
Neat, more Fate/____ anime.
Grancest looks like this season's Standard Fantasy, so I'm all for it.
Beatless could be good?
Popteamepic looks absolutely stupid, and I'm probably just going to avoid that altogether. Meta humor is not up my alley.
Ito Junji - Hell no; No horror for me, thanks.
Toji no Miko - Maaaybe?
Killing Bites - Uh.. Maybe?
Another Isekai - Probably not.

A lot of these I'll hold back and check out opinions on before I really dedicate to watching, I think.

Violet Evergarden looks like it's at least striving to be a high quality work. Whether it gets there or not, who knows.

 

I wondered how they'd make PTE into and anime. The answer is they didn't. I may give it another episode but the format doesn't work.

Hellstar or Doppelganger would have been great choices because they use the horror to tell a (often darkly humorous) story. A lot of the rest of his works rely on the creepy drawings draw too much, I agree

 

Although there is no real information quite yet, MAL has added an entry for a Youjo Senki/Saga of Tanya the Evil movie. Now, nothing else is really known but MAL has it classified as a sequel, so that's really interesting. Would have hated if they had simply redesigned the season into two movies or so. So yeah, picking of where it left off, the Africa campaign, surrounded by enemy forces, should be interesting.

Hope it comes out this year.

On more local news, for all the German anime fans (like @Eilyfe , I believe), Your Name/Kimi No Na Wa is FINALLY airing in the cinemas starting this week, and if my towns Cinemaxx is anything to go by, they won't have that many screenings.

But yeah, really psyched for this, have been looking forward ever since it came out nearly two years ago. Hopefully this will make anime distribution more popular for Germany, as it is something of a wasteland for that. Takes ages for stuff to come here, if it does at that.

Happy for the American Amazon Prime users, btw, unfortunately Made In Abyss is one that we won't see here anytime soon.

 

It's confirmed that it's a sequel - http://moetron.news/post/169467514495/youjo-senki-anime-film-announcement-cm-and-teaser

And this year is possible considering Nut's low workload.

 

Really enjoying Darling in the Franxx (then again... I enjoy pretty much everything trigger has made).

002 is perfect in every way, and innuendo left right and centre is hilarious.



Look at this.



100% self-satisfied hungry smug.

Much like Kill La Kill, however, you probably don't want to watch this with other people around. Conversations could get a tad awkward.

 

YoriMoi is pretty nice, definitely much better than I expected it to be. They are finally going to Antarctica now, which will truly make or break the series, but at tge moment I would give it 6-7/10.

 

Enjoyed episodes 4 and 5 of Violet Evergarden today. It's an unconventional story. The calm vibe is growing on me and I'm fully invested at this point. The score is also quite nice. One episode, the visuals, the music, and the story all put together made me even emotional and somewhat teary-eyed.

Darling in the Franxx is a fun watch. I like the protagonists (and hate some of the annoying side characters). The battles are good, the visuals too. As has been already mentioned, however, this is nothing to watch with the uninitiated. The whole concept of how they're sitting in their mechas is ridiculously over-sexed. Fun times, still.

I've no idea what to make of Overlord. It's . . . weird? I mean, I like the lizard people well enough (and lizard romance is hands down my new favorite romance). But it feels disjointed. We barely get to see the protagonist, and if he does appear, his scenes are tedious to get through.

At least in design, Fate/Extra: Last Encore is about what one can expect from Shaft. The art can be trippy, and I haven't really gotten used to Saber's voice (which is beside the fact that she has jizz on her head - just look at her hair and judge objectively). While the first two episodes were confused ramblings and action as far as I am concerned, the story has become clearer by now. Some things feel a bit over the top though.

All in all, an average season.

 

Does Violet Evergarden get any better watched the first two episodes didn't get invested at all does it pick up or shouldn't one even bother when the you hated the first two?

 

As much as I enjoy this series, if you didn't like the first two episodes, the rest probably won't change your opinion.

 

The fifth and sixth episodes were immensely better than the first four.

BTW: I didn't speak about it before because I don't really count it as a part of the season, but if any of you haven't watched Devilman Crybaby yet, you should fix this mistake.

 

I'm watching several shows this season.

Citrus - so bad, it's good.
Darling in the FranXX - poor Ichigo.
Death March... - it's relaxing.
Overlord - pretty okay, but I'd like more focus on Ainz-sama, not lizards or the butler.
Toji no Miko - surprisingly great. Girls are cute and plot moves every episode. Give it a try.
Hakata Tonkotsu Ramens - remember Durarara before season 2 where they had no budget and the plot got too convoluted? This is like that early Durarara. Also plot moves lightning fast, which a plus in my book.