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Post by Morcombe on Sept 26, 2015 12:59:08 GMT -5
Chart The final season of the year is here and it's full of sequels lol. I intend to watch everything that is new and the sequels tos hows av alreadys een but is ay that everys easona nd usually only end up finishing 2-4 shows. but I'm at 20 shows complete for thsi years seasons so it's been a good year for me actually finishing stuff, I will make it to at least 30!!! |
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Post by Kyubey on Sept 26, 2015 16:21:52 GMT -5
So after a long break of watching things kinda erratically, I'm gonna try and get back into the groove of watching seasonal anime on a regular basis. The previous seasons I kinda fell behind, and I didn't really pick up many new things during winter or summer, and I only kept up with precisely one show during spring, so to compensate, I'm taking on more than I normally would. Here's what I plan on trying out:
Lupin III - I'm inexperienced with the franchise as a whole, but I'm really looking forward to getting myself introduced.
Young Black Jack - Because of course I'm watching this.
The Perfect Insider - The trailers and promotional materials seem interesting. That's all, really.
Concrete Revolutio - Don't really have high hopes for this one, but I'm putting it here on a whim.
Comet Lucifer - This looks incredibly stupid, but in the best possible way. Should be fun, and at least worth a look.
Kowabon - Image seems intriguing, but I know absolutely nothing about this. I hope it's spooky.
Whatever Show People Are Talking About Later On - Because knowing me, I'm gonna overlook something at first.
So there we have it. "more than usual" for me is six. It's a start.
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Post by Mise™ on Sept 27, 2015 3:15:34 GMT -5
I'll watch One Punch Man, it's a great series. Might eventually also watch something else.
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Post by Morcombe on Oct 1, 2015 21:23:13 GMT -5
And begins the fall season, I think my big problem with seasonal anime is that I keep letting shows pile up and wind up not bothering with em so figured I'd try and keep up to date with shows as they come out.
I'm looking forward to the one-punch man anime after reading the first two volumes of the manga yesterday, but surprisingly I find the chapters that don't focus on Saitama to be the best, I like Genos and the super fast Ninja character. Saitama in the story is surprisingly boring, I know the whole gimmick is to win in one punch but I really hope an actual challenge for him eventually pops up.
so the first anime to arrive was
Lance N' Masques Ep. 1
Makio is adorable, I really wanna know why her father would ditch her to a life of loneliness, and that maid needs to be fired, who doesn't phone the police if a 6 year old girl comes home with a strange teenage boy XD. Also why are goons trying to kidnap her and if her dad is gonna hire maids to feed her why not hire a bodyguard?
I like Yotaro, his knight mode is hilarious and the scene where he basically proposed to the girl being harassed by thugs was funny.
The blonde girl and the horse seem like they'll keep the laughs coming as I enjoyed their comic relief, though is the horse's human form just in the blonde girls imagination or can it actually transform? I wanna know lol.
Fight scene was nice, had a cool soundtrack to it and it's my kinda comedy, so far wur of to a nice start.
the opening is pretty catchy too
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Post by Mise™ on Oct 2, 2015 12:25:32 GMT -5
Saitama in the story is surprisingly boring, I know the whole gimmick is to win in one punch but I really hope an actual challenge for him eventually pops up. It won't. Saitama is completely invincible. |
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Post by Morcombe on Oct 2, 2015 15:48:00 GMT -5
Saitama in the story is surprisingly boring, I know the whole gimmick is to win in one punch but I really hope an actual challenge for him eventually pops up. It won't. Saitama is completely invincible. hmm well that's disappointing but since it's still ongoing there is still a chance. well av seen all I wanted to see from today's fall selection with the exception of Noragami season 2, I have to finish season 1 which I intend to do tonight before I can watch season 2. I'm skipping Young Black Jack. Hackadoll Ep. 1a little short 8 minute comedy show though really only 6 since the openinga nd ending take up 2 minutes. it's nothing special, comedy is ok, suppose it will make a good time killer. Heavy Object Ep. 1I'm not a fan of military shows in general but still decided to give this a go and unfortunately it opened up with a 5 minute exposition of the world which was incredibly boring, sure its information you will eventually need to know but it could have been done better. This was just a character introduction episode as nothing really happened at all except the main guy nearly kills the main girl when he fails at maintenance work on her machine but despite the life or death situation all he can focus on is not grabbing her "seatbelt" which is suffocating her and pulling at it so she can breath, because it would mean having to touch her boobs. Then the end kinda comes out of nowhere, where I assume they jumped forward in time a little to a battle between the "Objects" which will probably be at the end of the first story arc. Maybe Military just isn't my genre. |
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Post by Kyubey on Oct 16, 2015 2:28:07 GMT -5
Well, I have now seen the beginnings of all the shows I planned on watching this season, so here's my thoughts. Keep in mind that these are all after having watched precisely one episode, with no other episodes considered.
Comet Lucifer
I was really hoping this would be more fun and original than it ended up being. There is, I will admit, potential for it to be both, but if those qualities are present in this series, they weren’t there in the first episode. The most interesting facet of the show comes from its setting, which looks nice and has a bright, vibrant atmosphere, with a fitting sense of scale to all the parts that matter. However, what would be even more appreciated is if the show took any time at all to explain what any of the details surrounding this world mean. Is it in the future of our world? Another dimension? Is it in space? I don’t know, because the show never says. Nor does it bother to explain what the social structure of the world is like, or what sort of government it has, which is something of an issue when, within the first episode, the young heroes find themselves chased by the government’s big ol’ robots. Why does that happen? At this point, it would be silly to expect the show to ever try and tell us this. Part of this can be explained by Comet Lucifer’s heavy attempt to seem very, very mysterious, not a bad endeavor at times, but it’s become overdone to the point where nothing about the story’s own world or lore is elaborated on, at all. However, this would not be a problem, if the heart and meat of the story lay with the characters and their interactions. So naturally, the main character has no distinguishing qualities, and the supporting characters are all the standard stock types that react to everything around them in all the expected ways. And of course, how they actually feel about one another, how they relate to each other, or even how they’re connected at all, is never once addressed. People are there! Things happen! That’s all we need to tell a story, right? It’s sad, because I can tell that the creators of this show wanted it to be a high-energy classic, but it just doesn’t have the right ingredients for that. And therefore, for me, Comet Lucifer has been DROPPED.
Concrete Revolutio
In a strictly literal sense, none of the individual elements in Concrete Revolutio are particularly new. In fact, pretty much everything within the storyline itself lends itself to some cliché or known genre trope, and it seems to be well aware of this. However, it’s how these elements fit together, and the fact that they’re coexisting at all, that make this show so unique. Part of why this show works is because of its visuals, which are among the most original and eyecatching I’ve seen this year, if not the absolute most. The color scheme is bright and colorful enough to be fun, but not so much that it’s painful to look at, and more importantly, it complements the energy of the show perfectly. This anime could easily be described as insane, but it’s just cohesive enough (but only barely) to show that there’s an underlying structure underneath the madness. In its own way, the nonlinear story structure and the refusal to fully elaborate on any one element of the show’s universe makes the anime a fun puzzle to figure out, which makes the experience of watching it far more engaging than if it was just a straightforward action anime. At the same time, however, it’s this same structure and energy that can make it, admittedly, hard to watch, and perhaps doesn’t ground the viewer enough to give them something to latch on to. Still, these are things that can be improved in future episodes, as the storyline can be explored and the viewer can get themselves used to the show’s unique style. As long as it ups the craziness where it counts, and clarifies where clarification is needed, I’d say this is a solid show for the season’s lineup, and has the potential to be remembered for some time after.
Kowabon
So. I didn’t realize that episodes of this were only, like, three minutes long. I guess this is just a series of shorts. Anyways, regardless, it was still entertaining! As it appears right now, Kowabon is an anthology of bite-sized horror pieces, that are all rotoscoped. What it does really well is using both the time it has and the art style it chose effectively. Having the episodes be so short allows for the animators to take risks on concepts that would be difficult to pull off in a full-length piece, and gets to the meat of the scares really quickly. Also, because the scenes are simply snippets of a story rather than being a full-length narrative, the anime has no need to justify itself, or explain any facets of its world or story that would ruin the mystique of the spookiness should they be given too much exposure. Additionally, rotoscoping and the horror genre just go hand-in-hand. The eerie uncanny valley effect of the technique is a given, but beyond that, it allows for a realistic, natural style for character animations, while allowing the strange and supernatural elements to act in the same dimension as the human characters, without either feeling out of place. What does hamper the overall effect of the show is the narrative itself, which, at least in episode 1, relied too much on established horror tropes and conventions, leading to a situation and an outcome, that, even with my very limited experience, I’ve already seen before. Still, the most important question in a spooky show is, simply: is it spooky? Well, it might just be because of my weak stomach, or my aforementioned limited experience, but I was reasonably spooked. Though not terribly. So there’s that.
Lupin III
Watching just one episode of the new continuation of the long-running Lupin series has been more than enough to convince me that I’ve really been missing out. Every minute of this episode has been massively entertaining, and left me eager to see even more. This has everything that one could want from a crime-themed anime adventure story. Dynamic characters, larger-than-life locations, clever plots, double-crosses, chases, and a lively, active atmosphere are all present, with plenty of well-done comedy and cartoon antics for good measure. One thing in particular that struck me watching this is that Lupin, while an iconic character, is not portrayed as being perfect or unbeatable. He can be tricked, he’s fully able to fail at what he sets out to achieve, and his tendency to succumb to his vices lands him in trouble plenty of times. However, it’s these qualities that make him interesting, and keep the story going into unexpected places. Given the series’ long, long history, it was hard to figure out exactly the time period of this anime, however. The style and tone is very reminiscent of the original series’ setting, but modern elements are seen as well, suggesting that this series takes place in no time in particular. Overall, I’m completely sold on the Lupin charm, and I’m left wishing that I had seen more of the previous shows, so that I could better compare them to this one.
The Perfect Insider
In the midst of all the other fare this season, the best word I can think of to describe The Perfect Insider, is necessary. It’s rare even in a good season to get a series with this sort of tone or style, and it’s very refreshing when they do come along. This is doubled when, as is the case with this show, the end result is well-crafted and of a high quality. Right from the opening, in both the show itself and the main theme, The Perfect Insider wants its viewers to know that it ain’t like other anime, and it goes about telling this in the best way. The animation is really good, even when not much is happening action-wise, and the attention to detail, in both visuals and writing, goes far above the norm. The tone of the story itself is subdued, though still strong and enticing, with a good emphasis on character. What struck me most was that one of the two protagonists can easily be identified as a reclusive genius, but he isn’t portrayed in an exaggerated or stereotypical fashion, and is played much more down-to-earth than many other characters of his type. What impressed me most was probably just how well the writer behind this seems to actually understand human interaction, even if the dialogue is still distinguishably larger than life, and how it never seems to feel the need to do too much. The vast majority of the first episode takes place in a single room, with the emphasis being on the characters talking to each other, and in a sense, watching it reminded me of watching a play in a theatre, something that I seldom experience with the anime medium. It is true, however, that some of the writing and production choices clearly attempt to demonstrate intelligence and end up bordering on pretension. But at the same time, the show is very tongue-in-cheek about it, in its own way, and there’s a recognizable reason behind those choices. The Noitamina block of anime has traditionally been set aside for works that are more smart, artistic, and, for lack of a better term, grown-up than the usual form, and if the first episode is enough to go by, The Perfect Insider is a return to that form, encompassing everything that block should contain.
Young Black Jack
This season, there’s not only one reboot or continuation of an old classic that I'm watching, but two, and, just like with Lupin, I came into this not knowing all that much about Osamu Tezuka’s famed medical drama, Black Jack. What I do know better to some extent, however, is the style and method of Tezuka. And this… isn’t the same thing. Granted, the parts where Tezuka’s influence does show are by far the best, and they’re certainly present, but Young Black Jack also tries very hard to resemble a modern work, and the writer behind this just isn’t skilled enough to take on such a huge title. As such, it’s rather hard for me to tell who this story’s supposed to appeal to at all. Younger fans, or otaku uninterested in classic manga would be put off by the dated character designs and medical setting, and most older fans would quickly lose interest because of the awkward writing and some very bizarre moments. Although I imagine that for the maybe three people out there who wanted to see a hot young Black Jack rip his shirt off before operating, this would be great. As a standalone story, it’s perfectly alright, however. What it does really well is how it explores Black Jack’s mind, more specifically, the humanity and complexities behind his persona. However, the stand alone plot behind the first episode was so weak, it actually made the protagonist seem less capable before the proper story even begins. This is most apparent in a scene where he basically abducts a patient, who is already under a serious time limit, from a sterile, fully-staffed hospital, to effectively operate alone in a dirty, underequipped independent clinic. While he does have an in-story reason for doing this, the decision is barely dwelled upon, and no justification is given for everyone else just letting him do it. The animation is notably flawed as well, and more frustratingly, the animators seem to be terrified of actually showing any blood or gruesome bits. In a show about freaking surgery, this is inexcusable, and it’s virtually impossible to get invested in what the main character is doing, when all we can see is him waving his arms around. All in all, Young Black Jack is kinda like House, only in mid-20th Century Japan, and not fun. Still, the good parts were just good enough to lead me to think there’s potential behind this, so I’ll stick around, only to see if the show just got off to a rocky start.
And, there we go! Out of six shows watched, only one got dropped after episode one! Not bad at all, I say. But only time can tell if all these shows will really hold my attention until the very end of the season. Either way, at the end of this, I'm feeling pretty good, and I'm eager to see what these shows will do next.
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