Saturday 24 January 2015

First Impressions: Winter 2015

Fall to winter has always felt a bit jarring to me... maybe because most shows take a few weeks off to celebrate new years but it just feels like... Break > Final episodes > new season.

That being said there is a lot of shows i am looking forward to watching. A few are new, a few are sequels but i'm hoping they are all a good time.

Shows continuing on from last season:

Sailor Moon Crystal
. . . I'm bored.
This makes me sad.
The original series really took time to give all the girls a personality and struggles.
this one is 90% Usagi saying "mamo-chan" and then being like "i dont need a man.... i just need him to consume all of my thoughts at all times OR i need to be crying"
It's frustrating, i really want this too get good but it's just so dull.
and the animation is atrocious.
and the CG transformations are ugly.
the other 4 senshi do NOTING
not a damn thing.
no personality beyond Smart, Psychic, Strong and Pretty.
UGH.... this better get better but i doubt it... this feels like a blatant cash grab from Toei.

Yona of the Dawn
This show took a few episodes to get into but i'm really enjoying it and i'm glad it doesn't feel like it's rushing. it's taking it's time to introduce the new characters and get all their backstory in and i love it. I still find the end of the intro song a little anti climatic... it ends on this quiet note when i wish it would end with some power. but thats a seriously minor gripe.

Parasyte -the maxim-
I'm enjoying it, i worry that the main character is getting a bit too "god mode" for my personal taste but i am still curious as to what will happen. how can this end in a satisfying way? I hate the change of look... his hair just looks so dumb... much better as a megane. but yeah it's good. And i mean that intro song... really good. Same note as last time, if you don't like 'body horror' or extreme violence or shows where no one is safe... then this show isn't for you. if you are okay with all that then you'll probably really enjoy Parasyte.

Your Lie in April
This is going to hurt isn't it.
Well new intro and ending and they are lovely.
Still i know this is going to hurt, i'm still so bummed that Animplex is putting this out cause it's going to cost an arm and a leg and i'll have to wait for a sale just to get it to a decent price.
Still so very very good. 

Bonjour ~Sweet Love Patisserie~
the episodes are so short... it feels like a lot more plot could happen if given more time but i'm enjoying it enough. 


Some ground rules:
1. No webshows, i sometimes make exceptions but for the most part i can't stand waiting a week for a 3-15 min long show... also they tend to be comedy and unfortunately some comedy isn't universal.
2. No shows with Brother or sister in the title.  Japan has this odd obsession with having family members be love interest, almost always falling back on the "well they aren't actually related" argument... i can't stand those types of shows and a good portion of them have Brother or sister in the title.
3. No card game shows.... i just never like them.
4. I will try to watch everything i can legally get my hands on (read as on Funimation or Crunchyroll) for one episode but i'm allowed to drop out early, i'll let you know when i stopped watching and feel free to let me know if things change after that. 
5. My taste tend to be more on the shoujo or slice of life side but i try to give everything a fair shot. If i end up not liking something that doesn't mean it's bad it just means i didn't connect with it.

ok... luckily we get to start off with the one show i have been looking the most forward to.


Cute High Earth Defense club LOVE!
Aka magical boys.
I hope this is good.... i'm expecting it to be terrible... but it has hiroshi kamiya.... and magical boys... dammit i want it to be amazing.
...
they just spent the opening chunk discussing oden ingredients and how making a club named after certain ones would be hard to say.
what have i gotten myself into?
ooo he's playing a villain~ i love it.
They even get fancy transformation scenes... looks great! better then sailor moon crystal.
yeah... show of the year... right here
it's gloriously stupid
I couldn't stop laughing... it will not be for everyone but yeah i love it so far.
the humor is a bit blah but the magical girl tropes? gotta love it. i may have to do some fanart... cause why not.

KanColle
This intellectual property seems to be insanely popular.
i'm going to be honest, it looks REALLY stupid to me... i do not understand the hype... but still... no harm in giving one episode a shot... all it looks like to me is Moe Girls in school uniforms who are also military weapons (on water cause why not) who have said school girl uniform tear when they are damaged.
First off it has a lot of CG and i really am finding i do not like CG being overused in anime... especially not for the characters... it just doesn't look right. and it's a shame cause the actual animation seems quite well done.
Considering how stereotypically moe this is so far i hope theres some subversion like "oh look all your friends are dead cause this is war and all that"
but i have a feeling such a thing will not be the case... this will just be another Moe girls with guns show. well... moe girls with weapons that turn into war ships and planes because..... anime.
I want to say "why is so damn popular" but i know why... Fanservice. maybe theres a decent plot under there somewhere... it has yet to show itself and i'm 17 minutes in at this point. I seriously do not get why all the stuff on water is CG. the movements they are doing wouldn't be too difficult to draw.
Well.... that was a waste of time.
Granted, i don't like shows that focus on moe... or fanservice... and i really hate when they are completely lacking plot.
and no "i want to be stronger" is not good enough.
SO yeah, i wont be watching this show.... but i'm sure everyone else is cause.... well fanservice.
Also side note: glorifying war with moe girls is also kinda creepy... it's a big part of why i can't stand the Moe girls with guns genre... it's just creepy. 

The Testament of Sister New Devil
*quickly checks MAL to make a point*
So the show is about a guy who finds out he has sisters and one of them is a demon lord and one is a succubus... blah blah blah contract gets reversed and now he's the master... oh this is a nice direct quote
Moreover, Basara is being hit by one ecchi situation after another due to the contract
- http://myanimelist.net/anime/23233/Shinmai_Maou_no_Testament#3jCOIP7Lq2MULrJM.99
See... every damn show with brother or sister in the title has a incest subplot "but it's okay cause they aren't actually related/they didn't grow up as siblings." this one has the gall to also have the master/servant plot thread and it's just... ugh.... why are there so many shows about this topic.... WHY.
anyways yeah... prime example for why i don't watch shows with brother or sister in the title UNLESS i know there is no incest or incest themes (but i have yet to find a single one)

Military! 
3 mins long.... thank goodness cause i didn't like the art style.

Saekano -how to raise a boring girlfriend-
I have so many things wrong with that title i don't know where to begin but i have been seeing people call the show a subversion... we will see... i will give it a shot.
Starting off with the girl taking a bath though isn't the best start.
Ok.... Self aware doesn't equal Subversive.
"omg don't you hate those harem shows that start with so much fanservice" - the show the littrally starts in a bath scene.
"but isn't focusing on the lovely art causing the decline of anime" (i think they mean caring more abotu art over plot?) coming from the show that is quite well animated.
yeah.... thats self aware... not subversion... now if it ends up having an amazing plot while still being this self aware then yeah... maybe it can be called subversive but right now it feels like it's trying far too hard to be Meta.
Also putting aside the blatant sexual assult that one of the girls just did to the one guy what is the point to all this... like... these super self aware anime character go out on a field trip and they are making a game which they are also hyper self aware about and then they all try to bone the main dude but he's a good guy and will hold back but acknowledge that it is titillating for the viewer? oh and did i mention one of the a fore mentioned girls is his cousin.
I was going to try and give it a shot till the end of the episode but Cousin as potential love interest is an automatic disqualification in my books.
A1 I expect better from you, you have made wonderful shows that tug at the heartstrings and tell amazing stories.... and then you release pandering piece of crap like this...
maybe i'm just getting old... and them new fangled anime are just not my taste (i know thats not the case, i am enjoying lots of current anime it's just the bad one really piss me off)

Durarara!! x2
I just finished rewatching this, good times.
ok My history with Durarara.
I really enjoyed it, i love the way it handled non-linear story telling and the music was fantastic (complication is still one of my all time fav songs and i have bought Rookiez is punk'd albums thanks to it (and they are all great purchases)
I also have an Orihaya Izaya figure because i seem to be amassing a collection of Hiroshi kamiya figures.... completely not on purpose too...
I hope we deal more with Celty and Izaya's sotry in this season but honestly i'm just happy there is more.
Split second of Samurai flamenco shows up on screen apparently makes me laugh... i know it was a silly show but i enjoyed it.
side note i'm surprised about the quality of animation... it feels a bit floatier then the first season does... maybe that'll just be this episode but considering the first is the one they put a lot of money into... who knows.
 oh boy.... so when i first watched durarara it was a few years after it originally came out and i got a handful of references but i mean... 2009 was college time so i didn't have time to watch anime....
but now that i'm a sparatically employed contract worker/artist i have a lot more time and have watched at least an episode of almost every single show the characters are talking about.... this really changes the feel of those characters.
yet for only half a year to pass -_- the math doesn't really work our but all is good.
greta first episode, i'll need to get used to the new intro but i love what i hear of the ending song so far... also love the take on the first ending visuals.
looking forward to more of this.

Aldnoah.Zero
fun fact, an episode zero was released and i went to watch it and then i remembered "wait... wouldn't they have the moon blowing up in that episode?" so i immediately closed out and i have to watch this without the knowledge that episode 0 would impart.
i don't care... i know what i can't handle and the moon blowing up is a one way ticket to panic attackville.
Oh no... i hope this doesn't take place too much in space... i like this show... i want to be able to watch it.
well there is one thing i can say. To the friend i had an argument about this.... told ya so.
otherwise after a lot of WTF but i have a feeling thats half the point of this show. unfortunately i can't talk plot at all... just know that if you liked season 1 you're probably going to enjoy this.

Gourmet Girl Graffiti
is this animated by shaft?
*checks* wow i was actually right.
well i'm sure it'll be interesting/lovingly animated if nothing else.
So theres a girl, she cooks stuff and when she eats she looks like she's enjoying it a bit too much.
anyways her second cousin kinda barges into her house so she can attend the same art school on the weekends.
so essentially it's a shaft show about girls eating food.
it doesn't seem bad but the first episode wasn't enough to make me want to watch more... and shaft shows are hit or miss with me.  if i hear great things i may marathon it at the end of the season but right now it's just not the type of show i enjoy.

World Break: Aria of Curse for a Holy Swordsman
Thats how you open a new show. really great little intro at the start, no exposition but we know how magic works in this world and the overall threat. No stupid long bullshit terms and no fanservice just "hey, you get to look forward to more of this"
lets hope the rest of the show stays at that standard.
So it's a harem show but since the main guy doesn't remember his past life (which is the source of everyones power) we don't fully know his connections to the other girls (we do know that the one they seem to be touting as the main was his sister in a past life.... and ew... i don't care that these characters have literally no relations in this life the fact that she is so attached to someone she thinks is her brother is really gross)
remember what i said about no fanservice. well take that and throw it out the window.
also no stupid bullshit terms? that can be tossed as well... not saying it detracts from the show it's just funny that the two things i praised were tossed out the window immediately after the opening scene.
the art is a bit distracting, there eyes are really far apart and the face seems the wrong size for the facial features.
as far as harem shows go it seems to have a really interesting frame but i'm not a huge fan of harems so yeah again the show isn't for me. if the art were better i would probably continue watching but yeah... too distracted. Great opening scene none the less.

Fafner Exodus
I haven't seen any fafner because of two things.
1. the art reminds me of gundam seed which i didn't particularly care for.
2. while i had heard good things about it it takes A LOT to get me to watch something that has even a hint of space in it.... so i never saw the first season.
and i don't feel like changing that... i have enough sci-fi shows this season (read as Aldnoah.zero)
but since i haven't seen the first season i can't/won't talk about this other then to mention that boy thats a lot of CG.
oh and it still has a Seed style to the art...
but i'm assuming if you liked the first one (which originally came out in 2004.... ok i don't get to complain about a 3 year gap for natsume anymore) you'll probably enjoy this thouh i have no clue how much it's connected to that original season.

Unlimited Fafnir
this Fafnir has no relation to Fafner. it's kind of unfortunate that the titles are so close, i almost didn't watch this cause i thought it was connected to the other show.
Anyways this looks like it's based of an H-game
Light novel? interesting.
So... another Harem show... but he is literally the only man on a giant island of women so hey at least they upped the anti i guess?
doesn't change the fact that i'm not a fan of the genre. also everyone sounds fairly monotone which is a bit disappointing.
oh well.

Samurai Warriors
wait.... do i start with the OVA or episode 1.... crunchy you have given me too many options.
episode 1 is shorter... i'll watch it first and if i enjoy i can watch the OVA
Well the music is fantastic.
So this is based on a game right? i vaguely recognize the art.
Oh boy... this is a very large cast and i have a hard time with names at the best of times and i'm having a hard time knowing who's good and bad cause there is a base knowledge of japan's unification that i am lacking.
i'm assumign if you like the game you'll get a kick out of this... or like oda nobunaga time frame stories.
I'm passing for now.

shouldn't.... crunchy have Kuroko's basketball 3 up by now?... don't tell me they aren't getting season 3... that would make me a little sad.... i mean the show has been losing steam but i still watch watch until it stop being fun.

Daisuki.net? what the.

Well looks like theres another legal streamer on the field and since it doesn't seem like they have any type of premium membership (yet) i will check it out.

Kuroko's Basketball 3
I still hope this goes on crunchy cause i hate having shows on 3 different sites but this is my first experience streaming something on Daisuki.
Well considering it has been a bit of time since season 2 ended this episode is mostly recap and reintroduction.
I am worried about this season... season two introduced being in the zone and had kuroko naming all of his passes... pretty much everything i HATE about sports anime... i worry that it'll just get worse. i also worry that they will stop focusing on Kuroko because kagami is a better player but i like focusing on kuroko.
The new streamer is pretty nice, the subtitles are a bit harsh but thats just a matter of getting used to them.
but yeah lookign forward to seeing what Akashi's ability is cause... well they haven't mentioned it an i'm curious.
Edit: Crunchy did end up also getting this but it seems to be 2 or 3 weeks behind so i'm not sure how thats gunna work out.

Kamisama kiss 2
I like girly stuff, the first season was pretty fun but i am so clas there is more because ti felt like it was just starting.
i do have to wonder if this director just has terrible taste in music since all of their shows is just... bleh.
but yeah... if you liked season 1 then this is a good continuation so far. but if you haven't seen season one and are curious about starting it... it's girly as hell so thats your only warning.

ISUCA
wow... that is some pretty blatant censorship... is this going to be terraformers all over?
like seriously what is the point.
So fanservice harem with yoma?
yeah... when i'm in the middle of a life or death situation i'm gunna worry about my underwear showing...
also how did he end up there after that blast?
this kind of show is really just the dregs of anime... if you have to rely on fanservice to hold your audiences attention cause your plot is terrible then why even bother.

i think i'm near the end... just the Funimation stuff left.

Yatterman Night
47 seconds... thats gotta be a new record for me stopping a show...
uh... maybe they show is good? uh... the asteroids in the first minute are stopping me from continuing...

Death Parade
I have been hearing a lot of good things about this show so i'm hopeful.
Really interesting concept, lovely animation... a little morbid but thats understandable.
dunno if this kind of thing can hold an entire season but i'm willing to give it a chance.
There is a bar where you must stake your life on a game, you can't leave the bar until you play and not playing... well it doesn't seem to be an option anyone wants to take.
anymore then that would take away the fun... the first episode does a perfect job of explaining the world and rules without being too much.

Yurikuma Arashi
a) the art is really ugly, it looks like it's pulling reference anime from the 50s but just failing at getting the retro charm.
b) not a yuri/shoujo ai fan...
so yeah pass.

Absolute Duo
*looks at MAL* ecchi harem...
so... did winter just become the lets show crappy harem shows at this time of year?
like... this is the 6th one so far.... and in a season that also has two reverse harems (which i don't mind cause it doesn't tend to be as blatant... also i'm a girl so i am actually the target audience)
still... i should give it a chance like i did all the other ecchi harem shows.
well... the animation is jagged... lots of sharp and seemingly flowy movements but not flowy at all. Like i'm wondering if Kodokawa is hurting for money cause this just looks bland. the backgrounds and character animation doesn't mesh together at all... they don't feel like they are in the same space.
The unfortunate thing with fantasy series is that they feel like they have to front load all the exposition... it makes sings pretty dull. also this is an extension of "look at the loli girls fight look how tough they are with there wittle blush marks"
however out of all the ecchi harem shows this season (and wow there are so many) it's not the worst... still not gunna waste my time.

The Rolling Girls
uh... well... that is a show... that was made.. about stuff? maybe?
The animation reminds me of Kill la kill... though i am pretty sure that was trigger and this is pony canyon.
other then that.... i just don't know...

Assassination Classroom
Okay so this seems interesting and a bit like dnaganronpa----- what happens to the moon? screw that i'm out.

The Idol M@ster Cindarella girls
i have been told it's got not connection to the other Idol M@ster anime so lets give this a chance.
Gotta say the producer is pretty funny... and the pacing is a lot easier to take in then the other idol M@ster anime. i may continue watching it... it'll give me another reason to visit Daisuki.

And... i believe thats it...

I feel like i was very negative with this seasons first impressions but in the end i am planning to watch quite a few shows. I count 11 (granted some of those are on the fence but thats still a lot for one season) so i'm hoping it's all good.

I also hope that spring 2015 has a few less harem shows... but i am probably just getting my hopes up with that

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