General anime discussion thread

Gate is such a trainwreck I can't stop watching.

Ironblooded Orphans is (probably) the first Gundam I ever watched. I was fairly into it at the beginning, and while I can't say it's gotten bad, my interest sort of fizzled out.

Dimension W is good pulpy SF entertainment. Stylish.

Best show of the season is, without a single doubt in my mind, Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju. (It's pretty much the type of show that Kids on the Slope was, only replacing Jazz with Rakugo, and being better.) I so love this show. I wish it wouldn't end, since the whole things basically an extended flashback in the manga, and the present day story would interest me a lot, too, but I'm happy to get what I get. Best show since... 2013? Yes, I'm that excited about it.

Dawnstorm said:

Gate is such a trainwreck I can't stop watching.

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I like it.

Dimension W is good pulpy SF entertainment. Stylish.

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I haven't started this yet, but caught one episode on Toonami.

I really liked it, and I could immediately relate to the robot girl.

kuwisdelu said:

I like it.

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Strangely, I like it, too. But it pushes pretty hard against some of my bugbears, especially in the second cour. I can only watch it because its militaristic attitudes towards things such as "protection" or "revenge" are so propagandistically inept that they're hard to take seriously. Like the episode when our hero wonders whether it's all right for them to enter the imperial palace at all (because the silly native princess is afraid of eathquakes, mind you), and then they find an enslaved Japanese citizen, and suddenly they just shoot up guards and beat up the prince. Ah, okay. That would be much more distasteful, if it were more subtle. But it's right there out in the open. It's impossible to ignore, but it's ultimately also impossible for me to take seriously.

I do generally like the character designs.

Dawnstorm said:

Strangely, I like it, too. But it pushes pretty hard against some of my bugbears, especially in the second cour. I can only watch it because its militaristic attitudes towards things such as "protection" or "revenge" are so propagandistically inept that they're hard to take seriously. Like the episode when our hero wonders whether it's all right for them to enter the imperial palace at all (because the silly native princess is afraid of eathquakes, mind you), and then they find an enslaved Japanese citizen, and suddenly they just shoot up guards and beat up the prince. Ah, okay. That would be much more distasteful, if it were more subtle. But it's right there out in the open. It's impossible to ignore, but it's ultimately also impossible for me to take seriously.

I do generally like the character designs.

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I probably wouldn't enjoy it at all if Itami weren't such an antithesis to usual soldier tropes.

Matt T. said:

Are there any Gundam fans here? After having been away from the series for years, I've been watching Iron-Blooded Orphans and am up to Episode 13. It's a fantastic show, and I can't wait to watch a few more episodes tonight after I get off work and complete my writerly duties.

I also tried watching Zeta Gundam lately and made it about halfway through before my interest started fizzling out.

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I've been catching up on the franchise for a while. I started IRO but drifted off after catching up a while ago. I'll revisit at some point.

Zeta takes a bit to get into. You have to be invested in the original series and understand that while it is a sequel, it's not a direct one. It's worth the watch. Double Zeta was the one I couldn't stand. I skimmed a lot of it.

Dawnstorm said:

Ironblooded Orphans is (probably) the first Gundam I ever watched. I was fairly into it at the beginning, and while I can't say it's gotten bad, my interest sort of fizzled out.

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From the first 5-6 episodes I watched of it, I can tell you there's much better Gundams. IBO is certainty an improvement coming off of Reconguista in G, which was a trainwreck. There are better Gundam series, especially the original and the OVAs.

kuwisdelu said:

I probably wouldn't enjoy it at all if Itami weren't such an antithesis to usual soldier tropes.

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I can see that. (Beyond tropes, though, I think he's still making violence-first decisions; e.g. the palace scene I mentioned above.)

Kerosene said:

From the first 5-6 episodes I watched of it, I can tell you there's much better Gundams. IBO is certainty an improvement coming off of Reconguista in G, which was a trainwreck. There are better Gundam series, especially the original and the OVAs.

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I wasn't expecting it to be the best out there. In fact Mari Okada + Gundam isn't exactly what I'd call a natural combination, so I was pretty wary. Turned out fairly well, though. I initially wasn't going to watch it, but someone thought I should so I did. I didn't regret it.

Similarly, I'm now wondering whether I should pick up Macross Delta next season, without having seen any of the other Macrosses.

For me the best anime of the season was Erased (aka Boku Dake Ga Inai Machi). The first 2/3s of it was amazing. The final stretch (post Kayo-arc) was a bit weaker, but still well above average compared to other anime. Up through the Kayo-arc it's a solid 9/10.

Kerosene said:

Zeta takes a bit to get into. You have to be invested in the original series and understand that while it is a sequel, it's not a direct one. It's worth the watch. Double Zeta was the one I couldn't stand. I skimmed a lot of it.

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I'll give it another try to see if it gets any better past the halfway point. I watched the 0079 movie trilogy beforehand, and while it wasn't bad, I can't exactly say I loved them. Zeta has far better animation (relatively speaking), and I really dig the direction they took Char's character in, but there's a lot of stuff I don't like about it. It's strangely episodic despite the fact that its story is ongoing from episode to episode. Things like Kamille meeting, falling in love with, and fighting Four feel incredibly rushed because they jam it all into one episode. The fact that they have to an obligatory mecha battle in every single episode forces them to reuse villains far too much. Don't get me started on how Kamille and co. have fought Jerid about fifteen times by this point in the series...

It's a shame to hear ZZ Gundam isn't that good though. I kind of want to do a complete watch of every Gundam series ever made, but the popular consensus on some of the series like ZZ and Reconguista in G is so abysmal that it makes me think I should just skip the terrible ones.

Dawnstorm said:

Similarly, I'm now wondering whether I should pick up Macross Delta next season, without having seen any of the other Macrosses.

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I'm considering that as well. I saw Frontier years ago, but I barely remember a thing from it. They apparently released the first episode of Delta early, and some of the opinions I've heard on it on MyAnimeList are... not encouraging, but I might try it.

Matt T. said:

I'll give it another try to see if it gets any better past the halfway point. I watched the 0079 movie trilogy beforehand, and while it wasn't bad, I can't exactly say I loved them. Zeta has far better animation (relatively speaking), and I really dig the direction they took Char's character in, but there's a lot of stuff I don't like about it. It's strangely episodic despite the fact that its story is ongoing from episode to episode. Things like Kamille meeting, falling in love with, and fighting Four feel incredibly rushed because they jam it all into one episode. The fact that they have to an obligatory mecha battle in every single episode forces them to reuse villains far too much. Don't get me started on how Kamille and co. have fought Jerid about fifteen times by this point in the series...

It's a shame to hear ZZ Gundam isn't that good though. I kind of want to do a complete watch of every Gundam series ever made, but the popular consensus on some of the series like ZZ and Reconguista in G is so abysmal that it makes me think I should just skip the terrible ones.

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I really, really enjoyed the full series of 0079. Yeah, it does take a bit to get into, but it's one of those series you're glad you sat through. The movies didn't hit the same mark for me. The storyline needs a lot of time to get established in.

Most series with Gundam have that episodic nature. It is considered a kid's show (kids meaning under 18), for the most part, and an ever-connecting storyline can be hard to really nail down. Some series like Wing, it becomes more of a nuisance than anything. But then again, I enjoy the rivalry that is stoked by episodic battles. The rivalry between characters is my favorite part of Gundam. And then also there is some rushed plot elements Gundam takes to. FFS, the whole Lalah Newtype stuff at the end of 0079 kinda soured the end for me.

Double Zeta is polarizing for some. Zeta is a tragedy, Double Zeta is a comedy--in both theatrical senses. So rolling from one to the other can be pretty bad. I know some folks who'll says Double Zeta is their favorite Gundam series (over G Gundam and the OVAs), and others--like me--loath it. It's worth starting to see if you like it. If you really want to dig into Gundam, Double Zeta is a must watch as many events and characters that come up in it continue in the timeline. Watching Gundam Unicorn (which is pretty much Gundam porn as it rides the tropes hard) is very hard to get through without Zeta and Double Zeta under your belt.

The new Macross, I'm not too sure about. I'll dip into it. Not a huge fan because the whole mecha + idol stuff isn't really my thing. The last thing I watched of Macross was Frontier, I couldn't tell you a thing about it other than pointing out the characters.

Kerosene said:

Double Zeta is polarizing for some. Zeta is a tragedy, Double Zeta is a comedy--in both theatrical senses. So rolling from one to the other can be pretty bad. I know some folks who'll says Double Zeta is their favorite Gundam series (over G Gundam and the OVAs), and others--like me--loath it. It's worth starting to see if you like it. If you really want to dig into Gundam, Double Zeta is a must watch as many events and characters that come up in it continue in the timeline. Watching Gundam Unicorn (which is pretty much Gundam porn as it rides the tropes hard) is very hard to get through without Zeta and Double Zeta under your belt.

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I'll keep that in mind! If I end up finishing Zeta, I'll at least give ZZ a try. Worst case scenario if I really hate it, I'll read a summary and jump ahead to Char's Counterattack. I hear excellent things about Unicorn, but I'm hoping to save it until last so I can get all the references and fully understand it.

Matt T. said:

I'll keep that in mind! If I end up finishing Zeta, I'll at least give ZZ a try. Worst case scenario if I really hate it, I'll read a summary and jump ahead to Char's Counterattack. I hear excellent things about Unicorn, but I'm hoping to save it until last so I can get all the references and fully understand it.

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A bit unclear here, but I'll say anyways: You'll be fine jumping into Char's Coutnerattack without ZZ. You don't really need Zeta, but it's good to know it. It mainly focuses on the events of 0079.

If you want a more modern Gundam series to get out of the 4:3 low quality stuff, there's Gundam Thunderbolt currently being released. It's a very detached series of events during the 0079 war so you can jump in easy. Amazing animation, great characters, really dark and dirty events. That second episode is something else.

It's April 1 in Japan.

You know what that means.

EVANGELION UNIT-01 v. GODZILLA.

kuwisdelu said:

It's April 1 in Japan.

You know what that means.

EVANGELION UNIT-01 v. GODZILLA.

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Heh, I would pay to see that if it was real.

Speaking of Evangelion, I have to wonder when they're ever going to release the 4th movie in the new series. I want to watch the movie series but I refuse to do so until they're all out, as I don't like the idea of getting invested in the story and then having to wait god knows how long for the end.

Matt T. said:

Speaking of Evangelion, I have to wonder when they're ever going to release the 4th movie in the new series. I want to watch the movie series but I refuse to do so until they're all out, as I don't like the idea of getting invested in the story and then having to wait god knows how long for the end.

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It might be a while. The time between movies has been getting longer each time, and Anno is currently working on a new Godzilla movie. (Hence the April 1 prank.)

Speaking of which, I finally ordered the US release of 3.33.

It was taking so long for them to (not) redo the dub that I had given up on checking a long time ago.

Now the long wait for the US release of the new NGE Blu-ray box set released in Japan last year...

And of course, Final...

Watching Oh Edo Rocket and wondering what took me so long.

I am back and I started the dub of Drrrr Ketsu.

Bungou Stray Dogs was surprisingly fun. Very stylish. Nobody told me that all the characters were named after writers (I googled the names I didn't recognise).

ETA: Shouldn't have been surprised about the writers, cosidering the word "bungou" practically gives it away. (That's what I get for being really bad at Japanese - "bungou" has something to do with "bungaku" - literature - right?)

In Dimension W, the two main guys remind me of Sanji and Zoro. (They have the same voice actors in the dub as One Piece.)

Anyone planning on watching Kiznaiver when it starts airing in a few days? I've been going through the list of shows airing this season, but nothing is standing out to me aside from Kiznaiver and possibly Macross Delta.

So far I'm liking Boku no Hero Academia and Bungou Stray Dogs. Both come off as great action/comedy series, and Bones being Bones both are animated extremely well. Also, in typical Bones fashion, both have characters that display a lot of personality through their body language and facial expressions.

Mayoiga had an interesting debut episode, setting up the creepyness of what's going to happen in that series. Though I kinda hope the cast gets trimmed down fairly quickly. It's just way too big as is, and I'm guessing most are just there to be killed.

Uchuu Patrol Luluco's debut episode was pretty fun, and actually had solid animation (unlike the other shorts from Trigger). Imaishi's sense of humor comes through strong in this.

I still need to watch Sakamoto's debut episode and I'm looking forward to Kiznaiver's debut.

TV Tropes said that "Tokyo Tribe" is "Durarara" meets gangsta rap. Agree? Disagree?

Noizchild said:

TV Tropes said that "Tokyo Tribe" is "Durarara" meets gangsta rap. Agree? Disagree?

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Haven't seen. (Have you seen Baccano? The source novel is written by the same guy who's written Durarara, and it's pretty good.)

***

This season's pretty good with comedy, for me. I didn't think I'd say this, but Shounen Maid is pretty good. So this boy's mother dies, and the boy gets to live with his rich uncle, where he's hired to be a house keeper and wears a maid uniform. I thought the comedy would be based on humilation and stupid gender antics. Instead, it turned out to be a fairly touching story about a proud boy still to confused to grief properly, and his easy-going uncle whose "not good with strangers". It's probably going to be one of my favourites.

Anne Happy is cute and promises to be one of the better Ounuma comedies (not as good as Watamote, but definitely better than No-Rin). I also like it better than what little I've seen of Baka to Test.

Sakamoto desu ga is fabulous, but I see little potential for improvement and a possibility that the jokes would get old. My favourite skit this week involved Sakamoto, a transparent umbrella, and a little sparrow in a rain storm. If they keep coming up with things like that, they don't really need to vary the formula.

Then there's Kuma Miko, which I've talked about, and I really like, too. And I'm still waiting for Tanaka-kun, about a boy who's always sleepy, which I'm having high hopes for.

This is definitely a comedy season for me.

My favourite show this season is most likely going to be Concrete Revolutio, though, which was already one of my favourites in Fall 2015. Too few people are watching that.

I watched the first episode of Koutetsujou no Kabaneri last night before I went to bed. I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised.

The show has this insanely cool feudal Japan/steampunk hybrid setting going on, but they also threw zombies into the mix. The first episode had some fantastic action, and while I was a little iffy on the main character, I'm excited for next week's episode to see where they take this.

The show is made by the same studio as Attack on Titan (AOT), and I was reminded a lot of that show while watching this one. It has the same basic concept of humans fighting some overwhelming force of monsters and the animation style reminded me of AOT in a lot of places. I grew tired of AOT after a while, but hopefully this one can keep its steam throughout its run.