End of Season Round-up and Discussion

With only a few weeks till the Spring season hits in and Winter comes to an end. Most series are on their final few episodes. What are your final thoughts on the Winter season?

What did you watch? What did you drop and what are you planning to finish till the end.
Anything you enjoyed that you didn't expect to enjoy/ exceeded your expectations?
And on the other end, was there anything that you were disappointed on how it turned out?

Winter Season Chart 2015

My favorite show this season was Saenai Heroine no Sodatekata, followed immediately by Assassination Classroom.
Both shows were one of those I didn't even know about and it felt really refreshing to watch them.

I still regret picking up Absolute Duo, but it's almost finished, so no big deal.

Can we count Fall 2014 leftovers as well? :P

Kenchiin said:

My favorite show this season was Saenai Heroine no Sodatekata, followed immediately by Assassination Classroom.
Both shows were one of those I didn't even know about and it felt really refreshing to watch them.

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Saekano is definitely a hidden gem amongst the airing titles. I was so glad that I picked it up at the first episode. Assassination Classroom did a great job at its anime adaptation, although the opening sequence still annoys me.

Still, Saenai Heroine no Sodatekata has won the Anime of the Winter 2015 Season award to me ('cause I don't count Fall 2014 leftovers).

Winter 2015 has been great for the most part. Aside from Saekano, nothing is too "wow" amazing. Anyways, on to what I've been watching.

Watching:

• Saekano
• Jojo
• Dog Days''
• Durararararararararararararara x2
• Junketsu no Maria
• Kancolle
• Koufuku Graffiti
• Rolling Girls
• Cinderella Girls

From Fall 2014 (not counting as well):

• Log Horizon 2
• Cross Ange
• Shigatsu
• Shirobako

Dropped:

• Absolute Duo
• Seiken Tsukai no World Break
• Shinmai Buy the Blu-rays Please
• Fafnir
• Yuri Kuma Arashi

Everything that I'm watching, I'm planning to finish off; maybe not Cross Ange since that's been a slogfest. But, all of the anime I've been watching have been enjoyable to a degree, and very few have been a snooze.

Rolling Girls was a pleasant surprise for me. Granted, I knew very little of it when I was going into it, and it didn't really kick-off until episode two for me. I'm glad I stuck around with it though.

In regards to what I dropped. On two occasions, I fell asleep watching Yuri Kuma's first episode, so I believe that was a good indicator that I wasn't going to be enjoying it. All four harem-battle were all disappointing (not really a surprise honestly). It doesn't help that two of them were being animated by Diomedea, who're animating two other shows this season. Absolute Duo made it the farthest at around episode eight. Both Fafnir and World Break got to episode two. And, lastly Buy the Blu-rays made it to fifteen minutes of episode one.

All in all, Saenai Heroine no Sodatekata was Anime of the Winter 2015 Season for me as well. Hopefully, we'll get a second season announcement soon after it finishes airing. Volumes 5-7 is one awesome ride.

Satoshi Ookami said:

Saekano is fantastic, I've been looking forward to it since the game got announced, I thought I was the only one =D

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To be honest, I felt the same. Of course, there wasn't any discussion threads made about it. So I guess that is a huge factor.

I know MAL and r/anime were keeping a close eye on the anime solely because it's written by Maruto (writer of White Album 2).

Illusione-Tempus said:

Saekano is definitely a hidden gem amongst the airing titles. I was so glad that I picked it up at the first episode. Assassination Classroom did a great job at its anime adaptation, although the opening sequence still annoys me.

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Saekano was a great surprise. I can see by reading this topic that we all liked it an no one ever said anything? lol, what a waste, it would have been a great topic to discuss. Maybe for second season.

By the way, I love the ending, but I agree with you about the OP, it's really... annoying, yup that's the word.

Satoshi Ookami said:

sqrt of Ghoul derivative of x

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I lol'd.



And please, God hear me, if you hear me, PLEASE DON'T LET ANYONE WASTE ASSASSINATIONS CLASSROOM ADAPTATION. Whatever you want but please don't go for any anime original ending ;____;

Pray baby pray.

Kenchiin said:

And please, God hear me, if you hear me, PLEASE DON'T LET ANYONE WASTE ASSASSINATIONS CLASSROOM ADAPTATION. Whatever you want but please don't go for any anime original ending ;____;

Pray baby pray.

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I'm really seconding this! The manga right now has been a mindfuck the last few chapters, it's honestly amazing. I don't normally try to compare manga with it's anime counterpart, but it's doing so well!
Ansatsu Kyoushitsu is already a popular current manga, so I'm hoping they pull a season 2 at least!

Still watching:
Aldnoah Zero, Assassination Classroom, Death Parade, Drrr, Kamisama Hajimemashita, Rolling☆Girls, Saenai Heroine no Sodate-kata, Tokyo Ghoul √A, Yuri Kuma Arashi, Akatsuki no Yona, Parasyte, Log Horizon 2, Sanzoku no Musume Ronja, and Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso.

On the fence with Dog Days, sort of hoping they get around to a real plotline soon. Occasionally watch an episode of JoJo but don't really follow it. Yoru no Yatterman is okayish. Only watching Magic Kaito to waste time.

Dropped Junketsu no Maria. Also dropped Koufuku Graffiti. Nobody enjoys food that much.

Oh my, that's a lot of anime ;*)

Still watching Death Parade, Yuri Kuma Arashi, Saekano and Koufuku Graffiti

After watching the first episode of Death Parade I was immediately impressed by the depth to the weekly characters and its setting. Saekano was something I had hopes for being a good show considering it was from the scriptwriter of White Album 2 (really good romance series) and I was proven right :P

Koufuku didn't really capture my interest as much as I thought it would and it feels slow to watch. I'll probably finish the show at a later time.

The only two anime from this season that I started are DRRR!! and Saekano. Coincidentally, also the only ones I'm still watching from this season.

Saekano has been the more fun of the two, but that may be because I wasn't really expecting as much from it as I was DRRR!!, not even knowing it was actually a currently airing series when I added it to my Crunchyroll queue.

Not really disappointed with either so far, really.

I'll reserve my final judgements for season's end, though.

I've been slowly catching up on everything but so far I really liked Akatsuki no Yona, Assasination Classroom, Seven Deadly Sins, Your Lie in April, Idolmaster Cinderella. I haven't caught up on much, but from the episodes I've seen I liked Yoru no Yatterman, Shirobako, Durarara x2, and The Rolling Girls.

Aldnoah, Kantai Collection, and Tokyo Ghoul weren't anything that I didn't expect but they still weren't that great haha. Parasyte is good too, but I kinda like the manga better for some reason. Can't really make a judgement on Tokyo Ghoul 2, Saenai Heroine, and Junketsu no Maria yet, so I'll post later.

I never wrote my own opinon in this thread xD

This season I've covered:
Ansatsu Kyoushitsu
Binan Koukou Chikyuu Bouei-bu LOVE!
Death Parade
Diamond no Ace
Durarara!!x2 Shou
Gundam Build Fighters Try
Kuroko no Basket 3rd Season
Log Horizon 2nd Season
Magic Kaito 1412
Tokyo Ghoul √A
Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso
World Trigger
Yowamushi Pedal: Grande Road

I won't comment on most of them till each show's finished and done. However will leave my final note on Shigatsu since it already finished:

Fridays for me honestly won't be the same without seeing Shigatsu every week. I highly enjoyed it after marathoning the first 18 or so episodes and continued to watch it week by week. The animation was great, the OP was brilliant and each musical piece or OST hit me in a range of emotions. Although I didn't shed a tear, It's probably the closest series to get me emotional in a while. Especially from originally coming from a classical music background, it was definitely a series that really stood out for me as one of my favourites.

Altairis you may now post xD

Ok, so, for shows that have ended recently:


Binan Koukou Chikyuu Bouei-bu LOVE!
The idea was fine, but 12 episodes was a little bit too much. Plus the humour was really silly, not my cup of tea.

Absolute Duo
I swear it's been ages since I've seen something as shitty as this, LOL! I will just remove the LN from my 'pending' list, like right now.


Edit:
'mukty' LOL!
The censorship in this forum actually makes me laugh every time rather than make me angry xD

zappyspiker said:

Altairis you may now post xD

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T HANK YOu even though I waited to post I wanted to watch more shows to post about all of them

Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso: One of the best this season. I really loved the OST and dialogue in this series, especially the beginning episodes. It began to get a big repetitive and lost in the second half, mostly using the tearjerky-ness to push the plot forward instead of actual plot really. It gets 9/10 for me even though I don't really think it deserves it totally, but I would feel bad giving it less because it was really enjoyable.

Akatsuki no Yona: the first couple episodes were pretty good but then it started to move REALLY slowly. I like the characters, and Yona is really cool. It gets a 7/10 from me because of how slow it was at some points and how some things got kinda weird, especially towards the end. Plus it kind of has a "now what" sense - she gathered all the dragons (the last one was SUPER rushed) so what's going to happen now? something really cliche? The opening also stuck in my head.

Ok now for still currently airing ones:
Aldnoah Zero 2: is this a space show or a romance show? why is everyone still so concerned with the princess? why is slaine even doing what he's doing? so many questions so little answers. i love how i just totally lost capitalization in this entry. for some reason i can't really put my finger on, i just didn't really stay engaged while watching this (even more so than usual). I didn't like the OP at first but it grew on me a lot. it will probably get a 5/10 or 6/10 for me just because it wasn't super engaging and there was so much talking and I just didn't really get it and cliche. But the animation was nice; won't lie there.

Assassination Classroom: It's enjoyable but it gets old when every episode is the students trying to kill their teacher through one bizarre way, failing, and then saying "oh well, our teacher is just so dependable and nice!" I'm still not really sure if it's supposed to have an actual plot or if it's just for like comedy or whatever. it's enjoyable but just a bit repetitive and I think I might get tired of it by the end of 22 episodes if they don't actually succeed in killing their teacher. It'll probably get a 7/10 from me.

Durarara x2 Shou: I'm... not a huge Durarara fan. I don't really know why. I just don't really get it or stay engaged in it and I've tried but it's just not my kind of show. It's weird because so many people like it but I just don't really see it, maybe because I'm always so incredibly distracted. I still don't know what I think of this.

Fairy Tail: I literally hate this animation so much I'm so upset bye

Junketsu no Maria: It's okay... I guess? why is everyone so obsessed with virginity? why are the angels such assholes? It's not super engaging and I'm not caught up so it'll probably get a 5/10 or 6/10 from me.

Kiseijuu: For some reason I really liked reading this a lot more than watching it. Not really much to say other than a lot of the characters seem 1000x more annoying in animation than they do in the manga aka literally everyone. Probably 7/10 or 8/10 because I still do like it.

Log Horizon 2: I admit I haven't been caught up on this but it's just so BORING. Don't really have much else to say.

Nanatsu no Taizai: I LOVE THIS. I didn't love it at first but I really do now. After this ends I'm definitely reading the manga. I love the settings and characters and it's totally 100% fights but my friend kinda got me hooked on this haha

Rolling Girls: I'm halfway through and I kinda feel like it's still not 100% clear what's going on? The animation is nice but I feel like I literally know nothing about the characters or setting.

Saenai Heroine no Sodatekata: I'm on episode 10 and they haven't done any of the game making and it's just lame fanservice but the blonde girl is kinda cute. Nothing has happened in this so probably a 4/10 or 5/10 from me.

Shirobako: I really like this too; it's a solid show. Engaging and a bit stressful, haha. The girls are cute and they run into so many problems but they're a bit different every time so not too boring. It's not AMAZING or a total stand out show but still solid, so probably 8/10.

Idolmaster: I'm literally obsessed with Idolmaster so I love this. I like how they're focusing on some of the individual characters and not just the trio, though I kinda dislike how everyone is kinda tossed to the side (rough transition from the trio -> everyone else @_@) and how Mika has to show up every single episode. I also don't really like certain characters and sometimes the plot is cliche and annoying - the game show was bad and Kirari is still SO annoying. On the other hand I now like Ranko a LOT more than I would have if she didn't have her own spotlight; granted, it didn't need to be an entire episode because 20 mins was kind of a lot

Tokyo Ghoul 2: still haven't caught up lol

Yoru no Yatterman: this is really weird but I'm not far enough to tell if it's Gurren Lagann weird (good weird) or just wow I don't get it weird.

Altairis said:

Assassination Classroom: It's enjoyable but it gets old when every episode is the students trying to kill their teacher through one bizarre way, failing, and then saying "oh well, our teacher is just so dependable and nice!" I'm still not really sure if it's supposed to have an actual plot or if it's just for like comedy or whatever. it's enjoyable but just a bit repetitive and I think I might get tired of it by the end.

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Without trying to spoil it, I kinda view the first 10 episode as being a "get-to-know-the-class" type episode since there's a whole lot of them. The attempts will no doubt continue considering the manga is still ongoing, but I can say more of the "plot" is going to start to show in these next few episodes since only a small bit of foreshadowing has been shown so far. AssClass is one that really slowly builds it up, but although assassination attempts will still be there, the plot shines through a lot more and it gets hella interesting.

I'd be with most of you on this one - Shigatsu was a highlight for me too.

Although I guess I should go show-by-show:

Death Parade - the first episode was one of the best first episodes of any series I've seen. It immediately caught me. The ones that followed weren't as brilliant but were still pretty good. The dual episode 8+9 combo were the best episodes in the series with first up there too. Overall, although I'm not too thrilled about Onna's back story being fairy straightforward instead of something mind blowing, I'd say this show caught my attention. And I really, really like it. Also, the opening and the ending - both are super catchy and I love them!!

Parasyte - loved it initially but I kinda became less enthusiastic about it after a point. Still good though 8/10

Shigatsu - I LOVED the first few episodes, felt it got pretty slow in the middle and was at times very melodramatic and sometimes a little pretentious too. But Kao-chan. The ending. That made the show for me. I love the ending (apart from the totally-inappropriate comedy rearing its ugly head again and again and even at the very end). Loved the animation and the art style and the openings were catchy. The second ed was good in particular.

Akatsuki no Yona - I liked it the most after Death Parade and Nanatsu and Shigatsu, I feel. Although sometimes slow, I felt it was a good journey. Her transition from a spoilt princess to the person she is now felt organic which I liked. And I like the characters and the comedy and the art style and the openings and...I like the show haha

Nanatsu no Taizai - liked it a lot more a few episodes in. Got impatient towards the end and read the manga. Still, an incredibly fun show and one of my faves this season.

Cross Ange - this was very fun. Lewd, gory and shameless. But fun. :p Gonna binge watch the last 6 EPs once it is over lel

Aldnoah Zero - I don't get this show haha

Assassination Classroom - I enjoy this on a weekly basis. Probably wouldnt like binge watching it I guess though. But good stuff.

Tokyo ghoul root a - I left it midway. Will catch up and tell ya all what I thought of it. It seemed very messy initially though.

Durarara x2 - I think this needs more time. It is three cours after all.

Testament of new sister devil - this was fun. Whatever I saw of it was, at least. Gotta catch up though

Log horizon s2 - was fun till ep 14. Gotta watch more tho

I'll add more if I remember them :p

I ended up only watching Durarara!! and Death Parade :( Nothing else really interested me this season, I tried to get into a couple other shows, but meh. Spring will be fantastic.

Just finished Parasyte. NIce show overall. It made me angry at the start that it was promoted like a horror show. I think it would be romance rather than horror by the ending, LOL!

derozio said:

Durarara x2 - I think this needs more time. It is three cours after all.

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A lot of time and another studio, LOL!

Nah- just kidding, it needs more time indeed.

zappyspiker said:

Without trying to spoil it, I kinda view the first 10 episode as being a "get-to-know-the-class" type episode since there's a whole lot of them. The attempts will no doubt continue considering the manga is still ongoing, but I can say more of the "plot" is going to start to show in these next few episodes since only a small bit of foreshadowing has been shown so far. AssClass is one that really slowly builds it up, but although assassination attempts will still be there, the plot shines through a lot more and it gets hella interesting.

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Looking forward to that!