J-E Discussion

[Weeaboo Name]

Well I knew of the series but nobody told me it was so awesome.

New Nisemonogatari trailer is out, certainly looks like more of the same. Looking forward for it.

 

[parallelzero]

New Nisemonogatari trailer is out, certainly looks like more of the same. Looking forward for it.

More of the same, but the animation looks so much better for some reason. I just finished Bakemonogatari like a month ago so maybe it's just more noticeable to me, but it is sexy.

We finally have our first Symphogear PV too. Looks like it has potential, but I guess we'll see.

 

[Weeaboo Name]

Nana Mizuki voicing the blue haired chick and doing insert songs. Looks like I'll be watching another cute girls doing cute things + saving the world show this winter. Rinne no Lagrange's CGI looks a hell of a lot better though.

As for the animation, doubt it will be a lot better. I remember Bakemonogatari, like most of his Shaft shows was very well animated in places but well mostly powerpoint, still images withj just the flaps moving. Hopefully there will be more smooth animation but I doubt it.

 

[Saitou]

Another looks especially interesting:



Ano Natsu De Matteru also looks interesting and reminds me of Toradora! for some reason; maybe the similarity of Yamano and Taiga. IDK.



A short preview but says a lot about the general feeling of the anime. Also, the new Amagami SS + looks like something I will watch; I always felt that the arcs in the prequel were left hanging and a proper ending wasn't established.

 

[Weeaboo Name]

Another looks cool even if they did ruin the main guys character design.

I've said it before but Miniskirt space pirate whatever is going to be the best show of all time.

 

[Saitou]

Oh, Bodacious Space Pirates (English title)? Yeah, that looks like something that would interest me as well, lol. I've never really encountered a show about space pirates. The only show I can remotely relate to that theme is Cowboy Bebop.

 

[Chairman Kaga]

I LIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIVE! (for a day or two, at least)

I'm behind on a few fall series, but I've managed to complete the ones that matter. I don't even know where to begin on The End of Penguindrumvangelion. I know that I witnessed something beautiful, I'm just trying to decipher what exactly I saw. I have a working grasp on the symbolism, it's going to take a second watch to fully decipher, though.

Because the internet has taught me that everything can (and must) eventually be placed in a top ten list, here are my ten favorite anime of the year:

Spoiler:

1.) Mawaru Penguindrum
2.) Steins;Gate
3.) Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica
4.) Ben-To
5.) Fate/Zero
6.) Level-E
7.) Hanasaku Iroha
8.) Tiger & Bunny
9.) Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko
10.) Kamisama Dolls

Hyouge Mono would have been in this list somewhere IF SOMEONE HAD JUST FREAKING SUBBED IT AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGHHHHHHHHDKSGFLHJKDGHFLD.

And now the bonus list for top five disappointments:

1.) Fractale
2.) Guilty Crown
3.) C
4.) AnoHana
5.) Persona 4

Four out of five of these have something in common, HMMMMMMMMMMMM WHAT COULD IT BE? (rip noitaminA ;_; )

I'm giving a surprising amount of stuff a chance in Winter '12. Of course, I'm freaking out over Nisemonogatari, but on top of that I'm going to at least watch the first episode of Amagami SS+, Ano Natsu, Another, BRS, Gokujou, Mouretsu Pirates, Recorder to Randoseru (for the lulz), Lagrange, and Symphogear. I'm sure at least some of these will end up watchable.

 

[Weeaboo Name]

Lists, lists are cool.

Top (only including things that I've finished.....mostly)

1 - Gintama'
2 - Ben-To
3 - Usagi Drop
4 - Penguindrum
5 - Nichijou
6 - Squiddy 2
7 - Madoka
8 - Mardock Scramble
9 - Kimi to Boku/YuruYuri/A Channel
12 - Steins;Gate

Disappointments

1 - Blood-C
2 - AnoHerpa
3 - Denpa
4 - Gosick
5 - Hen Zemi TV (The OVA was awesome)
6 - No.6 (Should have expected the Bones ending)
7 - Shana (wasn't expecting much but wasn't expecting worse than series 2)

Deadman Wonderland, Guilty Crown, Loli in France, F/Z, Hyouge Mono, Kamisama Dolls, Level E, Wandering Son and a few other things that could have made it onto either list I haven't seen yet.

noitaminA's lineup for next season is a show about baths, Romans V Japanese, who likes them more....and Black Rock Shooter. If they turned it into a full blown yuri with Nanoha style fights It would probably be one of the best shows ever.

 

[Chairman Kaga]

As my fellow Shaftbro, what disappointed you about Denpa Onna? I know the usual reasons people end up not liking it, just want to hear yours :p

Your list reminded me that you can definitely add Deadman Wonderland to my list of biggest disappointments, and...uhh...was Infinite Stratos this year? Somehow I went into it expecting a mecha instead of an otakubait harem, I didn't even last through the first episode. Japan ate it up, I suppose that means it was good for what it was.

Oh yeah, we're getting Thermae Romae. Shame it's only three episodes, I'm totally watching that though. Three weeks of old-style noitaminA is more than I got last year (but only because I didn't watch Wandering Son or Usagi Drop, lol). BRS is only what, eight episodes? I hope Romae is filling the other three weeks of that cour instead of running concurrently. I have no particular love for the BRS franchise so I'm pretty much in it for the same reasons you are. Insane battles, chance for yuri. Seeing the huge amounts of CG in the trailers has killed my hype significantly, but it's still a must-watch.

One final note in this rambling post, I marathoned most of Idolm@ster over the past couple of days after losing track a few episodes in when I was watching it week to week. It was basically cute girls doing cute things, but it had great, colorful animation and the girls were undeniably really adorable and endearing. The second half became kind of crappy when they shoehorned in a villain, but the show redeemed itself toward the end. The Azusa and Ritsuko episodes were probably my favorites, Takane and Makoto are the best girls though :p

I'll admit to hoping it gets a second series even though it would have to go in a really different direction because of the ending of the first series, it was still enjoyable even if it wasn't constantly kicking me in the nutbladder with HNNNNNNGH-levels of charm like I thought it was going to when I first started it. I think I've learned that I need to lower my standards in regard to watching things that are lacking in substance but are cute and feel-good, it was kind of nice to turn my brain off and just let the moe wash over me.

 

[Weeaboo Name]

Infinite Stratos was good even if it was only for the amusing threads on /a/. I started it a bit late so I knew exactly what I was in for so there wasn't any shokku there. I remember some guy on here complaining about how in hands of a decent writer that show could have been amazing....amusing considering he had a Lelouch Lamperouge set at the time.

As for Denpa I had a few problems. The protagonist, I just couldn't stand him. I'm usually ok with the "Kyon" type mc but he really sucked....I couldn't care less if that was worth 2 youth points or whatever, I can't even remember his name. As for the rest of the characters I'd only go as far as saying I like one of them, cosplay girl was cool. Artwork is my next problem, just not for me I guess. It stopped me from starting Haganai in autumn, I expect it will get used again, bad news. Finally the biggest problem, there was next to no back story or explanations to why the characters were like they were, If we had this I probably wouldn't have disliked it so much. ANd you thought your post was ramble.

 

[digi-kun]

I dunno, I kind of saw Denpa more as a slice of life from the beginning, and thus didn't really care for an explanation beyond "She was abducted by aliens." I also personally felt that some charm of the show was that some characters DID have an aura of mystery around them.

btw has anyone looked at the music selection next season? AKINO, supercell + Claris, Yanagi Nagi (nagi/Gazelle), it's gonna be great.

 

[Jack O'Neill]

I remember some guy on here complaining about how in hands of a decent writer that show could have been amazing....amusing considering he had a Lelouch Lamperouge set at the time.

I also remember some other guy on here using the copout "Fiction isn't supposed to be realistic" in an attempt to apologize for that show's failings. What he fails to understand is that believability and consistency are far more important. The difference between Code Geass and Infinite Stratos is that the former actually had some measure of believability and consistency (at least before the nuking of Tokyo), while the latter simply lacked either.

As for Denpa Onna, I was considering putting it on my to-watch list. Then I realized that even having Akiyuki Shinbo as the director couldn't salvage that trainwreck. That, plus the impression that half the main cast appears to suffer from some sort of mental illness.

 

[digi-kun]

I also remember some other guy on here using the copout "Fiction isn't supposed to be realistic" in an attempt to apologize for that show's failings. What he fails to understand is that believability and consistency are far more important. The difference between Code Geass and Infinite Stratos is that the former actually had some measure of believability and consistency (at least before the nuking of Tokyo), while the latter simply lacked either.

Think the difference is more along the lines of "more plot, less training" with with that, plus the clamp effect, plus that IS was more harem than mecha. It's also one of the reasons a lot of Nanoha fans didn't like StikerS' first half. It's all fine and dandy if there's supposed to be something going on in the background, but it doesn't mean squat to the viewer if it's not happening in their face.

I don't really care about believability as long as they're consistent with it. Gunbuster's transition from "realistic" to not was amusing so I'll make an exception for it (not every anime you get to see Jupiter turned into a bomb)

 

[Weeaboo Name]

I didn't even like the show that much so I don't believe anything I said about the show would be apologizing or trying to salvage respect for it, in actual fact most things I say about that show should be taken with a pinch or two of salt.

Let's not get started on the ever so believable and consistent Code Geass now shall we, lol.

 

[parallelzero]

I also remember some other guy on here using the copout "Fiction isn't supposed to be realistic" in an attempt to apologize for that show's failings. What he fails to understand is that believability and consistency are far more important. The difference between Code Geass and Infinite Stratos is that the former actually had some measure of believability and consistency (at least before the nuking of Tokyo), while the latter simply lacked either.

As for Denpa Onna, I was considering putting it on my to-watch list. Then I realized that even having Akiyuki Shinbo as the director couldn't salvage that trainwreck. That, plus the impression that half the main cast appears to suffer from some sort of mental illness.

Mecha series have believability? I think a believable mecha series would be the most boring POS in existence since... none of the mecha would work, quite frankly. Mecha is one of the series I watch most prominently, so I feel I can safely say that the more absurd a series is, as long as it makes enough sense to follow the plot, it can be entertaining. If you're looking at a mecha anime (or any anime series, for that matter) with expectations for believability, realism, or consistency, you're never actually going to enjoy it. You can't be too critical with fiction, regardless of the media.

With Denpa Onna... it had Touwa Erio, and that in itself was enough for me to watch it all the way through. I'm waiting for the final episode to actually be shown, since the earthquake had it pushed onto the BD release instead of being aired.

 

[jpp8]

Anime is not high class entertainment and has never been. Trying to hold an average 1-2 cour TV series to high standards is silly. Save it for original movies if you must.

I didn't think of Denpa Onna as anything too special. It was a fun little series. Touwa Erio is quite possibly one of the most beautiful female characters of 2011 though. So yeah, it's enough to watch if only for Erio.

 

[Weeaboo Name]

Most of the pretty characters last year were dudes, no totally homo.

Spoiler:

As for females I can only think of 2

Spoiler:

 

[parallelzero]

Saya? Really? Anything can look good in CLAMP style, I guess, but BLOOD-C was a failure all across the board. The character designs weren't exactly unique or interesting either.

Touwa Erio is so pretty that she sparkles. All the time.

 

[Weeaboo Name]

I liked the design and music in Blood-C. I also expect the film will be decent, I mean the show was pretty much an 12 episode advert for it

 

[digi-kun]

I'll just keep my assumption that it's a wafuku fetish for the female side XD

Anyways, as discussed in the reconstruction project, I'll be closing this up. We're gonna be giving the "individual series threads" idea a try and see how that works out. Enjoy the next week or so as i spam all the shows as they come out.