Anime/Manga Anime Contract Challenge 5

lol good one. I actually like anime.

So, I've finished Kokoro Connect - all 17 episodes of it, though I'll be rating Michi Random separately from the others.

It's a pretty good blend of drama and your average SoL stuff, and kind of like how what the special circumstance is changes after a whole section of it.

I find Michi Random to be rather grating at times, though I'm rather glad that I'm still seeing some meaningful development and closure. Not exactly a complete salvation, though.

If nothing else, the thing was a pretty enjoyable thing as a combined package. Michi Random does drag it down, though.

Kokoro Connect (13 eps): 8/10
... Michi Random (4 eps): 5/10

Sorry for the short review, but it's kind of hard to put words in... I guess as time goes on I'll get used to writing out reviews.

I finished Bakemonogatari a few days ago. I've been mulling over exactly what to say about it, but I'm really still unsure. I enjoyed it at least, the artwork and styling of the anime and how it presented itself was interesting along with how the story actually flowed.

I finished watching Darker than Black: Kuro no Keiyakusha

To be honest, I still don't know for sure what to think about the series. The concept of people gaining a really good ability in exchange for having to conduct a bad habit seemed interesting and for the most part it was certainly done well. The problem I had with the series was how hard of a time I had getting into it. Only half way through I finally got the feeling that the series was going somewhere.

One of the issues I had was how much static imagery was used when an arc was built up. Static scenery combined with lots of talking made me feel bored on multiple occasions and I actually had a couple of times when I was considering to drop it. Ultimately I decided against it, just to see if it got better at the end.

Speaking of the end: I think it was pretty good, but I wish they had put a little bit more effort into it. Especally when it comes to Hei, who in my option felt still a little bit underdeveloped, specially in terms of his inner struggle. Less effort into building up unimportant throwaway characters in the early parts of the series and more effort into building up characters who are actually important and stay relevant to the end, that's what I'd really liked to see.

Still, the series had a bunch of good moments and from a graphical perspective looked really good. All in all I think 7/10 is a really good score for the series.

He gets some development in the second season where he becomes a drunk and hits kids.

I'm a third of the way through 91 days now. It's got an interesting and engaging story, but I definitely can't handle more than 2 episodes a day of this. Will probably be working my way through this series through the week. There are times where the series finds me having difficulty maintaining my suspension of disbelief, though, especially with a Japanese voice cast in something that is clearly set in America.

donavannj said:

I'm a third of the way through 91 days now. It's got an interesting and engaging story, but I definitely can't handle more than 2 episodes a day of this. Will probably be working my way through this series through the week. There are times where the series finds me having difficulty maintaining my suspension of disbelief, though, especially with a Japanese voice cast in something that is clearly set in America.

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Is that really any different than watching an English dub of a series obviously set in Japan?

gimmepie said:

Is that really any different than watching an English dub of a series obviously set in Japan?

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It's a bit of a different experience when you're familiar with what the accents should actually be. Especially having watched a show like Baccano! dubbed in the past. As it's my native language, I also have an easier time looking past the English dub if it's well done even if it is set in Japan.

donavannj said:

It's a bit of a different experience when you're familiar with what the accents should actually be. Especially having watched a show like Baccano! dubbed in the past. As it's my native language, I also have an easier time looking past the English dub if it's well done even if it is set in Japan.

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Makes sense.

Big thanks to Desinishon for having me finish Chihayafuru! Binged it a few days ago and much like when I watched the first season awhile ago, I thought it was great.

Definitely recommend it to people that like sports and competitiveness in their anime. Even if karuta is pretty unconventional, I think it's very easy to get sucked into the intensity of some of the matches, especially in how the series handles them.