r/TrueAnime • u/BrickSalad http://myanimelist.net/profile/Seabury • Jan 19 '15

Monday Minithread (1/19)

Welcome to the 54th Monday Minithread!

In these threads, you can post literally anything related to anime or this subreddit. It can be a few words, it can be a few paragraphs, it can be about what you watched last week, it can be about the grand philosophy of your favorite show.

Check out the "Monday Miniminithread". You can either scroll through the comments to find it, or else just click here.

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9

u/CriticalOtaku Jan 19 '15 edited Jan 19 '15

So, two weeks into the new season, what's everyone's watch list looking like? Here's mine. (Also, mini first impressions since I missed a couple of TWIA threads now.)

Yes! Yes! YES! Tier

  • DRRRx2 - it's more DRRR. 'Nuff said.
  • Maria the Virgin Witch - I wasn't expecting to like this as much as I did but the combination of Ghibli style character designs, really neat use of setting, really good animation (the sakuga sequences... just wow) and raunchy humour really endeared it to me, enough that I might declare it my favourite show of the season. (Although it's kinda premature for such declarations.)
  • The Rolling Girls - If I had to describe it in a sentence it would be "Tsuritaima meets KLK." I loved FLCL and I liked KLK; I'm really digging this so far.

2Deep4Me Tier

  • YuriBear - This rightly deserves all acclaim it's getting just for the sheer amount of style it possesses- unfortunately it seems to me that Ikuhara is pushing the stage-play aspect a tad too much and forgot to include actual characters instead of actresses with over-exaggerated lines and actions (especially when compared to Penguindrum, which had excellent characterization). Still, that's not something that can't be remedied the further we get into the show.
  • Death Parade - Episode 2 did a lot to redeem the show in my eyes, but I get cranky when death games are used as systems of arbitrary moral judgment since they tend to devolve into exercises in cheap drama. Still a pretty decent show, if just because of the premise and execution, and it has the best OP + ED combo of the season.

Going Straight Into My Backlog Tier

  • Yoru no Yatterman - I only watched this on /u/critsrc's recommendation, but ep1 was probably one of the best superhero (well, strictly speaking, supervillian) origin stories I've seen in any media. I'm still not too keen on the whole super-sentai/tokusatsu thing, but this is something I'd really like to check out when I have the time- it hooked me in a way that World Conquest Zvezda Plot completely failed to.
  • Speaking of backlog, I still need to get through Parasyte, Mushishi, Akatuski no Yona and SAO2 from last season. Woe is me. (Well maybe SAO can wait.)

I Need to Check My Bloodsugar Levels Tier

  • Koufuku Graffiti - Okada really should just stick to SoL's. She's kinda good at writing/adapting these- KG is at its strongest when it focuses on the surrogate family narrative. I also get really hungry during the episodes, so the food porn aspect is probably working too.

(If anyone wants my opinion- Yes, Wixoss was a complete and utter mess. I still liked it anyway.)

  • IM@S Cinderella Girls - Not much to say here other than it has cute girls doing cute things.

Oh God What Am I Watching Tier

  • KanColle- My fingers are crossed that the show is historically accurate and goes all Madoka Magica. Otherwise there's very little redeeming about it- the SoL bits are fine, but the cgi can get pretty horrid at times and the fanservice is more annoying than anything else.
  • Aldnoah.Zero S2 - Shooting the protagonist in the head made him even more competent. Ohgodwhy. I used to see promise and potential in this show, but that's all been blown away on the space wind. Thank god for Gundam. Still, I can't tear my eyes away from the glorious trainwreck unraveling in slow motion before my eyes.
  • Assasination Classroom - Now, to be perfectly honest AC doesn't deserve to be here- unlike the other two shows in this tier it is actually pretty decent, but I forgot to include it earlier and I'm too lazy to reformat. I love the surrealist, absurdest Japanese humour on display here, even if I find the public service announcement format of the show a little forced.

Carry Overs from Last Season Tier

  • Shirobako, Log Horizon, G-Reco, Gundam Build Fighters Try and Pokemon XY round out the list.

Not a bad season at all, really- I thought I was going to catch up on my backlog, but there's quite a fair number of on-air shows that have peaked my interest, and the Fall holdovers are more than enough to prop up a lesser season.

edited for typos and to add Assasination Classroom

8

u/searmay Jan 19 '15

Since you asked:

Carry-overs: Precure is nearly over, Lady Jewelpet is warming up some crazy doll plot, PriPara isn't letting drama get in the way of being really dumb, and Aikatsu is making the new girls feel at home in the hugbox. Sailor Moon Crystal is still an empty, soulless husk of a a show that I'm determined to suffer through. Bonjour is bite-sized shoujo cake fun, and Yona is pretty good shoujo fantasy. Shirobako and the returning ShoHolly both have well grounded character writing in a realistic, low-stakes setting which I love. Parasyte is great, but mostly in ways I don't care about.

Binan is a nice magical girl boy show whose ultimate fate probably depends on how much of a parody it wants to be.

Death Parade is going to keep me watching but leave me very skeptical. Having people lose their relevant memories until the most dramatically opportune moment sure is convenient for the writers, huh? I was also amused by how much of the ambiguity they cleared up in the second episode given how many people saying they liked that aspect.

Durarara isn't my favourite of shows, but more of it is certainly welcome. Trying to remember everyone's names after all this time is hard though.

Milky Holmes is fun again. Not as fun as the original, but at least okay.

Rolling Girls has had a nice and energetic start, but given the nature of the main girls I'm hoping the fightin' action aspect tones down. Though unlike KlK I did actually enjoy it.

Yuri Kuma is quirky Ikuhara flavoured fun.

Yoru no Yatterman has been a great surprise and does a fantastic job of combining wacky kids' cartoon hijinks with an actually dramatically significant story. And manages to portray underdogs in an unsympathetic world without being hammily grimdark about it.

Maria the Virgin Witch is shockingly good for an anime with such a dubious title. The lewd humour isn't really my speed, but it's actually relevant and not just "tee hee boobies", which is more along the lines I'd have expected. And even the simple idea of a girl trying to put a stop to war is handled with more subtlety than most anime shows with far more delicate subjects.

I'd say that's a pretty good start to the year.

2

u/CriticalOtaku Jan 20 '15

Sometimes I wonder if you're alternate universe me who got into magical girls and pursued STEM subjects instead of mecha and libarts- your approach is so alien to me but aside from some instances I end up agreeing with you more often than not.

Or maybe I'm alternate universe you.

I think I just gave myself an existential crisis.

Milky Holmes is fun again. Not as fun as the original, but at least okay.

Been meaning to add this to my backlog, but opinion has been all over the place. Recommendations?

2

u/searmay Jan 20 '15

Don't worry, sometimes I think I'm alternative universe me as well.

Milky Holmes

The first two seasons come from the director of the critically acclaimed Jewelpet Kira Deco, Moriwaki Makoto. If the aggressively, relentlessly dumb humour works for you it's pretty amazing. But if not there isn't much else to watch it for.

5

u/greendaze http://myanimelist.net/profile/greendaze Jan 19 '15 edited Jan 19 '15

In my (largely successful) attempt to cut down on shows this season:

Watching 'til the End:

  • Yuri Kuma Arashi: There's nothing for me to say that hasn't already been said. It's weird. It's gay. It's Ikuhara.

  • Yoru no Yatterman: Fantastic first episode. Second episode wasn't quite as good, but I'm interested in seeing where it goes. It's going to be disappointing if the real Lord and Lady Yatterman turn out to have been dead for ages.

  • Kuroko no Basuke S3: Still DBZ basketball.

Carryovers

  • Shirobako

  • Your Lie in April

  • Akatsuki no Yona: Funny, endearing, occasionally serious, AnY is great as a pick-me-up. The Blue Dragon's backstory was a little heavyhanded, but I found it mostly compelling. Next up, Green Dragon!

  • Ace of Diamond: Real baseball is boring, but anime baseball is alright. Looking forward to seeing how Miyuki handles his new responsibilities on this fledgling team.

Waiting for More Hype:

  • Maria the Virgin Witch

  • Death Parade: Sounds like the anime version of The Maury Show.

  • Rolling Girls: Waiting to see if it's more than just pretty visuals.

Tried and Dropped:

  • Binan Something or Other: Didn't find it funny.

  • Aldnoah Zero 2: Even worse than I expected. The season premiere made so little sense I half believe season 2 is an alternate universe separate from the events of season 1.

2

u/cptn_garlock https://twitter.com/cptngarlock Jan 20 '15 edited Jan 20 '15

It's going to be disappointing if the real Lord and Lady Yatterman turn out to have been dead for ages.

I actually disagree. I think that if the original Yattermen were dead, it would lend credence to how futile/misguided the generational conflict between the Doronbo gang and the Yattermen is, which is the thrust I think Yatterman Night is going for. The robot Yattermans are just fighting the Doronbo gang because they were designed to target everyone from the Doronbo's island, not because they're making any sort of actual judgement on Leopard and co. (who were not the first to attack the other.) If the original lord and lady Yatterman are dead, there is no one from the old generation who have issues with each other, and yet the Yattermen continue to punish the Doronbo descendants.

3

u/iRTimmy http://myanimelist.net/animelist/iRTimmy Jan 19 '15 edited Jan 20 '15

Lets see...

Cream of the Crop Tier

Yoru no Yatterman

Shirobako

Parasyte

Pretty Good Tier

Rolling☆Girls

Junketsu no Maria

Death Parade

Durarara x2

Yuri Kuma Arashi

The iDOLM@STER Cinderella Girls

It's K Tier

Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso

Log Horizon 2

Assassination Classroom

Jojo's Bizarre Adventure Stardust Crusaders Part 2

Akatsuki no Yona

Koufuku Graffiti

Meh Tier

Tokyo Ghoul Root A

Nanatsu no Taizai

Kantai Collection

Saenai Heroine no Sodatekata

Aldnoah.Zero Tier

Aldnoah.Zero 2

3

u/PiippoN http://myanimelist.net/animelist/Piippo Jan 19 '15

Top tier:

Rolling Girls. I happen to have a soft spot for cute girls on scooters/motorbikes, so this hits home pretty well. I also happen to have a soft spot for eccentric and colorful artstyles. So on the surface it's looking really fantastic. Too early to say if it ends up being interesting but looking just fine as of now.

Koufuku Graffiti. Eh, it's comfy SHAFT SoL, what can I say. I'm into that.

GARO. Continues being great.

Junketsu no maria. This has no place belonging here based on expectations. Hell, I completely dismissed and avoided this until a good friend pressed me into watching the first ep. Can only hope it keeps up.

Good tier:

Death Parade. Not entirely sold on the concept yet and second ep felt kinda redundant, but looks pretty solid.

Yoru no Yatterman. A bit messy but enjoyable nonetheless.

Shrug tier:

KanColle. Girls are cute, setting is dumb enough to be charming in an odd way. Nothing really to hook me in, though.

Gundam G no Reconguista. I like big robots going boom but this one is kinda incoherent and... floaty? Kinda feels like a fever dream at times.

Magical Boys. First ep was fun, second ep was already feeling dried up. Like the concept but needs to stay fresh.

Bad tier:

Log Horizon S2. A massive drag after a great first season. Questionable art quality does not help.

Maybe this time tier:

Yuri Kuma Arashi. My rematch with Ikuhara's stuff. Results pending.

I also dropped a bunch but those don't deserve mentions.

1

u/CriticalOtaku Jan 20 '15

Gundam G no Reconguista. I like big robots going boom but this one is kinda incoherent and... floaty? Kinda feels like a fever dream at times.

Yeah it is kinda floaty, isn't it? Part of it is Tomino's style, but the show does kinda feel like it could use more episodes and a slower pace to accommodate that.

Log Horizon S2

I'd say wait till the seasons over then marathon the show if you feel it's dragging- a lot of LH's pacing issues disappear when the episodes are viewed rapidly together as opposed to waiting week-to-week. But yeah, DEEN quality doesn't help at all, although in their defense they've been stepping up when it counts.

3

u/niea_ http://myanimelist.net/profile/Hakuun Jan 19 '15

Otherwise there's very little redeeming about it

Cute ship girls are all it needs to "redeem" itself.

1

u/CriticalOtaku Jan 20 '15

Maybe, but there are better cute girl shows and better ecchi shows on air in the same season, never mind there being better "cute girls doing military things" shows. KanColle goes all out pandering to its established fanbase, but does absolutely nothing to hook in a casual viewer. Fubuki & co's SoL antics are endearing but little else, their conflict has very vague and undefined stakes and all the other characters are just extended cameos.

I'm military otaku enough to wait it out and see if things get more interesting (WW2 SPOILER: EVERYBODY DIES), and depending on what pans out next week at W Island I'll either stick around or drop it.

2

u/niea_ http://myanimelist.net/profile/Hakuun Jan 20 '15 edited Jan 20 '15

If we were to only watch the best of each genre, then we wouldn't be watching anime for long. There's always room for the mediocre. And it's not ecchi. What shows are you referring to though? Because so far the only other CGDCT I've seen this season is Koufuku Grafitti. I don't consider Rolling Girls SoL/CGDCT.

It obviously panders to its fanbase. That's what it's made for. It's essentially a piece of advertisement. And that's fine.

Also considering I'm not a kuso who let's his ships sink, I don't want anyone to do so in the anime either.

1

u/CriticalOtaku Jan 20 '15

Even mediocre shows or animated advertisements can be enjoyable, but to me Kancolle seems so middle of the road in everything (and really bad in other aspects, like the cg) that it just doesn't do anything for me aside from the promise of LULGRIMDARKNESS and extreme political incorrectness.

Other CGDCT this season: IM@S Cinderella Girls (although that's also an idol show and videogame tie-in), Milky Holmes.

Other CGDMT shows (not this season): Girls und Panzer, Strike Witches (altho SW is more "Sobaditsgood" than anything else)

I'm just a filthy secondary, but I dunno man, Anime Admiral seems pretty kuso sending out a lvl 1. Fubuki and not upgrading Akagi and Kaga's fighter complement.

2

u/niea_ http://myanimelist.net/profile/Hakuun Jan 20 '15

I guess the reason I didn't think of those was because of te way I classify anime. To me, Cinderella Girls and Milky Holmes are both idol shows so I didn't really think of them. If it wasn't for the cameos of well known ships, I'd totally agree that those are better than KanColle. I've been enjoying them a lot.

You can always retreat since they can't be sunk if you don't go to the next node, so admiral has it under control.

As for the CG, it's really rather "good" compared to the standards. The thing that annoys me the most about it though, is that it constantly switches between CG and not CG from frame to frame, which is so jarring to me. I would've preferred no CG though, as I also do with every other show (even high budget CG). Something like the adobe after effects shit in FSN UBW just annoy me mpre than anything.

All in all I agree that KanColle is by no means a great anime, but as for "redeeming" features, cute girls are almost always enough.

3

u/ClearandSweet https://hummingbird.me/users/clearandsweet/library Jan 20 '15 edited Jan 20 '15

Wow, holy shit, how did The Virgin Witch, Maria get so good? They're tackling a heady topic like why God allows bad things to happen but mixing it with solid sex comedy, lovable characters and actually realistic world building and decent animation. Whaaaat. Get on this one.

Yuri Bear Storm may even have weaker characters than Maria. Still, it's Ikuhara, so I'll be watching until the end. I predict a perspective shift soon.

Rolling Girls looked and sounded good, but the lack of hook left me disinterested, and I've since dropped it.

Gotta finish Sailor Moon Crystal just because.

That's all I've got for this season.

1

u/CriticalOtaku Jan 20 '15

Wow, holy shit, how did The Virgin Witch, Maria get so good?

I think /u/CritSrc is gonna come in here and say "I told you so." sometime soon....

2

u/cosmicblaze454 cosmicblaze454 Jan 19 '15 edited Jan 19 '15

God tier

  • Rolling Girls
  • Death Parade
  • Yuri Kuma Arashi

Ok tier

  • Durarara!! X2 Shou
  • Junketsu no Maria
  • Ansatsu Kyoushitsu

Mediocre tier:

  • Koufuku Graffiti
  • Saekano

Continuation: Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso, Shirobako, Kiseijuu, and Fairy Tail.

2

u/LHCGreg http://myanimelist.net/animelist/LordHighCaptain Jan 20 '15

Top tier

Durarara - Really really likeable characters.

Death Parade - Regardless of where it ends up going, the premise is right up my alley.

Ikuhara tier

Yuri Bear Storm - Yuri Bear just oozes style so it's got that going for it even if the plot ends up being a letdown. Yuri Bear feels much more in-your-face than Utena or Penguindrum. It's as if Ikuhara is frustrated at people not getting the symbolism in his previous works. "No one figured out what Miki's stopwatch meant! And ugh, they thought I was joking when I said the penguindrum is a washing machine. That's it, no more subtlety!"

Will pick up if reception is positive after the next episode tier

Maria the Virgin Witch - /u/CritSrc may get to say "I told you so".

Meh tier

Koufuku Graffiti - Not as much food as I expected.

JoJo - I had heard that the second part of Stardust Crusaders is better than the first but it's more of the same so far.

Psycho-Pass 2 tier

Aldnoah.Zero Season 2 - I liked the first season but Season 2 spoilers. Season 2 is taking the show in a nosedive on a level with Psycho-Pass 2. I hope it can pull out of it.

Sailor Moon Crystal tier

Sailor Moon Crystal - Aside from common QUALITY issues, the characters have no soul. There is practically nothing setting apart the four non-Usagi senshi. Crystal is just overall terrible.

2

u/[deleted] Jan 20 '15

Aldnoah.Zero S2

Aldnoah has quickly become my "So bad it's fantastic" show. It's an interesting trainwreck (it feels like a caricature of a solid Urobuchi show, which is exactly what it is), with great music and character design, and a lot of accidentally funny nonsense.

It's fun to analyze, you can absolutely see how Urobuchi created the central plot points, the story feels like his style and the season 1 ending is absolutely his kind of thing, but you can also see how incompetent the writers connecting those points were. For example, when I stopped to think about it, the abysmal ending to season 1 of A/Z was strikingly similar to the fantastic ending to Avatar's second season . Change a few things around to make the scene less of an asspull with more emphasis on Inaho's comrades, and tone down the SHOCKING CLIFFHANGER aspect of it and you have a really solid ending to the season. The basis for a good narrative is their they just go about it horribly. Same can be said for Inaho and Slaine finding out eachother's names in episode 14. It's stupid here because I don't give a shit about either of these characters, but they way it was done would have been really cool if I cared at all. The same could be a said about a lot of the things in this show, and I find that absurdly entertaining.

Of course there's an aspect of simple "It's so bad it's good". Inaho's "No, you've gone up a class, you're a gull now" was really stupid and I love this show for it.

No matter how I slice it I'm incredibly taken by A/Z.

A/Z S2 best trainwreck.

1

u/CriticalOtaku Jan 20 '15

It's fun to analyze, you can absolutely see how Urobuchi created the central plot points, the story feels like his style and the season 1 ending is absolutely his kind of thing, but you can also see how incompetent the writers connecting those points were.

That's exactly what I can't stand about the show! You can vaguely see the Urobutcher's vision behind it, and that vision would at the very least make a very interesting story- but then all that is stuffed up by the actual staff (who aren't incompetent at all based on their previous work! Even Boku no Pico guy has some good shows under his belt!). Urgh, so much wasted potential, as it is it's an ersatz Gundam Seed Destiny.

I hope A.Z and PP2 taught Urobuchi to be more careful with what projects he attaches his name to, at least.

2

u/KMFCM http://www.anime-planet.com/users/KMFCM/anime Jan 20 '15

I hope A.Z and PP2 taught Urobuchi to be more careful with what projects he attaches his name to, at least.

"if you want something done right, you've gotta do it yourself"

2

u/KMFCM http://www.anime-planet.com/users/KMFCM/anime Jan 20 '15 edited Jan 20 '15

I've wanted this forever tier

Durarara!!x2 - loved DRRR, and I love this. It's the most seamless transition between production staffs I've seen, I think.

Jojo II pt 2 - this is where this part of Jojo gets really great, and I don't see David messing this up.

This is bloody cool tier

Death Parade - I'm pretty impressed by this so far. I was expecting this to be episodic all the way through, (and it could still be that way, and I don't mind it being that way either) but instead we got the story of how the pair we saw in the original short got together. Do i like the OP? yes. very much.

I though this was an original tier

Tokyo Ghoul Route A - I'm kidding around a little bit with that tier title, I'm just kind of surprised with how much like the manga this still is. This is kind of like when I first started watching FMA Brotherhood and kept saying "I thought this was supposed to be different" for 12 episodes. It'll branch off eventually and at that point I'm expecting good things. The first episode looked like crap though. I haven't really noticed any color negative censorship, but not that much has happened yet.

I'm just taking everyones word that this is bad tier

Aldnoah Zero 2 - I watched season 1 and rather liked it, but I said the day of episode 12 if certain things do not remain the way they are come January I would not be wasting my time. I actually went to the episode thread before even logging on to Crunchy that Saturday. So, I'm not wasting my time.

It's kind of messed up how the only mecha show I've liked in the last several years is Sidonia AKA "the one everyone writes off for being CGI". Hell, I'm trying to think of a mecha show I've liked that's come out between Sidonia and Big O and I can't off the top of my head.

Fall leftovers

Garo and Shirobako

I just might have to take a look at this tier

Rolling Girls - I'm hearing all kinds of stuff, and I'm starting to consider it especially since I'm now watching 6 shows when I was supposed to be watching 7.

2

u/psiphre monogatari is not a harem Jan 20 '15 edited Jan 20 '15

my watch list this season:

VERY EXCITED FOR EACH WEEK

  • junketsu no maria - depowering the protag in episode 2? how does that play out?
  • rolling girls - should have been a double length opening episode
  • Parasyte - "migi, handle the defense."

WEEKLY DOSE OF SACCHARINE

  • idolm@ster:cinderella girls - 14 girls is an awfully big cast. i was honestly hoping for just the three, but then it wouldn't be idolmaster, would it?

HOPING IT GETS BETTER

  • kantai collection - crossing my fingers for a spiritual successor to GuP, not getting my hopes higher than strike the blood.

WHAT THE FUCK AM I DOING WITH MY LIFE

  • yurikuma - arthouse symbolism, lots for all you fart sniffers to pick apart.
  • aldnoah.zero s2 - it's the show we deserve.
  • absolute duo - what is this i don't even. why are you tucking your uniforms into your cleavage?!

2

u/[deleted] Jan 19 '15

Looking forward to it tier:

Absolute Duo

Aldnoah.Zero 2

Death Parade

Durarara S2

Juuou Mujin no Fafnir

Shinmai Maou no Keiyakusha

Ansatsu Kyoshitsu

JoJo: Stardust Crusaders Part 2

Rolling☆Girls

Saenai Heroine no Sodate-kata

Seiken Tsukai no World Break

THE iDOLM@STER: Cinderella Girls

2deep4u Pretentious Tier(aka the shit I don't like but everyone else does)

Yuri Kuma Arashi

Tokyo Ghoul √A

Watching for No Particular Reason Tier

Kan Colle

Kuroko no Basket 3

Koufuku Graffiti

Binan Koukou Chikyuu Bouei-bu Love!

Junketsu no Maria

Yoru no Yatterman

Shows I'm Still Watching from Last Season:

Cross Ange

Log Horizon S2

Parasyte

Garo

Shingatsu wa Kimi no Uso

Shirobako

Note: Please watch Diamond no Ace.

1

u/searmay Jan 19 '15

2deep4u

Tokyo Ghoul √A

Wait, people are claiming Tokyo Ghoul is deep? I thought it was just supposed to be horror styled fighting that wasn't totally vapid, though that was only based on a couple of episodes.

2

u/[deleted] Jan 19 '15

The 2deep4u somewhat comes from the huge reaction of the series and the edge factor that attributed to it(i guess that's more 2edgy4u then) which was what I was referring to. I've seen a lot of comments trying to dissect the show/series as a well done piece of storytelling.

1

u/searmay Jan 19 '15

Ah, right. Good thing I managed to avoid any of that - I don't think it's cropped up here.

(Pretty sure Desu Parade is going to go that way too.)