[D'rek]

The Spring 2015 season first episode round-up continues!

(part 1)

---

Denpa Kyoushi [A-1] -- A bit funny. Not bad but not all that great. It's about a genius-but-lazy otaku becoming a high school teacher and helping his students with their problems in silly mad-scientist-otaku ways.

Arslan Senki (The Legend of Arslan?) [LIDEN & Sanzigen] -- This is about the titular prince Arslan of a pseudo-Persian nation. Looks like it is going to be a big sweeping classic epic style story, jumping through the years to the major events of his life (at least for the first few episodes). The setting and animation is pretty, though it's a bit weird how pale Arslan is (and his hair) compared to every other Parsian around him. There's a really well animated giraffe, briefly. There's also a lot of big army battle sections that are done quite well, too. Still, this first episode didn't really grip me. If anything, this one might be a slow boil.

Kekkai Sensen (Blood Blockade Battlefront) [Bones] -- This show has a great visual and audio aesthetic - even though the production values are not super high, the New York full of monsters with a jazzy soundtrack really works and gives it a pretty unique aesthetic. The action is just so-so, and if every attack being a special move with its own special name printed in giant letters turns you off, than this is not going to be the show for you. The first episode really doesn't give a satisfactory explanation of any of the backstory, main character or setting, so either that will come later on and be good, or else they'll miss explaining a lot of necessary things and this might end up being bad. Worth checking out the first episode just for the aesthetics and we'll see whether the plot shapes up over the next few episodes.

Show By Rock!! [Bones] -- Mmmm, nope. Nothing interesting here. I am guessing this was aimed more at kids.

Hibike! Euphonium (Sound! Euphonium) [Kyoto] -- It's okay. Not great, but not bad. There was a couple cringey tropey high school anime girl dialogue bits at the start, but thankfully that didn't stick around. Not as much music in the episode as I thought, actually - I guess this is more slice of life with music than an outright music show. Anyways, I'll probably like this more than most people, check it out if girls in high school band slice of life sounds appealing to you, but otherwise nothing special to see here.

Kyoukai no Rinne (?) [Brains Base] -- Hard to say yet if this show will be all that good. It's going mostly for random/silly humour. First episode had some charm, but wasn't anything spectacular. It's about a girl who sees ghosts (same season and premise as Re-Kan... what are the odds. Anyways the execution is way better here) and a boy who can travel back and forth between the living and spirit world. The two of them work together to help ghosts pass on to the afterlife. It's laid back and comedic like Re-Kan, but much better executed, and also will have some shounen elements. Maybe some romance, too, I'm not sure if they're setting the two mains up or not. It seems like the show isn't being fully licensed to sites like Crunchyroll, though, so the subtitles are coming out very slowly and the ones I watched were pretty poor quality.

Nagato Yuki-chan no Shoushitsu (The Disappearance of Nagato Yuki-chan) [Satelight] -- Apparently this is a side story in the same universe as The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. Anyways, I thought the first episode was pretty boring, even for a slice of life high school romance. Doesn't help that all the character are in a high-school-literature-club-that-hardly-ever-reads-any-books that is vastly inferior to the last one.


---


14 more on the list to go!

Though admittedly there's only 5 I'm really eager to check out (Bar Kiraware Yasai, Gintama°, Punchline, Ninja Slayer, and Lupin III Part 4)

[Dolmen 2.0]

So I was told that the runner up for most popular anime last cour was Seven Deadly Sins aka Nanatsu no Taizai?

D'rek are you or have you had a look at that? Would like your take on it if thats on(or has been on) the cards...

Also yes. Owari no Seraph the anime (eps 1) was really nicely done. great recco! There's definitely a common flavor with AoT in terms of pacing.

Edit:

This post has been edited by Dolmen 2.0: 08 April 2015 - 11:34 AM

[D'rek]

Dolmen 2.0, on 08 April 2015 - 11:19 AM, said:

So I was told that the runner up for most popular anime last cour was Seven Deadly Sins aka Nanatsu no Taizai?

D'rek are you or have you had a look at that? Would like your take on it if thats on(or has been on) the cards...

I've never even heard of it.

And if that's the runner up, what was the winner?


edit: Ah, looks like it was a 2-cour show that started back in Fall'14.

In any case, popularity-ranking-wise, Seven Deadly Sins is at #356 on MAL, while Log Horizon season 2 is at #283, Durarara x2 Shou is at #242, Death Parade is at #213, so by those rankings it's definitely not runner-up for most popular last cour. Of course there could be another ranking system/metric that does put it up there.

Dolmen 2.0, on 08 April 2015 - 11:19 AM, said:

Also yes. Owari no Seraph the anime (eps 1) was really nicely done. great recco! There's definitely a common flavor with AoT in terms of pacing.

Yeah, definitely. Though from the preview for the next episode that may not last - it looks like the main character starts going to a school? Which is weird, considering the worldbuilding so far but I'm guessing it turns out that

Spoiler

the vampire's enclave from the first episode is just a particular underground lab and there is still civilization on the surface (though that might be run by demons or vampires, too)

I am a bit uneasy about this prophecy talk though...

[Dolmen 2.0]

D, on 08 April 2015 - 02:45 PM, said:

Dolmen 2.0, on 08 April 2015 - 11:19 AM, said:

So I was told that the runner up for most popular anime last cour was Seven Deadly Sins aka Nanatsu no Taizai?

D'rek are you or have you had a look at that? Would like your take on it if thats on(or has been on) the cards...

I've never even heard of it.

And if that's the runner up, what was the winner?


edit: Ah, looks like it was a 2-cour show that started back in Fall'14.

In any case, popularity-ranking-wise, Seven Deadly Sins is at #356 on MAL, while Log Horizon season 2 is at #283, Durarara x2 Shou is at #242, Death Parade is at #213, so by those rankings it's definitely not runner-up for most popular last cour. Of course there could be another ranking system/metric that does put it up there.

Dolmen 2.0, on 08 April 2015 - 11:19 AM, said:

Also yes. Owari no Seraph the anime (eps 1) was really nicely done. great recco! There's definitely a common flavor with AoT in terms of pacing.

Yeah, definitely. Though from the preview for the next episode that may not last - it looks like the main character starts going to a school? Which is weird, considering the worldbuilding so far but I'm guessing it turns out that

Spoiler

the vampire's enclave from the first episode is just a particular underground lab and there is still civilization on the surface (though that might be run by demons or vampires, too)

I am a bit uneasy about this prophecy talk though...

I got that from an article. These were combat based shounen rankings. I'm not sure what was first but Seven Deadly sins was ranked third. I'll look for the article again. clearly it wasn't thought of that highly in other circles. My anime friends swear by it though. They're into decent stuff.

They also reccomend kekkai sensen and baby steps S2. plan to check them out later tonight and will post my opinions of them later on.

Oh don't be fooled. As you well know Japan has some schooling programs echoing the structure of the countries navy. Its only natural in an adultless post apocalyptic setting that the organized resistence formed by youth would draw from and be linked to a schooling academy.

I'm quite curios who runs the school tbh.

[D'rek]

Dolmen 2.0, on 08 April 2015 - 07:04 PM, said:

I got that from an article. These were combat based shounen rankings. I'm not sure what was first but Seven Deadly sins was ranked third. I'll look for the article again. clearly it wasn't thought of that highly in other circles. My anime friends swear by it though. They're into decent stuff.

Oh, well, filtering it down to just combat shounen makes a big difference!

And considering most cours only have at most a handful of combat shounen shows, is being third really much of an accomplishment?

In any case, whether it was popular in certain circles, or even whether it was popular at all, doesn't mean it was either good or bad.

Now, with all this hype and discussion, you'll just have to go watch some of it and report back to us!

Dolmen 2.0, on 08 April 2015 - 07:04 PM, said:

They also reccomend kekkai sensen and baby steps S2. plan to check them out later tonight and will post my opinions of them later on.

I'm definitely curious to hear your thoughts on Kekkai Sensen. It's a very interesting start but I'm not convinced yet it'll actually be a good story/show beyond its initial novelty.

Dolmen 2.0, on 08 April 2015 - 07:04 PM, said:

Oh don't be fooled. As you well know Japan has some schooling programs echoing the structure of the countries navy. Its only natural in an adultless post apocalyptic setting that the organized resistence formed by youth would draw from and be linked to a schooling academy.

Oh god I hope not. *shudders*

[EmperorMagus]

I finally finished watching Fate/Zero.
I kinda felt like I was reading Malazan for the last 5 episodes or so. The show could have been far shorter certainly, but disregarding the filler , its ending was so good i don't wanna start the other installments just because they may ruin it.

[Silencer]

EmperorMagus, on 09 April 2015 - 02:08 AM, said:

I finally finished watching Fate/Zero.
I kinda felt like I was reading Malazan for the last 5 episodes or so. The show could have been far shorter certainly, but disregarding the filler , its ending was so good i don't wanna start the other installments just because they may ruin it.

They do. Even the ufotable UBW series is struggling to make it as good as Zero - that being said, the first half of the show is setup with few fights. And it's still unbelievably better than the Stay Night series or the movie. But it's not on the level of Zero. *sigh*

[EmperorMagus]

Silencer, on 09 April 2015 - 03:15 AM, said:

EmperorMagus, on 09 April 2015 - 02:08 AM, said:

I finally finished watching Fate/Zero.
I kinda felt like I was reading Malazan for the last 5 episodes or so. The show could have been far shorter certainly, but disregarding the filler , its ending was so good i don't wanna start the other installments just because they may ruin it.

They do. Even the ufotable UBW series is struggling to make it as good as Zero - that being said, the first half of the show is setup with few fights. And it's still unbelievably better than the Stay Night series or the movie. But it's not on the level of Zero. *sigh*

I'm so sad now.

[Silencer]

Sorry, but better you know than suffer the disappointment unexpectedly, right? XD

I can't wait for the Heaven's Feel movie though. It still won't be Fate/Zero tier but I expect them to pull no punches and it's the best scenario from the game. Unfortunately they still have to deal with the stupid protagonist and associated tropes. It's pretty hard to fix a story with Emiya Shirou as the focus. *sigh*

[Maark Abbott]

Alter Memory Eps 5 / 6:

Story is starting to pick up. But you have to ask yourself... Why, when a character is told 'if you meet person x, run like shit because they've been told to kill you' and then they meet said person, do they completely ignore is and do the whole upside down U eyes and sparkles? Tisk tisk.

[D'rek]

EmperorMagus, on 09 April 2015 - 02:08 AM, said:

I finally finished watching Fate/Zero.
I kinda felt like I was reading Malazan for the last 5 episodes or so. The show could have been far shorter certainly, but disregarding the filler , its ending was so good i don't wanna start the other installments just because they may ruin it.

As Silencer said, the other Fate/ stuff is not as good as /Zero, but really it isn't trying to be. The source materials are not the same format nor the same genre of story, so if you start watching another Fate/ you have to do so not expecting even the same kind of story as /Zero, let alone the same sort of quality and ideas.

If Fate/Zero is MBotF, then Fate/Stay Night is the Tales of Bauchelain & Korbal Broach.

And Fate/Kaleid Liner is Wilful Child

Maark, on 09 April 2015 - 05:12 AM, said:

Alter Memory Eps 5 / 6:

Story is starting to pick up. But you have to ask yourself... Why, when a character is told 'if you meet person x, run like shit because they've been told to kill you' and then they meet said person, do they completely ignore is and do the whole upside down U eyes and sparkles? Tisk tisk.

Is it because the writing is awful? Or just because the character is completely stupid?

[D'rek]

The Spring 2015 season first episode round-up continues!

(part 1)
(part 2)

---

Mikagura Gakuen Kumikyoku (Mikagura School Suite) [Dogakobo] - seems like a fairly generic magic school show so far, nothing special really standing out.

Ameiro Cocoa [EMT2] - This is just weird. It's a slice of life show set in a coffee shop, and trying to be very cutesy (and failing, IMO). The episodes are only 90 seconds long. And the first one ends really, really abruptly... like mid-sentence abruptly. I guess you're not losing very much of your time if you want to check it out, but even then I wouldn't recommend it.

Triage [Xebec] -- I went into this one with VERY low expectations, but the premise (hospital nurses who are also batman mercenaries) made me at least want to see the first episode to be sure. They're doing their darndest to be a Michael Bay movie, and this might be a great show for those who like scantily clad huge-bosomed women saying vaguely medical one-liners while blowing shit up. Waaaay too ecchi-harem for my taste (emphasis on "waaaaaaay"... this is borderline softcore porn), but I'll leave it to others to decide whether it is objectively good or bad of a show at being what it is trying to be. I skipped through most of the episode after the first couple minutes and it looks like there's a high school element mixed in too... wtf.

Gintama° [Sunrise] -- Gintama is back, and it is still great big silly fun. Enough said. Recommended even if you haven't seen any Gintama before.

Houkago no Pleiades (Wish Upon the Pleiades) [Gainax] -- As far as Sailor Moon knock-offs go, this looks like it'll probably be a pretty good one. The animation is great, the plot has set up an actual long-term goal and antagonist rather than just being silly-baddie-of-the-week, characters seem like they'll have some depth, etc. Not sure I actually feel in the mood to watch a Sailor Moon knock-off, though. I loved the way the girls' magic-rocket-broomstick-thingy revs like a motorcycle when they fly, though, that was a clever bit of humour.

Takamiya Nasuno Desu! (I Am Nasuno Takamiya!) [Millepensee] -- Another 90-second anime? WHAT IS GOING ON???!!! Well, anyways, unlike the previous two 90-second shows that just started (Vampire Holmes and Ameri Cocoa) which were crap, this was great! They crammed a lot of jokes into 90 seconds (mostly by talking and scene-changing extremely fast)! Well worth taking 90 seconds to check out. Apparently this is a spin-off series from Teekyuu, a sports mange/anime about a tennis club, but I haven't seen even a single episode of Teekyuu and it didn't seem necessary to enjoy this.

Bar Kiraware Yasai [Gathering] -- ANOTHER 90-second show. Where are they all coming from?! Anyways, this was awful.



---


7 left! Can Punchline live up to the hype? Will Trigger save anime? Will Robot Girls Z+ and Yamada-kun be good, or just easy pervy jokes? Will the new Lupin actually come out this month at all? Duh duh duh!

[Maark Abbott]

As someone who can do a nasal moustache, I must also make the generic quip about Bobobo.

[Kartoolian Spider Squisher]

Nothing excited me after Kill la Kill. I chose that as my high mark for my last finished series. The manga I like never get an anime, and the anime I like always get 24-26 episodes and finish with not ending it, or an ending wholly created by the anime studios.....


Why is by mood finish out in my poets today?

I need something to read.

[Maark Abbott]

Kartoolian Spider Squisher, on 09 April 2015 - 06:10 PM, said:

I need something to read.

I have just the black and sticky books for you.

[Kartoolian Spider Squisher]

Maark, on 09 April 2015 - 06:24 PM, said:

Kartoolian Spider Squisher, on 09 April 2015 - 06:10 PM, said:

I need something to read.

I have just the black and sticky books for you.

I believe reading is different than a strenuous one handed workout, but that could be crazy talk. O:-)

[Maark Abbott]

Kartoolian Spider Squisher, on 09 April 2015 - 06:31 PM, said:

Maark, on 09 April 2015 - 06:24 PM, said:

Kartoolian Spider Squisher, on 09 April 2015 - 06:10 PM, said:

I need something to read.

I have just the black and sticky books for you.

I believe reading is different than a strenuous one handed workout, but that could be crazy talk. O:-)

Head over to the Reading At The Moment thread and for the love of waifu, bring a sponge.

[D'rek]

The Spring 2015 season first episode round-up continues!

(part 1)
(part 2)
(part 3)

---

Etotama [Shirogumi] -- Looks like more of a kids show, and even then I can't say it looks like much of an interesting start. I started skipped through the first episode after only about 5 minutes in.

Punchline [Mappa] -- Okay, wow. The official synopsis for this show was just "The series follows Yuuta Iridatsu, whose spirit has been separated from his body.". Not a lot of detail. So as it turns out, it looks like what this show *really* is is an ultra sleazy, somewhat self-aware, premise-on-LSD and deliberately full of cliche fan service that I am guessing is trying to straddle the border of satire-through-hyperbole and just actually going for it, as well as probably intentionally trying to get some comedy out of being so-bad-it's-good. Plot-wise, the main character pseudo-dies in the first few minutes and becomes a ghost. He needs to find a magic book that for some reason is somewhere in his apartment building. Through being invisible, he also learns that some of the girls with apartments in his building are a superheroine (who fights with a giant drinking straw) and her support crew. Blatant fan service ensues. Except that it turns out spirits gain superpowers from peaking at underwear, and if he peaks too much a meteor is summoned to wipe out all of humanity (which happens twice in the first episode alone, but he goes back in time) and ergo the main character has to avoid seeing all the blatant fan service that comes up around him. So, an argument could potentially be made that this is some sort of making fun of the fan service in the industry show going on... but I doubt it. I think that's probably giving the creators too much credit and they just wanted to do a sleazy show. In any case, I wouldn't be surprised if the FLCL-esque hyper-randomness of this one combined with that aspect ends up making this one of the more talked about and polarizing shows this season.


---

and that's it for the round-up!

(There is still Ninja Slayer, but that doesn't start for another week (it's an OVA, not a full show) so I'll just let it have its own post when the time comes. Likewise, Lupin III Part 4 and Robot Girls Z+ still don't have an official start time so it seems they aren't getting a debut at the start of this season at all. And I've decided I don't care about checking out the first episodes of Yamada-kun to 7-nin no Majo or Happy George.)


So in the end there is 4 shows I'm going to be devotedly watching and expecting great things from:

--Plastic Memories [Dogakobo]
--Gunslinger Stratos [A-1]
--Owari no Seraph (Seraph of the End) [Wit]
--Gintama° [Sunrise]


Then 4 more shows I'm going to mostly keep up with, even if I don't think they'll be as amazing as the above:

--Arslan Senki (The Legend of Arslan?) [LIDEN & Sanzigen]
--Kekkai Sensen (Blood Blockade Battlefront) [Bones]
--Hibike! Euphonium (Sound! Euphonium) [Kyoto]
--Takamiya Nasuno Desu! (I Am Nasuno Takamiya!) [Millepensee]


And then *another* 4 shows that I've decided to try a couple more episodes and see:

--Shokugeki no Souma (Food Wars?) [JC Staff]
--Kyoukai no Rinne (?) [Brains Base]
--Mikagura Gakuen Kumikyoku (Mikagura School Suite) [Dogakobo]
--Punchline [Mappa]


Not to mention Ninja Slayer when it does start I must assume will be at least good if not great, since it is Trigger, plus Assassination Classroom and Unlimited Blade Works are continuing from the previous cour/seasons!!!

So much anime! Too much anime! So awesome! This is going to be a terrific season!

[Maark Abbott]

AMep8: Oh good god. They made Lambda even more tragic than she already was. The feels feel as though they just ate a Tiger Uppercut. ;.;

[Kartoolian Spider Squisher]

Ugh... I powered through Daredevil too fast. I guess I'll get caught up on some anime until the final 2 web novels of Mushoku Tensei get released.