[D'rek]

BalrogLord, on 05 July 2015 - 03:43 PM, said:

mew durarara episode is out. Either i missed it or izaya wasn't in the OP. What the hell, does that mean hes not in the current arc? Im not happy with this

Right before the re-cap portion:


 izaya.png (286.27K)
Number of downloads: 0




Characters named in this OP:

Masaomi + Saki
Anri
Saburo
Kadota
Walker
Erika
Aoba
Izaya
Celty
Shizuo
Tom + Varona
Akabayashi
Kasuka + Ruri
Mika + Seiji
Namie
Shinra
Mikado


Blue names were not named in the last OP. The characters removed from the last one are Mairu, Kururi, Akane and Rocchi.

[LinearPhilosopher]

Chaos Dragon: Sekiryuu Senyaku

"Chaos Dragon is based on the role-playing fiction project Red Dragon, a story which was created by five notable character designers: Gen Urobochi (Fate/Zero), Kinoko Nasu (Kara no Kyoukai), Iduki Kougyoku (Mimizuku to Yoru no Ou), Ryohgo Narita (Durarara!!), and Simadoriru (member of the Stripe Pattern doujin circle). The results of their tabletop role-playing game sessions over six days created material for a seven-volume light novel series.

[Silencer]

D, on 29 June 2015 - 03:40 PM, said:

[snip]

In other news, I'm done Clannad now. Silencer et al, I'd be curious to hear your thoughts on the finale (and the show as a whole). Some misc thoughts from me:

Spoiler

The ending didn't have that big of an effect on me. Ushio and Tomoya dying hurt, but it seemed pretty inevitable and built more obviously.

Then magic-Ushio reverses it all. Don't get me wrong, I was happy to see the good version of the story, but it wasn't *thaaaat* moving. Partly, I think it would have helped if the meta-fantasy parts had been a bit more directly linked/explained. I get that they were going for the

make others happy > get magic orbs > magic orbs grant wish

but how that tied into Ushio being able to do that was a bit odd, and then flashing back to Tomoya wishing never to have dated Nagisa, but then I guess *really* wishing just that she hadn't died, was more than a bit unclear. Plus we only ever actually saw like two of the magic orbs - they should've shown them for everyone they helped along the way, non?

So, a bit messy in spots and in the final execution, but still a very moving anime when it wanted to be. I definitely do not regret watching it.


All that said, the one episode of Tomoya-x-Tomoyo is better than all the other episodes combined. Holy shit that episode was amazing.

You're a monster.


But more seriously:

Spoiler

The reversal thing is a bit of a cop-out in my book, if you look at it as being something that *actually* happened. From a VN-adaptation perspective it's essentially a great way to show both a "bad end" and the "good/true end", for sure, but it does really undercut the impact of the finale.
Nagisa dying was faaaaaaaaar more impactful than Ushio/Tomoya, because that was a bit of a slow fall into inevitability, as you said, whereas Nagisa was an abrupt, though telegraphed, shift (my head was going "nononononono" for like the episode and a half before that actually happened, haha) but it would have been more poignant if it wasn't almost instantaneously reversed. That being said, I think that show might have had the power to instill depression in people if that is actually where it had finished. XD

However, you can also look at it as a lot more metaphorical. The alternate universe is always going to be meta, but if you think of it more as an allegory for collecting "flags" in a VN, then the majority of Tomoya's would already be done by the time we get to After Story, so it makes sense that they don't show each individual one in detail - the anime is already two seasons long to get the full run of the story in, after all.
Then, the events through Nagisa's death and the reversal of that line aren't actual events - they're Tomoya flash-forwarding in fear of what *could* happen. It represents every single bit of his worry for Nagisa as she's giving birth, just made explicit through the medium. It doesn't "reverse", it actually never happens as we see that she survives when that section of story concludes.
Personally, I prefer that interpretation as it ensures a relative separation of the story from the fantasy world we see but don't really explore, leaving that as a realm of metaphor.

But either way, I think seeing Tomoya struggle on was done *really* well. Like, it verges on being too melancholic, all up, even for what is essentially a tragedy at that point, but it doesn't quite tip over (imo) and instead just really captures the despair he's in. It is a HUGE departure from the first season, which had its 'darker' moments but never really went that far beyond its SoL/harem VN roots (even though Nagisa was always treated as the only option), and basically just says "you know what, let's have everything go to hell, and show what that's like".

In anime, I don't think there's been a more powerful scene than "Nagisaaaaa!~" *fade out*, tbh. Even Angel Beats, which was never as dark, but is widely held to be in the same league, tearjerker-wise, doesn't *quite* get there. It's very close, at one point, but it doesn't quite stick it as effectively (probably due to the abruptness, which just goes to show what level of response can be generated in the space of one episode).

The rest of the show has its problems with scenarios that aren't quite properly re-jigged to be not-their-own-VN-route, and I do kind of feel like the rapid mood change from the first season to After Story was a bit on the nose, but hey, it works. Overall, the pacing is done OK, the characters are their own people (even Nagisa, who has to kind of be overlooked for being so passive - as much as its probably my biggest issue with the show, I think it's likely a key part of why it works, and they do go to lengths to justify it so forth, and it's deliberately subverted several times, so all good), which is impressive when you consider alternative heroines normally get the short end of the stick in adaptations...overall, it's got to be one of the most solidly adapted 'harem' VNs out there, never mind its other successes.

I kind of feel like I need to re-watch it again, because I can feel my memory of it getting hazy. But the most moving part of it was definitely *not* the ending. The climax was Nagisa's death, and Tomoya/Ushio was the falling action/denouement (slash just part of the climax working itself out), and was essentially the final kick in the gut.

...and I can't remember if you've watched Angel Beats or not, so I have restrained myself from spoilers for that series on the advisement that, have you not seen it, you go see it. XD

Overall, while Clannad isn't necessarily perfect, the only shows that have even come close to the kind of emotional engagement that it got from me are Sakurasou and Angel Beats, oh, and honourable mention to Hotarubi no Mori e - a really great short story. They're basically my top-in-class tearjerker anime, and I can't think of many shows off the top of my head that come close in terms of emotional engagement of that sort. There's stuff out there, but it often drops the ball in some way that these shows don't, or is just a moment/aspect of a show that's focused on other stuff.

[D'rek]

(clannad spoilers)

Spoiler

Silencer, on 06 July 2015 - 10:48 AM, said:

The reversal thing is a bit of a cop-out in my book, if you look at it as being something that *actually* happened. From a VN-adaptation perspective it's essentially a great way to show both a "bad end" and the "good/true end", for sure, but it does really undercut the impact of the finale.
Nagisa dying was faaaaaaaaar more impactful than Ushio/Tomoya, because that was a bit of a slow fall into inevitability, as you said, whereas Nagisa was an abrupt, though telegraphed, shift (my head was going "nononononono" for like the episode and a half before that actually happened, haha) but it would have been more poignant if it wasn't almost instantaneously reversed. That being said, I think that show might have had the power to instill depression in people if that is actually where it had finished. XD

However, you can also look at it as a lot more metaphorical. The alternate universe is always going to be meta, but if you think of it more as an allegory for collecting "flags" in a VN, then the majority of Tomoya's would already be done by the time we get to After Story, so it makes sense that they don't show each individual one in detail - the anime is already two seasons long to get the full run of the story in, after all.

It didn't really need to be entirely metaphorical, though. They outright established that the Holy Grail glowy orbs are a real thing and hinted that they could grant wishes if you defeated the other Servants saw them. Showing both good and bad endings from the VN was a great idea and really worked for giving the audience both very sad and very happy scenes.
I don't really have any problems with the way they did it, it just wasn't setup very well and therefore felt like a cop-out. Have one of those glowy orbs appear when Tomoyo saves her trees, have one fly over when Mei realizes her brother's not entirely a deadbeat, have the cat-boy pass along the orb in his back to Tomoya in another dream after the dorm mother pseudo-realizes that the cat is him reborn, etc - Tomoya doesn't even need to notice them all. And then each time one of the orbs passes by, have something change in the Alter World, like meta-Ushio getting progressively transparent/ghosty - heck, the audience might think that's because she's dying but then in the end they can realize it's because Tomoya's wish is getting closer to coming true and the Alter World will disappear.
I think something like that would have helped a lot in making it seem less like the ending was pulled out of their butts and given some much-needed connectivity from the first season to the second, too. But maybe that is precisely the trouble in that they may not have had a plan for AS when they made the first season.

Silencer, on 06 July 2015 - 10:48 AM, said:

Then, the events through Nagisa's death and the reversal of that line aren't actual events - they're Tomoya flash-forwarding in fear of what *could* happen. It represents every single bit of his worry for Nagisa as she's giving birth, just made explicit through the medium. It doesn't "reverse", it actually never happens as we see that she survives when that section of story concludes.
Personally, I prefer that interpretation as it ensures a relative separation of the story from the fantasy world we see but don't really explore, leaving that as a realm of metaphor.

Hmm, that's a cool way of thinking about it. Not sure how well it works with Tomoya's surprise/reaction to Nagisa being okay when they roll back to the birthing scene; he seems like he has been actually living that whole life, not just thinking about it for a minute. In some way he needs to have actually experienced that life and that amount of living, perhaps, for it to make full sense, but that is entirely possible within the meta-elements - the glowy orbs and meta-Ushio are showing him his life without the wish he's currently making.

Silencer, on 06 July 2015 - 10:48 AM, said:

But either way, I think seeing Tomoya struggle on was done *really* well. Like, it verges on being too melancholic, all up, even for what is essentially a tragedy at that point, but it doesn't quite tip over (imo) and instead just really captures the despair he's in. It is a HUGE departure from the first season, which had its 'darker' moments but never really went that far beyond its SoL/harem VN roots (even though Nagisa was always treated as the only option), and basically just says "you know what, let's have everything go to hell, and show what that's like".

Totally agree. That first episode after Nagisa dies and Tomoya is zombie-ing through life I was like "Nooooooooooo Tomoya, don't become your dad and repeat the cycle!" and it was incredibly emotionally frustrating in a great way. Regardless of the ending and the beginning, the middle section of AS is just about flawless in its execution.

Silencer, on 06 July 2015 - 10:48 AM, said:

In anime, I don't think there's been a more powerful scene than "Nagisaaaaa!~" *fade out*, tbh. Even Angel Beats, which was never as dark, but is widely held to be in the same league, tearjerker-wise, doesn't *quite* get there. It's very close, at one point, but it doesn't quite stick it as effectively (probably due to the abruptness, which just goes to show what level of response can be generated in the space of one episode).

The train trip up north, with Ushio's "Sanae said there's one place where's it's okay to cry. In the bathroom." ... and then afterwards in the flower field: "in the bathroom...or when I'm in Daddy's arms" ... that one hit me really, really bad too. Probably just as much as the "Nagisaaaaa!" fade out.

Silencer, on 06 July 2015 - 10:48 AM, said:

The rest of the show has its problems with scenarios that aren't quite properly re-jigged to be not-their-own-VN-route, and I do kind of feel like the rapid mood change from the first season to After Story was a bit on the nose, but hey, it works. Overall, the pacing is done OK, the characters are their own people (even Nagisa, who has to kind of be overlooked for being so passive - as much as its probably my biggest issue with the show, I think it's likely a key part of why it works, and they do go to lengths to justify it so forth, and it's deliberately subverted several times, so all good), which is impressive when you consider alternative heroines normally get the short end of the stick in adaptations...overall, it's got to be one of the most solidly adapted 'harem' VNs out there, never mind its other successes.

Yup, exactly. None of it is outright bad, but definitely this is a case, IMO, where a small number of episodes and moments make the overall show much better than the average of its individual episodes, and that's fine. In some ways, you need that long, slow, almost-boring build-up to engender even more of an emotional reaction when things peak.


As you pointed out, the first season especially nudges pretty close to its pick-your-girl/harem VN roots, but its really interesting how this show did end up going full force with the Nagisa route but still include the other characters' stories to some extent. I don't think I've watched many anime based on VNs, especially romance VNs (though OTOH maybe I have seen a bunch without even knowing it) but I would imagine most VN adaptations either just pick one route/story and do it exlusively or try to do all the routes at once and either way they only show the good ending. Doing one route but mixing it elements from the others, doing the bad ending and then going back in time to do the good ending is an interesting way to do it and probably closer to the experience of someone reading the VN, too. It'd be interesting to see a VN adaptation that takes that idea even further and fully incorporates a mechanic of the MC being sent back to the start of the show - not with full memories but with enough deja vu and instincts from their previous runs to react to things differently - and go through several routes with both bad and good endings. Kind of like a longer and more varied Endless Eight?


Anyways, sounds like we're pretty much on the same page regarding Clannad!

Silencer, on 06 July 2015 - 10:48 AM, said:

...and I can't remember if you've watched Angel Beats or not, so I have restrained myself from spoilers for that series on the advisement that, have you not seen it, you go see it. XD

I haven't. It's in the to-watch list.

[LinearPhilosopher]

So as far as Ep1s go im quite satisfied in the three i've watched thus far. So ill be looking forward to watching more around the week 9/week 10 mark.

The 3 being Chaos dragon, rokka no yuusha and durarara. Durarara is a known quantity so i wont waste my breath on it.

Chaos dragon and yuusha both strike me as having a good foundation. While i'm getting tons of familariaty vibes everywhere (likely because i've watched too much of the medium) i was impressed with the execution of the ideas in the first episode and the characters while being well defined early on, were not pidgeonholed into their roles yet. There is room for growth, there is also room for stagnation but that cannot be ascertained until later on.

At the end of the day, a whether a trope is good or bad depends on the execution, not the trope in of itself(even mary/gary stus can be interesting under the right circumstance).

This post has been edited by BalrogLord: 06 July 2015 - 04:09 PM

[D'rek]

BalrogLord, on 06 July 2015 - 04:08 PM, said:

So as far as Ep1s go im quite satisfied in the three i've watched thus far. So ill be looking forward to watching more around the week 9/week 10 mark.

The 3 being Chaos dragon, rokka no yuusha and durarara.

I haven't checked out Chaos Dragon ep1 yet, but will do so soon.

BalrogLord, on 06 July 2015 - 04:08 PM, said:

Durarara is a known quantity so i wont waste my breath on it.

Yup, pretty much, things just keep rolling in Ikkebukuro. I'm sad there weren't any reaction posts in this thread from the winter-2015 finale, though

But hey, there's a new character, BL! What do you think about that? That first episode of this season also had a few quick shots of some strange and/or dramatic things going on that will surely be explained more in the next few weeks... none of them jump out at you?

Like maybe:

Spoiler

Anri turning to talk to Akabayashi like she already knew him?

BalrogLord, on 06 July 2015 - 04:08 PM, said:

Chaos dragon and yuusha both strike me as having a good foundation. While i'm getting tons of familariaty vibes everywhere (likely because i've watched too much of the medium) i was impressed with the execution of the ideas in the first episode and the characters while being well defined early on, were not pidgeonholed into their roles yet. There is room for growth, there is also room for stagnation but that cannot be ascertained until later on.

At the end of the day, a whether a trope is good or bad depends on the execution, not the trope in of itself(even mary/gary stus can be interesting under the right circumstance).

Yup. I wouldn't case Adler as being too tropey yet - the tricksy fighting is definitely different from the norm. I like how they showed him being both patient and pretty accepting of the consequences he faced - most cocky fighter characters tend to fall on the opposite side, screaming and raging against their perceived injustices all the time.

Also, bunny ears.



I also checked out the first episode of A World Where the Concept of Dirty Jokes Does Not Exist. It's a satire of censorship, fan-service and "proper morals" where the entire country is forbidden from looking at sexy images, swearing, discussing genitalia or reproduction, etc., so the main plot takes place in a high school where most of the kids literally do not know how babies are made and there is a terrorist in town who throws pictures of boobs into crowds of people. In other words, it is *exactly* what you would expect to get from combining '1984' and anime It'll be one hundred percent gutter-minded gag humour, I'm sure, but the whole thing is embraced so enthusiastically by the show and the characters play it so straight that I thought it was quite hilarious, actually. The climax of the episode would definitely appeal to fans of Shokugeki no Souma (both shows are made by JC Staff, who seem to have really found their niche!).

I'll at least check out episode 2, though I'm not sure I will want to watch a whole season of this. We'll see. I encourage everyone to check out at least the first episode, because I can be pretty sure you will never have seen something like this before!

And, um, you'll probably want to watch it by yourself, with headphones if you have thin walls, because you will never, ever, be able to explain to any non-anime fans who overlooks/hears it that it is just a satire!!!

[LinearPhilosopher]

D, on 06 July 2015 - 07:28 PM, said:

BalrogLord, on 06 July 2015 - 04:08 PM, said:

So as far as Ep1s go im quite satisfied in the three i've watched thus far. So ill be looking forward to watching more around the week 9/week 10 mark.

The 3 being Chaos dragon, rokka no yuusha and durarara.

I haven't checked out Chaos Dragon ep1 yet, but will do so soon.

BalrogLord, on 06 July 2015 - 04:08 PM, said:

Durarara is a known quantity so i wont waste my breath on it.

Yup, pretty much, things just keep rolling in Ikkebukuro. I'm sad there weren't any reaction posts in this thread from the winter-2015 finale, though

But hey, there's a new character, BL! What do you think about that? That first episode of this season also had a few quick shots of some strange and/or dramatic things going on that will surely be explained more in the next few weeks... none of them jump out at you?

Like maybe:

Spoiler

Anri turning to talk to Akabayashi like she already knew him?

BalrogLord, on 06 July 2015 - 04:08 PM, said:

Chaos dragon and yuusha both strike me as having a good foundation. While i'm getting tons of familariaty vibes everywhere (likely because i've watched too much of the medium) i was impressed with the execution of the ideas in the first episode and the characters while being well defined early on, were not pidgeonholed into their roles yet. There is room for growth, there is also room for stagnation but that cannot be ascertained until later on.

At the end of the day, a whether a trope is good or bad depends on the execution, not the trope in of itself(even mary/gary stus can be interesting under the right circumstance).

Yup. I wouldn't case Adler as being too tropey yet - the tricksy fighting is definitely different from the norm. I like how they showed him being both patient and pretty accepting of the consequences he faced - most cocky fighter characters tend to fall on the opposite side, screaming and raging against their perceived injustices all the time.

Also, bunny ears.



I also checked out the first episode of A World Where the Concept of Dirty Jokes Does Not Exist. It's a satire of censorship, fan-service and "proper morals" where the entire country is forbidden from looking at sexy images, swearing, discussing genitalia or reproduction, etc., so the main plot takes place in a high school where most of the kids literally do not know how babies are made and there is a terrorist in town who throws pictures of boobs into crowds of people. In other words, it is *exactly* what you would expect to get from combining '1984' and anime It'll be one hundred percent gutter-minded gag humour, I'm sure, but the whole thing is embraced so enthusiastically by the show and the characters play it so straight that I thought it was quite hilarious, actually. The climax of the episode would definitely appeal to fans of Shokugeki no Souma (both shows are made by JC Staff, who seem to have really found their niche!).

I'll at least check out episode 2, though I'm not sure I will want to watch a whole season of this. We'll see. I encourage everyone to check out at least the first episode, because I can be pretty sure you will never have seen something like this before!

And, um, you'll probably want to watch it by yourself, with headphones if you have thin walls, because you will never, ever, be able to explain to any non-anime fans who overlooks/hears it that it is just a satire!!!

in regards to durarara, i had a couple glasses of sangria at the time so i dont recall much

Might give that other show a go, still new to getting around to twintails and that dungeon anime

[D'rek]

Just in case anyone needed more proof that Sunrise studio is on, like, all the drugs, they've just announced that they'll be making an anime-original series about classical music composers fighting giant robots.

Quote

In a rural town undergoing revival through music, high school students Kanae and Sousuke meet none other than Beethoven and Mozart! Calling themselves "Classicaloids," this mysterious duo creates a strange power through the "music" they play.

One night, stars fall from the sky and gigantic robots appear, causing trouble every single day! Bach, Chopin, Schubert also appear as Classicaloids. What is the mystery behind the powers they possess? Are they humanity's friend or foe?

Oh Sunrise, never change!



http://www.animenews...for-2016/.90031
http://www9.nhk.or.jp/anime/classica/

[LinearPhilosopher]

D, on 07 July 2015 - 04:03 PM, said:

Just in case anyone needed more proof that Sunrise studio is on, like, all the drugs, they've just announced that they'll be making an anime-original series about classical music composers fighting giant robots.

Quote

In a rural town undergoing revival through music, high school students Kanae and Sousuke meet none other than Beethoven and Mozart! Calling themselves "Classicaloids," this mysterious duo creates a strange power through the "music" they play.

One night, stars fall from the sky and gigantic robots appear, causing trouble every single day! Bach, Chopin, Schubert also appear as Classicaloids. What is the mystery behind the powers they possess? Are they humanity's friend or foe?

Oh Sunrise, never change!



http://www.animenews...for-2016/.90031
http://www9.nhk.or.jp/anime/classica/

I can just picture this being the creation of an LSD addled discussion

[Dolmen 2.0]

D, on 06 July 2015 - 07:28 PM, said:

I also checked out the first episode of A World Where the Concept of Dirty Jokes Does Not Exist. It's a satire of censorship, fan-service and "proper morals" where the entire country is forbidden from looking at sexy images, swearing, discussing genitalia or reproduction, etc., so the main plot takes place in a high school where most of the kids literally do not know how babies are made and there is a terrorist in town who throws pictures of boobs into crowds of people. In other words, it is *exactly* what you would expect to get from combining '1984' and anime It'll be one hundred percent gutter-minded gag humour, I'm sure, but the whole thing is embraced so enthusiastically by the show and the characters play it so straight that I thought it was quite hilarious, actually. The climax of the episode would definitely appeal to fans of Shokugeki no Souma (both shows are made by JC Staff, who seem to have really found their niche!).

I'll at least check out episode 2, though I'm not sure I will want to watch a whole season of this. We'll see. I encourage everyone to check out at least the first episode, because I can be pretty sure you will never have seen something like this before!

And, um, you'll probably want to watch it by yourself, with headphones if you have thin walls, because you will never, ever, be able to explain to any non-anime fans who overlooks/hears it that it is just a satire!!!

I feel sullied by this show.

I mourn my innocence.

It was funny as hell!



Just finished Nichijou. Such a complete series. I just enjoyed every part of it. Got it in a 1080p HD DVD so I can re-watch some of my favourite parts.

Utterly worth it.

[The Hust Legion]

finished amigo brilliant park was an ok anime it wasn't anything special just a decent anime slightly messed up seeing cartoon mascots behave like that and i didn't expect some of the jokes to be so crude but it was a funny anime solid 7-8 out of 10 i expect theres a season 2

mainly watched it to get over your lie in april man that anime really got to me I'm still feeling the feels. its worse than when i saw angel beats and sakurasou combined. but it was so good I'm gonna rewatch it later down the line. started nichijou its started off really well from the first episode i get the daily lives of high school boys vibe at first with the 3 school kids thing. oh forgot to mention shokugeki haha just watched it now cause i was watchingg your lie in april when it first came out.

fairly standard episode

Spoiler

new character i did not expect her to be a relative of erina looks like we have the 3 parts assembled for the showdown for top spot gonna be interesting to see how yukihira reacts to the new challenge . HIS DAD APPEARS NEXT EPISODE IM EXCITED and camps over wonder what happens now in terms of plot i have no idea where its going to go now.

. all in all a standard episode in what has been an excellent series

and that dungeon anime i started watching doesn't seem too bad

classical music giant robots thats on my to watch list. sounds like my kind of anime

This post has been edited by The Hust Legion: 07 July 2015 - 08:06 PM

[LinearPhilosopher]

just watched ep1 of overlord about that guy that gets trapped in a video game. IDK what to think

[D'rek]

Here's my big list of first impressions from first episodes:


Classroom Crisis -- This is sort of a school SoL in space. Has a bit of a retro feel to it since everything is hand-drawn. The first episode was mostly just introduction of the setting and characters, especially the not-so-exchange-student, so hard to form an opinion yet. I really liked the last scene with the not-so-exchange-student's pragmatism giving everyone else a huge wake-up call. That plus the way they handled having to eject the engine pods and such looks like this show will have a big emphasis on realism (and the way they explain the Mars colonization setting supports that).


Aoharu X Kikanjuu -- First episode was alright, but I just can't really get excited about a paintball anime with real-gun sound effects. The main character's circumstances (basically: cross-dressing non-transgender girl) is interesting, but given how the first episode revolved around a misunderstanding that would fit in any generic Hollywood rom-com, I wouldn't expect the show to use those circumstances for anything but crude jokes, anyways.


Shimoneta to Iu Gainen ga Sonzai Shinai Taikutsu na Sekai (A World Where the Concept of Dirty Jokes Doesn't Exist) - Already discussed up-thread. Hilarious and extremely well executed. The topic might be hard to maintain this level of quality over the whole season, but they might just pull it off!


Rokka no Yuusha -- As already mentioned up-thread, I loved this first episode tons!


Akagami no Shirayuki-hime (Snow White with the Red Hair) -- Hood's Breath, people, the show has "Snow White" in the name why are you eating the apples??!!! In seriousness, this was a great first episode which both kickstarted the romance and gave all the necessary backstory to get the main story going.


Chaos Dragon: Sekiryuu Seneki -- Has some good ideas but the execution in the first episode is very messy. Characters teleport around between camera cuts (ie: Kai runs toward guy with a sword, guy swings the sword, Mashiro runs forward, Kai is now suddenly 20 feet away and Mashiro has instantly covered the distance to sword-guy), the dialogue has some very unnatural info-dumps, and the backstories/character information are kinda weird (ie: if only kings can make dragon pacts, how come the guy who actually is a king doesn't know what the pact entails, but random peasant girl and bodyguard do?). The setting of an island kingdom squished between two much larger invading nations could have lead to some interesting explorations of political and worldly ideas - the main character even lines up with that given his thoughts that it might be better to just stop fighting a battle they can't win and let themselves be annexed by the larger nation - but instead they just went full on invading-nation-is-absolute-evil with pointless civilian massacres and such. Finally, hard to say for sure, but the show seems like it'll be revelling in the deaths of major characters - big triumphant rock music kicks in during the first episode when it happens and they have a character sheet at the end of each episode to cross people out of. My expectations are low on this one, the ideas are just cobbled together too sloppily so far for me to get immersed in it. We'll see if that continues going forward. (Also, the dragon looks terrible.)


Ushio to Tora -- Veeeery nineties-esque looking, both in character design and animation style. First impressions are that it is about average. Probably would have been worth keeping up with in a sparser season but there's too many shows this season I'm actually excited for to keep up with this one. The Ushio/Tora duo had a couple bits of funny back-and-forth so if there's time later in the season I'll try and catch episodes 2 and 3 to see if it improves.


Gangsta -- Ah, the good ol' adult criminals-in-mafia-controlled-land setting. This was suitably grim and violent, with grey characters hiring slightly darker grey characters to kill outright evil characters, and all the usual drugs, cops, racketeering and beating up prostitutes thrown in. Depending on if/how much the episodes repeat, this might be too gory or depressing for me to want to watch it all the way through, but we'll see. Nicolas as a katana-wielding deaf guy really helps to give the show a unique difference from other shows of similar content.


Overlord -- There's some really great stuff in this one. I like the very different take on the trapped-in-a-VRMMO setup with not only it being just the one character, but also how he already has a lot of skill and tools so he can proceed straight to analyzing the situation and pushing the plot forward - with the trapped-in-a-VRMMO setup being so common already we can easily skip through all the initial leveling up and figuring out how to fight stuff with ease. I thought they did a really good job of showing the legacy of the MC's guild and having some nice, solemn moments before the midnight switcheroo - it did a good job of setting the tone and backstory without just info-dumping. Plus, the demonic avatar and the way the guild-hall is setup as a dungeon for other players to attack adds a lot of distinction between this and SAO/LH/.hack/etc. Overall, I was very impressed by all of that. BUT, then there's Albedo and that is... just no... eugh...


Joukamachi no Dandelion (Castle Town Dandelion) -- A big family of 11 that banters and argues but loves each other? Sure, that could be a fun SoL show. An eccentric king who decides his family will live in a regular house instead of the castle and who's successor will be decided by a general election between his kids? That could be a fun show, too! A family where the kids each have a different superpower and the whole family is part of a big reality show where they show them off? Also has potential! Well, Castle Town Dandelion is all of those things: the eccentric King has 9 kids, each of whom has a superpower, and they are being constantly scrutinized by reporters and the public via cameras everywhere because the kind has decided the next king will be chosen by election amongst his kids. So, already there is a LOT going on in this show, but the superpowers are mostly incidental (they don't have to fight monsters or anything like that) and just serve to enhance the drama. The main thrust of the show is that the MC (Akane, the fourth-oldest child) is very shy, so she dislikes the cameras and tries to hide from the attention of the media, but invariably ends up accidentaly attracting it.

The good:
--Akane's shyness is portrayed well: she genuinely dislikes having any attention focused on her, but this doesn't make her melancholic or incapable of making decisions like it seems to do to most generic male romance characters or Evangelion protagonists.
--The balance of eccentric elements makes for a really great, light-hearted setting.
--The family actually gets along and has good chemistry together - I'm a total sucker for an awesome family like this in a show.

BUT here's the bad:
--The last scene has what may be the absolute worst sisterly advice ever given: "Maybe if you became Queen then you could order the press to leave you alone and live quietly". They even acknowledge a couple sentences later that that probably makes no sense. Akane seems to think it is good advice and is going to use it as motivation to try and get elected... rather dumb reasoning and I hope it ends up getting reversed.
--The first episode had four different upskirt panty jokes. It's not like this show is an ecchi, they don't show anything, so why the heck would you go for that dumb joke four different times?! Even people who find that funny I'm sure must be tired of it after four times in one episode. I am hoping they got this out of their system and can move on to better humour hereafter (maybe they just did it 4 times because they thought if it kept happening in one episode that would be funnier, and can move on to other recurring jokes each episode???). C'mon production company, I really want to like this show...



Teekyuu s5 -- It's Teekyuu, enough said.



Durarara!! x2 Ten -- It's Durarara!!, enough said? Knowing the novels, I was actually surprised with what they did and didn't put into this first episode. They're currently adapting volume 7, and I thought they would more explicitly setup several of the storylines in this episode, then execute them all over the next two or three episodes, but instead they did almost all of Izaya/Rio/Manami and Shinra/Celty's bits and hardly touched the other storylines yet. Doesn't make a significant difference, really.

In any case, volume 7 is sort of like the Hollywood Arc from last season (which was volume 4) - it all takes place in a single day or two and is mostly self-contained. I'm hoping they'll keep volume 9 short and manage to adapt all the way through volume 10 in this cour, as 11-13 could definitely use a whole cour on their own, and 10 would make a great ending point for this cour.

For the casual fans, volume 8 is where they really start to bring story points and characters from the first 6 chapters back around. Might be worth reading a few episode summaries for the first season to remember what happened back then. Maybe the most important bit to recall would be:
(Durarara, season 1, episode 12)

Spoiler

After the big Dollars meeting when Izaya and Mikado talk, Izaya basically gets Mikado to finally admit that all the talk of normalcy is bullshit, that the real reason Mikado wanted to go to school in Ikkebukuro is because he wanted to escape being normal, and hence that is why he never closed the Dollars after his other co-founder friends abandoned it. But Izaya's 'advice' was that all the happenings in Ikkebukuro that he had experienced would eventually become normal after time, and the only way to keep things interesting will be to get more and more involved with the events going on (even if they're illegal ones).

Helps explain what Mikado's hidden motivations are through x2 Shou and beyond.

Well, there ya go, that's my first impressions. Still a few more shows not listed there that I will check out, but they are low priority ones. Charlotte I've decided I will probably wait a bit before starting - I find it hard to get fully immersed into "feels" shows week-to-week if I've got too many other shows I'm watching at the same time so I think I'm better off saving Charlotte for all at once or at least doing it in bursts of 3 or so episodes.

[The Hust Legion]

remembered the preview of shokugekis next episode.... does yukihiras dad look like the director a little?

[LinearPhilosopher]

thanks for the plug about mikado, helps explain a few things

In regards to chaos dragon. Maybe its because the guy wasn't given that information yet his entourage were. Likely he would have been sheltered from that information till he grew older.

Also i don't mind CGI

[D'rek]

The Hust Legion, on 07 July 2015 - 08:05 PM, said:

fairly standard episode

Spoiler

new character i did not expect her to be a relative of erina looks like we have the 3 parts assembled for the showdown for top spot gonna be interesting to see how yukihira reacts to the new challenge . HIS DAD APPEARS NEXT EPISODE IM EXCITED and camps over wonder what happens now in terms of plot i have no idea where its going to go now.

. all in all a standard episode in what has been an excellent series

There's no top spot, there's 10 of them! But Erina is already among them, so it's not much of a competition at this point. Besides, what has Souma got that could beat Erina or Alice? Both of them seem extremely competent in kitchen skills and have both demonstrated ample creativity at the Training Camp, so I don't see Souma beating them just by beaing more creative or by being more experienced in a kitchen like he beats/matches everyone else. I think he'll need to learn some more first.

Speaking of, they really haven't shown the actual learning part of the school at all so far, have they? Whether it be classes, camp, or otherwise, everything has just been "Here's your instructions, cook this thing, if it's bad you fail". Would be good to see some actual education going on.

As to where things are going next, Dojima referred to the Autumn Elections as an ominous upcoming thing. Now that the Training Camp is over, I expect we'll have a few episodes of cooldown, and then the Autumn Elections will start. What are the elections? Who knows, but a fair guess would be that it is how the Elite Ten positions are decided, and if not that then perhaps how some other student or club hierarchy is decided. The most obvious method of doing this would be more Shokugekis, of course.

The Hust Legion, on 08 July 2015 - 05:15 PM, said:

does yukihiras dad look like the director a little?

Uh... no? They have the same(ish) colour of hair... anything else?

[Silencer]

Good call on Charlotte. I'll probably do the same (and kill anyone who spoils a single second) - but how on earth do you watch so many shows so fast?! XD

[D'rek]

Silencer, on 09 July 2015 - 12:09 AM, said:

Good call on Charlotte. I'll probably do the same (and kill anyone who spoils a single second) - but how on earth do you watch so many shows so fast?! XD

Insomnia

(It's not like I watched all of those in a day! It was 3-4 per day, I just waited until today to post all my thoughts about it.)

[LinearPhilosopher]

anyone else checked out gangsta? Reminds me of Black Lagoon in terms of settings with some sort of buch and sundance dynamic.

[QuickTidal]

D, on 05 July 2015 - 05:49 AM, said:

...Rokka no Yuusha! (translation: "Rokka: Braves of the Flowers" ??) which just aired. It is AWESOME! The setting is a cool pseudo-mesoamerican setting, nobody is in any sort of high school, the main character is smart, charismatic and supplements his fighting with a bunch of cool tricks like some bombs and poison darts, the art is great, the 3D blends well, and the pace+storytelling are solid right from the start. I can't recall the last time I've been this impressed with a first episode and this hyped for a show I knew next to nothing about going-in. I highly encourage everyone here to check this one out!

Okay watched the trailer. That looks cool as hell! I'ma watch it. Crunchy Roll? I need something new to get into.

Also, on Netflix I checked out EXPELLED FROM PARADISE movie...which sounded cool but when I started to watch it (This should have tipped me off) and the first scene is on a beach where a big buff dude in a speedo hits on a late-20s woman with boobs that defy gravity covered by the skimpiest bikini ever...ugh...but I persevered, and the main glut of story is that the digital humanity left after an apocalypse live in a space station digital world...earth is a weasteland where the remnants of humanity live amongst monsters...so this gigantic-breasted woman is sent by three god-allegories (who are really just her bosses) to said wasteland earth to wrangle something...but is given an organic body of a 17-year old with perky breasts (naturally) and a uniform/armor that included GODDAMNED HIGH-FUCKING HEELS. It's just a mess of the bad tropes of anime and a story that simple can't add up. I gave up at the 23 minute mark. Bad, bad, bad, avoid.