[Silencer]

I still need to catch RWBY. The trailers looked really good (lol).


Alright, so someone somewhere has a twisted sense of humour. Airing on (American) Saturdays we now have:

Log Horizon 2
SAOII
Unlimited Blade Works


...seriously? My Sundays are going to be awesome anime OVERLOAD. XD The rest of the week...not so much.

[Silencer]

Alright, so...SAOII was good. Enjoyed that.



Now, excuse me while I go into total rabid fanboy mode for a minute.



UFOTABLE! UFOTABLE! UFOTABLE! ALL HAIL UFOTABLE!

Screw everything that crappy movie ever did to this storyline. Screw the average art, the crappy dialogue, and the total lack of personality.


What's that, ufotable? You gave us backstory? You gave us characterization? You spent time introducing the concepts, and yet there is no infodump in sight? You didn't totally remove any non-plot-crucial characters? You bothered with the foreshadowing, the tidbits of intrigue? An actual PLOT? YOU ARE SO FUCKING AWESOME, UFOTABLE! You've literally restored my faith in the non-Fate/Zero adaptations for this universe, and all it took was one forty minute episode of pure quality. This puts everything those other hacks did to shame.



So, as I pray, unlimited blade works! FUCK YEAH. I love SAO. I really do. GGO arc has been phenomenal. But as of this minute, I am SO FUCKING EXCITE for UBW that I wouldn't even care if the second arc of SAOII is shit. Thank god for ufotable. *cries a small tear of happiness*


....now...all I need is that Heaven's Feel movie and my life will be complete. XD

[D'rek]

Wow, yeah, that was a good first episode for the ufotable fate/stay night unlimited blade works (abbreviated as UFSNBW? )

I'm sure they are sticking to both the plot and details of the original source, but it's interesting to see the difference in tone between this and Ufotable's Fzte/Zero, as well as the lack of links back to F/Z. I mean, as much as Tohsaka says she really wants to win the War, if this were Fate/Zero she'd have gotten a sniper rifle bullet through the head while she slept. No secret hideout? Takes her Servant on a tour of the city? GOES TO SCHOOL?! If this Grail War were as ruthless as the previous one she'd be dead in a hundred ways on the first day. The only way Waver got away with that sort of thing in Fate/Zero is because no one had ever heard of him or knew he had registered, but Tohsaka is

(mild Fate/Zero spoilers)

Spoiler

the daughter of one well-known Master who fought in the last Grail War only 10 years, and is being raised and trained by another Master from the last Grail War (and there are only 2 who survived anyways),

so it's not like she should really expect to be anonymous.

But I guess the idea is that we're supposed to mostly not think about the prequel too much - they probably didn't have a lot of that prequel stuff in mind when they first made F/SN.

The difference in tone is really interesting though, I'm curious if it'll keep up, or if we'll see things descend into a more grim War as the series goes on.

No idea who Archer is yet. I'm guessing Zhao Yun for Lancer but there's not really enough evidence to make anything other than random guesses. I liked Rin's comment of "so there are actually archers in the Archer class"... and then he goes and pulls out swords instead of a bow. Be even funnier if she had followed it up with "see, the last Archer was this prick who never used a bow named..."

Spoiler

So, does Rin remember that Sakura is her sister? What is up with that? If so, you'd think maybe that'd be a wish that she had thought of would want - to have her sister back? No?

Also, also, what is up with her thinking Sabre is the most powerful Servant? Shouldn't they all be balanced in a 7-way rock-paper-scissors sort of way, like Sabre tends to be Archer and Lancer, but Berserker and Rider tend to beat Sabre, but Magi beats Berserker and Archer, but Assassin beats Magi and Lancer, while Lancer beats Rider, etc...?

Even if there's not supposed to be some sort of balance, Rin's been taught for 10 years by Kirei - she should know that Archer kicked everyone's ass in the last Grail War!

[Silencer]

...I can see I'll have to do a proper spoilers post when I have a real keyboard to answer most of that. XD

[Silencer]

OK, so, spoilers time. I'll block everything I write, and label whether it's general knowledge/actual future-plot-spoilers or not.

D, on 05 October 2014 - 04:28 AM, said:

Wow, yeah, that was a good first episode for the ufotable fate/stay night unlimited blade works (abbreviated as UFSNBW? )

I'm sure they are sticking to both the plot and details of the original source, but it's interesting to see the difference in tone between this and Ufotable's Fzte/Zero, as well as the lack of links back to F/Z. I mean, as much as Tohsaka says she really wants to win the War, if this were Fate/Zero she'd have gotten a sniper rifle bullet through the head while she slept. No secret hideout? Takes her Servant on a tour of the city? GOES TO SCHOOL?! If this Grail War were as ruthless as the previous one she'd be dead in a hundred ways on the first day. The only way Waver got away with that sort of thing in Fate/Zero is because no one had ever heard of him or knew he had registered, but Tohsaka is

(mild Fate/Zero spoilers)

Spoiler

the daughter of one well-known Master who fought in the last Grail War only 10 years, and is being raised and trained by another Master from the last Grail War (and there are only 2 who survived anyways),

so it's not like she should really expect to be anonymous.

General Background (plus Fate/Zero spoilers):

Spoiler

OK, so you've got to keep in mind that on average Grail Wars occur every SIXTY YEARS or so. Most participants have a lot longer to prepare to go into a War, whereas the proximity of the fourth and fifth battles means that most of the people (especially within the main families - Matou, Tohsaka, and Einzbern) have not had time to prepare new champions of the same calibre as the time before. Also, the fourth War was so violent and unruly, that it really stands out from previous battles in terms of how it was fought, and how horribly it went WRONG. (Remember how romantic Archibald's notions of the war were? That's because historically, it was way more formal and there were no wildcard modern participants using C4 and such. Sure, there were always people who went about things via subterfuge, but Fuyuki City was never as large, populated, and the tech to do some of the stuff Emiya pulled just didn't exist - never mind that no-one had as much pragmatism as he did, ever.)

Also bear in mind that pretty much everyone who knew what went on in the last Grail War died. Even the Church's representative. So there was no-one to give a proper account of the events (the two survivors are SPOILERS material, so I won't talk about their involvement just yet).

So yeah, this is a VERY different War than the fourth Heaven's Feel. No doubt about it. But that's a direct result of the clusterfuck that was the fourth - we had giant Cthulhu-monsters being summoned in plain sight, we had hotels being demolished with high explosives, we had the Grail boiling over and melting an entire quarter of the city. Unprecedented chaos and death and publicity. Then, only ten years later, and another War? Welp. Guess everyone has to go with what they have. Which is not much. And nowhere near the planning, preparation, and experience of the last round of participants. Tohsaka has no idea what she's doing, outside of the basics (and in that regard, going around town/to school is not inherently a bad idea - she knows that the war is not to be public, and there is no way she's considering snipers...

Quote

But I guess the idea is that we're supposed to mostly not think about the prequel too much - they probably didn't have a lot of that prequel stuff in mind when they first made F/SN.

The difference in tone is really interesting though, I'm curious if it'll keep up, or if we'll see things descend into a more grim War as the series goes on.

General Comment:

Spoiler

They did have the first series in mind when they wrote Zero, though. The author had a lot of background written out already, and he just expanded it into a full story for the prequel. Trust me, it links.

The difference in tone...yeah, it's nowhere near as "real" or "gritty" as Zero was - but again, that's kind of the point - but boy, does it get dark.

In order, the routes are probably compared like this (assuming that one does not go with "bad end" options - that makes it too complicated):

Fate - least dark, most hope.
UBW - middle ground. Got some dark stuff in it, way darker than Fate, but not quite as bad as...
Heaven's Feel - named for the ritual of the Grail itself, this route is pitch black. It's Nightmare Fuel territory. Still not "gritty" in the sense that Zero is, but if anything, this plotline is darker by far.

Rest assured, it will get much more convoluted, twisted, and dark by the end, though.

Quote

No idea who Archer is yet. I'm guessing Zhao Yun for Lancer but there's not really enough evidence to make anything other than random guesses. I liked Rin's comment of "so there are actually archers in the Archer class"... and then he goes and pulls out swords instead of a bow. Be even funnier if she had followed it up with "see, the last Archer was this prick who never used a bow named..."

Fate/Zero spoilers/mild general info spoilers

Spoiler

See, she has no idea who Gilgamesh is. But he did at least use ranged attacks! Sure, they amounted to magically propelled sword grenades (MPSG - the next generation of Modern Warfare! XD) but at least he was a ranged combatant. Still...

Also, you'll never guess who Archer is. Not in a million years. XD

Quote

Spoiler

So, does Rin remember that Sakura is her sister? What is up with that? If so, you'd think maybe that'd be a wish that she had thought of would want - to have her sister back? No?

Also, also, what is up with her thinking Sabre is the most powerful Servant? Shouldn't they all be balanced in a 7-way rock-paper-scissors sort of way, like Sabre tends to be Archer and Lancer, but Berserker and Rider tend to beat Sabre, but Magi beats Berserker and Archer, but Assassin beats Magi and Lancer, while Lancer beats Rider, etc...?

Even if there's not supposed to be some sort of balance, Rin's been taught for 10 years by Kirei - she should know that Archer kicked everyone's ass in the last Grail War!

Right, plot spoiler time:

Spoiler

So yeah, she does DEFINITELY know that Sakura is her sister. She just pretends that they aren't related as wished by their father, and as required by the charade that is their lives. However, she's pretty protective of Sakura, as shown by her main worry when that random unimportant student gets stabbed. Her main line of dialogue there is "How will I look her in the eye tomorrow..." - big hints there as to her motivations.

As for not having a wish...come on...how many mages revealed their wishes straight up? Ever? Even Sabre didn't really learn Kiritsugu's wish from him directly. And Rin is a pretty self-conscious person.

Now, as for thinking Sabre is the most powerful servant? Who won the last War? Sabre. Who emerged as the most notable servant? Sabre. As far as Rin knows, Sabre class is the strongest straight-up fighter. And she's right, they are.

Traditionally, the three 'Knight' classes:
Sabre, Lancer, Archer
Are the most powerful in one-on-one combat.
The other classes:
Assassin, Berserker, Caster, Rider
All have various strengths and weaknesses but it is generally accepted that they are not as desirable in terms of up-front combat.

Obviously this is all highly academic. But Sabre is nonetheless widely regarded as the most powerful of the three Knight classes.


HOWEVER - you also need to bear in mind that Gilgamesh is an outlier. He's unique. He is LITERALLY one of the most powerful beings in the entire Nasuverse. Not just Fate, but the entire Nasuverse. He could have beaten everyone else, single-handed, in just one night in the Fourth War. Not even kidding. Word of God confirms it. XD
He's not normal. Most Archers aren't that powerful. Most Servants aren't anywhere near his caliber, full stop. He is literally the most overpowered, ridiculous character in the series. He just doesn't take any of it seriously and prefers to laugh as he watches everyone else run around the place.

And who said Kirei was teaching her anything about the Fourth war?

So there you have it. It's way more complicated than it seems. But a lot of it is assuming knowledge that our protagonist here just doesn't have. That, and well...spoilers. XD

The last Grail War was royally screwed up. It really was a unique set of circumstances that led to one of the biggest screw-ups in the history of the Wars. But it also really set the stage for this one.

Just wait until the Heaven's Feel movie comes out. Man, that route is Fucked Up. XD

[Whisperzzzzzzz]

Nyanta's character animation in the new season of Log Horizon...

This post has been edited by Whisperzzzzzzz: 06 October 2014 - 03:20 AM

[D'rek]

Not gonna read the plot spoiler one yet, but did read the rest. Let me know when we reach an episode where the plot spoiler box isn't spoilerific any more.

So basically, I need to assume that Kirei did not pass along the nastiness of the Fourth War or very much knowledge of what happened in said Fourth War to Tohsaka. Should I assume Emiya didn't mass along much to his prodigy, too?

(Fate/Zero spoilers)

Spoiler

Other than passing on how to summon Sabre, it would seem.

[Silencer]

That would be a safe bet. And you'll see next week the truth regarding your spoiler box.

And I've realised most of that plot spoiler box ended up talking about class rankings more than anything plot relevant.

You'd be safe to read it now if you want an answer to your question re: Sakura and Rin, and definitely safe to read it next week, though I'm not explicit about anything in that episode, just a hint. XD

I originally was probably thinking of some major spoilers to go in there, but they're too large and only slightly related, so it ended up non-spoilery. XD

[LinearPhilosopher]

D, on 05 October 2014 - 04:28 AM, said:

No idea who Archer is yet.

This post has been edited by BalrogLord: 07 October 2014 - 01:22 AM

[D'rek]

Checked out the first episode of a few other new series that just started this season:


Shingeki no Bahamut - a fun little swashbuckling/demon-summoning adventure, and there doesn't seem to be a lot of either of those done well in anime these days. The animation and creature design looks good, too, and the main character doesn't seem to be your typical moody loner-type. Looks like this could be sort of like Samurai Champloo, with a trio consisting of 1 trickster sword guy and one serious sword guy who hate each other, plus a girl, traveling from point A to B. Only unlike Champloo, the girl occasionally becomes satan instead of always being kidnapped, the bad guys can summon demons and it looks like there will be a lot more world-building and backstory to explore. I'm intrigued and entertained, will watch for at least another few episodes to see how this goes.


World Trigger - Yet another handful-of-young-folk-fight-other-dimensional-creatures-with-mysterious-powers/origins... and doesn't look like a very original take on it compared to other series that have done the same. First episode was boring enough I was already skipping over parts. Going to pass on this one.


Inou-Battle wa Nichijou-kei no Naka (in English: "Supernatural Battles Within Everyday Life" ??) - 5 kids who form a literature club at school suddenly develop superpowers, but after 6 months still don't have any reason to use them or know why they got them. Looks like this will be mostly an episodic comedy where they deal with the funny/slapstick-situation-of-the-week, but there will be a more serious overarching plot of them worrying about how and why they got the powers. I like the characters, they have a good balance of personalities and already look like they won't just each be one-dimensional. One of the big jokes of the first episode that will probably continue at least for a while is that the sole boy in the club is way more enthusiastic about their powers than the others, but his power is pretty terrible compared to the four girls' massively overpowered abilities. First episode was genuinely funny so I'll continue watching. Check it out if you like over-the-top melodramatic comedies.

[Dolmen 2.0]

D, on 07 October 2014 - 04:26 AM, said:

Checked out the first episode of a few other new series that just started this season:


Shingeki no Bahamut - a fun little swashbuckling/demon-summoning adventure, and there doesn't seem to be a lot of either of those done well in anime these days. The animation and creature design looks good, too, and the main character doesn't seem to be your typical moody loner-type. Looks like this could be sort of like Samurai Champloo, with a trio consisting of 1 trickster sword guy and one serious sword guy who hate each other, plus a girl, traveling from point A to B. Only unlike Champloo, the girl occasionally becomes satan instead of always being kidnapped, the bad guys can summon demons and it looks like there will be a lot more world-building and backstory to explore. I'm intrigued and entertained, will watch for at least another few episodes to see how this goes.


World Trigger - Yet another handful-of-young-folk-fight-other-dimensional-creatures-with-mysterious-powers/origins... and doesn't look like a very original take on it compared to other series that have done the same. First episode was boring enough I was already skipping over parts. Going to pass on this one.


Inou-Battle wa Nichijou-kei no Naka (in English: "Supernatural Battles Within Everyday Life" ??) - 5 kids who form a literature club at school suddenly develop superpowers, but after 6 months still don't have any reason to use them or know why they got them. Looks like this will be mostly an episodic comedy where they deal with the funny/slapstick-situation-of-the-week, but there will be a more serious overarching plot of them worrying about how and why they got the powers. I like the characters, they have a good balance of personalities and already look like they won't just each be one-dimensional. One of the big jokes of the first episode that will probably continue at least for a while is that the sole boy in the club is way more enthusiastic about their powers than the others, but his power is pretty terrible compared to the four girls' massively overpowered abilities. First episode was genuinely funny so I'll continue watching. Check it out if you like over-the-top melodramatic comedies.

This was really helpful. Thanks drek, the breakdowns you and silencer drop every now and again help me sift through the new season.

Currently watching an earlier suggestion, Tokyo Ghoul.

I get strong psychopass vibes from the animation and music so already pretty into it. The plot is also handled well. Its not that it isn't original but theres enough anime out circling a similar story. I think what catches me here is how genuinely brutal the Ghouls are one minute and how perfectly humane they can bethe next. The actors and story really sell the show and I think the idea of a binge eater/human hybrid has a ton of story potential. Im told theres a second season on the cards so i'm keeping an eye out.

Next plan to lookup SAO, try get back into that anime. I fiund it lost some of its steam in thesecond arc but the new season shows plenty of promise as already discussed.

I think im going to try stream tonight so looking forward to sampling more of your suggestions d'rek.

[Whisperzzzzzzz]

Just started Hunter X Hunter because I heard it actually relies on strategic thinking (a la Log Horizon) to achieve victory instead of just powering up via willpower/rage/friendship/luck. Thoughts?

This post has been edited by Whisperzzzzzzz: 08 October 2014 - 01:51 PM

[QuickTidal]

Ha!

Hatsune Miku was on Letterman!



That's pretty awesome

[D'rek]

All the shows I'm watching this season come out Saturday/Sunday so I can just do a big weekly post!


Fate/Stay Night/UBW (ep 1, but there was an ep0 last week) - I'm not sure I get what the point of the "episode 0" was last week...I'd even say I think flipping the order of ep0 and ep1 would have been better. It would have made the Lancer->Shirou more surprising. It makes this weird tone shift of episode 0 being tense and scene-setting, then the start of episode 1 being super happy days/slapstick (especially with the Fuji bits) and then back to dark. Oh well, no biggie. Not sure how I feel about a protaganist who doesn't know the rules of the game itself, considering how little this series ever explains of whether there even are any rules or not, let alone what they are, but whatever we'll see how it goes. And Iris' daughter is creepy!

Inou-Battle wa Nichijou-kei no Naka de (2) - As hilarious as last week!

Log Horizon s2 (2) - This new bard girl who's attached herself to Naotsugu is fun. Naotsugu and Marielle having a nightly telepathic phone call is cute, too, clearly Naotsugu has his priorities straight and not getting distracted by that silly bard. Is it weird that I'm maybe more invested in the character relationships than the story plot? I guess there's nothing outright wrong with the storyplot so far, but it's just Shiro negotiating with people while holding back info in order to organize a raid... seems a lot like what a lot of last season was. And that's okay, it's only episode 2 of the season after all, but this raid quest better not go too long - the southern spies and Planta Clan issues sound way more interesting. Bringing back the stupid guy from last season is pretty dumb, too - if they really need exactly 24 people Shiro could easily have called up one person from their main city, if Shiro himself won't be missed one more person won't either (it's not like Akatsuki is doing anything anyways).

Shingeki no Bahamut (2) - still interesting, still funny, still a bit confusing, still interested to see where it goes from here

Sword Art Online II (14.5) - just a recap episode this week before they go into the new arc: skipped it.

[LinearPhilosopher]

Ill definetly have to check out bahamut.

Very much enjoying F/UBW, psychopass s2 and Log horizon s2.

And much liek d to the rek I skipped latest ep of GGO once i realised it was a recap episode. Best recap episode was Kill La kill IMO, and no other series comes close to it.

This post has been edited by BalrogLord: 14 October 2014 - 06:28 PM

[D'rek]

BalrogLord, on 14 October 2014 - 05:45 PM, said:

Ill definetly have to check out bahamut.

Very much enjoying F/UBW, psychopass s2 and Log horizon s2.

And much liek d to the rek I skipped latest ep of GGO once i realised it was a recap episode. Best recap episode was Kill La kill IMO, and no other series comes close to it.

Not even the meta-game-show episode of Ergo Proxy? (I'm kidding, that was stupid)

They actually did a whole first season recap OVA of SAO1 a while back, too, with the last 20 minutes being new content (just a random little fairyland adventure with no bearing on the rest of the show), and the whole thing framed within Kirito being interviewed by the government guy and the girls teaching his sister how to swim. Nice that the new content was at the end so you can just skip to that if you're curious.

IIRC, Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann tried to do something similar but the new content was right in the middle of the whole thing, so it was kinda weird (and the new content itself was basically a "lost episode" that maybe should have been there from the start).

What did Kill la Kill do?

[Nicodimas]

So whats the best new anime released say in the last year?

[D'rek]

Oh yeah, and now that SAO2 is definitely done with GGO and moving onto the next arc after the recap episode I can note the oddness that...

Spoiler

Kirito logged out of GGO, sat up in the hospital bed, ran out of the room and hopped onto his bike to go help Sinon because he was worried there was a serial killer standing in Sinon's room waiting to kill her at any moment... while the nurse and Asuna were just like "Ok, have fun, see you later, we won't call the cops or insist on coming, too, or anything"

[D'rek]

Nicodimas, on 14 October 2014 - 06:11 PM, said:

So whats the best new anime released say in the last year?

You want a fantastic anime, an actiony-entertaining anime, or a funny anime?

[Cause]

fantastic anime and actiony-entertaining anime