[D'rek]

Well, Ninja Slayer's finale won't air for about another week (and Kekkai Sensen's supposedly), but everything else is done. Time for some post-season awards.

I did manage to check out 27 different shows this summer season, and watched 16 of them to completion. I... uh... I might have a problem, guys Anyways, based on those, here's my picks:





Best Comedy - Shimoneta. If you can accept dropping your mind into the deepest gutter there is, you will laugh like you've never laughed before.

Best Romance - Another tough one. Shirayuki and Zen are cute together and all, but it's weird having them in that zone where they clearly each have feelings for each other, know it, don't really have anything holding them back and yet they still don't get together. Most of the other romances were not very well developed. I don't really have a pick for this one. But Classroom Crisis gets an honourable mention for having an amazing kissing scene (heck, how many anime even HAVE kissing scenes, let alone amazing ones), even if the romance was not especially well developed until then.

Best Combat - Rokka no Yuusha. Not only was Adlet's bag-full-of-combat-tricks very creative and entertaining, but the other characters' fighting styles were interesting and there were some moments of genuinely great fight choreography.

Best Visuals/Cinematography - Akagami no Shirayuki was flat-out gorgeous and did an amazing job at portraying its settings - everything in its fantasy world feels very alive and realistic, and there is ample ambience everywhere they go. Meanwhile, School-Live!'s animation was not much above average, but the directorship was truly exceptional - the timing, angles, lighting, etc, of the scenes are pretty much perfect all-throughout.

Best I Cannot Explain To You Why This Is So Good - School-Live! and sort of Shimoneta

Biggest "What the Fuck Am I watching?" Moment - School-Live! and definitely Shimoneta (episode 4... oh god I'm still scarred... how are they even allowed to do that?!)

Most 'Feels' - Lots of good choices for this, but I am going to give this to Megumi's finale in Shokugeki no Souma. It says a lot that this food-gasm-shounen show can execute an emotiona beat like that so much better than plenty of shows that are entirely focused on emotional scenes.

'Best' Why Do I Even Like This? - Classroom Crisis. It's essentially just a show about school, labour and corporate politics, with a teeny bit of comedy, action and romance added in. That doesn't sound very good at all! But it was awesome.

'Worst' Why Do I Even Like This? - Ninja Slayer. It's soooooooooo stupid. It repeats a 3-second clip 9 times as a joke. And yet, it has Darkninja leaving a fight by jumping onto the back of a fighter jet and Ninja Slayer punching the jet yelling YEART! It's so stupid it's addictive.

Biggest OP Tease - Baby Steps Season 2's OP had some awesome zoomed-out overhead clips of tennis rallies... and then the actual episodes stuck to the same only-see-half-the-court-(at-most-)at-a-time bullcrap from season 1. What a shame.

Best OP - School-Live! The song is way too catchy, the visuals do a great job of setting the tone and reminding you of past plot points, and the changes to the OP throughout the season are awesome.

Biggest "Fuck you, buy our novel/manga!" - Overlord, and it's the biggest FYBON I've ever seen. Practically nothing happens plot-wise in the entire season and then the last episode sets up half a dozen new plotlines in the last 5 minutes. And this is Madhouse, they never make second seasons.

Biggest Disappointments - The first few Gate episodes were mostly focused on the big military expeditions side of things, which was awesome, but it then shifts rapidly towards personal dramas, poorly-done politics, nationalistic xenophobia and a bit of ecchi harem, too. Gangsta, meanwhile, started off with an amazingly compelling world full of grit and ambiguous morality, combined with a unique pair of protagonists and some well-made action. But the story and worldbuilding never really went anywhere, and the show just generally didn't have anywhere that it tried to go after establishing its premise and backstory.

Biggest Pleasant Surprises - Rokka no Yuusha started off looking far more like an action-heavy show, but ended up being a very satisfying mystery-focused show instead (with a bit of action).

Most Niche Intended Audience - Going to have to be a three-way tie this season: AoharuxKikanjuu is for gun-crazed kids who's parents won't let them watch anyting rated PG13 and up, Makura no Danshi is for introverted women who need an anime to help them imagine a cuddle-buddy, and Danchigai is for people who really like hinting at incestuous harems but I guess aren't ready for a show that just outright goes there. Sheesh...

Biggest Hype for Another Season - Arslan Senki really kept its game up from last season and had a solid finish, but there's obviously a ton more story to tell. The show has been very popular in Japan and at large, so it's very likely there will be a second season, and there's no need to wait for the source material to get farther ahead so it should be sooner rather than later.

Worst Overall - Chaos Dragon. Wow, this was just so bad in so many ways.

Best Overall - School-Live! wins this one, though it was close. It's always tough to try and compare between shows of entirely different genres, and School-Live! is the genre of show that a lot of people probably don't like all that much, but I just found myself completely engaged in it, unable to watch anything else until I finished it and every now and then with my heart clutched in suspense... if a show can do that, it's a win in my books.

Conspicuously Absent from These Awards - This Durarara cour was fun, but a lot of it was more setup for next cour than entertaining shenanigans now. Charlotte was nicely animated, had a bit of great characterization, and was mostly interesting but overall didn't really achieve anything. Joukamachi no Dandelion was lots of heartwarming fun, but not exceptional and it just doesn't fit well into any particular awards categories.

Show I Didn't Watch But Feel the Most Need to Watch Now - It completely flew under my radar for most of the season, but there's been a lot of comments about Symphogear calling it a better Kill la Kill or the "Michael Bay done right" of anime. With comments like that and a GIF or two of magic music girls punching mountains apart, well I just have to at least try this now...

[LinearPhilosopher]

the thread is sinking!!!!! how could this be



For once i agree with this guy

also drek, i watched like 2 eps of diabolik lovers. Its so bad...

This post has been edited by LinearPhilosopher: 19 October 2015 - 12:18 PM

[Dolmen 2.0]

LinearPhilosopher, on 17 October 2015 - 09:19 PM, said:

the thread is sinking!!!!! how could this be



For once i agree with this guy

RE: FMA vs FMA: Brotherhood I think there needs to be a list that combines the two shows so as to not miss out on anything except maybe the endings?

Still yes I think he explains it really well. often great mangas lead to great anime but the anime always has to make some concessions to the original material. very rarely can you blame them for it, running a manga is VERY different to producing an anime and the two media demand different approaches.

This post has been edited by Dolmen 2.0: 19 October 2015 - 07:34 AM

[LinearPhilosopher]

So noragami s2 thus far is quite enjoyable. I like how its building on the previous series by going more in depth with some of the side characters

Watching shimoneta ep1. ENjoying it thus far, though i can't help but to go meta and think this is a reductio ad absurdum to any sort of hyper repressed sexualised society. As in, oh you can't handle any sexuality in society at all, here's what would happen and what a joke this society is.

edit:done ep1. As someone who loves sex jokes (and unfortunately all my buddies who loved making them kinda split to the 4 corners after uni) this is filling a hole in my being I forgot existed

Also could you imagine all those students being taken to one of those sex industry conventions?

This post has been edited by LinearPhilosopher: 19 October 2015 - 01:15 PM

[LinearPhilosopher]

watching the "uncensored" version of shimoneta. I don't see any differences.

[D'rek]

LinearPhilosopher, on 20 October 2015 - 03:24 PM, said:

watching the "uncensored" version of shimoneta. I don't see any differences.

There are definitely differences. There's actually 3 versions:

1. The censored broadcast (CB)
2. The uncensored broadcast (UB)
3. The Blu-ray release (BR) (which isn't out yet, I think, but has been previewed?)


The UB has some of the censor stickers removed from the CB, and in other cases just makes them a bit smaller. Presumably the BR will remove those altogether.

There's also some *cough* effects *cough* that are edited out or carefully concealed in the CB.

One non-spoilery example would be the mushroom painting that Anna points out in one of the early episodes. It has a censor sticker in the CB but no concealment at all in the UB.

I thought the censoring was pretty humourous in some places (like censoring lewd hand gestures) and it fits the theme after all, but you should probably keep going with the uncensored, just so you can be as thoroughly traumatized as possible.

[LinearPhilosopher]

ep4... What did i just watch? I was not expecting that... like it was pretty obvious

Spoiler

anna was the stalker

but that went all the way to 11 real fast. Now to see the fallout.

[LinearPhilosopher]

5 minutes into episode 5... WHAT IS HAPPENING???????

[LinearPhilosopher]

episode 6, is that an edible fleshlight recipe?

[Dolmen 2.0]

LinearPhilosopher, on 20 October 2015 - 09:53 PM, said:

episode 6, is that an edible fleshlight recipe?

Yes.

[Dolmen 2.0]

In other news episode 3 of One punch man was good. I feel the final joke was too off beat to really appreciate in subtitles but I have enjoyed everything I've watched thus far.

That damn mosquito bit was hillarious. the mosquito girl was an interesting monster type, her lines were kinda dodgy but the idea behind the whole Genus monster group was so much fun. And once again I have to say the animation was breathtakingly epic.

Still good. Still living up to the hype.

[D'rek]

LinearPhilosopher, on 20 October 2015 - 09:53 PM, said:

episode 6, is that an edible fleshlight recipe?

Best out-of-context post in this thread so far

Dolmen 2.0, on 21 October 2015 - 06:11 AM, said:

In other news episode 3 of One punch man was good. I feel the final joke was too off beat to really appreciate in subtitles but I have enjoyed everything I've watched thus far.

That damn mosquito bit was hillarious. the mosquito girl was an interesting monster type, her lines were kinda dodgy but the idea behind the whole Genus monster group was so much fun. And once again I have to say the animation was breathtakingly epic.

Still good. Still living up to the hype.

The setup of the clone facility defenses and Genos' reaction when they arrived had me in fits!

OPM's description of his training regime did, too!

[Dolmen 2.0]

D, on 21 October 2015 - 01:50 PM, said:

The setup of the clone facility defenses and Genos' reaction when they arrived had me in fits!

OPM's description of his training regime did, too!

This!

I had to do a double take.

Did you notice Carnage Kabuto called his Carnage Mode Rush Mode in the Japanese Audio? I'm curious why that difference exists...

This post has been edited by Dolmen 2.0: 22 October 2015 - 06:30 AM

[Maark Abbott]

LinearPhilosopher, on 20 October 2015 - 09:53 PM, said:

episode 6, is that an edible fleshlight recipe?

Talk about eating 'tang...

[D'rek]

Dolmen 2.0, on 22 October 2015 - 06:29 AM, said:

D, on 21 October 2015 - 01:50 PM, said:

The setup of the clone facility defenses and Genos' reaction when they arrived had me in fits!

OPM's description of his training regime did, too!

This!

I had to do a double take.

Did you notice Carnage Kabuto called his Carnage Mode Rush Mode in the Japanese Audio? I'm curious why that difference exists...

Probably just a choice translation? Or maybe the manga translated it that way so the subtitlers chose to follow the manga?

Whatever, it's no big deal... like Survey Corps versus Scout Regiment.

So, I guess if OPM was telling the truth then:

Spoiler

his amazing strength and resilience doesn't really come from his physical training at all, and I would speculate developed entirely from his sheer mental fortitude and determination? That that mindset amplified his otherwise-normal training and made it do so much more for him than it would have for a normal person.

[Dolmen 2.0]

D, on 22 October 2015 - 05:13 PM, said:

Dolmen 2.0, on 22 October 2015 - 06:29 AM, said:

D, on 21 October 2015 - 01:50 PM, said:

The setup of the clone facility defenses and Genos' reaction when they arrived had me in fits!

OPM's description of his training regime did, too!

This!

I had to do a double take.

Did you notice Carnage Kabuto called his Carnage Mode Rush Mode in the Japanese Audio? I'm curious why that difference exists...

Probably just a choice translation? Or maybe the manga translated it that way so the subtitlers chose to follow the manga?

Whatever, it's no big deal... like Survey Corps versus Scout Regiment.

So, I guess if OPM was telling the truth then:

Spoiler

his amazing strength and resilience doesn't really come from his physical training at all, and I would speculate developed entirely from his sheer mental fortitude and determination? That that mindset amplified his otherwise-normal training and made it do so much more for him than it would have for a normal person.

Possible,

OPM manga seems to be followed pretty closely by the Anime. There was alot more emphasis on the Genus arc than I expected and I'm super glad for it.

Spoiler

The way I see it, OPM was always "special". His take down of Crablanta for example. The way he took crablantas hits. He might be a genetic anomaly that responds to damage and heals stronger, overcorrection eg the saiyan race or Shizuo.

I do like your take on it though. he might be like superman, as strong as he wills himself to be.

This post has been edited by Dolmen 2.0: 23 October 2015 - 05:58 AM

[D'rek]

Dolmen 2.0, on 23 October 2015 - 05:57 AM, said:

Quote

So, I guess if OPM was telling the truth then:

Spoiler

his amazing strength and resilience doesn't really come from his physical training at all, and I would speculate developed entirely from his sheer mental fortitude and determination? That that mindset amplified his otherwise-normal training and made it do so much more for him than it would have for a normal person.

Possible,

OPM manga seems to be followed pretty closely by the Anime. There was alot more emphasis on the Genus arc than I expected and I'm super glad for it.

Spoiler

The way I see it, OPM was always "special". His take down of Crablanta for example. The way he took crablantas hits. He might be a genetic anomaly that responds to damage and heals stronger, overcorrection eg the saiyan race or Shizuo.

I do like your take on it though. he might be like superman, as strong as he wills himself to be.

That's an interesting angle, too, though not what I was really going for. I think he is at a certain finite strength currently and it doesn't change, but

Spoiler

it was his mental fortitude and mindset during training that caused that training regime to make him so strong, when on anyone else it would have done very little.

Regular person does 100 push ups: gains 0.1% muscle density.
Determined OPM does 100 push ups: gains 10x muscle density.

As for healing / taking hits, maybe it is just that his every little muscle and bit of skin is so strong that the hits he takes don't do any noticeable damage? He never needs any recovery/healing time nor gets any bruises. In fact, going back to the first episode, when one of the non-existent strong sub-subterraneans punches him he gets a gash and ends up bleeding, and he comments that that was a strong hit. So that's the way I'm leaning - that gravity and all the baddies so far just haven't been able to hit him hard enough to cause any damage because his every muscle is so strong.

[LinearPhilosopher]

finished shimoneta a while back just havent had a chance to post about it.

Was into the show at first, but then it kinda went off the deep end at episode 4/5. Show got weird after that. Mightve been the fact i was binge watching but i feel some of humour got old. Still enjoyed the odd sex joke here and there.

The ending was odd, in that episode 11 represents a clear and distinct ending to the show, yet we have ep 12 which if anything is merely the setup to a new arc. #buythemanaga?

Though this show is a great example of double standards. Were anna and whatshisface roles swapped, it'd be a lot less comedic. Also some of the stuff was just gross.

An enjoyable watch, but i wouldn't rate it too highly

now moving onto "your lie in april"

This post has been edited by LinearPhilosopher: 28 October 2015 - 12:09 PM

[D'rek]

LinearPhilosopher, on 28 October 2015 - 12:09 PM, said:

finished shimoneta a while back just havent had a chance to post about it.

Was into the show at first, but then it kinda went off the deep end at episode 4/5. Show got weird after that. Mightve been the fact i was binge watching but i feel some of humour got old. Still enjoyed the odd sex joke here and there.

The ending was odd, in that episode 11 represents a clear and distinct ending to the show, yet we have ep 12 which if anything is merely the setup to a new arc. #buythemanaga?

Though this show is a great example of double standards. Were anna and whatshisface roles swapped, it'd be a lot less comedic. Also some of the stuff was just gross.

An enjoyable watch, but i wouldn't rate it too highly

Yeah, it kinda loses steam around the middle. There's still a lot of good individual jokes/scenes thereafter, but the overall story gets a bit too purposeless/random. There's obviously a lot of long-term setup going on which makes plenty of sense for the LNs, but in the anime it feels really weird to have all this screentime dedicated to setting up/hinting towards/continuing things like

Spoiler

An Ayame-Tanukichi-Anna (and Goriki?) love triangle/square
Psycho-Anna sexually assaulting Tanukichi (and him doing nothing about it)
Anna's parents
The chastity underwear vote
Kosuri betraying them and then unbetraying them and it makes almost no difference
Fuwa's experiments and nagging Tanukichi for answers
etc

and nothing really comes from any of it. Especially when it would be so easy for most of the characters to resolve all these problems by just actually sitting down for a few minutes and talking to each other.


The whole "final climactic episode and then one more" thing is pretty common though, especially in adaptations. I'm not really sure why, I guess they want to try and give more closure in an epilogue sort of way, or maybe it's just because studios plan out the story they are definitely adapting and give themselves a bit of buffer space at the end in case they need it/don't have the budget for one more episode... and if they do they just add an extra filler-y episode. I remember being mystified by the same thing in Devil is a Part-Timer.

[D'rek]

Utawarerumono made me sad this week and the Perfect Insider is soooo boring no matter how well crafted it is. I need a new show to re-engage me and none of the other shows this season (that I'm not already watching) appeal. I'm debating between either a known quality show that gets talked about a lot that I really should've watched by now... or an absolute crazy mindfuck show I can popcorn through...

So help me pick: Shirobako or Valvrave?!