What anime are you watching right now? Jan 2013

[Redtophat]

^The F/SN anime is pretty bad, if you have the time I would really recommend reading the VN instead, it's awesome.

[caragnafog dog]

i've never read a VN. will the cool kids make fun of me?

[Redtophat]

i've never read a VN. will the cool kids make fun of me?

Not at all, in fact by reading through the VN you'll become one of the cool kids. Also seafood metaphors trump cg dragons any day of the week.

[tomrule123]

Next I'm going to start F/SN. I watched Kara no Kyoukai recently and figured the fate shit was as good a place as any to continue into the nasuverse.

1) WATCH FATE/ZERO INSTEAD, NOT F/SN. I actually decided to stop after 18 episodes because:
- Studio Deen Butched it
- it felt rushed, and many parts from V/N are missing
- designs aren't close to the original

SPOILER: Show

- DAT CGI DRAGON SCENE.

When Ufotable gets around to actually make an Anime Adaptation, SKIP DEEN MATERIAL. Play the VN. As for Fate/Zero, 4 episodes in, LOVE IT. Very faithful to the light novels it was based on. (even though I only read 1/3 of the novels)

And to answer this question you'll ask: some say you should play the VN of F/SN before seeing/reading F/Z. Or you can do the opposite. Honestly, it wouldn't matter that much because both provides details of the same thing, so you don't have to watch one thing first.

2) Speaking of Kara no Kyoukai, I've just seen the 5th film... Good God, sh*t just got real. Before seeing the 6th and 7th films, I'd say the fifth film would be my favorite of the franchise. Not only is it awesome, but it's deep! (deep in terms of dialogue and plot).

i've never read a VN. will the cool kids make fun of me?

Not if you live in America where it's very rare.

[C.A.P.]

^Oh yeah, great film. Pretty much Anno expanding everything he did in EOE, and having fun in doing so.

[Fireball]

Going to rewatch 1.11 and 2.22 for obvious reasons. Q will mark my 300th title.

[Dima]

Last week i rewatched Darker Than Black and i am gonna do a marathon for Sakura-sou no Pet na Kanojo.

[Paranoid]

Stuff I've watched recently (past two weeks or so), in no particular order:
Samurai Champloo (1-26) - very good, distinct style. Nice characters. I found the episodic nature (until the last 5 episodes or so) a bit detrimental overall, similarly to how I feel about Cowboy Bebop.
SZS Bangaichi (1-2) - not bad, but for the OVA finishing up the series I found it a little lacking. No more (or less) amusing than any two episodes of the series.
Little Witch Academia - very well animated, has a lot of heart. Pretty cliche, though. I enjoyed this.
Porco Rosso - I liked it a lot, although I'm not sure where it falls in my internal Ghibli ranking.
Dai-Guard (1-5) - Not sure how I feel about this so far. It's not bad, but I don't find it quite as amusing as people say it is.
Oreimo Season 1 + OVAs (1-16) - Silly, but I enjoyed it quite a bit overall. Side characters make up for Kirino being so annoying.
Oreimo season 2 (1-3) - Decent start, but could use more Kuroneko. Kuroneko is best girl.
Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai (0-13) - Silly, silly show. It's terrible but I can't bring myself not to love it. Yozora is best girl.
Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai - NEXT(1-12) - As above but a little more story-driven.
Kiki's Delivery Service - So frickin' cute. One of my favorite Ghiblis so far.
Otona Joshi no Anime Time (1-4) - Meh.
Saikano (1-13) - Way overrated. Bad story, bad characters. Some iffy shock factor and a lot of narm.
Laputa - nice adventure movie, but I couldn't really feel for the characters like I usually do in Ghibli films.
Whisper of the Heart - yet another Ghibli. I liked this, although I found the ending a bit silly.

[Dima]

1) WATCH FATE/ZERO INSTEAD, NOT F/SN. I actually decided to stop after 18 episodes because:
- Studio Deen Butched it
- it felt rushed, and many parts from V/N are missing
- designs aren't close to the original

SPOILER: Show

- DAT CGI DRAGON SCENE.

Yep that sums it up.I cant even stand Fate/StayNight because of the amazingly-Fate/Zero.I wish that some day ufotable will somehow get the rights and remake it.

[A.T. Fish]

Mimi's Delivery Service

Is this a sequel?

[Paranoid]

Is this a sequel?

No, it's a typo
I was looking at my list and crossed Kiki's Delivery Service with Whisper of the Heart (Mimi wo Sumaseba).

[Nuclear Lunchbox]

Going to rewatch 1.11 and 2.22 for obvious reasons. Q will mark my 300th title.

I've watched these so much over the past month that it isn't even funny anymore. My body is ready. Come at me, Q.

[Practice]

Watched all of the K-On series and YuruYuri S1 the past 2-3 weeks. Really loved K-On, but I wasn't that impressed with YuruYuri. Not saying it's bad, it's just not for me.

Picked up OreImo to see what all the hooplah was about. I've watched episodes 1-12 (finishing the last three eps of S1 later tonight).

SPOILER: Show

I wanted to punch Kirino in the face until episodes 11-12. I really wasn't sure how I felt about the series as a whole, but the last few episodes have made the show grow on me.

[LeoXiao]

Alright you two, enough of the content-free back and forthing; how about defend and/or attack the show using, um, arguments and details. Though full disclosure I completely agree with essel, this show is a disaster. Gotta love how everyone always greets eachother with a gun to the face, often held at their head even after it's obvious they know the person already. Guns! They're really just like toys.

Oh and we couldn't get one or two episodes into Fumoffu because it was so unbelievably bad. So even though Sousuke doesn't know who the thugs are, he ~does~, because contrivance, and he gets the kid up in the sky and starts setting off fucking bombs and risking his life and it's just all supposed to be fine oh my god this show is so stupid. And how the hell did he get it setup in time and just, blergh. Also him sitting there disguised as a bush all day. This show is just... no. No. See how bad it was I can't even articulately describe.

You're not supposed to take that part of the show seriously. But then again I hate moeblobs even though it seems most everyone else likes them and finds it kawaii so maybe I'm just weird.

[Merridian]

Has anyone here been disappointed with Ore Imo's second season? Granted, it's been a while since I watched S1 (never rewatched it after its airing, either), but S2 seems to be lacking punch, cohesiveness, and style compared to what I remember. Maybe I'm imagining things.

[Ornette]

S2 seems to be lacking punch, cohesiveness, and style compared to what I remember. Maybe I'm imagining things.

It's boring, the focus is on a bunch of different characters, did the last episode even have Kirino in it?

[Merridian]

^Only toward the very end. The whole episode seemed very sloppily thrown together, though, with little regard to pacing or structure or even logic. I rather liked Saori's character when I watched the first season, but she seemed so dull and lifeless during a flashback designed to make her more sympathetic. Her sister's actions carried no weight, and Saori's confrontation with her seemed vapid and silly as a result. The previous episode suffered similar problems. It's coming across as though the characters are now only used for their comedic affect, and the character development that made S1 worth watching has become totally secondary to that. The seriousness present in Saori's ep is kind of botched by its blase depiction and its awkward comedy.

[Xard]

Has anyone here been disappointed with Ore Imo's second season? Granted, it's been a while since I watched S1 (never rewatched it after its airing, either), but S2 seems to be lacking punch, cohesiveness, and style compared to what I remember. Maybe I'm imagining things.

Well you're certainly imagining things when it comes to style. The staff is exactly same despite studio change and that's clear.

As for OreImo overall, the show's ok watch but it's never been masterpiece or anything like that from which I expect great things. For example I tagged the OVA continuation to s1 with "My Delicious Kuroneko Arc Can't Be This Much A Disappointment" and I do remember how disappoint with it I was. I remember first season in the beginning surpassed expectations but lost the lead towards the end which was disappointing in itself. The OVA continuation first seemed to redeem this but alas it too turned out to be disappointing. So I'm hardly expecting wonders from s2

Having said that I think s2 has been on par with first when first was on the decent side of things so in some regards it's closer to return to form than anything else. Third episode was certainly boring (thus I had nothing to say about it, really) but Ayase ep I found fun and very much in line with good bits of s1. As for first ep it was reintroduction ep of typical mold and as such doesn't count as yay or nay.

Anyway, they're clearly focusing on giving side characters their own special episodes as of now. Ayase episode was actually based on drama CD and I don't know if Saori ep is based on books themselves either.

The "main story" will come back in force sooner or later but that's hardly ever been OreImo's main hook.

[Squigsquasher]

Just watched Episode 1 of Sailor Moon (The Japanese version of course, not the godawful excuse for a dub) and few things have made me laugh so much. Well, there is Excel Saga, but that was more the kind of "WHAT!?!?! JUST...WHAT!?!??!" side-splitting hysterical laughter from complete insanity rather than the "Oh god, this is terrible, but it's still brilliant!" good natured giggling from extreme datedness.

(Interestingly, Sailor Moon/Usagi and Excel have the same voice actress, who also happens to voice everyone's favourite drunken slob, Misato!)

So yeah. Hugely dated and rather cringy in places, but still a joy to watch. I am now a convert.

Usagi's mother, though...throwing her out the house for bad grades? Wow, talk about overreaction...

Also, "Dumpling Head": Best. Insult. Ever.

[chazthesilencer]

Fate Zero certainly turned out to be more brutal than I had anticipated, what with all the maiming and child killing…
I was looking forward to seeing a straight-up, no-nonsense final duel to decide the contest- but instead I get a Gainax ending. Oh well. Not a bad watch, overall.
Rider and Waver steal the show.

All I’m left to wonder now is: do people really die when they are killed?