What anime are you watching right now? Summer 2016 to now

[pwhodges]

Anyways, I watched Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi for the first time this last week, and I was really impressed with. It kept me going from the beginning, the two MCs were great, and the final episode was very well done. I'd say I like it more than FLCL or Panty and Stocking. What's the general consensus with the other Evageeks out there?

I really like it - indeed, I have a quote from it in my sig (which I use on other forums as well). One thing I like is the variety between the episodes - this makes some people label the ones they don't fancy as "weak", but I think they're all good in their different ways and you just have to get the different vibes. I wouldn't place FLCL lower on its account, though. Panty and Stocking I've not finished, so I guess that says something about me...

If you're looking for one, another good zany show is Michiko & Hatchin.

It did give me a pretty big appreciation of the folks who worked on the second Mushishi series though, since there was a pretty big gap between the two series yet they're both phenomenal. The second series is probably even better than the first.

I agree the second series is as well done as the first; but I'm not sure it added anything - there comes a point when too much Mushi-shi gets a bit boring. I guess it needs to be taken slowly and not marathoned.

[Gus Hanson]

Episode 9 of Gundam: The 08th MS Team.

Hadn't seen it in a long time and something about the end scene with Yuri's secretary being tortured for information by Ginias through tons of drugs still puzzles me: Did she die? There were a ton of medications laid next to her and she wasn't moving nor could she move for that matter, being tied up but last time I saw the scene, I thought she was alive but crying at the thought of Yuri being betrayed and executed by Ginias.

[Mr. Tines]

Next up: Probably Utena. Though I may watch something else concurrently, as I could use something more comedic. Still undecided.

If a series with surf-boarding elephants and body-swap curry isn't already comedic enough for you (and that's just in the first cour, mind you), then I'm not sure what to recommend!

---

YuYuYu S2

Well, that was a surprising ending

SPOILER: Show

indeed a happy one if it didn't also mean that we had this

SPOILER: Show

but actually

SPOILER: Show

the New Year weekend has meant a week's delay in the final episode airing, so we're left with everything falling apart, including YuYu herself, who needs to be punched into daijoubu first, which means we're back to wondering how bad things will get

Yes, another 'how bad could the ending get?' sweepstake  SPOILER: Show

[Justacrazyguy]

Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi

Great show. It's one of the lesser know greats from Gainax.


Season is nearly over(Fate and Yuyuyu aside), so here goes.

Kino no Tabi 2017: SHEEP/10 would watch that final episode again.

Ousama Game: A "horror" anime about a magical computer virus? that makes people play a deadly version of the kings game.

I am not exaggerating when I say that this might have been one of the funniest anime of the season. Just to give an example:

SPOILER: Show

One of the girls tries to hack the virus trough her computer or something along those lines(she types very fast in all the keys, natturaly), fails, gets burned by the virus somehow, continues to type in the computer while burning, calmly speaks with the other characters and casually removes her clothes. She then trows herself into a lake, only for said lake to vanish in the next shot and turn into an abyss.

I really enjoyed this one, but it's unintentional(or is it?) humour isn't going to work for everyone.

Mahoujin Guru Guru(2017): A really funny and cute show that parodies common RPG tropes while also delivering a great story and having adorable characters. There is an older show from the 90s, but I haven't seen and don't know how well it hold up to this one.

Best show of the season.

Kekkai Sensen S2: More of the same. Episodic stories and a small 2 episode final arc. If you liked the first season this one doesn't disappoint.

Animegataris : Show about a club that watches anime. Becomes really meta near the end. That said, it is mostly a light comedy. Enjoyed far more than I initially expected.

Mahoutsukai no Yome: A girl with red hair falls in love with a man with a skull for a face. There's also magic or something.
A lot of people seem to enjoy this one, but I don't see anything special. If I wanted to see a girl with red hair surrounded by cute boys I could just rewatch Fushigi Yuugi.

I watched more stuff but I don't really have much to say about the other shows.

Now I'll just wait for the inevitable madness that will follow the release of Violet Evergarden and hope that the new Devilman is as good as the manga and the first two OVAs.

[Mr. Tines]

Mahoutsukai no Yome: A girl with red hair falls in love with a man with a skull for a face. There's also magic or something.
A lot of people seem to enjoy this one, but I don't see anything special. If I wanted to see a girl with red hair surrounded by cute boys I could just

watch Yona of the Dawn. FTTY

Mahoutsukai is very shoujo, in both the continued use of SD and otherwise exaggerated style in the comedy moments, and in its Fifty Shades... style of the heroine being bound into service of this mysterious master, then turning into a Beauty and the Beast thing.

I'm only a third of the way through the TV series, and so far as a way-more-shoujo Natsume Yuujin-cho (itself also shoujo) or Mushi-shi, it's doing OK. It doesn't lend itself to marathoning, but it works as harmless fluff; and as such is so far the best of the Q4 series I've seen and aren't YuYuYu.

Apart from that, I've been casting around for recent series that I haven't already seen to fill the "Saturday Morning Cartoon" slot, and not finding anything that has said "you must watch my second episode". I had been going to pick up where I'd left off with ClassicaLoid, but that seems to have vanished surprisingly quickly from the Crunchy roster.

[pwhodges]

Mahoutsukai no Yome: A girl with red hair falls in love with a man with a skull for a face. There's also magic or something. A lot of people seem to enjoy this one, but I don't see anything special.

Both you and Mr Tines seem to be ignoring the fact that it actually has a story; it has a slow patch in the middle, but in the end nothing is wasted. It's been by far the best of what I've watched this season, and I look forward to its continuation.

If I wanted to see a girl with red hair surrounded by cute boys I could just rewatch Fushigi Yuugi.

But then, why not watch something new rather than repeating? Not that The Ancient Magus' Bride has many cute boys, though (nor any great amount of SD, for that matter).

[Mr. Tines]

Both you and Mr Tines seem to be ignoring the fact that it actually has a story

Speaking from only having reached the end of episode 4, any story has yet to make itself distinct from merely establishing the setting. Things like the apprenticeship and managing your Sleigh Beggy are the sort of background elements that can be spun indefinitely for flavour, and the "helping the Church" is yet to be more than an on-going reason to go find the mushi/youkai of the week.

That it turns out to have some on-going story actually worries me now; too many series are perfectly fine when they start as being episodic with scene setting, and then fall flat on their faces when the LOL!plot emerges about 3/4 the way through (RD Sennou Chousashitsu and Otome Youkai Zakuro being a couple of examples of this).

[Justacrazyguy]

watch Yona of the Dawn. FTTY

Already did back when it aired. I actually really like those types of stories.

pwhodges: I'm aware that the show does more than just show you its very pretty interpretations of various folklore in a relaxed pace. I'm still watching it and will continue to do so, but only because it's well animated and has really interesting sights.

But the main thread of the story hasn't caught me in any way. The relationship with animal skull man isn't disturbing enough or developed enough for me to root or be disturbed by it. The anime is clearly going with them ending up together, but I couldn't care less for both of them.
Their relationship aside, the scenarios they've been thrust at haven't compelled me either. The stories themselves have interesting ideas, but the execution has let me down

Maybe I'll grow to like 'em with time, it's only halfway through after all.

[Ray]

watch Yona of the Dawn. FTTY

Mahoutsukai is very shoujo, in both the continued use of SD and otherwise exaggerated style in the comedy moments, and in its Fifty Shades... style of the heroine being bound into service of this mysterious master, then turning into a Beauty and the Beast thing.

I wouldn't go THAT far. I mean. Elias hasn't done anything sexual to her. . . yet. Which is a huge relief for me personally. Because this type of a story could have become fetish fuel very quickly. I'd be more concerned if the author were treating the relationship as healthy. But it's really not. It's not explicitly given as "bad" either. But Elias is not a human, and the whole thing is really creepy and with scary undertones. Elias sees Chise as his possession, but it's not treated as a desirable position to be in.

In the hands of a lesser author this could have turned out MUCH worse and much more exploitative.

[imprimatur13]

If a series with surf-boarding elephants and body-swap curry isn't already comedic enough for you (and that's just in the first cour, mind you), then I'm not sure what to recommend!

Hehe... Well, the thing about Utena is, that it has (at least where I am now, which is having just finished episode 4) a certain atmosphere of... surreal-ness? Not sure what the right word is...

I mean, not that that isn't very similar to something found in another show I enjoy very much (it rhymes with "Neon Genesis Schmevangelion"), but right now I need lighter stuff, for my current emotional state. I admire Utena, and enjoy it so far, but I need something that's (almost) pure comedy.

So, for that reason, I decided to take a break from that, and watch WataMote instead. I had heard that it was funny, and... that was it, really.

I enjoyed it immensely. Not only was the humor perfect, but it also pushed the envelope of what I thought they could show on TV. The protagonist, Tomoko, is a very realistically portrayed shut-in 1st-year high-schooler who suffers from severe social anxiety, and can barely say a word to anyone outside her family and a single friend (who goes to a different school).

She feels that, now that she's in high school, she can reinvent her image and become popular, and.... it is just beautiful. Seriously, I cannot describe how funny it is. And there are powerful undercurrents of tragedy underneath the humor, so you can feel for her even as you laugh. Again, like I said, she is written extremely realistically, which I always consider necessary in humor series. Not too many do that good of a job with psychological realism, and they suffer as a result. This is one that does.

The ending could've been better, but even so, I'd give it a solid 8/10.

(I'm in middle of Shimoneta: A Boring World without Dirty Jokes, which, while good, I predict will be a 7.)

Also, on a recommendation from someone, I decided to give Hibike: Euphonium a shot, and watched the first episode. It was ok. Very average, to me. I've never seen any 'modern Slice of Life' (meaning, essentially, something that's less about humor, and more about... well... CGDCT, I suppose. This would exclude something like Azumanga Daioh!) shows like K-On before, but this seems like just a somewhat funnier version of those. There was some cute humor, but... Seems a bit too moe for my tastes. Anyone seen it, could say whether it gets significantly better later on?

[chazthesilencer]

No Christmas translation for the Seitokai Yakuindomo OVA or movie this year. Shame.

I suddenly discovered that Ping Pong the animation is available in Poland after all. Did its licence territory get expanded at some point? Or did Crunchy’s search feature just let me down the first time I tried looking?
Regardless, I owe it to a fellow animay watching evageek to check it out.

[Joy Evangelion]

I agree the second series is as well done as the first; but I'm not sure it added anything - there comes a point when too much Mushi-shi gets a bit boring. I guess it needs to be taken slowly and not marathoned.

Yea, that's fair. The show is one that I feel isn't as good on a second watch as on a first too, but I don't mean for that to take anything away from it.

Kino no Tabi 2017: SHEEP/10 would watch that final episode again.

It definitely did a good job of making me rethink the ethical and social implications of the underground sheep fight club that I'm running in my basement.

I suddenly discovered that Ping Pong the animation is available in Poland after all. Did its licence territory get expanded at some point? Or did Crunchy’s search feature just let me down the first time I tried looking?
Regardless, I owe it to a fellow animay watching evageek to check it out.

Do eeeeeiiittttttt. Though it probably won't live up to how much I've pumped it up. Oh well, it's pretty short anyway if you think it's trash.

[Gus Hanson]

Decided to watch the first two episodes of Attack On Titan on my BluRay in subbed form because no matter how high I turn up the volume, the English dub is barely audible. Oh well, the sub kicks ass!

Eren keeps picking unwinnable fights which can get annoying for a bit and i managed to make a comparison of Mikasa's staying alive mantra to the Naomie Harris character in 28 Days Later who had a similar outlook in the outbreak that staying alive is as good as it gets. Because i already know that Eren and Mikasa are supposedly the destined pairing even if they are technically siblings, did that stop Star Wars?! I didn't think so.

[Justacrazyguy]

Devilman Crybaby: The year has barely started and there is already a strong contender for AOTY.

It's just so good to finally have a proper adaptation of the last arcs of the manga. Make no mistake, the directors personal florishes are very visible and there are many large changes, most good, a few not so much****.

But, the essential, the core message shines trough, in some cases, even stronger than in the manga.

Spoilers about the final scenes of the ending below

SPOILER: Show

It's so fun to see Satan and Akira standing above a red sea in a dead planet. Really shows where Anno got some of his inpirations for Evangelion.

Eva fans will enjoy some of the scenes in this show quite a bit.



****

SPOILER: Show

Mostly the visual style, which, while much better than I expected, I still find inferior to the art in the first two OVAs.
And the fight scenes, short and brutal, but missing that excellent choreography of the OVAs and certain segments of the manga. I understand they couldn't exactly stop the plot for 20 minutes to give an extended fight sequence with Silene and Devilman,but still...

[imprimatur13]

Eren keeps picking unwinnable fights which can get annoying for a bit and i managed to make a comparison of Mikasa's staying alive mantra to the Naomie Harris character in 28 Days Later who had a similar outlook in the outbreak that staying alive is as good as it gets. Because i already know that Eren and Mikasa are supposedly the destined pairing even if they are technically siblings, did that stop Star Wars?! I didn't think so.

Attack on Titan  SPOILER: Show

I'm pretty sure (don't quote me on this) that Mikasa was adopted by the Yeagers, and as such is not Eren's biological sister. I quit 8 episodes into S2, so... not really fully up to date on the lore.

[Mr. Tines]

YuYuYu S2 -- we End of Evangelion now, in oh so many ways, with a little bit of the Utena/Ultraman scene that also got recycled in Ha as well.



Just a pity that, as in the first season, it could have done with another episode to let it breathe, rather than being a psychedelic kaleidoscope and a slide-show towards the end; then it could have been great, rather than very good.

The right answer  SPOILER: Show

Now with that weight off my shoulders, I might get around to watching some rather more light-hearted series.

[MuscleRobo]

Devilman Crybaby

I'm not done yet but its fidelity to the source manga has been greatly exaggerated; not that that's a bad thing!

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We live in a world where the sentence "They replaced the eyebrow fight with a rape" makes sense

[Gus Hanson]

Though I was in for another round of torture with Cowboy Bebop episode 17 but boy am I glad to have witnessed it since it may very well be my most favorite episode of the series so far!

The teamwork displayed with Ed and Ein searching for a meal as well as capturing the bounty of the day mixed with Blaxploitation homages and thrilling chase music like this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmIsNpDimQ0 this all provides tons of laughs and deeper appreciation for jazz music.

[pwhodges]

I didn't know what to expect, but I appear to have got a mashup of Cowboy Bebop (the cool), Elfen Lied (the gore), FLCL (the pace & zaniness), and Haruhi (the out-of-order story-telling). I'm only four episodes in, but really enjoying it.

But "what?", you ask;

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Baccano!

[imprimatur13]

Enjoy it, pwhodges. And if you like Baccano, I think you'd quite possibly enjoy Durarara!!. I believe the light novels had the same author, and the similarities are definitely strong. (Also, it is apparently one of the few anime adaptations of a LN series that actually covers the entire story, which is nice.)