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Posted by: Sabrewulf 1st September 2010, 11:15 AM

Does anyone here watch anime?

It's amazing how easy it actually is to get into shows where you're just reading english subtitles.....after a while it's like they're speaking english. (even though they're speaking japanese)

Right now I'm watching:

Shiki - It's a story about a small village and a new family moves into a castle on the hill.....then suddenly people in the village start dropping like flies. (dying ) It does sound a bit like a cliche but it's very mysterious and intriguing.

High School of the Dead - It's pretty much like left 4 dead except it's in Japan. I actually really disliked the first episode....but I think it might have won me over. (I have a love hate relationship with this one)

Posted by: Kuki Sanban 1st September 2010, 03:34 PM

I adore anime!
This is going to become my new favourite thread

I'm going to go hunt out that Shiki one now, sounds really good

Posted by: Sabrewulf 1st September 2010, 04:42 PM

Tell me what you think.

It's actually airing in Japan right now, so far eight episodes have aired although I think there's supposed to be 22 episodes in the series (according to wikipedia)

Posted by: Kuki Sanban 1st September 2010, 11:03 PM

Can you post me a link where you watched it! All the video's I've tried won't let me because I don't live in the US

Posted by: Brett-Butler 2nd September 2010, 12:24 AM

Some series' I would recommend are Occult Academy, which is currently ongoing and is about a girl who hates the spiritual who takes over a school that trains students in dealing with the occult.

My favourite series of the year so far has been 'Hanamaru Kindergarten', quite innocent and ridiculously cute, but not for everyone's tastes.

Inuyasha is also pretty cool as well.

Posted by: Gerald7137 2nd September 2010, 12:51 AM

I will search out some of these shows and give them a go.

Did anyone else watch Eden of the East

Posted by: Osiris 2nd September 2010, 02:12 AM

I loved Blood+ such a great show

Posted by: Brett-Butler 2nd September 2010, 02:44 AM

I loved Eden of the East. The theme tune for it was just perfect (Oasis providing music for a anime series was a touch of gentius), and its mix of cute animation and dark philospohical aspects was just great. Some funny moments too.

Posted by: Sabrewulf 2nd September 2010, 07:49 AM

I've just started watching this the other day, I really like it so far.

Kuki, I watch most of my animes at: http://www.animecrunch.com/

Shiki is there too and they have multiple videos of each episode.

Posted by: killereyes 2nd September 2010, 10:18 AM

i love anime shows and in animes i loved to watch Sailor moon Episodes, naruto, case closed, pokemon and many more

Posted by: Osiris 2nd September 2010, 12:07 PM

Hey killereyes no download links/sites please we don't allow that on buzzjack

Thanks

Posted by: Kieran. 2nd September 2010, 12:37 PM

Woo I love me some Adult Swim amazing channel lol for anime guys.

Posted by: Kuki Sanban 2nd September 2010, 02:25 PM

Just watched the first episode of this and really enjoyed it! Such a funny story
I love when like 4 year old Anzu-Chan's mum asks her who the man talking to her was and she tells her mum he was hitting on her, to which she replies "Wow Anzum you're popular like your mommy"
Mother of the year


Oh wow, thank you so much! I'll spend all tonight on here!


I've always wanted to watch Adult Swim but don't know how to find it, or if you have subscribe!

Posted by: Gerald7137 2nd September 2010, 05:35 PM

Whilst searching, found a site called crunchyroll that streams loads of shows. (not sure if i am allowed to mention that, delete it if not i am sorry) and have began watching a show called 11 eyes, that is quite interesting, reminding me of a PS2 game called Persona 3.

Posted by: Brett-Butler 3rd September 2010, 01:50 AM

Crunchyroll is a legal streaming site, and the owners have the permission from the makers to do so, so I guess it's alright, as long as you don't mind sitting through the ads.

Posted by: Sabrewulf 4th September 2010, 09:00 AM

I found out about a new anime, Arakawa under the bridge, it's supposed to be really funny. I haven't watched it yet though I'll have a look out for it.

Posted by: Kuki Sanban 5th September 2010, 01:12 AM

What's it about?
Also, I'm absolutely LOVING Hanamaru Kindergarten

Posted by: Sabrewulf 5th September 2010, 07:39 AM

I watched the first three episodes, and basically it's about this wealthy business guy, who lives his life by not relying on anyone else for help. However when his life is saved by a homeless girl under the bridge, he asks her what she wants in return (because he can't stand owing anything to anyone). She doesn't want the riches he can give her and instead asks for him to love her and come live with her under the bridge. There's a community of homeless/weirdos living under the bridge too.

I really like it so far, it's weird but really charming.

Posted by: alanmoore 29th October 2010, 05:17 AM

I like Naruto, Sailor Moon and also many other animes.

Posted by: chloe01 29th October 2010, 06:55 AM

I like to watch anime but not more than drama series and the anime that i used to watch Naruto shippuden, Avatar, Dragonball z.

Posted by: thomas121 29th October 2010, 12:50 PM

I love to watch animes tv series and i mostly like to watch King of the Hill. This is an amazing anime tv series that i like to watch.

Posted by: Naruteux 2nd May 2013, 01:00 AM

I'm just bringing this up hoping to find more anime fans on here.

This is what I've watched so far:

Excellent
Cowboy Bebop
Death Note
Hyōka
Naruto / Naruto Shippūden
Psycho-Pass
Steins;Gate

Great
Code Geass
Hellsing / Hellsing Ultimate
Sword Art Online

Alright
Is This a Zombie? / Is This a Zombie? of the Dead
Neon Genesis Evangelion

On my to-watch list:

Attack on Titan
Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood
Hunter x Hunter
One Piece (if I find the courage)
Shiki
Wolf's Rain

Posted by: HausofDrips 2nd May 2013, 11:45 AM

Death Note is one of my favourite TV series ever, never mind my favourite Anime. Had me gripped from start to end like nothing else. I've been meaning to go through the mammoth One Piece but don't really have the energy or time to do so right now (i cheaply watched Paranoia Agent instead just because it's so short and snappy!)

I would like to start a new one after i'm done with the shows i'm watching atm, so i'll be sure to get recommendations from here

Posted by: Envoirment 1st August 2013, 11:08 AM

Love anime! Really hooked on Naruto for the moment. It finally stopped with all the fillers and is delivering some really great episodes! I've also watched Yu-Gi-Oh/One Piece (need to catch up though)/Shaman King/DBZ/Sailer Moon/Fairytale/Bleach and a bunch more. It's literally taken over my life recently. It's also a great way to learn Japanese lol!

Posted by: Conderella 1st August 2013, 11:41 AM

I remember being obsessed with wanting to learn how to draw manga haha. So random. I don't mind anime but never really GOT it. Like I love and watched Death Note and Pokemon (not all series, just a couple) but that's about it really.

Posted by: Marina XCX 1st August 2013, 01:33 PM

I'm watching Mirai Nikki (Future Diary) at the moment, I really like it.

The thing with anime I like the most is that most of them are well thought-out from the beginning, in contrast to most TV series who are made up as they go along. There are no limits to what the plot can be about since they're drawings and usually you get all episodes with no weekly breaks, so if an anime has 52 episodes you'll get them in a year, whereas it may take many years for a normal TV series to get to the same number of episodes.

Plus, once you're very used to watching anime, you don't even notice they're animated.

Posted by: Brett-Butler 2nd August 2013, 12:51 AM

My current anime watch list is as follows:

Space Brothers - a show about a man who tries to follow his younger brother into NASA's space program.
Blood Lad - a Japanese culture-obsessed vampire gang leader from another dimension stumbles across a girl from our world and accidently causes her to become a ghost. Hilarity ensures as he tries to recover her body.
Attack On Titan - a walled city is under attack from brainless, man-eating giants. Quite scary by any standards.
Servant x Service - a slice-of-life show about three people working in the civil service
Silver Spoon - a slice-of-life show about a city boy who starts learning at an agricultural college
Watamote - a slice-of-life show about a painfully, hilariously socially awkward girl.
The World God Only Knows - A nerdy boy who likes playing virtual dating games is forced by a cute demon to make real girls fall in love with him in order to send loose souls back to hell. Believe me, it does make sense.
Dog & Scissors - a book-obsessed teen is shot by a robber, and is resurrected as a dog. He is adopted by his favourite writer, the only person who can hear his thoughts, and together, they fight crime.

Some recent anime series that are worth watching include:
Psycho-Pass - relentlessly dark psychological show about a futuristic police force. Think Minority Report, only darker and bloodier.
Steins;Gate - sci-fi show about a ragtag group who invent a time machine using a microwave.
Tiger & Bunny - In the future, humans called NEXT have developed superpowers? The world's logical response? To give them a TV show where they score points for catching badguys, complete with sponsorship for the heroes.
Bodacious Space Pirates - a teenage girl discovers she has been made the captain of a pirate ship. In space. Hilarity ensues.
Humanity Has Declined - Absolutely bonkers show about a future where humanity is dying out to be replaced by 'fairies', small creatures with fixed grins who are scientifically light years ahead of humans and love sweets. Some people who take part in Unknown Pleasures might be familiar with the theme tune by Nano.Ripe.
The Devil Is a Part-Timer! - Satan is about to take over an alternate universe when he is accidentally sent to modern day Japan. Without enough power to return, he ends up working in McDonalds in an attempt to take over our world. Hilarity ensures.

And before you ask, yes, I'm single.

Posted by: Mariah Scary 5th August 2013, 01:17 AM

Paranoia Agent! Classic.

Posted by: HausofKubrick 7th August 2013, 09:42 AM

I still have absolutely NO idea what happened in that second season but it's all the more wonderful for it!

Posted by: Envoirment 26th September 2013, 04:04 PM

Just finished the final episode of Free! - Iwatobi Swim Club. It needs to come back for a 2nd season!!

I didn't think I would like it, but I got hooked. Such a great little anime series.

Posted by: Brett-Butler 26th September 2013, 04:21 PM

I didn't get around to watching it. From what I understand, it's a "reverse harum", with lots of attractive male characters rather than female typical in anime.

Another great one from this season was "The Eccentric Family". It takes a few episodes to get up to speed with what's going on (and the 1st episode is particularly WTF-worthy, even for a seasoned anime fan like myself), but its a cracking, fun series about tanuki with lots of great moments.

Posted by: Envoirment 26th September 2013, 08:16 PM

Sort of, but the guys aren't interested in any girls. There's a bunch of gay vibes at times between the main male characters, which is one of the reasons I enjoyed it so much.

I'll add it to my list to watch! I've got lots of spare time now that my obsession with league of legends has dwindled.

Posted by: Brett-Butler 26th September 2013, 08:50 PM

If you have spare time, then make sure to watch as much as you can (although I admit I'm slightly biased on the anime front). Aside from the list that I posted a few weeks ago, you should check out (if you haven't already):

Chihayafuru - ostensibly a show about a teen who is obsessed with become a karuta champion (an intense Japanese card game), it is about much more than that, including friendships, passion, and the needs of others. Definitely a keeper.
Sword Art Online - this has been hit and miss for some people, but it was one of the breakout hits of last year. 10,000 people get trapped inside a RPG that will kill them in real life if they die in the game. The series follows the adventures of 2 of them as they battle to reach floor 100 and free those trapped.
Squid Girl - a girl from the sea comes up to the surface to take over the world to avenge the humans who have polluted the sea. She fails, and is forced to work in a beach side restaurant.
Nichijou - hard to explain, except to say that it's bloody mental, but downright hilarious:

Posted by: Envoirment 26th September 2013, 09:00 PM

Thanks a bunch. Also, @ Nichijou. My friend showed me parts of it before and it looks very funny. Will start watching some of those tomorrow, as I have the day off.

Posted by: Brett-Butler 20th October 2013, 09:33 PM

Another one to add to the recommendations list:

Hanasaku Iroha - Series about a girl who goes to work at an inn house run by her estranged grandmother after her mother skips town with her latest boyfriend. Whether you like the series or not will come down to whether you like Ohana, the protagonist of the series, who can best be described as 'irritatingly endearing'.

Posted by: Marina XCX 20th October 2013, 10:01 PM

I'm watching Clannad these days. If you're into the "slice of life" genre, you should totally watch it.

Is anyone on MyAnimeList.net? They let you make a list of the anime you're watching/you've watched/plan to watch etc, you can also rate them.

My list: http://myanimelist.net/animelist/thomastheo

Posted by: Brett-Butler 20th October 2013, 10:29 PM

I never checked out Clannad, mainly because I didn't like the title, which reminded me of that Irish band who did 'Theme From Harry's Game' (which is now better known as 'Saltwater' by Chicane).

And I'd never came across that MyAnimeList before, thanks. I might have to input all my viewsies into that.

Posted by: Brett-Butler 20th October 2013, 11:12 PM

A quick MyAnimeList list. I didn't realise I'd watched so much, and I still think there's at least 10 series that I've forgotten about: http://myanimelist.net/animelist/cmcbride

Posted by: Envoirment 20th October 2013, 11:19 PM

Oo, just joined animelist! http://myanimelist.net/profile/envoirment

I added you guys too if that's ok?

Time to sort out what I've watched!

Posted by: Marina XCX 21st October 2013, 09:42 AM

Higashi no Eden sounds incredible, I have to watch it. I'm a little worried you liked Akira, though. It's SUCH a mess!

Envoirment, are you from the future? I'm pretty sure Naruto Shippuuden #335 hasn't aired yet

Posted by: Brett-Butler 21st October 2013, 03:41 PM

Eden of The East is absolutely fantastic. Interestingly, the theme tune of the original series is "Falling Down" by Oasis, which actually works beautifully with the overall theme of the series.

Akira is rather extreme, but it is deservedly seen as a classic, and it is the anime that has done the most for its perception in the West, alongside Spirited Away, Pokemon & Legend of the Overfiend (all for very different reasons, I might add). The fate of Kei in Akira has me in tears though, she didn't deserve to go like that.

Posted by: Brett-Butler 11th November 2013, 09:52 PM

So now that we're about halfway through the current anime season, here's a few shows that I've been watching:

Kill La Kill - Probaably the highest regarded show of the season. A girl who wields half a scissor arrives at a borderline fascist-run school to find out who was responsible for the death of her father. Armed with a sentinent, highly revealing school uniform which gives her increased strength, she takes on the school's student council to find out the truth. High octane, and hilariously funny.
Outbreak Company - A teen obsessed with anime is recruited (kidnapped) by the Japanese government to spread Japanese culture to a recently discovered mythical dimension, filled with elves, dwarfs, and other fantasy beings. A funny show, and one which has a surprising satirical bent to it.
Coppelion - 20 years after an ecological disaster makes Tokyo uninhabitable, 3 genetically engineered girls return to the city to search for survivors. One of the darker shows of the season.
Log Horizon - Following an update to a computer game, thousands of people find themselves trapped within it, and try to adapt to their new environment. Yes, it's just a rehash of last year's breakout hit "Sword Art Online", but it doesn't take itself as seriously.
Non Non Biyori - The cutest show of the year. A girl moves to the country from the city and goes to a school with only 5 pupils. She and the other pupils get up to all sorts of shenannagins. Breezy, slice of life stuff.
Gingitsune - Following the death of her mother, a girl who lives at a Shinto shrine is able to her shine's herald (the conduit between humanity and the gods), who takes the form of a gruff fox demon. Fun is had, emotions are laid bare, etc.

Posted by: Umi 11th November 2013, 10:07 PM

Ooh hello, I had no idea this thread existed. I'm looking for some advice - I had planned to watch Attack on Titan next but I've came to the opinion that it's a tad too gory for me (I generally prefer shows that have drama as a subplot to whatever else is going on - yes, I'm childish). So now I'm looking at Sword Art Online (...and a show which I've forgotten the name of but will get back to you about!) - does it sound like my kind of show?

Posted by: Brett-Butler 13th November 2013, 08:09 PM

Well, it's not gory, so if you're worried about that then SAO should be your kind of thing, although it does get quite creepy in its 2nd half (well, one character in general). I would say that AOT is a really good show regardless of its real dark centre. It's been one of the breakout shows of the year so far, so I imagine it will win over people who aren't generally fans of anime, a bit like what Cowboy Bebop did in the early 00s.

Posted by: Hard Out Here 30th November 2013, 09:35 PM

Took a month off to catch up to ~real~ TV series, now I'm back to watching Mushishi and Eden of the East. Thanks for the recommendation, Brett, I like it so far. Have you watched the movies? Do you think they're worth watching? I'm asking because anime films that are "continuations" of a series, they usually are crappy cash-ins.

Posted by: Envoirment 30th November 2013, 10:57 PM

Finished 07-Ghost a couple days ago. Really enjoyed it and am currently engrosed in the manga! I wish it would get a 2nd season, but that looks very unlikely.

I also watched Betrayal Knows My Name, which was quite nice.

I've been a bit obssessed with Yaoi & Shounen-ai. I've also gotten through quite a few other series, although I've forgotten a lot of their names.

Posted by: Brett-Butler 1st December 2013, 11:27 PM

The two original Eden of the East films, The King of Eden and Paradise Lost, are worth watching, as they offer a continuation and conclusion to the story of the main series, although I must admit the ending isn't as satisfying as it should have been. The third film, Air Communication, is just a feature length version of the TV series, so is only really worth watching if you want to remind yourself of what happened in the TV series before starting the films.

Posted by: Hard Out Here 5th January 2014, 05:49 PM

Time for a little update. I finished watching Higashi no Eden. Overall I liked it, but was a little disappointed as I expected it to be much better, there just weren't any "amazing" moments. I enjoyed the films more than the series by the way, I normally prefer endings with closure but this one worked better open-ended.

Other Anime I've watched since November:

Series:

Clannad & Clannad: After Story 9/10
Mushishi 8/10 (-2 points for being so slow paced, otherwise a brilliant anime & I'm super excited for the upcoming 2nd season)
Angel Beats! 8/10 (Great series but needed more development)
Great Teacher Onizuka 10/10 (I absolutely LOVED this!)

Films:
Clannad Movie 9/10 (I actually enjoyed this as much as the series)
Ookami Kodomo no Ame to Yuki (Wolf Children) 9/10
Tokyo Godfathers 8/10
Paprika 8/10
Perfect Blue 9/10
Hotarubi no Mori e 10/10 (this is surprisingly only 40min long, you should definitely watch)
Evangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone 9/10
Evangelion: 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance 10/10
Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo 7/10

Posted by: Brett-Butler 5th January 2014, 06:04 PM

I wrote my university dissertation on these films (in addition to Satoshi Kon's other film, Millennium Actress), so you can tell that I absolutely love these. Glad you seemed to love them too. Paprika is probably my favourite of the bunch.

Wolf Children is the anime that I most want to see at the moment, I'm going to buy the DVD once it's a reasonable price. The director of that film, Mamoru Hosoda, also made two other fantastic films, "The Girl Who Leapt Through Time" (the final moments had me in tears), and the gloriously funny "Summer Wars".

Posted by: Hard Out Here 5th January 2014, 08:00 PM

I can't believe I forgot to mention Millenium Actress as it's definitely my favourite of the 4. I watched all 4 in the space of 2 days. Too bad that Paranoia Agent was pretty average compared to the films and to think I watched it before the films, silly me.

I've yet to watch Summer Wars but I love The Girl Who Leapt Through Time. I read that Mamoru Hosoda is also behind the first 2 Digimon films, what a pleasant coincidence

So what have you watched lately?

Posted by: Brett-Butler 12th February 2014, 11:12 PM

Watched Wolf Children at the weekend. absolutely loved it, even though the ending had me in tears. I know he was half-wolf, but I found it hard to see Ame choosing to forgo his humanity in order to be the leader of the woods.

From this season's anime, here's what I'm watching:

Wizard Barristers - Does exactly what it says on the tin. Cecil is a 17-year-old female wizard who has just become the youngest ever barrister, who's job is to defend fellow magic users in wizard court.
Tonari no Seki-Kun - The funniest, and one of the shortest, new shows this season. Rumi sits beside Seki in class, where he kills time by getting up to mischief when the teacher isn't looking, such as creating an elaborate set of dominos, playing the weirdest game of chinese checkers, or replastering his desk. The humour comes from the extravagance of his schemes, and Rumi's over-reactions to them.
Inari KonKon - An awkward and shy middle school girl meets an unconventional Shinto goddess, who grants her the power to shape-shift. She then uses her power to get closer to the boy she has a crush on, as well as to strengthen her friendships.

Posted by: Mariah Scary 15th June 2014, 09:41 PM

i love japen,,im always watching animey and reading the mango

Posted by: Brett-Butler 15th June 2014, 10:02 PM

Thank you for that invaluable contribution.

Posted by: Brett-Butler 15th June 2014, 10:15 PM

While I'm here, here's what I'm currently watching -

Love Live - show about a plucky group of girls who form a pop group in order to save their beloved school from closure. I imagine this one would go down well with the average Buzzjacker.
The World Is Still Beautiful - The independently minded Princess Nike from the Principality of Rain, who has the power to control the elements, is summoned to the Kingdom of Sun in order to marry the Sun King, who rules the majority of the known world. However, he turns out to be very different to what she was expecting.
Is The Order A Rabbit? - Slice of life series about a group of girls who get up to all sorts of hijinks whilst working at a rabbit-themed cafe. Better than it sounds.

I also saw The Wind Rises, Hayao Miyazaki's final film last week, and was bitterly disappointed by it. It looks fantastic, but it fell flat.

Posted by: Heezus 15th June 2014, 11:10 PM

I've watched a lot of anime since my last update:

Movies: Taro the Dragon Boy, Summer Wars, Porco Rosso, Kara no Kyokai series, Colorful, Sword of the Stranger, Garden of Words.
Series: Kemonozume (very unique art, unknown and underrated), Log Horizon, Kill la Kill, Hunter x Hunter, Mushishi: Zoku Shou, Kuroko no Basuke, Shinsekai Yori, Nisekoi, Noragami.

Other than Hunter x Hunter that is a masterpiece, Kill la Kill was my favourite, followed by Kemonozume.

You're very much into shoujo, aren't you, Brett?

I'm actually looking forward to watching The Wind Rises. I'm still waiting for the bluray rip.

Posted by: Mariah Scary 15th June 2014, 11:22 PM

Lol take a joke!!!

I'm rewatching Rebuild of Evangelion rn and am deciding between FMA: Brotherhood or Attack on Titan next. Thoughts on which is more interesting?? I've seen all of the original FMA + Conqueror of Shambala and looove them

Posted by: Heezus 16th June 2014, 12:48 AM

Watch both. If you can't, watch FMAB first because it's completed. Attack on Titan's manga is still ongoing and we're expecting a second season, hopefully sometime next year.

Posted by: Brett-Butler 16th June 2014, 08:20 PM

Sorry buddy. We cool?

Can't speak for Full Metal Alchemist, but Attack on Titan is well worth watching, it was one of the biggest breakout anime hits of last year. It's incredibly gory, even by anime standards, but incredibly watchable.



Colorful is on my 'need to see really soon' list. Was it worth watching?



I wouldn't say so, it's just that out of this season's anime offerings, the only ones that appealed to me were tipped towards shojo. But I do have a great respect for the genre, as it usually puts a greater emphasis on story rather than action or fanservice (I should however point out that 'Rabbit' and 'Love Live' are in fact seinen, a demographic I fit nicely into). The new season starts in a few weeks time, and most of the ones I intend to see (including the 2nd seasons of Sword Art Online and Space Dandy) tip more towards the shonen.

Posted by: Heezus 16th June 2014, 08:31 PM

I personally loved Colorful, but it's a bit depressing, so unless you're in the mood you might not like it.

Posted by: Brett-Butler 28th July 2014, 08:02 PM

We're about a third of the way into the summer anime season. In addition to the aforementioned 2nd seasons of Sword Art Online (this series takes the storyline into a rather different direction), and Space Dandy (same old Dandy), I've been watching -

Tokyo Ghoul - Ghouls are human-like creatures with increasing strength and supernatural ability who have to eat the flesh of humans. After nearly being eaten and left for dead by a ghoul, a college student finds himself slowly coming more ghoul-like, taste for human flesh included. He is taken in by a kindly group of ghouls who just want to co-exist, but darkness is always around the corner.
Monthly Girls Nozaki-kun - Sakura has been in love with her classmate Nozaki for ages. After revealing her feelings to her, he accidentally thinks she's a fan - turns out he's secretly a writer of shojo manga. Sakura starts helping out Nozaki as she discovers the secrets behind writing about the genre, and hilarity ensures. A great satire of the shojo genre, whilst still being a faithful example of it.

Posted by: Heezus 28th July 2014, 10:18 PM

I'm still catching up on Hunter x Hunter and have just finished watching Igano Kabamaru (a classic) and No Game No Life (good one, but overrated). I'm bringing Ping Pong the Animation, Claymore and a bunch of movies with me on holiday so I'll have a lot to watch. The movies are: Hoshi wo Ou Kodomo, Mind Game, Momo e no Tegami, Omoide Poroporo, Tekkon Kinkreet, Redline.

This season I plan to watch Akame ga Kill, Tokyo Ghoul, Sword Art Online II and Barakamon (I might also check out Monthly Girls Nozaki-kun), but I'll wait until they're at least halfway into their season, as I usually do. I'm more looking forward to next season, though, new seasons of Log Horizon, Mushishi and Psycho-Pass (plus a lot of promising new ones, I'll wait for the first reviews and scores to decide what to watch).

Posted by: Brett-Butler 19th August 2014, 07:56 PM

Finished watching Knights of Sidonia as it was added to Netflix, becoming on of the first Netflix exclusive anime series, which is quite exciting as Netflix's anime section had been pretty barren apart from old Pokemon episodes (they've also added Kill La Kill as well, which is pretty awesome). If I was to describe it in 5 words, it would be "Attack on Titan in space". Plus, it's interesting to see an anime series that isn't afraid to kill off main characters. There's going to be a 2nd series, which I'm looking forward to.

Posted by: Envoirment 19th August 2014, 09:55 PM

I've watched a few series over the summer. Elfen Lied, Full Metal Alchemist & Sword Art Online. Thinking of watching FMA: Brotherhood & Hunter x Hunter some time & currently watching season two of Free! & Sword Art Online II, although need to catch up with both.

Posted by: Heezus 24th August 2014, 03:38 PM

I wouldn't recommend starting Hunter x Hunter now, it is amazing but has caught up with the manga and therefore will end at episode 148 in September. The manga takes very long breaks so I do not expect a continuation before 2018, unless it is a) an OVA series (like the original 1999 anime) or b) a limited 20-something-episode series (like Inuyasha and Gintama). I am almost caught up, though, and it's great! Especially after the Greed Island arc (which is where the 1999 series ended before the reboot).

I dropped Ping Pong the Animation as it's not something I want to watch in summer (or what is left of it ).

Is it dubbed or subbed? If it's the latter, it's quite major news! I've yet to watch it, but I'll probably wait for the second season to end, as it's part of the Fall Season and I don't want to be watching too many shows.

Posted by: Brett-Butler 24th August 2014, 03:54 PM

It's both actually, which is surprising as they managed to get the dub out so quickly. I watched it subtitled, but it was obvious that whoever did it had no experience in doing subtitles, as quite a lot of information got dropped, especially if someone was talking over another person, or if there was written information on screen to be translated at the same time as someone was speaking.

Posted by: Heezus 24th August 2014, 04:02 PM

Forgot to mention the most amazing news in the history of Anime. Digimon Adventure is getting another sequel in April 2015, as part of the 15th anniversary project.





Digimon 1 & 2 are my favourite and most watched anime series EVER. I've probably watched it about 6 times, usually once every couple of years.

Posted by: Brett-Butler 25th October 2014, 08:31 PM

So we're a few weeks into the new anime cours. Here's the series' that I'm watching in this season -

Psycho-Pass 2 - I'm surprised they made a sequel to Psycho-Pass, as I think they tied up all the loose ends beautifully, but that doesn't make me any less excited. Akane has matured since the last season, having learned the truth about the Psycho-Pass system and become the lead investigator of her department, which leads to a different power balance in this series.
Log Horizon 2 - Not as excited about this 2nd series, but I still feel the need to watch it. The continuing adventures of a group of RPG players who find awake one way to find themselves trapped in the game they once played, and how they cope with it.
Shirobako - five girls were members of their school's anime club, who after graduating promised that they would would work in the anime industry, either as producers, artists or voice over artists. 5 years later, we follow their adventures as they start working in the industry, and realise just how much work is required to bring together a full series.
Gonna Be The Twin-Tail! - despite being somewhat desensitized to anime's general weirdness, even I was taken aback by how bonkers the premise of this series is. Soji is a boy who has an obsession with girls with twin-tail haircuts, with the notable exception of his best friend. One day, alien invaders come and start removing girls' love of twin-tail haircuts. Another alien, who takes the form of a rather busty woman, gives him the power to transform into a hero to fight against the invaders, and turns Soji into Twin Red - who's a twin-tail haired girl. Absolutely bonkers by every stretch of the imagination.

Posted by: Heezus Froot 26th October 2014, 07:05 AM

The only "airing" anime's I'm watching now are: Mushishi Zoku Shou, Naruto, Sword Art Online II.

I've been pretty busy with Bakuman,Natsume Yuujinchou and Black Lagoon, so I've only watched Tokyo Ghoul from the past season, oops!


Shirobako sounds a lot like a continuation of Bakuman, doesn't it?

Posted by: Brett-Butler 5th February 2015, 08:54 PM

We're a couple of weeks into the new anime cour, so here's what I've been watching this season:

Assassination Classroom - The set-up for this one is a little bit on the bonkers side. An alien-like creature, who looks like a humanoid octopus and can move at speeds of Mach 20, has just destroyed a large proportion of the moon. He has threatened to destroy the earth, however he makes a deal with the government - he will teach a group of misfit students for a year, whose task it will be to assassinate him. If they fail to do so by the end of the year, he will destroy mankind. Despite the seemingly dark premise, the series is actually a black comedy - the humour comes from the fact that Koro-Sensei (as they name the creature) is a villain that you cannot help but like, and actually cares about teaching the students. The funniest series I've watched in ages.
Death Parade - the series takes place in a purgatory which is set up like a bar. In each episode, two recently deceased individuals (who when they arrive suffer from amnesia and don't remember that they're dead) are made to take part in a parlor game (for example bowling, darts, billiards). However, the games take a turn for the macabre (the darts board is hooked to the person's internal organs, the bowling balls allow the person to see how fast the other's heart is beating), and eventually their pre-death memories return to them. After the game is over, they are judged and are sent to their afterlife fate. Quite a dark show, but rather brilliant, and an unexpectedly upbeat closing song as well.
Tokyo Ghoul root A - The follow-up to the last season of Tokyo Ghoul, which takes an even darker turn following the shocking events of the last episode. Not enjoying it as much as the first season, but still worth watching.

And still watching Log Horizon and Shirobako, which are running for 2 cours.

Posted by: ♡ Heezus Froot ♡ 6th February 2015, 09:54 AM

Assassination Classroom sounds quite over the top!

Right now I'm only watching Death Parade. Waiting patiently for Log Horizon 2, Tokyo Ghoul √A & Kuroko no Basket 3 to finish airing so I can binge-watch them.

Since October I've seen Claymore, Barakamon, Psycho-Pass 2, Little Witch Academia, Death Billiards, Hal, Harmonie, Sakasama no Patema & Kaguya-hime no Monogatari.

I think I enjoyed most of these, except Sakasama no Patema. I liked the concept, but it wasn't executed very well.

I LOVED Claymore and I ended up reading the entire manga. An amazing story and the first manga I ever read in full. I ended up reading Elfen Lied after that, not as good, but I enjoyed it too. I hope both get anime remakes one day!

Posted by: Brett-Butler 19th March 2015, 07:59 PM

I've had this on a loop in my mind for the past few weeks -



God, I love Koro-Sensei.

Posted by: Brett-Butler 15th April 2015, 12:41 PM

And it's even better dubbed -

Posted by: Brett-Butler 15th April 2015, 10:15 PM

It's only a few weeks into the current season, so I'm still finalising what I'll be watching this cour, but one of this season's shows has already caused a fashion sensation two episodes in. Apparantly a character from "Is It Wrong To Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon", let's say, unique approach to fashion hashttp://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-3040009/Women-Japan-tying-RIBBONS-breasts-boost-cleavage-s-inspired-curvy-cartoon-character.html. Of course I'm all for mainstream attention being paid to anime, but I wish it was for something other than this.

Posted by: ♡ Heezus Froot ♡ 16th April 2015, 11:09 AM

I've been living anime-free since February, I should really get back to it. I haven't even finished Death Billiards

Posted by: ♡ Heezus Froot ♡ 25th April 2015, 12:03 PM

Over a week later and I've finished Death Parade, Barakamon, Kiseijuu, the couple of Shingeki no Kyojin OVAs about Levi.

I still have to see Tokyo Ghoul √A, Log Horizon 2, Kuroko No Basket 3 and a bunch of films I've discovered. I'm also re-watching Wolf Children with my bestie tonight. I've told her a thousand times to see it and she still hasn't, so I'm forcing it down her throat. She's a huge fan of Ghibli so I'm confident she'll like it.

This season I'll only be watching Nisekoi: I just have too many completed anime on my to-watch list.

Posted by: Brett-Butler 27th April 2015, 07:36 PM

I just finished watching Samurai Flamenco , which had been on my Netflix queue for quite a while. It's a show about a superhero-obsessed male model who decides to become a hero himself and fight petty crime. It's starts off as a very novel concept, before taking a massive genre shift halfway through.

These season, I'm watching the following shows -

Is It Wrong To Try and Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? - yep, "the string" pulled me in, but there's more to the show than that. It's in a similar vein to Sword Art Online and Log Horizon, with the exception that this fantastical world is the real world for them.
Rin-Ne - Probably the most anticipated show for many people, given that it's based on a manga by Rumiko Takahashi, the author responsible for such bona-fide anima/manga classics like Ranma 1/2, Urusei Yatsura and Inuyasha. The show centres around a Sakura, a teenager who was accidentally brought to the spirit world as a child and as a result is able to see ghosts. She ends up teaming with a boy called Rin-Ne, who is 1/4 shinigami, to help spirits pass over to the other side. If you've seen any of Rumiko's other shows, it's business as usual, with fun and hijinks abound.
Yamada-kun & The 7 Witches - Yamada is a lovable delinquent who is biding his time before he can leave school. However, one day, he is knocked unconscious after falling down the stairs with Urara, the most intelligent girl in his class. When he wakes up, he discovers that the two of them have switched bodies, and that they will be able to switch every time they share a kiss. Hilarity ensues, as well as valuable lessons about not judging people by how they appear on the surface. Probably my favourite of the shows I've started watching this season
My Love Story! - Takeo is a kind and sensitive boy in his first year at high school who unfortunately due to his tall, muscular appearance and his looks has never had any female attention, unlike his best friend, the handsome Makoto (who throughout school has always been the attention of all the girls that Takeo had his eye on). When Takeo saves a girl from a pervert on the train, he thinks that she is also attracted to Makoto, so Takeo tries to set the two up. But is Makoto really the object of her affections? I must admit, the third episode of this romantic comedy had me in tears, and it's not often that any show evokes such reactions in me.

Posted by: Envoirment 23rd June 2015, 12:38 AM

Been on an anime binge recently and gone through a few series - Claymore, Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic, Blood-C, Akame Ga Kill, From the New World, Parasyte & Puella Magi Madoka Magica. Enjoyed them all, but particularly liked parasyte and would definitely recommend it!

Currently watching a few different series at the moment:

Steins;Gate
Neon Genesis Evangilon
Code Geass
Kill La Kill
Kemono no Souja
Ergo Proxy

Out of those, I'm enjoying Ergo Proxy the most so far. Also over the last year I've managed to watch Hunter X Hunter and catch up with One Piece. Also watched a few movies/OVAs - Princess Mononoke, Grave of The Fireflies & Kara no Kyoukai 1: Fukan Fuukei. Enjoyed the first two, particularly Grave of the Fireflies - incredibly moving. Kara no Kyoukai left me underwhelmed, but plan to watch the rest of the OVAs in the Kara no Kyoukai series. My to watch list is huge at the moment though (have another 10-15 lined up to watch after the ones I've finished watching), so should last me until the end of the year.

Same! I'm trying to plow through a lot of the classics and highly rated anime series at the moment. Enjoying myself for sure, but would love to be able to go through the anime season to discover great anime myself/watch it develop.

Posted by: ♡ Heezus Froot ♡ 23rd June 2015, 04:31 AM

I should be the only person on earth that didn't particularly like Parasyte. It was OK, but it didn't take the direction I wanted it to (which is a massive Humans vs Aliens battle).

Kara no Kyokai you should definitely watch the fifth one, it is undoubtedly the best. The bad ones imo are: 1, 4, 6 & Mirai Fukuin.

Posted by: Envoirment 23rd June 2015, 04:38 PM

I would have loved if it did go into a massive Human vs Aliens battle, but I was quite content with how it ended. Although I would of loved to have seen more battles in the anime.

Thanks, will keep that in mind! The Kara no Kyokai series is a bit of a mind f*** for me

Posted by: Brett-Butler 23rd June 2015, 06:33 PM

There's a few anime series' there that I haven't heard of/haven't watched that I may have to check out (Kara No Kyokai seems to be worth watching). Of the ones I have seen, Parasyte is good, albeit very graphic at times (I disagree that it was disappointing that it didn't end with a humans vs aliens battle, I think the ended was as suitably understated for the purpose of the story), and Madoka Magica is brilliant in how it tears up the rulebook for the "magical girl" genre. Steins;Gate and Kill La Kill are great as well, the latter being one of the most bonkers anime series I've ever watched.

I've watched one more anime that I haven't mentioned yet, and it's one I'd wanted to watch for some time. I've more or less resigned to the fact that given it's 750+ episodes long, I'm never going to get into One Piece. However, the films are somewhat self-contained, so you can watch them without having any knowledge of the show. So as a fan of the director Mamoru Hosoda (Summer Wars, Wolf Children, Girl Who Leapt Through Time), I watched the One Piece film that he directed, "Baron Omatsuri and the Secret Island". It's pretty great, and apparantly it's a lot darker than the other films. It's a great film, and definitely one to watch if you get into OP without going through 100s of episodes first.

Posted by: Brett-Butler 23rd June 2015, 06:36 PM

Also, the new anime cour starts in 2 weeks time, so I'm starting to decide what to watch this series. There's a few returning series that I'm looking forward to, like the 3rd series of Working!!! and the 2nd series of Non Non Biyori, and probably a few other new gems as well. Totes excited.

Posted by: Brett-Butler 29th August 2015, 04:15 PM

If you only watch one anime series this year, make it School Live. I don't want to tell you what it is about as it will ruin the surprise, but watch the first episode on http://www.crunchyroll.com/school-live/episode-1-beginning-682347 (it's a legal site for watching anime, it has ads which support the makers of the programmes), and watch all the way to the end, and be sure not to read anything about the series beforehand. It's incredible.

Posted by: ShIzune 29th August 2015, 05:53 PM

Woah! I've been looking for a new series so I've just given this a go and yeah, I agree with this, it was going slow-ish and then when understanding came, suddenly I'm very interested in seeing how this all plays out. Thanks for the recommendation.

Posted by: Envoirment 29th August 2015, 05:53 PM

Will add it to my list!

This summer has been a huge anime fest for me so far, although the last couple of weeks I've had a break from it. So far I've watched these:

Akame Ga Kill!
Angel Beats!
Another
Blood-C
Claymore
Deadman Wonderland
Druaga No Tou: The Aegis of Uruk
Druaga No Tou: The Sword of Uruk
Dungeon ni Deai wo Motomeru no wa Machigatteiru Darou ka
Highschool of the Dead
Kiseijuu: Sei no Kakuritsu
Log Horizon
Magi: The Kingdom of Magic
Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic
Mahou Shoujo Madoka★Magica
Mirai Nikki
No Game No Life
Saishuu Heiki Kanojo
Shiki
Shinsekai yori
Sword Art Online II
Tokyo Ghoul
Tokyo Ghoul √A
Zetman

My current list of anime to watch is about 10 now. I'm waiting for Gods Eater Burst to finish in October so I can watch it all in one go - my current to-watch anime from this season.

Posted by: Cody Slayberry 29th August 2015, 05:57 PM

I saw a few clips of Another and I really want to watch that because of the Final Destination teas it gave me!

My friend introduced me to this anime called Shokugeki no Souma, which is basically Food Fighters/MasterChef Junior with a plot device. It's so addicting and it makes me hungry every episode.

Posted by: Envoirment 29th August 2015, 06:25 PM

I'd definitely recommend it! The plot is quite interesting and has a few twists and turns and some of the deaths scenes are quite amazing (in a bad way if that makes sense?).

Posted by: Brett-Butler 29th August 2015, 07:22 PM

Some great anime on this list. That moment of WTF-ery in episode 5 of Aegis of Uruk had me in stitches for ages (it was also one of the first anime series I watched in full). Deadman Wonderland is one of the darkest, most disturbing anime I've seen to date, and I see you've embraced "The String" in Dungeon ni.... I've got 7 episodes into Tokyo Ghoul √A, but need to finish it off.

Posted by: Brett-Butler 29th August 2015, 07:49 PM

And apart from School Live!, I'm currently watching the following series this season -
Working!!!/Wagnaria!!! - The third series of the restaraunt-themed show.
Non Non Biyori Repeat - the 2nd series of the rural themed slice-of-life show.
Monster Musume - Takes place in a world where half-monster, half-human girls are discovered to exist. The Japanese government starts an exchange program allowing them to study in Japan with a host family. The male protagonist, Darling, is selected to host a snake-girl, and over time he also ends up hosting a harpy, a centaur, a slime-creature, a mermaid, and an arachnid-girl, all of whom are inexplicably attracted to him. Borderline X-rated hilarity ensues. It's a show that I feel a little bit guilty for watching, but I can't help but watching each week.
Rokka - Braves of The Six Flowers - every 300 years, the Demon God rises up in order to destroy humanity. However, six humans are blessed with powers to fight the Demon God and defeat him. When the current incarnation of braves meet up, they make a horrifying discovery - there are 7 people bearing the mark of the Braves. This means that the group not only have to defeat the Demon God, but have to work out which one of them is a traitor.

Posted by: Envoirment 29th August 2015, 08:11 PM

It was such a WTF moment for me as well. It was a welcome break from all the serious fighting and such though and had me in stitches too. Deadman Wonderland was really good, I really hope a season 2 comes out. If not I have the manga bookmarked for a future read. I don't think it's the most disturbing anime I've seen (I quite enjoy the dark/gorey/disturbing anime if you haven't already seen by my list lol), but it is certainly is the darkest I've seen. Especially the background of the characters and how they came to be. It's more so that I'm a sucker for dungeon/rpg-like anime.



Rokka - Braves of The Six Flowers is on my list. Want to watch it in full though so I'm going to wait until this season finishes. Will add Monster Musume to my list, sounds quite funny.

Posted by: Envoirment 2nd September 2015, 04:06 PM

Just started this and watched the first 2 epsiodes so far and the first episode is most probably my favourite opening episode for any anime I've ever watched. I thought it was really funny/cute and then the dark twist.... I'm totally in awe at how well that was pulled off and just how dark and intriguing the anime is so far. Are all episodes already up on crunchyroll, or are there still a few episodes left to air?

Posted by: Brett-Butler 2nd September 2015, 05:04 PM

I'm glad you enjoyed it! Unfortunately I'd been told what the twist was before I saw the first episode, but it still shocked me when it came. The first 8 episodes are up on Crunchyroll, so there's still 4 episodes left to go of the season, and they'll be released once a week.

Posted by: Iz~ 4th October 2015, 12:51 PM

Crunchyroll has been a bit of a revelation for me. Just finished School Live and Charlotte yesterday, and I ran through Attack On Titan for the first time a week or two back. All three were very enjoyable, even if Charlotte had a few... issues with plot whiplash.

Now my only problem is figuring out what to watch next (I'm actually quite new to anime so I haven't even seen lots of the classics on there but I can't pick one).

Posted by: Brett-Butler 4th October 2015, 03:31 PM

I'm not too sure what you've seen or not, but I had a quick look to see what Crunchyroll has on offer and here are some of the 'classic' series that you might be interested in -

Bodacious Space Pirates - about a high-school girl who discovers that she's the heir to the captain's seat of a space-faring pirate ship. 24 episodes.
Sword Art Online - series about a group of people who find themselves trapped in a massive RPG game, where if they die in the game, they die in real life. 48 episodes, which are a bit hit and miss, but it's been one of the biggest crossover series in the past few years.
Space Brothers - there's been 101 episodes of this, so it might take a while to get through, but you should definitely give it a shot if you can. The story's about 2 brothers who after seeing a UFO as kids, promise to one day become astronauts. 20 years later, the younger brother is on the verge of becoming the first Japanese man on the moon, whilst the older brother is left unemployed from his job as an engineer after headbutting his boss. However, things take a change for the better when he receives a letter from the JAXA, the Japanese space programme.
Love Live! - when I was in Japan, this series was unavoidable, and rightly so. The show is about a girl who is devastated that her High School is due to close due to lack of new applicants. In order to drum up support for the school, she joins up with 8 friends to start a J-Pop group to promote the school, hoping to take part in the annual "Love Live" competition for school idols. If you've been on plug.dj you'll notice I have a habit of squeezing in some of their songs into the playlist, but the show itself is even better.

Posted by: Brett-Butler 4th October 2015, 03:35 PM

Also, as my avatar suggests, Assassination Classroom has been my favourite (non-School Live) anime series of the year, although it's not on Crunchyroll unfortunately. I'm sure there's other ways you can find it though.

Posted by: Lavern Wondertit 4th October 2015, 04:46 PM

Just downloaded Crunchyroll on my PS4 and im OBSESSED.

Posted by: Brett-Butler 4th October 2015, 05:57 PM

Crunchyroll is awesome. I used the free version for years, but got the subscription two years ago. For the extra £5 a month you get to watch in hi-def, no ads, and you get to watch episodes 1 hour after they premiere in Japan (with the standard version you have to wait 7 days). Although the free version is just as good if you're happy with the ads, and if you're binging entire series rather than watching it as it airs it's ideal.

Posted by: Iz~ 4th October 2015, 06:47 PM

Thanks, I haven't seen any of those, so that's a good list. I had wondered about Sword Art Online already because of what seems to be a pretty nice concept, so I might give that one a go. I'll see if I can get round to the others as well at some point - it's very nice having a repository of series that you only need to sit through a few ads to get access to available, excellent for binge watching indeed.

Posted by: ♡ Heezus Froot ♡ 4th October 2015, 07:34 PM

I've lived anime-free since June, I need to get back to it ASAP, especially since I've left a few series unfinished (Kuroko, Tokyo Ghoul, Nisekoi, Noragami).

School Live sounds cool, a plot twist might be just what I need to get myself addicted again!

Posted by: Lavern Wondertit 5th October 2015, 11:21 PM

Not me BAWLING at Say ''I Love You'' tho

Posted by: Envoirment 7th October 2015, 08:52 PM

I'm currently addicted to Assassination Classroom - such a great mix of themes and it works really well! Had a brief hiatus from anime for a month or so but getting back into it and a bunch of series should be finishing in the next few weeks. Once they are I'll most probably binge on a series every weekend (God Eater Burst currently the one I'm looking forward to the most).

Posted by: GageFawkes 9th November 2015, 11:42 AM

I'm going to watch the first series of "The Seven Deadly Sins" as it's now on Netflix, and this will be my first proper anime that I've watched since Dragon Ball/Dragon Ball Z!

Posted by: Brett-Butler 29th December 2015, 03:52 PM

The anime moment of 2015 - the opening credits of "Death Parade". For such a dark anime, the opening theme is just so joyous -

Posted by: Envoirment 31st December 2015, 03:06 AM

It's most probably my favourite anime of 2015.

Posted by: Brett-Butler 9th January 2016, 09:38 PM

Just when I think that I can no longer be shocked or surprised by an anime series, along comes "Sekko Boys", which started this week, which is about a former art student who is asked to manage a brand new pop idol group.

The idol group in question are all statue busts of famous characters.

Seriously, this is the closing song, in which the idols all "sing".

Posted by: ♡ Heezus Froot ♡ 10th January 2016, 09:23 AM

I still haven't watched a lot of anime series lately.

One Punch Man: I'm halfway through this and it's good so far.
Blood-C and its movie: contrary to popular opinion I actually really liked them, particularly the gore and the characters.
Digimon Tri: Pretty good, I'm more looking forward to the next one which is apparently Mimi & Jou -centered and we get new evolutions!
Gurren lagann: I REALLY tried to like this but I dropped it after episode five or six. I might watch the summary films one day, but I really didn't like the characters and style, even though I've watched Kill la Kill and LOVED it.

I've watched a few more films: Asura which was freaking weird, but I loved it, Little Witch Academia 2 which was great, Aura and Magical Sisters Yoyo & Nene which were both meh. According to MAL I've seen 79 anime films which is impressive, I think.

On my Plan to Watch list:
The Dog of Flanders, Psycho-Pass Movie, Angel's Egg, The Tibetan Dog: a few films I've been wanting to watch for some time now.
Noragami Aragoto: I've seen a lot of positive reviews about this and I liked the first season.
Rainbow: I need to give this a go as I've heard it's great.

On my CAN'T F*CKING WAIT list:
Digimon Tri. 2: obviously.
Evangelion 3.0+1.0: I hope it's finally released this year, because we'll have to wait another year to watch it
Kuroko no Basket Movie: New Kuroko is always welcome.
Shingeki no Kyojin 2nd Season: NEED THIS NOW.
Steins;Gate 0: SEE ABOVE.
Yu☆Gi☆Oh!: The Dark Side of Dimensions: New Yugioh film with Yugi and Kaiba. I don't expect to love this, but I'll still watch it for old times' sake.

Posted by: ♡ Heezus Froot ♡ 10th January 2016, 12:57 PM

Oh I just checked MAL and I actually watched a few more films than I said:

Giovanni's Island: Really good war film, you should watch it.
Saint Young Men: Hilarious, I absolutely loved it and in the end it left me wanting more! I hope they make a second film.
Mushishi: The Next Chapter - Drops of Bells: The last Mushishi story ever, it wasn't very good, but I'm still sad it's ended.

Posted by: Iz~ 5th April 2016, 05:56 PM

I've spent much of the first quarter catching up with animes, mostly from the last few years like Parasyte, Fate/Stay Night (UBW), currently working at Cowboy Bebop. Anime education/transformation into otaku continuing to go very well I think.

But I've actually finally gotten around to watching an anime that aired very recently and that would be what seems to be one of the biggest from the winter season, Boke dake ga Inai Machi (ERASED). I'm currently just over halfway through it and it is intense and scary and very very gripping. Would recommend anyone it to anyone is a fan of thrillers in the slightest.

Posted by: Envoirment 13th April 2016, 07:29 PM

Just came to post the same thing! Loving it so far, about at the half way mark.

I've been watching a lot of more recent anime recently, although my catch up/to watch list is quite big and keeps getting bigger(Got around 40-50 different anime on my list).

I'd also reccomend Ajin - it just finished a few days or so ago and there'll be two OVAs this year which I'm hoping will continue the story! Was really good.

The second series of Gate also finished which I'll have to watch - the first series which aired last year was good.

Quite a lot of good anime in this years winter season. A lot of the spring season anime has started and quite a lot of that is on my to watch list. So much anime so little time.

Posted by: Brett-Butler 13th April 2016, 09:18 PM

Oh tell me about it. I'm two episodes into Erased, hopefully will be able to get through the rest of the series as soon as possible.

Some of the other series I've watched recently are -

Dagashi Kashi - a pretty weird one, but can be rather funny. It's a story of a boy whose father runs a small candy shop in a small town when the daughter of a major candy chain comes by to recruit him. He refuses to do so until his son, who has no intention of taking over the shop, agrees to do so. Most of the episodes then focus around her attempts to spur on the same love of candy that she has to him, with hilarious results.

Konosuba - another in that well trodden genre of "people from the real world transported to the gaming world". After dying under embarrassing circumstances, a young man is mercilessly mocked by a goddess, who then offers him a chance to be transported to a game-like fantasy world to defeat the Demon King. He agrees, and as revenge, he pulls her along as well, and the two begin their quest, and realise the fantasy world isn't as cracked up as it's meant to be.

Haikyu! - A sports anime about a high-school volleyball team. There's been 48 episodes so far so it's a lot to get through, but it can be rather funny and uplifting.

One Punch Man - Has been one of the biggest break-out anime hits of the last few months. A satirical series about a man who through sheer willpower alone manages to become a superhero, only to get extremely bored by it after realising he can defeat all his enemies with just one punch. Downright hilarious in places.

Young Black Jack - a prequel to one of the most famous manga series of all time, Black Jack, which counts the early days of a famed surgeon who can perform miraculous surgeries...for a sky-high fee. It got a lot of flack from critics for its perceived conservative bias (the first episode sees striking doctors portrayed as villainous, for example), but it's still a great series. The final episode almost brought me to tears, which outside of Grave of The Fireflies very rarely happens with me and anime.

Snow White With The Red Hair - Shirayuki (which means Snow White in Japanese) escapes from her home town to a new kingdom after a local Lord tries to make her his concubine because of her red hair. In this new kingdom, she saves a local prince from poisoning, and ends up joining the court as a herbalist, whilst growing ever closer to the prince. A diverting little shojo title.

There's a few I'm currently watching in this season, but will update that in a few weeks once it gets fully going. I am continuing to watch the second series of Assassination Classroom (which everyone should watch), and Rin-Ne. Will probably watch the anime adaptation of Ace Attorney as well.

Posted by: Iz~ 24th May 2016, 01:19 PM

Hell at Your Lie In April, I had been enjoying it for the music and was thinking I might like to try my hand at piano again because of it, and then the last episode goes and sends me to tears, perhaps one of the most I can remember from a TV show. Add that to what happened in Game Of Thrones last night and I had a rather emotional evening.

Since I last posted I've gotten more obsessed with the Fate universe and Fate/Zero in particular, that's definitely become one of my favourite animes so far just because of the amount of good historical figures and a feeling that, even though I'd watched UBW before, I still didn't have much idea how it was all going to turn out until very late on, making it very exciting.

And, as my avatar might indicate, Brett, you should be pleased to know I just raced through the first season of Assassination Classroom and LOVED it, almost exactly the right kind of humour, it doesn't miss a beat and so many characters to keep track of (which I tend to count as a good thing). And I kind of love Nagisa, he's in that rare position of being the protagonist as well as my favourite character (well, him and Koro Sensei naturally) so that's endearing me to it. Will be starting the second season shortly.

And yeah, I'm still a year or so behind everything. Nothing this season has yet jumped out at me as being necessary to watch.

Posted by: Brett-Butler 24th May 2016, 08:08 PM

Yay, glad you've enjoyed Assassination Classroom. The 2nd season is almost over in a few weeks time, and is just as good as the first season, if not better, as you get to see the backstories of a lot of the characters, including most importantly of all, Koro-Sensei. It's also going to provide a definitive ending to the series, which is something that many anime series don't do (as they tend to finish whilst the manga that they're adapting still continue). Your Lie In April is in my Netflix queue, but I haven't got around to watching it yet, but I think the ending's already been spoiled for me (through my fault, through my most grievous fault).

In terms of what I'm watching this season, my list is:

Rin-Ne Series 2 - as above, the continuing adventures of a downtrodden shinigami (one who guides souls to the afterlife) and a human girl who can see spirits.

Ace Attorney - An adaptation of the popular Nintendo DS game about a rookie lawyer, Phoenix Wright/Naruhodo. I'm not too sure if it will be as enjoyable if you haven't played the games like I have, as the story might seem a bit basic and the courtroom action might seem a bit weird, but I do enjoy it.

Bakuon - A slice-of-life series about a club formed by several schoolgirl motorcycle enthusiasts and their adventures. A lot of it seems like thinly-veiled advertising for Yamaha, Honda, and other motorcycles, but it's a fun little title, which can be downright hilarious at times.

Flying Witch - perhaps the most laid back anime comedy I've watched in a long time. At age 16, it is custom that witches move away from home for a year in order to develop their skills, so a city-dwelling witch by the Makoto moves to the countryside to live with her cousins. A lot of the humor derrives from just how mundane being a witch actually is, and how matter-of-factly the subject of Makoto being a witch is treated.

Posted by: Brett-Butler 7th August 2016, 01:14 PM

In anime related news, there's a few popular ones that are receiving American, live action adaptations. One of the most beloved anime films of all-time, "Ghost In The Shell", is receiving a remake next year, with Scarlet Johannson playing the lead role. I was never as enamored with GITS than with other classic anime films, but I'm glad to see such a well respected property getting a remake, which hopefully will open the doors to another mainstream appreciation of anime in the West.

Even more surprising is the news that "Sword Art Online", which spawned two series between 2012 & 2014, is receiving a live-action remake in the United States for television. It's still in the planning stages, but the production company that's making it has also made some high-profile series for Netflix, which bodes well for its chances of success.

In recent anime watching news, how wonderful was the finale of Assassination Classroom? Tied all the loose ends up wonderfully, and found the right way to end the series in the best possible way. Despite the finality of the ending, there are plans to make a spin-off of the series in the near future, which will be interesting. Also finally got around to finishing off ERASED. It feels like they tried to fit 24 episodes of material into 12 episodes, making it feel rushed and somewhat unexplained in places, but a really dark and rewarding series.

Posted by: Iz~ 7th August 2016, 01:55 PM

I need to see the original Ghost In The Shell at some point but yes, like you say, more appreciation of anime stories would be amazing. And Sword Art Online as an adaptation could be pretty good if they make the right changes, I've noticed SAO tends to get ragged on by the anime community and it definitely falls into the area of a show that has some flaws but has a great premise that could be potentially made better by an adaptation.

Will also be interesting to see if both of those manage to avoid the trap that many anime-to-live-action adaptations fall into, I've heard horrible things about the live-action version of Attack On Titan.

Completely agree with the finale of Assassination Classroom, in fact the whole second season was an improvement on the first for me, nothing was left unturned and it was a great way to say goodbye to all of the characters. I think my favourite bit in the last few episodes had to be the group chat scene between all of the students as it showed how close they'd all come together but the whole thing was an excellent finish to an excellent series.

Erased, yeah, ending wasn't quite as good as it could have been but still a great series for the dark thriller aspects. In fact I've just recently watched Angel Beats! and while I loved all of the emotions in that that also suffers from the syndrome of should have been 26/24 instead of 13/12.

In what I've been watching recently, the main one, and this is the first time I've been fully hooked on an anime series pretty much as it airs itself out, is Re:Zero - Starting Life In Another World. I started watching it almost immediately after my last post in this thread. It's doing the same thing as Konosuba (also a great show) in that it is a self-aware show exploring the tropes of the game fantasy worlds that shows like SAO have made popular but instead of irreverent comedy it's the dark reality of what happens when a common game mechanic, respawning, is a thing. I'm watching each episode as it becomes free on Crunchyroll and it is so INTENSE.

Also other things I've watched or am watching recently:
ReLife - all the Re's this season, this one so far is a slice-of-life (haven't watched many of those recently so it's a nice quiet change) about a 27-year old man who gets an experimental drug making him look like a teenager again and puts him back in high school. Quite pleasant so far although I'm not ruling out a sudden genre shift.

Shokugeki No Soma - (hi Cody if you're reading this) I'm not making much progress with this not because it's not good but because I know each episode will make me desperately hungry. It's hilariously over-the-top in its shonen ways of making cooking sound like the most exciting sport in the world and it's kind of inspiring me to become better at cooking myself.

Bakemonogatari - I kept seeing the Monogatari name thrown around so I started this... not what I was expecting, it's really artsy for anime and full of long conversations that do admittedly keep my interest.

Konosuba - Hilarious. Really good comedy and riffing on the fantasy tropes as I said above throughout.

Angel Beats! - I cried. A lot. Very accessible anime as well with all sorts of action, comedy and plenty of good characters.

Oh, and with all the recent Pokemon Go hype I've started casually watching Pokemon through after only seeing bits and pieces as a kid It's fun.

Posted by: 🍑💦🍌 7th August 2016, 02:41 PM

omg i spent the entire day yesterday watching season 1 of Pokémon myself. SO GOOD.

Posted by: ♡ Heezus Froot ♡ 15th August 2016, 07:41 PM

After a long anime break I've watched a couple this week: Boku Dake ga Inai Michi (Erased) and the films Kurage no Shokudou (Jellyfish Diner), Wasurenagumo (Li'l Spider Girl) and Fuse: Teppou Musume no Torimonochou (Fuse: Memoirs of a Huntress). I only really loved Erased.

Posted by: Brett-Butler 15th August 2016, 10:05 PM

To update from last week, in terms of what I'm watching, what I've recently finished watching -

RE:Life - This is an interesting one, given that although it's being shown weekly in Japan, the entire series was dumped onto Crunchyroll in July, so I marathoned it in 3 days. Really enjoyed it, full of humour, pathos, and it felt really special to me, given that I'm about the same age as the protagonist. And the plot twist in the final episode really took me by surprise, I really didn't see it coming.

Little Witch Academia - these are two short films that were put on Netflix after the studio behind them (who were also responsible for Kill La Kill & Space Patrol Luluco) got them funded through fan-funding. The shorts centre around a group of witches who study in a modern-day school for witchcraft, and the hijinks they get up to. In the first short, they accidentally release a dragon during a training exercise, and in the second they are made to organize a parade for the city about the history of witches, which then turns into a major incident. They're adapting it into a full series soon, and I imagine it'll become a real favourite when that happens.

Love Live! Sunshine - This is a sequel/spin-off to the original Love Live! series, which centres on a different group of girls. A girl called Chika, from a rural town in Japan, is a fan of µ's, the girl group founded in the original series, and is inspired by them to start her own group called Aqours in the hope that they can eventually take part in and win the annual Love Live competition for best school idol group in Japan. Whether you like this or not really depends on whether you enjoyed the original Love Live! series (like I did), although I doubt you'll warm to these characters as much as I did to Honoka, Umi, Nico et al.

Sweetness & Lightning - The series most likely to have you saying "aww" this cour. Kohei is a teacher who is looking after is young daughter alone after his wife passes away. Finding himself unable to cook satisfying meals for his daughter, he strikes up a friendship with a student whose mother owns a restaurant, as she teaches him how to cook for his daughter. A really sweet slice of life.

New Game - A workplace comedy about a group of young women who work for a games company, and the various hijinks they get up to.

The Morose Mononokean - a supernatural comedy about a shinigami who guides yokai back to the underworld, and the high school student who inadvertently gets wrapped up in his world after becoming accidentally possessed. It's not as good as I had hoped when I first watched it, and I'm more watching it out duty at this point, but it's mildly diverting if you like that sort of show.

And I've started to go back and watch old episodes of Pokemon for nostalgic purposes.

Posted by: Envoirment 6th September 2016, 06:31 PM

Just finished watching the first season of Boku No Hero Academia - it was so good! Reminds me a lot of Hunter x Hunter and cannot wait for the second season. It has huge potential.

Posted by: Brett-Butler 6th September 2016, 07:24 PM

Well, Sweetness & Lightning has provided the cutest moment in anime this year. Anyone who doesn't think that https://twitter.com/Crunchyroll/status/765406609728081920 is just wrong.

Posted by: Envoirment 10th September 2016, 11:39 PM

Finished Assassination Classroom season 2. It was even better than the first season

Posted by: ♡ Heezus Froot ♡ 17th September 2016, 02:02 PM

I've just finished Shigatsu wa kimi no uso (Your Lie in April). What a beautiful anime. So well drawn, so poetic and lyrical, it exceeded all my expectations. 10/10.

I'm also slowly watching Monster. I'm at episode 12 (out of 74) after over a month and it's still not making me want to binge it, but it's good.

Up next on my list is probably the Monogatari series (watched the first few seconds and it's a shot of a girl's knickers wtf) as well as the new Digimon film that's coming out next week (I'm hoping this one is amazing. The previous two only had a few good moments).

Posted by: Iz~ 17th September 2016, 03:24 PM

YES at Shigatsu, so beautiful and classy. It should also be shown to anyone with a slight interest in classical music - if they're okay with little bits of anime comedy. It made me really interested in picking out the subtle beauty of classical music - in the same way, Shokugeki is currently making me more interested in the art of cooking.

Haha, I just recently finished Bakemonogatari. It's... weird and very self-referential and there are quite a few 'erm' moments in that sort of department but because it's an anime where mostly what they do is talk against abstract backgrounds for 20 minutes the characters are some of the best realised (if each of a certain cliche) in anime that I've come across.

Posted by: Jacob Alan 18th September 2016, 05:46 PM

Haha I've just started watching "Erased" and really like it, I'm not super into anime, at least not yet.

I've watched parts of "Fairytail" which was sort of ok but only worth it for the cute cats and most of "Parasyte" which was great.

Posted by: Jacob Alan 18th September 2016, 05:49 PM

OH yeah and anime movies: I've watched the obvious ones- Spirited Away and Grave Of The Fireflies ( ).

Posted by: Brett-Butler 18th September 2016, 06:00 PM

Erased is a fantastic series, very dark in places but rather brilliant, and Parasyte is absolutely brutal. Spirited Away was the film that first got me into anime, so it'll always have a special place in my heart, even if I wouldn't call it my favourite anime film now, and Grave of The Fireflies is absolutely made of tears.

There's plenty of great anime recommendations in this thread if you were interested in delving deeper into anime, and if you're looking for something in a particular genre I'm sure between all of the regular contributors in this thread we can find something we think you'll like.

Posted by: Iz~ 18th September 2016, 09:41 PM

I'm fairly sure Jacob will like Your Lie In April because of the musical themes, that's the one I've told him to go for next at least. I recommended him Erased to start with.

(I would say I'm responsible for pushing him in this direction but he found 3/4 of the other series he mentioned on his own )

Posted by: Brett-Butler 20th September 2016, 06:57 PM

Really exciting news about anime for those of us that love to see it gaining mainstream recognition. Makoto Shinkai has been one of the highest regarded directors of anime both in Japan and further afield, through films such as Voices From a Distant Star (notable for the fact that he animated the entire thing single handed, and it still looks ruddy impressive), 5 Centimeters Per Second, and Children Who Chase Lost Voices. A few weeks ago, he released his latest feature film, "Your Name", which is about a country girl and a city boy who switch places in their dreams. I'd say that it's gone down well in Japan, but that would be an understatement.

It has already grossed $90 million in Japan alone, making it the highest grossing anime in Japan that wasn't produced by Studio Ghibli. It's selling just as many tickets in its 4th week in the cinemas as it did in its 1st week, and looks like by the end of the run it could find itself as one of the highest grossing films EVER in Japan, which is beyond phenomenal.

Even more exciting is that the film is getting a release in the UK. Even more exciting still is that that release date is pretty soon, as it is due to premier in the UK on Thursday November 24th. And just in case it couldn't get any more exciting, it's getting a pretty wide release on that day,http://yournamethemovie.co.uk/#latitude=51.5&longitude=-0.13&zoom=11. It only appears to be scheduled for one day, but I have a strong feeling that it will end up being extended based on its current hype. I honestly think this'll be the biggest anime film in the west since Spirited Away in 2003, and I also think it could stand a chance at being nominated for the Best Animated Film at the Academy Awards next year. It's going to be big.

Posted by: Jacob Alan 23rd September 2016, 01:16 AM

I've just finished watching "Erased"... I have no words, the animation was beautiful, the story was engaging and the soundtracks were brilliant. That series made me so emotional, it was so perfect.

Posted by: Iz~ 24th September 2016, 02:42 AM

Just read a bit more about this, that does sound pretty phenomenal that it's doing so well, it sounds completely unprecedented, I've sort of heard of a couple of his works but I've never seen any. Will be very interesting to see how it does in the west, I always enjoy anime becoming more popular.

Speaking of that, I just finished what's probably been the most popular anime over the last two cours and definitely my favourite of the shows I've seen that started airing in 2016, Re:Zero. I'm not sure what to say, it turned out to be a very risky anime given what seemed like a fairly run-of-the-mill premise, the way it treated its characters at points during the show (in particular to make some of the strongest points against entitled behaviour I've ever seen in a show) but that just makes the characters much stronger, and there were a couple of brilliant episodes that I shall have to rewatch at some point. And what's most satisfying is: although the story is definitely not done and it looks like it could easily go the same way as Attack On Titan in that a second season might be hard to materialise, they gave us enough to be going on with with the ending, I loved it and while I definitely want more, I would be okay if they stopped right here too.

Posted by: ♡ Heezus Froot ♡ 27th September 2016, 12:09 AM

Today was Anime Film Day for me apparently, I ended up watching the 3rd Digimon Tri. film (a great improvement on the previous two and very emotional, I kept tearing up. Next one's in February and I can't wait!), Kimi no na wa that's been mentioned above, a must watch, it was brilliant and has astonishingly knocked FMAB off the top on MyAnimeList with a current score of 9.39. I also watched Kokoro ga sakebitagatterunda, not as good but I enjoyed it. I just noticed on MAL that I've now seen 91 anime movies, not counting a few that are listed under OVAs or Specials. Only a few more to get to 100 .

Re:Zero is on my to-watch list, along with Seven Deadly Sins that was just announced to be getting another season soon. I think I'll save Bakemonogatari for later.

Posted by: Brett-Butler 27th September 2016, 04:55 PM

How did you manage to get to see Kimi no na wa (Your Name)? Did you find it online, or have they released it earlier where you live? I'm going to be patient and wait until it's out in the cinema here (which isn't too much longer by the look of it!).

It's success in Japan has been picked up elsewhere - The BBC did a http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-37469662, which makes me think they'll give it a wider release on these shores, although they'll have to hurry up with a dubbed version.

Posted by: ♡ Heezus Froot ♡ 27th September 2016, 05:38 PM

There's a screener rip out there, it's been up on Kissanime for a while now and I only noticed yesterday. It's in decent quality, though not in full HD. I think that even if you end up watching it now, you'll still want to see it in the cinema. I already want to re-watch it.

Posted by: ♡ Heezus Froot ♡ 1st October 2016, 11:10 AM

Watched 3 episodes of Bakemonogatari the other night. One of the worst anime I have ever seen. Can even get myself to give it another go. I can't believe it ranks so high on various anime sites.

Posted by: Iz~ 1st October 2016, 12:14 PM

Aww. It took me a few episodes to 'get it', I basically enjoyed each episode more and more as I got to know the characters more, but I don't think it is for everyone. The minimal art style and the lack of much happening except for talking did make the episodes a bit harder to get through before I began caring about the characters - and I do now, Senjougahara and Hanekawa especially are very enjoyable. I should continue the series with Nise- when I feel more like it.

I don't know how valid it is as a comparison but I kind of think of it as similar to the position that Sigur Rós or Aphex Twin or Bjork have in music, experimental/artsy, do things differently, get hailed for doing something different but very easy to find off-putting or boring if you're not into that sort of stuff.

Posted by: Brett-Butler 13th November 2016, 03:14 PM

We're halfway into the current anime season, so here's what I've been watching during this cour -

WWW.Wagnaria!! - this is a spin-off/spiritual successor to the original Working!!!/Wagnaria!!! series, which is set in a different restaurant, focusing on the antics of a completely different set of eccentrics and oddballs working there. It's got a slightly different tone to the original series, but it is just as fun.

Magical Girls Raising Project - Koyuki is an avid playing the online game Magical Girls Raising Project, where you are able to take control of a magical girl. One day, she is offered the opportunity to become a real life magical girl by the avatar representing the game, and becomes Snow White, and helps to make her town a better place, under the wing of another magical girl, La Pucelle. However, they later learn that there are too many magical girls in their town, and their number must be reduced by half. You can probably guess where this is going.

So far, this is a decent take on the recent "magical girls gone dark" genre, and there's some genuinely surprising twists within in, such as the reveal of the real-life identity of La Pucelle in the 1st episode.

Poco's Udon World - having worked in Tokyo for 10 years, Souta returns to his home in Kagawa after the death of his father, who owned a famous udon restaurant there. He discovers a small boy there, who he soon learns is a shape-shifting tanuki. He decides to look after the "boy", whilst deciding whether to return to Tokyo, or stay in Kagawa to reopen the restaurant. It's similar in tone to last season's Sweetness & Lightning with a slightly supernatural bent, and it's wistfulness makes a rather nice change of pace in an anime series.

Haikyu! Season 3 - the 3rd season of the volleyball anime. It seems as if the entire 12 episode series is going to focus around just 1 match, meaning the series is going to be longer than most actual volleyball matches.

Posted by: Brett-Butler 13th November 2016, 03:15 PM

In addition, one of the classic anime series, Cowboy Bebop, has just been added to Netflix in the UK, so I am working through that for the 1st time. If the opening episode is anything to go by, it's going to be an uneasy, yet enjoyable, watch.

Posted by: Iz~ 13th November 2016, 05:47 PM

I liked Cowboy Bebop but I didn't love it. I think it was the episodic nature, the influences, that noir feel on some episodes for example, and characters are all very accomplished and certain episodes really stood out to me but the story as a whole didn't grab me because I didn't have any urgency to go to the next episode so it took me quite a while.

I haven't started watching anything from this cour as nothing stands out like I need to watch it this minute rather than at the end, I am eyeing up a couple of series (Izetta: The Last Witch, because it apparently involves alternate history, and March Comes In Like A Lion because it involves a chess player) for marathoning maybe at the end.

What I've been watching lately, I've been going through Death Note (slowly, with someone else or I'm sure I'd have finished it by now), have recently seen Psycho Pass and loved it, and on the lighter side of things have just started and gotten into Toradora! which seems to be a pleasant return to the slice-of-life things that I started out watching anime with.

Posted by: Brett-Butler 28th November 2016, 10:38 PM

Just back from seeing "Your Name" at a screening in Islington. All I can say is - wow, I was absolutely blown away. A really beautiful, magical, poignant film, with quite a few laughs as well. I'm calling it as my film of the year. If you get the chance to see it in the cinema, please do, I believe it's showing in quite a few across the UK this week.

Posted by: Brett-Butler 18th February 2017, 11:18 PM

Well, we're halfway through the current anime season, so time to fill you in on what I've been watching so far this season -

Konosuba Season 2 - I know I'm not the only one watching this (Iz passim), the continuing adventures of 4 individuals in an alternate fantasy dimension whose goal is to defeat the Demon King, but end up spending more time fighting against each other. The individual characters have become more fleshed out by now, and there's several running gags that still get me going every single time - who'd though being swallowed continuously by a toad would be so hilarious?

Interviews With Monster Girls - my favourite series of this cour so far, and another entry in the burgeoning sub-genre of monster girls, although in this version the subject is treated in a more blasé fashion. A science teacher who has studied demi-humans for many years is excited to learn that several of his students (and a fellow teacher) are "demis", humans with traits in common with mythical characters. He gets to know a vampire girl, a dullahan (whose head and body are separate from each other) and a snow-girl, as well as a fellow teacher who is a succubus, as he learns more about demis. A really great show.

ACCA: 13 Territory Inspection Department - Now I never thought I'd come across an anime series about an auditor, but ACCA is just that. The show takes place in a kingdom which contains 13 semi-autonomous states which are overseen by ACCA. The show focuses on Jean, an inspector who regularly visits each state to ensure that nothing untoward is going on. Whilst all this is going on, in the background an attempted coup against the government, as well the possibility of the current elderly king being disposed, rears its head. An interesting show, which one feels is heading towards a cataclysmic finale.

The Saga of Tanya The Evil - Now I'm not normally drawn to shows about war, but the premise of Tanya the Evil was enough to drag me in, and so far I've been impressed. A salaryman whose driven by following the rules in modern day Japan dies & is reincarnated as a girl in a country resembling Germany in the 1920s had World War 1 never happened and some individuals are blessed with magic powers. Having been discovered to have such powers, Tanya rises to lead a magic battalion despite only being 11 years old, as she ruthlessly drives towards more power. It's surprisingly funny in parts, as well as tackling very existential themes. An unexpected delight.

I also watched Mob Psycho 100 & Re:Zero over Christmas. The former was decent (although whether you like it or not would depend on whether One Punch Man was your thing), and Re:Zero was brilliant, albeit one that got very difficult to watch as it got darker and darker - probably a bad idea to marathon that series.

Posted by: Iz~ 19th February 2017, 01:07 AM

Konosuba S2 is definitely the highlight of the season so far *.* Although that's by default as as usual I've been quite conservative in what I've been picking up as far as the new seasons go and it's the only 'new' show I'm watching right now - I prefer to wait till the end unless there's something I'm desperate to see. And Konosuba certainly qualifies for that, I can't get enough of all four of the main characters and if anything it's just getting funnier with a whole host of running gags - my favourite is the simple one that I've put in my member title, the way Kazuma says that line is always so deadpan I crack.

I'll probably pick up a couple of things once the cour finishes, Interviews With Monster Girls is something I've been hearing good things about and Gabriel Dropout is intriguing me even if it probably is just another cute girl show.

On what I've been watching lately, the first of the ones I picked up from the fall cour was Izetta: The Last Witch, which as a WW2 anime with magical powers and witches, ended up being okay and had a few really nice moments and a good title character but wasn't the most amazing. I did get however get a load of alternate history imaginings from it as alternate history always has something interesting about it.

The second one... which I'm watching through now and can scarcely believe I'm enjoying it as much as I am, is Keijo!!!!! (exclamation marks both part of the title and my feelings about liking it) As its premise is a sport where girls fight with their boobs and ass to knock each other off a floating platform, I thought it'd be so filled with dumb fanservice I'd watch the first episode and have to put it down but I got sucked in. Like, because it knows exactly what it is and makes no pretensions about it - and there's not that much fanservice all told, certainly in comparison to some others, it's a really fun ride and a good deconstruction of sports/battle anime because it's just completely ridiculous and over-the-top. And the characters and music are both memorable and likeable so it has that going for it.

On catalogue stuff I've been filling in on (taking up most of my anime watching time), I raced through No Game No Life and loved every minute of it because of the whole psychoanalyzing over strategy games that it indulged in - plus again, a load of really great characters that I wanted to spend more time with - I hear there's a movie soon which is something.

I started making inroads into Gintama to have some regular anime comedy and I'm just going to work away at that whenever I feel like it - for what is basically the anime Futurama it has the potential to be incredibly funny from what I've watched so far. I've also started the next Monogatari, Nise-. And finally, I've taken the plunge and started an anime I felt like I knew I'd love and wanted to save it for quite a while, Steins;Gate. Slightly slow going so far, I've only watched a few episodes, of all things, Keijo is distracting me, but it's very interesting and clever and I feel I'm about to really get into it, it reminds me of things like Fringe.

Great to hear you enjoyed Re:Zero, I still have great memories of rushing through that. It's way too soon to rewatch but I am missing the intensity it had. I've heard good things about both Mob Psycho 100 and One Punch Man but never watched either (even though the latter seems to be a modern classic already), something for the future.

Posted by: Iz~ 24th February 2017, 03:34 PM

I undersold Steins;Gate in my last post so let me just rectify that, I'm halfway through and I'm getting so sold on everything - what an incredible anime.

Posted by: Brett-Butler 24th February 2017, 04:11 PM

I absolutely loved Steins;Gate , and if you're only halfway through it, then you're in for a treat, as it's only going to get better from that point. I'll need to rewatch it again at some point - I first watched it when it was released so there's things about it I've most likely forgotten.

Posted by: Envoirment 24th February 2017, 04:28 PM

Just getting back into anime after giving it a break for a few months. I did manage to watch Yuri On Ice in full at the end of last year though and loved it!

I really need to sit down and watch Steins;Gate properly one day. I've dropped it twice; the first time I got to episode 3 and second time to episode 5. I just wasn't feeling it and felt it too much of an effort to watch.

I think I'm going to start by watching Ajin season 2. Loved the first season so can't wait to see how the story continues in season 2.

Occult;Nine seems quite good too.

Plus I have so many older anime series on my list to watch still. One day I will get through them all!

Posted by: Iz~ 24th February 2017, 04:46 PM

I was having that feeling with Steins;Gate, slow start, only kind of feeling it, and then around episode 7 everything started kicking up a notch and I watched 3 episodes straight through no stopping last night - which I haven't done with any TV series for quite a while. Definitely a series that gets better as it goes along.

I know the feeling, I still have tons of old and new series to watch, it seems like there's so much (and I'm sort of trying to have at least some non-anime shows in my TV-watching life as well) - which is good, means I probably won't run out of good things to watch any time soon.

Posted by: Cody Slayberry 25th February 2017, 03:54 AM

I have just started Tales Of Zestiria and for only the second time I may have found a perfect English dub

Posted by: Liаm 28th March 2017, 02:24 PM

I've just started Death Note and omfg I'm SO gripped.

Posted by: Iz~ 28th March 2017, 07:17 PM

Yes! I only completed it for the first time myself a couple of months ago and I was hooked on finding out what happened right to the end. <3

I've been hearing things about a new Netflix film which could be a fun adaptation to see what they do with it.

Posted by: Liаm 28th March 2017, 08:03 PM

There's a bit of fuss over the Netflix adaptation as they've "whitewashed", but I don't see the problem as it's I think going to sort of frame the same story as a dark teen film set in a place more relatable to Western audiences, which I don't have a problem with. If it gets some viewers back to the anime that way it'd be great

Posted by: Iz~ 28th March 2017, 09:00 PM

I got a bit funny about Ghost In The Shell (even though I haven't seen the original and I'm determined to find the time somewhere now so I can be more informed about my gut feelings here) on that topic but that's more because I get the impression that this new one is not being too faithful to the source material's intentions in favour of an action movie and the whitewashing is just the icing on the cake.

But like Death Note's hardly Japanese-locked as far as the story goes, the story can pretty much be reproduced in any country and they've already DONE a ton of Japanese live-action adaptations of Death Note. So yeah, no whitewashing concerns from me either. And the anime's been so popular I don't even have any concerns about it being overshadowed, it's more likely, as you say, to just draw more people back to it.

Posted by: Brett-Butler 28th March 2017, 10:34 PM

Death Note is a series that I've never actually seen, even though it's seen as a classic and crossed over to Western audiences more than other anime series. I guess I never got my head around the basic premise (ie a journal that kills anyone whose name you write in it), and how that could make an interesting series. It is on Netflix as you say, so I might try a few episodes at some point just to see if I was wrong in my preconceptions.

Also, I've started watching Gabriel Dropout after Iz mentioned it, 2 episodes in and it's gag to minute ratio is one of the highest I've come across in an anime series. Wonderful stuff.

Posted by: Envoirment 29th March 2017, 03:33 AM

It's quite psychological and hooks you in. Definitely give it a go.

I had an anime binge recently:

The following 3 have the same sort of vibe/premise - highschool misfits (all female) who grow to be able to function in life.

ReLife, my favourite of the 3 - about an unemployed 27 year old re-living highschool to help him become a functional member of society. He notices a girl who doesn't talk or socialise much and their relationship blossoms throughout as she becomes more socialble. It has an interesting but lovely twist (if you can call it a twist).

Kimi ni Todoke (seasons 1 & 2)- about a girl who looks like the girl from the ring. Rumours are spread about her, no one talks to her and she keeps herself to herself - until the most popular guy in school takes an interest in her. The series got me hooked right away and it's quite humerous at times (as well as romantic/heartwarming). It gets bit frustrating halfway through though (at least for me). The first few episodes of the anime are one of my favourite opening episodes to an anime, perhaps because I can relate so much to it.

Sukitte Ii na yo - a girl gets "betrayed" by her friends when she was young and decides she doesn't need them anymore. Until a popular student takes an interest in her and makes her open up again. It's a nice anime, but nothing special.

Sakamichi no Apollon/Kids On the Slope - a deliquent and nerd from two completely different backgrounds are able to create a lasting bond through music. The anime is beautiful. I loved it.

Gravitation - a Shounen-Ai (gay romance without explicit sexual content) about an upcoming band. The lead singer falls in love with a writer who has a dark past. It's kinda cute/silly with a serious undertone at times. Nothing special, but not bad.

Bungou Stray Dogs (seasons 1 & 2) - an anime about people with supernatural powers. It focuses on an orphan who ends up joining a detective agency and the journey he and his friends go through in fighting a mafia organisation and an organisation called The Guild. The first season is ok, but the second season is a lot better. So stick with it if you're having second thoughts on the first season.

Posted by: Brétt-Butler 2nd April 2017, 08:43 PM

Yeah, the last few minutes of that episode really disturbed me in a way I haven't felt in a long time. I was worried that the delay between the two series of 4 years (during which AoT became an undeniable global sensation) would blunt the impact of the series, but no, it was even more impactful. And it looks like we'll be finding out the answer to quite a few of the mysteries that were seeded in the first series too.

Posted by: Iz~ 17th June 2017, 06:33 PM

Attack On Titan S2 finishes, immediately Attack On Titan S3 is announced for next year. That's what I like to see

Epic ending as well, it's been a season that's really fleshed out a lot of the side characters and it has come out of it with a much stronger cast, it's no longer a show that's just about the shock and mystery factor, it's using its concept base to tell some great stories.

Else wise for airing shows, KADO: The Right Answer is providing me with some very intriguing politics/hard sci-fi, and I started Eromanga-sensei (been getting quite a lot of comment because of the plot that is well, I won't say it here but it's questionable in the 'how did this ever get made' category) just to see what the fuss was about only to discover it was, yes, terrible, but also quite audacious. Won't continue though as I don't want to see where I think it's going. And it's terrible.

Catalogue wise, I've picked up Mirai Nikki as I saw it was popular and I'm enjoying it enough for it to be in my sig so that's good; like a more violent but less mature cross between Death Note and Fate/Zero. And I just started Spice & Wolf because a show about medieval economics complete with a cute wolf-girl was only going to hold me off for so long.

Posted by: Brett-Butler 17th June 2017, 08:00 PM

I really enjoyed Attack on Titan Season 2 as well. I was a bit wary given that it has been 4 years since the first season, and its hype may have died down a bit, but that was a fantastic series. It started to to some more world building, as we learned a lot more about the world beyond the gates & the Titans, a few surprising twists, and a pretty big cliffhanger to whet our appetite for season 3 (waiting a year is going to be hard, although they must be trying to make sure the series doesn't catch up with the manga). There's still a few big mysteries that still haven't been revealed in the anime, such as what is in the basement , but I'm sure we should find those out next year.

This anime season is the one where I have watched the least series since Winter 2010, partly because there wasn't many that I wanted to watch, and partly because Amazon have bought the rights to lots of them for their streaming service, and there's no ruddy way that I'm paying an extra subscription fee for that. The only two I have watched week on week are AoT and season 2 of The Eccentric Family, which I do recommend watching from season 1 if you can. It does take a few episodes to get into the swing of it as there's a lot of world building before we reach the main plot, and the first episode is not an easy opening episode to watch if you're not clued up on it beforehand, but definitely worth watching.

Apart from that, I've been watching a few other things that I've meant to watch but hadn't, so have been marathoning both seasons of Kinmoza!, and decided to try out the unlikely breakout hit of January 2017, Kemono Friends (which I think I am just outside the target audience for).

On the film front, I "accidentally" bought quite a few anime films in December, so I've been trying to watch them whenever I've got time. Watched Princess Kaguya, which is absolutely beautifully animated, as you would expect from a Studio Ghibli film. I also watched A Letter To Momo, which is a lovely film about a girl who is learning to get over the death of her father with the help of three pesky spirits.

Posted by: Iz~ 17th June 2017, 08:17 PM

Oh yes I bought a good few anime films recently, some of the most mainstream ones but I had basically no anime DVDs before so it seemed worth it to start with Akira, Ghost In The Shell, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time and 5 Centimetres Per Second, to get them out of the way. And a pre-order of Your Name so I can finally see it without resorting to nefarious methods in October or something.

Finally watched the first of those, 5 Centimetres, yesterday, pretty short and simple film, more of an artistic piece than a story really, but very beautifully designed and set out, I'm having the cover as my phone lock screen for the foreseeable.

I thought it was a weak season at first hence why I have only picked up a couple of shows (and only after it being late in the season enough for me to get good recommendations) but if it were stronger I think I'd have gone past my record of currently airing shows, which is probably about 3, I'm starting to not be so nervous about picking stuff up - and dropping them if they are bad.

Posted by: Brett-Butler 17th June 2017, 08:32 PM

That's a pretty solid start for feature films, ticks off most of the major non-Ghibli anime directors (Otomo, Oshii, Shinkai, Hosoda) in one fell swoop, and most of the standard hits. The only director that stands out as missing there would be Satoshi Kon, so I would recommend getting one of his as well for your collection. Paprika is his most accessible and fun, whilst Perfect Blue is quite possibly his masterpiece (although it does have one scene which is very difficult to watch, I actually had to look away during that scene because it was so uncomfortable).

Posted by: Iz~ 17th June 2017, 08:55 PM

I have heard of Paprika here and there so I'll definitely add that one to my list when I next do another round.

Posted by: Math ☂ 23rd June 2017, 10:00 PM

I'm just gonna bump this real quick and ask if anybody else has seen Your Lie In April? I've tried to watch anime before but I've never been so obsessed with any show. The plot is amazing (it's about a piano prodigy starting to play again after his mom died but it's so much more than and the characters are SOOO good. I highly recommend it if you haven't seen it very highly rated on MyAnimeList as well so I'm not alone in loving it I guess!

Posted by: Brett-Butler 23rd June 2017, 10:10 PM

It's been on my Netflix queue for the past few months, but I haven't got around to watching it yet. I have heard it is rather good, although I think the ending has already been spoiled for me.

Posted by: Iz~ 23rd June 2017, 10:28 PM

YES! I watched it last year and I know Jacob's still making his way through it.

If you discount sequels and movies (19th at the moment) it's actually 6th on MAL's all-time which is really quite incredible.

It's not an anime I raced through and while it is a big ride of emotion and a very well told story (in the drive everyone has to be their best) I didn't find the characters stuck with me as much as I hoped they would but it's definitely stuck with me in one way, it changed the way I appreciate instrumental performances, I hear things from the show and I'm spellbound in the amount of ways one can describe a musical piece.

Posted by: Brett-Butler 7th July 2017, 09:05 PM

So, I marathoned the first series of Little Witch Academia which was added to Netflix last week. All I can say is - what a show. It follows the same setting as the 2 short films already on Netflix, although there's a lot more things fleshed out in the characters and the setting compared to those shorts. It revolves around Akko, who decides to become a witch after being inspired by Shiny Chariot as a kid, and becomes the first pupil with a non-witch background to attend Luva Nova Magic Academy. Akko has also instantly become one of my favourite comedic anime characters, with her plucky determination in spite of being absolutely terrible at everything she tries to do remains hilarious every single time, whilst Sucy, the mushroom obsessed borderline-sadist and brutally honest "friend" of Akko, is well on her way to iconic anime status as well. Can't wait for the 2nd series to be added to Netflix, which hopefully won't be too long now.

Posted by: Iz~ 7th July 2017, 09:14 PM

I watched the first episode of that the other day. Looks very good (I see why it gets the Harry Potter of anime comparisons although I'm sure it'll be different later on) and I will be continuing through it, Akko is already adorable. I'll be on a bit of a Studio Trigger run when I continue as I'm also watching through Kill La Kill for the first time which is quite... jawdropping.

And as I'm a bit of a Fate fan (read: horrendously obsessed with Fate) I'm eagerly watching and awaiting the new Fate/Apocrypha anime which after the first episode looks like it holds a ton of potential.

Posted by: Envoirment 13th July 2017, 02:55 AM

Little Witch Academia looks quite good, I've got it on my to-watch list.

I was going to wait until Boku No Hero Academia season 2 ended to binge watch it but I couldn't wait (It's a 25 episode season). The second season is so good!

I recently binged watched Attack on Titan season 2 and it was good. It followed the manga very well and actually finished where I left off in the manga a good few months or so ago. Season 3 coming out in 2018, can't wait for that!

Posted by: Iz~ 13th July 2017, 08:23 AM

I wasn't sure I'd like Boku No Hero Academia and indeed I wasn't so enthused by the first 7 episodes, thinking it a bit seen it all before, but then something clicked in me (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHakl2bMQYI&ab_channel=HDSenpai) and I raced through to the end of season 1, loving it and I'm going to start the second season soon, for more pure fun and hero team working. I didn't even grow up with these sorts of shonen how is it so compelling?

I finally got Jacob to start watching AoT last night Useful for me as I hadn't seen the first season since first watching it and I'm paying close attention to all the foreshadowing I can now.

Posted by: Brett-Butler 13th July 2017, 11:28 AM

I started marathoning My Hero Academia last week in my in-between-cour thirst for anime. I'd avoided to for quite a while because it seemed a bit too immature for my tastes, but I'm glad I've taken the plunge because so far it's been fantastic. It's an interesting "what if" show about how the world would be if the majority of people had superpowers, and what it would be like to be someone born without them. Plus I'm amazed just how many original characters they can fit in without duplication. Reminds me a little of the wonderful Tiger & Bunny, which also imagined a world where superheroes are seen as celebrities with agencies, although MHA seems a lot more youth-orientated, and not as dark as that series. Nearly up to date with it, so in a few days I imagine I'll be back to TV speed.

I've got a few more series' on my watch list this cour than last season, so will update my thoughts on those in a few weeks once I've solidified my choices.

Posted by: lewistgreen 13th July 2017, 03:41 PM

MangaUK have confirmed that the second part of Digimon Adventure Tri will be released in the UK on November 6th. I've just bought the first part and I'm so impressed with the English dub.

Posted by: Brett-Butler 1st August 2017, 09:06 PM

About halfway into the current anime season, and apart from my aforementioned catching-up to airtime of My Hero Academia, I've been watching the following series -

New Game!! Season 2 - the second season of the show set in the offices of a video games company. It continues the slice-of-life format from the first season, although there's some genuine drama beginning to be thrown in, with the ex-rookie Aoba becoming a character designer & coming into conflict with her mentor and heroine, Ko.

Fastest Fingers First - of course I'm going to love an anime series set around quizzes. The show is about a meek high-schooler, who is cajoled by a girl in his class who discovers his talent for retaining information into joining their school's quizzing team, in the hopes of winning the inter-school Quiz Bowl.

Restaurant to Another World - this is a quasi-anthology story about a restaurant that only opens its doors one day a week to a variety of human and mythological creatures in many different worlds. Each episode features 2 stories about how each character first discovered the door, and how discovering the restaurant has impacted on their lives. A nice, relaxing show.

A Centaur's Life - yes, another entry in the constantly expanding "monster girls" sub-genre. It's set in an alternate present, where humans evolved with 6 limbs rather than 4, leading to beings such as centaurs, angel/demonfolk & merfork being the dominant species. It's a quite relaxed take on the genre (at least compared to Monster Musume/Interviews with Monster Girls), and not my usual cup of tea. Episode 4 contains what is quite possibly the weirdest (and slightly creepy) moment I have ever witnessed in an anime, and I have seen quite a lot of anime.

Posted by: Iz~ 1st August 2017, 09:44 PM

I've been meaning to pick up the second season of New Game, I will soon. Restaurant... sounds kind of like Death Parade only in the way that there's different visitors each week (I say that because I suspect there is quite the absence of death) from that description. I've heard of Centaur but I'm all monster girled out, Fastest Fingers First sounds fairly interesting though.

Series I've started for the summer season are (as well as Boku No Hero Academia which I've now pretty much caught up to)...

Fate/Apocrypha - having to search... alternative methods for this one as Netflix are holding anime seasonal fans to ransom and I will not wait for my Fate when Japan's getting it fine. Take the normal premise of Fate, which is... at its most TL;DR, seven mages fight for the Holy Grail by summoning heroes (or just legendary figures) from history, in seven different classes of warrior, Saber, Archer, Lancer, Rider, Caster, Berserker and Assassin to do a battle royale to the death, and then double it so there are TWO teams of masters and summoned servants, doing their battle royale in Romania in an alternate timeline to the rest of the Fate universe where Fate/Zero & Fate/Stay Night (which take place in Japan) never happened. So it means there's a TON of characters, though that includes, this time around, characters like Achilles, Chiron, Spartacus, Frankenstein, Jack The Ripper and Shakespeare among the summoned. At the moment I'm getting fairly into it but I don't think it'll outstrip the other Fates, if only because the main character is a bit of a blank slate (kind of literally).

Gamers - in contrast to New Game, a comedy about gamer high school students. Seems to be a bit more romantic comedy than I expected but I'm giving this a pass because it's reasonably grounded in how students actually act and seems to have two equal male leads rather than just one (thank god).

Could definitely add another couple to that.

Oh and there was another thing, I started 'In Another World With A Smartphone' (which is exactly what it says on the tin) and I couldn't make it 10 minutes. I was fairly sure it was going to be bad and I only tried it out of curiosity to see how bad it was but well, the opening scene was lifted from Konosuba with all the jokes sucked out so... avoid that one.

Posted by: Envoirment 1st August 2017, 10:37 PM

Watched through Little Witch Academia - was a cute show with some good moments.

I also watched through a couple seasons of Haikyuu!! Liked it much more than I was expecting. It's about a high school volleyball team fighting to make their ways to the nationals with some set backs. I don't usually watch sports anime. Only issue I have is that the matches get a bit stale after a while.

Haven't really checked out any of the current season anime. Although I'm interested in Hitorijime My Hero - a Shounen AI. It looks like it has potential.

Of the last season, I've added Tsuki ga Kirei and Shingeki no Bahamut: Virgin Soul on my plan to watch list.

My list is so long now. So many shows to get through!

Posted by: Brett-Butler 2nd August 2017, 12:05 PM

Thought this was pretty funny -

Posted by: Daisy Doss 4th August 2017, 06:31 PM

Does anyone here watch konosuba, Its going to have season 3 next year.I have been addicted to this anime since season 1, its so literally the best comedy anime i have even seen.

Posted by: Iz~ 4th August 2017, 07:16 PM

Konosuba is only one of my favourite comedy shows of the past few years! Glad you're enjoying it, and welcome to the site

Posted by: Brett-Butler 5th August 2017, 04:25 PM

Without giving too much away, the last 5 minutes of the most recent episode of My Hero Academia (Season 2, Episode 31) is one of the greatest critiques of philosophy, far-left/far-right ideology & the media's complicity in creating it that I have ever seen in an anime. It's the sort of scene that should be on the curriculum of political science courses.

Posted by: Iz~ 5th August 2017, 09:32 PM

I was just finishing catching up this afternoon - so I've just finished seeing 3 episodes of that! It's a great arc they're in at the moment. Very on-point analogy with today's media, I agree, I'm impressed with the writing for that. That's the sort of villainy that gives me chills, because of how it's being perpetuated by sensational curiosity.

Posted by: Envoirment 22nd October 2017, 08:07 PM

The greatest anime to have ever existed has begun - Pingu In The City *_*

https://myanimelist.net/anime/36259/Pingu_in_the_City

Posted by: Iz~ 23rd October 2017, 03:09 PM

I was out of touch with anime memes while I'm out of the UK, well done anime community, Pingu is now officially an anime.

Allegedly more of a masterpiece than The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya, Death Note, One Punch Man, Cowboy Bebop and Fate/Zero. Cool.

Posted by: Dalek-xorcist32 23rd October 2017, 04:40 PM

Haven't seen a lot of anime, but I do like Death Note.

BTW, there should be a thread on TV animation where we discuss stuff like Adventure Time and The Simpsons.

Posted by: Iz~ 24th October 2017, 01:08 PM

Maybe, but most western animation is popular enough on here to have its own thread, surely? Although for reminiscing and getting people to pick up older stuff... maybe.

The only reason anime gets bundled all together in one thread, aside from convention now (and I'd perhaps tentatively argue that it gets moved to the streaming subforum, as that's virtually the only way anyone outside of Japan consumes it now), is because it's tens and tens of seasonal shows airing all at once, four times a year, not to mention everything from years gone by that new people are just picking up, and with so few anime fans on the board, it's useful for seeing if anyone else is watching what you're watching without starting a zero reply thread.

While I'm in India and Crunchyroll-free (makes me realise how much I was using it), I've been using my data allowances to watch an episode, sometimes two (I know, extravagant) a day now, and I'm mainly using them for finishing off Spice & Wolf, which is freely available on Youtube through Funimation, the first season at least, I haven't checked for the second. So relaxing and yet intriguing in what seems like complex economics to someone who's rather rusty on that subject.

HeroAca finished a bit low-key but it was a great season overall and Season 3 HYPE. Gamers' finale was weird, a whole season of being a show not really about gaming and they finish with an OVA-style episode where the entire dialogue is almost all a debate about the current state of the gaming industry. I say weird but I loved it for suddenly changing tack and going against expectations. What a show, and I went into it not expecting much at all.

Posted by: UltraReputation 25th October 2017, 10:39 PM

Hey guys, I just thought I'd let you know that this week in FilmClub it is Anime Week and was wondering if any of you would be interested in participating?!

(This is the link to the thread of the poll deciding which film to watch!)
http://www.buzzjack.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=205669

Posted by: Brett-Butler 4th November 2017, 09:08 PM

I recently finished watching Sakura Quest, which has been unofficially been called the third part of PA Works' "working series" alongside Hanasaku Iroha & Shirobako, two series that I absolutely love. It's about a college graduate who after failing to find a job in Tokyo, takes on the role as "Queen" of a small Japanese town - effectively tasked with helping to improve the tourism and industry of a town whose population is gradually dwindling. It's a great series with themes around big city vs small town life (and wondering where exactly you would be happier), nostalgia for the past, and trying to find your place in the world, plus it's quite amusing in places. Definitely worth a watch if you're going on an anime binge.

In terms of what I'm watching this season -

Recovery of an MMO Junkie - an office worker in her early 30s decides to leave her job and become a NEET, and reinvents herself as a (male) character on an online game. She become close to a female character in the game (who she doesn't realise is a guy), and eventually her real life and online life begin to collide in unexpected ways. It's refreshing to see a main character in an anime series in their 30s, and the struggles that Moriko faces when she retreats from real life are both very real, and quite amusing.

Konohana Kitan - a slice-of-life series which is like Hanasaku Iroha with a supernatural twist, where a young fox girl who's been raised by humans is taken in to work at an inn which is staffed by other fox girls, and patronised by other supernatural beings (and the occasional human). A charming little show.

The Ancient Magus' Bride - a Japanese girl has been plagued all her life by visions of the supernatural all her life, which has caused her to have a horrible life where she cannot fit in anywhere, and agrees to have herself sold off to the highest bidder just so she can feel like she belongs somewhere. She is bought by a mage, whom realising her magical abilities, takes her to England to be his assistant (and possibly also his bride). It's quite a dark backstory, but the anime itself is pretty great.

Love Live Sunshine Season 2 - the second season of the Love Live! sequel, which sees the girls attempting to qualify for the annual Love Live! competition in order to save their school, which by the end of the first episode looks like it is going to be a literally impossible task. Now that the characters have established themselves, the new season builds upon their personalities and allows them to develop beyond their initial quirks.

Posted by: Envoirment 5th November 2017, 07:11 PM

I can't wait for this to be over so I can binge watch it! It looks very good from what I've seen/read so far.

I've been catching up a little on the last season and ticking off some stuff on my to watch list;

Made In Abyss - Great show. It's not what you think it is based on some of the stock images/trailers. It gets quite dark and has a lot of potential for future series. The manga is ongoing, so the story isn't complete yet. The anime ends about halfway through the manga, although I haven't read the manga just yet!

Hitorijime My Hero - Cute Shounen Ai (boys love) show. It's quite tame and sweet overall. A nice difference from most boys love shows (not that there's anything wrong with a little more).

Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso (Your Lie In April) - I've been meaning to watch this show for ages and I loved it. It's very emotional and at times quite dark. It made me teary eyed a few times. Would definitely recommend to anyone who likes romance/drama.

Posted by: Envoirment 9th December 2017, 12:28 AM

Just finished getting through Lovely Complex. Been watching it the last few weeks or so. I liked it a lot more than I thought. Essentially a romance/comedy anime between a tall girl and short guy. Really funny at times with some heartwarming moments.

Posted by: Brett-Butler 5th January 2018, 10:58 AM

Great new year anime news, as it's been announced that there is to be a new Tiger & Bunny anime project. The 2011 anime series was really fantastic, and given that it was very Westernized by anime standards, I'm surprised it didn't take off over here to the extent that it could have (although there is a live-action Hollywood version in https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2018-01-04/tiger-and-bunny-gets-new-anime-series-project/.126082). If you haven't seen it yet, now would be a great chance to catch up, it's a great series that answers the question "What if humans started to gain powers" with "turn it into a reality TV show". In some ways, it's something of a precursor to My Hero Academia.

Posted by: Iz 10th January 2018, 06:30 PM

So obligatory WHAT THE f*** at Devilman Crybaby. I've just started it and well... this winter season has gotten off to a good start indeed. By being completely depraved and crazy beyond even what I'd expect anime to be.

Picked up Ancient Magus' Bride because of hype and things, that's a lot nicer an anime, seems like a rather pleasant story with a few dark undertones as you said Brett. On the side of retro I now have Gintama as my regular 'don't know what to watch' show (it's ending this year which means I'll finish it in 2024) and I've picked up Code Geass too.

I'm also thinking of starting Pop Team Epic as well because of er, well, this:

Posted by: Brett-Butler 10th January 2018, 06:58 PM

Yeah, I've heard about Pop Team Epic, it's been described as an "anti-comedy" and very troll-y, so I'm not too sure how to take it. I'll probably wait and see what you make of it before investing time in it. I'm still deciding what to watch this cour, as so far there hasn't been many series that have tickled my fancy. I'll probably watch the 2nd series of Dagashi Kashi when it starts, and I'll likely pick up A Place Further than the Universe as well, but as usual I'll post what I'm watching in a few weeks.

I've just finished marathoning both series of Himouto! Umaru-chan, which was a delightful little comedy. It's about a girl, Umaru, whose public persona is of a hard working, beautiful, diligent student, but the moment she gets home, she becomes a lazy, junk food-addled slob who is dependent on the support of her put-upon brother. It does take a while for it to click, as the character of Umaru starts off as a highly unlikable character, but as the series progresses and we are introduced to other characters who get to know Umaru in both her public & private personas, she does become quite endearing.

Plus, the ending theme for the 2nd season is the most https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTZGtIoByTg&t

Posted by: Iz 10th January 2018, 08:17 PM

Oh yes, I've heard of Umaru-chan, however only in the context of the title character being the worst person ever Was surprised to see it got a second season although if they tone down her antisocial qualities later on that would explain it.

Posted by: Brett-Butler 6th February 2018, 09:05 PM

So this is what I'm watching this season, apart from the 2nd half of The Ancient Magus' Bride -

Dagashi Kashi Season 2 - The 2nd series of the show about a Japanese candy-enthused girl and the teen proprietor of an old Japanese sweet shop. There's been a few changes since the first season, mainly cutting the run time to 12 minutes, but it's still a diverting watch. Hotaru one of my favouritely designed characters in terms of costume.

Darling in the FranXX - Given that this is made by the studio behind Little Witch Academia, there was no way I wasn't going to pick this one up. In a post-apocalyptic world, humanity is under threat by creatures called klaxosaurs, and are defended by robots controlled by male/female pilots in their teens. One boy, Hiro, is banned from piloting a mech, but after meeting Zero Two, a girl with klaxosaur blood who has a reputation for irreparably injuring her co-pilots, he hopes to find a way back.

Pop Team Epic - I relented. It's absolutely bonkers by any stretch of the imagination - it makes Nichijou look like Pride & Prejudice in comparison. I usually skip a lot of the second half of each episode, for reasons that become apparent if you watch it.

A Place Further Than The Universe - this has been the highlight of the season so far. A girl who's too afraid to take risks befriends a girl whose mother disappeared on an Antarctic exhibition, and with 2 other girls they set off on a trip to the South Pole. Despite the somewhat farfetched plot, it's an absolute joy - rib ticklingly hilarious in place, emotional in others (the end of episode 5 hit me particularly hard). Plus it has one of the most charming opening sequences of an anime I've seen in some time.

Posted by: Iz 9th February 2018, 11:15 PM

I really didn't actually like Pop Team Epic that much! Maybe I'll give it another go but it was just too much Robot Chicken-like and basically a shitpost too far. Being able to skip half of the episodes means it's mercifully short but eh. The Your Name parody in the first episode, the first part of it, before they put an awful joke in, was the best thing there.

Darling In The Franxx I've been wondering about, but mechas aren't really my style and I've already got Code Geass on the go, which I am enjoying, see my sig, but to do two might be overload. I'll see how it pans out by the end of the season. And even though I've never watched Dagashi Kashi I agree so much on Hotaru, beautiful looking design! A Place Further Than The Universe I've heard a few good things about so I may give it a go.

The things I've picked up so far this season (apart from the second half of Ancient Magus again):

Devilman Crybaby - hinted at this in my earlier post but I've got through it all now, it being the first of a new deal that Netflix have with studios. A remake of the old Devilman manga, it's a horror story about a boy who finds out that devils are invading the human world and through an incident, becomes a devil himself (in a manner a little bit similar to Parasyte, half-human-half-monster fights the monsters). It contains a LOT of graphic sex and violence but is really engaging watching and it obviously gets very dark. Very good start to the year.

Violet Evergarden - In a Victorian steampunk setting with BEAUTIFUL animation, a war has just finished. It follows the title character Violet, who clearly played a big part in the war under an officer she calls 'the Major'. She's aiming to become an Auto Memory Doll, in this world, people who write letters on behalf of those who can't express themselves properly. Thing is, Violet is herself rather emotionally challenged. It's a really sweet story so far but I just need to emphasise how gorgeous it looks again (it and Ancient Magus have been a treat for my eyes lately), I feel like it's going to get better as it goes on.

Kokkoku - A family made up of layoffs, NEETs and underpaid workers discover that the grandfather of the family has a stone that can stop time and let them move around in 'Stasis'. Trouble is, a religious cult made up of thugs has a lesser stone allowing them to also move around and they want the greater stone. Very thrilling stuff with a propensity for incredible cliffhangers that I'm waiting on each week. Also features a https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhBA6ynorvc&ab_channel=studioColorido%2FGENOSTUDIO.

Posted by: Cody On Ice 12th February 2018, 12:57 AM

Okay so I love Yuri On Ice now

Posted by: Iz 12th February 2018, 01:57 AM

I'm just surprised it took you this long

Posted by: Brett-Butler 17th February 2018, 11:10 AM

For all you anime fans that live in the UK, Netflix has just added The Garden of Words. It's directed by Makoto Shinkai, who was also behind the monster hit Your Name. Although I'm not as big a fan of Shinkai's back catalogue as I am about Your Name (Voices from a Distant Star did nothing for me, and 5 Centimetres Per Second didn't resonate with me), this one is absolutely fantastic. Plus it's only 46 minutes, so it's not a massive time investment.

Posted by: travis 23rd February 2018, 03:00 PM

I've been watching Kakegurui on Netflix, it's SOOOO good. It has some very... gratuitous moments in it, to say the least, but the storyline is really interesting and has kept me interested. It's about a school where things are decided based on gambling, and the stakes get really high. That's all I'll say, but it's definitely worth the watch. It's only 12 episodes!

Posted by: Iz 23rd February 2018, 03:18 PM

I've been thinking about that for a while ever since the kerfuffle about it being kept off of Netflix for months (and it's all over my recommendations). May give it a look soon.

By the way, Koro-Sensei (from Assassination Classroom, for any newcomers) has just won the 4th Reddit best guy contest - a knockout contest where the winners get retired into a hall of fame, joining Code Geass's Lelouch, Monogatari's Araragi and Cowboy Bebop's Spike. Really cool shock winner and one I was voting for since the beginning, obviously. He beat Light Yagami from Death Note in the quarterfinals, Kazuma from Konosuba in the semis and all the way to beating Edward Elric from Fullmetal Alchemist in the finals. Which is a feat as FMA is supposedly one of the best animes ever, where I am in it now, I'd say it's good but not THAT good. Anyway, very happy for the best tentacle teacher getting recognised as the awesome character that he is and apparently lots of commenters picking up AssClass as a result *.*

also Pop Team Epic has done something that may lure me back, episode 8 is being aired 8 times continuously. As a Haruhi fan I'm amused and scared.

Posted by: Brett-Butler 20th March 2018, 08:02 PM

No, you're crying over the 12th episode of A Place Further Than The Universe.

Posted by: Hayzayy 23rd March 2018, 08:31 AM

Pokemon is the only anime I sometime watch

Posted by: Iz 24th March 2018, 10:49 PM

I'd fire back with episode 10 of Violet Evergarden! Saw the whole plot coming as soon as the episode started and still had tears streaming by the end.

(must start A Place Further Than The Universe though)

Posted by: Rampage 1st April 2018, 06:32 PM

Someone use myanimelist?

Posted by: Iz 9th April 2018, 10:59 PM

Just got to this one and god though I was prepared what with pretty every episode prior breaking me down slightly more at the ending part (particularly the endings to episodes 10 and 11), this one just had me as a wreck the whole way through. What a brilliant, brilliant show (and I've still got one episode left to hopefully get some happy closure on it). It felt like it knew it was hitting it out of the park right from the start, I don't think I've ever been so eager to watch a show just centred around cute girls from episode to episode, although that's because they're not just cute girls and the plot is really tight and driven, all of them are incredibly strong and individual characters. Very glad I listened to you and the entire internet saying to pick it up.

Also, Spring 2018's started and my god this season just from the outside looks stacked with things I need or probably want to watch. My Hero Academia S3 (which I've already seen the first episode of but it's basically just a recap/filler episode so nothing really new there), Steins;Gate 0, a new cour of Shokugeki, a new SAO 'alternative' thing, Persona 5 The Animation, and probably a hidden gem or two like A Place... somewhere, I have about 10 shows I still want to finish.

Posted by: WhoOdyssey 26th April 2018, 07:26 PM

Just started watching Sword Art Online, really gripped by it so far! (I'm on S1E7)

Posted by: Brett-Butler 29th April 2018, 04:07 PM

The only two series that I'm watching week on week so far this season is Steins;Gate 0 & My Hero Academia Season 3, nothing else really appealed to me/were available for streaming on Netflix/Crunchyroll/other.

What I have been watching recently is Aggretsuko , which recently dropped on Netflix, and absolutely love it. It's about 20-something accountant who deals with her horrible experiences in the workplace by doing death-metal karaoke. Retsuko is one of those characters that I can completely empathise with, even though she's a) female, and b) an anthropomorphised red panda.

Also recently finished Samurai Champloo, which was recently added to Netflix. It's not as good as Watanabe's best work, Cowboy Bebop, but it is pretty decent in places.

Posted by: Iz 1st May 2018, 03:34 PM

Same for Steins;Gate 0 and MHA S3, they're both knocking it right out of the park and I'm finding it very easy to go from week to week with them (seriously, every episode a cliffhanger and demanding more). Also just finished the fall cour of Food Wars S3 so with them having a new spring cour I'm going to be on that as well.

I'm finally coming towards the end of a lot of the series that I'd started but hadn't finished so I will be looking for new things to pick up soon. Aggretsuko caught my eye, I don't know how much I'd enjoy it but I might give it a look.

excellent to hear! It's a very good starter anime, especially the first half of the first season.

Posted by: Iz 20th May 2018, 07:33 PM

Aggretsuko was so relatable, amazing little cartoon series. First time I've ever watched any sanrio stuff, I'm sure it's not normally like that but a great load of fun.

I've started this as it was getting too big to ignore, definitely seems the big new show of 2018. And even though Zero Two is a total fantasy girl she's great, it's giving me proper nostalgia for teen years in a way few anime do accurately, the show itself is anime personified (and really quite good) but in a different way from the way that MHA was anime personified. It's completely using mechas and this really weird cockpit pairing system as a metaphor for... well I couldn't say what, but https://i.imgur.com/Y6MIIC6.jpg https://i.imgur.com/qcj58au.jpghttps://i.imgur.com/P5zTSE0.jpghttps://i.imgur.com/GqFntVZ.jpg

the ridiculous innuendos are half the entertainment (coupled with the characters being completely oblivious about that sort of thing as a legitimate plot point)

Posted by: Brett-Butler 21st May 2018, 05:43 PM

Glad you've got into it. I too noticed the rather...interesting cockpit setup.

Some of the reactions to "Darling in the Franxx" make me glad that I very rarely interact with the wider anime fandom, with some people claiming that it's full on right-wing propaganda, a reading of the TV series that I would passionately dispute - if there was any deeper message within the story, it seems to be about the importance of future generations beyond our own (which is quite resonant in Japan, given its collapsing birth-rates), or about the importance of protecting the environment, which admittedly has been a more subtle theme of the show. And even if it was the case that it is being used for right-wing purposes, it's been a rather decent TV show and I could live with it.

Posted by: Iz 26th May 2018, 01:11 PM

Sheesh, and I thought it was bad when I saw the initial reactions in the wider community in episode 11 to the partner swap with seemingly far too many people calling Kokoro a thot/$l*t for changing while breaking a 'promise' she made under duress. But that seems to have gone away as Kokoro-Mitsuru is (or was?) proving to be a FAR better pairing than even I'd hoped for, having really grown on Mitsuru as a character after hating him after episode 2 as I'm sure you're supposed to. It's only gotten better as I've caught up, moving away from and challenging the traditional gender roles it was perhaps in at first, and that's moving it far away from said right-wing theory, I mean, from having researched it, the big right-wing propaganda commenter made that right as an episode aired containing a lesbian coming out to her friend, who accepted and supported her!!! For a mainstream anime it's doing some really brave things with sexuality, I never expect there to be any LGBT action in anime because of Japan's conservatism, for example. And I'm working on a theory that each character represents a different attitude to discovering your own sexuality. If it keeps this level of character development up it'll be quite the show by the end.

Posted by: Brett-Butler 9th June 2018, 10:07 PM

An anime series was featured on the BBC News this week, and it's one that I never thought would feature. They've run a report about the https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-wiltshire-44368853 that was featured in the first episode of Kin-moza, even including a few clips from the series itself.

Posted by: WhoOdyssey 9th June 2018, 10:20 PM

I was in that area recently, I didn't know there was an anime based there!

Posted by: Iz 9th June 2018, 10:43 PM

Kinmoza is my favourite anime I've never watched because of https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60mLvBWOMb4&ab_channel=Kipper <3 I saw that earlier this week, really cool that it's getting some recognition out of this and that owner of the property seemed very cool with all the attention.

Posted by: travis 13th June 2018, 05:57 PM

Finally got around to watching My Hero Academia. I'm on the second season currently and I'm fully obsessed. Don't know how I slept on this one for so long!!!

Posted by: Liаm 29th June 2018, 10:23 PM

I've started My Hero Academia too recently, it is SO good!!

Posted by: Brett-Butler 29th June 2018, 10:36 PM

Hurrah! What made you decide to take the plunge at watch it? Have you watched any other anime recently?

Posted by: Iz 29th June 2018, 10:51 PM

I can't remember the last time I was always so regularly on time for a show as it airs as with MHA right now (and the break it's taking in a week is going to leave that particular Saturday morning feeling empty). It's doing everything right, clearly the author has a plan for it all, future classic for sure, the tone, the setting, the balancing of the cast, it's just spot on.

Yay to see you on board, Travis and Liam.

Posted by: Liаm 29th June 2018, 10:52 PM

A couple of Pokemon Youtubers I love have been raving about it despite specifying they usually don't like anime, and my best friend who watches a fair bit of anime as well so I was like hmm this must have wide appeal and checked it out! And nope, my friend said she'll push me into more if I liked MHA

Posted by: Brett-Butler 7th July 2018, 07:31 PM

Finished marathoning Hinamatsuri, which I overlooked at the start of the season, but caught up within a few days, which is a comedy about a surprisingly nice-yet-grumpy Yakuza who ends up taking in an telepathic middle-school alien with psychic power after she accidentally lands in his flat. There's some absolute laugh-out-loud moments in the series, as well as some incredibly hilarious characters (including one of Hina's middle-school friends, who keeps on accidentally finding herself in positions of power), yet it also has some real heart to it - a sub-plot featuring another alien colleague of Hina is one of the most realistic, yet humane portrayals of the subject of homelessness I've seen in media.

This season's bracing up to be the strongest in quite a while - there's three new series I plan to pick up, as well as continuing MHA & the new season of Attack on Titan.

Posted by: Iz 7th July 2018, 07:42 PM

I've heard good things about Hinamatsuri, I may have to see about starting that before the year's end and I forget about it.

The summer season, I'm only doing the basic bitch thing of continuing MHA + S;G 0, and starting the new season of Titan at the moment. Not sure what else is going to be good yet.

I am approaching the end of some of the stuff I'm watching a lot of them though, or at least reaching good milestones, including a marathon watch of Higurashi na no Koro Ni that I'm finally completing with the help of a Reddit rewatch thread that's regimenting me to one episode a day plus talking about it, love it. Just finished season 1 and what with both reading its VNs and watching the anime and getting consumed by the mystery that PEOPLE WHO HAVEN'T SEEN IT MUST NOT GOOGLE ANYTHING ABOUT it's quite clearly one of my new favourites.

Posted by: WhoOdyssey 22nd July 2018, 05:28 PM

Could anyone suggest an anime for me to watch with this criteria?

Dubbed
Not too serious or dark, but also not completely a comedy (around SAO levels of darkness )
Set in a fantasy world

Thanks

Posted by: Liаm 22nd July 2018, 05:34 PM

My Hero Academia? If you like Marvel and stuff it's about people with all different super powers, doesn't take itself too seriously but doesn't veer off too far into being ridiculous or anything.

Posted by: WhoOdyssey 22nd July 2018, 05:42 PM

Cheers, i've been thinking about that for a while actually.

I've also just decided to watch Seirei No Moribito, which looks stunning based on the trailer.

Posted by: Iz 22nd July 2018, 06:11 PM

My Hero Academia definitely fits the bill of what you're looking for yeah! And is so solid. I didn't want the episode that came out yesterday to ever end.

I don't know if you've seen Fullmetal Alchemist (specifically the Brotherhood version), I say that as it is one of the most popular anime ever and it's entirely possible you've seen it, but that also absolutely fits all three of your requirements to a tee, has a well-respected dub, can be dark but has a lot of slapstick comedy, and is in a well-constructed fantasy world.

As for other recommendations that I know, Re:Zero and Konosuba are both incredible shows but focus a bit too much on the dark side and the comedic side of being in a fantasy world respectively. In my opinion they both deconstruct the SAO standard brilliantly, in different ways so I'm going to mention them regardless, they could complement each other if you were so inclined. Kill La Kill and No Game No Life also both mostly fit your criteria but are heavy on the fanservice.

Most of the seasonal trash about some loser getting transported to a fantasy world isn't worth watching (from what I've seen of it, the one this season called Ragnarok something looks possibly to be the worst of them all, perhaps even worse than the ridiculous In Another World But This Time I Have A Smartphone).

And finally Is It Wrong To Pick Up Girls In A Dungeon is one of the closer things to SAO I know of that's actually in a fantasy world but I wasn't too keen on it, you might like it though, it's fairly well received among those who do like that sort of thing played straight.

I've actually never heard of Seirei No Moribito, but it has an 8.2 on MAL so it's probably a good show.

Posted by: Brett-Butler 22nd July 2018, 06:33 PM

I'll add another name to My Hero Academia. I'd also recommend "Tiger & Bunny", which is similar in tone but gets a little bit darker and has a greater satirical undertone, and Bodacious Space Pirates. And I will continue to fly the flag for Little Witch Academia, although it starts more of a full-on comedy it gets more serious as the show goes on.

Posted by: WhoOdyssey 23rd July 2018, 05:32 PM

Thanks everyone, I'll definitely check out these suggestions. Especially Little Witch Acadamia, which I started watching a while ago, but stopped because I thought it was a bit too comedic. I will watch more episodes to see how it progresses.

Posted by: Iz 23rd July 2018, 08:23 PM

Little Witch Aca is excellent stuff, full of heart and sweetness, I support Brett on this. And yes, the comedic stuff at the beginning is more to introduce you to that world in an interesting fashion.

Posted by: WhoOdyssey 23rd August 2018, 10:53 AM

https://www.polygon.com/tv/2018/8/22/17768214/crunchyroll-original-content-2019-high-guardian-spice

Crunchyroll are going to start making their own content starting next year, starting with High Guardian Spice, which looks really charming from the promo pick. Like a mix between Western animation and anime.

Posted by: Brett-Butler 25th August 2018, 05:29 PM

We're a fair bit into the new season now, so in addition to continuing to watch My Hero Academia, Attack on Titan & Steins;Gate 0, this is what I've been watching -

Cells At Work! - This is a quasi-educational anime set in an anthropomorphic version of the human body, where the cells are all represented as people carrying out work in the human body, eg the red blood cells are delivery personnel, the white blood cells are dagger-wielding men who destroy any germs or bacteria that make their way into the body (who are seen as 50s-esque horror monsters), the platelets are kindergarten children etc. It's a fun and educational show, and surprisingly graphically violent for a show that one imagines is largely aimed at a younger audience.

Chio's School Road - the show centres around one central gimmick - Chio is on her way to, or from, school, and gets involved in some bizarre situations whilst going in both directions, like free-running to get to school on time, accidentally causing a showdown with a biker gang, getting involved in obscure Japanese playground games etc. A lot of fun derives from Chio's internal monologue trying to comprehend what's going on, and rationalising her choices. There are some moments in the show that do make me uncomfortable - some of the more risqué humour crosses the line into more troubling territory (the manga writer of this formerly wrote a lot of hentai, and this is his first non-hentai project, but apparently old habits die hard), but on the whole it's quite a funny diversion nonetheless.

Posted by: Brett-Butler 25th August 2018, 05:31 PM

Can't say I'm a fan of Crunchyroll making specifically non-anime with their subscribers money under the Crunchyroll banner - they have co-produced some series in the past, but they were still made by a Japanese production company with a largely Japanese staff, and this one seems to be almost fully American produced. It could be good, but I'm doubtful, and I'll reserve judgement until I see what comes out of it.

Posted by: Cody Salton 26th August 2018, 09:54 PM

I just caught up with Food Wars and it's getting INTENSE

...and i couldn't wait any longer so I read the manga and IT WAS MORE INTENSE

Posted by: Iz 30th August 2018, 02:09 PM

I have been watching Hinamatsuri lately, it's hilarious and heartwarming as you said Brett! Good stuff.

I watched the first episode of Cells At Work, I might continue with it but more to brush up on my anatomical knowledge in a fun environment than because it's standing out (that is, so far).

Otherwise, MHA, AOT, S;G 0 life. I'd like to pick up something more before the end of the season, maybe once I finish the last few episodes of Hina.

Posted by: WhoOdyssey 23rd September 2018, 05:33 PM

You have got to watch Dragon Pilot on Netflix, it is one of my favourite shows recently!

Posted by: Brett-Butler 28th September 2018, 04:02 PM

The BBC has an article about https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-45369882 on its website today. Glad to see it getting more mainstream attention.

Posted by: WhoOdyssey 14th October 2018, 05:26 PM

I really need to check that out, I'm not a huge fan of the art style though.

I've just started Lost Song on Netflix, really calming so far! But I think it gets more dramatic as it goes on.

Posted by: Iz~ 2nd November 2018, 10:49 AM

Okay, Zombieland Saga is HILARIOUS!

Death metal, rap battles, threat of zombie outbreak, Glee club like deal to ‘save’ the local area, overseen by a deranged Hououin Kyouma-alike (and therefore alone giving us more Kyouma-esque shenanigans than the entirety of Steins;Gate 0) and that’s merely the first two episodes.

There’s even some other interesting things out this season, I’m interested in perhaps starting Rascal Doesn’t Dream Of Bunny Girl Senpai too, bizarre title aside, what sounds like a Haruhi/Monogatari homage seems right up my street. Much better than summer, which the big names aside, didn’t really have anything to interest me.

Posted by: Brett-Butler 8th November 2018, 09:15 PM

Zombie Land Saga is worth it for the first minute of the first episode alone - if you're looking to make a series deconstructing the idol genre, THAT'S how you set out your stall. And Kotaro is definitely the driving force behind this - I love that so far the only rationale as to why he's resurrected girls from the dead to start an idol group, rather than just recruiting living girls like a normal person would, seems to be just because he can.

Also watching this season -

Ace Attorney Season 2 - Really only watching this because I loved the games, if you loved the games and want to see them animated it's the only real reason why you should watch it, otherwise you'd get too bogged down on why the court system doesn't make any sense whatsoever.

Sword Art Online - Was actually surprised that there was a new season of the main saga after the recent spin-off. This one's due to run for a full year.

Double Decker!! - Doug & Kirill - this was promoted as a spin-off of one of my favourite anime series, Tiger & Bunny, although so far it doesn't seem to be set in the same universe (although there are a few references interspersed throughout). It's a sci-fi take on the buddy cop genre, with two mismatched cops come together to fight against a gang of drug dealers who push a drug that causes monstrous mutations in those who take it. It's very 4th wall breaking, and has a weird sense of humour, but so far nowhere near as good as Tiger and Bunny.

That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime - Another in my favourite sub-genre of isekai where someone is reincarnated into another world as someone or something else. A 30-something man is fatally stabbed to death, and owing to his final dying thoughts, he finds himself awake in another world, taking the form as a lowly slime monster (which oddly enough, isn't the weirdest reincarnation in this genre - there's a manga which is almost certainly going to be made into an anime next where where the protagonist is reincarnated as a vending machine), and begins to scale the hierarchy in this world. If you like this genre already, you'll probably enjoy this one too.

Posted by: Brett-Butler 8th December 2018, 08:38 PM

Went to see the film version of My Hero Academia during the week, as it's been given a short cinematic run in the UK. It's very much a standard film adaptation of a shonen Japanese series which introduces new characters whilst not upending the continuity of the main series, but well worth going to see nonetheless.

Posted by: Envoirment 4th January 2019, 10:14 PM

Have recently been catching up with a bunch of series/have watched a few news ones.

Attack on Titan season 3 part 1 - I really enjoyed the season as it fleshes out the characters more and there's a lot more story involved. It also started at where I had finished reading the manage a long while back. I'm really interested to watch the second part as I've heard nothing but good things about this arc of the manga.

My Hero Academia season 3 - I already knew most of what happened during the season as I had read the manga up to near the end of the season. But it was a while ago and was great to see it all animated. I'm hoping we'll see a lot more variety in the characters and their powers come the next season now that they have prepared ultimate moves.

Golbin Slayer - Not your typical adventure game type anime. It has some quite dark/blunt moments with quite graphic and sexual violence. I found it a bit disappointing - the story is weak and there's no real character development for numerous characters. I believe a second season is planned though, so I hope there's a bit more focus on story and the characters in the future.

Idolish7 - An anime about 7 boys trying to become idols as a group. It's not your typical idol anime and each character has their own struggles - a good amount of which are told during the season. I believe a second season is on its way, so I'm hoping that'll help fill in some gaps the first season left.

Banana Fish - One of my favourite animes of 2018. I wasn't expecting to like it as much as I did. It's a show about the unlikely friendship between a troubled 17 year old who is highly intelligent and involved in a New York gang and an innocent 19 year old Japanese photogapher. The show is a rollercoaster and the ending is very divisive amongst viewers - so be warned.

I've recently added a lot more series to my "to watch" list. I don't think I've ever going to have nothing on it. 2019 in general looks to be a really good year with so many anticipated anime series coming out. I'm really interested in "The Rising of the Shield Hero" for the current season. The first couple of episodes have already aired and it's getting really good feedback. Not to mention the trailer looks great.

Posted by: Iz~ 29th January 2019, 05:35 PM

Oh yes, straight after one of the best years in anime since I've been following it 2019 is already hitting it right out of the park. It's like they're actively trying to stop me getting bored of the medium and I really appreciate it

First things first, the first thing you must do if you have not done so already is watch the first episode of The Promised Neverland (Yakusoku no Neverland). No synopsis, no searching around for what it is, just do it. I just finished watching the first episode after purposefully remaining blind on it after the first thing I heard about it being much the same thing and it's... putting its best foot forward for an early Anime Of The Year contender.

Also Mob Psycho 100 - Season 2 is out and it, with more adventures with psychics and trippy artworks, is even better than season 1 after just a few episodes IMO. And I've also heard great things about Shield Hero and also something called Kaguya-sama and wanting to catch up with the slime thing from last season, this season, man. There's too much.

I just finished watching Rascal Doesn't Dream Of Bunny Girl Senpai today also. Excellent series, the sort of thing that after Haruhi I was endlessly searching for more of in that quiet understated-but-still-supernatural show that uses personal magic happenings to grow its characters as they struggle through adolescence. Really relaxing and a quite excellent (and rare in anime) exploration of a healthy romantic relationship.

Yeah that one was very popular but I had this feeling it would be a bit trash (and the controversy around a certain horrific scene confirmed that I wouldn't be watching it). It's OP though, Mili's 'Rightfully', is a bit of a banger.



This one is going straight in the pile along with things like Re:Creators and Made In Abyss that I missed during their airing seasons and will hopefully find some point to watch them in the future but I have no guarantees that I will get round to them. But it sounds like it's fairly interesting.

Posted by: Brett-Butler 29th January 2019, 08:05 PM

Most of the shows I'm watching at the moment are second seasons of shows that have just re-started (Mob Psycho 100), or shows that have entered the second part of the season after the Christmas break (...Reincarnated as a Slime, Ace Attorney, Sword Art Online). The only new show I'm watching is -

My Roommate Is A Cat - if ever there was an anime series made to indoctrinate Jade into the ways of the anime, this show would be it. The show is about a writer who has shunned people all his life, who adopts a stray cat as research for his next novel. The show has a very novel structure to it - the first half of the episode is told from Subaru's perspective, as he tries to understand the actions of his cat. The 2nd half is told from the cat (Haru's) perspective, as she explains the reasons for her odd behaviour in the episode, and tries to understand what Subaru is up to. It's really funny, and touching in parts, especially when you learn more about Subaru & Haru's troubled pasts.

And for absolute trashy anime, I've been watching Back Street Girls on Netflix very intermittently. The show's about 3 yakuza, who after crossing their boss, are forced to have sex-change surgery and become a female idol group. Your mileage may vary.

Posted by: WhoOdyssey 17th February 2019, 08:41 PM

Finally got Netflix working on my TV, any good suggestions?

(already seen SAO and AOT on it)

Posted by: Brett-Butler 17th February 2019, 09:07 PM

I'd start with Little Witch Academia, which was my favourite anime series of 2017, which is just fantastic (note that there are also two short LWA films on Netflix as well, although these are outside the continuity of the main series, but are enjoyable as well). Also worth watching is "Aggretsuko", "One Punch Man" and "Steins;Gate", which I've just checked are all on Netflix.

Posted by: Iz~ 19th February 2019, 10:27 AM

Angel Beats and One Punch Man are both on Netflix at the moment and are very easy-to-watch, short and classically funny series. And the rest of what Brett recommends. Also Death Note as an obligatory reference.

And for something very similar to AOT/SAO, I'd perhaps recommend Fate/Stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works and/or Fate/Zero - the two best Fate anime. They're sequel and prequel respectively, one spoils some events in the other and Fate fans will argue for years about what to see first (some also suggesting the first Fate/Stay Night series which I think is also on Netflix but isn't as good and UBW makes it almost unnecessary) - summary, it doesn't really matter, whichever you choose you're getting a lot of cool fights and a battle royale and the other one will be there later.

Posted by: Whoody4Paramore 19th February 2019, 10:24 PM

Cheers! I've just started Steins;Gate and also The Seven Deadly Sins, enjoying both of them!

Are there any good anime currently airing you'd recommend? (like on Crunchyroll, etc)

Posted by: Envoirment 19th February 2019, 10:52 PM

There's quite a lot available on netflix surprisingly. Here's a bunch of others to watch:

Violet Evergarden - I loved that and the artwork is beautiful!

Castlevania is quite good too. There's two seasons with a third coming out in July this year.

Erased is available aswell and was one of my favourite series from 2016 - it's very good.

There are some good films too - Blame/A Silent Voice/The Garden of Words.

If you want a longer series - Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood is available.

Lastly, if you want something along the lines of senseless violence, there's Elfen Lied/Baki.

Posted by: Envoirment 19th February 2019, 10:57 PM

This is on my list to binge at the end of the season - although I'm tempted to just watch weekly. I've heard nothing but good things about it.

I'm really looking forward to binge watching Dororo and Tate no Yuusha no Nariagari as well. The 2019 start looks to have been strong so far based on reviews/trailers etc. Usually there's only 1 or maybe 2 series that interest me at the start of the year. This year is going to be so good though with what's yet to come as well. I feel 2019 is going to be one of the strongest years for anime in recent years for me.

Posted by: Iz~ 20th February 2019, 01:35 AM

Aye, Promised Neverland is remaining excellent and the first anime in a while, along with Mob Psycho S2, that I feel I have to watch every week and with Promised Neverland in particular, because of the thrill of it all. Definitely one for currently airing hype.

Dororo is a might and I still want to pick up Kaguya-sama for what sounds like an over the top slice of life. For airing shows, that’s it for me. I’m getting distracted however by wanting to explore anime horror this month and so am playing Danganronpa (and watching the anime to be relevant but it seems like an inferior straight port of the game so...) and also watching Another, which is very creepy.

Posted by: WhoOdyssey 23rd March 2019, 12:06 PM

Neon Genesis Evangelion is coming to Netflix on June 21 - along with both films!

Posted by: Brett-Butler 23rd March 2019, 12:23 PM

Fantastic, been wanting to see it for ages, given it's one of the classic series.

Posted by: Brett-Butler 28th March 2019, 07:57 PM

Marathoned "The Promised Neverland" just in time for its finale this evening, and wow, what a wonderful series. They've just announced the 2nd season for next year, and there's no way that they couldn't produce a follow-up after that ending.

Posted by: Envoirment 30th March 2019, 10:29 PM

It's already finished? Time for me to get on binge watching it then! Can't believe how quick this year is going. We're going to be starting the spring season soon.

Posted by: Iz~ 31st March 2019, 03:34 AM

It’s a great finish to The Promised Neverland. It meandered a little in the middle but it’s a lot of setup. A second season has been announced and with the kids on the run I’m sure it’ll be very exciting. Isabella is such a great character too, highlight of the series.

Strong winter season overall, I’m not certain what spring will have to top it aside from AoT S3p2 yet.

I’ve become really enamoured with Kaguya-sama: Love Is War lately. So the titular Kaguya is in my avatar, as is tradition. Only halfway through but because of the premise, that an uptight duo of a student council president and the vice-president are majorly crushing on each other but both are under the impression that the one who admits their love first ‘loses’, it’s very funny and over the top. Classic anime comedic stuff, complete with the overthinking and in-head voiceovers that I love this medium for.

Posted by: WhoOdyssey 1st April 2019, 04:42 PM

Ultraman has released today! Hearing good things about it, so I'm looking forward to it. Still not a huge fan of the slightly low frame-rate CGI anime though.

Posted by: Brett-Butler 4th April 2019, 09:24 PM

The 2011 series Puella Magi Madoka Magica (Magic Girl Madoka) has been added to Netflix in the UK in the past week. If you haven't seen it before I would recommend seeing it, although it's better to go into it knowing as little as possible, except that it's seen as the show that redefined what a "magic girl anime" can be. I watched it years ago, and it really had a big impact on me.

Posted by: Iz~ 5th April 2019, 02:07 AM

I've been meaning to watch that for a while, that might give me a push. I've known for a while that SOMETHING happens, and even knowing that I'm worried will ruin it so I've been trying to avoid looking at anything further for years in the hopes that I near forget everything I've accidentally learned about it.

Posted by: Iz~ 28th April 2019, 03:28 AM

I HAVE started Madoka and it is really good yes. Also started watching Jojo's Bizarre Adventure because I want to eventually be able to understand the memes and that's really fun.

For new shows this season I've started watching and would recommend:

Carole & Tuesday - Cool show about two young women from different backgrounds in the first human city on Mars coming together and starting a band, making real music in a world where AI music is considered far superior. Very cool mildly dystopic setting, sadly it's being held hostage by Netflix and is currently only available legally on their Japanese site (which won't have subtitles). Which is really weird as it seems built for western audiences. But it shows a LOT of promise so I'm sure will be worth watching whether you wait or don't.

Senryuu Shoujo - A cute half-length series about a girl who is so shy she only communicates by writing haikus. That's about it but it's surprisingly fun.

AOT Season 3 part 2 is starting soon, and as for One Punch Man Season 2, I'm unsure about going for it at this moment, I haven't heard the best things.

~

In other related anime news, NBCUniversal has lifted their embargo of Spotify. Sony has sadly not yet, but this means there are a lot more anime songs and a few months ago, I missed this, but there's now an official anisongs playlist with more than 2000 songs on it.

It's called AniPlaylist, and there are some excellent songs that have been added just now. High School Of The Dead, Gamers, Oregairu, Fate/Stay Night (2006), all lowkey faves that I didn't expect to find on Spotify. The war has ended.

Posted by: Envoirment 5th May 2019, 05:31 PM

Omg yes *_* I'll have to check out the playlist.

Recently watched Gantz:O on netflix and it's some of the best CGI I've seen in anime yet. Visually stunning! I haven't read or seen the Gantz manga/anime series before so wasn't too familiar with it. But the concept was pretty good, although the story felt a little lacking.

Posted by: Brett-Butler 18th May 2019, 03:16 PM

Marathoned "Kaguya-sama: Love Is War" on your recommendation, and it's just as good as you say, although Chika is obviously best girl.

Haven't watching much unfamiliar this season, "Attack On Titan" season 3.2 and "One Punch Man" season 2 have been my weekly watches, alongside something rather interesting:

Fruits Basket: The show is about a girl, Tohru, who following the death of her mother, is left homeless, and is taken in by the Soma family, which includes two of her classmates. However, she soons learns the family's secret - whenever they are embraced by the opposite sex, they turn into one of the animals of the Chinese zodiac - one of them turns into a rat, the other into a cat (the latter of which isn't part of the original 12-animal zodiac, which is a bone of contention for Kyu, who has the curse). What's interesting about this for me in particular is that it is the first anime remake I've seen where I've also watched its first adaptation - the original series, from 2001, was one of the first anime series that I watched in full - it ran whilst the manga was still ongoing and therefore stopped long before the end of the series, which resulted in some revelations that occurred later in the manga, such as the character of Akito , being overlooked. So far, the 7 episodes I've seen have been quite close to the action of the original series, with much better production values and some of the zanier humour toned down slightly, and it's been somewhat nostalgic seeing some of these scenes again. It will be interesting how it appeals to me once the series gets past where it got to in the original series.

Posted by: Iz~ 19th May 2019, 11:34 AM

Oh, Chika runs Kaguya very close for best girl, and she probably has better comedic moments overall (the entire 'weiner dog' scene had me rolling, to pick one particular sketch that is rather memorable). Easy top 2 of 2019 at the moment, and I think my third place character from 2019 is also from there, that being Ishigami for his deadpan timing.

(the show as a whole is my first airing 10/10 since A Place Further Than The Universe, I tend to allow one on average a year but open to having more)

Posted by: Iz~ 23rd May 2019, 02:57 PM

Just started watching Sarazanmai

what the f***

I mean, what the actual f***?

I think it's good? I'm really not sure. I'm enjoying... whatever it is.

precis: three students get turned into kappas, an http://"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kappa_(folklore), and are directed to retrieve shirikodamas from anuses to get wishes. Yeah, I don't know anymore.

quote from reddit that sums up my feelings:

Posted by: Envoirment 8th June 2019, 03:22 PM

Recently been on an anime binge the last month or so and gotten through a few series:

That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime - The concept is great and I kinda love the fact that the main character is so OP. It's quite face paced and the battle scenes are very good too. It's quite nice not having to go through a whole season for a main character to power up to face the next big battle. It definitley reminds me of Naruto/Bleach/Fariy Tail quite a lot and I feel that there are intentional nods to those anime.

Knights of Sidonia Season 1 & 2 - I've really warmed to CGI use in anime and this delivers some great CGI. It's about Sidonia - a giant space ship which is one of the last strongholds for humans after almost being erradicated by a race of aliens called the Gauna. It's a mech/sci-fi anime series which is quite dark at times and I was surprised at how good it was. It has some interesting concepts and a solid story which made me want to watch epsiode after epsiode. Season 3 is apparently out this year - I can't wait to watch it!

Last Hope - A series about humanity's quest for power gone wrong, causing rapid evolutionary changes in the world's life as life and machine merge. It's a decent show and the story is quite interesting at times.

A.I.C.O.: Incarnation - A sci-fi series about research on Artificial and Intelligent Cellular Organism (A.I.C.O) going wrong, causing rapid growth of synthetic organisms. The story is ok, although it has a really good plot twist and some interesting "scientific" concepts.

The Promised Neverland - Finally got around to watching this and it was so good. Such a great story with a dark undertone and great development. I was hooked from the first episode and binged it all in one sitting. The ending sets up nicely to expand the story greatly and I cannot wait for further seasons of this. There's definitely the potential for some big plot twists in the future regarding some of the characters and it'll be interesting to see how they all develop.

Fairy Tail - I dropped Fairy Tail a few years or so ago and started reading the manga. I got up to date with the manga at the time and hadn't watched the TV series in quite some time. I recently got back into it and start watching through where I left off. I forgot how much I loved the series and caught up to where I was in the manga in the show and now am well beyond that into the final season. The current season was definitely a switch flip as things have gotten a lot more serious and it's no longer a battle for fun/a show of strength, but a battle of life and death. The character development/story and plot twists have been great so far and I'm almost up to date with the show and it's exceeded my expectations. There's another 15 or so episodes left to go, so I'm going to try to hold off from reading the manga and watch the show weekly instead. I'm not sure how things are going to end, but I can't wait to find out.

Posted by: Brett-Butler 18th June 2019, 08:37 PM

Marathoned the 2nd series of Aggretsuko over the weekend - still absolutely in love with that Red Panda Accountant, the new series is just as good as series 1.

Posted by: Iz~ 19th June 2019, 02:24 AM

Making my way through it myself (halfway through), I agree. So far I think my favourite moment is the electronic rap debut of her new rival Anai.

Posted by: Iz~ 21st June 2019, 02:10 PM

Neon Genesis Evangelion, that legendary anime series, is now on Netflix. Which as good of an excuse to finally start it as any.

also follow up, Aggretsuko S2 was great if basically the sort of continuation I'd have expected from S1, very well worth it if you enjoyed S1 at all, still just as addictive. The subtext is that it didn't really improve but it didn't really need to. Also, not enough Fenneko.

Posted by: Envoirment 5th July 2019, 07:33 PM

Summer season is starting and for the first time in a while I'm trying to watch weekly.

I've so far picked up these two:

Dr.Stone - Humans get turned to stone and many thousands of years later, two re-emerge and begin their journey to restore civilisation. The first episode was good - it gave a good amount of backstory in a short period of time without feeling rushed and sets up the future episodes nicely.

To the Abandoned Sacred Beasts - Humans get turned into powerful beasts to win a war. They were to be killed when the war was over but were not and are now losing their humanity and losing control of themselves. The first episode rushed through the backstory to get to the main plot and there was one particular moment that somewhat shocked me (in a good way). Now one of the beasts is setting out to kill the rest. It has a medieval feel to it which I really like and it looks like there's going to be some nice fight scenes in it in the future. It doesn't shy away from from blood/gore, which I feel helps to add to the dark undertone the series has.

Posted by: Brett-Butler 6th July 2019, 12:52 PM

It'll take me a few weeks to decide what in the new series I'll pick up, although Dr Stone is definitely a contender. I'm a bit annoyed that the one series I really wanted to watch, "How Heavy are the Dumbbells You Lift?" is only on Funimation (a series due to my recent fitness addiction seemed tailor made to me), but I'm hoping it turns up on Crunchyroll at some point.

One series that I'm continuing to watch though is the new version of Fruits Basket. 14 episodes in, it's still adapting stories that were also in the 2001 original, but I'm still enjoying it immensely. What surprised me in the most recent episode (14), there was a sequence I'd seen before the original (where we find out about Momiji's family), but on this occasion the scene had me crying, whereas in the original it didn't impact me in the same way, which shows that you can tackle the same material and come out with different reactions in the audience. I would recommend trying to get around to seeing the new version if you can, if you can enjoy a shojo series.

Posted by: Iz~ 6th July 2019, 03:02 PM

I'm keeping an eye on what's coming out in this first week of the new season. I think I will give Dr. Stone a go, for sure, that sounds good. Heard decent things about the dumbbell one although I'm not sure it's for me. Out of the ones that have premiered so far.

Something else that sounds INCREDIBLY interesting is Vinland Saga, a well beloved manga from all accounts, and from the name Vinland, sounds incredibly up my alley as that's surely about Vikings. That's starting in a couple of days.

Posted by: WhoOdyssey 7th July 2019, 10:48 PM

Just started 7 Seeds on Netflix, seen a lot of negativity about it online but I've really enjoyed the first episode.

Posted by: Envoirment 7th July 2019, 11:19 PM

People are also excited due to the people involved with the adaption, in particular Wit Studio who are currently enjoying a lot of hype thanks to their brilliant work on Attack On Titan. I've seen nothing but good things being said on forums about the adaptation from those who have seen more than most. It's definitely something I'm going to pick up.

Posted by: Iz~ 8th July 2019, 02:24 AM

First episode of Dr. Stone was great! Like Civilization's tech tree: the anime, at least that's the promise. So interesting seeing this smart guy figure out how to build distilleries and stuff by himself. Love it.

I haven't picked up that or other Netflix original anime, but I reckon a lot of the people complaining are those who've been watching anime for a long time and are expecting higher standards from a Netflix adaptation (from a quick scan of the reviews on MAL for that one it's because it's rushed?). Either that or they have a weird hatred for Netflix's destruction of the traditional week-to-week schedule, which is of course horrible. Either way, glad you are enjoying and remember, it isn't always about the tastemakers, while I tend to go with the crowd in anime, many people really like shows that are rated below a 7 on MAL. And that's okay. They're still people.

also yes, first three episodes of Vinland Saga are now OUT. I'm gonna watch it later, I'll report back.

Posted by: Iz~ 9th July 2019, 03:31 AM

Vinland Saga, at least from the first three episodes, is beautiful. Beautiful show (I've been posting so many great backgrounds on my Twitter), great story (covering one of my favourite underused historical periods, the age of Viking exploration), exciting themes, WIT have done it again.

Posted by: Envoirment 10th July 2019, 09:12 PM

Wait the first three epsiodes are out?! I assume it's one/week from now on though?

Also regarding MAL and Netflix anime releases - a lot of them are scored lower due to a lot of "elitist" views in regards to Netflix not going by the release schedule/western influences in some series (which isn't at all a bad thing). Honestly, I've enjoyed every Netflix original anime series I've watched so far and I've noticed that generally their scores on MAL go up over time once the initial release is over and the people watching them are giving honest reviews.

Posted by: Iz~ 18th July 2019, 04:30 AM

Some pretty sad news that I'm really torn up about, Kyoto Animation (Haruhi, K-On!, Clannad, Dragon Maid among others), one of the best studios in the anime business for animation quality and worker's rights, has suffered an arson attack to their studio 1. Many injuries and the police are confirming multiple deaths as well. Awful stuff

Posted by: Iz~ 18th July 2019, 01:15 PM

I've been upset about this all day.

At least 26 declared dead now. That's approx 20% of their entire staff.

It's so awful for everyone involved. They're one of the best in the business, I've always come away from their shows feeling happy or emotionally fulfilled and many of their shows I've watched are among my favourites, including Haruhi, the one that properly got me into anime. And even if that weren't the case, this is a tragedy that has taken so many talented people within the industry. It's turning into Japan's Grenfell and it's destroyed so much, these people and their art were loved by so many around the world. The industry as a whole will take some time to recover from this.

Donations have been pouring in with a gofundme set up by their North American partner Sentai, but I'm going to support them directly, and buy some of their digital art from their site (https://kyoani.shop-pro.jp/), quick, no hassle to anyone and the money should go straight to them.

Posted by: coi 18th July 2019, 01:47 PM

This is really awful to hear. Kyoto Animation have been so influential to so many people, particularly with A Silent Voice, one of the first anime films I watched and a really well made one as well! To see the offices on fire, knowing at least 26 are dead and 36 are in hospital, is saddening. A tragedy and a major shock for the anime industry.

Posted by: Envoirment 18th July 2019, 04:36 PM

That's so sad! They have produced some great anime and had more in the works. The death toll is now up to 33. Just devastating not only for the industry, but for all the deceased's friends and family.

Posted by: Brett-Butler 18th July 2019, 05:05 PM

Absolutely horrific thing to happen, not just for anime fans, but for Japan itself. With 33 confirmed dead (and unfortunately still due to rise even more), this is now the biggest mass killing in the country since the end of World War II, so it is an unprecedented tragedy for the country.

I've been familiar with the output of Kyoto Animation for as long as I've watched anime. "Lucky Star" was one of the first anime series that I watched from start to finish, and I have always had a soft spot for "Nichijou" (I even have a mug of it). I've also had "A Silent Voice" on my Netflix queue for a while, and given the tragic news, I will have to watch it this weekend.

Posted by: Iz~ 19th July 2019, 02:45 AM

I loved Nichijou when I watched it earlier this year. Such positive, imaginative and adorable comedy. Got to be up there with the best of this decade. I watched A Silent Voice last year and also loved it.

So many of their works have been on my list of things to watch for some time, Lucky Star, Clannad, Amagi Brilliant Park, Hibike Euphonium to name a few. I've started watching the second season of K-On now, as I only watched the first season a couple of years ago, and it's all so pretty

Posted by: Brett-Butler 3rd August 2019, 04:33 PM

Well, after letting it languish on my Netflix queue for far too long, I finally got around to watching "Your Lie In April", and now I wish I had seen it earlier. It has instantly got a "10" rating for me, which is the first series in a long time to please me so much. The last episode was an absolute emotional rollercoaster, near perfect in every way. Although I was aware of the major twist (that Kaori dies), I wasn't aware of the final revelation, that Kaori had fallen in love with Arima when she was 5, and the reason that she lied about liking Ryota in order to save Tsubaki's feelings, which really hit me emotionally. I haven't thought about my favourite series in some time, but I have a feeling that "Your Lie In April" could end up being a contender of my favourite series of all-time.

Posted by: Brett-Butler 11th August 2019, 10:33 AM

So a few weeks in and I've settled on what I'm watching for this season. Aside from the continuing Fruits Basket, my watch-list consists of:

Dr Stone - few of you have already picked this up, which is unsurprising as it's been of of the biggest shonen manga series since "My Hero Academia". Now that we've got a lot of the setting and character-establishing episodes out of the way, it looks like we're starting to get into what is likely to be the main storyline of the series - the conflict between creating a world of technological advancement or a simpler, purer world that eschews the modern world.

How Heavy Are The Dumbbells You Lift? - I doubt I would have picked up on this series if it weren't for my own late-onset discovery of fitness. A quasi-educational anime, the show is about a girl who after being made fun of about her weight & eating habits (although when her stats are shown on-screen, her weight would be considered normal by Western standards, but I digress), she decides to join a gym, where alongside her muscle-obsessed classmate, her boxing friend, and her cosplaying teacher, she learns how to get into shape. Whilst it's primarily about teaching the audience how to work out (there's several demonstrations throughout each episode), it's also a very funny slice-of-life comedy, with running jokes including breaking the 4th wall, and the trainer Machio, who will literally burst out of his clothes at random intervals to show off his muscles.

Is It Wrong To Try To Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? - "the string" is back. 2nd series of the dungeon-based fantasy series, which gets straight into the action with a war-game between the houses of the goddess Hestia & the god Apollo. If you enjoyed the antics of Bell, Hestia etc from the first series, then you should enjoy this one as well. If not, well, there's others out there.

Do You Love Your Mom and Her Two-Hit Multi-Target Attacks? - with so many isekai series coming out of Japan at the moment, you have to find a unique angle to stand out, which this one does. Masato is offered a chance by the government to be sucked into a game world to test it from the inside, much to his delight. However, when he arrives, he realises that not only has his mother been brought along for the ride, she is much stronger than he is. Hilarity ensues.

Posted by: Iz~ 11th August 2019, 11:40 PM

Wow, our watch list is almost the same. Just swap Dungeon S2 out (I watched the first few episodes of S1 a while back and wasn't really a fan) for Vinland Saga and we're good.

Dr. Stone is currently leading as my favourite, proper great shonen backstory stuff (and backed by REAL SCIENCE) although Vinland Saga isn't far behind.

Dumbbells is an excellent cute girl show and I'm using it as motivation to work out because that sort of stuff actually works. Really nice characters and I look forward to going through it to the end, I'm a little behind right now but maybe once all my holidays are over I'll use it as a launching point to go work out in the gym.

Mum Isekai is... I have mixed feelings on it. On the one hand it's very funny seeing the mum embarrass her worthless 'factory model isekai protagonist' son wherever possible, but on the other, there was a scene near the end of the second episode that I had to skip through and I really don't want it to be that kind of show yet some part of it is going to be.

Beyond that, if I pick up anything extra from this cour, it'll probably be O Maidens In Your Savage Season as I've heard good things about that being a more 'true-to-life' teenage drama than most anime.

Also it was excellent reading your thoughts on Your Lie In April, I haven't thought about it for quite a while but it really was a great show with little else like it.

Posted by: Brett-Butler 19th September 2019, 06:04 PM

My thoughts every time I try to read a post in the Brexit thread:



So yes, I did enjoy the first 12 episodes of Carole & Tuesday that Netflix put out a few weeks ago. Given that Shinichiro Watanabe's previous series' have been characterised by his solid use of music, it's surprising that this is his first one where the music is the main driver of the story. It's because of this that the story works - I didn't like the songs that Carole & Tuesday wrote in the first few episodes, until it hit me that these songs are what 16-year-olds who have never written music before would produce, which made me appreciate them a lot more, even if they're not my cup of tea. "Hold Me Now" is an undoubted banger though, it's the best song The Buggles never recorded. I also like all the references to real musicians made during the show, even up-to-date ones that aren't necessarily mainstream - the character of Cybelle is obviously based of Christine & The Queens for example. Looking forward to seeing what happens once Netflix puts the remaining episodes up.

Posted by: Envoirment 28th September 2019, 11:41 PM

I've just finished Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba and it's been such a great series. It gives me major Hunter x Hunter/Full Metal Alchemist vibes in terms of how much I've enjoyed it/its potential - as well as its dark storyline and themes. Episode 19 in particular had one of the best fight scenes I've seen in a while. The art style is beautiful as well. I'm very happy that a movie sequel to the anime has been announced and cannot wait to watch it! Certainly my stand out series of 2019 so far.

Posted by: Izzy 29th September 2019, 01:42 PM

I have been hearing very great things about Demon Slayer, especially this cour, it was a bit more subdued in the spring but everyone's been talking about it this summer. I look forward to picking it up in the future, especially as it's animated by ufotable, who made the absolutely gorgeous Fate/Zero and Fate/Stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works. Probably my favourite anime studio for action although WIT have been challenging them in that regard lately with Attack On Titan and Vinland Saga.

I've been trying to keep up with Carole & Tuesday over the last few months and I completely agree Brett, I didn't think the first songs from C&T were particularly good, but they have continued growing from what I've seen and I bet by the end of the 24-episode run they'll be there. Must get back to it now it's on Netflix.

also I've been casually crying at Clannad (excellent teen drama from the 00s) and crying/laughing at Non Non Biyori (comedy in the countryside from 2013) a lot lately.

~

Fall season starts in 2 days - unlike this very good summer, I have no idea what I'll be watching yet. Well, aside from the obvious of continuing Vinland and Dr Stone, and My Hero Academia S4. So I might actually have plenty, especially because as ever I have some things to finish off from the summer season. But I'll be keeping an eye out in case a hidden gem emerges.

Posted by: Brett-Butler 29th September 2019, 04:17 PM

Non Non Biyori is the only anime that I ever watched based solely on the strength of the band that composed the opening themes (nano.RIPE, whom I've entered into Buzzjack-related contests on occasion), and one that I rather enjoyed. A relaxing slice-of-life comedy that made me want to spend some time in rural Japan (up until the point I realised that the chances of them knowing even basic English was minute, and the chances of me learning enough Japanese to get by was even less likely). Would love to travel on one of those small trains.



Yes, it's mainly returning anime for me this season, with Doctor Stone & My Hero Academia the main ones. I'm also delighted that there is a new series of Chihayafuru, about a player of a competitive Japanese card/poetry sport called Karuta. The last series was in 2013, so didn't think we'd get another one, so absolutely delighted to see more from it. There's also a 3rd series of Psycho-Pass, but as it's an Amazon exclusive *shakes fist at Bezos* I won't be watching it straight away. As for the new stuff, I'll probably wait for the first episode reviews to come in before deciding to pick any of it up.

Posted by: Envoirment 30th September 2019, 05:53 PM

For the upcoming season I'm quite interested in No Guns Life. It's produced by madhouse so that's a plus usually and the plot seems a little weird/different.

Posted by: Izzy 1st October 2019, 01:17 AM

I managed, on my second-last day there, to get on a rather rural train heading out of Kyoto to the mountain village above! The village at the top wasn't quite the beautiful open plan flat plain that anime like Non Non Biyori and Higurashi make look so attractive, it was more of a village leading up to a shrine but at parts it did feel a bit like I was briefly in rural Japan.

It's a wonderful comedy, I'd agree, it makes it looks like the most wonderful chill place to spend some time in the country, and a cool OP yes.

I'd consider picking up Psycho Pass S3 but I still haven't gotten around to S2 because I kept hearing awful things about it and it's been a while such that I'd probably want to rewatch the brilliant Season 1 first. Maybe I'll try and hear if S3 turns out awful or good.

Posted by: Envoirment 13th October 2019, 10:57 PM

I've justed watched Chihayafuru seasons 1 & 2. I was pleasantly surprised and instantly hooked by them. I've learnt the third season will start in a week or so, 6 years after the second - which I am very excited about! It's a "sport" type anime about a card game called Karuta. It honestly surprised me at how good it was. It's been on my to watch list for a while but never really gave it much of a look when choosing what next to watch. It has some really great tension building and some very big highs. I would definitely recommend it to anyone who hasn't watched it.

Posted by: Tones and Iz 14th October 2019, 01:36 AM

Seen some people posting about Chihayafuru, I'm going to have to get round to it eventually.

I just went through O Maidens In Your Savage Season from last season very quickly. Very strong coming-of-age romance/sex comedy series, 5 great main characters, doesn't shy away from potentially controversial topics and has some really cute main relationships.

Posted by: Brett-Butler 14th October 2019, 10:28 PM

Yay! I watched the 1st and 2nd series when they aired back in 2012/13 (see earlier in this thread), so glad you finally picked it up, just in time for the new series. How long did it take you to get through all 48 or so episodes? I'm interested in what happens in series 3, as there was something that was hinted at in the 2nd season that may come to the forefront in this run - whilst Chihaya has desperately wanted to be reunited playing karuta with both Arata & Taichi like when they were kids, it is clear that Taichi doesn't want to be involved in a future than involves Arata in any way. I remember that being very explicitly signposted in one of Taichi's inner monologues, so I wouldn't be surprised if it's going to be a key conflict in this series.

Posted by: Envoirment 15th October 2019, 03:37 PM

It took me a couple weeks, but I didn't watch every day. I have a feeling Taichi vs Arata is going to happen at some point for a Master qualifier. Taichi seems a lot more invested in Karuta now and he just reached Class A at the end of the second season. I can't wait to see how far Ayase goes in the Queen qualifier now that her hand is fully healed. It's going to get so good! I really want to read the manga, but going to hold off now I know season 3 is very near. I'm hoping there'll be some sort of plot twist and Ayase is actually a lesbian I don't want her to have to pick between Arata or Taichi

Posted by: Brett-Butler 1st November 2019, 08:09 PM

Exciting news for UK anime fans who want to see more mainstream prominence for the genre, as Channel 4 has bought the rights to over https://www.channel4.com/press/news/100-hours-anime-blast-all-4. The first bunch of titles they've launched include Cowboy Bebop, Tokyo Ghoul & the first series of Inuyasha, with Kill La Kill & Sword Art Online to follow at a later date.

I don't think these will be shown on Channel 4, or any of their sister channels, but pleased to see them picking this up nonetheless.

Posted by: Envoirment 10th November 2019, 02:39 PM

I've just picked up Welcome to Demon School! Iruma-kun from this season. It's made me laugh quite a few times and is just so ridiculous. It's about Suzuki Iruma who's parents sell him to a demon. That demon then makes him his grandson and he enrolls in a demon school. He ends up getting into a lot of trouble despite his attempts at not standing out, but he always comes out on top. It's currently 6 epsidoes in and I can't wait to see how the season turns out.

Also, I've been watching the third season of Chihayafuru and it's so SO so good! It really gets into the thick of it from the get go. It also helps that there were two weeks in a row that showed 2 episodes. The third season is definitely setting up to being the best seaosn so far. Which I find hard to believe. From season to season, it gets better and better.

Posted by: Brett-Butler 26th November 2019, 09:55 PM

Just back from the cinema seeing Promare, the first feature film from Studio Trigger (Kill La Kill, Little Witch Academia). It was absolutely fantastic - luscious visuals and a story that is very much in the vibes of Kill La Kill, there's so much going on on the screen at all times that you can't take it all in. Worth seeing if you get the chance.

Posted by: Tones and Iz 27th November 2019, 01:05 AM

I've heard so many people talking about Promare. Need to see it!

Just yesterday got around to finishing the anime version of Made In Abyss, a fantastic imaginative fantasy story from a couple of years ago (one of the most unique fantasy stories I've seen in anime full stop), a little in the same space as The Promised Neverland actually.

Which is good timing as a sequel film for that first season of the anime will air early next year.

as for fall shows I'm only watching Houkago Saikoro Dice Club (fun cute show about board games) and the new MHA. Want to do that thing where I finish off all the shows I'm currently watching by the end of the year.

Posted by: Iz~ 1st February 2020, 12:13 PM

So a month in and these are the shows I'm watching in the first anime season of the 2020s, in order of priority:

New shows that I've watched an episode at least of so far:

Rikei ga Koi ni Ochita no de Shoumei shitemita. - otherwise known by the awful but hilarious English title of Science Fell In Love So I Tried To Prove It, or more shortly as just Rikekoi, this I would mark as the spiritual successor to Kaguya-Sama last year, but with a hefty dose of teaching its viewers the scientific method at the same time.

Two absolute nerds in postgrad are clearly attracted to each other, and being 'science-types', instead of being normal and getting it on, start a grand experiment to prove that they are in love with each other, involving the rest of the lab with them. It's a pretty hilarious comedy, it does depend on how funny you find the central gag of smart people being adorably socially clueless but I'm loving it so far, it's very wholesome.

Re:Zero - Starting Life In Another World's reairing of Season 1 - To prepare for Season 2 of this masterpiece finally getting a release in April, season 1 is being rereleased as a director's cut in 13 hour-long episodes with promises of new content towards the end of it, so I'm using the opportunity to rewatch it and I'm delighted to say that it's still one of the best shows released in the past few years, such complex characters and Emilia and Subaru especially are brilliantly vulnerable young people in way over their heads.


Eizouken ni wa Te wo Dasu na! - Done by the team of Science SARU and Masaaki Yuasa who did the very critically acclaimed Ping Pong (which I need to watch some day) and Devilman Crybaby, this has been getting a stonking reception. Three girls create a club in their incredibly weirdly designed school and the entire series seems to be a love letter to the art of making animation. The way this one does incredible things with the setting is mindblowing, creativity oozes out of this show.

Toilet-Bound Hanako-kun - A bit of a more straight anime comedy on the side of school ghost stories, the last time I watched a proper one of these was Dusk Maiden Of Amnesia, and I am feeling it, Hanako is not what I expected, a very interesting character, I'm interested to see where it goes after watching the first episode yesterday.

Am thinking of possibly picking up Somali to Mori no Kamisama (an iyashikei like NNB from what I've heard) and In/Spectre but I'm not sure, I have the time right now but this many airing shows is unusual for me.

~

But then on old shows I watched Baccano and Ano Hana very quickly earlier in the month, a fun Americana adventure story for the former and a really lovely pretty artwork + story for the latter, creating my first avatar that's not random Twitter art for a while x

And then the big one is that I was finishing up the first season of Jojo's Bizarre Adventure and got talking to my stepbrother about it and he encouraged me to continue even though I wasn't a huge fan of the first season, finding it a little too slow.

So I started on Stardust Crusaders (JJBA Part 3 but season 2 because the first two parts were covered in season 1) and it's just completely different. In a great way, I'm really getting invested in the journey and the fact that we now have Stands is so much more interesting, it's made me watch 11 episodes in short succession, I reckon I'm on board the Jojo train all the way now and I still have so many episodes left before I catch up

Also of interest to music fans, if you weren't aware, the ending theme for the first season of Stardust Crusaders is none other than The Bangles' 'Walk Like An Egyptian', which makes a really weird but pleasant change from the standard OP/ED stuff.

~

by the way, spring season is looking STACKED, sequel seasons for Re:Zero (as mentioned), Kaguya-sama, Oregairu that I'll definitely be watching and a big load of sequel seasons for shows I haven't got around to watching yet like Fruits Basket and SAO's Alicization arcs.

Posted by: Brett-Butler 19th February 2020, 07:10 PM

Not the most exciting cour for me, alongside the continuing series Chihayafuru, Welcome To Demon School, Iruma-kun & My Hero Academia, I've been watching the new series of volleyball series Haikyu!! (still annoyed they changed its bumpers), and the stylistically different ghost story Hanako-kun and Interspecies Reviewers.

Posted by: I. :II: z 22nd February 2020, 05:38 PM

me too on that last one it has no right to be as entertaining as it is.

I love this cour though, I feel a little unusual out of those I've seen but I like that it's full of quieter new shows that aren't sequels, particularly as the rest of the year seems filled to the brim with them.

Hanako's certainly a good example of that, I loved episode 6 a couple of weeks ago. My only criticism is that it feels sometimes that I'm not watching an anime adaptation so much as watching an animated manga but the story and the characters make up for that, and I don't see that sort of thing too often.

plus my Jojo addiction is getting out of hand, six months for me to complete the first season, and then I finished the twice as long part 3 in just under 3 weeks and I'm well into part 4 (Diamond Is Unbreakable, complete with more music references like 'Crazy Diamond' and the ending theme being Savage Garden) already, I'll be caught up about a year quicker than I expected at this rate.

Also I'm definitely going to start Chihayafuru season 1 very soon, people have worn me down enough.

Posted by: I. :II: z 10th March 2020, 06:50 AM

Re:Zero season 2 has been delayed to July Most awaited anime season for me in years and the coronavirus had to hit it. I'd rather it not be rushed but still, this sucks. Hope Kaguya and Oregairu are still alright.

Posted by: J00ps 18th March 2020, 11:25 PM

Anyone else watching Magia Record?

Posted by: Envoirment 19th March 2020, 12:46 AM

I've been meaning to continue watching Chihayafuru season 3, but keep getting distracted.


I'ved watched the entire Black Lagoon series - it was really good and better than I expected!

I gave in and finally watched Vinland Saga. I binge watched it in a couple days - it was amazing. From what I gather, season 2 won't be coming out until 2021 at the earliest, but I need it now.

I also watched Mushikago no Cagaster (Cagaster of an Insect Cage). It's a netflix original and it I enjoyed it more than I expected.

Shame Re:Zero season 2 is delayed!

Unforunately my to watch list has been growing much faster than I've been watching for the last few months. So many series to watch or coming up that I'm excited for!

Posted by: EternalBlue 19th March 2020, 06:24 AM

eagerly waiting for attack on titan season 4!!!

Posted by: I. :II: z 19th March 2020, 11:04 AM

Vinland Saga S2 and Attack On Titan S4 I don't expect to hear much from for a while, but however long it takes, I'll be ready.

That's something that was a little further down my list even though I'm a relatively new Madoka fan, I only watched the original series last year and from what little I've heard about it this is something quite different? How is it?

up to Jojo part 5: Golden Wind and it just gets more camp . LOVED the end of part 4 though, so, so much. Best part. The sad thing is I 'only' have 30-ish more episodes until I need Part 6 to be announced, I really never expected to become a Jojo stan hungry for more after I found the first season so average.

Posted by: J00ps 19th March 2020, 07:59 PM

Mixed, tone wise. Comes off as a slightly lighter & softer redo but has moments where it threatens to be more similar to the original. I'm not sure what I think of it.

It gives me a bit of a vibe of Steins;Gate ie. based off of a harem game, but that's pretty weird bc afaik it isn't I'm hoping it levels up into something a bit darker soon but it's hard to say.

If you like Madoka (& are sequestered still a bunch) you might like the fanfic continuation https://www.fanfiction.net/s/7406866/1/To-the-Stars. Its complex & one of my favourite things I've ever read.

Posted by: I. :II: z 27th March 2020, 05:01 AM

I've saved that and will try to give it a go at some point.

This great updated recommendations guide (marketed for those with a lot of free time due to quarantine) just showed up on reddit, it's a bit large so just the link: https://i.redd.it/39yc055xk1p41.png

Sections for all, including anime newbies, upbeat, chill and family - and that family section of the guide is good for anyone, I recently started Cardcaptor Sakura because... why not with this time, it's good.

Winter 2020 is coming to an end, I think Eizouken finished fairly strongly in particular. I'm also getting very very excited for Kaguya season 2, new promo image, it's going to be glorious.

Posted by: Brett-Butler 27th March 2020, 08:29 AM

The Konosuba film is now on Crunchyroll, which is worth watching if you enjoyed the series, especially if your favourite character is Megumin, as she's the main focus of it.

Posted by: J00ps 30th March 2020, 04:52 PM

Cheers Iz, great list!

I'm just catching up on PsychoPass now in prep for S3

Posted by: Brett-Butler 6th April 2020, 08:21 PM

Decided to make a start on JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. Nearly burst out laughing when I one of the characters introduced himself as REO Speedwagon

Posted by: I. :II: z 7th April 2020, 06:05 AM

Yes!!

It only gets worse (or better, definitely better) on that front from there.

Posted by: Envoirment 12th April 2020, 12:10 AM

Been on a bit of an anime binge recently.

7 SEEDS! - Interesting story, although feels a bit all over the place at times. It's about groups of people who get cryopreserved to repopulate the earth in the future. There's some dark twists and turns and overall I quite enjoyed it.

Black Butler: Book of Circus - I've been meaning to get into the Black Butler series and heard this was the best of their series. It's about a boy who makes a deal with a demon to save his life and kill those who did him wrong. It was certainly very enjoyable, although felt quite short (it was only 10 episodes).

Carole & Tuesday - Finally binged watch this. It's so wholesome! The music was better than I was expected and the overall storyline was solid.

Howl's Moving Castle - It's been on my list for a long time but finally watched it. Such a great film - studio ghibli don't disappoint!

Chiyahafuru season 3 - Finished watching it - yet another great season for the series. I cannot wait for a future 4th season. *_*

Jie Yao - A short chinese series about two polar opposite people, a gangsta type and a rich kid type. The story is quite simple, although it touches on some nice topics - one of which I wasn't expecting. It's borderline boys love, although there isn't any kissing/sex. It's on youtube fully subbed if anyone's interested. I really enjoyed it for what it was. I hope the novel it's based off gets translated one day so I can read the rest of the story.

Posted by: Helen ✂️ 18th April 2020, 02:11 PM

Finished the 1st series of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure (covering the first 2 generations), and am about 8 episodes into the 2nd season. Have enjoyed it so far, and I agree it has got better the more it gets into it, whilst also upping the campness by 100. It has more violence than I'm used to, even for anime, but it's so ridiculously over-the-top that you can let it slide - although the 1st season did have one of the most shocking scenes I've seen, where Dio promises that he will spare a woman's baby if she lets him turn her into a vampire, only for the woman to disembowel the baby herself once she's transformed. Also love the use of Western music in the end credits (I never skip the end credits of season 2 as the use of "Walk Like An Egyptian" is so perfect with the ending sequence), and the use of music-related names has only increased (although it seems that there's a few that have had their names changed in the subtitles for presumably legal reasons - J Geils becoming Centrefold for example).

And whilst I'm not normally one for worrying about "problematic" elements in anime, there were a few moments that didn't suit well with me. The main one is having a soldier of the Nazi party in the late 30s being an ally to the protagonist. Even if he is supposed to have somewhat reformed during the series, finding out in the epilogue that he continued to serve Weimer during WW2 just didn't sit well with me. I also don't think evoking the Lockerbie Disaster a few episodes later, claiming it was the result of a Stand user, was a good writing choice either, particularly when it could've been removed from the script without ruining the plot.

But apart from those quibbles, still enjoying it. Think there's still at least 100 episodes for me to get through.

Posted by: Linda 🙋‍♀ 18th April 2020, 02:54 PM

What is interesting with the music references legality stuff is that you can still hear exactly what their names are meant to be in most cases from the audio track, so it's just the subtitles being done by a Western company that has the copyright troubles. But in all other respects the music stuff only elevates the series, I also couldn't skip 'Walk Like An Egyptian', nor any of the subsequent offerings for endings (particularly part 4's and the second one for part 5).

I think those problematic elements you mention are early part anomalies and don't have counterparts in later parts my pick for early problematic element was that the first female member of the main Joestar line was 'too weak to control her Stand' so all of part 3's plot is dedicated to saving her, but Araki learns to write female characters later on so penance done. Though that's not on the same level as Nazis, which helped make my go through the end of part 2 a bit slow, and I didn't pick up that Lockerbie was referenced with that Stand on the airplane, though again, really early days for Stands, they get so much better and more creative the further through the story you go..

Posted by: Brett-Butler 2nd May 2020, 11:34 AM

Just finished the "Stardust Crusaders" series, and that series in itself has earned the very rare 10 out of 10 for me. There were a few things that I wasn't too keen on, such as a few characters whose presence didn't add anything to the plot (I didn't see the point of Anne in terms of the plot, thought she would end up being important to the plot in some way, but this didn't happen. Also with Iggy, the character seemed to be a bad attempt to add comic relief, and even with his redemptive arc near the end, its presence didn't really work with me). Jotaro was also my least favourite of the JoJos to date, although given that he was paired off with my favourite, Joseph, it didn't dampen my enjoyment. I also surprised by how much I enjoyed the comic episodes, like Oingo & Boingo's escapades, and the episode where Polnareff regresses to a child. And it seemed like a fitting end to the original trilogy, with the Joestar's battles against Dio finally coming to a close.

I've started on "Diamond Is Unbreakable", which I don't think I'm going to enjoy as much. It left a sour taste in the 1st episode, when it's revealed that Josuke, the JoJo of this generation, is the illegitimate child of Joseph Joestar. I can understand the narrative reason why - it takes place 10 years after the last series, so it was the only way they could have someone from the Joestar bloodline in their late teens in that year as Jotaro would be too young to have a son that age & the last series made it clear that Jotaro is an only child. But I just don't believe that from what we've known about the character since he's featured that Joseph could betray Holly like that. I'm sure there'll be some explanation as the show progresses, but for the moment it sits as quite uncomfortably in the back of my mind.

Posted by: Linda 🙋‍♀ 2nd May 2020, 02:19 PM

Mostly agree with your assessment of Stardust Crusaders, I loved Iggy's one arc and wish he'd gotten to 'have a voice' a little bit more as otherwise he was just a little unsubstantial a presence, but yes, plenty of great episodes.

Diamond Is Unbreakable is my favourite part so I hope it picks up for you. It has a much more homely and light-hearted feel to it compared to everything else, though it's not without its serious and dark moments, and the writing really gets good once the town of Morioh is more established as a setting I don't think the illegitimacy is a particularly strong plot point, and neither do most fans, but in most respects it's a really minor part of the story, though I think it is addressed again at some point later, there's not quite the same level of family focus that the other parts had.

Posted by: Brett-Butler 2nd May 2020, 08:08 PM

Interestingly, this current anime season marks 10 years since I started watching anime on a week-by-week basis as it came out in Japan. I'd watched anime before that, but usually it was an entire series at a time - it was this point that it ended up becoming a habit where I would watch it as soon as it was subbed. Looking back, the series that I watched that season in 2010 were Giant Killing (a football series about a Japanese manager who returns from successfully leading a non-league club to the FA Cup 5th round to manage a struggling Japanese Premier League team), Kaichou Maid-Sama (a shojo series about an uptight student body president who tries to hide her secret job working in a maid cafe), and Working!!!, a slice-of-life comedy that I've continued to enjoy as well as its two subsequent series & spin-offs, even if its main character comes off a lot more creepy the more I think about him. A few other series from that cour I ended up watching later on - I watched the off-beat comedy Arakawa Under The Bridge at the end of the year alongside its summer season once its 2nd half was released, and earlier this year I finally got around to watching Angel Beats, whose original concept put me off when I first heard of it, but watching it now it wasn't too bad.

As for spring 2020, I'm watching the 2nd season of the revived Fruits Basket, alongside the 2nd season of Kaguya-sama (Chika is still best girl. Sorry, Iz). And one newbie:

Wave, Listen To Me! - this one appealed to me, mainly because it revolves around characters closer to my age than the usual anime, and because it's set around a radio station. It's about an aimless woman in her late 20s, who after getting drunk in a night out, finds out that her drunken ramblings have been broadcast on a local radio station, which leads to an offer of her own show when it becomes inexplicably popular. It's tonally similar to "Recovery of an MMO Junkie" in terms of its protagonist whose trying to find purpose in life at that point in her life, although the protagonist in this one is more of a realist and a cynic than MMO.

Posted by: Linda 🙋‍♀ 3rd May 2020, 01:30 PM

Wow that is a long time, I believe summer this year will mark 5 years for me doing the same (where I believe School Live! was the first show I started watching week-to-week, though it also began a tradition of me bingeing a show at the end of seasons, which I did for summer 2015 with Charlotte (which still is represented on my little-seen Buzzjack profile picture that I'm never changing)).

That is if there's anything left for summer.

I am watching Kaguya as well of course, and Kaguya just gets cuter and cuter each episode and it's making me retweet every bit of Kaguya art I see, quite apart from every episode so far having me engrossed by the way it finds new ways to reach ridiculous over-dramatic heights.

What with so many things being cancelled or delayed I'm not currently watching anything else that's airing (mostly using the time to complete lots of my plan to watch list) but I'm eying up one to start once there's a few more episodes out as I've heard its production is complete and some decent things about it, Sing "Yesterday" For Me, which is being done by Doga Kobo, and seems like a bit more of a serious more adult romance take from a studio more often known for its cute moe leanings.

Posted by: Brett-Butler 21st May 2020, 07:10 PM

Finished watching the final "to-date" series of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. I enjoyed "Diamond Is Unbreakable" even though it wasn't as good as "Stardust Crusaders". It had a pretty creepy main villain, and once I got used to the change of pace, I quite enjoyed it.

"Golden Wind" on the other hand was a bit of a let-down. How there could be a JoJo in this time period was even more convoluted than in "Stardust Crusaders" - conceived by Dio whilst he inhabited a Joestar's body in the 80s? Really that's the best they could come up with? And they just referenced it once and left it hang, as if it didn't have any bearing on the plot. I also didn't like that it barely had any links to the other series and other JoJos, bar brief appearances from Jotaro & Koichi in the first few episodes, and the ending felt rather rushed. It was okay, but disappointing compared to what came before it.

In terms of ranking, "Stardust Crusaders" is my favourite, followed by "Diamond Is Unbreakable", "Battle Tendency", "Phantom Blood", then "Golden Wind". Will be interesting to see if/when "Stone Ocean" gets an anime made of it. Given the timing differences between the other series, the middle of 2021 is likely.

Posted by: Izzy 29th June 2020, 10:11 AM

^I'd put Golden Wind on a par with Stardust Crusaders actually, I loved the Italian theme and Trish, Bruno and Narancia in particular were great characters, though King Crimson was a bit too much of a mindf***.

Kaguya-sama season 2 has finished, it was glorious, and I think it's actually the first time I've handed out two different TV seasons of the same anime a 10/10 (most of my other favourites are a 10 and a 9). Beautiful, glorious, heartwarming and funny show. Needs to have a season 3 and given how well it carried the spring season, I'm at least hopeful.

Also I have started Sing Yesterday For Me, it's a very good slower and well-animated romance story, an unusual take from 'normally the cute girl studio' Doga Kobo. Heard it's had an ending with mixed reactions but I haven't got there yet, the ride there is very relaxing. Complements my recent falling in love with Aria, otherwise known as the classic anime where girls just paddle about in gondolas on a Martian Venice with cats all day quite well.

For summer, the other two big ones I wanted to see in Spring but got delayed, Re:Zero season 2 and Oregairu season 3 are the ones I'm planning on picking up. Some of the descriptions for other airing shows look bad even for anime, I feel like the limited production in the industry has left only the ecchi studios operating at full speed.

Posted by: Iz~ 30th September 2020, 07:00 AM

Fall season starts tomorrow with my main headline being Higurashi - When They Cry*! Remake of the fantastic, thrilling and mystery-laden visual novel that I'm posting about to anyone who'll listen and many who don't want to.

If I pick up a second seasonal at the moment I think it'll be Tonikaku Kawaii (sounds like a decent romance anime), but I want to hear how it goes. And I've got Rent-A-Girlfriend from summer that sounds like an interesting show - the precis being a guy hires someone to be his girlfriend but they end up being tied together in... misunderstandings and well, I love my misunderstandings.

Summer was a bit of a write-off season, still need to catch up with Re:Zero (which is doing things rather well) and Oregairu S3 (which has yet to start really doing things at the point I'm at).

Been focusing on, since I last posted in this thread, most notably, finishing We Never Learn (misunderstandings the anime part 2, though it had a good message about following your heart when choosing what to study) from last year, finishing the lovely SoL Aria, continuing the incredibly funny and quite powerful Gintama, and the trope codifying Azumanga Daioh, which is from 2001 and is quite literally the original cute girl anime - and incredibly good because of it even if it is just telling the story of the rather ordinary lives of girls in high schools, there are some really good characters in there (Osaka and Sakaki especially).

reading that all back and oh my god all I watch is comedy anime + occasional romance now lmao - this is because it's the hardest to get wrong

*translator's note: Higurashi means cicadas

Posted by: WhoOdyssey 30th September 2020, 06:35 PM

Just watched the trailer for Higurashi, looks brilliant!

I'm making an effort to get back into anime this season

Posted by: Brett-Butler 30th September 2020, 07:56 PM

I've been watching quite a bit of anime over the past few months, including Dorohedoro , about a man with a lizard head who's on a mission to find the sorcerer who cursed him, the 3rd season of Aggretsuko (just as good as the first 2, with one episode going darker than I ever expected), and the end of the 2nd season of Fruits Basket (there's going to be 1 more season to tie all the loose ends up).

Also been going back over some classic series. Finally got around to watching K-On!, which is a great music-based slice-of-life, Yuki Yuna Is a Hero, a magical girl series that it's better to go into knowing as little about it as possible, and Gurren Lagan, which was Studio Trigger before Studio Trigger existed.

For a good double bill of anime to alternate between, check out BNA: Brand New Animal & BEASTARS. The former is from Studio Trigger, set in a world where a half-human half animal species called Beastmen live alongside humans in their own city. A tanuki Beastman moves to the city after previously being a human to understand what caused her change. It's more Little Witch Academia than Kill La Kill, and it's great as look as you don't try to read too much in to it. BEASTARS is also set in a world of humanoid animals, with a slightly more mature edge, where the main character is a wolf who begins to fall in love with a rabbit, despite his bestial urges trying to compel him to kill her.

Also enjoyed the first half of The Great Pretender, a series about con artists who only target the worst of the worst (extra points for its closing song being the Freddie Mercury song of the same name), and I did enjoy Rent-A-Girlfriend - not a classic, but enjoyable enough. The best of last season by a mile has to be Deca-Dense. I won't tell you anything about it apart from the fact it has a steam-punk setting, but once you're a few episodes in you'll understand why.

Posted by: Iz~ 2nd October 2020, 12:27 AM

Higurashi's first episode didn't disappoint so I'm happy, great to see all my favourites with new and updated animation - and they used the old OP song from Eiko Shimamiya as well *.*

I've seen Beastars relatively recently, that's been getting a fair bit of traction, very decent allegorical stuff with an interesting world. I've been sort of tempted to watch BNA for a while now but it keeps being put off, maybe once I decide I need another humanoid animal anime.

also yess that you managed to watch K-On!, that's just a perfect classic slice of life show, so strong.

Posted by: Brett-Butler 5th October 2020, 07:46 AM

So it looks like this season's anime that you need to watch knowing as little as possible before starting is Talentless Nana.

Posted by: Envoirment 5th October 2020, 07:38 PM

I haven't watched any anime since Dorohedoro at the end of May. I definitely need to get into the second season of Re:Zero. I really enjoyed the first one. Also interested in Tower of God. I also completely forgot how long my to watch list was - 262 series. I might start trying to whittle that down a bit. Although it never seems to get smaller.

Posted by: Iz~ 8th October 2020, 11:20 PM

Add Higurashi to that list of anime you shouldn't know much about, they've done a bait-and-switch. Still think it's okay for new people to join in (you'd just get a different experience of the mystery) but it looks like they're doing something halfway between a reboot and a sequel.

ryukishi07 and studio passione have just turned this from an appreciation rewatch into another wild ride

Posted by: J00psylicious 8th October 2020, 11:56 PM

Was anyone else watching the Digimon reboot? I've been dipping in and out

Posted by: WhoOdyssey 10th October 2020, 01:27 AM

I started Higurashu last week, haven't seen the original so now in not sure what to do

Posted by: Iz~ 10th October 2020, 01:43 AM

I would say, if you have any interest in seeing the old show (only 2 seasons and a 5-episode epilogue long) or reading the visual novels (excellent and my recommendation but obviously many hours long so not for everyone), go back and watch that now to experience the mystery as it first happened. The old show is still a good show and does the original VN story as much justice as you'd expect an adaptation of an insanely long book to do with two seasons to work with, just the graphics are slightly dated.

If on the other hand, you think it's something you'd never get around to, then continue with the new one. That's totally fine, not everyone has to experience media the same way and the showrunners definitely expected some new people to pick it up. No idea where this is going so it could be very interesting now.

(I have started reading the When They Cry sequel, Umineko, because of this, it's not a direct sequel by any means and has a completely different setting and characters, but there were some hints in the new Higurashi OP that references may be dropped so I'm going to try and get ahead of that)

Posted by: Envoirment 24th February 2021, 10:17 PM

I just caught up with the ongoing season of Jujutsu Kaisen. It's so good!

Posted by: Iz 💀 25th February 2021, 10:28 AM

I have heard great things about Jujutsu Kaisen, reminds me of Demon Slayer in that it'll be this very popular great thing that I will never get around to

Outside of AOT I'm in on the second half of Re:Zero which is giving me all the Emilia content I ever wanted, and Higurashi which, now it's definitely a continuation of the in-universe lore and not just a remake, is giving me everything I ever desired and validating my decision to make it about half of my online identity <3

Stacked season though, I'm noting down Dr Stone, Promised Neverland, Horimiya, Non Non Biyori, Beastars, Cells At Work, Yuru Camp, Wonder Egg Priority (there seems to be a lot of discourse going on about the Egg in particular, seems like it's come from nowhere to potentially be the next Madoka) as sequels or new shows to eventually get around to.

Posted by: Iz 💀 20th March 2021, 03:27 PM

just watched all 10 (current) episodes of Wonder Egg Priority in a single day.

very interesting show that focuses on some difficult subjects to tackle (including suicide, gender identity, idol worship), sometimes missing the mark a little but there's a good chemistry between the cast, nice to see some of the issues being acknowledged at all in an anime, and an uncertainty about the whole plot that makes it very enjoyable to watch and easy to binge.

also it does seem it's just one of many shows this season to unfortunately have major production troubles, which is a shame as it looks beautiful.

Posted by: olvs 25th March 2021, 03:48 PM

I'm watching Chihayafuru for the first time and it's surprinsingly entertained.

Posted by: Iz 💀 25th March 2021, 11:47 PM

I finished Chihayafuru Season 2 the other week. Wonderful, stunning show with a QUEEN* of a main character. Will start Season 3 soon.

*at least, she better be queen by the end

Posted by: Envoirment 31st March 2021, 06:30 PM

Season 3 is SO good for Chihayafuru. The best one so far. Hopefully we'll get a season 4 at some point. If we do it won't be for a few years though to have enough manga chapters to use.

Posted by: Iz 💀 11th April 2021, 12:27 PM

end of the first week of the spring season: I'm taking on two series that are looking enjoyable

a) Zombieland Saga second season: good first episode about coming up against musical troubles and fan resistance, to the point where I hope that the idol group of zombies that the show is set around take a Babymetal-esque approach to gaining fans and develop a strong unique identity.

b) Ijiranaide Nagatoro-san: I both love and hate her


very well animated character, though I think to enjoy the series you sorta need to be a masochist, which I will admit to being so sign me up

Posted by: Iz 💀 26th April 2021, 05:51 AM

episode 1



episode 3



episode 5: Senpai has been ejected. Senpai was not the imposter.

Posted by: Iz 💀 15th June 2021, 07:59 AM

bumping this to say that Uma Musume ("Horse Girls") may look like a throwaway show about cute horse girls but it is actually one of the greatest sports shows of all time.

horse racing fans (particularly those who've ever looked at Japanese races about two decades ago) should pay attention

Posted by: Envoirment 21st July 2021, 08:41 PM

Been on a bit of a binge recently. Got through the most recent AOT season and it was good. In fact I ended up continuing on via the manga and finishing it!

I'm finally delving into the fate series. Just watch Fate/Stay Night the 2006 anime and it was decent. The follow ups should be better I hope - unlimited blade works and heaven's blessing. Then Fate/Zero. Plus all the spin offs maybe.

I just binged through 86 - it finished airing in June. It was SO good. One of the more enjoyable series I've watch recently. Thankfully the second season comes out this year in the autumn as the ending cliff hanger was so evil!

Posted by: Iz 💀 8th August 2021, 11:31 AM

I will definitely rewatch Zero soon, it's high past time. And then maybe finally get around to watching the Heaven's Feel moviews which I passed by, I'm wary of getting too into it as it can seem a little endless and I'm currently on a long block from it since finishing Apocrypha in 2017.

Recently finished Vivy: Fluorite's Eye Song, which was very high quality sci-fi, and Rent-A-Girlfriend, which was very low quality but trashy fun about college relationship drama.

Also I was reminded that THIS event now has a trailer, apparently due out in December:



genuinely can't wait, the first female JoJo, and in a prison setting, I'd have read the manga but I'm really bad at doing that, it looks so good!

Posted by: Envoirment 24th August 2021, 01:07 AM

After looking into it, the main story for the fate series is stay night/zero/heaven's blessing. All the others are spin-offs, which from what I've read don't necessarily make sense lore-wise? So I'm sticking to the cannon series.

I've been watching a lot of anime recently. I watched Vivy too and loved it! It wasn't what I was expecting.

I took the plunge and watched Fruit Baskets all 3 seasons. Why did I hold out so long. It was so amazing. Made me cry a few times. And laugh, a lot.

I've also watched the 3 seasons of Golden Kamuy. Another I've been avoiding but was so good too. Each season got better and better. I really hope a 4th season is announced soon!

Another series I watched was ACCA: 13-ku Kansatsu-ka. It's been on my to watch list for a while and is actually a really interesting series. It's a political/mystery anime and I love the art style, mainly the way the eyes are drawn. It's quite different than the usual art style I so often see. The theme tune for the series was stuck in my head so hard too. It was really nice trying to figure out what's happening, who's on who's side etc. Some surprises thrown in as well.

I also got round to watching Somali and the Forest Spirit. Such a lovely, heartwarming series.

I watched Mobile Suit Gundam: Hathaway's Flash too. It's the first film in a three film series. It came out in June. I'm not normally a big gundam fan but the film was really good. Looking forward to the next two films, although their release dates haven't been announced yet.

I'm currently watching So I'm a Spider, So What? It's a fun series so far. Definitely quite a few generic elements, but it's not too intense/easy to watch. Some of the CGI used in the battles isn't the best, but it's OK. I'm about 1/3rd of the way through and it looks like things will get quite interesting in the next few epsiodes!

Posted by: Iz 💀 24th August 2021, 03:11 AM

Aye, the Stay Night timeline is based off of the visual novel, which has 3 routes (intended to be read in this order) that approach the same story in slightly different ways, Fate (the old 2006 series which wasn't the best adaptation and mixed in elements from the other routes as they didn't expect to be making any more, leaving poor Saber, whose focus route it is, without a solid anime adaptation), Unlimited Blade Works, which is the modern stay night TV series and focuses on Rin/Archer, and then Heaven's Feel, which has been anime adapted into movies and focuses on Sakura - although I'm yet to get around to the movies because of swearing off of Fate. Maybe one day I'll read the VN though it's quite hard to access outside of Japan, perhaps one for when I get fluent.

Zero just happens to be a very good prequel series/light novel that is directly attached to the main story enough that people consider it a canon part of it.

I will say I have heard decent things about the recent Fate Babylonia anime as well as the spinoff anime that focuses on an adult Waver (from Zero), and the stuff that's based off of Grand Order, the mobile gacha game seems at least internally consistent. It's suffered a bit from just allowing anyone to write stuff in the Fate setting and you do get all these copycats and anime focusing on minutiae all around the same basic concept and honestly exploring every part of a universe like that just to pump out another battle royale anime is overusing the concept a bit. And makes it confusing to anyone looking to try (to which I say, in case anyone else is reading this, just watch either UBW or Zero first and don't worry about which because they spoil each other and are both good regardless - though perhaps Zero second as it's a prequel and really benefits from the 'dread of inevitability' that you get when watching it - then watch the other and sticking to that canon is probably okay for the majority of people).

I'm working my way through the Evangelion Rebuilds right now so that I can catch up on 3.0+1.0 before I'm spoiled. Great, very symbolic movies.

Aside from Higurashi Sotsu that's about all I'm watching right now though, need to pick up some new ones. Heard very good things about Fruits Basket for example.

Posted by: Envoirment 27th August 2021, 06:54 PM

I need to work my way through the Evangelion series. I did get halfway through neon a couple months ago and was enjoying it but got distracted by life.

Fruits Basket is a total yes, do it! I had been sitting on whether I wanted to or not for a while and took the plunge after seeing the final season scored over 9 on my anime list. One thing I loved about the series was that it was complete - you won't have to wait for sequels or anything once you've finished/no cliffhangers.

Speaking of finished series, I've been meaning to try to get into Gintama after seeing the final chapters were finally adapted into a movie earlier this year. I've always picked it up for a few episodes before dropping it.

Posted by: Iz 💀 1st December 2021, 09:02 AM

gonna start my first anime for a little while later, as below:



hope it smashes the Netflix charts (as much as the sixth part of a long-running series can but it seems to be well watched despite that), I'm so hyped to see Jolene in action; the OP released a few days ago was fricking awesome

Posted by: Brett-Butler 1st December 2021, 08:30 PM

Haven’t watched it yet, but absolutely ecstatic that the ending theme is “Distant Dreamer” by Duffy, co-written by Bernard Butler. Will likely binge over the next week.

Posted by: Izzy 💀 24th April 2022, 06:41 AM

two pointers:

1) Kaguya-Sama is back again, as fantastic as ever

2) Spy X Family is an absolutely outstanding story, best new anime IP in years from its first episodes - it's obvious from the title but it's a spy-oriented thriller about a family in a fictional surveillance state which hits all the absurd comedic buttons in precisely the right way.

Posted by: Envoirment 31st July 2022, 02:22 AM

Can't wait to get my teeth into qutie a few series this year. Most notably Spy Family!

I've also noticed that Made In Abyss finally has a second season currently airing! Cannot wait to watch that when it's complete.

Posted by: Brett-Butler 31st July 2022, 08:49 AM

Spy Family has been my favourite new anime that I've watched in a long time, the first cour has been near perfect, you're in for a treat.

This year has seen a lot of my favourite series from yesteryear unexpectedly getting a 2nd series. Netflix started showing the second series of Tiger & Bunny, 8 years after the most recent film and over a decade since the last series. It remains a great quasi-satirical series about what would really happen if people with superpowers were to suddenly emerge (the answer - they'd turn their adventures into a TV series, complete with corporate sponsors and merchandise). The 1st season was near perfect, so far the new series doesn't hit those heights, as the new superheroes don't hold a candle to the original ones, but it's still a good story.

The even more unexpected series to get a sequel is The Devil Is A Part Timer, 9 years after the original series, and one I never expected to see in anime form. The original series is about a demon on the verge of taking over an alternative realm being unexpectedly transported to our world, where he ends up with the body of a late-teenager, and tries to take over our world in the way he thinks he can - by working in a fast food restaurant. It's a great comedy with a bizarre central conceit.

Posted by: Iz 💀 16th April 2023, 01:10 AM

took a break from seasonal anime for a few cycles but new show taking up the hype this season is "Oshi No Ko" (one, not direct translation is 'My Star'), from Aka Akasaka, who wrote Kaguya - the first episode is 90 minutes long and best done blind.

It is really good though, I'm amazed I was able to go 24 hours on Twitter and not get spoiled for it.

Posted by: lewistgreen 16th April 2023, 11:14 AM

I see the 2020 remake of Digimon Adventure has finally been dubbed and released, though only to buy through Microsoft Store(??) of all places.

Posted by: Envoirment 20th May 2023, 06:41 PM

I've watched quite a lot of series since my last post! I won't list all of them but some highlights:

Ousama Ranking - Loved it. It was so heartwarming and was much better than I expected it to be!

Mob Psycho (Season 1 & 2) - Been on my to watch list for ages and finally got round to watching it. It made me laugh a lot and season 3 recently came out which I'm looking forward to watch at some point.

86 (season 2) - The first season was really strong and had lots of unanswered questions and potential to be developed. Season 2 did not disappoint - expanding greatly on the story and revealing a number of interesting details. 86 is definitely one of the best anime series from the last few years for me.

91 Days - A series I've had on my to watch list for ages. I finally got round to watching it and I was not disappointed! A series about a guy getting revenge after his family was killed when he was younger. It has some great twists and turns, I would highly recommend it.

Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation (Season 1 Part 1 & 2)- Given the flood of Isekai anime, this does a really good job at being different and interesting enough to distinguish itself. I really enjoyed it and it started off pretty funny, light hearted and almost like one of those "Main character overpowered" types of animes. However, by the middle-end it got a lot more interesting and serious. I cannot wait for the third season - which will be aired during the summer season starting in July. It has a lot of potential that I hope it lives up to!

Posted by: Cow P 19th June 2023, 04:17 AM

Just finished watching the hyped 3rd season of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba. Might be giving a short review of it at the end of the year.

Posted by: Cow P 5th July 2023, 11:17 AM

Decided to watch Oshi no Ko 2 weeks ago and finished the first season last week. Been waiting for the original songs since and they're finally out today (Spotify even made a playlist of it).



2nd part of The Devil Is A Part Timer (season 2) is also airing next Thursday.

Posted by: Iz 💀 6th July 2023, 05:33 AM

finally started continuing Oshi No Ko too lol - just in time for the new season to overtake that discussion. I must do this on purpose. It's great to see commentary on the industry though and I trust Aka.

been working my way through Lycoris Recoil (from 2022, about lesbian protectors of peace) and Happy Sugar Life (2018, disturbing horror) too.

Posted by: olvs 8th July 2023, 09:30 AM

I started rewatching Death Note,this anime is awesome, I still enjoy it

Posted by: lewistgreen 22nd July 2023, 08:11 AM

Whilst we wait for Pokemon Ultimate Journeys to hit Netflix in the UK (I really don't understand why we don't get it in the same equal parts the US does), Horizons has now been previewed in its dub.

Posted by: Cow P 28th September 2023, 06:19 PM

Have finally finished watching these this summer:

Hataraku Maou-sama / The Devil is a Part-Timer S2 Part 2 (please don't make me wait until 10 years for a third season. I'm begging)
Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation S2 Part 1
The Girl I Like Forgot Her Glasses

Planning to watch these series on autumn:

Frieren: Beyond Journey's End
MF Ghost (Eurobeat intensifies)
Spy x Family S2

Posted by: Cow P 5th November 2023, 04:30 AM

The biggest anime news this month (probably this year too, matching Oshi no Ko) is that Attack On Titan has finally come to an end.
I haven't watched anything from the series, but I have put it on my plan-to-watch list when it ends, despite knowing a lot of major spoilers.

Posted by: Iz 💀 5th November 2023, 10:09 AM

I got up to one of the many final seasons* a couple of years ago, but I probably need to rewatch some of it, maybe from season 2 or 3 (because I've rewatched 1 enough times), when I feel like it. Did hear things about the ending though which isn't making me super enthused but then again it's a great series overall.

*iir, the season lineup looks something ridiculous like this:
S1
S2 <- 4 year gap between S1 and S2
S3 <-
S3 part 2
The Final Season
The Final Season Part 2
The Final Season: The Final Part

each all airing a year or more apart from each other.

I haven't been watching much anime but actually I've seen more about the second season of JJK on my timeline - also not watched it, sounds like a good big thing etc

Posted by: vefunnossupo 10th December 2023, 08:22 AM

You know, the only anime I've ever watched is Avatar, Legend of Ang. And all the other anime I skipped

Posted by: Cow P 11th December 2023, 01:50 PM

Aniplex and Ufotable has teased the upcoming Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba: Hashira Training Arc. It looks like the film version of the Swordsmith Village Arc will also be coming to cinemas around the world as well.

Posted by: Cow P 17th December 2023, 03:24 PM

New Chainsaw Man movie trailer, adapting the Reze Arc, has been uploaded:

Posted by: Phoenix Wright 24th December 2023, 03:16 PM

So, Fall 2023 comes to an end. Here are the new anime I have watched:

A Playthrough of a Certain Dude's VRMMO Life
Firefighter Daigo: Rescuer in Orange (episode 1-12)
Frieren: Beyond Journey's End (episode 1-16)
Girlfriend, Girlfriend Season 2
MF Ghost
Overtake!
Spy x Family Season 2
The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love You (peak RomCom anime )
The Yuzuki Family's Four Sons
(-) Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead (last 3 episodes of season 1 come out tomorrow)
(-) The Boy and The Heron (planning to go to cinema on Tuesday)

Also watching these old stuff for the first time:

Chainsaw Man
Made in Abyss (season 1, Movie 3, season 2)

Meanwhile, here are my plan-to-watch series for Winter 2024:

Solo Leveling
Mashle: Magic and Muscles Season 2

That's it. Dunno 'bout the others as they don't look convincing. Might be continuing my Jujutsu Kaisen and Attack On Titan marathon and watching older stuff.

Posted by: IT IZ COLD 24th December 2023, 03:51 PM

haven't watched this yet but it does sound like an iconic mess of a show. Same for Girlfriend, Girlfriend too.

Frieren and MF Ghost look like the more serious good shows of this season but I'm not on them yet, I'm just getting around to JJK for the first time instead.

Posted by: Cow P 26th January 2024, 07:47 AM

It has been announced that the culprit of 2019 Kyoto Animation murder and arson has been sentenced to death.

As a person who wasn't into anime that much back then, this tragedy was pretty horrible and sad. It should be a public news rather than just either a Japan or weeb news, so I feel sorry for not knowing it before because it just felt weird. My deepest condolences to all family of those 36 victims.

Surprisingly, there's no KyoAni anime that has been added to my MAL, so it's better for me to start watching one.

Posted by: Cow P 30th March 2024, 07:06 PM

Now that Winter 2024 ends, here are the series I watched:

Solo Leveling
Mashle: Magic and Muscles (season 2)
A Sign of Affection
The Weakest Tamer Began a Journey to Pick Up Trash
The Wrong Way to Use Healing Magic
7th Time Loop: The Villainess Enjoys a Carefree Life Married to Her Worst Enemy!
The Unwanted Undead Adventurer
Doctor Elise
The Witch and the Beast
Hokkaido Gals Are Super Adorable!
Sasaki and Peeps
The Foolish Angel Dances with the Devil
Chained Soldier
Fluffy Paradise
Sengoku Youko
The Strongest Tank's Labyrinth Raids
Frieren: Beyond Journey's End (cour 2)
Shangri-La Frontier (cour 2)
Firefighter Daigo: Rescuer in Orange (cour 2)

Also watching these old stuff for the first time:
Attack on Titan (season 1)

I've never been watching like 15+ new anime in a season, but it's actually easier than I thought. The problem with my last three months was that I'm totally busy at college, both in doing class assignments and the association. Now I'm trying to catch up where I left off, starting from the least hyped series, meaning that I'll finish Solo Leveling and Mashle last. I wish I also put both Blue Exorcist S3, Classroom of the Elite S3 and Dangers in My Heart S2 on my watching list, but catching up with them would eat a lot of time.

Some great anime themes too last season, but I doubt anyone would expect Mashle's opening theme smashed TikTok. The song peaked at #52 on Spotify Global and would've peaked higher had Creepy Nuts published its lyric video earlier. The anime's outfit seemed to be the most worn costume at cosplay events as it looked quite simple too!

Can't wait for Spring, as I'm totally anticipating both Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba and Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation. Not sure if I'm able to catch up with KonoSuba, but I'll do my best for Tensura!

Posted by: Cow P 15th April 2024, 05:50 PM

Spring season this year really features some interesting stuff and I have watched the first 2 episodes of most of them! Here are my top 5 recommendations:

Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation season 2 part 2: While people are getting tired of isekai anime due to the beauty of a pure fantasy anime called Frieren, The Godfather of Modern Isekai might give you a different perspective on this subgenre. It continues the story of Rudeus Greyrat who finally cured his illness and married his childhood friend Sylphiette. Apparently the 2nd cour will focus on Rudeus' babysitting and introduce the 3rd Turning Point. While the anime is categorized as ecchi, it still contains some good value of life. Rock band Hitorie performed the OP theme, while Yuiko Ohara (again, again, and again) sang the ED theme, and both are bangers!

Jellyfish Can't Swim in the Night: An anime original by Doga Kobo, known for the popular series Oshi no Ko last year. It's a story of a gang in the city of Shibuya called JELEE consisting of four girls: an artist who quit drawing, a retired idol wishing to prove her worth, a hotheaded V-tuber, and a mysterious composer. The anime title looks so philosophical, too. Also, Queen Rie Takahashi is one of the main VA here!

Spice and Wolf: Merchant Meets the Wise Wolf: A remake of the 2008 anime Spice and Wolf. While I have zero idea what the anime is in its original release, the first two episodes looks pretty good. They also kept the original VAs here. I really love the ED theme too, which was performed by ClariS and the music is composed by Kevin Penkin (popular for his work at Made in Abyss). I feel like we might get lots of fantasy anime remakes in the future, unless studios stop adapting isekai manga / light novel that are overpopulated and mediocre (they said) into anime.

Bartender: Glass of God: Another remake, but not the fantasy one. It is a story about a genius bartender named Ryū Sasakura who owned a hidden bar called Eden Hall. He is nicknamed Glass of the Gods. Originally made in 2006, the anime might fit better for Buzzjack audience because it is categorized as seinen, unlike the first three I mentioned above which are shifting to shounen.

Kaiju No. 8: Though I'm yet reading its manga, I'm really anticipating this anime so much, mostly because YUNGBLUD and OneRepublic are performing the OP and ED theme, respectively! CMIIW, kaiju is a Japanese mythology about giant monsters, such as godzilla. Though it is also a shounen, the MC himself, Kafka Hibino, is already 32 years old!

Grandpa and Grandma Turn Young Again and An Archdemon's Dilemma: How to Love Your Elf Bride are two romcom anime that looked pretty good on their first two episodes, so you might wanna try one of them. South Korean role-playing video game Blue Archive is also releasing an anime series this season, which is pretty shocking! I'm also watching it despite not playing the game. Of course I'm still trying to catch up with That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime (Tensura) as I almost finish watching its first season, while catching up with Kaguya-sama: Love Is War before they announce a new season.