Winter 2015: Where'd All the Anime go?

Yay, Log Horizon with action again!

On another note, even if Inaho dies in A/Z it won't even matter anymore. Glad to see Asseylum take the bull by the horns finally though.

Chumara wrote:Yay, Log Horizon with action again!

Yeah, I have my hopes that the show will at least end on a good note.

On another note, even if Inaho dies in A/Z it won't even matter anymore. Glad to see Asseylum take the bull by the horns finally though.

I was not expecting for both of them to get NTR'd.

Tekkaman Calamity wrote:
I was not expecting for both of them to get NTR'd.

I didn't think of it that way, but you're not wrong.

Kantai 12, Noto Mamiko sighting detected. I get that she has a decent part in Junketsu no Maria, but COME ON she literally had like 5 lines here.
The ending was fun to watch, and of course the enemy had to have a few words other than sounding like a screaming retard, but I'm not sure why they crossed the line of disbelief with the ship girls getting a little more.... physical... with the enemies. I'm having a hard time visualizing a ship drop-kicking and throwing another ship, but hey, what do I know.

Either way, the show was actually very entertaining and the characters were good, and let's not forget about POIPOIPOI.
9/10, will look forward to sequel, poi.

Chumara wrote:Kantai 12, Noto Mamiko sighting detected. I get that she has a decent part in Junketsu no Maria, but COME ON she literally had like 5 lines here.
The ending was fun to watch, and of course the enemy had to have a few words other than sounding like a screaming retard, but I'm not sure why they crossed the line of disbelief with the ship girls getting a little more.... physical... with the enemies. I'm having a hard time visualizing a ship drop-kicking and throwing another ship, but hey, what do I know.

Either way, the show was actually very entertaining and the characters were good, and let's not forget about POIPOIPOI.
9/10, will look forward to sequel, poi.

Man, I am so disappoint Black Rock Shooter didn't really do anything.

Well, in the end it was fun times. I would've preferred a darker story, but I can see how that'd be too risky and alienate the fanbase. Still, this is fine too.

Hopefully in S2, they scale back CG what with the massive profit they made on this show. Or you know, not go into battle and just make it super silly, I'd be fine with that too.

8/10

Tekkaman Calamity wrote:

Chumara wrote:Kantai 12, Noto Mamiko sighting detected. I get that she has a decent part in Junketsu no Maria, but COME ON she literally had like 5 lines here.
The ending was fun to watch, and of course the enemy had to have a few words other than sounding like a screaming retard, but I'm not sure why they crossed the line of disbelief with the ship girls getting a little more.... physical... with the enemies. I'm having a hard time visualizing a ship drop-kicking and throwing another ship, but hey, what do I know.

Either way, the show was actually very entertaining and the characters were good, and let's not forget about POIPOIPOI.
9/10, will look forward to sequel, poi.

Man, I am so disappoint Black Rock Shooter didn't really do anything.

Well, in the end it was fun times. I would've preferred a darker story, but I can see how that'd be too risky and alienate the fanbase. Still, this is fine too.

Hopefully in S2, they scale back CG what with the massive profit they made on this show. Or you know, not go into battle and just make it super silly, I'd be fine with that too.

8/10

To be fair, that CG was done relatively very well. But if they could animated it by hand instead it could end up looking a lot better.

Chumara wrote:To be fair, that CG was done relatively very well. But if they could animated it by hand instead it could end up looking a lot better.

Oh no, definitely the CG was better than the norm, but all things in moderation. CG became very visible in numerous instance simply from overuse.

Aldnoah 24:
Could've used more yoyo.

Aldnoah in review

Frak, this was a terrible show. Only three characters actually mattered and everyone else just wasted time with filler. Remember the PTSD and the brother thing? 'Cause apparently no one else in the show cared.

Plot wise it was alright up to three, then it quickly went downhill when it turns out the heroes weren't going to win with elaborate plans and instead the villains were just going to be stupid.

Art and music was alright though, so it has that going for it.

3/10

Log Horizon 2 25:

He's carrying the ARM!

Log Horizon 2 in review:

Definitely weaker than first season.

The first half was plagued by direction issues since it was adapting two books that had the same story time, so it had repetition problems. But was otherwise not that bad.

Second half followed the most boring bunch of the characters. I would've preferred an entire season to focus on Kanami instead. The show did pick itself up by the homestretch and I felt the ending was a strong good note.

While the studio shift did lead to overall better quality from Dean, the art designs are pretty different and I think Satelite's budgety art was actually more attractive. Lama horses and all!

7/10

Tekkaman Calamity wrote:Aldnoah 24:
Could've used more yoyo.

Aldnoah in review

Frak, this was a terrible show. Only three characters actually mattered and everyone else just wasted time with filler. Remember the PTSD and the brother thing? 'Cause apparently no one else in the show cared.

Plot wise it was alright up to three, then it quickly went downhill when it turns out the heroes weren't going to win with elaborate plans and instead the villains were just going to be stupid.

Art and music was alright though, so it has that going for it.

3/10

I liked the first season quite a bit, but it feels like they only planned up that far and then the director just kinda came up with whatever on the spot to fill in for season 2. You're right about everything though. I think had Inaho and Asseylum actually died, Slaine could have pulled a House of Cards and risen up through the Vers hierarchy to take them down from within, he could've been the best and only memorable character in the show. Instead we got a melting pot of pointless and stagnant bodies that combined with a horseshit of a story direction made the show actually boring to watch as it went on. The animation was quite good as you said, as expected of the studio, and the music was also quite good. In matter of fact 3 of the 5 OP/EDs throughout the show were good enough for me to listen to on my iPod.
It's quite a shame that the show couldn't pull through, but this is why Cross Ange exists: to make bullshit awesome, exciting, and fun to watch consistently.

Tekkaman Calamity wrote:Log Horizon 2 25:

He's carrying the ARM!

Log Horizon 2 in review:

Definitely weaker than first season.

The first half was plagued by direction issues since it was adapting two books that had the same story time, so it had repetition problems. But was otherwise not that bad.

Second half followed the most boring bunch of the characters. I would've preferred an entire season to focus on Kanami instead. The show did pick itself up by the homestretch and I felt the ending was a strong good note.

While the studio shift did lead to overall better quality from Dean, the art designs are pretty different and I think Satelite's budgety art was actually more attractive. Lama horses and all!

7/10

So her name was Kanami. I couldn't remember and she didn't show up past that one episode right smack in the middle, she's definitely the best character. I agree with you on all points except I don't necessarily think the animation was that much better, and I did enjoy Satelite's designs more as well. This season didn't have a confirmation of a season 3 like season 1 did for 2, so I'm wondering if DEEN kinda killed it for the Japanese audience. If it does get a third season though I hope it switches studios again, I vote for Pro IG or A-1.

As for plot related concerns: I'm not sure where they're going with the plot in terms of figuring out the mystery of what the world is and how they got there, and while that's really the most interesting point, it's also the factor that scares me the most because if it ends up being an actual parallel world that just exists as a game world because fuck it why not, then I'm going to be quite put off and it's going to make these 50+ episodes (however long it may last for) really end up being a waste of time. I was fine with them just being stuck in a game a la SAO, but it's getting a little weirder than that to keep that as a plausibility. I'm not sure what type of ending would satisfy me, but I'm praying that LH finds a way that I'm not seeing yet.

Chumara wrote:This season didn't have a confirmation of a season 3 like season 1 did for 2, so I'm wondering if DEEN kinda killed it for the Japanese audience.

They've also exhausted the books.

Maria 12:
This episode finally establishes my biggest problem with the series. It needed more sex jokes.

Maria in review:
Oh Maria, what are we going to do with you.

On details, this show was amazing and it is quite clear someone did do the research with presentation.

Characters were for the most part pretty amusing and I didn't have much issue with everyone.

On the writing side. I thought the early episodes were pretty good. I enjoyed the jokes and it kept a pretty fair balance in story.

Naturally, as all Mary Sue centered narratives have a tendency to, the writing more or less fell apart as things went on. Ultimately this culminates in the final message of the show: pacifism and atheism (why else would Bernard try to strangle archangel Michael) brings peace. The English naturally went home totally without being forced to and Maria and co would go on to bring about world peace. How well that went is a forgone conclusion.

Admittedly, I am being overly harsh, but that's only because I saw some good things early on about unintended consequences (how stopping decisive conclusions can lead to prolonged misery). That never was actually addressed and Maria learned absolutely nothing from it.

I'm a bit iffy on the art. I actually liked everyone's design but Maria's...

5/10. When they got to the killing and sex jokes, the show was pretty fun. It dragged when it got morals and that kept biting more and more of the show as it went on.

Tekkaman Calamity wrote:Maria 12:
This episode finally establishes my biggest problem with the series. It needed more sex jokes.

Maria in review:
Oh Maria, what are we going to do with you.

On details, this show was amazing and it is quite clear someone did do the research with presentation.

Characters were for the most part pretty amusing and I didn't have much issue with everyone.

On the writing side. I thought the early episodes were pretty good. I enjoyed the jokes and it kept a pretty fair balance in story.

Naturally, as all Mary Sue centered narratives have a tendency to, the writing more or less fell apart as things went on. Ultimately this culminates in the final message of the show: pacifism and atheism (why else would Bernard try to strangle archangel Michael) brings peace. The English naturally went home totally without being forced to and Maria and co would go on to bring about world peace. How well that went is a forgone conclusion.

Admittedly, I am being overly harsh, but that's only because I saw some good things early on about unintended consequences (how stopping decisive conclusions can lead to prolonged misery). That never was actually addressed and Maria learned absolutely nothing from it.

I'm a bit iffy on the art. I actually liked everyone's design but Maria's...

5/10. When they got to the killing and sex jokes, the show was pretty fun. It dragged when it got morals and that kept biting more and more of the show as it went on.

I have to agree that early on the sex jokes and overall pervy humor was a great hook, I also loved Maria's character as well as there being a lack of characters that I would outright hate...... which is somehow quite difficult for anime to achieve with me. I'm going to also point out that the art style was really refreshing and being the same mangaka as Moyashimon I can see a bit of similarities, but more emphasis on rounded edges due to the European setting. Also on a personal level I love religious references, although I'm not religious myself I've grown up with religion and seeing it in media is something that entertains me more than others, especially in an exaggerated sense as depicted here.

This show had enough for me to say 10/10 half way in (Noto Mamiko having an actual consistent role helped as well) but I do see how it switched tones down the road and focused on philosophical themes and morals while leaving the big draws behind. I'm not going to say I stopped enjoying the show, in fact I looked forward to it every Sunday more than almost everything else every week (except for such gems as Shirobako, Parasyte and Cross Ange), but it definitely didn't keep up the 10. I'm not sure what the show could've been if it hadn't changed gears, MAYBE the daily life of Maria and company would've been more entertaining, but then she wouldn't have done that hilarious scene where she summons the monster right after getting berated by Michael. I think the low point of the show was near the end, the mood switch when Joseph essentially proposed to her was too abrupt, and whatever bullshit they tried to sell us on about why she lost/got back her powers was too silly for my to buy.

In the end, this show is still the hidden gem of the season for me, and I'm glad somebody at Production IG thought it was a good idea, because it was.