What Anime are you watching now?

[Fred the Barber]

5 hours ago, Suzu Fanatic said:

@Fred the Barber @jaxter0987

Thanks you two tbh I've forgotten the names of most of the series I've watched, lol. With exception of the ones that really stood out, or had a english/unique name. (Gosick, Dusk maiden of Amnesia, SAO, Plastic Dreams, Certain Scientific index, Kokoro Connect, Shana, Utawarerumono)

 

Watched a lot more, but those stand out in my mind. Basically I tend to favor Romance (single girl, not harem), drama, suspense, and various helpings of dry humor (the sort that doesn't always leap in your face with gags, but simply "exists" - can't really put my finger on a good description). By drama, I don't mean "love triangle drama" (though if done well, I don't mind it), I more just mean some overshadowing "trouble" that needs to be overcome by various characters in order to grow/live.

 

Man, as I reread this post I'm writing - I'm noticing I've become really effing picky, lol

Thanks for the name drops, they don't seem familiar at a glance, so I'll look them up and see what happens, maybe I'll be lucky with them.

I almost suggested Kokoro Connect, although that first arc has a bit of that fanservicey gag stuff, but it's one of my favorites as well. Anyway, given the above, I have a feeling you'd really like NagiAsu. It's got the most complex love polygon I've ever seen, but I mean that in the best possible way. I don't recall it having all that much humor, but it has quite a lot of romance and drama, a fair bit of suspense, and a fascinating setting. The ending isn't for everybody (paging Nosebleed for a rebuttal to this suggestion), but I thoroughly enjoyed it.

[ittaku]

4 minutes ago, Fred the Barber said:

I almost suggested Kokoro Connect, although that first arc has a bit of that fanservicey gag stuff, but it's one of my favorites as well. Anyway, given the above, I have a feeling you'd really like NagiAsu. It's got the most complex love polygon I've ever seen, but I mean that in the best possible way. I don't recall it having all that much humor, but it has quite a lot of romance and drama, a fair bit of suspense, and a fascinating setting. The ending isn't for everybody (paging Nosebleed for a rebuttal to this suggestion), but I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I loved NagiAsu and watched it almost in one sitting. It was just as good on a rewatch when my wife watched it too where I saw the relationships from a totally different perspective thanks to the knowledge of hindsight.

[Nosebleed]

5 hours ago, Fred the Barber said:

I almost suggested Kokoro Connect, although that first arc has a bit of that fanservicey gag stuff, but it's one of my favorites as well. Anyway, given the above, I have a feeling you'd really like NagiAsu. It's got the most complex love polygon I've ever seen, but I mean that in the best possible way. I don't recall it having all that much humor, but it has quite a lot of romance and drama, a fair bit of suspense, and a fascinating setting. The ending isn't for everybody (paging Nosebleed for a rebuttal to this suggestion), but I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Your call has been heard.

I won't completely dismiss Nagi no Asukara, but I think people should only watch it knowing it's literally all just love polygons and drama. Contrary to popular belief, I don't hate Nagi no Asukara, but I definitely found it underwhelming near the end. All the good characters got shafted in favor of the worst ones and I was really salty over it. But above all, I really did not like that the show had such a focus on the absolute worst type of teenage drama.

With such an amazing setting and art direction, it pained me to see that anime spend all of its time shoving this ridiculous love polygon in your face. It was frustrating more than it was entertaining and could have been solved quickly if the characters weren't dunces at time. I found very little justification for the story to drag on for as long as it did, time which could have been spent doing more fun things.

I think the reason this show didn't hit home for me is because a couple of the main characters spoiled it, mainly Manaka, because otherwise it could have been a slightly interesting love story, but everything was too predictable fairly early on and the rest of the show after the first half for me was just painful to witness, waiting a week for a new episode only to go "noooooo whyyyyy" was not fun. I guess in a sense it got me emotionally invested in it, but it definitely wasn't in a good way.

I know my opinion is not fairly popular on this show, and I myself admit most of it comes from the fact the characters did not click with me, but I still find sme legitimacy in saying that if you don't like your standard teenage drama, Nagi no Asukara is definitely not for you, but if you're comfortable with an anime spending 90% of its time with the characters moping about the one they love and stuff, then go ahead and watch it, because it did manage to bring out that aspect quite well.

Also, if you don't like Manaka early on, you might as well abandon the ship to save yourself the pain.

[Ceris]

4 hours ago, Nosebleed said:

but I think people should only watch it knowing it's literally all just love polygons and drama

Pretty much this. I'm part of the Nagi no Asukara hype train though and absolutely loved the anime.

[Suzu Fanatic]

On 5/9/2016 at 9:33 PM, Fred the Barber said:

I almost suggested Kokoro Connect, although that first arc has a bit of that fanservicey gag stuff, but it's one of my favorites as well. Anyway, given the above, I have a feeling you'd really like NagiAsu. It's got the most complex love polygon I've ever seen, but I mean that in the best possible way. I don't recall it having all that much humor, but it has quite a lot of romance and drama, a fair bit of suspense, and a fascinating setting. The ending isn't for everybody (paging Nosebleed for a rebuttal to this suggestion), but I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Looks interesting, def going to watch it next. Love polygons drive me insane - but if done well, I don't mind. re: Kokoro Connect "although that first arc has a bit of that fanservicey gag stuff," I don't mind it in certain doses, but if a show is saturated with it - I lose my patience quickly, heh.

@NosebleedI was able to watch (and mostly like) Toradora, so I'm hoping I have the patience to enjoy Nagi. Have to wait and see just how teen-drama it gets I soppose  

 

At the moment I came across a completely random show that has been a pleasant surprise to watch - though it is showing its age. Scrapped Princess. Great characters in it, and while nothing terribly unique, a interesting story all the same.

 

EDIT: Finished Scrapped Princess - wasn't bad, liked almost all of it - but the conclusion was pretty unsatisfying, and how a few key things were handled. =/ Starting to watch Nagi right now, my 1st impression just watching the first 5 mins: Hikari is an asshole. Nice visuals though, and the setting is pretty cool.

[Kaykeiokay]

I happened upon an OVA called Cipher and I must say it was the most unique anime watching experience of my current existence. It's the type of thing you wouldn't believe a production studio would make, but they did and they committed to it wholeheartedly. I highly recommend Cipher to all anime fans, it's an absolute must watch.

Phil Collins/10

Spoiler

So basically, it's like a Japanese westaboo created an AMV with footage they created themselves. The audio is originally in English because you know screw the Japanese audience they have to read subtitles, the non-westaboo scum. The "story" is based off an old 12 volume manga, squishing those 12 volumes into a single 40 minute music video. Best Decision Ever. This is honestly the best "so bad it's good" anime I have ever seen, I died of laughter while watching this.

 

[Templarseeker]

Just recently completed watching Baka And Test, both Season 1 and 2 as well as the OVAs too! I spent most of the time laughing at the top of my lungs! One of the best and hilarious anime I could ever watched. Plus the English dubbed is pretty great as well! 

Now I'll go try watching other similar animes or maybe Gunslinger Girl would be nice... 

[Suzu Fanatic]

Finished NagiAsu - it was pretty decent, I have no actual complaints about pacing or storytelling. A few of the girls deserved better, but that's more just personal empathy speaking.

Wasn't "too" frustrating to watch, though I found some of the characters (esp. Kanama - think that's his name, the blond guy constantly stuck in the friendzone) obnoxious at times. The series actually felt relatively accurate - if perhaps overblown - to the complex and stormy emotions, as well as the potential selfishness revolving around the concept of love. IE - is love really for the sake of another, selflessly? or is love a possessive desire for the self? I think this anime silently presents those questions very well.

Side note: the boys' uniforms (the sailor suit style) were tacky af. lol I mistook them for girls at first glance.

Was a good recco, thanks.

[Eclipsed]

41 minutes ago, Suzu Fanatic said:

Finished NagiAsu - it was pretty decent, I have no actual complaints about pacing or storytelling. A few of the girls deserved better, but that's more just personal empathy speaking.

Wasn't "too" frustrating to watch, though I found some of the characters (esp. Kanama - think that's his name, the blond guy constantly stuck in the friendzone) obnoxious at times. The series actually felt relatively accurate - if perhaps overblown - to the complex and stormy emotions, as well as the potential selfishness revolving around the concept of love. IE - is love really for the sake of another, selflessly? or is love a possessive desire for the self? I think this anime silently presents those questions very well.

Side note: the boys' uniforms (the sailor suit style) were tacky af. lol I mistook them for girls at first glance.

Was a good recco, thanks.

You forgot to say what your best ship was! Tell!

[Suzu Fanatic]

On 5/12/2016 at 10:08 PM, Eclipsed said:

You forgot to say what your best ship was! Tell!

 

Spoiler

Obviously mr. curse-fish

jokes aside:

Spoiler

I'd say grown-up(ish) Miuna

 

 

 

[Fred the Barber]

10 hours ago, Suzu Fanatic said:

 

  Hide contents

Obviously mr. curse-fish

jokes aside:

  Hide contents

I'd say grown-up(ish) Miune

 

 

 

Spoiler

Miuna was, for me as well, the surprise best girl in the series. I liked her a whole lot more than Manaka, at least. I think getting that mixed ending for my favorite character is actually a big part of why I enjoyed the show so much - I love slightly bittersweet endings, because it just feels unreal to me when everything is made to work out perfectly for the best characters, shrouded in invincible plot armor.

That preference for slightly bittersweet endings for main characters is a big part of why I like the ending for K-On!!.

 

[Nosebleed]

3 minutes ago, Fred the Barber said:

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Miuna was, for me as well, the surprise best girl in the series. I liked her a whole lot more than Manaka, at least. I think getting that mixed ending for my favorite character is actually a big part of why I enjoyed the show so much - I love slightly bittersweet endings, because it just feels unreal to me when everything is made to work out perfectly for the best characters, shrouded in invincible plot armor.

That preference for slightly bittersweet endings for main characters is a big part of why I like the ending for K-On!!.

 

But Miuna had the odds stacked against her from the get go, and then the show gave her the middle finger anyway.

In fact, Manaka winning is why the show made me so upset, not because she was a shit character (although that's part of it I must admit) but because it felt like it nullified everything that had been built up before. It was like "yeah well I still have my undying love for Manaka anyway so fuck you". Out of all the girls in that show, Manaka had the thickest plot armor, and her winning solidified that fact.

Imo the show would have been 10 times better had she stayed dead at the bottom of the ocean.

The reason I hated the drama was because of how angsty it was on top of how safe the story plays it. Manaka winning was the demise of the whole show (on top of the often dragged out drama).

[Ceris]

8 hours ago, Nosebleed said:

 

  Hide contents

 

But Miuna had the odds stacked against her from the get go, and then the show gave her the middle finger anyway.

In fact, Manaka winning is why the show made me so upset, not because she was a shit character (although that's part of it I must admit) but because it felt like it nullified everything that had been built up before. It was like "yeah well I still have my undying love for Manaka anyway so fuck you". Out of all the girls in that show, Manaka had the thickest plot armor, and her winning solidified that fact.

Imo the show would have been 10 times better had she stayed dead at the bottom of the ocean.

The reason I hated the drama was because of how angsty it was on top of how safe the story plays it. Manaka winning was the demise of the whole show (on top of the often dragged out drama).

 

 

Nosebleed is just too  over the ending to like the series  

Everyone is correct, Miuna is best girl

[ittaku]

Finished No-Rin and Mahou Sensou. No-Rin was okay. Mahou Sensou was meh. Onto K-On2 with my wife; it's not so bad on rewatch. By myself I'm still slowly ploughing through Cardcaptor Sakura which has surprisingly been refreshing even if it's still quite childish.

On the NagiAsu front

Spoiler

I particularly liked the totally unexpected way they wove the young characters into the love polygon after the 5 years. On rewatch it was much clearer that the young girls had crushes on the older boys but on the first watch I was completely oblivious to it. Of the girls, I actually felt most sorry for Chisaki. Those 5 years must have been torture and Tsumugu was for her definitely a distant second best.

 

[Ceris]

20 minutes ago, ittaku said:

Mahou Sensou was meh.

That's a complete understatement from the people I've talked to. I believe it was @Nosebleed who hated it with a passion, along with some of my friends not on this site. Apparently it's on an abomination level of horribleness. 

[ittaku]

2 minutes ago, Ceris said:

That's a complete understatement from the people I've talked to. I believe it was @Nosebleed who hated it with a passion, along with some of my friends not on this site. Apparently it's on an abomination level of horribleness. 

Nah I've seen much much worse though rarely do I make it to the end. My mistake was sitting through it all though, but that may have been for Naou Toyama as VA... I have a soft spot for any show that has one of the myriad of VAs that I like.

[Fred the Barber]

I'm slowly watching Zero no Tsukaima, mostly because of Tiago's recommendation of it, but also in part because of TsundeRie (who I found pretty forgettable in ToraDora, to be honest, but awesome in MariMite). I do like her in this role quite a lot, but the show leaves a lot to be desired right now.

It's funny to realize this show actually started airing after Haruhi, barely. Maybe it's just my mistaken impression, but it honestly looks more similar to Love Hina (which came out some 6 years earlier) than to anything moe you'd see today, whereas Haruhi would hardly look out of place today. Kind of puts it in perspective just how much that one show impacted an entire industry. As expected of KyoAni, I guess. Sometimes I wish they'd stop resting on their laurels and do something amazing again, but then I watch stuff like AmaBri and realize they do occasionally do amazing things, but for some reason I'm not watching them...

[Eclipsed]

1 hour ago, Fred the Barber said:

I'm slowly watching Zero no Tsukaima, mostly because of Tiago's recommendation of it, but also in part because of TsundeRie (who I found pretty forgettable in ToraDora, to be honest, but awesome in MariMite). I do like her in this role quite a lot, but the show leaves a lot to be desired right now.

It's funny to realize this show actually started airing after Haruhi, barely. Maybe it's just my mistaken impression, but it honestly looks more similar to Love Hina (which came out some 6 years earlier) than to anything moe you'd see today, whereas Haruhi would hardly look out of place today. Kind of puts it in perspective just how much that one show impacted an entire industry. As expected of KyoAni, I guess. Sometimes I wish they'd stop resting on their laurels and do something amazing again, but then I watch stuff like AmaBri and realize they do occasionally do amazing things, but for some reason I'm not watching them...

GL, Zero no Tsukaima is a headache to watch at times, especially cuz Saito is one giant baka inu.

[Fred the Barber]

5 minutes ago, Eclipsed said:

GL, Zero no Tsukaima is a headache to watch at times, especially cuz Saito is one giant baka inu.

The only person in the entire cast who doesn't bother me is the administrative assistant to Osman. RIP me, I just read the Wikipedia article trying to figure out her name and got the arc I'm currently on spoiled. Goddammit.

Edit: I am seriously so salty right now you would not believe it. Why did I do this?

[ittaku]

1 hour ago, Fred the Barber said:

The only person in the entire cast who doesn't bother me is the administrative assistant to Osman. RIP me, I just read the Wikipedia article trying to figure out her name and got the arc I'm currently on spoiled. Goddammit.

Edit: I am seriously so salty right now you would not believe it. Why did I do this?

ZnT is annoying because it's inconsistent. It has some great moments and... fortunately a happy ending which I can't live without, but it's obvious it changes partway due to the original author dying and the second half of the series created by the animators entirely. One thing that seemed obvious that should have happened in the story but didn't was, major spoiler...

Spoiler

The power of combining elements with the void was obvious earlier on in the series. It seemed like the final boss should have needed all 4 elements combined with the void magician to beat but nothing like that ever happened.

 

[Nosebleed]

7 hours ago, ittaku said:

Nah I've seen much much worse though rarely do I make it to the end. My mistake was sitting through it all though, but that may have been for Naou Toyama as VA... I have a soft spot for any show that has one of the myriad of VAs that I like.

I have rated Mahou Sensou a 1/10. I consider it one of the worst anime ever made, because literally nothing in it makes sense, the characters are shit, the story is shit, the animation was bad and there wasn't even a "warfare" like the title boasted, and I watched it while it was airing, meaning I wasted a ton of time on it for nothing. You'll have to excuse me for thinking a show with absolutely nothing worthwhile is complete and utter garbage, and I honestly struggle to find much worse to this day.

Most shows manage to have something of redeeming quality, even if I end up not liking them, but Mahou Sensou managed to make everything bad.

The icing on top of the cake was that it was one of the worst selling anime after it aired, not even reaching 1k copies sold.

[ittaku]

6 minutes ago, Nosebleed said:

I have rated Mahou Sensou a 1/10. I consider it one of the worst anime ever made, because literally nothing in it makes sense, the characters are shit, the story is shit, the animation was bad and there wasn't even a "warfare" like the title boasted, and I watched it while it was airing, meaning I wasted a ton of time on it for nothing. You'll have to excuse me for thinking a show with absolutely nothing worthwhile is complete and utter garbage, and I honestly struggle to find much worse to this day.

Most shows manage to have something of redeeming quality, even if I end up not liking them, but Mahou Sensou managed to make everything bad.

I just checked my list of watched shows and of shows I've watched to the end I've rated it in the worst 5 of 300, so it's not like I'm saying it's good in any way...

[Nosebleed]

Just now, ittaku said:

I just checked my list of watched shows and of shows I've watched to the end it's in the worst 10 of 300, so it's not like I'm saying it's good in any way...

I know, I just like reflecting on how terrible it is whenever someone brings it up. I'd rather watch Mars of Destruction 10 times than touch Mahou Sensou ever again.

Believe it or not though I have talked to one person who said the show was good. I usually try to understand people, but I'll never understand how anyone can enjoy this abomination.

[ittaku]

2 minutes ago, Nosebleed said:

I know, I just like reflecting on how terrible it is whenever someone brings it up. I'd rather watch Mars of Destruction 10 times than touch Mahou Sensou ever again.

Believe it or not though I have talked to one person who said the show was good. I usually try to understand people, but I'll never understand how anyone can enjoy this abomination.

There's no accounting for taste. Sure there are some things that just don't agree with some people, but I agree with you on this, almost everything conducted in it was done badly. Like I said, I have a soft spot for one of the VAs and that's about it. Note I had to revise when I realised it was actually bottom 5 not 10, and some of the stuff I hated more it was just stuff that pissed me off rather than it was badly made.

[Arcadeotic]

All the talk about Mondaiji-tachi in the LN thread got me all excited, so I got the Light Novels and now started watching the anime itself

It looks promising after the 1st episode