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Comments
What's Hypnosis Mic?
http://kemonofriends.com/
Welcome to the New Era.
How is Seika not a main character? She has the best design of the whole show.
That's entirely your fault!
One of the colorists must have been out sick this week...
Now that's a twist.
Now this is pretty.
are you sure this isn't foreshadowing of a subplot involving mimes
ahem
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
Which means it's been about that long since I've went without feeling "I should watch more Sailor Moon".
Maybe it was actually good and people were freaking out for no reason.
When there was an announcement for the Darwin's Game anime, I assumed it would be a quick attempt at pleasing the fans of the death game genre. Of course, I knew it would have decent enough animation, but it was something that I was assuming would be a footnote of 2020 for the average fan.
Then the promo stuff started.
First of all, this somehow became an Aniplex flagship alongside Magia Record. Of course, it's one approaching the investment of something like Grancrest Senki rather than THE danged Magia Record (also happening this cour) but that's still a bigger deal than I expected.
I guess as a death game story, Darwin's Game is more Deadman Wonderland than Ousama Game, so there's a lot of fun to be had with that in a mainstream sense rather than a specific one.
Which brings me to Magia Record! Yes, the Madoka franchise returns to TV! Let's see how well a mobage plot holds up under scrutiny, let alone one directed by... the animation studio behind the Witch's Labyrinths?
Then we come to Kadokawa's original anime entry for this cour; ID: Invaded. I was quite excited for this from the outset, because it has perpectual "guy with ideas" Aoki Ei behind it.
Well, he had one idea, really -Re:CREATORS-, and nobody wanted it. So much so that he appears to have been pushed out of TROYCA entirely and is directing his latest work at... NAZ? DRAMAtical Murder and second season of Hamatora NAZ? Uh, well then.
I assumed this would be snatched up by Netflix, but that was before I understood how "we're going to try for greatness on a budget" this was. Then again, it's not like Netflix hasn't gone there before *cough*two entire seasons Sword Gai*cough*
Meanwhile, Twin Engine-slash-Geno Studio continues to bring us the weird and wonderful with pet, which sounds like a less-sexed-up take on Dorei-ku The Animation. I have no doubts about it being a compelling story, but there's always the question if they'll ever have the cultural relevance of Golden Kamuy ever again.
In the world of LNs, the vaguely popular LN series Infinite Dedrogram finally gets it's own anime adaptation. Having read the LNs, I can't say I didn't find the world interesting, and I'm curious to see how they'll adapt the very first episode (if they do manage to do the "different perspectives including 3D and photorealistic-ness" scene any justice) but I have to say I'm not a fan of much after the first LN.
Lerche have really surprised me with the animation quality they're bringing to Jibaku Shounen Hanako-kun. Having never read the source material, I have no idea what it's about, but it is indeed very pretty.
In a bit of genre confusion comes the shounen... fashion/modelling anime Runway de Waratte (Smile Down the Runway). Basically everything about this screams shoujo, which I would be on board with, but there's always the fear that this is just the fashion/modelling equivalent of that perpetual emotion-tugging machine Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso/Your Lie in April.
Now for the Otome roundup;
A3!, the most popular Otome charasong project on the planet until Hypnosis Mic came along, finally gets it's anime adaptation. Let's see if it can leverage some of that popularity or if it truly has been eclipsed by Hypnosis Mic.
In addition, ARP Backstage, which is based on a "Holographic Live Concert" project by avex makes it's way to anime. The synopsis so far seems very loosely sketched, but the CG seems promising enough. Plus, it's one of the few otome projects that isn't massively overcrowded from the start.
Also, copypasted from my post elsewhere:
A chat got me wondering what I've watched that was released within this past decade (specifically 2010-2019).
Picking only from stuff I've completed, here are shows I'd nominate for "Best Shows of the Decade" awards:
* Beatless + Beatless: Final Stage
* Gabriel DropOut + specials
* Kemono Friends
* Ao no Kanata no Four Rhythm
* Cross Ange
* Arpeggio of Blue Steel
* Beyond the Boundary
* The iDOLM@STER
* Angel Beats
*
Umi Monogatarino wait this is actually a 2009 show; only the extra episode is from 2010Possible left-field picks / honorable mentions:
* [this space reserved for Miss Kobayashi's Maid Dragon when I finally get around to watching it]
* Yosuga no Sora
* Heartcatch Precure
* Symphogear G
* Heavy Object
Meanwhile, here are my nominees for "I Really Wish It Had More Time":
* Chaika the Coffin Princess + Avenging Battle
* Tales of Zestiria the X + episode 0 + second season
* Tales of Berseria (make it a separate show!)
* The Asterisk War
* Chain Chronicle: the Light of Haecceitas
* Alderamin on the Sky
* Akashic Records of Bastard Magic Instructor
* Manaria Friends
This is not a list I want to make. It is probably like... 100 shows?
I guess I can do a list of my favorite shows of the decade:
As for this cour...
I really liked Ensemble Stars!, it's the second best idol boys anime I've ever seen. Z/X Code reunion failed to meet the excitement and fun levels of it's predecessors (Hina Logi, Ange Vierge, etc).
Kabukichou Sherlock continues into Winter, so we'll see how that goes.
Though I guess I could see it as a more limited-portrayal thing. Compare other media such as theater and machinima.
Meanwhile, I would love to listen to its soundtrack some more.
I'd have actually preferred it if some scenes had just been replaced with VN sprites and text on the bottom half of the screen.
I did find the final episode more satisfying than the rest of the show, but it was still marred by the fact that the rest of the show had come before it.
Still, kudos on that twist with Ena.
In what ways do you feel it was marred?
Take, for example, Muramasa. The first time we see Muramasa, she is crying at having been pawned off on a pay-to-win Samurai (Shuri). She has a certain expectation of those who carries her, and she wishes Shuri was a different person.
Instead of taking time with this plot and developing Shuri a bit more, we got the beach episode that contributed very little aside from the Ena twist. I mean, you could have a beach episode that was also about Shuri, rather than one that rests on the running gag of Yuni's butler being an emotional wreck.
We get all the way to the end of the show without Muramasa having accepted Shuri, only to have it happen when it's most convenient without a decent reason either.
Which leads me back to Yuni in that episode where we learn of Muramasa's anguish. At no point during the show does Yuni ever find the value of hard work, except the very end, yet she gets her Z/X not only to accept her, but to grant her Overboost just because they're in a tough spot with a bear.
Not only does this entire turn of events cheapen Overboost, which is never really given the respect it deserves considering it's the ultimate power between a human and a Z/X, it presents a terrible set of lessons for the viewer. Now, I'm not saying that all TV shows have to present me with a solid moral foundation for their goings on, but you'll certainly feel more connected to something if it presents some decent human lessons in there.
Instead of presenting Overboost as a reward for hard work or a genuine resolve to fight (as was Matoi's case), it ultimately is presented as a slapdash solution to selfish problems. Imagine if Yuni hadn't gotten her Overboost then, and had thoroughly considered why.
I'm not saying she had to immediately realize the value of hard work or undergo a training montage, but maybe she could have realized then and there that there was a time to take things seriously, because you don't get to choose when others begin to take you seriously (like a bear and it's intention to make you dinner).
There's also the fast and loose approach taken with the main conflict of the story, which I want to call barely a conflict on some level. Azumi and Rigel manage to Overboost, again, when it's convenient. At the time, Azumi is yet to improve on her lukewarm attitude towards... basically everything. It only happens because they'd die otherwise, and really, because you can't get to the middle of the show without showing the main product on sale.
Honestly, throughout the show, she never does improve. You never truly get the sense she's grateful to be alive, or to have been chosen by Rigel and the Blue World. She's glad about it, certainly, but her will is weak.
Now, they Overboost midway through and can't again, but you can't really parse out why through the characters actions. We see Rigel hurt once and apparently this is enough to get Azumi to refuse to Overboost again, even though Azumi herself never thinks of the incident more than once and is more concerned with other things. It gives the impression that the protagonist is not weak-willed, but wishy-washy.
To end on a positive note, Ena and Matoi's relationship was a highlight of the show (before it became established, and therefore forgotten). It was nice to see Matoi's backstory properly fleshed out, so we could understand why she would form a bond with Ena. And in a satisfyingly anime way as well!
I knew exactly what type of show it would be (I'd been looking forward to it since it was announced in like mid-2018) and I was still disappointed!
I can see how some things made you feel that they existed only to be "convenient", though the way I came to assess them was that there were just a bunch of plot threads that were disappointingly left unexplored. Azumi unfortunately ended up as a less interesting lead protagonist, while Matoi and Ena were the most interesting ones.
Meanwhile I would have wanted to learn more about the backstory and the setting. But the show didn't offer much in that way, and mainly just deferred to cute-girls-doing-cute-things antics, particularly playing them against Coach Ira for comedy -- rather than giving me much insight into the way the nature of the Z/X, the lifestyles and atmosphere at the academy, or such.
I did flip back through the first episode and notice something that Nephrite said to Ena the very first time they showed up; I didn't notice at the time but it would have presaged the plot twist, so now I'm wondering if there are other such hints.
I'll probably rewatch this if an English dub comes out for it. I still think it's an interesting show, but I definitely didn't get the enjoyment I wanted out of it.
Did Code Reunion ever really look like a show that would go into this kind of theme? I feel like this might be vaguely relevant with that observation of how anime seems to stay away from conflicts where being anti-government (or anti-authority) and pro-personal freedom are actually good guy traits.
Princess Principal did have a conflict where the main cast had to decide between sticking together or following orders, but this was set in motion by a management shakeup within their organization that only happened late in the show.
The stuff in the toggle box might not even be a spoiler since promo material for the sequel movies suggest they're all still together.
Well yeah, it's still there, but now it's just a running gag.
I'll also want to watch Otogi Idol LilPri at some point in the future, because it's the start of the idol genre I enjoy so much nowadays with the CG performances and emphasis on outfits. Maybe Kirarin Revolution too when I can overcome the whole 100+ episodes thing.