Winter 2018 Anime

[Leyana]

@firemagnet It has more than just cute girls doing cute things going for it. It has this incredible life and energy in every scene. Like this chase scene here: https://streamable.com/r3ffi. The animation and direction is amazing. Can't get enough. It's one of the few anime that just grip you and make you think "wait, what? 20 minutes already?".

[firemagnet]

@firemagnet It has more than just cute girls doing cute things going for it. It has this incredible life and energy in every scene. Like this chase scene here: https://streamable.com/r3ffi. The animation and direction is amazing. Can't get enough. It's one of the few anime that just grip you and make you think "wait, what? 20 minutes already?".

The running scene really is good, but the show just doesn't hold my attention. It feels like every other idolmaster/love live show to me, and therefore it isn't really different enough. I think the last time I watched a show like that was Golden Time, which I really enjoyed.


More generally, Umu: The animation (Fate Extra: LE) is sadly only available on Netflix. I have a subscription (one for my family and one for myself, but apparently it's only available on Netflix Japan specifically). As others have stated on reddit: "time to join Teach's crew / sail with francis". Because, knowing netflix. Fate Extra won't be released in the US until at least July or August of this year, assuming a twelve episode run.


Meanwhile, Violet Evergarden is really starting to grow on me, and Darling in the Franxx has another at least decent episode. Enough to keep me watching, but not enough to really blow me away.

[Kranesh]

Fate Extra had a good first episode honestly, I hope it will be less of a bumpy ride than Apocrypha, considering it will have an original storty writen by Nasu and all of that.

[firemagnet]

Fate Extra had a good first episode honestly, I hope it will be less of a bumpy ride than Apocrypha, considering it will have an original storty writen by Nasu and all of that.

To be honest, I found Umu: the animation's first episode to be rather disappointing. Sure, it might be a story by Nasu, but the way the characters were introduced just didn't hold my interest. On the other hand, the first episode has diverged quite significantly from the first section of the game when I played it. It seems to be paralleling the manga, though not directly.

[Justin_0241]

hmm i'm got pissed off on Marchen Madchen's animation for now and why is the main girl gets naked all the time?? bahh i don't know wht's gonna happened on this anime

[KotoNano]

@firemagnet It's because it's shitty nero EZMODO route instead of tamamo FUCKTHISGAMEISUNFAIR master race.

@Justin_0241 That's exactly what I expected of it when it was announced. Huh. Isn't it based off an Eroge or something? I might be mixing it up with something else though.


Grancrest Senki has massive pacing issues though. Where episode 3 ended felt the whole build up so far was so insanely rushed it's something a better show would normally have finished episode 6 and build up a bit slower so you actually know who the fuck all these side characters are. I should catch up since I actually enjoy it despite that but it's still a bit wack.
Overlord is pretty enjoyable, any awkwardness from it's initial first two episodes this season has passed and 3/4 have been pretty good overall.

There's still stuff I need to watch though.

[firemagnet]

Episode 2 of Fate/Extra: LE was subbed today. A few thoughts:

1. It's good to see that they used Fate/Extra and Fate/Extella as a reference rather than a complete guide. This episode has taken both worlds and effectively expanded upon them in a significant departure both from the preceding games as well as the manga. Francis Drake (the bartender) was meant to be Shinji's servant in the game and manga, if I remember correctly, so it's amusing and perhaps fitting that she turns up where she does.

2. Holy fanservice, batman! Nero certainly has little trouble flaunting her assets, and she's almost ludicrously top-heavy. I have to admit that this was the first fanservice scene in memory that's actually made me uncomfortable when watching it; part of it was due to its length, but most of my unease stemmed from the fact that the fanservice was simply that it was excessive. This isn't even a case with Nero being comfortable with her nudity or with herself, it was straight up voyeurism for the audience, to the point that it actually detracted from the show. I've heard the same complaint made of Darling in the Franxx, but at no point did the fanservice in Darling in the Franxx feel like an attempt to drag something out like it did here.

3. The latin translation used in the subs is actually incorrect. Maestro is Italian. One correct term would be "magister," which implies a conductor or practitioner of an art, but the best translation would be "dominus," which implies ownership. For instance, the owner of a gladiatorial school in Rome was usually referred to as "dominae" or "dominus."


Overall, this is a very welcome expansion upon the source material, and though it lacks the polish of Unlimited Budget Works courtesy of UFOtable, it's still better than average.

[KotoNano]

@firemagnet It's still shit though.



I actually think Beatless is my current second favourite this season though so my taste is up for debate though. I enjoy the humor that it has even if the setting isn't that new (nothing is these days)

[firemagnet]

@firemagnet It's still shit though.

Your reasoning being?

I actually think Beatless is my current second favourite this season though so my taste is up for debate though. I enjoy the humor that it has even if the setting isn't that new (nothing is these days)

Beatless seems a bit too toned down compared to the manga. Given who's directing it along with the stuido, I'm surprised that they didn't do more. Then again, I'm also of the opinion that "there is nothing new under the sun" these days, hence why I've actually learned to enjoy most of what I watch rather than spend my days hating on it, as most of the community over at MAL does. (LOL at the people who think that Darling in the Franxx is notably sexist or worth hating solely for that reason or because Hiro is a "cuck").



OTOH,

Darling in the Franxx's episode 5 was a most welcome fleshing out of the characters and world, and definitely portends good things for the show, even if the overall plot arc seems to be fairly predictable. Funimation seems to have done a good job with dubbing, but I find that Zero-Two (Tia Ballard) and Hiro's (Matt Shipman) voice actors don't sound right for their characters (whereas Zorome and the others' voices are shockingly character appropriate, and sound almost like their Japanese counterparts); Matt Shipman sounds too old even though his emotional work is good. Tia Ballard doesn't emote correctly, and has the unfortunate side-effect of making Zero-Two sound either relatively emotionless or actively malicious.

[Kalinsre]

Pretty much only following Ryuuou no Oshigoto this season. it does a good enough job for me to be nostalgic about shogi. I even played a few online matches again after like a 10 year hiatus.