Topic: Anime & Manga (NO SPOILERS PLEASE)

Alright, I've finished watching all of the anime I was following for the Spring season, so here's a list of my top five along with some notes and my impressions on them.

1. Love Live! School Idol Project S2 -

Aside from the obvious CG dances, everything about this anime was perfect. (Okay, maybe there were some inconsistencies with the colors, and character positions changing from frame to frame, but you would have to pay really close attention to notice).

The music was great as well as the animation. Sunrise did a great job in showing how the characters progressed throughout the two seasons. The girls managed to deepened their friendship by overcoming several difficult situations together and learning to trust each other to reach their goal.

I think anyone interested in idol anime should start with this series first. Who knows, maybe it'll turn out better than you thought?

2. No Game No Life-

Two gaming geniuses are transported to a world ruled by games, where winning gives the victor power. This crazy anime is chock-filled with references, humor, psychology, and ecchi that there's hardly a dull moment, even during the explanations.

The art style in this anime was simply gorgeous and worked well with the music.

I really like the parts where the protagonists beat their opponents by a hair, even if their victories sometimes seem too unrealistic by anime standards. This creates the illusion of suspense. Of course, the protagonists hardly ever go into a match without having some sort of strategy first, and watching them win against all the odds makes it quite entertaining.

I've been reading a lot people criticizing NGNL because of the concept of going to another world. I didn't know that was actually a thing people would complain about. I guess everyone has their own opinions. On that note, I think it's unfair to rate a popular anime poorly simply because it didn't fit your interests. Just because a lot of people "like" it doesn't mean you will.

3. Black Bullet -

The story takes place in a post apocalyptic dystopia, and primarily focuses on discrimination. There are several moments of bitter tragedy throughout the story, as well as some gruesome deaths and a lot of bloodshed (a warning to those with a faint of heart). The main protagonist for Black Bullet is often in conflict with himself as he witnesses these horrors and questions the morality of the people. Ultimately, he has to decide whether or not the people he's protecting are even worth saving.

I thought this anime was great but wasted a lot of potential (similar to Unbreakable Machine-Doll). They crunched up the first two arcs rather hastily, plus the show would have been better without the constant lolicon pandering/jokes.

Watching Black Bullet reminded me a lot of Attack on Titan, Full Metal Alchemist, and PMMM. And apparently there was a reference to one of the recent deaths from Hunter X Hunter too, but maybe that was just coincidental. ._.

4. GochiUsa -

A cute, funny, slice-of-life anime about young girls working at different cafés. Surprisingly, the series came with a couple of references, supernatural elements, and mild fan service. Other than that, it was fun to watch. Non Non Biyori, and Kiniro Mosaic fans would certainly be pleased with this.

5. Hitsugi no Chaika -

Written by the author of Outbreak Company and animated by studio BONES, the story follows the struggles of a princess who carries a coffin and the two siblings she employed for a journey to gather her father’s remains.

There's quite a bit of gore in this anime and the MC's sister has an obvious brother complex (not related by blood), but other than that the story was great.

Hitsugi no Chaika's story felt a little streamlined; the characters would simply go from one place to the next, beat the big bad, collect the loot, repeat. However, they eventually reached a point in the overarching plot near the end of the season where this process came into question. In addition, the final episode had one of the best plot twists I’ve ever seen; I doubt anyone saw it coming. I can't wait to see what the second season has in store this October.

Other anime I watched:

Mekakucity Actors - This anime was alright. SHAFT really gave it that "Monogatari vibe".

Date A Live II - Decent, but could have done better without the excessive fan service.

tbh this is probably what most long running shows should do.

And yes even though apparently it's only supposed to be 26 episodes, you are crazy if you think that's gonna be it.

edit: Nope! Watched it and it was actually really good. Great animation, engaging story, and far more interesting than many of the episodes from the actual anime.

And speaking of Sailor Moon, I've been thinking of watching the original anime just for heck of it, in order to prepare for the reboot. I'll probably watch that soon.

If its an accurate adaption of the Manga, I actually doubt there'll be more desides OVAs and side stories. The manga was only 52 chapters long. (which says a lot about how much the first anime stretched things out...) Of course, that assumption is probably giving them far more credit than they deserve...

Just watched the first episode of Argevollen. It was slow and focused a lot on world-building. We're introduced to the main cast, but not too much time was spent with them. The main wasn't really focused on, either, with a lot of it left implied, having only a short narration at the beginning. The mecha designs continue to impress, though everything about the Argevollen seems alien compared to rest of the machines. The battles were short, but pretty cool, and I liked that the Argevollen wasn't too easy to adapt to despite the main pilot being a trained soldier and the interface being entirely mental. Oh yeah, and it was very pretty, which is Xebec for you.

In other words, it was the best first episode to a Mecha series that I'd seen in years. The world-building went a long way in making everything seem believable, and by focusing on it, it's possible that the believable world was supposed to be a major point about the series. The characters seem likeable enough. Some of them seemed a little too relaxed for people who are about to go into battle, but considering most of them have experience and the war has been going on for so long, they could simply be used to it. Hell, judging from what one of the characters said, it might even be that the soldiers have learned to psych themselves out so they don't get too scared and lose focus on the mission. The story seems functional so far, and by leaving a lot implied (the audience never seems to know more than the main characters) it's very likely that they're setting up some surprises down the line. I can't say a lot about the battles, but I loved that the one with the least experience almost got himself and his squad killed by being too rash, and even whan he gets in the fancy-shmancy Argevollen, he still sucks. I means, obviously he wins in the end, but not without quite a bit of instruction and some thick armor.

I guess it's just a lot of subtle things that sets this apart from other show's first episodes, but the fact that they know what subtlety is shows some real potential. I'm looking forward to watching more.

I heard rumors (so take it lightly) of the first 26 episodes only covering the queen beryl arc so who knows how long it may last? If it's true and well Sailor Moon was originally supposed to be based of super sentai, they could pad it out with some monsters of the week.
My opinion is that if they do avoid filler I feel like 26 episodes may be too rushed. I mean the books are only 52 chapters long but each chapter is like 100+ pages long. I was surprised how much story was packed into 52 chapters.

I've been meaning to watch the Cowboy Bebop movie! All the press I've heard about it says it's effectively the best heist the Bebop crew pull, prior to the last few episodes.

Also, I'm not sure I'm correct but I think the reboot is to Sailor Moon as DBZ Kai is to DBZ - that is, same plot with new animation and filler cut. I preferred the more pastel colours of the original though, so all the scenes from the new one look off to me.

The difference as far as I know is that Sailor Moon is actually entirely remade, while DBZ Kai mostly just improved what was already made.

@Jollykarp actually the reboot is more like FMA Brotherhood . They're making it follow the manga because the first show was completely different. Even the characters have different personalities on the manga as opposed to the show.

I'll probably watch the first few episodes to see how good of a job the remake does.

Been watching Digimon Tamers a lot lately. Me and my brother just powered through like 7 episodes tonight. Man, Gallantmon's debut fight was awesome. I can see why a lot consider this the best season. It gets pretty intense for an older kids show. The dub isn't even bad at all either. I hate how they still insist in forcing in stupid jokes but whatever.

EDIT: Hm, looks like the main character of Fantasia Doll is getting a Figma. That's weird, didn't think that show would get big.

Psycho Pass is a really flipping good show. Has Gen Urobuchi made a bad anime at this point? Because all I keep finding from this guy is excellence.

If you like Gen Urobuchi's work then you'll probably like Kamen Rider Gaim. It's not an anime, but a lot of people think it's good. You can tell it has his touch as the story progresses.

Somebody help me out? Where does the Kenshin movie (New Kyoto Arc) fall in the series? Before season 2, after, or in the middle? I'm curious only because I just finished season 2 and I'm debating if I want to watch season 3 again.

Or is it simply a re-telling of the show?

It's an abridged version of the Kyoto Arc, so I guess season 2. And yes, it's just a re-telling, unfortunately...

Ah, oh well. I need to watch it either way. Thanks for the info. Not big on the re-telling. Looking at you Eva!

I just watched six episodes from First Season of the New Jojo's Bizarre Adventure, It was AMAZING. I didn't really watched the Old Anime of Jojo's Bizarre Adventure, but I heard in this thread, the old anime of Jojo's Bizarre Adventure was bad. Is it really THAT bad? I know it just a opinion, but is it really that bad though? Just wanna know though. For manga, I read the 1st volume of Kenshin, It was Excellent.

Does anyone else think Luffy isn't a pirate? He is just too good of a person. He doesn't hurt or steal innocent for his own selfish gain, and he's honest. He's just too good of a person to be a pirate. He claims to be a pirate, but doesn't have the stomach for it. He's really just a adventurer/treasure hunter. I really don't know how the show passes for a pirate anime (with regards to having a pirate protagonist).

Who cares?

Toonami Saturday night!

Space Dandy - Missed it.

Space Dandy - Missed it.

Space Dandy - Missed it.

Naruto Shippuden - Only caught the last few minutes...

One Piece - Zoro's fight was absolutely awesome... while it lasted (wish it were longer). Finally, looks like another confrontation with the main bad guys coming up next week.

Blue Exorcist - Some pretty good intrigue and action tonight. Big surprise at the end.

Black Lagoon - Uh oh, they shot Revy's drink (they shouldn't have done that. Tsk, tsk, tsk). Oh, that Chinese assassin is back, which is going to be good, and there's a new character who looks like a blonde Hank Hill (which is an instant win, BTW).

Saw Aldnoah.Zero's first episode last night. It was interesting, but since it only set up the story, I don't have much to say about it yet.