Guilty Crown

The music was good, but it was often out of place and overbearing

^^See, this show is like Nobel-prize winning material compared to the rest of the shit this season has shat out so far. And if you think these characters are flat, the rest of the season has been practically non-existent. At least these characters have designs that look really really good. The gradient on Inori's costume, for example, is exquisite. And the music is by fucking supercell damn it! (...at least I think it is. Isn't it?) And that opening song... so raw and haunting and fragile... ahhhh <3

I think I'm just ecstatic that there's a show that's actually competently directed and put together for a change.

Or maybe it's just because I just watched the ball of horseshit mixed with rose petals that was Un-Go right before I watched this.

edited 13th Oct '11 8:23:00 PM by Anarchy

...What the hell have you been watching if this is so much better than all of it?

Well, like I said, Un-Go (you call this a fucking murder mystery?!), Hunter X Hunter (oh god an adaptation so atrocious it almost makes me ashamed to be a fan of the manga), Hunter X Hunter the original anime (watched it to compare it to the new one, again, absolutely atrocious), Gundam AGE (HAHAHAHA), Kyoukai Senjou no Horizon (-puke-), Ben-To (-more puking-), Phi Brain (it massacred my brain cells)... etc. etc.

Basically, Guilty Crown is like a breath of fresh fucking air compared to all those other poorly-written, poorly-directed, poorly-animated anime I've been checking out lately... aaahhh. Competence. It's great to see people who actually know what they're doing. Ahhhh.

So because you're apparently watching a bunch of shitty other shows, that makes this one super oh my god amazing?

Fate Zero is better than this. So far. Persona4 may be better depending on how this goes. I would say that Boku Tomo is better as well. Hell, I might even like Working more.

I'm not saying the show is bad, but I don't understand your extreme praise when apart from the visuals I simply wasn't impressed.

Interesting to see where this goes.

Art's good, but, you know, first episode talking.

MC's kinda iffy. Nice that he blatantly states what's wrong with him, and it's good that they've gotten that out of the way in the first episode, but more moping around in a mecha setting will get tiresome fast. Female lead seems kinda bland - She's there, but I'm not expecting anything dynamic out of her. If it's only 11 eps, it's gonna have to move fast in order to tell the entire story.

Other than that, I'm seeing a lot of stuff which looks fairly generic. Time's going to tell. I'm expecting competent execution, but no real masterpiece.

Two cours, so we have 22 episodes

So you somehow avoided the other good shows and have issues with hyperbole

edited 13th Oct '11 8:57:45 PM by Hylarn

Surely you jest.

Well, judging by your reactions, I'll pick up the first episode and see if it'll hold up to everything else I'm watching this season.

"Take it this time, Shu."

-screen transitions to shot of Inori's chest-

"What, your virginity?"

-moves hand in grasping motion to Inori's chest-

-Inori makes a gasping sound-

DUN DUN DUN THE POWER OF SEX LOVE

edited 13th Oct '11 9:13:56 PM by Thrombin

Urgh, Fate Zero. Don't wanna watch that if I have to wade through the entire Fate Stay Night franchise.

And hey. Don't underestimate the happiness you feel at finally finding something that's actually competent after wading through a pile of absolute shit. Did I ever say this was the best anime ever? Eh? It's relative to what I've watched of this season. Which has been mostly shit.

I agree that Persona4 might be better in terms of story (...depending on how they handle it -crosses fingers-), but in terms of artistic direction? Guilty Crown is far more sophisticated. So much more sophisticated and polished than every other show in this season, except maybe for Chihayafuru which has gorgeous art, but in a completely different way, if you know what I mean? Finally an animation studio that actually takes the art of animation seriously. Thank god.

And that opening. So beautiful and heartbreaking. <3 The attention to detail, the contrast between the song and the action was so striking... and of course there's Inori's absolutely lovely character design. And the lovely atmosphere of standing alone above the city on a lonely night, but nothing but melody surrounding you... Ahh. <3 Breath of fresh air.

The only flaw is the protagonist being way too angsty about not being able to "protect the girl". Ugh. Annoying typical cliche shonen hero sentiment. BUT- that angst seems to be justified though, what with all the hints that this is some kind of alternate timeline/world and he and Inori seems to have known each other closely in some previous life...? I love how the flashbacks seemed to contrast and parallel current events... looking forward to find out what the big deal about those are.

But seriously, this series is so well-directed I can't imagine any of the other shows beating it in terms of artistic vision, direction, and aesthetic. This series knows what it's doing and how to get how it wants. Completely self-assured and confident in its abilities.

(Persona 4, to be honest, has some acting problems, especially with Yosuke, so far... Episode 2 should be up soon, so we'll see if it improves.)

I haven't touched Working though, so I can't say how it compares - heard it was generic moe harem SLC shit, though I may be confusing it with something else...

@Hylarn: No, I've watched a couple good shows, but I was trying to make a point there that most of what I've watched has been shit. Persona 4, I will say, was a fan's wet dream, but even as a fan I have to say that it loses out in terms of artistic innovation compared to Guilty Crown.

And honestly, I'm expecting Hunter X Hunter to improve in the next episode since that's when the Hunter Exam hits, but eh. It just doesn't sound as dramatic if I say "I WADED THROUGH A PILE OF SHIT but actually you know Chihayafuru had pretty animation too, oh, and Persona4 made me cum in my pants, and Hunter X Hunter's actually doing a pretty good job of pacing, oh, and Fate Zero has a gorgeous soundtrack..."

...you just had to ruin my hyperbole for me, didn't you?

edited 13th Oct '11 9:15:35 PM by Anarchy

Mm-hm.

That bad?

... FALCON KICK!

Oh, I suppose Ben-To isn't all that bad if you like Zettai Ryouiki.

And eh, Hunter X Hunter's doing a good job of adapting the manga chapters at a good pace so it can get to the delicious bits quicker. Atrocious directing, animation, acting and music though. Absolutely atrocious.

edited 13th Oct '11 9:17:39 PM by Anarchy

No, it's not that bad. You're just a little oversensitive about it, if you ask me.

This show, though. Well, meh. I find myself waiting to see what the story's like, since it didn't really seem like got any real plot in there.

edited 13th Oct '11 9:17:56 PM by Gilphon

I'm expecting the actual plot to pick up in the next chapter. This one did a good job of establishing the basic premise though.

Also, I grew up on Hunter X Hunter, so duh. Of course I'm oversensitive. Every single thing has to fit the manga perfectly, otherwise it's horrible.

edited 13th Oct '11 9:19:45 PM by Anarchy

Episode 2 of Persona 4 has been up for a while, Working is slice of life but not harem. But based on your statements I suppose you wouldn't like it anyway.

I actually enjoy Slice of Life. Usagi Drop, for example, was one of my favorites last season. And Wandering Son in the season before that (oh I guess it doesn't really count since I'm really a fan of the manga, not the anime). I also like manga such as Ristorante Paradiso and Kinou Nani Tabeta <3

Re: Persona 4

I can't torrent, since I'm on a school network. -paranoid-

I'll wait for it to stream on ANN.

Or some other streaming site. Eh.

edited 13th Oct '11 9:27:00 PM by Anarchy

In all seriousness though, if the story is solely going to be about a battle between rebels and evil overlords for a superweapon macguffin, then I will be pretty disappointed.

I think it was evident that Anarchy is looking at Anime from an entirely different plane than the rest of us in the thread, by the point when he argued that Guilty Crown characters are not flat, because the "gradient on Inori's costume" has really good design, and the only thing he noticed about Ben-To was the Zettai Ryouiki.

I guess most of us here are really into original stories, after all, we are tropers, and most tropes are about writing, and not editing, design, or animation styles, so it's natural that people interested in the former are more common here.

By the way, I find the comment about this season being shit, entirely untrue. I'm following seasons since Spring 2010, and so far, this is the best season. Spring 2011 came close second, but only on the drama/comedy front, (Hana Iro, Ano Hana, Nichijou, Denpa Onna), while this one is the first with both a very strong Action/Mystery front (Mirai Nikki, Persona4, Fate Zero, Guilty Crown, C3), and a strog drama/comedy lineup (Chihayafuru, Boku Tomo, Bakuman 2, Shrinyaku 2, Ben-To.)

edited 14th Oct '11 4:34:37 AM by Ever9

The aesthetics of this show - The effects and music - are really good.

The plot unfortunately obviously centers around the protagonist, in a way which suggests the first episode was rushed.

So... Pretty, interesting, but full of people acting strangely familiar toward each other and my old friend the story-bent coincidence.

OI oi oi oi Ever9.

My point was not that the characters aren't flat, my point was that even though they're flat, AT LEAST they LOOK good. Which is more than I can say for the rest of the season. Except for Chihayafuru and the strange boy in Un Go, but if we're just talking about production values and artistry, those two series, especially Un Go, pale in comparison to Guilty Crown.

Honestly, all the stories this season have been extremely derivative (the only anime in recent seasons with actually good, well-written, non-derivative storylines have been Puella Magi Madoka Magica and Usagi Drop... and Steins Gate, I guess). Even the other Noitamina show, Un Go, is crap. I'd rather read Detective Conan or Tantei Gakuen Q or Kindaichi Shonen No Jikenbo, which have mysteries that are at least not completely contrived. I'd rather stab my eyes out with a fork than watch yet another mystery anime where the protagonist solves mysteries because they have some kind of supernatural power. So you're so intelligent you have to rely on MAGIC to solve your problems. WHEE.

As for Mirai Nikki, I've read the entire manga, and my conclusion at the end was "...what did I just waste my life on?" It's like all the characters had personalities that were crafted in order to shoehorn them into this dark, bloody world with utterly artificial rules that have no justification. (Compare that to Hunter X Hunter's exam and tournament arc: while there are artificial rules, they are there for a reason.)

Persona4 has a good story, but again, just because it's a well-told story doesn't mean it's not utterly derivative.

Hunter X Hunter's manga actually has an amazing story, but the animators seem to want to cater to the One Piece crowd and so is making it all light and fluffy and kiddy and URGH -stabstabstab-.

I can't say anything about Fate Zero because I haven't watched it, but I've heard rather mixed things about Fate Stay Night, and what I've heard of it seems to point to a generic fantasy storyline... but then again it's Urobuchi Gen writing, so I have faith that it'll be a good story. It's just that I don't want to watch it because I don't want to watch Fate Stay Night in order to understand it better.

And I'm not watching Bakuman because I'm following the manga, but its story in the manga of late has been less about the workings of the manga industry and more about hey, let's do a stereotypical shonen manga, but with manga! Whee! Okay, so it has some great supporting characters, but the blatant sexism stops it from ever being completely enjoyable.

I've long since given up on this season in terms of story. As in, I'm not expecting anything new or exciting or innovative . Like I said, when everything I'm watching is derivative, it's such a breath of fresh air when something derivative is actually presented in a way that's actually competent and well-made.

...also, was I the only one who was utterly enchanted by the opening sequence? Am I slightly insane, or was that opening sequence not the best we've seen this season?

^I think the characters acting strangely familiar towards each other is going to be an important part of the plot. I'm expecting either a mindwipe or an alternate universe/timeline reveal at some point down the line.

edited 14th Oct '11 12:26:26 PM by Anarchy

Someone's butthurt

I'm butthurt because I was expecting this season to be AMAZING and it's NOT. -throws tantrum- -goes to watch episode 2 of P4-

edited 14th Oct '11 12:28:52 PM by Anarchy

You've also completely derailed this thread.

This is the best season I've seen in a good year, actually. Or longer, since before the first season of Index I didn't actually watch anime as they aired. There are at least five series I'm watching as compared to summer where I watched a total of zero. And I was thinking of picking up either Ben-to or C3.

edited 14th Oct '11 12:33:52 PM by Arha

How is this season not amazing? Compared to Summer 2011 and most of Spring 2011, this season is like a gallon of gold-dusted cake batter ice cream in a chocolate covered Holy Grail served chilled by Jesus Christ and the Jackson 5.

Ninja'd by Arha, who should really watch Ben To

edited 14th Oct '11 12:35:26 PM by KSPAM