Winter 2016 Anime

I think she was going all out on her to provoke Masaya to continue coaching her.

I like all the characters, they are fun to watch. It's very relaxing series. And it's about flying tag which is just cool.

I have to agree, Four Rhythm is a surprisingly entertaining show that sort of reminds me of Saki and Girls und Panzer.

Agreed, as long as it doesn't start to focus too much on mopey lead guy and his inevitable background trauma.

It's a VN lead-up, of COURSE they'll focus on the male MC's issues.

It's obvious that the MC has some past issues with Flying Circus but I like that they are keeping it in proportion instead of giving him PTSD over it.

The only real thing I dislike about the series is that the name of the sport is Flying Circus as it always makes me think of something else.

Maybe make thread for it?

edited 27th Jan '16 7:42:57 AM by Memers

Not a bad idea.

So what with the customary three episode trial period over, what does everybody think of the season so far?

Standout shows for me are Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju and Boku Dake ga Inai Machi, with Dimension W, Dagashi Kashi and Hai to Gensou no Grimgar as strong contenders.

Koukaku no Pandora is my guilty pleasure of the season, Phantasy Star Online 2 the Animation the train wreck.

Musaigen no Phantom World has been a disappointment so far, gorgeous to look at but not much else going, save for Guppy of course.

Prince of Stride: Alternative, Luck & Logic,Ao no Kanata no Four Rhythm and Kono Subarashii Sekai ni Shukufuku wo! on the other hand have been pleasant surprises, especially the last one.

On the short front Oshiete! Galko-chan, Ojisan to Marshmallow and Sekko Boys have been the standouts.

All in all a decent season so far, with at least one potential anime of the year already.

I'm currently still watching and liking:

1. Active Raid: Kidou Kyoushuushitsu Dai Hachi Gakari
2. Ao no Kanata no Four Rhythm
3. Boku dake ga Inai Machi
4. Dagashi Kashi
5. Dimension W
6. Divine Gate
7. Hai to Gensou no Grimgar
8. Koukaku no Pandora
9. Ojisan to Marshmallow
10. Oshiete! Galko-chan
11. Prince of Stride: Alternative
12. Shoujo-tachi wa Kouya wo Mezasu
13. Sushi Police
14. Durarara!!x2 Ketsu

Shows I dropped after 1 episode:

1. Bubuki Buranki
2. Haru Chika: Haruta to Chika wa Seishun Suru
3. Kono Subarashii Sekai ni Shukufuku wo!
4. Luck & Logic
5. Musaigen no Phantom World
6. Nijiiro Days
7. Norn9: Norn+Nonet
8. Saijaku Muhai no Bahamut

edited 29th Jan '16 8:31:46 AM by VeryMelon

Boku Machi: bringing you the most disturbingly heart-warming romance between a 29-year-old loser and a 10-year-old abuse victim you've seen in a very long time.

Wish they'd lay off the red eyes for Evil Mom, though.

I don't think it was ever framed as a romance though, even in the manga. Satoru IS close to Kayo though.

Note that one bit was lost in translation - the 'Kayo, you're pretty' line. 'Kirei' means clean/pure/beautiful - he's expressing relief that she's not roughed up for once, and everyone else interprets it as a romantic overture.

Phantom World is really the only thing I know for a fact I'm going to be watching outside of my obligatory watching of the new Precure season. Dagashi Kashi I plan on binge watching once it's finished and I still need to see the latest episode of Bahamut before I decide whether or not to keep watching it. Everyone says it's rushed but I didn't think episode 2 was rushed at all so. Everything else I wanted to look into is only being subbed by Horriblesubs or worse has bad official subs so my list is rather limited.

Yeah, yeah, I know. But, hey, if the show can joke about it, so can I.

I'm pretty okay getting Phantom World highlights via my twitter feed.

edited 28th Jan '16 1:01:42 PM by majoraoftime

Shows that I am watching

• Ao No Kanata Four Rhythm
• Dagashi Kashi
• Kono Subarashii Sekai Ni Shukufuku O
• Koukaku No Pandora
• Myriad Colors Phantom World
• Nurse Witch Komugi R
• Shoujotachi Wa Kouya O Mezasu
• Please Tell Me Galko Chan
• Snow White With The Red Hair

Shows that I started watching but have been getting behind on, may continue might not

• Active Raid
• Dimension W
• Undefeated Bahamut Chronicle
• Ooyasan Wa Shishunki - WAY too short.

Dropped hard

• Haru Chika
• Bubuki Buranki
• Hai To Gensou No Grimgar

edited 28th Jan '16 2:04:48 PM by Memers

Nijiiro Days is a surprisingly easy watch, though I can't say that I approve what was done in episode 2 to shut up the resident man-hater (one of the guys kissed her on impulse). Otherwise, it feels like Free but without the homoerotic overtones (two of the guys even have on-screen girlfriends!).

Started watching Boku Dake Ga Inai Machi and Shouwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu on a whim and they are both really really good.

Is there really no thread for either of them? I was under the impression they were the most popular shows this season.

The issue here is that the anime is timed to get the manga's ending — and the manga itself is ending within the next two months.

Now that the PSO 2 anime has gotten the heavy-handed product-pushing out of the way, it's gotten a little better. It seems to have settled into introducing a certain aspect of the game or community with each episode for now.

And it's been pretty heavily implying that Suzuki is a real ARKS operative. Not sure whether it's a digimon-style digital beings becoming real kind of thing, or if the game is in this verse really a training/selection program to seek out the finest fighters to join the actual ARKS.

It still has a lot of "let's introduce a complete noob to online games culture/fan culture" in it, which is amusing, as is the complete bewilderment of the protagonist (who rolled a random character who looks exactly like him) that anybody would alter their name/character in the game. Awkward but endearing.

Standout shows for me this season are:

• Shouwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu: Masterfully directed period piece character drama. I would consider it "objectively" the best of the season.
• Boku Dake ga Inai Machi: In which a 29-year old man befriends a little girl to save the woman he loves. Misleading plot summaries aside, this is one thriller that knows how to sink its teeth into you.
• Kono Subarashii Sekai ni Shukufuku wo!: Dysfunctional people doing RPG things. Gold.
• Sekkou Boys: The best thing to do with an absurd premise is to run with it. This show gets that, and that's why it rocks (pun very much intended).

Also on the pretty good list are:

• Durarara Ketsu: It's been better than the last season.
• Haikyuu!: Smack dab in prefectural tournament, so it's one interesting match one after another.
• Koyomimonogatari: I've only gotten to watching episode 1, but hey, classic Monogatari that I know and love.
• Ajin: Shabby animation, but does good with its premise. Poor immortals.
• Akagami no Shirayuki: A second helping of cute competent redhead please!
• Dimension W: Frankly, it's mediocre cyberpunk, but I'll take what I can get.
• Bubuki Buranki: Rough around the edges, but a legitimately compelling watch. The CG is also surprisingly good.
• Hai to Gensou no Grimgar: A different, refreshing take on the "characters trapped in an MMORPG world" plot, complemented by marvelous art.
• Ooya-san wa Shisunki: Cute just like its little landlord lead.
• Rainbow Days: Probably actually not that good, but I'm a sucker for the cool beauty types.

The mid-tier:

• Schwarzesmarken: Decent mecha/war story.
• Active Raid: Gonna need more action to stay relevant to my interests.
• Dagashi Kashi: Somewhat amusing. Characters are nice tho, and the edutainment is a sweet deal.
• Ao no Kanata Four Rhythm: Boring cast. Sport is kind of interesting though I kinda hoped they went with something like blitzball.
• Prince of Stride: The more interesting entry in the fictional sports genre. Unfortunately a bit too fast-paced for its own good.
• Luck and Logic: The Dogakobo flair makes up for an otherwise generic story.
• Undefeated Bahamut Chronicle: Kind of like a better fantasy-version of Infinite Stratos.
• Musaigen no Phantom World: Only in it for the production values.
• Shoujo-tachi wa Kouya wo Mezasu: Kind of feels like Saenai Heroine no Sodatekata, only with less memorable characters (aside from the MC, oddly enough). I suspect it has yet to really get going, though.
• Oji-san to Marshmallow: Again, middle-aged man moe.
• Oshiete no Galko-chan!: I'm actually sure why I can keep watching this.

Might end up dropping:

• Haruchika: A smug know-it-all thriving in a world where people can't even solve brain-dead mysteries. Especially glaring in episode 4 (spoilers!): Seriously, A GIANT KEY, how could you not have thought to look for a keyhole

Dropped:

• Phantasy Star Online
• Koukaku no Pandora
• Divine Gate
• Norn 9

New Precure is surprisingly good. It's still a low-budget effort aimed at little girls, but it was energetic and already showing some signs of depth

Problem: "Surprisingly good" hasn't been applying to anything else I've been following:

Kouya: After a promising first two episodes... it's done nothing. Nothing changes
Pandora: After a promising first two episodes they ditched one of the most entertaining characters and went to a more Slice of Life style. It's still okay, but not nearly as much fun as it was before
Bubuki Buranki: Most of the interesting elements have been ignored in favour of shounen fighting tropes. Also it just had a twist that was both very obvious and utterly nonsensical in-universe
Koyomimonogatari: Formulaic and hit-or-miss
Dimension W: It's well enough made, but the plot is nonsense and the characters really aren't very interesting
Grimgar: Well made, but hasn't quite managed to shake off the stench of light novels, and it's sloooooooow
Gundam: Okay, this one is still good

...Can it be spring now?

Watch Erased and Rakugo. They're the standouts of the season.