Winter 2019 anime

I don't know if anybody else is watching it but Wataten's last episode is absolutely incredible. It's definitely propelled it into AOTS for me, and it'll be really hard to top unless Endro's finale is amazing.

i think it's pretty clear Mob Psycho 100 II is AOTS, ONE is one hell of a writer

I'm leaning more toward Kaguya-Sama myself, but I have watched very few things this season.

Dororo is not only one of my AOTS, but one my AOTY, actually.

Shield Hero is up there, too.

I'm on the Dororo train too myself.

1 Mob 2 kaguya 3 Dororo 4 Neverland

So Kotobuki finally ends. There was pre-screening in the week's Saturday, so some details are spoilered, but the overall experience is intact because the Japanese are just that no-spoiler policy faithful.

You can practically feel the G-force from the episode, because if you think the canyon runs in the show re stressful enough, then you're in for further surprise. Mizushima really likes his urban warfare, so why shouldn't he bring the dogfight into the middle of skyscrapers? The entire episode is basically a plane porn from start to finish. And in case you still haven't pick up the subtext, they even spell out that the reason why the pirates have nice planes is because the Big Bad is supplying them as a fear-mongering tactic. The world feel large and alive through the use of subtexts instead of long-winded exposition, a lot of charming characters especially when you see them through a fighter pilot's lenses, animation budget goes to the places where you know it should go.

Now for the criticism. I'm not going to talk about the 3D animation and the artstyle clash from time to time because we already have those. I said that the world feel large, and it sometimes feel too large for a 12 episode show. You end up want to see Porokka, Gadoll, and Shouto before they ended up a fiery landscape, and that's still not counting the game's already established towns like the grain mill Kaichi and mafia-ruled Tanegashi. There's not enough time, and while I don't regret any second used in the dogfight, I instead wish the show is 25 episode long. Still on the matter of screentime, while Emma is especially done dirty when it comes to backstory, they also don't reveal much about Chika and Zara. What does Chika mean when she said that she and her brother used to live underground? Where is her brother? Why Leona and Zara make sad faces when talking about the airfield where they met? How Zara is "experienced"? What is the Rinouchi Great Air War?

The ending also ends up very open-ended "fly into the sunset" type of deal, so the Sequel Hook is really egregious. While the Big Bad is no more, his number two, which is most likely the Bigger Bad, is still at large and the frequent flunky bad guy is not yet been punished other than being thrown out of his plane. But then again, the anime will get several anime shorts and a slot in Shounen Jump, so there won't be content drought for awhile.

To be honest, when I first saw a promotional art of this show, all I felt was annoyance because Mizushima still hasn't done Girls und Panzer finale yet and I'm more a boat person because my granddad used to work in a dock. And so I walked in the show because I believe in Mizushima. While I have some appreciation for planes because what even is the Pacific Theater without carrier battles, I gain much more because I also read planefag's frame-by-frame AAR in twitter. This show is miles better than Girly Air Force because it's clear that those who made it are pilots who love planes first, and not because being funded by JSDF-propaganda. Rough around the edges, but it's charming the way it is.

Glad to hear that… Which Shonen Jump though, the Weekly or the Shonen Jump +?

Oh, and I wrote my impressions in the series' thread.

Edited by Lyendith on Apr 1st 2019 at 12:02:18 PM

Shounen Jump +. The artist is Tsugie Tsubasa(?) starts in 24 April.

Season is over, so impressions:

Boogiepop: Very good! Most of the time. They kinda mucked up the first arc, which is doubly unfortunate as not only does it scare viewers off, some later events end up not having the impact they're supposed to. ...Also I couldn't help but notice that some of the scenes in the PV didn't actually make it into the series, so we might be getting another season?

Egao no Daika: Okay? On a per-episode basis it's decent if a bit ugly, but the whole thing is rather aimless, with no plot until the last few episodes. And that plot is dumb

Asuka: Ehhhhhhhh. The source material is fun trash, but this wasn't a very good adaptation. Low budget, poor storyboarding

Endro: Low end of good, I'd say. Looks pretty, and it's funny, but plot and character writing is spotty. Biggest issue is that the only character with much depth is Mao, which is awkward since she's theoretically a supporting character and not even in every episode

Manaria Friends: Pretty! Charming! Funny! Kind of a shitty ending!

Dororo: Hm. At it's best it's fantastic, but it's not at it's best all that often. A lot of episodes are bland and predictable

Kemono Friends: It sorta traded away the main strength of the first season (a well-plot mystery) is favour of being better at most everything else. Charming, decent direction and character writing, but not as compelling as it might be. ...And I'm pretty certain there'll be a second season soon, with the amount of plot threads yet to be tied up

I had an entire lengthy post about a bunch of shows, but then I accidentally hit backspace outside of the text window and it all went bye-bye.

Let's just say that:

• Wataten is some masterful slice of life which has its strength in its inter-cast relationships
• Endro has great emotional plot highs but less consistent slice of life antics
• Promised Neverland has great tense moments and good characterization of its villains but gets a bit convoluted in its downtime
• Dororo is a great Monster of the Week that still manages to advance its main plot despite the story being like forty years old, although it's definitely a bit dreary
• Magical Girl Spec-Ops Asuka is trashy fun that has some clumsy storyboarding and Kurumi is best girl
• Slime was a big disappointment after its fun first cour as the story seems to spin its wheels looking for things for its overpowered protagonist to do
• Kaguya-sama is great fun that doesn't skimp on either the "romantic" or the "comedy" aspects of a genre that I'm not usually a fan of, and both manages to be incredibly over the top and incredibly sincere.
• Shield Hero is not really the incredibly problematic show it was made out to be, although a profound sense of bitterness pervades it. Some of the lower-key adventures are actually fun but the more dramatic moments fall flat, and it's mostly just a bit mediocre.
• Manaria Friends is a gorgeous show with no plot besides "gay princess and gay dragon princess make bedroom eyes for 15 minutes" and that's wonderful, and I'm gonna sort of ignore a certain aspect of the ending.

more people should have watched Kemurikusa this season

Ah, I see you are a man of culture as well.

Is it over?

Edited by TitanJump on Apr 2nd 2019 at 5:26:26 PM

The anime is. I have to finish it.

No, is the season over now?

Edited by TitanJump on Apr 2nd 2019 at 5:34:20 PM

Well, yeah, I don't think there are any Winter shows still running (outside of Dororo).

Right, that too. And probably other less well known shows.

Edited by Lyendith on Apr 2nd 2019 at 6:41:05 PM

Really? What about "Shield Hero"?

Edit: In that case, here is my special verdict of the season shows.

Regret of the season: "Colorful Pastrale" (Why, why, why, WHY did I went and watched the whole thing? No idea. Regretting every moment. But now I at least got a reference for a bad show)

Treasure of the season: "My Roommate is a Cat". (HARU BEST GIRL! National treasure right then and there.)

Good Shows: Girly Air Force. The Magnificent Kotobuki. Endro~. Domestic Girlfriend. Kakegurui XX. Ace Attorney.

Great Shows: The Rising of the Shield Hero. Dororo. The Promised Neverland. Kemurikusa. Q2.

GREATEST shows: Mob Psycho II. Jojo: Golden Wind. Love is War.

"Meh"-shows: W'z. Special-Ops Asuka. Slime. Circlet Princess(the dubbing issues). Kakakuri Circus. Grimm's Notes

...Wait, did I seriously followed 21 different shows this season?!

(While on a full-time job at the side!?)

(...)

(How did that happen?)

Edited by TitanJump on Apr 2nd 2019 at 7:13:17 PM

You gained a level in otaku. The most impressive part is without losing your job.

Pastel Memories ep. 12 (END):

• OK, so did the Rabbit Shed girls get help building those Humongous Mecha from the citizens of Akihabara in their real world, or from Akihabara citizens within the world of Neon Nova Exceed? Also, I would have loved a Shout-Out to the Super Robot Wars games, but I did read news about the anime having trouble with streaming episodes 1 and 2, with changes to the aforementioned episodes.
• That Big Damn Heroes moment. Although that's somewhat dampened by Maya declaring that she'll be enemies with the Rabbit Shed girls the next time they meet. I guess she doesn't Know When to Fold Them.

Virtual-san wa Miteiru ep. 12 (END):

• Season finale and no cameos from Kizuna Ai and Kaguya Luna? WHY? (Different agency?)

Endro~! ep. 12 (END):

• A show that delivered on the slice-of-life, cute girls doing cute things, and lighthearted fantasy-comedy. And with a heartwarming ending, to boot! I guess that's one way to finally break the cycle.

I'm catching up on Boogiepop (episode 13), and man that shrink is the scariest villain I've seen since Izabella in TPN… I already liked the first half of the show, but I'm digging the second half much more for some reason.

Thoughts for the shows I watched to the end now that I've actually gotten around to finish watching The Promised Neverland

1. Mob Psycho 100, I've yakked on about it long enough in its thread so in summation: it good
2. The Promised Neverland, probably would've gotten first if it wasn't for Sister Krone whose problems have been gone over in length by other people but otherwise a gripping story from start to finish
3. Kaguya-sama: Love Is War, still think the narrator cheapened most of the show's comedy but episode 12 had an incredibly effective payoff to its various threads.
4. My Roommate is a Cat, I highly related to Mikazuki's story as someone just as bookish and I recently just started living independently away from my parents so the gap between Mikazuki and his parents really resonated. Most of the cast is pretty flat besides Haru and Mikazuki but that wasn't really a detriment to my overall viewing.
5. Mysteria Friends, Anne/Grea was nice but ehh that's all I can say about it.

Edited by Nouct on Apr 25th 2019 at 10:15:11 AM

I thought the narrator in Kaguya enhanced the comedy and the fake epicness if anything, for just how stupidly serious his delivery was.

Aaaand at long last I finished Boogiepop wa Warawanai. I'm still not sure what to think of it… It was a bit all over the place in its execution. Like, the first few episodes have this non-chronological narration that gave the story an intriguing puzzle feel but then it just… stopped doing that entirely. There were still plenty of Chekhov's guns but it was pretty straightforward in the end.

Thematically there seemed to be an emphasis on people's "distortions" − the deep worries that gnaw at their heart and affect their lives. Most of the main antagonists had powers built around that. And they were compelling antagonists! My main problem is with the "good guys"… none of them were bad characters per se, but I wasn't hugely invested in them either, outside of maybe Nagi. I think the absence of a true main character did the story more harm than good in that regard − sure, there's Boogiepop, but his role was mostly just to deal the finishing blow. I actually expected Miyashita Touka to have a significant role in the story considering her prominence in the opening and the fact she's the host of Boogiepop… but she's literally an extra. I feel there's a missed oportunity here.

Still, I mostly enjoyed the show. The dialogue was often a little abstract but still… comprehensible. The animation and art direction were also solid overall (except for the lack of variety in character designs), and the atmospheric soundtrack was wonderful. Especially in the last episode. Some surprisingly good action scenes too, even though it wasn't the focus.

I didn't like his voice and for me, on average for every gag that he made better, he ruined another five by interrupting and ruining the flow.

Grimms Notes' anime was quite a mediocre adaptation. Poor animation quality, over-simplified characters' designs, rushed plot and many unnecessary changes (1st episode takes place in Red Hood's story zone instead of Cinderella's, wtf!?) And that comes from someone who has been playing the Japanese version for a long time. I would hope season 2 will be better, but I don't expect too much and the damage is already done for me.

Edited by MagicalMarie on May 31st 2019 at 4:55:30 PM