Summer/Fall Anime Season 2015

[Felicity]

Oh yeah, Rakudai is terrible for the Ecchi. It's just that of the two, I reckon Rakudai has other things in it that make it #worf

[Meruem]

ecchi doesn't even matter as long as it doesn't interfere with the writing and your attention span isn't somewhat weak. you could have every character in a relatively good show naked and, while the show would be worse for adding unnecessary fan service, it would still be better than asterisk by a long shot.

this is obviously an exaggeration though, 'cause I doubt anyone would take a show where every character is naked seriously lol.

Edited November 8, 2015 by Gore

[Hiss13]

ecchi doesn't even matter as long as it doesn't interfere with the writing and your attention span isn't somewhat weak. you could have every character in a relatively good show naked and, while the show would be worse for adding unnecessary fan service, it would still be better than asterisk by a long shot.

this is obviously an exaggeration though, 'cause I doubt anyone would take a show where every character is naked seriously lol.

Kill la Kill says hi.

[Felicity]

Kill la Kill says hi.

Kill la kill says "notice me pls"

[Meruem]

kill la kill only proves my point though. no one took it seriously at first and then it turned out fucking awesome. by episode 6-8 of the series you were practically used to it.

[Raindrop Valkyrie]

That was part of the point in Kill la Kill though... to kinda show that that shit didn't really matter and it didn't necessarily bring down a story. The writing could still be fine and the story could still be meaningful despite it being there. It's pointless to not be pointless... if that makes a sense lol. Like, it was supposed to really show that something like that didn't have to subtract when a lot of the time it does.

I honestly don't know enough about the other series being tlaked about here though to truly comment... so... yea I won't talk on those cause I can;t really XD.

[Felicity]

in these cases it really just comes down to execution. They both use a lot of the same tropes, ideas, settings etc. Rakudai just feels like it executes it better

[Meruem]

dat shrine scene. my feels.

[Felicity]

Well, I'm watching like two things right now because I just can't be bothered to watch anything else. OPM and Rakudai. Oh, and fairy tale I guess.

[Flux]

So I'm gonna be the guy who shows up late to the show here.

Anyway, I've been keeping up with three of this season's anime, being One Punch Man, Attack on Titan: Junior High, and Asterisk War. My opinions on them are as follows:

One Punch Man

Episode 1 starts off reeeally slow. At first it got me wondering why everyone liked this show so much. The first episode was bland and uninteresting with little humor, and it appeared to be setting up a series where battles would get really boring after a while.

...And then the rest of One Punch Man happened. Needless to say, the show is hilarious, and the first episode really doesn't do it justice. It's the anime that I'm most excited for new episode releases for this season.

Attack on Titan: Junior High

This is an anime that relies heavily on its mother series for humor. Pretty much all of the jokes/funny things will be missed if you haven't watched/read the first season of Attack on Titan. Needless to say, if you have seen it, the show's great. I love how they use the original dramatic tracks from the OST to provide melodrama for the most ridiculous things. All in all, I've been enjoying this one a lot as well.

Asterisk War

This anime... is in a weird spot for me. I generally don't mind the harem/ecchi aspect of anime. But for whatever reason, it just seems rampant to the point of being intrusive in this anime. Not to mention that the girls seem to randomly be in love with the MC for no reason at all. (Some of you may say, "But hey, you're a SAO fan! That harem comes out of nowhere too and the anime sucks!" But honestly, even SAOs harem makes a hell of a lot more sense to me than this one and I don't care if you think it sucks. To each their own.) I feel like this anime could be a lot better if the ecchi/harem elements were just removed or toned down a bit. I know there's been the argument in this thread already about how it brings nothing unique and yadda yadda and I don't want to revive that argument, but honestly, why do things have to be unique every damn time? Seriously, cliches exist because they're things we enjoy so much that we tend to repeat them. Character types exist because inevitably, almost every character falls into stereotypes. But everyone acts like just because I can say "x character is x type of character," then the character is automatically uncreative and garbage because you can put them in some class. Now granted, I'm suuuper tolerant and not picky at all when it comes to anime. SAO is my favorite anime yet, which goes to show that I could care less about stereotypes and flaws. If it's more entertaining than what everyone claims to be good anime, then I'm gonna watch it and love it anyway.

Anyway, semi-rant aside, I will say that Asterisk War is overall pretty meh to me. It's not great by any means, but I don't think it's terrible. Maybe I'm just being overly tolerant again, but it's hard for me to ever dislike an anime so much that I can't enjoy watching it. Asterisk War irks me at times, but overall I still enjoyed watching it and will probably finish it. The opening animations are a work of art imo, and the character designs are appealing for the most part, barring a few that are meh.

[Helios2]

I´m watching basically everything this season like usual, the only anime that cant really catch me is concrete revolutio, I dont know why but it just doesnt get me somehow. One Punch man is pretty need ia gree their. Rakudai definetly suprised me, the last Harem I saw were the protagonist formed a relationship with one of the girls was SAO, also I love practical invincible characters (as long they are invincible through their own strength and not plot armour). Other then that, I really look forward to the Utawarerumono sequel episodes every week, I just love the mysteries in that world and how they build in the prequel in few glimpses that always remind you that it is the world you got to know before, but still completly different with the amount of changes that happened over the time (that said last episode was crap though and could have been done miles better).

[Code: PIRULUK]

Welp, I'm super late, but time for me to post my thoughts on the stuff airing. At least, the stuff I'm following. DO NOTE THAT THIS IS MERELY MY OPINION.

Kidou Senshi Gundam: Tekketsu no Orphans

This was honestly my most anticipated show of the season(aside from Utawarerumono, but that's more because I loved the original's VN so I'm rather biased). I normally don't follow Mecha anime, but I heard Mari Okada was involved, so I got super excited. Was not disappointed. Nice characters, a very real and serious storyline. Awesome OP, good visuals, interesting plot direction. Nice focus on camaraderie and brotherhood. All in all, very worth your time, unless you're super averse to mecha anime.

Utawarerumono: Itsuwari no Kamen

As much as I love this show and this franchise, I cannot in good conscience call it amazing. Pacing-wise, it's rather slow, but also a lot more appropriate for the atmosphere of the show than the adaptation of the first game. Characters are introduced at a realistic, well-paced rate, instead of trying to cram all character introductions into a few episodes. The interactions between Kuon and Haku are a pleasure to watch, and though there are a myriad of bath scenes, these scenes, while still counting as fanservice, do serve a rather important role in displaying the character development. Fans of the first Utawarerumono are likely to enjoy this show, while newcomers to the franchise may also watch it as simply a calming, well-paced Fantasy show with good characters.

Taimadou Gakuen 35 Shiken Shoutai

At first glance, a generic harem. At second glance, still a generic harem. With one of the worst pilot episodes of the season and a boring male protagonist which honestly doesn't stand out at all, the only reason why I haven't dropped this is because the personalities of the girls in the platoon are, while somewhat cliche, also somewhat refreshing. They all fall into typical character archetypes, i.e. Ohtori is the tsundere, Usagi is the unintelligent girl with large breasts, Suginami is the perverted girl that keeps trying ecchi things. However, within these character archetypes, they do show some promising development; Usagi's clumsy exterior hides an amazing strength of will, Suginami's perverse actions stem from a deep-seated curiosity, etc. The world itself is interesting enough to warrant a watch, but what's really good about this show is the antagonist. The extent of their twisted nature is very clearly shown to viewers, and it's a very interesting experience overall. I'd say give the first 3 eps a try, at least. It starts out terrible but gets slightly better. The male protagonist is still extremely boring though.

Comet Lucifer

The premise of this show is extremely generic. The OP video of this show is extremely generic. The characters in this show are somewhat generic. But the sound production of the show is awesome. Most of the characters and their interactions are interactions and traits you will have seen in countless other shows. Some characters do break the mold somewhat, but still roughly fit into the same cookie cutter mould. possibly the most original character would be Do Mon, and he's a side character. But I would watch this show just for the amazing sound effects. The sound production quality on this show is amazing. Close attention is paid even to the most minute details, like passersby in the streets, birds in the sky and chairs being drawn. The BGM used fits the scenes perfectly, and in general the show is a pleasure to listen to. Don't watch it for the story though; you'll be sorely disappointed.

Subete ga F ni naru

Amazing character interactions in this show. The dialogue is very well-written, and the relationship dynamic between the main male lead and the heroine is explored very thoroughly. The mystery itself could be more engaging though. I find myself not really caring about the solution to the mystery, and instead just pay attention to the relationship dynamic between the two. The art style is a bit different from the norm; it utilises less colors and is somewhat more dreary. I feel like this show has a very mature impression; it's a show meant to appeal to a thinking audience who appreciate good storytelling over high entertainment value. It shies away from employing a multitude of the tricks used to appeal to a wider audience, like slapstick/situational humor or fanservice, and instead focuses on delivering meaningful, mature writing carried by its realistic, human character dialogue. Add that it has - in my opinion - the most interesting OP video of the season, and Subete ga F ni naru possibly takes the AotS slot for me. Highly recommended.

[Meruem]

mumen rider = true mvp

[Felicity]

Ok, final thoughts on the fall shows that are ending now that I was watching. This season I wasn't watching much but I think they were P good.

Rakudai: Overall this show kinda feels like it pulled tropes out of a hat and then handed them to someone competent, who did their best with a limited timeframe and budget. The main difference between this series and other clones of it's genre is the romance. The main couple are actually a main couple, not a couple of people dancing about in a will-they, won't-they harem. The initial characters I suspected would be the harem components ended up getting some decent depth and development bar maybe one character and a whole bunch of side characters, though that's fine. They're side characters. Animation-wise, it holds up to today's average standards. Distinct yet familiar character designs, empthasis on smooth fight scenes and generally pretty backgrounds with some ecchi scenes sprinkled in. What made this show stand out to me is the opening animation and how it blends into the finale of the series. Whilst some of it came off as obnoxious and cliche a tad, such as the use of grey for am oppressive atmosphere and the burst of colour when everything is fixed and the MC gets back on his feet, it's unique and not something you see from your standard fare. I'd say watch it if you're looking for something to kill time with is my verdict.

OPM: I got everything I wanted from this series and then some dear lord. I got a laugh out of each episode, whether it's due to Saitama's antics and expressions or the shit some of the other characters pull, it was a brand of humour I really liked. The series is also incredibly self aware and works to parody the superhero/shounen genre whilst also providing a good example of what it is parodying. Kill la kill style/ Animation, well, I feel like Madhouse saw the UnlimitedBudgetWorks on the horizon a long time ago and decided they needed something to match it. Dear lord did they do that. If you haven't seen it, go watch it just for the fight scenes. Madhouse came through.

I'd talk abouk Iron blooded Orphans but that's continuing into next season, so 'll talk about that there when it does finish.