What Current Anime Are You Watching Version v4.0

[Hikaru Ichijo SL]

https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/daily-briefs/2018-12-04/sentai-filmworks-announces-english-dub-for-to-love-ru-anime/.140319

 

Better late than never. I guess.  Except nobody can be Peke for me except Arai Satomi.  I look at my avatar and I wonder why.

Edited December 7, 2018 by Hikaru Ichijo SL

[Marzan]

Picked up a used copy of Zegapain for peanuts and I'm going to have it as my next watch. Anyone had any experiences with it?

[Seto Kaiba]

On 12/5/2018 at 3:35 PM, Focslain said:

Ep 2 has an amazing rap battle. After that temper your expectations as it goes back to classic idol anime with character growth and zombie hijinks. Ep 8 has a scene that seemed to piss a few people off. No spoilers as to what it was.

After watching episode two of Zombie Land Saga, I really wish I could've been a fly on the wall of the studio meeting room when this show was being pitched just so I could see the looks on the faces of the studio execs when they explained the premise.  

Still, after two episodes I'm still having loads of fun with this series.  It has a surprising amount of anarchic charm to it with such an odd premise and Sakura's determination to simply roll with the weird mess her unlife has become.  A rap battle accompanied by beatboxing and a shamisen isn't the weirdest instrumentation I've seen¹, but it's up there and it works surprisingly well.  Kotaro's entire management style seems to be a Bavarian Fire Drill... just shout important-sounding things and act like you should be doing what you're doing and nobody's inclined to question it.  

For an idol group made up of the undead, Death Musume seems to have a lot more soul than Walkure's animated incarnation.

 

EDIT:  After episode three, I'm still having a grand time with it.  

 

On 12/5/2018 at 4:36 PM, Hikaru Ichijo SL said:

https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/daily-briefs/2018-12-04/sentai-filmworks-announces-english-dub-for-to-love-ru-anime/.140319

Didn't that show come out like ten years ago?  What took so long?

I remember @Talos mentioning to me the manga had been canceled due to legal issues surrounding the likeness of one of the principal characters when the real person she was based on had a falling out with the author.

 

1. That would have to be a piece of modern classical music I once saw that called for a slide didgeridoo made from schedule 40 PVC pipe, a slide whistle, and a slapstick made from a 2x4.

Edited December 7, 2018 by Seto Kaiba

[JB0]

4 hours ago, Seto Kaiba said:

For an idol group made up of the undead, Death Musume seems to have a lot more soul than Walkure's animated incarnation.

 

Just because you don't have a pulse doesn't mean you don't have a heart! Stop being so necrophobic!

[hachi]

On 12/7/2018 at 3:32 AM, Marzan said:

Picked up a used copy of Zegapain for peanuts and I'm going to have it as my next watch. Anyone had any experiences with it?

I liked it, but I don't have the urge to rewatch like I do for Macross or other fave anime. So I guess it's OK/average?

[Stampeed Valkyrie]

I finally started watching the 3rd season of Index...   Episode 5 currently..  and something is missing.     After a re watch of the 1st and 2nd season,  the 1st season was definitely the strongest of the 3 so far..   by the 2nd season Touma (sp?) was getting pretty wordy during his fights which got irritating.     Now the 3rd season starts and the story is pretty absurd at this point..    I don't want to go into any spoilers for those that haven't seen it but the course of events seems to get more absurd as I progress.

It's still too early to judge.. since I am only 5 episodes in so I am keeping my fingers crossed this starts to make sense.

 

 

[Seto Kaiba]

On 12/7/2018 at 1:28 AM, JB0 said:

Just because you don't have a pulse doesn't mean you don't have a heart! Stop being so necrophobic!

Is it just me, or is Lily keeping hers on the outside?

I feel a bit like Focslain undersold Zombie Land Saga... six episodes in this show is great and not slowing down in the slightest.  Definitely one of my favorites for the season and for 2018.   

[Focslain]

On 12/8/2018 at 8:00 PM, Seto Kaiba said:

Is it just me, or is Lily keeping hers on the outside?

I feel a bit like Focslain undersold Zombie Land Saga... six episodes in this show is great and not slowing down in the slightest.  Definitely one of my favorites for the season and for 2018.   

Well @Seto Kaiba, I like to temper expectations, glad your loving the series.

I binged Hero=/=Mask this weekend. Nothing spectacular, but decently paced and a good old fashion crime drama. Best description I can give is SAC with less military and more civilian police. 

[Seto Kaiba]

Any verdict on Haven't You Heard? I'm Sakamoto, Yamada-kun and the Seven Witches, Rail Wars, or Caligula?

 

1 hour ago, Focslain said:

Well @Seto Kaiba, I like to temper expectations, glad your loving the series.

I'm rather bemused that people actually got heated over the content of episode 8.  

It was a twist, for sure, and not one I'd have seen coming in an idol anime but...

Spoiler

... quite frankly, I find it faintly absurd to complain about it when the internet made nary a peep about - and produced terrifying amounts of fanart for - similar characters in Fate and Overlord.  I'm not sure if that's hypocrisy, or just pigheaded stubbornness given that Zombie Land Saga makes a moderately sensitive case for Lily's particular struggle where Fate and Overlord just sort of went "yeah this is actually a dude" and left it at that.  I actually felt a little bad chuckling at Lily's INCREDIBLY MACHO real name though.

 

[Hikaru Ichijo SL]

On 12/8/2018 at 3:54 PM, Stampeed Valkyrie said:

I finally started watching the 3rd season of Index...   Episode 5 currently..  and something is missing.     After a re watch of the 1st and 2nd season,  the 1st season was definitely the strongest of the 3 so far..   by the 2nd season Touma (sp?) was getting pretty wordy during his fights which got irritating.     Now the 3rd season starts and the story is pretty absurd at this point..    I don't want to go into any spoilers for those that haven't seen it but the course of events seems to get more absurd as I progress.

It's still too early to judge.. since I am only 5 episodes in so I am keeping my fingers crossed this starts to make sense.

 

 

It does get better but I loved it from episode 1.  I might be biased since I am a huge fan of the series and Railgun.

[AN/ALQ128]

7 hours ago, Seto Kaiba said:

Any verdict on Haven't You Heard? I'm Sakamoto, Yamada-kun and the Seven Witches, Rail Wars, or Caligula?

Rail Wars was pretty terrible imo. Plagued with poor animation and the writing was definitely nothing to write home about.

[Hikaru Ichijo SL]

8 hours ago, Seto Kaiba said:

Any verdict on Haven't You Heard? I'm Sakamoto, Yamada-kun and the Seven Witches, Rail Wars, or Caligula?

 

I'm rather bemused that people actually got heated over the content of episode 8.  

It was a twist, for sure, and not one I'd have seen coming in an idol anime but...

  Reveal hidden contents

... quite frankly, I find it faintly absurd to complain about it when the internet made nary a peep about - and produced terrifying amounts of fanart for - similar characters in Fate and Overlord.  I'm not sure if that's hypocrisy, or just pigheaded stubbornness given that Zombie Land Saga makes a moderately sensitive case for Lily's particular struggle where Fate and Overlord just sort of went "yeah this is actually a dude" and left it at that.  I actually felt a little bad chuckling at Lily's INCREDIBLY MACHO real name though.

 

Yamada is good I loved it.

[JB0]

Sakamoto is fantastically ridiculous. 

Rail Wars is trash, but I liked it anyways.

[Stampeed Valkyrie]

Index 3 is now on the back burner..   with all the holiday sales I have a large backlog of DVD/Blu rays to churn through.  

Sakamoto was meh..   I don't remember actually finishing it.    

Rail Wars..   again meh..   it should have been renamed boob wars..    if your into trains you will probably like it.    Other then that it was pretty average,   I watched it once and would not go out of my way to watch it again.

 

I just wrapped up Plastic Memories...   highly disappointed with this title.      It started out really well and the writers just got lazy tossing out all the main plot points to write a love story about a boy and his robot... blah.

Next up for me is Saekano (How to raise a boring girlfriend)  I have watched the 2nd season of this already but never got around to watching the first.. so here it goes.

 

 

Edited December 11, 2018 by Stampeed Valkyrie

[Seto Kaiba]

17 hours ago, AN/ALQ128 said:

Rail Wars was pretty terrible imo. Plagued with poor animation and the writing was definitely nothing to write home about.

17 hours ago, Hikaru Ichijo SL said:

Yamada is good I loved it.

10 hours ago, JB0 said:

Sakamoto is fantastically ridiculous. 

Rail Wars is trash, but I liked it anyways.

52 minutes ago, Stampeed Valkyrie said:

Sakamoto was meh..   I don't remember actually finishing it.    

Rail Wars..   again meh..   it should have been renamed boob wars..    if your into trains you will probably like it.    Other then that it was pretty average,   I watched it once and would not go out of my way to watch it again.

Thanks for the feedback!   

I was looking into Rail Wars because a friend of mine who gives kind of hit-and-miss recommendations suggested it... but it sounds like it's more miss than hit this time.  (So if I add Keijo!!!!!!!! to my queue I can call the ensuing marathon T&A Wars?  I saw the trailer for that one and my eyes damn near rolled out of my skull trying to escape from the inanity.)

Crunchyroll was aggressively pushing Haven't You Heard? I'm Sakamoto for a while, so it landed on my queue because of that.

It looks like my next-up is Haven't You Heard? I'm Sakamoto, Yamada-kun and the Seven Witches, and Mob Psycho 100.

[JB0]

Keijo!!! is pretty good in spite of all appearances. I wouldn't lump it in with the likes of Rail Wars.

[Hikaru Ichijo SL]

I am starting Rokka no Yuusha, I hope it is good.

[Seto Kaiba]

19 hours ago, JB0 said:

Keijo!!! is pretty good in spite of all appearances. I wouldn't lump it in with the likes of Rail Wars.

TBH, from the trailer my reaction was "It's Queen's Blade for ass men".

Is there actually something more to it than fanservice?

[renegadeleader1]

8 hours ago, Seto Kaiba said:

TBH, from the trailer my reaction was "It's Queen's Blade for ass men".

Is there actually something more to it than fanservice?

*cracks knuckles*

 

As the resident fanservice expert here(seriously I host anime con panels on this stuff for fun) I have to say Keijo is very fun and entertaining little series. It's pretty much a send up parody of sports and fighting shows that is genuinely funny. A lot of the fights pay homage to things like JoJo's, DBZ, Street Fighter or One Punch Man. 

[JB0]

They homage pretty much everything. In addition to the above fighting animes, there's also Fate/Stay Night and King of Braves Gaogaigar homages. You haven't lived until you've shown an unsuspecting Fate fan the Fate episode of Keijo.

 

And honestly, I think the fanservice is a parody too.

[renegadeleader1]

53 minutes ago, JB0 said:

And honestly, I think the fanservice is a parody too.

Unless you are Sir Mix A Lot, because "Booty is booty."

[Marzan]

On 12/12/2018 at 3:26 AM, JB0 said:

Keijo!!! is pretty good in spite of all appearances. I wouldn't lump it in with the likes of Rail Wars.

Hips don't lie.

 

Sequel now!

[Seto Kaiba]

15 hours ago, renegadeleader1 said:

As the resident fanservice expert here(seriously I host anime con panels on this stuff for fun) [...]

... 

...

... so, does a gig like that come with business cards or is it purely word-of-mouth advertising?

(Honestly, I'd love to see the HR people at my day job slowly come unglued trying to figure out a way to safely broach that topic in the hobbies and interests part of an interview... like watching an old timey movie robot cope with a logic bomb and slowly freeze up.)

 

15 hours ago, renegadeleader1 said:

[...] I have to say Keijo is very fun and entertaining little series. It's pretty much a send up parody of sports and fighting shows that is genuinely funny. A lot of the fights pay homage to things like JoJo's, DBZ, Street Fighter or One Punch Man. 

It's been a good year for parody, so that actually sounds like it might be pretty enjoyable.  

Maybe the trailer I watched is just rubbish, since my takeaway from it was more that it was just a fanservice-centric sports anime like Wanna Be The Strongest in the World.  I'm not averse to fanservice, per se, but I like it to serve a purpose in the story.  Gratuitous fanservice is kind of a buzzkill to me.

[JB0]

11 hours ago, Seto Kaiba said:

Maybe the trailer I watched is just rubbish, since my takeaway from it was more that it was just a fanservice-centric sports anime like Wanna Be The Strongest in the World.  I'm not averse to fanservice, per se, but I like it to serve a purpose in the story.  Gratuitous fanservice is kind of a buzzkill to me.

Keijo! manages to LOOK like skanky irredeemable trash while BEING a fantastic parody of sports, fight, and T&A animes.

 

I think the highest praise I can give it is that I got my younger sister to watch and enjoy it, and was comfortable watching it with her.

I asked her to give it a chance in spite of appearances, she was just "I'm trying, but the show isn't making this easy.". Over the course of the first episode, she went from glaring daggers at me to laughing raucously at the absurdity of it all. 

[Hikaru Ichijo SL]

I finished Grimgar and it was great such a different take on Isekai.

[Keith]

[Hikaru Ichijo SL]

I started and almost finished Sunohara-sou no Kanrinin-san .  I have to stop looking at the cast before I watch a anime.  All I hear is Misaka and Kanzaki from Index talking.

[chyll2]

On 12/17/2018 at 5:47 AM, Hikaru Ichijo SL said:

I finished Grimgar and it was great such a different take on Isekai.

I really like how they struggle on the new World.

[hachi]

Finished this week:

Violet Evergarden - beautifully animated. I liked it (though not enough to be a favorite anime).

Little Witch Academia - the MC is annoying at first, but I also liked the side characters. I managed to hang on and finish it. Good enough at least I didn't get bored unlike in Gundam Build Divers where I roll my eyes at that show's boring MC.

[Seto Kaiba]

Since I'm up to speed on everything else I've been following this season, I restarted Ulysses: Jeanne d'Arc and the Alchemist Knight while I was wrapping presents and I think I've finally figured this series out.

It's reverse Fate/stay night.  Lots of gender-flipped historical domain characters, but instead of being in the modern day fighting over the (not actually) Holy Grail they're in their correct historical period fighting over (one of) the philosopher's stone(s).  Montmorency (it takes them five episodes to finally namedrop him as Gilles de Montmorency-Laval/Gilles de Rais) is basically Emiya in that he's surprisingly durable but otherwise useless except for dispensing vague platitudes like "people die if they are killed", and Jeanne d'Arc is basically loli-Saber with Ilya's personality.

One of the things I missed while I was halfheartedly watching it the first time is that this show has a massive boob fixation... literally.  Jeanne d'Arc and Philip of Burgundy are the only two characters who are proportioned remotely realistically, and Jeanne at least takes every opportunity to express how unfair she finds this.  (Philip of Burgundy is too busy apparently being possessed by the ghost of John the Fearless, who looks like Esidisi from JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, to complain about it.)  The teaser for the next episode is always Jean Poton de Xaintrailles raving about breasts followed by a "practical" (rude or lewd) sentence in French as a "language lesson".

This honestly feels like it's more gratuitous than Goblin Slayer... since it's clearly out to titillate rather than horrify.

Edited December 24, 2018 by Seto Kaiba

[Hikaru Ichijo SL]

I started Kannagi and I found it funny and I will continue to watch it.  After listening to your gravitation lately I am watching Seto no hanayome again.

[fenrir72]

Rightstuf anime store has a bigass Gundam sale(and others btw)

So I got

Gundam Char's Origin

Gundam UC0079 series

Stardust

War in the Pocket

ZGundam a new translation

ZZ Gundam series

Char's Counterattack

Gundam Unicorn

F91

Gundam Wing Bundle (the whole shebang folks)

(Planning on getting MS008 (Put it on sale now please) and Igloo)

Evangelion 1.11,2.22,3.33 BD set

Gunbuster BD movie (wished they had the series)

[Vifam7]

Finished watching SSSS Gridman last night. I'm not much of a tokusatsu fan (and I'm sure I missed a ton of references to the original Gridman), but i thought the series was pretty darn good.  The ending was a bit fuzzy but the overall ride was good.  I also liked that the series had a nice balance of fun, seriousness, and emotion.

Also loved the chara designs of Akane and Rikka

 

[Hikaru Ichijo SL]

I finished Bunny Girl Senpai and it was really good I enjoyed every episode,

[Stampeed Valkyrie]

15 hours ago, Hikaru Ichijo SL said:

I finished Bunny Girl Senpai and it was really good I enjoyed every episode,

 

I think this series was the breakout title of this season.    Possibly one of the best of 2018.

SSSS.Gridman was also pretty good,  more so then I expected.