What Current Anime Are You Watching Version v4.0

[RavenHawk]

8 hours ago, Focslain said:

It might be an expectation thing. Pandora at least from my angle, was a bit hyped up. 

Issue was that upon viewing the series is pretty generic and has too many tropes. Maybe once the we get the second half of the series we'll at least get a resolution.

My biggest disappointment in Pandora was it seemed that Kaworai phoned in his mech designs. I had to pause the show when the sniper's mech fully transformed because to looked too much like Halo's Mjolnir armour on rollar blades and I was laughing too hard.

In the end, if you had fun and were entertained then all's good.

The expectation thing makes sense.

In my case, I had never heard of it, knew nothing about it, then it popped up on Netflix. I decided to check it out blindly and enjoyed it.

When the motorcycle mecha showed up, instead of being disappointed by it looking Halo-ish, I was just all excited to see a new two-wheeled mech...

[Focslain]

On 11/16/2018 at 9:25 PM, RavenHawk said:

The expectation thing makes sense.

In my case, I had never heard of it, knew nothing about it, then it popped up on Netflix. I decided to check it out blindly and enjoyed it.

When the motorcycle mecha showed up, instead of being disappointed by it looking Halo-ish, I was just all excited to see a new two-wheeled mech...

Which is just fine.

Personally I like the vehicle designs and the monster designs are interesting too. It's just the robot modes were too close a rip of other things.

Anyway so I binged on Land of Lustrous this weekend. That was an interesting ride. The animation was better then Polygon's work and the story starts up mid Steven Universe and then shifts heavy existential about half-way through. Hope they do more.

Might do Girl's Last Tour next weekend if I'm feeling lazy again.

[kajnrig]

Anyone have thoughts/insight on Violet Evergarden? I watched the first episode last night and didn't find it all that interesting, though the art sure was top-notch. I'm wondering if there's a reason for such a high-budget first episode...

[technoblue]

6 hours ago, kajnrig said:

Anyone have thoughts/insight on Violet Evergarden? I watched the first episode last night and didn't find it all that interesting, though the art sure was top-notch. I'm wondering if there's a reason for such a high-budget first episode...

There was some discussion a number of pages back. To summarize, most were recommending it, although there were one or two members who didn't (or couldn't) connect with Violet's situation. I would say that Violet Evergarden is like The Ancient Magus' Bride in that it takes its time with world building and character development, and getting to the point. That is, it's very careful in how it reveals the important details--they come as a trickle and not as a flood.

Anyway, when I watched it, I found the story to be very rewarding. The OVA is also on Netflix now and I've been meaning to watch it. 

Perhaps I'll catch up on that over the holiday weekend...

[Focslain]

13 hours ago, kajnrig said:

Anyone have thoughts/insight on Violet Evergarden? I watched the first episode last night and didn't find it all that interesting, though the art sure was top-notch. I'm wondering if there's a reason for such a high-budget first episode...

The first episode is actually the general quality of the series animation, not a boost.

@technoblue is correct in that it takes it's time in the character building and story. The OVA isn't too bad of a better dip then the front of the series, so it might help and doesn't spoil the series main arc. 

[Hikaru Ichijo SL]

I enjoyed Violet Evergarden it was good.

[kajnrig]

Thanks for the insight, all. Two episodes in, I'm put off by the characters - a bit too generic, too melodramatic - but that animation remains top notch. The world is the more interesting thing here, it's a shame we're so limited in what we see of it.

I'll give it another two episodes, see how/if it ramps up. What's that super robot anime that just recently came out that people were gushing over the last few pages?

[Focslain]

14 hours ago, kajnrig said:

Thanks for the insight, all. Two episodes in, I'm put off by the characters - a bit too generic, too melodramatic - but that animation remains top notch. The world is the more interesting thing here, it's a shame we're so limited in what we see of it.

I'll give it another two episodes, see how/if it ramps up. What's that super robot anime that just recently came out that people were gushing over the last few pages?

Violet is a special creature, so no surprise there.

As for the super-robot series.... if it's the Trigger one that would be SSSS. Gridman, it's a good call back to the giant monster and ultraman series of old. After the halfway mark it's starts to dip into philosophy Trigger style.

If not then the only one I remember is Captain Earth?

[kajnrig]

Gridman, yep, that's the one. I was thinking it was something like RRRR Birdman. :/ Thanks.

[Seto Kaiba]

1 hour ago, kajnrig said:

I was thinking it was something like RRRR Birdman. :/

... and my brain mentally filled in "Attorney at Law".

Gaikotsu Shotenin Honda-san has turned out to be a surprisingly enjoyable slice of life series... might be the best thing on this season.

[Big s]

I was one of those that didn’t like violet evergarden. It’s a pretty shell on a stupid story with dumb reasoning. I wish more anime looked this good though.

[kajnrig]

Yeah, the story fell flat to me, too. There's a lot of "JUST TALK!!! SAY SOMETHING!!!" running through my head, and it's fine if it's isolated to just one or two characters, but the entire cast seems afflicted with the inability to say a single thing of consequence. It was infuriating for the episodes I sat through. For a story all about writing and the expression of emotion, you'd think they would be able to do so beyond more than just melodramatic outbursts. 

Sorry if that rubs fans the wrong way, but eh. Just not for me, I suppose.

On another note, the Castlevania (not-)anime was surprisingly great. So... There's that. Happy Thanksgiving.

[AN/ALQ128]

On 11/19/2018 at 6:20 AM, Focslain said:

Might do Girl's Last Tour next weekend if I'm feeling lazy again.

GLT was a good show.

[Stampeed Valkyrie]

Violet Evergarden is not a show for everyone.. the story is not fast paced,  but it does a good job conveying its message none the less.     Not the greatest series ever,  but not a waste of time.     

I need to watch Girls Last Tour.. I have a friend who loves this series and I can't seem to get into it.    

I am nearing the end of a rewatch of the 2nd season of Index... before I jump into the 3rd..      Touma needs to tone down the preaching in this series.. other then that it's OK.   First season was better.. IMO.

 

 

 

[technoblue]

2 hours ago, kajnrig said:

Yeah, the story fell flat to me, too. There's a lot of "JUST TALK!!! SAY SOMETHING!!!" running through my head, and it's fine if it's isolated to just one or two characters, but the entire cast seems afflicted with the inability to say a single thing of consequence. It was infuriating for the episodes I sat through. For a story all about writing and the expression of emotion, you'd think they would be able to do so beyond more than just melodramatic outbursts. 

Sorry if that rubs fans the wrong way, but eh. Just not for me, I suppose.

There's no need to apologize for your opinion.

I know this is the Internet and that is kind of opposite the way things work, but we all get and like different things and that's okay. I liked Violet Evergarden, and I thought the pacing was perfect, given how the show's premier focus was on the main character's prost-traumatic stress disorder. I think my empathy comes from my own experience with mental issues, which I won't go into here. The writing was also a relatable backdrop (since that's what I do for work), and in this anime I found it to be a clever vehicle through which the team involved brought Violet to different places and let her grow from where we see her in episode one (unsure by civilian life, and still limited by her military duties) to where she ends up at the end.

As a fantasy, with science-fiction elements, I can see how it could be classified as far-fetched. But I didn't mind that aspect at all. The secondary story, the love story, could have been given more weight, but I don't think it was lost in the telling. It was just that all that exposition was saved until the end. Again, it was a piece that required much patience for an invested member of the audience to get the final reward.

Edited November 23, 2018 by technoblue

[Mazinger]

On 11/23/2018 at 6:53 AM, kajnrig said:

On another note, the Castlevania (not-)anime was surprisingly great. So... There's that. Happy Thanksgiving.

^ This 100x's.

Initially I was thrown off by the first episode.  I thought there was too much retconning going on and stopped watching.  This week I decided to keep going and, oh man, did it get good fast.

I'm very impressed with Netflix's animation productions.  I don't know how much credit is due to them versus say, the individual production houses, but Voltron, Dragon Prince, Castlevania, and now She-Ra, have proven solid.

It really makes me wish that somehow they might throw money at remakes of certain shows which had solid concepts, but never achieved the love they deserved, like the Thundercats 2011 version.

I also wouldn't mind "rebuilds" of shows like SD Southern Cross, or say, Mospeada.  Yes, we'll always have the originals, but I want more and if it was a collaboration with the original creators, it could really be something.

I've been thinking recently a lot about the explosion of Sci-Fi that occurred in the early 80's just after the Big Bang that was Star Wars in '77.  If you look up the list of genre movies that came out between 1980 and 1984 it's incredible, and I think there was a synergy there with the anime being produced at the time.

[kajnrig]

1 hour ago, Mazinger said:

I don't know how much credit is due to them versus say, the individual production houses, but Voltron, Dragon Prince, Castlevania, and now She-Ra, have proven solid.

I'm not sure which if any are in-house projects (ie a Netflix studio creates it) and which are simply licensing exclusives (Voltron I know is animated by Dreamworks and distributed exclusively by Netflix), but yes, the ones I've seen have been good more often than not.

Speaking of, if you have a kid you might be interested in a cute little show called "Hilda," after the book series of the same name.

On 11/23/2018 at 11:50 AM, technoblue said:

There's no need to apologize for your opinion.

Yeah, I was in a mood writing that. I assumed that the fans of the show might be of a particular type, and wanted to preempt an argument. Been a bit stressed lately due to lack of steady internet access. A lot of work I've been able to take care of at the library in the meantime, but there remains a lot that's on hiatus at home with deadlines getting closer and closer until AT&T finally get off their butts and fix their own mistake.

On 11/23/2018 at 11:50 AM, technoblue said:

As a fantasy, with science-fiction elements, I can see how it could be classified as far-fetched. But I didn't mind that aspect at all. The secondary story, the love story, could have been given more weight, but I don't think it was lost in the telling. It was just that all that exposition was saved until the end. Again, it was a piece that required much patience for an invested member of the audience to get the final reward.

I found the magitek-y elements - specifically, Violet's artificial arms - to be among the most interesting things in the show. I didn't have a problem with those at all. In fact, I wanted them incorporated more. I wanted to see Violet learning to use them, and how that journey reflected or contrasted with her journey through her trauma. I was extremely disappointed that they didn't spend more time on her learning to use her arms to type and/or on the other characters learning to deal with someone with such unique augmentations - from literally every character's initial response to her, it's clear that the level of magitek used on her is very much not the norm for this world.

But really, what irritated me the most was the aforementioned storytelling, the contriving of drama and the barefaced manipulation of the viewer's emotions. The episode I finally called it quits, where Violet's fellow Auto Memory Doll and Objectively Best Girl Iris was tricked into coming back home, had a quick scene where Violet introduces herself to Iris's relatives, and her little curtsy gets a full ten, fifteen seconds of focus. Time slows down, a dramatic localized wind kicks up, everything is all very pretty, but it made me want to punch the phone. There was nothing, NOTHING, justifying that shot, and nothing, NOTHING, gained from it, but boy it sure did look pretty didn't it? Yeah, I guess. Pretty and vapid and empty. Just like a doll, ironically enough. It's like the creators didn't understand their own creation.

blaaaarrrrrgggghhhkla;sdjflkasjfd anyway. I'm picking up Attack on Titan again, starting from the beginning and hoping I'll make it further than I did last time. I think it was the... 13-episode mark? I have a feeling I'll probably like it better this time around, but who knows. After that, once I get internet back again, it's onto Gridman: Attorney at Law.

[Seto Kaiba]

6 hours ago, kajnrig said:

I'm picking up Attack on Titan again, starting from the beginning and hoping I'll make it further than I did last time. I think it was the... 13-episode mark? I have a feeling I'll probably like it better this time around, but who knows.

It doesn't get better... it just gets progressively more obvious that the series was a one-trick pony.  I got caught up on the manga recently, and I'm convinced the author is trying to fly it into the ground because he's profoundly bored with its lack of potential.  It's strongly reminiscent of when Tite Kubo lost interest in Bleach and resolved to drive the readers away.

Spoiler

Basically everyone in the story has become a complete monster, and a fair few of them literal ones... with many also being fanatical militant nationalists on a level that makes all of the gratuitous german in the anime seem a tad like Unfortunate Implications.  If the story weren't basically depicting BOTH sides as Nazis in all but name (Notzis?) with genocidal agendas, I'd sincerely suspect Isayama was an anti-semite.  

 

[technoblue]

So...Studio Trigger is really showing their love for Transformers with the SSSS.Gridman characters. Some eagle-eyed fans over at the tfw2005 forums noticed the connection/easter egg. It's pretty uncanny how Rikka and Akane are designed after Shattered Glass Megatron and Optimus, respectively. The other characters match up with other Transformer counterparts too. Check it out (a general spoiler warning applies, since the members over there are using the thread to discuss the show):

http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/threads/shattered-glass-a-reference-for-ssss-gridman.1161913/

What else am I watching?

I binged the latest season of The Seven Deadly Sins on Netflix. It was all right. I enjoyed Diane's side story, Ban's side story, and how we get to meet Escanor which made for some fun battle scenes with the Ten Commandments who also finally show up.  The pig, as usual, serves up a decent dose of comic relief. The main arc with Meliodas, though--is he going to go full dark side or come back to the light? I must confess, the way they are dragging that out is starting to get tedious. 

I started to watch Princess Principle too. Ah, the music! I'm really into it, and the other-world London art design. 

Edited November 25, 2018 by technoblue

[Hikaru Ichijo SL]

I restarted Grimgar I watched episode 1 and thought it was boring.  I watched 2 and 3 and now I am hooked.

[Protoculture]

I'm re-watching Black Lagoon before moving on to Jormungand. Then there'll be Witchblade anime series on the list.

OTOH, on my regular weekend watchlist of ongoing series are Goblin Slayer & Slime. On the Western animation front, its Star Wars Resistance.

[kajnrig]

I'm reminded why I stopped watching AoT: Right at the 9-episode mark, the show just loses all momentum. It has its share of "typical shounen anime" moments throughout the first 8 episodes, but then episode 9 hits and all of a sudden everyone goes on minutes-long monologues about who they are and who they want to be and this and that and the Anime Levels shoot up to 11. Events which should have resolved in a single episode suddenly stretch into two or three, and characters and entire factions start acting like complete idiots for no reason whatsoever. I have a feeling it's indicative of the unique qualities of Japanese politics, but for like six full episodes I just wanted to slap every single character. Now that the "Distrust Arc" is finally over and Eren's out in the forest, hopefully the story can get going again.

Mikasa et al are stuck under that skeleton for 50 minutes of valuable run time! That soldier having a psychotic break afterwards isn't summarily tossed in the brig or a mental facility, but rather is left to scream his heart out in a crowded courtyard and freak out every other already-compromised soldier in a thousand-yard radius! The obviously inept Captain Woermann isn't similarly summarily reassigned or demoted or even his orders ignored completely by literally anyone, but rather left to command an entire platoon into nearly firing on their own comrades! Then the whole operation afterwards, which apparently takes place the very same day? or the next day? but it's terribly paced and everyone is stupid and the edict to distract but not kill Titans is frakkING ASININE THEY LITERALLY COULD SOLVE SO MANY ISSUES BY KILLING WHEN THEY NEED TO. And the court case afterward is stupid, the people getting into arguments is stupid, the people's arguments are stupid, Eren's dramatic speech is stupid. The only good part of that entire fiasco was when Levi finally shut him up by beating the ever-loving crap out of him.

I'm also reminded of just how much the manga/show apes Evangelion. It sure gets the body horror right, but it's not as effective as far as purely horrifying goes. It starts with the horror dial already at 11, and it doesn't really know how to ratchet it up from there. Eva starts off pretty mellow, establishing the Eva as a bionic entity early in the show, and touching on that aspect briefly every other episode or so before hitting us with the WHAM trifecta of episodes 16, 17, and 18, where those earlier throwaway biological aspects are suddenly thoroughly examined.

On 11/24/2018 at 10:34 PM, Seto Kaiba said:

It doesn't get better... it just gets progressively more obvious that the series was a one-trick pony.

I remember thinking this way back during the season 1 premiere, too, that it was winning everyone over by shock value alone. Kind of like Goblin Slayer, expect it has narrative meat on its bones.

[kajnrig]

Okay, so it WAS just those middle five or six episodes. The rest of the season flew by in comparison, though

the twist that Annie also had Titan powers sort of comes from nowhere. She doesn't exactly get much... or

any, really... characterization in the half a series earlier, so her being such a major player comes way out of left field. I'm sure it'll be expanded upon in the second and third seasons, but in the here and now, it's a bit of an underwhelming and unnecessarily confusing plot twist.

Those last ten episodes still have their share of annoying, incopetent side characters and Anime Moments, and even dabble in the "Let's Explain Things Retroactively Instead of Properly Setting Up Clues Beforehand" trope, but it's never egregious and far FAR preferable to "Let's Whinge About Literally Everything for Five Minutes to Pad Out the Runtime." I get what @Seto Kaiba was saying about characters becoming progressively more and more monstrous, and for several characters it feels like an unbelievable shift. It has been something of a running theme, though, so I'm not going to hate on it for that. What I will hate on is that it's not explored particularly well. Or rather, it presents an interesting situation where the characters have to choose between two morally gray decisions... but then paints one as inherently "humane but leads to defeat" and the other as inherently "monstrous but leads to victory" (and this is where I can easily see the perhaps intended/unintended comparisons to fascist ideology) This is most obvious in the final battle of the season, which is part of the reason why some of the characters feel so off.

Anyway, now it's on to season 2 and 3, then Gridman.

[technoblue]

4 minutes ago, kajnrig said:

Anyway, now it's on to season 2 and 3, then Gridman.

Wow. For some reason, I thought you were further along after reading your review, @kajnrig. But if you have just finished season one, then you are in for quite a ride. Glad to see you were able to get past those initial doldrums. Also, pay attention to the commercial bumps that pop up halfway between each episode. You may have noticed already, but they provide more information on the story's mythology. 

[Hikaru Ichijo SL]

I finished Rokujouma no Shinryakusha and I really loved it.  I liked the whole cast.

[Seto Kaiba]

18 minutes ago, kajnrig said:

I get what @Seto Kaiba was saying about characters becoming progressively more and more monstrous, and for several characters it feels like an unbelievable shift. It has been something of a running theme, though, so I'm not going to hate on it for that. What I will hate on is that it's not explored particularly well.

Oh, it gets WORSE.  Way, WAY worse.  Like, everything you've seen so far was a blank round exercise WORSE.

Once the reveal that there are humans who can turn into Titans starts to blow over, the titans themselves basically lose all intimidation value and relevance, to such a degree that...

Spoiler

... in the yet-unadapted portions of the manga beyond Season 3, the entire story abruptly changes gears and all but forgets titans are a thing in order to focus on political intrigue.

Spoiler

With darkness-induced audience apathy setting in, the titans are unceremoniously exterminated off-page during a time skip because they just aren't frightening or remotely intimidating anymore...

Spoiler

... in order to make way for the reveal that literally every aspect of the setting up to that point was a paper-thin lie only the people living inside the walls believed.

The walls are on an island.  The titans haven't destroyed the rest of the world.  The rest of humanity is just fine and operating at least at a World War 1 tech level.  The titans are manmade weapons of war and the island is a prison for the government-in-exile of the nation that originally created them and used them for genocide and other war crimes before being defeated.  The titans on the island were all political prisoners sentenced to life as mindless titans for various offenses while living under the rule of the nation that beat the ancestors of the wall-dwellers (who themselves turned to using titans as weapons and are having their own go at being Notzis).  Eren is now basically Titan Hitler leading a pogrom against his people's conquerors with the technological and military aid of the setting's Japan-equivalent. 

 

 

 

[kajnrig]

1 hour ago, technoblue said:

Glad to see you were able to get past those initial doldrums.

Yeah, I... think... I am, too. I don't regret skipping on the series during that six-episode stretch the first time around, nor would I beleaguer anyone for doing the same, though. Those five episodes are BAAAAAAAAAD.

Quote

Also, pay attention to the commercial bumps that pop up halfway between each episode. You may have noticed already, but they provide more information on the story's mythology. 

Those were some of my favorite things even the first time around. I'm surprised more shows haven't copied that same tactic for world-building.

EDIT:

1 hour ago, Seto Kaiba said:

Once the reveal that there are humans who can turn into Titans starts to blow over, the titans themselves basically lose all intimidation value and relevance, to such a degree that...

... in the yet-unadapted portions of the manga beyond Season 3, the entire story abruptly changes gears and all but forgets titans are a thing in order to focus on political intrigue.

Y'know, I don't think I mind that too much... if it's done well (and what politics I've seen so far I have decidedly not liked). If the show is all about literal and metaphorical monstrosity, then monstrous social policy could be something to look forward to.

Edited November 27, 2018 by kajnrig

[Stampeed Valkyrie]

Well thanks to Sentai's black Friday sale,  I ended up picking up more then 10 different series on the real cheap..

So starting things off..

Yusibu "I Couldn't Become a Hero So I Reluctantly Decided to Get a Job"    I find this series to be a mixed bag..   Very heavy on the fan-service..   The plot kinda stumbles around and the premise is rather boring.    Sub only.. (Thank god)  but not something I would openly recommend unless you want your fill of Oppai.

Himouto! Umaru-chan..     I don't really have anything nice to say about this title.    I found the main character to be outright annoying and the running gag of this series is never really funny,  let alone for 1 cour.    What amuses me about this title is how much hype it garnered and continues to be popular..  I'd rather go visit the dentist.

Bakuon!!  I have yet to finish this series but so far so good.    Out of the 3 this one actually has some relevant humor.   I can see why everyone likes Rin.. 2 reasons.. just sayin.   Overall I am about halfway through this title and it's managed to beat my expectations..  worth checking out.    I'll come back and add more to this once I finish it.

 

So 3 down and a boat load more to go.

 

 

 

 

 

[Seto Kaiba]

On 11/27/2018 at 6:48 PM, kajnrig said:

Y'know, I don't think I mind that too much... if it's done well (and what politics I've seen so far I have decidedly not liked). If the show is all about literal and metaphorical monstrosity, then monstrous social policy could be something to look forward to.

As undeniably monstrous as their social policy is, it feels more like an arse pull than a natural development since it comes out of nowhere and completely changes the entire focus of the series until Attack on Titan becomes a bit of an artifact title.  It gets worse when...

Spoiler

... Paradise's whole Titan problem - the thing that consumed Eren's every waking thought - is neatly resolved off-panel during a timeskip and the entire story changes focus again to going to genocidal war against the Not!zis in Marley who sent the Titan Shifters so we can watch Eren and the Marley leadership compete to see who will be Alpha Hitler. 

 

[Seto Kaiba]

So... I started watching Zombie Land Saga over lunch today.

The first episode was so gloriously insane that I can hardly wait for work to be over so I can watch another.  It isn't "this is your premise on drugs" so much as "this is your premise on ALL the drugs".  They open on Sakura giving a fairly standard idol series opening speech about how she's a flake with a big dream, then out of nowhere and with barely a minute and twenty seconds on the clock she's PULVERIZED by a passing truck so hard it takes the entire opening credits sequence for her to hit the ground.  Bam!  She wakes up in a spooky old house full of shambling corpses and it looks like it has all the makings of a zombie horror series.  We get a decent action sequence as she escapes a house full of shambling undead, only for the first police officer she meets to gun her down as she realizes that she too is undead!  Bam!  One more jump cut and we're back at the house where they reveal the entire first eight minutes was an elaborate double fakeout... it's an idol slice-of-life comedy series about a bizarre manager's moon logic plan to revive Saga Prefecture's fortunes by exploiting the dying regional idol craze with a group of the unquiet dead. 

The next fourteen minutes are a Bavarian Fire Drill thinly disguised as jpop idol group's first live performance... at a death metal open mic concert... which promptly deteriorates into zombie jpop idols headbanging and death metal-screaming with the best of them before attempting to eat the audience.

I feel like I've watched a 24 minute version of one of those bait-and-switch "look at your man, now back to me" Old Spice commercials.  It didn't so much subvert my expectations as completely pull the rug out from under them.  I'm genuinely curious to see where this is headed.  If the second episode delivers on the promise of the first, this might dethrone Skull-Faced Bookseller Honda-san for this season's #1 in my book.

[Focslain]

6 minutes ago, Seto Kaiba said:

So... I started watching Zombie Land Saga over lunch today.

The first episode was so gloriously insane that I can hardly wait for work to be over so I can watch another.  It isn't "this is your premise on drugs" so much as "this is your premise on ALL the drugs".  They open on Sakura giving a fairly standard idol series opening speech about how she's a flake with a big dream, then out of nowhere and with barely a minute and twenty seconds on the clock she's PULVERIZED by a passing truck so hard it takes the entire opening credits sequence for her to hit the ground.  Bam!  She wakes up in a spooky old house full of shambling corpses and it looks like it has all the makings of a zombie horror series.  We get a decent action sequence as she escapes a house full of shambling undead, only for the first police officer she meets to gun her down as she realizes that she too is undead!  Bam!  One more jump cut and we're back at the house where they reveal the entire first eight minutes was an elaborate double fakeout... it's an idol slice-of-life comedy series about a bizarre manager's moon logic plan to revive Saga Prefecture's fortunes by exploiting the dying regional idol craze with a group of the unquiet dead. 

The next fourteen minutes are a Bavarian Fire Drill thinly disguised as jpop idol group's first live performance... at a death metal open mic concert... which promptly deteriorates into zombie jpop idols headbanging and death metal-screaming with the best of them before attempting to eat the audience.

I feel like I've watched a 24 minute version of one of those bait-and-switch "look at your man, now back to me" Old Spice commercials.  It didn't so much subvert my expectations as completely pull the rug out from under them.  I'm genuinely curious to see where this is headed.  If the second episode delivers on the promise of the first, this might dethrone Skull-Faced Bookseller Honda-san for this season's #1 in my book.

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.

[kajnrig]

Just now, Focslain said:

Ep 2 has an amazing rap battle.

Throwing it on the list

[Focslain]

10 minutes ago, kajnrig said:

Throwing it on the list

I would also strongly suggest looking for their Halloween livestream as well. Because...

 

The voice crew dress up as their characters and re-create the scene, including Mamoru Miyano (the manager) sitting back doing the beat box like in the anime. Personally this is amazing considering Mamoru voices 'bored off my arse' Reinhart form the new LoGH series.

Edited December 5, 2018 by Focslain

[Seto Kaiba]

33 minutes ago, 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.

If it's carried off with the same grace and style as this first episode, I think I can get on board with that.

The opening, "Fruitless Necromancy", is surprisingly catchy too...

Edited December 5, 2018 by Seto Kaiba

[Focslain]

5 minutes ago, Seto Kaiba said:

If it's carried off with the same grace and style as this first episode, I think I can get on board with that.

The opening, "Fruitless Necromancy", is surprisingly catchy too...

It does, the only real compliant I've heard from my group is the CGI dance numbers later in the series, basically like the new concert sequence in the Delta movie only slightly better animated.