What Current Anime Are You Watching Version v4.0

[JB0]

In fairness, while JC Staff is no Madhouse, they do seem to be striving for a bit higher quality than they usually do. I think they're stretching so they don't look as bad by comparison.

 

Story-wise, this is an arc that a lot of people were disappointed Madhouse didn't get to on their run. 

Personally, I don't really like it as much as I did the Sea King and alien invasion arcs. Not saying it is bad, though. 

[Hikaru Ichijo SL]

I worry JC Staff is spreading themselves thin,  Index III wasn't that great, I mean the animation.  I am worried about Railgun III.

[Focslain]

On 4/22/2019 at 11:11 PM, JB0 said:

In fairness, while JC Staff is no Madhouse, they do seem to be striving for a bit higher quality than they usually do. I think they're stretching so they don't look as bad by comparison.

 

Story-wise, this is an arc that a lot of people were disappointed Madhouse didn't get to on their run. 

Personally, I don't really like it as much as I did the Sea King and alien invasion arcs. Not saying it is bad, though. 

After this last episode it seems that they are bumping the quality up a bit. At worst I'm hoping for a meh season, which means that the writing can save it rather easily.

[Hikaru Ichijo SL]

Almost Finished Gundam X it is not all that good,

[technoblue]

I'm watching Fruits Basket and the new season of Stray Dogs...that's about it for the moment.

[RavenHawk]

Watched some classics that I had never seen before (slowly working through that list).

 

Cromartie High School (on Amazon Prime):

Every once in a while I look through Amazon Prime's catalog of anime and find some classics that I didn't know were there. Last month it was Dallos, and this month it was Cromartie. I have to say that, on the surface, this is absolutely NOT the type of anime that I like or would every watch. The only reason that I was even curious was because I assumed that Cromartie on the old Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles was a reference to this. I was very surprised that I actually really enjoyed this show and found a lot of it genuinely funny.

 

Armored Trooper VOTOMS (last month's new Bluray release of all of the original TV episodes and summary/highlight movies):

I FINALLY finished my slog through this one, and I do mean slog. I watched it all, but it just didn't do much for me. I had never seen it before, but decided to chance it because I enjoyed Armor Hunter Mellowlink and because I know that this show has a big following. It just didn't do anything for me, though. It felt like about 20ish episodes of concepts that got unexpectedly approved for 52 episodes and then stretched out to fit that run. There were separate elements of the show that I liked, and I did appreciate the different phases/locations, but everything just seemed to get dragged out, while some of the moments or concepts that had the most potential for exploration (in my opinion) were kind of glossed over. By the time the series was done, I figured that maybe I should have just watched the summary/highlight movies instead, but those skipped even more of what I thought was important. The extra movies did have some nice opening/ending credit scenes, including one fun post credits scene.

[Hikaru Ichijo SL]

Sewayaki Kitsune no Senko-san  is the best show of the season, it is the only one I truly look forward to watching.

[jammaker]

Just saw One punch man episode 4. I'm really loving this season dispite the quality in animation. However episode 4 was fantastic. I think the staff at JC are taking note of their critics comments and upping their game. Working on a title like this will only improve their skill beyond what they'd done previously. So I'm not to worried about the quality in the future. The scenes around Genos have always been great, and I'm excited to see what happens with King.

 

[jammaker]

Oh I'm loving psychi K as well on Netflicks. I'm pretty sure I spelt that wrong sorry.

[Marzan]

On 4/26/2019 at 7:58 PM, RavenHawk said:

Watched some classics that I had never seen before (slowly working through that list).

 

Cromartie High School (on Amazon Prime):

Every once in a while I look through Amazon Prime's catalog of anime and find some classics that I didn't know were there. Last month it was Dallos, and this month it was Cromartie. I have to say that, on the surface, this is absolutely NOT the type of anime that I like or would every watch. The only reason that I was even curious was because I assumed that Cromartie on the old Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles was a reference to this. I was very surprised that I actually really enjoyed this show and found a lot of it genuinely funny.

 

Armored Trooper VOTOMS (last month's new Bluray release of all of the original TV episodes and summary/highlight movies):

I FINALLY finished my slog through this one, and I do mean slog. I watched it all, but it just didn't do much for me. I had never seen it before, but decided to chance it because I enjoyed Armor Hunter Mellowlink and because I know that this show has a big following. It just didn't do anything for me, though. It felt like about 20ish episodes of concepts that got unexpectedly approved for 52 episodes and then stretched out to fit that run. There were separate elements of the show that I liked, and I did appreciate the different phases/locations, but everything just seemed to get dragged out, while some of the moments or concepts that had the most potential for exploration (in my opinion) were kind of glossed over. By the time the series was done, I figured that maybe I should have just watched the summary/highlight movies instead, but those skipped even more of what I thought was important. The extra movies did have some nice opening/ending credit scenes, including one fun post credits scene.

Votoms is the kind of series that could have been perfect with 26 episodes. But back then one could get some really long runs and that sometimes spread things thin.

Cromartie is a gem. Every time Freddie or Mechazawa come in the frame I burst out laughing. Did you watch in English or Japanese?

[Big s]

Votoms will still be a favorite of mine. They did only intend a first story arc, but were kinda surprised they didn’t get canceled each time they finished a part, but I’ll always love it. It’s so different from the boring modern junk lately and I love the grounded  realistic mecha designs. The show does drag here and there though.

[RavenHawk]

4 hours ago, Marzan said:

Votoms is the kind of series that could have been perfect with 26 episodes. But back then one could get some really long runs and that sometimes spread things thin.

Cromartie is a gem. Every time Freddie or Mechazawa come in the frame I burst out laughing. Did you watch in English or Japanese?

I had the English dub playing, with subtitles on too, while I was doing work on the other monitor. So, probably about 50% watching it and reading the subtitles, and 50% watching it off to the side while listening to it in English.

[Hikaru Ichijo SL]

I decided to watch Nagi no Asukara.

[Valkyrie Hunter D]

Just a heads up: RightStuf has the Kimagure Orange Road TV series BD on sale!

[Hikaru Ichijo SL]

I am watching the Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso OVA and it is really funny.

[Lexomatic]

G-Saviour (1999, 92 minutes) is, if not strictly anime, anime-adjacent -- a hybrid of Sunrise-owned Universal Century with the late-'90s film industry of Vancouver, with a script obviously designed to appeal to viewers of the era's serious live-action NorAm English-language TV SF like Babylon 5 and seaQuest DSV. Viz., most of Gundam's tropes have been omitted: bad guys aren't cackling psychopaths, the good guys aren't merely less-bad guys, the macguffin is almost scientifically plausible, the names are normal -- and there's nary a teenager to be seen, in or out of the cockpit of a mobile suit.

To unpack the plot: It's UC 223 (AD 2268) and a faction in the military of the Congress of Settlement Nations ("CONSENT") is suppressing the discovery of a method of undersea agriculture (viz., mass production of a bioluminescent enzyme that produces light and heat) because (as noted by their catspaw in a moment of epiphany) "there's too much power in selective starvation". Mark Curran, a former mobile suit pilot and now director of the Hydro-Gen subsea experimental facility, falls in with Dr. Cynthia Graves of the Side Eight "Gaia" settlement, co-developer of the enzyme, and is recruited to pilot the G-Saviour, an advanced suit developed by "the Illuminati", a well-funded clandestine movement in the settlements opposed to recent developments in CONSENT.

The classic names Minovski particle, Gundam, Zeon and Earth Federation aren't used, although the CONSENT uniforms evoke those of the EF (viz., braid outlines a shoulder yoke). It's 140 years after Mobile Suit Gundam, so a political realignment is plausible. The "settlements" are the classic O'Neill "Island III" shape. The mobile suits have beam sabers and field-bucklers, but the combat could be replaced with Starfuries with no change to the drama. Set design, costumes and acting are all quite passable for a TV movie. The CGI quality is more 1995 than 1999.

[Hikaru Ichijo SL]

I decided to watch Beast Wars Neo

[Beltane70]

Now that Crunchyroll has them up, I’m going to finally get around to watching Dancouga and Goshogun. 

[Big s]

I like that crunchyroll sometimes adds a classic.

[RavenHawk]

I'm a little over halfway through REVISIONS (added on Netflix USA earlier this week) and am enjoying it so far.

There are some common anime tropes that don't bother me, since I feel like their playing with them a bit and acknowledging them, but they might bug those who have seen more similar shows than I have.

The mecha in it remind me of some of the motoslave concepts from BGC that never made it into the show, which I'm enjoying, too, even though it's more about how people of different maturities react to a very difficult situation.

 

Forgot to mention that I find the "evil monster" mecha to have an interesting design, though the faces look like they were built by Toa Heavy Industries.

Edited May 15, 2019 by RavenHawk
Forgot to mention

[no3Ljm]

Makoto Shinkai's TENKI NO KO (Weathering With You)  Trailer 2

 

Edited May 29, 2019 by no3Ljm

[Dynaman]

I finally finished watching Ultraman on Netflix and it wasn't bad.  Not great but not bad.  I wish it had giant monsters still but understand the switch to human sized ones instead.  They left it with a setup for a second season and I'll watch that too if there is one.

[007-vf1]

I just finished seeing “Revisions“ on Netflix

i thought it would be annoying teenage drama (which it is..) but in spite of it characters do mature some throughout the series.

I did like how the plot develops along the episodes.

[RavenHawk]

1 minute ago, 007-vf1 said:

I just finished seeing “Revisions“ on Netflix

i thought it would be annoying teenage drama (which it is..) but in spite of it characters do mature some throughout the series.

I did like how the plot develops along the episodes.

I thought it was well done and enjoyed it just fine, though I'll be honest that I kind of lost interest towards the end.

[Focslain]

So took some time and binge FLCL: Alternative. It was decent, like the original it had good animation, music and lots of crazy. The story was meh though, seems like they re-hashed the original only taking it from a different view point. 

Also started watching Comic Warrior Zero as Crunchyroll starts adding some old anime. It has not aged well animation wise, but the over arcing story has promise. I'm going to add some of the other Harlock series to my list after this one. It's like watching early Lupin the 3rd but from Zenigata, with Lupin being Harlock and Zenigata being Zero.
 

[Seto Kaiba]

Finally finished Lupin III Part V... the ending felt a bit out of the blue, and is kind of a downer in hindsight with the recent passing of Monkey Punch.

Started watching the TV series cut of Gundam: the Origin today.  I'd forgotten quite how unbalanced Zeon Zum Deikun is in this version of the story... raving like a madman, threatening his wife, literally referring to himself as a messiah, and ranting about burning the Earth's population.  Kind of a shock to realize that, for all his villainy, Casval Rem Deikun is actually still way less crazy than his old man...

[Stampeed Valkyrie]

I'm behind on Isekai Quartet, Shield Hero, and One Punch Man S2.     Hopefully I can get the time to catch up this weekend.

Also dusted off and wrapping up Tora Dora..   a low key favorite of mine.

Finally watched a silent voice..   not bad.

 

oh and Amazing Stranger..   It's this season guilty pleasure title.. lol

 

 

Edited May 31, 2019 by Stampeed Valkyrie

[Focslain]

49 minutes ago, Stampeed Valkyrie said:

I'm behind on Isekai Quartet, Shield Hero, and One Punch Man S2.     Hopefully I can get the time to catch up this weekend.

Newest episode of Shield Hero can be summed up in the phrase, "About damn time."

Next ep of OPM is going to be interesting and Isekai is still fun, next ep is the beach (let the waifu wars begin!)

[Seto Kaiba]

21 minutes ago, Focslain said:

Newest episode of Shield Hero can be summed up in the phrase, "About damn time."

Or, if you've read the light novels, "It's all downhill from here."

[Focslain]

Just now, Seto Kaiba said:

Or, if you've read the light novels, "It's all downhill from here."

Good thing the season is almost over. Honestly this episode felt like a good ending point, kind of wish they had ended the season with this and maybe padded out the story earlier on.

Seems that they skipped the town building or are going to move it to S2

[Seto Kaiba]

1 minute ago, Focslain said:

Good thing the season is almost over. Honestly this episode felt like a good ending point, kind of wish they had ended the season with this and maybe padded out the story earlier on.

Yeah, that definitely feels like a missed opportunity.  If they'd ended it on Naofumi's exoneration and the queen punishing the king and first princess for their various conspiracies, they would've been able to end the first season with the conclusion of the story arc that dominated the first four volumes of the light novel.

As much as neatly dividing the anime's 25 episodes up so it adapts a volume of the light novel every five episodes appeals to my inner neat freak, ending the series with a breather arc feels like a bad idea.  Especially since the next arc after that is the f***ing Spirit Tortoise mess that drags on for what feels like forever.  

I'm just going to hope that Isekai Quartet means we'll be seeing Overlord IV soon... if I'm going to watch isekai I'd like something that feels more like a story than the Microsoft Excel workshop for aspiring CPAs that The Rising of the Shield Hero devolves into and That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime was from the start. 

[Marzan]

Yeah that last episode of Shield Bro really should have been the end of the tv series. Who the hell cares about them Waves when Malty been such an incredibly "popular" antagonist throughout the series.

ON another note, I Finally got my Yamato 2202 BD's and I'm getting started on that. Good old fashioned space opera with modern animation. I cannot wait!

[Vifam7]

Just wondering but why does every other person call the show "Shield Bro" when the show's title is translated as "The Rising of the Shield Hero"?  I know that "Shield Hero" is also used as the short form of the title but where in the world did "Shield Bro" come from? I don't really follow US anime fandom these days so someone please enlighten me. 

[Marzan]

12 hours ago, Vifam7 said:

Just wondering but why does every other person call the show "Shield Bro" when the show's title is translated as "The Rising of the Shield Hero"?  I know that "Shield Hero" is also used as the short form of the title but where in the world did "Shield Bro" come from? I don't really follow US anime fandom these days so someone please enlighten me. 

Good question. I just followed the herd on Twitter when it came out. Some of these Isekai shows have such incredibly long names that people just boil it down to a word or two for convenience. “Slime”, Shield Bro” etc

[Seto Kaiba]

21 hours ago, Vifam7 said:

Just wondering but why does every other person call the show "Shield Bro" when the show's title is translated as "The Rising of the Shield Hero"?  I know that "Shield Hero" is also used as the short form of the title but where in the world did "Shield Bro" come from? I don't really follow US anime fandom these days so someone please enlighten me. 

Some of it is, as @Marzan indicated, just that people really don't want to type out Tate no Yuusha no Nariagari or The Rising of the Shield Hero every time they talk about the series.

There's also a two-sided sort of situation where some of the audience empathize or sympathize with the raw deal Naofumi got thanks to the false rape accusations leveled at him by Myne/Malty, and the slightly sardonic use of the nickname by audience members who (wrongly) perceived the story as having an unsubtle anti-feminist/anti-#metoo agenda with its protagonist having his life destroyed because a false rape accusation was believed without question.