Fall 2014 – First Episode Reflections, Part Three

I WOULD LIKE TO GET OFF THIS RIDE NOW PLEASE. Since my last post, I’ve checked out ParasyteDaitoshokan no HitsujitaiChaika: Avenging BattleGaro the AnimationShirobakoPsycho-Pass 2Your lie in April, and How The Fuck Did They Approve a Show That’s Basically Just One Joke About Twintails. You can check out episodic posts about every single one of these shows on ANN.

Of this group, I strongly recommend Parasyte and Shirobako, also enjoyed Garo and Your lie in April, and was perfectly content with both the Chaika and Psycho-Pass sequels. Daitoshokan and Twintails have essentially no reason for existing, and their continued existence in spite of this is baffling and faintly disturbing. So yeah, Of these eight shows, I actually solidly enjoyed six of them – I’m pretty happy with that ratio!

KimiUso

Fall 2014 – First Episode Reflections, Part Two

The ride NEVER EVER ENDS. I have watched a truly madness-inducing quantity of anime, and the fruits of my labors are here for you. Since the last update, I’ve put up first episode reviews for In Search of the Lost Future, Fate/stay night, World Trigger, CROSS ANGE, Wolf Girl and Black Prince, Celestial Method, Rage of Bahamut: Genesis, The Fruit of Grisaia, Gugure! Kokkuri-san, When Supernatural Battles Became Commonplace, Laughing Under the Clouds, Akatsuki no Yona, and Trinity Seven. That is way too much goddamn anime.

Of that formidable list, the only shows I’d actually recommend for everyone are Fate/stay night and Rage of Bahamut: Genesis. More genre-specific fare would Celestial Method, Gugure! Kokkuri-san, When Supernatural Battles Became Commonplace, and The Fruit of Grisaia. That is, if you like feelsy dramas, 4koma comedies, Haruhi-style club shows, or nicely animated drama/harem-things, those would be my choices respectively. EVERYTHING ELSE WAS PAIN. Nah, just Cross Ange, but seriously – way too much anime. Fortunately, my next update should be more proportionally positive. I’ll let you know!

Gugure! Kokkuri-san

Sword Art Online II – Episode 14

Sorry I didn’t post this on Saturday! I’ve been absolutely buried in previews the last couple days, which I’ll link again later – so far, I’ve watched and written about fifteen new shows, including two double-length episodes, and all but two of those shows came out over the last three days. So it’s been a time! I’m also putting the finishing touches on a Zankyou no Terror piece, so that should also be in the near future, as well as my first ANN full show review.

Anyway! I actually really liked the conclusion to the GGO arc. It wrapped up both the themes and characters with a great deal of thoughtfulness and a lack of melodramatics. Nice to see SAO doing good.

Sword Art Online

Fall 2014 – First Episode Reflections

The fall season has begun! For you guys, that probably means checking out what everyone else is watching, catching some sample episodes, and maybe sticking with whatever you were already planning on watching. For me, that means watching the first episode of every single goddamn show. Posts are already up for Terra Formars, Tribe Cool Crew, DENKI-GAI, Log Horizon 2, and Lord Marksman and Vanadis (my real-person name is Nick Creamer, incidentally). The preview guide will continue to be updated over the next week and a half or so as all the various shows premier, so feel free to check back and get my first impressions on basically every full-length show that isn’t a sequel to something I never watched. It’ll be fun! IT’LL BE FUN.

Terra Formars

Shounen Hollywood – Episode 13

Holy shit, this show got a second season! Really wasn’t expecting that, but I guess it’s just another indication that whatever’s popular or recognized over here doesn’t mean a good goddamn for sales in Japan. Happy to hear about it, and happy to see the first season go out on a solid note. Until we meet again, ShoHari.

Incidentally, I don’t think there’ll be a Week in Review post this week, mainly because every single episode I’m watching/have watched is either already covered in a full episodic post or will be covered in the insane ANN preview guide. I’ll let you know what those posts start going up!

Shounen Hollywood

Barakamon – Episode 12

Barakamon’s ending is a little messier and less graceful than I’d hoped, but it still hits all the notes it needed to hit. A reasonable ending to one of this summer’s best shows.

Barakamon

Sword Art Online II – Episode 13

GODDAMNIT SWORD ART ONLINE EVERY FUCKING TIME I CAN’T EVEN

Yep, this episode went back to the Bad Place. I had to keep it civil for the ANN post, but was somewhat less respectful on twitter. Goddamn you, SAO. God damn you.

[HorribleSubs] Sword Art Online II - 13 [720p].mkv_snapshot_19.41_[2014.09.27_17.36.27]

Zankyou no Terror – Episode 11

Welp, here we are. In spite of everyone’s best wishes, the bomb’s been set – nobody wanted this, but this is where alienation has brought us. I’ve really enjoyed this show, and I’m confident it’ll end well, but I can’t say exactly what that ending will be. I doubt it’ll be happy – the context this show is stabbing at isn’t a happy one, and our actual world doesn’t offer any easy solutions to the questions of power dynamics and societal disconnect we’re dealing with here. All I’m hoping for is an ending that stays with you – I think one of art’s highest purposes is holding a mirror to the world, and I think Zankyou is as angry and driven a show as I’ve come across in recent memory. Let’s see it through to the end.

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Shounen Hollywood – Episode 12

Shounen Hollywood continues to chug merrily along as the sleeper flop of the season. Would this show be more popular if its central cast were girls, instead? Probably? I guess its current incarnation just doesn’t really give anyone what they want – it’s too idol-indebted to appeal to people who’d like its cynical edge, but too melancholy and understated to appeal to standard idol/cute boy fans. It’s a shame! I’m really enjoying this show – it’s earnest without being blindly optimistic. It’s a nice thing.

Shounen Hollywood

Barakamon – Episode 11

I’m sad to see Barakamon ending, but I’m glad to see it ending well. It’s nice to see the show has decided to legitimately pull Handa’s various art-related anxieties into a legitimate finale, instead of the show just ending with a brief goodbye – that meant this episode wasn’t quite as endearing as they usually are, but the show’s always had compelling ideas at its center, and they deserve to be honored with a real resolution. In spite of that, I’m looking forward to the last episode hopefully bringing Handa home.

Barakamon