Otagan
2741
Once I cast aside my issues with the premise and how stupid it sounds (and it, for that matter) back when it initially aired, I quite enjoyed the first season and the OVAs so I’ll be tagging along for another.
This season really was full of surprises. Hanasaku, Steins;Gate, Tiger & Bunny (another one I almost didn’t bother with), and a solid handful of others (of equal or decidedly more questionable quality) have succeeded at draining about an hour of my time a day just to keep current.
Thrawn
2742
Does one have to watch Chaos;Head before Steins;Gate or can you just skip to Steins?
Hyouge Mono and Showa Monogatari get my vote for being the biggest surprises of the season. Niche appeal and the latter being so slice-of-life and mundane that it’s crazy. Haven’t caught up to Hanasaku yet; on episode 4 or so but is it still as amazing now as it was back then?
And Oretachi ni Tsubasa wa Nai nearly comes close for biggest surprise. I expected some kinda harem and got something else entirely.
Otagan
2743
There are a few (2-3) completely tangential references to Chaos;Head in Steins;Gate, and you miss absolutely nothing of import by jumping right into the latter. I would recommend that you completely ignore the C;H anime (if you’re really interested, play the visual novel which is actually good) and just watch S;G. It has some of the best character interactions and conversations I’ve seen in ages, and its sense of timing is impeccable. Currently my favorite show of the season.
Hyouge Mono is definitely entertaining, but I need more of it. I’ve been waiting weeks for new episodes and I can feel my interest slipping away with the long gap between episodes, but the main character is so awesome that I keep coming back. Plus, I love the portrayal of Oda Nobunaga they have going. Can’t say I’ve watched Showa Monogatari, but I’ll toss it on my list for consideration once the season’s over. Hanasaku is still quite good, but it seems to be lacking an overarcing plot for the moment. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, mind, but some people are getting turned off by the one-off episodes they’ve been throwing out lately. I still enjoy it quite a lot.
I was also wondering if Oretachi would come up. I very nearly dropped it during the first two minutes of the first episode, but I’m so thankful they were making fun of all the cliche harem trash that is so common nowadays and ended up making something totally bizarre. That’s what keeps me coming back, actually. The whole thing is completely ridiculous and I like it more than I probably should.
I just recently finished watching “Guardian of the Sacred Spirit”. I haven’t seen many anime TV series, but my general feeling from what I had seen was that standards of characterisation, storytelling, realism &c were pretty low. This was not like that; really excellent all around. There’s some weird pacing issues - it starts with Incredibly Urgent Action, switches abruptly to a kind of arcadian idyll, and then slowly builds up to a really intense and satisfying conclusion. But that sudden drop in temperature near the beginning was kind of weird and had me worrying that the series wouldn’t make much sense. In the end, though, really glad I watched it, strongly recommend.
Thrawn
2745
^ I do enjoy my feudal anime… and a plot/character set that rivals Monster in quality. If it can come close to Monster, then I’m picking that badboy up. Might have to stall a re-watch of Spice and Wolf II.
If it can top Hanasaku and has as good conversations as Spice and Wolf then I’ll have to check it out sooner than later, even if it means falling further behind in all the others.
Weeks for new episodes? That’s brutal. A week is long enough, as this one doesn’t look like one to marathon but I would probably lose a bit of interest as well. His fascination for pottery and simply thinking made me enjoy it but the jazzy OP really sold me at the start. Was Nobunaga the guy with the awesome hat at the end of the first episode?
Showa Monogatari defines slice-of-life. It’s borderline boring in how normal everything is but it’s still interesting. Suppose to be about the Olympics coming to Japan and how a family and their friends and acquaintances deal with it but so far it’s small-town stuff on New Years Day with hints of family conflict and possible romance. Definitely worth a shot but nothing stands out from it apart from the realism.
I’m good with Hanasaku being slightly episodic, as long as the characters remain fun to watch and the main doesn’t change her wondrous nature.
The start made me think it was a harem, and then a ecchi/harem with comedy. And then some sort of dirty, adult, perversion-riddled innuendo machine. The sheer quotes that can be made of how filthy it is is amazing. It’s not what I expected and agree on it being bizarre, with the ending/EP of the first episode driving it home.
Never enough time for everything one wants to watch.
Steins Gate is great, i never head of Chaos Gate.
Tiger & Bunny is a little too conservative, but it’s a good show.
Hyouge Mono for the niche weird comedy needs.
I’m finally getting around to watching Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood.
I think I just needed more distance from the original before I could back through it again.
Blue Exorcist on Hulu is pretty amusing. It has Shonen Jump written all over it, but it is well executed.
I’m also finally getting around to watching FMA:Brotherhood
Interesting, they’re making another Blood anime, Blood-C. For those of us who don’t know, Blood+ (not to be confused with the blood the last vampire movie which was an early and unrealized work) was an extremely good anime.
I can’t say i like the changed art direction though. Very Clamp’ish. Still, will be worth checking out.
I also liked the first season of Nurarihyon no Mago, so will check out the second.
I read some of the Kamisama Dolls and it seemed potentially interesting (although not much of it translated), so probably that too.
The Towa no Quon series of movies also sound potentially interesting, but not much information on them.
Damn, that sucks. I thought she was great in Hikaru no Go.
Just finished Mushishi and Spice and Wolf. Wow, really good stuff there especially Spice and Wolf.
What happened to Spice and Wolf Season 3? Is that still being made or did it get cancelled? Or is there no definite answer on that?
O_o
So from these two you remark Spice and Wolf over Mushishi?
Hell i wouldn’t say Spice and Wolf is specially good even doing it without comparing it to another series. :P
Ouch. S&W was pretty great if alone for the scheming. Mushishi, on the other hand, is in a class of its own. Simply spectacular. It’s one of those series that sort of leaves you speechless (no pun intended) and wonder how something so great was ever made. The visuals alone… I could go on, but damn, what a fantastic anime.
I can’t say i like Mushishi personally. After watching one episode, the plot/characters had completely failed to grab me so i dropped it. So yes, i would agree that spice and wolf is better.
It is pretty much the premier anime series for people who don’t watch anime though.
Although, to be fair, i suppose it is possible Mushishi just starts off REALLY slow, something that is not unheard of.
Lake
2757
I liked Claymore although I think the last quarter of the series is a bit slow.
I watched all of Blood+. Did the translators screw up? Are we sure the show is not called Saya Cries for 50 Episodes?
Watching them back-to-back, it was funny that they both had needy human male leads desperate to protect superhuman women.
Hahaha. I couldn’t stick it out, I think I gave up at around 20 episodes in. I still love me some Claymore, though, the massive battle in the snow was impressive and the Teresa arc is absolutely awesome.
Could have done with less Raki, though.
I’m trying to get back into Anime (I have weird tastes in Anime), I like light, funny comedies, or sports anime (I may be one of the few American Fans who liked Metal Fighters Miku)… so I’m grabbing some stuff to see how I like it.
You do learn a bit more about the main character, but almost everything seems to be one off episodes with one or two two parters. The single episodes are great, for many many reasons, but the lack of continueing plot is what hit it hard for me and why I preferred Spice and Wolf. Well that and the interactions between the two.
That said, there aren’t many animes that I like as much as Mushishi.
