I liked Aldnoah. Not sure I’d call it great.
Valvrave is decent.
I loved Code Geass (not sure I’d actually call this a mech show, but it’s probably not so different from something like Iron Blooded Orphans)
Speaking of IB Orphans, look for that under M, as in Mobile Suit Gundam. Show is fantastic.
Thanks all!
I’d say it’s a mech show. There is a lot more going on, but it has the usual tropes of “my mech is improved and has a new secret weapon” type stuff you usually see in them.
Neon Genesis Evangelion. It’s one of the best things I’ve ever seen. (And also the worst).
Yeah RahXephon was good. It did have a certain amount of whininess and fan service. But generally good.
For mecha/super robot series, definitely Gurren Lagan, Evangelion and Iron Blooded Orphans (Although there are a lot of good Gundam series out there, most are not readily available, and this one is pretty good). There’s a lot of good older stuff too, but it might be too old (I have a soft spot for Armored Trooper Votoms).
I also really liked Knights of Sidonia (although it’s more uneven), and since they are finishing it with a third season (thankfully), might be worth watching.
Well, I put together my Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood thoughts. My opinion will not be in the majority.
Though since my complaints are mostly style, not substance, I may not be too far away from many of you.
Oh yeah, and I just want to point out that even though it wasn’t on your list, Knights of Sidonia (@Juan_Raigada’s recommendation, which I agree with) is on Netflix, so it fits your criteria of trying to keep to the three main streaming services.
Check out Knights of Sidonia just for the Heavy Mass Cannon and Beam Emitter if nothing else.
Eh, I put Sidonia in the “something to watch if bored” category.
The second season definitely had a dip in quality, but I really enjoyed the first season a lot. It was really kinetic. Always moving, always exciting. The second season mixed in some boring things in there too, just to mix it up.
Edit: D’oh
Pretty great Microsoft advertisement right there. :) (p.s. you wrote kinect instead of kinetic)
Hulu has a surprising amount of Gundam stuff, including Iron Blooded Orphans as noted, and MS 08th Team which are the most grounded, and therefore best. I also have a soft spot for Heroic Age, also on Hulu.
Gurren Lagann is very out there and just escalates and escalates, but is totally great. Find that on Netflix.
Final word on FlipFlapping: In Episode 10 they revealed the bigger picture of what’s going on, which really changed the show. It made for a very interesting Episode 10,11,12. But then they kept going and had a long and drawn out and overly emotional Episode 13. The show just didn’t need it, it was a waste of 30 minutes. They could have just ended on 12.
Anyway, the main consequence of watching this show is that I can’t get their 2 songs out of my head, both the opening song and the ending credits song are mind-virus-like in their addictive qualities.
War in the Pocket is the most grounded and best (also short). It is really something every anime fan should watch.
Stardust Memories is at the groundiness level of Iron Blooded Orphans (although it’s less gritty). IGLOO is also really grounded, but the CG has not aged well, and it’s just a short story compilation.
I haven’t seen Origin yet. Looks pretty good and looking at where it’s at with this year’s release we will start to finally get a remake of the original series (which is pretty hard to watch nowadays). Probably in 2 to 4 more releases, unless they try to extend it with new material.
I started watching Log Horizon this weekend. I’m not sure if I’m enjoying it exactly, but I’m not hating it either.
Things I like:
- It appropriately points out how bland and dull existence is in MMOs.
- It appropriately points out how exploration and social interactions are strong points of MMOs.
Things I don’t like:
- In showing how bland and dull MMOs are, it also does so by being fairly bland and dull.
- The characters are all fairly dull.
- The running jokes all flat for me.
I’m about 5 or 6 episodes in, where he’s tried to reform the town he’s in by setting up a round table of the biggest guilds. I’m kind of curious as to what comes next, but at the same time, if I quit now, there will be no regret or urge to go back.
Does it get substantially better in any respect, or does it kind of keep going on this even keel as the series goes on?
Well, we loved it here, but liked the first season more than the second, so not sure what to tell you.
Agreed, the family loved the first season. We thought the characters were interesting. Second season it goes off the rails by going to other characters too much. We also liked the opening and closing songs of the first season.
@Rock8man
Do you enjoy slice of life type animes? I suspect that our family tends to lean that way and I think Log Horizon probably fills that genre a little bit.
I watched the first seven episodes of the ongoing Today’s Menu for the Emiya Family last night. It’s yet another Fate spinoff, but it’s a comedy series revolving around the daily lives of the original Fate/stay night characters, with each episode culminating in a bunch of people eating some delicious-looking meal at the main character’s house.
Very cute and silly, and a good change of pace from every other Fate spinoff, without the baggage of needing to learn about a billion new characters.
Be aware, the release schedule for that show has been very erratic, like every month or something.