CAA: Christian Anime Alliance

And it's summer.



Much like the threads before it, this is a thread I created stole from blkmage for the discussion of new anime that will be airing on TV in Japan in the Summer 2014 season. Anime typically gets released and runs for a number of seasons. The year is divided up into four seasons: January to March is winter, April to June is spring, July to September is summer, and October to December is fall. Each season is approximately 13 weeks.

Here, we can talk about what shows look interesting, what we plan to watch, and generally get giddy and excited for things that we've been anticipating for a while.

---

Ai Mai Mi ~Mousou Catastrophe~
http://www.takeshobo.co.jp/sp/tv_aimaimi/
Sequel
*Note: Anime Short

Sequel to something probably no one watched.


Akame ga Kill!
http://akame.tv/
Manga

Guy gets robbed by a cute girl. Some other cute girl saves him. Some other cute girl kills her. Lots of killing because rebels vs corrupt government.


Aldnoah.Zero
http://www.aldnoahzero.com/
Original

Martian-Earthling war with mecha. Urobuchi's idea and Sawano Hiroyuki's music and Aoki Ei's directing and other names people like to hype.


Ao Haru Ride
http://aoha-anime.com/
Manga

Girl meets guy she used to like. Apparently he used to too but they're different people now, so add in some drama.


Bakumatsu Rock
http://bakumatsu.marv.jp/anime/
Game

Rock music and fake Japanese history that isn't about Nobunaga for once.


Barakamon
http://www.barakamon.jp/
Manga

Calligrapher gets exiled to an island. Meets weird people.


Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon: Crystal
http://sailormoon.channel.or.jp/
Manga
**Note: This will air every other week for a year.

Yes, it's actually airing this time.


DRAMAtical Murder
http://dmmd-anime.com/
Game

Contrary to what the title may lead you to believe, a major appeal of this was not drama or murder, but yaoi. That said, Nitro+ means it's probably still good.


Fate/kaleid liner Prisma☆Illya 2wei!
http://anime.prisma-illya.jp/
Sequel

Magical girl Illya is back with more befriending action.


Francesca
http://www.heart-bit.com/francesca/
Original
*Note: Anime Short

It's an anime based on Hokkaido's undead idol moe personification. Hokkaido has an undead idol moe personification. What.


Free! Eternal Summer
http://iwatobi-sc.com/
Sequel

Pretty sure everyone is already aware of swimming.


Futsuu no Joshikousei ga [Locodol] Yatte Mita.
http://www.tbs.co.jp/anime/locodol/
Manga

Locodol -> Local Idol. Follow the life of local idols.


Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun
http://www.nozakikun.tv/
Manga

Girl's confession is misunderstood as being a fan of his manga work. Proceed to romcom.


Glasslip
http://glasslip.jp/
Original

P.A. Works slice of life means something like Tari Tari and/or Hanasaka Iroha.


Hanamonogatari
http://www.monogatari-series.com/2ndseason/
Sequel
***Note: All 5 episodes will air on August 16th.

Delayed from spring season, or will it be the next Kizumonogatari and never actually air?


Hanayamata
http://hanayamata.com/
Manga

The most normal girl in the (anime) world visits an extraordinary world.


Himegoto
http://www.himegoto-tv.jp/
Manga
*Note: Anime Short

Parents force debt on child. Child saved by rich girls. In exchange, forced to wear girl's clothes. That sounds like Hayate.


Jinsei
http://www.vap.co.jp/jinsei/
Light Novel

Three girls try to give advice to other students, except they never agree.


Kuroshitsuji: Book of Circus
http://www.kuroshitsuji.tv/
Sequel

Kuroshitsuji will go backwards and follow source material this time.


Love Stage!!
http://lovestage-tv.jp/
Manga

Season of fujoshi might have been more accurate.


Maido! Urayasu Tekkin Kazoku
Sequel
*Note: Anime Short

Kids doing crazy things: the sequel.


Majimoji Rurumo
http://anime-rurumo.com/
Sequel

Why is this synopsis so long? Guy will die after he uses up 666 wishes from a former-witch-now-apprentice who is probably some cute girl. That is a lot of wishes.


Minarai Diva
http://minaraidiva.jp/
Original

Two girls try to become divas. Okay, sure.


Mobile Suit Gundam-san
http://www.gundam-san.net/
Manga
*Note: Anime Short

Gundam in 4-koma form.


Momo Kyun Sword
http://momokyun.com/
Light Novel

Beautiful young sword fighter goes on adventure to retrieve her stolen treasure...whoever made the original Momotaro tale must be crying.


Mushishi Zoku Shou Special
http://www.mushishi-anime.com/
Sequel

Due to production issues last season, the 2 unaired Mushishi Zoku Shou episodes will be aired on August 20th.


Nobunaga Concerto
http://www.fujitv.co.jp/nobunaga-concerto-anime/
Manga

Obligatory anime vaguely based on Nobunaga that completely ruins Japanese history.


Persona 4 The Golden Animation
http://www.p4ga.jp/
Game

The Persona anime adaptations have been fairly good, honestly.


Psycho-Pass New Edit Version
http://psycho-pass.com/

It's the original Psycho Pass anime "re-cut" with new scenes. No one actually knows what that entails. Season 2 is Fall.


PuriPara
http://www.tv-tokyo.co.jp/anime/pripara/
Spin-Off

Some sort of Pretty Rhythm spin-off.


RAIL WARS!
http://www.tbs.co.jp/anime/railwars/
Light Novel

Girls and trains. Also, original illustrations by the guy who's been drawing girls and trains for years.


Re: Hamatora
http://hamatorapj.com/reply/
Sequel

Season 2 of Hamatora.


Rokujouma no Shinryakusha!?
http://corona106.tv/
Light Novel

It's a supernatural harem; do you need more info?


Sabagebu!
http://sabagebu.com/
Manga

Airsoft is such serious business, we need another anime showcasing how serious airsoft is.


Seirei Tsukai no Blade Dance
http://www.bladedance.tv/
Light Novel

Beautiful spirit girls only contract with pure maidens except for our heroic male lead who gets a harem of them.


Sengoku Basara Judge End
http://www.ntv.co.jp/basara_je/
Sequel

The next part of Sengoku Basara.


Shirogane no Ishi: Argevollen
http://argevollen.com/
Original

Guy stumbles upon secret over-powered mecha in the middle of a war. Sounds original.


Shounen Hollywood -Holly Stage for 49-
http://www.starchild.co.jp/special/shon ... ood-anime/
Light Novel

After the success of Love Live!, it is now time to turn to male idols.


Space☆Dandy 2
http://www.space-dandy.com/
Sequel

More Dandy in Space.


Strange+ 2
http://www.dreamcreation.co.jp/stpl/
Sequel
*Note: Anime Short

Yet another sequel.


Sword Art Online II
http://www.swordart-online.net/phantom/#!/
Sequel

It is time for lightsabers.


Tokyo ESP
http://www.tokyo-esp.org/
Manga

People with ESP doing ESP things. From the author of Ga-Rei.


Tokyo Ghoul
http://www.maql.co.jp/special/tokyoghoul/
Manga

Ghouls are eating people in Tokyo.


Yama no Susume Season 2
http://www.yamanosusume.com/
Sequel
*Note: Anime Short

Slice of life sequel.


Yami Shibai 2
http://www.tv-tokyo.co.jp/anime/yamishibai/
Sequel
*Note: Anime Short

And in contrast, a horror sequel.


Zankyou no Terror
http://terror-in-tokyo.com/
Original

Kid terrorists terrorize people with a game of terror. Shinichiro Watanabe's directing and Yoko Kanno's godly music.

I came yayclose to making this thread myself but it seemed like too much of a pain. Thank you!

Anyway, what I'm definitely watching:

Ao Haru Ride (I read chapter 0 of the manga and fell in love with it! Cute...^-^)
Sailor Moon: Crystal (Well, I'm watching the original series now and like it and since this one is supposed to be closer to the manga...)
Free! Eternal Summer (Free! was my first simulcast watch and I enjoyed it and since this is going on exactly one year since I started simulcasts, I'm definitely watching this!)
Glasslip (Seems sweet, cute, touching, and there will probably be tears...I like the art style too.)
Space Dandy 2 (First season was fun.)
Sword Art Online II (Liked the original...Am hoping for improvements...Storyline seems interesting...Won't Kirito ever learn...)
Zankyou no Terror (This...looks...Awesome!)

What else I might/probably watch:

Barakamon (Cute.)
DRAMAtical Murder (Doesn't look like Yaoi more like Shounen Ai...I like the art style/animation/music and story seems interesting.)
Gekkan Shojou Nozaki-kun (Seems cute.)
Shounen Hollywood-Holly Stage for 49 (Might be a cute idol anime...might not...)

Still debating on watching:

Nobunaga Concerto (...)
Shirogane no Ishi: Argevollen (Could be good...Could be generic...)
Tokyo Ghoul (Hmm...seems cool but awfully gory...)

Anyway, looks like this Summer should be good!

Thanks, Kaze!


LOL:

KazeShiki wrote:It's an anime based on Hokkaido's undead idol moe personification. Hokkaido has an undead idol moe personification. What.

Oh Japan.


Watching for sure:
Aldnoah.Zero - Because of who's working on it.
Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon: Crystal - Because I quite enjoyed the manga, and from what I've heard this is supposed to be a closer adaptation to it than the first anime (which apparently changed/added a lot of things).
Free! Eternal Summer - Because S2 of swimming, LOL.
Hanamonogatari - Because Monogatari.
Re: Hamatora - Because I liked the first season, and SPOILER: Highlight text to read: that cliffhanger was brutal. They'd better explain Art's new life/personality, though...
Zankyou no Terror - Because of who's working on it + the story looks quite intriguing.

And I'd already put both Yami Shibai series in my plan-to-watch list, but it'll be a while before I get around to watching them.
Also, as for Psycho-Pass' new scenes, I'll probably just watch those online by themselves sometime before the start of S2.


Might watch later:
Persona 4 The Golden Animation - I'm planning on playing some of the Persona games eventually (including 4: The Golden), so I'll also probably watch this eventually, depending on how good I hear the adaptation is.


Will be reading the source material of instead (or at least first):
Barakamon - This looks cute.
Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun - This looks hilarious. (In fact, I'm sure it is, considering the author also writes Oresama Teacher, which is another hilarious series that I adore. <3 )


EDIT: Also, if we're including Hanamonogatari's marathon broadcast in August, we also need to mention:
Mushishi: Zoku Shou Specials
The two-parter that wasn't able to be broadcast in the Spring season because of delays is not only going to be on the DVD's/Blu-Rays, but is also being broadcast in August! (And, obviously, I'll also be watching that. )

KazeShiki wrote:And it's summer.
Ai Mai Mi ~Mousou Catastrophe~
http://www.takeshobo.co.jp/sp/tv_aimaimi/
Sequel
*Note: Anime Short

Sequel to something probably no one watched.

I keep seeing that title and thinking it might be interesting, but I'm not going to watch a sequel without seeing what came before...

KazeShiki wrote:Akame ga Kill!
http://akame.tv/
Manga

Guy gets robbed by a cute girl. Some other cute girl saves him. Some other cute girl kills her. Lots of killing because rebels vs corrupt government.

That sounds interesting...

KazeShiki wrote:Barakamon
http://www.barakamon.jp/
Manga

Calligrapher gets exiled to an island. Meets weird people.

That sounds interesting.

KazeShiki wrote:Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun
http://www.nozakikun.tv/
Manga

Girl's confession is misunderstood as being a fan of his manga work. Proceed to romcom.

Hmm... might have promise.

KazeShiki wrote:
Glasslip
http://glasslip.jp/
Original

P.A. Works slice of life means something like Tari Tari and/or Hanasaka Iroha.

I liked both of those, so I'll probably watch this eventually.

KazeShiki wrote:Hanayamata
http://hanayamata.com/
Manga

The most normal girl in the (anime) world visits an extraordinary world.

Hmm... sounds interesting.

KazeShiki wrote:RAIL WARS!
http://www.tbs.co.jp/anime/railwars/
Light Novel

Girls and trains. Also, original illustrations by the guy who's been drawing girls and trains for years.

Hey, I like trains, and I like girls. I'll probably watch this sooner rather than later.

KazeShiki wrote:Sabagebu!
http://sabagebu.com/
Manga

Airsoft is such serious business, we need another anime showcasing how serious airsoft is.

If someone promises me this will be better than Stella, I might watch it.

There are a couple of others on the list I might watch if people here like them and say interesting things about them.

[ETA:]
Wait. SM: Crystal is not a sequel so much as the Sailor Moon series' analog of FMA:Brotherhood? If so, I might drop the original and just watch that.

Gundam-san. Hype levels rising steadily.

Will also try Aldnoah Zero and Space Dandy 2, don't see anything else particularly interesting at the momen-

KazeShiki wrote:Sabagebu!

Pls no

PLCDreamcatcher14 wrote:DRAMAtical Murder (Doesn't look like Yaoi more like Shounen Ai...I like the art style/animation/music and story seems interesting.)

The source material is yaoi, with explicit content and all. Anime is probably going to tone it down a lot.

MangaRocks! wrote:EDIT: Also, if we're including Hanamonogatari's marathon broadcast in August, we also need to mention:
Mushishi: Zoku Shou Specials
The two-parter that wasn't able to be broadcast in the Spring season because of delays is not only going to be on the DVD's/Blu-Rays, but is also being broadcast in August! (And, obviously, I'll also be watching that. )

I'll add it in.

skreyola wrote:Wait. SM: Crystal is not a sequel so much as the Sailor Moon series' analog of FMA:Brotherhood? If so, I might drop the original and just watch that.

correct, it is not a sequel but a reboot similar to FMA:B.

Crossfire wrote:Gundam-san. Hype levels rising steadily.

Fall season has GBF2 and some new series at the same time.

Hooray Summer thread.

I already started watching a slew of new shows so first episode impressions as follows:

Watching:
Free! Eternal Summer - ZOMG that ED. I was unimpressed by the OP though. SPOILER: Highlight text to read: I really like Rin's character growth, but it wouldn't be Free without the angst so I'm expecting New Character Guy to stir things up in no time.

SAO II - I can testify that the East Gardens of the Imperial Palace are not that green in winter, at least it wasn't in Jan when I was there so idk maybe it's better in Dec. Note if you plan to watch this on Crunchyroll, watch it a few hours after release because the first ep apparently broke the servers.

Sailor Moon Crystal - A little weird seeing this so soon after starting the old series but at least I'll be able to identify the differences easily, haven't read the manga. I liked it well enough, but wasn't fond of the 3D transformation sequence and the music seemed bland compared to the old series. Also, translation weirdness. See Nate's "What anime are you watching" post.

On probation:
Glasslip - Not gonna lie, I'm here for the chicken called Jonathan and the nano.RIPE ED.

Barakamon - The OP is really nice and the post-cred scene was gold but somehow I have a feeling this will probably not be as good as I want it to be. The humour was a little weird, i.e. not funny, in places.

Aldnaoh Zero - Generic mech series so far. Will wait to see if anything more interesting happens.

Tokyo Ghoul - SPOILER: Highlight text to read: The "compassionate" ghoul who offered to share his... uhum, food was legit awesome and I'm sad he's dead. I question the practically of having "feeding grounds" if you only have to eat once every month though. Obviously we don't have many details on how it all works yet, but I think having several ghouls in one area on some sort of rotation system would work better.

Akame ga Kill! - SPOILER: Highlight text to read: I was rather suspicious of the little blond girl and her family and was just waiting for things to go horribly wrong. The bishi sparkles on Armor Guy was priceless.

Dramatical Murder - The OP song seems really disconnected from the imagery for reasons I can’t quite pin down. Let’s hope the yaoi content is kept to a minimum in the anime, but I don’t think it would be hard to drop this show if any of that crops up. I’m only mildly interested at best right now. The designs are nice, although what the heck is up with MC-kun’s hair?

Dropped:
Bakumatsu Rock: The shirtlessness is strong with this one. I like the ED but not really any of the rest.

Shounen Hollywood -Holly Stage for 49 - There was a few times when characters mentioned embarrassment and they weren’t wrong. The design is rather boring and nothing really interested me enough to keep watching.

Still to check out(because clearly I’m not watching enough shows already):
Ao Haru Ride

Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun

Majimoji Rurumo - I really like the art for this so I really, really hope it isn't terrible. The premise doesn't really fill me with confidence.

Mushishi Zoku Shou Special - Everyone watch this.

Persona 4 The Golden Animation - Is it necessary to have seen any of the other Persona anime to watch this? I know nothing about the games either.

Psycho-Pass New Edit Version - I think I’ll get the abridged version from MangaRocks! I wasn't particularly taken with the series.

Tokyo ESP - Well I liked Ga-Rei. (/GeneD is grasping at straws because she knows she’s going to kill herself trying to keep up with all of these shows.)

Zankyou no Terror - Regardless of the above, I’ll definitely be watching this, it looks very intriguing. Hopefully it really is as good as it seems.

Free!: Eternal Summer episode 1:

Oh man, I was laughing too hard at so much of this (and grinning my way through the rest of it ). SPOILER: Highlight text to read: The cuteness of Makoto and the cat gets me every time. <3 And LOL at Haru (of course) just starting to strip at the pool in the beginning and the other guys all basically facepalming and Gou just fangirling in response. Also LOL at Rei and Nagisa reacting exactly in unison to their loss. And even more LOL at Gou's recruitment presentation. And Nagisa's 'Rin' voice. And topping it all off with that hilariously awesome joke ED! (I think I just love how self-aware this series is, LOL. To my surprise, I think I've actually missed this! )

Also:

GeneD wrote: SPOILER: Highlight text to read: I really like Rin's character growth, but it wouldn't be Free without the angst so I'm expecting New Character Guy to stir things up in no time.

^ Indeed.



Aldnoah.Zero episode 1:

Oh man... even though I knew *exactly* what was going to happen, I *still* got goosebumps from it. (...In fact, I actually pretty much got continual goosebumps from that SPOILER: Highlight text to read: contrived attack on the princess (by her own people, no less, just to incite their invasion/war!) all the way through the end of the episode. ) Plus, I've only heard the few tracks present in this ep. so far, but I already have a powerful need to buy the OST! IMO this opening episode was quite good, and I'm quite looking forward to seeing where it goes from here!



Sailor Moon: Crystal episode 1:

Well, I can't compare this to the old anime because I haven't watched that one (due to me hearing that its adaptation wasn't so great at points). However, I *can* compare Crystal to the manga, and wow-- aside from a couple of interestingly-translated lines and the missing glasses after Usagi's transformation, it was very nearly accurate right down to the panel! And since I quite enjoyed the original manga, if this adaptation stays that close, I think I'm going to enjoy this very much indeed. (Especially if it continues all the way through to the end of the story-- man, that final SPOILER: Highlight text to read: Galaxia arc-- though I suspect they might need a second season to do so...)



And Re:␣Hamatora episode 1:

Ah yes-- the old mood-whiplash trolling is back, now with 400% more troll!

Seriously, though, while I actually thought the mood-whiplash thing worked to rather hilarious effect in the first season (especially since it was obvious that the show never really did take itself that seriously in the first place), the tone balance here in the opening ep. of S2 felt more than a little off. That said, I *did* unironically enjoy watching SPOILER: Highlight text to read: Nice's (now-even-more-leveled-up!) power in action at the end, and I do still want them to explain things with Art, but judging by this episode, at this point I think I'm going to forget even the little plot this series had and just sit back and enjoy the trolling.



And still eagerly awaiting the first episode of Zankyou no Terror, which I assume will start on Thursday (?).



...Oh, and also:

GeneD wrote:Bakumatsu Rock: The shirtlessness is strong with this one.

^ Not watching this series and am not planning to, either, but this gave me quite a laugh.

Wow, there's literally...nothing that looks interesting this year. Except SAO because sequel to something I watched and liked, and a couple others that are sequels to things I still haven't gotten around to watching, so those are on hold anyways.

And that Tokyo ESP; check out that cover art. What is Wolverine doing in an anime as an old man with knives instead of claws?

Honestly I'm relieved. I don't have time for the stuff I already wanted to watch, let alone a pile of new stuff.

I'm surprised at how many manga are getting adaptations that I didn't think were that... popular, hahaha. Not that I'm displeased here. Barakamon is really sweet slice-of-life stuff. And Nobunaga Concerto is actually not that bad. It's time travel. I like time travel.

I'll probably watch those two along with Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun (which is absolutely hilarious) until I fall woefully behind. And then I'll just continue reading the source material and not worry about it.

Otherwise, I'm keeping the second season of Free! for sure, and I'll give Glasslip and Bakumatsu Rock another episode or two to prove that they're worth it. So far I'm not convinced, haha.

Saw Glasslip Ep. 1 tonight. Interesting, a little confusing, and a little slow starting. I am not sure if I hope the chickens are not a big part of this show, or if I'm hoping they are a big part of the show. Leaning toward not, I think.

So I ended up watching Aldnoah Zero, Space Dandy 2, Akame ga Kill, Zankyou no Terror, Argevollen, Gundam-san, and...


SPOILER: Highlight text to read: Sabagebu.



Gonna drop Akame ga Kill, but I remain cautiously optimistic with Aldnoah and Dandy 2. Will wait and see how they play out.

@Crossfire: Why did you drop Akame ga Kill? I've been thinking about watching it.

I just didn't care for the tone. I can't tell if it wants to be a comedy, or a political-fueled gore-fest... it's serious and bloody one moment and a gag scene the next. It feels very disjointed and odd to me.

For example, SPOILER: Highlight text to read: the main character witnesses his two best friends die of torture, and proceeds to kill the person responsible for their demise. It's a very serious and somewhat shocking scene considering what happened earlier on in the episode. However no less than 10 seconds later he's acting all light-hearted whilst being dragged away by a group of assassins.

Thank you for the information.

Only had time to watch Aldnoah Zero episode 2 tonight. Holy crap that was brutal.

SPOILER: Highlight text to read: Poor F-22's getting blown out of the sky like nobody's business. Though it looks like the best representation of fighter aircraft in anime in recent years, sadly enough. I kept waiting for some Ace Combat tier shenanigans but it never materialized. I also really like the Earth force's mecha designs, it's a shame that SPOILER: Highlight text to read: everyone is dieing so far.

On another note, the music sounds eerily similar to another show about lots of people dieing via the hands of giants. Guess it only makes sense being the same composer and all.

Space Dandy 2: Wow, that first episode was funnier than anything from last season. I know that I didn't get all the cultural references behind the various Dandies, but you didn't really need to know everything for it to be hilarious. The "emo" Dandy was awesome. Second episode wasn't nearly as good, but still worth it to see Dr. Gel encounter SPOILER: Highlight text to read: his mother in the river of time.

Rail Wars: *weeping* Nice trains, the dynamic has a little promise, though I'm getting too much Working! vibe from the mad girl (guessing she'll spend the whole show beating on the MC for no logical reason at all), and the plot was so-so... Nice trains, but, oh, by the way, FAR too much fanservice. Ick. I'm dropping this.

I kind of want to create separate threads for aldnoah and sabagebu, but I'll be the only one posting in them so...

Anyways. Sabagebu continues to be surprisingly decent, even with the fanservicey stuff. The narrator is amazing.

Crossfire wrote:I kind of want to create separate threads for aldnoah and sabagebu, but I'll be the only one posting in them so...

If it makes you feel any better, I'm planning on having a look at both of them when I get the chance.

In the meantime, Space Dandy 2 is pretty good.

Whoops! Forgot that I have to wait a week on Zankyou no Terror because I'm not a Funi subscriber... Anyway:



Free!: Eternal Summer episode 2:

Okay, is it just me or is this season already better than S1? SPOILER: Highlight text to read: Random comments about this ep.: Wow, Rin is totally adorable now. <3 "Sea otter" ROTFL, and also LOL at "They're definitely brothers..." The race was great. Oh, and Sosuke seems to have some misconceptions (and major overprotectiveness issues ) about a few things, but he's actually rather interesting. (I just hope the title of the next episode doesn't really mean what it sounds like... )



Aldnoah.Zero episode 2:

SPOILER: Highlight text to read: Well, to be honest, I also knew that the 'princess' killed in the attack was going to turn out to be a double. But that just makes what the invaders are doing even worse than it already is, of course. That said, I liked the fact that they actually showed the Martians SPOILER: Highlight text to read: taking out the communications + lines of command first, etc., as a proper military would. Man, though-- talk about having no chance... that was nothing less than a slaughter. SPOILER: Highlight text to read: Those Martian mechs are so OP it looks hopeless (even if their power isn't limitless). I'm quite curious as to how the Earth characters are going to manage to work around that, if at all...



And Re:␣Hamatora episode 2:

Ah, now that's much better. The balance of seriousness and absurdity is back to the way it was in S1 (meaning I genuinely laughed more at this ep. than that trollish opening one ), SPOILER: Highlight text to read: they showed the rest of the scene after the S1 cliffhanger now, and ah-- so Art *DID* have a Regeneration Minimum that only activates upon his death. I thought that would turn out to be the case. Whoa, though-- so he's basically doing the exact opposite of Moral now, somehow discovering a way to take others' Minimums (or, as Art is now calling them, "sins") out of them via a not-necessarily-lethal (though still rather painful/unpleasant ) manner... and then injecting them into his own (basically immortal, so there's no side-effects like Moral had) body. On the surface, that seems a bit hypocritical, considering his former position; but I'm actually not sure that's the case yet, since his attitude seems really off. I guess that'll be explained later. ...Oh, and BTW, I have to say that despite being short-lived (in its original owner, I mean ), Paper's Minimum was awesome.

Alright proper post time.

Sabagebu! #!
Entertaining, will continue to watch.

Rail Wars! #1
Meh. I may give it one more.

Aldnoah Zero #1
Interesting, will continue to watch.

Aldnoah Zero 3. I really enjoyed this one, and the after-credits scene was amazingly satisfactory in my opinion.

Edit: Watched Sabagebu episode 3. Whole thing was amazing, the short Chuck Norris cameo was just icing on the cake.

Aldnoah.Zero ep 2-3: I enjoyed these much more than the first episode, even if I had a bit of trouble telling some of the Earth kids apart (some of them have similar sounding names or appearances). As such I’m not really invested in any of the characters yet, but the execution of the show in general makes up for it for now.

Barakamon ep 2-3: Episode 3 omg, the intro was great and I think I literally burst something laughing so incredibly hard at the hug scene. Priceless.

Free!: Eternal Summer ep 2-3: SPOILER: Highlight text to read: They’re never gonna get any new members are they. I don’t like younger Mikoshiba brother as much as older Mikoshiba brother but I’m sure he’ll grow on me. I might be wrong but I can’t help but be a little suspicious of Sousuke’s story about being scouted. Is it normal to decide to “relax” for the rest of the year right after being scouted? I am wholly on board with the new Rin, but I’m hoping him or someone can shake Haru up a bit about his post school plans.

Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun ep 2-3: This is really funny and gives me Ouran vibes.

Glasslip ep 2-3: SPOILER: Highlight text to read: I didn’t even realise there was a supernatural element until New Guy blatantly started talking about it. I don’t know about this. P.A. Works dramas and I don’t have a good history.

Sword Art Online II ep 2-3: Welp we’re 3 episodes in and precious little has happened. To those people who were concerned about GGO being 2 cour, maybe they’re going to do it by slowing the pacing to a crawl. Ep 2 was particularly boring because it was way too serious for something with no real world consequences and while 3 was better I couldn’t help but think that Sniper Girl just needs to see a shrink instead of trying to self-therapy her problems because I don’t see that ending well.

Tokyo ESP ep 1-2: I have no real idea what to expect from this show but I like the MC and her dad a lot so far and the Ga-Rei Zero cameos were nice.
Ga-Rei Zero spoiler SPOILER: Highlight text to read: Especially those guys who get killed off in the first Ga-Rei episode lol.

Tokyo Ghoul ep 2-3: This reminds me a bit of Psycho-Pass in terms of tone (and gore). MC-kun is a bit of a baby but I like his smart friend and am intrigued by the ghoul society, possibly despite myself.

Zankyou no Terror ep 1-2: This is a good show. Episode 2 really surprised me with the direction it went in, but in the best way possible. The OP gives me a Ghost in Shell SAC vibe, probably because of Yoko Kanno’s music.

The music this season has been really good so far.

Dropped:

DRAMAtical Murder ep 2-3: When the robot dog is the character with the most personality you know this show might not be worth it.

Akame ga Kill! ep 1-2: The only reason I’d keep watching this is for the guy with the hair but unfortunately that won’t be enough. The mood whiplash Crossfire mentioned is a big factor and the characters are meh.

Magimoji Rurumo ep 1: Yeah unfortunately my suspicions were correct and this didn’t impress. Too many ecchi "jokes".

Ao Haru Ride ep 1: I wasn’t particularly taken with this but I’ve heard good things so I might reconsider.

Free!: Eternal Summer episode 3:

Have I mentioned how adorable Rin is now? Also: SPOILER: Highlight text to read: ROTFL at Rei *still* being utterly helpless at any other stroke (well, at first, anyway ), Nagisa teasing him in class, Gou's theories about him being in love, them all stalking him (and then their 'attempts' at acting surprised later on), and Nagisa's expressions in general during a lot of that. The whole end bit was quite sweet, too. I am seriously enjoying this.



Zankyou no Terror episode 1 (finally! ):

Holy crap -- out of the Summer shows I'm watching (minus the special stuff still coming in August, of course ), IMO this was *easily* the best opening ep., by far! (Worth the wait, indeed!!) SPOILER: Highlight text to read: That opening sequence was brilliant-- utilizing only the most minimal of dialogue, and just pulling you right in. (Also: That P.O.V. snowmobile bit!) Oh, and making one of the terrorists be rather likeable on the surface yet still have a quite creepy/manipulative/deadly undertone was intriguing, as well. I was on the edge of my seat right from the opening sequence all the way through to the end SPOILER: Highlight text to read: (and even more so once Twelve gave one of the bombs to Lisa and then told her not to let it go! *shiver* ). I mean, I had expectations that this would be good just from the people working on it combined with the story concept, but wow-- the art, the animation, the direction, the music, the general tone + suspense... all of it was excellent! I am seriously pumped for the rest of this series, and absolutely cannot wait for the next episode! (...No joke, this show just might finally be the one to make me get a Funi subscription, just so I can watch it sooner...! )



Aldnoah.Zero episode 3:

Okay, that was actually pretty clever. Also, wow at that after-credits scene. SPOILER: Highlight text to read: (And I had just been thinking that there was too little visible blood shown in the series so far for an Urobuchi work... )



Sailor Moon: Crystal episode 2:

Heh-- I had marathoned the manga pretty much straight through back when I read it (and my reading speed is quite fast), so I had kinda glossed over the fact that the character-/item-introduction phase goes on for a little while in the beginning before hardly any of the real story appears (and this is especially noticeable now because of this adaptation's every-other-week airing schedule, LOL). I don't mind, though, since this part of the story is still decent (...and also since I'm assuming they will get around to adapting the better parts as well).



And Re:␣Hamatora episode 3:

SPOILER: Highlight text to read: Ah, so apparently there's a weird side-effect of the Minimum Holders having their powers stolen, too; guess we'll see if that turns into something bigger later on. That Insanity Minimum, though... that was... uh... interesting. Oh, and I didn't realize Nice had such a defined range on his powers, so that was a neat little detail-- and that was also some nice teamwork they all used to (temporarily) stop Art. (Wondering what exactly happened to Honey, though... I mean, I can guess *who* did it, but not *what* precisely was done, aside from some sort of amnesia.) Finally, it looks like Art might not be the main antagonist of this season after all? (Unless, of course, he actually is the one who gave that guy orders...)

Akame ga Kill! - So far, so good. Half the reason why I'm watching it is that I'm a fan of White Fox. Characters are also interesting enough as well. Not sure how they will pull off 24 episodes though.

Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun - I wasn't really expecting much, but this is perhaps the best show this season, imo. So much comedy, and all the characters are pretty good as well.

Glasslip - Ugh... this anime. It really gives the AnoHana feel off, and I never really liked AnoHana. I was hoping this anime would of had less drama, and more of a slice of life feel instead. I'll probably just wait it out though as there is only 10 more episodes.

Hanayamata - I was pleasantly surprised about this one as it had left and joined my plan to watch list more times than I care to remember. Luckily, its turning out to be a nice SoL.

Sword Art Online II - You know, at first when I put this on my list, I was hoping Shino would steal away Kirito as I don't like Asuna at all. Turns out Shino is completely messed up psychologically. Now I lost most of my motivation in finishing the anime. Also, the last three episodes could have been condensed into one decent episode instead.

Ao Haru Ride - Pretty good. A little over-the-top in the drama department, but I can live with that. On a side note, I just finished the Strobe Edge manga, which is by the same mangaka. Though the former was interesting enough to keep me reading, the drama got a little eye-roll inducing at a couple points, so I'm probably looking for it more in Ao Haru Ride.

Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun -This is hilarious. The first episode and everything surrounding the bike conflict had me laughing harder than I have over a show in a while. Reminds me of some of the conversations I have with myself when writing.

Glasslip - I might drop this one. I don't know where it's going. I'll give it a few more episodes...

I'm a little late to the game but...

Free S2 ep. 1-4: I missed watching these dorks more than I thought. And I agree with MangaRocks, Rin is adorable.

Ao Haru Ride ep. 1-3: It's cute, and I love the watercolor palette. A little too cheesy or cliche sometimes, but it's not too detrimental.

And I'm interested in Zankyou no Terror, but have yet to actually watch it.

Watched Zankyou no Terror ep 3 and Aldnoah episode 4. The former remains weird and intriguing, and the latter is shaping up to be something great IMO. While not exactly complex, I absolutely loved how the MC planned this week's attack.

So after 3-4 weeks, nothing really stands out.

Barakamon and Nozaki are decent; probably the most enjoyable.

Rokujouma is pretty good, for a harem.

Argevollen might get better after these ehh first few eps, if we are to trust the power of Bright slaps.

Don't like the direction Tokyo Ghoul is going. Touka is definitely Sora Amamiya's best performance yet though (voice of 1 Week Friends' Kaori)

Ao Haru Ride is generic shoujo, not that I have any problem with that.

Aldnoah desperately needs characterization, and Sawano needs to learn how to write different music.

SAO2 pacing is terrible because 2 cour. And honestly, the whole point of Shino being broken is so a certain male can save her and add to his harem.

Akame ga Kill is really just me waiting for a certain blue haired general.

Sabagebu narrator is pretty good, but I can see it getting old if it continues.

Zankyou no Terror needs to do something more interesting soon if it's only going to be 11 episodes.