[Fall 2015] Season of Studying

[Kraavdran]

Ep 3 of Utawarerumono: Previous statement redacted. Seriously, it was like a different show.

What aren't you liking about it? Anime News Network is giving it fluttery reviews about the mood being "clean" and "bubbly," but I haven't started watching it yet.

I have to agree with Rusty Claymore, the first episode showed real promise. However, it didn't really keep up the momentum. I dropped it after a few more episodes when I realized that it was becoming more focused on being a harem with fanservice.

EventualDay, I think that they called it "clean" and "bubbly" due to the sheer number of bathing scenes in it.

Anyways, all that said, I found it quite different from the original series. Which was saddening to me.

[skreyola]

Asterisk War ep. 7 - The stuff with her father was mildly interesting. The duel was pretty cool, though not very well grounded in anything. The rest of the episode was pretty boring. 3/5

[MomentOfInertia]

Asterisk War #7
I'm losing interest here 2.5/5

35th Test Platoon #7
Dark backstory. Despite actual (obscured) nudity I think this ep averaged less exposed skin than this week's Asterisk, not sure what to think about that. 3/5

[skreyola]

Sakurako-san's Bones ep. 7 - That was kind of interesting, though the bones this week were a bit odd. 3/5

Perfect Insider ep. 7 - That was kind of weird. It was like a conversation between Dr. Sbaitso and ELIZA. Still, a minor move forward, in that SPOILER: Highlight text to read: Michiru may still be around, in the form of the VR tank... I wonder if she was the ine who talked to Moe before... 4/5

[MangaRocks!]

...Okay, so I didn't have time to watch any of the new ones yet except for Digimon (...insurance paperwork, bleh... ), and honestly, at this point I might as well just wait and marathon them once they're over , but at least I did look up reviews and such and decide which ones I will and won't watch-- Comet Lucifer, Kagewani, and Kowabon are going to be no's; however, along with the obvious yes of One Punch Man, I decided to check out Concrete Revolutio, too.



Digimon Adventure tri. movie #1 / episodes 1-4:

So while this is technically a series of 6 movies, they're apparently breaking each movie up into 4 episodes (so it'll eventually end up being a 24-ep. series). I quite enjoyed this first movie / first 4 ep.'s. It was a bit of a slow burn in terms of pacing/buildup, but given its format I think that worked just fine, and of course the nostalgia meter was off the charts. <3 (On a sidenote: It was hilarious when Izzy started getting all technical and sciencey and the others SPOILER: Highlight text to read: just completely tuned out and ignored him, and he just kept on talking anyway, despite the loud arguments and such... and only once Joe mentioned having a girlfriend did he finally snap out of it, LOL. ) I'm quite looking forward to more!



Haikyuu!! S2 episode 8:

Tsukki~ <3 SPOILER: Highlight text to read: And the best thing about this is that he still has a little ways to go even yet-- when his development finally reaches its climax, it's going to be truly cathartic.



Owarimonogatari episode 8:

This was mostly setup, but it was so good to SPOILER: Highlight text to read: finally have Araragi and Shinobu reunited.



And Subete ga F no Naru: The Perfect Insider episode 8:

SPOILER: Highlight text to read: Okay, so I was right about it not being an 'uploaded mind' , but wrong about it being AI-- turns out that it was just someone logging in and trolling her like a boss, LOL. Anyway, gotta admit, that little moment where Souhei is looking kinda fondly at sleeping-Moe and then he kinda awkwardly shifts just slightly to the side and switches to a look of complete disinterest as she wakes up was pretty cute. Speaking of that sequence, though, I'm not sure what on earth was going on with Souhei's big realization vision or whatever, LOL (yeah, Sensei, some 'path' that was... ), but oh well. Finally: ...Welp, if I'm reading the reveals correctly, it seems almost certain now that the 'sister' is actually her, and that she had a daughter and that's who was killed instead (for whatever reason)...

[skreyola]

11/29:
Starmyu ep. 7 - That was just all-over lackluster. The bear thing was bland. The vase was silly, though at least the resolution was unexpectedly good. The general lack of respect for anyone and anything was a little off-putting. The animation was good. The hints are there that something bigger will come out of this experience, but in the mean time... it's just blah. But maybe that's just me, because I'm not feeling so hot right now. 3/5

11/30:
GochiUsa2 ep. 7 - The first half of that was awesome. I thought it would be a 5-star episode. But the second half was a bit of a train wreck. 3/5

Hakone-chan ep. 8 - I can't believe I'm saying this about this episode, but it was definitely better than episode 7. 3/5

Heavy Object ep. 8 - Oh, yeah! That's what I'm talking about. This is good anime. Very little fanservice, deep philosophical musings, good action, interesting problem solutions, a comeuppance, and a rejection of letting things stay bad. In spite of the rough jump in action, this episode was awesome. 5/5!

[skreyola]

Asterisk War ep. 8 - That was a surprisingly solid episode, though the blonde girl's swimsuit was too skimpy. Anyway, keep in mind that unranked doesn't mean insignificant; it means unknown quantity, and that can get you into big trouble. 4/5

Starmyu ep. 8 - That was a good, solid episode. People have a hard time accepting the outcomes of things and letting them run their course, don't they? I wonder why the guys spent so much time sitting around thinking without looking at reference materials on available pieces. Anyway, this remains an interesting show, in spite of not being exactly my cuppa. 4/5

[skreyola]

Sakurako-san's Bones ep. 8 - I really don't like this min-arc. Why is Shou-kun acting the way he is? He's holding things back, etc. Interesting about the radius and ulna. Some insight into Kujo-san's past. I think the guy at the end is SPOILER: Highlight text to read: her fiance... People on MAL are wondering why we haven't seen him, but I think we have. Anyway, this whole episode was creepy and weird. 3/5

[skreyola]

Everything Becomes F(reaky) ep. 8 - That was exceptionally weird. Also, detective figures something out but doesn't share with the audience. 3/5

[MangaRocks!]

Haikyuu!! S2 episode 9:

...Is there anything I even need to say about this anymore? Weekly dose of happy feels acquired~ <3



Owarimonogatari episode 9:

Ohhh man, so we are indeed now finally going to find out why all of these Oddities keep congregating in this one particular town-- SPOILER: Highlight text to read: and that it's all tied in with Kiss-Shot, her first minion, and maybe even Araragi himself! Also: Nice reveal about why and how the first minion guy survived (although not at all nice for him, obviously... ). Bring on next week!



And Subete ga F ni Naru: The Perfect Insider episode 9:

...And yep, it apparently is exactly what I had figured out after all. Didn't expect the SPOILER: Highlight text to read: time difference/overwriting thing, though-- that was a clever workaround. (Also, this ep.'s big "Aww~" moment: SPOILER: Highlight text to read: "...That's why I'm here with you." And the secondary one would be his 'only you could've done that' + thank you. ) Oh, and on a somewhat random note, another thing I loved about this was that I actually understood what they were talking about with the code, LOL.

[skreyola]

GochiUsa2 ep. 8 - The first half was painful. The second half had some funny moments, but the stalking-your-friends storyline is not a particularly good one. 3/5

So, since the season is about 2/3 of the way through, here are the rankings for this season, through episode 8:
1. (more 5-star episodes) Heavy Object 32
2. StarMyu 32
3. Perfect Insider 31
4. Sakurako-san's Bones 30
5. GochiUsa2 29
6. Asterisk War 26
7. Hakone-chan 24

How are your shows stacking up with each other?

[skreyola]

Hakone-chan ep. 9 - This show just isn't doing anything useful. 2/5

Asterisk War ep. 9 - Yawn. Those puppets are OP... but does he forget his attack is unblockable? Or is he horrified that that team got murdered? 3/5

[skreyola]

Starmyu ep. 9 - This episode just really didn't resonate well with me. The flashback was well done, the song was well executed, and the resolution of the flashback was really great, but at this point in the story, with what's happening with the council and the team, it wasn't what I care about. Also, the bit with the shaking was rather poorly done. 3/5

[Rusty Claymore]

How are your shows stacking up with each other?

1; Sakurako's Investigation - Between the art of the show and the unusual content, it's trumping everything else this season. "A story dedicated to those trapped in the past" is a fitting subtitle, and the slice of life setting make those pasts closer to reality than the usual hero/sci-fy setting we usually see that genre in. Also, my ~60 Mom watches it and asks when the next one comes out. That's saying something.

2; Ushio to Tora - Still watching, even though they switched from angry-face fighters to sad-face fighters. Still curious how it ends. Also, there really was a cello! (Thought it was Austria at first.)

3; Owarimonogatari - It all makes sense. But I still have no idea what they are talking about. >_< Oddly, the dialogue is one of my favorite aspects of this show, everyone talks a little differently, and everyone doulble-talks differently too. As someone who pretends to make up stories, it's always fun to see what the author comes up with.

4; Utawarerumono - Nothing makes sense now. But I have a pretty good idea about what's going on. On the surface, at least. Apparently there is a "World of Utawarerumono", but this is my first exposure to it, so I can't say I really understand what is going on. Anyways, the art is a plus, the monster hunter-esque setting is a plus, Animal people are a plus. At least to the increasingly female cast doesn't constitute a harem. (As a student of Japanese it is fun to try and figure out what they're doing with some of their speech.) The BL jokes can go. Seriously, it's painful how obvious it's used to burn screen time. Random city scenes with music would be less obvious.

The Rest (the ones I watch just because they're there); I'm watching Hakone-chan simply because my Japanese friend recently stayed at Hakone on a trip back home! (He didn't know there was an anime about it this season.) Apparently the Hakone volcano has been increasingly active, so he practically had the resort to himself.

Highschool girl in middle school - Is actually kinda fun when the screen isn't blocked. It's like equipping a rocket launcher in an fps. I personally think the show would have been just fine inside believable parameters.

Re-watching "Our Home's Fox Diety" - If you like fox-spirit stuff, yokai, slice of life, and that guy who has to balance the family budget after all that happens, watch it.

[EventualDay]

What aren't you liking about it? Anime News Network is giving it fluttery reviews about the mood being "clean" and "bubbly," but I haven't started watching it yet.

I have to agree with Rusty Claymore, the first episode showed real promise. However, it didn't really keep up the momentum. I dropped it after a few more episodes when I realized that it was becoming more focused on being a harem with fanservice.

EventualDay, I think that they called it "clean" and "bubbly" due to the sheer number of bathing scenes in it.

Thanks for the answer. ANN was a little too honest I guess, and here I took those descriptors as abstract

Too bad about this season; seems like there's not too much people are just raving about.

[skreyola]

I wanted to reply that I'm enjoying a couple of these shows immensely, but, while I am enjoying three of them a lot more than the others, none of them is over 80% of the max score. Still, I think Sakurako and Heavy Object are worth looking at.

Sakurako-san's Bones ep. 9 - That was very sad. I laughed out loud when SPOILER: Highlight text to read: Gran arched her fingers and solved the case. Unfortunately, it wasn't the case of the pictures... but maybe, they'll show that in a later episode. Color me confused with the part at the end. I wonder what it means. 4/5

[skreyola]

Perfect Insider ep. 9 - I was right! And I'm an idiot, too. Because I was wrong. I had the thing turned around backwards. It will be interesting to see how this wraps up. How many of you saw that coming? 4/5

[skreyola]

Heavy Object ep. 9 - Could have done without the Jessica segment. Ah, bureaucracy! Qwenthur knows how to use terrain advantage. I wish this show didn't have so much fanservice. It would be the show of the year, if it didn't. Also, I don't care, but this episode had an F bomb in it, so you know. 4/5

[MangaRocks!]

Haikyuu!! S2 episode 10:
I was giggling the whole way through this. Oh my gosh this show just heals your heart. <3 <3



Owarimonogatari episode 10:

Ahhh, of course! I had forgotten that in the Monogatari universe, SPOILER: Highlight text to read: vampires attract other Oddities to them 'just by existing'-- so, there literally being (basically) three of them now in one town (Kiss-Shot, Kiss-Shot's first minion, and Araragi himself), of *course* there would be more than usual. (Also exacerbated by the whole shrine thing, which was explained here.) As for humor: Araragi's jealousy (and Shinobu's reassurance) was kinda cute <3 ... and ROTFL, was that Kaiki (and... Episode? ) on the cover of that BL novel?!! (And Gaen on the ladies' cover, too... Also, Araragi finally meta-referenced his own lolicon tendencies... ) Finally: Whoa, I was not expecting the first minion to look like... *that.* I kinda (actually, really) like his design, though. And he still manages to exude a sense of dread even with the cuteness. Can't wait to see how they defeat him!



And Subete ga F ni Naru: The Perfect Insider episode 10:

So, while what happened was exactly what I had already worked out a while ago (as I've mentioned before), the *why* of it was rather unexpected. And what I *really* didn't realize was that SPOILER: Highlight text to read: she had managed to get off the island, too (I'm usually pretty observant, but somehow I managed to miss seeing her in the purple dress... whoops! ). (Also: I had heard that a plot element from this first book in the source series comes back around in the last, so that must have been what people were talking about-- she did say that she'd 'come for him' later... I hope people start translating the novels now, because it's going to be quite a while before I'm fluent enough to read them, and I really want to...! ) And, as always, the interactions between the MC's were fantastic (this time SPOILER: Highlight text to read: all three of them). Looking forward to the finale!

[skreyola]

Could not summon the interest to watch Asterisk War last night. Not sure if that says anything meaningful about my enjoyment of the show or not.

GochiUsa2 ep. This show is feeling more and more erratic. There are some nice moments, but the wackiness is starting to wear on my enjoyment of those moments. On the positive side, I liked the serious bits about the rivalry, and the backstory behind the Ama Usa An menu items. And kudos for having Chiya put something in writing so the message got through in spite of misunderstandings and misspoken thoughts, but then they ruined that. 3/5

[skreyola]

Hakone-chan ep. 10 - I'm glad that wasted only three minutes of my life. I think if this show were a half hour long, I'd have dropped it. 2/5

Asterisk War ep. 10 - Gratuitous shower scene, check. Gratuitous grabbiness, check. Walking in on nudity unaware, check. Show taking a decidedly darker turn, check. Stacking up unbeatable opponents, check. Unveiling new abilities out of nowhere, check. Jealous non-GF, check. Anything to increase my interest in the show, missing. 1/5 Aaaaaaand dropped.

I hate dropping a show this far in, but I'm still going to.

[skreyola]

StarMyu ep. 10 - Hoshitani, you silly boy... In spite of the doggy dance, that was a fun episode. 4/5

[skreyola]

Sakurako-san's Bones ep. 10 - That was really creepy. But we've been getting hints about this for a long time, now. 4/5

[skreyola]

Perfect Insider ep. 10 - Well, that's that. The truth is revealed. Still a few questions left to answer. The end sequence was pretty creepy. I thought a long time and almost gave this episode 5 stars, but the lines the cops had and their SPOILER: Highlight text to read: failure to use traceroute effectively decided it. 4/5

[MangaRocks!]

Haikyuu!! S2 episode 11:

Oh man, I had forgotten how quickly they go right into the official matches after the training camp. I cannot contain my excitement~!




Owarimonogatari episode 11:

Heh, well that explains the footprint thing, then. Whoa, though, that discussion wasn't what I was expecting (and it was all the better for it!). (Also, I literally LOL'd when Araragi SPOILER: Highlight text to read: called the first minion a stalker. ) And SPOILER: Highlight text to read: Kanbaru's argument with Shinobu was also unexpected, but truly excellent. Can't wait to see the SPOILER: Highlight text to read: duel!



And Subete ga F ni Naru: The Perfect Insider episode 11 (finale):

...Well, that was a bit of a surprise. It turns out that I was (most likely) right on SPOILER: Highlight text to read: Shiki being the thing that comes back around at the end of the novels (as she does still escape), but there was actually quite a good fake-out beforehand with her pretending to be captured first. Man, though, that was so creepy at the very end when you see that she had taken on two new personalities-- her uncle and daughter... And the entire last sequence with Moe and Souhei was super sweet and adorable <3 (...remember when I said that it was like Souhei's SPOILER: Highlight text to read: mind and heart were going in two different directions? Well, it looks like his heart finally (mostly) won out there at the end~ <3 ). So, not only was there that great segment with Moe and Souhei, but it also wrapped up the last few loose ends SPOILER: Highlight text to read: (other than the obvious to-be-concluded-in-the-novels thread with Shiki) quite nicely. I enjoyed this show, and hope to read the novels someday, too!

[skreyola]

Heavy Object ep. 10 - If not for the fanservice, this probably would be #1 for the season by a wide margin. It is a great show, in spite of that, but it's the difference between Awesome and great. Object-hime has a lot of power to throw around. ...even when she's not in her mech. Too bad her MC doesn't love her enough. Actually not a lot to say about this episode. Loved the coffee growers. Laughed out loud at the Major Copacabana's name. Actually, most of the show's characters have very interesting names. Anyway... 4/5.

[skreyola]

GochiUsa ep. 10 - That was a lot more of what I expect from GochiUsa. Lots of fun, here. Miss E was funny. Aoyama-sensei should write about that legend. Poor Cocoa-chan. I loved the body-switching scene. 4/5

[MangaRocks!]

Haikyuu!! S2 episode 12:

IT BEGINS~~



And Owarimonogatari episode 12 (end, for now):

Oh man, this episode... <3 SPOILER: Highlight text to read: First off, that conversation between Araragi and Senjougahara was a little bit hilarious, a little bit sad, and really, really sweet all at once <3 (and bonus points for both of them using the rarest and strongest form of the word 'love,' besides <3 ). Also, that was *waaay* too devious on Gaen's part -- but Araragi's realization of that + his responses (both in actions and in words) were perfect. (Also, his speech to Seishiro was epic in its simplicity. <3 ) And the thing with the charm was brilliant, although the scene right after was quite sad. Finally, that rather pointed conversation with Ononoki at the end was excellent, too. Looking forward to more!

[skreyola]

Hakone-chan ep. 11 - That was actually pretty good, in spite of frilly-girl's gushing. Plot development is a good thing. 4/5

[skreyola]

StarMyu ep. 11 - That was pretty good. Solid, but not at all exciting. Almost made a 4-star episode. I predict that SPOILER: Highlight text to read: the numbers on the outdoor stage will be moved to the indoor stages, and Team Otori will end up on the stage they wanted at first. 3/5