What anime are you watching?

[Sheenar]

Thanks for the recommendations, Rusty! I'll look into those.

[SincerelyAnomymous]

Finally finished Space Patrol Luluco. I really really loved every single second of it. The over the top action, OVAH Justice and the silly humor was all just the wackiness I expected from Trigger.

SPOILER: Highlight text to read: Nova dying was pretty sad, but I understand why they did it. He needed a proper way to redeem himself and this was the best way to leave the most impact on the audience for him as a character. Of course, he'll probably be back given Keiji's advice to her. But I think it ended perfectly, plus Trigger's always known for their bittersweet endings.

Now back onto Kiznaiver, not as silly as Luluco, but it should be fun!

[Rusty Claymore]

Watched all of ReLIFE in 2 days. The adaption was excellent. Highly recommend.

Morose Mononokean was a little rough, but I still have hopes for it.

[MangaRocks!]

So, I've also watched a fair number of things besides the season simulcasts over the past few months:



Digimon Adventure tri. movie #2 "Ketsui" ('episodes' 5-8 on Crunchy) (sub):

This wasn't quite as good as the first movie in this series, but it was decent enough. (...I still need to know what happened to the 02 DigiDestined after that ominous, apparently- SPOILER: Highlight text to read: being-felled-in-some-way thing in that intro to movie #1, especially since tri. is set *in between* the 'main' ending of Adventure 02 and its epilogue... also, the 'Digimon Emperor' apparently showing up in this one threw me off at first because-- even setting aside the whole 02-DigiDestined- SPOILER: Highlight text to read: felled-in-the-previous-movie's-intro thing-- if you've seen Adventure 02, you'll know that there's no way Ken would ever go back to that after being redeemed; as it turns out, though, SPOILER: Highlight text to read: some Digimon was actually somehow projecting his image instead, which of course makes way more sense {in terms of Ken 'being there,' I mean }.) ...That aside, there was a nice little bit of character development for Mimi in this one. (On the other hand, Joe's 'development' was a bit of a retread, but at least it was something, I suppose. ) Oh, and I collapsed with laughter when Himekawa sent Izzy that "Extremely Urgent" e-mail (and also when Leomon was 'convinced' by Meicoomon, LOL!). And it sure got real at the end there... I mean, it's been quite obvious that the whole virus thing involves SPOILER: Highlight text to read: Meicoomon somehow, as well as the fact that Leomon was going to SPOILER: Highlight text to read: die horribly just because he showed up, LOL , but I wasn't expecting it to be quite so SPOILER: Highlight text to read: brutal... Looking forward to movie #3!



The Garden Of Sinners, a.k.a. Kara no Kyoukai, movies 1-8 + Mirai Fukuin + Mirai Fukuin: Extra Chorus (sub, complete):

Yes, I finally got around to watching this movie series (including all the extra epilogues/etc., which were just as excellent as the 'main' movies {...in fact, the Mirai Fukuin movie was an absolutely amazing [and even downright beautiful and heartwarming! <3 ] finale!}), and yes, it is just as fantastic as I'd heard it was. (...As well as being just as graphic as I'd heard it was at times, too, LOL ; however, it was very much worth having to watch the occasional scene of gore for everything else ). This series is gorgeously animated ( + features equally beautiful music/sound design); and as for the story and characters, the MC's are really interesting as characters in and of themselves, as well as having an equally great and interesting relationship with each other; the movies being set a little out of order chronologically (with each other, and sometimes even within each movie itself) both makes you pay attention + gives interesting in-hindsight/peel-back-the-layer reveals on both the overall story and the characters; and some of the twists in that overall plot-- which is cleverly threaded through each of the movies' own mini-plots (a couple of which are deliciously twisty enough in and of themselves!)-- are *awesome.* (Also: I never thought I'd hear "Singin' In The Rain" in an anime (!)-- nor that a character singing it in Engrish could be so SPOILER: Highlight text to read: emotional...! ) ...Now, all that said, I do have to note that along with the occasional scenes of gore, there is also a rather severe content warning of another nature for the third movie, because a big plot/character point in that one involves a girl being repeatedly SPOILER: Highlight text to read: gang-raped-- you see her (fully detailed) bare chest + the, er, motions several times... It's not fanservice at all-- it's there to heighten the horror of and disgust at what happened to her-- but it's there nonetheless, so if you're going to watch these then just be forewarned. However, even though I'll likely skip most of movie #3 (aside from the last few scenes before + after its credits) in future rewatches, this series was *more* than well worth the watch overall , and I will indeed be eagerly rewatching it again soon!



Hibike! Euphonium: Suisougaku-bu no Nichijou short specials 1-7 (sub, complete):

As you might expect, given that these are shorts, they are simply some amusing asides. But I had a smile on my face throughout every single one of them (and the third one was actually downright hilarious, LOL ), so they were certainly worth a watch.



Hibike! Euphonium: Kakedasu Monaka special/OVA (sub):

This is a full extra episode, focusing on the 10 players that didn't make the cut for the final performance (though mainly just on Hazuki), and it was both excellent and absolutely worth the watch! <3



Magnetic Rose short film (sub):

Ohhh my goodness-- I watched this because I'd heard it was a really great short film that Satoshi Kon had worked on (he actually didn't direct it, rather he wrote it), but it was actually way more awesome than I expected. Not only is its art gorgeous in its detail, and the film just wonderfully atmospheric overall, but the story is excellent as well-- the premise is that a group of space-garbage-collectors get a mystery S.O.S., and then when they go to answer it, weird things start happening... I can't explain any more because the fun is in experiencing it as they do, but trust me that it gets quite intense (and quite good).



Samurai Champloo episodes 1-26 (sub, complete):

...Welp, to be perfectly honest, I don't really understand why people praise this show so highly -- I mean, I get the staff and the stylistic things and the music and the (admittedly *fantastic*-- in fact, some of the best I've ever seen ) fight choreography and all that, and there was certainly some objectively great stuff in here (although a lot less of it than I expected), etc.; but, overall, I did not enjoy this anywhere near as much as I expected to. Among other things: Some of the content (for example, I facepalmed my way through the whole last section of episode 6 , didn't appreciate the... uh... 'purple haze' bit in episode 9, either , and then there's all the red-light stuff, etc.); Fuu is a 'damsel in distress' a bit too often despite her natural resourcefulness; the requisite 'mushroom' ep. towards the end was neither funny nor interesting-- actually, it was boring as heck (...in contrast to Cowboy Bebop's 'mushroom' ep., which was both hilarious and quite rewatchable ); the baseball ep. was just plain nonsense (and a tad annoying in tone, especially compared to what was about to come); and then, of course, there's the ending. Not only do I *loathe* SPOILER: Highlight text to read: open endings when it comes to romance in particular (and the Fuugen buildup was totally obvious until its complete non-ending ), but I also just didn't get why they decided to SPOILER: Highlight text to read: split up *again* in the first place when the three of them had indeed 'finally found what they were looking for' and basically become like a family (even to the point of {essentially} giving up their lives for each other {I mean, they all ended up surviving somehow, but they did what they did with the full intention to give/really thought they were giving their lives up}!), so what the genuine heck? I mean, why would they even *want* to SPOILER: Highlight text to read: split up again at that point? SPOILER: Highlight text to read: (And yeah, sure, there was that whole thing about the three of them always managing to find their way back to each other every time they tried to split up, but there was no indication of that actually occurring after the end. Seriously, at least throw me a tiny bone of actual resolution here... ) The closure with their *pasts* was nice and all (and appreciated-- really!); HOWEVER, there was no closure for their relationships (romantic or familial) in the present, and for no good reason either, IMO. So, yeah. I mean, don't get me wrong, it certainly wasn't all bad; along with the objectively-good stuff I mentioned at the beginning of this little rant , episode 14 pretty much blew me away (oh my gosh, that entire SPOILER: Highlight text to read: song/flashback/near-death-experience/etc. sequence in particular was *AMAZING*... ); but when one doesn't start actually wholeheartedly enjoying a show until *episode 12* , and then there's still that other stuff that I didn't like (including the show's actual ending) on top... it gets pretty darn difficult to recommend. Oh well... *shrug*



And She And Her Cat: Everything Flows mini-episodes 1-4 (complete):

This is a prequel to Makoto Shinkai's She And Her Cat short (although you don't actually realize that until the after-credits scene in the final episode). It was quite sweet and touching, and SPOILER: Highlight text to read: despite the inevitable tear-inducing ending (before the credits, I mean ), IMO it was worth the one-episode's-screentime in total to watch.

[the_wolfs_howl]

Finally got around to finishing Jyu Oh Sei. Meh. Moving on to something better.

[Sundown]

Since I last posted, I finished Cowboy Bebop: The Movie and Kino's Journey. Both were great.

Now I'm (slowly) watching:

Clannad After-Story: Clannad was, along with Pokemon, one of the first anime series I watched. Rewatching this brings back memories! (...And tears.)

Jojo's Bizarre Adventure:
...I wasn't too sure about this one at first.
I read a thread on another forum recommending this anime, and after learning that it was a counterpart to one of the longest-running mangas I wanted to watch it. Said thread had some 'teaser' clips from the show.

..And uh, they're really confusing without context. If you're trying to get someone into Jojo, I don't recommend first showing them the red-headed dude who likes cherries.

(Unless you want to creep them out, then go for it.)

A little while later, I ran across a CAA thread about Jojo and decided to give it a second chance. The animation in the Phantom Blood OP is incredible, my goodness. <3 <3 <3

[LecktheTech]

I've watched 3 out of 7? of The Garden of Sinners movies. I'm not sure what to think, but the ending of the third is interesting. It's another show that I'm not sure what I missed and what I got out of it. Also slightly....bloody. The animation was very good though.
On another note, I finished Madoka Magica. I'm not sure what to think of this one either. It is good, but a very different type of good. Also not sure what I missed.

I started Your Lie In April. 16/22 episodes/dubbed. It is very colorful, fun, and if not for its music/characters, I doubt that I would enjoy it so much. The plot is thickening, however, and I hope that it doesn't take the route I think that it will. The dub is good, with the voices matched to characters almost perfectly. Also, the lip sync is on target, for the most part.

[MangaRocks!]

I've watched 3 out of 7? of The Garden of Sinners movies. I'm not sure what to think, but the ending of the third is interesting. It's another show that I'm not sure what I missed and what I got out of it. Also slightly....bloody. The animation was very good though.

^ Actually, there's 9 movies ('Epilogue' and 'Mirai Fukuin,' in that order, wrap up the last few hanging threads {and 'Mirai Fukuin' in particular was a fantastic finale to the show}) + a bonus short film called 'Extra Chorus.'

And as for what to think/get out of it, the whole deal with this (plot-wise, I mean; it's quite character-driven as well <3 ) is that the movies are *not* standalone-- it's one big supernatural mystery story (with some at-first-seemingly-unrelated mini-mysteries going on that eventually connect up into the main plot) that is shown a little out of chronological order, so you have to piece some of it together as you watch (with the last three movies bringing everything together once and for all). And, of course, after watching the first three movies, you're only a third of the way through, so you're not even close to having the whole story yet...

[LecktheTech]

And as for what to think/get out of it, the whole deal with this (plot-wise, I mean; it's quite character-driven as well <3 ) is that the movies are *not* standalone-- it's one big supernatural mystery story (with some at-first-seemingly-unrelated mini-mysteries going on that eventually connect up into the main plot) that is shown a little out of chronological order, so you have to piece some of it together as you watch (with the last three movies bringing everything together once and for all). And, of course, after watching the first three movies, you're only a third of the way through, so you're not even close to having the whole story yet...

I am watching it in chronological order, so it should flow a little better for me. That's good to know that it all ties in. I like it more now that I know it will.

[NekoNinja16]

Forgot to update, but been watching Kuroko no Basket for weeks. (and then rewatching the first two seasons w/my bro) One of my faves, love it and everyone in it. <3

[TheChocolateGamer]

Nichijou - I love it.... and I hate it, too.

[MangaRocks!]

House Of Five Leaves, a.k.a. Saraiya Goyou, episodes 1-12 (complete):

I'd had both the anime and the manga of this on my plan to watch and read lists for a while, so when Crunchy announced that the anime would be coming down this week, I just had to give it a quick marathon-- and I'm quite glad I did! I can see why it might be a very underrated show-- despite the samurai present in the tale and the characters getting themselves into physical danger on occasion (and there even being a couple of deaths), it basically has almost no action at all-- and the original mangaka's rather sketchy/wide-expressioned-face art style might take some getting used to, as well. But anyone passing up this series for those reasons does it a great disservice, because it is beautiful. <3 It's a character drama, and plot-wise is kinda like the equivalent of a slice-of-life with Robin Hood's gang, if Robin Hood's gang were a handful of rather-more-morally-dubious types in old Japan who kidnap family members of their targets for ransom (instead of just plain stealing) and who are all trying *very* hard to pretend/appear to be real bad guys on the outside (but utterly failing to convince each other of that regardless, since they all know better {...well, *now,* I mean; none of them had pasts to be proud of, of course, and one character in particular is still quite troubled in that area even in the present}). As such, it's pretty slow-paced, but you just end up being pulled deeper and deeper into it and getting more and more attached to (and fascinated by) the lives of these characters, past and present. And it has a very nice coming-full-circle conclusion, too. Great series, and certainly recommended (if you can find it again, that is... ).

(EDIT: Actually, after reading the manga, I had to revise my opinion of the anime adaptation a bit. See, while what they did cover in the anime was excellently adapted {basically panel for panel!}, they unfortunately ended up cutting out an entire plot thread + a *ton* of character context/background/development for 'Yaichi' and Masa {+ Masa's family}, as well as Jin, Otake, Matsu, and even Yagi! + completely changed the ending {which is not only a lot better in the manga, but a lot more emotionally gripping and fulfilling, too}. So, yeah, while the anime was good on its own, I'd definitely recommend the manga first, because it's definitely better. )

[the_wolfs_howl]

The Snow Queen episode 11

THE RED SHOES ALDKGJASDLKG:LDFJASLJGDJS:DKFJSDLKJDFSKL:J

Seriously, this is my favorite underappreciated fairy tale, most people have never even heard of it before, AND IT WAS IN THIS ANIME For that reason alone, I love this episode...but at the same time, I was kind of disappointed See, the original fairy tale has this beautiful message about forgiveness - an angel appears to the girl and releases her from the curse of the red shoes, and she's able to move on from the mistakes of her past. I could understand why they wouldn't want to go into the horrifying aspects of this fairy tale - like how she has to get a woodcutter to chop off her feet to stop dancing - but the ending felt a bit shallow to me. I didn't feel like they resolved her crisis of faith, either. They could have made it a really beautiful tale about how God's love saved her from her own selfishness...but I guess that's too much to hope for from anime *sigh*

Oh, and I also watched all of My Boyfriend Is An Idiot, which is only eight episodes that are five minutes each, so not a huge time commitment. It is hilarious, and I highly recommend it if you want something completely silly to brighten your day

[tekki777]

Rahxephon

I like a lot of mecha animes, so a friend recommended me and my brother to start watching it and I'm currently 5 or 6 episodes into it. I love it! I love its sense of mystery and how unique it is!

Gundam: Iron Blooded Orphans

I actually am in the middle of catching up on this series. It already has 10 or 11 episodes aired on Adult Swim and I just finished episode 7. Awesome series!

[Lilac#18]

I'm currently watching Dragon Ball Super, which is a sequel to Dragon Ball Z. It's more slice of life than Dragon Ball Z, so fans that like slice of life anime might like this. There's still some action, so Dragon Ball Z fans may still like this too, so don't worry. The first two arc starts as retellings of the last to Dragon Ball Z movies, Battle of Gods and Resurrection F and the third arc is Champa/Universe 6. It's gets better each episode/arc. It focuses more on backstory and character development, which I love. Examples of characters getting development are Vegeta and Mirai (Future) Trunks. Speaking of Future Trunks, it's currently on his arc, which I'm enjoying so far. He now has a female sidekick and close friend, Mai (Future), a character originally from Dragon Ball who is now a younger, reinvented character and is the same age as Trunks SPOILER: Highlight text to read: who made a wish to Shenron with Pilaf and Shuu to become young again, but Shenron made them too young, making them babies, sometime before Piccolo died before the android rampage. There's also new villains like Goku Black and Zamasu, who are running amok in his timeline. The last episode I've watched was episode 57, which is my top favorite, along with episode 56. Toei and Toriyama are doing a really good job on this arc.

[kamisamanoko]

Recently, I've finished up watching
Monster (73 episodes in little over a week's time )
Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica
Btooom!
Another

Would recommend Monster to anyone who loves Death Note or the psychological/detective genres.
The others were alright, probably won't view them a second time.

[MangaRocks!]

So, along with the seasonal simulcasts, I've also watched some other stuff over these past few months!




Cute High Earth Defense Club LOVE! LOVE! (this was the sequel that aired in the summer season), rest of the episodes (I had originally put this on hold for really no reason at all after like 1 or 2 ep.'s) (sub):

Okay, I have absolutely no idea why I 'wasn't quite in the mood for this' (or however I put it) a couple of months ago; I finally just marathoned the darn thing (as I'm doing both the anime and manga challenges on MAL, with this series as one of the entries, and needed to check it off as being finished ), and what do you know, I was actually either outright LOL'ing or at the *very* least just sitting there with a huge grin on my face after every episode! ...Now, that said... for those who aren't aware, this series (including both seasons) is one giant meta-parody of magical girl TV shows-- using, of course, magical boys instead -- including everything from the outfits/transformations/speeches/'alter ego' + attack names/'disguises,' to the one-off monsters/main 'villains,' to the cast being archetypes/all of one gender, to common tropes (both plot-wise and relationship-wise), to 'the power of love,' to fanservice (of the male variety this time, of course -- and, being a parody, expect lots of it! ), to the 'idol' industry, to slash shipping, to the fact of it being a TV show in the first place {in all aspects}, even right down to the characters mocking the very parody itself! As such, it can be hilarious-- even downright hysterical (oh my gosh I almost fell over laughing at a few points! )-- however, some of the content... well, even just by combining the parody of 'the power of love' + an entirely male cast, you can probably imagine... but let's just say that it's (very obviously-- they practically spell it out for you, even *before* you notice that there are no girls whatsoever in the show, even in the background! -- and very much on purpose {meta parody, etc. etc.}) pretty much the gayest show possible without anyone actually doing anything in that regard , plus there's a ton of (barbie-doll-- or should I say ken-doll? ) nudity (particularly in S2-- I actually think the second season is a little better and funnier than the first overall, but in return they all spend even more screentime in the baths... ). So, yeah, I guess I can't really recommend it out very easily (unless you're both fine with that content and have seen enough magical girl shows to get the full impact of the parody), but hey, I certainly enjoyed it.




Digimon Adventure tri. movie #3 "Kokuhaku/Confession" ('episodes' 9-13 on Crunchy) (sub):

Oh. My. Gosh. This was so darn emotional that it actually made me cry -- several times! -- despite knowing what must happen later (due to this whole series being set after Adventure 02's *main* story but before its epilogue). I've always loved Digimon Adventure 01 and 02, and have certainly been enjoying tri. so far, but this particular installment was just on a whole other level. Consider me very impressed!




Haikyuu!!: Jump Festa 2015 special (a.k.a. vs. Akaten) OVA (sub):

This is an expansion of the bit where Hinata and Kageyama fail their tests and SPOILER: Highlight text to read: almost miss the training camp, and it's even funnier for it. Highly recommended, of course (as is everything Haikyuu!!).




High☆Speed!: Free! Starting Days movie (sub):
This was adorable. Kisumi and Asahi were hilarious, and everyone was so sweet (including the new characters). <3 Quite enjoyed the characterization, too. Obviously, a must-watch if you like Free!




Kizumonogatari I - Tekketsu-hen movie (sub):

Compared to the usually VERY-dialogue-driven episodes of the main series (complete with numerous internal and external monologues), this movie was driven almost entirely by the visuals, the characters' expressions, and the background sounds (or lack thereof), with just the most minimal external dialogue possible for the work (and no internal monologues at all-- hence the need for visual/expression context). This was definitely a surprise, but the directing was amazing, so it actually really worked. As for content notes (inevitable with the Monogatari series ), I did facepalm at the few bits of fanservice in this (since I knew they'd milk what was there for all its worth), but even still it wasn't as much as usual (and I already knew what was coming anyway, having read the novel a while back to fill in the story gaps), so whatever. TL;DR: If you watch the Monogatari series, you're definitely going to be impressed by this.




Little Witch Academia: The Enchanted Parade movie (which is the first of two sequels to the original LWA movie) (sub):
I liked this even better than the first one, actually! I had a big grin on my face throughout because it was just such good clean fun. Definitely recommended.




Steins;Gate: Kyoukaimenjou no Missing Link - Divide By Zero special episode (prequel to the forthcoming Steins;Gate 0 series) (sub):

This is the alternate ending to the main Steins;Gate series that leads into the new Steins;Gate 0 series (which, as far as I can tell, is actually just going to follow the Beta timeline-- meaning that the events in Steins;Gate 0 lead up to SPOILER: Highlight text to read: the older Okabe sending that message back in time to SPOILER: Highlight text to read: himself to get himself to save Kurisu and get the True End in the original series' ending. Thus, S;G0 is actually a *midquel,* showing us what led up to that message-- and this episode was the lead-in to it ). Obviously necessary if you're going to watch the upcoming Beta-timeline series.




And Tiger & Bunny Movie 2: The Rising movie (sub):

I'd had this on my plan-to-watch list for ages, and just finally got around to viewing it. And it was just as good as the series. (Although... well, interestingly enough, there was a little Fire Emblem backstory here, but two things about that did end up leaving a little bit of a bad aftertaste: SPOILER: Highlight text to read: One was the bit about him being 'the only person [Dragon Kid] knew that was strong like a man but kind and gentle like a woman' or whatever, which was a line that had all sorts of unpleasantly {and inaccurately} sexist connotations. I mean, I obviously get the *intent* of the scene {it was supposed to be a 'sweet' affirmation for him, etc. }, but that still basically had the niggling little implication buried within it that straight women aren't strong {...um, ever seen the Olympics? Or literally any other sport, for that matter? And let's not even get started about *inner* strength... } or that straight men aren't gentle, sensitive, and kind {when I personally know multiple straight guys who are very much so}, etc. etc. Also, the 'gay people are invincible' line was a tad much {I literally facepalmed at that point... }.) *Other* than that, though , this was quite a good entry to the franchise, and equally worth a watch.

[MomentOfInertia]

Little Witch Academia: The Enchanted Parade (sub):
Good show, beautiful animation slightly cheesy plot. Really pretty and pleasant to watch.

Watched the first season of Big O Good stuff. Good show, great cast, novel art style, unique setting. 9/10 I'm tempted to chase down the DVD release. ... the old, out of print, piecemeal, DVD release.

[MangaRocks!]

In advance of the soon-to-be-released (and *VERY*-highly-anticipated by me!) Final Fantasy XV videogame:



Final Fantasy XV: Kingsglaive movie (dub {for once, LOL! }, because {minus the game's 4 MC's, which only show up in a very short cameo here} the English voice cast is great {...plus, IIRC they actually originally made this movie for English first anyway, porting it to Japanese afterwards; and IMO the originally-recorded VA'ing usually ends up being the best anyway}):

WHOA. And here I thought Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children COMPLETE looked amazing... *this* was darn close to live-action-level realism! As for the story, this is meant to give the (rather grim ) background info on what's going on back in the city with the war/'treaty'/king/Luna/etc. in the opening of the Final Fantasy XV game while the prince (your player character) is out (as well as finally providing an explanation for *why* he's out, heh ), so the story will pretty much be interesting only to those who are planning to play the game (which obviously includes me! ), though of course for said audience this is 100% essential viewing. Nothing else really needs to be said; this is one (absolutely gorgeous-looking) part of a larger whole (the story of the game itself), and as such it's absolutely fantastic. (Also: Nyx is love. <3 ...Oh, and like pretty much everything done by Square Enix, be sure to watch after the credits~ )



And Final Fantasy XV: Brotherhood anime, Blu-Ray extended version (episodes 1-5 strung together with a few extra scenes) (sub {because IMO the game's 4 MC's are way better VA'd in their original language , and they didn't dub this anyway}, complete):

Oh man, I loved the anime even more than the movie, if that's possible! Whereas the movie is almost entirely serious (for good reason, though, obviously), the anime-- minus one important flashback-- is almost all warm adorableness. <3 It basically shows part of the 'present' story of the early part of the game (though the 4 MC's have already heard about the events that happened during Kingsglaive, so it's actually partway through), mixed with flashbacks and character + friendship development for all 4 characters (plus a little bit of Luna in the extra + after-credits scenes). The art (particularly the background art) is absolutely beautiful, the fight animation fantastic, and the characters (and their history and friendships with each other) are extremely adorable <3 <3 , so yeah, I loved this to bits.

[LecktheTech]

91 Days was my latest watch, can't say much about it but that the plot was solid and it's depressing.

In advance of the soon-to-be-released (and *VERY*-highly-anticipated by me).

Is there going to be a PC release?

[MangaRocks!]

Is there going to be a PC release?

Well, they say that one's not planned ATM (though they are supposedly considering it), but they've actually tended to be pretty good about releasing stuff on PC later on even when they say that, LOL , so I wouldn't be surprised at all if they do so within a year or two at the very most. I already preordered the PS4 version, though (only a month to go now until release~!).

[Terabyte]

I've been watching The Disastrous Life of Saiki K lately, and man is it funny! I have a pretty random sense of humor, and the show compliments that.

I've also been watching the Magi series, which is pretty good. I've seen it on Netflix for a while and finally decided to check it out.

[NekoNinja16]

Not much for a long time since I've been in the KNB fandom, but just started WWW.Working, (which I've been looking forward to since I LOVED the original and then kinda liked Servant x Service) only first ep so far. (gotta catch up so I can wait for each ep lol) I wanna watch The World is Still Beautiful, heard of it before, didn't care until I read the manga's first chapter and now I'm interested. XD Also something else I can barely remember the name of, lol... (and I still wanna rewatch knb and see the compilation films but I'd like a CR premium first so I need a job haha)

[the_wolfs_howl]

The Snow Queen episode 12

So apparently only main characters get detailed eyes in this show

[Sundown]

Due to a general lack of time and interest, I've barely had anything to do with anime over the past few months. My mind has been on other things! (Mostly art, though dog training was a second priority.)

I did, however:

• Drop the JJBA anime in favor of the manga. I'll watch it in full at a later time - it looks like a great adaption. (And the soundtrack is great, IMO.)

• Finish Tiger and Bunny. I... don't know why, but before watching I was under the mistaken impression that this was a basketball anime? No idea where I got that idea from, though it does make for a funny alternate storyline.

It was interesting to see a series with (one) older protagonist, particularly a single father struggling to balance his job, family life, and various other problems. The animation wasn't bad, either - some of the faces were drawn oddly in a few frames, but that is my nit-picking showing; it didn't distract from my enjoyment of the series. I also enjoyed how they attempted to flesh out the protagonists' co-workers, though I felt there was some room for expansion. (I would have liked to learn more about Fire Emblem and Rock Bison for example.) Overall, I would give the series a solid 9 / 10. I'll check out the movies sometime, too.

• Slowly start watching Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-Kun; currently on episode 4. This show is hysterical! I don't normally watch shoujo series, but I was in the mood for something girly and light-hearted. It is surprisingly good so far and I will definitely see it through to the end.

[the_wolfs_howl]

The Snow Queen episodes 13-14

I'm very pleased to see the main plot advancing - and finally getting to a point where the clips in the ending theme make sense!

[NekoNinja16]

Assassination Classroom, and I finally got around to watching Haikyuu!!. In the second season. .3.

[the_wolfs_howl]

The Snow Queen episode 15

[MangaRocks!]

So as a sort-of last hurrah for the year, I marathoned Thunderbolt Fantasy S1 ep.'s 1-13 (complete)-- thanks, Crunchy! -- and it was a perfect choice!

(And yes, I know it's not anime-- it's a collaboration between Taiwanese puppeteers and Gen Urobuchi + Nitroplus-- but it's related enough that I'm putting my review of it in the anime watching section here. ) Now, granted, for the first few (fairly graphic {well, if you can call it that when it's puppets, LOL }) minutes I was like what the heck is this (even having been somewhat prepared from all the enthusiastic reviews I read about it) ... however, by the time the delicously devious (and wonderfully snarky, to boot! ) Guǐ Niǎo and 'voice of reason' Rèn Wú Fēng appear, I became interested... and by episode two, I was well and truly hooked!

Seriously, it's like the best possible combination of stereotypical eastern-fantasy story tropes (though with a few good twists, of course-- it *is* Urobuchi, after all ), the crazy-awesome-ridiculous-OTT-ness of wuxia films, surprisingly excellent special effects, *gorgeous* (...and occasionally spectacularly exploding ) puppets (which actually work amazingly well as characters, to my genuine {and pleasant!} surprise), and both interesting and hilariously awesome (due to some self-awareness and general snark ) dialogue, sold even more by great voice work. Plus, smug little Guǐ Niǎo is just so much fun, and Rèn Wú Fēng is downright fantastic (his continual facepalming in either the foreground or background never gets old , and he turns out to be just plain awesome in every respect later on as well ).

TL;DR: This was one of the most genuinely, unabashedly entertaining things I've seen all year, and I can't wait for S2!

[the_wolfs_howl]

The Snow Queen episode 16

Finally, some background on Ragi!