So, Anime You Like Lately

rampaging-poet · Post by **rampaging-poet** » Thu Jan 30, 2014 4:35 pm

Yesterday was our first actually watching anime meeting of anime club for the semester. First up was Shin Sekai Yori (From the New World), set in a dystopian village of psychics in the future. Within the first two episodes it's heavily implied that they murder children to ensure psychic powers remain strong. The best part for me so far has been analyzing the fables the main characters have to read for class because they say just as much about the power structure as everything else.

Next was Fate Zero. I really don't have much to say about the first episode, but it looks like it'll get better when things start happening.

We watched The Daily Lives of Highschool Boys, and I can see why half the club refers to it as "Nichibros." It's a lot more down to earth than Nichijou, but still pretty funny. Skits so far include the skirt scene, a girl sitting beside someone on a riverbank, and two of the characters acting out an RPG despite the hero's protests.

The fourth anime in the lineup is JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. Dio is magnificently evil, and Jonathon Joestar was pretty awesome in the second episode. The next episode preview shows him confronting Dio instead of just getting the police involved, which is pretty stupid but also in-character for him as a "true gentleman." I'm hoping we'll learn more of the history of the vampire-creating stone mask that belonged to JoJo's mother, but it wouldn't surprise me if the mask's origin is completely irrelevant to the plot and thus ignored.

Finally, we watched Kyousougiga. We started with the original OVA, which is basically nothing but explosions without explanation. The actual first episode explains that it takes place in a world painted to life by a monk who left long ago, and apparently finding one of his first drawings is important to the plot. I'm really looking forward to seeing where this one goes.

Stahlseele · Post by **Stahlseele** » Thu Jan 30, 2014 5:01 pm

Hmm, none of these ring a bell for me . . the first one sounds interesting, and maybe the last one too.

name_here · Post by **name_here** » Thu Jan 30, 2014 6:06 pm

I've been watching Fate/Zero on my own, and it's awesome.

Anime club is going to have its ballot meeting tomorrow; odds are pretty good we'll end up watching Dangan Ronpa.

Stahlseele · Post by **Stahlseele** » Thu Jan 30, 2014 7:10 pm

What else was there to vote for?

Avoraciopoctules · Post by **Avoraciopoctules** » Thu Jan 30, 2014 9:05 pm

Persona 4: The Animation has a pretty amazing protagonist. Yu's deadpan approach to basically everything makes scenes that otherwise would have been really tedious actually funny.

rampaging-poet · Post by **rampaging-poet** » Fri Jan 31, 2014 1:21 am

I haven't actually watched all of Persona 4: The Animation, but that was my reaction to the first few episodes too. He's portrayed as an RPG player jumping through whatever crazy hoops the game throws at him without question because that's where the plot is, and it is absolutely perfect for a game based on an RPG.

Stahlseele wrote:What else was there to vote for?

UVic Anime Club Facebook Page wrote:Full Series:
ShinSekai Yori
Mushibugyou
Shin Mazinger Z
Bamboo Blade
Needless
Fate Zero
Simoun
Skip Beat
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure
Psycho-Pass

Half Series:
WataMote
Suisei no Gargantia
[C]
Drucker in the Outfield
Eccentric Family
Daily Lives of High School Boys
Heaven's Memo Pad
Kaiba
Milky Holmes
Kyousougiga
Kurenai
Mononoke

EDIT: I pitched Simoun and Skip Beat, neither of which got in. We'll be watching Gargantia and WataMote when Daily Lives of High School Boys and Kyousougiga finish.

Koumei · Post by **Koumei** » Fri Jan 31, 2014 2:45 am

The only one I've seen of those is Needless, and that is pretty good. It's clearly made with Gurren Lagann in mind (same company, probably the same team), but it's just more fun to watch. And less gritty and "everyone dies" than the manga. Bonus points for the silly extras.

rampaging-poet · Post by **rampaging-poet** » Fri Jan 31, 2014 2:55 am

Yeah, Needless looked fun. The only other ones on the list I've seen are Gargantia and Shin Mazinger Z. Mazinger is in desperate need of a sequel though.

The ending is comparable to stopping Gurren Lagann as soon as the Anti-Spirals attack. In fact, that's exactly what I told a friend when I saw the last episode: "It pulled a Gurren Lagann."

DSMatticus · Post by **DSMatticus** » Fri Jan 31, 2014 7:30 am

So, earlier in this thread I praised Bakemonogatari and bitched about Nisemonogatari.

The last arc of Bakemonogatari is basically the end. Crab and Cat are the two primary love interests and Araragi picks one! Harem over, everybody go home. He doesn't just pick Crab, he rejects Cat so hard a tiny vampire girl cartwheel drop kicks her in the face. Out of context, that sounds hilarious and silly. In context, it was hilarious and silly but also Dramatic and Serious and Narratively Important(tm).

And I know I'm describing it flippantly but I thought that was a really solid ending for the series. After ten episodes of (albeit amusing and stylistically pleasing) "everyone wants Araragi's dick," the entire last arc (five episodes, a third of the series) is about him affirming his commitment to Senjougahara (Crab) and the pain it's causing Hanekawa (Cat) through her undeclared and unrequited love. And the final episode wraps it the fuck up; Hanekawa confesses and Araragi is like "I'm sorry but I have crabs Crab Senjougahara." He rejects her. And then Hanekawa tries to murder him and after briefly considering dying for her sake he rejects that too because he has crabs (erm, I didn't really set myself up for that joke this time). If you somehow managed to miss every other episode in the series, self-sacrifice to the point of being self-destructive and suicidal is kind of Araragi's thing, and he actually owes Hanekawa his life. Hey look, it's some muthafugging character development. How you like them apples. Even when Hanekawa was explaining how/why she loves Araragi, the writers bothered to set it up as sounding like shallow infatuation.

Seriously, the last arc of Bakemonogatari is the end of the series. There's nothing to do after that point that doesn't involve pulling a complete one-eighty on what you've already done with the story. There's especially nothing you can do with Hanekawa, who is clearly meant to be moving the fuck on with her life. So needless to say, when I learned Nisemonogatari was going to become a thing I was super disappointed. And I was completely right - they undid every bit of development and plot resolution from the last arc of Bakemonogatari. Everyone wants Araragi's dick more than ever. Also, here, have some new girls - everyone wants to mouthbang their sister with a toothbrush, right? Hey look, Araragi is being a suicidal dumbass again! Oh, that crazy man.

But you know what? That's okay. It's a harem. I was expecting them to fall right back into the pattern, and while it pisses me off that they continued it at all I can set that aside and look at the new season on its own merits OH COME THE FUCK ON HANEKAWA IS STILL SUPPOSED TO BE A HAREM MEMBER? REALLY? The whole last arc accomplished absolutely nothing?! FUCK YOU.

Also it lacked a lot of the original's charm and substance (the second arc was alright, I guess?) and is a disappointment compared to its predecessor even if you're willing to accept all the backpedalling they did to maintain the harem's status quo.

So, yeah. It took me a long time to get around to watching Nekomonogatari (Black), a prequel about how Hanekawa became Cat, and Monogatari Series Second, the continuation of the series. Nisemonogatari just ruined it for me by being such a massive step backwards.

There's not a lot to say about Nekomonogatari (Black). It's one of those prequels that was very obviously written after the thing it was meant to be prequelling, so you're better off treating it as a standalone story in an ever-so-slightly different universe. This also means you can just not watch it.

But Monogatari Series Second is fuuucking faaantastic. Spoiler-free opinions spoilered below (though minor spoilers for bake and nise, maybe?):

Monogatari Series Second's very existence still requires you to ignore the ending of Bakemonogatari, but either time heals all wounds or Nisemonogatari already absorbed all of my rage because I give less fucks this time. Yes, Araragi and Senjougahara got a lot of development in the end of Bakemonogatari. Yes, the authors have chosen to almost completely ignore that in order to preserve their harem story. Oh well.

But it's really fucking good. The charm of the original is back out in full swing and unlike in Nisemonogatari the character development goes forwards, not backwards (what a novel idea!) and there is a lot of it. And the arcs have substance again. They either tell us something important about the characters they feature or change the status quo in a big way.

Kaelik · Post by **Kaelik** » Fri Jan 31, 2014 7:40 am

DSMatticus wrote: It's one of those prequels that was very obviously written after the thing it was meant to be prequelling,

Isn't that literally all the fucking prequels ever?

DSMatticus · Post by **DSMatticus** » Fri Jan 31, 2014 8:06 am

Kaelik wrote:
DSMatticus wrote: It's one of those prequels that was very obviously written after the thing it was meant to be prequelling,
Isn't that literally all the fucking prequels ever?

I think you misunderstood me. Or are making a quip about prequels being shitty in general. There's an emphasis on the "very obviously" part of that statement - I'm saying Nekomonogatari (Black) doesn't blend particularly well with the story it's supposed to be explaining the background of.

ubernoob · Post by **ubernoob** » Fri Jan 31, 2014 8:28 am

I have Attack on Titan open in another tab. They are surprisingly willing to kill off the cast.

Stahlseele · Post by **Stahlseele** » Fri Jan 31, 2014 9:49 am

Gargantia is pretty darn good and very pretty to look at to boot.

Stahlseele · Post by **Stahlseele** » Sat Feb 01, 2014 1:51 am

Also Maken-Ki Two 03 . . the series itself isn't good, but that episode was worth it for anybody who likes nekomimi ^^

Sigil · Post by **Sigil** » Sat Feb 01, 2014 3:27 am

ubernoob wrote:I have Attack on Titan open in another tab. They are surprisingly willing to kill off the cast.

When Erin got swallowed, I thought that they'd actually killed him off, and that thr whole time they'd actually been setting up Mikasa as the surprise protagonist the entire time. I was actually disappointed when that turned out not to be the case.

name_here · Post by **name_here** » Sat Feb 01, 2014 3:53 am

Sigil wrote:
ubernoob wrote:I have Attack on Titan open in another tab. They are surprisingly willing to kill off the cast.

When Erin got swallowed, I thought that they'd actually killed him off, and that thr whole time they'd actually been setting up Mikasa as the surprise protagonist the entire time. I was actually disappointed when that turned out not to be the case.

I was impressed with how long they kept that particular fakeout going; almost two entire episodes assuming you're bright enough to recognize him when he comes back.

But yes, Mikasa as main protagonist would have been cool.

ubernoob · Post by **ubernoob** » Sat Feb 01, 2014 8:04 am

Sigil wrote:
ubernoob wrote:I have Attack on Titan open in another tab. They are surprisingly willing to kill off the cast.

When Erin got swallowed, I thought that they'd actually killed him off, and that thr whole time they'd actually been setting up Mikasa as the surprise protagonist the entire time. I was actually disappointed when that turned out not to be the case.

Yep, that got me too. I'm not upset with how it turned out, but I would have been more impressed if they had left him dead dead.

Lago PARANOIA · Post by **Lago PARANOIA** » Sat Feb 01, 2014 6:57 pm

I know that this is a kind of random thing to bring up, but one of the things I love about anime (especially oldschool anime) is how they render grey and dark skies.

Look at a Hokuto no Ken or Wizardry anime (which sucks, by the way) or whatnot sometime and look at the outdoor sky. Seriously, that shit is so cash.

Stahlseele · Post by **Stahlseele** » Sat Feb 01, 2014 7:35 pm

Yeah, i really dig the old artistry they had back then.
Today it's just not the same anymore ._.

name_here · Post by **name_here** » Sat Feb 08, 2014 5:05 am

Well, Anime Club is currently watching Outbreak Company, Our Home Fox Deity, and Saki, with Danganronpa starting up after Outbreak Company ends.

In Outbreak Company, the Japanese govenment found a portal to a magical land, and after managing to avoid starting a war, they decided to try exporting Otaku culture to promote friendship and make all the money. To do this, they found the nerdiest man in all of Japan and put him to work. It is highly amusing.

Our Home Fox Deity follows the descendents of a powerful line of Shinto priests, who are being targeted by various nasty spirits because they don't have any actual ability at fighting and their souls are tasty. They are protected by a fox youkai who had previously been sealed up for doing what fox youkai do, but got released because the shrine maiden was not up to fighting off an attacking spirit due to type disadvantage. S/he lacks a specific gender and swaps back and forth frequently, and has moved in with the main characters and begun providing the sorts of mischief you might except. The shrine maiden has also moved in with them, but she kinda sucks at everything except shrine-maidening, especially if it relates to modern technology. There's also a girl at the elder main character's highschool with a crush on him who is rather unhappy to discover that he is living with a busty foreign exchange student and a girl who always dresses as a shrine maiden.

Saki is Epic Mahjong. It amuses me, but it's also fucking impossible to understand what the hell is going on because I do not know anything about Mahjong. One of the guys at the club has promised to give us the cliff notes version in the hour before next meeting.

CatharzGodfoot · Post by **CatharzGodfoot** » Sat Feb 08, 2014 6:28 am

The Kaiki arc of Monogatari Second Season is amazing.

Stahlseele · Post by **Stahlseele** » Mon Feb 10, 2014 11:44 pm

Looks like we could be getting some more Yuru Yuri! *yays*

DSMatticus · Post by **DSMatticus** » Tue Feb 11, 2014 1:21 am

CatharzGodfoot wrote:The Kaiki arc of Monogatari Second Season is amazing.

It really is. It's the best arc the series has had.

Stahlseele · Post by **Stahlseele** » Wed Feb 12, 2014 12:49 am

Seitokai Yakuindomo has taken a riff on the Idol Stuff and remains silly as hell.
Sakura Trick is still unapologetic yuri.

Both good things in my book!

TOZ · Post by **TOZ** » Wed Feb 19, 2014 5:00 pm

I just watched the first episode of Kill La Kill last night.

I have no fucking clue what is going on, but I'm just going with it.