Posts from Anime

Keijo!!!!!!!! (12/12, 2016)
The Japanese are good at creating stories about sports, and even more than that – they make it more interesting and engaging than the real thing. Watching Keijo left a pleasant impression; the T&A quickly takes a backseat, and what remains is the intensity of the competition and humor, seasoned with the characters' determination, hard work, and friendship. It reminded me of Kuroko no Basket, only the main character here isn't annoying, and the plot isn't as drawn out.
6/10
A second season is unlikely due to low sales, which is a shame.

Attack on Titan

Specials

Quite enjoyable, especially the one about Levi. I liked it more than the first season, heh.

Second Season

As I said, I'm interested in the characters and their relationships in these works, and in this regard, the second season, as it seems to me, moved in the right direction. Although there were a couple of strange motivational moments.In terms of general ideas, there is sometimes too much emphasis on the fact that a person should be just meat, meat, and more meat, and is not good for anything else. While watching this anime, I developed a negative attitude towards Erwin, who, although inspiring and talented, clearly overestimates his planning abilities. All these supposedly brilliant strategic and tactical decisions end, at best, with the fact that, thanks to OVERCOMING and UNEXPECTEDLY DISCOVERED TALENTS, with great losses, something more or less resembling a victory is achieved. But in most cases, a bunch of people simply die, and the result is zero. Although, it seems, there is a lot of information – for example, that the Titans are inactive at night, which could be used to reduce daytime reconnaissance missions, instead of using this strange, almost non-working system of signal fires. In general, I don't know... But this is more of a criticism of the characters, perhaps, than of the anime.

Overlord II
I didn't really like the first season; maybe it's because I don't particularly enjoy the MMORPG genre (thematically), or maybe it's due to certain plot elements (the overpowered protagonist, etc.), or maybe something else entirely. The second season, on the other hand, was quite enjoyable, which is interesting because I've read that many fans of the first season had the opposite impression – they found the second season disappointing. Perhaps it's because the main characters had less screen time, although I actually think they were portrayed and developed better in this season. Ultimately, it's also possible that the difference in my case simply comes down to my own perception, which has changed over time.

Gintama.: Shirogane no Tamashii-hen
It's been over seven years since I started watching Gintama. A lot has changed during that time, but one thing has remained the same – this series is still as good as it used to be... Actually, that's not entirely true. In my opinion, this season is noticeably weaker than the previous ones. Gintama truly shines in its episodic stories, and the recent "serious" arcs are significantly inferior not only to them but also to similar storylines from the past. The worst part is that the patterns of character appearances, inspiring speeches, and resolutions of various situations have become stale – there's nothing new about them, and they don't surprise you anymore; you watch, anticipating that something like this will happen. In addition, the humor itself has either become tiresome or simply worse.
Despite this, I still got my dose of enjoyment and laughter, and of course, I was glad to see my old friends again.

Did you think that your wife in an online game wasn't actually a girl?
Over the weekend, I felt quite ill and needed to kill some time with something that didn't require much effort. And this series came along.
Let's start with the positives: there are some good scenes showing the characters playing online games, and the theme is generally well-explored, although unfortunately not completely (perhaps many other aspects will be revealed in the manga); there are some funny moments (like the main character's reluctance to interact with the real world. She's more than happy with the fictional relationships she's created within the game). It's not too taxing on the brain, meaning it's easy to watch and time just flies by.
Now for the negatives: the damn harem of squeaky, screeching girls! According to this work, the audience for online games is as follows: a shy cutie, a tsundere, a mega-rich girl, just a girl, a cute teacher, and they are all (almost) blessed with enormous proportions and are simply beautiful. These are the kind of people who are true hardcore gamers. The development of the relationship between the main characters is also kind of dull; it's cute, but also not very interesting (except for the initial attempts to bring the main character into the real world, which were still quite good, rather than these sugary-sweet scenes).

In short, if you want to watch a funny anime about being a hardcore gamer in online games, you can definitely kill some time with this. But it's not something you absolutely have to watch.

Oops. So, this is where I should have been posting about anime, and I was posting in the general thread...

Don't worry, I made the same mistake.

Well, that’s how I symbolized that I don’t separate anime from 3D series, Western cartoons, and other visual content.

Fate/stay night Movie: Heaven's Feel - I. Presage Flower
I'll stick to my opinion – if you've read the novel, watching the adaptation will be an extremely boring and not worthwhile experience. It was the same with UBW, and it's the same with Heaven's Feel. The animation and sound are good, but everything still happens too chaotically, and the plot and characters are only superficially revealed.
And Fate is getting a bit tiresome overall in recent years. There was a time when I really liked this franchise, but that time has long passed, and the only new and interesting thing it produces these days is explicit images related to FGO.

Okay, I'll write about what I watched this week as well. I could have written about the "hellish girl" anime I watched a couple of months ago, as I intended to do after finishing the last season, but I won't.

Paranoia Agent (Mousou Dairinin)
I watched this series back in my teens, but I was very young then, I didn't watch much anime, and I only caught snippets of individual episodes. Back then, it seemed very strange and bizarre, and that's all I remembered until today. Also, I remembered that the main antagonist was called "The Guy with the Bat." I was motivated to rewatch it by both curiosity and my love for thrillers. And now I can confidently say that... well, yes, it's quite bizarre. The series has many moments that aren't properly explained and need to be accepted as they are. Similarly, there are also many (secondary) plot lines that don't get a proper resolution. The same can be said about the ending. It's there, but you kind of expect a bit more. However, the ending isn't the main thing here, because the main point of this anime is to convey an idea. An idea that is almost explicitly stated in the first episodes and continues to be developed in the following ones. Does it succeed in doing so? Yes, although with a slight caveat. It's not that I disagree with the message, but it's not entirely fair to apply it to all the situations created by the screenwriters. In some cases, it simply doesn't work. Overall, I can confidently say that I enjoyed the series and don't regret the time I spent watching it. It was easy and interesting to watch. If the above doesn't bother you, I recommend watching it. And there's also a pretty good opening.

Arakawa Under the Bridge
From the very first episode, it has strong Monogatari vibes – the studio is the same, the main character has the same voice actor, and the animation and storytelling elements are the same (apparently, Shaft can’t create content without tilting heads and abrupt scene changes). On the other hand, the plot isn’t as chaotic, and there are fewer monologues, so it’s more enjoyable to watch. Overall, it’s pretty cool, interesting, and funny, but not incredibly fascinating or touching – for this reason, I probably won’t watch the second season, because I can spend that time on something new.

Kino no Tabi – Kino's Journey: The Beautiful World (2017)
The first anime based on the book was released in 2003; I already talked about it. And then a friend told me that they decided to adapt it again.
It’s wonderful. I can say, comparing the repeating plot arcs (there are three of them), that the new series is still slightly worse than the old one, but it’s still the same heroine, the same motorcycle, and the same interesting, contrasting, and diverse world. Most of the plots from the first series were missing, and I was interested to see these new adventures; they all definitely touch you. Even the episodes that were re-shot don’t cause feelings of boredom or “I’ve seen this before” – not at all. Firstly, they were chosen wisely because without them, the series wouldn’t be complete (and you can only say this about these episodes). Secondly, they are still good. And it was also interesting to compare them with the 2003 version.
In general, it’s very, very good. 8.5/10

Arslan Senki
I liked it; they are decent guys, the plot is more or less interesting, and there are a minimum of various "abilities," which is how I like it. The downsides are the somewhat mediocrity of what's happening, the weak character development, and I don't really like the main character, but that's just a matter of his type. But the main thing is that I watched all 33 episodes without long breaks, which is rare for me these days.

B: The Beginning
I forced myself to watch all three episodes, then dropped it. However, I can't say that it was a useless experience.

Original

Netflix

Next time, I'll just skip it.

Azumanga Daioh
I had mixed feelings because, on the one hand, I almost burst my stomach laughing at times, and on the other hand, I sighed with boredom. So, overall, it's not bad, but 26 episodes are still a bit too many. I'll also note that I liked the fact that all three years were shown, which makes the "plot" complete and finished with all the consequences.

In general, it's not bad, but 26 episodes are still a bit too many.

Not enough! And they didn't even include all the moments from the manga...

If I were watching it 7 years ago, maybe it would seem a bit short. Now, it's hard to get through this kind of format.

Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro
It was very well received; Miyazaki is a genius. The engaging plot captivates you from the very first seconds of the film. And the animation looks very, very beautiful, especially in terms of "tricks."
9/10