And we're back! I missed this show. A stunningly beautiful OP by YUKI again.
I'm looking forward to having my heart both warmed and torn to pieces by this series for another half a year :D
Another weird and wonderful entry from Masaaki Yuasa. This shares characters and a visual style with the series "The Tatami Galaxy" (https://trakt.tv/shows/the-tatami-galaxy) so if you're a fan of that series you will definitely enjoy, and know what to expect with this one - although the film works just fine as a stand-alone piece if you haven't seen it (although you really shoud!).
Whilst I still think I prefer Tatami Galaxy more this is still a very fun and enjoyable romp, following the unnamed girl with the black hair through the crazy nightlife of Kyoto. Lots of drinking, trippy visuals and hilarious moments as we go deeper and deeper down the rabbit hole.
Interestingly unlike Tatami Galaxy which almost exclusively followed the male protagonist's POV, here we spend a lot of time with the girl (voiced perfectly by Kana Hanazawa <3) and not so much with "Senpai", which is fine by me as she is joy to be around and is definitely the focal point of the story.
If you're a fan of Masaaki Yuasa's work this is definitely worth a look. Possibly not the easiest entry point into his works but not as bad as Tatami Galaxy and its infamous rapid-fire speech right out of the gate.
The insert song at the end of the episode is just great!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPxSS1zHWwQ
As a massive fan of the original series, I was pretty apprehensive about this one. So far at least, this one doesn't seem to betray the spirit of the original. Some pretty nice visuals here and I quite like Kino and Hermes' voice actors. Getting used to the more "modern" animation style may take some getting used to and I did notice a bit of scene re-use already which I hope they keep to a minimum. All in all it does seem to be going for the same contemplative tone so here's hoping it will remain consistent throughout.
Good to see some of the usual Gintama silliness again. Only they could get away with not only airing a filler/side story cour right between 2 major story arcs, but also calling attention to it.
Whilst I'm sure we'll see the final arc eventually it's nice to have a bit more material that is a bit more light hearted and silly. Oh and the ED is pretty nice ;)
A cute show with some likable characters, but to me it felt too short and insubstantial. Whilst I get that the idea of the show is to show off many different couples, this along with the shorter length of each episode ends up not really giving you enough time with a lot of them. It also doesn't help when you like some of the couples but not others as it can mean an episode that heavily features the latter is just not a fun watch.
I guess I wouldn't mind seeing more at some point. It's enjoyable in a "put it on and just relax/forget stuff" kind of way, but not a lot more than that.
An okay if somewhat bland premise. I think I stuck with this series based on the strength of the first couple of episodes, however I found the whole formula got old really fast. I get that the whole point was to take the piss out of everyone misunderstanding each other over and over again, but after a certain point it just wasn't entertaining anymore. I didn't particularly like any of the characters either. MC was unbearably bland. Other dude was okay I guess. I don't know why everyone loves seaweed so much, I couldn't stand her, especially after a certain incident later in the series. Blondie was okay but once again held the idiot card a few too many times. Pink was probably my favourite. And the fact that I can't be bothered to recall any of their names should tell you how forgettable I found the experience overall.
The animation is okay I guess, but nothing special. There are a few fun moments where your expectations are subverted a bit, and I did actually enjoy them spending half of the last episode kind of slagging off DLC, but overall a pretty forgettable experience.
A pretty excellent adventure fantasy series with a fascinating premise, some gorgeous visuals and music and lovable characters. This is a series that, despite the rather cutesey animation style, gets pretty dark and disturbing at points and certainly isn't afraid to subject characters to some pretty brutal stuff. However this never feels like it's done for shock value, more to emphasize the dangers of venturing into the unknown. Definitely one of the strongest of the season and I'm hoping they continue the story at some point.
A solid last episode that hits right in the feels. Pretty awesome that it was double-length too.
This has definitely left me wanting more. I hope we get it!
And so the story ends. It's been a long ride.
A great series and an expertly told story. I still can't believe Studio DEEN did this one. Bravo to them for crafting such a unique and compelling story.
Well, we've been on quite the emotional journey so far.
The second half definitely went in an unexpected (but quite enjoyable) direction in focusing less on Kiriyama and more on Shimada and his struggles. Definitely mixed things up in a good way. Bravo to SHAFT for doing a great job with this show so far (and not SHAFTing it too much, despite what some people may say!)
Really looking forward to more later in the year.
Aw man, this always ends too soon :(
Another hilarious outing by our lovable idiots. I do hope we get more of this in the future as it's definitely one of the best and funniest of it's type out there. It's the kind of show where it feels like everyone involved in creating it is having a blast. It has also (along with Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju) improved my opinion of Studio DEEN massively, to the point where I might not actually assume a series is doomed if it ends up being animated by them (Like S2 of Cool-headed Hoozuki later this year, another comedy anime I really enjoyed).
I really enjoyed this series.
The title and artwork suggests this would just be another "monster girl" fanservice show, and I suppose to some degree it is. What I wasn't expecting was that in addition to that it also had a lot of heartwarming and charming moments. Rather than just being a continuous stream of raunchy jokes, we end up with Kobayashi and Tohru (the titular Dragon Maid) basically creating a kind of surrogate family together (with the adorable loli dragon as their "daughter"), which leads to a lot of genuine "aww" moments as they settle into living together. There is still a fair amount of fanservice but it's pretty tame compared to a lot of anime. The source material is by the same author as the series "I Can't Understand What My Husband Is Saying" (https://trakt.tv/shows/i-can-t-understand-what-my-husband-is-saying) and like this series it ends up being a lot more heartfelt and sweet than the name and premise might otherwise suggest.
Of course this being a KyoAni show it shouldn't be surprising to learn that the animation quality is great as always. It's not as noticable here due to the art style being a bit more subdued, but it still looks great and is directed really well.
Probably one of my favourites this season and I was really glad to see this one being great and not another Phantom World.
Well that was a cute and enjoyable series ultimately. Probably not particularly memorable in the long-term but it looked pretty nice and had some fun characters and endearing moments.
I suppose if you had come into this expecting something like "Everyday Life with Monster Girls", you may be disappointed since was more of a slice-of-life comedy rather than a raunchy harem comedy.
And it's over.
I do think the second half was better than the first. As they were adapting Moon and Terra, which is the "true" end to the VN, it does make sense they would do a better job as the story is far more linear, but in the VN part of the reason Moon and Terra worked so well is that you had played all the other routes and knew a lot more about the characters. I still appreciated the nods to them here and there in the anime but I wonder if a lot of it made any sense to someone not already familiar with the source material.
As always a lot was missed out due to adapting a long VN into a short anime (I don't recall them spending any time at all exploring the relationship/similarities between Kotaro and Sakuya for example, even though that's a pretty big deal in the VN) but the story did work on a basic level for me. Disappointingly cheap looking and not particularly memorable in terms of direction though. Pretty sub-par overall :(
I do hope Key start to use some of the better animation studios again going forward. I can't help but feel that this would have ended up being a lot better in White Fox's (who did one of the game OPs) hands. I guess they were busy with Re:Zero but even so.
Ah well, there's still the VN (which will get an official English release at some point in the future).
Weird that they're delaying the final episode for an entire month. God Eater style delays or a deliberate decision I wonder?
Sadly my enthusiasm for the series has waned a bit in the second half. At first I was glad to see them deviate from the game's plot a bit as it meant not necessarily knowing what to expect, and of course it makes sense for it to be tied more into Berseria's storyline now that the game is out and all. But the second half does feel pretty rushed, like they suddenly decided they needed to sprint to an ending after a wasting a bit too much time on Rose's angst past (which sucked) and Alisha's conflict (which wasn't as bad). Dezel's sacrifice seemed a bit hasty and in the context of the plot unnecessary too (I know he dies in the game too but it made a bit more sense there).
Ah well, it wasn't terrible - and ufotable's animation quality made it an enjoyable experience. Just didn't end up being something groundbreaking or anything. Definitely better than a lot of game/VN adaptations end up though.
Of course one thing that really hurt was the series showing Alisha armatizing. I feel like it's mocking players of the game there :P
Well that was a pretty good arc, despite being more of a lead-in for the "final battle". I guess this is all we get for now (I believe they're doing re-runs for a while?) but no doubt they will finish the story off sooner or later.
I do hope we see the Shinsengumi return in the next arc. There were still plenty of great moments and strong characters to carry this one but I do miss those crazy fools.
A surprisingly measured and calm finale considering all the horny angst up to this point. Can't say I cared massively about anyone by the end but I did think it was handled reasonably well in the end.
Hooray! The lovable idiots are back! Let's hope this season stays strong throughout (I enjoyed the first season - the first half was a bit slow to build up but the second half more than made up for it) and we get to see more of Deku and his classmates kicking ass in fun and hilarious ways.
After a pretty long wait, it's finally time for S2. A decent first episode back, thankfully it didn't spend too much time recapping events. Good to see we're off to a decently harrowing start!
That moment at the end of the ep. My heart melted.
Being treated to a lot of Darkness service. Maybe to make up for her missing for a couple of episodes?
Not that I'm complaining ;)
Loved Konatsu's Rakugo in the second half. Was fun to hear the whole of Jugemu, which I've definitely seen referenced in other anime in the past but up until this point didn't ever get the reference or what it referred to.
I still have to keep reminding myself that this is studio DEEN too. It's even more amazing that once again this is airing along with KonoSuba (also by them) which couldn't be more different. I'm sure they'll have had different people working on each series but it's still quite amazing to see one studio who were meh at best until this point putting out two really enjoyable (and vastly different) shows.
Wasn't too sure on this series at first but I think this was the episode that got me fully on board. The series as a whole is by no means amazing but the characters have been endearing and fun enough by this point to convince me to continue with this.
Obviously being a KyoAni show it still has great direction and animation quality. Not as flashy as some of their other shows but still nice to look at.
Ah man, Trigger are nailing this. Such a fun series. Some downright goofy moments this episode that made me smile.
Also, just gonna say it. Diana best girl.
I thought this episode was a lot better than the first one and I didn't notice the QUALITY quite as much either. Some great laughs in this episode too. KonoSuba at its finest!
New OP by YUKI. Now it feels even more like Honey & Clover! :)
Surprisingly explicit at points (although I suppose not if you've seen the Manga?) and fairly nice art style and quality, but I'm not sure I like the premise all that much. I'll give it a go but I'm not sure how much I'll enjoy it. I suppose this is popular with the NTR fans?
Bit too much recapping in this one. SHAFT obviously had some time to fill :/
Picked this one up on a whim. People have compared this to Amagami a lot and I can see why.
Whilst I don't think it's necessarily on the same level as that, it's been entertaining and cute so far. Wouldn't go as far as to call it great but then Amagami was no masterpiece either.
