Brace yourselves, folks! More JoJo is coming this April!
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2015-12-20/jojo-bizarre-adventure-part-4-anime-promo-introduces-setting/.96755
The first few episodes start off a bit shakey and a lot of the characters initially start off a bit dense and/or one dimensional. I would urge you to give it another go and get through a couple of episodes. After that, this show proves it is entirely worthy of the score and praise it gets.
This show is lovely to watch. The show itself is just slice-of-life where nothing much happens, but somehow it still ends up being a really relaxing and enjoyable watch. For me, it's probably a combination of the unusual art style that studio SHAFT is well known for (see other shows like Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei, Bakemonogatari and many more), and very cute and likeable characters.
If you want a relaxing slice-of-life show, this is one of the best.
Fans of Clannad may be interested to know there is currently a Kickstarter running to get the Clannad Visual Novel officially released in English. The project is already funded (and then some!) and they are closing in on the last stretch goal. See here for more details:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/sekaiproject/clannad-official-english-release
If you were a fan of the anime you will love the VN. The anime did a great job of adapting the VN (it's probably one of the best when you compare it to most other VN adaptations) but it should go without saying that no matter how good it is, it had to sacrifice or skip some bits of the story to fit within a sensible episode count.
Anyway, at this point the Clannad release is probably a dead cert, so look forward to seeing it on Steam soon :)
Man, season 2 was intense. I enjoyed it thoroughly. I really hope Madhouse continue the story as we've once again ended in a place that is most definitely not at the end.
Having finally finished my slow burn of this series all I can do is agree with other comments here. This series offers a sense of tranquillity when watching that I have rarely seen anywhere else. You just get absorbed into sometimes dreamlike atmosphere of it all. Each episode is somewhat self-contained and you really never know how it will end. Some end on a happy note, some on a sorrowful one, some are more ambiguous or bitersweet.
The message throughout is very much that Mushi are not malevolent or evil, they are just like forces of nature, and can be harmful or helpful to humans. Each story is more about how people deal with these things, with Ginko travelling around and helping where he can.
With a second season just around the corner all I can really do is repeat other people's recommendations - if you haven't already, watch this series.
Man, the goddess arc (this season) has been great. Best season so far!
For me, Monogatari Second Season (aka Season 3) has done a great job of rescuing the series and removing the bad taste left by Nisemonogatari (Not everyone hates it, but most would admit it is the weakest material by far when compared to the rest).
I liked how the arcs shown were not done in chronological order and that we had different narrators for most of the arcs. Seeing events unfold from other characters' perspectives kept things interesting. Most of the arcs were very good, I wasn't as big a fan for Nadeko's arc but that has more to do with not really liking the character than what happened.
This second season has restored my faith in the series and I am really looking forward to SHAFT animating the remaining material now.
Season 2 confirmed! Prepare for more "will they, won't they" teasing and probably nothing resembling a resolution in sight :D
Season 3 starts soon. I really hope it lives up to the first 2 series because I really enjoyed those.
Yay, third season confirmed!
Season 2 got a bit crazy towards the end, but I guess most people don't watch it for the plot anyway :P
Wonder what crazy crap they'll pull in S3!
When I first watched this series, for whatever reason, I wasn't all that taken by it. However after recently going back and rewatching the first series in preparation for series 2, I found myself enjoying it a lot more and wondering why I didn't last time.
A lot of the settings and scenarios are fairly standard high school tropes, but what elevates it above that somewhat is, as @deanzel says, the interactions and dialogue between characters, especially Hachiman, Yui and Yukino. It also does bring up some issues that a lot of us probably had at some point in school and our various social circles. And hell, I'm sure we've all felt like Hachiman at times. And whilst his deeply cynical attitude and outlook do seem to get the job done most of the time, it doesn't do him or those close to him any favours, something which seems to become more and more apparent the further into the series we go. There is some depth to the series and the characters, which is again something that elevates it above a lot of these standard high school shows.
Welp, season 2 is now over. It added more girls, Issei kind of got closer to some of the existing ones, lots of ridiculous Dragonball Z level powerups occured, and Boobs. Lots of Boobs.
Just as enjoyable as the first season, if a bit more silly. I wonder if we'll get a season 3!
I probably enjoyed this series more than I really should. It is a terribly generic harem series and you've probably seen all of these characters and plot devices before. However for whatever reason, I still enjoyed this series as a bit of mindless, silly fun.
Issei, our protagonist, whilst fairly generic, was at least unapologetically perverted, which I much prefer to the spineless harem lead who moans about how horrible it must be to have all these ladies fawning over him. He also does have a few moments of greatness and at least seems willing to fight for his clan.
I didn't like all of the heroines but I found Asia to be quite adorable and Rias' constant teasing of Issei to be quite fun. I also did like the idea of the demonic clan and their different class of "chess pieces" that fight for them.
Ultimately, you're not going to lose out much by not watching this series. But if you have some time to kill and fancy a silly perverted comedy anime with a few interesting ideas and some likeable characters, give it a go. A second season has been confirmed and I will probably be watching it.
I found this took a few episodes to really get going for me, perhaps some of that comes from getting used to the new characters and realising that the world has changed quite a bit since Aang's adventures. However after that, it just got better and better. The end of Series/Book one is climactic and enjoyable and I personally can't wait for more.
Awesome series. Some people accuse it of getting stale and repetitive but I never found that to be the case. A great mixture of dark humour, unusual art style (of which studio SHAFT is well known for) and social commentary - some of it only really applies to Japanese/Otaku culture but there are still a lot of things that ring true no matter where you live.
So far I'm enjoying this series. It isn't without its problems (and is probably hyped more than it deserves), but I am still finding it genuinely enjoyable and at times unexpected. The combat scenes generally are fast, well animated and exciting. I also love the soundtrack. Some of the songs are really good (composed by the same guy who did the Guilty Crown one, I believe). Also, Mikasa is badass.
Things I'm not enjoying: Whilst the combat scenes look epic, the rest is fairly lacking. The backgrounds are especially bad, there is a LOT of copypasta, and I normally don't notice stuff like this. Seriously, look at any of the scenes with crowds or lots of buildings and you will see some VERY obvious copypaste. Spending so much time/money on the combat scenes has obviously affected the budget elsewhere in other ways too. There are a lot of still images when people are talking etc. Fairly standard in anime anyway I guess, but it's just a lot more noticeable here when compared to the aforementioned action scenes. And of course, there's the angst, which I could do with much less of. It's one thing to establish that mankind is on the losing side, but sometimes it really goes overboard with the "waaah waaah, we're done for" scenes. Finally, Eren is an annoying protagonist. He seems to have two modes: Angsty and Angry.
In spite of all this, as I said, I'm still enjoying this series. It's just not quite as amazing as it perhaps could be.
I really enjoyed this series, it's just a shame that it was marred by some major budget issues (some episodes are practically slide shows) and not having any kind of conclusion when it ended. Anyone who watches this and enjoys it should probably check out the Manga to find what happens next ;)
I should probably dislike this more, as it really does feel like they're milking the Fate franchise for all it's got. However, I found it quite enjoyable. The battles were pretty good and the Yuri not-so-undertones are fun too, if you're into that kind of thing... ;)
A second season will be coming soon, so the story's not over yet!
Gave this a go on a whim, thought I'd hate it but it turned out to be very nice and sweet. The episodes are short enough to blast through pretty quickly anyway, but a rather pleasant watch :)
I actually quite enjoy this. It's another series of 2-3 minute comedy shorts but unlike, say, Cyclops Girl Saipu (which was awful), this one can actually be funny. Probably because I actually like Asuka and her reactions/behaviour isn't what you'd typically expect.
The episodes were originally only "aired" via download to mobile platforms I believe, but they seem to now be getting re-aired on AT-X and are already being worked on by a certain fansub group.
Get ready, my friends. The second season starts in a couple of weeks!
Are you ready for more Nyanpassu~?!
A really enjoyable "cute girls doing cute things" slice of life series. I dunno what it is about this one that rates it so highly for me. They just get it all right. The girls are all very likeable, especially Ren-chon, she's just adorable. The series does a very good job at just mellowing you out. Some beautiful scenic shots and a relaxing pace to the whole thing. And the comedy moments are funny and charming.
Definitely recommended for fans of the genre. And a second season has been confirmed! Oh yes.
http://i.imgur.com/GAUP3pr.jpg
This sums up the chill factor pretty well. The first episode opens with this beautiful piece: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYEaitHu1T4
Those who liked the tone and feel of Fate/Zero should try Kara no Kyoukai/The Garden of Sinners. Also animated by studio ufotable and "kinda" set in the same verse as Fate, it's a series of movies about mages, vampires and stuff. It was considered the precursor to Tsukihime (again set in the same verse as Fate) which also has an anime adaption (or not, depending on who you ask :P)
The best way I can describe the series for me personally is "mixed bag", and that's exactly what Space Dandy is. Every episode is standalone and very different in style and tone, which can be a good thing as you never know what to expect next, but also a bad thing if they very quite a lot in quality.
For me, I really didn't like some of the earlier episodes, and that very nearly put me off the entire series as a result. Fortunately, most of the later episodes are pretty decent, and a couple are even what I'd call excellent (still a couple of stinkers, mind).
Overall, the series (so far, I'm aware there is a second season coming) gets a hard earned 7 from me. I can't say I'd recommend it entirely as I really didn't like or outright hated some episodes, but there are some pretty good ones in there that are still worth checking out (and hell, if you wanted, you could just cherry pick the good ones and ignore the rest, as each episode is fairly standalone anyway). The animation quality is pretty good and there are some pretty cool looking action scenes (bravo, Bones) and the soundtrack is pretty cool too and for the episodes that worked for me, they were very well done.
One last thing - For me the weakest part of the series (and probably why some episode don't just "not work", but outright fall flat on their faces for me) is the main characters. Dandy especially. I don't find him to be an interesting character, nor does there appear to be much dimension to him. All the interesting things that make the series worth a watch just kind of happen around him. QT and Meow at least get some character development, so far Dandy just kind of walks into things and they happen through no skill or involvement of his own.
I expect my opinion will be much the same by the end of season 2, but we'll see!
I am cautiously hopeful for this one. I like feel and the art style shown in the PV (http://youtu.be/Sk39zsayK_0) and being in the noitaminA block will hopefully mean something a little bit different. The plot doesn't sound massively original but it has the potential to do some interesting things.
I'm just hoping A-1 Pictures don't screw this one up like they have with a lot of other series recently.
I'd say this series takes a while to get going, but the pace certainly picks up in the second half. I like how it is "somewhat" grounded in reality in that they do seem to be trying to keep as much as possible in line with real-world physics and technology (obviously some liberties taken as it's set slightly in the future). So far, quite an enjoyable watch. I'm not sure how it will end and that will ultimately impact my final score on it quite a lot, but for now there's a lot to like about it.
Fans of Steins;Gate may like this too and there is supposed to be some link between S;G and R;N but a word of warning - this series is quite different from S;G in terms of art style, pacing etc.
The second season of Noragami has just finished and it surpassed the first in every way. I remember really enjoying the first season but finding the final few episodes and confrontation a bit underwhelming. Well, the second season doesn't have that problem. It hits the ground running and remains consistently good throughout. Deciding to animate two arcs back-to-back with little-to-no filler in between was definitely a wise decision by Bones.
As others have already said, this series really does stand out from other more generic action/comedy shows, thanks to a likable and well-developed cast, good quality animation and of course a godly soundtrack by Iwasaki Taku (also responsible for the soundtrack in Katanagatari).
All in all I have really enjoyed Noragami thus far and I hope we get more in the future.
With this series, you'll know very quickly whether it's for you or not. It's a series primarily driven by one type of comedy, and that's lots and lots of sex jokes. Surprisingly, the actual content of the series isn't that explicit, just the dialogue. The jokes can be hit and miss but they're delivered at high speed so it doesn't really matter if a few fall flat.
The quality of animation is pretty high overall and makes for a pleasant watch.
The protagonist isn't the most charismatic lead in the world but he's also not a complete pushover and acts as the all-important straight man to the constant onslaught of the girls' dirty jokes.
Overall an enjoyable watch as long as you enjoy this kind of humour.
Delighted to hear that this is getting a Season 3. I couldn't help but catch up with the manga and based on that, things are only going to get better!
