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.
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.
This is a bad series for bad people. Anyone who watches it should be ashamed :D
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.
Really enjoying this one so far. When I first read the plot, I rolled my eyes, but gave it a go anyway. The comedy is well executed and actually funny, the animation quality is decent (as expected of White Fox) and I'm enjoying the interaction between the characters. Not sure how far you can go with a short series like this, but at least it promises to be entertaining.
5 episodes in, having started late and blasted through all 5 in a single night, and so far this series is excellent. Utterly crazy, awesome action and very funny - it doesn't take itself seriously for a second and seems to be having a lot of fun doing it. I've found myself either cheering or laughing every episode so far.
A brilliant anime with a very different art style and presentation. The story, as it were, is narrated to us by the nameless protagonist, as he agonises over how to pursue his "ideal campus life". Along the way he meets several other unusual characters, including his demonic-looking partner-in-crime Ozu and the mysterious Akashi, both of whom he seems to share a strange link with.
One complaint some people have with the series is that the narration from the protagonist is very fast and it's very difficult to read the subtitles in time. Whilst the dialogue is indeed quick, it is possible to keep up if you concentrate enough. Even if you find yourself needing to pause occasionally to digest a particularly verbose line, I would still absolutely recommend everyone give this series a go. Amongst a myriad of other, more "standard" anime, this one definitely stands out.
Yeah, I love this series. I've always been a fan of Key anyway and I remember being so stoked when I heard about this new project. For what it's worth this ranks in my top 3 Key works (along with Clannad and Rewrite, the latter of which sadly doesn't have an anime adaption(yet...?))
If you've seen other Key works like Clannad, Kanon or Air, you probably already know that they tend to enjoy mixing comedy with tragedy, often whiplashing you between the two very quickly. Whilst these elements are certainly present in Angel Beats, and whilst the pasts of some of these characters are still pretty horrible and tragic, I don't think the series generally wallows in it as much as other Key works perhaps did.
The series has a nice mix of action, comedy, music and drama and it works really well. It also has TONNES of characters (A trait it shares with Little Busters I guess) which sadly, due to the series only being 13 episodes long, don't all have time to be developed to their full. Still, they are all a fun and silly bunch generally, and watching their antics is very enjoyable indeed.
Finally some good news for anyone who wanted more. Key have finally announced that an Angel Beats Visual Novel will be released in 2014. By the looks of it, it will be released in separate chapters (or beats), but hopefully this will give people a chance to learn more about the characters that didn't get much screen time in the anime (well, assuming it ever gets translated :D)
http://key.visualarts.gr.jp/angelbeats/index.html
An enjoyable 13 episode romp through a silly theme park with fantasy elements thrown in.
The series looks great and holds up to KyoAni's usual high quality of animation for the most part, although a couple of episodes do seem to suffer some "still frame" budget issues (which they may or may not fix in the BD releases). The comedy usually works well and the plot never gets too serious to not retain the light hearted enjoyment factor. Most of the characters are likeable and play off each other well.
This is probably KyoAni's most "fanservicey" show in recent years, although still very tame compared to some out there. Whilst it's obviously aiming primarily for the male demographic, I don't see why others couldn't enjoy it too. And hey, if you are a hetero male, all the better, as there are lots of cute girls to gawk at (Sento best).
A fun experience overall with all but a couple of episodes hitting their mark and hitting it well. Definitely one of KyoAni's best shows in recent memory.
I wish I could say I enjoyed this series more, but sadly I ended up underwhelmed. Perhaps I was expecting too much from it. With Production I.G. doing another Shoujo and a very similar art style to Kimi ni Todoke, I was hoping for something close to that, but this fell far short.
Most of the cast were okay but I thought it was very clunky and somewhat unconvincing how their friendships were established. Very little was done to flesh some of them out either, although I suppose that can be difficult with only 12 episodes.
My main problem was with the main couple though. Whilst I didn't mind Futaba after she eventually grew a spine and started realising that she didn't have to live a "fake" lifestyle, for the vast majority of the series I absolutely couldn't stand Kou. I understand that the intention was to show that he had changed in the years they had been apart and had become a distant and aloof person, but they went way too far in my few and a lot of the time he was just being a total asshole, at times being outright abuse to Futaba. Of course later on it's revealed as to why he ended up this way but I still don't think it justified even half of his dickish behaviour. He got better towards the end but for a lot of the series he was just a total prick and it made it very hard for me to enjoy the series.
Quite a let down overall.
This series was certainly an interesting watch. From the synopsis alone you may be forgiven for assuming this could turn into another raunchy high school love comedy, but nothing could be further from the truth. This series is dark and twisted, and a brilliant watch because of it. The main character is a thoroughly unlikeable, cowardly (and pretentious) wimp, which may sound like a turn-off for watching the series, but stick with it, because the series basically revolves around him being tormented by the messed up girl, Nakamura.
What I really liked was that this series took scenarios that, in other series, would be played for comedy, only here they're not funny and cause a great deal of angst and torment for all involved.
Another thing that sets this series aside from most other anime is the style of animation which uses rotoscoping. This style sadly was enough to make a lot of snobs turn their noses up at the series without ever giving it a chance. Personally I have no problem with the animation style and in fact wish more series would do this. (Trapeze is the only other example I can think of off the top of my head http://trakt.tv/show/trapeze)
It's a shame that the series hasn't done too well in sales because that means we probably won't get a second season. This really is unfortunate, because whilst stuff definitely does happen in this series, by the end you are definitely left with the impression that things are only going to get more twisted and messed up and that we've only started down the path of depravity (and in fact, the last episode makes this very clear). This series is adapted from a Manga though, so if you do really like what you see you can read that to find out what happens next.
Much as I wish I could rate the series higher, there are a few things stopping me from giving it a better score. The animation quality is sadly somewhat lacking. There are lots of crowd shots where nobody is moving at all, which is all the more frustrating because if anything, it should be easier to animate crowds in this style. Some scenes were drawn out a big too long to the point where you just want something to happen already (a good example would be the walk home after the infamous "classroom" scene. Yes building atmosphere is fine and everything but 5+ minutes of just walking? Come on...). And even though there's a lot of schadenfreude to be had from watching Kasuga suffer at the hands of Nakamura, he is still pretty insufferable and cringeworthy to watch at times.
In spite of all it's flaws however, this is still a very interesting and different show that I would definitely recommend. Just be aware that if you want to know what happens next, you'll probably have to read the manga.
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.
10 episodes in so far and this show has definitely grown on me. I wasn't totally sold (but was intrigued) by the first couple of episodes and it has built itself up at a good pace since then. There's a nice mixture of story-of-the-week but with an overall narrative going which I think works really well here and gives you time to learn more about Dororo and Hyakkimaru and see them develop.
And wow, I was not expecting the show to be quite so gory or deal with such harsh themes either. Then again, I'm not massively familiar with most of Tezuka Osamu's work (for my sins), other than knowing he was the author of Astro Boy and is considered by some to be the father of manga/anime.
I really liked this series. Considering that this was a random pick up and I had zero expectations, I was very pleasantly surprised. As a 4-koma series, comedy is the name of the game and what you get is a never ending stream of gags and silly situations and the vast majority worked for me. This is probably the funniest series I've seen since Daily Lives of High School Boys, another unexpectedly great and amusing series.
If you want a fun series with likeable characters that is relentlessly funny and makes some playful jabs at the Shoujo genre, I'd definitely recommend this one.
Re-watching this recent reminded me of what a little gem this series is. It's charming, funny and moving. Tsukimi is lovely and I like that she actually does look "plain" rather than us just being told she is (because generic anime art style makes it hard to tell who's supposed to be attractive and who's supposed to be ugly).
I believe this series falls under the "Josei" (older girls/ladies) category and I'm sure a lot of women can probably relate to some of the issues Tsukimi has to deal with. But speaking as a Male who was probably not the primary target audience, I still really enjoyed this show and most of the characters.
It's just a shame it's only 11 episodes long, because as has been said before, it ends a little abruptly and could have easily continued for another cour.
I really enjoyed this series. It reminds me of Sakurasou (http://trakt.tv/show/the-pet-girl-of-sakurasou) but I enjoyed this one more. Visually it reminds me of a Makoto Shinkai film (http://trakt.tv/movie/5-centimeters-per-second-2007) and that's a good thing!
In terms of the humour and the characters, I really enjoyed both. Kawai is adorable and Mayumi/Sayaka make for some very funny and likeable support characters.
It's a shame this was only 12 episodes long. The final episode isn't terrible but it could easily have continued for another cour. Hopefully we'll get a second season at some point!
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.
I'm not sure I have anything to say about this one, other than "Oh Japan".
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.
From start to finish - an absolute joy to watch. In what I would consider a not particularly impressive anime season, this series really shines out as an example of what you can really do with a bit of creativity. The series (if you don't include the OVA and the Net Episodes from Season 1, which you don't really need to see) is only 10 episodes long but it still manages to tell a fantastic and touching story.
What really amazes me is how good this is compared to what I was expecting. Having watched the OVAs and web episodes that "aired" prior to the TV series itself, I found myself thinking "Looks cool, but doesn't really make any sense or go anywhere". The TV series was able to flesh out the previous content and weave it into a very compelling story. What's even more amazing is that from what I understand, this started out as just a small little collaberation between Toei Animation and a friggin' toy maker (Banpresto)!
I get the feeling that not everyone will be quite as smitten with the series as I was, but it just worked for me. I liked the characters, the fantasy setting, the music, everything. This absolutely shines out as my anime of the season, and possibly the whole year.
Oh, and Koto is love.
A surprisingly engaging and emotional drama. Despite appearances, this really isn't just another standard "high school romance" and I would recommend giving it a few episodes before deciding if it's for you or not. The story is a little "soap opera"-ey but I still found myself caring for all the characters involved and hoping for a happy resolution. I won't spoil how the series ends, but personally I was satisfied.
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.
Definitely a "for fans" series. If you're a huge Key fanatic (like I am), you'll probably find humour in this one. It's almost entirely "in-jokes" for Key series, so if you don't know that many (or any) then I doubt you'll get much out of this.
Still, at a breezy 4 minutes per episode, it's not like it's a huge time sink either way.
Oh, and a second season is on the way, with the Angel Beats cast joining in on the silliness :D
While this wasn't a bad series in itself I have to say I much preferred the original 2003 version. It's not that this one does anything wrong per se, it's just that it does fall short of the original in my opinion. It doesn't help that half of the episodes were also in the original series too (and often worse versions, again in my opinion).
The funny thing is the animation quality is arguably better this time around (minus the usual dodgy CGI), but I think the original series just nailed the tone and pacing far better.
Until just over halfway, I thought this was an okay show. Not great, but okay. A somewhat interesting concept and an MC with a bit of a spine. Cool. But after episode 7, I just couldn't actually figure out what the hell was going on. Some episodes just felt outright nonsensical or bizarrely paced and a lot of characters just seemed to act illogically or do things without any rhyme or reason. I went from finding the series reasonably enjoyable to downright frustrating and to be honest I just powered through the last few episodes wanting it to be over.
Others have commented that they crammed a tonne of material into the last few episodes, and it shows. But for me it was worse than just being badly paced, it just didn't seem to make any coherent sense half the time. I guess if I had to say something nice about the series it at least has a somewhat satisfying ending and some of the girls are cute (although some are just awful), but I really wish I hadn't wasted my time on this one.
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 :)
Fans of the anime may be interested to know that Key have finally set a release date for the first volume of the upcoming Angel Beats Visual Novel:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8campmH6TI
Of course, this will be released in Japanese only at first, but with the success of the recent Clannad English release kickstarter (https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/sekaiproject/clannad-official-english-release), I am hopeful of an English release someday too :)
There will also be another "Special episode" OVA released around the same time.
I rather enjoyed this series and the characters although the overall plot felt rather directionless and it ultimately didn't amount to much. The relaxing atmosphere and likeable characters saw me through the series but it's probably not one that's worth a re-watch. Reminded me of Tari Tari.
Whilst I do like P.A. Works and their series do tend to look really nice, I am noticing a trend where a lot of them look and feel the same.
A show that the term "borderline hentai" was invented for :P
This is one of the first anime series I ever watched and holds a special place in my heart. Objectively speaking this probably isn't the best series or adaption of source material (The Manga is definitely better and offers a more definitive ending), but I still think it's quite enjoyable. A lot of people don't like Naru but I do. She was my first tunsdere, I think :P
