Feels like a gamble whenever I vote for something recently but a "Meh" seems "Fair"...
Let me start by saying that technically the show is good. The cold look goes well with the theme, the animation is good and the music (when it's not overdone) too.
Unfortunately this all means nothing when the script doesn't hold up. For a show with "Terror" in the title... this isn't seen here. Yes, buildings get blown up but that's about it. The already short season spends it's time with solving riddles for clues about the next bomb's location instead of anything meaningful. The master plan the 'terrorists' have come up with is really one of the worst ways to go about it and they're supposed to be exceptionally smart.. Lisa, a girl who gets involved with the group, is one of the worst characters I've ever seen. She hardly has a personality and serves no purpose except to bringing trouble for the protagonists. Seriously, just by removing her they would have had already more time for characterization or backstory. Heck, removing the 80% that is spent on riddles would have allowed a much different direction and actually doing something with the premise.
As much as I was looking forward to it I didn't care for most of the episodes and given it's conclusion I wouldn't recommend it.loading replies
I'm actually relieved to see someone other than me didn't think it was the next coming of anime Jesus.
I was starting to worry it was just me who was underwhelmed here.
Review by dunpealhunter
VIPOG14It does not happen often these days that an anime, or any tv show for that matter manages to get such a tight grip on me. But Made in Abyss manages to do it with flying colors.
For me Made in Abyss is the complete package. The story is captivating, the characters are very likeable, the music is perfect for setting the overall feeling you are supposed to get, and above all, that feeling for wanting to experience the unknown, to venture out into the debts of the abyss (no pun intended) and that feeling you get when watching this anime in your underbelly of yearning for something more, and to press on, no matter the consequences or the dangers is in my opinion one of the absolute cornerstones of this anime that makes this a masterpiece!
The story starts off very innocent and cute. And from the first few episodes you might think that this anime might be just a light anime because of how young the children are, with some comic relief. But if you keep watching that you will see that with every episode as Rico and Reg go deeper into the Abyss the story gets more darker and more disturbing.
To be frank, i did not fully understand when Rico and Reg said goodbye to their friends in episode 3 that goodbye really meant farewell forever. But as you can see in the later episodes (at the very least for Rico) there is no coming back alive once you go down the Abyss deep enough. In my opinion that makes Rico her fortitude and resolve to venture into the unknown, and leave everything and everyone she loves and knows behind even more daring and captivating.
I really REALLY hope that this anime gets a second season. Because this anime is the very reason i watch anime in the first place. I can wholeheartedly recommend this anime to anyone. Trust me, you will not regret it.
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@dunpealhunter You're in luck! Second season has been confirmed :D
Apparently the anime community is not very confident about this show, but as someone who loved Attack on Titan, Claymore and other dark/fantasy stuff, I really hope this doesn't devolve into a shit show, because I really like the premise and design.
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@narendran0065 Agree with you there. Introducing him was a mistake. It would have been far more interesting if their only enemy was the Kabane. Instead we end up with some weird Final Fantasy reject with daddy issues.
Review by deanzel
VIP11Cross Game is absolutely one of the best anime shows (not just sports anime) that I've seen. Period. It is another masterpiece written by Mitsuru Adachi (of Touch and H2 fame). From the first episode (which is absolutely heartbreaking and a must-watch), the show just captures the viewer's attention and never lets go. The best part of Cross Game is that it is about more than just baseball. So much more. It is a story about dealing with the death of a loved one (it has a very similar feeling to AnoHana), friendship, and how two people grow and nurture each other through hardships and successes. The story may be a little bit predictable at times, but Cross Game is more about the total journey. Don't be intimidated by the length. Time flies and there really are no filler episodes (except for one recap episode) and by the end, I was wishing that the show would never end. The characters are truly what make this show exceptional and Aoba is one of my favorite female protagonists of all time. She is way more than just a tsundere and has so much depth to her character. Do yourself a favor and watch this masterpiece. It'll have you on the edge of seat the whole time.
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This is a series I have considered trying many times. I'm not that into sports anime mind, but if there's enough else there to keep me interested I might still be convinced to try it.
I'm enjoying this series but I wonder what kind of "ending" it will have. From what I can see this series is covering the events of the "Introductory Chapter". There is then a "Closing Chapter" set 3 years later that seems a lot longer and introduces a bunch more characters. I wonder if the plan is to have another season to cover this at some point.
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@maniacb Almost a decade later and I finally completed the Visual Novel on which this was based. For anyone interested in where the story goes after the anime series I would highly recommend it, this barely scratches the surface of where our characters all end up and it was a very satisfying read indeed.
This is THE anime that we've all been waiting and yearning for. Many of us hardcore Mushoku Tensei fans have been waiting years upon years for an anime adaptation to finally hit, and HIT it has. I was a little skeptical with a brand new studio undertaking this, but all the previews had looked great so I was cautiously optimistic. The source material is my absolute favorite isekai series (which says a lot) and the light/web novel will always hold a special place in my fandom. So how were the first two episodes so far (first has aired officially and the first two were previewed beforehand)?
AMAZING. I really don't know if it's just because the source material is that good, but this has been a SPOT ON adaptation so far. Right when I heard "Gintoki" as the NEET narrator, I knew shit was gonna be good. The sense of humor and pervertedness of Rudy is really well incorporated throughout the first two episodes, and makes this more than just a "another OP isekai". But even with that sense of humor, the anime has taken great depths to give solid (but not overwhelming) background info on the characters and highlighting particularly serious moments. This was especially evident in the second episode where the handling of Rudy's "fall into NEETness" and past trauma was interweaved perfectly into his current situation and setting.
I can't wait for the rest of the anime to air. It seems that a second cour has already been green-lighted so let's hope this can turn into one of those long-running anime series. If they can make it to the school arcs, I'll have lived a complete life...
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@deanzel Fair enough. I'm certainly not opposed to ecchi (from one seasoned anime viewer to another!), just felt a bit at odds with the overall tone of the story at points. It does look really nice though, and I am definitely interested to see how it goes.
Admittedly some of this may be coming from "Isekai Fatigue" - there are so many of them so I only want to spend my time on the ones that rise to the top.
This is THE anime that we've all been waiting and yearning for. Many of us hardcore Mushoku Tensei fans have been waiting years upon years for an anime adaptation to finally hit, and HIT it has. I was a little skeptical with a brand new studio undertaking this, but all the previews had looked great so I was cautiously optimistic. The source material is my absolute favorite isekai series (which says a lot) and the light/web novel will always hold a special place in my fandom. So how were the first two episodes so far (first has aired officially and the first two were previewed beforehand)?
AMAZING. I really don't know if it's just because the source material is that good, but this has been a SPOT ON adaptation so far. Right when I heard "Gintoki" as the NEET narrator, I knew shit was gonna be good. The sense of humor and pervertedness of Rudy is really well incorporated throughout the first two episodes, and makes this more than just a "another OP isekai". But even with that sense of humor, the anime has taken great depths to give solid (but not overwhelming) background info on the characters and highlighting particularly serious moments. This was especially evident in the second episode where the handling of Rudy's "fall into NEETness" and past trauma was interweaved perfectly into his current situation and setting.
I can't wait for the rest of the anime to air. It seems that a second cour has already been green-lighted so let's hope this can turn into one of those long-running anime series. If they can make it to the school arcs, I'll have lived a complete life...
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@deanzel I've seen the first couple of episodes and enjoyed them well enough, although I did think that there are some... "problematic" elements to the show as a whole (not a term I use much, but I think it fits here). Do they continue through the whole thing? A bit of pervyness I'm fine with, but some of the scenes give off the feeling of erm... voyuristc hentai sleaze?
Beautiful Story! but a little short for how the things were going in the end. They could have extended it to 24 Episodes and should have given more of the story from the manga.
Anime is till Chapter 24 (Vol 4) of the manga so i am looking forward for another season of this anime.loading replies
@supriyo8799 Likewise - and since the Manga ends at Volume 8 that perfectly translates to a second series to finish it off. I need more!
In the days of legit shilling even some people who hated SOA would tell you this is better.... it's not. I'd argue it's even more offensive.
LLENN is a Mary Sue and just like the main show this is loaded with ass pulls and non-existent logic in it's world... The action scenes are extremely boring to watch and visually dull. Pito is an even worse villain than "I just wanted friends, LOL" guy as she made me want to scratch my eyes out after every dumb line of hers.F* this show. Save Sigsawa-san.
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@sp1ti So going back to our earlier conversation, this is not a recommend? :P
While tolerable this show is EXTREMELY repetitive as it only has the single joke for every segment. I would have preferred to see this as a short series instead.
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@sp1ti Same. I read the manga ahead of this and I did think this would work better as half-length episodes.
Shout by sp1ti
VIPOG13This is the kind of post-apocalyptic slife-of-life you will only ever get in anime format. Despite looking like it would be focused on war-themes it just sets the backdrop as it is more concerned with exploring the mysterious world they live in. While there are plenty of elements I despised it was still an enjoyable ride set to a great OST. It's closer to the original Kino's Journey than the remake this season...
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@sp1ti I was wondering if anyone else thought that way! It feels pretty "Kino-like" to me too :)
Just wondering, what elements did you "despise" about the series? I've been absolutely loving it and don't really think I have any complaints about it. I guess the occasional bathing scenes could be seen as unnecessary fanservice but it's pretty mild.
Oh my god, it's happening! Rewrite is one of my favorite Visual Novels and for me ranks a VERY close second to Clannad in terms of Key works! The VN starts off fairly standard, slice of lifey (as is the norm for Key really) but later things go off the rails and get pretty epic in scale. It was co-written by a few authors, including Romeo Tanaka (known for many weird and interesting VNs, Cross Channel being my favourite) and Ryukishi07 (mainly known for the "When They Cry" series).
It looks like Tanaka Romeo will be involved in the creative process, which is quite reassuring. My only concern is that it's studio 8-Bit animating it. I guess they've done a passable job with Grisaia (they'd better not employ as much needless fanservice here...), but It's a shame it didn't go to P.A. Works or White Fox (who did the 2nd OP) :(
Regardless, I'm very excited about this one and really hope it will rank among the sadly small list of "good VN adaptations".
VN openings:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ne-4_Bz0wAg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yegE5ai9abQloading replies
Yeah, so 8-bit struck again. This was a sub-par adaptation at best and I can't really recommend it unless you've already played the far-superior VN. The second season is going to cover the Moon and Terra arcs which might be a bit better, but I have my doubts.
Season 2 (Astral Ocean) - a bad sequel and, taken standalone, a bad show. Awful directing, annoying one-dimensional characters, a messy, convoluted plot. Overall, just bad.
Even if you liked E7, I wouldn't recommend this.loading replies
@dgw Yes probably, although the comment is from 4 years ago and I'm not sure you actually could do that on the previous version of trakt.
The Nastume Yuujinchou series is a powerful and heartwarming fantasy masterpiece among the anime world. I absolutely loved the series and couldn't stop watching till the very end. The quality through all 4 seasons was just superb without a hint of drop-off. The range of emotions and themes covered in Nastume Yuujinchou is beyond impressive. It would have me ROFL with Nyanko-sensei's antics in one minute to within Clannad-esque tears in the very next. However, what truly struck me was how N.Y. was able to find a duality/struggling conflict within all of these different themes and truly challenge the feelings and emotions of the viewer. This was done by creating such spectacular characters from Natsume and his family/friends down to the individual youkai that we meet for only a single episode. The creators do a magnificent job getting us emotionally invested in this world via these relatable and lovable characters. It's an amazing ride (and I hope we get another season) as we join Natsume on his journey as he learns to accept and understand his ever changing world, the people/youkai around him, and, ultimately, himself. This is right at the top of my list of must watch anime. Don't think. Just watch.
loading repliesSeason 5 coming this FALL!!!!! REJOICE!!!! (Of course, I have forgotten everything that has happened in this series...)
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2016-03-20/natsume-book-of-friends-tv-anime-gets-season-5-this-fall/.100011
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Woop! Best news I've heard all week! Loves me some Natsume
This was a fun but short series that is a bit disjointed. Some of the episodes focus on the "spirit medium teacher" in school while the others focus on some cats (whose acclaimed king she is too). Both areas have their highlights but I feel like it would have been a lot better if they stayed with students more often. The chaotic music added to the insanity!
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Yeah I kinda liked it too. I find a certain charm in these barely animated shorts. It seems like the animation company DLE is behind a lot of them. They did Thermae Romae and the original Nyaruko shorts too.
Gintama is getting a new anime series premiering in April 2015. Based Santa-san has delivered once again and in thrilling fashion nonetheless. My body is beyond ready for more of my bro Gintoki's legendary antics.
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2014-12-21/gintama-gets-new-tv-anime-series-in-april/.82455
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Can't believe it has been 2 years since the last airing. Time flies by too quickly, but at least you get more Gintama!
Remember that edgy thing called "Elfen Lied"? Yup, this is by the same author and while I'm fuzzy on the details on that it certainly is similar in the way of inflicting violence to teenage girls. It is also probably the only 1-cour show that changed openings on the second last episode and then even to a terrible crunkcore-thingy (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C__joUsxAPw).
Despite rating it just a "4" I want to stress that I got plenty of enjoyment out of it... just for all the wrong reasons - or maybe not! Going by the anime alone one has to either believe this is a work by hacks (which it kinda is) or well versed people intentionally taking the piss out of genre conventions.
Anyways, you should not watch this show if you expect any kind of logic or common sense. The story is ridiculous and badly paced. It also follows the same pattern up until the end where they just throw in an ending because they can. What made the show for me was it's schizophrenic tone, switching between comedy bits set to goofy music with some romance to heavily censored action - with a straight face. Really, it's amazing how much bullshit they managed to stuff in there. If you want to watch something so bad that it's good give it a go.loading replies
@sp1ti Oh wow, looks like I'm missing out on a masterpiece :P
Feels like a gamble whenever I vote for something recently but a "Meh" seems "Fair"...
Let me start by saying that technically the show is good. The cold look goes well with the theme, the animation is good and the music (when it's not overdone) too.
Unfortunately this all means nothing when the script doesn't hold up. For a show with "Terror" in the title... this isn't seen here. Yes, buildings get blown up but that's about it. The already short season spends it's time with solving riddles for clues about the next bomb's location instead of anything meaningful. The master plan the 'terrorists' have come up with is really one of the worst ways to go about it and they're supposed to be exceptionally smart.. Lisa, a girl who gets involved with the group, is one of the worst characters I've ever seen. She hardly has a personality and serves no purpose except to bringing trouble for the protagonists. Seriously, just by removing her they would have had already more time for characterization or backstory. Heck, removing the 80% that is spent on riddles would have allowed a much different direction and actually doing something with the premise.
As much as I was looking forward to it I didn't care for most of the episodes and given it's conclusion I wouldn't recommend it.loading replies
@sp1ti I was feeling generous but did consider lowing my score. I think I will actually as It was definitely a disappointment. Of the two "Watanabe" shows recently I never thought I'd end up liking Space Dandy more!
Harmless and generic fantasy harem. The execution is mediocre at best. The ever looming antagonists unfortunately only serve as an advertisement for the light novels as the anime does not get to them. The only thing that surprised me was that the occasional BGM piece was actually good and a more unique choice.
Should you have any expectations of this show? Nahhh. They make their true intentions very clear whenever the ED song comes up... starting all the character pans at skirt height https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=km4m23ogcYE.loading replies
Haha, I kinda like that ED. Pretty catchy.
Won't be enough to get me watching this though :P
Just confirmed that the Fate/stay night 2014 series will cover the Unlimited Bladeworks route and there will also be a Heaven's Feel movie released later on. Whoa. That's a whole lot of Fating to come. Take a bow, ufotable. You deserve it.
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2014-07-27/new-fate-stay-night-tv-anime-is-unlimited-bladeworks/.77058
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2014-07-27/fate-stay-night-heaven-feel-route-gets-film/.77059loading replies
@deanzel Don't think Urobutcher had any involvement with the original F/SN. He was involved with F/Z as I believe he had a hand in the writing of the novels, but F/SN is all Kinoko Nasu.
/TYPE-NERD mode off.
Season 2 confirmed! Prepare for more "will they, won't they" teasing and probably nothing resembling a resolution in sight :D
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@deanzel Bring it!
Honestly though, at first I thought this was cliché trash (and to be fair it still is :P), but the series did grow on me and I am genuinely looking forward to more!
Remember that edgy thing called "Elfen Lied"? Yup, this is by the same author and while I'm fuzzy on the details on that it certainly is similar in the way of inflicting violence to teenage girls. It is also probably the only 1-cour show that changed openings on the second last episode and then even to a terrible crunkcore-thingy (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C__joUsxAPw).
Despite rating it just a "4" I want to stress that I got plenty of enjoyment out of it... just for all the wrong reasons - or maybe not! Going by the anime alone one has to either believe this is a work by hacks (which it kinda is) or well versed people intentionally taking the piss out of genre conventions.
Anyways, you should not watch this show if you expect any kind of logic or common sense. The story is ridiculous and badly paced. It also follows the same pattern up until the end where they just throw in an ending because they can. What made the show for me was it's schizophrenic tone, switching between comedy bits set to goofy music with some romance to heavily censored action - with a straight face. Really, it's amazing how much bullshit they managed to stuff in there. If you want to watch something so bad that it's good give it a go.loading replies
Glad I didn't bother. Elfen Lied was overrated dross and it's good to see the author hasn't moved on after all this time. Lol at the "edgy" OP. Is it just me or was it screaming "I want to be the next Future Diary!", which isn't a good thing to aspire to, btw.
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!
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Now that the series is over I still stand by my initial review, although I thought the quality of episodes in season 2 was a bit better.
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 ;)
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@deanzel I went with sub. No idea what the dub is like. Also the rip I found for this was by a group called Centaur. No idea if it's better than E-D or not but I would guess it probably is (I generally don't rate their release very highly). That said, I don't think there are any "amazing" quality versions of this series - it's one of those old Gainaxey ones that didn't really get a remaster I think.
Still a worthwhile, if somewhat flawed, watch though.
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!
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@deanzel Maison Ikkoku is still on my watchlist and I really want to see it. I just can't find the time to even keep up with current shows at the moment :(
Season 2 has been confirmed as per last episode. That is good news!
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As may I. Looks like Netflix has picked it up too!
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.
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@deanzel It's worth it man. Trust. And it's not as bad after a few episodes.
Woah, is this confirmed as coming this Summer (@sp1ti? :P)? All I can find is early indications that it's coming "soon".
I'm eagerly anticipating this series. The Visual Novel it is based on was really, really good. Of course, the anime adaption could turn out to be terrible, but I'll be watching it anyway :P
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@sp1ti Well I hope it is that soon. I do know that this was announced months/years ago though so it's been a while coming. Like I said, I really hope we get a good adaption for this one. It has one of the most awesome MCs ever (no, really...), pretty funny comedy and some really dark shit later most of the heroine's routes.
Bearing in mind that the game is a trilogy though, there is a lot to cover. Hopefully they'll pace it sensibly, maybe even bank on a second season to cover the later stuff (assuming it's well received :P)
I belive "Wake Up, Girls!" was intended to be the first full series made by Yutaka Yamamoto's Ordet Studio to put them on the map or at least make some revenue? They certainly were ambitious with forming their own idol group to base their series on and open with a movie premiere a day before the show start... maybe a little too much.
The story follows a newly formed idol group from Sendai which isn't as lively as Tokyo and thus isn't used to something like an idol group. The format is the usual underdog story that ends early enough for them not having their breakthrough, leaving space to whatever they want to follow up with.
Initially we see a certain degree of criticism of the idol industry like the rival idol group being presented as an army under a draconian leadership, a girl being kicked-out of the group for a romantic relationship or the WUGs being pimped out to a concert in skimpy outfits (no shaved heads though). To really be the anti-idol show though it would have needed more of that because as the show progresses it doesn't concern itself with that anymore. (Let's just hope the AKB48 director does not book his own group for the Olympics in 2020 at this point.)
The biggest issue I had with the show is the Studio itself. They're only about 10 guys or so and they do not manage to keep the visual standards they set themselves in the movie. Every episode has plenty of animation outsourced and gradually increases the QUALITY. The dances look absolute shit at times to the point where you often don't recognize certain characters or only by hairstyle and color (ex. http://i.imgur.com/nhAy9jN.gif). The CG effects are also not pretty nor well integrated (ex. http://i.imgur.com/ctqlB8h.jpg). Certainly does not speak for your "animation" studio.
Overlooking all that, the characters were diverse enough and not just a "product" and the drama worked well enough. It's not something I'd recommend though unless you want a little insight on the idol industry and not the girls being super heros like in AKB0048 (http://trakt.tv/show/akb0048) or your typical worship/moe-blobb show like iDOLM@STER (http://trakt.tv/show/the-idolmster) and it's various spin-offs.loading replies
Looks like some of the QUALITY issues might be fixed in the BD release at least:
http://www.sankakucomplex.com/2014/05/20/wake-up-girls-bd-less-awful-now/
(site NSFW)
