Lurker > Robazoid

Ashelia Ashe Bnargin Dalmasca
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Angolmois was pretty good! Decent action so far, and they're setting up the various warriors pretty well. I hadn't known much about the Mongol invasion of Japan but now that I've looked it up a bit and this should be interesting if they manage to do it right. One of my favorite movies is a Korean one called Musa which was also about a group of exiles who wind up fighting Mongols, so this reminded me of it in a good way.
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I just finished the first season of AKB0048 and man that was a fun ride. This anime has no right being as good as it is. I'm sorry if this post gets a little meandering but it honestly fascinates me.

I mean, the premise is just about the dumbest thing ever. It's a dark future where all entertainment has been banned because... I'm actually not sure if they ever gave a reason. Anyway, brave warrior idols must put on dangerous guerrilla performances, bringing hope to the masses even as anti-entertainment forces try to stop them. I mean, what. That's the kind of desperate mish-mash of ideas I'd expect to see today alongside Umamusume's horse girl racing idols, not in something that predates an idol show as relatively basic as Love Live.

But you know what? It wound up working for me. My skepticism melted away as the season progressed, watching Nagisa and the rest training in singing, dancing, and warfare. There honestly wasn't a weak link in the entire main idol group, they all had their moments and were fun to watch (still, if I had to pick, Suzuko was the best because I liked her deadpan sense of humor). There were a lot of moments that really should have been stupid, but I wound up grinning like an idiot through them and getting super hyped. No girls, don't shine too brightly! You might disappear! I really liked the soundtrack too, so that was nice.

Anyway, I'm excited to watch season two!
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Mumen Rider
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Weakupedia posted...

Robazoid posted...

I stopped playing when it made me collect three things (and boy was it super annoying having to run back to that one spot to try and follow the quickly-vanishing yellow line to find them) to open another thing to get a time piece. It felt like busywork.

i mean

isn't that what all these games are

Ultimately they all come down to busywork collecting, sure, but most of them feel a bit more organic. Finding a jiggy in Banjo or earning a red coin star in SM64 was a natural result of exploration and figuring stuff out. That time piece in A Hat in Time was literally 'here are lines to three places, go there and then here'.

I also admit that I never made it past the first world so I don't know if its design improved at all.
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I stopped playing when it made me collect three things (and boy was it super annoying having to run back to that one spot to try and follow the quickly-vanishing yellow line to find them) to open another thing to get a time piece. It felt like busywork.
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Ashelia Ashe Bnargin Dalmasca
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Lightning
Yuna
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Cyclops
Kick-Ass
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Holmes of Kyoto's first episode was okay but I felt that it being an intro episode made it difficult for it to really explore anything. Still, I can see some unique mysteries coming from examining antiques so hopefully it gets more interesting in the future.

Phantom in the Twilight's first episode was also surprisingly legit, I like stories with a mix of supernatural elements like this and Ton seems like a decent main character. No complaints so far, I'm excited to see where it goes.

Amazon Prime is also off to a great start to the season by only putting up the German subtitles for Dropkick on my Devil so I guess I'll watch it next week given how that has been their typical response time in fixing goofs like this.
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Black Lagoon
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KamikazePotato posted...

Trading for Lagoon, auto

For Girls' Last Tour
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Trading for Girls' Last Tour, auto, I save in ten minutes
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Girls' Last Tour
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Just finished Angel Beats, I thought it was amazing. This had almost all the things I like in a story and it handled them all really well. My only complaint is that it wasn't longer because I really wanted more.

Seriously, the spiritual aspects of the afterlife setting were an early hook, along with the neat action. I also appreciated how it managed to maintain a fun tone even when things were dire, like getting hit by a deadly trap was used as a great gag more than once. Then all the characters started getting developed and it just drew me in more and more. I'm a sucker for tearjerker things like this so of course everyone's backstories and farewells got to me. I guess I do have one actual complaint, Yuri's tragic backstory felt a bit over-the-top and was hard to take seriously because of it, but oh well she had an awesome arc because of it and it led to some great moments. I'm glad they included that final scene with the implication that Otonashi and Kanade found each other in their next lives, too. They were a cute couple and deserve some happiness.
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Max Caulfield
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Super Metroid
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I care about Classroom of the Elite

Probably won't read the LN though
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LapisLazuli posted...

Roba watched it on Crunchy, it's available for some people. I think it's just not working on any of the apps and only the website?

Yeah, I saw a post on reddit saying Cells at Work wasn't on any of the apps for some reason, only the website. Honestly, Crunchyroll went down for a few hours to 'upgrade' a few weeks back and the website has been trash ever since. I had two minor issues in the seven months before that but now I've regularly had whole days where videos refuse to load (even right now the whole website is down, thanks Crunchy).

I did get a chance to watch Asobi Asobase before that, though. This was one of my 'meh, may as well give it a try' picks this season so I'm pleasantly surprised at how good it wound up being. This type of humor isn't as good for me as Chio's School Road, but this still easily slides into third place on the list I posted earlier.
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LeonhartFour posted...

it's probably similar to Roba's top 5

wow rude, two of my top 5 are in this contest of supposed favorites
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bot where's Eiko? Nobody likes Minwu
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Wave
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bot who should I save?

I forget if that's the command so also bot what should I save?
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Cyclops
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If everyone left it a little nicer than they found it, then eventually the bathroom's would be so nice that there would be nothing to improve
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LapisLazuli posted...

Something tells me the improvements you want from Hanabedo would totally mess that show up <_<

It doesn't need to become Scorching Ping Pong Girls or anything, I just want to see one or two characters actually enjoy the sport they're choosing to play.
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Mac Arrowny posted...

Which are you dropping Roba?

None of them have offended me on an existential level so they'll each get at least three episodes. At that point, if Hanebado has made absolutely no improvements, it will be dropped no question. Ragnarok and Demon Lord both have two episodes to show me more than they already have, too, or else I could see myself dropping them just because there's so much else this season and I'd still have Re'Union to fill their niche. The rest are probably safe, barring a huge downfall in quality.
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sure you do, you can choose super easy

bot pick TexWolf_1729 or tennisboy213 or F-Zero
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dogs are worse than cats
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update plz

bot is slacking usually it posts occasional updates
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More first episode thoughts:

Planet With... I'm honestly not sure what to make of this yet but I will say that was some damn entertaining nonsense that I just watched. I like the main characters and what I've gathered about the plot is intriguing if nothing else.

Music Girls was fine. I doubt anyone but me will want to watch this season's discount idol show but a few of the girls had fun personalities and it at least seems like it's going to examine this premise from a slightly unique direction.

The Master of Ragnarok & Blesser of Einherjar was passable, I guess. These isekai shows always feel sort of samey and having a season with three of them won't make it any easier to stand out, but at worst this will be Death March tier, aka inoffensive but forgettable.

Ranking of the season so far:
Cells at Work
Chio's School Road
Harukana Receive
Planet With
Angels of Death
Banana Fish
Island
Music Girls
Seven Senses of the Re'Union
How Not to Summon a Demon Lord
The Master of Ragnarok & Blesser of Einherjar
Hanebado
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Waluigi's Mansion
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Metroid Other M doesn't exist
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Max Caulfield
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Ok, move over Happy Sugar Life, it turns out Cells at Work is going to be anime of the season (and possibly of the year if it keeps up that quality).

That was a really great first episode. The anthropomorphized cells all had a surprising amount of character, especially the main red blood cell girl. Everything about this was cute and fun, I hope they keep it up for the rest of the season.
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Auron
Ashelia Ashe Bnargin Dalmasca
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Lightning
Yuna
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I felt like watching something today so I went through Girlish Number (or Gi(a)rlish Number or whatever). I really liked it in the beginning because it didn't take itself seriously. They were making junk anime, they all knew they were making junk anime, but they all showed up for work anyway because that's just how it is. I appreciated that, there wasn't some big drama every five minutes like in the similar anime-about-anime Shirobako. Chitose was also the best, she had such a huge ego but it was totally undeserved, making her a crummy person who was still a ton of fun to watch. She reminded me a lot of the surly idol Akira from Lucky Star, who I also adored. Sadly, I didn't enjoy the direction Girlish Number took towards the end since it abandoned a lot of the aspects that I was enjoying. My final opinion of it is actually pretty negative as a result but I'm still glad I watched it for Chitose alone.
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Lightning
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More first episode impressions:

Harukana Recieve: Thank goodness there's at least one sports anime this season where the characters are having fun instead of sobbing and hating everything like in Hanebado. I liked how energetic Haruka was too, this should be a nice anime.

Chio's School Road: I enjoyed this quite a bit! I can see Chio getting into a whole lot of misadventures and I'm looking forward to seeing them. I just hope it manages to stay fresh, I can see it getting repetitive if she just keeps running into construction detours or something.

Angels of Death: I really liked the atmosphere and mystery of this, it gave me strong Silent Hill vibes. I just hope Rachel gains a bit more strength on her own as the story moves forward and that she isn't always being dragged around by the craziness surrounding her. Total weakness is a fine starting point, especially since she's undergone some sort of trauma, but I prefer stronger female characters.
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Metroid
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Episode one of Banana Fish was alright, though I'm wary that it might go into some pretty uncomfortable territory. I'll stick with it though.

I also watched episode one of Seven Senses of the Re'Union and, slight episode one spoilers here, but... so far this is literally just Anohana with a coating of virtual MMORPG paint. The group dynamic is exactly the same, right down to personalities and who likes who, and the story is basically the same. Still, I guess that isn't necessarily a bad thing as long as Re'Union differentiates itself a bit moving forward.
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Shonen_Bat posted...

Any suggestions for this? I couldn't find a way to see low scoring games so I don't know what even counts.

In previous years, I just checked the scores of a a few games I planned to play until I found one. It's not the most efficient search method but a surprising amount of games score in the 60s.
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The movie Pandorum.
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It's obviously just a different mixture of elements from other isekai shows but the first episode of How Not to Summon a Demon Lord had its moments. I'm liking it way more than Death March, at least. I'll probably stick with it.
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Made a new topic:

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/8-gamefaqs-contests/76778999

I'd like to take a moment to thank bumpbot for helping keep this topic alive for over half of the year!
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For archiving purposes

2016 SPREADSHEET:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/17CXJ-tteBEGdH8mRVN9CFJA8QKdqaLatJiMWP5pBAZo/edit#gid=0

2017 SPREADSHEET:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1OrLeLlkjZ5hrlf1UYpPe2DkPKbApMQrSLVyKxbFhZvU/edit?usp=sharing
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Time for the second half of the year! #bump#

Credit goes to tazzyboyishere for first starting this in 2016. Basically, there are 50 challenges outlined below that will require you to beat 52 games total. This isn't a competition and there's no prize for winning aside from a sense of accomplishment. This is just a fun thing to participate in while we all work through our video game libraries. It also gives us a place to discuss what we're playing. Feel free to join in!

Rules:
- A single playthrough of a game can only be used for one challenge
- Use your own judgment to decide if game fits in a certain category
- Games started in 2017 or earlier are fine as long as they're finished in 2018
- Please add your own games to the spreadsheet linked to below, which anyone can edit
- When using the spreadsheet, please don't mess with checklists/tallies that aren't yours
- There's a tab listing favorite games in the spreadsheet if you need help with Challenge 43
- If you have any questions, feel free to ask!

Spreadsheet:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1gGKCP-zOuxihx2KSVCIL0K1MDfcrDszMT4KnETvBtVI/edit?usp=sharing

Challenges:

Years (5)
1. Beat a game released before 1990
2. Beat a game released between 1990-1999
3. Beat a game released between 2000-2009
4. Beat a game released between 2010-2017
5. Beat a game released in 2018

Series (4)
6. Beat a game in a completely new series
7. Beat a game in a series you've already played some of
8. Beat a spin-off or a game that rebooted a franchise
9. Beat a remake or enhanced port

Creators (3)
10. Beat a game made by a director/composer/artist/etc that you like
11. Beat a game made by a developer you like
12. Beat a game made by a developer you've never tried

Genres (11)
13. Beat a WRPG
14. Beat a JRPG
15. Beat a puzzle game
16. Beat a rhythm game
17. Beat a first-person shooter
18. Beat a third-person shooter
19. Beat a platformer
20. Beat an action game
21. Beat a strategy game
22. Beat a fighting game
23. Beat a sports game

Themes (6)
24. Beat a game with romance as a central theme
25. Beat a game with horror as a central theme
26. Beat a game with revenge as a central theme
27. Beat a game with mystery as a central theme
28. Beat a game with the supernatural as a central theme
29. Beat a game with comedy as a central theme

Demographics (6)
30. Beat a game with a female lead
31. Beat a game with a child lead
32. Beat a game with a non-white lead
33. Beat a game with a robot/artificial lead
34. Beat a game with an animal lead
35. Beat a game with a lead that's from a fictional species

Time (5)
36. Replay a game from a long time ago
37. Beat a game that's been in your backlog for a long time
38. Beat a game you'd dropped or had a long hold on
39. Finish a game in one day
40. Finish a game that took you at least twenty-five hours to beat

Stats (3)
41. Beat a game with a Metascore below 70
42. Beat a game with a Metascore above 90
43. Beat another user's favorite game

Adaptation (3)
44. Beat a game based on licensed stories/characters
45. Beat a game that's been adapted into another medium
46. Beat a game that features historical events or people

Miscellaneous (4)
47. Play a technically unbeatable game for at least six hours
48. Beat a game that starts with the first letter of your username
49. Choose a random page on TVTropes and beat something from the video game section
50-52. Beat three games in a series
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I'm just happy that someone from here actually tried Katana Maidens, even if you didn't end up liking it anywhere near as much as I did. I agree with most of your story complaints, too (Yukina is the worst) but even in the second half I felt the hype moments made up for it. Stuff like the six of them jumping into battle from a transformed Nene, Hiyori+goddess slamming into the evil goddess to save Yukari, Kanami riling Hiyori up and then defeating her as a roundabout way to convince her everything was going to be okay, plus the two of them holding hands at the end... I loved all of that a lot.

Still, it definitely didn't live up to the first half and that was a shame. I didn't expect you to start it so quickly, I was at least hoping you'd go in after my seasonal write-ups having the knowledge that I didn't like the second half as much, but oh well. Thanks for checking it out anyway. 3/10 on MAL at least means it wasn't the worst thing from this year that you've seen!

As a side note, Anime News Network recently reviewed Katana Maidens if anyone else is interested in a view other than mine. The review itself was nothing but complaints but it still somehow got a B- average!

https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/review/katana-maidens/toji-no-miko/episodes-1-24/.133464
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I'm happy to report that Calamity of a Zombie Girl was an absolute disaster. Like, it wasn't even 'so bad it's good', it was just boring awful in every way. Everything happened as slowly as possible, nothing that anyone did made even a bit of sense, the comedy consistently fell flat, the action scenes were atrocious... man, I could go on. Even the gore and nudity was tame. It was even bad on a technical level. I was using headphones and, depending on if someone was speaking from the right or the left, their voice would 100% come out of either the right or left headphone. The subtitles used 'don't' instead of the correct 'won't' at least a dozen times, among other typos.

Lastly, Crunchyroll says this is 'Simulcast on Tuesdays 10:00am MDT' which makes me wonder if there's going to be more. Despite everything, I actually kind of hope that there is. I want to see how low they can go.
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