Board 8 > Anime and Manga Topic 178: Now with more Shonen

(+) Yeah! (+)

Gotcha, thanks for the explanations. That sucks.
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You really get the idea that Netflix saw how amazing shows like Fate/Zero and Madoka did on their service, and think that bringing anime into their "mold" is the next logical step....even though they got those shows well after the fact, both of which were ironically 2 of the 4 simulcast pillars that Crunchyroll was built on the back of. Thinking they can just do a release dump well after the fact and have everyone eat it up like a new product shows that they have no knowledge of how the fandom actually works. There was zero hype when LWA or Apocrypha got their Netflix releases. Nobody gave a fuck. Apocrypha wasn't even done when the first season got dumped and people STILL didn't care.
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Re:Creators episode nine spoilers

Ugh, I originally had a long post of whining but I deleted it because I can effectively summarize it by saying that Sota, Mamika, and Alice are all complete idiots and they've successfully dragged the story down for me. I actually had to stop watching for the night after Mamika wasted every word while talking to Alice, who then believed a blatantly obvious misdirection from a known liar. I really hope this stupidity is resolved quickly because it was all going so well before this.
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LapisLazuli posted...

The production and direction side of things just means so much to me that I've already got some bias here.

But ohhhhhhhh fucking god damn mother fucking shit the end of that PV says Netflix.

I am fucking done with this shit.

I will also be shocked if Extra has better animation than Apocrypha.
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Roba: You do realize that Magane's powers make people more likely to believe her lies, right?
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Mac Arrowny posted...

LapisLazuli posted...

The production and direction side of things just means so much to me that I've already got some bias here.

But ohhhhhhhh fucking god damn mother fucking shit the end of that PV says Netflix.

I am fucking done with this shit.

I will also be shocked if Extra has better animation than Apocrypha.

This really comes down to a matter of preference, because I already think that PV looks better than anything Apocrypha has to offer. We went over this before, but I just don't dig when A1 goes with it's house look.
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Mac Arrowny posted...

Roba: You do realize that Magane's powers make people more likely to believe her lies, right?

I've read some archived reactions as of episode nine in various places just to confirm that there were others disappointed by this plot development, and from what I've seen that isn't how her power works. Magane's lies become truth if they're challenged, they don't impact initial belief at all.

Really, the best defense I found was that Mamika and Alice were designed to be stupid but I can't give the story a pass based on that when it would've been so easy to just write the scene slightly differently. Then there wouldn't be any bad writing to justify in the first place.
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LapisLazuli posted...

This really comes down to a matter of preference, because I already think that PV looks better than anything Apocrypha has to offer. We went over this before, but I just don't dig when A1 goes with it's house look.

That just seems crazy to me when the animation looks so different from other A1 series. Or are you just talking about the art?
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But that's, like...kind of the point of the show. We've seen tons of examples of how the characters were written effecting their judgement, and more to come.
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Mac Arrowny posted...

Roba: You do realize that Magane's powers make people more likely to believe her lies, right?

I don't think they've actually said anything like this that I can remember. She's skilled at lying but I don't know of any supernatural increase in the ability due to her powers.

Roba: Well Mamika is a basically already one foot in the grave and is weak/hallucinating, etc. So I dont think you can really fault her. I don't know why they don't just have her die right when Alice shows up which would have made more sense, but I also don't think it matters much towards what the plot is going for. As for Alice, her only friend has just died before her eyes and she has no idea what her last request was. I think it makes sense to listen to the person who did hear it (whom Mamika evidently trusted) rather than continue without knowing anything. Also I think Alice's background makes her much less effective in spotting things like this. She's used to fighting massive battles against inhuman monsters and has not really dealt with someone like Magane ever that I can tell, and Magane is saying things Alice already wants to believe anyways.

On mobile so sorry if there are typos or whatever
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Mac Arrowny posted...

LapisLazuli posted...

This really comes down to a matter of preference, because I already think that PV looks better than anything Apocrypha has to offer. We went over this before, but I just don't dig when A1 goes with it's house look.

That just seems crazy to me when the animation looks so different from other A1 series. Or are you just talking about the art?

I don't see how the animation is all that different other than some key scenes like Frank's flashback, but the art is a big factor, yes.

When I look at the shots of Nero dodging the lasers, or Robin Hood in the tree, or Li Shuwen running towards the screen, stuff like that looks so much better to me. In Apocrypha, you take any shot in that show and....yeah, that sure looks like a serviceable anime.

If I may quote someone else on the subject, "Yeah, this is adequate. It's not blowing my mind, but it's doing the job it needs to do."
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Although with how I'm talking about it I guess it might be more direction and shot composition that's my issue? Last Encore is Shinbo and Miyamoto, one and a half SHAFT legends. Apocrypha is....the dude who did Charlotte....and that's it. Not saying new talent can't rise to the occasion, but I've definitely got my preferences.
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LapisLazuli posted...

Although with how I'm talking about it I guess it might be more direction and shot composition that's my issue? Last Encore is Shinbo and Miyamoto, one and a half SHAFT legends. Apocrypha is....the dude who did Charlotte....and that's it. Not saying new talent can't rise to the occasion, but I've definitely got my preferences.

https://blog.sakugabooru.com/2017/12/23/fate-apocrypha-episode-22/

???

There's all sorts of talent in F/A, and Shinbo doesn't actually direct anything at SHAFT anymore.
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I know there's multiple people working on Apocrypha, and I know it has individual scenes that look good, but if we're talking about the minute to minute look of the series, I just can't bring myself to care about it. I've only watched half the series, but the only notable moments I can remember in regards to visuals were Mordred's first fight and Fran's flashback. The rest was just....there, battles included. I think it was when Vlad and Karna turnes into different color glowing balls and charged each other in the air like DBZ characters where I realized that I wasn't invested in these visuals.
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I was thinking today about what it must have been like reading DBZ while it was ongoing and then I had a realization that King Cold was probably the biggest waste of all time. He was a guy even stronger than Frieza and he literally does nothing before being defeated and never mattering again lmao. I can only imagine people being hyped to see what he could do. I guess at least they didn't drag out the hype, but man he got worse treatment than even Raditz and the Saibamen

That was the point of King Cold, though, to job. He was meant to be a shocking defeat.
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After the Rain, Beatless, and Kokkoku on Anime Strike.

None of those are guaranteed hits. Depending on how it goes maybe I'll save some money.
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Yeah obviously it was meant to show how awesome Trunks was, and then how awesome Goku was.
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Yeah, exactly. And it worked perfectly.
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I think they could've done the same effect and at least had King Cold...you know do any sort of special attack. He literally died without doing anything whatsoever. Like literally less than any villain in the entire series even probably. I'm amazed he gets included in games lol

I've finished Kemono Friends! That was a cute anime and I enjoyed the world it created. It's something I might want to show my nephew once he's old enough to keep up with the subtitles.

Now that I've slept on it, sorry for being negative about Re:Creators too. It just hit three of my biggest writing pet peeves within a ten minute period and I got frustrated. I'll continue watching it soon.
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I don't think anyone is actually upset that you were being negative about Re:Creators. And I mean even if they were I don't think that should really stop you from sharing your opinion. I was ready to make a pretty strongly negative post about Made in Abyss before it actually turned into a good show in the 2nd half!

Anyways I finished Re:Creators. Generally speaking I think the first half of the show was better than the second half. There's some overall things about the structure of the show I think should have been done differently, but regardless this was a pretty fantastic ride from start to finish. Don't really have a lot specifically to comment on, but yeah.

Character rankings:

1. Mamika
2. Magane
3. Meteora
4. Altair
5. Matsubara

Why do all the good characters have names starting with M wtf?
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Good list! Lots of strong characters. Magane is the best Monogatari character of the year.
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Magane is more Izaya Orihara than anything from Monogatari I feel like, but I definitely see where the comparison is coming from.
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Yeah, I wasn't upset at all!

My personal top list would be Magane > Altair > Meteora > Mamika > Alice I think...? Some of the characters were more great for their interactions rather than as individuals but these five were all excellent and the top two are likely for my top female characters in the awards.
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It is very easy to see her doing SHAFT head tilts.

In fact I think she does at least once.

I do see where you're coming from, too, but her having powers leans me towards the former.
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not putting Hoshikawa at number 1 smh
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I'd be surprised if anyone who liked the show put Hoshikawa at number one...
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Magane was really the only one I cared about
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Would like to nominate Shou, Yuuya, and Hikayu all yelling at each other at different intonations as they're about to collide for moment of the year.
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Not gonna lie there's a decent chance all 3 of my female character votes will be from this series. At a quick glance, my top tier of new female characters from 2017 has 7 characters in it right now and 4 of them are from this series.

Also true story about Hoshikawa from when I was watching the show:

(Spoilers for episode ~18 or so?) *Stuff happens, and Hoshikawa jumps in out of nowhere in an overly revealing outfit, and for some reason has superpowers and insanely high martial arts skills*

Me: I don't know why that happened but it was the greatest thing I've ever seen

Someone in the show: I can't believe you managed to get this accepted.

Onishi: Yeah. Turns out people like that kind of thing.

It's like they KNOW or something
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Magane was my #1 for half a year, and it took a character that was the star of what was essentially a character study anime at the end of the year to dethrone her.

https://image.ibb.co/hNy2CG/262c0a0741ac0055d0e6f2b7fd8f090c.jpg

Yes, I was just waiting for an excuse to post this fanart.
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isn't Onishi a nod to Nisioisin

Onishi - Nishio
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First show of the season is tomorrow. An original Madhouse series about cute girl going to the North Pole.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_faYRTmQeZM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0dqxGBn4hTM

Fuck if I know! Cute girls doing cute things isn't usually the Madhouse MO, so it's anyone's guess!
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I watched anime just now if the DBZ Abridged 2017 Christmas special counts. It was pretty great

Starting off the season strong! A Place Further than the Universe is a great first episode, great MC, and a great OP.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjviUnxMMQI

Also,


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Oh hey episodic SoL something to watch already
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http://www.crunchyroll.com/anime-feature/2017/12/30/crunchyrolls-2017-co-productions

Didn't know that Crunchyroll actually co-produced several anime.
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anyone looking forward to Ito Juni collection?

horror anime ftw
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I might check it out. Horror and animation never have mixed for me, though.
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Still need to actually do my end of fall stuff here.
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I fear Junji Ito will be a $5 anime.

The PV was not promising.
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End of Fall 2017 rankings

This is my highest tier, it's all 9/10 stuffs.
BBB season 2 - Turning it on, I remembered that I knew nearly nothing about the first season and eventually had to be told that the ending was filler, as it was one of the few things I remembered from it. I like the fact that I'd hate half the cast if they were anywhere else and this show makes me appreciate a lot of them. I like that it didn't even retcon the whole filler ending to the first season, and I love that Michella actually walked right into the show... Well, got pushed onto the show, since ya know. But yeah, such a great character <3

Konohana Kitan - My friends came for the fox girls, I came in spite of them... It's not a character-based show by any means, some are barely developed, afterall. No, it's Japanese mythology-based and I loved every little cultural part of the show. There was even one ep that was utterly beautiful and I cried.

Soma season 3 - Uh, utilized a few characters that I really like, introduced the Elite 10 well, and I still get a crack out of the fact that it ended where I thought it would. It just ended like... right after it. Aka: Erina learned that Soma is her idol's son, and then just cuts out right there. It was glorious.

Tier 2... 8/10 anime overall, something made them not end up a tier above.
Kino's Journey - There were a few really strong parts of the show, that a few countries, especially how the last one just flat out ended pretty instantly, just felt lifeless compared to other ones. It was an interesting show, and hit onto my anthropology really well, but was just too short overall.

Ancient Magus's Bride - I put it here... but I actually have no clue where it goes. Like, I'm so confused at what I even think of the show. I just love the animations of the magic and... Little Elias is adorable. That is all.

Just Because - I'm a little salty I just about predicted the ending, and considering I was basically like "yeah this is just how it's gonna end up," and my friend was like "nah man, it's an original, we literally can't know how it'll end." So it really disappointed me that I nearly got everything right. I knew Eita was gonna take the opening exam to the school Natsume wanted to go to, I didn't predict he'd fail it though. It's nicer this way since the ship can actually continue, but man... I'm still grumpy and it's why my Discord pic is what it is.

These shows weren't as good as they once were, so 7/10:
Altair: A Record of Battles - Historical fiction, ottoman empire... well... overall not the strongest character development. I liked the plot, but the characters just ended up a little too half-assed.

Children of the Whales - There's like... only one thing I even cared about by the end. If they implied that the eye patch dude was actually Nibi. I liked a bit of the plot primarily, but it turned boring past the first battle. All the best characters aren't leads.

Blend S - Typical of any non-romance that relies on a romance plot to move the plot forward, it just feels like wasted effort. Still a funny show, but there are few shows I'll like in spite of this.

Apocrypha - Second half turned to shit. Animation of battles were awful, a few characters were just disgustingly bad, and the ending was just a Fate mess.

My opinion is irrelevant and it's probably 8/10 on a rewatch:
Girls Last Tour- I made a post like yesterday or something about this.

5/10 tier:
Juuni Taisen - The Great Zodiac Race in battle royale format. Rat was just an awful character though.
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Ah my format is awful seeing it. I'm too lazy to fix now though.
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Girls und Antarctica

great animations (probably blew a huge chunk of budget into this episode though), great seiyuu cast

Hayami Saori doesn't show up yet

should be "uchuu yori mo tooi basho" right? why does MAL translate as sora?

= universe/space
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I may never be able to get over "Leads to the Antartica".
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A Place Further Than the Universe looks like it's going to be a nice anime based on episode one.

I also watched all of Interviews with Monster Girls since I last posted. I thought it was pretty good! The succubus was the best
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Interviews with Monster Girls is an interesting series

In the moment I definitely enjoyed it.

Within a week of it finishing I basically completely forgot about it
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Flicking through for this year's stuff for most anticipated.

Sure there's stuff like VE, Fate, Cardcaptors, SnK S3 and perhaps even Code Geass.

I was surprised however to see Mahou Shoujo Site was actually getting an anime. I don't really expect much of it, given the studio it might be low budget as well. However the manga was very edgy, on the same level as Akame ga Kill.

Still no sign of edgiest manga Dead Tube getting an anime adaptation though.
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Vampire was the only one I really liked in Interviews.
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