Savepoints's Blog

Anime Relations: Taimadou Gakuen 35 Shiken Shoutai, Subete ga F ni Naru, Sakurako-san no Ashimoto ni wa Shitai ga Umatteiru, One Punch Man, Rakudai Kishi no Cavalry, Noragami Aragoto, Concrete Revolutio: Choujin Gensou, Comet Lucifer

Comet Lucifer:

First Impression - (7/10): Ok so, I don't really have any idea what's going on... The little I do understand is basically thanks to the pretty cryptic intro speech by the old dude. All I know is that there were pretty colors and then suddenly robots. But I have to admit that the show itself was actually decent. The characters seem to have somewhat natural interactions (most of the time), and I especially like Kaon. It'll be interesting to see just what kind of hero anime this turns into, and how big of a part the mecha have, since that might really be a hit or miss. I also really liked the OP.


Episode 3 Impressions:


Final Impressions:

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Concrete Revolutio: Choujin Gensou:

First Impression - (6/10): This was... weird. And if I hadn't read the synopsis beforehand, it would've been ever weirder. The thing is that it's not overly difficult to understand or anything, but it seems that for the most part they just don't care about explaining. However, the main thing about the episode for me was that there was a lot of jumping back and forth between two points in time. As we see more of the "past", we learn more about the characters in the "future", however it totally foregoes explaining the events that ACTUALLY lead up to that point. Sure, you could make an educated guess, but that's a pretty big part of the story missing right there. Who knows, maybe it's expanded upon in a future episode, which I doubt will have the same sort of jumpy disposition (hopefully). Other than that, it was decent enough. The artstyle is pretty colorful, and a bit "quirky", I guess. Anything else is just really hard to tell from just this one episode.


Episode 3 Impressions:


Final Impressions:

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Noragami Aragoto:

First Impression - (8/10): Same old Noragami here, honestly. This episode doesn't really kick off the story at all, except for putting some pieces in place to set it up, so to speak. It's more like getting reacquainted with the characters, and showing you that this is the situation everyone is in right now, as opposed to acting as a "direct sequel" of sorts. But the episode was funny, with the same style of humor as the original series, it looks just as good, and the soundtrack is great as always (and it even brings back one of my favorite songs from the original series). The OP is also REALLY good.


Episode 3 Impressions:


Final Impressions:

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One Punch Man:

First Impression - (8/10): This is way better than I expected it to be, and I expected this to be pretty awesome to begin with. It's funny, really well-animated (they both chose an artstyle that actually fits the series, and the fight scenes are so smooth), and it's seriously intense as fuck. The pacing was pretty fast, which actually fit this show well, and there wasn't a single point where I was even close to being bored in this episode. Now we just hope that they can keep this up for however many episodes this is going to be.


Episode 3 Impressions:


Final Impressions:

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Rakudai Kishi no Cavalry:

First Impression - (7/10): So, while this was pretty decent, I guess it was still only barely so. The "weakest person beats strongest person because his only skill is super OP but not recognized by the system" is probably one of my least favorite tropes ever. I mean, you know it's bad when the series itself even points it out. But still, I kinda liked Stella, and it looks good visually, so depending on how they go about the episodes, it might turn out to be a decent watch anyway.


Episode 3 Impressions:


Final Impressions:

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Sakurako-san no Ashimoto ni wa Shitai ga Umatteiru:

First Impression - (8/10): For starters it looks absolutely GREAT, and I think that Sakurako herself might be one of my favorite characters that we've seen in any show so far. I also really, really love how they handled the "investigation" parts, as it's really reminiscent of the Sherlock Holmes series (and movies, I guess), with a lot of zooming in on what she's observing and shit like that, and then bringing all that up (and even better, in a visual presentation) as she "solves" the case (looking at you, Laplace). I really love stuff like that, although we'll have to see how they develop the cases to remain interesting, as opposed to just being short like this one.

However, there is one thing that brings this show down for me, and it's the guy (I seriously can't remember his name...). Sure, I guess you could say that they compliment each other, but his entire personality feels so out of place, I guess. I don't have anything against the "innocent" character type in a show like this, because it usually gives a non-forced way to deliver exposition and whatnot, but here it's like we have Mr. Justice Shounenprotag right here who is CONSTANTLY going on about how "this is wrong, you can't do that, don't say that", and it just annoyed me. At this point I don't see him becoming like a "Watson" either, so he'll probably just be there for that exact reason, and more or less be the "counterbalance", I guess. Which may be fine, it all depends on how they build him from this point on, but judging from the first episode, I don't really like him at all.

But yeah, so far I'd say it tips over to an 8/10, even with the problems I have, so let's hope they don't blow this one.


Episode 3 Impressions:


Final Impressions:

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Subete ga F ni Naru: The Perfect Insider:

First Impression - (9/10): I think I've found my AotS right here. I seriously can't remember when I last saw such a good first episode in a show. Since the mystery part of it all hasn't really gotten started yet, the episode felt slow, but at the same time very captivating, and the weirdest thing for me was how thrown off I was when the episode ended, because I had almost forgot I was watching a single episode, and not a movie. Because that is just what it felt like to me - the start of a movie. It did a very good job of "show, don't tell", and even though there may be quite a few questions floating around at the moment, I feel like you could figure out a whole lot just by studying the shots in the first episode. In fact, it was really well animated, in the sense of the "shots" and composition. I mean, I don't hate a show just for explaining every single thing that happens, but I think we can all agree that sometimes it just gets tiresome, and while there are some that do it less than others, there aren't a whole lot that don't really do it "at all". The characters, or at least the two main ones, I really liked a lot as well. Mostly because they're actually very natural. When Moe meets a person who has an intimate relationship with Saikawa, she is upset, and it shows so well, but she expresses this in a realistic way, and not in usual exaggerated anime fashion.

Honestly, if the rest of the episodes follow this style, then I think this may be much better seen as a "marathon", as opposed to airing weekly, just because of how it's all set up (like I said, to me it feels like watching a movie). But I think they would really need to mess up the mystery parts or pull some kind of Samuenco level of twists to ruin this show (hopefully that won't happen...).

A 9/10 for me, and a definite contender for AotS (or more like the only one worthy of it at this point).


Episode 3 Impressions:


Final Impressions:

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Taimadou Gakuen 35 Shiken Shoutai:

First Impression - (7/10): Honestly much better than I expected it to be with an ecchi/harem tag. I thought the action scenes (as in when they are on the missions) were really cool, and had a nice tone to them for the most part, and it even got pretty dark towards the end. We've also been given a hint that the MC is presumably insanely powerful if he wants to, but is holding it back (or they're making him hold it back). The ecchi really took a backseat position as well, which was a nice surprise. Basically, there was a chick in a bunny costume at the start, and at one point the MC fell on a girls boobs (of course), but he played it off with a joke, which was pretty funny actually. To be honest, the MC seems to be pretty good when it comes to just interacting with people in general, and isn't just a complete doormat. The problem I have with this, however, is that it drifted a lot between serious action and comedy. I'm hoping that future missions will remain darker in tone, and the lighthearted comedy will be kept to when they are at the school, but I guess I won't get my hopes up too much.


Episode 3 Impressions:


Final Impressions:

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Anime Relations: Gangsta., Rokka no Yuusha, Ranpo Kitan: Game of Laplace, Gate: Jieitai Kanochi nite, Kaku Tatakaeri, Charlotte, Overlord, Monster Musume no Iru Nichijou

Charlotte:

First Impression - (8/10): Wow, really surprised by this. I was under the impression this would be just a normal SOL show (with the standard Key style), so I was not expecting superpowers. And they were actually used really well this episode, with what felt like one of the most "realistic" uses of superpowers in normal life. The MC is awesome, and it's also very funny. However, it does take a turn around the end of the episode, so we'll have to wait and see how the rest of the show plays out, but if it's anything like this episode, then I have no doubt it's gonna be great.


Episode 3 Impressions - (8/10): Still liking this, although I get the feeling that they will probably stick to the "episodic" setup they've got going for a while now. I mean, it's fine as long as it's entertaining to watch, and it's better than some forced overarching plot about saving the world, but I just feel like there could be more to it. I guess we'll just have to wait and see about that, though. As for everything else, it pretty much feels the same as first episode level of quality, although I gotta say I really, really hate Yusa... Misa is ok, but seeing how Yusa is the one that seems to get the most time as of now, that kinda sucks.


Final Impressions - (7/10): Honestly, I have to say I'm somewhat disappointed in this series. The concept of espers is one that I always like, but Charlotte has a lot of issues spread throughout, mostly regarding pacing and plot holes. In short I'd say the start of the series was the best IF they would have kept it like that. After a certain spoiler event in the series (in episode 6 or whenever it was), I felt like it sort of degraded a bit with the whole "the big man is after us"/time travel stuff. This is also where a lot of the plot holes start showing. Then, when that's finally done, you get something even more reached for, in terms of other syndicates. Honestly, that part felt so forced to me. Then we get episode 12 which I honestly thought was the best ending they could've done at that point. It's a great episode in that regard because there's a lot of closure about almost everything. What I didn't like about it however, is that the final part had to be its own episode. In my opinion it could've easily just been a post-credit scene after the entire thing, but no, we gotta watch some shitty montage with horrible pacing and major plot holes and the fucking power of courage (seriously...). It's totally possible that the pacing further in wouldn't have been so bad if they didn't start the series with like 3 episodes dedicated to finding random people who didn't even have any sort of impact on the series overall later on. But they did, and honestly this seems to be a pretty common thing in Jun's works. This guy either needs to change medium completely, or stop doing 12-episode shows. But all in all, I'd say it's worth a watch if you enjoy Jun's other works, but it wasn't exactly anything amazing.

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Gangsta.:

First Impression - (9/10): I gotta say, there was not a thing I didn't like with this episode. In all honesty, this is exactly what I expected it to be, which is awesome. It really delivers on all the "themes" it promises, it's refreshing to see adult characters actually look, and act, like adults instead of teens/kids, the action is good, and it has a dark and gritty tone without pushing itself to being too edgy. Characters were also really good, especially Nicolas. I think having a "deaf/mute" character as a main character is a really interesting thing, and I love how it's not just there as some stupid gimmick.


Episode 3 Impressions - (9/10): This is, no doubt, my contender for AotS as of now. It's everything I wanted it to be, and then some. It's dark and "mature" without pushing itself too far over the "2edy4me" line, it manages to be funny at the times when it wants to be, Alex is a great way to explain a lot of the setting and backstory without making it seem like forced exposition, and last of all, the fight scenes are awesome. Not only are they really well animated, and flow well (as short as they are), but every damn time Nicolas has spoken during a fight, it just gives me goosebumps, not gonna lie. Seems like it'll focus a lot more on our little cast of characters, as well, as opposed to introducing some "grand threat" that they suddenly need to save the world from as acting heroes, because that would not fit what's going on at all, so I rather hope it just focuses on them, to be honest.


Final Impressions - (7/10): I hate to say that this is probably the most disappointing show of this season. Starting off by introducing this crime-ridden city where gangsters and outlaws rule, and then building on top of that with the Twilights was really cool, and introducing Alex as a "main character" worked well on so many levels. Introducing the case that lays way for the final story arc wasn't bad in itself either, but I felt like at this point it started feeling like nothing was really happening. And it wasn't like nothing was happening, a lot of stuff were actually happening, but it just felt so very slow, perhaps because of the insane amounts of various flashbacks and all that they had for all of the characters (even secondary ones). And then comes the ending, and the episode is like 50% exposition, a flashback, and practically like an unfinished fight scene. I've seen some shitty endings in my days, but this is definitely up there. The one and only reason this isn't rated lower than 7 is because of the first half, which I really, really liked. Honestly, so very disappointing...

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Gate: Jieitai Kanochi nite, Kku Tatakaeri:

First Impression:


Episode 3 Impressions:


Final Impressions:

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Monster Musume no Iru Nichijou:

First Impression - (7/10): Ok so, I'm still sort of unsure why I'm even watching this to begin with (seeing as how it's not related to Monster Girl Quest, like I originally thought), but I gotta say, it's not... bad. Seems to me like it focuses a lot more on the comedic aspect rather than the ecchi aspect, even to the point where it mostly uses the ecchi stuff to make way for more comedic content. Also the fact that this is actually about the MC not being able to get any of the girls (due to a law), but they try to "seduce" him makes it kind of different, I guess. All in all, I'd say that it's pretty funny, and so far I don't see the ecchi stuff being a big enough thing to drop it just because of that.


Episode 3 Impressions - (7/10): While I still think this is pretty funny, I'm not too hyped about the "marriage" part of it all. Seems like this basically changes what makes it work to begin with. However, now we've finally been introduced to Suu (obviously best girl), so hopefully it'll just continue being a funny show, but we'll see.


Final Impressions - (7/10): Honestly, I probably liked this more than I would've originally thought. Even though the ecchi content ramps up pretty damn hard after a few episodes, I think it stayed on that same level of funny that it was on at the start, and as more of the girls got introduced it added a nice dynamic since they were all different (for the most part). Some girls obviously didn't get nearly enough time, like Lala, but honestly I'd be surprised if there wasn't a second season for this (it's hinted at in the final episode). Even more so because, at its core this is a harem series, and there was absolutely no resolution as of this season (there's literally a ploy going on to get him to like a girl more, but he starts liking all of them more). I'm not saying I expect a full-on resolution like him choosing a single girl in the end, but some sort of closure in terms of that is nice, and not picking the harem-ending. I also didn't think the fanservice was too bad, since it mostly was there for the sake of comedy, and not for fanservice itself.

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Overlord:

First Impression - (7/10): So, this is probably the slowest start of any show this season, but that's ok, because all that time is basically spent trying to explain the situation and all. Honestly, I'm not worried about this becoming an SAO or LH "clone" just because they both have the premises of being stuck in games, since the setup for this is so different. Momonga was also pretty cool, but honestly, I think we can all agree that Albedo is the best there is (and not just best girl). I mean, that yandere face in the ED...


Episode 3 Impressions:


Final Impressions:

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Ranpo Kidan: Game of Laplace:

First Impression - (6/10): So this is a show I originally didn't plan on watching this season (didn't even know it existed until just now), and even after this I'm not so sure I've changed my mind on that matter. Basically, this is a mystery/horror show, about finding a serial killer. There are a few things I really don't like about it though. First of all, the "artsy" way they deal with background characters. Basically, every character that's not important in some way is just a grey silhouette. I understand that this is sort of supposed to be symbolic for how the MC views the world and all, but it really just breaks the scene totally when you get a bunch of grey dudes standing around talking... Other than that, the characters are kinda 50/50 for me atm. I don't really think I like Kobayashi both looking like a girl (and sounding like one), but also acting very girly in general, and I don't like the friend at all; he's just way too forced and stupid. On the other hand, the detective dude is cool, so. So I think in the end my biggest gripes with this show will come down to the fact that it'll be scenes filled with grey dudes everywhere, and that it will most likely focus a lot more on Kobayashi (and as a result, his friend as well), instead of the detective dude.


Episode 2 - DROPPED


Final Impressions - (5/10): Honestly, I just can't see this as a good show, and especially not a good mystery show at that. Everything that bothered me in the first episode seem like they're gonna be a constant thing in the series, and that first case was just really, really bad. One of my biggest gripes with it was that the "clues" that solve the case for them are things that they just make up at the time of the "solution revelation". Seriously, if you went back to watch the episodes, knowing everything they use to solve the case, then you wouldn't spot a single thing, because there's nothing that you as a viewer can find. I also really hate the characters. The girl who was the culprit in the first case was just plain stupid, and the guy who follows the MC around is so retarded it hurts. He yells at people for things that you should not yell at people for, and acts like he's the "good guy" because of it. God.

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Rokka no Yuusha:

First Impression - (7/10): This show has some great things going for it, but during the entire time I was watching it, I still never really felt like "this is totally an 8/10". Not sure why, but that's how it is now... Anyway, the unarguably best part about this was definitely the action scenes. They're fast, fluid, and the cinematography is actually really, really good. You get a lot of different angles that works together with the animation movements, and it really helps making the scene feel "moving". I mean, even during dialog they did a lot of camera movement that just really added so much to the scene. Honestly, I don't think there's much more to say about anything until we actually get to see the other characters or they expand a bit more on the story (unless it's literally just gonna be them fighting demons for 12 episodes).


Episode 3 Impressions:


Final Impressions:

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Anime Relations: Houkago no Pleiades (TV), Ninja Slayer From Animation, Yahari Ore no Seishun Love Comedy wa Machigatteiru. Zoku, Kekkai Sensen, Owari no Seraph, Nagato Yuki-chan no Shoushitsu, Plastic Memories, Dungeon ni Deai wo Motomeru no wa Machigatteiru Darou ka, Arslan Senki (TV), Kyoukai no Rinne, Punch Line, Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works 2nd Season, Grisaia no Meikyuu: Caprice no Mayu 0, Grisaia no Rakuen

Arslan Senki:

First Impression - (5/10): I'm not gonna say this was disappointing, since that implies I had any sort of expectations from this, but I will say that this was definitely not as good as it ought to have been. What we got is a setting, and a cast that's so bland and uninteresting, it's hard to even care about them possibly dying. The biggest fault here, though, is that the entire episode is spent on something that absolutely did not need to take up that much time. At the end of the episode, we get a 1-minute long segment, with narration and a timeskip, that tells us how now we're at the part where the story should've been like halfway through the episode. It's just so incredibly stupid. This one is high on the list of probable drops this season.


Episode 3 Impressions:


Final Impressions:

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Fate/Stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works 2nd Season:

First Impression - (8/10): It's finally back, and it's as great as ever! Nothing has changed in terms of quality, and it''s really nice that they picked up right where they left off (technically it's just a split cour, not entirely different seasons, in that sense), so a lot of stuff happened this episode, which in turn sets up for a lot of stuff to happen during the rest of the show. HYPE. As small as it may be, the new OP is also really good.


Episode 3 Impressions - (9/10): So far, this has managed to be a good mix of action and story, I'd say. These last few episodes have been really, really intense, which I hope the entire season will be as well. There isn't really much else to say about this at the moment, since it's the same old, good stuff as the first cour. Only thing would be that I'm surprised that a certain character (and servant) were taken out of the game so early. Really expected them to have more of a presence in this season, but I guess they don't have much to do with UBW at all. Also, this series probably has one of, if not the best OP of all shows this season. Like, I actually listen to it every time, that's how good it is.


Final Impressions - (10/10): Just outright amazing. I previously said that the reason I gave the first cour a 9 instead of a 10 was because it lacked that "emotional punch", and that I expected it to come in the second cour, and boy, was I right. Honestly, the fight/conversation between Archer and Shirou was one of the most beautiful episodes I have ever seen, and I'm pretty sure I had chills the entire time while watching that. Many tears were also shed once characters started to die off, as well. To be honest, I knew a lot of stuff that was going to happen here (not from reading the VN, I just suck at not spoiling shit for myself), and a lot of it still packed quite a punch, so to speak. Also, I've said it before, and I'll say it again. Aimer's "Brave Shine" (the OP) is seriously amazing. I've listened to it so much, and I never skipped a single OP of this, which is pretty unusual. So, while I still enjoy F/Z more as a whole, this season is definitely up there among the best, and I can't wait for HF when we eventually get that!

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Grisaia no Meikyuu: Caprice no Mayu 0:

Impressions - (8/10): I've got to say, this was really good. Not only does it set up for future events (when Yuuji's past catches up to him), but I thought it did a very good job of explaining just how fucked up Yuuji's childhood was, and why he turned out like he did. Spending an entire 50 minutes on this allowed them to fit a lot of stuff that would've otherwise gotten lost if this was just a normal flashback episode, and as a result, it also had a nice pacing, without anything that really felt like "filler". Had it been possible, I would've of course preferred this quality for all the character's backstories, but that's never going to happen. This has definitely gotten my hopes up for Grisaia no Rakuen though.

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Grisaia no Rakuen:

First Impression - (8/10): Really solid first episode, that basically just picks up right where Meikyuu left off. We get (what I assume is) the last of Yuuji's backstory, and these two parts have really changed the way you perceive Yuuji, in my opinion, for the better. He's no longer just a mysterious "do-it-all", for the sake of it, but has a reason, and background. At this point, I think the one thing I'm most worried about for Rakuen is that it'll tell the story the same way they did in Kajitsu, where they went for the "every route" approach, which basically disrupts the pacing completely, and we never get enough time to go into any important details.


Episode 3 Impressions:


Final Impressions:

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Houkago no Pleiades:

First Impression - (4/10): I'm astounded by how bad this was... What this turned out to be is a huge clusterfuck of incoherent ideas mashed into one show, really. The characters are so flat and uninteresting (and trying to force like 3 of those "backstory" talks on us in the very first episode, like wat), the actual story is so incoherent that even the characters say they have no idea what's going on, and half the episode was made entirely with god-awful CGI. How low of a budget went into making this series? Why do I still give Gainax a chance? So many questions...

Episode 1 - DROPPED


Final Impressions - (4/10): After all this time I just have zero interest in picking this up again to give it another shot. The first episode was just way too bad, and from what I've seen other people say about it, it doesn't exactly get that much better either.

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Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?:

First Impression - (7/10): While it wasn't bad, I guess it wasn't exactly great either. I am, however, leaning more towards good, though. I really like the setting and concept of the gods and dungeons, there's a chance the fights could be pretty cool once they start doing some actual fighting, and for what it's worth, having Kirito's VA do yet another show like this feels nice, I guess. On the bad side, we have really obvious, stupid drama and a love triangle, which if it takes up a large part of the series, is really gonna bring it down, in my opinion.


Episode 3 Impressions:


Final Impressions:

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Kekkai Sensen:

First Impression - (8/10): This is shaping up to be a real good season for action shows, guys. While this started out kinda slow, the setting is very cool, and they gave a good amount of depth to it so early on. The MC is not a total pushover, we have Sawashiro Miyuki among the cast (although only as a minor role), and what we've seen of the fighting actually looks really awesome (it's reminiscent of styles such as Kill la Kill, imo, but not as over the top). There were also times during this episode where the animation was really, really well done, which was nice to see. Let's see if they can keep this all up for an entire season.


Episode 3 Impressions:


Final Impressions:

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Kyoukai no Rinne:

First Impression - (7/10): This was surprisingly good. I love how lighthearted it is, and how it doesn't take itself seriously, it's funny, and the art is nice. Rinne himself kind of gives me Noragami vibes, and at least throughout this episode, the "money" gag didn't get boring to me, so that's nice.


Episode 3 Impressions:


Final Impressions:

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Nagato Yuki-chan no Shoushitsu:

First Impression - (6/10): I truly don't know what was up with this. I'd like to say that I didn't really have any expectations, but I probably did have some pretty high expectations deep down, after the awesomeness that was the Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya, but what I saw from this first episode was just a huge let down, to be honest. I was totally ready for the fact that they would've completely dropped the entire mystery/fantasy aspect of the original series, but what we end up with feels like they just took the characters and put them in various "funny sketches". There's no real purpose to anything, like the original series kinda had, and things just happen because. The changes made to Nagato (basically making her less of a dandere, or at least just a more vocal character) also feel incredibly off, and just make her feel like a weird, completely unfamiliar character. I'm gonna give this 3 episodes, but I'm not having high hopes after this...


Episode 3 Impressions:


Final Impressions:

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Ninja Slayer:

First Impression - (6/10): My mind is so amazingly blown away I don't even know what's up. Let's just get one thing out of the way right away. If you go into this expecting a serious show in ANY way at all, you're gonna have a bad time. I personally had absolutely zero expectations for this, since I knew nothing about the source material, nor have I seen Inferno Cop (which is apparently really similar to this). What you get when you watch this is some real powerpoint clip-art animation (not joking), with satire that's so over the top that it's impossible to actually tell if they're trying to be serious or not. However, I did actually enjoy this episode (like a 7/10), just because of how utterly insane, and hilarious it was. On top of that, despite the "shitty" art, the voice acting is surprisingly really, really good.

After watching the episode, I also set out to find out what could possible ever inspire something like this, and I've come to the conclusion that knowing the source for this franchise might be pretty important in how you end up viewing it. Basically, it was said that this was written by two Americans who tweeted each other back and forth, and as such this would be "an american's take on japanese sci-fi and martial arts", in a really over the top, and satirical/stereotypical way. However, there seems to be no real evidence for this, and now it's thought that the two Americans are just fictional, although the part about the story being written through tweets is apparently still true (ya...). It's actually been adapted into 3 different manga, which all look very different (one is apparently like super ecchi, while one actually looks like a really good, well-drawn, well-written story. It's also been made into a LN, which I want to share a part from, just to give you a taste of it...

“Yeeart!”
“Yeeart!” Ninja Slayer’s suriken attacks cannot breakthrough the muteki attitude defense.
“Yeeart!”
“Yeeart!” The suriken get rejected one after the other.
“Yeeart!”
“Yeeart!” At this rate, he’ll make no progress. Realizing this, Fujikido Kenji made a new move.
“Yeeart!” First, he threw a suriken.
“Yeeart!” Iron Vise turned his body to steel again.
“Yeeart!” Then he threw another suriken.
“Yeeart!” Iron Vise defended himself in the same manner again.
But while turned to steel, Iron Vise cannot move for one instant. So if that’s the case, how about throwing suriken even faster?
The first teachings of Ninja Slayer’s instructor Master Dragon Gendoso-sensei echoed in the neurons of his brain.
“Fight fire with fire? One cannot. Make up your mind to fight fire with speed and even deadlier speed you shall create. If the enemy doesn’t fall after a hundred suriken, throw a thousand.”
Ninja Slayer swung both his arms alternately around like a hellish pitching machine throwing a suriken every zero point five seconds.
“Yeeart!” Throw!
“Yeeart!” Muteki attitude defense.
“Yeeart!” Throw!
“Yeeart!” Muteki attitude defense.
“Yeeart!” Throw!
“Yeeart!” Muteki attitude defense.
“Yeeart!” Throw!
“Yeeart?” Muteki attitude defense.

So basically, this entire franchise is just a big pile of satire that's so off-the-rails, it's kind of amazing. I don't think a lot of people will change their mind about enjoying this, despite knowing all of this, and even though the episodes are only 12 minutes long, I don't know if this will continue being funny for 26 entire episodes, but I guess we'll just have to wait and see. Some people also think that this first episode was just a "bait-and-switch", and that the other episodes will be more like what the PVs showed, but I'm not so sure. I mean, we still get pretty high-quality "actual" animation in between all the clip-art shit, so there's that.

But yea, I personally found this hilarious, and that's the only reason I think you would ever watch this. We'll see how long it works for, though.

Also, this... http://gfycat.com/TerribleNimbleBuzzard


Episode 3 Impressions - (6/10): I mean... There really is no other way to look at it other than "this is what a revenge ninja story would look like if the most stereotypical weeaboo made it". Still, I personally don't think it's bad, although I definitely don't think everyone will enjoy this type of thing. It's also not like "haha, that's hilarious" most of the time like certain other comedy shows, which is why it gets a 6 and not a 7 from me. But yea, you really have to watch this for yourself to have any idea of what's going on.


Final Impressions:

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Oregairu 2:

First Impression - (7/10): Loved the first season, and even though this episode isn't anything mind-blowing, it's pretty good, and still has that same feel as the previous season. Even if they don't do anything big in terms of development or anything, I think I'd be rather satisfied with this season just following the same format.


Episode 3 Impressions - (8/10): Lots of drama this season so far. It still has that same, good comedy, but there's definitely a lot more drama now than the start of the first season, I guess. Then again, this same drama will most likely eventually lead to pretty major character development, which will be interesting to see. Other than that, still same old Oregairu.


Final Impressions - (9/10): Can't say I thought it was a super good ending, since I mean, it's basically not an ending at all, but at the same time, I liked this entire season a lot. I mean, you still have the same funny stuff from s1, but you have insane amounts of character development here (which you really didn't have in s1), which I think is awesome. Expecting at least one more installment in this series (whether it's a full-feature series or an OVA), just to have something to wrap it all up completely. Because honestly, this leaves way too much stuff in the air (as opposed to first season's ending, which was much less open than this).

---------------------------------
Owari no Seraph:

First Impression - (8/10): Didn't expect much from this initially, to be honest, but from the very start it's dark, grim, and intense, and it manages to keep that up throughout the entire episode. Like, I'm somewhat amazed that what happened did actually happen, since I was not prepared for this at all. Gonna be interesting to see if they'll keep the same style up, or if it'll change after this.


Episode 3 Impressions - (8/10): I was surprised to see that both the second and third episode have a lot more of a "comedic" tone to them. They still have part of that dark tone from the first episode as well, though, it just doesn't have 100% focus anymore. And to be honest, I'm fine with this, because of how good the characters and the series itself has been so far. The action is really good, Shinoa is best girl, and the MC is not aggravating in any way, basically. With the end of this episode, we'll also probably see some major story progress in the next few episodes, which will be awesome.


Final Impressions:

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Plastic Memories:

First Impression - (8/10): Went into this not really knowing much more than that it was sci-fi and there were human-like androids. Right away I was told MC fell in love with an android, and the androids have a short lifespan. From the very get-go it's so very apparent how this series will most likely end, and yet I can't help but feel like it's still gonna hit hard... This first episode had some sort of funny bits, although some parts were kinda off, but when it wanted to be sad, it really was sad, and I hope they manage to do well in showing the relationships and the grief and departures of the rest of the androids they need to retrieve, while at the same time not completely messing up the MCs development, as it'll be pretty important in this show. Definitely gonna be an interesting one.


Episode 3 Impressions:


Final Impressions:

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Punchline:

First Impression - (6/10): Seeing how I didn't have high expectations for this at all, after having read the description and seeing it tagged ecchi, I have to say I'm pleasantly surprised. It had some really funny parts, I thought, and the ecchi (which is actually just panty shots) weren't overwhelming in any way (there were like, 4 of them total in this episode or something). The reason I'm rating this a 6, rather than a 7, is only because the "story" and all they're trying to present makes absolutely no sense, and they don't seem to want to put any effort into explaining any of it. If that's just something to get the series going, and following this it's gonna focus almost only on the comedy aspect (and not the weird crime-fighting shit), then it's a 7 instead.

Episode 1 - DROPPED


Final Impressions - (6/10): Another show I lost interest in picking up again, especially after reading a bit about it. Seems to pull a lot of really dumb shit, and apparently doesn't get much better in any department I hoped it would get better in, so there's really no point in watching this anymore, imo.

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Anime Relations: Kantai Collection: KanColle, Seiken Tsukai no World Break, Koufuku Graffiti, Ansatsu Kyoushitsu, Yuri Kuma Arashi, Aldnoah.Zero Part 2, Tokyo Ghoul √A, Death Parade

Aldnoah.Zero 2nd Season:

First Impression - (7/10): Ok so, let's just get it out of the way. I would've preferred it if it didn't turn out like this. With that said, I'm not all too salty, seeing how they had a very good explanation for how it happened, but still a little bit disappointed. This, coupled with the fact that we currently really have nothing to hype over is my reason for giving it only a 7, but I'm confident it'll get a higher score as we get further into the series. In general, this season seems like it's gonna be pretty much "this OP character vs this OP character", which will be topped off with a huge shitstorm once certain characters meet again. Let's just hope this entire season just doesn't turn into a giant asspull.


Episode 3 Impressions:


Final Impressions:

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Ansatsu Kyoushitsu:

First Impression - (8/10): Holy shit, this is so good. Reading the description of it makes it seem like a pretty whacky premise, but when actually watching it you'll notice that they really took this whole thing to the extreme, and they managed to pull it off. It's just a perfect mix of weirdness, humor, and a tiny bit of actually relevant character interactions. I think a lot of the enjoyment from this is not only gonna come from watching them come up with different ways to kill him, but also how the sub-story develops, as seen near the end of the first episode. There's definitely a lot of room for much more to take place, other than simply "comedic assassination attempts". Other things of note is that I found it has a very interesting art style. I can't quite put my finger on an accurate comparison, but it's definitely something else, and I think it fits very well. Finally, the ED was also really good, which was nice to wrap such a wonderful start up.


Episode 3 Impressions:


Final Impressions:

---------------------------------

Death Parade:

First Impression - (8/10): Had sort of mixed feelings after this episode, but ultimately decided that it leaned more towards an 8 than a 7. See, the thing here is that I constantly compared the episode to Death Billiards, and in pretty much every aspect, the latter came out on top. However, I think it's important to note the difference between the series and OVA here. Death Billiards focus entirely on the story of those two, and since that is its sole focus, they can do much more with it (even in the same amount of time). Death Parade, on the other hand, seems like it's going to be focus a bit more on Queen Decim, using the games to tell that story, or simply weaving them into the episodes to create some of these really tense moments. The thing I'm mostly hoping for here is pretty much a conflicting match-up. This is something I think Death Billiards did very well, in that you might not have been certain who to root for until near the end. I also think some of this first couple's "revelations" that came up felt kind of rushed, like they were only included for the sake of being included, but were never added upon in any way. Still though, having high hopes for this nonetheless.


Final Impressions - (8/10): First of all, damn that last episode was sad. Second, any doubt I had about this show after the first episode are now a mere memory. In short, this is just as good, if not better, than Death Billiards, so if you like that, you'll definitely like this. the side-stories didn't take too much focus from Quindecim and its guests (which let's be honest, is primarily why you watch this), and the actual sub-story involving Chiyuki and Decim was very, very well written, imo. The characters were all very well written, although some couples were a bit less morally grey than you'd expect from this. Still, that does make sense in the context (not everyone have done something really bad in their lives, for example), and ultimately I don't think it detracted too much from the experience. If you enjoy shows that deal more with humans as a subject, then I highly recommend this.

---------------------------------

Kantai Collection: KanColle:

First Impression - (7/10): First thing that got my attention here was definitely the art. It had very nice, slick art in general, and for the most part it also had very good CGI (although there were a few places where it was definitely just 'off'). Hard to say much about the story or anything at this point, other than it looks like the battles could be very cool. One of the only complaints I have (and it's more of a nitpick) is that even though I've never played, or watched the game, I could instantly tell when they ripped a "one-liner" from the game during battles. Most of the time it just felt pretty out of place, and I hope that not all battles are gonna be filled with those.


Episode 3 Impressions - (7/10): Holy shit. The turn this took from cutesy moe SOL was just way too unexpected. Nevertheless, it's awesome if they stick with it. Up until this episode, I thought this was a great mix of moe SOL and action, and now we've got that last ingredient that was missing to really make this shine. The CGI is definitely holding up in terms of quality, which is awesome, and my problem regarding the "one-liners" from the game appears to be of the past. I hope they can make something good out of this, and that they stick to this tone for the remainder of the series. Could be really good.


Final Impressions:

---------------------------------

Koufuku Graffiti:

First Impression - (7/10): That was... Not at all what I imagined. I thought it was going to be pretty much the girls cooking for basically the entire episodes, and them having various shenanigans while doing so, with a ton of head tilts and other SHAFT-like quirks. Instead, we got this SOL series, that uses cooking more as a central plot theme. However, I'm definitely not saying it's bad because of this, just that it wasn't what I had guessed from initial info on it. Once they introduce the rest of the main cast, it might turn out very enjoyable despite this, we'll see. If there's one thing I'd actually have to complain about, it's that some items rendered with CGI stood out a bit too much. Like, blatantly. Speaking of art, at least so far, this doesn't seem like a show you'd watch to see some good ol' SHAFT, because this seems much more like Hidamari Sketch-SHAFT, than Monogatari-SHAFT. In that entire episode, there was basically only one part where you could really feel that "there is no doubt this is SHAFT".


Episode 3 - DROPPED


Final Impressions - (6/10): Unfortunately, I don't think this is for me. While the level of SHAFT definitely increased in the last couple of episodes, there's way too little focus on the actual cooking (as in, the cooking process, as opposed to eating good food in a sensual way), and much more about them becoming friends with each other. On top of that, there's been a lot of dumb "drama" (if you'd go as far as to call it that), which felt so incredibly forced. At least it did fanservice in an interesting way.

---------------------------------

Seiken Tsukai no World Break:

First Impression - (6/10): This was... not all that good, I've gotta say. For starters that was like one of the most clusterfuck starts of an anime I've seen in a while (from a show that doesn't want to be all mind-boggling and stuff), the action scenes were pretty mediocre, and I really hate Satsuki. Every time she opened her mouth it was just something obnoxious, and all she did was scream, all the damn time. Does it have potential to be something better, with its premise? Definitely. Somehow, I doubt they'll pull that off before episode 3 though, in which case I'm dropping this.


Episode 1 - DROPPED


Final Impressions - (6/10): First episode wasn't all that good, and it's so obvious that it's just going to be a generic battle-shounen, really.The low rating it currently has on MAL (7.08) also indicates that it's not exactly doing anything extravagant.

---------------------------------

Tokyo Ghoul √A:

First Impression - (8/10): It's back, and as good as ever! Not only are we going to get an entire season of badass Kaneki, but it seems like there will be a lot less censoring as well (this episode had next to none). My only complain here is actually about the OP and ED. Compared to Unravel, this OP is just plain bad, and if anything it actually sounds more like an ED than anything else. The actual ED here is pretty good though, but the OP is such a definite skip each and every time. Still though, Aogiri hype!


Episode 3 Impressions - (8/10): There's definitely no arguing that it's been somewhat of a slow start. We're getting glimpses of Agori and various other action scenes, but a lot of it is mostly showing how the characters are handling the events of the first season, which I'm totally fine with, to be honest. This way, we'll get to know the characters better again (which may be needed for some) before things really go all out in the action-department. These first few episodes have also raised a handful of questions (regarding the twins, what Kaneki's actual goal is, etc), which I'm actually really interested in getting to know the answer of, so I'm completely fine with less action as of now. On top of that, whenever there actually is an action scenes, they're really well done, and not censored to kingdom come anymore, which is awesome.


Final Impressions:

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Yuri Kuma Arashi:

First Impression - (6/10): What. The. Fuck? I mean... Let's recap what we've got here. There is yuri, there are bears, and there are yuri bears. On top of that, like 90% of everything that was shown was basically blatant symbolism. Then again, this is the same director as Utena and Penguindrum, so I guess that isn't all too weird, and it's the only reason I'm giving this series the benefit of the doubt as for now. If this doesn't step its game up by episode 3, then I'll most definitely drop it.


Episode 3 - DROPPED


Final Impressions - (6/10): I was very torn on this series, but ultimately I've decided to drop it. This is my first time watching any work by Ikuhara, although I've seen a lot of people say this is him really pushing the limits, which I think makes sense. I don't exactly have a problem with the story being told almost entirely through symbolism, but more with just how slowly it's all moving along. Each episode, we get a lot of "reused footage" with different dialog and whatnot, and the way I understand it is that this is also common to Ikuhara's works. The only real problem I have with it in this case is that it slows down the storytelling a bit too much, and every episode I'm forced to sit through the most annoying scene in the entire series ("Yuri Approved").

On top of this, the characters don't have anything going for them. I know Kureha's name, but could not even attempt to name any of the other characters, because I just don't think they have any trait whatsoever that separates them from the rest of the cast. This is all a bit too bad, since the message the series is trying to convey (about homosexuality and growing up) is a good one, it's just that it's covered in too much crap this time around.

---------------------------------

Anime Relations: Grisaia no Kajitsu, Donten ni Warau, Shingeki no Bahamut: Genesis, Ushinawareta Mirai wo Motomete, Amagi Brilliant Park, Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works, Sanzoku no Musume Ronja, Kiseijuu: Sei no Kakuritsu, Terra Formars, Sora no Method, Gugure! Kokkuri-san, Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso, Psycho-Pass 2, Log Horizon 2nd Season, Nanatsu no Taizai, Denki-gai no Honya-san, Orenchi no Furo Jijou, World Trigger, Madan no Ou to Vanadis, Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu., Akatsuki no Yona, Trinity Seven, Inou-Battle wa Nichijou-kei no Naka de, Yuuki Yuuna wa Yuusha de Aru, Cross Ange: Tenshi to Ryuu no Rondo, Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works Prologue

Akatsuki no Yona:

First Impression - (7/10): This was sort of decent, I guess. It started off really girly and all, though it was rather funny, with the most obvious twist ever seen in the distance. That ending scene (as well as the very first) makes me think it could actually have some good action, and watching Yona and Hak interact more would be fun. Other than that (since we still don't really know what the hell the actual story is), the only thing I have to say is that damn, these are some really oblivious characters. I mean, what the hell was that scene with Soo-Won dragging her into the room?!


Episode 3 Impressions - (7/10): This is really starting to shape up, I think. It still has some of the minor problems from episode 1, but most of it is definitely going in a better direction, so to speak. Even though it is a shoujo, it doesn't seem to share a lot of tropes common to that genre (not actually a genre, but you know what I mean), except for the fact that the appearance of all the males is all swoon-y. As for now, I'm just hoping they don't drag the whole "Yona is sad and can't cope with what's happening" thing out too much. Also, to be honest, episode 3 was kinda all over the place with all those flashbacks... They should try to cut down on those.

Episode 3 - DROPPED


Final Impressions - (6/10): While this show wasn't exactly bad, and I'm right where they'd probably start picking things up, I still feel like it doesn't really have anything that really pulls you in. I guess you'd say that it's a really decent series. Not bad, but not that good either.

---------------------------------

Amagi Brilliant Park:

First Impression - (7/10): While the animation is exactly like every other KyoAni series, I have to say everything else doesn't really seem like it (at least it's not just moe on moe on moe). First thing I noticed was how incredibly much Isuzu sounds like Saito Chiwa, but turns out she's not voiced by her. She's voiced by Kakuma Ai, who voiced characters like Ruuko, from WIXOSS. Like, what? That is an incredible difference in her voice... Anyway, back to the actual show. It had its share of funny moments, and for the most part, it felt pretty much exactly like a decent SOL, at the very least, but holy shit, I did not expect that twist at the end! I think this could either make the series very interesting, or very dumb, so we'll have to see about that.


Episode 3 Impressions - (7/10): If I'm gonna be honest, I like this show, but I am pretty disappointed at how little the magic-part of it has been used. I mean, yes, it's still funny, and it has rather likable characters and all, but when they build up the mind-reading so much once it's introduced, you'd expect them to actually let it at least play some kind of role in the series as a whole. Granted, we're still only 3 episodes in, but that's more or less 2 episodes where it has been completely ignored, so that's a minus in my book.

Episode 4 - DROPPED


Final Impressions - (7/10): Another series that is definitely not bad by any means. The reason I drop this is more because it's too much SOL for me to finish at this point, and I'm still really disappointed that they haven't taken the mind-reading thing further, since that could've made for some really interesting situations.

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Cross Ange: Tenshi to Ryuu no Rondo:

First Impression - (7/10): Wow, this was a really dark first episode. At first, the world seemed kinda uninteresting, but once they introduced the Norma I think it actually got really interesting. If the series keeps up roughly the same tone it had this episode, and don't go all shitty shounen mecha, then I think this could turn out incredibly good, as long as the plot proceeds at a reasonable pace as well. Also, I really liked the ED.


Episode 3 - DROPPED


Final Impressions - (6/10): Honestly, the fanservice is kinda killing it for me. The world wasn't as interesting as I initially thought, the story is pretty weak, and so are the characters, so when you mix all that together, and your final effort is to just cram as much fanservice into your shit series as you possibly can, then you're not gonna get very far... The concept of it all, what with the discrimination between Norma and the others could've been very interesting, had it been executed better, or simply written into a better story, but as is, that's not the case, so I'm dropping this.

---------------------------------

Denki-gai no Honya-san:

First Impression - (7/10): So this was pretty decent overall. Pretty funny, without overuse of sex jokes like most other seinen comedy (even tho this episode focused a lot on ero manga), and I love the use of the short scene changes for comedic effect. Since it's basically about these people with their different weird quirks tho, I'd love if different episodes focused more on different characters and their traits. Not really much else to say about it, as it'll prob be a pretty standard episodic comedy.


Episode 3 - DROPPED


Final Impressions - (6/10): So like, despite what I said in my first impression, I don't think this show is for me. In my opinion, there are so many better comedy series to watch, rather than something that's kinda only funny now and then. In fact, a lot of episode 2 was just kind of annoying, I think. So yea, it's not exactly bad in any way, but it's not for me, I'd say.

---------------------------------

Donten ni Warau:

Episode 1 - DROPPED


Final Impressions - (6/10): This was pretty much just OK. For me, it mostly comes down to the fact that it didn't really have anything special to get you hooked, so to speak. It has pretty art, and was somewhat funny at, but at the same time it's trying to throw all this drama at you, and it's just uninteresting, because you don't care about the characters at all at this point. I don't know, maybe it'll pick up a lot once the actual story gets going (because at this point, there is basically none), but I'm not gonna stick around to see...

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Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works (TV):

Prologue Impressions - (8/10): Damn. Simply amazing work by Ufotable here. Aside from looking absolutely fantastic (I mean, seriously), I loved the interactions between Rin and Archer, and it had really good pacing for a prologue episode (felt like 20 minutes max, even though it was almost 50). However, one thing I noticed is that they didn't really explain much in terms of how everything works, but maybe they'll do that in later episodes, I dunno. Point is, Ufotable's done it again. Keep this up, and this could be AotS.

First Impression - (8/10): I could really get used to the 50-minute format (too bad it's over now). Anyway, the Unlimited Budget Works continues, and upholds the same amazing quality as the prologue. Seriously, watching this makes me sad when I think about how not all series are this well-animated. As for the episode itself, I loved seeing the events of the prologue from Shirou's perspective, and the Saber vs. Lancer fight was awesome. Rin is still best girl, and Saber's face when Shirou used the command seal was just priceless. I'm really excited to see the rest of the servants (not as much the masters, but who knows), especially since I'm really interested in how Berserker is in F/SN, seeing who is master is (I've only seen F/Z, and the berserker there is the only thing I can think of in that context, which makes imagining berserker with his master in F/SN really weird...). This is definitely the one that's hardest to wait a week for every time. Unlimited Hype Works continues!


Episode 3 Impressions - (9/10): Man, oh man. It's been a really long time since I woke up any day of the week, and was really excited it was finally that day. The first thing I thought of when I woke up this morning was "finally new F/SN episode!". Too bad it airs in the evenings for me tho, not in the mornings. Anyway, the amazing production quality is still here, and this episode, where we got to see more of Archer's abilities, looked really awesome. Speaking of which, I managed to spoil a pretty major thing for myself, but I'm not gonna let that bother me when it comes to this show. Illya is a lot creepier than I expected, so I kinda want to see more of her, just because, y'know. This remains AotS as of now, and I doubt that will have changed by the end of the season.


Final Impressions - (9/10): Waiting until April is gonna kill me. This was definitely one of the best of the season, along with Parasyte. It's close to everything I love about Fate/Zero, and ufotable just never fails to impress. The one and only reason this doesn't get a 10 from me is because it lacked that "emotional punch", so to speak. I expect this to come in the second cour, but for now there hasn't really been such a gut-wrenching scene that pretty much all my 10s have. The animation is still some of the best I've seen, the characters are awesome, and it's still the same old Fate/. I can't wait for 2nd cour.

---------------------------------

Grisaia no Kajitsu:

First Impression - (8/10): Holy shit that was good! All the characters were plain awesome, it was really funny at the times when it wanted to be, the MC is simply awesome as well, what with him being all cool, and mysterious, and how he is more calm and collected, so to speak. In the same vein, even though there were a few fanservice parts, I didn't really mind at all, because they were either greatly overshadowed by the surrounding scene, or just the fact that the MC didn't actually react to it and make a big deal out of it (no "EEEEEEEHHH?!" super-intense-blushing-and-stuttering) just made you kinda do the same, and not give it too much attention. Finally, holy shit that ending. Really interested to see where this will go.


Episode 3 Impressions - (8/10): You know, the more I watch this, the more unsure I become whether this or Parasyte is truly the second best of the season. This series undoubtedly has some of the best characters, and definitely the best MC (but Rin still best girl). The one thing is that it's apparently only going to be 13 episodes, and seeing how it hasn't really gotten going for real, so to speak, I have these small thoughts that maybe it'll feel rushed towards the end, or alternatively, that it'll end in a really intense moment and we'll have to wait for season 2... Don't get me wrong though, I really like the whole thing they're doing with the "setup" here, in fact I could probably settle with an all-out SOL show with these characters in this setting, but since I know what type of show this will turn into, I'm really eager to see it happen.


Final Impressions - (7/10): To think that I initially thought that this would rival Parasyte in terms of quality. Oh, how wrong I was, it seems. The worst thing about this show is definitely that they tried to fit every single route into a 1-cour series. This means 5 girls all need to have their story explained and their issues resolved in a total of 13 episodes only. Even though I haven't read the VN, I can easily notice how they've cut a lot of stuff to fit it all in there, and it's really unfortunate, because a lot of these things could have such a severe emotional impact on you, but it just falls flat, most of the time. Even when the story is explained relatively well (like in the best arc, imo, Yumi's), then a lot of stuff is cut instead (the explanation for everything that happens later), so it makes it seem like everything just comes out of nowhere, which once again just ruins the moment. Still though, it's a decent watch, with very good characters (even though they aren't fleshed out as much as you'd want them to be), and I'll probably end up watching the other two adaptions that are being produced at the moment.

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Gugure! Kokkuri-san:

First Impression - (7/10): Pretty satisfied with how this turned out. Started off looking like it was gonna be somewhat dark (and actually had a pretty sad part), but then turned out to be really funny. Wasn't exactly what I expected, I guess, but I'll stick with it as my Sunday comedy.


Episode 1 - DROPPED


Final Impressions - (6/10): Had some decent jokes and all, but at this point there's no way I'd finish a straight-up comedy series. That's it, really.

---------------------------------

Inou-Battle wa Nichijou-kei no Naka de:

First Impression - (8/10): I love this! This is basically just taking the chuunibyou scenes from Chu2, and making it into a full-length series. I just love how it's so "casual" in regards to the supernatural elements as well. And all these references as well (both to Chu2 and that really obvious one to Kill la Kill). On top of that, I really like the cast, and their powers (still a big fan of shows with lots of different powers). I personally think Hatoko is gonna be my favorite character, and she probably has my favorite power as well, even tho Chifuyu's power is basically that of Archer in the Fate/ series, which is pretty damn badass for a little loli. In any case, seems like they want to introduce some kind of overarching story, and hopefully that won't drag the entire series down into the ground. TRIGGER please!


Episode 3 Impressions - (8/10): This is definitely going strong. All the characters just keep getting better and better (Hatoko still best girl), and all the new characters they've introduced so far have also been really awesome. I particularly like the fact that the guy who'll most likely serve as the "antagonist" turned out to also be a really awesome character. I'm still waiting to see just how much actual story we'll be getting, as opposed to straight up SOL with a twist, although at this rate, I think I'd be rather OK with the latter.


Final Impressions - (8/10): Let's start by saying that I really liked this series. It's funny, cute, and Hatoko best girl. However, I am pretty disappointed with the ending we got. Basically, what we're left with is absolutely no progress in terms of the Fairy War (introduced way too late, and then kinda just dropped), and an ambiguous status ending for the romance, which is almost even worse than like a harem ending. I get that this is what they had to work with in terms of source material, but if they could do the actual ending original, then they could have just as well went original a few episodes earlier, and tried to finish up at least one of those plotlines. The ending doesn't really set up for a second season or anything, it's just the end. In a way, I guess you could see Andou's last line to Chifuyu as a sort of message from the creators, much like the Dude in Lebowski, although that's kind of a longshot. So yeah, great SOL-comedy with a nice twist, but they should've either dropped the Fairy War stuff entirely, or finished it up. Here's to hoping for second season!

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Log Horizon 2nd Season:

First Impression - (7/10): It's back! They did a pretty good job of keeping up the same feel of season 1 in this episode, but there are a few things. First of all is obviously the DEEN. While it's not noticeable enough to ruin the show or anything like that (if you don't pay too much attention to it, it won't bother you at all), but some of the art and animation is really off. Hopefully DEEN will step their game up in the later episodes. Then we have that first minute or so of the episode. It feels so out of place, and fragmented, and there's a reason for that... It's basically a summary of the entire season. I have no idea why that's even in there... The ending to the episode was also really weird.

On the other hand, the DATABASE is back, which is nothing less than awesome!


Episode 3 Impressions - (8/10): Series is starting to pick up a bit, which is nice. They're still doing a really good job at actually explaining all the MMO stuff to people who may not be familiar with it, and still making it actually feel like they're stuck in a game (the raid felt pretty well done, for example). They're only teasing with the antagonists though, so we probably won't get to see any Chiwa Saito for a few more episode, as they'll probably clear the raid before the antagonists are introduced for real. At this point, I only want a bit more development on the other storylines, other than Shiroe's, although since we're only on the 3rd episode, I expect that to come. Finally, there's one thing I don't like, and that's Tetra. She's just annoying.


Final Impressions:

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Madan no Ou to Vanadis:

First Impression - (6/10): My score for this would probably be a closer to a 6.5 in reality, but I use my MAL scores for this, so. I just found it kinda boring, I guess... I mean, it didn't really set us up for anything. At all. Like, we have this war, and one side is losing brutally because there are light clad girls who can do magic, and dude gets taken prisoner but starts liking it there. Sounds interesting, right? No, of course it doesn't. In my case, if the story doesn't actually pick up (or is introduced at all) before episode 3, and the ecchi/harem part of the series ramps up like crazy, I'll definitely drop it by then.


Episode 3 - DROPPED


Final Impressions - (6/10): So, my problem with this was, and remains, that I feel like it doesn't really have anything to "capture" me. I'm not particularly over-the-edge about any of the characters, the world and story are pretty much both just ok, and there's a bit too much fanservice, in my opinion. Fanservice can often be overlooked, I think, but when there's really nothing else going on, then it just feels dumb. I think it maybe could've been better if it had a stronger start than simply "you lost, we captured you, you're one of us now", and then just doing random shit with the war instead. But ya, wasn't too hopeful about this to begin with, so it's not really that much of a loss, I guess.

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Nanatsu no Taizai:

First Impression - (8/10): Damn, this was good. Didn't expect much more than a really generic, half-decent action show, but not only does it start off really funny, but the awesomeness of that (very short) "fight scene" was great! I love the fact that MC is basically OP as hell, and if all fights are like that first one, then watching the longer fights is gonna be amazing.


Episode 3 Impressions - (8/10): They've been sticking to what was awesome and funny in the first episode, so I think this will be a good one. Most of the jokes are kinda physical and/or pervy, but I kinda don't mind in this case, cuz it's just so casual all the time. I still really want to see one of the major fights tho (we got one in ep 3, but feels like one party held back a bit), so that's all I'm hoping for at this point, honestly.


Final Impressions:

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Ore, Twintails ni Narimasu.:

First Impression - (7/10): Well, it's pretty much exactly what I wanted it to be, though I could do without the physical sex jokes and all at the start. Seriously though, it's great that it doesn't take itself seriously, like, at all, and at the same time the Tail Gear is actually pretty awesome. So, I guess you could say this show is pretty much Daimidaler, if you replace all the ecchi stuff with twintails. Also, it seems we've already been introduced to best girl, so that's great! No doubt Aika will be the best character in the show. Can't wait to see how they go on with this one!


Episode 3 - DROPPED


Final Impressions - (6/10): I initially referred to this as a less ecchi version of Daimidaler, and now I think I can say with certainty that it's a pretty spot-on comparison... In terms of parody, they do a lot of things well, in my opinion. Everything is not overly blatant, but enough for you to understand what they're trying to make fun of, and at times, it really is funny. On top of that, the fight scenes are actually pretty entertaining, and like I said I still really like the Tail-gear and all, but that's about as far as this show goes, I'm afraid. While it's not as head-on as Daimidaler, there's still a lot of fanservice and sex jokes, which obviously influences the story a lot in this type of show as well. What we're left with is an occasionally funny, sex joke filled series, with some good action scenes thrown into the mix. The story is barely worth mentioning, and it's not that it doesn't take itself seriously that it's bad (because there are shows like that with a "good" story as well), but in this case it's just bad... I've said it before, and I'll say it again. Occasionally funny, and some good action with nothing else to go with it is not worth watching, in my opinion.

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Orenchi no Furo Jijou:

First Impression - (6/10): Well, I wasn't expecting this to be a short, so that's kind of disappointing in a way. Also, that OP is so out of place for a comedic shoujo short... Anyhow, wasn't really overly funny or anything (which is probably what the main appeal will be of this series), so we'll see how it continues.


Episode 3 - DROPPED


Final Impressions - (5/10): As expected after the first episode, this continued being really mediocre, and not very funny at all, so since watching handsome men get wet isn't really a high priority in entertainment for me, then... ya...

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Parasyte:

First Impression - (8/10): The hype did not leave me disappointed! Damn, this was just plain awesome. The gore (and how it's not really overdone or anything), the characters (at this point mostly the MC, and how much I loved his parents. They just feel so real), the parasite itself, both because of the interest in what it is and where it came from, but also because of all the cool shit it's able to do. It's kinda obvious that for a part of this, the MC will continue to try and live his ordinary life, but I'm very interested to see what sort of route the other part of the story takes. If it's gonna be basically just surviving against the other parasites, or finding out answers about them, or some other weird stuff. I've said the same about some other shows before this, but this is yet another series I think feels very "real", even with its fantasy/sci-fi elements and whatnot. If they pull this off, I think this will definitely rival F/SN as my AotS.


Episode 3 Impressions - (8/10): Still loving this, and I'd still say this is my second favorite of the season, after F/SN. It's been managing to keep up everything that was good about the first episode, and just build on that to make it even better. I especially love the contrast we've been getting between Shinichi and Migi, and I'm still really interested in how the later parts of the series will play out. There are a couple small annoyances, but they are in fact pretty small. The first is that, while I like the music, they often seem to play those really intense dubstep-y songs at not so intense moments... Or well, they could be intense moments, but not in a "fight to the deat" type of way, if that makes sense. The other thing is how they're gonna handle Shinichi's relationship with Murano. This is probably gonna spawn a lot of dumb drama, which is always bad, in my opinion.

Episode 11 Impressions - (9/10): This is turning out to be such a great series, and that's a really enjoyable thing, because so often you get all hyped for a show only to have it be just "good" or pretty mediocre. Basically, between the start of the show and now, they've managed to throw so much development at the story and the characters that it's hard not to think this is plain awesome. Seeing Shinichi's slow transformation (both physically and mentally) is a really interesting thing, and creates a lot of well-done interactions with the other characters. Speaking of which, one of the major things I worried about initially was how they'd handle his relationship with Murano, what with him having to keep Migi secret and all, but damn, they really pulled that off so well! The "drama" is kept at a reasonable level, and there's no sudden outburst of retardation that you often see in a lot of rom-coms, and now we get this episode, which just moves it along in an even better way! Finally, the rest of the characters are also something I feel really deserve praise. I can't really say exactly what it is, but I just feel like (almost) all of the characters in this series feel very "real". Specifically Kana, Murano, and Shinichi, seeing how they're the main characters and all. It makes for such a nice change of pace from the generic personality tropes you gotta deal with in a lot of other shows. This, no doubt, remains my second favorite of the season.


Final Impressions - (10/10): Man, this was so good. One of the best things is also how consistent it was, imo, so everything I've said in previous posts about this show actually still stands. Of course, that also means that the few bad parts were also present for the most part in the series, and while there weren't a lot of them, or not like they were that big, they were still there and bothered me a bit. One of those is the romance drama between Murano and Shinichi, which I could see being dumb from the very start, but fortunately it's only a big focus for a few episodes, so I was able to look past it pretty easily. The other thing is I personally wanted some things near the end to play out a bit differently (I'm sure you know what I mean), but that's just me, so not really a problem with the show. All in all, it's a great action series, if you want something more on the dark/mature side.

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Psycho-Pass 2:

First Impression - (8/10): First of all, I want to say that I love Psycho-Pass (one of my all-time favorites), and that I'm really excited for this second season. I also think this first episode alone was a pretty solid 8/10. However, I want to talk a bit about the things I didn't particularly like, or that I think could possibly deny this season the same level of awesomeness as its predecessor (this is probably the longest impression post I'll ever make, so bear with me...).

Gonna start off easy, with the OP and ED. Now, I wasn't really the biggest fan of the s1 OPs, and this new one didn't really hit home either, I guess. Now, the ED on the other hand, is something I'd been looking forward to. I'm an insanely huge fan of Supercell and EGOIST, and "All Alone With You" is one of my favorite songs of EGOIST. "Fallen", on the other hand, was sort of a disappointment, in my opinion... Now, I'm not saying I think it's a bad song, but I think it's definitely one of EGOIST's least good songs, and I think this may very well be due to the fact that it really feels like they tried to "match" "Namae no Nai Kaibutsu", so to speak. It's a somewhat minor complain, but it's still there.

As for why I think s2 may not live up to s1, there are three reasons:

1. Urobuchi is not the writer. I know, I know. It's not like he's the only good writer out there, or the only one capable of writing good series in this style, but for real. There's no denying he's an amazing writer (2 of his shows are in my all-time top 5 list, even), and he did an awesome job with s1. A different writer, even though Urobuchi is involved, means there can be a pretty big change to style, pacing, and the quality of the story overall, for better or worse.

2. Speaking of pacing, I liked how this got more into it right away than s1. However, with a faster pace, comes another worry. This season is (allegedly) only 11 episodes. That's half as many as the original series. Between the new antagonist, and Shimotsuki (who's a pretty shit character, btw), there's a lot that could (and hopefully will) happen in what's now a pretty short time. Too slow, and they'll be unable to wrap it up properly, leading to a potentially rushed ending, or a really odd "ending", without any sort of conclusion whatsoever. Too fast, and we're left hanging, so to speak, in that you can't really savor what makes the series so great in the first place. On top of that, too quick of a pacing could just as well lead to the entire thing feeling rushed, and we don't want this.

3. The antagonist could leave us with a feeling of "too much of the same". Now, to clarify, Makishima is one of my favorite antagonists in any anime, and I think he'd be very hard to one-up, no matter how hard they tried. However, that's not where the problem lies. The problem, if you want to call it that, is the fact that at a pretty basic level, Makishima and the new villain both have the same "mysterious trait". Looking deeper into it, I highly doubt the new guy works in the same way (as kinda confirmed by the post-credit scene), which is good, and I guess there's no denying the pretty small amount of possible "villain traits" applicable in a universe such as PP (what with how Sibyl works, this is pretty much the highest they can go, in terms of fucking the system up in a believable way). However, this doesn't change the fact that the two of them could end up feeling very similar, which in turn could make this season feel a bit worse, because we're basically getting an alternate version of Makishima and s1.

Still though, so far I'm really liking it. Will keep my hopes up for something at least close to, or even on par with s1!


Episode 3 Impressions - (8/10): I'd say this is progressing pretty well. Even though the premise for this season is basically exactly that of the previous one (but with things happening in a different way), the mystery around it seems to be completely different, and Kamui has totally different motivations. I still doubt he'll be as good of a villain as Makishima, but he's working on it, for sure. Then we have the case of the new inspector. I mean, just god damn, I haven't hated someone in a series this much for a really, really long time, so kudos on that, for making such a hateable character. At this point, I'm hoping they don't make the story even more like the first season, and and the fewer episodes won't result in a rushed ending, because that would really suck.


Final Impressions - (9/10): Does this live up to the first season? Not even close. I've said it before, but I'll say it again. The main issue comes down to the writers not having enough variety in terms of conflict (as certain traits need to be placed on the antagonists), and it creates this feeling of "too much of the same". On top of that, the characters aren't nearly as good in this season, we get much less time for development (with half the episodes), and needless darkness for the sake of being dark, which ultimately just comes back to bite the entire thing in the ass. Had it not been for the huge plot points that come about near the end of this, I would've advocated so strongly that this could've easily been skipped in favor of the movie. With all this said, though, there's no denying that I did still enjoy it. It's the same old badass Akane, the same cool setting, and Kamui is honestly not a bad antagonist (it's just that it's too similar). However, no other installment in the PP-universe will ever reach the heights of the first season.

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Sanzoku no Musume Ronja:

First Impression - (7/10): As a Swede, who basically grew up watching the original movie adaption of this, I obviously have some expectations watching this. So far, I'm actually fairly happy with the adaption. The first episode pretty much included everything I wanted it to include, and the feeling of it is very Ghibli, as expected. There are definitely some complaints tho. The first, and biggest is definitely the use of CGI. I'm usually not one to complain about the use of CGI in anime, but this series pretty much has the same problem as Sidonia, and I just can't get over the fact that characters completely animated with CGI look incredibly dumb. It just all feels so out of place, and it kinda drags it all down, especially when you have really beautiful backgrounds and such, as well. Then I was kinda disappointed by the harpies. I remember the movie ones really freaking me out, and even if they aren't super scary in hindsight, they definitely look better than what we got here. Ghibli basically gave us flying drag queens. Like, what? I think the score for this will basically come down to how well adapted it is (in my opinion, based on what I've seen), and how well I'll get used to the CGI.


Episode 3 Impressions - (7/10): Let's be completely honest here. Is this show good? I feel like I'm very biased, because I'm familiar with the story and all, so even though the series has been pretty uneventful, I know that a lot more stuff is gonna happen, and once Ronja meets up with the dude (next episode, even) whose name I can't remember, things will really get going. However, that doesn't change that from the perspective of someone who has never heard of this tale before, it's not a very exciting series. The full-on CGI is still kinda off-putting, and the series itself is just very carefree, and to be honest, I don't really get this "Ghibli-feel" from it. Still, my personal bias makes it easier for me to look past all of this, and focus on what's happening (or what's gonna happen), so I hope they pull that off well.

Episode 3 - DROPPED


Final Impressions - (5/10): The only reason I didn't drop this earlier was more or less because I really wanted to see how they'd handle the story (since once again, I know it from my childhood and all), but I've come to the conclusion that they didn't handle it very well. The series, this far, has focused way too much on just the "being free and happy in the wild" thing, and since it's supposed to be 26 episodes, that means the series is also going to be really, really slow. The full-on CGI isn't exactly helping either, since ti doesn't look particularly good.

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Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso:

First Impression - (7/10): This was a beautiful first episode. Both in terms of art, and story. I didn't really expect the part about his mother, but I guess it works, and I really like the other characters as well. The one thing that I don't really like is part of the art, namely the lips and eyes. They just look so... out of place. In any case, even if most of this feels very predictable (both the romance, and the overall progression with him playing the piano), I still feel like it'll be worth watching.


Episode 3 Impressions:


Final Impressions:

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Shingeki no Bahamut - Genesis:

First Impression - (7/10): Didn't originally plan to watch this at all, since it's apparently based on a card game (and that was all the info available), but then I watched the PV for it, and it looked awesome, so I gave it a shot, and turns out it is pretty awesome. It doesn't take itself all too seriously, and the fight scenes are actually really well done. At the same time, the art is kinda interesting, and the OST is pretty great. We also have a mysterious female character, who's incredibly OP, so that's nice. Will have to see what kind of direction this takes, but will probably keep watching.


Episode 3 Impressions - (7/10): I still think one of the most interesting parts of this series is the art. Not that it is particularly different in any way, but it just stands out a bit, to me. In fact, it makes me think of Ergo Proxy, for some reason. In any case, we're getting quite a bit of actual story going on, and the few fight scenes there's been since episode 1 have been really well animated, so I guess there's not much else to do than keep on watching.


Final Impressions - (8/10): This turned out to be really good, and I'm glad I decided to pick it up. It's funny because it doesn't take itself all too seriously, but manages to draw you in, and stay exciting anyway. It has some really good characters, great music, and awesome usage of CGI (most of the time). If I had to say anything bad about it, it'd be that the mythology in the series is all fucked up, since they seem to mix a lot of different ones. If you want a good action/comedy series, then this is definitely a good one.

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Sora no Method:

Episode 1 - DROPPED


Final Impressions - (5/10): Holy wow, this was one incredibly boring first episode. There's absolutely nothing that makes me want to continue watching this, not even the fantasy twist with the disc in the sky. Every character is basically just ripped from the "cute girls do cute things" / moe archetype, it's not very funny at all, the pacing is horribly off, and the unnecessarily forced drama in this episode makes me surprised I even finished this one to begin with. This is a perfect example of how you don't start off a series.

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Terra Formars:

First Impression - (7/10): This is interesting, to say the least. A pretty weird sci-fi premise, with a seemingly fantasy twist. I also like how the animation and art feels a lot more "serious" (don't know how to actually describe it, but just look at the faces). As long as the MC doesn't go all Akatsuki Koujo shounen hero on this shit, I think it'll be solid, at least. There is, however, one major thing. Here we have another show with censoring out the fucking ass. At least in Tokyo Ghoul they had the decency to show the scenes from odd angles, or only cover like up to half the screen, but here it was just half the screen black, and half white, and all you could see was this tiny line in the middle of the screen. Nothing, that is. In any case, I'm stuck watching it like this, since BD isn't gonna be out for quite some time, but man is it irritating that studios do this.


Episode 3 - ON HOLD


Final Impressions - (7/10): I've seen images from episode 3, and I can't even be bothered to watch it. The censoring in this show makes it next to unwatchable, so I'm putting it on hold until the BD release, or CR's uncensored stream, whichever comes first.

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Trinity Seven:

First Impression - (7/10): If I'm gonna be honest, I did not expect this show to be this good. At all. Sure, it starts out with the MC fondling his cousins boobs, but then it turns into this heroic (loose use of the word) tale of him saving his loved ones, and becoming a powerful mage in the process. One of the things I especially liked about this is that even though it has very harem-y humor and such, the harem is actually integrated into the plot, and used as a plot device. It's not there just because, but he needs that harem to do this. To me, that just kinda forgives a lot of stuff surrounding harems. On top of it all, we already have competition between two of the characters for best girl (Levi and shower girl).


Episode 3 Impressions - (7/10): This seems to be on the road of just becoming even better. Most of the comedy is still centered around the harem and ecchi parts, but the way they do it (with the MC being "enthusiastic" without being a total creep) makes it completely fine to watch, and so far there hasn't really been too much of the "dumb" kind of fanservice, if that makes sense. Will watch and see how they proceed with the actual story, and the action parts, once it comes to that.


Final Impressions:

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Ushinawareta Mirai wo Motomete:

First Impression - (7/10): What? Just... What? This is so weird, but at the same time pretty good... The thought process basically goes from "Decent romcom", to "wtf this got so dark", to "wat". This is seriously some Haruhi x Higurashi shit right here (that may actually be the perfect explanation for it so far, but I dunno). The romance part of it seems very similar to Kokoro Connect (in regards to everything else, as well), so if they pull it off kinda like that, that part could be pretty awesome as well. Finally, most of the characters were pretty good, and MC is not super shitty, so I'm definitely gonna keep watching this to find out just what the hell is going on.


Episode 3 Impressions - (7/10): So, what do we have so far? Pretty sub-par animation, shoddy voice acting, some outright bad characters and motivations, but at the same time, there's no denying that the story is really interesting. We're given more and more hints as to what's really going on, and by this point I think you should more or less understand the very basics of what's happening, and it's this, I think, that makes me want to keep watching the series. I want to see how far they'll take all of this, how dark it'll get, and how they'll resolve it. Hopefully, every other aspect of this show won't worsen and drag the rest of it down to the point where it becomes unwatchable.


Final Impressions - (6/10): Well, not surprising that I lowered the score on this, I guess. While it starts out with an interesting story premise, pretty much every other aspect of it is pretty weak. Mediocre characters, voice acting, and animation. First few episodes were actually quite alright, though, but after that I felt like they just dropped the whole premise of the show to pretty much only put focus on the SOL-part of the series, which was so incredibly boring. When they finally return to the actual premise near the end, it's everything you guessed it would be after the first episode, and this predictable makes things even worse, when the show wants to be all shocking revealing all of it. The entire last part with Yui was pretty bad too, because you don't care about Kaori enough to be all broken by the repeated attempts and all. Could've been much better, but they dropped the ball really early on.

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World Trigger:

First Impression - (7/10): This was kind of refreshing to watch, I guess. It's pretty much your standard comedic action series, and it's a nice change of pace from a lot of the darker stuff that I've seen so far. The OP was pretty good (one of the better ones so far), but the facial expression Kuga had most of the time was really annoying to look at, in my opinion. As for whether it'll actually bring anything good enough to the table to go above 7/10, or if it'll just plummet like crazy in terms of quality is really up to see.


Episode 3 - DROPPED


Final Impressions - (6/10): Well, after the first episode I was unsure whether this would actually bring anything good, or if it'd just plummet instantly in terms of quality, and seems to me like the latter is where we're at. The whole thing they're doing with Kuga when it comes to the animation is still really annoying, in my opinion, and the fighting is totally uninteresting, to me. I mean, this show is all about fighting big monsters, so when you fail to make that enjoyable to watch, then you've pretty much failed your entire series. On top of that, the two episodes that followed the first basically followed the exact formula as episode 1, and man, did that become boring to watch real fast. Could've been a lot better, to be honest.

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Yuuki Yuuna wa Yuusha de Aru:

First Impression - (7/10): So, what I initially thought would be a SOL with a small twist, is actually a full-on magical girl series... Nice. I'm not expecting this to be very dark at all, but hopefully it will do well despite that. First episode was pretty packed, and while we didn't get much explanation for stuff, we got to see 3 out of 4 transformations, and I gotta say that the ones we saw look really cool, so that's a big plus. Also, this is like the first time I've seen a disabled person be part of the "main" cast, I think (there was Ayase in GC, but she's not nearly as much of a main character as Togo is).


Episode 3 Impressions - (7/10): Having introduced Karin, they've pretty much filled out all the required character archetypes for this show. Needless to say, Karin best girl. At this point, I'm not really sure I expect it to actually become that dark of a show, although there's definitely a possibility that some unpleasant things might happen, seeing as how the creator of this is the same guy who made Akame ga Kill. Will watch and see, I guess.


Final Impressions - (8/10): Wow. Having this go from something that I initially was sort of unsure about whether or not I even wanted to watch it, to something of this quality, is pretty amazing. I love how the more you watched, the more you realized that this wasn't another "perfect story" about magical girls, but another one of more "realistic" stature, a bit like Madoka was. At the same time, it's interesting to see the almost opposing views Yu3 and Madoka take on the whole thing, as Yu3 looks at everything with more optimism, and in the end, that develops to be the overarching theme, as opposed to misery and loss. I'm not all too thrilled about the happy-go-lucky ending we got, even if you can argue that there was still a loss, going by the theory that Yuuna is operating under a new Hero System. Still, would've liked it more if everything wasn't simply thrown out the window like that.

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Anime Relations: Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon Crystal, Sabage-bu!, Tokyo ESP, Hanayamata, Sword Art Online II, Akame ga Kill!, Tokyo Ghoul, Aldnoah.Zero, Barakamon, Glasslip, Zankyou no Terror, Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun, DRAMAtical Murder, Re:␣Hamatora

Akame ga KILL!:

First Impression - (8/10): Surprisingly good for what I expected from what sounded like a pretty standard action/adventure series. Had some funny bits, the fighting was cool, it was pretty well paced, and I rather like the characters. Akame seems like she could very well already be my favorite in the entire show, but even Tatsumi, who at first seems like your standard shounen hero, wasn't a total wuss and dumbass, and actually made some interesting decisions, which is obviously a good thing.


Episode 3 Impressions - (8/10): Definitely enjoying this. It's got a good cast, as well as funny interactions between the characters, and I particularly like the route they took with the MC. He's not a total wuss, but at the same time he's not that crazy "I kill because I like it"-type, which can possibly make for some very interesting things to happen in the later stages of the show. Couple all of this with the pretty cool fighting they've got going on, and you've got a pretty good action series.

Episode 21 Impressions - (9/10): Wow, catching up to this series from around episode 15 has been the most intense thing I've done in a while. During the span of just a few episodes, they killed off so many characters, and then, as they decide to go all anime-original on this shit, holy shit does it get sad for real. I mean, when you think about how that last one wasn't even close to being one of my favorite characters, and yet it's so sad, then you have to admit that they've been able to pull off some good stuff in terms of characters and writing for this series. At this point, I'm really pumped to see the last few episodes, and what kind of ending they'll come up with.


Final Impressions - (9/10): I think it's safe to say that this has got to be one of the most enjoyable series I've seen, and definitely one of my favorite action shows out there. Even when I try to think of something that wasn't really that good about it, I can't seem to actually think of anything, and that's something that honestly feels great after finishing a show. It's got a great MC, good story with a good amount of twists, awesome action scenes, and they're not afraid to let characters die, which is something I miss in a lot of action series. I definitely think that this is better to watch spread out, since binge watching means you might just rush through some of the more emotional moments of the show. In the end, I think White Fox did a great job at the anime-original part of it, and delivered a good ending, to a good show.

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Aldnoah.Zero:

First Impression - (8/10): Holy shit, this was amazing. Really packed first episode, establishing a lot of the characters, giving a lot of background story, and getting the plot moving. Then again, seeing who're working on this, I guess it's not much of a surprise. That scene where the ship lands, and the song starts playing was just plain awesome. The one thing that is gonna be very hit-or-miss for me about this is how they handle the actual mecha, to be honest. However, since Inoha is the MC (as far as I can tell), and he'll probably be the one to pilot the mecha later on, I really like the fact that he's so calm and collected, as opposed to the standard nervous breakdown, screams a lot, loves fighting character we usually see. This definitely has the potential to be really, really good.


Episode 3 Impressions - (8/10): So far, this is one of the few mecha anime I actually enjoy, and I sure as hell hope it's able to remain this good. The biggest thing for me is probably that it seems to avoid so many of the standard pitfalls of the genre (and the shounen genre overall). One of the best examples is how the MC doesn't win against the trained top-military Marsians because his willpower and friendship is stronger, but because he's smart, and utilizes the environment to his advantage.

Throw in yet another good cast of characters, and the music (which there's no doubt is composed by the same guy who worked on Guilty Crown), and it's actually a really good series. Looking forward to seeing more of what Slaine will do once he gets enough, and how the story overall will progress.

Episode 9 Impressions - (9/10): Just... Wow. I've gotta be honest, this episode kinda had me in shock at the end. Just how it went down, and the fact that that just happened! Aside from the cliffhanger, I think this was one of the best episodes in the entire series. It's stuffed with character development, and Maritos flashback was actually one of the most powerful things I've seen from this season. Saturday can't come soon enough, because I really want to see how they progress from this ending.


Final Impressions - (9/10): Holy. Fucking. Shit. Where do I even start? That smile. That literary reference. This series is so Urobuchi it's amazing.

While I do have some theories on how they'll even continue after this episode, I somehow seriously doubt a second season could live up to what we've just seen. That's not to say the series was perfect, since it did have its share of flaws, specifically regarding the characters (I seem to be like the only one not bothered by the CGI). While I loved how Inaho was seemingly void of emotion, some other characters were just plain dull or didn't get nearly enough attention which, as opposed to Inaho's character, obviously wasn't a design decision. At the same time, however, most of the cast I thought was amazing. Inaho, Slaine, and Rayet, especially. I also think it's funny how well this series handles emotions, seeing what kind of character Inaho is, specifically PTSD, which was portrayed in a much better way than certain other shows airing at the moment.

While Zankyou no Terror has its share of thrills, and Barakamon is basically mental healing in anime form, there's no doubt that Aldnoah.Zero is my personal AotS. If only other mecha shows made me feel this way.

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Barakamon:

First Impression - (8/10): I just now picked this up out of pure curiousity/boredom, and I've gotta say that turned out to be a really good move. Based on this first episode alone, and how well done it felt, this show has potential to be incredibly feel-good, and while the comedy maybe wasn't the carrying factor in this episode, I can definitely see it adding to it later on. The little kid, though created as an "annoying" character, in a sense, was still very likable, which I thought they did a good job with, as I'm eager to see further interactions between him and the MC, especially.


Episode 3 Impressions - (8/10): Damn, I love this show. The character interactions, which it relies so heavily on, are very well done, and it does a very good job of conveying the feeling that this island town is a really close and caring community. I also tend to be a huge fan of the visual "aid" used for the sake of comedy, so that's a big plus.


Final Impressions - (10/10): Fuck it, this is by far the best SOL-series I've ever seen. The way it makes you feel so good about everything, the incredible way they portrayed the children, the character interactions, and the sort of "real" feel to the events. I honestly can't think of a single thing that could've even made this series better in any way. It's also good enough that it makes me unsure whether I'd still call Aldnoah AotS. If anything, I'd say they're very close to eachother, if Barakamon simply doesn't actually come out on top.

I don't know if we'll ever get a second season, but in any case, this show has massively increased my hype for Under The Dog, which Kinema Citrus will also be working on.

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Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon: Crystal:

First Impression - (7/10): So like, I barely remember anything concrete from the original series, since I only saw it now and then when I was much younger, so I can't really compare this to the original. There were however 3 things that came to mind as I was watching this. First of all, the fact that they kinda did the art in a 90s style. I'm sure a lot of people think this is cool and really appreciate it, but I'm one of those who didn't like how anime looked back then at all, so... The second thing for me was Usagi's VA. I mean, I guess they thought it was cool and all to get the original VA back, but I just can't stand her. Finally, the third thing for me was the fact that they changed the OP. To me, the original opening is almost iconic, and now the new is just like... bad...


Episode 3 Impressions - (6/10): To be honest, I'm finding this pretty sub-par. As I've already said, I don't really remember much at all from the original series, so it's basically like I'm a "first-time watcher", so to speak. I guess it's sort of important to keep in mind that this is a shoujo series, as well as a "standard magical girl" series (even if it changed a lot of things from previous entries in the genre). However, the story and all of that isn't really where my problem with this show lies. In fact, the two main problems I have with this, are the visual flaws, which really distract once you start noticing them, and Usagi herself. I just absolutely hate her as a character, which is only intensified by the incredibly annoying voice she's been given.

Hopefully the rest of the characters can make up for it, but not expecting big things from this series in terms of plot and all, to be honest, which only makes the small problems so much worse.

Episode 3 Impressions - ON HOLD


Final Impressions - (6/10): It's simple. The show is really, really mediocre, and getting a single episode every other week just doesn't work in the long run. I'll possibly pick it up again in a year, when it's done.

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DRAMAtical Murder:

First Impression - (5/10): Just... What the hell? Actually, before I get into this, I just wanted to say that I realized after the episode that, even though the anime doesn't share the same tags, it's actually based on some shoujo BL action manga, so that might explain some things...

Anyway, I'm just not entirely sure what to think about this, really... The setting is kinda interesting, and the concept of Rhyme is pretty cool, but that's pretty much it for me. There was no explanation for absolutely anything that happened at all, and the majority of plot points introduced in this episode felt incredibly forced and dumb. I'll give this 3 episodes, at least, but I'm expecting this to possibly be the first show I drop, to be completely honest...


Episode 3 - DROPPED


Final Impressions - (4/10): I seriously can't tell if this is supposed to be cool, and edgy with its shitty psychological tropes, because the way I see it, it's just stupid. Everything from the characters personalities, to the character designs, to the poorly written "story", and even Rhyme now that we got to see a bit more of it. It also seems to be absolutely ridden with dumb clichés, so I'm flat out dropping this on the spot.

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Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun:

First Impression - (8/10): Well, this show is just straight up hilarious. The interaction between Nozaki and Sakura is also made so much better by the constant lack of expression whatsoever on his face, and I love how they're sort of using the romance as part of the comedy, so to speak, where as in most rom-coms it's more a complementary thing. Because of Nozaki's personality, I'm also expecting very little, if any, drama, which is often pretty hit-or-miss, in my opinion, as it can feel pretty forced at times, so that's great.

Episode 1 - DROPPED


Final Impressions - (8/10): Even though I'm dropping this, I can't say I thought it was bad (what little I watched...). Rather, my problem with it is that it's a straight-up comedy/romance based SOL show, with very little in terms of "unique interesting twists" that I often desire to keep me interested in such shows. So basically, I can't bring myself to finish this even if I were to try, so I'm just dropping it right away instead.

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Glasslip:

First Impression - (6/10): To be honest, I wasn't really expecting anything from this show besides shiny art, and it certainly has that going for it. However, I feel like everything else about this was a huge let down (and this coming from someone with zero expectations). Sure, I may not be the biggest fan of SOL shows, but Glasslip was not funny at all, and there was this sudden drama that kept appearing out of absolutely nowhere, which just felt forced and dumb.


Episode 3 - DROPPED


Final Impressions - (6/10): Nope, I can't take this anymore. The incredibly stupid characters, the forced drama, the shitty romance subplot, and what seems like a completely random and redundant supernatural twist (I wouldn't be surprised if the series could play out the exact same way without them being able to see the future). You would think that at least the visuals would hold up on their own, but this last episode especially had so many odd things going on with the animation, that it just felt weird watching.

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Hanayamata:

First Impression - (7/10): So this was... sort of disappointing, I guess. I mean, I still kinda liked it. It's colorful, and it had some funny moments (unfortunately we didn't see a lot of most characters), but my main problem is actually Naru herself. She just goes on and on whining about what she wants, and when she's given that, she whines about not wanting it anymore (and of course we all know that she'll do it in the end, so). It's just so annoying... Hope they tone that down.


Episode 3 - DROPPED


Final Impressions - (6/10): Yea, uhm, this isn't really my cup of tea, I guess. It's cute and all, and it's nice that they actually have a "point" to it, as opposed to it simply being cute girls do cute things, but I absolutely hate most of the characters, especially Hana, so that's obviously not too good for watching a SOL-series based around those very same characters. All in all, it really doesn't even come close to something like Barakamon, Bokura wa Minna Kawaisou, and [insert other SOL shows I actually like]. Guess the seinen tag just really threw me off, in a way.

Also, totally understood the title just now...

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Re:␣Hamatora:

First Impression - (8/10): Pretty good first episode, really capturing the feel of Hamatora overall, even with that weird time skip and all. This episode was pretty funny, did a good job at explaining a few things, and setting up the story for what's to come, so really looking forward to that (and hopefully it will have even better pacing than the first season).


Episode 3 Impressions - (8/10): To be honest, I think they've pretty much fixed everything from the first season. It's much better paced, with the "main story" getting started right away, especially. We're also seeing a lot more minimums, and I believe Art can turn out to be just as good of an antagonist as Moral was. One thing that does bother me though is the recaps. I hate recaps in general, but at least they had the decency to do it in a somewhat better way now.


Final Impressions - (8/10): That was sort of an interesting ending. I mean, it answered most of the questions left by the previous season, as well as everything that happened this season, but it also opened up quite a few new questions, which may seem very deus ex-esque. Still, I'm satisfied with how this entire series turned out, and I'm kinda sad that it most likely won't continue (I mean, maybe it will, but I personally don't want it to either, because there's no real direction for it to go in now).

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Sabagebu!:

First Impression - (7/10): To quote Sonokawa: "It was kind of amazing". It's funny, it has girls with guns, the narrator is absolutely awesome in every aspect, and the fact that they went all Chu2 with the gunfights (with the delusions and such) is also really awesome. Let's hope they keep this up, and i'll be real good!


Final Impressions - (7/10): Finally finished this, and it was pretty solid throughout. I don't watch a lot of these "sketch-based" comedy shows, but I actually thought this one was really funny. Partly, I think, because of how self-aware it is, and how good the narrator was. In later episodes it starts focusing a bit less on the gun-aspect of it all, but I guess that was kind of ok, since it changes it up a bit.

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Sword Art Online II:

First Impression - (7/10): Good first episode, in my opinion, as it really was an introductory episode, which did a good job at setting things up for the rest of the series. Animation was also pretty good, and what I saw of the OP, the fight scenes looks like they'll look pretty good, as well. Now I just want to get me some of that action, and I'll be set!


Episode 3 Impressions - (7/10): To be honest, there really isn't much to say about this, that couldn't have been said after the first episode, because almost nothing has happened. However, I do like the focus on Shinon, and her past, so that's cool.

Episode 6 Impressions - (8/10): Action! Intrigue! Mystery! Sinon! I gotta say they really ramped things up in the last few episodes, to the point where it's like I really want the show to just finish already, so I can watch it all. If we're fortunate, it'll keep this up, and we'll have us a really good series!


Final Impressions:

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Tokyo ESP:

First Impression - (7/10): Damn, really intense first episode. We get a feel for the overall tone and what the story will be like, and got to see quite a few esper powers. This seems like a show that can turn out pretty dark if it wants to, but at the same time, I think the main character (if the dude with the glasses is actually the MC) could very well bring it down a bit single-handedly, since he's such a standard "shounen hero".


Episode 3 Impression - (7/10): Ok, let me correct myself. We got a feel for what I thought the tone would be like... Having an at least 2 episode long flashback after only one episode is a really weird thing to do, but the weirdness doesn't stop there. While the first episode appeared pretty dark, the entire flashback is much more laid back and happy, mixed with the shounen parts of the series, however, it's like it doesn't know if it wants to actually be a happy fighting shounen, or a dark, edgy show, because it keeps jumping back and forth, it seems, which is really annoying.

Episode 7 - DROPPED


Final Impressions - (6/10): I can barely begin to describe how disappointed I am with this show, and how my enjoyment of it outright plummeted past the first episode. Seriously, the first episode was great! It had almost everything that could've made the show great, and then what happens? We get thrown into a flashback (which is still going as of episode 7), about some character who appears only at the end of the episode. That's right, this is something we have no idea who it is or care for, or even want to actually know more about (let's face it, Minami is better in every possible way), and we're given a next to feature length flashback on her. Sure, it also tells us how the powers came about, and what the esper group from the first episode are actually on about, but holy shit, it's so not enough to offset how shitty Rinka is.

As if it wasn't enough to end there, the show is constantly on the fence during the earlier episodes about whether it wants to be a dark, serious show, or a comedic fighting shounen, and unfortunately, in the end it chose the latter. The panda was just the push over the edge for me...

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Tokyo Ghoul:

First Impression - (8/10): I'm really impressed by this. I absolutely love the darker tone it has going, as well as all the gory stuff. This was also quite an intense episode, so the pacing was actually really good. As long as they don't go all "shounen-friendship is stronger than any of these bad things" I think this will turn out really good. Also hoping we get to see more of Rize. Gotta love that psychotic Hanazawa!


Episode 6 Impressions - (8/10): (Totally missed episode 3 impressions for this)

Definitely still enjoying this! It's a lot less about Kaneki learning to be a ghoul, than I thought it'd be (which, to be honest, is a pretty good thing, as you can only watch the guy almost throw up so many times before it gets boring). Instead, we're seeing a lot more of the general life of ghouls, how they have to deal with the so-called "Doves", and we even get a lot of unexpected backstory for side characters. I think that, overall, this pretty much makes up for the lack of "overarching story", so to speak. Like, sure, there's the whole "Doves hunt ghouls" thing, and learning how to be a ghoul, but there's no real "story" as in Kaneki having a mission and doing his best to accomplish that.

Although there's a lot less Rize than I may have liked, I'm seriously loving Touka. She's just such a badass character, and she's even more awesome after episode 5, to be honest. Just hoping the pacing doesn't become all wonky, since we're halfway through the series at this point.


Final Impressions - (8/10): If we completely ignore the censoring deal with this, then this show is pretty damn fantastic. Going from showing us how the Ghouls live, and the different kinds of them, to what happens at the end was really entertaining to watch. While Kaneki could be a bit of a whimp sometimes, I think it was handled pretty well since it was almost always for a proper reason and not overdone, as well as the fact that many other characters were there to balance out this trait of his. While the pacing may have been a bit off for a few episodes, there's no denying that ending was incredibly awesome (even with the censor), and since season 2 has already been announced, I'm really satisfied with all of this. They even managed to deliver more Rize, which was awesome.
I'm sort of expecting a different feel from the second season, however, because of Kaneki's endeavors in the last episode, but I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

Still tho, if all censor is removed in the BD release, then I'm definitely rewatching this once that comes out.

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Zankyou no Terror:

First Impression - (8/10): Yet another great first episode. I think they did a pretty good job at setting up most of the important characters, and what the story and/or overall tone will be like. Let's just say, if it continues to handle the terrorism and characters in a good way, without it becoming stupid because of way too common reasons, this can turn out really good.


Episode 6 Impressions - (9/10): I'm simply loving this. One of the things that makes it so enjoyable is definitely the back-and-forth between Sphinx and Shibazaki. This type of "chessmaster" style is always great to see, and the riddles so far have been pretty well made. Really excited to see how they'll include Lisa in their future plans, as well as whatever type of "showdown" they'll have with Five. Really too bad they only got one dude who could speak english, though...

The question is if they'll be able to wrap up the story, as well as showing off Sphinx's true motives in just the span of 6 episodes, or if we'll have to wait for (possibly) season 2.


Final Impressions - (9/10): Holy shit, that ending was simply beautiful. And so was the entire series, to be honest. The characters, riddles, and especially the whole back and forth between Sphinx and Shibazaki (was very reminiscent of early Death Note, in my opinion). Just beautifully executed. The one thing that got to me though, and which kinda dragged the show down on its own, was Five. To me, Five wasn't a very good character at all. She's introduced way too late to fit as the main antagonist, imo, and the only emotion her characters brought about was annoyance. Sure, she had some nice scenes towards the end, but that's not really thanks to her character at all, but more about the scene as a whole.

Still tho, while I don't think it surpasses Aldnoah as AotS, it was very good, and definitely had the best soundtrack of any of the shows from this season (seriously, go listen to any song from it, it's amazing).

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