I'd like to make
this a quarterly thing, where I give a brief overview of how the past
cour's anime has impacted me; what pleased, what didn't, what amused
unintentionally, what surprised, etc. On that note, the Fall 2014
season seemed to have particularly few shows I just “liked”.
Most things were terribly mediocre to just terrible, with only a
handful being consistently enjoyable. So, without further ado,
here's what I watched:
Parasyte: The Maxim
Hands-down my
favorite thing of the season, possibly the year; it's not so a
question of if I'll buy the eventual release as when. Gorgeous
animation, a surprisingly realistic story, and probably the greatest
rarity of all for a horror anime: likable, fleshed-out characters.
You're not just waiting for a bunch of dumbasses to die in this show,
but genuinely interested in how each person responds to each event.
Can't wait for more!
Sailor Moon: Crystal
Yeah,
everyone knows how poorly-animated and boring this unfortunate reboot
is. I was never a mega-hardcore fan of the original (I watched up
through R) due to its repetitive monster-of-the-week format, but I'll
take it any day of the week over this blandness. Sure, the original
had a ton of stupid shit like Usagi trying to lose weight or Tuxedo
Melvin, but dammit, at least you got to see a bunch of cartoons
butting heads with each other. It's weird to say I miss the Sailor
Scouts' infighting, but there's no
chemistry between these rebooted versions; they just spout spout
exposition and a smattering of “Oh no!”s or “Look out!”s,
while Usagi wonders endlessly if these feelings of hers could
possibly be...love? Of course I'll watch this to the end, but just
to bitch about it.
Mushi-shi Zoku
Really, who
expected this of all shows to get a sequel? Possibly the single most
relaxing anime ever, this understated show was a great medicine after
some of the crap I watched. Like how a simple fireside story would
feel right after being bombarded by a loud, obnoxious Hollywood
blockbuster. Not much else to say about this one except thank the
anime Gods we got more of it; best present I never knew I wanted.
Gundam G-Recon
I
took a break from Gundam
when Build Fighters started
due to being very underwhelmed by Age,
then started watching this show for two reasons. First, Unicorn
had gotten me pumped again.
Second, Tomino was heavily involved, for better or worse. Did I
choose poorly? Well, yes and no. Sure, I keep hearing that Build
Fighters is an actual fun,
engaging show. But at the same time, there's just something about
watching the second coming of Garzey's Wing
(oh yes, I went there) on a weekly basis. Let's leave it at that for
now; I have a feeling I'll have much more to write about once the
show wraps up.
Gugure! Kokkuri-san
Picked up this
show on a whim because it looked cute, and it was less cute than I'd
heard. A hit-and-miss comedy with more hits than misses; the best
laughs came because the cast is made up of terrible people, and I
wish they'd pushed those aspects to full-on Sabagebu
territory. Kind of a waste of my time, to be honest.
Inou Battle wa Nichijou-kei
Not the Trigger
show I was expecting after watching Kill la Kill and hearing
the premise. It gets much better once you realize the superpowers
don't matter a bit and you're barely going to see them, but although
lots of people have high praise for this show, I can't bring myself
to like it. The cast irritates me. Though all the girls are given
some depth so I can sympathize with most on some level, it just rings
hollow for me because they're all secretly in love with the main
character, one of those guys. You know, the “lovable”
fuck-up who irritates you to no end with his borderline autism, until
a girl has a crisis and he reveals that he's really smart and
sensitive and the best at everything, he just hides it 'cause he
doesn't want to make a big deal of it. Frankly, the show's focus on
everyone's feelings for him is a little nauseating because all these
girls feel less realistic because of their attraction to him. We're
not impressed by his ability to cut right to the heart of any
emotional matter because so can many people who don't have a plot
cramming stupid down their throat. This show may do one or two
things differently from the norm, and at least there's effort put
into some of the writing, but it all felt way too gimmicky to me.
Chaika the Coffin Princess:
Avenging Battle
Much like the
first season, nothing revolutionary, just extremely solid fantasy
action. I'm kind of impressed with how unambitious this show is in
that it isn't trying to sell us a bunch of cute girls to fap to, or
bog us down with endless exposition because oh my god this is epic
you guys see how epic this is. You care for the characters, you
enjoy the plot as it unfolds, you wish there was more of it by the
end.
Fate Stay/Night: Unlimited Blade
Works
Another show I'll
probably write more about later. My limited experience with other
Type Moon adaptations has left me with more or less the same
impression: decidedly average, with needlessly dense plot and
gorgeous action scenes. Not a bad show, but I really can't see why
the franchise is so popular; again, I'll likely expand on this in the
future.
Sword Art Online II
A solid guilty
pleasure by this point, though the season's second half was much
weaker than the first in my opinon. I thought the time spent in Gun
Gale Online was quite engaging, probably because it shifted away from
Kirito's much-lampooned perfection and onto a secondary character who
was more interesting. The world was cool, too. By comparison, the
following short arcs set back in the fantasy world didn't feel like
much was at stake. Still better than season one's mediocrity and
occasional creepiness, though.
Terra Formars
I was a bit torn
on this show by the end. I mean, it's trash. Dumb, incredibly slow,
and way too impressed with itself, it eventually morphs into that
typical Japanese male power fantasy we love to hate. You know, where
a bunch of uninteresting guys kick ass no matter how much they're
hurt because they're just that badass, while the filthy monsters
and/or foreigners wish they could be that cool. I can't help but
view this as the first of the Attack on Titan piggybackers,
with its hoo-rah-let's-fight atmosphere, it's kill-'em-all mindset,
and its inclusion of irredeemable monsters with suspicious
intelligence and purpose. Still, AOT had layers of subtlety
and a plot that doesn't feel like a teenager's handiwork.
Psycho-Pass 2
More fun than I
remember it being the first time around. The villain's plan was
explained pretty well given that it's a pretty high-minded concept,
and there wasn't a metric ton of bullshit like I expected. Sure,
with only eleven episodes there's hardly time to go too far off the
rails, but with Gen Urobuchi's writing you always wonder; look
forward to more Aldnoah Zero on that note. Despite some
flaws, this oddly felt like a much more pleasant diversion than that
show ever was.
Shirobako
P.A. Works doesn't
always deliver a hit for me, but when they do, wow. Despite
probably turning off a lot of people with its heavy moe
influence, this is the most harsh, unflinching look at the anime
industry I've ever seen. It may begin with a group of cute girls who
want to be animators, voice actors, etc., but each of them has their
own intense, completely relatable struggle that raises interesting
questions. What if you land a steady job in your field, but all you
can see in your future is grunt work? How do you deal with the
constant rejections that are just a part of your industry? How much
should you sacrifice your personal style to get the job done? What
if, after all the training you've been through, you're just not good
enough? This is a seriously underappreciated gem, and I can't
recommend it highly enough to anyone who's interested in the anime
industry's daily grind.
Ronja, the Robber's Daughter
I feel bad about
shitting on this show too much, because it's obviously for kids. If
I'm not being entertained by interminably slow, boring episodes,
well, tough, because it was never intended for me. I'd like to think
that even kids are smart enough to find this show insanely dull and
(mostly) creatively bankrupt, but I can only speculate how those
creatures think. At least I can guiltlessly shit on the animation.
Man, that is some ugly-ass CGI.
And that's it!
Did I miss any fantastic shows this season? That Rage of Bahamaut
one sounds like it was an unexpected delight, but was it good enough
that I should track down the episodes? Want to know anything more
specific about the shows I watched? Let me know in the comments!
