/otaku/ - Japan / Otaku / Anime

>>3059
> it is almost entirely exposition with very little in the way of actually showing.
As someone who tends to be bored by action scenes, I was fine with this. Plus I was very interested in the more abstract aspects of the writing. It depends a lot on what you value. Re:Creators is a very love-it-or-hate-it kind of anime.

>>3060
Well I don't mean action scenes. Getting people to sit down and tell you the plot is generally considered bad writing. There was very little suspense and even less actual, well, progression or character development. I'm surprised you liked Meteora; she was by far my most hated character in that show. It's a show with a great premise suffocated by atrocious actual storyboarding.

>>3061
I agree that the exposition could have been delivered in a way more entertaining manner. I feel like a lot of people went into Re:Creators with a set of expectations that ultimately didn't match what the show delivered. It certainly completely defied my expectations, but in my case it was in a good way because I was expecting a mediocre isekai action show.

I read through some archived /a/ threads for this recently and it seemed like your point of view is very common.

>>3061
Also, I would like to see the premise used in a different way. Like in a more fun comfy comedy-heavy show.

>>3062
I feel like I'd hate Meteora less if she didn't personify in entirety what felt like a systemic problem that just held back what could have been a good show. You can actually see it underneath trying to get out but because Meteora tells you the plot instead of you getting to see the plot it starts sounding like a lecture on how brilliant the author's worldbuilding is. Don't get me wrong, worldbuilding is great, but it's generally better to show someone worldbuilding rather than describe it second-hand. Once they're super invested in the lore, then you can just infodump them, but even then you don't want to infodump them inside the story proper.

Also I'll be honest, I get the necessity of not bringing out actually high-power entities but most of the characters who were brought out are kind of chump change, and they feel like chump change too. I don't remember the plot exactly but Harry Potter would've gibbed half of them and that's saying something since Potter gets gibbed by a gun.

>>3064
>I feel like I'd hate Meteora less if she didn't personify in entirety what felt like a systemic problem that just held back what could have been a good show.
Totally fair. She was the inevitable person for that role, for better or worse. I literally saw Meteora memes in the /a/ archive that reflect exactly what you're saying, so you're definitely not alone.

>>3065
I think the characters were chosen because they represent various common character archetypes. Mamika the magical girl being one obvious example of this.

Rewatched Alien 9 today
I really love this show, the visuals and atmosphere are so cool and creepy, and while some people find the MC too much of a crybaby, I really empathize with her and all the traumatic stuff happening to her. I teared up a couple times even. The ending is kind of abrupt and very much a cliffhanger for the manga, but despite that the show as a whole is unsettling and fascinating and has a great soundtrack, I highly recommend it.

>>3089
Those are some great visuals. I really love the manga, but never watched the anime.

>>3090
Ah you should really watch it! It's only 4 episodes and I think it's amazing. I might check out the manga soon, because I do love the atmosphere and aesthetic of it. Oh and also the characters, I really like how each girl deals with the trauma of being used for alien hunting in a different way, and how they each had their own insecurities and strategies to deal with them.

>>18
I just finished watching Rozen Maiden (the first two seasons and the third season, along with the manga). What can I say? I fell in love with the characters, annoying as they might have been at times, and Jun's story. I enjoyed seeing him grow and gradually open up/come out of his shell, reconciling the hang-ups of his past step by step. This applied to both Juns, the 'wound' Jun and the 'unwound', though I'd argue the way the latter handled it was much more realistic (as he didn't really have the dolls in his early life to push him) since he did all of the initial work alone.

Also the girls were all cute, not only in appearance but as characters. Suigintou's pride (and melancholy), Kanaria's clumsiness, Suiseiseki's tsun-ness (which was just a cover for her caring nature), Souseiseki's determination, Shinku's nobility, and Hina-ichigo's innocence/childish nature were all endearing to me. I loved each of them.

I was really sad to let this series go, especially since I found myself so attached to the characters. And while I don't think it's for everybody, I would recommend you guys watch it/read the manga. But for myself I can definitely say that it will always have a place in my heart.

https://myanimelist.net/anime/477

I watched Aria the Animation, also known as season 1 of the Aria anime series. Here are my thoughts:

I like how sci-fi elements were mixed into a comfy SoL show, although this aspect could have been made more prominent. I think I would have found a stronger sci-fi theme more interesting than the generic SoL episodic plots I've seen many iterations of before.

A lot of the characters have catchphrases that don't take long to become annoying, and result in a lot of seemingly repetitive dialogue. The script in general is mediocre and, although there are occasional sentimental moments, it's nothing beyond what I'd expect from a typical SoL show.

If nothing else, this anime is fairly relaxing. The setting is unique, and the atmosphere is relaxing and otherworldly in some ways.

I don't value visuals too much, but there is room for improvement in this regard. The lack of visual detail is truly a missed opportunity. I would have been fine with just a powerpoint presentation if there were more care put into the backgrounds and visual environment.

Aside from its unique setting and atmosphere, this is a mediocre SoL show. The characters are completely forgettable, the writing is not particularly creative, the visuals are poor, the OST is nothing special; there's just not a lot here to appreciate. On one hand, this anime is relaxing. However, framed another way, it is fairly dull, even by my SoL-loving standards. I pretty much had to watch it before bedtime because it would inevitably lull me to sleep — this could be a desirable feature, depending on the viewer's expectations.

This anime started airing before SoL really took off as a genre, so it may have received more praise at its time of origination than a theoretical contemporary equivalent might have. This anime is not exceptional by contemporary standards of the genre, aside from its setting.


My overall rating for Aria the Animation (first season): 5/10
It was an adequate show to lull me to sleep at the end of the day, but nothing about it particularly impressed me.

It's unlikely that I'll be watching the sequels any time in the near future. Maybe I'll revisit it in a few years to see if my viewpoint changes.

>>3103
I felt the same about season 1. I think my expectations were a bit too high right after coming from Tamayura.

Roll gave my favorite anime 5/10 ;_;

>>3103
Edit:
Just for some context, going into Aria I expected I would enjoy it a lot. It seemed like a show well suited to my tastes. I enjoyed Amanchu immensely, and watching it was the trigger that finally got me to try out Aria. In theory Aria seems like it would be a great anime, but its execution is lacking. I wanted to like it.

Also regarding the OST, I am a little negatively biased because I tend not to enjoy guitar-like instruments as much as the average person.

Aria seems like it doesn't explore its setting enough to fully realize its potential. The lack of detail in the visuals is also a significant aspect of its wasted potential.

>>3104
Yeah, like I said, I expected to like it. Although I can only speak for season 1 obviously. I doubt the content of the sequels is much different, although a higher budget could go a long way.

>>3105
My median rating among shows I watch to completion is 6/10, so it's not like I totally hated it or anything.

recently watched all of aria
think i skipped some season 1 episodes
most of what's described above is correct, it's proto-moe so not as character driven as later stuff.

from memory season 2 and 3 were slightly better. some episodes had an almost dreamlike or surrealist quality to them which was interesting

but yeah i did watch it before sleeping and multiple times fell asleep to it

>>3103
>>3107

>>3105
I feel you, sushi.

>>3108
hahahaha
I know, I know…

It's very blasphemous to diss Aria, especially with the imageboard folks.

and especially after praising some isekai-ish stuff a few weeks back. Good heavens!

I'm just being intellectually honest guys… :P

>>3109
You should watch the entire series first.
What are your 10/10 anime?

>>3103
oh, so you're that retard that posted this on /a/ a day or two ago and had multiple sushi rolls explaining to you what is good about the show and telling you that it won't click with you until the later seasons
cool review bro, but you might want to take their advice and watch the entire thing before making such a snap judgement on it
if you're new to anime Aria probably isn't your best anime to watch yet

>>3111
Oh come on roll is allowed not to love Aria, I was just being silly! If the first season isn't someone's cup of tea I don't think they'll find enough in the subsequent ones to truly change their opinion on it.
>>3110
This reminds me, I think it'd be fun to have a 3x3 thread or something so I can judge everyone's taste ehehe

>>3112
The first time I watched it I didn't like it much until I was at least halfway through season 2. After watching the entire series and letting it sit for a bit to ponder, it is easily on of my favorites.
Aria isn't really a show to intellectually or critically analyze as it is pretty simple. It's more something that you eventually connect with and feel.
He would be doing himself a disservice and might miss out on something he could really love if he just drops it after season 1.
I probably would have given it a 4/10 if I stopped after the first season. I hope he reconsiders and tries to actually enjoy it without taking some negative approach to what should be a great experience when it's all finished.

Started watching Bokurano. I like the premise but they way they get there and the way the characters act and react to the crazy things suddenly happening is a bit too contrived. If the tone wasn't so realistic and serious, or if they did any amount of worldbuilding I'd have an easier time suspending my disbelief but I just find it awfully silly how quickly everyone accepts things. Sudden appearance of interdimensional robot wars and teleportation and quirky floating mascots with Kyubey vibes etc. I audibly laughed at what what was probably supposed to be a sinister scene because the coroner doing an autopsy just nonchalantly says "the only thing wrong with his body was that he had no soul".

That said, the characters themselves and the drama brewing is interesting to me, so I'm gonna keep watching. I'm also a sucker for stupid dramatic twists and I can see this being that kinda show.

>>3114
Okay nevermind I watched up through episode 5 now and this show is fucking stupid, but in a fun way. The edginess has already skyrocketed to comical levels, especially the school shooter psychopath kid accidentally crushing his dad after getting horny over killing civilians. Not to mention the fact that OF COURSE they're trapped in a stupid death game by a cheerful, murderous mascot. I went into this show expecting to enjoy it on the level of something like Madoka but rather I'm enjoying it the same way I did Code Geass or Valvrave. Not what I signed up for but I'm in for a ride of this sort.

>>3110
>You should watch the entire series first.
It's rare for me to write a review before watching every season of an anime, but in this case it will probably be a few years before I revisit the show so I wanted to record my thoughts now. I do feel somewhat obligated to eventually complete it since it is an influential SoL classic.

>What are your 10/10 anime?
I'd be happy to tell you sushi rollymously in another thread :^)

Seriously though, if I provide an exhaustive answer to that question it will probably derail the thread and is unlikely to result in any productive conversation. Plus, I just want my posts to be viewed with as much impartiality as possible.

>>3111
As much as I hate engaging in ID california rollry, yes that was probably me. Hiya :)

rewatched .hack //sign recently.

It was still sort of interesting but less good than I remembered. I like the atmosphere in some episodes but the story and character development doesn't really hold up at all, especially the ending, which didn't explain anything.

I haven't played the video games though, so maybe I'm missing out on some of the references. The epilogue OVA was almost entirely references.

>>3103
Yo, did this roll just watch 1/6 of an anime and think he could accurately analyze it?
So much for being intellectually honest.
More like intellectually dishonest.
Either get some patience and watch the entire thing or give up and resign your qualifications as a reviewer.
I suppose I ought to offer up my thoughts on the first 1/6 of Joyce's Ulysses.

>>3120
Would you have made the same post had his review been posted in 2005?
If I recall correctly there's a movie coming out in winter so technically you haven't watched the whole thing either.
Either way he did promise to watch the whole thing later on, dragging this argument further is quite frankly annoying and I think is ruining the thread.
Please let's not derail the thread with uncomfy arguments.

>>3122
I think he should not have made a review unless he watched the entire series, meaning all three anime adaptations.
Reading back through his posts it's clear he is new to anime and has pretty bad taste. But the least he could due is finish a series he aims to scrutinize. Had he watched through the Origination and articulated his gripes I would have read them and considered them, but carelessly watching the first part of a larger whole and judging it so flippantly is pathetic.
The funny thing is even he admitted that he usually watches every season of an anime, so I wonder why he didn't here, and I also wonder how he can claim to give an honest review of the series.
Let me review your favorite series based on the first 1/6 of it (let alone it being unfinished).
Funny why he watched all of every other series but didn't have the patience or presence of mind to be able to accurate review and fully watch this one.

>>3122
Don't mean to be uncomfy, so sorry, but just a little flabbergasted by such disrespect, which to me is uncomfy.

>>3124
I don't mean to be disrespectful but your thoughts have already been expressed previously. I understand your frustration but this isn't the place for that. Aria rolls here really don't mind and have moved on.

>>3125
If roll wants to post shitty hot-take reviews then he can expect shitty hot-take responses.
I actually fee bad for him a little because he has essentially ruined a good show by approaching it from a negative angle.
Hope when he watches it later down the road he actually finishes it and manages to try to understand why so many rolls around the world love it.
I just wish he would have given enough effort to watch the whole thing. It's not so much the bad review as all of his reviews have been laughable bait-tier stuff, but I would rather have read his opinion on more than just the first season.
Oh well, so much for intellectual honesty from that sushi roll.

>>3120
>>3123
I obviously never claimed to have judged the entire series. I just wanted to record my viewing experience with season 1. I think I'm more likely to enjoy the sequels if I let my memories of season 1 fade a bit.

>give up and resign your qualifications as a reviewer
Lol I never claimed to have any superior authority on the subject. I just enjoy watching anime and talking about it sometimes.

>it's clear he is new to anime
Not true, but you're welcome to believe whatever. I wouldn't be posting sushi rollymously if I cared about reputation or ego or anything like that.

>>3126
>given enough effort to watch the whole thing
I watch anime to enjoy myself and appreciate art. If a show requires "effort" to watch then clearly something is wrong. Like I already said many times, I'm more likely to enjoy it if I revisit it again in a few years with a hopefully fresh perspective. I am doing my best to maximize my appreciation of the show. I even tried watching it at different times of the day and in different moods.

>all of his reviews have been laughable bait-tier stuff
I love imageboards for the honest unfiltered feedback I get, so please feel free to elaborate. Seriously. I can't promise I'll change but I'm always interested in hearing new perspectives.


>>3118
.hack//sign has some spectacular tracks in its OST, and I agree the atmosphere was nice. Literally everything else about it was poorly done though, from my anime-only perspective at least. I rated it 4/10 but still listen to the OST often.

I tried nibbling at some of the sequels but don't recall liking them either. I think Roots is the next one I planned to try.


Anyway sushifriends, I have to go to work now unfortunately so won't respond right away.

>>3127
Have you ever thought about posting your reviews on a site for that like MAL, rather than a site like this for comfy discussion?
Just a thought.

>>3127
Why does "effort" mean something is wrong? Some of the greatest books, films, and anime I've experienced took a bit of patience on my part.
With great art one often gets what they put into it.

>>3127
Don't listen to grumpy rolls, I like your reviews and I'm a huge fan of Aria as well.

>>3128
For whatever it’s worth, I like seeing this sushi’s reviews.

I'm with >>3132 and >>3135.

I'm watching Ojamajo Doremi
It's great
I was thinking while watching that Doremi and her friends antics reminded me of Ahiru in Princess Tutu, at least the parts where she's goofing off and going all noodle-limbed. Looked it up and sure enough, they share a director!

>>3126
Feels to me that any opinion a roll could have about it wouldnt be good enough for you unless it's a positive one? I'm curious about what about the review more specifically you think is bait-tier, cause I just see someone sharing his honest reactions.

People like different stuff. I watched 2-3 eps of Aria and dropped it after that cause it didnt make me feel anything except lethargy (I dont have a problem with slow shows in general otherwise).

>>3129
I'm willing to be patient but if I'm consistently not enjoying a show then I'm eventually going to drop it. Although I will say that I'm more likely to stick with highly praised shows that I personally don't enjoy (I'll finish them out of curiosity to see what the big deal is). This introduces a selection bias into my reviews whereby my lowest rated shows are often highly popular, which in turn causes a lot of butthurt to be directed towards me.

>>3128
>Have you ever thought about posting your reviews on a site for that like MAL
I'm sure I don't need to enumerate all the disadvantages of using MAL as a discussion platform. I prefer the freeform imageboard format, and even more importantly, getting honest unfiltered sushi rollymous feedback.

I might upload the review to MAL eventually so that it gets preserved, but I don't have much interest in the platform otherwise.

I thought about making a dedicated thread for people to post reviews in, but I figured it might be a little obnoxious. Plus I don't watch stuff as it airs, so this thread seemed most appropriate.


Also, I was going to say this in a few weeks but I might as well post it now: I am working very long hours lately and will continue to do so for the next couple months at least. I have a few more nearly finished shows "in the pipeline" that I'll post reviews for, but after that it's likely that my post frequency will decline, at least temporarily. I try to average around 10 episodes a week but I am very busy IRL and it is impossible to do sometimes.

After rewatching .hack//sign I also rewatched Tegami Bachi.

Not sure why I've been spending more time rewatching old shows instead of watching new stuff lately but this show actually held up quite well.

For the most part, it's a solid, faithful adaption of about the first 30 or so chapters of the manga, which is also excellent. Reading the manga afterwards I can definitely notice some of the more glaring changes, like the characters Garrard and Valentine, but for the most part these are confined to season 2.

I do think the ending suffers a little from these changes, but I guess a cliffhanger ending would also have been pretty disappointing. The final fight against Cabernet is a lot more epic in the manga, so if you like the anime but wish some of the side characters had more development, I'd totally recommend it.

Just now I finished Aria the Crepuscolo. Here are my ramblings to it.
Athena looks way better with short hair, also she, Akira und Alicia had gross lipstick on, which they didn't have in the seasons and OVAs.
I didn't really care about the 3 new juniors, they had way to less time to make me care for them. Although I do care a little about Ai because she was there since the beginning. The others are only around since Avenire I think? Honestly I don't even know their names. The movie made me realize once more how much I dislike lipstick, eye shadow, high heels, earrings, dresses and handbags. Not as much as tattoos and piercings but I still dislike it a lot. Well I guess this is to be expected from somebody who is into tomboys though.
Anyway when they talked about the flow of time it really hit close to home, sometimes I wish time would move slower and sometimes I wish time would move faster. Even more important is that it once more made me notice how less I appreciated the nice times I had, all the people who were around me and the things that were done for me. Now that I sit around alone all day I miss the buddies I had back then but they are gone, just like my favorite website I used to visit, my online friends, my good childhood and much more.
At the end when they talked about feelings towards your beloved ones I actually started to cry. The last living being I loved was my cat, which died June 2020. I still miss her and I am not over it yet but time will heal all wounds, although it still leaves scars.
Perhaps I had to much whisky while watching the movie but that stuff is delicious and makes me feel warm inside. At the end I have nothing more to say exempt thank you for reading this nonsense, lurking this chan and Sei a thank you for hosting this chan. Best chan out there since the one died I used to lurk.

>>3142
As a kid this is one of those manga I had the first volume of but never got any more of. I thought the setting and aesthetic was really cool and I like the concept of being a cool mailman

>>3142
>Not sure why I've been spending more time rewatching old shows instead of watching new stuff lately
I haven't felt excited for new stuff in a long ass time. I'd say I'm just getting old but honestly I think it's just selection bias. All the old stuff is good, otherwise it gets forgotten like 90% of all the things coming out.

I caught up with 86 in time for the new season. I enjoyed it more than I thought I would, for a setting that's basically just anime nazis they treat it with a surprising amount of nuance so far, edgy shounen bullshit aside. While I'm not a fan of the characters or setting the atmosphere and tone are surprisingly good, especially the stuff near the end where they leave on their suicide mission. Something about the last couple episodes really impressed me with everyone embracing their probable death and cheerily wandering off into the unknown. I also like the plotline of fighting a rogue AI army that steals human brains to improve itself. It's no masterpiece by a long shot but it's interesting enough that I'm invested in seeing S2

Girls und Panzer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UyVkSgH6nZs
Its tanks are surprisingly (mostly) historically accurate…

Is the bump limit 250 replies on sushichan? Should we make a new thread?

https://myanimelist.net/anime/33263

I watched Kubikiri Cycle: Aoiro Savant to Zaregototsukai. Also known as The Beheading Cycle. Here are my thoughts:

This is an OVA by Shaft, and it certainly feels that way. The visuals are signature Shaft and resemble past works by the studio. I did not particularly like the character designs or art style, personally. I also wish there were more visual detail in general. However, the visuals were still mildly interesting due to the way Shaft uses cinematography.

The OST is by Yuki Kajiura. It is decent but it felt like not a whole lot of artistic risk was taken. It uses the same kinds of instruments and sounds you've likely heard in her other past OSTs. It was not particularly innovative. (Having said that, I suspect I'll be more impressed with it once I sit down with the OST alone and carefully explore every song in the catalog, since it is Yuki Kajiura after all.)

This is the case in general with Kubikiri Cycle. Although it has a lot of artistic flavour, it doesn't stray beyond the artistic boundaries already explored by Shaft in the past. The cinematography, music and art style are all similar to past works put out by the studio.

I did not like or appreciate any of the characters. The male MC in particular was annoying and unlikable. Also, despite involving a murder mystery, I was never interested in the story at all. However, sometimes the script itself was intriguing and had some memorable lines. The scriptwriting was clearly done with a lot of care. Although I didn't care about the story, the dialogue itself held my attention. In terms of voice acting, the cast was skilled but nobody struck me as exceptional.


My overall rating: 5/10
As a whole, it was only marginally entertaining enough for me to watch to completion. The visuals were mildly interesting but hardly spectacular. The music was decent. The script was well written. No other characteristics of this anime provided me any enjoyment.

I used the Yuki subs and they kinda sucked. Especially for a show like this with lots of complex dialogue. A lot of excessive and unnecessary liberties were taken with translations. The subs often did not accurately reflect the true meaning of the words being spoken.

For the record, at the time of writing this, I still have not seen the Monogatari series. I mention that because it is often compared to this anime.

>>3277
It is done