Anime/Manga Journal

[Annubis]

A Sister's All You Need (4-minute drop):  Four minutes was too much, and now I can't unwatch it.  Eww.

Hah, I did try to warn people about this.  But seriously, the rest of the episode is nothing like the beginning bit...sounds you quit right as it started to get interesting.

I got to the point where the girl says she wants to bone the MC every 10 second and then they kept doing it over and over till the end of the episode.
Noped right at episode 1.

[Ranadiel]

So I just watched Dies Irae episode 0. I am so torn on this. So on one hand, this was a horrible spot for them to start from. Having an episode dedicated to this plot is not a bad idea...but it should have been in the middle of the series rather than at the beginning. Too many characters introduced at once, and too many spoilers given due to the fact that this story was not meant to come first. But at the same time, I'm actually impressed with how well they managed to condense the side story down to get all the important beats. There were a lot of details changed, but nothing too important (although not including Ruskalla's freakout was disappointing). I am more optimistic for the rest of the series being able to condense the important parts well. Less optimistic about the fights though.

[Chronix112]

So I just watched Dies Irae episode 0. I am so torn on this. So on one hand, this was a horrible spot for them to start from. Having an episode dedicated to this plot is not a bad idea...but it should have been in the middle of the series rather than at the beginning. Too many characters introduced at once, and too many spoilers given due to the fact that this story was not meant to come first. But at the same time, I'm actually impressed with how well they managed to condense the side story down to get all the important beats. There were a lot of details changed, but nothing too important (although not including Ruskalla's freakout was disappointing). I am more optimistic for the rest of the series being able to condense the important parts well. Less optimistic about the fights though.

Objectively look at this episode from a view point of a person who knew nothing about Dies Irae, and tell me how they can't think it was anything other then confusing garbage.  They cliff noted the episode in a way that  almost  all of the context was lost.  The episode left a very bad impression and is not well received anywhere.

[Ranadiel]

So I just watched Dies Irae episode 0. I am so torn on this. So on one hand, this was a horrible spot for them to start from. Having an episode dedicated to this plot is not a bad idea...but it should have been in the middle of the series rather than at the beginning. Too many characters introduced at once, and too many spoilers given due to the fact that this story was not meant to come first. But at the same time, I'm actually impressed with how well they managed to condense the side story down to get all the important beats. There were a lot of details changed, but nothing too important (although not including Ruskalla's freakout was disappointing). I am more optimistic for the rest of the series being able to condense the important parts well. Less optimistic about the fights though.

Objectively look at this episode from a view point of a person who knew nothing about Dies Irae, and tell me how they can't think it was anything other then confusing garbage.  They cliff noted the episode in a way that  almost  all of the context was lost.  The episode left a very bad impression and is not well received anywhere.

And I think a lot of that problem could have been fixed by putting it mid way into the season rather than right at the start as a lot of the stuff should get explained in later episodes. Maybe once we get to episode 1, it will turn out I am completely wrong and the abridging they have to do will make it completely impossible to parse. *shrug*

[Ranadiel]

So Dies Irae episode 1...I like it better than episode 0. They hit everything that I think they should have hit from the section they covered. I'm really not sure how parsable it will be for someone who doesn't know the series though. I think it should be, but I'm not really able to separate myself from my knowledge of the VN enough to say for sure.

I suppose I'll just have to wait to see what Kevadu thought.

[ironmage]

After extensive review, I have compiled a list of recommended shows for this season.

• Recovery of an MMO Junkie (Recommendation of the Wonderful Virtual Life)

That concludes the list.

Our heroine, Morioka Moriko, quits her day job to become an "elite NEET".  Finding that her old MMO has long since discontinued service, she starts playing a new one, and finds herself in an online relationship (sort-of).
If you enjoyed 'Gamers!' there's a good chance you'll like this.  Although it's not quite as funny, it doesn't make the mistake of getting bogged down in relationship graph theory.

And if I'm honest about my reasons for watching this...I think Moriko is totes adorkable.


Among continuing series, March Comes in Like a Lion, Food Wars, and Dragonball Super are all pretty solid.  Although Dragonball is somewhat variable in quality, right now is as good as it gets.  This season of Food Wars is palatable, but its not as fresh as it was at the beginning of the series.

Other stuff:

BLEND-S (4-episodes, continuing):  I really shouldn't be enjoying this, and I'll drop it as soon as I can get through an episode without laughing.

Juni Taisen: Zodiac War (4-episodes, continuing):  The battle royale/deathmatch form is hardly new, but it's fairly well executed here.  I just hope they don't get stuck in the pattern of killing characters off shortly after presenting their backstory.

Vanishing Line (4-episode drop):  It wasn't bad, but the ensemble-cast/monster-of-the-week format rarely leads to a satisfying series.

Twocar (4-episode drop):  There wasn't enough racing-related drama, and the yuri wasn't really working for me.

Konohana Kitan (4-episode drop):  The fourth episode was just pointless enough to push me over the fence.  Nice kimono designs, though.

Evil or Live (1-episode drop): Pretentious; unimaginative.

Shigurui (finished):  I loved the deliberate pacing, and the art style (perhaps it sometimes tried to be too artistic for its own good).  But although I appreciate the references to classic samurai movies (like Sword of Doom), this sometimes pushed the limits of squeamishness, which prevents me from calling this "good".  I'm not a Tarantino fan, but if you like the sort of movies that he took inspiration from to make Kill Bill, you might find something of interest here.

Has anyone been watching this season of Kino no Tabi?  I was a fan of the 2003 version, but I've been avoiding this one because...well, if it's bad, I can't unwatch it.

[Mickeymac92]

I had to double check my list to see if there was anything new I was interested in. And yeah, I guess there were a few. I forgot about Black Clover entirely, but my gut tells me me I should wait until it gets going until I dive into it. The plot synopsis sounds fairly formulaic for the genre, so it might need some time to make its mark as a unique story instead of a parade of shounen manga tropes...

And did no one seriously pick up Robomasters for simulcast? That's a bummer...so yeah, looks like my anime time this season will be devoted to Blood Blockade Battlefront and catching up with One Piece, as well as going back to some old shows I wanted to watch/finish.

[Ranadiel]

I had to double check my list to see if there was anything new I was interested in. And yeah, I guess there were a few. I forgot about Black Clover entirely, but my gut tells me me I should wait until it gets going until I dive into it. The plot synopsis sounds fairly formulaic for the genre, so it might need some time to make its mark as a unique story instead of a parade of shounen manga tropes...

That will probably take a while since the manga is currently in the middle of its Chunin Exam equivalent.

[Tomara]

I tried watching Black Clover, but Asta talk LIKE THIIIIIIIS! IT'S ANNOYIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING! I HOPE HE DIIIIIIEEEEEEEEES! IN A FIREEEEEEEEEEEEE!

[Ranadiel]

So anyone besides me still watching Dies Irae?

I tried watching Black Clover, but Asta talk LIKE THIIIIIIIS! IT'S ANNOYIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING! I HOPE HE DIIIIIIEEEEEEEEES! IN A FIREEEEEEEEEEEEE!

Yeah, when I gave up on the manga, my thoughts were along the lines of "This could be enjoyable if the main character wasn't Asta."

[Mickeymac92]

Oh, so the Naruto allusions are more than skin deep? That's disappointing...

[Ranadiel]

Oh, so the Naruto allusions are more than skin deep? That's disappointing...

Well I haven't read it months, but back when I was reading it, I thought it was to Naruto as Fairy Tail is to One Piece (with a little bit of some other series mixed in).

[Chronix112]

So anyone besides me still watching Dies Irae?

I am still watching it for fanservice.  It has gotten better since episode 00 (which is not saying much), but it should not come to a surprise  that the few people that were watching it on this forum dropped it.

[Kevadu]

After extensive review, I have compiled a list of recommended shows for this season.

• Recovery of an MMO Junkie (Recommendation of the Wonderful Virtual Life)

That concludes the list.

...yup.

I've been meaning to write more about this series.  I'm really quite enjoying it.  In fact I started working my way through the original manga after watching a couple episodes.  The anime is a very good adaptation if anyone is curious.  It's actually going through the original chapters very quickly, and in the wrong hands that could be a problem.  But the original manga isn't perfect either.  It's actually quite wordy and slow-paced at times.  There is stuff that's cut or abbreviated for the anime but that actually improves the pacing in some ways. 

I do have some concerns though because apparently the manga has been on hiatus for a couple years now due to the author's health.  Hiatus, not concluded.  And looking at the pace the anime is moving it may just cover all published chapters by the end...but I don't know if that's going to be a very satisfying conclusion.

I will rant about how they butchered the English title some other day as it's really not that important...

[Mickeymac92]

...I'm routinely reminded how limited my tastes in anime are whenever people wholeheartedly recommend anime whose synopsis had me cringing and groaning the whole way through...

I'm not even saying that you guys have terrible tastes, but...it's taking a lot of restraint to keep myself from going on about how utterly boring - as in, "I could not even begin to imagine a more boring setup if I tried" kind of boring - that makes up more than half of the shows this season. But at least a few of them have clearly found an audience, so I suppose that reaction just says more about me than anything.