Thanks for asking questions yesterday, all who did! Here are a few highlights for the day-long session.
Q: I know we have another season to go for 2014 but what would consider anime of the Year? Here’s my Top 5 contenders. 1. Knights of Sidonia 2. Barakamon 3. Haiykuu 4. Chaika – The Coffin Princess 5 The Kawai Complex Guide to Manors and Hostel Behaviors In No particular order from FL Jerry (CR).
A: My shortlist for potential AOTS shows is truly pretty short: Silver Spoon S2 and Ping Pong. These are the only two shows I’d consider for the title at this point.
The second tier isn’t much bigger: Golden Time, World Conquest: Zvezda Plot, Tonari no Seki-kun.
If I were to list “pet shows” that probably don’t deserve it, but that I liked a lot: Witchcraft Works, Noragami, Hitsugi no Chaika, Haikyuu!!
And then, of course, there are currently airing shows and fall shows: Zankyou no Terror probably will end up in the second tier. Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun is definitely in the pet shows list. Argevollen might have a shot at being a second tier show, as well. If selector spread WIXOSS is good, WIXOSS might could end up in the second tier, too.
But between Silver Spoon, Ping Pong, Golden Time, Zvezda, and Seki-kun, you’re probably looking at my current top five. There might be a show that belongs in the second tier that slipped through the cracks somewhere, but I feel pretty good about this list right now.
Q: Thinking of doing a season preview?
A: Thinking of doing a season preview?
I actually wrote a post at the beginning of the summer season that tangentially addresses the idea of season previews.
https://reallifeanime.wordpress.com/2014/06/23/a-demonstration-of-why-premise-criticism-is-silly
How does that apply, you ask? Well, the fact is that (other than staff pedigree—and God knows THAT’S a inconsistent mess of a minefield I won’t delve into) premises are the only thing I have to go on to judge a series. And that, as the post says, is only a reflection of my personal interest and not an indicator whatsoever of quality or even quality potential. Sure, you can probably conjecture that a premise of “Yuuji-kun is a normal highschooler who transfers to a school where he’s the only male in a class of magical alien fetish-pandering superpowered girls” is not going to rise above the level of an average harem, but /you don’t know that until you see the actual show./ It very well could be a fantastic reflection on the genre. Probably not, but you just don’t know.
A lot of season previews I’ve read have more or less just been showing off how much industry knowledge the writer has. Since I have very little, just a few people/studios I like (Yui Horie, BONES), there’s no point in me trying to be cool like that and make totally unfounded guesses at how good a show I haven’t seen is going to be.
I much prefer to do first impressions after I’ve actually seen an episode (or three, but that puts you behind the blogging circuit), because then I can actually talk about something I know.
So nope! No season preview here! You won’t know which shows I’ve actually decided to pick up until I do my first impressions post for the fall season.
Q: What are you planning to watch in the fall?
A: I’m excited for the second season of Hitsugi no Chaika and for selector spread WIXOSS. I’ll also pick up the second season of Log Horizon, which I enjoyed but didn’t love.
As far as new shows go:
- Akatsuki no Yona—because it’s a fantasy shoujo and shoujo has a really good track record with me lately. And the anime scene desperately needs variety, so if it’s different and halfway decent, I’ll support it.
- Inou-Battle wa Nichijou-kei no Naka de—because Trigger, I guess. I want to see if they learned/got better from KLK. And I like the magical powers without evil forces to fight spin.
- Sanzoku no Musume Ronja—because children in the wilderness and that Ghibli place everyone seems to like? Okay, sure.
- Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso—because I like the key visuals and the music elements.
- Shirobako—because CGDCT!!!
- Sora no Method—because good key visuals and seems to have mystical facets I’d like.
Random list of others I might check out: Amagi Brilliant Park (I like the name), Cross Ange (original mecha), Denki-Gai no Honya-san (seinen comedy), Donten ni Warau (Dogakobo), Garo: Honoo no Kokuin (MAPPA+interesting source), Twintails (looks ridiculous, plus redtsun potential), Trinity 7 (name+key visuals), Ushinawareta Mirai wo Motomete (supernatural tag), World Trigger (need some fun action), Yuuki Yuuna was Yuusha de Aru (visuals+plus premise).
So, yeah. That’s a bit more than I expected to be on the list. I don’t expect to pick up everything that’s here. Chaika, WIXOSS, and LH are in for sure. After that, I’ll be looking to keep about 8-10 more shows. Probably things that end up having a lot of ecchi, being boring, or with a lot of heavy historical elements will get the boot. But I’ll probably actually watch all the premieres for what I’ve listed here, which will definitely be more than what I did for this summer season.
Again, thanks to everyone who asked questions! If you have something else you want to ask me, feel free to comment on this post or come by my ask.fm page!
iblessall’s ask.fm page
Nozaki, I understand you so well.
Mage in a Barrel 
So.. Why can’t your pet shows be considered for top spots? Surely if you really liked them, whatever merit they’re lacking doesn’t really matter so much. It’s your AOTY list, isn’t it? Or do you have a system of values that stops you grading series like that higher?
At this point, Space Dandy’s probably my number one choice. It’s inconsistent by nature, but then you have episodes like this weeks, and pretty much every series is eating its dust. Silver Spoon, Seki-kun, and Isshuukan Friends are all up there as well.
I’m also really stoked for Chaika Season 2. The first season was kickass ^_^
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It’s for the same reason Nyarko-san will probably show up in my top shows list, but with a ranking of 5/10. I suppose it is a value thing for me, or perhaps an acknowledgement of personal bias—if I’m going to recommend a show for AOTY, I want it to be something that I think will be a valuable experience for people.
WCW and Chaika are examples of shows that I loved, but that I don’t think really have great universal appeal. I recognize that they were particularly entertaining for me personally, but I expect more than lots of entertainment from truly great shows. In other words, while entertainment is enough to make me love a show, it isn’t necessarily enough to make me value a show.
I keep hearing good things from the few people left still watching Space Dandy. Maybe I’ll check it out again sometime (I dropped it 8 minutes into the first episode).
DO YOU WANT MOAR CHAIKA???
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I can understand that. Chaika’s actually a great example here because I pretty much feel the same way you do about it.
If you’re interested in Dandy again, you could just ask around for the good episodes to watch. The lack of continuity let’s you pick and choose completely as you wish. I’d recommend this weeks and episode 9, personally.
DAMN RIGHT I WANT MOAR CHAIKA. THE GIF GALLERY IS TREATING YOU WELL, I SEE.
Yeah if someone doesn’t blog its second season entirely in Chaikas speech pattern I’ll have to take up blogging myself.
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I mean, I mainly love Chaika because of how derpy it was at times. But that’s not a hugely meritorious trait to have as a show. AOTY because derpiness? I take myself slightly more seriously than that.
That’s some solid advice on Dandy. Probably a good way to see if I’m willing to slog through the lesser parts for the high points.
I said I wanted to have a Chaika gif for all occasions. So far my collection has not failed me! Maybe I’ll blog the show in Chaika-speak. That sounds like a fun, derpy thing to do for a show that I couldn’t always find things to talk about last season.
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I’m also very excited for Hitsugi no Chaika season 2. Hitsugi no Chaika was my favorite show of the past season, and I’m interested to see what happens next in the story. The way Ichiro Sakaki wove in darker characters and story elements into the world of Scrapped Princess is rather reminiscent of his Strait Jacket. (The monsters guarding the ducts of that flying fortress toward the end of the show were particularly similar to the monsters of Strait Jacket.) So, that element of the anime makes me especially interested.
Akatsuki no Yona has spectacular art. Though, I read only a few chapters of the manga before dropping it. Somehow, the story didn’t grab me, but I might give the anime a shot. One never knows when the anime shall be better than the manga.
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