After the first rush of shows wound up being something less than significantly impressive, we got Sunday. Ah, Sunday, formerly a bastion of peace and no simulcasting shows—now, the unarguable king of the autumn season. Actually, now that I think about it, I’ve never had a single day of the anime week on which every single show was good (of course, I’m not counting things I didn’t even bother trying), so this is even more of a welcomed rarity. The Lord’s Day brings its blessings…
OKADA!: Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans
Y’all should know by now that I love Mari Okada and the work she does. I’m under no illusions that she’s on point all the time, but I frankly have yet to see a show by her I didn’t at least enjoy. And those shows are far outnumbered by the things she’s done that I genuinely love. So, seeing her given the opportunity to take her substantial and (by me) much-loved talents to a franchise as venerable and lucrative as Gundam is like a dream come true.
And she didn’t disappoint, producing a premiere that was snappily-paced, emotionally-engaging, and filled with hot shirtless dudes. Okada’s most prominent strength is, and always has been, her character work, and Tekketsu (the Japanese word for “iron-blooded,” as I understand it) featured a lot of Okada’s subtle character writing. My favorite example of this, appropriately for Okada, came during the episode’s climax—as Orga, trying to rally and inspire his troops as they wait for Mika to arrive in the Gundam, shouts out his defiance of death. In any other situation, shouting out, “I will not die!” would be ground for accusations of shoddy, obvious characterization, but because Orga’s yells come from his position of authority as the orphans’ commander, it’s far more complex than just a simple declaration of intent. And I dug it all. Other shows were flashier or more delicately written, but Tekketsu was my favorite premiere of the season.
Simply Smashing: One Punch Man
I don’t expect One Punch Man to have this much stunning animation every episode—and I’m frankly not sure I’ll be sticking with it all season—but for the time being, color me impressed. This isn’t to say One Punch Man was all style and no substance, because it certainly did sow the seeds of a show just as interested in saying something as in looking super cool, but the style factor undeniably carried the day here. In all honesty, I don’t feel there’s all that much more to say than that—all there is to do is to see the animation, breathe in the adrenaline of this explosive premiere, and pray that the show can be excellent on terms other than sheer animation power.
At the very least, we’ll always still have JAM Project’s balls-to-the-wall awesome OP.
Eh?: Concrete Revolutio
Now, I said in the intro that Sunday turned out four good shows. Well, here’s about where I start to go back on that just a little bit, because Concrete Revolutio certainly wasn’t the same kind of “good” that Gundam and One Punch Man were. However, I’m not convinced Concrete Revolutio has to be “good” in the way I’m talking about—it may very well turn out to be one of those shows that succeeds entirely on its own terms.
Now, if this sounds like damning the show with faint praise, you’re not far off. I’m kind of working here to avoid completely panning a premiere I liked, but found less immediately engaging than its companion Sunday shows. Concrete Revolutio has a lot of things going for it that I genuinely enjoyed—mahou shoujo transformations happening alongside mecha horse transformations and the weird pop art aesthetic and the jolty, near-incomprehensible plotting and the very BONES-esque feel of it all—but somewhere along the line it kind of failed to connect at a visceral level. Too much of what made this premiere good came out of the “Oh, I like that thing they did” mindset, and not enough came from the “[words do not actually go here]” place. And that’s fine for a premiere with a lot of other things to recommend it. I just hope Concrete Revolutio can hold the pieces together.
Pet-Show Candidate Alert: Comet Lucifer
I closed out Sunday with Comet Lucifer, studio 8bit’s first original project (having most recently been saddled with light novel adaptations like Absolute Duo, which I liked, and Infinite Stratos, which I didn’t so much). In a lot of ways, Comet Lucifer is right up the same kind of alley as shows like Rolling Girls, Danmachi, and Classroom Crisis—a show with cute character designs, a lighter tonal atmosphere, and a nice thematic grip right in the middle of adolescent naiveté. This is a show I desperately want to see succeed, while worrying constantly that it’s going to fall on its face in the next scene or next episode. In a way, perhaps, that’s kind of the charm of a show like this for me.
As for the premiere itself, it did pretty much exactly what I expect a premiere for a show like this to do. Displayed just enough of each of the main characters’ personality to get me to like them, showed off just enough cuteness/silliness from each of the main characters’ to hook me despite the lack of top-tier characterization, threw in some pretty scenes, had some humor, had some mystery, had some really darn good CG mecha duking it out with fight choreography that had actual weight to it—basically, it was a grab bag of a punch of catch points. It’s not the best way to build a super great first episode, but it’s good enough for me.
Sharp and Snappy: Osomatsu-san
I grabbed Osomatsu-san off the shelf of premieres instead of Star-Mu last night because I didn’t feel like dealing with Funimation’s mobile app, and man am I glad I did so. Musical boy idols are good, but this was even better—zany, crazy, sharp-witted fun featuring Hiroshi Kamiya as a neurotic, worrisome brother in a pack of lookalikes voiced by an all-star cast of male seiyu. And what a project these gentleman have decided to involve themselves in, as Osomatsu-san kicked off a hugely funny first episode complete with surprisingly sharp jab at the modern anime industry and what it takes to be popular in the anime world nowadays. I’ve also seen a lot of excitement over the show from some of the more specialized anime enthusiasts on Twitter (read: the people who really pay a lot of attention to the finer details of animation and anime staff), so combined with this excellent premiere, I’m really looking forward to see if Osomatsu-san will hold up for the rest of the season. After all, it’s my only Monday show!
Please Don’t Compare This to Blast of Tempest: Beautiful Bones -Sakurako’s Investigation-
Okay, here’s the thing—Sakurako-san is definitely a different kind of show. I appreciate that. The thing is, it doesn’t feel like a complete, consistent show to me. By all rights, Sakurako herself should have been the main draw of the episode, a weird, eerie, almost unearthly presence and source of fascination for Shoutarou (ala the opening scene beneath the tree), but instead she was a mixed bag of snobbish, plain weird, and socially childish. Shoutarou himself was little better than our typical light novel protagonist—he’s just in a different kind of show, so he fails to feel as tropey as I think he otherwise might. And then, of course, there’s the really, really odd nature of the set-up: a high-school boy follows a twenty-something young woman who also has an in absentia fiancé. Like…what? What is going on here? Either this is some kind of ultraweird fantasy construction or…I don’t know. Not explaining how this relationship came to be (and failing, mostly, to provide any sort of hint as to why Shoutarou sticks around Sakurako) in the premiere felt like a mistake to me. Status: Only thing airing on Wednesday, so I’ll give it another chance. Probably.
Still to Come: The Perfect Insider – F, Gochiusa S2, Garo.
Dropped: Hackadoll, Young Black Jack, Utawarerumono.
https://twitter.com/iblessall/status/650791688265273344
The letter “K” is strong this season…
Mage in a Barrel 
Oh my goodness, Iron-Blooded Orphans. I was so surprised by that opening episode – not because I have no faith in Okada, but because I’m just not a Gundam fan. I don’t like mecha, I’m not even especially into sci-fi, but man was I impressed by that premiere. I don’t think the show is going to be my season favourite (at the very least, Noragami will beat it just for being more to my general taste in genre and visual style), but of all the fall anime introductions I’ve seen so far, Iron-Blooded Orphans is easily leading the pack for me.
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I’ve been really getting into mecha/sci-fi/robot anime as of late, and Tekketsu really is just enabling that spiral. But, yeah, definitely, this was a very surprisingly excellent first episode.
And the moment when the Gundam bursts out of the hill…arrggh so good.
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I’ll be honest, if the show gets really Gundam-centric then I’ll probably drop it. There are a couple of mecha shows I do really like though, like Evangelion and Eureka 7, because they focus more on the characters and the world they live in rather than on the robots that they pilot. If Iron-Blooded Orphans turns out to be more of, or equally, a character-based drama then I’ll be really happy.
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Considering Okada’s penchants for really leaning into her characters (sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse haha), I think that seems to have a decent chance of happening.
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I haven’t seen Iron Blooded Orphans or One Punch Man, waiting on Crunchy or Funi for the former and I don’t know what I’m going to do about the latter. I simply [censored] loathe Daisuki. I’m stuck watching it on my PC because they mobile app doesn’t work for me, and if I have to watch that danged charity commercial one more time I’m going to hurl. Putting up with that and the ongoing pile o’ krep that is Cinderella Girls has put me off them big time.
Speaking of Daisuki, we’ve had a quiet revolution this season that most people seem to miss… They’ve got a lock on one of the most anticipated shows of 2015, and Hulu snagged it’s first current season stream. The world of streaming video is getting rapidly more complex. And heaven help us if Amazon or Netflix (or $DIETY forbid, both) decide to bring their pocketbooks to the table. I’d put my money more on Netflix though, they’ve been slowly assembling a rather decent back catalog. Amazon’s is a collection of random stuff, mostly questionable. Netflix also features anime as a headline category, while you have to dig to find it on Amazon.
Anyhow, off to the shows;
Concrete Revolutio reminds me much more of Rolling Girls than Cometdoes – the same bright palette, ‘different’ art style, and zany plot. (I had that comparison in my head even before you posted.) It was a bit confusing to watch the first ep before I realized that there were multiple time streams in play, and I still haven’t sorted it all out. It could be good, it could be bad… _Rolling never sorted out it’s issues and got on with telling a coherent story, and time will tell whether Congcrete will do so. At the moment, I’m willing to give it that time.
Comet Lucifer on the other hand… I just dunno. It didn’t exactly repel me, but it didn’t exactly grab me either. Kaon seems to be a bit different, but Sogo not so much. The worldbuilding seemed off, and that the show borrowed so much from Castle in the Sky didn’t help much. It’s leaning a bit over the cliff right from the start.
Osomatsu-san hadn’t even really on my radar, might have to give it a try now that you’ve given me cause to read up on it a bit more.
And you didn’t even give Hackadoll a second ep chance?
It’s looks like I may drop a lot this season, and there’s not a single ‘us’ show so far. (Well, maybe Lovely Muco.) But with Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Heroes Reborn, and Doctor Who, we’ve already got three nights of ‘us’ shows. And we’ve got a deep queue of older shows on Crunchy, Funi, and Netflix, so we’ll make out alright.
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Ack… missed a closing underscore somewhere in the Revolutio entry.
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Yeah, streaming this season is truly very weird. Daisuki’s got Concrete Revolutio, but it’s on a one-week delay (wut?), shows went all over the place, Hulu’s suddenly a player, Funimation has basically disappeared from the streaming game, and Crunchyroll is looking more and more like it’s going to its prior habits of taking the vast lion’s share of simulcasts each season…I don’t even know what’s going on.
I definitely see the Concrete Revolutio to Rolling Girls comparison, but I suppose I was making the connection based more on my reactions to/experiences with the shows.
Definitely read up a bit on Osomatsu-san; it’s truly the odd duck show of the season.
And yeah, no more Hackadoll for me. Just didn’t feel compelled to continue it, even at just 7 minutes a pop. I’m really working to keep my weekly shows down this season, because I have a lot of backlog shows that I’m really feeling the urge to get to.
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I dunno, Funi is down – but looking at what they did get, they’re far from out. And unlike Crunchy, they’ve got income from their home video and their dubbed versions to tide them through. Times are getting interesting.
Curious to see what’s in your backlog. Blogging them?
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Oh, yeah, I don’t think Funi’s out. I’m just wondering if we might not see another 20+ simulcast season from them again.
And backlog right now is: Heartcatch Precure (6 eps left), AKB0048 rewatch, Macross SDF, Turn A Gundam, Gunbuster andDiebuster, and a bunch of other mecha shows like Star Driver, Gundam Unicorn, and War in the Pocket.
AKB0048‘s guaranteed another piece from me; not sure about the others.
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Funimation doesnt have as many simulcasts but still have 14 ! And from what I read on CR people over there arent too happy either!
And CR have a lot of Shorts which I do watch but are not Full Length!
It’s just a weak season ! And so many people dissed the Summer season / a note to viewers you are becoming too fussy ! Anyway dont like the Fall the Summer shows are still there!
Their lineup ! Just Listing / My Views elsewhere! / Mutiple Sites ****
Shomin Sample
Rainy Cocoa, Welcome to Rainy Color
Attack on Titan: Junior High
Doamayger-D
Heavy Object
Valkyrie Drive: Mermaid
Concrete Revolutio
Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans ****
STARMYU
Dance with Devils ****
Seraph of the End: Vampire Reign (Season 1 Part 2)
Noragami Aragoto
Aria the Scarlet Ammo AA
Fairy Tail
One Piece
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I didn’t have any issues with Daisuki. I’d never watched anything on their site before, but for the first episode of OPM they only gave me three 30-second commercials (one at the start, one after the opening, and one mid-episode), and all three commercials were different. I definitely preferred it to Funimation, where I have to sit through four 90-120 second commercial blocks every episode and often do get repeaters. Anyway, CR is supposedly going to stream IBO on a one-week delay, so you should be able to watch it there if you don’t mind the wait.
That said, I do know exactly the kind of thing you’re talking about. The first time I watched anime on Hulu I think they were in the middle of testing their ad system, because every single commercial was for the exact same episode of “Jake and the Neverland Pirates,” and the episode in question had actually aired like two years earlier. I can still recite that commercial pretty much from memory, I heard it so often.
I have an Amazon prime account, but that’s for other things, not anime. I rarely think to even look at what’s on their anime shelf, although on occasion they’ve had something worthwhile.
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Well, I’ve been watching Daisuki much longer… 🙂 90% of the commercials are one commercial for one charity, and the balance are for local businesses that aren’t anywhere near local to me. We subscribed to Crunchy and Funi because we watch enough shows on both to make it worth it.
Amazon is getting serious about their streaming service, so they bear watching. But, unlike Netflix, they don’t appear to have anyone on staff who actually knows anime. (At the moment at least.)
I don’t mind the wait, other than being out of sync here.
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So I watched IBO on Daisuki, and I got two 15-second commercials for local businesses, and a 30-second commercial for Gunpla (which I actually thought was pretty cool!). I will gladly take that, when the entire amount of ad time for the whole episode is less than the length of a single block of ads on Funimation. The only thing I’m not sure about there is the video resolution – the picture quality was a little fuzzy, like it might’ve been in 480p, but that could just have been the show (especially since I didn’t notice that with OPM). I’m planning to re-watch at least some of this episode in 720 whenever CR puts it up and see if it looks the same or if it’s sharper.
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Did you check your settings? At least on my PC, Daisuki often drops back to 480p for no apparent reason.
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I like how most people who’s not that familiar with Gundam are really positive about IBO, while long-time fans (at least those I’ve seen) are throwing tantrums and calling the writing and direction awful already. Also jeez, I’m not even aware how Okada’s so hated in certain circles until now. Fandom is terrible.
My own thoughts: there’s some awkward establishment of “okay here’s faction a with all the important guys, here’s faction B, now let’s jump over to faction c…” with spoon-feeding exposition of people telling each other stuff they should already know, but I can easily forgive that because the last 10 minutes is so outstanding.
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*clicked reply too fast
Barbatos’ design is just sooooo good, and the whole battle scene is executed very well. I also like the group dynamics already, especially between Mikazuki, Orga, and Biscuit. Mika’s a protagonist I can really dig, I like that he’s the smallest of the group and yet he’s their ace, also how he carries himself with that sense of quiet confidence , astute observational skills, and that whole thing with Orga’s going.
On Okada: AnoHana is one of the shows that really emphasizes its writer’s strengths and weaknesses (so much so that I immediately looked up who it is after finishing that), and it’s such a striking show for me that it could’ve been one of my personal favorites if only it has better composition and pacing. There’s just exceptional nuances and understated melancholy that I typically only see in the best of (live) Japanese films and not anime; in a way, I actually think it perhaps would’ve been better without its main ghost gimmick, as it forced the show’s hands and distracted viewers from the fact that it’s really a lot more subtle and nuanced story than your typical tear-jerk melodrama anime. I wonder what’s your thought on it?
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Did you see the live action AnoHana? It’s an interesting comparison to the anime. (Though in two hours runtime, it still manages to have pacing problems.)
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Oh, I don’t even know there’s a live movie. How is it?
I do think some bits could’ve been better suited as live material, but I also have to say that I’m less taken by the Menma plot compared to the theme of old friends trying to awkwardly re-connect and finding out how much stuff has changed over the years (which is why I felt the anime need a few more episodes, or perhaps just a more balanced composition. Poppo in particular really deserves more screentime).
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It’s not bad. It emphasizes different things and stages the scenes somewhat differently, but that’s due to the differences between the media and the runtime as much as anything else.
Crunchy has it if you’re interested.
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I think people were going to be mad about Okada writing a Gundam no matter what happened haha. The group dynamics are definitely something Okada excels at, but it’s already clear she’s bringing her own unique brand of writing to this project.
I actually haven’t seen AnoHana yet, but Mari Okada’s hit:miss ratio for me has been stunningly weighted towards the hits. Blast of Tempest and Toradora! are both adaptations of hers, AKB0048 is an original by her, and she’s had her hands all over a pile of other shows I’ve enjoyed-to-really-liked (WIXOSS, GOSICK, Aquarion EVOL, Black Rock Shooter, and Nagi no Asukara). She’s one of the few anime staffers whose shows I’d like to intentionally seek out and watch just because of her involvement.
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I’m not going to watch the Gundam show, mostly because I haven’t seen a single one so far, and Okada + SF/F tends not to work for me (unless it’s an adaption like Zakuro; Okada’s very good with adaptions).
One Punch Man was good fun. I’m on board, but I wonder how they’re going to keep this one interesting. This isn’t the sort of gimmick that works indefinitely, but you also can’t easily deviate from it without falling into the standard tropes. If I’m to believe the manga readers, the show has a plan. I’m very curious.
Concrete Revolutio was okay. It’s good that it doesn’t show it’s cards too early, but the aesthetics aren’t really my cup of tea. It’s good enough, so far, to stick with it, but a lot depends on where this is going. This is the sort of show that could get boring once you get the hang of it.
Comet Lucifer is good, fast-paced fun, but it’s also the type of show that I tend to lose interest in fairly quickly. I’m on board for now, but I’m not sure for how long.
Osomatsu san was good fun. I’m not as on board as most, but it was still great, and the modern references were spot on. One of my favourite premieres this season. (I feel like I’m missing out for not having watched the original. If this one could play off nostalgia – as it’s supposed to – it’d be a definite winner.)
I haven’t seen Sakurako yet. It’s the show I was the most curious about. Actually, it was the only show I was curious about.
So you ended up dropping Utawarerumono? Not too surprised. (I re-watched the original the last couple of days, and it feels superior right from the beginning. Also, I’ve been reminded just how cute Aruru is.)
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Ah, man, I do think you should check out Gundam, if only to see the premiere. It really is very solid, even if you aren’t a huge Okada fan like I am.
I do agree with you that a lot of these shows could drop out in the coming weeks after decent premieres. OPM, Concrevo, and Comet Lucifer all need to have some solid writing in the next few episodes to stay above water.
& yeah, Utawarerumono is gone. If this had been a year and a half ago I’d probably still be watching, but different times call for different watching choices.
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Weekend shows are most likely to be dropped, since those days tend to be the busiest. I’m fairly optimistic about OPM, mostly because of word of mouth, but who knows. The rest? Depends.
I watched the [i]Gundam[/i] show, figured why not. Top marks for backgrounds, music and direction. The writing had good pacing, but it’s too early to tell, and I think I should have watched it when my concentration was a bit higher. The faces sometimes had too many lines that made them look weird when animated, and weirder when not, but those sorts of character designs are, I suppose, traditional? (Remind a bit of what I was used to late 70ies, early 80ies, which would have been when [i]Gundam[/i] was big, no?) I’ll see if I’ll stick with it. It’s not a busy season, so the chances are better than avarage.
As for Okada, I like her a lot, but she tends to focus on characters so much that the concepts often suffer in SF/F. It’s a balance act that often fails for me; I can’t watch it as successful character drama (too much symbolism), and I can’t watch it as successful SF/F (she’s not doing enough with the concepts), and that’s sort of disorienting. If the stuff leans towards magical realism (say, [i]Ano Hana[/i] or [i]NagiAsu[/i], that’s mostly fine). In her non-SFF shows, the biggest danger is a tendency to melodrama (which I can ignore if it’s not too much), but she is very, very good with character. I think she’s one of the best people for adaptions that require sensitivity for characters ([i]Hourou Musuko[/i] being a prime example, and one of my favourite anime ever). Of her originals, my favourite would be [i]True Tears[/i], followed by [i]Hanasaku Iroha[/i]. And I really, really liked the 2 part OVA [i]Amazing Twins[/i], which she did with Junichi Satou (I’d have loved them to expand that into a TV series, instead of doing [i]M3[/i], which was mostly fine, just not very memorable). I actually like Okada, but it’s… conditional.
I also watched [i]Sakurako[/i] now. It’d be near the top this season, but it’s got a veneer of wannabe artsiness that sometimes gets in the way. I’m sold on the series, though. It’d be a solid keep, if… I were sure I could get through the series without succumbing to motion sickness. I hate the camera, 3D and blur effects. I’m always one step away from queasiness. Grr. One of the best this season and I might not be physically able to watch it. (Couldn’t watch [i]Sidonia[/i] because of motion sickness. I really, really hate that CGI trend. Not only do I find it ugly, it comes with the risk of headaches etc.)
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I’m glad that (for now, at least) it looks like we’re going to be watching a lot of the same shows this season. I know you don’t mind, but it still feels a little awkward to me when nearly all of my thoughts for the week are about shows you’re not watching. Anyway, catching up with this group of shows (and some other stuff from earlier in the week), here’s what else I’ve watched since Hackadoll.
Definite keepers at this point:
One-Punch Man: Not just the most entertaining show of the week, but the funniest show of the week, too. I haven’t watched too many shows this year that I can actually see myself buying one day, but OPM has that potential if the whole season is this strong – and if the manga readers are to be believed, they all seem to think the intro is actually one of the weakest parts of the story. Also, thank you, Daisuki, for not having nearly as many commercials as Funimation.
Comet Lucifer: It introduced about four separate plot threads in just the first episode, and I have absolutely no idea what the heck is going on yet, but boy it sure was a lot of fun to watch it all! It kinda feels like Castle in the Sky by way of Gurren Lagann, maybe? I guess we’ll find out, but regardless, I’m totally on board for the ride.
Keeping at least for now (the previously listed Hackadoll goes at the bottom of this category):
Young Black Jack: This wasn’t originally on my list, but I wanted some extended clips from a couple of shows to round out my Anime club’s fall preview meeting, so I watched the first episode of it looking for a good clip that I could use. Not only did I find a clip, I enjoyed the episode enough that I’ll tune in again next time, though I’m still not completely sold on it yet.
Lance n’ Masques: Fairly predictable, but also fairly enjoyable. Could end up filling the role of that one mindlessly entertaining show I seem to pick out every season (see KanColle and Daitoshokan for other examples).
First to go when it’s time to start cutting shows:
Onsen Yousei Hakone-chan: It looks really pretty, and I especially like the character designs, but when a show is supposed to be a comedy and an accidental boob-grab is the best joke of the episode, it probably isn’t going to stay on my list very long.
The remaining shows on my initial list that I haven’t started yet are Iron-Blooded Orphans, Magical Somera-chan (supposedly CR just picked this up, but I can’t find a page for it yet), Sakurako, and Perfect Insider.
On another note, I’ve almost caught up to your weekly Hyouka reviews (I finished episode 4 a couple of days ago), and I’m really, really enjoying that series so far. It’s so good that I don’t think I’ll be able to limit myself to watching just one episode a week once I do catch up to you, though.
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Oh yeah, and these are the shows that my teens seem to be the most buzzed about this time around, based on how our club meeting went yesterday: One Punch Man, K: Return of Kings, Comet Lucifer, and Attack on Titan Junior High. Also Haikyuu 2 and High School Star Musical for the girls, and Valkyrie Drive for the guys.
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Ah, yes, thanks for sharing this! I always like hearing what the kids are interested in. AoT Junior High makes sense, but K‘s a bit of a surprise.
Haikyuu!!‘s excellent, maybe you’ll even be able to get some of the guys into it!
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K was actually an easy sell. The boys liked the promise of lots of action and fighting, and the girls liked the promise of a cast full of hot men (plus a couple of the girls had already seen the first season anyway).
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One Punch Man truly was far funnier than I had expected it to be. It was awesome on a bunch of levels, but there were multiple times where I just burst out laughing. Which is always a nice feeling.
I probably should see Castle in the Sky because people keep referring to it vis-a-vis Comet Lucifer and I have no idea what they’re talking about.
& yes, Hyouka is exceptionally good. Even if you forge ahead, the posts will keep coming, so don’t worry there:)
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I look forward to Comet Lucifer the most so far in this new season. It is so charming!
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Indeed it is! Cute characters definitely are helping on that front, but I found it genuinely amusing in places, as well.
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I particularly like Sougo’s expressions toward gems. He loves them so much and it is so endearing.
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My stomach walls felt like rupturing from how hard I laughed at Osomatsu-san: so much sharp wit! I must have lost a year of stress from all that laughing! XD
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A year of stress? That’s crazy! 😀
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I had to do a few for the First week! Only 4 ( Not Like Summer at ALL )
Haikyuu!! Second Season EP 1 / “Let’s Go To Tokyo!!”
Karasuno has to get more exp. and Takeda gets them invited to a practice with better schools at Nekoma! Kageyama and Hinata extend their run trying to out do each other and end up meeting Shiratorizawa Academy’s Ushijima.who is quite arrogrant .They sneak in to Shiratorizawa and Ushijima says their aren’t good ! But a ball comes out from the gym and Hinata beats Ushijima to it ! Sets up the season quite nicely !
One Punch Man EP 1 / “The Strongest Man” It would be too long to write about but I am happy with this ! The action is top notch and Saitama /”Caped Baldy” is a unique character along with others who only make some brief appearances !
Heavy Object EP 1 / “The Little Soldiers Who Tie Down Gulliver / The Snowy Deep Winter Battle of Alaska ” (PART 1) The animation was outstanding and the intro gave us a good insight about Objectts ! A liittle aloof but gave the 4 characters a nice look at their personalties ! BTW After checking out The VA’s the casting was well done !
From Kazuma Kamachi
Qwenthur Barbotage / VA Natsuki Hanaeas the aloof student !
Very busy 2015
Absolute Duo as Tora (Lead Role)
Tokyo Ghoul √A as Ken Kaneki (Lead Role)
Aldnoah.Zero Part 2 as Inaho Kaizuka (Lead Role)
Jitsu wa Watashi wa as Asahi Kuromine (Lead Role)
Heavy Object as Quenser Barbotage (Lead Role)
Food Wars: Shokugeki no Soma as Takumi Aldini (Strong Supporting Roles)
The Heroic Legend of Arslan as Elam (Strong Supporting Roles)
Gangsta. as Nicolas Brown (young) (Strong Supporting Roles)
Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans as Biscuit Griffon(Strong Supporting Roles)
Havia Winchell / VA Kaito Ishikawa The Well off solider
Kyokai no Rinne as Rinne Rokudou (Lead Role)
Gangsta. as Cody Balfour
Heavy Object as Heivia Winchell
One-Punch Man as Genos (2nd Lead Role)
Haikyu!! 2 as Tobio Kageyama (Lead Role)
Concrete Revolutio as Jiro Hitoyoshi (Lead Role)
Milinda Brantini / Eri Suzuki ( A relative newcomer ) Pilot of “Baby”
Has A role in the Upcoming Sci-Fi Domension W as Elizabeth Greenhow Smith
Frolaytia Capistran / VA Shizuka Ito Base CMDR Nice resume / Great Lead Roles for this!
Starship Operators (Sinon Kouzuki)(Lead Role as Captian) Very underated anime
El Cazador de la Bruja (Nadie) ( Lead Role as the Bounty Hunter ) Team her up with Revy
Hayate the Combat Butler (Hinagiku Katsura)( The fan popular SC PREZ)
Sky Girls ( Lt Eika Ichijo)
Blassreiter (Amanda Werner) (Lead Role)
Working’!! (Kozue Takanashi) ( Sota’s fitness sister )
Jormungand / Jormungand: Perfect Order (Koko Hekmatyar) ( Lead Role as the Arms Dealer CMDR)
Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet (Bellows) The no nonsense salvage leader
Psycho-Pass (Yayoi Kunizuka) The female enforcer Unit 1
D-Frag! (Takao) I like the connection on this one !
Assassination Classroom (Irina Jelavic) The over the top sassy hitwoman
Heavy Object (Major Floretia Capistrano)
Concrete Revoltio / Choujin Gensou Daisuki EP 1 / “The Witch Girl of Tokyo” Lots going on but was fast paced ! Fun to watch !
Jiro Hitoyoshi / VA Kaito Ishikawa ( Also in Heavy Object)
Kyokai no Rinne as Rinne Rokudou (Lead Role)
Gangsta. as Cody Balfour
Heavy Object as Heivia Winchell
One-Punch Man as Genos (2nd Lead Role)
Haikyu!! 2 as Tobio Kageyama (Lead Role)
Concrete Revolutio as Jiro Hitoyoshi (Lead Role)
Kikko Hoshino / VA Sumire Uesaka
Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions as Sanae Dekomori
Cross Ange as Momoka Oginome
Kantai Collection as Fubuki, Soryu, Hiryu
Overlord as Shalltear Bloodfallen
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Combined Top Favorites and OP / ED’s since its not that crowded with no comments! WE have another week of debuts coming
Week 1 Rough Draft
TIER 1 Top Favorites
Haikyuu!! Second Season
One Punch Man Viz
Heavy Object
Concrete Revoltio / Choujin Gensou Daisuki /
Comet Lucifer
Noragami Supernatural 2 / Noragami Aragato Funimation
Beautiful Bones –Sakurako’s Investigation
Young Black Jack
K 2nd Season / K Return of Kings Hulu, Neon Alley
TEEKYUU 6 SHORT
MISS Monochrome SHORT ‘Ultra Super Anime Time’ Block
Hacka Doll the Animation
ONGOING Summer 2015 DUBS /
Durarara!! X2 The Second Arc CR
Gangsta Funi
Sky Wizards Academy Funi
Prison School Funi
Ultimate Otaku Teacher Sat / Funimation
The Heroic Legend of Arslan Sun / Funimation
OP’s
Haikyu!! 2 / “I’m a Believer” by SPYAIR #1
Heavy Object / “One More Chance!!” by ALL OFF #2
One-Punch Man / “The Hero!! Ikareru Ken ni Honō o Tsukeru” by JAM Project #3
One-Punch Man / “The Hero!! Set Fire to the Furious Fist” by JAM Project #3
Noragami Aragoto / “Kyōran Hey Kids!!” by THE ORAL CIGARETTES #4
Comet Lucifer / “The Seed and the Sower” by fhana #5
Concrete Revolutio / “Katararezu Tomo” by ZAQ #6
The Asterisk War: The Academy City on the Water / “Brand-new World” by Shiena Nishizawa #7
Young Black Jack / “I am Just Feeling Alive” by UMI KUUN #9
Peeping Life Season 1?? / “HOTEL Alien” by BRADIO #8
ED’s
Haikyu!! 2 / “Climber” by Galileo Galilei # 1
Noragami Aragoto / “Nirvana” by Tia #2
One-Punch Man / “Hoshi Yori Saki ni Mitsukete Ageru” by Hiroko Moriguchi #3
One-Punch Man / “I’ll Find It Before the Stars for You” by Hiroko Moriguchi #3
Tantei Team KZ Jiken Note / “Nankai! Mystery” (Hard to Solve! Mystery) by Diana Garnet #4
Peeping Life Season 1?? / “Satori no Sho” by detune #5
Heavy Object / “Dear Brave” by Kano ?? ( Not in EP 1)
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So I had to look up Mari Okada. (Out of curiosity, what exactly does “series composition” entail?) I can see she’s worked on a lot of anime I love as well. (Blast of Tempest buddies, amirite?!?) Still haven’t seen the new Gundam, still waiting for it on CR. But now I’m looking forward to it more!
I’ve managed to try:
Concrete Revolutio- WTF?? I think this is too weird for me. I don’t have the energy for it this season. Dropped.
Comet Lucifer- This is very promising. I am drawn in enough to keep watching. Though so far none of the characters have really appealed to me, hopefully that will change as we get to know them better. (I have to at least give red-haired pony tail guy a decent chance.) There was some lovely art as well.
Young Jack Black- I found this a very interesting episode. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a medical drama anime before so the novelty will at least carry me through for a while. Though surgery makes my husband feel sick so I’ll have to watch it alone.
Osomatsu-san- Woah! Talk about unexpected! This wasn’t even on my radar because the art in the promos didn’t appeal to me. But then I saw some images posted on tumblr and had to check it out. I’m so glad I did. This was so over-the-top amazing and hilarious. If it can keep up that level (or near enough to it) of comedy I’m hooked.
Star-Myu- Well, I only recently started watching idol/music anime, and I’m not sure this show is going to do it for me. The animation isn’t very good and the so-called elite music council were pretty laughable. There’s a couple characters I’m interested in seeing more of (based mostly on their VAs, shocker) so I’ll give it a 3 episode trial.
Dance with Devils- Tried this cause I was bored yesterday but it was somewhat interesting. I liked the gothic/magical elements. And I was surprised to discover that this is apparently a music anime without a musical premise. Like the characters just break into song sometimes for no reason. I’m intrigued enough to keep watching for now.
Still have yet to see OPM, K, or Noragami.
Also started watching the first season of Utawarerumono since people on the CR forums were saying False Mask is a direct sequel. Season 1 is definitely interesting so far. This is the kind of fantasy series I like. I’m just no going to touch any more LN adaptations of magical harem high school generic crap anymore unless it’s done and getting good reviews.
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@Series Composition: Someone may correct me later, but this is what I think it is:
You go through the scenario (= a detailed write-up of the story) and see how to distribute it across the episodes. What do you spend lots of time on? What do you breeze through? What do end the individual episodes with? Where do you need filler? What can you cut? Things like this. (I personally think Okada’s very, very good at this. Her series always feel very fluid with little wasted time, but also never too tight, so you feel they’re hurrying through.)
I still have trouble seeing how Utawarerumono is a direct sequel, but we’ll see. I do think familiartiy with the original will be a good thing, especially if the show won’t explain anything, which is possible (for example, if you’ve seen the first series, you’ll know more about the slimes). So far, I also think the first series is far better, so there’s that. Watching it is a good idea in any case.
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Thanks, that makes a lot of sense.
I guess people who played both games are saying that False Mask is a direct sequel.
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People who played the game would know. So far, there’s zero character overlap, and the setting also seems to be elsewhere (though it’s a bit generic; it boils down to me not remembering any snow in the entire original series).
Anyway, this promises to be one of my favourites in this rather lacklustre season, even if they mess it up. The original was one of the better fantasy anime, I thought.
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Pinging ya in case you wanted to see my thoughts on series composition/Okada.
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Dawnstorm’s pretty close on series composition, but that’s not quite the whole story.
Series Composition, in summary, is probably best defined as “head/lead writer.” In other words, in terms of the structure and individual scripts of the show, they have the most oversight (besides, perhaps, the director). As Dawnstorm says, they do a lot of work in structuring the series—what goes where, what to cut and keep, etc—but they’re also supervising the individual episode scriptwriters and often doing episode scripts themselves (Okada, in particular, I’ve seen do a whole lot of script work, even on stuff where’s she’s handling series composition).
This post touches briefly on what series composition is and how it fits in the overall production of an anime. In any case, much like how the director’s style influences the final product despite the fact that there are animation directors, episode directors, and key animators all introducing their own particular creative flair, the series composition role also has a great deal of influence on the overall way the writing in a series plays out. You can really see this in Okada’s work (partially because, as I’ve said, she does so much work on the scripts, sometimes effectively writing the entire thing by herself—see WIXOSS). She’s a phenomenally productive writer, and her style and priorities are always clear within the written context of the show.
So, yeah, with Okada the series composition and scriptwriter roles get a little blurred because she does so much of the latter. But that’s definitely a huge factor in why I like her so much. At the deepest level, her stories and the way she tells them resonate with me, but I also greatly appreciate how incredibly distinctive her writing is.
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That was very interesting, thanks. (And thanks for pinging me, but that goes nowhere, because I have no blog account [or do I misunderstand what pinging is?]. For the same reason I assume I can’t “like” stuff.)
I did know about being the lead writer, but I’ve always been a bit confused about that role and the scenario, which is sometimes credited separately and sometimes not. Basically, her writers re-wrote what she wanted them to write, and she ended up keeping it.
Okada writers very good scripts, too; the episodes she wrote for Hanasaku Iroha were often the best, for example. But I think she’s delivering much more consistent quality with the series pacing than with actual writing. Someone with enough confidence to defy her can be a good thing, because she’s smart enough to know when an idea which isn’t her own works better (see True Tears, where her script writers basically re-wrote her, but she kept it anyway). She’s also very, very good with adaptions.
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I know you told me not to do this, but one thing Sakurako-san has in common with Blast of Tempest is distracting CG bones.
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Oh, that’s fair haha! I definitely mostly meant in other ways, so this is fine. 🙂
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