Okay, let me first eplain a bit what happened: most people probably noticed that I’ve been posting less and less often. The reason for that is that my personal life has changed completely compared to how it was in the early years of this blog. I both have a job, and a lot of real life friends, so I can’t just dedicate all of my time to the site like I used to. I hit my limit when I returned back from my holiday to America: I sat down to watch the latest episodes of Ping Pong, and that’s when I realized that I had no energy to actually watch anything, let alone write about it. As soon as I realized that, I cut off everything with the site. I didn’t watch any anime, I didn’t post, I didn’t read any comments. I was completely burnt out and purposefully decided to step away and do nothing for a few months, in order to regain my mojo. I needed time away. It wasn’t that the anime had gone bad: with Mushishi we had the single best series in the past years, so this was no matter of quality. Just me, burning out.
Now over the past months, I realized that I still enjoy anime, but I’m not going to write episodic reviews anymore. These were really toxic for me. They ate up all my attention to the point that I couldn’t do anything else anymore. Instead though, I do still enjoy writing previews (hence this post) and full series reviews. As for the site, we’re planning to introduce some big changes, in order to keep the site sustained and alive.
Now as for this season: it’s awesome yo! There’s a lot of big names involved, some very good sequels, new stuff from people I thought were already long gone. And also surprisingly few series that are just utter crap or nothing but fanservice. It’s a big season for the fantasy crowd. Lots of shows about fantasy kingdoms and royalties, shows that created their own universes.
Series that I Don’t Look Forward To
Ore, Twin Tail ni Narimasu
Why I don’t like it: I think that we’ve found another candidate for the most pathetic villain motivation ever. This series is solely meant for people with a fetish for people who dress their hair in twin tails. So yeah, this is basically porn.
Hi sCoool! SeHa Girl
Why I don’t like it: Only in Japan, can they get away with such a silly title. I mean, I know that most Japanese people aren’t very good at English and all, but at least they must realize that this looks stupid, right? But yeah, this is coming from the guy who gave us gdgd Fairies, a totally absurd and low-budget comedy series, so that could be the reason for it. Apart from that… what can I say about it? It looks terrible! Next!
Orenchi no Furo Jijou
Why I don’t like it: Dear god! That face is going to haunt me in my dreams! Did you have to draw him in that position, with that particular expression? I mean I am not of innuendo at all to even I am getting the creeps here. Also who the hell comes up with these ridiculous premises?
Le Fruit de la Grisaia
Why I don’t like it: Yup, this one’s bad. It’s got the warning-signs: a group of five overly cute girls, lack of male characters, a hentai game adaptation. Moving on!
Daitoshokan no Hitsujikai
Why I don’t like it: Hoods (you know, the guys who gave us Seikon no Qwaser) bringing us a hentai game adaptation. Yeah, you can see where this is going. This one’s bad, nothing to see here. In the trailer, the creators just gave up and showed us shots of the game instead of the animation.
Ushinawareta Mirai o Motomete
Why I don’t like it: Generic hentai game adaptation romance. Not offensively bad or anything, just incredibly boring.
Bonjour Koiaji Pâtisserie
Why I don’t like it: Generic reverse harem by Silver Link, moving on.
Girl Friend BETA
Why I don’t like it: This is another one of those terrible gimmicky series that they need to stop making: it’s based on a dating sim where the male lead can pick between more than one hundred girls. While I admire how there are more than the usual five this time, how on earth were you going to put all of them into one series without making them all cardboard boxes? This is for hardcore voice actor fans only, and even that’s stretching it.
Yuuki Yuuna wa Yuusha de Aru
Why I don’t like it: They’re apparently starting a new timeslot called “animeism”, but if the first show of that slot is a very generic school comedy with magic directed by Seiji Kishi, then yeah, you’re pretty much screwed right from the start.
Wolf Girl & Black Prince
Why I don’t like it: Another shoujo romance, though this one’s a bit creepy, about a girl who is forced to be treated like a dog or be exposed as a liar. Is this really what gets popular these days? Fantasies of being abused and treated like an animal?
Inou Battle Within Everyday Life
Why I don’t like it: Well, so much for Studio Trigger then. Their follow up of Kill La Kill, a school battle series, is another school battle series. Only this one looks ten times more generic. I mean, the premise is really just this: a bunch of high school kids awaken with super powers and nothing happens. Aside from a bit of romance. What can they really do with that. Any shred of potential left is dispelled with the trailer, which looks uber-generic.
Trinity 7
Why I don’t like it:This story advertises itself as a “romantic comedy but sometime serious magical school story”, so yeah, we basically know what time it is when the promo art only features ONE GUY. This one seems for the Index and Railgun crowd, but I’m not in the mood for any more magical school series, unless they promise to be really good or anything.
Terra Formars
Why I don’t like it: When I first saw this one, it made me mildly optimistic: it had science fiction, the director of Steins;Gate and Shigurui was on board, the premise suggested themes of intergalactic colonization, the cast didn’t consist out of teenagers. However, the more I looked into it, the worse it started to look. Apparently this show is about humanity that sends a bunch of cockroaches to Mars, only to find out that 500 years later they mutated into these weird human-like killing machines, and it’s up to the main characters to kill ’em all. Now not only is this ridiculous, it brings up many red flags: when you look at the trailer, all of these mutated cockroaches look more silly than threatening, and they all have the same designs. That’s really bad monster design and it takes away all tension: those copy-paste armies never have been good for that, not to mention that they’re not sentient. This is the anime equivalent of Bug Squasher or something.
Madan no Ou to Vanadis
Why I don’t like it: Tatsuo Sato is actually doing both the direction and series composition for this series, but alas it’s the premise that’s really not good here. The fact that this is a light novel adaptation should already say enough, but this show has the premise of a generic guy getting to be the slave of a magical girl in sexy outfit. You can see that Tatsuo Sato did his best to at least try and make something out of this (the art for example of the anime looks so much better than the light novel art), but what can you do with the plot here? I mean the magical girls will fight each other with over the top flashy powers and the main characters will kick ass and hint at a romance that will never be there. You can’t do anything with this.
Amagi Brilliant Park
Why I don’t like it: There are some big names behind this one: Kyoto Animation is returning with the team behind Full Metal Panic to adapt another one of the author’s stories. I’m suspecting that this will be the next Fumoffu. Only problem is that I didn’t really like Fumoffu: I gave it about one episode and it failed to make me laugh even once, and ultimately I preferred Gonzo’s version of Full Metal Panic over theirs, but in the end I never really was a big fan of FMP. It also doesn’t help that the premise for this one is riddled with silly teenaged romcom cliches, so I really doubt that this one will end up topping Full Metal Panic.
Denkigai no Honya-san
Why I don’t like it: This one’s weird. At first this seems like just another slice of life shows about nothing, but it’s being supervised by the team behind Milky Holmes (the good ones, at least), who are completely crazy, especially when together. The trailer was weird, had unnecessary fanservice, but in the end there was enough visual comedy for me to want to give it one episode. That’s the thing though: I see no reason whatsoever for why this show could even be remotely entertaining past episode one when they ran through their best jokes about working in a book store.
Donten ni Warau
Why I don’t like it: Well, so it took about a year before the Shingeki no Kyojin-wannabes start appearing (do not tell me that that promo art did not remind you of that). Besides that, this anime confuses me. The creators seem to try and do whatever they can to hide that this is a bishie-series, it seems. Nothing seems connected to each other: if you were to look at the character-designs, premise and promo art, you would not suspect that they were all about the same series. I mean, this is Dogakobo. Can they really pull off another Natsuyuki Rendezvous without a skilled director accompanying them?
Fate Stay Night
Why I don’t like it: Stop milking out the Fate franchise, for Christ’s sake. Ufotable, you’re better than this. You’ve amassed enough talent over the years, now do something original with it. This one is especially grating because Studio Deen already made a movie about this. I mean I’m all for remakes and all, but this is just getting too caught up in the past. Do you want to know when the last time was that Ufotable made a series that wasn’t of the Fate franchise? 2007, with Manabi Straight. And there seems to be even more Fate set for 2015.
World Trigger
Why I don’t like it: I must say, I really dig the promo art for this one. Plus, it’s got a soundtrack by Kenji Kawai. No doubt will this one be a feast for the senses! The story is the problem here: it’s a shounen jump adaptation of a battle manga: aliens invade, and a bunch of kids fight back with alien technology. Been there, done that! I get why this is made though. Naruto is about to end and this sounds like a good time for the companies to start to search for a replacement.
Nanatsu no Taizai
Why I don’t like it: A-1 coming with an adventure series, seems like it’s going to be classic fantasy. The “Seven deadly sins” part of the title is very misleading, because apparently they’re just the nicknames of a bunch of really strong warriors. There are a few problems here: the way in which the story is rather generic, and how it’s set up there is only one way for the story to end: with overthrowing that evil government. Problem is that we’re dealing with a manga adaptation that to my knowledge hasn’t finished yet. So yeah, good luck fitting in that story…
Shirobako
Why I don’t like it: Basically a circlejerk series: PA Works doing a show about making an anime, obviously featuring a bunch of cute girls. My guess is that this one will be on the opposite side of Bakuman: whereas Bakuman tried to add too much drama, this one will add too little. Why do I want to watch this? Perhaps it might be nice to watch how an anime gets made and all, but there are enough behind the scenes videos and these are a lot more authentic. The characters here look just boring.
Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso
Why I don’t like it: I’m spotting an annoying trend here. Ever since Ano Hana the Noitamina producers seem to think that we want teenaged dramas. No, I’m a fan of Ano Hana because it was such an emotionally heart-wrenching story, not because it was about teenagers. But here is the real thing with this series: yeah sure it’s very polished. A-1 Pictures has made sure to make everything look pretty, the acting is good and not stereotypical. And yet, I see no reason to watch this series. There’s nothing that stands out: it’s just a bunch of teenagers talking with a bit of standard romance. Why would I want to watch that?
Sora no Method
Why I don’t like it: The writer of Kanon and Sola is behind this one. You can see that this one is better than most visual novel adaptations, because there is AN ACTIAL MALE ON THE PROMO ART. He’s in the background, but at least it’s something. Here’s the thing: I liked Sola. It actually had a very nice plot there. I’m not feeling this yet though. The character-designs for example: while they look nice at first sight, the creators basically used the same faces, only to swap hair- and eye color (and in one case the facial expression to the typical deadpan). It all looks… a bit too manufactured. This one could get a benefit of the doubt though… it’s also gonna depend on how annoying the female characters are…
Series I Am Looking Forward To
Gugure! Kokkuri-san
Produced by: TMS Entertainment
Director: Yoshimasa Hiraike
Impressions: This one… it intrigues me somehow. It actually looks like a solid comedy that can keep fun for several episodes. It’s basically going to take jabs at the Japanese folklore, but I have to say that I like the idea of a spirit watching over a young girl because she only eats instant ramen. That’s a bit more than what you usually see with these premises. If there’s enough for an entire season though, that remains to be seen.
Sanzoku Musume no Ronja
Produced by: Polygon Pictures (and Ghibli)
Director: Goro Miyazaki
Series composition: Hiroyuki Kawasaki
Impressions: Here’s a weird example of how history came full circle. Before founding Studio Ghibli, Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata worked on a few of the World Masterpiece Theatre series from Nippon Animation. Now that Nippon Animation has buggered off creating new series after their long-time producer passed away, there was a long silence of nobody adapting classic children’s literature. The one to break that silence? Studio Ghibli, now in trouble themselves now that Miyazaki has retired. It’s a really weird construction because they work together with Polygon Pictures, who do everything in CG and it’s especially jarring when you compare it to Knights of Sidonia, which worked much better when fully CG’d. Hiroyuki Kawasaki is an excellent adapter though, and they can get some great stuff out of this story if they do it well.
Gundam Reconguista in G
Produced by: Sunrise
Director: Yoshiyuki Tomino
Impressions: Wow. Here is something I totally did not expect: Tomino directing another television series. I mean, coming November he’ll turn 73. No matter how you look at it: this is going to be his final series. He could have been retired at this point, and he’s got nothing to lose for his final magnum opus in the Gundam Franchise. It of course depends on how much Sunrise is willing to let him get away with, but one theme of all of his post-depression works is that they’re all very colourful and creative. Even in Turn-A Gundam where Sunrise restricted this, you can see lots of subtle jabs against them in the storytelling. The whole premise embraces the campy nature of what Gundam has devolved into over the years. The trailer is very good: it shows his directional style very well, in which he just keeps throwing stuff at the viewer and keeps pushing the scenario forward, instead of dragging on and on.
Cross Ange: Tenshi to Ryuu no Rondo
Produced by: Sunrise
Director: Yoshiharu Ashino
Series composition: Tatsuto Higuchi
Impressions: Not only does this actually sound really interesting, it’s being directed by the guy who directed Mahou Shoujotai. My favourite anime ever and the single series that got me into blogging in the first place. The trailer was great to watch, and the music was fantastic! I like how they take the usual story of a princess, that anime is obsessed with, and basically take all that away. The only problem here is the character-designs: they suck and are pretty generic.
Akatsuki no Yona
Produced by: Studio Pierrot
Director: Kazuhiro Yoneda
Music: Kunihiko Ryo
Impressions: Finally a show about a strong female character who isn’t trying to shove her boobs into your face. Like, the way it’s supposed to be. Kunihiko Ryo as a composer makes sober, but very authentic music so that also fits really well. The director of this one is a new guy so I can’t say much, but I think that he can do a very fine job. The trailer for this one is awesome by the way. It foregoes the flashy graphics and instead shows the things I’m actually looking for. There is change: the lead characters changes multiple times through the trailer ALONE. Plus, I love how it used facial expressions. That really hit me. Here’s the potential sleeper hit of the season.
Kiseijuu: Sei no Kakuritsu
Produced by: Madhouse
Director: Kenichi Shimizu
Series composition: Shoji Yonemura
Impressions: Based on the manga Parasite, which is supposed to be an awesome manga, so I’m very curious what this one’s gonna turn into. Madhouse is a very solid choice for adapting it. It’s got a newbie director with lots of experience, and Shoji Yonemura adapted Guin Saga, co-wrote Fantastic Children, wrote Figure 17 and is overall a very solid writer. The premise looks solid, the promo art looks very intriguing and immediately caught my eye. Bring it on!
Shingeki no Bahamut Genesis
Produced by: Mappa
Director: Keiichi Satou
Series composition: Keiichi Hasegawa
Series composition: Yoshihiro Ike
Impressions: This one immediately looks awesome to watch. It created its own universe and lore, it looks utterly gorgeous so far, it has the director of Karas, Asura and Tiger & Bunny, Yoshihiro Ike for the soundtrack and Mappa behind the animation completing this dream team. These guys can make something very enjoyable together.
Garo: Honoo no Kokuin
Produced by: Mappa
Director: Yuuichiro Hayashi
Series composition: Yasuko Kobayashi
Original creator: Keita Amemiya
Impressions: Yeah, I pretty much fangasmd when I saw who the original creator behind this series is: the guy who created Mahou Shoujotai, my favourite anime ever. I mean, I can’t believe this: one season with a series from the director AND the original creator from my single favourite series. what the hell?! This one has lots of nostalgia value for me, but even then the setting is creative, the visuals look gorgeous, courtesy of Mappa and with a writer like Yasuko Kobayashi (she also wrote Casshern Sins, adapted Shingeki no Kyojin and Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure) we really are good. The director is someone completely new, so I really wonder what he can do with this gem.
Psycho Pass 2
Produced by: Production IG
Director: Naoyoshi Shiotani
Series composition: Tow Ubukata
Story concept: Gen Urobuchi
Impressions: A big change between the first and second season of Psycho Pass is that Gen Urobuchi is taking a step back. He’s now just there for the “Story concept”, which probably just means that he came up with the whole concept. Thankfully the guy taking over is also a very good and creative writer: Tow Ubukata came up with Le Chevalier d’Eon, he wrote Fafner, he wrote Heroic Age. This guy really is a science fiction writer through and through. His only issue seems to be pacing, but that doesn’t really seem to be much of a problem here with Psycho Pass and what they already built up.
Mushishi Zoku-chou Season 2
Produced by: Artland
Director: Hiroshi Nagahama
Impressions: Well, what’s there left to say? The single best anime of the past number of years continuing on to its second season. I haven’t finished the first season yet, but I sure as hell am planning to do that, because this series is better than any other series of its kind. It was a long wait, but the perfect way of storytelling carried through into the second season and there is no sign whatsoever of it stopping. All stories so far are beautifully told and with this we get 12 or 13 more stories to finish things off, based on the manga. You really cannot expect better than this.
Next time can you put up a hiatus post? Seriously you have no idea just how many people popped in here asking if you were dead.
Anyway Le Fruit de la Grisaia may surprise you. It’s not a hidden masterpiece, that’s for sure. But it does have more merit than some cheap Harem.
Yep, Deen did make an adaption of Fate UBW. And Type moon fans hate it so much. This isn’t really milking. Rather finally the full original novel is getting adapted. Before only one third of it was adapted into an anime. Now the rest is getting the UFOtable treatment. And this is considered the best part of the novel. Though I really don’t think it would be your thing so you don’t have to watch it.
The PV for Cross Ange: Tenshi to Ryuu no Rondo really looks terrible Psgels. I think this ones gonna be a bomber.
Yeah. I can’t get why some people hate Fate series just for the sake of hating it. Fate Stay Night is a well written story who deserved all of attention.
Look at Bleach. Not only the anime has stopped, all the people who once defended it now scorned at it, including me, because it does suck.
While HF is the most informative route, I personally like UBW the most. Not only it is the least sexual route, Shirou is the coolest there, with his own Reality Marble and not giving up on his hero ideal until the end.
Deen did a super sloppy job with it, compressing 50 hours of gameplay into a less than two hours movie. I am glad to hear that Ufotable make it 24 episode.
Most judge Fate by the Deen anime adaption. Which is a mistake. I think the Adaption was decent but it wasn’t really the best representation of the VN. Not to metion Shirou’s misinterpetion as a character.(Though I got a girl to read the Fate route of the VN and she surprised me by pointing out a number of sexist lines Shirou said and thought. Though this is odd because this isn’t present at all in the other two routes. Just Fate. Strange.)
UBW is by far the best route in my opinion. It has the best pacing, best battles and overall focuses on the best characters. (Though funny enough I prefer Sakura over Rin)
The Deen UBW movie gets so much hate but I only ever saw it as fanservice. And as fanservice it was damn good fanservice. Anyone walking into that one expecting the UBW route to be adapted to it’s finest levels was an imbecile.
Ohhh I didnt know they are animating the rest of the story, I just assumed like Psgels did that they were just remaking the old anime again haha. I might actually watch this one.
Yep, at least tell everyone that instead of just not bothering at all, plenty of people here thought that you may actually have died, since you don’t normally disappear without saying a word
A few regulars on your shoutbox hired a hacker to break into your website because they wanted to moderate it. That was pretty weird…
Not the case at all lol
Comparing Deen’s Fate show with UFOtable’s shows is like comparing the proto-ghibli’s cartoon adaptation of Lord of the Rings with Peter Jacksons adaptations. Yes, it’s been done before, but the first iteration was so disappointing and incomplete that it’s hard to think of it in the same universe as the original work. This will be an altogether different beast, and I think you should give it a shot instead of closing your mind like a trap like you always do when it comes to remakes.
Also, good to see you back, bad taste and all. Sometimes all we need to appreciate the things we love again is a little break, and I think getting rid of the weekly episode posts is a great idea. Your reviews and previews are my favorite parts of this blog anyway, even when they’re completely wrong. 😀
“They’re apparently starting a new timeslot called “animeism””
Welcome to 2 years ago I guess http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animeism
Glad to know you are back, real life friends are always a positive thing lols.
Yay, you are back! 🙂
Psgels, can you do a “Ranking all of the past _____ Seasons till 2000” posts? I really liked your winter one, and I’m still hoping I’ll read the Spring, Summer and Fall ones someday! 😀
I second this idea.
Ha! I was checking one last time before deleting the bookmark and you put up a post.
Glad to see you back pgels.
Gotta correct you on a few things though.
Terra Formars – You shouldn’t claim they’re not sentient with such certainty. You’re not familiar with the series at all to say something like that. I mean, that they’re all of the same design is a fair criticism and you probably wouldn’t like it anyway, but you can’t go saying things like that and not get called out on it.
And Shigatsu – I’m surprised that you’re dumping on it. In many ways, it’s quite similar to Piano no Mori, which as far as I know, you liked. Summing a drama about a child prodigy who lost the ability to hear music when playing piano because of the pressure from his late mother and his meeting of a girl that helps him reconnect with the piano as ‘Just a bunch of teenagers talking to each other and a bit of romance’ is like saying Mushishi is just a guy wandering around solving problems.
Even when you phrase it like that Mushishi still sounds infinitely more interesting than Shigatsu XD
But in this case it really is quite good. I’ve read the manga (up to ch.37) and it’s nothing like the melodramatic crap we get in Anal Hana or Glassterfuck.
I know life and work well… married, working 48 hours a week… not much time for anime in general. I don’t always have the same tastes you do, but your whole series reviews are what brought me and made me check for in regularly for years now. I never cared for episodic reviews because when I watch a show I binge it over a day or three. I don’t care if ep 14 is complete shit if the series overall is worth it.
Glad to see you’re back and didn’t fall off the planet. 🙂
I was so glad to see you posted something again. I can relate somehow to how you felt towards anime and how you needed to take a break from it all. I did the exact same thing for the last two seasons and a half. I just stopped watching anything related anime and started focusing on other interests. I’ve recently restarted binge watching a couple series and I must admit that my interest in anime feels reinvigorated. I’m glad to see you are back in this world psgels. I can understand you not doing you’re episodic reviews and I really believe it’ll be for the better.
I cannot wait to read more of your reviews and your opinions on the upcoming season which I found to be very promising.
Yay you’re back!
Hey psgels. You know what you should do? Rewatch your old favourite series for review. I noticed a whole load of what you say were your favourite anime came from the same time period when you first started blogging and you say that’s your golden age for anime. I think you should return back to them to see how many still hold up. It’s been long enough that a return to review them would be worthwhile.
Great to see you’re back. Your blog is pretty much the only one I like since it gives every anime series an equal chance instead of just focusing on the popular stuff. I would be missing out on a lot of good shows if not for this blog.
Don’t go jinxing this Fall season too psgels. Remember what happened the last time you said it looked awesome? I mean I liked it, but learn from the past.
Hey, just checking the site on a whim and surprise ~ you’re back! Welcome back, psgels!
Thanks for the preview. But what about this season, psgels? How many series are you still watching? What are your opinions about them and the rest? If possible, could you write a rundown post for this summer season? Sorry if i’m asking for too much. 🙂
really bad research. The Donten ni warau manga started in 2010, at that time Shingeki wasn’t popular enough to get copied. and Donten ni Warau has absolutely nothing in common with Shingeki, different setting, different characters, different story, different atmosphere etc. ^^;;
perhaps you should stay away some time longer instead of making such posts ^^;;
about Akatsuki no Yona: it’s a Shoujo-Manga-adaption, so of course there is no fanservice for males ^^;;
a~nd Nanatsu no Taizai is a highly acclaimed series that was even nominated for the Taishou-Adward orz
That doesn’t necessarily make them good shows though.
Yes…but the inverse is also true. And the inverse has a little more evidence supporting it than a first impression.
If this were my list, I’d probably replace Akatsuki no Yonna with Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso – the former is just a generic reverse harem, while the latter is a pretty good growing up story. Other than that, pretty spot-on, except for the Gundam series which I’m not really into. Mushishi is guaranteed. Psycho-Pass should (hopefully) benefit from Gen not pulling his shock-value gimmicks. Bahamut looks interesting.
“Mendosa, the chief adviser of the king of Valiante, begins a campaign to hunt down “witches,” resulting in the deaths of many magical knights and their sorcerer assistants. Anna, a sorceress married to the knight Herman Lewis, gives birth to a son before her execution. Herman takes their child, Leon, and flees, raising him to be the heir of the legendary Golden Armor. By the time Leon grows up, Valiante is completely in the control of Mendosa, who drives out Prince Alfonso and his mother. Alphonso decides to seek out the man who inherited the Golden Armor to reclaim the throne and save his people.”
Anybody on here play Guardian Heroes on the Saturn? Story here ring a bell? Just a coincidence? Hehe.
I’m glad you’re back! I didn’t think you had died but I was worried that something had happened to you.
Since an anime blog is basically a labor of love, one shouldn’t feel forced to do things for that blog. I never got into episodic blogging because I just don’t think my writing is interesting enough. I like reading your episodic posts but if they’re going to burn you out that I don’t want you writing them either.
I think focusing on full series reviews is a good idea because most anime is not good enough to warrant writing about it each week anyways.
Do you plan on writing first impression posts as well? Or maybe a mid-season overview?
Welcome back, Psgels. ^^ I’m just glad to see that you’re doing well. I look forward to reading your upcoming reviews!
Hi Meep! How you doing? You doing okay?
Heeey Firechick! I’m doing great, how’re you? Looking forward to the new Digimon or anything else?
I’ve been reading the manga for Twin Spica lately. I think you’d really like that one. =)
I’m happy to see you are back 😀
So you’re finally back, ehh? Been wondering what was going on with long silence and inactivity, glad it was just you trying to recover from anime burnout instead off something awful happening IRL. I guess a silver lining to all this is you can now face the Fall season with a refreshed mind and hopefully start to enjoy watching anime again.
On your plans to drop the weekly episode reviews, I can’t say I won’t miss them because some series can definitely benefit from discussions each episode. Still without them it does mean a lot less work for yourself and in the end you should always blog for yourself first and only then for your readers. This is also just my opinion, but I’ve felt that some of your more recent episode reviews where you seem to get a few details wrong, that your impressions of those episodes seem at times vastly different from what I got from the same episode. Maybe you were just overwhelmed a bit by trying to blog too many series that you inevitably missed a few details, so by focusing on full series reviews you might be better able to see the series as a whole instead off trying to keep track off everything that’s happening each episode.
On your show previews, I would just like it if you’d reconsider your opinion on Madan no Ou to Vanadis. I’ve been following the LN translations, and if they adapt it right, this could be another dark horse series for the Fall season. Sure there is only one main guy surrounded by the 7 Vanadis who are all girls, but it is definitely not your typical LN fantasy series. Sure the Vanadis and the guy have special powers courtesy of magical weapons they wield, but the fights in the series don’t just depend on them spamming their magical attacks until someone falls. Instead, it focuses on group battles, from a skirmish between a squadron of say soldiers and bandits, to a full scale war involving thousands off soldiers on each side. During these fights, each side thinks off tactics to employ, what formation to use, thinking off the terrain, taking care off the morale off the soldiers, the financial aspects off maintaining an army in a wartime, getting enough supplies and so on and so forth. Each of those Vanadis also lead their own army, and while they are definitely powerful with their magical weapons, they are also normal human beings. They can unleash devastating magically enhanced attacks but they can only use them sparingly less they tire too quickly. In fact there were many times they suffer injuries even fighting against normal soldiers during a long drawn out battle. There’s just a lot of things I could say more on, but I’ll refrain for now, instead I just want you to give the show a chance Psgels. Hopefully Tatsuo Sato can steer the series in the right direction and give the story the adaptation it deserves.
Actually about Madan no Ou to Vanadis, that’s precisely why I’m really happy why Tatsuo Sato and Satelight is doing this series. There’s a really good chance they will adapt it right and we will get something really good. Anyway, I don’t need to say much more since gandalf already said everything.
Psgels, great to see you back. Just take your time with the blog and have fun with anime again – in the end its a hobby, not a job.
Shingeki no Bahamut Genesis is an adaptation of a mobile game, I heard.
And Inou Battle…is another chuunibyou flick I think. Can’t quite recall.
Glad to see you back !
as for your recomendations, I do not know how Anime will turn out but terra formas was one ofthe more creepy mangs I ever read , so if it seems just silly on the screen that would be a pity. Plus Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso manga always felt to me like shounen version of Nodame cantabile , and there are not enough Anime about classical music for that to become a cliche.
It was nice seeing you in America 🙂
Glad to see you are looking forward to Autumn anime-wise.
Welcome back PSGELS!
We missed you!
Welcome back!! been missing your posts.
Hey, really missed your posts, man. Looking forward to seeing more from you again. Thought I should point out one thing: you forgot Hitsuga no Chaika season 2.
And Log Horizon 2 too!!
yeah like the others stated, i thought you done did died.
good to see you not dead.
im burnt out on anime as well, the older i get the more jaded and picky i get.
but i did watch a somewhat recent episode of space dandy called “the big fish is huge, baby”, it was the perfect antidote for the jaded anime fan in me. one of the best single episodes ive seen in anime the last few years. if you havent, pls check it out.
Shingeki no Bahamut Genesis looks to be the most to be the most appealing anime on this list. not too often we get an anime with a ginger lead character (heh). plus the production values looks to be high caliber stuff.
Terra Formars seems interesting.. well.. for me.
Yayyy! Psycho Pass 2!
I can’t wait!
You’re back, Psgels! Awesome! We missed you!
Since you’re just doing reviews now (I will miss your episodic posts, but oh well), can I recommend shows for you to review?
Great breakdown of the next season psgels. Just a few comments of my own to add:
1. You are dead wrong about both Grisaia and Ushinawareta Mirai o Motomete. They’re both excellent visual novels with some intriguing characters and stories: the H-content was just a nice bonus. Thus, you’d be better served being open minded about the anime adaptations unless the ball gets completed dropped on the scripts/pacing.
2. What everyone else is saying about Fate Stay Night and UBW. You liked Fate/Zero, so treat this as the proper followup to that.
Hihihihi am I late for the re-welcoming party or what!? Nice to know you’re back psgels! And with a bang too!
I’d watch F/SN if I were you.
Welcome Back!
Am looking forward to Nanatsu no Taizai and Parasyte.
That is all. 🙂
Anyone know any good blogs that cover echi/harem anime. Seems like psgels doesnt like that kind of Anime but I like it now and then between watching the more serious Anime genres.
Welcome back! I’m glad you’re back to blogging. I dont really mind, if you’re stopping episodical reviews, however will you still be doing your quick first impressions? I really loved reading those and they helped a lot to decide what to watch.
I’m looking forward to Nanatsu no Taizai the most, since I really love the manga. Yes, it is a fightig shounen but one of the better ones. It has some nice twists and very grey main characters. A-1 is a downer though…when I remember what the did to Ao no Exorcist or Magi… both wonderful manga they somehow managed to turn into mediocre series.
I’m also going to try Ronja, since I still remember as a child I loved the life action movie to this.
At first wanted to overlook Cross Ange, but when I saw the trailer and heard the music… it’s done by Shikata Akiko! My single most favorite artist of all time. Well, now the story just has to be good I guess.
Akatsuki no Yona is quite the nice fantasy shoujo. I really like reading it and it does a lot of things right, other fantasy shoujos do wrong (like focusing on romance too much… or strong fem leads who in the end still have to be saved by a man) even though it’s technically a reverse harem.
I guess I’m going to try out Shingeki no Kyo- ehh Bahamut.
Awesome preview psgels, and great to have you back! I always look forward to reading these and seeing what’s coming up in the world of anime. There’s a lot of sites doing this these days, but your site is always the first place I look when a new season is near. Episodic blogging seems like a tough and time consuming gig so don’t blame you for getting burnt out. I’m glad to hear you’ll continue with the series reviews though as your site is a great resource for both new and old fans looking for new anime to watch!
They are making a Garo anime!!
Please let it be as good as the movies and not as bad as the live action tv shows, and let this lead to more anime adaptations of Tokusatsu shows
lol glad you’re ok. and yay for preview post! thx!
“Stop milking out the Fate franchise, for Christ’s sake. Ufotable, you’re better than this. You’ve amassed enough talent over the years, now do something original with it. This one is especially grating because Studio Deen already made a movie about this. I mean I’m all for remakes and all, but this is just getting too caught up in the past. Do you want to know when the last time was that Ufotable made a series that wasn’t of the Fate franchise? 2007, with Manabi Straight. And there seems to be even more Fate set for 2015. ”
You gotta be kidding me, the movie was awful crap and desperately needed a remake. UBW is finally getting the treatment it deserves. As for milking Fate… it makes money and people like it. They are gonna milk it as long as it’s succesful and the recent products aren’t unpopular at all. That includes the adaptation of the kaleid liner Prisma Illya manga.
Nice to see you back! Do you have a twitter?
As a long time reader of your blog, it’s good to see you’re alive and well Psgels :)!
Hey PSGels,
I can totally understand where you’re coming from.
I spent my late teens and a small portion of my early twenties reviewing and debating about anime for a teenage magazine (a supplement to a national newspaper). It was incredibly rewarding, addictive and did introduce me to a number of incredible people.
However, as time moved and other priorities emerged in my life, the hobby wound down and eventually become a rare thing.
Do I miss it? Yeah. Am I unhappy that I stopped? No.
Funnily enough, while I thought I’d left that part of my life behind, I actually bumped into someone who wrote me fan-mail back in the day. We were just chatting casually and the topic came up and he was genuinely excited (and I was genuinely honoured). It’s the little things that make you smile.
Hope to see you continue at your pace and on your own terms!
– C
Psgels!!! I just sas this, but I’m glad you’re back! At least for full anime reviews! I will miss your rpisodic ones, but it’s good to see you back!
Anyway, I have almost the same picks for the season. I am excited for PsychoPass, Akatsuki , and Kiseijuu, for one. PsychoPass will have Tow as writer, and I’m excited with that. I loved his Mardock Scramble, so I’m excited to see what he makes of this sequel.
As to Akatsuki, it’s great to see a fantasy shoujo where there is indeed great growth in the characters. That’s really something!
Anyway, hope to see your Winter season preview soon! There’s Kamisama Hajimemashita season 2 in the making, and I would like to see what you think of that after the Fall season. ^^
Ha, damn, the blog seems to get saltier and more cynical by the months.
“why I don’t like it”
“it’s porn, pass”
Um. Alright.
Thanks for continuing with the great work i love your season reviews because it gives me a heads up of what anime i should watch this season, so many shows to watch!! THANKS!! and keep the great work with this kind of posts
Twintails seems surprisingly good, although absurd premise. May be worth trying.
Hey there, psgels. Glad to see you’re back! I really recommend giving Denki-gai no Honya-san a try; I’m not usually a fan of the comedy/slice of life genre but the first episode was very fun and the second was even better. Like you, I’m usually not a fan of fanservice at all, but in Denki-gai it really doesn’t bother me, maybe because it’s played for laughs and is present for both the female and male characters?
Watching Ronja, I’m disheartened to say that it’s not as good as WMT, or even non-WMT like Emily.
Ignoring the 3DCG, there’s something about the directing or the dialogue that feels off, like it’s not as natural as it could be.
I’m also watching Lucy of The Southern Rainbow right now (curse you Licca for abandoning the sub) and it feels so much better watching that than Ronja. The banter is natural, the comedy makes me laugh every time, and the animation doesn’t look jarring.
It’s a shame considering how gorgeous the background art is.
Also, as a guy who likes fantasy stories, I am disappointed by the fantasy genre being a dumping ground for terribly written, wish-fulfillment LNs lately. And there are more to come since this trend is getting popular really really fast.
God, I just want more anime like Erin or Deltora Quest.
In retrospect, it is ABSOLUTELY HILARIOUS how wrong you were about both Shirobako and Yuuki Yuuna (though to be fair, the latter was intentionally misleading in its advertising, something I think the show did not benefit from, at least viewership-wise).
Shirobako is my uncontested AOTY thanks to its combination of sharp writing, fun characters, remarkably detailed picture of anime production, and generally just being fun all-around. Mind you, I am giving it major points for originality, so it’s not necessarily that it’s the one I enjoyed most this year as much as it is simply the single most important work I’ve seen this year.
Yuuki Yuuna has obtained second place for simply being great in every area that matters. In many ways, it is the most well-produced anime I’ve ever seen, so tightly wound and with so little in the way of anything to detract from the experience of watching it. The only thing I can fault it for is being a little too subtle in its ending (but this is not my problem, mind you – it’s just a problem for all the other viewers who are unable to pick up on its intricacies). I highly recommend it and believe it is a work that anyone who’s seen a deconstruction/reconstruction magical girl series before (*cough* Madoka *coughcough*) should see.
Not that anyone will actually see this comment… but I didn’t see any other better places to leave it, so here it is.
I seen you comment and well, have you considered to possibility that your taste may not be the same as others? I mean I have not seen Shirobako or Yuuki Yuuna so I can’t really comment. I can only say want I heard.
Yuuki Yuuna consensus seems to be that it’s pretty much Madoka except with much more pointless slice of life fluff and being significantly less interesting. Plus Kishi being the director I have the feeling that even if the story has potential to be interesting, Kishi would suck the fun out of it as he has done in the past.
Shirobako seems to fall under “Just alright.” Main complaint seems to be the problem with most anime with slice of life elements, it get bogged down by pointless antics.
I have no idea where you’re getting your ‘consensus’ from, but that’s just straight-up wrong.
Both series are extremely tight and waste very little time on fluff. Shirobako in particular is actually quite dense and can be slightly impenetrable for viewers who can’t quite grok the speed at which they reveal information to the viewer (remember, they’re showing you the ins and outs of anime production throughout the entire series). The cast is as varied as any real anime production studio can be and the whole thing is proof positive of the benefit of writing “what you know”.
Yuuki Yuuna’s slice of life sections are extremely important for building up the latter sections (and the only reason the whole stretch from episodes 8-12 is so powerful is because of that build up – every episode is important). It’s also gorgeously animated with some of the best music I’ve ever heard. It’s really hard to find flaws with this series outside of the generic “it’s not for me” spiel you’ll get from people who are unwilling to engage with things outside of their comfort zones. Also, I like it more than Madoka, FYI (yes, I’ve seen Rebellion, too).
Of course, my tastes can be different from others, obviously, but if people are going to levy criticisms against a series I like I would hope that those criticisms actually have some level of merit rather than simply being Tales From My Ass, you know?