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The Summer 2014 Anime Preview Guide


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Ali07



Joined: 01 Jun 2014
Posts: 3333
Location: Victoria, Australia
PostPosted: Thu Jul 17, 2014 7:44 am Reply with quote
Saw some more episode 2s:
Re:_Hamatora - Birthday and Ratio are probably my favourite characters now. Jokester and straight man combo. The main draw for me is the world they've set up in this one. I guess it kind of reminds me of the X-Men in some ways. Laughing

One disappointing aspect is that Hajime has already been bumped into the background, again, in this 2nd episode. I was hoping that she'd be more involved in this 2nd season. Guess the only female who is involved in the action will still be Honey.

Was half expecting to see more Hajime in this season, and have been let down in these first 2 episodes.

SAO II - Found this one a little weird. What was the point? I'm guessing that we're supposed to be made to care about Sinon's fight. Don't see why, as this episode just focuses on playing GG. It's not like there was any real life risks taken like in the Aincrad arc.

If I hadn't already heard about some of Sinon's background, she'd just come off as a girl who takes this video game way too seriously.

Yeah, some decent action…but all this episode boiled down to was spoiler[that the player killers pretty much bit off more than they could chew and that Sinon seems to have a problem with guys that smile while fighting in GG.] Basically, you're just sitting there watching a group play a video game... Laughing

Jinsei - Some nice advice handed out with the first question. The spoiler[under the table] antics that came about are the type of stuff you usually see, but I didn't mind it too much as the situation was created rather than being an accident (even though there was the usual accident thrown in there).

Ikumi's spoiler[actions to get the meganes together] are quite forceful. Laughing

2nd part was shorter and okay, the 3rd part was cute. This episode was better than the first IMO.

Magimoji Rurumo - Ah, I know this show is stupid…but I still find it funny. Loved how suspicious the mother was during this episode, great expression (or lack thereof?) in her eyes.

I still love the ED (well, not so much the song)!

While you look at the solution and think that they're dumb for not doing it earlier, the whole spoiler[death once all the magic tickets are used up deal] saves it from looking totally stupid.
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Maize Hughes



Joined: 28 Aug 2011
Posts: 81
PostPosted: Thu Jul 17, 2014 5:23 pm Reply with quote
ajr wrote:
Thanks Carl, Hope, Theron, Rebecca, Zac, and Bamboo for your work, it's been a pleasure to read about the garbage without having to weather it. Your preview reviews help keep me aware of what shows and trends are out there and let me know which shows are noteworthy or otherwise worth checking out. It's great having one organized place to find all that content, so I'm very pleased you all put the effort in.

THIS.
Thanks for taking the bullet for us, guys.
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DmonHiro





PostPosted: Fri Jul 18, 2014 4:53 pm Reply with quote
jr0904 wrote:
and not to mentioned people considered the phantom bullet arc which SAO II is based of is considered the best of the novels.

Please be kidding. THIS is the best arc of the volume? The one with the Scooby Doo mystery?
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Guile



Joined: 18 Jun 2013
Posts: 595
PostPosted: Fri Jul 18, 2014 8:16 pm Reply with quote
ajr wrote:
Thanks Carl, Hope, Theron, Rebecca, Zac, and Bamboo for your work, it's been a pleasure to read about the garbage without having to weather it. Your preview reviews help keep me aware of what shows and trends are out there and let me know which shows are noteworthy or otherwise worth checking out. It's great having one organized place to find all that content, so I'm very pleased you all put the effort in.


Just because they don't like something doesn't make it garbage. I urge you watch shows for yourself and form your own opinions. Don't rely on other's or you risk missing out on series you would otherwise pass up. For example if I went by the guide, I'd have missed Madoka since it got poor scores. I always watch everything and judge them myself.
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Key
Moderator


Joined: 03 Nov 2003
Posts: 18137
Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley)
PostPosted: Fri Jul 18, 2014 9:12 pm Reply with quote
DmonHiro wrote:
jr0904 wrote:
and not to mentioned people considered the phantom bullet arc which SAO II is based of is considered the best of the novels.

Please be kidding. THIS is the best arc of the volume? The one with the Scooby Doo mystery?

I have heard that from numerous other people who have actually read the novels, which you have admitted that you haven't, Dmonhiro. Even a "Scooby Doo" mystery can be good if executed well, and we have not seen enough of SAO II yet to know if it's going to do that or not. (Really, the two eps aired so far have been pure set-up.)

Guile wrote:
Just because they don't like something doesn't make it garbage. I urge you watch shows for yourself and form your own opinions. Don't rely on other's or you risk missing out on series you would otherwise pass up. For example if I went by the guide, I'd have missed Madoka since it got poor scores. I always watch everything and judge them myself.

Not everybody has the time to sample everything. We have a wide variety of tastes amongst those who contribute to the Preview Guide, so I see no problem with trusting the judgment of someone whose tastes usually align with yours. I've done this myself for decades with live-action movies, TV shows, and books and only rarely been disappointed.

And I really wish this fallacy that we gave Madoka Magica poor Preview Guide scores would just die. Excluding Zac, who only graded the first episode on visuals, no one graded it below 3 and the average grade was 3.6/5 - very definitely not a "poor" score, especially considering that only a handful of titles each season average 3.5 or more across 3+ reviews.

Speaking on average scores, here's an alphabetized summary of the results for this Preview Guide:

Akame ga KILL!: 3 (4 scores)
Aldnoah.Zero: 4 (5 scores)
Argevollen: 2.38 (4 scores)
Black Butler: Book of Circus: 2 (1 score)
Bladedance of Elementelars: 1.75 (2 scores)
Blue Spring Ride: 3.5 (5 scores)
DRAMAtical Murder: 2.38 (4 scores)
Encouragement of Climb 2: 3 (1 score)
FATE/kaleid liner Prisma Illya 2wei: 3 (2 scores)
Free! Eternal Summer: 2.5 (2 scores)
Gasslip: 3 (4 scores)
Hanayamata: 3.75 (4 scores)
Invaders of the Rokujyoma!?: 2.25 (4 scores)
Locodol: 2.5 (4 scores)
Love Stage!!: 3.13 (4 scores)
Magimoji Rurumo: 2.25 (4 reviews)
Momo Kyun Sword: 1.6 (5 scores given)
Monthly Girls Nozaki-kun: 3.88 (4 scores)
Rail Wars!: 1.5 (3 scores)
Re: Hamatora: 2 (1 score)
Sabagebu!: 2.7 (5 scores)
Sailor Moon Crystal: 3.63 (4 scores)
Samurai Jam: 2.38 (4 scores)
Shonen Hollywood: 2 (3 scores)
Space Dandy 2: 5 (2 scores)
Sword Art Online II: 3.25 (2 scores given)
Terror in Resonance: 3.8 (5 scores)
Tokyo ESP: 3.67 (3 scores)
Tokyo Ghoul: 3.75 (4 scores)
Nobunaga Concerto: 2.25 (4 reviews)

Thus amongst series with 3+ previews, Aldnoah.Zero got the top evaluation. The most consistent scoring went to Monthly Girls' Nozaki-kun (everyone was 3.5 or 4) and the biggest differential in scoring was a three point swing between scores on Dramatical Murder. The starkest split in opinion was over Magimoji Rurumo, with two scores in the 3s and two in the 1s.

Don't know if this actually means anything, but I thought some might find it interesting.
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ikillchicken



Joined: 12 Feb 2007
Posts: 7272
Location: Vancouver
PostPosted: Fri Jul 18, 2014 10:01 pm Reply with quote
Guile wrote:
ajr wrote:
Thanks Carl, Hope, Theron, Rebecca, Zac, and Bamboo for your work, it's been a pleasure to read about the garbage without having to weather it. Your preview reviews help keep me aware of what shows and trends are out there and let me know which shows are noteworthy or otherwise worth checking out. It's great having one organized place to find all that content, so I'm very pleased you all put the effort in.


Just because they don't like something doesn't make it garbage. I urge you watch shows for yourself and form your own opinions. Don't rely on other's or you risk missing out on series you would otherwise pass up. For example if I went by the guide, I'd have missed Madoka since it got poor scores. I always watch everything and judge them myself.


No. Believe it or not, some of us have absolutely zero desire to slog through as many as 30 first episodes of new shows every season just so we can be absolutely sure that bloody Momo Kyun isn't some amazing hidden gem. I've got better things to do with my time and even if I didn't, slogging through every show, the bulk of which I end up hating, is a painfully dull experience I want no part of. If you've got the time and the patience for that you go right ahead. But frankly, its insanely presumptuous to act like others are making a mistake by not doing so. You have no business telling us how we should go about deciding what to watch.

It's funny you use Madoka as your "might have missed" boogeyman too because for me, that's a perfect example of why I don't hesitate for a second to use the preview guide. I initially gave it a pass. But, I've since watched it and really liked it. No harm done. That's the thing. This hand wringing about missing out on good shows if you don't watch everything is predicated on the assumption that the preview guide exists in a vacuum. It doesn't. It's just a first step to tell people what they might want to immediate jump on. If it doesn't spur me to jump on a show it really isn't a problem. If a show is at all worthwhile its gonna get some buzz down the line. Subsequent full reviews, general fan chatter, word of mouth from people who's opinions I respect. If I hear good things about a show down the road I'll give it a shot then.

At worst, frankly, its a risk worth taking. If, in exchange for avoiding the massive slog of watching everything, I've missed like...some tiny handful of shows that I'd have liked but that were universally reviled by reviewers, other fans, etc that's a worthwhile tradeoff. It's a slippery slope too. I mean, even if I watched an episode of everything, that's no guarantee I wouldn't miss stuff. Plenty of shows have an underwhelming first episode that might cause me to drop them despite finding their rhythm latter on. Should I watch several episodes of every anime? Even the ones that I hate? Or perhaps even all of them? And what about old shows for that matter? Should we also go back and watch every anime that ever existed? Just how far do you go to avoid missing something you might have liked? Sorry but there is clearly no right answer. So how about you go ahead and do what you see fit and those of us that like the preview guide can do what we see fit.
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lostrune



Joined: 09 Jun 2012
Posts: 313
PostPosted: Sat Jul 19, 2014 2:36 am Reply with quote
ikillchicken wrote:
If a show is at all worthwhile its gonna get some buzz down the line.


So you subscribe to the old popular = good mentality? Laughing

Seems like most people love to complain about the most popular shows like SAO. Here especially people will take any opportunity they can to jump in and say how much they hate it.

Course not all "good" shows will be popular either. Seems like there's a lot of shows the fans consider amazing that go virtually unheard of in the western fandom. Especially when it comes to licensing. Dennou Coil and Legend of the Galactic Heroes come to mind. Then you got all those really beloved shows in Japan like Conan and Precure which either failed or just wont be marketed here because the consumers here don't care about shoujo or mystery shows.

Seems like there's way too many factors to really rely on buzz , ya know?
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ikillchicken



Joined: 12 Feb 2007
Posts: 7272
Location: Vancouver
PostPosted: Sat Jul 19, 2014 4:26 am Reply with quote
lostrune wrote:
ikillchicken wrote:
If a show is at all worthwhile its gonna get some buzz down the line.


So you subscribe to the old popular = good mentality? Laughing


Popular overall? God no. But it's actually pretty easy to separate insubstantial, brainless fan buzz which tends to dissipate quickly almost as soon as the show ends from more substantial opinions that actually carry some weight with me.
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lostrune



Joined: 09 Jun 2012
Posts: 313
PostPosted: Sat Jul 19, 2014 4:45 am Reply with quote
Heh, seems kinda mean and pretentious to dismiss any kind of fans of a show as being lesser than another show's fans in that way. Nothing's insubstantial or brainless just because you don't like the show people are enjoying.
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ikillchicken



Joined: 12 Feb 2007
Posts: 7272
Location: Vancouver
PostPosted: Sat Jul 19, 2014 6:22 am Reply with quote
You literally just finished scoffing at me for supposedly suggesting that what's popular is what's good. And now, two seconds later, I'm pretentious for suggesting there's a difference? Laughing
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MaxSouth



Joined: 11 Oct 2008
Posts: 1363
PostPosted: Sat Jul 19, 2014 4:24 pm Reply with quote
After second episode of SOA II, the third starts with such ridiculously over-dramatic scenes that it cheapens the project. You again go with "Come on! Really?" face-palm reactions. Also, I never gave it a thought, but it looks like yet another girl is getting serious introduction in this season, so the show turns more and more into harem story. (Maybe it is a kind of fan-service thing? Not sure, because pure harem shows are usually more overt than this.)

Zac wrote:
Nobody cares, MaxSouth, and if you post about Free again I'm going to ban you just for the sweet sound of silence on the matter.


As I explained, I am not discussing it just on my own. I get asked/contested on things and hence reply. And I already agreed that everything on the matter is said and going circles makes no sense. So your attitude is very weird; the discussion we had did not break any rules. Who you think you are, a local tyrant who can not follow own (Tempest's) rules and thus being barely able to contain himself from banning people just out of the mood? I thought you had more class than this and hope this was just a bad day in your life.
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Key
Moderator


Joined: 03 Nov 2003
Posts: 18137
Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley)
PostPosted: Sat Jul 19, 2014 11:57 pm Reply with quote
MaxSouth, you are pushing your luck. We wouldn't tolerate comments like that directed towards a non-staff member, so why should we put up with it when directed towards us?

"Cease and desist" orders on discussing topics are given when admins and/or Moderators feel that the discussion is going in problematic directions and/or is generating numerous complaints. We don't ever give them arbitrarily. You're certainly welcome not to agree with them, but these aren't democratic decisions and continuing to complain about them being done will get you nowhere but in trouble.

And please defer any discussion about ep 3s and on to the respective series threads.
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TarsTarkas



Joined: 20 Dec 2007
Posts: 5821
Location: Virginia, United States
PostPosted: Mon Jul 21, 2014 7:29 pm Reply with quote
Key wrote:

And I really wish this fallacy that we gave Madoka Magica poor Preview Guide scores would just die. Excluding Zac, who only graded the first episode on visuals, no one graded it below 3 and the average grade was 3.6/5 - very definitely not a "poor" score, especially considering that only a handful of titles each season average 3.5 or more across 3+ reviews.


I had to go back and look at that season's preview guide. I am not really a scores person, I like to see what is said. While the score was average (some scores were higher than average) amongst the reviewers, what was actually said during the individual reviews was most positive. Zac loved the visuals, and he wasn't condescending about the story, acknowledging it was too early to say for him. Only one reviewer (not Zac) seemed to dislike the show, and actually used negative comments to describe it.

Outside of the one reviewer, it seems you'll were punished for not anticipating its level of success. Which is unfair since you only watched the first episode at the time of your review.
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