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The Best and Worst Anime of Spring 2017


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XerneasYveltal



Joined: 09 Jun 2015
Posts: 667
Location: Philippines
PostPosted: Fri Jun 30, 2017 2:18 pm Reply with quote
Because I only watched 2 shows in the Spring 2017 season, there is only a single best and a single worst.

Best: Sakura Quest - As expected from a PA Works-produced anime, it has some fresh potential.

Worst: Eromanga Sensei - Despite this, I really could not be able to proclaim it as one of the worst, but rather, it's slightly leaning towards that direction.

While the production values and the premise focusing on light novels are both tolerable, the tired romantic comedy tropes that it brings in later episodes are a total drag.
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tintor2



Joined: 11 Aug 2010
Posts: 1804
PostPosted: Fri Jun 30, 2017 2:45 pm Reply with quote
Nothing for Little Witch Academia?
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Spike Terra
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Joined: 21 Mar 2016
Posts: 358
Location: Maryland
PostPosted: Fri Jun 30, 2017 2:49 pm Reply with quote
Best: Shingeki no Bahamut Virgin Soul - Everything about this show clicked for me and I feel that it's a worthy successor to the first season, which is one of my favorite anime's of all time.

Runner Up: Twin Angel Break - Odds are you have never seen this show and I feel like it doesn't appeal much to a western audience for many reasons. Twin Angel Break is a sequel to Kaitou Tenshi Twin Angel: Kyun Kyun☆Tokimeki Paradise!! (yes that title is a joke) and like it's predecessor, Twin Angel Break is a magical girl parody. I love the comedy of Twin Angel Break and I find most of its' characters incredibly endearing.

Honorable Mentions go to Eccentric Family 2, Tsugumomo and Sakura Quest.

Worst: Saenai Heroine no Sodatekata ♭
I recall really liking season 1 of Saekano but season 2 killed all that good will. In season one Megumi was my favorite character. In season 2, she was the only member of the main cast I didn't hate. I hated Utaha and Eriri through the entirety of the second season . Tomoya lost all of his charm from the first season. For a comedy, the jokes had grown stale and every episode was a chore to watch.

Choosing the worst one was tough for me and it might have changed if I had stuck through Eromanga Sensei (I only got two episodes in) or Sagrada Reset (I couldn't finish the first episode). I probably would have put on seven mortal sins if it had succeeded at frustrating me. Seven Mortal Sins has the worst animation of this entire season (yes I watched the newest season of Berserk). I despise half the cast of the show, while I kinda like the other half. The story just meanders around and doesn't make much sense. However the soundtrack is kick ass and I still find it genuinely entertaining to watch.
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Tuor_of_Gondolin



Joined: 20 Apr 2009
Posts: 3524
Location: Bellevue, WA
PostPosted: Fri Jun 30, 2017 2:50 pm Reply with quote
tintor2 wrote:
Nothing for Little Witch Academia?

Wasn't available in America, and since most of those on this tread are Americans...
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Parsifal24





PostPosted: Fri Jun 30, 2017 3:06 pm Reply with quote
My best ended up being Rage of Bahamut Virgin Soul because it's been constantly good and really has not had a dip in quality. My runner up is Re:Creators which really only ends up there due to the exposition heavy episodes as of late even though I understand why they are done and they are helping flesh out the world of the fictional universe.

As far worst Berserk number one because I didn't think it to be possible for this season to be as bad as the first but it actually succeeded at failing. Sakurada Reset would be the runner up just simply because watching it's kind of amazing to see something this incompetent continue to get made. I continue to force much in the same way I forced myself to finish Scum's Wish so I can put it on my worst of the year list.

I avoided all the really bad stuff and just inflicted it on the poor ANN reviewers who had to review Eromanga Sensei and Clockwork Planet. So I have no idea how those are but I'm glad to see that it looks like my premonitions about those series where proven right.

Spring did have a lot of under the radar hidden gems as well from Laughing Salesman New and Alice & Zoroku as well as Tsuki ga Kirei. I wish I could say I like Sakura Quest it looks nice but it feels like if Non Non Biyori was aged up and instead of being cute it just feels sad and desperate.

It's not bad but it's simply kind of workman like much like Kabuki Club which honestly left me feeling the same way after I saw Cheer Boys just kind of "mehh"
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Angel M Cazares



Joined: 23 Sep 2010
Posts: 5406
Location: Iscandar
PostPosted: Fri Jun 30, 2017 3:26 pm Reply with quote
tintor2 wrote:
Nothing for Little Witch Academia?

I am sure that if it had been legally simulcasted week to week some of the critics and fans would have good things to say. And speaking of LWA, it is supposed to ''premiere'' on Netflix today.
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DeTroyes



Joined: 30 May 2016
Posts: 520
PostPosted: Fri Jun 30, 2017 5:16 pm Reply with quote
A very active spring for me; I started watching 15 or so shows, and I was still watching the vast majority of them by quarter's end. Usually I only stick with 3-4 shows, and go back based on everyone's reactions. But this time a lot of stuff turned out to be appealing. And the funniest thing is... I went into this cour thinking that almost nothing sounded interesting. Go figure.

Best: Re:Creators
This show was hands-down my favorite of the season, and is way ahead in my estimations for best of the year. Love the characters, the story, everything. Some people find its penchant for exposition to be off-putting, but for me that has been one of the highlights of the series. I am certainly looking forward to where Hiroe & Aoki are taking us, because so far its been a fun ride.

Runner-Up: Alice and Zouroku
This series has been a breath of fresh air. I love the fact that one of the main characters is basically an old codger who takes no crap; its a refreshing change from the more standard anime fare of parental figures, where they are usually depicted as either evil & overbearing, comic relief, or simply absent. I've also been pleased by how low-key some of the episodes have been, giving enough room to let their stories and characters to develop without rushing. I sincerely hope this show gets another season, because its been one of the highlights for me this spring.

Honorable Mentions:
Sakura Quest, ID-0, Eromanga Sensei, Frame Arms Girl, Armed Girls Machiavellism, Grimoire of Zero, Sword Oratoria, Love Tyrant, Little Witch Academia, Saekano-Flat.

Dropped:
The Royal Tutor, Kabukibu!
Nothing really wrong with either show; they just weren't my thing.

Worst: Clockwork Planet
I tried to give this one a chance. But 5 episodes in I decided it just wasn't worth it. The series looked good, but the lame characters and sub-par writing finally ground me down. Which is a shame, because at the start of the season it was actually one of the few titles I was most intrigued by.

Most Disappointing: Gran Blue Fantasy
I almost named this one as worst. But the fact is, I did manage to sit through the entire series, and while I can't recommend it, it did have some fun moments and a few highlights. This is one of those shows whose premise and writing was just good enough to tease interest, but which ultimately could not deliver on its promise. Week after week I kept hoping it would pull itself together, but ultimately it was bogged down by some lame characters and plot-hole laden writing. A shame, because I think it had the makings of something much better. Will probably not watch any second season, if one ever materializes.

On to the Summer cour!!


Last edited by DeTroyes on Fri Jun 30, 2017 11:37 pm; edited 1 time in total
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algoshuffler



Joined: 26 Jun 2017
Posts: 10
PostPosted: Fri Jun 30, 2017 6:40 pm Reply with quote
Best: The Eccentric Family S2: I happen to like shows that are ambitious and have a lot of things going on. The Eccentric Family was both the most ambitious and the busiest show this season. Although a clear step down from S1, as Nick mentioned, The Eccentric Family 2 still worked as a story tied together with the themes of identity, fate, and living in harmony. Though the final episode was a bit messy and difficult to understand, The Eccentric Family pulled off a very satisfying conclusion and tied together its themes and story using a bit of visual storytelling. This and Rakugo S2 are fighting for the top spot for anime of the year for me so far. (9.5/10)

Runner-up: Tsuki ga Kirei: I am quite shocked at how much I liked this show. Unlike The Eccentric Family, Tsuki ga Kirei is neither ambitious nor busy. It's simple and modest. But its attention to detail is second to none this season as we have moments where Kotarou is celebrating and Akane squeezing her potato mascot. Though I didn't find any of the characters to be that relatable, I couldn't help but cheer for Akane/Kotarou. This will likely be behind Kaiba and Spice and Wolf as the third best romance anime I've seen. (8.5/10)

Honorable Mention: My Hero Academia: Who doesn't like epic fights every once in a while? They totally nailed Deku vs. Todoroki and other fights such as Uraraka vs. Bakugo and Bakugo vs. Todoroki were very enjoyable to watch. (8/10)


Worst of the season: Grimoire of Zero: The premise seemed interesting. I thought we were going to have a thoughtful show about romance (like Spice and Wolf) and racism. But in the end, nothing ended up happening. (6/10).
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killjoy_the



Joined: 30 May 2015
Posts: 2457
PostPosted: Fri Jun 30, 2017 9:19 pm Reply with quote
Dammit ANN stop reminding me I'm so behind. Jesus Christ I just checked and there are 8 episodes I haven't watched yet, and I'm only following 4 shows now.

Best to me so far would be Tsuki ga Kirei. I'm 3 episodes behind on it but it's been extremely consistent so far for me not to expect it to fall or anything.

Second best is I guess a tie between Attack on Titan and Eccentric Family. Both had some dull moments but were generally pretty fun.

Worst if I'm only counting what I finished is Tsugumomo because of course the bare-bones adaptation of the start is gonna suck. Manga's still great, though. If I count what I did drop then I guess it's Atom. I kind of hated it.
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Hiroki not Takuya



Joined: 17 Apr 2012
Posts: 2501
PostPosted: Fri Jun 30, 2017 10:34 pm Reply with quote
Not caring for ANN format, I'll send some love to two shows I think were OK -to-good. Akashic Records had it's moments of wardrobe awfulness, but the story turned out to be OK, was funny and entertaining and I'd like to see more. WorldEnd was really good at portraying a tragic romance in a fresh and I think real-feeling way. While I didn't cry my eyes out, the writing and direction made me care about Chtholy and Willem and thier dying world and spoiler[Chtholy's (and maybe Willem's) end] made me legitimately sad.

The obvious good show was MHA, which keeps getting better and more interesting as the characters develop. I didn't see any real stinkers, but those shows that others classify that way weren't my type anyway.
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Hansond Jaysond Lee



Joined: 08 Nov 2015
Posts: 57
PostPosted: Fri Jun 30, 2017 10:55 pm Reply with quote
I absolutely love AoT S2,
Almost everything about S2 is so much better than S1.
Maybe I'm a little biased since I love the 1st season so much when it first came out.
The only bad thing I could think about S2 is the use of 3DCGs.
Some were great (like the spoiler[Collosal Titan fight]), and some were awful looking (like the horses)
I'm just glad that those bad CGs aren't as bad as Berserk 2016/2017's CGs.
Oh, poor Berserk... You deserve so much better...
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chaccide



Joined: 16 Aug 2016
Posts: 295
PostPosted: Fri Jun 30, 2017 11:17 pm Reply with quote
This was such a good season. I started out watching 22 shows and stuck with about 15 to the end. That may sound like I was just bearing some of them but I was really enjoying almost all of them through to the last episode. Except Kado which was really a strain for the last three episodes.

I had several favorites but I think the one that I loved the most and looked forward to the most every week was Little Witch Academia. I already know I'll watch the show time and again, starting today with forcing my husband to watch the first half of the show on Netflix. Wink

Three other shows I very much looked forward to every week were Eccentric Family 2, Natsume Yuujincho 6, and Kenka Bancho Otome. The first two are very different masterworks touching on the supernatural and the last was just fun. Attack on Titan was a huge favor at this house. Re: Creators and Rage of Bahamut were also entertaining, but more B+ level than A because of ups and downs with pacing. Boruto has been a really pleasant surprise, hitting all the notes that made me love the father series so long ago. And, I haven't quite finished ID-0 but it had a really strong start and there's a lot I enjoy about it, especially the animation and the sense of adventure.

Oh, and I forgot Tsukigakirei which was surprisingly charming and realistic with it's awkward teen romance. Those who think reality has to equal depressing, dark, and unhappy need to watch the show to learn a lesson about that.

Less successful shows for me were Sword Oratoria, Kado, and Akashic Records, the first because it failed to concentrate on the one character it was supposed to be about, and the latter two because the endings were such let downs for shows I was enjoying. Sakura Quest was a decent show but it failed to do much for me; it was probably a B- show for me. Granblue Fantasy was a solid C.

The absolute worst show that I watched, well aside from the monk p**** haha, had to be Roommate. I wanted to experience what it felt like to be in it otome game, and I have to say that I think it's creepy as f***.
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Intranetusa



Joined: 26 Jun 2005
Posts: 36
Location: USA
PostPosted: Fri Jun 30, 2017 11:28 pm Reply with quote
Too bad they didn't review King's Avatar. IMO, it's one of the best anime of the season and almost on par with Attack on Titan 2.
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relyat08



Joined: 20 Mar 2013
Posts: 4125
Location: Northern Virginia
PostPosted: Sat Jul 01, 2017 12:24 am Reply with quote
Mr Farris, I think I'm going to enjoy reading your stuff quite a lot sir. After speaking most of my thoughts on Eromanga and Sakura Quest pretty well, and then finding out you were also a Monogatari and Symphogear fan, and THEN finding out you also really like Attack on Titan AND THEN finding out you also like Rei Hiroe a ton! Goodness! You'd think it wouldn't be all that hard to find a critic who likes Monogatari, slice of life, and bombastic action like Hiroe's stuff and Attack on Titan, but it is. Unfortunately so.

Anyway:

Best: TsukigaKirei
I have yet to catch the final episode, but there is no way I won't love this more than anything else this season. Such wonderfully portrayed characters, and an incredibly real and relatable romance that spoke to me very intimately. This show didn't need to do anything major. Just avoid melodrama and let these kids fall in love and experience an adolescent romance. And that it did. In my opinion, perfectly.

Runner Up: Attack on Titan
Slightly looser writing than season one, in my opinion, over all, and I didn't feel like it had the same epic highs of the first season either. In contrast, this season was more a continuous tirade of loss after loss after loss and the suspense and sense of despair was palpable. But that's also good! Other than a couple of excellently satisfying fight scenes, most of the show was suspense and nail-biting horror, but it all culminated in a wonderful final episode and when there is payoff, I'm down with suspense and despair and Attack on Titan, as always, delivered on that front. I loved Ymir this season, as did the entire fandom, apparently, but I also thought Eren's slightly less pronounced, but still quite important character arc was very well handled and, yeah, that final episode was great.

Worst: Eromanga-sensei
I'm not really against what is commonly referred to as "trash anime". I like things that cater to Otaku, and am not inherently opposed to tropes, so it's not like this show is "just not my kind of thing", that's definitely not true. Ultimately, the character writing in Eromanga was just so bottom of the barrel that I couldn't even enjoy the excellent visual direction and character animation. Sagiri is an impossibly contradictory character and none of the other cast members got an ounce of interesting development or even had original personalities. I did not enjoy my time.
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Key
Moderator


Joined: 03 Nov 2003
Posts: 18137
Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley)
PostPosted: Sat Jul 01, 2017 12:38 am Reply with quote
Intranetusa wrote:
Too bad they didn't review King's Avatar. IMO, it's one of the best anime of the season and almost on par with Attack on Titan 2.

Would point out that this was was Rebecca's runner-up pick, and she did do a feature piece on the series earlier this week. But I assume that you're referring to weekly episode reviews?

Anyway, here's a summative count of how the ANN staff picked them:

Attack on Titan s2 - 4 (4 first)
Re:Creators - 3 (1 first)
My Hero Academia s2 - 2 (1 first)
Sakura Quest - 2
The Royal Tutor - 2
Tsuki ga Kirei - 2
Eccentric Family 2 - 1 (1 first)
Kenka Bancho Otome - 1 (1 first)
Natsume's Book of Friends s12,358 - 1 (1 first)
Rage of Bahamut: Virgin Soul - 1 (1 first but also one worst)
The King's Avatar - 1

Among the Worst picks, both Berserk and Clockwork Planet came up twice.
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