Forum - View topicThe Spring 2013 Anime Preview Guide
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RyanSaotome
 Posts: 4210 Location: Towson, Maryland |
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Its no wonder people always complain about no good anime if they never actually watch good anime. |
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Mohawk52
 Posts: 8202 Location: England, UK |
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Mad_Scientist
 SubscriberModerator  Posts: 3011 |
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Well, I can't speak for the reviewers, but I myself am far less likely to watch a series if it's only available via fansubs. A series has to really grab me, like Madoka Magica did, for me to follow it weekly using fansubs. It's not even a moral issue for me, as I don't have a problem using fansubs for an unlicensed series, I just find streaming super convenient. And since there are usually at least a few series each season that I am interested in but don't watch weekly due to lack of time, series only available via fansub often get put into my "I'll watch sometime later, maybe marathon it" pile. |
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Key
Moderator
 Posts: 18186 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
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And I am not one of those people who makes such complaints; in fact, I'm usually one of the more active ones around here in refuting them. You seem to be implying otherwise here. I just went back and looked, and there were five other series that I was following that season. That did not even include ones like Tiger and Bunny, Ano Hana, Steins;Gate, or even Seikon no Qwaser II (which I bring up since I was a fan of the first season). The Spring 2011 season was a very deep season, so while I did give Azazel-san a pretty good review on its first ep, it was ultimately only about 9th or 10th on my priority list for that season, and I don't have time to keep up with that many series each season. (I'm at least initially going to try to keep up with eight this season, but I strongly suspect that at least a couple are going to fall into the "save and marathon on a slow day" category.) |
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RyanSaotome
Posts: 4210 Location: Towson, Maryland |
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I didn't really mean you specifically.. you are actually the one who previews most of the major sequels that others don't. But sometimes it surprises me how little coverage major sequels get since I guess that the previewers here don't actually finish many of the anime they watch in these guides. |
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yuna49
 Posts: 3804 |
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Key, I realized after I wrote my original comment that it might be taken as a criticism of the review staff. That wasn't my intent at all. I was just struck by how there had been over 70 pages about shows from Spring, 2013, and Azazel-san never came up in the discussion. Now, granted, the discussion will naturally focus mostly on the shows you all previewed, and most comments will be about licensed shows. Still Azazel-san seems to attract surprisingly little attention for a show rather explicitly targeting adult viewers, a group that feels somewhat underserved at the moment, as I think Mohawk52's comment indicates. My posting was intended to direct attention to an under-appreciated show, not to criticize the ANN staff. If it came across as the latter, I'm sorry.
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crosswithyou
 Posts: 2892 Location: California |
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I can understand. I also find it easier to watch shows that are streamed since I can just search a certain group's name instead of searching for each series individually. (Sorry-- Living in Japan with no DVR and Japan's blocked from CR.)
Oh I'm sure I mentioned it somewhere in this thread. ^_~ Big fan of both the manga and the anime series. |
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brankoburcksen
Posts: 126 |
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I binge watched Hemlock Grove this weekend, so I don't know if it was this subpar horror series or what, but I continue to be impressed by the offerings this season. I marathon watch the new episodes of several series every Sunday, allowing me to see Garantia, Flowers of Evil, Attack on Titan, Chihayafuru and Space Brothers back to back. It's a rush! If you've never tried it before, give it a shot.
HenNeko surprised me with its second episode being more endearing than I expected. I thought it might go downhill right after the first episode, but the recent entry made me think the show will never be anything spectacular, but at least it's trying to develop its characters. The same is true of The Devil is a Part Timer. I won't repeat more than that. We just have to wait and see where it goes. The third entries of Attack on Titan and Gargantia impressed the hell out of me. They continue to prove themselves to be the strongest entries in quite some time. Attack on Titan faced the challenge of the "training episode". After introducing the leads, the setting and conflict, it now has to put them through the ringer in order to face the Titans while establishing a whole host of supporting characters, and it did this very well. The episode had its stand alone conflict with Eren struggling through basic training while the three not only bond with the other trainees, but story-lines not involving them at all also emerge. I particularly like the one about the girl reprimanded for stealing a potato not least because the last thing I expected was for this show to pass the Bechdel Test. (If you don't know what that is, look it up.) Flowers of Evil's second episode solidified how much I expect to enjoy this show. (Yes, I know it sounds strange to "enjoy" a show like this.) Watching the scene in the library and on Takao's bike, I thought about how they would look if they looked like they did in the manga, and I couldn't help thinking how glad I was they went this route. Everything about this show is meant to feel off, disturbed, wrong, unbalanced. The symmetrical, even handed style of many typical anime designs where attributes like a person's eyes need to be the same size relative to each other does not lend itself well to the way everything in this series needs to feel...off, imbalanced. If Sawa were drawn as she was in the manga, she would have been creepy and off putting, but in the TV show, and in particular the scenes where she takes off her glasses in the second episode, she is disturbing and terrifying. She looks like someone who will reveal all the worst in humanity. In a more typical anime style, the more even art work feels contrary to the uneasy tone of the story. With both the look and the mood in sync with each other, it raises a series that would have been above the majority of shows airing right now into a down right unforgettable experience. Gargantia amazes me at how competent and tactful the characters treat what happens to be a culture clash with life and death stakes. (The U.N. could learn something from this show.) It seemed pretty expected that Ledo helping the Gargantia fleet would not be met with praise. However, even after Amy yells at him and runs off, she still returns with Bellows after considering how different he lived before coming to Earth. The scene between Bellows and Ledo exemplifies what this entire series seems to be about: people learning to understand each other and adapt to unfamiliar worlds. What I love about Gargantia is that it does not treat this transition as simple or easy. Everything they discuss is integral to everyone working together and surviving. What's great is that what they talk about is not just empty words. It is put into action and highlights how Ledo adapts to Gargantia. The third episode builds a wonderful little development about him learning how they express gratitude that in the final moment of the third episode distinguishes the way he accepts he place amongst these people. I end my Sunday marathon of new episodes with Chihayafuru and Space Brothers because not only do they continue to be fantastic, but they are the least cynical shows I've seen from either side of the Pacific. Both are grounded and believable about their respective subjects, and even as they flesh out their characters, they do not turn anyone into villains or dislikable people. They are definitely individuals with problems, but no one feels like a bad apple or someone who needs to be destroyed. The primary conflict simply comes from the fact that the characters work in a field where only so many people get ahead. I really look forward to seeing where all these stories go. |
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Snomaster1
 SubscriberPosts: 2796 |
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No attempt at a witty beginning here folks. Let's get to the reviews:
1."Attack on Titan":This one seems to have been inspired by the fairy tales by the Grimm Brothers as well as the manga. Humanity is living in walled cities because of attacks by giants that aren't jolly and green. In fact,these guys consider people to be a walking snack item. Fortunately,the humans fight back at the giants who consider them one of the four basic food groups. But,it's been a long fight and they don't know how long many of them can hold out. This is an interesting show. I hope that this is brought here. The giants look like mutated versions of the very people they consume. We may be seeing this stateside at any time so keep a look out folks. This will be interesting to say the least. 2."Date A Live:"From the "Where did they think this up?" file,a recent epidemic of spacequakes that have caused a lot of damage all over the world,mainly in Asia. We have a brother and sister who are basically engaged in goofy hijinks until one day,another spacequake rocks Tokyo and the brother witnesses a fight between two girls wearing outfits that look like they were inspired from the perennially popular tokusatsu shows in Japan and the old "He-Man and the Masters of the Universe" series. The brother blacks out and then wakes up on board a ship where his seemingly friendly but dullwitted sister is the captain of said vessel. She tells him that a bunch of strange beings called Spirits are the cause of the spacequakes and that since fighting them hasn't worked,they decide that he should date these Spirits to seal their power away. While the spacequakes are an imaginative touch,this seems like an unnecessary mash between the harem genre and dating sims. I've got one question,why was this made and why hasn't the person who made this been fired yet? This show hasn't got a whole lot to recommend it and if it does come here,it looks like it may be condemned to subtitle-only purgatory. This show doesn't seem to have a brain in it's head. 3."Valvrave the Liberator:"This show takes place in the far future in which humans are living on Dyson spheres. (I wonder how Freeman Dyson feels about that?) There are a number of new nations,where there are two superpowers. One inspired by America,the other one not. And then there's a nation that wants to get by all on it's own. One day,the non-American superpower attacks the Japan-inspired nation and basically they wreck one of the main cities there. They attack the school where the main character goes and then cause the possible end of his would-be girlfriend. Enraged by this,the kid jumps aboard an abandoned robot,gets turned into a vampire and starts trashing the invaders with reckless abandon. This seems like the most interesting take on the giant robot genre since "Sym-Bionic Titan." The robot turns the pilot into a vampire seemingly to make it strong enough to trash enemy robots. This thing seems inspired by the "Gundam" series and that's interesting in and of itself. The other thing is that,this time,it's the American-inspired nation that isn't made the bad guy,which is a good thing. I like that and I hope this thing comes here. This'll be another interesting show to see. Well,I have to get going now. Until next time,see you later! |
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) as time goes on. It's a total riot if dirty jokes make you laugh. 
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