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The Stream - Swim City


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HitokiriShadow



Joined: 09 May 2005
Posts: 6251
PostPosted: Tue Sep 10, 2013 3:18 pm Reply with quote
Megiddo wrote:
What the hell else could one want?


To actually execute those ideas even moderately well.
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Ortensia1980



Joined: 31 Aug 2011
Posts: 803
Location: some town near Amsterdam
PostPosted: Tue Sep 10, 2013 3:19 pm Reply with quote
Congrats on finishing your PhD, Bamboo!

I'm not watching nearly as much this season as I was in the spring (think the grand total was 18 at one point back then). Love Lab and Servant x Service are my favourites this season with WataMote, The Eccentric Family and Free! not far behind.

And even though Brothers Conflict has plenty of things going against it (the way that Ema has been treated by most of her horny brothers for starters), I can't get enough of it. It's the only show that I'll watch right after a new episode has come out and it's not even remotely worthy of that attention. I blame the hot guys. Yep. That's my excuse.
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FenixFiesta



Joined: 22 Apr 2013
Posts: 2581
PostPosted: Tue Sep 10, 2013 3:45 pm Reply with quote
HitokiriShadow wrote:
Megiddo wrote:
What the hell else could one want?


To actually execute those ideas even moderately well.

I suppose it is one of those "eye of the beholder" deals where one person thinks a series did its opening episode properly and another raises there hands in the air and thinks to themselves "the hell did I just watch?".
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Angel M Cazares



Joined: 23 Sep 2010
Posts: 5406
Location: Iscandar
PostPosted: Tue Sep 10, 2013 3:47 pm Reply with quote
Congratulatios Bamboo on your dissertation defense. I was wondering if you no longer were working at ANN. It is good to have The Stream back.

This season Monogatari Second Season, Silver Spoon and Attack on Titan are the series I look forward the most to watching each week. I am also enjoying KINMOZA, The Eccentric Family and Servant x Service. My only real disappointment has been WATAMOTE

My rankings - with ANN ratings

1. Monogatari Second Season - Very Good
2. Silver Spoon - Good
3. Attack on Titan - Very Good
4. KINMOZA!- Descent
5. The Eccentric Family - Good
6. Servant x Service - Descent
7. WATAMOTE - So-so
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Megiddo



Joined: 24 Aug 2005
Posts: 8360
Location: IL
PostPosted: Tue Sep 10, 2013 4:01 pm Reply with quote
HitokiriShadow wrote:
Megiddo wrote:
What the hell else could one want?

To actually execute those ideas even moderately well.

Given that you liked Neptunia's first episode while I found it a bumbling mess, is it safe to say that you look more for campy fanservice goofiness instead of philosophy? Because if it's just a personal preference that's fair enough then. I don't think there's anybody who would take a liking to SWG if they also didn't like Kino's Journey for instance, as SWG is an unpolished Kino.
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danilo07



Joined: 25 Dec 2011
Posts: 1580
PostPosted: Tue Sep 10, 2013 4:25 pm Reply with quote
Quote:
The thing is the way Eccentric Family dealt with a similar issue was so whimsical and philosophical that it didn't deal with it in a realistic way.

In that sense I think Silver Spoon did a better job of making me think about my decisions to eat meat and so forth. Eccentric Family really did not because what it is saying doesn't apply to me.

I dont know most of discussion in Silver Spoon about meat consumption comes down to "You know it might be bad to eat animals.BUT they are so tasty!!!",it is just like they are tossing this idea on the wall without ever developing it.
Yeah perhaps the ideas in Eccentric family cant be applied completely to reality,but they are very well developed and concise.
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Fencedude5609



Joined: 09 Nov 2006
Posts: 5088
PostPosted: Tue Sep 10, 2013 4:27 pm Reply with quote
Megiddo wrote:
HitokiriShadow wrote:
Megiddo wrote:
What the hell else could one want?

To actually execute those ideas even moderately well.

Given that you liked Neptunia's first episode while I found it a bumbling mess, is it safe to say that you look more for campy fanservice goofiness instead of philosophy? Because if it's just a personal preference that's fair enough then. I don't think there's anybody who would take a liking to SWG if they also didn't like Kino's Journey for instance, as SWG is an unpolished Kino.


Neptunia's first episode was flawless.

Hell, every episode of Neptunia's been basically perfect. As long as you keep in mind what Neptunia's trying to do.

Can't speak for Kaminai, never got around to watching it.
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Sylpher3



Joined: 27 Jul 2013
Posts: 85
PostPosted: Tue Sep 10, 2013 5:06 pm Reply with quote
Shows I’m following this season:

Watamote: A truly unique experience due to the wide array of emotions. It’s sad and funny, it’s hilarious yet depressing, it’s relatable (those parts can be brutal) and non-relatable. It’s like constantly experiencing two opposite ends of the same spectrum simultaneously.
However, it is definitely a well executed combination of a documentary about social anxiety disorder and a comedy relying on schadenfreude. The series doesn’t have much plot or character development, but that’s easily forgiven since the social phobia theme and dark humor keeps me interested.

I have to commend Tomoko for trying out new things, which is courageous (or desperate) on her part since she is willing to get out of her comfort zone. Unfortunately, most of the time it results in self-inflicted damage due to her spiteful nature and social inexperience. She takes mental blows by these setbacks and flees back to her safe own little world. Tomoko is stuck in a vicious cycle, longing for a rich social life, but not capable of achieving it and it is heartbreaking to see.
She is, however, the only one who can break the cycle but needs to overcome high barriers which she has set herself and most of all, she needs genuine positive feedbacks for her efforts. Fortunately for her, social anxiety is nowadays better understood by experts.
I do wonder if we will see Tomoko in a brighter stage of her life, since the visual allegory in the opening theme suggests that there is hope for her.

Free: A very solid show with an enjoyable group, tournaments, background stories and character development like in a traditional sports anime.
Only thing bugging me is that a beginner like Rei specializes in the butterfly stroke. The butterfly with the dolphin kick is very difficult to perform and maintain (for me at least). Seems somewhat unrealistic.

Silver Spoon: My favorite anime of the summer season. I get the same fuzzy warm feelings and smiles of joy like with watching Chihayafuru and Space Brothers. I love seeing Hachikens progress and his growing passion for farming, while at the same time learning tidbits about agricultural processes and dilemma’s. What compels me the most is the main theme: Trying to live a romanticized happy life while also dealing with the harsh reality.

Genshiken Nidaime: I don’t like the new group as much as the old group and the show is recently starting to bore me. Only reason I keep watching is that the characterization of Hato boggles my mind: spoiler[ He needs to cross-dress, loves reading and drawing yaoi, but is not into guys. He’s into 2D boys but 3D girls, he ships/fantasizes about gay pairings but is straight ]. It seems like an illogical and uncommon combination. I’m waiting for an explanation (not sure if there is one).

Might pick up Eccentric Family later for a marathon. Maybe give Gatchaman Crowds another chance with the suggested mindset. Anyway, thanks for the recommendations.

In the end summer has a few gems, some above average shows and a lot of mediocrity or plain bad shows. And that is exactly the way I like these anime seasons.
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kotomikun



Joined: 06 May 2013
Posts: 1205
PostPosted: Tue Sep 10, 2013 5:11 pm Reply with quote
Pretty much in agreement with this list, for once. Eccentric Family and Gatchaman Crowds are my two favorites right now; AoT (recently), Watamote, and Stella Academy have also been great. Though I haven't quite been keeping up with Watamote, because...it's a little too realistic.

I think I like Stella for basically the same reason. On the surface, it looks like a pandery cute-girls-with-guns show; but it feels more like "yeah, we're girls, and some of us do girly stuff, but we also play airsoft because why the hell not?" The fanservice is there, but it has even less than K-on, so it's not a big deal.

I don't really get Silver Spoon, though. It just seemed boring and generic to me. And, well, I don't even need to watch it to tell you that it won't cover the really horrifying stuff involved in meat production, because they'd never get away with broadcasting it.

Fencedude5609 wrote:
Neptunia's first episode was flawless.

Hell, every episode of Neptunia's been basically perfect. As long as you keep in mind what Neptunia's trying to do.


One also has to keep in mind whether what it's trying to do is challenging and/or original. It looks like a pure fanservice show. Nothing wrong with that, but it's unlikely to stand out from the crowd doing something like that.
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HitokiriShadow



Joined: 09 May 2005
Posts: 6251
PostPosted: Tue Sep 10, 2013 5:21 pm Reply with quote
Megiddo wrote:
HitokiriShadow wrote:
Megiddo wrote:
What the hell else could one want?

To actually execute those ideas even moderately well.

Given that you liked Neptunia's first episode while I found it a bumbling mess, is it safe to say that you look more for campy fanservice goofiness instead of philosophy? Because if it's just a personal preference that's fair enough then. I don't think there's anybody who would take a liking to SWG if they also didn't like Kino's Journey for instance, as SWG is an unpolished Kino.


What I look for depends on the show I'm watching. My favorite shows this season are Monogatari 2nd, Symphogear G, Prisma Illya, and Gatchaman Crowds and I'm not looking for the exact same thing in each of them. My expectations and standards for Neptunia are distinctly different from something like Kaminai.

What I saw in the first episode of Kaminai was a show that had some ideas but no idea how to execute them in a competent manner. Pointless in-media-res because that's just a cool thing to do! Kill off a bunch of people that it spent basically no time getting us to give a damn about, and the opening scene spoiled any shock and surprise it would have had. I think I had some other issues but I barely remember it at this point.

I do think Neptunia's episode probably suffered a bit for people unfamiliar with the series because of the number of characters it throws at them right away, but that's what the next several episodes. While it's fine to want something that takes itself more seriously and isn't so fluff and fanservice oriented (though other than jiggly chests, the show is fairly tame in that regard), that's just not what it's trying to do. Whether the show's goofiness works for people is very much a "your mileage may vary" thing because, well, that's how humor works.
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FenixFiesta



Joined: 22 Apr 2013
Posts: 2581
PostPosted: Tue Sep 10, 2013 6:48 pm Reply with quote
As many have already pointed out already, Neptunia the anime is probably one of the best adaptations of a source media into anime as one can possibly get, weather or not the viewer enjoys said series is a matter of individidual perspective.
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The Mad Manga Massacre



Joined: 15 Jul 2009
Posts: 1166
PostPosted: Tue Sep 10, 2013 7:10 pm Reply with quote
And for people who enjoy anime shorts Yamishibai is quite effective for the most part with its horror though the incredibly limited animation brings the show down a few notches. Recorder and Randsell Mi breaks away from the tiresome gag they dragged out through the first 2 seasons but still is somewhat creepy. RWBY does a good job of balancing its comedy and serious elements. Senyu season 2 is a good continuation of season 1. And Teekyu season 2 continues to be as big of a mixed bag as the first season was.
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Fencedude5609



Joined: 09 Nov 2006
Posts: 5088
PostPosted: Tue Sep 10, 2013 8:08 pm Reply with quote
The Mad Manga Massacre wrote:
RWBY does a good job of balancing its comedy and serious elements.


It is also not anime.
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Maidenoftheredhand



Joined: 21 Jun 2007
Posts: 2632
PostPosted: Tue Sep 10, 2013 8:20 pm Reply with quote
danilo07 wrote:

I don't know most of discussion in Silver Spoon about meat consumption comes down to "You know it might be bad to eat animals.BUT they are so tasty!!!",it is just like they are tossing this idea on the wall without ever developing it.


I don't agree that is the what Silver Spoon is saying at all.

1) I don't see where the series is saying it is bad to eat meat in any way. It is not making any type of judgement like that. Well if anything I would say the series is for meat consumption (although at the same time I don't think Silver Spoon is telling anyone to change their life style choices).
2) I don't think they are washing away any guilt of eating a living thing by saying oh well they are tasty.

It is far more nuanced than that. I don't think Silver Spoon is going to turn any vegetarians onto meat but it isn't completely ignoring the implication of what it means to eat something living either.

And considering this entire arc is on the whole raising a pig thing maybe we should wait and see before saying they are not developing it.

At the very least I can apply Silver Spoons themes of meat consumption to myself, I can't do that with Eccentric Family. But ultimately I don't think Silver Spoon and Eccentric Family's themes are really the same (even if they seem similar on the surface). There is so much more going on with Eccentric Family.

Ultimately I do feel Eccentric Family is the more unique and profound series. However just because Silver Spoon is not Eccentric Family doesn't mean I don't hold it in high esteem as well.
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Spotlesseden



Joined: 09 Sep 2004
Posts: 3514
Location: earth
PostPosted: Tue Sep 10, 2013 9:18 pm Reply with quote
I'm only really watching Uchoten Kazoku, Attack on Titans, monogatari season 2, Railgun, Danganronpa and the World only God Knows.


I refuse to call Uchoten Kazoku(有頂天家族), The Eccentric Family because that translation is stupid and wrong.
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