Forum - View topicThe Best and Worst Anime of Summer 2017
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Punch Drunk Marc
Posts: 1742 |
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I haven't been keeping up much with shows this season (I'm still behind from last season), but I think I've watched enough episodes to have some picks.
Best: New Game!! I've really been enjoying the character developments of the girls this season, especially Aoba, Hifumi, and Nene. I wasn't expecting to actually get as emotional I did during some of the these episodes spoiler[most notably Ko's outburst at Aoba not being chosen as Key Visual artist] I would have put My Hero Academia on here because of how amazing the show has been in this cour (most notably everything having to do with Stain) but since it was two cour I decided to leave it off for now. Runner-Up: Tie (A Centaur's Life & Classroom of the Elite) If it weren't for the complete tonal whiplash I probably wouldn't have stuck with Centaur's Life as long as I have, well that and the Chis are eternally adorable. It tells decent enough slice of life stories and the social commentary is at least passable. The real thing holding it back was its animation. If it was even halfway presentable more than 40% of the time I would have ranked it higher. As for Classroom of the Elite, I didn't know there was so much hate on it until Gabriella's article on the show. I always thought it was fine because I never took it too seriously. I like Ayanokouji's bored with everything face and Horikita's haughty attitude isn't as grating as other characters like her so it's watchable for me, but I do agree about the problems though. Worst: My First Girlfriend is a Gal Really the only reason I keep watching this show is because of Funimation's dub (they clearly had more fun making the dub for the show than I had watching it) and the rare times Yukana shows that she's somewhat equal to Galko in terms of character (she'll never surpass her though). |
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Zeino
Posts: 1098 |
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There really is no contest here. The best is far and away, Made in Abyss for all the reasons that others here have highlighted. It is quite possible that it will be Anime of the Year as well. (The only other serious contender for the title so far being Rakugo season 2)
Otherwise there have been some pretty good shows such Princess Principal, Gamers! Altair, and Fate/Apocrypha (which is so far better then it's fandom reputation says) but none of them are in the same league as Abyss. Worst for me is Rage of Bahamut: Virgin Soul as does the rare feat of not just being a bad series on it's own merits of trying to excuse a genocidal despot at all costs but retroactively damaging Bahamut: Genesis and it's cast forevermore. Last edited by Zeino on Wed Sep 27, 2017 12:14 pm; edited 3 times in total |
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Punch Drunk Marc
Posts: 1742 |
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So I'm guessing that makes it Psycho Pass 2 levels of bad? |
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Merxamers
 Posts: 720 |
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Not to be an echo, but i agree with most of the opinions here.
I enjoyed Princess Principal the most; I've seen so many anime with a similar type of story be bland and mediocre, but PP just executes everything so well. Besides the great characters, what really hooked me was how real, grounded, and lived-in the world felt. Despite being "steam-punk", the fantasy elements were minimized, and the spycraft felt historically plausible (pretty sure i saw a few of those spy items at the International Spy Museum in DC before...) Made in Abyss is probably, objectively, the "best" show. Pretty much everything about it is great, tho it's a little slow paced at times. spoiler[Regarding episode 10, am i just jaded or was it not as bad as i was led to believe? I'd been hearing how "messed up" it was for quite a while, and while it was shocking and intense, wasn't as bad as i was expecting.] Tsuredure Children was wonderful, of course, and i'm greatly enjoying Gamers!!, tho i'm not caught up yet. I still want to catch up on that Magic Circle show, since i thought the first episode was really cute. I'm glad to hear that New Game! became something special; i just couldn't get into the first season. "Cute girls getting along in a job/club/activity" is a genre i don't usually enjoy (unless that activity is spycraft, hah) |
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ChibiKangaroo
 Posts: 2941 |
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I should also say that I could give Centaur's Life an honorable mention. It wasn't my runner up because the writing wasn't consistently good enough to surpass Knights and Magic for me. However, I do think the Holocaust episode was one of the most powerful episodes of anime that I have ever seen, so I give them credit in that regard by doing something so risky.
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Tuor_of_Gondolin
 Posts: 3524 Location: Bellevue, WA |
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I've decided to include any show that airs new episodes during the time period in question. I think it's a bit silly not to do that, but that's just my opinion.
Best: My Hero Academia -- that fight with Stain, all the aspects of it, was pretty good. Runner-up: Hmm... I want to say Gamers, but I got a bit tired of the constant misunderstandings. They were amusing at first, but it got stale after a while. Instead, I'll go with Dragonball Super. The fights and pacing are pretty good, and while the story isn't complicated, it's still fun to watch. And well done, Master Roshi, my opinion of you has improved. Worst: I'm pretty selective about what I watch. Sometimes I do pick something up, stick with it for a while, hoping it gets better, only to drop it when I realize that it's bad and not going to improve. This season, mainly by luck, I have avoided watching any especially bad anime. I've heard about many of them, but... bullet dodged. So, no "worst" anime this season. |
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Animegomaniac
Posts: 4082 |
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I'm in total agreement. The first season was a low stress work comedy but the second season? "Yeah, we're going the creative route..." and suddenly there are stakes, there are reputations to earned, exploited or bludgeoned on the head of their latest talent. Deliciously cruel... And it's still a comedy, kind of. I'm still wondering how it's just an all female cast as it comes off as one of my anime pet peeves, yuri fanbaiting but that's a minor complaint. Honestly, this was the first series in awhile where I actually thought "Hey, the new episode should be up! Woo!" Runner up: If Tsuredure Children was a full series rather than a half one, it'd probably be in contention for best so it's going to have to settle for "runner up". I've already got plans to binge the whole thing so I can get a better idea of how the relationship dynamics play out. Worst: I'm not watching it but I'm wagering it was that show that was phoned in from another world. |
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Sahmbahdeh
Posts: 712 |
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My top anime of the season (excluding shows that started last season) is definitely Made in Abyss. I find the pacing to be a problem, and the tone is occasionally a little off to me, but those are honestly the only 2 real issues I have with it. It's gorgeous, the soundtrack is excellent, the characters are fun, likable, sympathetic, and the worldbuilding is amazing.
Runner-up for me is The Reflection. This season has been pretty weak overall, so in a stronger season it wouldn't have made my top, but I like it quite a lot, and more so each week. This is definitely a show that has gotten better over time. The animation is clunky, but I like the aesthetic, the direction, the music, and the characters have really grown on me. As for the worst, I think it is definitely Vatican Miracle Examiners. It started out all right, then got so-bad-it's-good, but unfortunately never again achieved that level of entertainment. I ended up dropping it about 2/3 through, so maybe it got better, but judging from the other reviews, it seems I made the right choice.
Just my two cents: not even close. On the contrary, I think the past few episodes have actually improved the show in my eyes. Furthermore, nothing about it negatively impacts the characters from the last season, either. The love story is honestly pretty bad, but everything else about it is at least serviceable, if not outright good. It's not as strong as S1, but it's still a solid show in it's own right, especially compared to the rest of this season's fantasy offerings (except MiA, of course.) |
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7jaws7
 Posts: 704 Location: New York State |
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Best: Princess Principal
I love it when strong character writing can make an anime better than it has any right to be. To be sure, Pripri has its flaws, and it might not be for anyone who is done with moé. But the girls are just too damn endearing (and cute of course, especially Chise!) to the point where I was also waiting every Sunday morning for the newest episode. No other show this year did that for me. Runner-up: Made in Abyss It's been said before but this series takes the cake as far as looks go. Although Riko and Reg carry this series on its back, it's also the chilling presence of Ozen the Immovable and Nanachi that makes this a thrill to watch. Worst: Classroom of the Elite It seems like CotE's philosophy likes to be edgy for the sake of being edgy. There is just too much cruelty between most of the students for me to tolerate. The girls are indeed attractive - in fact, it's all that's really kept my interest (and though I don't swing that way, I certainly notice the male characters are quite cut as well) |
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mgosdin
 Posts: 1302 Location: Kissimmee, Florida, USA |
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I'm surprised at the varied opinions of the reviewers this time, I don't think I've ever seen an anime be both best & worst in one of these articles. I'm also please that New Game!! and Centaur's Life got bests. It's been rare that a show I liked was also liked by any of the reviewers.
Mark Gosdin |
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lossthief
ANN Reviewer
 Posts: 1392 |
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My Best is as predictable as possible, but Made in Abyss was hands down the standout of the season. Gorgeous, thoughtful, with a sense of atmosphere that few shows (anime or otherwise) have ever managed. It charmed me, it made me cry, it scared the piss out of me and made me nauseous. All in all just a stellar production and I'm super looking forward to the finale this weekend.
Runner-up: It's probably cheating to put My Hero Academia since that's technically a holdover from Spring, but I've continued to love the anime staff's treatment of the material. Stain's fight and fallout were handled excellently, and they even managed to improve on the Exam arc from the manga. I'm really hoping we'll get a third season announced soon. But just to be fair I should also mention Tsuredure Children which was my biggest surprise of the year. I didn't expect anything from it, but the show charmed me from the get-go and made me laugh every week. Easily my favorite comedy of the year. Worst: It's gotta be Love & Lies. Pointless, dull, toothless, and with some of the worst romance writing I've seen in ages - and I watch a lot of stuff with bad romances. My runner-up for worst, however, would probably be Princess Principal. While there are shows I watched that were decidedly less competent (*coughcentarslifecough*) PriPri was the show after L&L that bored me the most. Something about the characters just never managed to connect with me, and the episodic plots all felt so tied to their genre homages that it telegraphed every story beat well ahead of time. Every episode was an exercise in waiting for the thing I'd been expecting since minute 5 to just happen already. Overall I think this season's turned out pretty weak, all things considered. There were certainly some good shows, but so much of what I watched either fell apart towards the end or could never find the right groove. Here's hoping Fall turns out better. |
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ultimatehaki
Posts: 1090 |
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Best- Made in Abyss
Runner-up- My hero academia worst- knights and magic (dropped this one half way thru. Honestly surprised I made it that far considering how much im not a fan of the mecha genre.) |
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Rika Hue
 Posts: 147 |
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Actually you'll be happy to know that it looks like Princess Principal will be one of the highest selling shows this season, behind Katsugeki / Touken Ranbu, Symphogear, and Fate / Apocrypha. Which is great and shows that it is loved in Japan as well! (Notwithstanding the mobile game extras that comes with the BDs) Anyway, sorry for getting a little bit of topic. Best of the Season: Princess Principal Runner-up: Tsuredure children Worst: Eh. Honorable mentions: Made in Abyss, Sakura Quest, Re:Creators, My Hero Academia season 2. Really bummed I didn't have time to watch Gamers though, sounds like it was a blast! (Side note: Interesting that the two shows which are probably the most favorited this season are Sentai shows, only available on Anime Strike and Hidive...) |
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invalidname
 Contributor Posts: 2444 Location: Grand Rapids, MI |
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All the love for Princess Principal makes me think that more people are subscribing to Anime Strike than I would have guessed.
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Alternative Ice
 Posts: 95 |
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Best: Owarimonogatari.
Runner up: Made in Abyss. Worst: Battle Girl Highschool. |
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