Forum - View topicThe Winter 2023 Anime Preview Guide
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Saeryen
 Posts: 903 |
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James, if you are in that much despair after watching The Fruit of Evolution 2, I think you need a cure for it. Allow me to kindly direct you to Kira Kira Pretty Cure A La Mode.
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Cryten
 Posts: 1001 |
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Another masterful roast review for fruit of evolution james. But yeah I dont want another season of torture reviews, at least for this show. We have had enough.
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One-Eye
 Posts: 2261 |
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This could end up being a pretty big season watch for me. Also considering I'm trying to finish off some of last season.
On my give it 3 episode list: 1. Magical Revolution - Anis is a fun chaotic munchkin, and its got yuri qualities without both leads being overly repressed and super shy. Its got some stuff that I'm not impressed by and its really going to depend on what the show comes up with in terms of adversity for our duo. 2. Kaina of the Snow - The story is kind of mysterious and intriguing. Not quite enough there in the first episode for me to make a full decision on. Visually the art of some of the backgrounds looks really good. Like the still shots of the canopy at sunrise or the village snuggled among the tree branches. This is typical for Polygon Pictures when working with Nihei the backgrounds or world tends to look pretty decent. The characters are a different story. I would not go so far as Nick Dupree who practically equates it with EX-ARM (he really needs to watch more anime then), but the poor range of expressiveness with the characters and camera work really hurts it. KoS, Aijin, Blame! showed some improvements, glacial but I felt it was there. This feels like regression. A first episode should put its best foot forward this feels like a mediocre showing and its really going to depend heavily on what they do with the story to keep me watching. 3. Trigun tripple the gun for tripple the fun? - I never saw the complete original Trigun just bits and pieces, so I have no strong attachment to it and not much to compare to this new version. My initial reaction is that visually it looks ok. Visually the opening ship sequence didn't work for me, it just looks very CG to me. Also sometimes there seems something off and I haven't put my finger yet on what it is, maybe the frame rate isn't were it needs to be and some stuff looks a little clunky. I'm also not crazy about the color palette. However, even with those criticisms its still fine much more enjoyable visually than some other CG attempts this season. Story wise, they seem to be trying to do a lot in this first episode and maybe that's why it doesn't completely work for me. I'm not sure the slapstick worked (and I generally enjoy slapstick). Plus it feels like they've set up the stakes from the get go in a very conventional manner which unless they change things up as we go along means it could end up being predictable. Overall, I feel its still too early to tell how this new Trigun will shake out, but I'm willing to also put this one on my 3 episode minimum list. 4. "Ippon" Again! - I like Judo, I read a bit of the manga this is based on in the past and it was pretty decent, so I'm tentatively in for this one. There's a fair amount of competition action in the manga so quite a bit of the success for me is going to be how well they capture the movement and techniques of Judo. If they just resort to doing shots from the waist up, its going to make me dump it hard. 5. NieR automatons are standing too close to me - I have this in my steam library because it was on sale and some friends wouldn't stop talking about how great it is. However, I haven't played it yet and don't know anything about it. So the goth kids look good and some of the backgrounds are very nice. The 3DCG? Uh, well...The mech suits look like flying toys (not good) and some of the other stuff would be fine by itself but clashes visually with goth kids. Story? Uh, well...I guess there's going to be something about the sort of relationship of these two non-android kids? Plus what this world is about and maybe its factions? So here's a weird one, the voice acting and some of dialogue is not really working for me. Yes, yes I think its the OG actors from the game. But it sometimes feels too cutesy, too typical, too anime? I guess I was expecting it to be different in some way not conventional. The first episode has left me oddly unsatisfied, but its still early maybe it will impress if I give it another 2 episodes. On my will watch list: 1. Tomo-chan is a Tomboy and that's ok - I wasn't sure about this one, especially since I'm kinda of done with high school romcoms. However, the show has good timing for some of its scenes. The end of episode 2 makes me want to know what happens with that revelation, which is a good sign. Plus, Misuzu is a hoot. Usually, I don't care for characters like her but this mischievous little gremlin kinda of works. Not sure I care for busty, blonde, foreign airhead character, it feels a bit like a stereotype. However, overall the show has got me chuckling. A good sign. 2. Vinland Saga - I haven't even seen the first episode of the new season, but I loved the first season, maybe better than the manga. I've got all the hardbacks collected, so I'm really eager to see how they tackle the story after the prologue. It was controversial among some manga readers. I've just have to watch it. |
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phia_one
Posts: 1657 Location: Pennsylvania |
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The Vampire Dies In No Time 2-I missed these morons (John is obviously not included in the moron category) and this show still makes me laugh hysterically.
Campfire Cooking-I wasn't prepared for how much I enjoyed this show. I found Mukoda likable as well as the band of adventurers he was with. I laughed a few times which I wasn't expecting and I need more Fenrir. Handyman Saito-I couldn't make it through the first episode. It was trying too hard to be funny and it got annoying. |
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Gina Szanboti
Posts: 11404 |
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So finishing up here... Funny how we got no fewer than three series this season focused on ice and snow, perfect for Winter debuts.
Camp Shopping Network was surprisingly fun. I really like his approach to keeping a low profile, by which I mean, it's really nice to have a protagonist who seems to have a brain in his head. And he's a nice guy, and has lucked into a party of decent adventurers, so it's all good and mellow and comfy, so far. Looks like there's other intrigues afoot though. I know I'm blind, and not picky about CG (even Kingdom S1 and Ex-Arm didn't rustle me), but I thought Kainanook of the North looked great. I liked the dappled shading they used, and the expressions were expressive enough for my uncultured tastes. But more important, I found the story intriguing and want to know more. Same goes for Quest for Flames, without the caveats, since I think most people would agree it's lovely to look at. Appropriately moody, which makes the slow unfolding of the plot more fitting, it lays out its clues without spoon feeding, even during the expository narration. Like, jealous girl is obviously going to come into play at some point, but I can't begin to see how (though I expect a tragic outcome already from it). And I think it's sad that a world that, at great cost, managed to banish war, and yet is still screwing up the planet with toxic waste and slaughtering flamelings for their energy. As for 2nd eps I've seen, whoo boy, I don't know if I can stick with Baby Daddies or not. I love the art style and the relationship of the leads but Miri is a flat-out deal breaker. I didn't much care for her in the premier, but I hated her so much after the second ep that she just really soured me on the whole series. In fact, she put me in such a bad mood I didn't even want to watch anything else as a palate cleanser for awhile. Also dropping Tsundere Broadcast System, since a) I hate tsunderes anyway, and b) I can't even with all the yelling from Kobayashi. On the other hand, after ep 2 of MagiRev, I'm sold. I absolutely love Neutrophilia's father Grantz. I wish the whole series starred him. Asthma's dad I'm less enamored of, but he'll do. And I still like the girls, so there's that. |
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SHD
Posts: 1752 |
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Trigun Stampede episode 2 - I continue to enjoy this show. Sure, it's a whole new take on Trigun, perhaps a bit brighter (story-wise), at least in the second episode, and I think it has a problem balancing the light-hearted and dramatic parts, and since the character design is more overall conventional the grotesque elements don't quite mesh - in the manga and the first anime weird characters didn't stand out as much as here. Also, I still don't like what they're doing with Meryl, and I'd bet money that Roberto is going to be killed as soon as Wolfwood is introduced because he just feels like a poor man's Wolfwood substitute as long as the real one comes along. Still, overall I still think it's fine, and if I didn't have the other incarnations to compare it to, I'd probably like it even more.
One thing though, is it just me or is something off with the sound mixing sometimes? It often feels like Matsuoka is just kind of not integrating, sound-like, into the world? It's like he alone has a different soundscape. Buddy Daddies or whatever, I suffered through the second episode, but if they don't dial back the "AWWW LOOK AT THIS ADORABLE LITTLE GIRL BEING ADORABLE AND DOING ADORABLE THINGS AND MUGGING FOR THE CAMERA AND SCREAMING AND CRYING AND RUNNING AROUND BEING HYPER AND" ... yeah, so if they don't dial back on the Miri thing I'm going to drop it. I'm already not a person who thinks kids are cute by default, and Miri is so damn annoying I kept wanting to just quit every time the camera zoomed in on her. I like the other characters just fine, I enjoy the voice acting (I kind of love Toyonaga Toshiyuki especially), I kind of like how PAW steems to resist being PAW for most of the time, but the way they're unable to write Miri in a way that is genuinely loveable and not annoying is terrible. Also, I understand that this show is not trying to be realistic or whatever, but I had to roll my eyes at the end when spoiler[the Bad Hitman murdered the target in a way that was clearly meant to be brutal and dark... compared to our heroes who are, I guess Good Hitmen... who do murder people but like... nicely? or something??? Even though the very first episode started with them killing some dudes in cold blood?] Like, good grief writers, if you want to go down that particular route maybe don't make the main characters murderers. Maybe. (It was especially jarring, having watched this episode back to back with Trigun Stampede...) |
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fathomlessblue
 Posts: 349 Location: Manchester, UK |
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I really hope ANN can put the preview page back up on the main headline list for The Fire Hunter, because this is the type of show that clearly needs all the exposure it can get. In a season completely saturated by isekai adaptations using the exact same 30+ year old, 8-bit jrpg template, masking itself as an actual setting, it's honestly glorious to be presented with an environment dripping with atmosphere and intrigue, not to mention a heavy dose of eerie and creeping dread.
The design and colour palette definitely scream early 2000's digipaint (an aesthetic I'm quite fond of), although its twisted form of pastoral post-apocalypse feels strikingly reminiscent of Shin Sekai Yori/From the New World. It's definitely clumsier than that show was based on the premiere, with large portions dedicated solely to cast members or the narrator reading wiki summaries of the lore, as opposed to the almost entirely naturalistic approach of SSY's opening episodes, but there's enough ambition here in both the premise & the production that I can't help but be excited. I know basing adaptations on more serious novels tends to be a risky proposition, with the additional late start meaning The Fire Hunter will be facing an uphill battle, but in a season such as this, I'm especially thankful when someone takes a mad gamble on a SSY or a Moribito. Fingers crossed it gets anywhere close to the quality of those. |
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Gina Szanboti
Posts: 11404 |
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Yes, that's exactly the string it plucked in my sensibilities as I watched it! But I'd say this feels a little more accessible somehow, maybe for all the info dumping, but I think also for the art style. This feels, I dunno, warmer than New World? Maybe it's the doggo, but I don't feel like I'm being kept at arm's length as much as I did with New World. |
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Blanchimont
 Posts: 3456 Location: Finland |
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Watching Saving 80000 Gold in Another World for My Retirement episode 2, I realized I tend to forget this is one of the few isekais with an adult protagonist...
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AQuin1904
Posts: 266 |
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Seconding the hope that people don't miss out on The Fire Hunter because it came out after the preview guide left the front page. I'm really excited to see a non-LN fantasy novel getting what promises to be a full adaptation, and I'd hate for it to fly under the radar.
I've been reading the novels in preparation for the anime and enjoying them. They're children's lit, but the prose and construction are still noticeably more polished than the average web novel. Yamada Akihiro's illustrations are, as usual, so gorgeous and dynamic that I doubt the anime will fully live up to them, but I like what it's doing with long stillnesses and silences so far. I'm less certain that I like lifting chunks of narration from the novel to be read out loud. It imparts a sort of documentary quality to the proceedings, but I suspect inventing new dialogue to let people pick up on cues would have gone down more smoothly with a lot of people, especially since a lot of this info will come up in conversation by the end of book one. Adding to the documentarian approach, they seem to be making a point to avoid internal monologue, since some of what the narrator delivers explicitly described characters' thoughts in the book. All in all, it's still the show I'm most excited to watch this season. In/Spectre is the other show I've really been anticipating, although the anime has yet to live up to the novels. I get why they want to insert more action elements, but it honestly throws off the tone. None of the best stories end in a fight. I'm a little disappointed that they'll be going through the rest of Appearance and then Sleeping Murder, since going straight to Sleeping Murder and then Day of Counterattack and Defeat would have been a much tighter narrative for a season of television. Bungo Stray Dogs also remains a good time. I'm glad I caught up on season 3 in time for 4. Apart from that, I'll be watching Kaina, since I like the premise and designs, the CG isn't too distractingly bad—although it could be a hell of a lot better—and I'm curious because I TLed a business presentation it got mentioned in ages ago. Magical Revolution seems fun too. |
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NeverConvex
 Subscriber Posts: 2323 |
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Glad I randomly checked this thread again -- a pretty sparse season, but The Fire Hunter does indeed seem worth following.
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Hiroki not Takuya
 Posts: 2528 |
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I third the motion that The Fire Hunter is not to be missed, I believe it will be a best of season contender and is on my MUST WATCH list. Lots of good storytelling, if in exposition mostly as of Ep1
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Gina Szanboti
Posts: 11404 |
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Review schedule is up.
animenewsnetwork.com/site-news/2023-01-16/your-winter-2023-daily-streaming-reviews-schedule/.193839 And yay, Fire Hunter made it! |
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gracidea
Posts: 1 |
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setting aside the lolicon aspect of onimai, which I don't begrudge anyone their discomfort with, a lot of the comments in the preview guide about the portrayal of gender in the show came across (to me, a trans person) as the same kind of well intentioned but narrow minded handwringing that leads to stuff like people calling for drag to be banned at pride events. sure, you could argue that drag's cartoonish portrayal of gender has the potential to be transphobic or otherwise offensive. in many instances, it absolutely has been. but historically and still today, drag has also provided a safe space for many people to not only experiment with gender nonconformity but even be celebrated for it. while i wouldn't totally discount the criticisms raised around gender essentialism, the truth of the matter is that medically transitioning can and often does alter peoples' personality and sexuality in unexpected ways.
i feel like cis audiences are used to very neatly packaged trans narratives in media—stories about someone who has Always Known since they were a child and then follows the Correct Process to realize their gender externally in an easily legible & digestible manner. that's all well and good, but it isn't representative of everybody's experience. this is not to say that I think the original mangaka or the team behind the anime were intentionally trying to tell a trans story, but there were definitely a lot of moments in the first episode that had my (also trans) partner and i giving each other knowing looks. i suspect this is a show that'll end up cracking a lot of eggs. |
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sorvani
Posts: 71 |
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Dude(ette) you need to realize how oppressed Japan is in the main stream to anything even slightly more progressive. Getting something in a neatly compartmentalized box is the best you will get for a mainstream production. |
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