- SPOILER ALERT -
This Season...
This winter was remarkably better than fall, and a lot of the anime I watched I ended up enjoying. Nothing was unbearably terrible, and it makes me optimistic for the upcoming spring. I never got around to watching certain shows (Absolute Duo and Isuca to name two), but there was the impression that I didn't miss much anyways.
As always, I'll drop a link to MaL and below is a complete list of the ongoing winter anime I decided to watch.
Aldnoah.Zero 2
Ansatsu Kyoushitsu
Kantai Collection: KanColle
Kiseijuu
Koufuku Graffiti
Log Horizon 2
Saekano
Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso
Tokyo Ghoul √A
In one sentence: Bittersweet ending that seemed a bit rushed and forced, but still great.
Being utterly honest, I was so hyped for this second season, after the first. Aldnoah.Zero 2 starts off with what was somewhat expected: everybody lives. The war is still going on and blah blah blah.
Don't get me wrong though, I don't think that this season was boring (far from that in reality). Something that I enjoyed a lot was the focus and change of character in Slaine. He gets caught up in his power and ideals to the point where he's lost his old self (kinda cool if you ask me). Action scenes were done well (as with the first season) and overall a good show to watch.
Best Girl Prize: Asseylum tho
Ansatsu Kyoushitsu
In one sentence: Picking up the pace and bring a fresh, humorous episode every week.
Easily one of the better anime airing (it's 22 episode, so it'll go into spring) this season, Ansatsu Kyoushitsu (or as you may be more familiar with, Assassination Classroom) is the anime adaptation of the manga series by the same name. Not being familiar with the manga, I walked blindly into this show and was rewarded.
All the comedy themes are prevalent, and the setting is definitely not cliche. I found that the show does everything well, and there's not too much that I can comment on. The whole story of a classroom trying to kill their teacher (who coincidentally is some random being that resembles an octopus) is alluring, and Ansatsu Kyoushitsu is an overall good show to pick up.
Best Girl Prize: Ritsu (hnnnnnnnnnnggg)
In one sentence: Moe anime about battleships being represented by girls, but no plot progression is present.
Barely scratches off with a rating of 6, while it probably would have been a 7 if things had been done differently.
KanColle feels very underwhelming and pointless. At the end of it all I felt like I had wasted five hours of my life, instead of a sense of closure (to top it off a second season has been announced). The story is not driven anywhere for the first five episodes or so, and then it makes a pretty desperate attempt to act serious (difficult when all I can see are moe faces and CGI that looks terribly out of place).
In the anime's defence, it had its few moments of glory, where I liked it, but those moments were rare. All in all, not much to see here. You would probably find more interest in this anime if you were a fan of the game that it was adapted from, but unfortunately I'm not one of those people.
Best Girl Prize: Shimakaze
In one sentence: Tells a compelling/thought-provoking story where alien-like life forms (Parasytes) have taken over humans and use them as hosts.
Definitely the best anime that aired in the winter season, by far. Kiseijuu was on-point in all departments, and there isn't a lot of error at all. Characters were fully fleshed out and the show wasn't afraid to let some of them go. I was always ready to go for the next episode and the anime was always exciting and suspenseful.
On a deeper and more thoughtful level, it skims the surface of what humans really are. It shows how another intelligent species may interpret our species and our unique ways. Kiseijuu is really just a superb airing. The ending was not weak at all, keeping me on my toes during the whole ride. As a side note, the anime stays pretty faithful to its source, as proved on Reddit a bunch of times.
Best Girl Prize: Murano
In one sentence: Oddly amusing show in which teenage girls eat various types of food in suggestive manners.
Seriously, I don't know what it was with Koufuku Graffiti, but I was absolutely fine with it. My first impression was that I would find it distasteful (haha), however the anime ended up being better than what I had thought (props given).
Very weird to watch when your family walks in. One thing that I didn't quite like were the characters. Specifically I didn't really like anybody except for Shiina, but that's only my personal opinion. Ryou was alright, while I absolutely detested Kirin.
Not a bad watch, but you can do better.
Best Girl Prize: Shiina
Summary of thoughts throughout season: Back again -> ehhh -> I want to drop this -> okay I can accept this -> not bad not bad
While the second season of Log Horizon does bring a significantly weaker performance that its first, it manages to pull off a decent season. It seemed like the anime was having trouble in the beginning, but there was definite improvement the last episodes. Something that I want to mention especially was the whole journey with the younger guildies arc. Felt very unnecessary, and for several episodes, it did not provide much.
After that arc, I really wanted to drop the show. It's very rare for me to want to drop any series, but at this point in time I was already three weeks behind and did not feel like catching up. However I decided to just finish the season for the hell or it and caught up in an hour or so, and I'm glad that I did. The last arc is much much better and I can only imagine how my opinion would be if the whole season was like that arc.
A third season is welcome, and I would most definitely look towards one. Log Horizon 2 leaves everything off at a good point for either a conclusion or another season. If you enjoyed the first season, it's a good bet to say that you should watch the second.
Best Girl Prize: Nureha
In one sentence: Anime that makes fun of over-used tropes and is pretty hit-or-miss with viewers.
Personally I found Saekano very fun to watch. The art was expressive and nice on the eyes, while contributing to the overall mood. Characters were generic and stereotypical, but that made the anime even more interesting.
At its simplest, Saekano is about an otaku boy who wishes to create the ultimate dating sim. Somehow he has connections to a rising light novelist and a manga artist who draws... yeah, and the show is him hanging out and interacting with them. I really wish that there were more episodes of Saekano, as all the characters are pretty lovable and having more of something like this is never bad.
Best Girl Prize: the lovable Utaha
In one sentence: Pianist who can no longer see colour in his play meets terminally ill violinist during spring.
Now I picked this up about halfway through the winter season, hearing really good things about it. And hey, what do you know, it was really good.
Show sets itself up in a good way, and everything is very lighthearted in the beginning. However once the feels start to rain down, it rains down hard. Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso appears to be a carefree comedy romance type of thing, but instead it takes a complete turn and is suddenly serious.
Something Shigatsu did extremely well were the characters. I had a lot emotionally invested in each of them, and all were relatable. The ending is akin to that of Aldnoah.Zero 2, in which there is a bitter sweetness present.
The last episode did, however, feel somewhat weak. It lacked punch and I didn't really find myself that engaged in it. In the end, a great watch for anybody really. Your preference shouldn't matter too much.
Best Girl Prize: Kaori
Tokyo Ghoul √A
Vast improvement from Tokyo Ghoul, however nothing substantial enough to warrant the second season as "good". Yes, while it was a step in the right direction, there were still quite a few things that didn't quite click.
My general knowledge is that some important parts of the manga were skipped. There are only 12 episodes, therefore it's reasonable that not everything could be included, yet some parts didn't feel needed. I believe that with a 24 episode season, the whole show could have been much better, as there is more leeway and room.
A good thing that Tokyo Ghoul √A does do is the characterization of Kaneki. He seriously did change as a person and that is what the show needed and provided. There are only a few characters who get any screentime, and for 12 episodes a pretty adequate job was done.
Don't bother with watching this if you have not watched the first season or read the manga. I don't believe that it's worth picking up the first season only for this, and there isn't too much to be found.
Best Girl Prize: Irimi
Oh That's Plenty of Stuff
I've spent about an hour typing up this post, and my fingers and mind are dying by now, so you'll have to excuse me. This week has been brutally exhausting, and the long weekend will definitely be needed.
Kevin's a 7 for April Fool's Day. Nothing different happened, and it was just another day. Thanks for reading, and I'll see you next time.
"Better a witty fool than a foolish wit." - William Shakespeare
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