Anime & Cartoon Megathread V: I, Gacha

@zomgfruitbunnies: I am kinda in the mood for a feels trip. Maybe I will skip to that after. Or maybe Nichijou, that looks cute and a lot of you seem to like it.

Kyoani does seem to do mostly adaptations but that is fine, most studios do. Though I do enjoy an anime original story.

I think this is exactly where GiTS loses a lot of people, and it's the first thing I thought when Jeff said it wasn't great. It's probably what happened with him, like he probably couldn't tell you what the Puppetmaster was if you asked. I don't know how to remedy that, and maybe it does just mean that the movie is lacking, but I can tell you everything about the Puppetmaster because it was such a cool aspect of the story - That's the stuff I remember best about it, and that's why I hold it in such high regard. The action scenes are secondary in my mind.

@daveyo520: Might I suggest stuff outside Kyoani? For feels that is.

Oh my Nichijou alarm went off....good god is that show heavenly.

@jiggajoe14: Heavenly sounds good. @edgaras1103: Oh I know other people do better stuff. I watch other studios stuff but for some reason I just want to get their catalog under my belt.

@daveyo520: I actually wanted to suggest Kokoro Connect, because for some strange reason I thought it was one of Kyoto Animation works. I was wrong.

My dude. Amagi is a pretty great comedy series with a unique setting and large cast of characters that only seems to grow with each episode. It's not a very deep show and won't offer much in the way of drama or romance but I found myself looking forward to it whilst keeping up with mega-downers like Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso.

I think you've mostly seen or heard of the big ones. Nichijou is probably a good show to check out, but I have to recommend it with some reservations as it's type of comedy is not for everyone. If you love absurdist slapstick humor then Nichijou may be your kind of show. The physical comedy is some of the most over-the-top insanity ever, however the show also tends to have puns and wordplay that don't come across very well when translated. Also there are more than a few punchlines that rely on parody of things in japanese culture which may not play well. When Nichijou is good, it's incredible, just keep in mind that like a typical western comedy sketch show, not everything is going to be A-material.

After watching the first episode of Gundam Thunderbolt I got the itch to finally dive way into Gundam -- I'd previously only watched G Gundam and parts of Gundam Wing in high school. I couldn't stick with Wing at the time because I felt it was way too heavy on politics. After a lot of googling 'where to start with gundam' and getting literally every different series as an answer, and seeing dvd boxed sets of any of the series go for like 200-500 dollars online, I watched the two episodes of Gundam: The Origin on Amazon Prime and now I'm just watching from the very beginning of Mobile Suit Gundam.

I'm really surprised how much I'm enjoying it and how fleshed out and mature it feels for a show of that era. Can't wait to get to later series where the animation/design is more interesting.

@redhotchilimist: My dude, I agree with you so hard on the KyoAni front. I HATED the serious turn in Chuunibyou, as I spent the entire season hoping that it would be a, "oh, hey, this is when she'll realize that it's OK to have liked this stuff, but substituting it for reality is super irresponsible and puts a huge burden on your friends, ya dingus." That never happened. THEY HAD AN ENTIRE SEASON OF ITS NOT HAPPENING AFTER THAT, TOO. So much rage.

I will say that Kyoukai no Kanata was pretty solid as far as those things go, but definitely not one of my favorites in its genre.

Glad to see Nichijou getting love from this community, though.

Ya Chunibyou could have been so much more. There is a reason it is at the bottom of the list for me. The 2nd season was indeed almost entirely pointless and pretty much any progress made in the first didn't matter.

Alright...well, that's Dragon Ball. Good stuff. I also watched the first Dragon Ball movie though and that was pretty garbage.

Onwards, to Dragon Ball Z!

@hamst3r: You're crazy. Are you watching the recut version at least? The original has so much filler.

@edgaras1103: I'm late to the party here but I've heard many a not-so-good thing about White Album so I haven't watched it myself, but White Album 2 is one of a handful of anime I've given a 10 to (which doesn't mean I think it's perfect, it just means I love it). You should definitely check it out if you're in the mood for a romance, though fair warning, it gets extremely heavy in the latter half.

And I also tried to watch Clannad myself on a couple of occasions and couldn't make it past the first episode. Those eyes man, I can't do it. I'll have to slog through it one day for my love of romance, but it may require large doses of alcohol.

Nuh-uh! Gonna watch all 291 episodes. I want to experience it warts and all, just like my grandfather and his father before him experienced it. Back when it took a whole month of backbreaking labor to grow just one episode of DBZ to watch. The version Christopher Columbus watched with the Native Americans when he stepped off the Aloha Oe with Jebediah Manga, bringing Anime to the new world.

Both seasons of Chuunibyou are great, but let me say this about the first season. The First season shows how a seemingly goofy girl with an over active imagination is actually completely depressed and stricken with grief at the sudden loss of her father. The fact that her family kept his sickness a secret from her until his death and then essentially ignored her cries for help is a pretty fucked up thing that I hadn't seen done in anime. Her delusions and quest to find the "invisible boundary line" at first seems like some fantasy make believe thing, but it's eventually revealed to be the place she believes she will find her dead father. All the cute girls doing cute things, beautiful animations, and amazing fight scenes eventually brings the climax where her love interest uses her delusion to confront her father's death and finally say goodbye; a goodbye that her family denied her while he was still alive.

I didn't know that there was some other take away of the events and themes presented in Chuunibyou season 1, but I guess some stuff doesn't resonate with everyone. I had just recently lost a family member around the time I was watching the show so it resonated with me.

Amagi Brilliant Park is a more enjoyable watch than Haruhi, but that isn't the fault of Haruhi as it came out before the genre had a chance to become what it is today.

If you want to watch a Kamehameha being charged for 3 episodes straight more power to you but at least get yourself a list of filler episodes so you can skip the truly pointless crap.

Clannad (+Afterstory) is the only other big one you seem to be missing. If you're looking for a sad story, that should certainly satisfy you.

Two strong suggestions when watching The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya:

1. Watch season 1 in broadcast order. The chronological order kills the pacing.
2. Skip Endless Eight if you value your sanity. Whoever greenlit that arc needs to be punched in the face

Don't let those caveats discourage you though, it's a great series. The movie is one of my all time favorites.

Kanon, Lucky Star, and Full Metal Panic are all pretty solid, but I wouldn't consider any of them to be must-watch.

It appears that Inuyasha was also made by Kyoto Animation... Maybe skip that one. It's 167 episodes of garbage.

@gnosislord: Well, FMP is basically a must watch just because it means you get to watch Fumoffu and see one of the best mascot characters of all time in Bonta-kun. You're going to make me bust out the FMP DVD's for a rewatch just for mentioning the series.

After all this time, I still enjoy Dragon Ball Z more than I thought I would. Nostalgia admittedly plays a part, but it has its moments. It is a long show, though. Some arcs are more engaging than others, and I do also tend to skip certain arcs or episodes when I rewatch it.

That's a pretty reasoned assessment of Nichijou. Some of the reasons you listed are why it didn't hit hard with me. Not to say I disliked it. It's definitely a unique, quality show that I would recommend, but it may or may not be to the taste of some.

An anime thread? Let's see what's going on in here.

*Everyone is talking about Nichijou.*

All's right with the world.

I have actually seen some of Fumoffu but none of the original.

That portion I thought was fine, it was just the follow-up (or lack thereof) that I LOATHED. Interestingly, around this time I had been dealing not with loss, but with a personality that was fairly obsessed with performing fantasy roles in a way that reminded me of the whole "chuunibyou" phenomenon. This, obviously, gave me a much different bias. Sorry if it sounded like I was trying to undermine the better aspects of it (I still made it through all of season 1 for a reason), I just thought it was really disappointing to have all of the gravitas toward the end with no clear payoff in terms of character growth (or rather, how I would have wanted to see character growth) afterward. But, y'know, that's as much a "me" problem as anything, so I gotchu.

While I'm here, I'll also echo the, "what's the deal with Clannad?" sentiments. I watched it way back when and enjoyed... well, parts of it, honestly. I think a lot of the arcs are cripplingly dull, but the second season definitely hit hard in some novel ways. In general, I don't really like to recommend it to people now given how much I prefer shows like "The Eccentric Family" for tackling similar themes in what I found to be better ways. As with just about every Key show, though, I think the humor is spot-on. Nagisa's dad ranks pretty high in the list of best-anime-dads-of-all-time.

I'm loving all the love for Nichijou that's going around

Okay, Gintama shogun arc was a bit of a letdown. Way overhyped by anime itself. While the arc is good and there are some really great moments I felt like the animation was not as good. And some scenes seemed a bit too long. Maybe I just liked more personal and less grandiose arcs without all the world changing consequences. It just seems it missed the high notes compared to 4 Devas, Yoshiwara in flames and Benizakura. Maybe next week the arc will conclude in a satisfying way, I hope so.

Man, it's a real bummer when everyone in here talks about how good a show is and then it's not on a single streaming service (Nichijou). My laziness for "finding" shows is all too real. Like, despite my love of super robots I still haven't seen Giant Robo because of this.

@golguin: Similarly, teenagers acting stupid and childish resonated with me, but the heavy reason for the girl's childishness felt completely off to me. I'm not sure why, because I have known people who've been through some shit and acted weird to deal with it. But when I watched Chunibyou, I couldn't stand it. In fairness, everyone else with the 8th-grade syndrome were acting weird "just because". But they weren't the focus of the plot.

I completely forgot that Fullmetal Panic was Kyoto Animation. FMP is great! Especially the second season and Fumoffu. Maybe that's why I forgot? The first season might have been Gonzo or Bones or Madhouse or whoever.

I still sometimes act as if I have Chunibyou syndrome. When nobody is looking.

Any thoughts on When Marnie Was There being nominated for an Oscar? I actually haven't seen it yet...

It used to be on Crunchyroll under "My Ordinary Life", but it got removed like a year ago. A shame.

Deserves the nomination at the very least. I can't say whether or not deserves the win over Inside Out since I've never seen it (I have heard nothing but good things about it from people I very much trust though) or any of the other nominations for that matter, but I'd be surprised if it won either way. It just doesn't seem like the type of thing the Academy would go for for any number of reasons.

@babychoochoo: Inside Out was damn good. Not Toy Story level, but still good. I'm thinking about giving all of the Animation nominations a watch. Shaun the Sheep harkens back to an old and deep love I have for Wallace and Gromit.

Really liked Gintama this week. Animation was a bit rough in spots but overall I liked it. Even during some of these more serious arcs I find the cliched melodrama super hilarious and I almost feel like it's done intentionally to make fun of other shows that get crazy and grandiose like this. In a weird way this series is masterfully walking the line between serious badassery and genre satire. I skipped the preview. Also Ginpachi-sensei is still super funny.

Prince of Stride - Alternative was meh. I feel like the first competitive event should set the tone of a sports anime going forward and the most recent episode does a poor job in my opinion. Seems like there should be more impressive stuff going on than characters either running, jumping, or flipping. That may be all there is to parkour but it feels like something is missing. I don't know, I think I'll keep watching it but that's more indicative of my lack of interest in the current new crop of anime.

One Piece...ehhhhhhh. I guess it's not as bad as I thought it would be. It's almost worse that I'm "just okay" with this big climatic power up that I should be pumping my fist over instead. However the pacing issues have really piled up and dulled almost all the punch from however this arc concludes. I utterly despise the lack of consistency in the durability among the villains. It's less that dudes are tough as nails through training and experience and more like everyone is made out of metal, and that's fucking dumb and boring.

It seems like the Academy nominates whatever Ghibli thing came out every year. It's a big reasom why I never care about the Oscars for animated films because it feels like a checklist. One Disney/Pixar, one Dreamworks, one Ghibli, and the secret mystery choice that is usually just another Disney/Pixar/Dreamworks movie. It's so sterile just like the rest of the awards.

Hi Anime Duders. I stumbled onto this thread having read the 4th annual top ten, and subsequently read previous 3 years lists.

I haven't watched a whole lot of anime and don't really follow the scene that much as i don't have a whole lot of spare time so i don't consider myself any sort of authority on the subject matter. I did notice that in those lists, there is no love for Sword Art Online, which i enjoyed the first season of quite a bit. Am i alone in thinking it's a pretty decent show and i'd far rather watch that than an anime about food or band camp?

I'm one of those few people that like reading Bleach chapters and I look past a lot of bullshit. But the newest one is straight up garbo. Shows me my fav character come back in previous chapter and starts with him this week and then poof. 3 pages and then gone. I am a bit pissed and amused at the same time.

@zaphoduk: Have not seen SAO, but the general consensus is that there are a lot of other anime that do what it does, but better. If you don't really watch a lot of anime, it probably wouldn't be a problem for you. The same can be said for everyone's first or favorite anime, though. There's ALWAYS something that did it first or does it better.

@edgaras1103: I could have sworn Bleach was done?

@zaphoduk: When SAO takes place in SAO, it was watchable. It's mindless fun if you're into the show's setting, which was one of the first of the more recent wave of shows to do the stuck in a video game thing. I thought everything following that arc was awful though. I couldn't tell you what happened in the 2nd half or 2nd season besides the harem grows bigger, MC is still OP, and random licking.

Log Horizon is following a similar path for me. I enjoyed the 1st season a whole bunch but it started downhill after that. Hell, I have an irrational love for .hack//Sign so I can enjoy the genre but it's starting to feel like most of it is bad. Hopefully Grimgar keeps it up this season.

@instantryan: that's harsh

@edgaras1103: In regards to Bleach or SAO? If Bleach, I randomly stopped reading manga 2 years ago for some reason (Probably because of Berserk and OP). I haven't been checking manga sites to see but I thought I heard Bleach had finished and Naruto was finishing up? If about SAO, that's just a bad show.

@instantryan: Naruto ended last year. Bleach is ending or so Kubo says. And you're right about SAO.

This guy does an incredible job of explaining why people that watch a lot of anime don't care for SAO at all:

@zaphoduk: Ofc you're not alone. I think a decent chunk of people like SAO. It is visually appealing and actions scenes are solid enough. And I think it was one of the first shows that popularized "being in a virtual game" type of anime. And if it is one of the first anime you watched then it is even more appealing because you might not have a comparison to other good or bad shows. Personally I don't like it that much but I have a lot of shows that I genuinely enjoy even if those shows are considered steaming pile of garbage. I am not saying SAO is pile of garbage. I love Bleach anime and manga and thinks it's good/great form me at specific stuff and nobody will convince me otherwise.

@pyrodactyl: Thought that Terra Online character looked familiar, and then realized it actually is Digibro. Guy does some decent anime writing and now videos.

I only watched 4:13 (EDIT: 5:35) of the video, but already by that point his description of Kirito sounds like an incredibly realistic depiction of a real teenager. Awful, moody, contrived, contradictory. "Why does Kirito do ____!?!?!?" Because he's a shitty teenager, that's what they do. It's the kind of stuff my 15 year old little brother is doing right now and thinks is totally reasonable.

Anyway, I don't have any comments about the rest of the video, or SAO as a show, I just wanted to say that. :P

@zaphoduk: The first season (read: 12 or 13 episodes) of SAO is pretty great. Not the best, mind, but solid for what it is and fairly interesting as a premise with some OK characters and gorgeous animation, etc. etc.

Everything after this first season is some of the worst-of-the-worst when it comes to issues plaguing the industry. Asuna gets damsel'd, they introduce some tired imouto bs, the sense of tension that made the original season interesting in the first place is all but removed, and everything slowly moves toward the inevitable OP-protag-harem-heat-death of the industry. Plus the most recent season's melodrama was so thick, it made a glopping noise as it exited my poor, tired earholes...

As a result, I don't talk about SAO much. Now, Log Horizon, on the other hand... lesser by many metrics but WAAAAAY better as a show that engages with MMO mechanics in interesting ways.

@hamst3r: I'm not sure ''shitty teenager'' is a good or compelling character archetype to lead your story.

That's the main point he makes about Kirito's character through the 2 and a half hours he spends analyzing this series in depth: Kirito is not a compelling character, he's just a 14 year old wish fulfillment fantasy. A guy who's incredibly powerful for no discernible reason, makes every girl he comes across fall in love with him instantly without doing anything and is just a self centered asshole who gets people killed by his general shittiness.

That is just bad characterization.

His analysis videos are great. It's the best (even the only good) critical take on anime I could find on Youtube.

For anyone interested in anime analysis here's a few recommendations from his best series:

The asterisk war sucks (or everything wrong with modern anime)

Eva analysis:

Psycho pass VS Psycho pass 2 (how and why it went from awesome to meh)

KlK vs Gurren Lagann, comparing themes and intent

How to direct action anime:

Yes SAO is bad and geared towards shitty teens, but keep in mind it is based off a Light Novel written by a shitty teen (at the time) and it makes more sense. This guy just happened to find an audience for that sort of thing and never really bothered to move beyond it even as he got older. And how come there were no deaths due to faulty internet connections? Answer me that, Obama!

There, now you don't have to listen to one guy rant for a whole hour about it.

@pyrodactyl: YO this guy is great, thanks for the links! I am never above watching people hate on shows I don't like and/or chose to drop, haha *bathes in salt*

Also, Demolition D+ doesn't put out enough videos to satisfy this craving :x

I finished Beyond the Boundary. It was ok I guess but I don't think I liked it. That show really should have been 24 episodes instead of 12, it was way too rushed. The ending was really rushed, it was like they realized they only had a couple of episodes left and tried to shove everything into it but ran out of time because they left a lot of things open. I still need to see the movie that takes place after the show to hopefully get some more things resolved but the show probably should have done that. Maybe they didn't have enough source material, maybe they wanted you to go by the original work to answer questions or maybe they wanted another season, I don't know. Also there is one thing about the ending that really bugged me, HOW THE HECK DID SHE COME BACK TO LIFE?! They don't explain that at all and act like it is not a big deal that it happened! I know he cries and is all emotional when saying the first line he said to her again but c'mon it needed more of an explanation.

I think I will try Nichijou next since I have access to it.