Meta Team’s Winter Anime 2017 Picks
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Time for our Winter Picks!⁝⁝⸃₍⁽΄˙̥΄ ⁾₎⸜
Happy holidays, Metanorn readers! I hope you all are enjoying some off time with your loved ones. Another year is down the road and I’m glad it’s almost done! All these deaths, mercurial economy and politics have been the highlight of the year, leaving a bad taste behind. I can’t wait to start 2017 asap! And that takes me to the Winter offering, which is quite slim and not as colourful as Fall but still has a few surprises and continuations. I am looking forward to ACCA, Youjo Senki, Showa Genroku and of course the last season of Gintama. I have had some major fun with this franchise and as sad as I am to see it go, I hope it leaves with a bang than a poof. Now, let’s hear it from the rest of the team on their picks.————————————————————–
Well, Fall was certainly awesome for me! I loved Flip Flappers, Keijo and Magical Girl Raising Project, but now I’ve got to look forward to stuff like Kono Subarashii Sekai ni Shukufuku wo! 2, Demi-chan wa Kataritai, Gabriel DropOut, Ao no Exorcist: Kyoto Fujouou-hen and of course Little Witch Academia which comes out near my birthday! I’m going to go ahead and say LWA will be the best winter 2017 anime! Thank you, based Trigger. 
[ Little Witch Academia ] My prayers have been answered by the great gods of anime! After watching the first two Little Witch Academia movies it left me in such a feel good mood because it was super colorful, creative and was filled with fun and interesting characters! So I guess it was just a matter of time for Trigger to create a TV series, but of course to the general Trigger haters out there it wasn’t all that fun due to it being just Harry Potter turned anime complete with cute girls doing cute things in a magic school. Then again maybe everyone loved the two movies? Personally I’m so excited to see what Trigger has planned for this tv series and what they can expand on oh and part of me is a little curious if Little Witch Academia manages to connect to Space Patrol Luluco in some way near the end? I’d really love to see one of the girls from the magic school join Luluco as the second possible Trigger girl! I guess we shall see.
[ Demi-chan wa Kataritai ] It seems like the idea of Monster themed girls has exploded over the recent years thanks to the likes of Monster Musume, but the vibe I’m getting from Demi-chan is completely different because the girls in this series are going to school and from the few sets of trailers that i’ve seen it’s not going to be as sexual in tone which is completely fine to me! After a while the dumb ecchi hijinks tend to get old fast! So i’m hoping for cuteness and feel good vibes and one extra thing i’ve noticed based on trailers it looks like the teacher who is studying the girls isn’t remotely attracted to any of them which is a plus in my book or is that going to change? I hope not because i’m wanting to watch cute monster girls doing cute things not old teacher wanting to hook up with a teenaged monster girl.
[ Gabriel DropOut ] The idea of angels and demons living side by side with humans really isn’t anything new in the world of anime, but I think Gabriel DropOut is going for the whole Umaru-chan theme since the main girl has two sides to her like being great at school then turn into a total lazy person at home who would rather play videogames for hours and eat junk food! I don’t mind that as long as Gabriel changes things up and isnt a copy of that series, but since Doga Kobo was behind that series it might be? Speaking of that studio they have a great backlog of comedy hits from the likes of Yuru Yuri, Gekkan Shoujo, New Game, Love Lab, GJ-Bu and Sansha Sanyou which are all hilarious and fun so I have faith that Gabriel will be fine if they stick to the comedy stuff. I’m also curious to hear Miyu Tomita voice Gabriel Tenma White because her only huge roles are Otako from Oshiete! Galko-chan and Yume from Aikatsu Stars! I can’t wait to see what she brings to the main character.
[ Kobayashi-san Chi no Maidragon ] When I heard that KyoAni was tackling another manga adaptation I got really excited because the last time they did that was back in the day with Nichijou which was hit and miss for most people, but I personally fell in love with it. So will this be the same? I have no idea! I did read a few chapters of the manga and tone wise it was slapstick and made the same typical anime jokes about boob sizes; however it follows the life of a working girl and not a group of highschool girls so I guess that is kinda new since most of their series tend to follow highschool life instead? So yeah I’m prepared for this anime about cute dragon girls! Yes I said girls because there are a few dragons that appear later on.
[ GRANBLUE FANTASY The Animation ] I know absolutely nothing about GrandBlue Fantasy! Just kidding i’ve seen tons of fanart and I have even played the game for a few days and for the most part the story plays out like any typical RPG as in OMG the world is gonna be destroyed by some dark force and it’s up to a team of young heroes to save the day; however like any RPG the characters make the adventure the best part of any game and in Grandblue the main team of heroes actually feels like a team, but of course you can mix things up by adding other characters and speaking of characters i’m curious to see who pops up because there are a lot! So yeah we shall see how the anime version deals with that, but I hope this series isn’t going to have the story ripped word for word from the game.
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Greetings from the Land of the Rising Sun! It’s been an interesting fall for me, get readjusted to a new place and a new job, but now I’m happy to say that I’m ready to go and all I can say is–Winter is Coming! Yes, Song of Ice and Fire jokes aside, Winter is my second favorite time of the year after Summer. Don’t give me the shifts, only the extremes is what I always say (never actually do…)! Lol, though sadly, often times the anime season offerings don’t always agree with me. This past Fall was okay, I started off with 6 to 7 series and ended with only half that. My love for Gundam being all encompassing, of course that takes my top spot and of course will for this continuing season as well, when we get to the second half of my favorite fighting Iron-Blooded orphans. Yuri on Ice became a sensation, and I enjoyed Magical Girl Raising Project as well. But, well, this Winter is looking even drier, with few offerings to interest me. We all know that the Spring following is going to be full to bursting so, I wish some of those would have spilled out into the Winter, but…que sera sera. Let’s see what we do have.
[ Youjo Senki ] This was originally not one that I had ever even been on my radar. Never have heard of the light novels or heard any of the hype previous to seeing the first PV images. But something about the MC, Tanya’s design, interested me. And the story about a Japanese businessman reborn as an evil magical loli who becomes a war tactician sounded odd, and yet, intriguing. And then…the actual PVs came out and I was suddenly hooked. The animation, music, and sound design was great, and I just loved Tanya’s death glares and destructive nature and her just being so happy being evil! Mwahahaha! Also the dark war setting, which looks to be a magical alternative version to WWI, gives a varitable sandbox of interesting options to play with. Now, in this rather dry season, this has become my most anticipated of the new material that will be coming out this winter.
[ ACCA: 13-ku Kansatsu-ka ] Well, who doesn’t love backroom, bureaucratic politics? We have a country that is strangely in the shape of a bird, with a ruling monarchy, that uses 13 men of 13 districts to watch over it. With one man to rule them all….And we get to watch them all do paperwork and political back dealing and back stabbing and enough red tape that could stripe all the candy canes in Rockefeller Center at Christmas time. This is series based on a rather short manga series and I’m so-so on it. The animation looks great, but the story is a question mark until I get a better handle on exactly what the series is going to be offering us in the first few episodes. But I have weakness for political outmanuvering and deadly business scheming, but we’ll see what we get.
[ Granblue Fantasy: the Animation ] Another video game adaptation, but this time, this one happens to be done by CyGames (who gave Rage of Bahamut: Genesis a year ago, and will be giving us its sequel RoB: Virgin Soul this coming Spring) and it features quite an interesting fantasy setting to it. I, of course, haven’t played the games at all and really know nothing much about it going in. But the RPG setting reminds me of the few Final Fantasy game I DO play as well as the Grimgar series from a few seasons ago. I’ll be interested in what this fantasy, magic and sorcery series will offer.
[ Chain Chronicle: Haecceitas no Hikari ] This one is very similar to Granblue in that it is also a series that is based on a game, with an fantasy epic feel and so far, pretty top notch animation. Once again, I am not familiar with pretty much anything from the franchise or the games in general, but the idea of warring humans and fantasy creatures fighting a losing battle against the big bads, and for the heroic underdog MC to face battle after battle against insurmountable odds, is while, sword and sorcery 101, it has been that way for a while because of how classic such a simple story is. Now, the hook will be if they can prevent the series from falling into the generic and bland like some others shows. *coughTalesofZestiriacough*
Possibly Blogging: Youjo Senki // ACCA //MS Gundam: IBO Season 2 pt. 2
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Well, this past Fall season pretty much was a no-sale for me, blogging-wise. I went from three shows per season, per week, down to one show every three weeks. But that was mostly just the way things went in so far as the schedule goes, and not an indication of lack of interest. Nope, the new year and the new Winter season is just what I needed, and I look forward to the new batch just as much as any hobby watcher does. So without further ado, what do I got going on?
[ Youjo Senki ] Or as we’re referring to it in our Skype channel: War Loli. We’ve got some veteran talent headlining a new outfit, Studio NuT, and most of that talent that have worked on the show have done just about every job on lots of shows so they know how to deliver product at the very least, so it’s all up to how production shifts resources from studio to screen. Youjo Senki is based on a series of Light Novels and that can mean a lot or it can mean a little, our very own Sumairii has delved about three chapters in and I’ll leave the final score up to him, but my own reading of the prologue and first chapter will describe it as: ponderous and overbearing. It seems to be very much in love with some over it’s meaty community college level thesis statements. The good news is that the manga adaptation drops that like a bad habit and concentrates on the good stuff; which is what I hope the show does as well; which it probably will. That stuff being pretty much a black comedy filled with violence and weird magic. I’m looking forward to covering the show, so I’ll save more for then. But suffice it so say, it’s a weird little trip and I think that Yuuki Aoi is a perfect fit for the wild and insane character of Tanya! See you there…
[ Urara Meirochou ] JC Staff brings ups a cute, SoL, seinen comedy based on a 4-koma manga. Yeah, one look at is pretty much ensures I’ll enjoy this one. It’s all about design and atmosphere after all. It puts me to mind of Etotama, which was probably avoided by most, but I loved it for similar reasons that I think I’ll enjoy this one. I like some of the magical, yet treated as completely normal, stuff that Oriental fortune telling and its attendant culture brings to a story, and when you wrap it up in a kawaii package so much the better. It’s not a show that I’m likely to cover, but I’ll be following it that’s for sure.
[ Kobayashi-san Chi no Maid Dragon ] Cool Kyou-Shinja is an odd mangka that is for sure, but there is at least one solid theme that runs throughout his entire works, and that is the foibles and comedy of how silly people are when they try to communicate; I am no expert, but I am very curious to see if I’m right about my guess. I think they like tackling that Japanese sense of societal inference, or “reading the mood/air”.From I Can’t Understand What My Husband is Saying and Komori-san Can’t Lose (both of which received short anime adaptations..and now you know why this show looks familiar) to their other work in the oddball FullMaPla (a girl only uses number ratings signs to communicate everything) and Chichichich (a mangaka with massive oppai just wants to be seen as normal, so she has lots of sex with her roommate) you get people who are just trying to fit in no matter what. In Maid Dragon, that script is still there, but this time with office lady (so yay! No high school setting!) Koayashi-san just trying to play host to a bunch of riotous dragons without things breaking down to much. They do break down, though. But that pretty much covers this show…oh, and KyoAni is doing the adaption. But Fosh already beat me to that one!
[ Hand Shakers ] Go Hands is one for the books. On one side of their studio they have Seitokai Yakuindomo ( if you’ve heard one golden shower joke, you’ve heard them all, but that really doesn’t stop them from shoving out the OVA adaptations for it…I still love it though), and on the other they have the K: Saga (which I found confusing, overly ponderous, and far to in love with itself to be honest). In the middle they have shows like Coppelion (no impression left on me) and the Princess Lover stuff (which I’ve not seen). Now they bring us Hand Shakers, named for the central conceit of it’s fantasy mix. To quote our source at MAL, “The anime takes place in Osaka in “AD20XX,” and revolves around the Hand Shakers—partners who can summon “Nimrodes,” weapons born from their deep psyche by joining hands. In order to grant the pair’s wish, the Hand Shakers compete with and fight other Hand Shaker pairs. The top pair will then meet and challenge “God.”. So yeah, not drifting too far away from K, and picking up some Guilty Crown elements as well. Sheesh. Holy cats, this could be a good strange or bad strange! I’m featuring this mostly because, who doesn’t love that sort of colorful trainwreck, right? I’m selling good seats here! There is, however, a smaller fraction of interest in me, and that revolves around, they’ll get the formula right, this time. This sort of competition level story usually loses me around the time the main starts GARing for lack of anything else interesting to do. But have the writers and directors figured out how to make it work? That’s the question. Plus, Go Hands’ POPPOPPOP color gradients are always both perplexing and entertaining!
[ Honorable Mentions ] Masamune-kun no Revenge, Kono Subarashii Sekai ni Shukufuku wo! 2, Little Witch Academia, Demi-chan wa Kataritai, Gabriel DropOut
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I think everyone was down on Fall 2016, although there were some pretty good shows in there to watch. But there was also a lot of factionalizing between different genres of show, and it seemed like the crossing over that most people had done in previous seasons stopped. Maybe that’ll continue into Winter, or maybe people will widen back out. But here are a few shows that I’m interested in this coming Winter season, the start of 2017.
[ Seiren ] Seiren is a continuation of the same ficton that Amagami SS was set in, and as such it has a very similar look. That’s not surprising, given that Kisai Takayama, the original character designer for the previous shows is involved in the project, and is also doing the Series Composition. The character designs of Seiren are almost exactly the same as Amagami SS, even down to the school uniforms, even though the high school they’re attending has a different name. There’s even one character who returns from that previous series, Ai-chan’s little brother Ikuo.
I love omnibus romance stories, but there’s always a concern with them in a single cour series. Amagami SS worked well because the four episodes per character arc allowed for plenty of time to develop both the characters and the romance. But we saw the pitfalls of a shorter series in Photo Kano, which went to a Common Route / individual route style, but only allowed one episode per character for the romance part. As such, it ended up very samey-samey and ultimately unsatisfying as far as romance. Will Seiren improve on that, or will it fall into the same trap?
[ Kobayashi-san Chi no Maidragon ] Changing from the serious, continuous storytelling of Hibike! Euphonium, Kyoto Animation comes back in Winter with a manga adaptation of this cute manga. We’ll see if KyoAni plays up the yuri vibes in this series that features girl dragons, a main girl office lady, and her office friend who joins her for drunk discussion of maids. I’ve never disliked anything by KyoAni, so I’m definitely looking forward to this.
[ Minami Kamakura Koukou Joshi Jitensha-bu ] When you can’t come up with a name, just say what the show is about, the South Kamakura High Girls Cycling Club. This is another girls on bikes show, this time with a high school club that forms a cycling team. I like girls in clubs shows, and I like cycling shows, and recently I’ve even been liking sports shows, so I’m hoping that this will combine the things I liked from the last few shows like Bakuon (with fun club stuff, but not quite serious enough) and Long Riders (which I really like, but you can’t ignore the production issues the show has had) without getting too much into the drudge of shows like YowaPeda.
[ Kono Subarashii Sekai ni Shukufuku wo Season 2 ] Not too much to say about the return of KonoSuba, except that I hope it doesn’t stray too far from the formula that was so successful for comedy in the first series. There’s certainly a worry about that, since the OVA decided to add another character in, and there are more characters in the promo art for the series. I find that as a show tries to keep adding more and more characters, the chance for comedy gets reduced as they stop leaning on the quirks of the main characters and go for too many one-note side characters. But not doing that can be a problem as well, because you run out of comedic space for the original characters, or flanderize them too much. Hopefully, KonoSuba won’t have any of these problems and will continue to be excellent.
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Well Fall was pretty much an anime-less season for me because of school (minus Magical Girl Rising Project because creating gambling pools at work regarding the last girls standing is fun), and now the stability of my anime watching is threatened with the release of Danganronpa V3… But a few shows look really good, so I’ll probably be drawn to watch a lot regardless.[ ACCA: 13-ku Kansatsu-ka ] ACCA is the title of a giant agency that covers the entire country of Dowa’s 13 states. Within ACCA, the main character Jean Otis is part of the organization and needs to inspect the different locations. This is a pretty vague summary, but it should be interesting. The manga was written by the lady (Ono Natsume) who wrote the House of Five Leaves, which is already a great start, but then you add Madhouse on top of that. House of Five Leaves was not my genre or topic of choice, but even I have to admit that it was a really well written story that drew me in. ACCA is already a far more interesting premise for me, so if it’s anywhere near as thoughtful as House of Five Leaves, it should be really good. Plus there’s also Madhouse, so if anything, it will all look pretty.
[ Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu: Sukeroku Futatabi-Hen ] The first season of Rakugo Shinjuu was probably the best thing DEEN has ever done, and somehow made an anime about a few guys telling stories really interesting. There was the era intrigue, love triangle, and Rakugo politics in there too to make things interesting, but you could really tell that they wanted to centrepiece of Rakugo performances to stand out and deliver why Yakumo was so passionate about it. Even if this season’s story isn’t nearly as intriguing as the last (which I doubt will happen since the last season ended in such a great place), at least the Rakugo performances should be a highlight this season.
[ Gintama ] It’s Gintama. What more can I say? Well, I guess I can say a lot since the last season of Gintama was particularly awesome with the Shogun Assassination and Farewell Shinsengumi Arcs, which seems like they set up to change some of the dynamics of the show forever (while still supplying the laughs… somehow). This series has always somehow manages to balance of meaningful fights between comedy, so I guess I shouldn’t be surprised at the last season, but it was just SO good. Hopefully the next season will deliver too, even with the changes that happened in the last season.
[ Kuzu no Honkai ] Two highschoolers like other people, but they’re dating each other instead. Also, they have a rule that if they fall in love with each other for real, they’ll break up. Hey, the whole “we like other people so our close relationship is kind of complicated” thing worked for Toradora, right? Kuzu no Honkai seems to have taken that a step further with the dating aspect, and it seems like this might be more emotional since they’re relying on their fake relationship out of loneliness. …Though I might have just spoiled myself trying to read what the plot was about, so whether the pair go the same route as Toradora is kind of in question. The manga hasn’t ended yet (it should end around the same time the anime does) though, so really, the ultimate fate of the characters seems undecided. The director is the same as White Album 2, so I’m expecting whatever magic he worked with that series to drive Kuzu no Honkai’s drama home.
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I have survived a season without missing! This is amazing! Well Fall didn’t have that many good series so that’sprobably why, AND I only did one series. Fall had disappointing line-ups, and the same can be said about Winter this year. This is surprising since Winter anime are usually good, but somehow I’m not that appealed with the line-ups (again). Is the age catching up to me? Or I’m getting picky? Or it’s lacking in beautiful men? Probably the last one.
[ Super Lovers ] Of course, being the y**i police of this website, it is my duty to cover the gayest anime of this season which is no other than Super Lovers! Studio DEEN did a really good job for its first season, from the animation to the pace of the story, so I think it’s OK to have faith on them for this series. Now the question is, which story will they pick up? Are they going to cover the annoying current arc? I hope not.
[ Gintama ] Gintama is my Holy Grail for SJ series. I love it even more than men on top of men, and I will never get tired of reading/watching it. Now the manga is coming to its end, so of course they are going to pick up the arcs that will lead to the end. I have mixed feelings for this since I don’t want Gintama to end, but alas good things must end. I just hope they will go all out for this season, from the animation quality and all, since this is part of the last arcs, and it needs to end with a bang.
[ Kuzu no Honkai ] I read this manga, and I hate it with all my heart. I hate hate hate the male character so much, and I think the female lead deserves a better person for a friend. But damn the drama is so damn good, and the characters are fleshed out so well I actually love how the manga is written and presented. So yeah, despite of the characters and plot that make me want to pull out all my hair, I do think this is one of the good manga that deserves its own anime.
[ ACCA: 13-ku Kansatsu-ka ] I MADHOUSE with police? States? A character named Jean Ottis? I am so in. MADHOUSE has a special place in my heart, and the things they made never cease to please me. I don’t even have to watch this, I know I will love ACCA. I think.
[ Ao no Exorcist ] Despite of the disappointing anime (which is actually kind of faithful to the manga in its own ways), I don’t think they are making a mistake now because Kyoto Hen is one of the best arcs in AoE as in literally BEST ARC EVER. It’s no wonder they are animating that arc. I’m not a fan of AoE anime, but I think this can be a start for me to actually like the anime
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About Kyokai
The Boss lady of Metanorn, who makes it all happen. An animanga enthusiast, who watches/reads almost anything that strikes her fancy. Just beware of her Death Perception and always keep her happy. Regularly found at @KyokaiTM & #[email protected].
POWUH: 1000-1099 and Pirate King with 1048 comments
Sorry I’ve been away as I have. I haven’t been watching much the past few seasons, though in some cases like Euphonium currently I’ve been marathoning. Plan to finish the last few eps of Euph today, and I do want to check out KonoSuba before the new season starts.
I’m looking forward to the Little Witch Academia series, enjoyed the two movies quite a bit. I’d also be curious if they find a way to tie Luluco to it since Sucy appeared in that one episode.
I’ll check out Seiren because I liked Amagami SS and Photo Kano, but the girls have to be good enough characters for me to stay interested.
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
Yoooooooooooooo Jrow!!
Eupho s2 was ok it went so far away from the music aspect that it kinda killed it for me, but character wise it was a huge improvement from the first season.
OMG KonoSuba is the best “guy from modern time sent to a fantasy world” anime ive seen in years and the comedy is fantastic! Course I laugh at just about any kind of off the wall slapstick, but everyone has different reactions to comedy especially in anime form.
LWA as a tv series has me super curious! I’m like you I enjoyed the two movies a lot and agreed I wonder how Trigger will connect it to Luluco since they are building a “Trigger universe” then again Luluco is the official mascot for Trigger so id imagine she would just be used to show off whats next for them? Like future projects? She does have a tiny background cameo in Kiznaiver’s final episode.
SAME Amagami SS and Photo Kano were fun stories and I love the idea that each girl gets a “chance” with the MC I wish a few harems of the past would do that just to shut up some fans! Especially the long running ToLoveRu, but agreed the girls gotta be interesting to keep my attention otherwise ill drop.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Sorry to rain on the parade for the expecting but you’ll have to readjust your anime lists. Some time ago, ANN had an announcement article stating that Granblue Fantasy has been pushed to Spring 2017.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Granblue Fantasy Anime’s 2nd Video Reveals Spring Delay, January Preview Special
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
Ah well that works since there are a lot of good things for the winter season to keep me busy.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
But you do know the way Spring 2017 is shaping up, the chances of Granblue Fantasy getting spotlight will drop from slim to nearly none.
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
Well with Grandblue Fantasy video game adaptation I don’t think anyone really has high hopes for it being a huge hit, but the same thing was said about Rage of Bahamut: Genesis and that was generally loved by everyone.
POWUH: and Athenaeum Châtelaine with 2212 comments
Yeah, I found that out not long before this came out, but I had already written up my comments, so…what can you do. :p.
Though I think it was foolish to push it to Spring, what with this coming spring season being so freakin’ packed it doesn’t know what to do with itself. But, I guess it will just be another thing to squeeze into spring season’s watchlist.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
And it will be overshadowed by sequels of two Shingeki titles: Shingeki no Kyojin (Attack on Titan) and Shingeki no Bahamut (Rage of Bahamut).
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
More like Attack on Snoozeeee S2 from what I heard from reviewers on youtube the next half of the series where it picks up is very political heavy with less focus on the titans? Course WIT studios will probably cut those parts in favor of the cool action scenes cause wow do they suck at telling stories.
POWUH: and Yaoi Fangirl~ with 2320 comments
bruh I’m reading the manga and I don’t even know what the hell is going on
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Well, Attack on Titan (Shingeki no Kyojin) was good where standard entertainment is concerned, popcorn entertainment, if you will but I never considered it a show to join my favorite’s list. A little too black and white, strict, set in stone for my liking. Besides, I’ve come to know WIT Studios to do series targeted to a specific audience and only please them. If you’re part of that audience, good. If not, too bad, you’re excluded from the club.
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
I just noticed a lot of WIT series just never have any gripping stories cause they tend to favor the action bits making them just as bad as any Michael Bay movie, but ah well some love mindless action series.
POWUH: and Athenaeum Châtelaine with 2212 comments
Oh come now Fosh, politics can be exciting. Sometimes even more than simple action scenes. But it all depends how well it’s done. I have faith in it since they did so well with season one.
POWUH: and Athenaeum Châtelaine with 2212 comments
I’m excited for both Shingekis. I have stayed away from anything and everything in regards to Attack on Titan past how it ended last season, so I will be coming into this new season with excitement.
Rage of Bahamut 2, looks exciting, even with a lack of Favaro. Can’t wait for that either.
But even beyond that, I’m extra jazzed up for Boku no Hero Academia S2. I had to stay away from all the spoilers of that as well. It’s so hard when everyone wants to just gush about the manga, and I like to keep the two completely separate.
Also there’s Kekkai Sensen S2, and a few other original series that are looking awesome as well.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Sounds like you tried really hard to abstain yourself and it’s paid off. We’re the same though going about it in different ways. I haven’t gone into anything Attack on Titan related since the first season ended all the way back in 2013 (And the second season is starting exactly 4 years later from the first). For standard entertainment or more “popcorn entertainment”, it’s alright but not something I’d want to rush to see what happens next. Looking back after all this time, I find it’s heavily reliant on action scenes (many of which were recaps), random deaths of characters, focused or otherwise and rather too black and white where personal taste is concerned.
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1557 comments
Haha, I got confused as I was reading the post. Granblue is coming out in winter 2017? I still want to try playing the game, but it’s not available here… although I love the character designs!
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
In response to Kyokai’s opening, yes, I’m enjoying time off with the family but the downside is I’ve been freezing my rear off in France since the second half of December. Brrr…..
Fall is at the end of its rope as is 2016 in its entirety. Fall scores honestly in the “decent” rating. Most of the shows weren’t must-sees but they did well for entertainment. However Winter 2017 looks less impressive in comparison with not a lot drawing my attention.
Top 5 Picks:
Ao no Exorcist: Kyoto Fujouou-hen: Quite a shock learning of this sequel after nearly 6 years since its predecessor and understanding the most, including the ending was anime original. Which leaves to ask how much of the first season will be disregarded since the sequel will be canon following its source material. A shame Keiji Fujiwara won’t reprise his role due to his hiatus for health reasons.
Demi-chan wa Kataritai: Read the manga a while back into the double digit chapters so an adaptation this soon is a welcome surprise. For anyone worried about Demi-chan harboring the “ecchi” genre, don’t because it doesn’t and the teacher protagonist’s only interest in the girls is for their non-human qualities. Judging from the PV, the character designs were improved. They were a bit shabby in the manga.
Hand Shakers: Loved all the K installments so anything made by studio Go Hands gets a trial run. The synopsis is interesting and I’m likely to stick with it to the end. Here’s to expecting spectacular fight scenes to go along with the story.
Youjo Senki: Didn’t give much thought to this one until seeing the PV. Seemed like a more serious version of Brave Witches. I guess what drew me in most is Tanya’s demented expressions, making me want to understand her personality which I think I might end up liking.
Tales of Zestiria the X S2: First season was enjoyable so I’m looking forward to seeing how this one rolls out. Plus there’s the signature ufotable animation eye candy.
Secondary Choices:
Akiba’s Trip: The Animation
Chain Chronicle
Chaos;Child
Little Witch Academia
Schoolgirl Strikers Animation Channel
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
Lol stay warm!
Ao no Exorcist: Kyoto Fujouou-hen: Yeah its been a while for them! I kinda forgot about the series after the first season ended, but from what I gather from manga fans the anime was terrible story wise? IDK since I don’t read the manga so I wouldn’t know? S2 though I plan on watching cause i’m a fan and I love me some Shounen anime.
Demi-chan wa Kataritai: I feel people will go into that series expecting Monster Musume, but yeah from trailers and what not I never got the vibe that the teacher was interested in the girls for perverted reasons? So we shall see! I’m hoping for more of a lighthearted fun series without the need for lots of ecchi.
Hand Shakers: I’m a huge fan of K! Loved the characters, the powers, setting, animation and music; however with this new series i’m a bit ehhhhhh on due to the character designs! What is with their massive eyes? It feels like the creators traveled back to the 90’s and were like HELL YES we need those designs in 2017! It reminds me of some old school Key series.
Youjo Senki: Yeah story wise its a bit Brave Witches due to the mixing of military and magic! I do like the fact the main girl isn’t an airhead cute loli instead were getting a demented loli who love war.
Secondary Choices:
Akiba’s Trip: The Animation = seems fun and unique a bit like Punch Line.
Chain Chronicle: OVA series I have the first one gotta watch it sometime.
LWA: YES! I can’t wait <3
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1557 comments
What, do I hear the sound of BB starting to wade into the Slice-of-Life pool? Come join us, it’s great out in here!
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Now that I don’t understand. The “Slice of life” tag is on the anime but it’s nowhere in sight for the manga.
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
Butttt they go to school everyday right? If that isn’t Slice of life then idk what you think slice of life means lol
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
There’s a difference. That’s the “School life” tag you’re talking about. The majority, if not all the events occurring in one particular location: The school. With what I’ve read so far in the manga, more than 90% of the story happens within the school grounds.
“Slice of life” on the other hand is mundane realism depicting everyday experiences, akin to melodrama than drama, bordering on absurd with a number of themes (interpersonal relationships, family, romance) done over the top.
Kind of hard to depict realism, everyday life and habits or calling it anything as such when introducing something as out of place and unrealistic as “monster girls”. That alone changes the entire game because there’s no way to truly depict a non-human’s daily life since they’re not within the realm of reality.
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
Sure I get where you’re coming from but when I was in highschool that WAS my “life” as a student that is really all you do wake up go to school every single day which imo still can be classified as “slice of life” because it can be mundane to most people.
I guess it depends on your view on the “slice of life” genere.
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1557 comments
What Fosh said. Slice-of-life is just a genre where there isn’t any overarching plot, it just happens to follow the life of one or a group of characters. School-life is just a specific type of slice-of-life.
Realism has nothing to do with the genre, although many SoL are basic in the real world.
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1557 comments
Basic = based.
Although I would add School-life is really more a setting, and not necessarily SoL. Like Kill la Kill is School-life but not slice-of-life, whereas K-On is both school-life and slice-of-life.
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
Agreed on both parts! I mean were all right in our own way, but yeah.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Besides, the reason I went into the manga at all was the talk of demi-humans in the synopsis. Especially when it announced a certain type of non-human. With that said, dibs on the blonde haired girl Hikari.
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1557 comments
Hello from another cold city! Yay, my pre-season estimates has been improving, as for the Autumn season I only dropped one in my will-watch list (Occultic;Nine) and continued with Soushin Shoujo Matoi and Drifters.
So not bad, 11 out of 15, almost 75%! Up from 50% in the summer and 65% in the spring. Can I make 80%?!? I ended up dropping a fair bit off my backlog because I’m finding I have less and less time for watching anime and gaming. I’m a little sad that my anime viewing time has dropped by more than 75%.
This is Rogue One
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Masamune-kun no Revenge – I remember coming across this manga, and liking it (sorta like Watashi ga Motete Dou Sunda but revenge and not like “hey, feeling overweight? Be a hikikomori for a week and you will be cured!!!”) But I didn’t continue with the manga, I think the heroine bothered me – it started out strong and then kind of lost its edge. Hopefully the adaption turns out well. Romance and comedy are two of my favorite genres, plus we got SILVER LINK at the helm and a strong seiyuu cast. Good things are being promised.
Seiren – I have a love hate relationship with Amagami SS. On one side, you’re guaranteed to get at least one ending you want. On the other side, you’re stuck with endings you don’t want and the rest are too short. But it has worked in the past (enjoyable but not home-run material due to the format), so I’ll be checking this out. Although it sounds like only three arcs are planned…. hmm, which of the six will make it?!? Taking bets now!
Fuuka – Romance, high school, and the dramaaaaa…. Haha, loved Suzuka and while I haven’t got very far in the manga, enjoy it and like Seo Kouji’s works. Although I anticipate some ragefesting to happen. Hahahahahaha, I think I’ve been missing some rage/headdesk in my life recently.
Ao no Exorcist: Kyoto Fujouou-Hen More Ao no Exorcist! I am excited. I burn blue baby. Looking more towards this than D.Gray-Man, which couldn’t keep my interest, although I liked the original.
Tales of Zestiria the X 2nd Season – A Tales fan and the first season was very pretty. No more needs to be said.
Little Witch Academia – The first two OVAs were fun, looking forward to see what Trigger will do with a full season!
Kobayashi-san Chi no Maid Dragon – OMGYES. I absolutely love the manga, and super excited to see this animated. Dragons, awesome OL and co-workers, in a great slice-of-life setting. And the FEELS
Kono Subarashii Sekai ni Shukufuku wo! 2 – I thought the original would be average, since I didn’t really keep up with the manga, but it ended up being a laugh-out-loud type show with great characters. I’m ready for S2!!!
Office Christmas Party or Collateral Beauty?
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Demi-chan wa Kataritai – School life, comedy, and slice-of-life sounds like it’d be right up my alley, but I’m not feeling the character designs. We shall see. I’m hoping the class is at least balanced.
Hand Shakers – I liked GoHands animation work on K, so tempted to check this out. Not a huge fan of 3D though, so that might end up being a deal-breaker.
I initially considered Youjo Senki. You know, as much as people lament the “reborn into another world” genre that’s hot right now, I’ve been lapping it all (the manga) up, because it’s fun ^_^. Although I’ve been missing a lot since I don’t read light novels. Came across this and read a few chapters, and while it looks to be heavy on military WW2 style with flying mage units, the manga ended up being too graphic for my liking. Although a normal ladder climbing salaryman tossed into the abyss and has all of his surroundings flipped around all because he pissed off God for his lack of faith premise sounds hilarious.
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
Masamune-kun no Revenge: The idea sounds so so, but even without reading the manga personally I can already predict the “end” as in MC-kun gets ready to get his “revenge” on the girl but then decides not to go through with it cause SURPRISE! His feelings for her get in the way. Then again from what i’ve heard from some readers of the manga its more of a comedy harem in the vein of something like Haganai? We shall see.
Little Witch Academia: Yesssssssssssssssssssssssssssss!!
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1557 comments
That’s fair on Masamune-kun no Revenge – it definitely isn’t breaking any new ground. I watch shows mainly on the strength of the characters and relationships, and a plot a distinct third. For example, I can watch a show if the plot/storyline is a clusterfk but the characters are great, but can’t do it the other way around when the story/plotline is fantastic but I dislike the characters. There’s a ton of greatly reviewed anime that I’ve dropped just because I couldn’t like the main character or cast.
For Masamune-kun no Revenge, I’m mainly watching it for the main character. I don’t remember if it turns into a harem, but it does have comedic elements.
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1557 comments
And spammy hasn’t had enough of his fill, and wanted a early snack to new years! Bad spammy, return my post!
I have to thank you Fosh for LWA, otherwise I wouldn’t have picked up the OVAs way back when. A little bit of Trigger exposure before I got formally introduced via Kill La Kill.
POWUH: Meta Team and Ringleader Extraordinaire~ with 6433 comments
Spammy had some talking to!
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
Spammy has to eat and get fat for winter!
Hahaha you’re welcome! I loveeeee the LWA ovas! They are by far the best thing to come out of Trigger, but I can say the same for stuff like Space Patrol Luluco, Kiznaiver, Kill la Kill and anything else Trigger creates LOL
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
FGO! Needs more Gudako!
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
Eh I just saw the “special” for Fate/Grand Order and found it to be decent, but overall not the best Fate/Something to come out! Maybe if we can get more out of that it will get better? That said we’re getting Fate/Extra Last Encore and Fate/Apocrypha
POWUH: Meta Team and Ringleader Extraordinaire~ with 6433 comments
Just putting this out there, it’s frickin’ 40 degrees in Sydney and I’m pretty much sweating off these holidays. I’m jelly of all of your winters, gimme some!
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
*institues Sydney Seihai Sensou*
There. Go make a wish. >:D
POWUH: Meta Team and Ringleader Extraordinaire~ with 6433 comments
Hahaaa! Oh I wish! XD
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Trust me, Kyokai. You don’t want any of this up in France. It reaches the minus temperatures really easy here.
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
minus is good.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Until you feel the cold weather going through even your own gloves.
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
Bundled up like a michelin 3* man-steraunt is better than stripping naked. Sapporo mid-winter = :3
POWUH: Meta Team and Ringleader Extraordinaire~ with 6433 comments
I’d stay away from extreme minus zones but hey, Winter is better than Summers in my books!
POWUH: and Yaoi Fangirl~ with 2320 comments
Disappointing line-ups. Need more fictional handsome men, on top of each other is even better.
POWUH: Meta Team and Ringleader Extraordinaire~ with 6433 comments
Lol! You can always watch Doukyuusei movie btw.
POWUH: Lovely-pyon~ with 261 comments
Sorry I’am kinda late here, im a little bit bored of bust quite a while…but anyways
1.) Little Witch Academia – Let’s see if Trigger going to shine on this…Well, I doubt it
2.) Yonjo Senki – you called them a “Warloli” i called them “The Game of TARDS”
3.) Urara Meirochou – A weird SoL, in a form of Old-Japanese Folk Lore
4.) Gabriel Dropout – Another Weird SoL in a form of angels and devils
5.) Kobayashi-san Chi no Maidragon – Another Weird SoL Again, AKA: Kobayashi’s Dragons, I think they want to imitate this show…but with Dragon-Maids
Others: Kuzu no Honkai, School Girl Strikers, Minami Kamakura Koukou Joshi Jitensha-bu, BangDream.