MetaVerse Episode 40: Wild Cards
The new blood joins in to talk early impressions on the Spring ’14 season!
Hello everybody indeed! This is our first opportunity to hear what Skylion sounds like as he joined along with Jrow, Fosh and OC to dish on their thoughts about the Spring season so far, including some divided feelings on Irregular at Magic High, a decent pile of garbage anime, our opinions on the animation choices used in Ping Pong and Sidonia, and more! Enjoy the ep and feel free to let us know if we’re crazy to put an anime in the category we did, or give Jrow a proper episode rating, whatever you want, it’s cool!
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:09:51 — 64.3MB)
SHOW NOTES
News & Views
- Season 2 of RomCom SNAFU Announced
- Trigger’s next anime will be an adaptation of the Ninja Slayer lite novel
- Attack on Titan will get a 3rd OAD ep included in the August 8th release of Vol 14 and will air on Toonami
Spring ’14 Early Thoughts
- Favorite Characters
- Garbage of the Season
- We Tried, But We Couldn’t
- Better Than We Thought
- Our Early Favorite
- Wild Card
- Jrow’s: Brother/Sister Relationships in Spring ’14
- Fosh’s: Hanazawa voicing 2 boys / Would you like to see another shounen anime get NOT’d?
- Overcooled’s: Atypical animation: Ping Pong & Knights of Sidonia
- Skylion’s: Healing Anime
MUSIC
OP: “Mayume Chasing” by BoA from Fairy Tail
Intermission: “BEAUTIFUL WORLD” by Joanna Koike
ED: “Bokura ni Tsuite” by Merengue from Ping Pong the Animation
About Meta Cast
The team behind Metanorn's Podcast, MetaVerse. Our aniblogging experience gives us the expertise to dish out detailed opinions on which series to watch and ones to drop. And remember, we take fangirling seriously!
POWUH: Meta Resident and LN Informant with 1529 comments
I’ve read a wide range of comments regarding Mahouka’s anime, but one thing I will agree with them is that the Rising Hope OP and Iwasaki Taku’s soundtrack is AMAZING.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
My only real gripe with Mahouka is the increasing incest vibes. It’s in your face and distracting. Even more troubling is that the factor is going be there for the entire ride since the series will be 26 episodes long.
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
@zztop: Yeah the OP is starting to grow on me but every time it starts I remember SAO and it makes me skip through it >.>
@BB: Yeah Mahouka ep3 has so much damn incest it really kills the show! I mean do we REALLY need that as a “plot” point? Honestly it serves no purpose other than dumb people that love to see it…
POWUH: Meta Resident and LN Informant with 1529 comments
LN readers say the broconness is a major part of the book’s plot.
Not that it stopped the book from being popular in Japan. I hear it won some LN awards too.
Shows you just how the Japanese otaku are a bunch of sick freaks!!!POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Not that we’re much better since we’re all over various things that originated from those sick freaks. The difference is we don’t take certain aspects to extremes.
POWUH: 1000-1099 and Pirate King with 1048 comments
That music combo is a win. LiSA has had some great OPs, and Taku’s had two candidates worthy of best OST the last couple of years with Jormungand and Gatchaman.
POWUH: Meta Resident and LN Informant with 1529 comments
I found a paragraph from the LN that conveys some of Miyuki’s thoughts on Tatsuya. Peraps this will give some depths to ber brocon-ness.
Basically,she reminisices on how Tatsuya had saved her from certain death 3 years prior to the current story. She also discovered the truth of them being brother and sister.
From that day on, she swore to be a worthy little sister for Tatsuya,to be able to help him so he could depend on her, after ‘being saved and dicovering the truth’.
What is more curious is where she says ‘she is the shackles binding Tatsuya in place’, and that she wishes to one day be the ‘key’ that frees him. This indicates ,I think, some greater mystery yet to be revealed.
I think at least a few more episodes are needed for Mahouka to truly shine,and at least should be blogged once every 3-4 weeks(ie. 3-4 episodes per post).
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
Yeah? I guess it has promise but still the incest feels forced into the plot and that is very annoying for me!! SAO had it and it was so freaking terrible I don’t see the point of having it as something major for a story…
That said I will watch more but I hear the incest gets worse or lets up soon? I dunno just some post I saw on facebook.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
I thought that Mahouka’s 3rd episode was the best one so far. They seem to be a lot less stiff now that the introductions are over, so it’s a lot more natural in flow. I also like the message of having Tatsuya on the fukuiin as well as the message of ‘the thing you test for may not be the most important thing’.
It’s likely that I’ll do some intermediate blogging of the show. Maybe when they change the episode name. That really annoys me, that they can’t come up with a new episode name… and then they have the gall to say in a preview that “Next Episode: Enrollment IV!” Nooooo, you don’t say?!?!?! Thanks for the helpful information!
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
I’m surprised you let a little detail like that get to you. I got used to it after seeing other follow the same trend. Like Trinity Blood, Strike the Blood, Attack on Titan and Unbreakable Machine-Doll. Remember? Shingeki no Kyojin – 13 “Basic Needs: Defense of Trost (pt 9)”
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
Yeah, maybe it contributed to my dislike of 3 of those shows (and I haven’t watched Trinity Blood). It’s a terrible unoriginal and unhelpful trend. Don’t even tell us the episode name if you’re going to waste time with something that’s as completely low information as that. I don’t really care what the name of the episode is usually. But it ticks me off when it’s tossed in my face that they didn’t bother with a new name.
At most, I’ll accept it for two episodes, and that’s only if they didn’t already waste it with doing that already.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Nice choice using the new Fairy Tail OP “Mayume Chasing” for the into, Jrow. I started watching the recent episodes and found myself liking it. Looks like I finally have a second entry on my list of long running shounen anime.
So this is what the resident LOLi Defender sounds like. His voice is lighter than I imagined. Almost enough to pass as someone in their mid 30’s.
Yeah, I saw the Attack on Titan Toonami announcement on ANN some time ago. It goes to show how much people loved that series because it’s been just over a year since the initial airing which doesn’t even feel that long. I still remember Overcooled’s posts. Also, I understand the dub is really good so I’m anxious to see it and first timer working with Funimation, Bryce Papenbrook, English voice for SAO’s Kirito and Blue Exorcist’s Rin, two shows that were previously on Toonami’s block, is the voice of Eren.
LOL! 40 shows! Since there are 4 of you, each could tackle about 10, maybe?
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
Keep in mind that recordings often make voices sound lighter. LOL. And thanks for the butter…I’ll go get popcorn…
I’m enjoying my two shows and my tag, It seems like I should take on another, but I’ll get this season under me belt first.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Good idea not to pick up any more shows right. You’re still new to blogging so I don’t think you should bite off more than you can chew. Speaking of that, have ever blogged before or are you a total green horn on the subject?
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
I picked the shows that had the most interest for me. There were a few that other writers had locked up; thems the breaks.
As far as blogging is concerned, I used to do some rather in depth political stuff on livejournal about five or six years ago. I’ve also done private blogs for some of my freelance teams; basically keeping a tally of workflow and any changes in client specs and such. This is my first time doing anime review. But it’s not to dissimilar from any other content blogging.
POWUH: 1000-1099 and Pirate King with 1048 comments
I don’t watch Fairy Tail, but I had to give it up to BoA with a great song.
I think it’d be cool if we could make some kind of infographic of the shows we plan to stick with, see what’s popular amongst the Metanorn staff and perhaps poll readers to see what’s hot and what’s not (or, what’s hipster).
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
The Infographic is a darn neat idea!
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
It is a neat idea. Too bad I suck horribly at programming, it would be the kind of thing that could probably be tracked by people keeping a list at MAL. Although I don’t know how many other writers keep up their MAL list. I do with MALUpdater2 (and I know there are other updaters out there, if anyone has a suggestion I wouldn’t mind hearing it).
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
Wow. Looks like I have to eat my words and finally update MAL. If it comes to that.
POWUH: 1000-1099 and Pirate King with 1048 comments
I’m gonna see about getting this infographic done as I brainstormed what all to put on it today. I’ll probably wait to focus on data gathering come midseason. Updating your MAL would certainly be helpful to this.
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
Sounds like a cool new project has been born
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
Skylion is a 30 year old magical vampire LOLi~
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
Yes, that must be the reason for my light voice. I am Shinobu Oshino…..
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
I will never accept such a thing!!
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
Reality is a harsh mistress. But not as harsh as Magical Blonde LOLi Skylion!
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Ack! You just used a key word in that sentence. Choose your words carefully, Fosh or the war might start up again. We’ve been having a temporary cease fire. 😉
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
hahahahah will do
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
“Don’t be a fool Anakin! I have the high ground!”
Is what I would say…
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Ah, Spammy, you’re at it again. Someone should teach you some manners.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
If you lost a comment at that time, you should remake it. So much spam… impossible to sift through tonight…
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Alright, no problem. I usually write out my comments on Microsoft Word first as a safeguard. Learned that method the hard way.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
It should be there now. I remade the comment but it was caught by the spam filter.
POWUH: Lovely-pyon~ with 386 comments
aww for some reason the DL, link or play won’t work, damn and here i wanted to hear what a magical vampire loli would sound like! ill just listen on Fosh’s pc one day. Though I don’t like listening to these much, I have to have something to look at.. Quick add some SHAFT backgrounds and random screens while we listen!
Maybe ill turn in next week to catch the rare Skylion Nyahah~
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
Yep one of these days ill pull you into the skype call hahah
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
I’m about the same stripe. I usually save up the podcasts on my phone and play them while cleaning, or taking a walk or something like that.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
Yeah, I think the archive.org server is down. I’m unable to get to the file either.
POWUH: 1000-1099 and Pirate King with 1048 comments
Just gave it a quick check, should be good now. Hopefully you follow through on at least listening to this episode!
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Nanana is a fun, very upbeat female character. Even though she knows she’s a ghost and murder victim, it barely does anything to dull her personality.
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
Fk ya moe ghosts <3
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
I was quite picky with my choice of animes this season making my drop rate low so my garbage anime would be Fuuun Ishin Dai Shougun. It had mecha and ecchi, an interesting combo but the first episode made a lackluster impression on me. The jokes were forced and barely humorous making it hard to enjoy. A shame because it had potential, the animation was alright and had some very sexy character designs for their lady characters. Fine details on the curves and everything.
My “I Tried, But I Couldn’t” anime is definitely Kenzen Robo Daimidaler. To be honest, the first episode sucked so bad I didn’t watch it all the way through, just skipped to certain parts on the downloaded video to see what happened next. The lead was ridiculous, just looked and acted stupid, no charm that would help overlook his idiocy. The mech designs were an eyesore and after seeing the penguin bad guys with their “tail” showing in the front, ugh, that was it for me. Instant drop. Blade and Soul and Dragonar Academy are more worth my time.
The “Better Than I Thought” pick for me is Soredemo. Decided to check the first episode on a whim with no expectations due to its “shoujo” genre tag and got surprised. In shoujo, you’d expect a lovey-dovey setting with a shy female lead but this series’ opening episode was such a far cry I had to wonder if the tag had any place in it.
“Early Favorite”: Black Bullet (or BB. Coincidence. It’s got to be a coincidence we share the same initials). Dark story with a post-apocalyptic setting where humanity is at war with a vicious race of monsters is something I can get into. What it does well is testing human nature which mostly shows them at their worst, especially regarding a subspecies like the Cursed Children who are unjustly persecuted even while they’re in the service of protecting the population against the Gastrea. Also a villain with justifiable motives to throw the protagonist’s morals into question.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
In chat’s with the rest of the team I very consciously avoid the abbreviation, just to avoid confusion.
The third episode of Daimidalar actually pulled me back in! So this is the official update.
I’ll be happy to see you the next nine or so weeks on Black Bullet…
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
I *was* going to wait until after I’d listened to comment on the categories, but since I can’t get the file, I’ll comment anyway. 🙂
Favorite Character: I have to say Princess Nike, because of her outlook on life, her independence, and her interesting nature. Runner-up: Mari Watanabe, the fukuiinchou from Mahouka – while I’m not super fond of her ‘let’s lock everyone up’ attitude, I like the ‘fighting injustice and discrimination’ part of her outlook much more.
Garbage of the Season: Even though I’m still watching it (so far), Daimidaler has to be this. Coarse, unsubtle, outright dumb, it has none of the charm of a lot of ecchi shows, and almost no humor.
Tried But I Couldn’t: So far it’s just Blade and Soul. That one episode I watched had just awful dialogue, terrible exposition, idiotic actions (“We’ll just tell the ruthless empire “no”. That’ll work out perfectly!”). Nice character design couldn’t make up for terrible writing for me.
Better than I thought: This is the big category. Soul Eater Not!, Gochuuman Usagi, Nanana, Kanojo ga Flag, and Isshuukan Friends are all much more enjoyable than I’d imagined, but the winner here is actually Kamigami no Asobi. When I watch those otome adaptations, it’s always expecting a train wreck of embarrassingly bad dialogue, mansplaining, idiotic reactions, and overly angsty melodrama. But so far, Kamigami no Asobi has been fun with an interesting storyline, characters that are a cut above the usual for the genre, oft-times hilarious visuals, and an MC that is far more involved in guiding her own life (even if she’s been impressed (the other definition) into this school to teach the gods) than any I’ve seen in one of these shows. It could still go horribly wrong, but so far it’s looking good.
Early Favorite: It’s gotta be Soredemo Sekai wa Utsukushii. This show makes me feel so good, even watching it through blurry eyes. The love, the power, the caring that Nike shows, that she’s been brought up to bring to other people, and her stick to it attitude. It would have been so predictable to make it a show about some sullen princess forced to marry a foreign ruler, unhappy all the time. But this show doesn’t do that. This is her opportunity to spread her love to the world, and that’s what comes out in the show.
POWUH: 1000-1099 and Pirate King with 1048 comments
You and I are alike on Nike. As for Mahouka, I might be right there with you on Watanabe.