Forum - View topicANNCast - Spring Forward, Fall Back
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Zin5ki
 Posts: 6680 Location: London, UK |
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Thank you both for another merry episode! It can only bode well that this season is very discussable, as was so neatly worded on the show. One only needs to hear your assortment of increasingly creative assessments to gauge that there is plenty to keep up with. (The 'potato-mation' of Ace Attorney was my favourite for this week.)
I certainly echo the sentiment that Kabaneri of the Iron fortress being an Amazon Prime exclusive limits its audience in spite of being a sensible venture. As you seemed to note, that was practically the only sore thumb concerning this season's accessibility to the casual or penniless fan, international availability notwithstanding. The fact that Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence is hard to obtain surprised me more than it perhaps should have. My copy of it was the first anime I even purchased many a moon ago. As it vended for the paltry sum of £10 as part of a double pack, I have always taken it, quite falsely, to be somewhat of a ubiquitous title. As for the Johansson photograph, it would indeed be unfair to excoriate the project using such a minimal basis. That said, the criticism that was voiced against seeking an awkward middle-ground between the status quo and genuine diversity is now all the more pressing, what with the news of the digital race-altering technology coming to light. |
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Divineking
 Posts: 1297 |
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On the note of possibly doing a Hunter X Hunter podcast, maybe doing a podcast per story arc every few months would make that work.
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Angel M Cazares
 Posts: 5506 Location: Iscandar |
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Maybe it is just me, but this is one of the weakest anime seasons I can remember; it is certainly the least good Spring season I have seen. My Hero Academia looks solid, but it is to simple to me. Kabaneri, Kiznaiver and Joker Game seem to have potential, but they could easily turn out to be not very good. Flying Witch is my favorite new show, and it could be great, but having a healing show be the best from a season screams lack of great titles to me.
This season could turn out fantastic in the end, but, aside from the impressive visuals in Kabaneri, nothing from this season has blown me away. |
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Thatguy3331
 Posts: 1799 |
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I should hold my tongue since the beginning of last season I thought there was a ok amount of things to watch but in the end there was only one good show (Rakugou) and everything else just lost me in various ways. If anything I can say that its funny how this season all we seem to be getting are either really simple or really loud shows. I don't have a problem with either but there is nothing that screams "Narrativly rich" this season and while getting a silly show after Rakugou is nice it does feel like a bit of overload. That said I at least have 3 shows that I'll definitely be watching for sure out of enjoyment (Jojo, Iron Foresss, and MHA( though I'm waiting for it to get to when they actually get in the school because it's uphill from there.) and Space Patrol Luluco is a fun 7 minute show that seems almost too perfect for Imaishi's style. I don't know where Joker Game or Kiznaiver will go per-say but their visuals really drew me in for different reasons and everything else is alright if not exactly my thing. Then again I did avoid the horrors I heard of that wolf boy show so maybe it's alot better for me personally since I'm pretty selective, but my overall watch pool seems a bit more consistent this time around so I guess that's something (but if I'm singing a different tune by seasons end that won't surprise me ether.)
As for HxH it's sad to see Jacob didn't care for it (a bit Ironic because there were only 1 or 2 episodes before York New where it's basically Kurapika's show) but this is definitely a matter of taste in regards to pacing and how loose the rules are in the universe. For me I love it since it really gives off the feeling that this is, in-fact an adventure than a mission-based quest sort of thing and it's a much better stomping ground for Togashi to utilize whatever ideas he wants. That said not every Idea is interesting and even then it can be a while to wait before you see the payoff which I have seen turn many people off from the show so... yeah. Bygones be bygones I guess. I'd still like to see an ANNcast for it someday though because if anything I do think that series is worth discussion over. |
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stilldemented
 Posts: 232 |
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I am interested in a few shows. I gave a lot more shows a first watch than I usually do a season. So I'll have to agree that there's a lot of stuff worth checking out.
I'm in an amusing situation. I'm actually looking forward to Mayoiga and Re:Zero the most of everything on the list. Guilty Pleasures. It's one of those situations where the concept is more than enough to keep me entertained. With Re:Zero, I want to see how it implements its Time Travel aspect. There's enough going on in the opening for the show to encourage me to keep an eye on it. The show also seems to want to use its characters for more than shipping fodder. So for a web novel turned light novel turned anime...I'm more entertained than most of the shows that follow in those footsteps. I'm willing to give it a whirl. With Mayoiga, I'm just waiting for the shoe to drop. I'm guessing it's going to turn into a mystery/survival horror show. Good. The real tragedy would be for these poorly-handled characters to not be put out of their misery. I do like the Driver just because he's the odd man out on this bus full of crazies. And they are making him crazy. The only other character that interests me is the brown-haired girl who keeps flirting with the MC when she doesn't really like him. Her contrariness makes her appear more multi-faceted than every other character so far. Point is...I'm just going to like this show even if it is technically a mess. 
Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress had a strong first episode. It's got enough going on that I'm willing to stay on the train. It has a lot of the same jazz going for it that Attack on Titan did, but I'm willing to look past that to see where it takes itself. Seems like a pretty cool project. Flying Witch was cute. I love the look of the show. It handled it's material professionally. It invite its audience to coo over the adorable happenings of a witch and her friends in a rural town. It did a lot to make me feel like I was at home. A small town kid in a town where everybody knows everybody. It's pleasant. I've talked about Joker Game somewhere else. Cliffnotes version. I'm not really a fan of shows that have material that takes itself too seriously. I do, however, acknowledge that this show is doing enough things right that it will probably be pretty well received. It's not my shtick, but I'm going to check on it every once in a while. I like the dynamic between the main characters in Twin Star Exorcists. It is doing enough of the stereotypical Shounen material in a refreshing enough manner that I'm willing to stay on the boat. It's doing alright at the moment, but I could see it going horribly wrong. The stylized flashbacks have already started to feel a little too numerous for my liking. That's all I've seen so far. Haven't watched anything that I haven't enjoyed. Solid season is solid. |
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Themaster20000
 Posts: 871 |
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Am enjoying this season a lot so far. It's still very early but a lot of very promising shows.
Joker Game for me has the most potential to the be the AOTS. Iron Fortress is well-produced schlock(not a bad thing so far).Kiznaiver is most likely going to be a train wreck due to Mari Okada;it really comes off like she doesn't know how to get her ideas across without beating the audience over the head with them.This new is really trying his best with this material;he seems to have a great eye for detail and knows how to use the camera well. And then Sakamoto which is just the definition of a half-assed adaption(should've been a short). Still have to get around to Flying Witch and Jojo,but otherwise am pretty happy with the slate of shows. Last edited by Themaster20000 on Fri Apr 15, 2016 8:12 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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bemused Bohemian
Posts: 404 Location: central Mizzou (Moral Oralville) |
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If you wish to condense Hunter X Hunter watching the Chimera Ant King arc might be the route to take. As an antagonist Ant King is quite formidable. What eventually happens in his story line was quite moving, so much so I thought about the series for quite a while rather than the usual instantaneous mind dump where all is forgotten 2 days later. The rest of the series is like a road show: entertaining, just not memorable.
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v1cious
 Posts: 6228 Location: Houston, TX |
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So far this is the best spring in years.
-Loving Joker Game so far, really nice to see a smart spy show. -Mayoiga (The Lost Village is fun in the same way Another was. I'm a huge fan of cheesy horror, so I'm really enjoying so far. -Jojo is Jojo. Everything has already been said. -My Hero Academia is ok, still hasn't blown me away. Kiznaiver is really good, but too soon say where it's going. Kabaneri is surprisingly good. We'll see if it drops the ball later. Concrete Revolucio s2 is delivering so far. Everything is finally starting to come together. As for streaming devices, I highly recommend Chromecast. It's a really nice cheap device that you can just plug into your TV, and you can control it from a phone or tablet. That's how I watch all my anime now. |
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Brand
 Posts: 1029 |
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As an old anime geezer myself the complaints about cost today (expect for maybe Aniplex) are lost on me. *Shakes fist at cloud* Back in my day we spent $30 dollars for a VHS tape and maybe got 4 episodes if we were lucky.
I get Crunchyroll and Funi. I do think Cruchy had worked on making their service more worth it in the last few years. The manga offerings are nice, hopefully, they will get an even bigger library of it. And they have bee working on a decent back catalogue. Funi I get mainly to keep up with seasonal anime, so I just get the sub subscription, which is crazy cheap. I have considered the premium subscription but at this point I can't quite fit it in my budget. But even then those two subscriptions together are cheaper then what it used to be to buy a single tape. And really a lot of anime is going to be a one and done for me. If I'll really love a show I'll get a DVD/Blu ray when it comes out but 90% of the stuff I'm never gonna watch again. So, to me the streaming subscriptions are worth it. Talking about all time favorites I really do hope you guys do a show on HIgurashi. One of my all time favorite shows. It also has some potato animation but I think it is actually one of the more genuinely creepy shows that manages to really keep up the tension. |
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invalidname
 Contributor Posts: 2480 Location: Grand Rapids, MI |
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Also a geezer, reminding myself how much I blew collecting Robotech on VHS at two episodes per tape. Ugh. When that post was making the rounds on anitwitter, my response was wit to compare it to sports programming. To wit: I'm down to really following one team in one sport: Stanford college football ("Fear the tree!"). To follow all of their games over the last few years, I'd need access to ABC, NBC, the various ESPNs, NBC Sports Channel, Fox Sports 1, and the PAC-12 Network. I can get most of this with a DirecTV subscription… with local channels, HD, and DVR fees, our mid-range programming subscription comes out to $100 a month. And DirecTV doesn't even offer PAC-12 network, so there are still games I can't see. By comparison, $15/mo for Crunchyroll and Funimation is a bargain. |
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Parsifal24
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I'm a free user on Funimation, Hulu, and Crunchyroll so I'm a week behind everybody so far Lost Village is more fun for the weird fan theories and over the top performances by some in it than any real writing also some of the cinematography is disorienting.
Joker Game and Bungo Stray Dogs are so far the best things this season although haveing just seen the first episode of Concrete Revolutio: Choujin Gensou - The Last Song that could end up higher by the end of the season. Also picked up some old series I had been meaning to get around to as well to supplement the new stuff as well. Mostly watching whatever looks good and only reviewing one series (Hundred) because I like "fighting School" series and Claire Harvey makes my heart go "Doki, doki. admittedly not the most substantive reason to watch something but oh well. |
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ChibiKangaroo
 Posts: 2941 |
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This is a little off topic, but I am surprised you guys haven't discussed Zootopia in any of the recent ANNcasts (unless you did and I just missed it.) It's such a huge hit and definitely feels more similar to good anime than a lot of the more recent American animation we've gotten (darker, more serious topics, character depth, etc.)
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horseradish
 SubscriberPosts: 574 Location: Bay Area |
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@ChibiKangaroo
They briefly discussed Zootopia in the March Criticproof episode around the 4:11-16:00 mark. An episode about Higurashi would be great, because I don't think a horror anime has been featured on the show yet. I remember being very engrossed with the initial three episodes, but then neglecting to finish the series for some reason. Last edited by horseradish on Mon May 04, 2020 4:13 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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ChibiKangaroo
Posts: 2941 |
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Ahh, thanks, I must not have listened to that part ;0 |
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Ian K
 Posts: 250 |
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Jacob, if you ever decide to give HunterXHunter another try I really really REALLY suggest you give the 1999 series a chance. I know there is a lot of contradictory advice on how to approach this franchise (even in this very thread), but I shall try to state my case as reasonably as I can.
First, I have no nostalgia for any version of HxH, I only started watching the 2011 series a year ago because I kept hearing how good it was, and it seemed like the easiest way to experience the story. I ended up bailing even quicker than you did, and decided to watch some of the older series for the sake of comparison. The difference was like night and day. I then proceeded to watch both series side by side, because I am a crazy person. The reason the older series is so superior is because it takes more time to develop the characters, even going as far as to add scenes and stories to develop them further (some people call this 'filler' missing the fact that it is exactly the opposite). Just one example of many: When Gon meets Kurapika, it is during the underground marathon, and in the 2011 series (as well as the manga) Kurapika says "This is my tragic backstory". In the '99 series, the group is exposed to a hallucinogenic gas that forces them to relive their most traumatic memories-far more dramatic, and a great example of how showing > telling. To make an imperfect analogy, HxH 1999 = FMA 2003, and HxH 2011 = Brotherhood. Just watch the first episode! That's all you need to see the difference. HxH '99 takes the time to show how and why Gon decided to become a hunter, and it turns out that is really important for liking and buying into his character! If you take my advice, here's the best way to watch the show: 1) Watch the entire 1999 tv show 2) Watch the 8 episode Phantom Blood OVA from 2002 (the production quality dips from the tv show, but it still handles certain important character moments better than the 2011 series). 3) DON'T watch the Greed Island OVAs (they look like they were made for a budget of $500). 4) Pick up were the where you left off in the 2011 anime, around episode 59, and watch to the end. |
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