This post was written by Dark_Sage. He is Dark_Sage.
Dark_Sage here with the opinions you need to fix your anime game. Don’t say I never did anything for you.
Death Parade
Oh sorry, I should say not Death Parade.
If your game plan with this post was to scroll past the show titles in the hopes of seeing Death Parade on the list to affirm your good taste and quirkiness, I’m afraid you’re the casual this article is aimed at. Death Parade is the most popular non-sequel airing this season, and the second most popular “new” show overall, just behind Tokyo Ghoul Root A.
The show isn’t even that good; stop being so fucking basic. Here, I’ll help you.
Line ’em up, cowboy
I’ve included the ranks for these shows so the “you’re missing out on” piece in the title isn’t actually the clickbait bullshit you thought it was. Out of 17 “original” series airing this season, this is how many people are watching each one (MyAnimeList #s):
Yeah, Idolm@ster fans, it’s not pretty.
Yoru no Yatterman (Rank #15)
I know getting you to watch this one is gonna be an uphill battle, so let me just dumb the story down a bit and say the show is Team Rocket vs. Evil Robot Power Rangers.
Cool, right? But don’t get the wrong idea. This show’s dark; almost oppressively so. Which, compared to the now-industry standby of “cute girls doing cute things”, is a breath of fresh air.
Even though the show leads you to believe all’s gonna be smiles and rainbows just as soon as the main characters overcome that one final hurdle, there has not yet been an episode with a “good ending”. It’s like a whirlpool of angst.
I’m gonna be (relatively) brief. This is a dark drama about a goofy gang of thieves fighting against a fucked-up dystopia. If you ever felt like rooting for Team Rocket, here’s your fucking chance. If you’re tired of the same paint-by-numbers series where you’ve guessed the ending correctly after 5 minutes, this will also be up your alley.
Maybe this kinda show ain’t your style, and that’s fine. But you don’t have a right to bitch about how moe’s killing the industry if you don’t give Yoru at least a 2-episode shot.
Yurikuma Arashi (Rank #12)
There are people who swear by Mawaru Penguindrum and Shoujo Kakumei Utena — and they’re generally people who have watched more anime than any human should. Yurikuma Arashi is essentially those two series refined into pure, high-quality psychological shoujo-ai. So, you know, maybe the oldfags are onto something.
The only reason I can see for the show being snubbed in the west is that there are girls who get touchy with each other, and you may see some nipple-less breasts.
Yes, the show is sexual, but that doesn’t make it ecchi. And even if it was ecchi, who fucking cares? This is the only show this season with a plot you can’t fully pin down in one sentence. That’s reason enough to give it a try for anyone who wants their anime to be more than dumbed-down flickers on a screen. Try this one on for size, self-described brainiacs.
The Rolling Girls (Rank #8)
Produced by Wit Studio, the same people behind Attack on Titan, The Rolling Girls is basically an AoT reboot with an all-female cast. …basically. …uhh, trust me on this.
Remember how I blasted moe back in the Yatterman section? Well, this show is different. Instead of cute girls doing cute things, it’s cute, dumb girls doing cute, dumb things. But they’re so fucking genki — how could anyone hate that?!
Do I mostly just want this show to become popular so I can get some sweet cosplay shots?
Okay, you caught me. But really, watch it. I’m fucking tired of going to cons and seeing $50 Attack on Titan “cosplays” that people picked up from Hot Topic on day-of.
Saenai Heroine no Sodatekata (Rank #5)
Awkward… cute… awkwardly cute. Oh god, I love this fucking show. Think Monogatari, but without the incest or action. Which, yeah, is the main reason anyone watches Monogatari, but maybe this’ll help sate you till the next one comes out.
Back to the awkwardness — it’s fucking hilarious.
I don’t know if I’d class this show as a comedy — since they don’t spend half their episodes on kanji puns — but it’s close enough that even those of you who watch shitty shows might like this. If I had to call Saekano something, I’d say… reaction drama? Since I spent half my time reacting to it like I was being paid. The show’s really good at bringing emotion out of ya. Or me, at least.
Plus, the characters are so cute together.
So sweet I need some fucking insulin.
~A conclusionary tale~
And there you have it. The top 4 animes to watch this season that you aren’t watching right now.
Hmm… I don’t think I convinced many people with those explanations. Oh well, I tried. Japan market your shows better next time. After about a paragraph I have a hard time writing anything seriously.
Neways, here’s where I’m at with the season (shows are ranked in order of my enjoyment):
Best taste, my taste.
Did you just call me an oldfag for loving Utena and Penguindrum?
Let me put it this way: no one under 20’s even heard of Utena.
Unless they saw the movie.
Zettai Unmei Mokoshiroku!
I’m 19 and I liked Utena quite a bit, but its one of the few older anime I’ve seen so the presentation somewhat diminished my enjoyment of the show. You’re still right though, most never anime fans either don’t know about it or don’t give a shit because it’s old.
Silly D_S, that’s not how MAL works.
I’ll be nice and fix it for you:
1.Death Parade (55,309)
2.Assassination Classroom (38,746)
3.Absolute Duo (29,430)
4.Shinmai Maou no Testament (26,942)
5.Saekano (22,156)
6.Kantai Collection (21,022)
7.Maria the Virgin Witch (19,860)
8.The Rolling Girls (17,331)
9.Seiken Tsukai no World Break (16,976)
10.Koufuku Graffiti (15,237)
11.Unlimited Fafnir (13,823)
12.Yurikuma (13,082)
13.Binan Koukou Chikyuu Bouei-bu Love! (12,676)
14.Isuca (10,985)
15.Yoru no Yatterman (8,270)
16.The Idolm@ster Cinderella Girls (7,295)
17.Sengoku Musou (3,244)
And because I’m even nicer here’s an image with scores:
http://i.imgur.com/VDaePSg.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/wj419iM.jpg
I’ll actually comment later.
Oh yeah, good point. Thanks. <3
Why is MAL’s taste so shit?
Seriously, why is Yurikuma so low rated? In my opinion it’s actually one of the best shows this season, and the soundtrack is killer.
Apparently MAL thinks it’s 6.4 material. For comparison, Black Bullet has a 7.6 and Brother’s Conflict has a 6.7
Brother’s conflict was way lower when it was still airing fyi.
This sorta thing happens all the time. MAL uses two different rating scales. One is used for airing shows. The other is used for completed shows. Because of this, you’ll notice sudden jumps or drops in show ratings after a final episode airs.
More like people only rate stuff when it ends and there’s also people who drop it in the first episode or so and give it a low score which gets cancelled when it ends.
That’s why HunterxHunter came out of nowhere and jumped into 3rd on MAL, people who didn’t like it dropped it early on and their votes didn’t count anymore.
This is what I was implying except you explained it a bit better.
Yeah, these scores are likely to change once the season ends. If you look at the stats for Yuri Kuma, it’s been scored by 3330 users, but 13,100 are watching it and about 1500 have dropped it. If all the people who dropped scored it poorly, then that accounts for almost half of its poor rating and the number of people watching who have already rated it is a small portion of the total viewer count.
Apparently, MAL can’t differrentiate 7 and 8.
They only know 6 as shit and 8 as “more shit”
Yoru no Yatterman has been pretty damn fantastic so far. It’s like Gurren Lagann with significantly less fucking around. It disappoints me greatly to see the likes of Absolute Duo and Fafnir being more popular. But I suppose that’s par for the course when it comes to your typical anime fan.
Also, Fafner Exodus has been pretty nice so far, despite being basically nonexistent to most viewers. But that would require you to watch the first season, which is a bit unfortunate.
Why does the anime community have such shit taste? I ponder that question frequently.
Also D_S, >animes. I have lost a bit of respect for you.
I’ve been doing that since 2011.
http://www.crymore.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Animes.jpg
I know it’s wrong, but it’s funny to me, so I’ll keep at it.
http://i.imgur.com/7juJnMs.jpg
Thanks for the laugh.
Don’t pretend you’ve never said or typed ‘ninjas’, you bandwagoneering poser.
White_Sage was just doing some language crossover with portuguese, you know. Although Tsunami and Tycoon cannot be pluralized, anime and ninja can (in portuguese).
Isn’t yatterman a sequel to a REALLY old show though? I’m holding off because I feel like I should watch the one that aired first…well…first?
It’s not really a sequel in the normal sense of the word (though it’s set far in the future of the original Yatterman series). You get the feeling that you’d enjoy it a whole lot more if you got the references, but I don’t see myself watching 60 episodes of a Japanese children’s show just for a minimally better experience of one aimed at adults.
I’d liken it to The Woman Called Fujiko Mine, or Gatchaman Crowds, where it’s just fine as a stand-alone series.
Alas, I thought it was just a dated show, didn’t know it was for kids…
Yeah, I wouldn’t bother with watching a single episode. I haven’t either; just don’t have the time for that.
Dark_Sage, you fucked up. You’re supposed to post shit anime and pretend you think they’re good, but you’ve posted the three best anime of the season and Saekano, with is actually pretty good. Are you ill?
Why is this post here.
Crymore’s code is… broken. Somehow. And I’m not really sure how to fix it, or how much it’d cost, so I kinda just… leave it alone and hope shit doesn’t get too fucked up.
It’s also maliciously turning “which” into “with” in my posts in an attempt to discredit me. Have you listened at all to the The Blue Hearts songs that covers of comprise most of The Rolling Girls’s soundtrack?
I guess I’ll pick it up if that’s the case, thanks bby
After watching the first 3 episodes of Rolling Girls I don’t know what to do. I love the color scheme, character designs and it’s original…but also kind of boring.
Well, it’s like an adventure anime more than an action one. So you have to be in that mindset when watching it, otherwise you’ll probably get disappointed.
I’ll have to add YnY to my watch list this season. The other three don’t really seem to be my type of show, but I might give them a couple episodes.
I mean if they’re not your kinda show, don’t bother. This isn’t exactly a season with anime that will convert people into liking new genres.
Lemme know how YnY turns out for ya.
I got 3/4. Thanks for reaffirming my great taste with yours once again sage-chan.
Yatterman is def. my favorite show of the season. It’s quite a shame no one ever talks about it.
I’m only watching Durarara x2 and The Rolling Girls this season because it’s Durarara and I accidentally saw The Rolling Girls ep 1 fight.
I was planning on adding Yuro no Yatterman and Yurikuma Arashi later on since I’ve heard they’re good but I just wasn’t motivated to know what it was actually about.
The thing I liked in The Rolling Girls is it’s colorful fight scenes. The normal life in this show also doesn’t try reflect our own world so it doesn’t feel otaku/chuunibyou-ish.
I didn’t get around to working out which shows to watch and which to drop until about the 3rd week of this season. Overall I feel the quality of new shows this season are pretty mediocre. There are a few reasonably stupid-but-fun shows (e.g. Assassination Classroom; World Break; Absolute Duo; Testament) but they need to become a bit more if they’re going to hold my attention.
I wanted to like Saekano, but episode 00 just rubbed me the wrong way and I haven’t bothered to watch any more.
I didn’t even start watching Death Parade because by the time I got to it it was a few weeks in and people were already complaining that it was just essentially doing the same thing over and over.
OTOH there are quite a few shows I’m continuing to watch from last season (and earlier e.g. Kami-sama Hajimemashita), and I’m looking forward to April when some more shows return. And there are a few new shows this season which show promise (e.g. YnY, YKA) and I’m hopeful that I’ll stick with.
>animes
Why DID you drop Bouei-bu anyway? It’s not like they kept doing food related stuff.
Simply because I assumed the first episode was a good representation of the type of “humor” I’d find. Was I wrong? Is it actually decent? Cuz I’ll trust your opinion on this one.
I would say to give episode 3 a shot. If you still aren’t on board by that point, then drop it.
Aight, I’m putting all the faith in humanity I have left in this.
Well here’s a small sample to see if you will be interested or not: http://a.pomf.se/rkaxud.webm
(Yes I know the audio is messed up)
Isn’t this supposed to be a 120% gay cartoon? (no, seriously)
The problem is it’s not even gay, it’s fujobait. So they’re not even going all the way with the joke; because the creators think they don’t need to – or worse, that they shouldn’t.
But then again, they’re just banking on the renewed mahou shoujo craze and the success Free! had. The show is empty wave-riding. Of course it’s shit.
Someone tell me when another mahou shounen appears. Negima kinda counted but it’s kinda shitty. Ushio to Tora might count, but it’s not really the style I’m looking for… Arata Kangatari was rather disappointing but it gets close to what I want.
Do Bleach counts as Mahou Shounen? I mean, they’re transforming and shit.
Watching 4 of 4. Thanks for the validation ;D
*High fives*.
I’ve been watching all of these, this really was clickbait!
Well then, you can rest assured that you have good taste, my friend.
To be honest though, I wouldn’t really say people are “missing out” on Saenai. Replace with Fafner and you’re all good.
Well, it was ranked lower before PP corrected me. Wouldn’t have put a Top 5 in the post, but after I’d written about it, I wasn’t about to scrub it from the post. :<
Fair enough. I didn’t realise you updated the list to PP’s.
Your top 5 is the same as mine (although in a different order), so I think I can assume you have good taste. Gonna give Yoru no Yatterman a chance.
Will pick up Yoru ty yet again Sagey
Absolute Duo and Shinmai Maou no Testament being in the top-5 most watched of the season is disheartening, to say the least.
This list is sexy. Shabadadu.
Does the Crymore 2.0 policy include BuzzFeed-style post titles?
Other than this one, probably not.
My dream is to become a ship designer and possibly a weapons inventor.
The fact that you don’t give two fucks about Kantai Collection means that I won’t be naming one of the weapons based on your name, Sage-chan… ;_;
It’s not that I don’t care about KanColle.
…but I don’t care about KanColle.
Disconsidering the leftovers Akatsuki no Yona and Shirobako, IMHO my 4 best animes would be.
– Junketsu no Maria
– Kantai Collection
– The Rolling Girls
– Saenai Heroine no Sodatekata
Nice list, by the way! ;-)
“Disconsidering” isn’t a word, but ‘”disregarding” is.
>Junketsu no Maria
>Junketsu no Maria
>JUNKETSU NO MARIA
Gah, now I’ll have to have a look at Yatterman, as I’m watching the other three already… On that note, why hasn’t there been any fansub review for the show yet? Cthuko is subbing it too. Get to work, man.
I expected the worst out of Saenai Heroine, but it’s been cracking fun up to now. Also I’d add Maria to those four, it’s been quite entertaining up to now (yeah I know you don’t like it).
Oh my god, I fucking hate it. I’m probably missing out on something, but it takes a lot for a show about sluts and shotas to turn me off.
Dog Days?
Son of a bitch, I failed at commenting on my own blog. That post was directed at Alex’s “Also I’d add Maria to those four, it’s been quite entertaining up to now (yeah I know you don’t like it).”
Ah well, maybe I’m too easily amused – but, for example, I’ve been laughing my ass off at the incubus mishap alone, and they keep building on that. Also the show manages to pull off sex jokes without actually being lewd.
But hey, I don’t want to sell Maria to you, just wanted to note that I like it…
Maria is really one of the better non-sequels of Winter. It’s #5 in my personal top 5. Don’t really see any reason why the show would turn someone off.
The question for me is more “why would this show turn me on”. The first two episodes offered nothing for me, so dropped.
From the new stuff I’ve been watching
KanColle, Death Parade, iDOLM@STER and Yoru no Yatterman are the only ones I’m fully up to date, I’m also watching Koufuku Graffiti, Rolling Grils and Yuri Kuma Arashi but I’m stuck in episode 1 for those 3, not because they are bad or anything, well, Rolling Girls kinda dissapointed right off the bat and YuriKuma is pretty weird but I know I’ll enjoy Koufuku Graffiti a lot it’s just that maybe they haven’t had the best timing coming out and were left behind, not dropping anything though.
I’ll catch up to everything between today and tomorrow though.
KanColle is a mess, pure fanservice for the players, has its actually good moments but they are way too few and far in between, just recently someone died and someone was sad about it and whatnot and 5 seconds later there’s a bunch of girls dancing and singing, good job guys, nailed that one.
Death Parade is decent, not much to comment, I find the concept weird but it works.
iDOLM@STER is also a bit of a mess but the MCs are strong and pull it together and its good moments are closer to each other, it’s just that the other idols just seem so fake, I have a feeling they are actually all really depressed inside and that depresses me too when I see them trying so hard, and not enough P-san, what a load of bullshit.
Yoru no Yatterman is just I don’t even, is it a comedy? A action series about saving the world? Coming of age? Parody? All of them? I don’t know and I bet the show doesn’t know either, I like it for what it is but I saw a lot of potential in this from episode 1 and it’s not really using any of it and I’m kinda sad, I wanted this to be the series that’d blow everything out of the water and prove once again that MAL has shit taste and the best series are the underwatched ones but I’m not feeling it that much.
And I sure as hell ain’t watching Saekano, I feel insulted just looking at the MC and thinking he has a harem “I’m supposed to self-insert into that? I know I don’t have that much self-confidence but give me a break”, that goes for the other harem highschool magical girlfriend bullshit series this season too, man, I just feel like they are making fun of me.
The thing about Saekano is that it intentionally relies on tropes and archetypes for comedic effect, so it’s not really accurate to lump it in with crap like Absolute Duo and Sister Testament. Personally, I don’t love the show or anything, but it’s at least worth a shot as long as you don’t judge the entire series by the fan-service heavy episode 0.
My ranking for the new stuff so far this season so far is:
#1 Rolling Girls – Genki girls roll around helping people out in some kind of crazy anarchistic Japan+that opening
#2 Yurikuma Arashi – Gao gao
#3 Yoru no Yatterman – I call it Yoru no Best Korea
#4 Maria the Virgin Witch – Comedy gold
#5 Shinmai Maou no Testament – Expand dong
Going to give YnY the 3 ep rule after reading your opinion, it certainly interests me.
So of the creme of the crop, I have the choice between a show that makes me cringe, a show that is silly, and another show that is silly. (Neither of those are Yurikuma Arashi)
This season gave me a grand total of one show to watch. My expectations remain unsurpassed.
This season is just a shadow of the upcoming Spring 2015.
What are you looking forward to?
Sidonia, GITS, Baby Steps, Sarusuberi and Lupin immediately stand out for me. Couple others which could be interesting, but we’ll have to see.
> Makes a jab at people who want to appear quirky
> Submits list bragging about how he’s the quirkiest of everyone
Thanks for the suggestions anyway, yo, I might look a few of them up.
You hyped Yatterman, now it’s got like a 6.8 on MAL.
Now, MAL as a collective has shit taste, this is known, but 6.8 is still pretty low,
Was the show a flop, or do the high schoolers who seem to make up most of MALs userbase just not understand it?
Also, which sub-group did you find was the best? You never did a review :(
Cthuko. MAL is objectively wrong about Yatterman. Fucking casual trash.
Thanks for the recommendation.
Regarding MAL, I hoped and expected that to be true, but such a low rating could have been earned by a mediocre second half/conclusion, so I needed to ask.
Ugh, they’re on episode 9, releasing an episode a month, yuck.
I agree that the MAL score for Yatterman is pretty inaccurate. If anything, it should be lower. That show’s plot meandered around aimlessly with obnoxious characters, terrible comedy and skill-less tone shifts. The last couple episodes are kind of cool, though, despite some very curious recycled footage.
Death Parade was a pretty bad show, so I won’t disagree there. Rolling Girls was pretty average, in my opinion, because it suffered from Wit Studio and their crappy pacing. Didn’t watch anything else on the list.