This post was written by Dark_Sage. He is Dark_Sage.
I’m six episodes into the 13 shows I haven’t yet dropped, so I figured I’d bestow my perfect opinions upon those of ya who aren’t lucky enough to be me.
Worth Watching
1. Kekkai Sensen
Trigun was awful, so when I got the news the douchetwat behind it was responsible for another series, I had to hide my fucking Maker’s from myself, elsewise I woulda drained the bottle in an hour of coping. Luckily, Nightow actually gained talent as he grew older, in what I like to call “the reverse-Watanabe”.
There’s no forced hippie bullshit in Kekkai; just a fun romp through a New York City inhabited by aliens. The tone’s on point, alternating between drama and comedy with ease, and the characters are more than throwaway tropes. About the only bad thing concerning Kekkai Sensen is that I’ll never be able to fuck a wolfgirl like Sumeragi, unless I’m prepared to get into some science I don’t quite understand.
2. Shokugeki no Soma
You thought an anime about people orgasming from eating food would be bad? What kinda sexless beast are you? Loosen that belt and trim your fucking fingernails; this show’s about as close as most of you will get to experiencing what it’s like to be in my presence. Fast-track it to watch status.
3. DanMachi
I still like Loki best, but goddamn if this anime isn’t all about Hestia and her boy toy, Bell.
You wanna tell me OTP wasn’t coined for these two? Try it. No matter how much you lie to yourself, you can’t lie to me.
4. Arslan Senki
This one comes from behind, like that one friend of yours whom you just know rape kits were invented for. Arslan has an exceptionally slow start, considering how most shows seem to be taking the “let’s make sure the first cour we do is hype as fuck and then wait to see if people buy enough blus to justify a second cour” approach. With A. Senki, there’s no doubt the show’s built to hearken back to when stories were expected to be told in 24-episode chunks, and when the payoff was big for the investment.
…That’s a long-winded way to say shit sucks until episode 5. But it’s a (so far) morally grey, character-driven drama that isn’t afraid to kill off its cool characters to advance the story, which is respectable considering how safe-space most action anime you’ll see are.
What, you liked Akatsuki no Yona? Well the spiritual successor’s here and it has even more fujobait.
Throw this in a marathon with Shokugeki and take the next day off. You’ll thank me for the foresight.
Worth Watching If…
You’re a pedophile:
Houkago no Pleiades
This show’s hype as fuck, and I’m not sure why I like it, considering I’ve determined I have no interest in kids. I guess it’s because it’s just a really cute story about a group of friends growing up and having actiony fun together, without being sexualized to the point of causing you to seriously re-evaluate all the decisions in your life that led up to that point.
You only watch episode 1:
Punch Line
Edge of Tomorrow, but with anime. Try not to think about how Japan could fuck such a concept up, and then cry into your glass when you watch episode 2 in hopes that I’m lying.
Right now, the only good thing going for the show is episode 6 will allow you to smugly look down on any SJWs who dismiss the show without getting to that point. Though, you probably do so already, so…
Yamada-kun and the Seven Witches
A romcom that makes fun of harems? A Yahari worth watching?! Sign + me + up.
…un + sub + scribe.
You only care about the main character
Mikagura Gakuen Kumikyoku
She’s really not enough to carry this show, but if you’re like me, you’ll keep watching with desperate enthusiasm. Surely her shoulders will broaden enough; that scarf’s like fucking advanced weight training or someshit.
Not Worth Watching
These shows all suck. You’re welcome to argue about it, but I can save you the effort and let you know ahead of time that you’re wrong and arguing with me is like arguing against a wall of facts. Sexy, sexy facts.
Still (somehow) watching:
- Triage X
- Kyoukai no Rinne
- Hibike! Euphonium
- Ore Monogatari!!
- Owari no Seraph
Dropped before episode 6:
- Plastic Memories (at episode 4)
- Show by Rock!! (at episode 3)
- Gunslinger Stratos (at episode 3)
- Etotama (at episode 3)
- Re-Kan! (at episode 3)
- Denpa Kyoushi (at episode 3)
Irredeemable:
- Nagato Yuki-chan no Shoushitsu (Dropped it at the point Haruhi goes all “yeah, Kyon, I’ll change me hair for you, how do you like it now?” Fucking wow. Way to fucking ruin my love of the franchise entirely, guys. It stings even more considering original series was my favorite anime for about 6 fucking years.)
The aniotaku who confuse me the most are the ones who act all elitist about really shit shows. On a completely separate note, nice list!
They confuse inaccessibility and slow pacing for depth. It must suck to be that mired in ignorance.
“yeah, Kyon, I’ll change me hair for you, how do you like it now?”
u wut m8
I’ll have to fix that when I get to my hotel tonight.
Unfortunately, my internet was awful while writing this, so I ended up having to make the call between posting it right before work (without another pass) or hoping that when I got to fanimecon tonight, I would be more interested in writing than shenanigans.
If that’s my only fuck-up I’ll consider it a miracle.
But yeah, fuck what they did to Haruhi.
I’m surprised you survived two whole episodes of Denpa Kyoushi actually.
I usually watch 3 to 4 episodes before I decide whether dropping it or not, but in this case, watching 2 episodes of it is a huge waste of time. Droppeded.
Believe it or not, I know people who legit like it *cough*Caly*cough*.
Each to their own, I guess. Not that I’m implying anything. ʕ •́؈•̀ ₎
I found the first 5 episodes of arslan senki wayyyy to boring :/
Might as well drop it then. It’s not for everyone, but then again, most anime aren’t.
Can you tell us real quick which sub-groups your watching which shows with?
Arslan: HorribleSubs
Danmachi: HorribleSubs
Shokugeki: FFF/HorribleSubs
Kekkai Sensen: Vivid/HorribleSubs
I won’t wait for a fansub group’s release to watch a show, but if I have both available I’ll go with fansubs over HorrribleSubs.
Ah.
I found the first few minutes of horriblesubs Arslan to be incredibly stiff and formal sounding, I assumed it was a bad translation and have been trying to wait for FFF to do better, but they seem to be stalled…
If you’re using my viewing choices as a metric of quality, you’re going to have a bad time. I prefer speed to quality for personal viewing, cuz I can always archive the good stuff.
Oh, I assumed someone who spends all there time nitpicking the differences between various sub-groups releases and determining the best one would be really anal about watching a show with the best release possible.
My mistake :D
For me, there’s so much stuff I haven’t seen from past seasons, books to read, and games to play, that I’m usually okay waiting for the archive worthy material. Unless it’s a historical show like Yona, Arslan, Morbito, etc. I’m all about that genre, I can’t wait any longer, gonna have to start arslan with the inferior subs.
Kaitou isn’t a significant improvement, from what I saw, and they’re really far behind.
While I’m happy to wait weeks for significantly better subs, Arslan is fine with just HS. Funi even bothered to research period titles and uses them appropriately, which is impressive for them.
I was really hoping FFF would be the group to go with, but I think they’re stalled at episode 2.
wat? FFF didn’t release any episode of Arslan and they are not planning to.
Yep, I’m frustrated that they are stalled at episode 02 of SNAFU and misremembered it as Arslan.
My b’.
Where is Gintama, motherfucker?
I’m not nearly 30 years old enough to watch Gintama.
I thought you were 53
Nii-chan, I’m 17.
Is that in cat years? Yeah, it is. You and nekos have a history.
I love Plastic Memories but I usually like those kinds of shows anyway. I do like Owari no Seraph (pacing fucking sucks though).
Watching Triage X because it fills a dead day… sidenote: holy crap is it a messed up show.
triage-x was cool,and one of the more underrated shows
Apart from calling Shokugeki no Soma and Danmachi anything better than “meh”, and thinking the first episode of Punch Line was any better than the subsequent episodes, I don’t really have anything to disagree with.
Watch the new Tesagure; that’s AotS. May get more out of it if you’ve watched S1 and S2, but then you have to contest the gauntlet of the subtitles ranging from non-distracting to literally-unedited shit.
NIGGA
MY NIGGA
tesagure is gr8
I dropped all of these shows at episode 0. :(
Gunslinger has so many good premises that describing it to someone makes it sound awesome: 100 years in the future, there is a strange worldwide pandemic, and worse, there are transcendent beings that require two teams of the same people from parallel universes to battle to the death for the survival of the world. oh- and a team earns power ups for their weapons when they win a battle.
Yet, I leave an episode feeling unfulfilled, and at this point, I just want to see the conclusion and get it over with. When I try to explain this, I’m a bit confused as to why. I know I have an opposite situation with Kekkai Sensen: I don’t expect much of it, but I end up getting a lot out of it.
What about Yahari S2?
I’ve wanted to pick this but I’m unsure if I go with commie or HS? Any advice?
Considering that Crunchyroll actually had translation errors in Oregairu S2 recently, you might not want to go with HS.
Preach it!
I don’t get it. The phrase itself is supposed to be an insult or annoy. I can’t find it being appropriate to the situation. Could somebody clear this up for me?
Says when it saying “preach it” an insult? What?
since* fucking phone
I guess I’m in the wrong here. It sounds like an insult for me. Heh, sorry for being an ESL.
Think of it as “Agreed!”
Well, it’s pretty clear to me now. Thinking back in time, I thought it was some kind of sarcastic response when I first heard of it. And I never even heard using it on casual conversations. So I was wrong for this whole time.
In all fairness, I’ve never heard anyone use it in real life either.
I get the feeling it’s a Southern (US) thing. It sounds like the kind of response someone from the Bible Belt might give.
Said fansubber. xD
UTW is spreading same shit for Fate… oh, c’mon. Who would trust random amateur? Long story short – only some retards from Nyaa.
Simulcasts are way more trustworthy. Simple as that.
3/10 low quality bait try harder
Also, it’s other people that are bringing that point up, not me.
Fucking even redditors have realised the CR is shit for Yahari.
This is one of the many cases where I LOVE standing corrected. I thought BBB and Arslan were gonna suck, and what a damn enjoyable surprise when they seem to be delivering on all fronts.
Now I have to find time to keep watching…
…I’m not on board with Souma. It almost feels like the author is trying to justify making something over-the-top ecchi by going the extra mile with the plot – “you can’t criticize me if I’m delivering good quality”. Yes, yes I can. I’m not a man afraid to say I’m not turned on by ecchi; so of course I’m gonna find fault on Souma. Put that away from me.
i don’t give a shit about the ecchi
it’s just a well-made, fun show
the ecchi isn’t like what you’d find in to love-ru or anything, it’s just to heighten the comedy and ridiculousness of the scenes
i think it’s extremely tastefully done, tbh, and souma shines as one of the best shows this season
>tastefully done
Oh, you!
I know it isn’t “that” kinda ecchi. I don’t care. I’m not saying this as some sort of “prude”, I’m saying this as a man who is tired of seeing producers and authors shoehorning ecchi unnecessarily into things that could stand on their own without it and still be great; tired of seeing things being sold around only because they’re raunchy and NSFW even if they’re absolute and irredeemable crap; not to mention the onslaught of fans who speak like they consider lube a necessity for the enjoyment of anime.
I’m sick of “sex sells”. Sex only sells because media creators make people think sex is supposed to sell. Am I less normal for not succumbing to the sexual overload? Of fucking course I’m less normal, I know it, I’ve known since day 1. But that doesn’t make me less tired.
No one is gonna be able to come up with anything that could make me want to watch Shokugeki no Souma. I can’t sympathize with anyone who would call it one of the best shows of the season because I can’t help but think the exact opposite. But it’s OK, I’m aware the show has its good (its very damn good) points and I don’t think people should stop watching it. There are other shows, though, that I think people should stop caring about. Highschool DxD, anyone?
No, sex sells because human beings are extremely sexual creatures who can often universally relate to sexuality, varying by culture. A significant amount of the human race likes to see sex, so it’s only natural that people flock to things that have the thing that they love seeing.
>I can’t sympathize with anyone who would call it one of the best shows of the season
I’m watching it for the food. I made chaliapin steak last week and it was delicious.
I don’t know if it’s the best show, but it’s the most delicious. The fanservice scenes are funny and I can really appreciate how they describe the “feel” of food, as a supertaster.
Yeah, they’re more fun than anything else. Nobody’s watching the show for them.
DxD is . . . targeted at a specific group of people that know what they’re getting into.
Overall, Huesudo, you need to chill. I know you have to sharpen your internet edge by going against the grain and saying Souma sucks, but nobody’s impressed.
On the other hand, if you’re serious (spoiler: you aren’t) then you’re missing out on one of the best shows of the season because of a hard line you arbitrarily drew yourself for poor reasons at best. I’d argue that’s worse than the DxD fans, who admit what they enjoy and shamelessly watch it.
You know what else I’m tired of? “There are no differing opinions to the majority, only people ‘sharpening their edge’.”
Yes, I’m 100% serious about Souma. I know I’m missing out on a really good show on a technicality, it’s just that said ‘technicality’ reminds me of what I don’t like about the anime industry. Like Asher said above, people like to see sexy stuff, I agree with that. But sadly for me, that doesn’t apply to me. And it’s a shame, and I know it’s a shame, because it deters me from being entertained by things that are genuinely entertaining. Like Shokugeki no Souma.
Like I said before, Souma would still be great without the raunchiness because IMO it has MUCH more to offer, and the raunchiness is always available elsewhere. And like I said before, I’m not against people watching the show and liking the show, because it has a lot of things to be liked. It’s really good. But I stand by my point that I can’t relate to people who like it and watch it because we just think differently. I ain’t bashing, I’m just venting.
In SnS, you know that the food is great when they get naked while reacting to the food lol. I do watch ecchi but if I find it pretty distracting more than entertaining then I would drop it. Though, SnS doesn’t even close from crossing the line.
Really good food can actually feel like fireworks going off in your mouth while having an orgasm. But better.
I wouldn’t describe food that tastes like horrific explosives-related injuries as ‘good’, but maybe that’s just me.
The author of the manga is a former(idk if hes still doing it, actually) hentai/doujin artist, so uh, id expect there to be lewd things lol
Same goes for the author of Yakitate Japan, but that instead had lots of
homo jokes and manservice
…for some reason
What, you were fine with male fanservice, but can’t stand the mainstream stuff? I think your problem is that your rampant homosexuality has led you to repulse the female form.
I kinda like Kyoukai no Rinne… although it could just be because it’s Rumiko Takahashi’s work. It’s like watching a remake of Inu Yasha. Just needs a sexy female ninja.
I’m willing to model for that if anyone wants to give me Rumiko’s contact info.
Good Worth Watching list, D_S, especially Arslan.
>Show By Rock!!
Pls, this one is underrated, the OST is awesome, though I agree on everything else in the last list :v
*anything else beside Show By Rock I mean
I would love Show By Rock if it weren’t for the CG.
At least the CGI isn’t that frequent.
I’m not crazy about the CG either, but aside from the first episode, CG isn’t usually onscreen for more than a minute-and-a-half per episode. Also, some episodes don’t have any CG at all.
Eh, Shokugeki no Souma doesn’t really call out to me. I mean, it’s okay, but I don’t get the hype all around it. Maybe I’m just burnt out on food anime, Koufuku Graffiti left a bad taste in my mouth after all.
I’m also not feeling Kekkai Sensen, it doesn’t seem to have any overarching plot or anything to tie it together, and the episodes aren’t as unique and fun as Space Dandy or Darker than Black for it to really work as a show with independent episodes.
At least Owari no Seraph is such a hilariously bad trainwreck it’ll stay entertaining until the end.
Generally agreed on all of these, though I doubt I’ll end up un-dropping Arslan because of this. Fujobait isn’t really my thing for action shows, and that aside the 90s OVAs still exist.
Speaking of dropped shows, I’m moderately disheartened Etotama is on that list. I think it’s definitely one of those shows that really becomes watchable once you start doing so ironically (a la Punch Line). Then again I’m a sucker for shows that basically wear their lack of plot integrity as a badge of pride, and this just fit that description better than any other show this season, so yeah… (Also I’m not doing to argue against that SBR drop because yeahhh. Frankly, I go with orz releases just so I have something to distract me from that cg. On the bright side, it actually works.)
Also on the other side of the drop spectrum, I have to say I’m impressed that you lasted three whole episodes of both of the A1 animes. I suppose Denpa Kyoushi is one thing since that had a REALLY noticeable drop in quality that episode (on top of the one the episode before), but GS? The fact that you made it past the first episode is nothing short of amazing. I know I didn’t and I LIKED the game.
First of all good list, second is the one little fact that bugs me for some time now is, that after over 2 years of reviewing you still push your opinion on others too hard. You should be either objective or subjective in your reviews, stating what you disliked in a certain anime, pointing those facts out. And not pushing your hate towards a series on other people.
Where’s the fun in that?
>going to someone’s blog without expecting them to be pushing their opinion
Why?
Maybe cause you dont expect that every person making a blog is a an Elitist and a childish troll. There is already a ton of such people on youtube, going around amv’s and opening songs from a certain anime they dont like, just to post spam insults on those who liked it.
If for some reason you dont like elitism why not go to the hugboxes where people will respect your opinion no matter how wrong it is?
Private blogs are exactly that – private. The bloggers opinion is that only one that matters, and they have every right to shove it at you, as well as to whether they should even look at your comments or delete them.
You, as the consumer, have the right to just not visit anymore.
I, for one, enjoy DS’s blog as it is one of the few places on the internet that tell you which fansubs are good and which are bad. Not only that, but he shows specific examples of where fansubs failed or succeeded. It’s totally different than a place like Nyaa where these unseen translators (who I’m really starting to think is just herkz who likes to pretend he knows Japanese) pretend to review shows and give their reviews with no details provided as to why.
Point me to a quality review you’re hoping for me to imitate, please.
But, this is D_S’s site, not some troll going to other people’s youtube channels to shitpost.
As an outsider, I don’t think he is doing anything wrong by showing his opinion even if he is being snarky about it. I disagreed with one show and he didn’t jump all over me, if he did (seriously not in jest) then I may agree that there was an issue. And “no you are wrong” is not enough, it would have to be dog piling or threats to be kicked/banned, that is forcing an opinion.
But, #1, his posting has no effect on what anime, light novels, Manga, or products come to the outside world. His posts won’t make or break a company.
Elitism? Where do you think you are, son? Fansubbing has always been rife with elitism. That’s not really what D_S does though. It’s more faux-elitism if anything, playing to the gallery and grinding Commie’s gears in the process.
As others have said, it’s his blog, he can do whatever. His “reviews” are more interesting than the bulk of what’s out there, even if it’s well-established that his taste in animu is pretty shit.
>either objective or subjective
Um… what?
I’m more surprised by the fact that you’ve been reading his reviews for two years, and still don’t really get this style of humour. The insulting is pretty exaggerated.