BashZeStampeedo

The word you're looking for is more along the lines of "asshole", not "pretentious". Yes, I am an asshole. No, I'm not doing this because I'm trying to impress anyone with my pointless opinions about our silly cartoons. Edit: Frankly my posts *should* annoy you if you want a more detailed analysis or full-blown review or something, because they're only intended to be my basic impressions. They're far too short for anything more than a shallow criticism. But if people want something more rigorous, I'm open to it.

Well yeah, you don't need to be "smart" to know when your inner bullshit detector is going off, do you? That's one of the clearest signs to me whether a show is actually trying to entertain you, or is just trying to distract you enough to let you entertain yourself. If the show knows its limits and tries to not set off your BS detector, or at least revels in the BS for the sake of entertaining you, then I'm a lot kinder to it. When my BS detector is going off and it feels unearned (or worse: like I'm being asked to make my own entertainment) then I get harsh.

This. People just wouldn't shut up about how original, creative and thought-provoking it is when it's really not; it's just a decent repackaging of classic junk into a fairly solid popcorn anime. The way some people talk about the thing made me feel sad. It was like listening to people who had never sought anything stimulating in their preferred medium of entertainment before. Basically the same thing as with those people who saw the Matrix and thought it was deep.

Nah. Less experienced viewers consider it amazing, because it's full of Shaft-isms, children in dramatic situations, and the kind of faux-depth that most viewers like. Just don't fall for all the hype about it, and you'll be fine. It's not bad, it's just a bit weird, with stuff that evokes Pink Floyd's The Wall, and those fat-faced anime characters that not everyone likes. Don't expect to like the movies if you like the series, and vice-versa - most people who enjoy one a lot dislike the other, for some reason.

I'd say watch the first one, then skim through and watch just the bits that interest you until the episode where the OP changes (ep13?)

The *initial* episodes are similar. Not 50 of them. If it bothers you that much, skip ahead until you see stuff you don't recognize.

Well I *did* say that the two anime were similar at the start, but that they differ after that initial run of episodes

To be fair, it may be tough to classify us as "adults"

That's just it. You have to keep your eyes open for the good stuff, not just roll with the popular opinion. And you have to find what joy you can in the rest, be it being critical, or trying your best to get back into a younger mentality. For instance, who here even knows about the Rakugo anime, or The Great Passage? They're fine anime for adults, but they go unnoticed because we're too busy ignoring them in favor of trying to focus on the popular stuff for whatever reason.

That's kind of like asking if adults watch or read stuff based on comic books The answer is "yes". There are anime for kids, teens, and adults (though not as many for adults as the former). Adults tend to be more critical of anime, though, because they've seen it all before.

You might also get a kick out of Chi's Sweet Home (and its sequels), Poyopoyo Kansatsu Nikki, Kanojo to Kanojo no Neko, and Kuroneko (if you can find it).

The older FMA and newer one have a slightly different tone, but share a similar start because the older series was made before there was enough manga to finish adapting. Because of that the older series' story is kind of a mess, but some people prefer the tone, feeling the newer series isn't as mature in some way. I don't really agree, as I think the older series is only superficially more mature, and both are basically glorified shounen anime (just probably the best shounen anime yet made, and don't really just aim for that demographic alone). It's likely worth watching both if you enjoyed one of them, as they're effectively alternate takes on the same premise.

Hey, we've all got our Game Grumps or whatever to cheer us up. Lord knows the latest few seasons of anime struggle to entertain as much

I'd say "Psycho Pass season 2", but I'm not in the trolling mood (everyone seems to hate 2 compared to 1). So maybe watch the PP movie instead (I'm not sure if it comes after season 2, though). Or if you're still in an introspective mood after PP, try Mushishi?

Well well. I didn't expect Konosuba to have two relatively decent episodes in a row. Or for Kobayashi to feel so lifeless. Kobayashi's Dragon Maid (4). disappointing. So... do I praise them for being able to at least remain thematically relevant with their extreme filler, or blast them for reducing this to a glacial sludge? In the end I don't think I have the energy to do either: this episode just sucked all the life out of me like some moe vampire. By the time the all-Kanna-all-the-time segment ended I couldn't tell where the pandering ended and the manga material began. Even for a slice-of-nothing fan like me that segment was really pushing it, stretching 2 minutes of manga into 15 minutes of borderline tedium. Then they chose a segment that felt clumsily chosen to liven up the proceedings, but didn't impress. Not only was the pacing choppy (rather than snappy), but they also ruined Saikawa's character by having her be so confrontational that I actually wanted to see her learn her lesson. They even skimped on the animation for the dodgeball fight. Lame. The one thing I liked over the manga was that Kanna forced a catchphrase, but I don't think the translation was consistent enough for the joke to come across (not that I hold that against the anime itself). Konosuba S2 (4). mild pulse. Man, I really have to hand it to the folks who can take this crappy writing and actually turn it into something resembling a comedy. It's base, repetitive, predictable as all hell, and frankly just shy of atrocious, but when they aren't also phoning it in, these guys can really pull off a miracle: the return of Darkness was actually pretty amusing (also pretty awful, but I'm willing to look past that after Dragon Maid's fumble). As with the last episode they were just shy of nailing some hilarious material, this time with Kazuma. I can only imagine what they could have pulled off if they weren't haphazardly cobbling together a lot of little ideas into something that almost worked. And so I salute you, unsung heros that can make crap like this viably entertaining in spite of itself. Your dedication to salvaging this trainwreck will not go unremarked (even if it's still a trainwreck).

Not a bad anime comedy showing tonight, though Demi-chan really struck out badly with me. Konosuba S2 (3). mild pulse. I was set to hate this episode when they began it by lamely repeating the "explosion montage" sequence from the first season, but thankfully they finally got around to doing something funny again. In fact, this just missed being a gem in my books. The first half was relatively fresh for Konosuba, with solid character humor that wasn't too aggravating. It all served as excellent setup for a punchline that they unfortunately dragged out in the second half. By the time they delivered that punchline I had imagined how much better it would have been if they had taken better advantage of Aqua's "attention whore" aspects. The director still salvaged it with some good delivery, but man: if they dialed it up to 11 properly this ep would have been something sweet. Gabriel Dropout (4). mild pulse. The obligatory beach episode, but one that focused on their relative strengths again, without trying to lamely hide behind fanservice. I can't say that the humor was all that good, but it was fun enough to pass the time. They're not forcing it as much as Konosuba and so the results are something without the highs or the lows. But in this case, I think that's fine. I can't help but wish they upped the ante a bit and were more brutal with their teasing, payback and revenge, but I'm not about to ask the world of such a simple moe comedy. It's watchable as is. Demi-chan wa Kataritai (4). cringe-worthy. Ooof. This was awful. You're a show about a guy who has an openly creepy relationship with a bunch of highschool girls... what makes you think you can turn on the waterworks and act like some after cheap after-school special? It's lame enough to see a "bullying" subplot that's about possibly the tamest form of bullying possible, but to wrap it up in a single unrealistic conversation? All for some girl we know nothing about? And why aren't you at least picking topics related to the premise of the show instead of generic highschoolers' issues? That's not even counting that you immediately jumped from that drama to "comedy" about a kid's boobs pressing up against her horny teacher. Have some fucking dignity. I couldn't even be bothered to continue on after that. Dropped.

Wait.. she was wearing clothes? (Double-checks). Well I'll be damned.

Nope, but it's at the top of my backlog

Nice to hear that you're still on that, Fred Turns out Gabriel Dropout isn't as bad as I would imagine. Not that it's particularly good, but it has some potential that they're flailing with. Gabriel Dropout (1). mild pulse. The first half of the episode was really shaky, but as they established their core cast it became a serviceable little mindless comedy. They struggle quite a bit with pacing and build-up, but at least they seem to understand the basic character dynamic and know how to deliver a punchline (when they have one). It's also not as phoned in as Konosuba has been this season, so I'll take what I can get. If you're willing to shut off your brain and just relive these classic jokes, it's fine for what it is. They even managed pick the right voice actress for Satania, making her come across as more adorable than cliched. I just hope they have more than 2 or 3 episodes of material. Gabriel Dropout (2). on the fence. This was actually pretty darn fun. Decent (albeit standard) anime comedy, good character chemistry as a trio, and solid delivery. Hell, Satania's fast becoming "best girl" material for me. It was a good idea for them to skip right ahead to the trio dynamics instead of focusing on Raphiel. With just a little more spice and creativity, this might actually be a show I would laugh out loud at, and without reservations. My chief concern is that I can see it easily getting stale, as they're not really putting that much of a spin on the usual anime gags, which means they're likely to go the Konosuba route and start repeating gags or drawing them out. Especially with Raphiel's character. But we'll see. Gabriel Dropout (3). disappointing. As much as they played to their strengths in the last episode, they focused on their weaknesses in this one. Did they at least improve on those weaknesses? Nnnnope. I had hoped the first half of the episode was just setup for a better second half, but it was all quite underwhelming. Gabriel hit Umaru levels of unlikable, and they didn't give her the righteous comedy comeuppance that would have salvaged that. The rest of the humor was weak too, with broad stretches of tedium. More than half of the episode was devoted to a single pathetic joke that only served to remind us that Vignette is the only nice one in the cast. Yeah, we know, that's her only quality so far. They even reneged on giving Raphiel some depth. I really hope they try harder with the next episode. "Our characters sure are one dimensional" isn't a joke on its own.

Yep. Same here. Then I remember who's making the anime and feel conflicted

Come on... how else would Akko get to fly around the world in 20 seconds on her new broom in a comedic, slapsticky kind of way? Plus she already fought a Godzilla-sized chicken with the power of nagging, so this is nothin'

Sure, we'll see. I remember feeling about the same way with both of those series, just instead of "obnoxious harem crap" they had "obnoxious slice of nothing crap" (even if I prefer the latter). At least I feel a bit better about the shows I watched tonight. Little Witch Academia (2). on the fence. Here we get examples both of the screenplay's cleverness, and its lameness. For once, I'm going to focus more on the good, because Trigger have shown themselves to be competent with cliches, so that stuff doesn't concern me as much. Moreover, they're still improving their craft as time goes on. Not only do they at least try to plant details before letting them bloom, but they also tie it all together (albeit way too conveniently). It's almost like they have one screenplay team to do the grunt work, and one to try to elevate it a cut above. Attentive viewers will notice little touches like a particular character being in the intro in the first episode, hidden in plain sight. Inattentive viewers will at least see that the focus here is on characterization, not just wasting your time with flashy effects and lame dialogue. That is, generally appreciable qualities which help the slightly clumsy storytelling along. Little Witch Academia (3). on the fence. I guess the director for this episode had ADHD or something? It was frenetic to a fault. In fact I think I have a love/hate relationship with this franchise. I can't tell what Trigger wants it to be. Whatever it is, they're clearly having the same infectious fun with it that they generally do with their series, so I'm happy enough. But it really doesn't strike me as anything special when they're just flitting from cliche to cliche while doing their usual shtick, either. Especially when they just suddenly go for broke with immersion-breaking comedy sketches. They at least have just enough hints of a little more depth in there, but they're still pretty cookie-cutter. I find myself worried that it'll just end up being another Kill la Kill style wank-fest. Fun, but tiring, and not really amounting to much when all's said and done. It's the curse of not living up to the expectations you set for yourself, and making your viewers have to settle. Kobayashi's Dragon Maid (3). typical. Speaking of settling... should I settle for "meh" with this one? Yeah, I guess I might as well. It turns out that without the more glaring flaws of the earlier episodes, KyoAni has pretty much turned this show into anime Wonderbread. I'm borderline okay with that, as this is serving well enough as a sleep aid, but it barely even feels like the manga anymore. If you're going to veer this far off the path, it's generally a good idea to add a bit more "something" to the proceedings. Sure, Kanna's adorable and all (surprised they didn't have her circle around like a puppy before sleeping), but it's not enough to carry a series. What I'd really like is more of what they did with Fafnir, where they improved that video game joke by having him fighting against a dragon. I feel the source material deserves at least that level of effort, rather than merely being stretched out in case there isn't enough material to fill out a whole season.

I suppose we'll just have to wait and see. I've got one more episode in me before I write it off completely (plus it's not like Non Non and Flying Witch were all that great either).

Yep.

If you insist (but you're wrong)