Winter Anime Roundup
So here I am, astoundingly talking about anime on another occasion that isn’t the end of the year. You must be thinking, why is this asshole blogging actively? Simple! An anon seemed to enjoy my yearly anime in review, complimented me and got me thinking about reviewing stuff again. So after little thought and some boredom I thought, what the hell, a seasonal roundup review isn’t that time consuming, I can do this!
Format is simple, I’ll go a bit more in depth than during the yearly review and I’ll talk about all the things I watched. Now let’s get started!
Active Raid: Kidou Kyoushuushitsu Dai Hachi Gakari
So first we have the first half of Active Raid, the cop action anime of the season. I was hesitant to watch Active Raid because the art style was a bit outside my strike zone, but I’m glad I gave it a chance. While the series was mostly predictable and episodic it was a very solid anime with good animation and music. I particularly enjoyed the final two episodes, particularly the twists at the end. Overall, I’m happy with the outcome and am pleased to see it get a second cour in the summer.
Ao no Kanata no Four Rhythm
And contrary to Active Raid, Ao no Kanata no Four Rhythm got me purely on its art style. I liked how the girls were designed, the animation looked silky smooth and with a focus on sky scenes (I’m a fanatic for anime with good sky art) I was suckered in. The story was slice of lifey, which I’m a fan of, and the characters were mostly written well, with few exceptions here and there throughout the season. They added strife and trial to the two main girls, which I understand comes with the territory of a “sport” anime which it somewhat is, but it seemed a bit forced at times, which was off putting, but their resurrections after their tribulations were magnificent which allows you to turn a blind eye to the poor character development. While I hoped to see the male protagonist take the skies in a match and not just briefly, I’m satsifed with what I got from this anime at least, unlike a certain anime toward the bottom of this list... -glares at phantom world-
Boku dake ga Inai Machi
Let me start by saying I binge watched this a day after it finished airing, and boy oh boy I think that was the wrong way to watch this anime since everything felt predictable and not tense at all. Had it been weekly I might have been plagued by doubt of what was going to happen and been more excited to have my theories proven right, but watching it all at once made me feel a little disillusioned. NOW, this isn’t to say I didn’t love Boku Dake ga Inai Machi, it was a fantastic story, riveting characters, painful moments, and gut wrenching family connections. It made me cry at least once and it was very well written. I just feel that either I lost some of that mystique watching it all at once or people may have over hyped it.
Dimension W
I will be the first to say I didn’t like the art in Dimension W. I don’t know WHAT I didn’t like, but it just wasn’t in my sweet spot for the art. So that was a no-no for me. What I did love was Kyoma’s character, he was very well written, strong, and resilient with a touch of sensitivity shown throughout the series. It can be rare for those strong silent types to be written well, so it was a sigh of relief for Kyoma to be. I also like Mira because she was just so many levels of adorable. I do hope we get more of Dimension W because I feel there's a lot more they can do in the world and the characters were all likable.
Divine Gate
Man... this anime huh... I literally only kept watching for two reasons. I love the opening with a passion and I hoped that Aoto would get some glorious final battle with amazing animation that would make me feel justified in watching the series as a whole. I was disappointed with a lackluster finale and vague memories of what happen in the anime as a whole. Its a shame that such a pretty anime was just a cluster fuck of story and pretty characters with no real plot or direction.
Durarara!!x2 Ketsu
AND THIS IS WHERE DURARARA REDEEMED ITSELF! The final season was a magnificent work of art and story telling. It made me feel what I felt during the original Durarara! It was a wonderful finale for the series and I’m happy to see all the plot lines mostly closed up and finalized. For those that gave up on the series during the first or second part, power through and make it to this season. Everything starts coming full circle and people start making their moves that they’ve been plotting the entire season. Its a beautiful conclusion to a wonderful series, it makes me glad I powered through the first two parts.
Gate: Jieitai Kanochi nite, Kaku Tatakaeri 2nd Season
Gate season 2 does not need an introduction if you watched season 1. If you liked the characters and the action and the JSDF in season 1, you’ll love them even more in season 2. The story and the stakes get higher this season, the darker sides of war and politics rear their ugly heads and we begin to see the more horrendous part of war tactics. While the JSDF retains glory, they are crippled throughout the season be it by their own government or by the locals. It was a wonderful second season and I couldn’t have asked for more. Also Leilei besto-girl, waifu #1, Itami confirmed husbando during this season.
God Eater
And the final episodes of this series is what the series should have been to begin with. Action action action nonstop slaughter and chaos with conspiracies in the background. I loved the final episodes of God Eater, which they followed the games slightly closer and made strides to connect to the game so they could make a season 2 should they ever be inclined. Though Super Saiyan Lenka with transformer master God Arc is bullshit, had I had an arc that had fucking millions of final forms the game woulda been laughably easy.
Hai to Gensou no Grimgar
You either loved or hated Grimgar. You either loved that it took time to build a world or bitched that it was going too slow and that them being scrubs and not being able to kill a gobo was pathetic. I, am of the party who believes this was a magnificent anime with perfect pacing showing how REAL people would have to adjust to becoming monster slayers in a new world and the struggles. I could go on for pages, but I’ll try to contain myself. I loved the characters in the series, I adored how beautiful the art was, though the opening and the ending took the cake for best art sequences of this season I think. The story while some say slow, I thought was well paced since it showed growth of the characters without bullshit power ups (though some say Haruhiros final attack of the season might be one, I say its fine). The music was great, if a little overused. And the series was not afraid to make death a very real threat, as shown early in the series. (I still hurt from that first death.) I sincerely hope we get another season since I’ve caught up to the light novels and volume 3-8 are where the story really picks up for you action and speed seekers. And I have to say that volume 3 is one of the most powerful moments this series can offer and I would love to see that in anime form. (Disclaimer: no they aren’t translated, I can read very very slowly in Japanese with the help of google and my very very rudimentary understanding of the language.)
Kono Subarashii Sekai ni Shukufuku wo!
Fuck man, this was a sleeper hit of the most magnificent kind. The otaku hikamori continues to be a loser but becomes a competent loser in this new fantastical world? Fucking hell that’s new, normally they get overpowered or stay shit, there's never a middle ground is there!? FUCK!? Why was this so good you may ask? Because of this one reason. I loved all the characters besides Aqua, and Kazuma was glorious with his odd ball set of skills. I must admit I never expected to love this series as much as I did, but it was hilarious, action packed, and the small amount of fan service was pretty good. 10/10 would ROFL again.
Musaigen no Phantom World
Guuuh. This series was a disappointment til the final episode with Hachiko’s HARUHIKO’S super summon. I went in thinking, this can’t go wrong, its from the same studio that did Hyouka, Chuunibyou, Haruhi, and Clannad! Fuck was I wrong, I was crying bitter tears by episode 4 when the story was everywhere, the characters were written all over the place, my hatred for Ruru was escalating along with my disdain for Kurumi. I hear they were both anime original and that only Reina, Mai and Koito were in the light novels, and I wonder why they though this loli and fairy were worth adding. The three girls I just mentioned along with Haruhiko were fine in my opinion, but adding these extra elements seemed to throw everything out of balance and make this series a clusterfuck. God damn. GOD DAMN IT! I wanted to love this series, the music was top notch, I love Kyoto Animations art work and it looked beautiful, but it was just so awful. God damn it...
Saijaku Muhai no Bahamut
At least this disappointment I saw coming a mile away... At least I wasn’t hoping it was good. This was harem laced fan service with a story I couldn’t quite comprehend. Maybe my negative feelings to start with blinded me to the story and I should give it another chance later on. I liked the male protagonist at least. He didn’t seem to be a pushover to his harem and seemed a little more aware of it growing into a harem. Maybe I do need to rewatch this later with a more open mind. Or maybe it is bad and I just need to stop myself from watching shit like this (not happening since I think 3 this season are similar).
World Trigger
Fuck this was longer than I expected it to be two years ago. I picked this up thinking, “Oh this looks cool, it will get a cour or two and that’ll be swell.” 73 episodes later and that cour was not a cour and man oh man was this a great anime. Minus the fucking anime original filler which was trash. The first half of the anime was a wonderful build up to the first war/invasion. All the fights were rad. The animation was generally very smooth. The plot and story seem to be on a steady path. The characters are all likable and I could name at least a vast majority with confidence, which proves that they are memorable and likable. The second half was trash and if you need to know it starts around 47 and ends around 64. You’re welcome. The third half is very good as well as it follows the manga, with the rank wars escalating further. I hope to see more World Trigger some day in the future.
And that’s the Winter roundup, overall, quality season with a few stinkers, though I guess I’m getting a bit pickier with what I pick up. Hopefully this is an enjoyable read! Season you around June for the Spring roundup!