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I wish they'd go and officially announce the third season of Konosuba already.

Though a continuation of Space Brothers in anime form would also be nice.

I don't agree that you will like SAO if you like, for example, Dune. I love Dune mightily but thought SAO was pretty darn poor. It really does come down to characters. If you liked SAO, it might be because you

Anvildude wrote:
don't think the characters matter one whit.

Although, specifically with regard to Dune, I kind of see the point. Quite a few of the characters of Dune are not very interesting in themselves; they're more interesting in the sense that they represent the major institutions of the setting.

Wow maybe anime would be a good medium for telling Dune!

Anvildude wrote:FranXX is aparently good-ish. Someone I talk with on Discord sometimes was watching it, liked it enough. It's the steampunk-y looking one, right?

I think you might be confusing Darling in the FranXX with Violet Evergarden (kinda steampunk-ish). FranXX started with a lot of sexual innuendo and allusions but it calmed down (I don't laugh at the strange dialogue and phrases anymore). It's well animated (Trigger's working on this with A1 Pictures), character and mecha design are cool, and it could make for a good series but it's in that awkward world building stage where any other progress is a bit slowed down. It'll apparently have 24 episodes so they don't have to rush it.

Violet Evergarden seems to be about a child soldier/woman and her life after the war in a society that has steampunk elements. She also had a hard time understanding emotions and takes stuff a bit too literal. It's really, really slow paced and while she's trying to understand stuff it feels a bit like we are learning more about the people around her and not her. It's really beautifully (Kyoto Animation) with lots of subtle character animation (not too exaggerated). Maybe it's something to binge for people who don't have the patience for every episode to be so slowly paced.

AduroT wrote:Speaking of Log Horizon, are we getting more seasons of that one?

There's always Honobono Log

LordofHats wrote:Unfortunately when adapting other works the Anime is often seen as a merchandising/advertising opportunity and there is rarely an interest in adapting the full series unless it's something monstrously popular.

Boku no Hero Academia's coming back in April (I think).

Yeah Boku no Hero Academia seems set to take over some space left behind by the end of Naruto and Bleach

Black Clover might end up there as well. I find it rather generic in pretty much every way but it's pretty popular in Japan.

There's one of the cool things about SAO. Apparently everyone gets something different out of it.

I totally agree with Templar on "Fantasy" being a wider genre than most believe, but I still think that Speculative Fiction (scifi) is its own thing, characterized by a focus on what-ifs and the differences between the fantastical world and the 'real', whereas more general Fantasy is more focused on the classical narrative. Like Manchu said, many of the characters of Dune aren't particularly important due to who they are, but more for what position they fulfil in the society of the story.

And that's what I liked about SAO. It was the intriguing questions and explorations of what reality is in a setting with full VR. The love story was sweet and sappy, but not the focus.

To that end, I actually significantly disliked the SAO abridged series- and I normally love Abridged series'. It just... removed everything I enjoyed about SAO in favor of turning it into a snarkfest. Similarly, I couldn't get into Log Horizon, even after a full 12 episodes.

I really ought to watch .hack// one of these days. I've seen bits, but it seems to me one of those anime that requires beginning-end watching for plot reasons.


So is FranXX the one with the awkward sex-sling piloting rigs for the mecha, then? 'cause that one looks like a strange combination of Eureka7 and Evangelion, with a nice heaping helping of Infinite Stratos.



Dune would be fantastic as an anime, as long as it's one of the slow ones. Though I shudder to imagine Baron Harkonen.


And yeah, My Hero Academia is definitely the next "Big Three". We still have One Piece, so I'm curious what else will step in to fill the gap.

My problem with .hack is you don’t get the end of the story in the anime. It ends on a giant cliffhanger and you have to play thru four JRPGs to get the rest of the story. Also annoying amount of the action happens off screen.

 LordofHats wrote:
Black Clover might end up there as well. I find it rather generic in pretty much every way but it's pretty popular in Japan.

The only thing that isn't generic about it is the godawful voice acting by the person who plays the main character. I cringe every time he opens his goddamn mouth (which is all the fething time). It is easy watching though.

I haven't seen Overlord but have heard repeated, good things about it, should I check it out?

Has anyone watched Rage of Bahamut or Rage of Bahamut Virgin Soul? The latter is exceptional (though the sequel, the Mrs and I watched them in the wrong order) and the first season seems decent so far.

I enjoyed the first season of SAO and watched some of the second season (maybe all of it, I forget) but it was the same story rehashed.

Apart from the aforementioned Overlord is there much else considered excellent that I may have missed/are recent releases? I've seen the usual suspects; Bleach, Naruto, My Hero Academia, One Punch, Attack on Titan, Cowboy Bebop, Trigun, Parasyte etc

I quite enjoyed the Bahamuts.

Overlord is ok. It’s basically an anime of level capped players setting up shop in the newbie starting area and curb stomping everyone. It teases awesome fights but then they always end up So one sided.

Full Metal Alchemist, Gurren Lagann, and Kill la Kill are all quite exceptional. I’m fond of Soul Eater but that ones not as widely loved.

 AduroT wrote:
I quite enjoyed the Bahamuts.

Overlord is ok. It’s basically an anime of level capped players setting up shop in the newbie starting area and curb stomping everyone. It teases awesome fights but then they always end up So one sided.

Full Metal Alchemist, Gurren Lagann, and Kill la Kill are all quite exceptional. I’m fond of Soul Eater but that ones not as widely loved.

Lol apologies, I should have been more clear before as I've seen all of those you've mentioned. FMA Brotherhood I consider to be the best anime that has ever been made bar none. To me it is perfection. FMA isn't bad either.

Gurren Lagann is up there also.

I tried Kill la Kill but I felt there was too much unnecessary fanservice?

Soul Eater I really enjoyed.

Thanks for the response mind! Overlord seems less interesting now lol.

 LordofHats wrote:
Yeah Boku no Hero Academia seems set to take over some space left behind by the end of Naruto and Bleach

Black Clover might end up there as well. I find it rather generic in pretty much every way but it's pretty popular in Japan.

The manga, yes. I cannot see how the anime can be popular, as its pure ear cancer.

Anvildude wrote:So is FranXX the one with the awkward sex-sling piloting rigs for the mecha, then?

Yeah, that's FranXX. It looks good and is animated well. I'm still optimistic even though some metaphors and naming schemes feel a bit simple/forced/uninspired (I don't really know how to describe it). I hope there's an actual interesting in-world reasoning for that and not just the type of half-assed "reason" Kojima had for Quiet in MGS5.

 An Actual Englishman wrote:


Thanks for the response mind! Overlord seems less interesting now lol.

That was a poor description he gave.

The "Main Character" is uber powerful and is basically a level capped player curb-stomping noobs. But what is really interesting is the dynamics between all the NPCs he is in command of and encounters through the season. And really its easy to forget this is a "Trapped in a video game" anime. Meanwhile, the main character is grappling with losing his humanity and becoming his avatar.

It's barely even a 'trapped in a game' anime. It's more "What if the Big Bad were competent?", since the menus and stuff haven't been showing up that much.

Anvildude wrote:
It's barely even a 'trapped in a game' anime. It's more "What if the Big Bad were competent?", since the menus and stuff haven't been showing up that much.

Yeah. Which is something I like about it.

Its more of a "What if the game is real and you were part of it?"

Both you guys:



It also helps to point out that the player character is anything but competent when it comes to certain aspects. He may have a creepy understanding of how skills, abilities and magic work, but social interactions and thinking ahead in terms of how certain remarks or actions may affect things long term.. NOPE!

Yea, I watched a few eps and it is a little intriguing.

I'm trying to figure out if he's actually trapped in the game or if his consciousness split or something once the server was "shut down".

Is it complete, are there multiple seasons?

Bit dodge when he's sitting there fondling his NPC boobs mind lol

 An Actual Englishman wrote:
Yea, I watched a few eps and it is a little intriguing.

I'm trying to figure out if he's actually trapped in the game or if his consciousness split or something once the server was "shut down".

Is it complete, are there multiple seasons?

Bit dodge when he's sitting there fondling his NPC boobs mind lol

Its based off of an on going manga, so there will be more seasons depending on how well the manga performs.
From what I observed, Anime adaptations are seldom based on a finished product; they only do a few chapters at a time per season. If the manga doesn't sell then there will be no more seasons as its considered to not be a viable investment.
Overlord seems to be pretty popular, so it might get several seasons.

 CthuluIsSpy wrote:


Its based off of an on going manga, so there will be more seasons depending on how well the manga performs.

The series started as a web series and was published as a Light Novel. Apparently (as I have not read it) the original story barely contains Momonga at all, and focuses almost exclusively on the NPC characters with the "Overlord" as a background figure. That actually sounds more interesting to me but I ain't complaining. Overlord is fun.

From what I observed, Anime adaptations are seldom based on a finished product;

As I suggested earlier, from a business standpoint they're often viewed only as advertisements/merchandising opportunities for the original work. Ratings for the anime have to be high for anyone to invest in subsequent seasons as the anime is rarely viewed as a end unto itself. Having ongoing adaptations is a big sign of just how popular something is usually as you can count the number of actively ongoing anime adaptations on one hand most of the time.

Overlord seems to be pretty popular, so it might get several seasons.

The ratings for season one were pretty high, but I'd be doubtful it'll get more than two. Very few light novel adaptations make it past two series/seasons, and Overlord isn't remotely close to the popularity of Full Metal Panic, Monogatari, or Slayers.

That said the anime has already apparently made marked departures from the source material so they're hardly bound to it. They could come up with their own ending or material to give the anime closure.

Considering The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, a show that literally saved the anime industry and ushered in the light novel adaptation boom that lead to stuff like SAO, only got two seasons and one movie, leave little hope anything should get more.

The exception is the Monogatari series but that's exactly what it is, a freakish exception.

They are in the middle of season two, which is a little different. Its being told more from the perspective of other characters in the setting and not the main character. It is quite good so far, so here is hoping they continue it to a third or fourth season.

I’d rsther see more seasons of No Game No Life. As big a hit as that one seemed to be and it also gets nothing more.

 AduroT wrote:
I’d rsther see more seasons of No Game No Life. As big a hit as that one seemed to be and it also gets nothing more.

Seconded.

Okay. So the second half of Fate/Apocrypha hit Netflix and all I can say is damn did they really pour effort into some of the fights at the end of the series. Even if you don't like the Fate franchise if you like cool fights the series is damn worth it.

Pretty much everything in episode 22 is made of win.

So Overlord...

What has been seen... Cannot be Unseen!

So.

Watched the first six episodes of two new shows, both of which have great production values and are embarrassing to watch.

Darling In The Franxx: This is a show that asks how close to literal a metaphor can get before it stops being a metaphor. The character designs are really nice. The mecha designs feel like jokes and, in episode six (the latest one) they might actually have been confirmed to be jokes. There's a sudden GF plot complicated by the notion that the sudden GF might be killing the protagonist, who wants to be with her nonetheless because (and here's where that metaphor is super strained) he can't get it up with anyone but her. I guess the worldbuilding might make watching a few more episodes worthwhile but ehhhh ... probably not.

Citrus: Superficially, this show is just lesbian exploitation yuri bait. Yet deep down it isn't just about two step-sisters foolin' around. I think this is a story about horny teenagers confusing the basic human need for emotional sympathy and companionship with, ya know, being horny teenagers. What's nice about the show is how the protagonist is sufficiently self-aware to wonder about what she's feeling and why. The main character and her friend are pretty charming. Is that enough to keep watching ... ehhhh, probably not. But that's where the close ups of chicks making out comes in, I suppose.

I wound up adding Mahoutsukai no Yome to my watch list, which is a nice is a nice blend of slice of life (of some sort) with a good helping of the whimsical and fantastic.

Now if only Chise could stop passing out and coughing up blood all the time..

There's also Dagashi Kashi S2, which is enjoyable when you ignore the candy promotions.

 Manchu wrote:


Darling In The Franxx: This is a show that asks how close to literal a metaphor can get before it stops being a metaphor. The character designs are really nice. The mecha designs feel like jokes and, in episode six (the latest one) they might actually have been confirmed to be jokes. There's a sudden GF plot complicated by the notion that the sudden GF might be killing the protagonist, who wants to be with her nonetheless because (and here's where that metaphor is super strained) he can't get it up with anyone but her. I guess the worldbuilding might make watching a few more episodes worthwhile but ehhhh ... probably not.

I thought about watching this, but pretty much gave up the moment I saw the mecha design. It's seemed to me so lazy that I assumed the entire thing would be lazy.

The mecha designs are silly and - franxxly speaking - ugly compared to the slick character and set designs. What's downright lazy are the monster designs.

Today's episode of Overlord..

I've been looking forward to this bit a lot, especially as the manga is still busy with this part of the story.

Well it's just turning out to be a great month for fans of Kinoko Nasu. Fate/Grand Order (a mobile game) recently did a crossover event with one of his earlier visual novels Kara No Kyoukai (Garden of Sinners) and apparently as part of this Type-Moon just released the film series based on the game onto Crunchy Roll in the form on a 10 Episode Anime series.

This isn't an action packed series filled with zanny characters and wacky powers quite like Fate. It's slower and focuses more on paranormal mysteries and the psychology of its primary character who is able to "see death" but it is part of the same universe as Fate and many of the concepts of the series concerning magic apply. If you'r familiar with the third wheel of the Nasu-verse, Tsukihime, Touko Aozaki is a major character early on in Kara no Kyoukai (EDIT: She also might appear in Heaven's Feel depending on how the films follow the visual novel's routes).