APR for Spring 2016 shows?
1. Concrete Revolutio
2. The Lost Village
3. Flying Witch
4. Diamond is Unbreakable
5. Kiznaiver
2. The Lost Village
3. Flying Witch
4. Diamond is Unbreakable
5. Kiznaiver
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Ask @B0bduh
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Do you know what shows you have this season? Sorry if you already said, I couldn't find a definitive mention.
If you mean the shows I'm covering for ANN, they're Orange, Mob Psycho 100, and Planetarian.
When you were posting your Keep on Vibrating piece, werent you reflecting on how did you go from writing about the greater human spirit and hope to... well.. porn... weird porn...?
Eh, I'm pretty used to writing about both very good and very bad material. Between Wandering Son, Planetes, and Penguindrum, I'm actually covering a ton of highly rewarding stuff right now.
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Pablo Romero
Robert Hopper
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We're now three episodes into LL! Sunshine, and i feel like it's already done a much better job at establishing its characters as kind-of-real anime people than the original, which in turn has made the drama and comedy aspects much better. So how do you think it stacks up to the original LL! so far?
I think it's an improvement in almost all respects. I actually feel its characters are even more cartoonishly goofy than the original, but I think that's a very good thing. Love Live is at its best when it's leaning into being a campy do-your-best musical, and lively characters like Dia and You really enable that. The fact that the show is simultaneously pulling off some of the most well-articulated emotional moments of the franchise so far is actually kind of remarkable. Sunshine is basically "Love Live, but even more so" from top to bottom, which is great to see.
how was Modest Mouse?
Really good! They've frankly made too many albums, and too many post-peak albums in particular, for me to hope for any specific songs, but I was really impressed with the balance they struck. Multiple songs from both Building Nothing Out of Something and Moon & Antarctica was a great surprise, they didn't play very much of the new album, and the songs they played off Good News were really great choices - The View and Black Cadillacs in particular are both very strong deeper-cut songs. At this point, they've very gracefully transitioned into a stadium rock band; it was almost a little weird to see how well songs like Ocean Breathes Salty could be adapted to that atmosphere.
I like that so far, with the rat and Petshop, Jojo seems to be focusing less on the comedy aspect of an enemy animal Stand user and more on just how alien they are in comparison to the usual fare. All a rat wants to do is eat and with zero moral compunctions. You can't reason with a rat or a hawk.
Yeah, agreed. It particularly made for a nice changeup in comparison to the rest of this arc - Diamond is Unbreakable has mostly featured goofy and ultimately understandable human opponents, so an enemy that was a strict survival-focused killing machine was a good change of pace.
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Eelz
I feel like Amanchu and Flying witch have similar appeal as atmospheric "healing" anime, but you dropped Amanchu after enjoying Flying Witch. Can you talk about what differences you see between the two shows that led you to this decision?
They're in the same genre, but I basically prefer all of Flying Witch's specific variables - the relatively grounded setting and style of dialogue, the slow-burning and often deadpan sense of humor, the cast, the overall aesthetic. Amanchu is a perfectly competent production, but Flying Witch presents a world and tone I'd much rather visit.
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GJ Corban
Shahzeb Mangi
Paul Chapman
Rose Bridges
Would you edit "I came, I saw, I conquered" down to "I came, saw and conquered"?
No, I'd edit it down to "mine now."
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GJ Corban
Shahzeb Mangi
Eelz
Another Bystander
Malcolm Loo
When it comes to evaluate the quality of an anime do you think you can judge 2 different shows on the same criteria such as "complexity of the characters" or "ambition of the story" ? Or is it nonsense to you ?
Different shows have different goals, and if we're going for "critical judgment," then shows should be evaluated in terms of how well they achieve their own goals. Of course, different people also feel various goals are more or less meritorious in the first place, which will influence our assessments of shows as well.
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Shahzeb Mangi
Eelz
Another Bystander
Rm
Thoughts on this blog post? https://myswordisunbelievablydull.wordpress.com/2016/07/10/how-to-recognize-a-terrible-anime-in-just-one-episode/ (ignore the video)
It's a solid piece! Very fine close read of its two chosen premieres, and a kinda obvious but undoubtedly true thesis - premises are meaningless, and a first episode's execution will almost always tell you whether a show is worth following.
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Aluido
Shahzeb Mangi
Another Bystander
GJ Corban
Eelz
Hey Bobduh, what if all these light novel adaptations create a future in which anime watchers are unable to understand worldbuilding if it isn't delivered through "as we both know" dialogue? Could we survive such a future?
I'm pretty sure we're already there. I'm already seeing complaints like "Orange is bad because the show hasn't explained how its time traveling letter works." Stories are dead, long live exposition.
I'm wondering, will you watch the second episode of First love monster since you liked the first one but found out you could have been wrong in your understanding ?
Nope. I've heard that the manga actually does take their "relationship" seriously, and I have no interest in watching that.
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Kittykatstar
Shahzeb Mangi
Eelz
Another Bystander
which show are the alst anime pictures on your feed from? seems legit
Orange, which is going up now on Crunchyroll.
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GJ Corban
Honest question: do you feel sometimes that you have to write more positively about the shows that people donate money towards on your website?
Not really! I do feel a little awkward slamming stuff that people commission me to write about, but I've actually given a fair number of current projects middling or even wholly negative essays in the past:
http://wrongeverytime.com/2016/02/22/missed-chances-in-colorful/
http://wrongeverytime.com/2016/05/02/the-loneliness-of-denpa-teki-na-kanojo/
That doesn't really happen with full series, but I kinda figure that's because people tend to keep contributing to the shows I seem really enthusiastic about. But you can look forward to an extremely negative article on Keep on Vibrating coming up soon!
(incidentally, the one time I /do/ feel like I was legitimately "performing enthusiasm" was when I was doing episodics for Kill la Kill. but that was a while ago, and it was a pretty dispiriting experience, so I've tried to avoid ever doing that again for my own sake, even beyond the fact that it results in bad/misleading writing)
http://wrongeverytime.com/2016/02/22/missed-chances-in-colorful/
http://wrongeverytime.com/2016/05/02/the-loneliness-of-denpa-teki-na-kanojo/
That doesn't really happen with full series, but I kinda figure that's because people tend to keep contributing to the shows I seem really enthusiastic about. But you can look forward to an extremely negative article on Keep on Vibrating coming up soon!
(incidentally, the one time I /do/ feel like I was legitimately "performing enthusiasm" was when I was doing episodics for Kill la Kill. but that was a while ago, and it was a pretty dispiriting experience, so I've tried to avoid ever doing that again for my own sake, even beyond the fact that it results in bad/misleading writing)
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Eric Yen
Eelz
Kori (Jonas)
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GJ Corban
Wich Love Lives or Overwatches would, in your objective openion, be the best moms
Well now Overwatch just added an ACTUAL mom, which isn't even fair, but NozoEli are still two of the best moms in the anime kingdom.
How often do you watch the OP/EDs? Does it differ when watching weekly vs several eps in succession? I just feel like they're a waste of time after viewing once.
It depends on the show. Some shows actually use their OPs/EDs to contribute to their mood in a meaningful way (see: basically every Yuasa show), but for most shows I tend to skip them.
thank you for reminding me about the super puppets show. it is good that we have the super puppets show
It is indeed a very good thing.
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Eelz
GJ Corban
Another Bystander
Do you think there's this weird overlap where your views on a certain subset of shows mean that you get yelled at by both MANLY MEN WHO ONLY WATCH MANLY THINGS and feminists who think that "moe" means unrealistic infantile characters that are sexistly-written etc etc? Strange bedfellows.
Eh, I feel like it's mostly the first group that gets mad at me. Most of the more consistently feminism-focused members of my twitter feed are too busy talking about which Love Lives or Overwatches are the best moms to get angry about people liking the wrong shows.
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Eelz
Hitokiri
Another Bystander
Patrick Duggin
What do you think of the new Kotori face?
It's a weak imitation of the original, but You is already such a superior character to Kotori in all other respects that I don't really mind.
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Lorelei
Eelz
Another Bystander
Kittykatstar
So even if there was some sort of romantic stuff happening between them you'd be okay with it as long as its well-constructed?
Probably not, if the show framed that as a positive development. The power dynamics involved in a relationship like that are inherently unhealthy, meaning I'd personally feel pretty distanced from the show's worldview, and it'd also just be very outside of the things the show is already good at. It'd seriously taint the whole "found family" thing that's going on right now.
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DIGITAL@MUGI
Eelz
GJ Corban
Pablo Romero
Another Bystander
Is there any good romance anime you could recomend me? For reference, I like shows like Monogatari, Oregairu or KyoAni stuff.
Spice and Wolf, Katanagatari, Toradora. And Hyouka, if you haven't already seen it. Also possibly White Album 2.
Thoughts on last Sweetness & Lightning?
Almost as consistently charming as the first, and I'm very happy to see Kotori's place in the narrative is working out. I was a little worried about her relationship with Kouhei initially, but the show and Kouhei specifically are clearly aware of those issues, and Kotori is clearly just a lonely girl who wants more time with something like a family. It's looking to be an excellent show all around!
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Eelz
GJ Corban
Student no.0
Haven't seen you talk about JoJo in a while. What are your thoughts on the Rohan two parter we got along with the character himself?
Haven't actually seen either episode yet! I am behind on every single thing I did not need to cover for preview week, and also anything that has had a second episode since.
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Eelz
Spencer Williams
It always strikes me as odd when someone says "you overthink the shows you watch" when I talk about directing and stuff. What is your opinion on that ?
That basically translates to "I don't like to think about shows on a craft level and it offends me that you do it," which is not a very flattering sentence for anyone to actually articulate.
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Shahzeb Mangi
Another Bystander
Xythar
Eelz
GJ Corban
People keep saying its a weak season, but it feels like there are 5 or so good shows and then another couple based on genre preferences. Is it really a weak season or is there just a larger number of crummy shows that skews the average?
Yeah, it's a fine season. With Mob Psycho pulling off a strong premiere, there's now basically something for everyone. All we're really missing is a Conrevo-style Big Themes show, but hey, maybe Urobuchi's puppets are secretly brimming with pointed observations on human nature and society.
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GJ Corban
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