Kiznaiver

Spring 2016 – season end ranking

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Spring has finally drawn to a close, and man was it crazy. I burned myself out half-way through the season, and apparently so did the CR staff handling the newsletter. As a result, NONE of my articles were ever published this spring, leaving a bitter taste in an otherwise enjoyable season. But my “enjoyment” was only to the extent that the shows were pretty much there to fill a void. It certainly wasn’t as dismal as the winter season, which only had one or two titles which I could consider worthwhile. But at the same time, Spring 2016 wasn’t exactly what I would call stellar, either. Sure, I was quite delighted mid-way through to have a pretty good spread of titles, but as the season dragged on, things began to stagnate. In the end, majority of the shows were pretty ho-hum with one ending up in the “dropped” category on its final episode before proceeding on to a double-length cour (which I’ll get to in a bit). So after all is said and done, though nothing was really “bad”, nothing was all too memorable, either.

So just what happened this season? Let’s run down all the titles, season end ranking, from worst to best! Continue reading →

Spring 2016 – Week 5 in Review

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This wasn’t one of the strongest weeks for spring, which is quite surprising given the shows have actually been doing fairly well. In fact, this season has turned out to be one of the better seasons as of late. At the start, there weren’t even any signs that the season’s offerings would do as good as they are doing now — that and the fact that genre spread is quite diverse. It’s going to be interesting looking at how these shows will fare in the mid-season review, which is — wow, next week? Holy crap, time flies when you’re having too much fun.

And fun we shall have! Here’s this week’s week in review! (NB: I might not have mentioned it before, but I’m starting to order the shows in this list based on my overall impression for the week, meaning the best shows appear first, and the not so good shows round up the end. Anyway, enjoy!)

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Spring 2016 – Week 4 in Review

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There was some misunderstanding over at Crunchyroll, hence my writeup on Asterisk War didn’t get published in time for the April 27 edition of the Crunchyroll Takeout. Oh well, no biggie. I just decided to edit it up a little and post it here. But the process of reviewing Asterisk War actually made me realize how well-constructed it was as a battle show, and so if you have yet to pick up the show and are looking for a reasonably competent battle anime to watch, then by all means watch this show.

Otherwise, the fourth week was pretty much the settling period for most shows. It’s that sort of tentative period before the mid-season where shows have gained a rather comfortable rhythm for themselves, not opting for anything too daring (or too risky either, for that matter). So just how did the shows fare? Read on!

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Spring 2016 – Week 3 in Review

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I’m wondering if I should retime these week-in-reviews to mid Wednesday to accommodate the first half of shows, then a second week-in-review to handle the remainder. Because as it stands, there are just so many shows on my watchlist, that these week in reviews are getting really long. And that’s troublesome because there are times that I have quite a lot I want to say about certain shows, but I have to limit myself in the interest of not boring you to death.

And it didn’t help much that this week had lots of shows giving pretty good arguments to warrant further watching. It’s been a solid season of anime thus far, and majority of the shows that have been shaved off of my list were pretty easy to let go of. The remainder, not so.

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Any, enough of that. Let’s do this! Continue reading →

Spring 2016 – Week 2 in Review

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Or week 2-3… I dunno. I’m confused as to when a week starts for this season of shows since there are some shows that have only just started on their second episode, while others are already on to their third. Anyway, I decided to just go with every Monday for a week in review once all shows have had their shows out.

The second week of any season is usually the weeding period. Shows that made their mark on their premier episodes pretty much nailed it again the following week, while those that were a little iffy remained their iffy selves… and then there were those that just bit the bullet and faded off into obscurity. But a couple shows remain wild cards, and probably for good reason. That said, let’s do this!

N.B. – Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress was cancelled last week due to the Kumamoto quake. My condolences go out to the people of Japan, especially to some friends who live in the Kyuushu area. Continue reading →

Spring 2016 – Initial Impressions

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So this is what it feels like.

I’ve been writing casual articles for Crunchyroll for a while now, but ever since I started this blog, I’ve come to realize how taxing this kind of work is. I have to watch shows I normally wouldn’t watch, but even then I probably only watched a fraction of what other seasoned writers had to go through. Plus the fact that for whatever shows I did watch, I had to go through them with a sharper eye for detail to actually piece together the thoughts I’d use in my articles.

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It’s been a very humbling experience to be honest. Writers may look like they’re simply watching anime and spewing out criticisms and whatnot, but it’s actually a very carefully calculated process of discerning the media we consume. To all the writers out there, I salute you.

Of course, it didn’t help that this season was just full of really great shows — shows that have a lot of potential, or have a strong premise — and for once, I went back on my promise to actually cut down on shows to watch. But that’s precisely what this post is for; this is the tl;dr of the past four entries. Though it’s only a smattering of what other writers probably had to dig through, I hope this helps in trimming down your own list of things to watch. I ranked them based on overall (personal) impression, not just the initial scores I gave in previous posts. Think of it as a sort of prospective list of hopefuls that is bound to change throughout the course of the season.

Anyway, enough talk. Let’s do this! Continue reading →

Spring 2016 – Episode Previews (Part 4)

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Final set of previews for the first episodes of most of the shows this Spring 2016 season. I say “most” because there were quite a number of other shows that I skipped, either because they were sequels or they didn’t really appeal to me that much. But even without those titles, I’m pretty much covered for the next three months. For this last edition, we have two trigger titles, a slice-of-life, and another special anniversary release. So let’s break it down!

Space Patrol Luluco

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Anything that flies out of Trigger Studios’ doors is likely to be something zany and original, if not remarkably obtuse and uninhibited. Space Patrol Luluco is definitely the latter, blending artistic flourishes reminiscent of past Gainax hit Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann and wacky humor akin to Kill la Kill. The show focuses on the not-so-normal life of a normal girl named Luluco who reluctantly takes her father’s place as a member of a local space patrol bureau after he accidentally freezes himself. Her job is to essentially find and apprehend rogue aliens by using a body suit that morphs her entire body into a pistol. Continue reading →

Spring 2016 Preview List

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Winter is coming to a close, and it’s about time for Spring! Yes, that means dusting out the closet and throwing out the remnants of a season that was, well, pretty okay when you think about it. Rakugo Shinjuu and ERASED were probably the highlights of last season, but there were still a couple other titles that were, if not memorable, enjoyable at the very least. After all of the shows of last season have finished their run, I’ll be compiling a recap post for Winter 2016. Look forward to it!

But yeah, we’re talking about Spring now. The line up is pretty so-so — a mix of hype and intrigue — and it’s pretty much a random bag of titles that are hard to anticipate. I haven’t read the source material for a majority of these titles, so who knows. But I’m not here to predict which title will succeed and which will flop — it’s all about what I want to watch!

You can check out my MyAnimeList for a summary of the titles I’ll be watching this Spring. So enough talk and let’s do this!

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