Yeah, I liked it, but it's a show directed at weeaboos. The dialogue consists of a lot of wordplay and kanji play, and I had to rewatch a lot of scenes to get some parts of the dialogue.

It was worse for me as German, because I had to make sense of English translations of Japanese wordplay - and a lot was lost on me.

 

Extremely long dialogue, so get ready to read a lot of subtitles.

Shaft once again decides they're going to take drugs before they make anime, and half the show is in weird art styles and slide shows with words.

It's not horrible. There's a story in there if you can get through the "edgy" art and characters that are difficult to actually like.

 

After I watched the series I have read the first story of the first Novel - it's translated as part of the Baka-Tsuki projekt - and I think the visualization of Araragi's thoughts, the lack of scenery, etc. is done the way the author intended.

Another series by the same author (Nisio Isin) is Katanagatari, also with original character design. It's also heavily focussed on dialogue, but with more action.

 

Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann and Neon Genesis Evangelion. At least one of these two is bound to appeal. Everyone loves badass ass-kicking and/or emo apocalypses.

 

Not to criticize you, but both have been mentioned over and over again. Especially Evangelion.

 

Does that mean that they're at least half-decent? ;P

...Anyway, better rec some more obscure stuff, then.

Firstly, Tokikake. I know that it doesn't have a ton of gore, or naked chicks, or psychological examinations, or whatever DLP tends to like, but Tokikake isn't well-liked for no reason.

Summer Wars also gets a thumbs up from me. I know that the director also did those Digimon movies, but firstly, those first two movies aren't terribad, and secondly, Summer Wars is pretty good.


I would recommend Ghibli, especially Princess Mononoke and Porco Rosso, but I'm sure those have been mentioned already.

 

I second this, it was an enjoyable movie. Except that silly "magic girl" transformation scene when Natsuki was playing cards, hehe.

 

Phantom: Requiem for the Phantom. It's adapted from the visual novel Phantom of Inferno. It's definitely worth a shot.

 

Take a gander at Princess Tutu, especially if you enjoy the original Grimm Brothers Fairy Tales.

 

So, is anyone else extremely frustrated by Dragon Crisis? It seems like there's a good show lurking just underneath the surface, but every time decent storytelling tries to emerge, it gets bogged back down by stupid crap.

In the second episode, we're treated to a rather well done Implacable Man scene, and it set my standard for how the Dragons were supposed to act. With a royal bearing and Godlike power. Except for Rose, that is, who I saw as the uncultured/wild dragon, due to her not being raised properly, similar to Western dragons in His Majesty's Dragon.

Then we have the God damn Empress of White Dragons acting like a blushing school girl. I know all manga artists are sexually frustrated man children, but dammit, can't they make just one female character who isn't an idealized male fantasy? D:

All in all, I think this show angers me so much because I want to like it, but it's just disappointing me at every turn.

It gets a small bonus because Rose is God damn adorable.

Edit:

Oh, and Bakemonogatari is amazing. 'Nuff said.

 

I'm...fairly certain that most people just took it at face value (i.e. that it was crap) and just didn't bother after the first episode or two.

 

I dropped Dragon Crisis after the first episode. It seemed like a generic moe/harem kind of anime, sadly :facepalm So is Freezing this season, not really worth watching IMHO.

I think Yumekui Merry is pretty decent, also Puella Magi Madoka.

 

So far this season I'm only really following a few series: Gosick, Kore wa Zombie desu ka (guilty pleasure of the season), Fractale, and Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica.

I have to say, I had a lot of reservations about MSMM as I'm not really a fan of the magical girl genre, but after reading a lot of good things about it I decided to give it a go, and I must say that I'm extremely surprised. MSMM turns the magical girl genre completely on its head, and reverses pretty much all common tropes of the genre. For one, contrary to the sparkles and unicorns that most magical girl shows are, MSMM is dark...really, really dark. Like, at various points I just kept thinking stuff like "wow, I can't believe they went there."

I won't get into specifics because I don't want to spoil any of it, but right off the bat it talks about and shows murder, suicide, and various other things that are only vaguely hinted at in most magical girl shows, if at all. There are quite a few shock moments, twists and revelations, but it doesn't feel like the show is doing it just for the sake of being edgy; everything that has happened so far seems like it has purpose and is leading towards something.

It's made by Shaft, so it has really trippy art work and a visual style reminiscent of Bakemonogatari, only a bit different. I'm wondering just how much drugs the producers dropped before making it, because MSMM definitely surpasses Bakemonogatari for pure WTFness by several magnitudes; some parts really look like a fucked up acid trip. Unlike Bakemonogatari though, it doesn't constantly beat you over the head with cuts and craziness.

I'd definitely recommend MSMM to anyone, even if you aren't a fan of the genre. I'm not, and MSMM catapulted itself past Fractale for my best show of the season spot when I watched the first episode. And fuck if Kyubei isn't a creepy fucking bawse:

 

No Dream Eater Merry?

I held off on Zombie a bit. I watched half of the first episode and just couldn't stomach it. Later I went back and watched a couple more episodes and found it somewhat entertaining. It's very much a parody, and I think you have to be in the right mood to enjoy it.


Haha, oh man. Madoka. I'm cheering on Kyubey, it's just so fun, especially after what he said last episode. I have way too many pictures of this derpy looking thing.

 

Dream Eater Merry is probably my favorite of the season, though I can't help but feel that I've heard the same story a hundred times over. Oh well, it's well done and manages to stand shoulders above the rest.

I've also been watching Zombie for pretty much the same reasons as Demons in the Night. A good time waster once a week, but not much else.

Other than that, the whole season seems pretty bland, though I plan to give MSMM a try due to the posts above me. Might give Fractale a try while I'm at it, as I've heard good things.

 

Hell yes.

I don't even care if it's been done before. It's doing it excellently. I'm actually enjoying these characters and find it all very entertaining.

I feel like buying this show from Japan just show my support for more shows like this.

 

Agreed. My one hope is that Yumeji makes himself more useful fairly soon.

A similar show was Shakugan no Shana, which annoyed me a great deal in the first season because the protagonist was 'training' for pretty much the whole season, yet we don't see any results until half way through the second season.

I don't think it'll be that big of a problem, though, since episode 6 has already alleviated most of my fears.

 

A couple of years ago now, but Mushi-Uta was a unique anime, and Kaze no Stigma is a short but fairly decent anime if anyone was interested.

 

Seconded (thirded? fourthed?). And for those of you who haven't heard, it was just announced today that Madoka Magica episodes 11 and 12 will air together on 4/21! Link.

 

Anyone catch the last 2 episodes of Puella Magica?

Man, that was a fantastic fucking show. At the end I was pretty much speechless. I'm definitely going to have to rewatch it sometime later on. Best show of last season without a doubt in my mind.