Terror in Resonance: Some of the character designs are rather BL-tastic, but echoing many other statements the cinematography was absolutely unrivaled, and they certainly weren't shy about the imagery they were trying to evoke. Great production values, directing, a strong hook, and a Yoko Kanno score, this should be quite an interesting show to follow.
Animation Summer 2014
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Aldnoah Zero continues to be Urobuchi as hell. I really want it to stay that way. Like I already want to know more about the cast (mostly why the main character is so stoic because it seems pretty intentional at this point and couple of the other prominent ones, like the princess, white-haired guy and the captain whose backstory has been hinted at briefly) and what the "twists" of this series will be, but then I remember that fact that it was clarified that he only wrote the first 3 eps. Ah well, hopefully it'll turn out fine in the end at least.
Also, Sword Art Online reminded me that it can kinda be a good action show and do interesting set-up for a character only to remind me a bit later that the second arc of SAO exists.
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After watching the first episode of Tokyo Ghoul, I'm a bit on the "meh" side, but I'll keep following it to see if it convinces me or not. Zankyou no Terror is definitely promising, though.
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Barakamon ep 2…is making me feel more inclined to drop it. Not a badly written show per se, but like I said before, it apparently really doesn't fit my taste because virtually every character so far really annoys me, except for the protagonist, Naru, and that blond kid (Hiroshi?). The stuff that's meant to be funny, with nobody listening to what protagonist is saying, just gets my blood boiling instead; that's one of the only fictional devices that still gets a pretty strong negative reaction out of me, and I got a feeling it's gonna be used again and again until protag just gets used to everything. So yeah, it's a cute story and has a nice concept behind it, but I'm not a fan of the execution so far. I'll give it another ep and if the same sort of thing happens, I'll probably drop it for now at least.
Watched Basara ep 2 raw, and had a great time as usual. The animation is still tough to get used to, but I like how they've kept the spirit going. Although I'm nervous since Oichi is apparently showing up and she was one of my least favorite characters in both S1 and S2...I've heard she was pretty cool in the games so here's hoping she reflects that a little more. But to be honest, as long as Mitsunari is running around screaming HIDEYOSHI-SAMA and IEYASU I'm happy, lol.
Aldnoah ep 2 was interesting, I guess? Quite frankly I still have no connection to any of the characters aside from Marito - the efforts at making Inaho and his friends likeable are okay but just had me comparing everything to Gundam SEED since I'm also watching that lately. Also had a bit of a tough time understanding what was going on in a lot of the scenes, but at least I got the general idea. Definitely gonna keep watching until ep 4 so I can see how the writing style changes when Urobuchi's gone. (Speaking of writing style...man, talk about trying too hard with the bowl-cut hair dude. I couldn't get aggravated at him because I was too busy laughing at him.)
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Bowlcut dude just reminds me of the first few episodes of Psycho Pass in a way. The villains weren't particularly interesting at first, but it kept improving and ended up nice and solid, at least to me. I think all of Urobuchi's series have started pretty slow, Fate/Zero's first ep. especially was a slog info-dump episode. Guess how it goes depends how much he was involved and what kind of writer the one that takes over will be.
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the first five seconds on aldnoah.zero kind reminds me of fate/zero 1st op (the water and bridge part)
as for sao 2, it's fighting scenes is enjoyable.
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Also, Sword Art Online reminded me that it can kinda be a good action show and do interesting set-up for a character only to remind me a bit later that the second arc of SAO exists.
Ahahaha That was pretty much my exact reaction too. "That was a pretty cool gunfight, Oh God I forgot these character exist."
Kirito is totally going to ruin this gun game isn't he by being OP with his magical sword abilities.
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If the later episodes of Aldnoah Zero weren't as good as the first two ones (due to Urobuchi not being as involved as I'd like him to) I'd be pretty pissed since I'm quite enjoying the series so far. The OST keeps getting better and better, the Martian mecha look cool as fuck, and the characters are starting to grow on me. What's going to be important next is how they handle the opposition against the Vers guys. Their machines are obviously overpowered as hell so you have to find a believable way for the good guys to fight and eventually defeat their opponents without making it look cheap. How they handle that will be crucial to the rest of the show.
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Barakamon is currently my anime of the season.
I also don't care if it's way too early to be having one. -
Well, this week Space Dandy almost felt serious.
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I really like Barakamon. I don't know how to explain why, I just like it.
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^It's charming and funny and a child character feels like an actual child character instead of some unnatural awkward loli construct?
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It helps that the kid is actually voiced by a child actor.
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^It's charming and funny and a child character feels like an actual child character instead of some unnatural awkward loli construct?
Yeah, probably this :P
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I really enjoy watching Akame Ga Kill, but I can't help feeling that it's bad.
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So in SAO II in that game everyone use guns and Kirito and Asuna will be running around with swords?
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So in SAO II in that game everyone use guns and Kirito and Asuna will be running around with swords?
You really think Asuna is going to do anything? The OP makes it quite clear that she will be a good little waifu sitting on the sidelines cheering for her man to save the day . :ninja:
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You really think Asuna is going to do anything? The OP makes it quite clear that she will be a good little waifu sitting on the sidelines cheering for her man to save the day . :ninja:
Wait, you are saying that the one in the opening fighting with that sniper girl is Kirito? Isn't that a girl?
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Asuna won't be relevant again for another… let's see... three volumes? The current series should adapt novels and 5 and 6 (although I don't remember it being long enough to provide material for a 2-cour season). Volume 8 should be a bunch of short stories from the first story arc, SAO, while volume 7 if memory serves right is about Asuna again. Strangely, Kirito is barely prominent in that one. So yeah, Asuna won't be relevant for a loooong time.
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And I guess the actually well written plot will never be relevant, huh?
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Asuna won't be relevant again for another… let's see... three volumes? The current series should adapt novels and 5 and 6 (although I don't remember it being long enough to provide material for a 2-cour season). Volume 8 should be a bunch of short stories from the first story arc, SAO, while volume 7 if memory serves right is about Asuna again. Strangely, Kirito is barely prominent in that one. So yeah, Asuna won't be relevant for a loooong time.
It is said to be 2-cour and they are adapting "mother's rosario" and I believe "Caliber"(the one when he gets Excalibur) too and some short stories like "the day after". Supposed to be 24 episodes with GGO for the first half. So that they will have alicization for third season.
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Wait, you are saying that the one in the opening fighting with that sniper girl is Kirito? Isn't that a girl?
It is Kirito and he is not really a girl in GGO. It will all become clear by episode 4(third episode should be dedicated to Sinon's past and fourth should be when he enters the game)
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Aldnoah ep 3 in the bag. This was probably the best episode yet, but I still don't have any attachment to any of the characters save Marito.
! Also, okay, the Martians have black hole warping things on their mecha and holographic disguises and all sorts of stuff from that Vers Empire, but no heat sensors to help chase their targets down? I thought Inaho's plan to take down the mech was fine but I couldn't pay attention to half of it because I was wondering why everybody was overlooking heat sensors. Having the mech use them wouldn't have made much of a difference on the plot, just have the people take refuge in a place where it would be tough to detect heat or use some sort of insulation to hide themselves. We had somebody talking about how the heat was turned down where they were hiding anyway.
Otherwise yeah, a pretty good episode compared to the other two. I was expecting some really heavy Urobuchi stuff since this is his last ep; maybe the scene after the ending applied? Somehow I didn't get much impact out of what happened there though. -
I really liked this episode of Aldnoah. I liked the plan, the stuff after the ending and of course the music. Inaho bugs me, but I really think it's supposed to be that way, he's pure intelligence and reason without much heart. I'm still really curious about that. Just what happened? Then there's what happened with Slaine. Intrigued with where his character will go as well.
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Aldonoah : Even if I figured the weakness alone (hey!hey!), I think it was really clever. I hope they keep going this way for the fights. Great episode.
Zankyou no Terror : the whole sphinx thing felt lame. It's like I've heard it a thousand times. Except for the second interpretation, is it real ? It was still a good episode.
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^yeah, Aldnoah Zero #3 was pretty awesome. If it can keep up that level of quality from episode #4 onwards, we should be in for a fun ride. I am a bit worried that the quality might decline now that Urobuchi is out though…
On another note, Akame ga Kill #3 was absolutely atrocious in my eyes. An episode dedicated to an annoying tsundere girl with a seemingly bland and boring past, trying to pass it off as tragic. The fighting didn't save the episode this time. A bunch of apparent fodder were killed of which the last one, a former instructor at the capital's strongest martial arts academy, was the most pathetic. One more shitty episode and I'm dropping this. Although I'm not sure if I'll even give this series another chance. ...yeah, fuck this. After thinking about it for a few moments, there's absolutely nothing this series can offer me. It's just bad. Dropped.
Looking at the season so far, the only show that's really outstanding is Zankyou no Terror (and I haven't even seen the second episode yet). Aldnoah Zero is pretty good but it didn't really meet my expectations. Might just be due to me being somewhat hesitant when it comes to mecha anime in general.
Barakamon is a fun show. I wasn't as entertained by its second episode but that just happens sometimes. If the wrong characters are being focused on, the chemistry isn't there and you aren't as entertained as a viewer.
JoJo is JoJo, no problems there. Daiya no A and Haikyuu are sports anime and doing what they're supposed to (the latter being more appealing to me atm). Ao Haru Ride is a cute shoujo anime, Sailor Moon is nostalgia pure, just a lot prettier, and Tokyo Ghoul is solid. Oh, and there's of course HxH. But there too are no problems whatsoever.
10 shows that complement each other quite well, making for an all-around entertaining summer season. -
After a few episodes, I must say it's a pretty great season.
I would put my picks so far in 3 tiers :
High : Akama ga Kill!, Aldnoah, Tokyo Ghoul, Tokyo ESP, SAO S2, Zankyou no Terror
Mid : Argevollen, Free S2, Space Dandy S2
Low : Nobunaga Concerto
I dropped every other anime I tried. -
Sabagebu! is AOTS no need to watch any other show, except maybe Barakamon.
But really:
Aldonoah Zero is fun if a bit generic,
Zankyou no Terror is pretty good lookign forward to seeing more.
Gekkan shoujo no Nozaki-kun is pretty funny so I'll keep up with it
Ao haru ride is a cute little shoujo, hopefully it doesn't end up being like Say I love you where it has a nice start but quickly ends up being weekly garbage.
I'm liking what they're doing with Persona 4 golden by making it a new game plus playthrough
I'm sticking with Akame ga kill because I know how fun it gets later on despite it's pretty shitty start
Tokyo goul I'll just wait for the BDs or leave it because I've already read the manga
Tokyo ESP I might stick with even though the first EP deviated from the manga quite a bit
Glasslip is poop but I want to see how deep the rabbit hole goes.
Sword art online eh why not?
Barakamon is cute, heartwarming and probably the closest we'll get to a Yotsuba anime
Sailor moon Crystal I'm watching for the first time hopefully it's a fun show. If it's at least better than modern Precure's then I'll be happy.
Sabagebu! is, as I said, AOTD so there was no point in me even making this list because this is all I need to watch. But in all seriousness it's a pretty hilarious show. -
Terror in Resonance: Holy God that is some good direction right there! Like night and day compared to your average anime of the season. Cinematography, lighting, animation, the use of music, it's pretty darn great. Watanabe doesn't eat his bread for nothing and neither does Kanno. Now the only concern is the writing. There are numbers of ways how the whole thing could go wrong. It will depend on how the story unfolds and how characters develop. It isn't giving me bad vibes yet, but if the writing turns to schlock, then this series will be well-directed and good-looking schlock, which would still raise it to passable levels, but this show has he potential to be so much more than that.
Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun: Pretty amusing. I wasn't completely sold in the beginning, but then Yuzuki's antics in particular went a long way in makng me add this to my already watchlist. All in all it's cast is pretty amusing and while personally don't find it as funny and charming as Barakamon, it's worth watching. I've been meaning to finally dabble in run of the mill shoujo for some time and I guess the series that lampoons the tropes and sensibilities of such will be the most palatable option
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The first episode of Akame ga Kill was so edgy that I cut myself simply by watching it.
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I'm sticking with Akame ga kill because I know how fun it gets later on despite it's pretty shitty startTell me more.
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Tell me more.
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Well once we get to some actual Teigu battles and we get some decent action scenes was about the time I started enjoying the series. It's by no means a great series but I think it does enough with it's characters to keep me interested and it moves along at a pretty good pace so that I never really get bored with the situations. The series is edgy, hilariously edgy, but it's not trying to shove some deep message down anyone's throat. It's just trying to be entertaining which I think it achieves.
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I'm watching Akame ga Kill!, Tokyo Ghoul, Kuroshitsuji: Book of Circus, Sailor Moon Crytsal, Tokyo ESP, Fate/Kaleid liner Prima Illya 2wei and Zankyou no Terror this season.
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I would like to mention that Hunter x Hunter and Jojo Stardust Crusaders are still on air. Just in case this season becomes sucky.
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My current list to keep myself on track:
Top: JoJo, HxH, Barakamon, Space Dandy S2, Zankyou no Terror, Sailor Moon
Mid: P4GA, Ao Haru Ride, Hanayamata, Tokyo ESP, Captain Earth, One Piece
Low: DB Kai, Rokujouma no Shinryakusha
Why am I still watching this: Locodol, Rail Wars
Dropped: GlasslipPlanning on watching: Aldnoah Zero, Akame ga Kill, Tokyo Ghoul
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Probably my personal opening of the season.
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What's yours?
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I really like Tokyo Ghoul's opening, odd choice perhaps but I'm enjoying it.
How are you finding Ao Haru Ride? Still haven't seen it and wondering whether it's worth checking out.
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I really like Tokyo Ghoul's opening, odd choice perhaps but I'm enjoying it.
How are you finding Ao Haru Ride? Still haven't seen it and wondering whether it's worth checking out.
The first two episodes made me like it quite a bit while the third one felt a bit too shoujo. It's full of shoujo cliches but it's enjoyable overall I'd say. The opening's still the best part of the show though and the primary reason I'll be going to watch it next week as well lol.
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Tokyo ESP is miles away from the manga in term of story and quality. I will probably drop it to stay a manga only reader.
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What's yours?
Kind of difficult to choose there are quite a few good openings this season. I also like Ao haru ride's OP but I'll have to give it to Gekkan shoujo Nozaki-kun. Barakamon came close too.
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Ed wise I think I'll give it to Sabagebu because I'm a sucker for ED's that are sung by the cast, also this one just looks so damn goofy I love it. Once again Barakamon comes in at a close second
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What's yours?
Hmm, that difficult. I don't think there's actually many stand-outs. I guess Aldnoah Zero's Heavenly Blue despite it's simplicity?
I know my favorite ending is definitely Zankyou no Terror's Dare ka, umi wo.
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Kind of difficult to choose there are quite a few good openings this season. I also like Ao haru ride's OP but I'll have to give it to Gekkan shoujo Nozaki-kun. Barakamon came close too.
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Ed wise I think I'll give it to Sabagebu because I'm a sucker for ED's that are sung by the cast, also this one just looks so damn goofy I love it. Once again Barakamon comes in at a close second
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Is Gekkan shoujo worth a try? Looked a bit plain to me but I haven't actually watched the first episode yet. What's it about?
I haven't seen Sabagebu either but it's quite evident that the purple-haired onee-san is the best girl. And lol at the random duck.
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Hmm, that difficult. I don't think there's actually many stand-outs. I guess Aldnoah Zero's Heavenly Blue despite it's simplicity?
I know my favorite ending is definitely Zankyou no Terror's Dare ka, umi wo.
Yeah, I listened to the full version earlier and I have to say it's not one of Kalafina's best works. It's still nice though. Just doesn't come close to some of the Kara no Kyoukai songs I so very much adore.
Haha I knew you'd name that ED.
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Is Gekkan shoujo worth a try? Looked a bit plain to me but I haven't actually watched the first episode yet. What's it about?
It is worth a try if you like a bit of "silly" comedy, since it's based on a 4-koma manga. It's about:
! A girl that tries to confess to a oblivious boy, but she messes it up and ends helping him with his shoujo manga. The situations that happen and characters they encounter are, somehow, parodies of typical romantic comedies. The focus given to the creation process of the manga isn't Bakuman-level, but it's used for some jokes.
(I think this is a way of saying what it's about without spoiling so much). -
Is Gekkan shoujo worth a try? Looked a bit plain to me but I haven't actually watched the first episode yet. What's it about?
I haven't seen Sabagebu either but it's quite evident that the purple-haired onee-san is the best girl. And lol at the random duck.
Gekkan shoujo is pretty fun, it's kind of like a shoujo parody. It's about a guy who is a mangaka in a shoujo magazine and he gets inspiration for the characters in his series from his friends. It's pretty funny so you should give the first couple of episodes a try.
Also best girl in Sabagebu is the badass MC
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Aldnoah zero - Well, first ep. that isn't written by Boochi and I thought it was pretty good! It's absolutely the same in feel. I like these guys. I don't want them to die. :( I like that these victories are won by brain and how they all end up working together.
Also, I think I found my new favorite ed of the season, though Zankyou no Terror's is still pretty great. This new one for Aldnoah is just catchier. -
Sword Art Online is really relaxing. :happy:
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GGO is like the softest FPS in the world. It's CoD with training wheels. Predictable lines? Giant targeting circles? Jesus that's soft.
Aldnoah is looking really good each episode into the story. I'm itching with anticipation to see what Urabutcher sends our way. It's also refreshing to see a mecha protagonist who fights willingly instead of having to be slapped and forced into the position. The MC's lack of giving any fucks is also pretty refreshing. He's like Lelouch without the grandstanding and evil laugh.
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That Episode of Aldnoah was awesome, they even managed some nice action and the MC taking down another one of those knights.
The ending song is just killer.
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Just finished Aldnoah ep 4. Quite frankly at this point I'm not really paying much attention because the terminologies are starting to get confusing (just finished watching Gundam Seed pretty quickly and didn't have that problem there, so I'm not sure what's up here) and I'm still not invested in the characters; at this point I actually actively dislike a few of them, especially that blond freckled friend of the protagonist's because that kid really gets on my nerves for some weird reason. I'm also a little confused as to why people seem to love Slaine, because to me he's been portrayed as kind of a thick-headed character walking into situations that will get him whacked around and yelled at - guess that's supposed to show him as being intrinsically "good" or something, but I find myself shaking my head at the poor guy most of the time and otherwise I can't say I feel attached to him yet. I guess my interest level hasn't changed, I'm just still not getting any vibes that the show's gonna be really great for me in the future. I just sit back, relax, and start internally screaming whenever Marito shows up onscreen and gets to do something.
Also, I've been reading the ep discussion on MAL every week, and man, all the people who love the soundtrack. I'm surprised because I've only liked maybe one of the songs so far, while the rest feel like you could toss them into SnK without much problem. Even the song I liked kinda got wrecked by having sudden vocals, which is something of Sawano's that I'm getting a little fed up with. But either way it's interesting that so many people are so impressed with the soundtrack when I find it to be pretty mediocre. Guess it's because Sawano is popular right now?
Also watched Basara raw as usual, and enjoyed it again. I can't take this show seriously but that's like 99% of its charm…I literally laugh at almost all of the characters and Mitsunari's already grown tremendously on me even though he only got one "Ieyasu" yell this episode.
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Just finished Aldnoah ep 4. Quite frankly at this point I'm not really paying much attention because the terminologies are starting to get confusing (just finished watching Gundam Seed pretty quickly and didn't have that problem there, so I'm not sure what's up here)
This is one criticism I can't get behind, because AZ has been very light on technobabble so far. There's two made up terms I can think of and that's "Kataphract", which is a local made up term for mecha and "Aldnoah" which is as of yet unexplained magic martian supertech powering the Martian mechs. That's it. Any Gundam show throws way more technobabble in it's first 4 episodes, to speak nothing of the technobabbling horror that is Captain Earth.
As for Sawano, I think his work has been a step down since Gundam Unicorn. Nowadays it all sounds same-y, tries too hard with it's bombast and can't resist throwing in cheesy vocals. I still do enjoy his tracks, even ones with cheesy vocals, but yeah. Gundam Unicorn's soundtrack was recognizably Sawano, yet distinctive, loud and bombastic, yet restrained and fitting.
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I don't think Aldonoah's soundtrack is that great either. It doesn't really compliment what's going on on screen it just overshadows it with how grandiose and epic it sounds. On its own it is probably a pretty good soundtrack but I don't think they've used it well. Too many vocal tracks too. Also I'm not a fan of either MC yet. The emotionless one just seems like a strange choice for an MC of this show, a lot of his actions and mannerisms are plain weird and come off as a half-hearted attempt at comedy, but they at least make it obvious when something is troubling him so he's not that bad. I'm still waiting for the blonde guy to do something interesting. I also have issues with how melodramatically evil the bad guys are, that worked in something campy like Majestic Prince but here it just feels a bit lazy, like they're just doing it to drum up sympathy for the good guys who have to suffer because these selfish Martians.
Besides all that the show is enjoyable I'm hoping the show doesn't have a million and a half writers fro each episode from now on, because the multiple writers thing that were all trying to convey different messages is what killed Gargantia.
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Zankyou no terror is in my opinion this season's best anime, it reminds me of death note with anti-heroes as main characters with the psychological warfare between the police and them and it feels like this will be one of those "must seen" classics out there.
So far i'm also following SAO2 which exeeds my expectations as a LN readers(I expected them to totally ruin it).
Akame ga kill which started strong imho and keeps my interest.
Tokyo esp, that I like as well and keeps getting better.
Aldnoah-zero which I wasn't too fond of with the first episodes but it got better as the plot unfolded and I like the main character's coolness at all times.
Barakamon and tokyo ghoul which I didn't like