First Impressions: Spring 2016 – Part 5

Okay – last bunch of first impressions!  Only thing that hasn’t aired that I want to watch is Magi: Sinbad no Bouken, but not waiting around any more since 2nd episodes for most of these shows are already out!

• Tanaka-kun Is Always Listless
  
• Kiznaiver
• Flying Witch
• Tonkatsu DJ Agetarou
• Kuromukuro
• Sansha Sanyou
• Wagamama High Spec
• Big Order

First Impressions: Spring 2016 – Part 4

Okay next batch – I swear to god I will be caught up before the end of the day!

• Netoge no Yome wa Onnanoko ja nai to Omotta
• Anne Happy
• Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress
• Concrete Revolutio S2
• Shounen Maid
• Sakamoto desu ga?
• Haifuri

First Impressions: Spring 2016 – Part 3

All I could manage this week is watching things – didn’t have time to write up anything, so brace for incoming spam of 1st impressions posts today!  First up we have:

• Seisen Cerberus
• Hundred
• Joker Game
• Twin Star Exorcists
• Super Lovers
• Bungou Stray Dogs
• Onigiri

First Impressions: Spring 2016 – Part 2

Well here’s the next part of the past few days new releases!

• Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn RE 0096
• My Hero Academia
• Pan de Peace!
• Kumomiko: Girl Meets Bear
• Re: Zero -Starting Life in a New World-
• Macross Delta
• Bakuon!
• Sailor Moon Crystal Season 3

First Impressions: Spring 2016 – Part 1

Right-oh then, lets get stuck right into the new Spring season then shall we?  Actually off to a manageable start (ie: I’m not snowed under already), but I doubt that will continue once I’m back to work on Monday.

Anyway, first up we have:

• Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: Diamond is Unbreakable
• Kagewani Shou
• Space Patrol Luluco
• Ushio & Tora S2
• Ace Attorney
• Mayoiga (The Lost Village)
• Endride

The Best of Winter 2016!

I kind of took most of the season off from the internet, so more or less watched stuff in a vacuum – which is an interesting experience, but think I’ll be back to my usual habits for the Spring season.

Okay then, so Winter 2016 ended up being a pretty decent season!  I ended up watching sixteen shows to completion – more that I had really planned on (and there were a few I probably should have dropped).  It was pretty easy to pick a top 10 since my #1 pick was pretty much locked into place since episode 1!    So lets have a quick look at my personal picks of the season before starting on the Spring stuff.

Spring 2016 Anime Preview!

Hiya! I’m not dead~! (It’s getting to be something of a tradition to start these posts this way I swear).  So, I ended up taking the (rather good) Winter season off – wasn’t really a plan, but I ended up being pretty busy – radio silence ensued!  But I am a creature of habit and the compulsion to put together these preview posts is strong – so here we are with a look at what the next few weeks have in store for us during the Spring 2016 season.

First Impressions: Winter 2016 – Part 4

Alright! Final post of first impressions~!  Was waiting for decent Ajin subs, but they never materialised, so just watched the terrible engrish subbed version so I could get this post out.  I would recommend waiting for a decent quality release though.

• Schwarzesmarken
• Yami Shibai 3
• Akagami no Shirayuki-hime S2
• Ao no Kanata no Four Rhythm
• Mahou Shoujo Nante Mou Ii Desu Kara
• Saijaku Muhai no Bahamut
• Kono Subarashii Sekai ni Shukufuku wo!
• Ajin

First Impressions: Winter 2016 – Part 3

Yeah…..weekdays just don’t happen for me – long live the weekends!  So I’m a bit late with these first impressions since 2nd episodes are coming out, but whatever – here’s my thoughts on:

• Luck & Logic
• Durarara!! x2 Ketsu
• Bubuki Buranki
• Nurse Witch Komugi-chan R
• Nijiiro Days (Rainbow Days)
  
• Ooya-san wa Shishunki!
• Dimension W
• Hai to Gensou no Grimgar

First Impressions: Winter 2016 – Part 2

Okay moving on – can’t say I’m massive fan of the majority of these, but whatever.

• Divine Gate
• Koukaku no Pandora (Pandora in the Crimson Shell)
• Sekkou Boys
• GATE S2
• Oshiete! Galko-chan
• Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu
• Dagashi Kashi
• Phantasy Star Online 2: The Animation

First Impressions: Winter 2016 – Part 1

Okay then, the new season is in full swing (and I’m snowed under with new stuff as usual).  Everything seems to be airing on Thursday & Friday this season for some reason, but I suppose that at least gives me the weekend to attempt to catch up.  I haven’t been super optimistic about this season, but there are a few shows that are appealing to me, so it isn’t a total bust.

Anyway, first up is:

• Prince of Stride: Alternative
• Haruchika: Haruta to Chika wa Seishun Suru
• Myriad Colours Phantom World (Musaigen no Phantom World)
• Active Raid: Special Public Security Fifth Division Third Mobile Assault Eighth Unit
• Norn9: Norn + Nonet
• ERASED: Boku Dake ga Inai Machi (The Town Where Only I Am Missing)
• Ojisan to Marshmallow
• Shoujotachi wa Kouya wo Mezasu (Girls Beyond the Wasteland)
• Assassination Classroom S2

The Top Ten Series – The Best of 2015 (OVAs/Movies/Specials/Shorts)

Okay! This is part two of my Best of 2015 posts.  This past year I watched 13 short form shows and 41 OVAs/Movies/Specials – that’s quite a bit more than last year, and yet I still only had a few truly memorable things to put on this list (with one spectacular piece of cheating).  Again I have some things listed that some may have had the opportunity to see in 2014, but I had to wait for digital releases which only became available in 2015.

On to the list!

The Top Ten Series – The Best of 2015

So we’re in the waning hours of 2015, what better time to cast the eye back over the previous years offerings and reminisce about my personal favourites?  This year I again attempted to be pretty selective about what I was watching, but since I spent most of the year unemployed I ended up watching more than I thought – I completed 64 TV shows this year!

My general impression of 2015 while compiling this list, is that there were a lot of shows I genuinely enjoyed while watching them, but there aren’t many that have that something extra that makes them particularly memorable.  This made selecting a top 10 a bit difficult because so many shows could have potentially made the short-list.  In fact a running theme in this years list is that these are shows that were pretty excellent, but had glaring flaws.  Still, I’m pretty happy with my final choices – just be aware that the rankings are fairly fluid.

As ever, for this list I take into consideration any show that finished its run in 2015, regardless of when it started – so those carrying over into 2016 won’t be elligible until next year.  I’ve also ruled out split-cours shows this year since they’re also continuing on (so no Durarara!! X2 or Concrete Revolutio).  As usual my top 10 picks from the years OVAs/Movies/Specials will be in a separate post.

Let’s get started!

The Best of Autumn 2015!

Okay the Autumn season is over and we’re in that holding period at the end of the year where I try to cripple myself by writing a load of ‘best of’ posts – starting with the previous season!

Autumn ended up being a reasonable solid season with a number of shows I was surprisingly hyped for each week, and a few that I was initially excited for that ended up disappointing me.  I picked up fourteen shows this season – a much more reasonable amount compared to the Summer season – so didn’t really need to do much pruning to get a top 10.  So lets have a look at my personal picks of the Autumn 2015 season!

Secret Santa Project 2015 – Ergo Proxy

So once again I decided to participate in this year’s Secret Santa project organised by Reverse Thieves – it’s my fourth year now, and I’m still terrible at getting the post done before Christmas!  The concept is simple; you get three series recommended to you by an anonymous blogger based on your anime list, and you have to review at least one of them before Christmas Day.

This year my Secret Santa gave me some pretty great choices – Ergo Proxy, Gungrave and Victorian Romance Emma. I had intended to get round to them all at some point anyway, so decided to go for the one that’s been hanging around my to-watch list for the longest – Ergo Proxy (I’ve had that series sitting ready to watch since 2008!).  So yeah I’m super late getting this post out this year not because I wasn’t keen on the selections, but solely due to a lack of time – I only managed to start the show on Christmas Eve!  Ah well, I’m done now – apologies and thank you Secret Santa~!

Characters that made my year – ShinganCrimsonz (12 Days of Anime: Day 12)

Merry Christmas! I made it to the end (of course I’m massively behind on everything else I was supposed of have written, but whatever!). On this final day of anime remembrance, lets embrace the simple joy that ShinganCrimsonZ brought to every scene they stole in Show By Rock!

Characters that made my year – Mikaela Hyakuya (12 Days of Anime: Day 11)

It’s Christmas Eve, so what better time to look back on all the suffering Mikaela Hyakuya from Seraph of the End went through over the course of the show?

Winter 2016 Anime Preview!

Hello! Merry Christmas~!  No I didn’t forget, but I’ve been so busy it’s a fecking Christmas miracle this bloody thing is finished!  I actually started the draft the 1st week of December, but then all the time seemed to vanish, so here we are on Christmas Eve for some reason.

Anyway, the Autumn season ended up being a bit of a mixed bag – shows I was looking forward to didn’t quite live up to the hype and shows I was a bit iffy about ended up being my favourites of the season!  Just goes to show you, I can be mistaken………not often given my impeccable taste, but it can happen!  So lets have a look at what’s coming out in the next few weeks then.

Characters that made my year – Takehito “Gakuto” Morokuzu (12 Days of Anime: Day 10)

In the home stretch now, so today let’s look at a character I was a bit all over the place about, before deciding he made the show – Takehito “Gakuto” Morokuzu from Prison School.

Characters that made my year – Kakeru Tengenji (12 Days of Anime: Day 9)

Right, back to characters that I actually liked again – Kakeru Tengenji from Starmyu – High School Star Musical!