Your Catchup Bucket

[Chocola]

The [email protected] 22Show

This anime is really amazing. I had to stop watching this anime some time ago due to finals, and never had time to pick it back up again with ISML slavedriving work and new anime. But today I did and...I didn't know what I expected, but it wasn't this. I would like to say that almost absolutely nothing happened during this episode except for lots of talking. But somehow, I've learned to love the characters so much that it didn't matter.

The Christmas party so incredibly good. On one hand, it feels really good to see everyone (who are now pretty successful) together again. This will sound very cheesy and embarrassing to say, but it really felt like I watched these girls grew up from the very first episode. It sort of hit hard in the feels, and I was actually somewhat teary during the ending. I began remembering all the previous episodes...the journey of each of those girls rushed back to me all at once. But on the other hand...I've seen what usually happens to these types of parties. It is a party of parting. I then realize that they will soon go their separate ways... So that "feel good" feeling I had immediately plummeted into sadness.

tl;dr - I caught up with an anime I haven't watched in a while, didn't remember much of it, but got sucked back into it because of how memorable the characters are.

EDIT: Shit, I was right.

EDIT 2: Holy shit final episode was almost as good as Manabi Straight ending. ALMOST.

EDIT 3: The [email protected] is now the most flawed anime on my list that has a 8/10.

[HeartClover]

I can't believe it took me so long to watch Gintama. Gosh I love it so much and this is just my sense of humour and the characters are great and there's barely any romance which is wonderful and it's just so much fun. And look how many episodes there are!!

[RailWarrior]

To Love-Ru Episode 16Show

Considering that I'm able to watch shit like Nisekoi and not drop it, To Love-Ru honestly isn't that bad. At least, there's a hell of a lot more things going on in this anime that keeps it somewhat interesting and unpredictable (unpredictable in terms of story, not character relationship development). Some episodes were sort of "meh," but the thought of dropping it never really crossed my mind.

The ecchi is also more tame than I've been led to believe. In fact, it's completely tame. Guess that's what happens when the couple people I actually talked to (irl) about it fails to make a distinction between the original and Darkness. Oh well; it's a welcome surprise. I also expected more harem antics, but there's almost none of that. It's just Haruna and Lala, with the rest of the girls being regular supporting cast members. The harem stuff is probably to come in either season 2 or Darkness; either way, not looking forward to it.

As season 1 stands (so far), it's not bad. It's not good, either, but it is definitely watchable.

[Elvinsky]

I thought you hated harem anime, RW. Why start now?

[Tokei Shikake Tenshi]

I thought you hated harem anime, RW. Why start now?

Because it's never too late to learn.
@Mystia/Kholdy:
Glad you've enjoyed [email protected] Episode 17 was my personal favourite.

[Elvinsky]

I thought you hated harem anime, RW. Why start now?

Because it's never too late to learn.

*sigh* I wanted to hear RW's own answer... Unless he has already marked me on his foes list, of course.

In any case, sure, go ahead and continue to watch TLR. Just don't make your signature harsh remarks if the show disappoints your expectations.

[RailWarrior]

I don't believe I put anywhere in those posts that I like harems now. In fact, here's a quote from the episode 16 post:

The harem stuff is probably to come in either season 2 or Darkness; either way, not looking forward to it.

I've also never said I liked TLR--only that it's watchable. The main reason for that is because season one is, insofar, devoid of harem antics.

[Elvinsky]

Sure, sure. But I always assumed that you wouldn't touch harem anime with a 10-foot pole, and you deciding to watch TLR is just unexpected.

Which brings me back to that question: Why start now? (Or to paraphrase: Why watch an anime genre that you hate?)

[Homura]

@Elvin Your location.

[Elvinsky]

@Elvin Your location.

What is this about?

EDIT: Actually, N/M... Disregard this.

[RailWarrior]

Which brings me back to that question: Why start now? (Or to paraphrase: Why watch an anime genre that you hate?)

To answer the first question, I'm not just starting now. I've been watching harems since way long ago. They're unavoidable.

To answer the second, there's generally one of two things making me return to some given harem series:
1) Existence of best girl makes everything worthwhile.
2) The possibility of hidden gems--either good story or amazing execution. Recent examples: Saekano (former) and DanMachi (latter).
also 3) I don't like dropping stuff. It takes a lot of shit or just complete utter boredom for me to do so.

[Chocola]

I disagree... They ARE avoidable, and I've been avoiding them ever since I started hating them.

[Elvinsky]

Which brings me back to that question: Why start now? (Or to paraphrase: Why watch an anime genre that you hate?)

To answer the first question, I'm not just starting now. I've been watching harems since way long ago. They're unavoidable.

To answer the second, there's generally one of two things making me return to some given harem series:
1) Existence of best girl makes everything worthwhile.
2) The possibility of hidden gems--either good story or amazing execution. Recent examples: Saekano (former) and DanMachi (latter).
also 3) I don't like dropping stuff. It takes a lot of shit or just complete utter boredom for me to do so.

1.) If it's to know the harem anime characters/girls that often make it to ISML (and those who sadly don't), sure. I can go with that. That's the great thing about harem anime girls--there's always bound to be a favorite girl within the ensemble cast.
2.) I'm just gonna quote your signature here (and bolding/underlining a statement that I find rather hypocritical regarding what you just said about a good story):

scores almost fully based on personal bias MAL with little regard to story, characters, and animation

3.) Dude, if you already hate a show/genre (or you know, prejudged it as something to hate), shouldn't dropping it be easy? Heck, I could only manage to watch two episodes of Unbreakable Machine-Doll before deciding, "Fuck this shit, I'm gonna watch something else." To this day, that is the one show I don't plan to go back on (except to "sin" it, of course).

What I'm saying is, don't force yourself to watch something you know you hate.

If you say you hate harem anime RW, then damn, stand by it.

[RailWarrior]

1) I don't give a shit about what ISML thinks and which characters makes it in.
2) The fuck? How's that being hypocritical? That's merely saying the final score I give for an anime isn't based on some rubric. No where does it imply I don't give a shit about an enjoyable story.
3) Do you live in a black-and-white world? I don't. Hating something and accepting that same thing are not mutually exclusive. I don't hate harems because they're harems; I hate them because the protagonist is almost assured to be indecisive in who he chooses. That doesn't mean the anime would have nothing else going for it, though. Again, DanMachi--arguably a harem, but devoid of a myriad of obtrusive romantic persuances; rather, the anime is almost completely story-driven, which is what makes it good.

Besides, we're talking about TLR here, right? In which case, the whole harem talk is irrelevant, as I've made it clear that, insofar up to episode 16, I don't view TLR as a harem, at all. It's just a triangle with some very occasional side characters.

[Chocola]

Please calm down everyone.

Shirobako 1-3Show

This anime is brilliant.

The setup was brilliant. They wasted no time. I thought this entire anime would be the journey of 5 friends making their first anime. WRONG literally 2 minutes later they showed their finished product. Within 5 minutes, we are out of the high school setting. This got me very excited. I rarely see any anime that goes beyond high school, so my interest level is super high at this point. The pacing was brilliant. Scenes went by fast which feels like it doesn't give you time to breathe. It felt stressful watching the episodes, which is perfect because that's how stressful the working environment is. This was such an excellent choice to do the pacing this way. At the end of episode 3, there is a calm moment where you can finally sit back and appreciate a work well done...the same way the characters did. Everything about this anime is meant for the viewer to experience what the characters are feeling, and it did so brilliantly. I think the most telling part of the anime so far is how Aoi and Ema works at the same place, yet they barely talk to each other at all. They're so busy that they won't even give each other a nod. Wow.

The one scene was so important that everyone worked feverishly to get it right. This scene was even said by the animation director to be passed over by the viewers. Yet, the director wanted to get everything right, and I wonder how many times that happened to me as a viewer? I watch some anime, overlooking some scene that some studio worked really hard to get right, and I didn't notice it because it was done correctly. That's amazing. I sort of have this feeling too when I make videos. Sometimes I work hard to get a scene correct, but in fact I'm not making anything amazing, but just something not flawed. Therefore, the viewers wouldn't be impressed by it, unless they see a version that is flawed beforehand. Otherwise, no one would see anything special about that scene.

So far, I've been giving Shirobako high praise. What's bad about it then? The first episode flew by with so many new characters. It may be overwhelming to some people. Of course, their titles are shown, but not what they mean. If you're new to the animation industry, then it won't help much. Okay, so Aoi is a Production Assistant, but what does that mean? There seems to be at least 3 of them. Ema is a Key Designer; what the fuck is that? Now, I have a lot of experience with video editing, so I know what keyframes are and what tweening is. But for people who do not, Shirobako's first episode could very well be confusing and...boring. With a bit more refinement, it could make a better first episode that doesn't become too overloaded with information. Of course, I'm not sure how this can be done. For example, Aoi could talk to the viewers as a sort of narrator once a while, but that would clash with the fast pacing. This is not a minor issue, and could have given the anime a much wider audience if done correctly.

Overall, I'm really forward to more.

[lolcatstheotaku]

Please calm down everyone.

Shirobako 1-3Show

This anime is brilliant.

The setup was brilliant. They wasted no time. I thought this entire anime would be the journey of 5 friends making their first anime. WRONG literally 2 minutes later they showed their finished product. Within 5 minutes, we are out of the high school setting. This got me very excited. I rarely see any anime that goes beyond high school, so my interest level is super high at this point. The pacing was brilliant. Scenes went by fast which feels like it doesn't give you time to breathe. It felt stressful watching the episodes, which is perfect because that's how stressful the working environment is. This was such an excellent choice to do the pacing this way. At the end of episode 3, there is a calm moment where you can finally sit back and appreciate a work well done...the same way the characters did. Everything about this anime is meant for the viewer to experience what the characters are feeling, and it did so brilliantly. I think the most telling part of the anime so far is how Aoi and Ema works at the same place, yet they barely talk to each other at all. They're so busy that they won't even give each other a nod. Wow.

The one scene was so important that everyone worked feverishly to get it right. This scene was even said by the animation director to be passed over by the viewers. Yet, the director wanted to get everything right, and I wonder how many times that happened to me as a viewer? I watch some anime, overlooking some scene that some studio worked really hard to get right, and I didn't notice it because it was done correctly. That's amazing. I sort of have this feeling too when I make videos. Sometimes I work hard to get a scene correct, but in fact I'm not making anything amazing, but just something not flawed. Therefore, the viewers wouldn't be impressed by it, unless they see a version that is flawed beforehand. Otherwise, no one would see anything special about that scene.

So far, I've been giving Shirobako high praise. What's bad about it then? The first episode flew by with so many new characters. It may be overwhelming to some people. Of course, their titles are shown, but not what they mean. If you're new to the animation industry, then it won't help much. Okay, so Aoi is a Production Assistant, but what does that mean? There seems to be at least 3 of them. Ema is a Key Designer; what the fuck is that? Now, I have a lot of experience with video editing, so I know what keyframes are and what tweening is. But for people who do not, Shirobako's first episode could very well be confusing and...boring. With a bit more refinement, it could make a better first episode that doesn't become too overloaded with information. Of course, I'm not sure how this can be done. For example, Aoi could talk to the viewers as a sort of narrator once a while, but that would clash with the fast pacing. This is not a minor issue, and could have given the anime a much wider audience if done correctly.

Overall, I'm really forward to more.

shirobako made me appreciate the hard work people put into anime

[Chocola]

shirobako made me appreciate the hard work people put into anime

I think I knew that before I started watching the anime. But when you actually watch it, you're still amazed by how hard people work, which makes it more amazing. It's that special feeling where you expect something and got more than you expected.

[Homura]

shirobako made me appreciate the hard work people put into anime

I think I knew that before I started watching the anime. But when you actually watch it, you're still amazed by how hard people work, which makes it more amazing. It's that special feeling where you expect something and got more than you expected.

This sounds adorable.

[Chocola]

Don't you just want to hug me kyun~

[Bastion]

Besides, we're talking about TLR here, right? In which case, the whole harem talk is irrelevant, as I've made it clear that, insofar up to episode 16, I don't view TLR as a harem, at all. It's just a triangle with some very occasional side characters.

TLR doesn't really ramp up the harem aspect of the story until Darkness, it is rather apparent the other girls have a liking of him. The anime makes those side-characters more of side-casts because of the limits, but the clues are there (so Momo's turning it into a harem in Darkness' story isn't really that shocking).

There are worse harem shows out there, I agree. For now, they're kinda avoidable, but it's going to become harder to find as shows become more culturally attuned, which means more harem and more slice-of-lifes. It's already becoming a thing