Good Bye, Fall 2016

Warning, this article hasn’t been edited by anyone, so things may not make sense at times.

Well what a crazy year has it been? It was a year of elections that threw not only one, but two countries off their expectations, year of many old celebrity deaths and most importantly, the year where Nekopara kickstarter have managed to fulfil their goal within an hour of them starting. Well if we know one thing about internet, it’s that we do love cats.

Well it’s not like any of those matters to me right…? (Angrily looks at Brexiters god damn it) what really matters is anime that I’ve watched this season. and I have to say compared to last season there have been very interesting shows that has been airing which I have (surprise surprise) not watched. Really I need to catch up on Re:Zero and Mob Psycho! Damn it’s hard finding time to watch these. Well with that said, here are list of anime I’ve watched this past season. just go easy on me please L

Seasonal Anime

Flip Flappers (Yet to Finish) (MAL, Crunchyroll)

And we are starting off with strange Magical Girl Genre show, wow I have to say it has been awhile since I’ve watched any Magical Girl show.

Plot revolves around Cocona, a reserved girl, who by chance meets eccentric girls called Papika, who introduces her to an alternate dimension called Pure Illusion. With help from associate of Papika called Dr Salt (yes that is his name) they go on multiple adventures within Pure Illusion to collect amorphous fragments that supposedly grants wishes. And of course, things don’t always go as their wish, with different organisation trying to get their hands on them too.

Now, I am still yet to finish this anime. I have put this on hold after episode 5, and still yet to finish watching the rest of the series, however from what I have gathered from various discussion threads on reddit it seems like that later episodes will address some questions that I have regarding this anime. Well the biggest question is… what is Pure Illusion? However I will not going to attempt to understand what this anime is about here, instead I would like to say that those 5 episodes that I have watched was easily the most interesting thing I have watched this season. The story line so far is not yet clear, but I like how it uses Pure Illusion as device to further the relationship between Cocona and Papika, for them to get to know more about each other while they go on an adventure.

I will attempt to write more about this show in my next seasonal write-ups with more understanding of this show after finally watching it all the way through, that is if I’m not being bombarded with coursework’s and such.

 

Hibiki Euphonium 2 (Sound Euphonium 2) (MAL, Crunchyroll)

Oh yes, one of the most anticipated sequel this season, the return of Kyoto Animation’s “Kumiko making weird noises – the animation”.

I mean, what can I say more about this anime? Kyoto Animation is at it again with Hibike! Euphonium with second season concluding the story of High School Concert band fighting their way through emotional burden of being in Nationals in both personal and group level.  Similar to first season Hibike! Euphonium follows the story of Kumiko and her friends journey through the world of concert band, with their dream of finally regaining Gold at Nationals.

This time, show explores story of both new characters and old alike showing that people are complicated, and what they show outside is not usually what they actually feel. Misunderstanding between friends and families cause drama within the band which result them doubting themselves.

If you’ve seen the first season then you knows exactly what to expect, Kyoto Animation is known for their fantastic art style and amazing adaptations.  Therefore if you liked the first season then I would highly recommend this season also. If you can stand the undertone yuri bait for 12 episodes that is.

 

Okusama ga Seitokaichou!+! (My Wife is the Student Council President!+!) (MAL, Crunchyroll)

Oh yes, another sequel of the season. And honestly one with unexpected reaction.

Again, if you have seen the first season then you know most of the story. We’ve got High school students Izumi and Ui are living together secretly from other students, especially from School Disciplinary Head Misumi. Well, that’s about to change in this season, and in a very bad way.

I’ll get this out of the way. I liked second season, however it was not as enjoyable experience compared to the first season, while many others are saying that second season has ruined the series for them. Argument is that they were expecting something more closely to first season, where Izumi and Ui are exploring their relationship in cute but awkward way. In second season however we are introduced with Misumi who seems like she has made it her life goal to cock block these two couple in every way possible for her “selfish” wish of getting closer to Izumi.

Here is my take on this. This fact alone was bit annoying at many times, especially when some crucial developments were about to be made. However it was not to an extent where I did not find the show enjoyable. Yes Misumi was acting like a massive cock block for out favourite couple, but instead we get interesting relationship development between these two. Ah well I guess we can’t make everyone happy.

Overall, I enjoyed this season, even though the enjoyment factor was dialled down a notch. If you are expecting story similar to first season then well, don’t hold your breath.

 

Stella no Mahou (Magic of Stella) (MAL, Daisuki)

Wow, another sequel… oh nope, sorry I mistook this for Nerw Game! +

Story follows a group of High School girls (surprised?) creating their own game (doujinshi game) in their club SNS (Some dead fish eyes Not enough sun Shuttle run Club), where our protagonist Honda joins as artist for their club. This SoL focuses on their struggle of students who wants to get their name out there in the world through their doujin game.

Now, from the description alone it sounds so similar to New Game, however two shows can’t be any more different. New Game was just typical SoL show with game development twist to it, whereas this show focuses heavily on certain individuals to tell the story of their life and struggle of their contribution to the group. Honda is a girl who joins the group to find what she want to do for her future, and takes on the challenges of being an artist with not much basic background knowledge but her skill in drawing middle ages men due to influence of her dad’s old manga. She experiences what it is to have a deadline, go through a phase where she thinks no one will miss her, she meets her rival and doubts herself once more etc etc. in the end this show develops Honda as a character who is determined to create a game that everyone will be proud of.

Well here is a thing, I would have liked to see more development on different characters, especially with the range of characters we’ve got it would have been possible to have two or three episodes dedicated to each characters and it would have been great.. From club president Shiina who sometimes doubt herself as leader, Seki who’s the story writer embarrassed about her chuuni ways in the past, Kayo the musician who composes music for their game and Minaha, Honda’s rival. They are al very interesting characters however since the story is heavily focused on Honda we could not see the development of these characters with exception of Minaha who start to open herself toward Honda.

Overall, I liked this show. It was somewhat calming at times with funny moments through out the series. My wish is that it would have had more character development of different cast. Oh and Daisuki, I still don’t like using that thing.

 

Udon no Kuni no Kiniro Kemari (Poco’s Udon World) (MAL, Crunchyroll)

Well, English name is quite misleading. And boy I am craving udon right now.

Story follows Souta Tanawa, a web designer who came back to his home town after many years to find Poco, a tanuki (racoon) who showed himself in his old udon house. Adventure started between these two as Souta begin to feel affection toward this tanuki as his own son while his past in the village is unveiled little by little.

I’m not going to lie, when I read the title I thought it was going to be another cooking oriented show. I mean just read the title! However I figured out very quickly that the English name is quite misleading. However that is not to say the story is bad, in fact story is quite fascinating. A story of web designer who live through his past that he rather forget about if possible, but slowly accepts it while living with this new companion Poco. Apart from that, we are introduced to array of characters, from Souta’s best friend Dr Nakajima who’s rough around the edge, his married sister to his High School crush all with unique personality and all very important to Souta.

For the most part, this show is to show the importance of families, that even though you think you don’t understand them, they will always have your back. As Poco’s Udon World has shown, your family is what you’ve got, and you will be wise to cherish them while you can. You may not agree with your parents, siblings or cousins on something, but deep in your heart, you’ve got to believe that they will eventually understand your decision, if they don’t do so already and will be proud of your work.

P.S Anime ending is an original ending; in fact manga is still in serialization.

 

WWW.Working! (MAL, Crunchyroll)

Oh good, another sequel… Wait a minute…

Oh yes, this is the original Working series before the famous Wagnaria series was serialised. Like the series that everyone is familiar with, www.working is set in fictional family restaurant Wagnaria with once again, eccentric cast.

Higashida is our main protagonist of this series, who’s dad has lost his job and has to find a part time in order to fund this travel to school and phone bill. He is then introduced to the current staff of Wagnaria, Miyakoshi, the head waitress of the establishment who fakes her smile in front of the customers, is the main interest of our protagonist but not as love interest, but rather Miyakoshi’s brutal food experiment test subject. Within the establishment we still see familiar feeling cast. We’ve got Adachi and Muranushi couple, where Adachi has been scarred by Muranushi’s fearful smile attack, Shiho and Yuuta, relationship based off of loan shark sadist and unfortunate victim of his father running away leaving the debt to his son. Then there are supporting characters with their own unique personalities.

Righty off the bet, you get familiar Working story, a bunch of workers with their own quirks, with main character having weirder-than-usual families and to top it all off way too many shipping under small roof, wxcept, we are only getting one season to conclude everything. Yes folks, there probably won’t be second season since relationship between characters have been completed in single season. Compared to previous series, it feels like everything has been rushed. It took them three seasons in previous series for all characters to settle their feeling, which gave us plenty of time to explore different aspects of characters outside Takanashi and Inami, especially with Takanashi’s family and Yamada’s family. However with this series we don’t get that. Instead all the focuses are on select few employees at Wagnaria. While this is fine and I am happy with how the series has turned out, it still left me with feeling that I would like to have seen series continue if possible. Then again, this all depend on the original source which I haven’t read yet so I could be wrong, this could be the speed at the source material has written in.

 

Non-seasonal Anime

Danshi Koukousei no Nichijou (Nichibro) (MAL)

Well, I don’t know why it took me this long to watch this but, boy it’s worth every minute.

Small synopsis, it’s basically Nichijou but instead of high school girls, it’s high school guys. And yes it is bloody entertaining.

Ah screw it, I’ve been trying to write something here but at this moment, I’ve gone through like 10 different scripts so you know what? Go watch it. If you liked Nichijou then you will love this one too.

 

Joshiraku (MAL)

5 girls that take interests in traditional entertainment? How rare.

All I can say about this anime is how meta it gets. It starts off by breaking the fourth wall with audience and it doesn’t stop until the end. This comedy show takes everything it’s got to make fun of itself in every way possible, including making fun of each other without any reserve.

You may ask, what’s so fun about watching bunch of girls talking in dressing room? You should just read the manga! Well then, you should watch the first episode to get your answer. Again, there isn’t story that I can really comment on, besides giving my recommendation.

 

Kono Subarashi Sekai ni Shukufuku wo! OVA (MAL)

Well technically, I have watched this series few seasons ago, however I thought this deserved a spot on this list due to being too good to not mention. Also I have completely forgot that onosuba OVA existed at all (I know!) so I only got around to watching it last week.

 

Norin (MAL, Funimation)

Wow, who knew making a series about farming and farm school interesting?

Story revolves around this agricultural school where our main character Hata find himself in depression after his favourite idol’s sudden retirement. When his classmates dragged him to class, to his surprise his idol has transferred to his school.

Now the show itself is very different to promotional poster, where it looks like her idol self has transferred. However story rather focuses on her normal self, and various mischiefs that occur around the school. Our Idol, Ringo has not been able to find enjoyment in her life anymore, therefore she has seek out to place where her favourite fan was living, to see what farming life could lead to. What waits our four main characters? Well to be honest, some stupid shit.

I really enjoyed this show, although having to feel little bit annoyed that I have been fooled by that one pormo poster, however story itself was so interesting with each characters having to overcome their own personal problems.