Spring 2016 Wrap-Up

I don’t usually drop a lot of shows but due to travels and life and all that, I ended up finishing far fewer shows than I started. So what the heck did I watch?

My Top 3
In no particular order, I felt the best shows of the Spring 2016 Season were…drumroll, please:

JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure (Diamond Is Unbreakable)I’d never be disappointed in you, Jotaro

I feel the same as Josuke’s mom on this one; I loved loved loved loved loved this show. (Or love love love love love, I guess, since it’s ongoing, not ended.) My criteria for the Top 3 Category was simply, “What shows do I look forward to every week? Which new episodes am I excited to watch?” I’ve absolutely loved every episode of Diamond Is Unbreakable so far and can’t wait for more…in fact, at the time of this post, I just finished episode 14 and in the famous words of Joseph Joestar: “OH MY GOD!”

Haven’t You Heard? I’m SakamotoIt was. It always is.

Seriously, haven’t you heard? This show is hilarious! I picked up the manga a while back and so was super excited when the anime was announced. It did not disappoint! The show reminds me a lot of the endearing absurdity of Cromartie High School. While JoJo’s is sometimes hard to recommend to people because it’s, well, BIZARRE…I feel like even though it’s outrageous, Sakamoto is more readily appealing. Though if listening to guys talk for minutes while nothing is really happening on screen (a la Gintama) isn’t something you can handle then maybe you’re not funny enough for this show.

My Hero AcademiaI know, I know, we’re all saying the same thing: My Hero Academia was too good.

 Again, this was one where I picked up the manga first and…was way excited about the anime. Guess what–I’m still WAY EXCITED ABOUT THE ANIME. The manga is fantastic and of course I recommend reading it but I felt the anime did a fantastic job of bringing it all to life. This happens to be my brother’s #1 pick of the season and he won’t shut up about how the story took a very overused concept and made it totally fresh and exciting. Plus Ultra!

Okay, so not everyone can be a winner. Aside from my Top 3, here are my other shows that I enjoyed…

Joker GameQuite possibly my favorite line of the whole series.

I set the bar pretty high for this one. I loved the premise and the way it looked and the assortment of characters so I couldn’t wait to watch it. The first two episodes were great. I think I was just perpetually conflicted because I wanted to “get to know” the characters…but by the very nature of the show and the fact they’re spies and don’t even know each other, we can’t expect to get to know them. Their personalities are fluid and backgrounds contrived. I think that’s why I enjoyed the final episode so much and felt like that’s the episode I’d been after the whole time–because we finally got to see “inside” the character. But I also think that’s why it was chosen as the final episode. Despite my “desire for more while simultaneously realizing that would compromise the whole premise of the show itself”…I did enjoy it, would watch more of it, and would recommend it.

Tanaka-kun is Always ListlessOf course it is.

I knew nothing going into this show aside from the pretty self-explanatory title. Yeah, I enjoyed the first episode but it is pretty sleepy, so I figured it’d be one of those “put on while trying to fall asleep” shows.  The problem with that was I didn’t fall asleep at all–I stayed awake just to watch it! It was such a goofy, simple, drowsy show but I ended up loving it. The pacing and dare I say boring? premise might not be for everyone but it really clicked with me. Okay, sure, the adorable bromance between Ohta and Tanaka didn’t hurt. I could probably watch another twelve episodes of Ohta taking care of Tanaka and packing him around.

Bungo Stray Dogs

Like Joker Game, I was really excited about this one. I realized almost immediately that it was way goofier than I’d anticipated (I know we all associate Osamu Dazai with hilarity, right? …Right?) Kunikida immediately became my favorite simply by being one of my favorite voices (ahem, Ohta, above) but sometimes I had a hard time paying attention. I’m not sure I would’ve stuck with it except for I WANTED TO LIKE IT. I did enjoy the series, especially in the last couple episodes, and I think the next season with even more characters will be something to look forward to.

Assassination Classroom

It’s been a long haul for the octopus teacher assassin and those of us watching. It was nice to see a series that actually has a conclusion. And yes, I cried the last episode.

Super Lovers

I went from thinking this was incredibly stupid to can’t stand waiting for more all within the first episode. However, since I couldn’t wait for more, I ended up reading the manga and after that the anime wasn’t as interesting. I wanted to love it but I just didn’t care as much since I spoiled it for myself. But hey, it’s BL; I’ll take it.

I also finished The Lost Village because I kept expecting some bombshell or some deep revelation that would make the show worth watching. Didn’t happen. I want my time and brain cells back.

So that’s my spring! I have a ton of “wanna watch” shows on my list so my Summer 2016 post could be HUGE. Or I might have to whittle things down from the start…

What shows did you love? Which ones wasted your time? Are you excited about anything coming this summer? (ahem, BERSERK, ahem)

Spring 2016 Extravaganza

It’s that time again! After gorging myself on the season’s new shows, here’s what I came up with…

LOVE LOVE LOVE:

JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Diamond is Unbreakable I was soooo excited for this one and it did not disappoint. At the time of this post we’re 3 episodes in and every time I get to the end I wish I could just watch the whole series.

Joker Game This is another of my highly-anticipated shows and I try to not just grin through the whole episode. I love the intellectual/espionage/historical aspects of it all; you want to pay attention to every little detail.

Bungo Stray Dogs While I thought this would be a bit more serious (I mean, I’ve never found Osamu Dazai to be particularly humorous) I’m pleasantly surprised with the goofy twist. I’d been really looking forward to this series and now that it’s here, I love it.

Haven’t You Heard? I’m Sakamoto Having read the manga, I couldn’t wait for this anime. Yes, it’s so stupid but so GREAT. It has kind of a Cromartie High School feel that I really love.

My Hero Academia I read the manga and love it but the hype for this show was nuts. However…it’s all good! The anime has done an excellent job so far. This is another one of those shows that makes me want to just watch more, more, more! after the episode ends.

Super Lovers My guilty pleasure. A few minutes into the first episode I really thought I wasn’t going to like it but now I’m addicted.

Okay, I’ll Probably Keep:

Kiznaiver This show also got quite a bit of hype…to the extent I almost didn’t watch it. But I liked it more than I thought I would so I’m hoping it surprises me/grows on me/something.

Ace Attorney I have never played these games but decided to watch the show anyway. Turns out, I really like it! I don’t even know why. This show may not qualify as one I “love love love” and I don’t feel compelled to pay attention the entire time, but it’s fun and easy and heck, now I’m thinking about trying the game(s).

Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn RE:0096 It’s…a Gundam series. And as such, seems to take itself pretty seriously. But since Iron Blooded Orphans is over (for now?) I might as well fill the Gundam gap with this.

Twin Star Exorcists I tried getting into the manga and just…couldn’t. I thought maybe the anime would be better but it turns out I’m pretty bored with that too. I don’t know why this series doesn’t click with me; I usually enjoy this general premise. But for some reason I feel compelled to stick with it.

Tanaka-kun is Always Listless This one came out of nowhere (for me) and I thought it would be way too boring but for some reason…I really like it. Admittedly, I’m only through the first episode so the premise might get old pretty fast but for now, I’m really liking Tanaka-kun…’s friend.

And you thought there is never a girl online? I thought the concept was great but simultaneously expected this to be really disappointing. Instead, the first episode was pretty funny to me. I’m still wary and expect it to go downhill quickly but for now I’ll just let it be what it is and enjoy it.

Endride I’ll admit that I was excited for this even though I expected it to be pretty dumb. And it is pretty dumb but I still kinda like it. Though I’m perpetually distracted by the fact that one guy is apparently missing the lower half of his shirt while the other guy always looks like his pants are on backwards.

Shonen Maid Judge all you want, I was looking forward to this one. It’s actually a lot cuter than I expected, even if it’s not as interesting as I’d hoped. I don’t mean that in any BL/pervy way (for once).

Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress This show is…cinematic. It had a very “movie” feel to it. It also felt like a movie in terms of pacing, like it had plenty of time to explore the plot. Which is probably why it felt kind of boring to me at first –plus zombies aren’t really my thing– but by the end, I wanted to know what happened to the main dude and thought, “This might be pretty good.”

Maybe I Will, Maybe I Won’t…

Kumamiko I don’t know why but I thought this would be great. What’s not to love about a girl and a talking bear? Unfortunately it’s kind of boring so far. A girl and a talking bear…I feel like there’s so much wasted potential for hilarity…

Big Order Why did I pick this up? I feel like it should be better than it is. The premise/plot seemed interesting but the protagonist…comes off as kind of whiny and makes me want to hit him (and his sister). However, I did fall asleep before the end of the first episode so maybe I missed something that would actually make me like anyone in the show.

Hundred I was going to drop this but I keep watching it even though the princess-character’s boobs are horribly distracting in their weird defiance of gravity. Actually, I think the only reason I still watch is because of Emile.

The Lost Village I didn’t really know what to expect but the premise sounded interesting. Unfortunately I’m already to the phase of not liking/caring about any of the characters and being perfectly content if they all just kind of died. But maybe that’s what’s going to happen so I’ll keep going.

Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World- I picked this up out of curiosity and ended up liking it more than I thought I would. Then I fell asleep in the second episode. The main character (I think he’s the main character–unless he perma-died while I was sleeping) was actually kind of endearing to me, which I didn’t expect. But I don’t know if I’ll see this one through to the end.

Flying Witch I don’t actually know why I picked this one up. But it’s kind of cute and sleepy and simple so far so I guess I’ll keep at it.

Dropped:

Bakuon!! I don’t know why but I actually feel a bit guilty for dropping it. There is nothing that interests me –cute girls or bikes– so I don’t know why I even watched the first episode.

Cerberus After two episodes I don’t even remember what this was about or why I thought I should watch it. Apparently I make impulsive random queue decisions.

There you have it…my too-long Spring Anime Evaluation. *collapses*