TV-Nihon

So I thought I'd open one discussion topic as I didn't see one up yet.

What series is everyone following, and what do you think of it so far?

For me:

1) Sailor Moon:
Not particularly enthusiastic about it, but I'll just stick around to see how this one goes compared to the old series. (I also notice there's already another separate topic open on this).

2) Persona 4: The Golden:
Officially hasn't started yet but I'm looking forward to it. I didn't like the previous series due to the mediocre animation and really bad action scenes (the characters all looked like they're just hanging out while letting their personas do the fighting), I really hope they improve on the action scenes and make it more like the Persona 3 movie (where the protagonists actually fight).

3) Glasslip:
I don't know what to say about this one yet. Seems like love polygon setup but with some hints of supernatural undertones? Also, chickens. I'll give this one another 1-2 eps to see how the story moves along.

4) Akane ga Kill:
I just watched the first ep yesterday, and am going into it blind (e.g. no knowledge on the source material it is based on). I have to say, the setting feels very gonzo, like a fantasy world cyberpunk theme, girls with oversized gunblades and other over-the-top elements. The main characters are even color-coded like a super sentai team. But it has a very weird mix of comedy and serious grimdark-gore-violence-shock going on, which I think is a very odd and jarring combination. Again, I'll give it another 1-2 eps to see if I'll follow or drop it.

The new Sailor Moon how long it will be? If they did like Dragon Ball Z Kai. I'm out. But if new High Definition anime it will be interesting.

It's scheduled for 26 episodes.

I should mention it's all new animation since it will be based on the original manga and thus the old anime can't be really used.

JoJo being for a full year is the only thing I care about.

Momo Kyun Sword ep1:
So I was bored waiting for the rest of the ep2 and gave this one a try. Momoko, a girl who is born from a peach must travel with her 3 animal god companions to stop demons from stealing magical peach fragments for their evil nefarious deeds. Also, a rather useless celestial super sentai girl squad is involved.

This one is heavy on fanservice and boob physics, and I wasn't really expecting there to be a magical girl henshin sequence. But after the transformation I half-expected Momoko to go "ore sanjou" and start talking about climaxes as she fought the demons

Persona 4 The Golden ep1:
Finally got to watch it tonight. I'm still having mixed feelings about it. The good: they really ramped up on the action. It's like Narukami's on his second replay mode, making him more competent and overpowered right from the get-go. Instead of the original fight with two lowly shadows, he and Izanagi's suddenly faced with an entire nest and they just effortlessly wiped out the entire horde with one maziodyne skill. The bad? It feels like I'll be watching a season-long recap show, which is understandable considering I've finished the game and watched the original series but this time, it feels like they've upped the pace even more and brushing off or simply breezing through a lot of interactions.

Glasslip ep2:
Well that was an interesting episode. Supernatural elements are confirmed, and the love polygon looks complex. The setup looks good, it makes me look forward to the next episode. It also helps that P.A. Works does really gorgeous scenery.

Akame ga Kill ep2:
Okay, this is turning into some kind of A-team ensemble helping those in need, but with killer assassins. Didn't care much about some revolution army being in charge, I would have preferred if the story was just about this group and their missions in the city without any outside political interference. I still feel it is a bit rough on the edges... gonna see how ep3 turns out.

Glasslip Ep3:
I feel the plot is slowing down a bit in this episode, with less things happening and some issues getting glossed over too quickly. Still feeling on the fence if I want to continue following this series or not.

Persona 4 The Golden Ep2:
The producers are really taking a bold move with the direction of this series, completely glossing over all the original story and concentrating only on the new content. With that in mind, it seems to be drifting away from the investigation team and shadow world fights/rescues, and turning into a comedy? Loved the ED sequence BTW.

Momo Kyun Sword Ep2:
It's really turning into a generic fantasy comedy with much silliness and fanservice, isn't it? If the rest of this series is going to keep up with this same generic formula I think I'll be dropping it soon.

So after watching the 3rd episode of Akame ga Kill and still not sure where this series is heading (with its reveal of the term Imperial Arms and their capabilities), I went ahead and checked out the manga.

I must say, this is totally not what I expected at all. What I saw from eps 1-2 was a fantasy dystopian setting with D&D-ish protagonists working as an assassin/mercenary unit to eliminate evil and corruption, but what I get is

Spoiler

a super-powered DBZ-style action influenced by powerful God weapons (called Imperial Arms here, but called Teigu in the manga), with Game of Thrones levels of character mortality thrown into the mix. Both anime and manga setup one of the main characters, Tatsumi, to be an inexperienced newcomer who's showing potential and capable of handling himself by skill alone, but that soon goes out of the window once he inherits a Teigu himself and starts growing to DBZ levels. And then members of this colourful cast start dropping like flies.

In any case, now that I know what to expect I am having less interest in the anime itself due to subpar animation especially in fight scenes, and me not really that into the shock/horror nature of this genre.

Glasslip Ep 4:
Slow-moving episode. I think by now, I'm only putting up with the show because of PA Works' gorgeous artwork. There's some setup for drama to happen, but not much else.

Persona 4 The Golden Ep 3:
I am really enjoying the wacky hijinks that this show has become. They even made the beach scene funnier than both the original and the game. Then they time-skip over to the autumn festival, with Marie in it. I don't think I remember Marie both beach and fireworks scenes in the game, I guess they edited her in for this show. Also the original content in the second half of the show is nice; Yukiko randomly tossing in ingredients into her POT OF DOOM while Yu looks on in horror is comedy gold.

Glasslip Ep 5:
"The show where the plot moves at a snails pace, but I still put up with it for some reason." Well, at least the characters are acting reasonably well most of the time, instead of the usual dumb or ignorant attitude that sets up drama for the sake of drama. We're in ep 5 and I'm still not sure where the show is heading, but at least there is some movement in the plot.

Persona 4 The Golden Ep 4:
Focus on Marie's lost memories and the quiz bonus content. Wasn't as entertaining as the previous two episodes, but next episode's preview has my hopes up.

Spoiler

Rise and gang's performance at Junes!

Glasslip Ep 6:
Finally some drama and the plot start moving along.

Persona 4 The Golden Ep 5:
They dedicated this whole episode for the concert scene, and made changes to incorporate Marie into it as an active participant. Marie performing True Story was nice, Rise's encouragement speech happening the night before felt very out of place, but I guess they had to do it then to make way for the changes. Looks like the plot returns and time for shit to hit the fan next episode.