I still didn't reach the middle yet, but I am not liking this anime. Well, I like the idea behind it a lot, same characters living slightly different scenes, but the execution is the worst of all. Boring characters, nonsense things, horror mostly by voice changes, etc.

I can understand that. Even while watching it myself, I was aware of how many flaws the show had, but it ended up really enticing me and sticking in my mind the entire time I was watching it. It was this show that made me realize that I apparently like gory anime.

Finished Higurashi. Definitively a pain to watch, almost stopped a hundred times, but my curiosity moved me until the end. I cannot say I was rewarded. Great idea, incredibly bad execution. I am still wondering why a high schooler uses a pistol at a holster and when she needs one, instead she uses a knife. My score: 5.

Also finished Blue Exorcist. Great characters and funny. Bad action and story. Incredibly I never questioned myself why I was watching it and never considered stopping, which is a good quality for any show. My score: 7.

Started Kurozuka and Knights of Sidonia.

Very fair. I think about the only strength the show really has is the mystery (which I guess is tied in to the writing), but yeah an anime was probably not the best vehicle for the story. I still like it and need to watch Higurashi [yaddayadda] Kai some time and then the sequel Umineko [yadda yadda]. God what a freaking weird titling system.


I've been watching an 80's British cartoon called Count Duckula lately.

I could like it more if the characters were better or if the stories were interlaced better. From the stories, two are the same story counted by two different view points, only the end is a little different. I would like more of this approach, but unfortunately, there is almost nothing you gain by watching the second view point (only confirmed Shion as the deranged one).

I saw that there is a second season, but I have no inclination to watch it.

First off, they're all slightly deranged. I can't recall their names any more, but I think the blonde-haired beret'd cloudcookoolander is the worst of the bunch.

I think the secondary viewpoint could have been used a lot better if the counterparts had been placed closer to each other, instead of having to wait like three arcs (and like 10 episodes) to see the other point of view. As far as I understand the second season includes a lot more "answer" arcs and not so many "question" arcs, but I'll have to see it for myself.

True, although at different times. In some arcs only one of them is deranged, in others all of them.

Point taken.

So Chibi Attack on Titan is now an anime.

Why? Why they do this?

...

Wat

...

Is this like the Chibi Avatar shorts?

Google "Attack on Titan Junior High".

Oh. So that picture I saw wasn't a fan parody...

Ye gods...

The also did a Chibi Naruto spin-off for Rock Lee at some point. I saw it cross my Crunchyroll list a few days ago and was confused about why that was a thing. I watched the first "episode" which was actually divided into two mini-episodes about Rock and his team getting into trouble and mostly doing flips and face-plants to avoid golden dog poop?

Oh, yeah, I actually forgot about Rock Lee and His Ninja Pals. I actually liked that one, but I liked Naruto before it, I just got cut off from it because Cartoon Network dropped it and by the time Disney picked up Shippuden, if they were airing new episodes on any set schedule I no longer had the ability to follow said schedule.

Where was I? Oh, yeah, chibi Rock Lee. For me that show stepped so far over the boundary of ridiculousness I couldn't help but laugh at it. Most of the jokes you needed to have seen Naruto for, but I guess they expected that? Plus, each half-hour breaks the fourth wall an average of 6 times, if I'm remembering correctly.

It seems I hit the mark with both Kurozuka and Knights of Sidonia. Absolutely loving both. I believe I'll finish them in no time. The first one is more difficult to compare, but Knights of Sidonia reminds me a lot of Attack on Titan, only lighter, faster and more suspenseful. The only problem is more shounen antics as well.

About Knights of Sidonia. Great setting, excellent action, tons of suspense, mystery and one plot twist almost every 2 or 4 episodes. The animation and sound are very good too, but this is secondary to me. Characters are servicable, but nothing special. There are a lot of shounen antics and some plot flaws. I could overlook most of the shounen antics, but they overuse so many tropes that it started to bother me. Despite that I think it deserves at least an 8, but I will give a solid 9. That is how I liked it, and I could give a 10 if not for the problems I told.

About Kurozuka. It started really good, but it dropped the ball in the middle, specially the action. The action remains satisfying though. It has a lot of blood, but it is less graphic than others. The characters are almost meaningless, they don't matter anyway, only Kuro and Kuromitsu matter, and their story. The story does pay in the end, making a full circle. My score: 8.

That cgi space thing? I've barely watched some episodes, but it didn't strike me as very shounen. Especially since it's categorized as seinen.

They sold it to me as seinen, but it is mostly a shounen with some blood and death. It uses all tropes from the book as a shounen anime, so, for me, it is a shounen/seinen, but mostly shounen. The first season has fewer scenes, but on second season the shounen factor increases exponentially.

Reasons:

- It is an action anime. Check.
- It has the main protagonist as a teenager or a kid. Check.
- The main protagonist has a special power or destiny. Check.
- The main protagonist saves the world. Check.
- It is filled with teenager problems. Check.
- It has some harem tropes. Check.

I am in a luck streak now. Watching Requiem from the Darkness and Jojo's Bizarre Adventure, and both are very good. Jojo is probably the best shounen (although is has some seinen qualities) I watched since Yu Yu Hakusho.

I'm not sure if it was mentioned earlier in the thread, but One Punch Man is amazing.
Such loving homage to heroes, with a main character that can literally defeat monsters in a single punch, yet the story never gets old. The secondary characters have their own arcs and goals. The humor is so good.
There are only about 8 episodes out, but the manga has more, and the webcomic has even more than that. It's just so beautiful.