You're right. My wife and I gave it a spin last night and it was far more enjoyable than the descriptions and the previews made it seem. It was actually engaging enough that I think we added it to our que to follow.

I dunno what it says about me, but that's one of the only mangas where I was snared from the first volume and have since been hooked. My favorite arc is still the first one in the manga with the Godhand.

@Mark777
Exactly. It wasn't that bad. I am not saying it is a reason to go and watch it. I am saying that it is a reason to not steer people clear from it. I am not saying you should recommend it. I am saying I don't see why you are recommending people never watch it. Again, not trying to get you to go around praising the show. I just think it is not appropriate to encourage people to never watch something with very little reasoning as to why they shouldn't.

@AzureShade
There are still going to be a lot of people who can't get over the constant barrage of boobs and butts being blasted at them, but there is clear reason to believe that this is going to be a serious sports drama. I probably wouldn't have believed it without watching it, though.

Yeah I mean the manga is pretty well-received, which is why people have such a strong reaction to the anime adaptation.
I have neither watched or read it, just heard praise and hatred for the manga and anime respectively on various podcasts and such.

I will repeat my self.

It is a bad show and you should not watch it, because it is a waste of time and there is absolutely nothing to recommend it over anything else. It is mediocre to poor in every aspect, and it is actively bad/annoying at points. There are hundreds of anime out there and dozens of better harem anime out there. It is perfectly valid to say a show that is mostly bland crap at its best is something you shouldn't take the time to sit down and watch when there is plenty of stuff out there that isn't that you should go watch instead. That is in the fact a large part of the point behind recommending something or telling people not to watch it. The fact that you cannot really defend the show demonstrates that people shouldn't go and watch it. They should go watch good shows instead and not waste their time. If you think people should still try Strike the Blood, you should actively tell me why it specifically deserves people's time.

@Mark777
I am not advocating for it to be recommended, though. My position is, and always was, that you shouldn't slap it down on a list and say don't watch and not say more on it. Really, shows shouldn't be recommended without some additional info, but when you are going out of your way to dissuade people from something, it feels like there should be a greater burden on the individual to say why they think other people should avoid it. Certainly, anyone using a review should probably also be highly inquisitive to avoid such a situation as missing out on a show they would have enjoyed watching, but I feel that doesn't mean you should put as little info as possible in the first place.

As for Strike the Blood, it is supernatural action show with a strong splash of ecchi rom/com. While it is nothing exceptional, it does it's job. Unless you are particularly strained for time, there is no particularly reason to avoid it. While there is nothing it does particularly well, the only real flaw was the weakness of the writing. The action is still engaging and the familiar ecchi scenes and harem antics are amusing. While there are certainly other anime you should prioritize viewing, if you feel a particular pull towards supernatural action or ecchi rom/com, you should give it a look some time if you don't know what you should watch.

...

Let me nitpick this, though.



It is not the bottom of the barrel. While we might debate on exactly what is at the bottom of the barrel in anime, Strike The Blood isn't it. So, there absolutely is something to recommend it over anything else that is worse than it.

Unless you somehow meant it wasn't a show that had something that could be recommended of any other show, which is a confusing thought given how there are probably few shows that can do that with any relevant meaning.

The quality on the old anime is really bad. Plus it focuses on the Band of the Hawk arc, which is great if you like fairly grounded military fantasy. I lean more toward the grime, grit and guts of good sword and sorcery, which the Godhand arc had in spades. I haven't watched the recent trilogy of animated Berserk movies (again, these seem to cover the Band of the Hawk arc), but the 3D-ish animation on the new Berserk series looked strange.

Lately, I've been enjoying Demi-chan wa Kataritai. It's somewhat difficult to categorize, in that while the main character is a male high school teacher and the other main characters are all female, it's not really a harem anime, and the romcom aspects are rather subdued. Likewise, the girls are cute and interesting, but it's not quite "cute girls do cute things" like Urara Meirochou.
All in all, it's slice of life with some supernatural elements, portrayed in a more realistic and mature way than you would usually see.
Also, crunchyroll botched the title. It's not "interviews with monster girls", it's "I want to interview demi-humans". The supernatural aspects of the girls are more subtle, and they look like normal humans, aside from the vampire's fangs, and the dullahan's head being separate.

If you end up enjoying the anime, I recommend reading the manga as well. The art is pretty great, and there are nuances the anime can't depict well.

I picked up Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood and it is pretty great. Good art. Good action. And the plot is ever so tightly woven. Every character and event moves the plot along, sometimes in ways that aren't immediately apparent.

I tried to watch some anime, but was repulsed by Japanese voices (how high can you get ?), characters always overreacting to everything, and things that make no sense, in example common cliches or titles of those shows.
Like, I'd really want to watch a show about the fate of the world being decided by a Mahjong game, or about an ingenious, aristocratic revolutionary with a power of hypnosis or a journey of a medieval merchant accompanied by a harvest spirit... Those are such a cool plot concepts, but uh, style...

There are shows with a very muted atmosphere if you don't like overreactions, Mushi-shi is an example.
If you don't like Japanese voice acting, you could always watch it dubbed and then kill yourself afterwards you scum.

My top 3 of Winter so far is probably:
Acca: A very comfortable drama with some intrigue that manages to keep you hooked, while the atmosphere keeps you on the ride and makes it all very pleasant.
Fuuka: I love love polygons and anything romance drama, and I've the impression that this show will deliver it in spades, with a cherry of **** on the top. Most people get hyped for action, but I get excited about characters being emotionally torn to pieces. Also has the cutest mc of the season.
Akiba's Trip: Japan's endeavours in finding ways to make naked women a natural part of the setting never fails to appeal to my appreciation of the absurd, and the lively characters and moderately good comedy makes it an entertaining 24 minutes.

Honorable mention to 3-Gatsu no Lion for arguably being the best anime of the season*, but it's the second cour. More than anything else I've watched in a long time, it feels like an actual story, instead of tired concepts adapted to new environments.

*That I am watching so shut up about Rakugo Niklor.

You say that, but Mushi-Shi is a top notch English dub. Japanese is only slightly better in that case.



At least you acknowledge its superior position.

Yeah, it turns out that the plotting of Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood loosens up somewhere around the 30 episode mark. At that point I guess there's just too many characters spread across too much geography for the coincidences to feel believable.
Also a certain character's flirtation with the dark side seemed to come out of nowhere. I suspect it's a problem of the adaptation.

FMA:B is one of my favorites. It's really long, but it was long because it was a legitimately long story, rather than because it was trying to fill time with pointless side stories or one piece/dbz style super overextended fights. Every episode was an important piece of the puzzle, and it felt really satisfying when all the pieces came together in the conclusion.

Stuff also happens in every episode. There isn't 10 minute of content sprinkled behind recaps and flashbacks and the standard "in the previous episode" bullpucky.

Stuff also happens. It doesn't take forever but also doesn't feel like it's going too fast. FMA: Brotherhood is probably the #1 anime I would recommend to anyone who doesn't mind gore, if I knew nothing else about their preferences.

Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood is still very good. Don't get me wrong. I just can't help but feel that the second half is a step down.

Time of Eve is pretty good too. Just 6 15 minute episodes examining human/android relations. Very mellow.

Has anybody mentioned Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer yet (AKA Hoshi No Samidare)?

Just you, and that was on another thread.

Not in here, I don't think, since it's a manga.

It's a good one, though.