I really want to write a season preview that’s glowingly positive. A post that’s brimming with hope for the new season, one which seems fit to bursting with potential. To be able to do so would give me an immense amount of pleasure.
Anime, sadly, just isn’t cooperating.
Fall is one of the seasons we count on pretty heavily in any given anime year. After spring it has the largest number of shows (though this season seems to have fewer series than the last few fall schedules), and sometimes there’s a bit of a reflexive drift towards more substantial material as series that were deemed too “serious” for summer get pushed back three months. It’s also the last chance for the year to be salvaged – and given that the first three seasons of 2018 have hardly been stellar, that aspect is all the more critical this year. But going in, this coming season looks like anything but the one that’s going to redeem 2018 in anime.
As with winter, spring and summer there are certainly standouts on the schedule. On balance, though, I can hardly remember a season with less that truly excites me. I pegged 15 series for this preview, but I had to lower the bar about as much as I ever have in order to to do so. And of those, it’s really only a sequel – Golden Kamuy – and maybe one new series that have me genuinely stoked. Everything else is either a sleeper, a total shot in the dark or a reach based on one positive element that stands out (plus one intriguing oddity). And there’s no one series that I’m anticipating as intensely as I did Planet With and Hi Score Girl this season (and after those two shows, this season is pretty darn soft). The most sobering thought for me is that the shows here are the ones I could actually convince myself to preview – the bulk of the schedule is even worse.
I’m also noticing more new series based on games – especially cellphone games – than ever before. This is a trend I was commenting on as early as last year, but it really seems to have intensified in 2018. And frankly, I don’t consider it a positive for anime on the whole. We’ve seen good shows come through this route, but they’re the exception. At least these aren’t LN adaptations (fall has too many of those, too) but they still generally cater to the reduced attention span syndrome that’s dominated anime more and more since light novels really exploded as a source material.
Ultimately, one truth becomes more and more inescapable – as long as the production committee system dominates, anime is doomed to a gradual creative death. Some in the industry – among them quite influential creators – have sounded this alarm. Some have even tried to act. But it hasn’t moved the needle. The influx of cash from the likes of Netflix and Amazon to the studios hasn’t materialized (who could have predicted). Record companies, LN publishers, seiyuu agencies, idol agencies – all of them skim most of the income from anime before it ever reaches the studios that produce it. All of them dominate the decision-making process when new titles are greenlit. And anime starves – it starves creatively, and the animators who create it are treated as virtual slaves.
The problem is pretty simple. Too many people are making too much money off the current system for it to change. The parasites are killing the host, and when it dies these bloodsuckers will be forced to find a new victim to drain – but parasites don’t generally ease off out of concern for their host. I know all these cute girls doing cute things shows are not created equal – duly noted. But the damage being done to the diversity of anime as a medium here is huge. It seems as if most production committees looking at a potential series have a formula to determine whether it’s CGDCT enough to fund – a “Moeficient” if you will. And what we’re seeing in anime in 2018 (and announced for 2019) is the result.
The past (and next few) schedules are shockingly homogeneous by historical standards. I equate the production committees continuing to inflict these series on anime – cute girl zoo animals, cute girl zombies, cute girl battleships, cute girl mythological creatures, anything isekai, the odd BL or otome show – to the politicians and corporate wigs who deny climate change. They know full well how destructive it is, but as long as they continue to make money in the short-term they don’t care if they’re killing the host in the long-term.
We get a few shows every year that buck the trends, series that are produced for the right reasons and remind us of what anime was and can still be. But these are the proverbial cool day in August and more and more, they’re the exception – and as our expectations get more and more modest (“Two good shows? The season isn’t a total loss…”) it gets easier and easier to accept the demise of anime as a sad inevitability. That, sadly, is what looking at the Fall 2018 anime lineup makes me think and feel. It might be different if the first 3/4 of the year had been different, been more encouraging – but it wasn’t. Really good shows (Golden Kamuy, Made in Abyss, Mob Psycho 100) doing well enough to get sequels at least tells us that the audience is still there for anime as art, even if it’s only enough to sustain a few such series a year. But I’m tired of diminished expectations, and I’m tired of settling. I want anime to inspire me again, to fill me with hope – not just isolated shows, but as a whole. But that doesn’t look like it’s going to happen anytime soon – and maybe ever again.
With that happy thought, let’s focus on what we actually have (and remember, this is the best of it as far as I’m concerned). As usual, the poll is in the sidebar – please go vote, your heart filled with optimism!
Highest Expectations:
Golden Kamuy 2nd Season – Geno: (PV) Against all odds Golden Kamuy actually proved to be pretty successful from a commercial standpoint. Having a hugely popular manga to build off of certainly helped, but despite its rather heavy subject matter there’s a kind of populist irreverence to this series that no doubt helps as well. This was probably greenlit as a split-cour from the beginning based on the timing of the sequel announcement, but it’s nice to see it’s not going to lose money.
While the first cour was hardly perfect (the CGI bear is something we all need to put behind us) Golden Kamuy was still one of the better series of 2018 so far. Any attention paid to the history of the Ainu – generally swept under the rug, as most uncomfortable parts of Japanese history are – is to be celebrated. But this is also a fascinating story with complex and interesting characters and a really clever central premise. Noda Satoru really went out of his way to depict the time, place and peoples as accurately as possible (an Ainu linguist – not easy to find these days – is a series consultant), saving his flights of fancy for the eccentric cast. It’s a winning combination, and it’s great to see Golden Kamuy get another cour to tell its story.
Karakuri Circus – Studio VOLN: (PV) Fujita Kazuhiro must be living right, because he’s been fortunate enough to see his two longest-running manga make it to anime long after their print runs ended. In actuality it really comes down to having fans in high places, as Fujita does. Both Ushio to Tora and Karakuri Circus are considered shounen classics to be sure, but it’s still unusual to see such works adapted so long after there’s anything to promote.
Like “Ushio”, Karakuri Circus is going to be three cours. It’s even longer than Ushio and Tora, though Fujita reportedly favored editing that series down for the timeslot. This time around Studio VOLN, which seems to be something of a MAPPA partner studio, is handling production solo. Most of the key staff and even some of the cast are carrying over from Ushio to Tora’s excellent adaptation, so all lights look pretty much green here. I haven’t read this series, the story of a young boy being pursued by sinister forces intent on stealing his fortune and the man who takes it on himself to protect him, but by reputation it’s a good one – more sinister and restrained in tone than Ushio and Tora.
Kaze ga Tsuyoku Fuiteiru – Production I.G.: (PV) Production I.G. always seems to make time for a literary title or two every year (bless their hearts) and you can pretty much assume excellent production values whenever they’re involved. This time around it’s an adaptation of a novel by Miura Shion, whose Fune wo Amu was adapted in excellent fashion by I.G. for NoitaminA last year. The director this time is Nomura Kazuya, who counts Ghost in the Shell’s 2015 movie and the vastly underrated Robotics;Notes among his directorial credits. The writing is handled by Kiyasu Kouhei, equally well-known as a writer and a seiyuu, and music is by the excellent Hayashi Yuki. With a top-shelf staff list and this source material – not to mention two cours to work with – I have high hopes.
The story (like that of The Great Passage) sticks out like a sore thumb in modern anime. The focus is on the Hakone Ekiden, a crazy 135 mile college marathon between Tokyo and Hakone (and back) held every January 2-3. College settings are rare enough in anime, but a serious exploration (and with Miura it could hardly be otherwise) of the psychology of running is a potentially fascinating topic to say the least. There’s not a lot that sounds really challenging on this schedule, but Kaze ga Tsuyoku Fuiteiru certainly bucks that trend.
Mid-table:
Radiant – Lerche: (PV) Radiant is that intriguing oddity I mentioned earlier. We’ve certainly had anime adapted from Western novels and plays and (especially) children’s books. But there’s a different vibe with Radiant – it feels as if this has the potential to be the start of something significant. In effect, this is an adaptation of a French manga, and as far as I know that’s a first on many levels.
As for the material itself, I confess I’d never heard of it before this adaptation was announced, but the general buzz seems to be positive. France is the country that, after Japan, has historically had the most mainstream comic culture, and it’s embraced manga and anime more than any Western nation. Radiant sounds like a fairly standard sorcerers and monsters setup, but there’s nothing wrong with that. Lerche’s track record is mixed, but they’ve got Kishi Seiji in charge here (talking of mixed track records), and he tends to be a superb director if he’s engaged and has strong material to work with. If Radiant tanks, it could just as easily be the lock to seal this doorway of potential for anime as the key that opens it, but I’m heartily hoping it succeeds.
Gurazeni Season 2 – Deen: (PV) Watanabe Ayumu’s “other” baseball seres from the spring provided a perfect complement to the superb Major 2nd. Where that series is all about baseball as a game, Gurazeni is a deconstruction of it as a sport. Not so much the boys of summer as the men of locker rooms, izakayas and team buses.
I’m not surprised Gurazeni didn’t generate a huge following in the West – it’s not as though sports anime not ticketed for Comiket generally do anyway, but this may be the most “inside baseball” of all baseball anime ( I almost fainted in joy at seeing “LOOGY” as a subtitle). It really helps if you love the small details about the game of baseball – the things that make it so quirky and unpredictable. But if they give this show a chance I think almost any viewer could grow very fond of Natsunosuke Bonda, Gurazeni’s immensely likeable journeyman middle reliever protagonist.
Hinomaru Zumou – Gonzo: (PV) There hasn’t been much anime about sumo (in fact I only remember Abarenbou Rikishi!! Matsutarou in recent years). Considering the deep (though less so than a generation or two ago) hold this sport (in some ways more akin to a religion) has on the Japanese consciousness, that’s perhaps a little surprising. Gonzo is of course almost unrecognizable these days, but the manga this show is based on seems to be fairly well-regarded. I find the idea of little bozu like we see in the promos aspiring to be sumo a bit of a credulity stretch, but Hinomaruzumou is a sports anime with elements of cultural exploration to it, so I’m hopeful of being persuaded.
Modestly Interested:
Double Decker: Doug & Kirill – Sunrise: (PV) A show that’s already premiered, in a season preview? It’s exceptionally rare at LiA, but since Crunchyroll only dropped one episode early, it seems like a preview is still in order. Nominally a Tiger & Bunny sequel (about 7 years too late) the links between that show and Double Decker are so far pretty thin (one character with the same name, pretty much). Given the gulf of time that’s passed that might be better than a true sequel anyway, and Doug & Kirill’s first episode was fairly engaging. There’s a nice irreverence and sense of fun and some really interesting background and character design, though among the characters themselves nobody really shone in the premiere. Sequel, prequel, homage – at this point, we just don’t know. But as long as Double Decker is entertaining in it’s own right it doesn’t much matter to me.
Tsurune: Kazemai Koukou Kyuudoubu – Kyoto Animation: (PV) Yes, I’m being drawn in by the promotional material for a series when the studio behind it rarely breaks out of their own creative box – that won’t be the last time I say that in this preview. As usual with KyoAni the art and animation look great, and this is a sports series about an interesting subject I don’t know that much about (archery). But it’s also another “award-winning” LN in Kyoto Animation’s never-ending ouroboros of self-promotion. And the last time they tackled a sports show about guys, the results were as stultifying boring as commercially successful (and still are). I have no reason to expect Tsurune to be different, really – there’s almost never any good reason to expect anything to ever be different with KyoAni – but once more I’ll give it a heave and hope for the best.
Irozuku Sekai no Ashita kara – P.A. Works: (PV) There’s something about the art and concept here that screams “amalgam of every P.A. Works show ever” to me. But this is a studio which, at it’s best, has served up shows that really work. The premise is that a 17 year-old girl from a family of witches in the future is sent back to 2018 by her grandmother, who fears for her future in the world she comes from. Pluses: it’s set in Nagasaki, a fascinating city rarely appearing in anime. The writer is Kakihara Yuuko, one of anime’s best adapters who recently struck gold with an original in Tsuki ga Kirei. And director Shinohara Toshiya is certainly capable of very good work with the right material. As with all originals we’re flying mostly blind, but those are enough reasons to be modestly hopeful.
SSSS. Gridman – Trigger: (PV) See – that didn’t take long, did it? I have even less reason to have faith in Trigger than KyoAni, because in my view they haven’t produced a single series of any consequence (with apologies to LWA, which – while pleasant – is a trifle). What Trigger produces is hype, self-promotion and marketing – they can sell their crap like nobody’s business and they understand the international market as well as anybody in the industry. But it’s still mostly crap, so far at least. Generally misogynistic, always crass and calculated, ultimately soul-destroying. Why should SSSS. Gridman be any different? It shouldn’t, and probably won’t be. But I’m a bereft Gainax fanboy with nowhere else to turn, so I keep showing up and hoping.
Gridman is a take on an old franchise of middling fame in Japan, though supposedly only loosely related, and looks like a pretty boilerplate mecha setup. If anything makes me mildly hopeful it’s that this is a mostly young staff in their highest-ever roles (including director Amemiya Akira), and might just provide something fresh from the studio. The connections with Gainax have never been thinner with a Trigger series, but I don’t think that’s a bad thing because the old guard have, quite frankly, fumbled every time they’re run with the ball. Maybe (but probably not) this will be the show that finds Trigger actually contributing something positive to anime for a change.
Kishuku Gakkou no Juliet – LIDEN FILMS: (PV) Not much romcom in the cement mixer this season, so Boarding School Juliet is worth a punt. As you might guess it’s a twist on “Romeo & Juliet”, with the protags this time as leaders of two opposing factions at an elite boarding school. It sounds kind of generic to be honest, but director Takuno Seiki showed an exquisite touch with the wonderful Udon no Kuni no Kiniro Kemari, and screenwriter Yoshioka Takao (Watamote) has a very solid resume. Seems a good bet to be at least agreeably decent.
RErideD: Tokigoe no Derrida – Geek Toys: (PV) Another original, this time a sci-fi. RErideD is the story of an engineer in 2050 who ends up going into cryogenic sleep for a decade, only to awake and find his inventions are waging a global war with each other. Writer Konuta Kenji has mostly done adaptation work so no clues there, but probably the biggest name associated with this series is designer ABe Yoshitoshi. He’s done some legendary work in anime – Serial Experiments LAIN, Haibane Renmei – but has pretty much been MiA for a long time (his Despera project is stuck in development limbo). Unfortunately the buzz from the early screening of RErideD was pretty negative, and with a new studio in charge there’s not much reason to feel confident on the production side.
Goblin Slayer – White Fox: (PV) I don’t expect a whole lot out of Goblin Slayer given the overall track record of fantasy LN adaptations. But by the dubious standard of light novel reputation, this series ranks near the top. White Fox is a studio that can do good work, and the staff is thoroughly experienced if nothing else. And one has to stretch the entrance requirements a little in a season like this one.
Tensei shitara Slime Datta Ken – 8bit: (PV) That’s as good a segue as any into Tensei shitara Slime Datta Ken, which is here for pretty much the same reason. It’s an isekai LN adaptation about a 37 year-old protagonist living out his isekai life as a slime monster. It’s here largely because the LN is considered among the better examples of the medium, and because 8bit has turned out a couple of wonderful overlooked gems in recent years – Shounen Maid and Miira no Kaikata. Again, the staff is certainly experienced if not exceptional in any other way.
Conception: Ore no Kodomo wo Undekure! – Gonzo: (PV) I’m having second-thoughts about including Conception on here in the first place, to be honest. A game adaptation about a teenager who magical world where he has to father 12 children with the 12 “Star Maidens” in order the save it? Seriously – what the hell am I thinking? There must have been something about this concept that caught my eye at least enough to put it on the list, but overall I don’t see any reason for optimism. But I’ll watch the first episode and maybe whatever it was will come back to me.
Will Definitely Blog: Golden Kamuy 2nd Season, Karakuri Circus, Kaze ga Tsuyoku Fuiteiru, Gurazeni Season 2
Sleepers: Irozuku Sekai no Ashita kara. Honest, that’s the only one I can think of, and even it’s kind of hyped to begin with… Maybe Kishuku Gakkou no Juliet, a little?
OVA:
Fittingly the OVA calendar is barren as well.
Steins;Gate 0 (OVA) – 11/28/18: I would have been a lot more thankful for this one before the TV series went seriously off the rails.
Theatrical:
Ibid.
Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha: Detonation – 10/19/18: (PV) I’m not a huge “Nanoha” fan, but there are worse mahou shoujo franchises out there.
Koukyoushihen Eureka Seven: Hi-Evolution 2 – 11/10/18: (PV) The first of the Eureka Seven prequel trilogy did not go over well, and I’m not convinced that it needs to exist in the first place. I’m a fan of the franchise, but sometimes it’s best to just the memories live on unsullied. Astral Ocean would have been an elegiac way for E7 to go out, irrespective of it’s having been misunderstood and unappreciated by fans of the first series.
sonicsenryaku
September 17, 2018 at 7:17 pmspeaking of E7 Ao did you ever see the “real” final ep? On another note, of all the LN’s you’d give a chance, I was almost certain you still had a spot in your heart for To aru majutsu no index; surprised you picked goblin slayer and slime over it
Guardian Enzo
September 17, 2018 at 9:46 pmI did see it, I will blog it someday. It was good, I thought, though obviously done on the cheap by Bones standards.
I watched the first two seasons of Index. Hell, I even blogged the second one. I’m just over it, pretty much – even though it was influential in anime terms it still feels derivative. It’s just too LN for me at this point. Plus, it seems like it was sort of evolving into a Railgun infomercial and Railgun always annoyed the fuck out of me.
lHyDrAl
September 17, 2018 at 10:38 pmThis season of Index is going to be the first to adapt the “real” story of the light novels. Everything that came before it isn’t really comparable so if you have even the slightest of interest in the franchise still I’d recommend checking it out. Railgun infomercial it most certainly is not.
sonicsenryaku
September 18, 2018 at 8:52 pm“and Railgun always annoyed the fuck out of me” hahaha that’s so hilarious because I actually consider railgun to be the better series of the two. Yes, I wish Kuroko would teleport her ass out of the series but aside from that railgun has always felt like the better crafted series for actually having characters that go through genuine emotional arcs and experience thematic pathos. While that may be praise that’s based on relativity to its brother series (though i have to give it to the first 16 eps of railgun S for really stepping it up; that whole portion of the series is a strong 7/10), it’s still worth mentioning.
But yea man, real biting stuff you covered in this write up regarding the state of anime. I share plenty of your sentiments although I’m probably a bit more hopeful than you are. After all, an anime landscape that’s going to give me mob psycho S2 (can’t effing wait man; this is going to make winter 2019 for me and probably you as well ) and boogiebop phantom revitalized through the lens of the great shingo Natsume is still one to be sort of thankful for. I honestly think the anime industry needs to die for a little and then come back (hopefully better) just like it did back in the late 50’s and mid 60’s.
Trigger is on the right track with the patreon idea so maybe, just maybe enough voices and daring artistic factions with big cahones can start making moves to fight back against slimy production committees so that they can start funding their own projects with the help of fans and production companies who actually want to create things the artist working on such projects actually give a damn about.
Guardian Enzo
September 18, 2018 at 9:46 pmI hate the Patreon idea. First off, it shouldn’t be up to fans to self-fund anime when they’re already paying for it via disc sales, merch sales, etc.. And second, pretty much everything that’s gone out on crowdsourcing has been generic as fuck anyway.
Simone
September 21, 2018 at 7:18 am“It’s just too LN for me at this point.”
Just going to say, by that logic, you will NOT enjoy Goblin Slayer. You can still try, just keep your expectations as low as possible. I read a bit of the manga and dropped it in the end – they tell me the manga actually exaggerates the edgier aspects of the LN, but still…
Scampi
September 17, 2018 at 8:57 pmGolden Kamuy and Thunderbolt Fantasy are the only ones that I’m really looking forward to this season, and one can’t even really classify Thunderbolt Fantasy as anime. Looking to Radiant and Double Decker for some solid entertainment if only for their settings.
By the way, I think Phantom in the Twilight adaptation was great for a cellphone game. The lead girl and the character interactions were great and more inclined towards shounen-y than shoujo. Rage of Bahamut S1 was great too, a small cast of characters in the game setting could really work.
Sam
September 17, 2018 at 9:00 pmHmm the only show I will be watching is Golden Kamui, I suppose. Considering I have been watching only 1 show (boku no hero academia) for the current cycle, not much will change for me.
There are some manga that have great potentials for anime adaptation like “Saike Mata Shite mo”, “Dorohedoro”, “Dungeon Meshi”, or “To You, The Immortal”, or even finished one like “Spirit Circle”, to name a few but haven’t heard anything on those yet. And probably jumping ahead but two popular manga (“Kaguya-sama wa Kokurasetai” and “5Toubun no Hanayome”) adaptations are coming for winter season; I don’t consider them to be good, more of guilty pleasure reading. I can easily see them being dismissed swiftly in this site. 🙂
Guardian Enzo
September 17, 2018 at 9:41 pmKaguyasama is probably Shaft, so I’m pretty much dealt out before the hand.
There are a jazillion manga that could make great anime – would take way too long to list. The vast majority of them will never be adapted because they don’t check the moeificent/BL/isekai boxes and they’re not cellphone games.
Guardian Enzo
September 18, 2018 at 6:39 pmActually, Kaguya-sama wa Kokurasetai didn’t end up being SHAFT after all – it’s A-1. Not only that Mamoru Hatakeyama is directing. Sure he’s a Shaft exile, but done great work once he escaped. So happily now that one will be back in the anticipation pile for winter.
Yann
September 17, 2018 at 10:24 pmWell… That was a depressing intro (sweaty forehead emoji here)
About this “production committee system” you’re talking about… Would you happen to know of a good source of info about it for a neophyte like me? I sorta kinda get the gist from your post, but I’d like to get a more general overview of the issue and context.
Guardian Enzo
September 17, 2018 at 11:05 pmDepressing yes, because the situation is depressing. IMO, of course.
I don’t know of a good one-stop description of the PC role, but you try Sakuga’s for a start:
https://blog.sakugabooru.com/2017/05/02/what-is-an-animes-production-committee/
Basically, it’s the collective of companies that put up the funding for a production – and suck up the profits. Record companies, idol agencies, seiyuu agencies, LN publishers, et al. Everyone who has a stake, and sees late-night anime has basically a marketing tool to sell their product (which may or may not include a lot of discs from the anime itself). The system is inherently risk-averse, and in almost every case even when a series is profitable, almost none of the profits get through the production committee members and back to the studio itself. And of whatever does, the highest-paid execs and staff get almost all of it – which is why in-betweeners and newbies work 80-100 hour weeks for about $2-300 a month in salary.
Yann
September 18, 2018 at 6:56 pmThanks! That looks like a good place to start… I hope this was a typo and you meant $2-3000!
Guardian Enzo
September 18, 2018 at 7:54 pmNope, not a typo. That’s an actual typical salary for an entry level inbetweener.
Eugene
September 17, 2018 at 10:35 pmWell, I know you don’t care for it, but Jojo alone is gonna make this Fall for me so it ain’t all bad.
Orion Taylor
September 18, 2018 at 9:31 pmI completely agree. Can’t wait for some new JoJokes! Also, I got kind of bored reading right around sex pistols, and never managed to motivate myself to start reading again. The anime is really the only vehicle that is going to carry me to the end of part 5 (at which point I should have enough motivation read through part 6). I know the holy land of part 7 awaits me, it’s just not clear when I’ll make it there 😛
Jindujun93
September 17, 2018 at 10:40 pmYou almost had me with Radiant – until I read Kishi Seiji and decided to stay the hell away from it, because frankly, with the exception of Humanity has Declined his work has always disappointed me, and with that one I’m more of the thought that the material was strong enough not to be ruined by him.
Otherwise, the season looks, well, yeah. A little barren. Golden Kamuy, Karakuri Circus and JoJo are obvious picks for me, and otherwise there’s only Bloom Into You that I really want to watch (I consider myself a big yuri fan and the manga has some very good reception, but actual adapted yuri manga instead of just the usual pandering is… very rare, to be frank, so I’m hoping this’ll be as good as I want it to be). Index and Double Decker are big maybes – I enjoyed Index a lot when it was airing (and even read the LNs back then, so I know what’s coming), but found myself kind of outgrowing it a couple of years ago. For Double Decker I didn’t watch the first episode yet, seeing how I wanted to wait for the regular broadcast there instead of the early preview. And I really wanted to watch RErideD because I’m a huge fan of ABe… but after the initial response to it I’ll be staying away for now, though if later episodes generate a positive buzz, I’ll reconsider. So yeah, not that much for me either.
Guardian Enzo
September 17, 2018 at 11:06 pmDidn’t care for Tsuki ga Kirei? Kamisama Dolls?
Jindujun93
September 17, 2018 at 11:27 pmKamisama Dolls was something I didn’t like at all, though it still isn’t the worst in his catalogue. Tsuki ga Kirei is something I didn’t start yet because I felt that back when it aired, I might have been harsher on it than it’d warrant simply because Kishi is involved, so I told myself to keep a distance from it for the time being. I’m aware it got positive reception and I know you’ve been praising it, so I might get around to it some day – but that time isn’t there yet for me.
Simone
September 21, 2018 at 7:21 amI’m not sure about the hate for Kishi. Humanity has Declined is pretty great, and I liked Assassination Classroom a lot too. I’m enjoying Asobi Asobase too. And while Angel Beats isn’t among my all-time favourites, I don’t remember it being badly directed.
Guardian Enzo
September 21, 2018 at 7:47 amI agree, I think he’s a big talent – better than a solid craftsman. I’ve always felt it came down to how interested he was in whatever he was directing – he can mail it in with the best of them, but when he’s engaged he’s a genuine auteur.
Ronbb
September 17, 2018 at 10:44 pm“Anime, sadly, just isn’t cooperating.”
Totally got it after reading through your preview…and wow… Luckily, the very, very few shows that pique my interest are included in your “will definitely blog” and “sleepers” lists.
Golden Kamuy: Nuff said.
Karakuri Circus: As you said and I heard Koyama-san’s voice in the PV…that’s a boost.
Kaze ga Tsuyoku Fuiteiru: I’m curious about a story exploring the minds of runners, and I’m expecting some character development. I also want to see how Hakone is depicted.
Irozuku Sekai no Ashita kara: I have a soft spot for P.A Works. Somehow (not always), they have a romantic take on their visual expressions. I will see if the story will shine as captivating as it looks.
As for the rest….hmmmm….
P.S. It seems like the PV links in the post need to be updated, or is it just me? Do I need to do something with my browser?
Guardian Enzo
September 17, 2018 at 11:08 pmEh? Can you be more specific about the links – what’s happening?
Ronbb
September 17, 2018 at 11:51 pmNo, please ignore me, and very sorry for that. They’re all working fine now. When I first clicked on the PV links, I was redirected to this season’s shows. They’re all working perfectly fine now…like i suspected that it’s just my browser. Sorry, Enzo.
Guardian Enzo
September 17, 2018 at 11:59 pmNo problem, might have been some sort of caching issue or something too.
tombeet
September 17, 2018 at 11:51 pmWhile I mostly agree with what you said, the positive aspect for me in the next season is the amount of original shows. Not that they automatically mean good, but many of them (Double Decker, REdriveD, Irozuku Sekai no Ashita kara) at least feel ambitious enough. Add to that list with Zombieland Saga and Release the Spyce (I still enjoy this cute-girl-doing-spy genre), and at least the original anime seems more promising than the rest of the title. Also, I’m looking forward to yuri-show Yagate Kimi ni Naru as well. There’s a solid reception regarding its source material
Guardian Enzo
September 18, 2018 at 12:00 amI just don’t know… It doesn’t seem as if TV anime is capable of doing a yuri series without revolting levels of otaku pandering. I’m prepared to give it a chance but with that genre and this industry, for me it’s guilty till proven innocent.
Simone
September 18, 2018 at 1:24 am“given that the first three seasons of 2018 have hardly been stellar, that aspect is all the more critical this year. But going in, this coming season looks like anything but the one that’s going to redeem 2018 in anime”
Honestly, I think you’re just undergoing burnout. Anime’s full of cheap shlock, as always. It also occasionally delivers a masterpiece, as always. Why and how these aren’t specifically to your tastes is something you’re better positioned to analyse than me, but just this year we’ve had plenty of good shows. The year opened with “Devilman Crybaby” and “A Place Further Than The Universe”, which frankly I’d easily consider two breakout shows at any time. I know you didn’t especially like either, but you can’t really dismiss them as mass-produced garbage either. “Yuru Camp” was also an absolutely delectable entry in its own specific genre – that is, healing/slice of life, but for those ends, it was great. And if we’re talking original production models – while as a show it wildly oscillated between “funny” and “incomprehensible”, “Pop Team Epic” had a completely unheard of one and gave a spot to a lot of up and coming creatives.
Next season we got “Megalobox”, which was both atypical and just overall really competent. We also had “Hinamatsuri”, which sadly didn’t go that well in sales, but still. On to this season, we’re having “Planet With”, the absolute gorgeousness and artistry of “Shoujo Kageki Revue Starlight”, and for a cheaper kind of flavour “Cells at Work”, that deserves mention just for the heated discussions surrounding immunology it managed to stir up in the anime community. Next season we’re getting a new “Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure”, so I trust David Pro to deliver the goods. Also, for next Winter, I already know what to look out for – in Kaguya-sama we trust, as we’re getting the anime adaptation for one of the wittiest and funniest romcom manga ever.
In other words, there may be a shift in genres, but it’s not necessarily one in quality, IMHO. The LN scourge even seems to be dying down (though you gotta hang on there – be wary of “Goblin Slayer”, I’ve read some of the manga and you’re probably NOT going to like that, and next season we have the infamous “Shield Hero”, stay away from that altogether). And I understand why it may be disappointing if these genres just don’t overlap any more with your tastes. But that doesn’t necessarily imply any grand catastrophic narratives about anime as a whole.
Guardian Enzo
September 18, 2018 at 2:15 amThat’s definitely not how I see it, having done a lot of these over the years, and year-end retrospectives to boot. It isn’t simply a matter of taste, it’s a matter of diversity – and we’re losing diversity in a big way. It’s not like there aren’t people inside the industry who know this, are saying it and even trying to act to try and stem the tide – but like those trying to fight climate change, it really isn’t having any effect because too many people are vested in sucking the current system dry until it wipes them out along with everybody else.
Simone
September 18, 2018 at 5:50 amI’ve been following anime on a season-to-season basis since 2012, so that makes it 6 years now, and I don’t see any specific trend. If anything, I’ve become more selective and give less chances to shows that I haven’t already heard good things about, but that’s just a time-saving measure.
Goh
September 19, 2018 at 9:59 amSpring 2012 had Space Brothers, Ginga e Kickoff, Hyouka, Kimi to Boku, Tsuritama, Nazo no Kanojo X and Shirokuma Cafe. And that’s only counting the series I like. There was also Kuroko and Sakamichi.
Sorry but it’s not even close to current seasons. No way.
Guardian Enzo
September 19, 2018 at 9:04 pmNope. Tell me more.
Simone
September 21, 2018 at 7:26 amYeah, for example I tried watching Hyouka and didn’t get what the fuss is all about. Seemed to me like it runs exactly on the same kind of moe fuel that powers so many shows that are lambasted now, just with a veneer of artistry conferred by a writing that tries to be intellectual and instead it mostly comes off as stiff.
As I said, I’m not denying there’s a shift in genres. But as recently as last year we had stuff like Rakugo Shinju, or Made in Abyss. Then again, it could be that I simply wouldn’t have the time to follow that many anime in a season, nor would I care to, so I’d usually still just pick a few, which limits my perception of how many are actually good.
Guardian Enzo
September 21, 2018 at 7:45 amHyouka is a bit of an odd case, though. It’s a super slow-builder, and the gap between the best and worst arcs is as wide as with any series I remember. I was really close to dropping it (for blogging at least) and it ended up being in my top 10 in one of the strongest years ever for anime.
Alonom
September 18, 2018 at 2:43 amDespite the overwhelming negativity of the post, It still was an enjoyable read. I guess your total lack of indifference to the problem made your unwillingness to compromise on the medium and love of it even clearer. That makes me genuinely happy, especially considering what it means for the future of the site and quality of its articles.
Although Winter looks kind of grim (save for few exception), the optimist in me feels the winds of change in spring 2019.
Mix getting an anime, OPM S2 and an original directed by watanabe at Bones. Also high probability of MHA S4, Vinland Saga and Chihayafuru S3 airing in spring.
Maybe I’m looking too far ahead and making too many guesses, but I’m hopefull 🙂
Guardian Enzo
September 18, 2018 at 3:26 amAlonom, I can’t express how much reading that means for me – thanks. Believe me, I’m well aware when I write a post like this that a lot of people are going to see it as too dark and too negative, and that’s not something I relish. I rewrote the intro several times, actually, because each time I read it I thought “Damn – that’s too much, dial it back.” But every time I rewrote it, it actually got darker. At some point it just makes sense to be honest and let the chips fall where they may.
As for 2019, I guess the positive take is that it would have some serious work to do to be as awful as 2018 has been. But basing a forecast on the announcements we’ve already seen (which generally ends up being surprisingly accurate) the overall picture looks very similar – an ever-more homogenous collection of cynical and creatively stilted muchness with a couple of good prospects every season. That’s a shitty picture to begin with, but – like those cool days in August – I suspect even those good prospects are going to get rarer and rarer.
Unless, of course, the system changes. My suspicion is that can’t happen until there’s a total crash – half of more of the studios wiped out, production volume a fraction of what it was, merch revenues off a cliff. I don’t know if you’ve ever watched “Brockmire”, but I kind of see the anime industry as like Jim’s arc – every time you think it’s hit rock-bottom, he digs a new bottom. And the only possible chance to recover is complete, abject devastation and ruin – a true rock-bottom.
Simone
September 18, 2018 at 5:47 amWinter has already scheduled Promised Neverland, Mob Psycho 100 season 2 and Kaguya-sama Wants to be Confessed To, which all have excellent manga material to back them – that I know of. Then there’s some stuff that still looks promising (like Dororo) and of course we still don’t have a full lineup. I don’t think it’s necessarily such a bad prospect.
The wild guesser
September 18, 2018 at 3:12 amSpeaking of anime outside the norm, are you planning on watching the Grappler Baki anime on Netflix? I’m not too familiar with the franchise as a whole, but the series looks batshit insane.
Also, did you ever get to finish Devilman: Crybaby, but decided against blogging about it or drop the series as a whole?
Guardian Enzo
September 18, 2018 at 3:29 amHonestly, I kind of like Devilman Crybaby but I find it pretty mannered and self-aware. I do intend to finish it at some point (I’m about halfway) but I just never feel a strong urge to go back to it. I feel like if I really dig into “B” (only watched 2 eps there I believe) I might like that one better, but it’s just a matter of finding the time.
As for Grappler Baki, like you I don’t know the franchise very well. I’m not terribly motivated for any of these Netflix shows to be honest.
The wild guesser
September 18, 2018 at 12:59 pmI understand, I was just curious is all. Ftom what I’ve seen, Grappler Baki is kinda similar to Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure Part 3, where the insane and over-the-top fights are the main draw of the series. I don’t think it warrants much to write about, per se, but it certainly is different.
Btw, I’ve been hearing a lot of negative talk whenever Eureka Seven AO is concerned, did people not like it? I thought it was a pretty damn good show, what’s there not to like?
Guardian Enzo
September 18, 2018 at 4:20 pmAnd I’m not a big JoJo fan, so there you go.
Butthurt E7 fans turned on AO like a pack of rabid dogs in the second cour, I’m afraid. It suffered greatly from trying to be something very different than the original (there’s no more political writer in anime than Aikawa Shou, for starters). To me it ended up being the better series, but I also think it would be on the shortlist for most misunderstood anime of all-time.
elianthos
September 18, 2018 at 4:22 amHmmmm…
Of your three top picks the college running one is the one appealing to me the most atm. Then Karakuri because of the author. Tempus fugit plus the anime didn’t complitely click with me in s1 hence for Kamuy I’m staying on the manga route.
Sleepers: archery club? I’d love me a somewhat watchable kyuudo anime :,) and the Double Decker premiere was rather enjoyable per se I’ll just pretend the T&B ties were just marketing bait until proven otherwise.
There are two more titles I’m checking out you have not included – expectedly – aka Thunderbolt Fantasy ( I’m fond of that puppet craftmanship what can I say ) and the next Jojo although it’s the mafia one and for the most part I tend not to like mafia settings ( the exception to the rule bar is pretty high ).
—-
EU7 AO real ending where? WHERE? O___O But about the movies… lalalala they don’t exist lalalala.
P.S.: thank you for the preview as usual and may you get an All Might hug of your own for cheering up purposes.
Guardian Enzo
September 18, 2018 at 4:59 amE7 AO “Final Episode – One More Time”. Subs are out there…
kanda92
September 18, 2018 at 4:46 amHave you seen (and would you be interested in covering) “The Dragon Prince”? Recently released on Netflix and from the creators of “Avatar:The last Airbender”,I’m now on the last episode, and it does have this familiar sense of worldbuilding, still with lots of room to grow.
Guardian Enzo
September 18, 2018 at 4:58 amIt’s on the list, though I confess the look of the show is rather… odd to me.
elianthos
September 18, 2018 at 1:15 pmAt first glance from the trailers TDP characters look and move like CG models with cel shading… maybe not in every shot but there’s that kind of akwardness. It’s a more polished rendering than, say, Rooster Teeth’s RWBY, but still…
Orion Taylor
September 18, 2018 at 9:23 pmI binged it yesterday. I was not particularly impressed. All these reviewers are comparing it to ATLA because Ehasz is in charge, but I don’t think it is close to being worthy of the comparison (not yet at least). However, I’m willing to watch the second season, to see if it improves. The world and the magic system seem kind of interesting, but the way they are presented is not well integrated into the plot and dialogue. The thing is, Ehasz knows how to write backstory (he wrote the Storm for god’s sake!), but it really wasn’t showing here.
Hey did you all hear about Netflix announcing a live action adaptation to ATLA? Apparently Bryke is back on board, so it might not go the way of the Shyamalan. That being said, Ehasz doesn’t seem to be attached to this project, and we all know how things went the last time that happen (Korra seasons 1 & 2, I’m looking at you!)
I think what I’m trying to say is that Bryke and Ehasz need each other. They are the perfect storm that hatched the perfect series. If only their subsequent work was nearly as good. (I’m very hopeful for Threadworlds however)
Guardian Enzo
September 18, 2018 at 9:41 pmYeah, I tweeted it out. Let’s put it this way – the movie set the bar so low that I’m confident the Netflix series can clear it. Above that, I’m not confident of much.
Orion Taylor
September 18, 2018 at 9:54 pmMy views exactly.
Lain
September 18, 2018 at 5:16 amDoesn’t Jingai-san no Yome feel similar to Miira no Kaikata? Too bad it’s a short.
donhumberto
September 18, 2018 at 10:50 amWow, Bravo, Enzo, just… bravo. You have summed up my thoughts in your intro to the preview way better than I ever could. Really, after a truly devastating week anime-wise (seriously, how many new CGDCT announcements, all trying to out-moe each other did we get : 7? 8? I lost count… ) I just felt that I needed to vent my frustration in one way or another so reading your post have been really comforting, in a “well, at least I’m not alone” kind of way.
One thing that truly terrifies me about all this is that I’m starting to realise that anime is indeed starting to become a haven, a guetto for creepy, horny dudes who really do get aroused by moe girls (I refuse to say “cute”, those noseless, huge -eyed horrors who look and sound like they are 4 years old aren’t exactly my idea of cute) and want nothing else from anime that finding a new 2 D waifu for their collection. More and more I see comments everywhere saying things like “cool, more cute girls to fap to” . As a father of a 2 year old girl you can’t even begin to imagine how all this crap creeps me out.
Also, more and more I see people dissing series with a mostly male cast like 91 days and the like because “they’re gay” or getting angry when a male character is introduced in their all-girl cast (This is totally true, I saw a lot of people truly pissed when they put a couple of guys in A place further than the universe… go figure, maybe they think they are going to steal their waifu?).
So , yeah, all these years of moe overdose are starting to take its toll on the western anime fandom too and little by little we are getting more homophobic pedo creeps flooding anime sites.
Really, truly depressing.
GC
September 18, 2018 at 1:44 pmFor Elitist anime viewers (snobs) the pickings are slim but for the average anime viewer that just loves all kinds of anime there is quite a bit to watch this fall:
Sword Art Online: Alicization, Tokyo Ghoul:re 2nd Season, Goblin Slayer, Fairy Tail, Toaru Majutsu no Index III, Tensei Shitara Slime Datta Ken, Irozuku Sekai no Ashita kara, Golden Kamuy 2, Irozuku Sekai no Ashita kara, Bakumatsu, and probably another 5-6 I haven’t even listed.
David P
September 18, 2018 at 2:59 pmYep. I’ve been watching anime since about 1989 (and regularly watching many TV series since 1994) and sort of worked on the “edge” of the American anime industry (as a sub-license of Central Park Media and having a high point being when one of my anime-inspired game books got published in Japan by Kadokawa…). But I’ve never been to Japan, don’t know anyone in the industry, and my perspective is as fan rather than a critic. For me, there’s at least a dozen shows this season I’m looking forward to. Honestly, I think it mostly depends on whether you watch anime out of interest in it as an artistic medium, or whether you were drawn to it because you like certain genres and/or styles that appear often in anime. Something like, say, Banana Fish works equally well in anime and live action (western or Japanese) but if you want to see “moving pictures” of a work like Magical Index or Fairy Tail or even Tensei Shitara Slime or something off-color like Happy Sugar Life or even Mahou Shoujo Site or any of a dozen other shows that fall into particular “otaku pandering” genres then you will naturally be drawn to anime as really one of the only places to find it.
But yes, the production committee system is making life hell for animators, and not doing studios any good…
Guardian Enzo
September 18, 2018 at 4:24 pmThat’s the thing, David. Even if you’re not horrified by the direction of the medium artistically (as you know I am), how can you defend a system where the rank-and-file workers do at least 40 hours of overtime a week and end up earning something in the neighborhood of $1 an hour. Or even less in some cases? A system that’s driven some to suicide from overwork and supervisor abuse, and basically necessitated the creation of a private welfare system so that these workers at least won’t be homeless (the lucky few that are chosen to participate, that is)?
GC
September 18, 2018 at 4:33 pmI hate all the fan service in anime just to satisfy Otakus and drive DVD sales and such with uncut DVDs. So many great series that can stand on their own as a story and characters but are just ruined by an over abundance of fan service.
Yukie
September 18, 2018 at 10:28 pmWelp, 2016 was a blip after all. I’m usually more positive, but this coming season is really terrible. What I can’t understand is all these Netflix-original, generic anime studios have churned out with Netflix money. Yes, they look pretty but why can’t they find proper writers (or perhaps they could adapt a manga?) for these series. The only interesting collaboration that has come out was Devilman: Crybaby.
Genuinely excited for: Golden Kamuy 2nd Season
Extremely interested: Karakuri Circus, Kaze ga Tsuyoku Fuiteiru, and Radiant
Checking out first few eps(with grim expectations): Jojo , Tsurune: Kazemai Koukou Kyuudoubu (sigh, but there’s archery?), SAO: Alicization (mainly to see what the rest of the community is going to be watching), and Double Deckers (first ep was ok, but since I dropped Tiger and Bunny…)
Kurik
September 19, 2018 at 2:49 amI tend to gravitate more to adults in my anime and try to stay clear as much as possible of the generic kids stuff. Apart from Made in the Abyss I don’t think there has been anything else that really stood out this year for me (and Hero of course). Based on this preview I guess I will need to find something else to look forward to on a weekly basis as not much here to see. I will check out some of the ones you will be blogging like Golden Kamuy 2nd Season, Karakuri Circus, Kaze ga Tsuyoku Fuiteiru and proabably Jojo to see if it hooks me. Sad times for anime but maybe next year will be better. Maybe.
hint
September 19, 2018 at 4:27 amEnzo, I dont remember when or where you stopped watching, but you could try Jojo´s first episode of the new season. No need to blog or mention anything about it. 🙂
I will be watching Jojo now that BHA will end and maybe Thunderbolt 2 if it gets raving reviews like the first has.
Guardian Enzo
September 19, 2018 at 4:46 amIs there much point in jumping back into Jojo in the middle, though, after skipping so much in-between material?
elianthos
September 19, 2018 at 7:36 am@Enzo: for what it’s worth while there are some characters reappearing and acting as a bridge with the previous arc/season each Jojo arc deal with a different protagonist, setting, plot and action flavour. If you had finished s1 and/or 2 you have most of the background mythology (and Dio’s role/legacy vs the Joestars’) down, s3 introduced the concept of Stands that has been a feauture ever since ( but it’s nothing than a quick wikia read can’t make clear in case they are not self-explanatory enough when seen in action )
If you got those info in mind each season has enough of a stand-alone quality you could skip to whatever arc you like and fill the blanks quite easily. it’s ‘just’ a question of the chosen arc’s genre and Jojo MC du jour – and the ever-shifting aesthetic – clicking with you or not. S4 had a strong ‘murder/mystery/detective story in a sleepy town’ unifying element and that LSD trip palette, the upcoming S5 instead is set in Italy and features some very odd mafia guys (with odd names and even odder outfits)… to find out what the plot business is this time you gotta watch XDD. if they end up animating the arcs after it they will be again a different animal.
Eugene
September 20, 2018 at 2:40 amOut of curiosity, when did you drop Jojo? The first 9 episodes that cover part 1 aren’t all that great as Araki hadn’t quits found his feet then, but it picks up substantially once we get a more charismatic protagonist in Joseph and the writing improves.
Guardian Enzo
September 20, 2018 at 2:52 amI don’t remember exactly but it was definitely after Joseph came in. It just doesn’t click for me, what can I say? I sort of get the appeal but it doesn’t resonate.
Eugene
September 20, 2018 at 2:57 amFair enough. I know alot of people who didn’t like part 1 but came to love it after, but if you didn’t enjoy part 2, chances are you probably won’t like part 5 as well.
Simone
October 5, 2018 at 8:33 amDid you try Part 4? The various seasons are very different from each other. Part 2 (the one with Joseph) is very bombastic and high tension. Part 3 is sort of an episodic globetrotting adventure with villains of the week that are all basically a riff on various horror tropes, with a slightly more serialised ending. Part 4 is a slice of life with supernatural elements and a Stephen King-esque atmosphere, set in a quiet provincial town, with one of the best, scariest yet most grounded villains I’ve ever seen in any medium. I have no idea what to expect from Part 5 at this point, I know it’s set in Italy and it’s a mob story? Also the designs look even more ridiculous than usual.
ArcT
September 19, 2018 at 7:33 amI know you lost interest in Mo Dao Zu Shi (Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation) after watching the first 2 (or 3?) episodes but I urge you to give it another go. It’s been the *only* good anime series this season so far, imo. Also, it’s getting three seasons. Each season will be 15 episodes long (for a total of 45 episodes) and I’ve read the source material for it—it’s an amazing story and thus far the Chinese studio is doing a phenomenal job of it. Right now it’s at episode 12 and the angst train is starting to pick up in earnest. I liken it to an Ancient Chinese Game of Thrones as the plot is winding and quite epic in scale. The characters are all fleshed-out extremely well and all of them have at least some depth to them — having the main characters be very likable and easy to identify with also helps quite a bit.
While most of the anime production companies in Japan are shelling out shit series (or ones that never reach one’s expectations), the studio doing Mo Dao Zu Shi in China is absolutely killing it. I’ve heard that Mo Dao Zu Shi is HUGE in China thus far and is looking to continue to be insanely popular for the next two seasons.
Mo Dao Zu Shi interestingly enough reminds me of Akatsuki no Yona and Hunter x Hunter in terms of tone/storytelling style and it is currently baffling to me that more anime bloggers haven’t expressed much interest (maybe because it’s Chinese anime and not Japanese anime?) in it. I’ll agree the first few episodes are a bit hard to get through because of the differing language style and the huge amount of info/characters that are introduced, but once you hit episode 5 things start to get more serious and the story starts to unfold beautifully. Perhaps it’s because I, unlike many others, have read the original novel and know what’s to come and how amazing the story gets that gives me a bit more of an edge over others on how deeply special this series is (and will continue to be, if my predictions are correct). I’m not exited at all for any of the fall anime that’s going to come out, but I *will* be when Spring 2019 hits because that’s when season 2 of Mo Dao Zu Shi starts up again and the infamous ‘Yi City Arc’ will hit (think Hunter x Hunter’s Chimera Ant Arc but far more devastating).
I really hope the anime industry in Japan gets better and maybe takes some pointers from Chinese anime like Mo Dao Zu Shi. I have a sneaking suspicion that if Mo Dao Zu Shi were a Japanese story instead of a Chinese one (and was done by a Japanese production company and kept all the same elements in production quality) that it would be the anime of the season for all the bloggers/youtubers.
That, more than anything, depresses me quite a bit more than the state of the anime industry in Japan 🙁
I really hope you give it another try; if anything, the amazing quality in animation it has consistently (minus a few crappy CGI scenes scattered about) takes my breath away.
donhumberto
September 20, 2018 at 1:41 am@Arct . Thanks a lot for your comments on Master of Demonic cultivation. I actually gave it a try a couple of weeks ago and found the setting very promising (as well as having absolutely gorgeous animation). However, I did find the MC to be too goofy and a bit grating for my taste so I decided to put it on hold. However after reading your post I’m totally going to give the series a second chance.
Incidentally, one of my favorite Summer series is Aguu Tensai (which probably is being watched by 30 people all over the internet, one of which is fortunately a wonderful fansubber), which is a Chinese co-production with Studio deen. Even though the prodution values are clearly not the highest it’s a pretty damn good mistery/horror series.
So , yeah, it does look that Chinese animation is little by little becoming better so let’s hope we can have a few gems in the future.
Guardian Enzo
September 20, 2018 at 1:52 amHey, I’m watching Aguu Tensai Ningyou too. It is indeed cheap-looking, but I quite like the vibe and the premise.
donhumberto
September 20, 2018 at 4:42 amGlad to hear it! I honestly thought there was no one watching it so it’s kinda neat to find out you’re watching (and enjoying) too. It ‘s obviously no masterpiece but it sure as hell is way better than a lot of generic stuff out there that gets much more popularity (I mean, the series wasn’t even picked for streaming… even that short about a talking fart was picked by crunchy a few years ago for crying out loud 😉
ArcT
September 20, 2018 at 12:10 pmI’m glad you’re going to give it another go. The first few episodes of Mo Dao Zu Shi have the main character being purposefully annoying/grating because he’s actively trying to keep his cover by behaving like a local lunatic whose body he managed to acquire. After that, though, when it gets into the backstory arc, you get to see his true character and the complexity of it is quite riveting, imo.
Once it gets back to the present timeline his ‘annoyingness’ will be toned down quite a bit (remember, the only reason he acts like such it to try to keep his cover since if his true identity is found out he’ll be in deep shit) since he’ll have less reason to try and act like a local lunatic.
Interestingly enough, Wei Wuxian’s character is about one of the most likable once you learn his backstory and what’s he’s really like, deep down. Lan Zhan, in contrast, is the ‘supposed’ stereotypical ‘stoic’ foil, but completely different than what you’d expect as the story plods along (I was pleasantly surprised by how much depth they gave Lan Zhan, too).
All of this really adds to the fact that the story is utterly fantastic and has a very epic sprawl to it. I cannot stress enough how lovely the story is. The only youtuber that tackles the depth of Chinese symbolism that is in the series is DongHua Reviews — he does a phenomenal job of pointing out things most viewers would have missed since most aren’t familiar with what dragonflies or lotuses, etc. mean in China—as well as some things that are overlooked plot-wise for people that aren’t familiar with the novel but come up later in the story.
Like I said earlier, things don’t start to happen until around episode 5 and shit starts getting real around episode 10 (episode 11 made me cry T_T). Once season 2 starts up it’ll start to get deeper into the main storyline which will hopefully be ‘action-packed’ enough to get more people into the series since I guess the ‘drama with a splash of action’ pace it’s going at currently is not exciting enough for most anime fans 🙁
Let me know what you think after you’ve given it another try. If you like it enough to get to episode 11 I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised with where the story is going…. ^__^
Aguu Tensai is on my list and I’m looking forward to watching it next week, so hopefully it’ll live up to the hype. I seriously wonder if China will be the trendsetter for anime in the future since it seems like they’re helping to revitalize an industry that has started to decline in terms of quality. Let’s hope!
Yi
September 20, 2018 at 11:05 pm@ArcT, I think you’re wasting your time.
I completely agree with you, Mo Dao Zu Shi has turned out to be an excellent anime and a highlight of the season. For example the latest installment, Episode 11 – Mountain Collapse, had great action, strong emotion, and devastating consequences. I watched it back-to-back with the week’s Boku no Hero Academia – both very emotional episodes – and while the latter admittedly did a great job emoting over teenage angst, the feelings in Mo Dao Zu Shi, while no less intense, had far more meaning; and since it isn’t shounen, death is not on a permanent holiday. I’m not sure the show has reached the levels of the best of HxH yet, but it has proven itself to be flying miles above what the first couple of episodes might have suggested to those accustomed to genre formulae.
Regardless, the reason I said you’re wasting your time is that Guardian Enzo has already made it clear that the reason he’s not watching this anime is precisely because it’s Chinese. Of course he couched it less directly, but that’s what it comes down to. Unfortunately the bias against Chinese is quite strong among Japanese anime fans, even the best of them.
donhumberto
September 21, 2018 at 3:01 amThanks for the info! If they indeed tone down the goofiness of the MC after only 2 episodes then it shouldn’t be a problem for me to go on because I did like the premise and the setting a lot (not to mention the gorgeous production values). I’ll probably wait until season 1 is over (that’s 15 episodes, right?) to binge-watch it as I tend to get really confused with Chinese names and it does look that this series will have a lot of characters so I prefer to watch the whole thing in a short period to keep a better track of the events/characters. But, yeah, I’m almost sure I will enjoy it 😉
Bob
September 19, 2018 at 5:21 pmIf you end up watching Goblin Slayer, I recommend sticking with it for a couple of episodes to meet the supporting cast.
On an unrelated note, have you seen Presage Flower?
Collectr
September 19, 2018 at 6:44 pmI know I sound like a broken record, but if the current season sucks pond water through a soda straw, as you point out with justifiable vehemence, why not review something from the back catalog instead? Take a series from the past that never got its proper due and treat it as though it were current or a binge watch on Netflix. The anime past was not a golden age either – rather, the tropes were less familiar and tired – but there are certainly back catalog shows that match up to the best of current anime and are basically unknown to modern audiences.
Matti
September 20, 2018 at 7:43 pmI might just catch Goblin Slayer. Not read the LN, but I did check out the manga. Thought it’d be something I hate, but after the first couple of chapters, I was strangely hooked. I’m just drawn to the John Wick-ness (focus, commitment, sheer will) of the MC. No idea if the studio will do it justice, especially considering how watered down an anime adaptation of such a story would have to be.
Other than that, maybe that running one by IG. It’s at least an activity I can relate to and mildly enjoy, unlike sumo or baseball. That and it’s IG. Also maybe that Abe Yoshitoshi work. Anything that generates “negative buzz” in the current tasteless anime scene must be doing something right.
Orin
September 21, 2018 at 12:48 amAs a French guy, I’m genuinely hyped about Radiant. Not that much about Radiant itself, because while I haven’t read it, from what I heard it tries a bit too hard to be “manga like” and is quite generic in that regard. However, we have a lot of truly great comic books that would be worth adapting into anime, so like you said, it could be the start of something really significant (I’m not sure they would fill the criteria of “commercial success recipe” though).
By any chances, did you watch Oban Star-Racers or heard of it?
Guardian Enzo
September 21, 2018 at 3:01 amI have heard of it – HAL, right? I must admit I’ve never seen an episode that I can remember.
Orin
September 21, 2018 at 4:08 amYup, directed by Thomas Romain and the music is composed by Yoko Kanno. It’s an underrated anime IMO, and I’m quite disappointed that we never got any other anime produced that way, at least not to my knowledge. I can’t believe it’s been 12 years already.
Yi
September 21, 2018 at 4:08 amAh, Oban Star-Racers, not many people know about it unfortunately. It was pretty good, the different racing environments were imaginative. I really loved those lion-ape creatures who hum-built stuff in their sittings. I’d say B+ overall with a few episodes close to A+.
Yi
September 21, 2018 at 1:23 amI apologize if I offended you, Guardian Enzo. I thought I was just stating the obvious and meant no offense. Or if you moderated me because I’m using TOR – what can I say, I’m in China.
Guardian Enzo
September 21, 2018 at 2:59 amActually WP dumped your comments in the spam folder… Though for the record, you’re wrong in your statement about my reasons for dropping the series.
Yi
September 21, 2018 at 3:54 amIf you say so. I’ve got the impression that the Chinese factor is at least the reason you’ve not given Mo Dao Zu Shi another try although several people keep recommending it.
So if you’re still open-minded towards it, maybe you should try a later episode like the 11 I mentioned to get a better feel. It’s not like HxH either was an obvious superior anime immediately. Mo Dao Zu Shi has had more than one context shift since it moved into the back story, it’s really not the same anime you thought you saw at first, people aren’t bullshitting you about that. I can’t guarantee you’ll love it but dismissing it after a couple of episodes means you’ve been quite underinformed to judge it properly. The 2-3 episode rule doesn’t always work with epic anime, like with Juuni Kokki the entire first arc was so-so, but eventually it became one of my favorites of all time.
Booshwashna
September 21, 2018 at 11:38 amWill you blog the HxH chapters?
Orion Taylor
September 21, 2018 at 12:23 pmThe real question is WHEN will Enzo blog the new HxH chapter.
Guardian Enzo
September 21, 2018 at 4:20 pmYeah, I’ll catch up I think now that it’s back, but it may take a bit of time.
kiwi
September 21, 2018 at 2:25 pmAs i recall, flcl is one of your absolute favorites of all time, correct? Did the new flcl reboots not hold the same magic for you as the original, or did they just seem unnecessary to you?
I haven’t gotten around to watching them myself, but i’d be hard-pressed to deny that they do make me a little bit excited. :3
Guardian Enzo
September 21, 2018 at 4:21 pmIt would be almost impossible to overstate how much I hate what these reboots have done. They shouldn’t exist.
AN
September 23, 2018 at 11:05 pmThis is honestly depressing… I don’t think I’ll watch much this season either :/ To not watch anything or one series at best is becoming a trend for me.
Lately I’ve discovered that Orphen, an anime series from my childhood, was originally a Light Novel series and I once again realized not only how much LN has hurt anime, but how much the LN market has changed since then. You still get some old school LN series (recently I found Matsurika Kanri Den, which is essentially a spiritual successor to Saiunkoku Monogatari), but most of them are blatant moe, isekai, badly written wishfulfillment or a mix… It makes it difficult to find material to practice japanese, that’s for sure.
Guardian Enzo
September 24, 2018 at 8:49 amYes, LNs have changed for sure (largely with the rise of smartphones). They weren’t always like this.
Say
September 26, 2018 at 1:45 amI’ll watch Kaze ga Tsuyoku Fuiteiru and Tsurune. Golden Kamuy is good but not much genre.
Say
September 26, 2018 at 1:46 am*my
GC
October 3, 2018 at 9:36 amThe 1st episode of Ken en Ken: Aoki Kagayaki is out and it was pretty interesting. Action, War, Giant Constructs, Living puppet automatons, and magic. Think I will keep watching and see where it goes.
Guardian Enzo
October 3, 2018 at 11:14 amI struggle with the puppet thing.
GC
October 6, 2018 at 10:57 pmThe 1st episode of Irozuku Sekai no Ashita kara was pretty good. Hope you give it a chance and blog it.
Guardian Enzo
October 6, 2018 at 11:53 pmIt’s always been on the list, I’ll get to it. Though I have heard the “G” word tossed around a few times in relation to the premiere.
GC
October 8, 2018 at 8:20 amGoblin Slayer episode 1 was good but boy is it dark. Not for the squeemish at all.