The Winter 2017/2018 anime season is half done so it’s worth doing a stocktake on where things are at. I was planning to do this at the 3 episode mark but found that literally half the shows were still ‘Maybe worth watching’.
I try to watch the first three eps of every show and then catalogue them quite simply- Yes, Maybe, Probably Not, No.
Typically a show will get a ‘Yes’ if it’s great and I’m locked in to watch it. A ‘No’ is something that is utter shit and I couldn’t even finish the first 3 eps. Or the first ep.
‘Maybe’ is something that’s got some good stuff and bad stuff and from what I’ve seen I’ll only be slightly disappointed at when it end. Most ‘Maybe’ anime become Yes after 3 eps. ‘Probably Not’s are the reverse of the Maybe. And unless there is really, really slim pickings between the ‘Yes’ and “Maybe’ piles, they’ll become No after 3 eps.
And Winter 2017/2018 has tried it’s best to break my system. I had literally zero ‘yes’ shows except for three sequels. And aside from shows that are horrifically crap (i.e. Pop Team Epic) I had no outright ‘no’ shows either. And then a bunch of shows kept jumping from Maybe to Probably Not and back again across the first 3 4 5 6 episodes that even the rule of 3 didn’t really help decide.
Anyway, here’s the breakdown
Yes (i.e. you should watch these)
Card Captor Sakura Clear Card- honestly I’m yet to watch an episode yet because after the prologue I knew I’d need to watch thins in arc sized chunks or else I’d fall apart emotionally. Nonetheless, it’s great
Overlord 2- honestly it’s kind of disappointing compared to Season 1 but there’s enough good will from Season 1 that even though the first arc of Season 2 was dumb I’m hoping it’ll build to some big set pieces like in Season 1. Also there’s a scene where you see two lizard people fucking. Simply for a cheap gag. Quality stuff. Also for reference it’s about a dude transported into a fantasy world where he is the OP Dungeon Master of a bunch of evil creatures.
Nanatsu no Taizai (Seven Deadly Sins) S2- this show does piss me off with the amount of padding it put in before the episode actually starts. Honestly it’s done nothing spectacular yet but man Season 1 was great. And it’s definitely building towards some epic fights. Although the way they get there is kind of contrived. But it’s shounen so what can you expect.
Yuru Camp- maybe it’s becuase I did Scouts as a kid and a lot of family camping, but an anime about people discovering a love of camping is a nice and unique thing and is great to watch before going to sleep. Hopefully it doesn’t become boringly stagnant a la Sakura Quest.
Maybe (i.e. watch if you want/have free time I guess)
Darling in the FranXX- I don’t know why I like this. Trigger are the darling anime studio who haven’t actually put out anything good that wasn’t building on their Gurren Lagann reputation from when they were part of Gainax. But I “love” how every show they put out seems to be more and more demeaning to women. Coz Japan definitely doesn’t have issues with that. Literally the female characters wear taunt underwear and spray paint for ‘suits’ and then have control devices spring out of their booty for the casually dressed man to pilot. So the girl is positioned doggy style in front of the dude whimpering as if approaching climax so that… they can co-pilot a robot and fight monsters. Go Trigger. Also one of the characters is part devil monster… and the main male MC is the only one who can connect with her. Original content.
Violet Evergarden- this show has the honour of being the least shit Netflix anime. Except maybe for Devilman Crybaby. It looks beautiful but literally nothing is happening that keeps my interest and the main plot point will be around ep8-9 when the titular Violet discovers a) she loves the Major and b) the Major died months earlier but no-one told her. And the back third of the show will be resolving that. Also original content.
Death March *something something long Japanese name*- it’s fine. The overpowered MC in a fantasy world was an unexpected direction based on the first half of the first episode (which was about a Japanese worker being browbeaten into being a productive worker while everyone else was shithouse useless). I like the ‘twist’ of how despite being OP the guy isn’t an arrogant over achiever saving the world. He’s just wandering around meeting people and learning things (and of course accumulating a harem)
Hakata Tonkotsu Ramens- is fine. A city full of hitmen doing assassinations and such on each other. And then living their daily lives and such. Some good tense moments and even a bit of a shock twist when a characters sister dies. The plot convenient meetings of the various different characters was a little too convenient and there’s a few “gags” e.g. one dude being a cross dresser, that are (currently) pointless but it’s a fun litle show to watch and not really invest brain power into. And the big reveal of who the ‘Hitman of Hitmen’ was was obvious in ep 1.
Koi wa Ameagari no You ni- a girl in highschool falls in love with the middle aged, divorced manager of the restaurant she works t part time. The girl reminds the guy of his ex wife when they were in highschool and the guy has a child the right age to be the girls younger brother. I can see no issues with this concept at all. Can you?
Kokkoku- some weird shit about a super poor family (literal plot point is their low socioeconomic status) having a magic rock that freezes time. but if they fuck with people giant sand monsters kill them. And a religious mafia stage a plot to steal the magic rock off them. Is fine. The OP track is kind of grating
Mitsuboshi Colours- three primary school aged girls harass the local town populace with dumb adventures and pranks. Some of the audlts encourage them. others suffer because fo it. Favourite part was the really lazy animation in at the school festival with the flashing star necklaces. And the around the pole dancing. Literally zero effort or budget put into it.
Ryuuou no Oshigoto- someone looked a 3-gatsu no Lion and mistakenly thought it was the shogi which made it an amazing show. Is about a young school aged shogi master who takes on a 10 year old female student. Hijinks and bonding ensue between them and all their surrounding friends. This show is fine but there is no reason they had to make the main female character 10 and add in loli jokes about the 18 year old male character. And the half a dozen other 10 year old girls (one of whom has literally the same name) that show up. Just make them 16. As a positive, I have learnt a little bit more about shogi from this then I have from 3-gatsu
Takunomi- four attractive ladies aged over 21 drink various types of alcohol and complain about the work life. And the MC is a country girl with quaint views about city life. Excellent.
Toki no Miko- so bland that there is nothing about it that makes me want to drop it yet nothing that makes me enthusiastic to watch. The concept of the “good guys” being controlled by the bad guys is cool and girls having cool sword fights is good. Is one of the shows where the world building and E plot is interesting but the main plot, secondary plot and the characters are generic and boring.
Probably Not (don’t bother unless you have a chunk of free time and some paperwork you can do at the same time)
Emiya-san Chi Kyou no Gohan- literally the only reason to watch this is to see how Lancer manages to fuck up and die in this iteration of the Fate Franchise (It’s a cooking show. but not a good one like Shougeki no Souma)
Killing Bites- humans have been modified with animal traits and have to fight to the death in a team battle royale for their crime lord masters. Plus one random guy who’s there through episode 1 happenstance. It keeps putting al it’s female characters in sexy and revealing attire but none of them are actually attractive. Like they should be but something is off, maybe the animation style.
Marchen Madness- generic magical girl stuff. Themed around fictional princesses like Cinderella and such. is fine I guess. MC has about 3 episodes too many of self doubt.
No (i.e. dont watch)
Basilisk- Ouka Ninpouchou- a sequel that is 10 years too late. The original Basilisk was fucking great (in my hazy memory). It had a ninja who literally sucked characters dry via their genitals during sex to assassinate them. This show has a bunch of small kids who’s ninja powers include ‘guns’ and ‘body armour’ and a plot point is that a brother and sister need to fall in love and have kids. What a disappointment
Beatless- sexy robots have fights. What could go wrong? An episode being dedicated to the sexy robot doing a model shoot and including them walking along a street for like 12 minutes can go wrong. Not enough fighting. Too many Plastic Memory vibes.
Citrus- two highschool girls having an aggressive lesbian relationship. One who’s a gyaru and one who’s a little aristocrat, forced together as sisters through a marriage. Goddammit Japan. Even step-sisters is not cool. Also it’s just boring plot wise. Like gyaru rebels for a bit and then fucks things over so she gives up. And can’t really express feelings. I dunno. I’ve erased this from my memory other than a vague feeling of disappointment.
Dame x Prince Anime Caravan- this was a surprising rejection. Episode 1 was great and nearly a ‘yes’. The idea of the female MC princess being the only competent person in the world and working around all the dumb reverse-harem princes to protect her homeland was great. but all she does is accommodate their idiocy rather than using it to fuck them over. So a big disappointment.
Gakuen Babysitters- I was surprised by how much I enjoyed the first episode given I hate children and babies. But the adventures of the High school student baby sitting club was kind of funny. Episode 2 was even better than ep 1 9I think). But then I realised that I liked everyone except the main two characters (brothers) and their relationship. And as it featured more prominently i got real bored, real fast.
Gday men’s party- i don’t know what this is supposed to be. it’s shit.
Grancrest Senki- generic magic fantasy world with a generic male MC lord who is trying to protect his generic fantasy lan people. The main female MC being a bit manipulative was kind of interesting, but a plot point of her outfit being deliberately skimpy so she could ‘move better on the battlefield’ and her character wen’t downhill into uninteresting from there.
Hakumei to mikochi- did you like The Borrowers or Arrietty? Would you like to see those people but living in a forest or something and not really doing much. Then you’ll like this. I didn’t.
Hataraku Onii-san- Pass
Ito Junji Collection- the arrogant shit stain that is the main male MC (sort of), when he is clearly not talented enough at anything to warrant the arrogance, made this unwatchably awkward.
Karakai Jouzu no Takagi-san- bullying the anime. I’d love to see how this would go with a gender swap. Oh wait, that was A Silent Voice except the disability was deafness not idiocy and it was magnificent while this show is terrible.
Micchiri Neko- I don’t even…
Miira no Kaikata- annoying in every possible way. A tiny Egyptian mummy the size of a hamster lives with a generic and irritating MC. is meant to be cute. Pass
Pop Team Epic- his show is just animated memes. And not the good ones. Millennials ruin everything obviously.
Ramen Daisuki Koizumi-san- a posh girls likes ramen. Cool.
Sanrio Danshi- cool guys like having cute mobile phone accessories. Cool.
Slow Start- was thinking maybe Clannad but from Nagisa’s perspective. No idea why. Generic young high schools girls being generic. With excessive amounts of self doubt from the MC. Also the Japanese school system is apparently fucked if this situation can actually happen.
Sora yori mo Tooi Basho- I don’t get why this has got a heap of coverage/popularity. Four highschool girls who don’t understand geography want to go to Antertica ‘the furthest place in the universe’. And try to pay their way there or something. I don’t know. Whatever. maybe it has penguins at some stage.
Zoku Touken Ranbu- Hanamaru- is the sequel to a show I didn’t watch last year that has quite a different name. It was a bad show. I assume this one is too.