Rate the Last Anime You Watched Out of 10

Grimgar

This kind of thing is right up my alley really, although I like to mix things up, Fantasy is a genre that I've always enjoyed.

I love the artwork in this, the painted/watercolour scenery works really well. The party were an interesting bunch, although I found Ranta a bit too angsty at times.

I really liked the way they portrayed how brutal it can be fighting enemies who will do whatever they can to survive, and also showing a side of their opponents that was more human than they'd like to think. Really added weight to the action which we don't often get in this type of thing.

Possibly scoring slightly higher than I should just because I liked what they did and it felt different than a lot of the other things I've seen. I'd love to explore the world of Grimgar some more in a future series but it seems we may not get any more if it's been a while since this came out.

8/10
 
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Lordhippos said:
Grimgar

This kind of thing is right up my alley really, although I like to mix things up, Fantasy is a genre that I've always enjoyed.

I love the artwork in this, the painted/watercolour scenery works really well. The party were an interesting bunch, although I found Ranta a bit too angsty at times.

I really liked the way they portrayed how brutal it can be fighting enemies who will do whatever they can to survive, and also showing a side of their opponents that was more human than they'd like to think. Really added weight to the action which we don't often get in this type of thing.

Possibly scoring slightly higher than I should just because I liked what they did and it felt different than a lot of the other things I've seen. I'd love to explore the world of Grimgar some more in a future series but it seems we may not get anymore if it's been a while since this came out.

8/10
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I really enjoyed this show too. It's a real shame they never made more as the LN series is still ongoing (19 books according to wikipedia) so theres plenty of material to adapt.
 
Psychic School Wars
Talk about a misleading title. I went into this expecting a generic shonen action-fest, and instead got a slow-paced romantic drama. The artwork is gorgeous, done in a hyper-colourful Shinkai-esque style, and the animation is expressive. The story raises some interesting themes, but suffers from a lack of focus. The major characters feel oddly disconnected from the conflict unfolding at school (what passes for the psychic 'wars' in the title), and that side of it doesn't really develop or resolve in a satisfying way; it just gets dropped as the film shifts its focus elsewhere. This becomes an ongoing problem. The strongest part of the film is the first hour of build-up. Once it gets into the endgame, half-explained plot points get shotgunned around so much that it's hard to latch onto any one thing. The characters themselves are pretty good and generally sympathetic, though the girl-next-door has that annoying trope of constantly punching and abusing the boy she claims to like.

Overall, it's a pretty enjoyable movie that is a delight to look at, but never quite manages to pull its plot threads together into a cohesive whole. Its approach to science fiction and tone reminded me of The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, but it's not as polished a film as that one.

7/10
 
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Sleepy Princess in the Demon Castle

This was a fun show, it was kind of basic plot wise but if you like daft plots and want an easy watch, I think this falls into that category. I felt kind of close to giving this a 7.5/10.

7/10


Selector Infected Wixoss

Saw this and it's sequel series: Selector Spread Wixoss.

This felt kind of middle of the road in terms of score and quality. It seemed to be missing something but I can't really say what it is.

This felt like it was trying to be somewhat like Madoka, but fails at emulating the brilliant Madoka well enough. The anime wasn't bad, the art was fairly decent throughout, but the biggest downside for me was the lack of explanation on how the games are played. There is basically no time whatsoever put into explaining how the mechanics work or why one person wins.

6.5/10
 
Lordhippos said:
Sounds like I should consider trying this one, I love the shinkai art style!
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It's certainly worth trying, definitely, but this helpful review might be useful for keeping any expectations in check:
www.uk-anime.net

Nerawareta Gakuen (Theatrical screening)

Some beautiful visuals and nice touches of romance and comedy, completely ruined by an incompetent attempt at telling a multi-layered science-fiction story.
www.uk-anime.net www.uk-anime.net
 
Neil.T said:
It's certainly worth trying, definitely, but this helpful review might be useful for keeping any expectations in check:
www.uk-anime.net

Nerawareta Gakuen (Theatrical screening)

Some beautiful visuals and nice touches of romance and comedy, completely ruined by an incompetent attempt at telling a multi-layered science-fiction story.
www.uk-anime.net www.uk-anime.net
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I will probably just try watching it sometime as I really like going in to shows reasonably blind, but noted to temper expectations a bit :)
 
Lordhippos said:
I will probably just try watching it sometime as I really like going in to shows reasonably blind, but noted to temper expectations a bit :)
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No worries, dude. I prefer to avoid reading stuff in advance myself. 👍

Fun fact: like a bunch of people here, I ordered the CE of Psychic School Wars from Zavvi back in 2017 when it was going for only £12.99. Something technical must have happened on their end though:
Neil.T said:
I, too, received my copy of Psychic School Wars from Zavvi — for 57p + 1p non-sterling transaction fee!
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Cheapest collector's edition Blu-ray I ever bought!
 
Lordhippos said:
I will probably just try watching it sometime as I really like going in to shows reasonably blind, but noted to temper expectations a bit :)
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It's worth a watch as it is certainly visually stunning, if not somewhat contrived (reminded me a lot of one that came after: Iroduku - The World in Colours). Works nicely from the romance angle I think, even if the sci-fi elements disappoint, though reading around what the original novel's very sci-fi sounding story is meant to be, I got the feeling that it was constructed that way to purposely direct the real focus of the story completely away from that premise (or at least that's how I look at it as would find the final part of the story irritating from the sci-fi perspective).
 
SAO Season 2

Didn't quite live up to how good I thought Season 1 was, but I still enjoyed it.

The gun MMO was a nice touch, but I liked how they made it so that using a sword in a gun game was still possible. I have the impression that the Asuna/Kirito romance has been played down a bit in Season 2. When Sinon appeared, Asuna was never really formally introduced as his gf, I assumed she was but by the end of the season it still wasn't really clear if that was the case.

I don't think the Asuna/Kirito romance was really necessary to the plot, but it's one of my the things I enjoyed about Season 1.

Ending of the season hit harder than I was expecting, very sad! 😢

7/10
 
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Astra Lost in Space

The first half of this show gave me a strong sense of deja vu. It's clearly heavily influenced by They Were Eleven, with several plot points and characters being almost identical. Fortunately it does carve out its own identity as it progresses. It starts out with a mix of likeable and annoying characters, but they mostly bond and open up to each other over the course of the journey.

Probably the show's greatest strength is its imagination. The various alien planets that the crew visits are filled with bizarre flora and fauna, and present the most interesting challenges that they face. Concerning their other challenges, the English title is a bit misleading. The crew are transported far from home, but they're never lost; they chart a course back very quickly, and the difficulties come along the way. While they face potentially life-threatening dangers, there is never quite the sense of them barely surviving by the skin of their teeth. They encounter numerous planets with breathable air and edible food, and the whole struggle for survival against the elements feels tamer than it could have been.

Where the show falters somewhat is in a lack of focus. The story has three main twists, each leading it in different directions, and I think that was one too many for a 12 episode show. Fortunately it breaks the typical short anime curse by being a complete story, but it has to grind through a lot of exposition to get there. The final two episodes particularly suffer in this regard, with 11 being almost 100% exposition about one twist, and the first half of the double-length finale being exposition about another twist. Consequently, the climax feels very dry and devoid of action compared to earlier episodes, with back-story flashbacks taking the reins.

This one hovers between a 7 and an 8 for me, but I'll nudge it to the higher score for its imagination and the rare trait of having an actual ending.

8/10
 
Dai said:
Astra Lost in Space

8/10
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I was a massive fan of this show. Gave it 10/10! I'm a big fan of murder mystery type shows so it was definitely my jam.

Heres what said:
WMD said:
Astra Lost In Space

This show absolutely pressed all the right buttons with me. I loved each and every second if it. I thought it was just going to be a bit if a sci fi romp but it was so much more than that. The mystery, who-done-it vibe that the narrative was built on was so interesting. I love murder mysteries so having a mystery element was something I was definitely down for. Also with the cest lost in space and trying to get home there was this locked room vibe where they have to work together but not sure of they can really trust one another. It was very cool.

The characters and cast were also a big plus. There was a lot of drama to be dived into and basically everyone had something going on to be uncovered. They were also all very distinct from one another in design and personality. The dub cast were also fantastic. Not a weak link on the show.

It's also a great looking show. Its not necessarily pushing the boat out or anything but each planet they land on was original and fun to explore and each offered new and distinct challenges for the team.

It's only 12 episodes long but it tells a complete story in that time and the mystery elements are all nicely answered and resolved by the end which makes it a very satisfying show to watch. For me personally it's a 10/10
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WMD said:
I was a massive fan of this show. Gave it 10/10! I'm a big fan of murder mystery type shows so it was definitely my jam.

Heres what said:
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Love a bit of murder mystery myself so have this one on my watchlist after getting it during a Zaavi sale. Also added that Root Film game you mentioned in the games thread to get at some point, especially as it's on the easier to play Switch. So much to watch/play/read and so little time!
 
I'm a big fan of mystery series as well, I especially loved Ghost Hunt, Beautiful Bones and Psychic Detective Yakumo. I started to watch Astra but only saw the first 2 or 3 episodes, iirc, and wasn't really into the lost in space part - maybe I need to go back to that one.
 
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