Rate the last anime you watched out of 10

And, the OVA is required to have the proper ending. I enjoyed the series very much, and just double-dipped on the UK CE boxset. Well actually I've quad-dipped, because I own the US DVD LE boxset and the original US Blu-ray release, both of which came without the OVA, and then I got the newer Blu-ray release with the OVA included. Since the US Blu-rays never got an LE release, I still plan to frankenstein the nice chipboard DVD Boxset, converting it into a BD/DVD combo set with the OVA episode.
 
Marmalade Boy

This show has been on my radar for decades as one I wanted to watch some day, but its length (76 episodes) made it a costly proposition for importing until recent years. I'm glad I finally bought it, since it's instantly become one of my favourite shows.

Miki finds herself living with a handsome but aggravating boy called Yuu when their parents swap partners and all start living together. After this quirky setup, Miki falls for Yuu, and the two become embroiled in the kind of love dodecahedron you would expect from a romance anime as various other suitors show up. What makes Marmalade Boy special is how sympathetic most of the characters become, and how every shift in the relationships between any of them tends to have a devastating knock-on effect on others. Though the mid-episode eyecatches flat-out tell you who really loves who, the trials the various couples face keep escalating to the point of being virtually insurmountable, and I was never certain if any of them would manage to stay together by the end. It goes through all these different permutations where happiness for some means misery for others, and by the final few episodes it was an almost unbearably nail-biting experience waiting to see how it would all play out.

Only two things bothered me about the show. Too many of the male characters forced the first kiss at times when the girls clearly weren't interested yet, and some straight up harrassed a girl into dating them until she caved in. The story didn't always vindicate this approach, but it cropped up far too often. The other problem is the show's chronic case of flashbackitis. Fortunately it doesn't have any actual recap episodes, but it's forever flashing back to scenes from the previous episode, or often just earlier scenes from the same episode. Some key moments are repeated up to a dozen times across the course of the series.

None of that dampened my enjoyment too much though. Despite its length, it took me barely a week to watch all 76 episodes. It never feels like it's spinning its wheels or going in circles. There's always some new challenge facing the characters, and the story arcs don't outstay their welcome. I can see this being a show I'll revisit time and again in the years to come. If you have any interest in the romance genre, it's essential viewing.

9/10

One thing to note about Discotek's SD on BD release: the first disc is region-free, but the second is locked to zone A, so don't let that catch you out.
 
Dai said:
Marmalade Boy

This show has been on my radar for decades as one I wanted to watch some day, but its length (76 episodes) made it a costly proposition for importing until recent years. I'm glad I finally bought it, since it's instantly become one of my favourite shows.

Miki finds herself living with a handsome but aggravating boy called Yuu when their parents swap partners and all start living together. After this quirky setup, Miki falls for Yuu, and the two become embroiled in the kind of love dodecahedron you would expect from a romance anime as various other suitors show up. What makes Marmalade Boy special is how sympathetic most of the characters become, and how every shift in the relationships between any of them tends to have a devastating knock-on effect on others. Though the mid-episode eyecatches flat-out tell you who really loves who, the trials the various couples face keep escalating to the point of being virtually insurmountable, and I was never certain if any of them would manage to stay together by the end. It goes through all these different permutations where happiness for some means misery for others, and by the final few episodes it was an almost unbearably nail-biting experience waiting to see how it would all play out.

Only two things bothered me about the show. Too many of the male characters forced the first kiss at times when the girls clearly weren't interested yet, and some straight up harrassed a girl into dating them until she caved in. The story didn't always vindicate this approach, but it cropped up far too often. The other problem is the show's chronic case of flashbackitis. Fortunately it doesn't have any actual recap episodes, but it's forever flashing back to scenes from the previous episode, or often just earlier scenes from the same episode. Some key moments are repeated up to a dozen times across the course of the series.

None of that dampened my enjoyment too much though. Despite its length, it took me barely a week to watch all 76 episodes. It never feels like it's spinning its wheels or going in circles. There's always some new challenge facing the characters, and the story arcs don't outstay their welcome. I can see this being a show I'll revisit time and again in the years to come. If you have any interest in the romance genre, it's essential viewing.

9/10

One thing to note about Discotek's SD on BD release: the first disc is region-free, but the second is locked to zone A, so don't let that catch you out.
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OMG I LOVE Marmalade Boy I was just showing my mum the first ep a few nights ago (she liked it too!) after binging the whole thing on my own at home a while back, so glad that you enjoyed it so much! I fell completely head over heels in love with it, and I also think the English dub is really good :)
 
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Ghost Hound-I finally got around to watching my Sentai bluray set of this series after owning it for years. I like the premise of the series but it's too realistic for the shows own good a lot of the time. It seems like Shirow Masamune had taken some lsd when he came up with the concept for this series and called in a favor from Production IG to get it animated. It's not a bad series but it could have been so much better with more work and rewrites. I'll give it 6.5 out of 10 points.
 
Couple of things to add to this lately :)


The Promised Neverland (S1)

This was really good, it's fairly short but the overall story goes along at a good pace, and I enjoyed following along with all of the antics. It's been on my PTW list for a while now.

I am not going to watch S2 though, from what I understand it's fairly terrible. I may check out the manga though if it's any good/finished?

8/10


The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya

I'm continuing the march on the KyoAni shows, there are some that I like more than others (Hyouka, Clannad, VE, Kobayashi, Amaburi) and some I don't like enough to watch them (Lucky Star, Nichijou) but KyoAni do some consistently good work, and I think I often like their shows even if not 100% of the time.

I watched the 2009 version in chronological order, and yes I even watched the ♾️8 episodes. Honestly I was expecting things to change in each episode, but nope, minor changes only to events and small details. These episodes felt like a bit of a cop-out, and could have been shortened to about 3 episodes to the same effect..

I felt at times that Haruhi herself was not my favourite character. I wouldn't want to be her friend, seeing how she treats them, taking them for granted at times, and abusing them at others, all in the name of her self-centred amusement. I'd say the main show was kind of middle of the road 6.5/10 maybe.

But the thing that really took me by surprise was just how good the finale film was, The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya. This film was genuinely amazing despite being 2hr 40m long, and made watching the kind of mediocre main series worth it. I don't think you could watch the film in isolation without seeing the series and get the same impact to events.

The film portrays a less obnoxious Haruhi and highlights some of her actual good qualities. It also seems to kick the art up a notch, showing how we go from the KyoAni of old to the more modern works of art like Hyouka, Hibike, and Violet Evergarden.

If anyone has seen the show but not the film I'd definitely recommend re-visiting the film.

Main series: 6.5/10
Finale film: 9/10
Overall: 7.5/10
 
Lordhippos said:
The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya

I'm continuing the march on the KyoAni shows, there are some that I like more than others (Hyouka, Clannad, VE, Kobayashi, Amaburi) and some I don't like enough to watch them (Lucky Star, Nichijou) but KyoAni do some consistently good work, and I think I often like their shows even if not 100% of the time.

I watched the 2009 version in chronological order, and yes I even watched the ♾️8 episodes. Honestly I was expecting things to change in each episode, but nope, minor changes only to events and small details. These episodes felt like a bit of a cop-out, and could have been shortened to about 3 episodes to the same effect..

I felt at times that Haruhi herself was not my favourite character. I wouldn't want to be her friend, seeing how she treats them, taking them for granted at times, and abusing them at others, all in the name of her self-centred amusement. I'd say the main show was kind of middle of the road 6.5/10 maybe.

But the thing that really took me by surprise was just how good the finale film was, The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya. This film was genuinely amazing despite being 2hr 40m long, and made watching the kind of mediocre main series worth it. I don't think you could watch the film in isolation without seeing the series and get the same impact to events.

The film portrays a less obnoxious Haruhi and highlights some of her actual good qualities. It also seems to kick the art up a notch, showing how we go from the KyoAni of old to the more modern works of art like Hyouka, Hibike, and Violet Evergarden.

If anyone has seen the show but not the film I'd definitely recommend re-visiting the film.

Main series: 6.5/10
Finale film: 9/10
Overall: 7.5/10
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If you're judging both seasons of the TV series together, I'd say that's a fair score, since season 1 ranges from good to great, and season 2 is a case study in how to kill a franchise. The movie is fantastic.
 
Dai said:
If you're judging both seasons of the TV series together, I'd say that's a fair score, since season 1 ranges from good to great, and season 2 is a case study in how to kill a franchise. The movie is fantastic.
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Yes it's both series together, I don't like reading too much into things to avoid spoilers, but I think I could have skipped some of the ♾️8 episodes to be honest. The movie really was amazing :)

Edit - it occurs to me that the promised neverland was far better at ruining a franchise than haruhi would ever be!
 
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The Melancholy Of Haruhi Suzumiya-it's a series I've always been ho hum about. I've watched it 3 times and I do get a laugh out of Kyon's snarkiness and Haruhi's just plain weirdness and the endless 8 thing didn't bother me at all but overall...........! The movie was pretty damn good, though.
 
Vivy

I finished this recently and should have put it into the previous post, but forgot and only remembered later on :)

A solid romp through a span of 100 years with an idol android who just wants to make everyone happy with her singing, and her eccentric AI bear/cube companion.

This was made by studio wit so the quality is pretty good, and the episode count is only 12, but it's a complete story beginning to end, which is fairly rare these days. The OP is pretty good too.


Maybe 8 on a good day, but my gut feeling says 7.5 is fair.
7.5/10
 
Future Diary
This wasn't what I expected at all. Survival game stories are a pretty crowded genre that has been handled in a bunch of different ways, but the one common thread in all the ones I'd seen previously was that they were mostly straight dramas with some social satire working in the background. Future Diary is more of a black comedy, but it swings back and forth between serious and ludicrous so wildly that it becomes impossible to tell which parts are meant to be taken seriously and which are being played for laughs. I'm not sure if even the people making the show knew in some places. It also messes with the viewer by trying to make its cast of serial killers increasingly sympathetic over time, while simultaneously making the protagonist limp from useless to irredeemably despicable. The story ultimately has no moral centre, resulting in a baffling tone where we're supposed to wish for the happiness of ruthless mass murderers, even as they rack up ever higher body counts of innocent bystanders.

One thing I'll say in the show's favour is that it's never boring. It's always throwing new challenges at the characters, or adding new twists to the formula. Unfortunately, many of these scenarios are poorly plotted, resulting in countless times where characters don't realise that they have a decisive advantage and end up losing for stupid reasons. It's an idiotic, blood-soaked, over-the-top, self-contradictory, repugnant, and yet still somehow entertaining mess.

5/10
 
Higehiro

After reading the rating by @Dai I had to give it a shot, and I only skim read the review prior to watching as I like to go in reasonably blindly.

This was a far from perfect anime, but I agree, at it's core it was an interesting tale, and it kept me entertained well enough. I think it started stronger than it ended however. Early on I'd have said 7/10, later on more like 5/10, so on balance I averaged the two out.

Some spoilers/issues I had with it below:

Clearly Sayu's approach to housing herself is wrong, she knows it's wrong, and the people who also know it's wrong take advantage of her situation. I thought that Yohshida generally restrained himself well considering some of the advances that Sayu made on him, and deep down I think his feelings for her wound up being more than just guardianship, but he knew that it was the wrong time to pursue such things, as Sayu needed stability.

I think Sayu genuinely needed professional help, as much as a warm home and someone who wont' take advantage of her are welcome vs the continued degradation she put herself through, you don't casually prostitute yourself out without that leaving some scars. On top of that she was still traumatised by the way her mother treated her and by the death of her only friend (has she really been through all these years at school without making any friends?).

Despite that I think Sayu sounded and acted like a nice girl most of the time, and I too found myself caring for her and wanting her situation to improve.

Her mother was a total nutjob, I can see why she'd want to run away from home, but at the same time it seems like the whole thing could have been solved by renting her an apartment away from home, kind of like Toradora with Taiga, surely they could have found a better way to distance Sayu from the toxic mother she had given their obvious financial power. The brother was meant to care for her but sent her off with enough cash to last a couple of weeks and a smile and a wave.

In the end I found it absolutely bonkers that this mother, who accused her of killing her best friend, and treating her like garbage, could not even find it in her cold, iced-over heart, to ask forgiveness. Instead Sayu was the one that apologised to her, even though she had nothing to apologise for, other than running away from bad parenting with good justification.

6/10
 
Lordhippos said:

In the end I found it absolutely bonkers that this mother, who accused her of killing her best friend, and treating her like garbage, could not even find it in her cold, iced-over heart, to ask forgiveness. Instead Sayu was the one that apologised to her, even though she had nothing to apologise for, other than running away from bad parenting with good justification.
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Yeah, the mother in Higehiro was definitely the worst-written character. She was such a one-dimensional monster, and we were never given any insight into her beyond her being a terrible mother. I recall seeing some comments on Crunchyroll about how this show veers hard into old Confucian ideas of rigid family hierarchies. It's something we surprisingly don't see a lot of in anime, perhaps because so many protagonists live on their own, having suffered Protagonist Parental Death Syndrome or needing enough autonomy to build their harem without interference. Even when we do see family homes in anime, they tend to either go for more modern (westernised?) family dynamics, or just shove the parent behind a newspaper for the whole series. It's rare we see an anime where someone tries to convince a parent to do a better job, and it's here where we run into this hierarchical brick wall, especially since Higehiro is desperately trying to be a legitimate drama. So for a western viewer we end up with this jarring combination of culture clash and poor writing that makes the final couple of episodes hard to process.
 
Dai said:
or needing enough autonomy to build their harem without interference
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This is the one! Can't have those pesky parents stopping the harem forming! 🤣

Yeah it would be nice if they went into the reasons for the evil mother more to be honest, sure sometimes parents are just bad people, and sometimes they are deluded (it was kind of mentioned that the mother blamed Sayu for being born and not being enough to stop the father running off with other women or something to that effect).

I really find it easier to emphasise with characters if I can kind of get their motives, even if I don't like what they are doing or agree with it, as long as the motive is realistic and the characters react to things in a believable fashion, then I'm OK with that.
 
Lordhippos said:
Yeah it would be nice if they went into the reasons for the evil mother more to be honest, sure sometimes parents are just bad people, and sometimes they are deluded (it was kind of mentioned that the mother blamed Sayu for being born and not being enough to stop the father running off with other women or something to that effect).

I really find it easier to emphasise with characters if I can kind of get their motives, even if I don't like what they are doing or agree with it, as long as the motive is realistic and the characters react to things in a believable fashion, then I'm OK with that.
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The other thing they lose by having her be such a hollow shell is any real angle of attack when arguing with her. The penultimate episode is meant to be a battle of words, but without any facets of the mother's personality or shared history with Sayu to engage with, there's no choice but to resort to hitting the table repeatedly and begging her to just please, please stop being a terrible parent.
 
Agreeing with you guys on Higehiro. Despite the plot requiring quite a suspension of disbelief as the case for such anime, I felt it started quite well with the characters generally likeable. Just lost its way in the latter half. The mother an obvious point, but okay let's just say she is evil and irredeemable or whatever, what I can't get over is, cultural hierarchies notwithstanding, the brother who seemed a kind & loving soul, would have at least some level of autonomy, even if on the sly, to at least help out his sister to move out into safe lodgings and support her (as you said Toradora style). It could have been better but in the end was just okay.
 
I think it was just contrivances to fit the plot, a bit like that co-worker woman who clearly never had a chance, she was just there to add some drama, or the rapist guy who you're suddenly meant to forgive for manipulating her mere moments before.

With better writing and art this could have been a better story, but I didn't think it was the worst, just a shame they couldn't pull the ideas together to make something better ultimately, but I had fairly low expectations going on so it was fine :)
 
Josee-The Tiger And The Fish-this was quite a surprise to me as I had no idea what to expect. It turned out to be very good, granted it's basically a romance but it had enough original twists and turns to make it very involving and the characters are very relatable. Overall I give it 8 out of 10 points.
 
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Mr Tonegawa: Middle Management Blues
It took me a while to get into this Kaiji spin-off because it takes the most evil characters from the main series and plays them for laughs. This is an odd case where I think the spin-off works better if you either haven't seen the show it's based on, or haven't watched it recently. It's been several years since I watched Kaiji, and I think that distance allowed me to finally enjoy this show on its own terms. And that's good because, viewed in isolation, Tonegawa is a solid workplace comedy, and a unique one in the anime sphere since it focuses on a main character in late middle age. It features some hilariously bizarre problems for Tonegawa to overcome, and it's all set to the tune of the greatest narrator in entertainment history, not to mention its mesmerising barrage of grade-A Engrish.


7/10
 
Dai said:
its mesmerising barrage of grade-A Engrish.
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Thread!
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Favourite Engrish in anime

This is a bit of a random idea for a topic, but it came to me after watching Bubblegum Crisis a while back. So, here goes: What are your favourite moments of Engrish in anime? (Either on-screen text or spoken dialogue.) For me, it's tough to beat that scrolling neon sign in episode 2 of...
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😉
 
Words Bubble Up Like Soda Pop
This movie has such a weak first act that I almost dropped it around the 30-minute mark. It has a bold, appealing art style and great animation, but the characters made an irritating first impression and the situations felt hollow. A lot of that flashy animation feels wasted. Fortunately it improves somewhat as it goes along, with the characters becoming a bit more sympathetic, though it takes until halfway before the plot gets out of first gear. By the end it reaches a fairly satisfying, if completely by-the-numbers climax.

Perhaps its biggest flaw is baked into its premise, by having smartphones play such a large role in the lives of the two main characters. Of course that's par for the course for modern teenagers, but it becomes tedious for a movie when people spend so much time staring at their phones instead of interacting directly.

5/10
 
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