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NieR Automata Ver1.1a ep1: I haven't played NieR Automata firsthand but I watched most of my partner's playthrough, which means that I'm loosely familiar with the content but missed a bunch of key scenes. The heavy use of CG in this premiere was disappointing when the designs of NieR are so gorgeous but for some reason I could forgive it more than usual; perhaps it is because of the source material, or perhaps it's just because most of the world is inorganic in the first place. Following the plot properly while vaguely knowing what's going on feels good and I thought that the leads came off really well. I'm looking forward to seeing the story told in full this time around, though if the animation falls back more on CG and less on the attractive 2D designs I might check out at some point.

The CGI in Episode 1 was the most glaring issue, fwiw I think they'll continue to use it at times, but I would say the intro to the game is very heavy with models, and I think it will open up a bit and get less overt usage in the future episodes.

It's a shame because I think the CGI is forever going to lower the anime quality, it's now part of it, and better CGI expertise may have made it less obvious with good compositing for example.

I will do some of my initial episode appraisals here in a few days as I'm waiting for more episodes of things to air still :)
 
I started ten more new Winter 2023 anime series over the weekend - I watched the first episodes of:

Trigun Stampede - this looks to be a really good reboot series, and the CGI looks pretty dang good in this one.

The Reincarnation of the Strongest Exorcist in Another World - perhaps the best Isekai of this season I'ved watched so far, really liking the story setup.

The Angel Next Door Spoils Me Rotten - should be a good follow-up series after watching More than a Married Couple last season.

Chillin' in My 30s After Getting Fired From the Demon King's Army - This fantasy anime was pretty good

NieR:Automata Ver1.1a - never played the game, so this is completely new to me, CGI is good in this one too. OST is good, too.

Sugar Apple Fairy Tale - Another good shojo-esque series, with some dark themes that should make this really interesting.

The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel - Northern War - seems ok so far, I want to see more of the story in this one.

The Tale of Outcasts - need to watch another episode to see how much I'll be invested in this one. As others have said, it's a little reminiscient of Ancient Magus' Brife, which is currently my #3 GOAT anime.

Saving 80,000 Gold in Another World For My Retirement - This one was a fairly weak Isekai so far, not sure if it will be worth more than another episode or two.

Handyman Saitou in Another World - For me this was another weak offering for an Isekai, I don't care much for the forgetful wizard character, but I'll give it a couple more episodes to let the story develop.
 
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Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury eps 11 & 12 (complete)
Aggressive takeover and parental issues.
Some fun characters and interactions plus some very good fights, but as usual with this franchise the politicking (or corporate espionage in this case) got a bit confusing as to who worked for and against who, etc. It ends in a bit of a weird place, but still feels like the end of one chapter and the start of another, so more of an ending at least than some shows manage. The wait starts for season 2.
Art and animation were very good too.
8/10

The Tale of Outcasts
ep 1
Seems to be a bit like Magus Bride, but a little bit darker.

Vinland Saga s2 e1
Awesome stuff, backstory for the new major character that we meet in this arc, but all/mostly original IIRC. I read the arc we're just about to experience, but with another 24 episode season I think it will go into the next one too which I haven't got round to, I'm wondering if I should read ahead again or let the anime overtake my knowledge of the story 🤔
 
Malevolent Spirits: Monogatari episode 1 Special exceptions

The Vampire Dies in No Time Season 2 episode 13 Dubious food.

Vinland Saga Season 2 episode 25 Live or die.

Sgt. Frog episodes 156, 160, 173, 175, 178, 180, 183, 191, 195, Sgt. Frog Movie 3 (Film)
 
I'm the Villainess, So I'm Taming the Final Boss (English Dub) Episode 1-12 (Complete)

Ayakashi Triangle Episode 1 Putting this on-hold until the uncensored version is out.

Malevolent Spirits: Monogatari Episode 1 This should be an intriguing watch.

Reborn to Master the Blade: From Hero-King to Extraordinary Squire Episode 1 Prodigy.

Vinland Saga Season 2 Episode 25 Looking forward to this new season.
 
Chillin' in My 30s after Getting Fired from the Demon King's Army ep1: Ostensibly a series about yet another loser nobody rebooting his life after being unfairly dismissed from his lifelong employment (though he doesn't seem to have learned anything during the decades that he worked there), this is actually a showcase about the ditzy female lead's breasts, which bounce pendulously around at every possible moment. The horny camerawork constantly introduces her to every scene boob-first, irrespective of whether or not she is even relevant to the conversations taking place. It's not especially sexy, though, because she's a bore and the fan service is too silly, so it just comes off as dorky and distracts from the weak attempts at comedy from the actual script. I don't need to describe the actual plot because it's all in the title, though the big twist was impossible not to predict within the first few seconds. It also had multiple flashbacks to the start of the episode during the premiere which was really boring, even though the voice cast were desperately trying to make the weak material better. Bleh. Not the worst series this season but I have better things to do with my time.

Saving 80,000 Gold in Another World for my Retirement ep1: I've worked out at this point that isekai with female leads generally (but not always) annoy me less, because the self-insert nonsense is less prominent. The core gimmick of this one is that the accident-prone lead can jump back and forth between the generic fantasy world and reality, because she's not actually dead (somehow). She immediately starts to think about the possibilities of such an arrangement where she can lead a double life and make enough money to retire, which is what my partner always wants to suggest to isekai protagonists who fail to capitalise on their advanced knowledge, and a lot of the usual tropes were skipped over thanks to a silly plot device where the lead's dead older brother emotionally prepared her for everything she's encountering by virtue of flashbacks to monologues about his otaku hobbies. I found this show tolerable (despite being kind of dumb) but it's not one that I'll keep watching. At least it seems to be having fun with its concept.

Reborn to Master the Blade: From Hero-King to Extraordinary Squire ep1: I don't know why my partner thought that watching three of these similar shows in a row was a good idea. I could probably summarise this by copy-pasting lines from my other recent posts like the creators of RtMtB copy-pasted elements from other content to make this story. The lead is an overpowered hero from another time/setting (Strongest Exorcist), who is reincarnated as a little girl (Onimai) and then deals with bullies who are irrationally nasty (Iceblade Sorcerer) before eventually growing old enough for the gimmick in the title to seem plausible. Sadly, from the look of the horny opening/ending sequences the hero king is going to become a cute squire dressed in a miniskirt and suspenders rather than a dashing, cool heroine. The reborn hero(ine) initially subdues an attacker as a newborn baby, which I will grant was somewhat memorable for its ridiculousness. Everyone also likes randomly narrating things that happens to explain things to the viewer, which makes sense as a means of conveying information in a LN yet makes me cringe whenever it's overused in anime. I really wish that more care would be put into reimagining the original material to better suit the format for these adaptations so that finding the occasional gems wasn't such a slog.

TRIGUN STAMPEDE ep1: Even though I was in the fandom when saying such a thing was unusual, I didn't like the original Trigun anime and didn't really care when everyone else was gushing about it. This remake (?) is a weird one because I find the CG disengaging - yet it's noticeably better than average and the colour palettes are genuinely pleasant. There seem to be a few divergences from the previous TRIGUN's plot even with my spotty memories of the original so I'm not sure what's going on there. If you're not allergic to CG anime like I am it's worth a watch just to see the art style in action because it's an interesting take on the medium.

Spy Classroom ep1: A typically non-diverse team of schoolgirls are assembled to participate in a suicide mission for nebulous political reasons, in this setting where sending spies off to die in proxy wars spares ordinary people the upheaval (and cost) of actual warfare. The quirk is that the cutesy girls are all spies, and probably each have their own skills and/or dark secrets that will be revealed over time even though they're introduced as a bunch of failures. For some reason they have multiple schoolgirl outfit changes over the course of the episode and all end up wearing uniforms which are spy-themed idol group costumes, each slightly different to play to their individuality, which rather undermines my ability to take them seriously as professionals. I quite liked the climax of the episode where things actually happened to progress the story; unfortunately, the entertaining part with actual spy shenanigans was only a few minutes long and the rest was all boring padding, so I won't be continuing.

R
 
Just wanted to say I have been absolutely loving your write-ups for the shows you've been trying out @Rui, they're great!

Spy Classroom ep1: A typically non-diverse team of schoolgirls are assembled to participate in a suicide mission for nebulous political reasons, in this setting where sending spies off to die in proxy wars spares ordinary people the upheaval (and cost) of actual warfare. The quirk is that the cutesy girls are all spies, and probably each have their own skills and/or dark secrets that will be revealed over time even though they're introduced as a bunch of failures. For some reason they have multiple schoolgirl outfit changes over the course of the episode and all end up wearing uniforms which are spy-themed idol group costumes, each slightly different to play to their individuality, which rather undermines my ability to take them seriously as professionals. I quite liked the climax of the episode where things actually happened to progress the story; unfortunately, the entertaining part with actual spy shenanigans was only a few minutes long and the rest was all boring padding, so I won't be continuing.

R

I do wish this one had a different team behind it and perhaps even a 45-minute premier so it got going faster. Feel as a team seem like they're more intent on the cute girls than the action, which is a shame because like you say when spy shenanigans get going it's entertaining and certainly my favourite bit of the source material. I certainly don't hold out much hope for us getting to the really good bits for another episode or 2 yet. 🙄
 
Ranma 1/2 ep17-18

I was wondering when Shampoo would turn up - I never did get far enough into the manga to see her introduction, although I know she's one of the regulars. There doesn't seem to be all that much to her character so far, but the episode allowed for some nice visual gags all the same; I particularly liked the little cut from the programme on the TV to her smashing through the wall. Also we're back to the first OP now? It was just too powerful, I suppose.

Tomo-chan is a Girl ep1

This is fine enough, the art is a bit plain, but I like the main character's VA and how her personality to be a kind of inverted version of Yawara. It's the sort of thing I'd happily watch at the local club, if that still existed, but I think I'm unlikely to get around to watching any more of it on my own.

Trigun Stampede ep1

Apart from the film, which I liked a lot, I was always a bit medium on the original anime, so I felt a little indifferent at the prospect of a new Trigun series. This was a pleasant surprise though; apart from a few slightly creaky looking scenes at the start, it has some of the best looking CG work I've yet seen from a TV anime. The use of colour and body language are remarkably good, but I think the characters' exaggerated facial expressions were the big standout - it really helps get around that lifeless feel you so often get from a 3D model. The overall experience is so unusual, I'd go as far as to say this almost doesn't feel like anime at all. If you told me it was produced in France, I'd believe it.
 
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Tokyo Revengers s2 e1
Shocking revelation.

Giant Beasts of Ars ep 1
A fantasy series with a bunch of intriguing characters. This episode did a good job of setting up the world and introducing those characters. An original from the guy who wrote School-Live (and the anime) and did the series composition on Akudama Drive and Astra: Lost in Space.

Ippon again! ep 1
CGDCT Judo edition. Could be a bit more to it than that though, what with being a sports based one. The characters seem fun and some cool art and animation.

Ayakashi Triangle ep 1
Two gender bender shows in one season! Unlike the other one the boy in question gets a hot oppai bod this time rather than a loli one. There's a bit of ecchi in there, but no uncensored version at the moment. If the "action" continues I might put it on hold, but equally there's not much to the story at the moment, so 3 episodes rule either way I think.

Malevolent Spirits: Mononogatari ep 1
More supernatural goings on, but a more serious take. The Tsukumogami we meet seem to be a varied bunch of characters, but it's too soon to tell with the female human MC. The male MC is a bit too intense at the moment, but I guess he'll soften a bit. His eyes are way too far apart though and are a bit distracting!

Kubo Won't Let Me Be Invisible ep 1
Kana Hanazawa reprises her role of girl sitting next to a boy in a classroom! Except unlike Seki-kun Shiraishi-kun is so boring none of the rest of the class acknowledge him, so she's the one disrupting his study by getting him to do stuff that gets him noticed. So there's also the Takagi-san similarities, but in terms of teasing there's a little more malice in it, but not as far as Nagatoro-san, but ultimately they're all the same because on some level they fancy their "victim"

Urusei Yatsura eps 11 & 12
Prankster and New Years party, and bundle of pain and date.
Half time report: I still like the art style, but the comedy is hit n miss. Some of it is really funny like most of episode 11, which was just surrealist enough, and some of it isn't, like most of 12 with the repetitive slapstick and shouty stuff, although the smutty stuff was funny.
 
Latest title from my backlog is
Selector infected WIXOSS episodes 1 - 12

Quite a dark series from what it started as, ends on a cliff hanger so I will need to hunt down the second series (Selector Spread WIXOSS) to continue the story.
 
Campfire Cooking in Another World with My Absurd Skills episode 1 More and more.

Sgt. Frog episodes 228, 236, 240, 243, Sgt. Frog Movie 4 (Film), 256-257, 274, 282, Sgt. Frog Movie 5 (Film), 334-335
 
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Adventurer's Who Don't Believe in Humanity Will Save the World Episode 2 Trust issues.

Campfire Cooking in Another World with My Absurd Skills Episode 1 Big appetite.

Kubo Won't Let Me Be Invisible Episode 1 Unnoticeable.


The Ice Guy and His Cool Female Colleague Episode 2 Beat the heat.
 
Watched Yesterday

Lupin Zero (Japanese) - Episode 5

Ayakashi Triangle (Japanese) - Episode 1

Pokemon Master Journeys (English) - Episode 6

Bleach (English) - Episode 149 - 151
 
Boogiepop Phantom Episodes 2 and 3

Well it turned out that a plot point in episode 1 that made zero sense in isolation turned out to be a significant foreshadowing for episode 2 so that's got me very interested to see more; not too much stuck with me in episode 3 except for the fact that towards the end some of the audio sounded like something out of a Silent Hill game; which is great because Silent Hill is one of my favourite horror franchises.
 
Skip beat! 1-25
Very quirky and enjoyable one this.... Again... Thoroughly deserved more than 25 eps... And after 20 years the manga is still going. very surprised is has not been given the green light

I too wish there would be more seasons made for this! I was a backer in Ann Yamamoto's Skip Beat! Kickstarter back in 2016-2017, and along with the nice chipboard box set for the Blu-rays, I also received two Skip Beat! posters - one having original autographs of 6 or 7 of the dub cast - and also a satin Skip Beat! Love Me jacket that ended up being way too small for me, lol:

sbframed1.jpg

sbjacket1.jpg


sbjacket2.jpg
 
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I too wish there would be more seasons made for this! I was a backer in Ann Yamamoto's Skip Beat! Kickstarter back in 2016-2017, and along with the nice chipboard box set for the Blu-rays, I also received two Skip Beat! posters, the one being signed by 6 or 7 of the dub cast, and a satin Skip Beat! Love Me jacket that ended up being way too small for me, lol:

sbframed1.jpg

sbjacket1.jpg


sbjacket2.jpg
Oh wow they look great 😍
Its bizarre really... Even at the end of the last episode... it says "next stage....."
 
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BOFURI: I Don't Want to Get Hurt, so I'll Max Out My Defense Season 2 Episode 13 This should be another fun season.

Don't Toy With Me, Miss Nagatoro 2nd Attack Episode 14 Sketching.

Tomo-chan is a Girl! Episode 2 New friend.

The Eminence in Shadow Episode 15 Tournament.

The Magical Revolution of the Reincarnated Princess and the Genius Young Lady Episode 2 Assistant.
 
Summer Time Rendering eps 1-3
Intriguing show chock full of plot ideas seen elsewhere such as doppelgangers killing their real pair, creepy children, small town paranoia, and dying and "respawning" back in time. Talking of which there are shots where people "glitch out" suggesting this may all be some sort of simulation. Actually the title gives the same impression (rendering as in building a digital thing) which, if that is the case, is a bit spoilerific!

Don't Toy With Me, Miss Nagatoro s2 e2
Drawing with love.
Saw that there were 2 episodes released on Saturday, guess Crunchyroll decided to split them up.

Yuri Isekai ep 2
Taking a new assistant.

BOFURI s2 e1
New area.

Tomo-chan is a Girl ep 2
New rival.

Kaina of the Great Snow Sea ep 1
Not sure what to make of this. In a world where people live in giant trees(?) that support a structure over the world below a boy goes about his business, meanwhile on the surface below a group want to make up to the canopy world.
By the same people who made BLAME! and Knights of Sidonia where the cg worked OK because of the Sci-fi setting, but here not so much, at least on initial viewing.

Just 1 Winter show left to start.
 
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