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I don't remember doing this in previous years so what the hell, I'll do it for once. In no particular order, -Kimetsu no Yaiba: I hadn't checked the manga before but I absolutely had to after because of how good it was. The Ufotable treatment was in full show with excellent animation and music, the former fixing one of the manga's weaknesses in a grand way. Character writing was also very good even if Zenitsu's intolerable, the world and powers are neat and interesting, and overall my only real problem with it was the wonky pacing, especially by the end. However, that kind of pacing may help later seasons, so we'll see what Ufotable does there. Also my usual figures shop is getting the main four next month and you can be drat sure I want them. -Lord El-Melloi II's Case Files: Rail Zeppelin Grace Note: I'll be frank here: I came in with no real hopes for this one. I love Waver, and I love Fate, but Apocrypha and Extra had killed all my hopes in Fate spinoffs. This one (and the cooking show) revived those hopes big time. A super neat series with a great, if weirdly underused at times, main cast, and an interesting hook for those coming in from Zero with Waver's growth and change as Lord El-Melloi II. The mysteries themselves weren't as interesting to me as the focus on Waver himself, but that's not to say I didn't enjoy them, and seeing Flat on screen really makes me want a Strange Fake adaptation...if it ever gets enough material to adapt... -Mob Psycho 100 Season 2: My life is my own but it seems my opinion here is universal. An excellent follow-up to a just as excellent first season, with more of the characters we love and the excellent animation that made full use of ONE's simple artwork. It takes one hell of a series to make a fight as insane as the last one of the season and make me not enjoy it, and it goddamn succeeded, I just wanted it to end because Mob was suffering. It completely avoided the "wow cool robot" factor and that alone is deserving of absolute praise. It also somehow managed to make an opening better than the first one which I thought would be completely impossible. Probably my overall Anime of the Year. -Vinland Saga: See the first line of Kimetsu because it's absolutely true here as well. I went in with a lot of interest considering its legendary reputation and it did not disappoint. It's definitely its own kind of show, with a focus you don't see anywhere else and a message that, while a bit forced, overall is never lost despite the sheer amount of violence and depressing mood. It apparently got a reputation as despair porn which is weird as hell to me considering how it basically never stops screaming VIOLENCE IS BAD at the viewer (and at Thorfinn, who refuses to get it). Thorkell is also the best but that hardly needs to be said. Also voice acting was insanely on-point, mad props to the VAs and directors. -Attack on Titan Season 3 Part 2: Why this wasn't S4 is beyond me, but stupid title aside, this was a really, really good season for AoT. Stuff that has been going on since the very beginning of the series finally had its payoff and what a pay it was. Action scenes were at their best, world-building went crazy and it felt like a massive game-changer that, had it been done worse, it could've felt like a massive rear end-pull but instead felt like a natural progression for the show that, nonetheless, was one hell of a change. I'm not reading the manga but I'm still super excited for the endgame, if heavily worried due to the studio change. Honourable Mentions: -Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: Golden Wind: It's Jojo, but not at its best. Giorno is one of the worst protagonists I've seen in my life, with zero personality and a power that does whatever the plot needs in a series with far better-defined abilities. Diavolo is just as bad of a villain with only slightly better of a power. The rest of the characters on both sides, including Diavolo's alter-ego Doppio, are far better, and Bucciarati is easily my favourite JoBro, but the series suffers a lot from those two driving the show. Also, character interactions are just worse than previous parts, with too heavy of a focus on stuff constantly happening without breaks. Don't get me wrong though, I enjoyed the hell out of this trip through Italy anyways, with crazy action and great characters and that's what I want in Jojo anyways. Every death also hit really hard. But after the near-perfection of Part 4, Part 5 felt lacking. That said, I am a filthy manga reader so I know fully well things are only looking up anyways. -Fruits Basket (2019) First Season: I actually avoided this one for a bit due to having no real knowledge of the original material and finding the premise really weird, but heavy recommendations from friends got me to watch it and I'm glad I did. I can see why this one's a classic, with heavy-hitting emotional moments in both sadness and happiness. The characters are great (and a bit too relatable at times) and the series constantly keeps this feeling of mystery which I really like. It does have its failings (kind of forced at times, too large of a cast so some get very little focus, Akito's plot twist is blatantly obvious) so I can't put it in the top five, but it's definitely my top sixth of the year, and I'm greatly looking forward to S2. -Dororo: Literally watched this yesterday so I have it super fresh. It was a very good show, and I loved both Hyakkimaru and Dororo. Hyakkimaru's struggles with his newfound senses were also a really neat touch, such as being overwhelmed by sound or talking super roughly at first. Made it feel real. That said, some of the drama felt really forced (oh no Hyakkimaru will lose his humanity!) and the ending felt okay at best to me. -Kemono Michi: Rise Up: Konosuba's author doing another isekai wasn't something I could ignore. And I'm glad I didn't because I laughed my rear end off. However, it's undeniably a much weaker series than Konosuba, and it can get a bit too awkward for my taste, but hell I enjoyed it in how dumb it was. Things I still need to watch: -Promare: Sorry I live in a poo poo third-world country so this wasn't in my cinemas. -Konosuba movie: See above. -Beastars: See ab...okay no I can't pull that excuse here but it came out during a really bad moment for me and then I kind of forgot to watch it. I probably will this weekend. Blaze Dragon fucked around with this message at 15:47 on Jan 3, 2020 |
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Jan 3, 2020 15:45
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| # ¿ May 14, 2024 13:51 |
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Wark Say posted:Also while Mob S2 was legit better than season 1 and easily proved to be Top 5 material for 2019, I feel like the whole thing belongs more in the "Best Anime of the decade" as a whole instead of just a seasonal/yearly thing. That'd just be unfair though, Mob would take both the first and second places!
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Jan 13, 2020 14:24
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