What’s been your favorite anime this season?
Lime: Mikagura Gakuen Kumikyoku, by far. It’s just so colorful and refreshing and fun, and I’m already in love with every character. It also got me into some pretty cool music, and probably initiated my gradual descent into vocaloid hell. I don’t think I’ve enjoyed something this much in a long time.
Neomo: I’m loathe to say the show I’m reviewing right now (Hibike! Euphonium); while so many people have been giving so much praise to it, it’s hasn’t been my total favorite. For me it’s a tie between Plastic Memories and My Teenage Romantic Comedy SNAFU season 2. I like how Plastic Memories reminds me so much of a old favorite with a similar theme (Chobits), and as SNAFU S2 starts immediately from season 1 which is better than other new seasons which are like 1 year later or whatever.
Kuuki: Arslan Senki and by far. I have always loved this kind of anime that focus a lot on politics and world building. I don’t dislike the characters, even the prince who happens to usually be the kind of character I hate and I absolutely love the relatively slow pace of this anime.
Muse: *looks at Hibike! Euphonium* *looks at Ore Monogatari* *distressed noises* DON’T MAKE ME CHOOSE
What’s been your most disappointing anime this season?
Muse: I ended up dropping the Subaru magical girl anime at the second episode because it literally put me to sleep. Car noises are only amusing for so long…
Kuuki: Food Wars. I have been sooo enthusiastic when it first started but it ended up being a regular shounen with boring tropes. And I can’t stand Souma. So I dropped it.
Neomo: I wanted The Disappearance of Nagato Yuki-chan to be so much better because I adore the manga. Also whilst watching it, it just seemed everything seemed too rushed; episode 1 and 2 just seemed to cover everything in volume 1 and most of volume 2.
Lime: Seraph of the End, probably. I love Attack on Titan – and since this is a show made by the same people with a lot of similarities, I was hoping it would be good too, if not all that original. Unfortunately, it’s… really kind of not so far. The animation is less impressive than I expected, the story has yet to go anywhere all that interesting, and the characters are almost universally insufferable. It’s still entertaining enough to keep watching, but I’m finding myself laughing at it much more often than I’m genuinely invested in it.
What anime to you started out well but is now beginning to fall apart, interest wise?
Kuuki: Oregairu maybe. I loved the first season, I was happy to see everyone back but in the end it somehow lost the crazyness and bubbly feeling that made the first season so great. It’s getting boring and too sad for my tastes right now.
Lime: I enjoyed the first season of Fate/Stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works quite a bit while it was airing, but this season has really failed to impress me so far. It’s not terrible or anything, and maybe it’s that the novelty has worn off, but almost everything that’s happened in it has felt kind of underwhelming and increasingly dumb to me.
Muse: I stopped watching the second season of SNAFU at the sixth episode. I barely remembered the characters, so the drama was not working for me. I can’t say it “fell apart” so much as I can’t recall what I enjoyed about the first season.
Neomo: Easy answer: Is It Wrong To Try and Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? We all loved the beginning episodes where we all felt pity on the downtrodden and extremely naive Bell, but now his dungeon levels has suddenly become so much better, I don’t even care anymore. I’d stick around for the sake of Hestia (anime goddess and bane of infamous UK tabloid Daily Mail), I’ve also lost interest for her too. It’s a tricky one; maybe. Perhaps I’ll try it again later in the year.
Finally, your thoughts on the spring season as a whole?
Neomo: Well…I’m disappointed, to be perfectly honest. The 3 shows I’ve liked have been total gems, while the others have been either ‘meh’ shows, awful, and serious letdowns. The Winter season gave me shows I really liked (Koufuku Graffiti, Yuri Kuma Arashi, The Idolmaster: Cinderella Girls, Saekano), so this season, even with the shows I like, just seems like one big letdown. I’ve researched into what’ll crop up in the Summer season and I’m even more skeptical. I have noticed though that my favorite studio (SHAFT) is choosing to remain absent, which leaves me to think they have something big up their sleeve, like a movie, which would make me very happy.
Helen: For me this spring season has been a bit disappointing, I felt like we had a solid line up of shows this past winter but barely anything caught my attention this season and a full half of what I’m watching is either fluff or will end terribly (which is just not how I like to balance out my entertainment). Hibike! Euphonium has been unexpectedly great and Yamada-kun and the Seven Witches is holding together much better than expected but my favorite show hands down is Blood Blockade Battlefront/Kekkai Sensen. I adored Rei Matsumoto’s Kyousogiga from its very first OVA but didn’t like Trigun at all so I was unsure about how much I would enjoy this show and the answer is as much as I possibly can.
On the flip side, I expected to continue to enjoy Fate/Stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works (part two) and, since I’ve read the manga, find Seraph of the End passable but they’re both starting to fall apart fast, F/SN especially with writing that both feels weaker than the first half and feels wholly disconnected from Fate/Zero which is funny because they were highlighting that connection as much as they possibly could in the first half.
So I have done what I always do in dire seasons, to the backlog! I’ve already finished two shows and maybe I’ll finally finish Space Brothers this season as well….
Muse: Aside from the two shows I mentioned above, this season is holding up really well! It’s got a good mix of everything, and a couple have already made my shortlist for the top anime from this year. Summer has a tough act to follow so far.
Lime: Pretty solid season overall, lots of stuff I’m interested in but haven’t started/kept up with. Ninja Slayer is the best thing I’m watching that isn’t Mikagura – it’s stupid in all the right ways, and probably the most visually interesting and stylish show this season when it’s not in Inferno Cop mode (and has a really cool opening theme). I’m also really enjoying Show by Rock, Kekkai Sensen, and Hibike! Euphonium so far. Nisekoi is still Nisekoi, which is to say I’m watching it because it looks pretty but I wouldn’t quite put it in the “good shows” category. Plastic Memories was alternating between interesting and incredibly mediocre from the 6 episodes I’ve seen, but obviously I’m kind of behind now. I’m also like 3 episodes into Yamada-kun, and hesitant to judge it since I’m still not even sure what it’s ABOUT but I can’t say I particularly like it or hate it so far; it’s just a thing that exists I guess. Only shows I’ve tried and dropped are Re-Kan and Kiniro Mosaic.
Kuuki: Pretty good, even if I did drop more stuff than usual because time goes faster in Japan and I don’t have enough of it. I’ve had a lot of good surprises, like Show by Rock which is a lot better than I expected. Punchline too. Danmachi as well.
All in all, for a season I wasn’t too hyped about I’m pretty satisfied of the quality.