Winter 2015 Preview – Part 1 of 2 – 3 Episode Rule

After looking back into the not-so-distant past of Fall 2014 the past two weeks, it is now time for these next two weeks to look forward, at Winter 2015. Most shows by now have shown *about* 3 episodes, so by conventional wisdom, now is the time to cull your anime list to something manageable (or as manageable as you can get when you’re carrying over 12 shows from past seasons…) This week we’ll look at all the shows and see how much of a masochist I am by how many shows I take on. Next week, We’ll explore how you can avoid the same fate by giving curated lists of about 5 anime that fit into certain themes/genres/categories.

For the purposes of this preview, I will be categorizing shows into tiers to give an idea of quality and the potential that I see in these shows after three episodes. There is no specific criteria I use, just an overall “feel” or sense of enjoyment/quality.  I will almost always continue a show that I have seen the prequel to/read the manga for if I enjoyed the original, and I will almost never watch a sequel without having seen the prequel (hence a lack of Jojo’s). As usual, referencing Anichart.net will be useful if you seek more information.  This Chart also provides airing dates for current season anime.

As always spoilers warning for the first 3 episodes of the 18 anime I’m reviewing live below the fold. Consider yourself warned.  Also, these recommendations only reflect my opinions/tastes/interpretations and should not be construed as a be-all/end-all of anime recommendations. If there’s a show I said to avoid you liked, watch it! If I recommend something you don’t like, then don’t watch it!

Fall 2014 Review – Part 2 of 2 – “Multi Cour” Shows

Continuing from my last post (whch covered all the shows from the Fall Season that I won’t be continuing into the Winter season, for one reason of the other), this post details all the shows that I will be continuing. Some of these are more a symptom of me being a bit of a completionist and hating to drop series (which granted I’ve gotten a bit better at). Note that since I will be continuing these series, the overall ranking may change due to how the ending influences the series. These are based on the episodes from the start of the series up until the end of the Fall 2014 season. Also note that I will not be giving any S/Masterpiece rankings for these series, due to their not having an ending yet.

Spoiler warning for below the fold

Fall 2014 Review – Part 1 of 2 – “One Cour” Shows

Winter 2015 is coming. Or rather, it has already come.  However, while I wait for the 3 episode rule to pass for at least a majority of the shows, let’s take a look back which means it is time for a look back at the Fall 2014 Season to see how each did, in the grand scheme of things.

Since I ended up starting/continuing something like 29 shows (even if I did drop some later on), I’m going to split this up into two posts. This post here will be of shows that are ended in the Fall season, be they leftover two cours from summer, or only one cour shows, or they got dropped by me.  Next week will feature all the shows that I am continuing into the next season.

Spoiler Warning for below the fold. 

How to Decide What to Watch – Fall 2014

So given my decision to watch 24 shows this season (plus 4 long running/continuing shows), not everyone will be able to match what I’m watching. But how is one to determine what they should be watching? Well the best solution is to give everything a try, but at this point it’s getting on in the season. What do we do when there’s too many anime and not enough time?

There are a couple of ways to get this done.

• Tier List – See last post for a sample of this. Simply work your way from top down until you have all the shows you can handle. If this is still too many…
• Based on different groups as to your taste (such as comedy/serious/harem/
• In the field design, designers try to come up with “sample users” who might use their product and create a profile for them. Similarly, I will create a series of potential anime watchers and list what I think they should be watching, based on their hypothetical profile.
• Series that have Similar Traits (that I’ve noticed occurring this season)

Fall 2014 – 3 Episode First Impressions

It’s that time of the season. (Most of) all shows have aired 3 episodes and pepple invoke the “holy” 3 episode rule to decide what to watch. If for some reason you haven’t decided what to watch or are on the fence about what to drop or keep, this review should help you decide on what to keep on with.

Also spoiler warning on the first 3 episodes. I’ll try to keep it generic enough without specific plot points but you have been warned. For all shows I have watched at least 3 episodes (sometimes more)

Summer 2014 Review (Part 3/3 – Superlatives)

In the past two entries, I discussed the different series I completed over the fall Season – You can read about the Comedies here, and the more Serious ones here. In this final entry I hope to discuss

• My overall thoughts for the season
• Shows that I didn’t get to finish that I will add to my backlog to tackle at some point in the future
• Superlatives

It should go without saying, but potential spoilers ahead.

Summer 2014 Review (Part 2/3 – Action)

A bit belated, but here is the second part of my review for the Summer 2014 Anime Season. Last post, I covered the six comedies out of the 14 seasonal shows I watched. Here are the 8 more serious series (mostly action) that I watched, and my thoughts on them.  My designation of which was comedy and which was serious is completely arbitrary and due to my own tastes.  Next post will have my superlatives + shows from this season I didn’t get a chance to watch but will probably pick up at some point in the future.

Also it goes without saying, but while I try to not go too deep into the plot points, spoilers are fair game after the jump.

Summer 2014 Review (Part 1/3 – Comedies)

A bit belated, but here is the first part of my review for the fall season of 2014 in anime. Now, I watched 14 shows this past season, (16 if you include YuGiOh Arc-V and Pokemon XY, which I won’t be reviewing here), so I’m going to split them up between the more serious shows (to be covered in the second half) and the more lighthearted ones (covered here). My designation of which was comedy and which was serious is completely arbitrary and due to my own tastes.  There will also be a third post concerning my superlatives + shows from this season I didn’t get a chance to watch but will probably pick up at some point in the future.

Also it goes without saying, but while I try to not go too deep into the plot points, spoilers are fair game after the jump.

Fall 2014 Preview

Pardon the dust as I finalize formats and whatnot. I don’t even know if this is the optimal way to organize my content, if I want to grow this beyond just anime to other things. But it’ll do for now,  I figure I can always migrate it if/when I have a free afternoon.

Anyway, Fall Anime 2014. What I expect to be good/not good/interesting. If I list it here, I will probably watch at least the first episode. Keep your eyes peeled for a First Impressions Post after I’ve watched all the first episodes. Of course if anything partway through the season has loads of hype and I have time I’ll follow up with it, if I can catch up.