Winter Season 2017 : First Impression Reviews & Dicussion

[Manimal]

Oh my God the first episode of Scum's Wish is amazing, this is finally a mature romance show! Oh I've waited so long for something like this to be made. The idea is going to lead to nothing but suffering, two people date each to ease their loneliness, both have a crush on two teachers who like each other. Oooh this show is, I hope it is going to be good because this first episode is nothing but promise!

Everything has started (besides BanG! Dream which begins next week) so this is my ranking from what we have. Beside the titles I'm going to predict what my final rating will be should I finish everything, which I would like to. See how it compares with later. 

1. Konosuba 2 ( 8 )
2. Scum's Wish ( 8 )
3. Little Witch Academia ( 8 )
4. Akiba's Trip  (7)
5. Urara Mericohou (7)
6. Gabriel DropOut (7)
7. Minami Kamakura High School Girls Cycling Club (7)
8. Miss Kobayashi's Maid Dragon (7)
9. Seiren (?)
10. Schoolgirl Strikers (5)
11. Idol Jihen (5)
12. Masamune-kun's Revenge (4)
13. Youjo Senkei (?)

Best OP (likely) : fhana : "Aozora no Rhapsody" (Kobayashi)
Best ED (likely) : Sayuri : "Heikousen" (Scum's Wish)

A promising line-up, much more so then the last two winters and the last two seasons. Like Fall we have a mighty top three and a lot of fluff, but hopefully good fluff. Only one short I'll be watching, One Room. I do hope Scum's Wish stays good, it can top Konosuba if it really gets emotional. Already we have intimacy even if they're just replacements for who they really like. Ooooh please be good. So baem baem, let's rock.

[Manimal]

Seiren episode 2 was sooo much better then the first episode with some real spice and romantic tensions building. We learn MC-kun has like 1,000 fetishes, weirdest of all is his dream where Hikari sniffs between his legs while he's pooping. Not gunna judge but um...weird. Otherwise is was a pretty good episode.

Urara Meirochou episode 2 was like "today I will teach you to feel" but I was like "no I don't even care about this cast yet" so it was a boring episode. Minami Biking Club episode 2 was a bit dull but it has a decent tone. Schoolgirl Strikers episode 2 was also dull but the work out scene amused me and I like the cast.

Masamune-kun episode 2 was not very good but atleast Yoshino was explained better. Now it gets a touch more interesting atleast. Akiba's Trip episode 2 had odd production values and Arisa lays on the moimoi voice a bit much but it was still fun.

[Manimal]

Holy episode 2 of Konosuba 2 was amazing. This show man, it's head, shoulders and spleens above everything else this season. So many good jokes and the wild interactions, combing with all the yelling and great voice acting. So many crazy things happened in this episode from the return of the frogs, to Yunyun, to loli bath to the magic store showdown. Kazuma is great, such a perfect slimeball jerk. Megumin to, calmly being disgusted by a frog. Things aren't looking too good for Darkness tho, I wonder how...dark...this show is going to go with that. The little punchline at the end with Megumin and Yunyun was so perfect, this episode was wow. Konosuba is wow.

Miss Kobayashi's Maid Dragon also had a good follow up with some sweeter moments and even more yuri-a-blooming. We learn something happened between Kobayashi and Tooru...oooooh. Akiba's Trip had a hilarious third episode. First bro gets obsessed with audio and starts buying super speakers, records all kinds of things to hear idol music in it's finest form. There is this one idol who sings in a deadpan voice...it's great. The ecchi was even more spicy this time, moimoi! This show is turning out very well so far, it's so disgustingly otaku that it works.

Week 2 update

1. Konosuba 2
2. Scum's Wish
3. Little Witch Academia
4. Akiba's Trip 
5. Miss Kobayashi's Maid Dragon
6. Gabriel DropOut
7. Seiren 
8. Youjo Senkei
9. Urara Mericohou
10. Minami Kamakura High School Girls Cycling Club
11. Masamune-kun's Revenge
12. Schoolgirl Strikers
13. Idol Jihen

[Manimal]

SCUM'S WISH EPISODE 2!


Did that really just happen? Are they really going there? Oh my God how could a good first episode get even better. This love square...further proof that yuri makes everything better. Thank all Lords.

Also Masamune-kun had a decent third episode, this show is getting much better.

[Manimal]

Little Witch Academia Episode 3


Only Trigger.

[Manimal]

Akiba's Trip Episode 4


Being so injured you become one with the bandages. Ha ha, this show is great every week so far. It's so fun.

Oh man Scum's Wish is going places fast, this is alright sooo good. Another fantastic episode! Kobayashi's Maid Dragon as well is super. Little Witch Academia is good for art and all but I feel it's overall enjoyment is lower then some other shows this season. Gabriel DropOut had a funny ep with the coffee guy and Masamune-kun is also going places.

Week 3 Update

1. Scum's Wish
2. Konosuba 2
3. Miss Kobayashi's Maid Dragon
4. Little Witch Academia
5. Akiba's Trip 
6. Gabriel DropOut
7. Seiren
8. Masamune-kun's Revenge
9. Youjo Senkei
10. Urara Mericohou
11. Bang Dream
12. Minami Kamakura High School Girls Cycling Club
13. Schoolgirl Strikers
14. Idol Jihen

[Manimal]

By now it's pretty clear what's worth keeping up with and not.

The absolutely great must watch shows are Konosuba 2, Scum's Wish, Kobayashi's Maid Dragon, Akiba's Trip and Gabriel DropOut. All have been very enjoyable and engaging, presenting fun character dynamics, interactions, situations and great themes. Konosuba 2 episode 4 was insane, exploring Darkness' masochism further but this time she goes off into this wild rant about her ideal husband and...wow. Great ep, this show also has much better voice quality then anything else. Not only because of the seiyuus but the actual production to.

Masamune-kun is good enough to watch week for week, even if it's not the best and certainly not anywhere near as good as those 5 in terms of anything, it still manages to be enjoyable. Urara Meirochou bugs me in many ways. I don't like the attitude it has for it's own ecchi, all the shame shame shame shame, blah. Kon is the one and only reason I'm not dropping it, I don't like any of the other characters and it's overly sappy.

I dropped Youjo Senkei and possibly Minamai Kamakura Biking Whatever. Youjo Senkei is not bad but I can't force myself to watch more, I don't like that kind of setting. The biking show is just...so boring. I like slow moving slice of life but there is not much of anything there. Certainly not in the cast which, Long Riders even though it wasn't animated well had a great cast and a fine narrative structure. This show is just like...cardboard. There is little reason to continue School Girl Strikers though I likely will because it's sort of fun.

Little Witch Academia is nicely animated and all but I'm putting it on hold for now. I have no drive to watch it. Seiren's first arc finished in a rather lame matter, but I'll see what happens next. Thank God we have Scum's Wish for a good romance anime . Idol Incidents is yet another sloppy and effortless idol show...sigh, but it's still watchable.

Keeping up is harder this Winter then last...and there are more good shows this winter to.

[Manimal]

SCUM'S WISH EPISODE 4!!


Yes. This show. This show. Yes. Another great episode that explores our cast more. Everybody is manipulating everybody now. A lot of this episode was told by Akane's narration but when Ecchan appeared...oh this show is beyond what I ever thought. This is episode 4 and we're getting scenes like that, my God this is going to be a romance tragedy by the end. Hana is my favorite character of this season as this show is also the best. Konosuba 2 good fun, but Scum's Wish is the show we've needed and I hope it keeps this up.

The contrast was interesting. Akane loves being desired by men, she leads them on and even comes onto guys she doesn't like just because she likes the feeling. To be wanted by men that others want. So she goes after the teacher dude to bother Hana. Meanwhile Hana is weak to people that make her feel good. So when she runs into Ecchan and they...get to work...she is conflicted but still goes with it because like Akane she likes the feeling of being touched by someone who loves her. She doesn't share so much share Ecchan's affection but she can't deny her either, she lets Ecchan back in her house after all knowing full well what it'd entail. Everything is getting fleshed out very well, Hana has so many different emotions for everybody, she is different on a person to person basis.

Mugi wasn't in this episode but I don't think Hana has that great of feelings for him. They are very natural with each other, with Mugi Hana can really act like herself unlike with Ecchan, or anyone else. She also doesn't tell him about Akane as to not hurt his feelings. She cares about Mugi but there doesn't seem to be any kind of love from her. I think Mugi likes her though, even if he crushes on Akane I have the feeling he'll make a bigger push on Hana, but not vise versa.

Episode 5 of Seiren was also good. The new arc begins and everything from before is erased. The lead now is a super gamer and our heroine Miyamae is a nerd as well which is cool. She games with his friends and stuff, it was good. With Hiraki there was nothing interesting in that dynamic she was just really playful, but this time there is atleast a hobby they share and Miyamae is very likable. School Girl Strikers had a fun fifth episode, the characters are all good and I like their interactions. It's not that bad of a show, maybe not interesting but certainly watchable every week.

[Manimal]

Seiren episode 6 only reminds me why Scum's Wish is such a miracle to anime of the last few years.

Here we have this silly world where the kids can't even chill out at the arcade without getting in trouble from the disciplinary council. We also have characters that are just flat & lame, an MC who drives me crazy, and just a general lots of uuuugh c'mon. It's like oh there was this great inicdent where a couple was getting it on in the shed and now the council has to crack down on the kids! My God this is stupid. This episode actually kind of bothered me, the characters are just bad in this show and I dislike this attitude it expresses.

But then Scum's Wish is just amazing, being this real exploration of the cast and their most imitate and ugly feelings. Akane is really quite wicked, getting down with the teacher dude just to hurt Hana. She doesn't even care and insults bro in her head the whole time, I like how we hear her thoughts during that scene. She's so not interested until she finds something in him, a kind of weakness or something to manipulate. Meanwhile Hana just doesn't want to be alone, we see Mugi call an old friend and now with both of them "cheating" on each other there is this odd dynamic.

Hana wants to go all the way but not really, and even Mugi wants to start dating for real but Hana just ditches. She's really conflicted, this show is just so good. It's the exact anime we've been lacking. All those shows like Seiren can get out of here, with lame goody goody MC-kuns and all, this is something far more human and interesting. Really I'm just rooting for Ecchan but I know she'll be the most screwed over in the end.

Episode 5 of Konosuba 2 was great, same with Kobayashi's Maid Dragon. Not as much to say about both shows they are just really good.

[legomaestro]

I'm seeing a lot of positive talk for Scum's Wish on ANN too. I've got to check it out as well.

Kobayashi Maid Dragon hahaha. I can't believe that name. Anime, man.

[Manimal]

I needed to pause the new episode of Akiba's Trip so I could share this screen shot which occurs in the first 40 seconds.



That is all.

Also I've dramatically cut down my watch list to

Scum's Wish
Miss Kobayashi's Maid Dragon
Konosuba 2
Gabriel DropOut
Akiba's Trip 

All are good shows, especially Kobayashi and Gab which are a lot of fun. Scum's Wish would be better all at once, same with Konosuba 2. I want to get back to Bang Dream later on principle of it being an idol rock group show but the rest I'm pretty well done with. I can't force myself through all the meh shows like I did last year.

[Manimal]

First show of the season is done.

In Conclusion : Konosuba 2


With the wrap up of Konosuba's second season the question on everyone's mind is, when's season 3? Following the surprise comedy hit of 2016, the series continues on with our idiotic and lovable characters once more as they do random things. This season Darkness is explored a lot more, given a lot of focus and screentime. This makes for much of the season's best moments as her masochism continues to be hilarious and shown in new lights, such as her wild rant about wishing for an abusive husband. Her desires know no limits. Kazuma continues to be an unbelievable jerk, what a protagonist he is. Him and Megumin have the best chemistry, seen in the episode where they fight and end up bathing together.

Aqua has her arc and big moment in the end, she continues to be a crybaby. My favorite bit is when she's asleep, cuddling with a wine bottle, I don't know why but I found that touch amusing. Some stuff from season 1 returns, but none of the jokes feel old or overplayed. Sure there's little that can top the surprise of season 1's bold bath scene in the succubus episode, but we had the fight over Darkness, loli bath, and wagon battle this time. Megumin's rival and Wiz got good screen time this season.

The animation was all over. Konosuba has a really rough and sloppy style, but it has a flow of it's own. You can't call it stiff, and the quality of it manages to work with the style, designs and overall tone of the series. Voice acting is beyond fantastic, the actual sound production is also great. The new ED is almost as good as the original, with it's country vibe. What can I say, Konosuba is awesome and this was more of the same goodness. If this series becomes a yearly event it might run out of steam at some point, but season 2 leaves me wanting more!

[lexamangaforum]

Did you not watch Tanya? I wanted to like it SO bad but found it in bad taste? of WW2? Is that stupid?

I am really enjoying Gabriel Dropout but haven't fancied much else.

[Manimal]

I watched about 4 episodes of that Tanya. I thought it was alright but I'm not fond of military shows. I don't think it's bad taste, it's kind of like an alternate world setting since the dates are wrong and everything. I thought it was WW1 but different or something? I dunno.

Gab is a great show however! Very funny, episode 10 was really good with Satania's family. Lots of good jokes, like when Satania sees a revolver on TV and actually buys it, brings it to school, and points it at Gab. I was like, no way they actually did that. Good show.

[Gaff]

Kinda surprised you didn't watch Interviews with Monster Girls, to be honest.  It manages to be pretty chill while also having an unexpected amount of substance to it.