To preface (again), I'm not going to try and hide it, but I'm a bit of a snob when it comes to anime; a snob to my own developed tastes, but a snob nonetheless, which is why I wanted to post here and see what everyone else was feeling (those that keep up with the seasons).
I'll blow through my "watching list", then hit the impressions after.
Series that have my attention
- Fuuka (current)
- Little Witch Academia (about to watch episode 2)
- Scum's Wish (current)
- Onihei (current)
- Interviews with Monster Girls (haven't watched newest episode)
- Saga of Tanya the Evil (current)
- Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid (current)
First Impressions
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Fuuka ~ Full disclosure, I didn't read the manga, and I won't, so I had no idea about Fuuka and it has me hooked and locked. As a musician, I am a SUCKER for series like this (Kids on the Slope is a favorite of recent years and Your Lie In April is my favorite "short" series of all time); series about music, but also about what music IS, how music feels, or the power that music can have. Fuuka starts off incredibly generic, but its the characters' character that let it breathe and expand into its own thing. This series is going to rip me apart and build me up so many times, and I'm so looking forward to it.
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Little Witch Academia ~ I loved the two Little Witch Academia films, and was ecstatic when I heard that Trigger would be making an actual series out of the franchise. Personally, I think they knock it out of the park. The animation is obviously going to be mildly dialed back from its feature film sisters, but I barely noticed. I love that it's basically retelling part of what the first film told, since now we get an even more fleshed out cast of characters and story. I really really hope that this series performs well, because I want more.
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Scum's Wish ~ Oh man, I feel like Scum's Wish is going to be my new go-to when I want to watch people squirm. I picked it up due to ANN's review scores all being high while at the same time saying "THIS IS NOT OKAY". This series looks to be brutal, crushing, and unsettling, all solely portrayed through human interaction. I love it, and I love the idea of it.
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Onihei ~ This is kind of my toss up, could stick with or drop who knows. I like the premise, I like the main character, but I can already see how it may get really stale really fast, but we'll see. I really like what I've seen so far though, and there will always be a soft spot in my heart for fight scenes with jazz background music.
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Interviews with Monster Girls ~ I don't like straight up cutesy slice of life anime. The closest I usually get to that genre is Daily Lives of High School Boys (hilarious). But man, there's something about this one and the last on the list that just have me for some stupid reason. I don't know what it is, but I really dig this so far. It just feels very pure, and the young high school girls are seemingly off-limits, which is a nice change of pace.
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Saga of Tanya the Evil ~ I feel like this is going to be the polarizing series of the season. I'm still adjusting to the art style and the main character's voice, but after episode 2, this series has me really interested, primarily because of how bizarre and borderline unnecessary it is. I like how in episode 1, it seemed like the studio was trying to have you root for literal evil, but with episode 2, you learn that it's less about who you root for, and more about watching a journey. Episode 2 locked me in where episode 1 just had me interested.
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Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid ~ Oddly enough, I feel less weird about enjoying this series than I do about 'Interviews'. I just find it hilarious. It's dumb, it's simple, but it's got a bit of heart to it, and so I'll give it a shot.
HONORABLE MENTION
- Hand Shakers
I'm going to go back and actually try to make it through the entire first episode, but my god, I haven't seen an anime this technically bad in a long time. Does anyone know if this is some sort of experiment or satire?
Anyway
What about everyone else? What Winter series are you guys watching, and what are your first impressions? I'm really interested to hear if I've skipped out on something that I shouldn't have, or if I've dodged some bullets. I skipped out on a lot of sequel series because I didn't watch their predecessors.
I hope the format for this post isn't obnoxious and annoying. I tried to keep the impressions short and not review-like. Any feedback would be appreciated as well, because I'd like to start doing this for every new anime season.
Godspeed!
