Animu

Being a place for the planning of communal anime viewing.

Winter 2017 Schedule

• Little Witch Academia
• Ghost in the Shell: Arise
• Flip Flappers
• Yuri on Ice
• Namiuchigiwa no Muromi-san
• Scum's Wish

Future

Informal planning principles

• None of this is absolute. These are guidelines only and if following them would mean watching bad shows and not watching good shows then we will overrule them
• We watch about 2:30 each week - normally 6 normal-length TV episodes from 6 different shows (watching each show from start to finish at one episode per week)
  • If a significant number of attendees are missing one or two meetings (e.g. during holiday periods) we set aside the regular schedule and show "specials" instead.
• We try to group the schedule into "seasons" (i.e. start and finish a group of shows at the same time) to provide some structure and (at least theoretically) to give newcomers a reasonable point at which to join.
  • Seasons are long enough to complete a "short" show (i.e. 12 or 13 weeks) and do not necessarily align with calendar seasons
  • We aim to start shows when they are still airing, but after enough episodes have aired to reasonably evaluate them (usually three or four)
  • Seasons are named on this page after the "anime season" from which shows could have appeared in that season
    • i.e. if we start a season just before spring ends and summer begins (or even after a few summer episodes have aired, but not enough for summer shows to be considered for the schedule), we will call that season "spring"
    • i.e. at any given time we may be up to a season "behind realtime"
• Avoid falling into a rut
  • We try to enforce a mix of genres by using "slots"
    • Approximate slots
      • Action and/or general fast-paced
      • Sci-Fi
      • General, faster and/or more serious
      • General or sports, slower and/or more lighthearted
      • Comedy
      • Romance and/or drama
  • Slot order is so that the tonal arc of the evening makes some sense
    • This sounds really wishy-washy, but at the same time it genuinely is surprisingly important - we've had meetings where we watched things in the "wrong" order for technical reasons and it didn't go well
  • We can skip, reassign or "fudge" a slot if there really are no good shows in that genre that season, but we should be very wary if we find ourselves repeatedly skipping the same slot
  • "Current" shows generally take priority over older shows
    • If there are not enough schedule-quality shows then we look to recent shows that we considered schedule-quality but did not make the schedule in a previous season, and/or to "classic" shows
• Try to reach a consensus but also to broaden our horizons
  • We largely rely on attendees watching at least the first few episodes of a show and then proposing it for the schedule
  • We try to avoid scheduling a show that any attendee strenuously objects to
    • This is not absolute, particularly if there are enough "vetos" to make it difficult to assemble a schedule at all
• We would prefer to air a show that some love and others dislike (though not hate) than one that everyone is "meh" about
  • This is not to say that shows have to be controversial or provocative (though at the same time we don't shy away from such shows)
    • There is plenty of space for a well-crafted "safe" show, just not for a mediocre one.
    • Shows that are ambitious will ideally be given slightly more leeway regarding weaknesses in other areas.
      • But only slightly.
• We call shows that two or more people supported and no-one strenuously objected to "schedule-worthy" and list them separately below
  • Experience suggests that we will most likely air them sooner or later
  • This is solely as a matter of practicality; it doesn't imply any firm commitment
• We can and do drop shows partway through, even partway through a season, but only when there is a firm consensus for doing so
  • Generally if even one attendee was still enjoying a given show we would not drop it
• The host retains an absolute veto over anything they find genuinely objectionable
  • i.e. not just shows I don't like

Future possibilities

Shows that we considered schedule-worthy

• Gatchaman Crowds Insight
• Minami-ke (not exactly supported per se, but a fallback comedy option)
• The Legend of Korra
  • Mixed feelings. Episode 1 was painful, Korra is like another Subaru at the beginning. Fortunately they ease off the "this character is naive due to her upbringing and we need to show it" pretty quickly. Seems like it could have some promise, but the plot development seems very formulaic ("Introduce Heroine. Introduce Teacher. Inevitable heroine/teacher conflict. Introduce allies. Introduce nemesis.") - does it manage to grow beyond this? Also a bit wary of another year-long show. --maxb
    • Does it ever cease being a fantasy adventure show? No, at least not in the part I've seen. Does it get into more complex/ambiguous territory, develop meaningful longer-term arcs, and go beyond simplistic good vs evil? Yes, absolutely. (And Korra does suffer for her mistakes and start to learn from them - she'll always be headstrong but not to the point of incompetence the way she is in the first few episodes)
• Have some reservations about immediately diving into this right after FMAB but I could be persuaded. -MP
• Ore Monogatari (24)
  • An unconventional romance, with lots of storytelling to do along the way, and some comedy moments. Though the subject matter is completely different, the viewing experience feels a bit like Shirayuki-hime - there is a continuity, but it's very episodic. --maxb
• Gundam Unicorn (7) (really awkward to fit in a schedule, but I've heard so much good about it)
• Chihayafuru S2
  • How many of us have seen S1? I support Chihayafuru as a great show, but feel that people watching S2 without having seen S1 would be missing out on a lot. --maxb
  • I have not seen Chihayafuru and am unlikely to watch it in my own time. --YYY
• Hellsing Ultimate
  • Almost-veto from Mark, and awkward to fit into a schedule. (10 x double-length episodes)
• March Comes In Like a Lion
  • It is both good and somewhat unusual in tone. Would happily re-watch. --maxb

Proposals which have not been fully evaluated

• Barakamon (12)
  • Original suggestion was from YYY, I believe
    • Slice of life/comedy/drama about Tokyo calligrapher sent to live in remote Japanese island. --YYYY
• Seems promising, based on reading a review. --maxb
• White Album 2
  • The "2" refers to it being the second anime in that setting, but the storyline is entirely independent. The extent of the overlap is that the protagonists like the same pieces of music.
  • Caution: Mild spoilers exist in some episode titles.
  • A difficult show to comment on without spoilers. I watched it after having its soundtrack turn up on Google Play Music, and then seeing it turn up in an "if you liked 'Your Lie in April' you might like". In retrospect I should have thought a little more about why it was there. Let's just say the ending isn't all sunshine and happiness and leave it at that. I really liked some parts, and the bits I didn't like I still found sufficiently compelling that I stayed up way too late watching the second half of the series all the way through to the end. Whilst I'm not happy with the chosen direction of the plot, I admire the narrative craft. In the words of http://kotaku.com/white-album-2-is-one-of-last-season-s-hidden-gems-1541072591 (which, if you read, you really need to obey the instructions to skip sections containing spoilers): "If you need a serious romantic drama in your life, there are few better emotional rollercoasters in recent anime than White Album 2. Just don’t expect to come out of it feeling happy and fulfilled." --maxb
• Sabagebu!
  • Comedy about high school survival game club. -YYY
  • Watched episode 1. Feeling mostly neutral about it: it was kind of amusing at times, but sometimes felt like just a bunch of gags pasted together into makeshift plot. --maxb
  • Started episode 1, it didn't really hold my attention --lmm
• Non Non Biyori
  • I enjoyed the first episode up to a point, but don't really feel the need to see more - it was somewhat amusing but ideally we'd find better things for the schedule --lmm
    • Oh, it's not your suggestion originally (as the wiki history would imply) ? --maxb
      • I suggested when we were brainstorming at dinner, on the grounds that CUAMS had watched it.
• Very much iyashikei but has some comedic moments. I loved it but I don't think it's everyone's cuppa. --YYY
  • I watched episodes 1-4, they were pleasant. --maxb
  • I don't think Non Non Biyori should go in the comedy slot because half of the audience will be bored to tears. - YYY
  • I feel that after two seasons of Rabbit, we're due a change of pace from "girls do everyday stuff in their picturesque town", but that Non Non Biyori could still be a good slot 5 in the future. --maxb
• クロムクロ (Kuromukuro - "Black Relic")
  • 26 episodes, Spring & Summer 2016
  • An alien(?) force has come to Earth with giant robots. There are fun and interesting characters, and a dash of mystery in the unfolding of the invaders' motivations. I found it sufficiently compelling to catch up 10 episodes in a few days :-) --maxb
  • Also watching it - done 7 episodes in 2 days. Somehow it does seem very more-ish -- AIM
  • And so it has come to an end. Other than a slight wobble around the start of the second season, which it recovered from, it remained very entertaining the whole way through. For me, it was best show of the season, in both Spring and Summer. And I'd be very pleased to watch it again. --maxb
  • Good show. Nothing super unique but consistently executed. - MP
• Lovely Complex
  • I believe I may just possibly have found a comedy that is actually good. It's a rom-com centering around an unusually tall girl and short boy, who have height complexes. It's old (2007), so the picture quality is a bit less than we're typically used to in these full HD days, which may be a surprise at first, but isn't really a problem. Fast-paced and very entertaining. (Recommendation based on 6 out of 24 episodes) --maxb
  • Note: you want the KissSubs edition - though there are better encodes out there, the subs are worse (and unfortunately the good subs are hardsubs).
  • The animation quality is very bad. Comedy was passable - I laughed a bit - but not great. I would put this below Non Non Biyori. --lmm
• Kaiba - older but it seems most of us haven't seen it, and I could stand to watch it again --lmm
  • Watching that scene once in company was enough. It's a good show but I'm not super enthused. - MP
• Occultic;Nine
  • High paced mystery show about an ensemble cast and supernatural bullshit. Writing is pretty sharp overall but attention is required so should go in an early slot if at all. I'm enjoying it a fair amount but as with all mystery shows it could all fall apart in the end. -MP
  • It ranked dead last on http://wrongeverytime.com/2016/10/12/fall-2016-virtually-every-first-episode-retrospective/ - has it redeemed itself in later episodes, or was that review unjust? --maxb
    • I'm unsure whether to dignify two lines of meaningless snark with the term review, but it is certainly unjust. -MP
• Lostorage incited WIXOSS
  • The third season of Madoka the Gathering but with a new setting and cast. Essentially a dark melodrama about a card game eating your soul or something. The first two seasons were fairly mediocre (Mari Okada is a hack- except for 00 obviously) but the third season has a new writer and is a far more polished and compelling story. I'm aware this is a stretch but if I did push for it I'd suggest we jump straight into the third season- my friend did so happily and no prior knowledge is really required so far. -MP
  • Currently watching it - somehow doesn't feel as high-octane as it should be -- AIM
  • Watched. Super slow to get started, as a result the end feels a bit rushed. Not bad, but also not quite making it to schedule-level IMO. --maxb
• New Game! (ニューゲーム Nyū Gēmu)
  • Cute girls designing cute vidya characters. -YYY
  • Seen, liked, would watch again. --maxb
• Poco's Udon World (うどんの国の金色毛鞠 Udon no Kuni no Kiniro Kemari)
  • Another propaganda anime for raising birth rates in Japan. Guy from Tokyo goes back to hometown, finds and takes care of a young boy who is actually a tanuki. Hijinks ensue. Also, first anime I've seen with a Maserati in it. -YYY
• Mirai Nikki
  • Apparently, not enough people in this group have seen it. - AIM
• Konosuba
  • Japanese gamer guy dies, and is allowed to re-incarnate in another world to become an adventurer (to kill an demon king, or something). A happy comedy show with probably the most dysfunctional party possible.
  • Second season now airing.
  • Watching, it's kind of fun. Felt like they were really running out of content at the end of S1 though, even though it was only 10 episodes. --maxb
• Interviews with Monster Girls 亜人ちゃんは語りたい
  • Currently airing, comedy/slice-of-life based on there being rare "demi-humans" in society - vampire, dullahan, succubus, yuki onna - and one of each have ended up at the same school this year. Oh, and the biology teacher is a bit of a geek about this and has always wanted to write a paper on them if he could ever meet some. I'm finding it really fun, enough so that it's got me rewatching episodes already. Vampire-chan is awesome. --maxb
• Shouwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu 昭和元禄落語心中
  • I had it on the list before, this was a show that spent 11½ episodes in an extended flashback. I took it off the list because I didn't feel I could push half a story, but now the second season is airing, which is more like the actual second half of the show. Now that it looks like the story is actually going to get completed, I think it's very much a viable option. Consider this to be a historical drama centered on the art form of live storytelling, and the tribulations life throws at the characters as they try to learn and ply their art. For me this show stands out as being a genre I don't usually watch, yet I found very absorbing and something I was/am looking forward to each week. --maxb
• Interviews with Monster Girls 亜人ちゃんは語りたい
  • Currently airing, comedy/slice-of-life based on there being rare "demi-humans" in society - vampire, dullahan, succubus, yuki onna - and one of each have ended up at the same school this year. Oh, and the biology teacher is a bit of a geek about this and has always wanted to write a paper on them if he could ever meet some. I'm finding it really fun, enough so that it's got me rewatching episodes already. Vampire-chan is awesome. --maxb
• Shouwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu 昭和元禄落語心中
  • I had it on the list before, this was a show that spent 11½ episodes in an extended flashback. I took it off the list because I didn't feel I could push half a story, but now the second season is airing, which is more like the actual second half of the show. Now that it looks like the story is actually going to get completed, I think it's very much a viable option. Consider this to be a historical drama centered on the art form of live storytelling, and the tribulations life throws at the characters as they try to learn and ply their art. For me this show stands out as being a genre I don't usually watch, yet I found very absorbing and something I was/am looking forward to each week. --maxb

Special candidates

• Blood Blockade Battlefront last episode
• Gunbuster
• Girls und Panzer OVA
• Girls und Panzer the film
  • Absolutely brilliant 5/5. Also the OVA is a prerequisite. BD specials for the main series are also worth a watch. --YYY
  • I'd like to see it, though at 120m == 5 slots, it's practically a meeting all to itself. --maxb
• Garakowa: Restore the World - a 1h film from Winter 2016, pretty, good music, and interesting enough, though did leave me questioning why they handled the pacing the way they did. --maxb
• Initial D Legend (a reboot/retelling of the start of the story with better animation - first one watched already)
• Gundam Thunderbolt (OVA, 4x20m)
• TO 2 (Symbiotic Planet) since we watched the first? --lmm

Potentially interesting links

• A crazy roundup of nearly every first episode: http://wrongeverytime.com/2016/10/12/fall-2016-virtually-every-first-episode-retrospective/
  • Last season has one of them too: http://wrongeverytime.com/2016/07/13/summer-2016-virtually-every-first-episode-retrospective/
• Blog that talks about things including Hibike! Euphonium and Saki: http://randomwalloftext.com/ - notable for having more posts about Hibike! than there are episodes, and they haven't even finished talking about season 1 yet.

Christmas 2016 / New Year 2017

• The Wind Rises
• Initial D Legend 1
• Gundam Thunderbolt - December Sky
• TO 1 (Elliptical Orbit)

Autumn 2016 Schedule

• Thunderbolt Fantasy
• Macross Δ
• Re: Zero
• FMA: Brotherhood
• Is the Order a Rabbit??
• Sound! Euphonium 2

Summer 2016 Schedule

• Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress - 甲鉄城のカバネリ
• Macross Δ
• Re: Zero
• Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood
• Is the Order A Rabbit? - ご注文はうさぎですか?
• Snow White with the Red Hair - 赤髪の白雪姫

Spring 2016 Schedule

• Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood
• The Perfect Insider (Everything Becomes F) - すべてがFになる
• Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans
• Erased (Boku Dake ga Inai Machi)
• Shimoneta
• Snow White with the Red Hair (Akagami no Shirayukihime) - 赤髪の白雪姫

Precure Easter Special

• Precure All Stars New Stage: Mirai no Tomodachi
• Precure All Stars New Stage 2: Kokoro no Tomodachi
• Precure All Stars New Stage 3: Eien no Tomodachi (technically shown in a regular meeting)

Winter 2016 Schedule

• Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood
• Planetes
• Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans
• Fate/Zero
• Girls und Panzer
• Haibane Renmei

New Year 2016 Special

• Shirobako Special: 3rd Girls Fighter Wing
• Short Peace

Advent 2015 Special

• Shirobako Special: Exodus
• Royal Space Force: The Wings of Honneamise

Halloween 2015 Specials

• Expelled from Paradise 楽園追放
• Little Witch Academia 2
• Psycho-Pass Movie

Summer 2015 Schedule

• Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood
• Planetes
• Fate/Zero
• Gakkou Gurashi
• Shirobako
• Hibike Euphonium

Emergency Holographic Spring 2015 Meeting

• Puella Magi Madoka☆Magica (fancut) (Rebellion movie technically shown in a regular meeting)
• Battle Programmer Shirase (partial)

Spring 2015 Schedule

• Blood Blockade Battlefront
• Knights of Sidonia
• Unlimited Blade Works
• Fireball
• Shirobako
• Kyousougiga
• Your Lie in April

Winter 2015 Schedule

• Rolling☆Girls
• Unlimited Blade Works
• Parasyte
• Yatterman of the Night
• Archer
• Your Lie in April

New Year 2015 Bonus Meeting

• Macross Frontier: The False Diva
• Macross Frontier: The Wings of Goodbye

Autumn 2014 Schedule

• Shingeki no Bahamut
• Psycho-Pass S2
• Parasyte
• Nobunaga Concerto
• Mushishi
• Amagami Brilliant Park

Start of Autumn 2014 Bonus Meeting

• Time of Eve
• Redline

Summer 2014 Schedule

• Akuma no Riddle
• Knights of Sidonia
• Katanagatari (double length)
• Mushishi
• ToraDora

End of Winter 2014 Specials

• The Garden of Words
• 5 Centimeters per Second

Winter 2014 Schedule

• Noragami
• Space Battleship Yamato 2199
• Samurai Flamenco
• Macross Zero (replacing Samurai Flamenco)
• Archer (last 2 episodes, displacing Mekakucity Actors)
• Mekakucity Actors
• Allison to Lillia
• Toradora
• (Also unofficial Magic Knight Rayearth from time to time)

Autumn 2014 Schedule

• Little Witch Academia (first meeting, displacing Archer)
• Ga-Rei Zero
• Space Battleship Yamato 2199
• Samurai Flamenco
• Archer
• Allison and Lillia
• Twin Angel (filling gap in Archer)
• Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai! (S1 + OVA)
• (Also unofficial Magic Knight Rayearth from time to time)

New Year's 2014 Bonus Meeting

• Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha The Movie 2nd A`s
• Macross Plus

Summer 2013 Schedule

• Gatchaman Crowds
• Attack on Titan
• The Sunday Without God
• Fate/Kaleid Liner Prisma☆Ilya
• Senki Zesshou Symphogear G: In the Distance, That Day, When the Star Became Music...
• Simoun
• (Also unofficial Kiddy Grade from time to time)

Spring 2013 Schedule

• Psycho-Pass
• Attack on Titan
• Zetsuen no Tempest
• Demon King at Work
• Archer
• Simoun
• (Also unofficial Martian Successor Nadesico from time to time)

Moving House 2013 Bonus Meeting

• Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha The Movie 1st
• Voices of a Distant Star

Winter 2013 Schedule

• Psycho-Pass
• Shinsekai Yori
• Zetsuen no Tempest
• AKB0048
• Archer
• Princess Jellyfish
• (Also unofficial Aquarion EVOL from time to time)

Christmas 2012 Bonus Meeting

• Strike Witches the Movie
• Pale Cocoon

Autumn 2012 Schedule

• Muv-Luv Alternative: Total Eclipse
• Shinsekai Yori
• Secret of Cerulean Sand
• Archer
• Accel World
• Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun
• DVD-only episodes of Kokoro Connect
• (Also unofficial Grenadier from time to time)

Summer 2012 Schedule

• Muv-Luv Alternative: Total Eclipse
• Secret of Cerulean Sand
• Archer
• Accel World
• Space Bros (dropped after episode ~12, displacing Tari Tari)
• Tari Tari
• Kokoro Connect
• (Also unofficial Seirei no Morbito from time to time)

Spring 2012 Schedule

• Jormungand
• Dantalian no Shoka
• AKB0048
• Natsuiro Kiseki
• Space Bros
• Wandering Son
• (Also unofficial Seirei no Morbito from time to time)

Winter 2012 Schedule (disrupted by Japan trip and change of attendees)

• Moretsu Pirates (dropped after epsiode ~14)
• Fate/Zero (dropped after episode ~20)
• Fireball (short)
• Senki Zesshou Symphogear: Meteoroid-falling, Burning, and Disappear, Then...
• Last Exile ~Fam, the Silver Wing~
• Chihayafuru
• Princess Tutu
• Honey & Clover
• (Also unofficial Seirei no Morbito from time to time)

Autumn 2011 Schedule

• Fate/Zero
• Horizon in the Middle of Nowhere
• Last Exile ~Fam, the Silver Wing~
• Chihayafuru
• Princess Tutu
• Honey & Clover

"Squash" 2011

• Read or Die OVA (in accordance with tradition)
• First episode of Fate/Zero