Animu

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Being a place for the planning of communal anime viewing.


Summer 2019 Planning

  • Granbelm
  • Kanata no Astra
  • Lord El-Melloi II's Case Files
  • Legend of the Galactic Heroes: Die Neue These
  • Machikado Mazoku
  • O Maidens in Your Savage Season

End of Summer

Dates NOT confirmed - just an illustration to show roughly when we might be starting a new season:

Hiatus Jan 8 Jan 15 Jan 22 Jan 29
Granbelm 9 10 11 12
Kanata no Astra 10 11 12 (double-length) (time used for double-bill below)
El-Melloi 8 9 10 11
Galactic Heroes 9 10 (skip to make time for Astra 12) 11+12
Machikado Mazoku 9 10 11
O Maidens 9 10 11

(Galactic Heroes arbitrarily nominated to be the show making room for double-length Astra 12 for the sake of concrete illustration, but equally Machikado Mazoku or O Maidens could fill that role)

Future possibilities

Shows that we considered schedule-worthy

  • 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
    • Have already seen season 1, but would be super enthusiastic for this. - maria
  • Ore Monogatari
    • 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
  • Akanesasu Shoujo
  • Demon Slayer (Kimetsu no Yaiba)
  • Domestic Girlfriend

Proposals which have not been fully evaluated

  • 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 have now finished both seasons. I can see why this could in some ways be considered the archetypal slice of life. Much verdant green landscapes and childhood antics. Very satisfying, in the sense of being the anime equivalent of a lazy weekend afternoon lying in the sun. --maxb
      • Chronology note: the second season actually occurs, in-universe, simultaneously/interleaved with the first season.
  • 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
  • New Game! (ニューゲーム Nyū Gēmu)
    • I have no desire to watch this at this point in time. -YYY
    • Seen, liked, would watch again. --maxb
    • Watched one episode - seems fun, would watch more. - maria
    • Watched at least one episode - willing to watch more - AIM
    • There are now two seasons, but season 1 comfortably stands alone. Season 2 was a fun chance to revisit the characters, but would probably seem a bit same-y if watched consecutively with season 1. --maxb
  • Ninja Girl and Samurai Master https://anilist.co/anime/21666/NobunaganoShinobi
    • A comedy about a ninja girl serving Nobunaga - keeps the jokes flowing at a consistent pace, but not a serious historical show -- AIM
    • Short episodes (50s opening, 2m40s content), but we can double up for each meeting
    • These are *really* short episodes. We could fit 6 of them in a regular slot. But then we'd see the opening repeated 6 times within 24 minutes, which might drive us mad. I have my doubts that this can reasonably fit into our format in any way. --maxb
  • Planet With (action)
    • The giant cat doll creature overshadows everything else in the show with a sense of "what is this and why am I still bothering to watch it?" for me --maxb
  • Sirius the Jaeger (action/fantasy)
  • Fate/cooking (Emiya-san chi kyou no gohan)
    • Semi-short, episodes are ~13 minutes each.
    • Very little happens in this show, but it does so in a soothingly fun way, apt to leave a smile on your face. --maxb
  • Cells at Work (Hataraku Saibou)
  • The Magnificent Kotobuki
  • Run With the Wind 風が強く吹いている (sports) --lmm
    • I watched 1½ episodes, but I found watching 1 guy trying to force his desire to enter a team running race on 9 other guys who aren't interested to be rather awkward. --maxb
  • Hugtto! PreCure (general) --lmm
    • Enormous committment that will likely be pushed aside, but mentioning just in case
    • Definitely the best PreCure that I have watched, outdoing HeartCatch, Suite, Yes! 5, Yes! 5 Go Go (I dropped that one). I'd be on board with watching this again. It wasn't perfect (I think they could have used a bit more budget in the middle of the third cour) but it was fun, endearing, and critically managed to avoid over-using the monster-of-the-week formula for most of its content, which is a pitfall many of the earlier PreCures have fallen into to various extents. Given the format of the show, it could actually work to decide to watch 1 cour and then reassess, if people are hesitant to sign up for the whole 49 episode run. --maxb
    • Probably have to give up on this one, as no-one spoke up in favour beyond us two :-/
  • Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai 青春ブタ野郎はバニーガール先輩の夢を見ない --maxb
    • Because the continuation movie (Rascal Does Not Dream of a Dreaming Girl 青春ブタ野郎はゆめみる少女の夢を見ない) is now out, which continues the story directly, so we could continue straight to it at the end of the season.
      • Said movie doesn't seem to be available yet, it turns out, so might need to hold this one for another time.
  • I wasn't very fond of this, at least as of the first few episodes - felt like it wasn't as clever as it thought it was, and leaned a little too much on sexualisation. Not a veto but I think we can do better. --lmm
  • Fire Force (action) -- AIM
    • I watched episode 1 - no strong opinions either way. Needs an action fan to opine. --maxb
  • Love Death and Robots -- Dexsta
    • Tried first two episodes, rather strongly did not like. --maxb
  • Kono Oto Tomare
    • Sports/Drama about a music club, playing the Koto. Aired as split cours, but in reality is one continuous show. Exceptionally good, especially in how the characters interact with each other, slightly marred by rushed and clumsy pacing around the cour split. --maxb
  • Chihayafuru (season 1, and if liked seasons 2 and 3 too)
    • The basic premise is a "sports" anime set around a Japanese card game Karuta
    • Chihayafuru was previously shown to the anime group back in Autumn 2011 - Winter 2012, but that's before most of the current attendees joined - need to check with Mark and Mark whether they saw it back then and what they think about a rewatch if so.
    • maxb opinion: I haven't actually constructed a personal top 10, but if I did, I think this would be on it. Some of the things that set it ahead of the pack for me are:
      • an excellent cast of characters, who each have their own nuances, and aren't there just because a club needs 5 members
      • taking two cours per season, and actually making use of that time effectively to give us a lot of story, appropriately paced
      • sequel seasons which actually measure up to what went before and contribute to the whole
  • Note to anyone previewing this: It's relatively hard to get a feel for what this series is going to be like from watching a few episodes, as after briefly showing the "present day", it then delves into a flashback to the main characters' younger selves that lasts through to the first few minutes of episode 4. Be prepared to watch more than 3 episodes if you're evaluating it thoroughly, or consider skipping some of the flashback if you're just sampling some fragments of episodes to assess it for the schedule.

Historical Fallbacks

  • Action
    • Mirai Nikki
    • Black Lagoon
    • Hellsing Ultimate
      • Almost-veto from Mark, and awkward to fit into a schedule. (10 x double-length episodes)
  • Comedy
    • Natsu no Arashi
      • Old, and the animation style shows it. maxb and AIM unenthused for that reason.
  • Uncategorized
    • Ping Pong the Animation
      • Animation style is extremely polarizing. Some people would definitely be unhappy.

Special candidates

  • Gundam The Origin (3/6 watched)
  • Gunbuster --lmm
  • 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
  • Gochuumon wa Usagi desu ka?? ~Dear My Sister~ (ご注文はうさぎですか?? ～Dear My Sister～) [~60mins] - More GochiUsa for those who liked the TV series. Feels like a 60min episodes more than a movie. --YYY
  • "Blame! Movie" -- AIM
  • Mary and the Witches Flower

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 will miss 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.
    • Conversely shows that are content to remain within their genre ("if you want x you know where to find it") will ideally be held to a slightly higher standard.
  • 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

History

Animu/History

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