Thread:ChishioKunrin/@comment-25936766-20170609224132

Rokudenashi Majutsu Koushi no Akashic Records (Akashic Records of a Bastard Magical Instructor)

''"Once Upon a Time", there was a boy called Glenn Radars, who just wanted to be a hero like the mages he grew up reading in his storybooks. In the present, he is anything but. Glenn is a tardy, lazy, and seemingly incompetent bastard; yet, he was forced to become an instructor at the prestigious Alzano Imperial Magic Academy despite his personality and mediocre specs, and by the Academy's best teacher.''

''As expected, he gives a terrible impression, starting by being very late to his first lesson and going up from there. But as always, there's more to him than meets the eye.''

Like I told you before, while it's a very generic Shonen, it's genuinely funny, so despite being nothing new or mind-blowing in the creativity department, it's still entertaining and enjoyable.

Seisaikuru Kado (Kado: The Right Answer)

''One normal day, a giant cube appears out of nowhere in the Haneda airport in Japan, consuming everything in the space it appears, including an airplane with 253 people in it. Among those people was Shindou Kojiro, negotiator for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and considered the best.''

''Instead of being crushed or anything, the passengers find themselves and the airplane perfectly fine. Going out to make a sense of where they are, Shindou meets a mysterious being who introduces himself as Yaha-kui zaShunina, and calls the cube they are inside in "KADO".''

''Yaha-kui himself is a being coming from what he calls the "anisotropic", and for unknown reasons, wants to help humanity by basically uplifting them. Humanity cannot really comprehend neither Yaha-kui nor KADO, though the former wants to speak to and help humanity anyway, and for that he needs a negotiator: Shindou.''

This show is heavy on politics and terminology, but more importantly it makes one think what would happen if an "Nth-Dimensional" being suddenly tried to make us advance practically lightyears, and whether this would really be a good thing.

More on the animation side, it has a weird tendency to shift between 3D and 2D animation, sometimes without any real reason or need. Though the 3D animation involving KADO and anything Anisotropic is pretty good, especially by Japan's standards.

Alice & Zouroku

''There are people, called "Dreams of Alice", with "Card" powers of many kinds, like summoning big arms or varying things related to "Drawing", and so on. These people, mostly kids, are researched by an ominous group. Among them, is Sana, "Red Queen", who basically beats them all since her Card power is pretty much Reality Warping, including manipulation of space beyond what is logically possible.''

''After spending her whole life in a research facility, seeing the kind of experiments run there, and wanting to see the outside world, Sana ran away one night, with some help, and ends up in Shinjuku, where she meets a cynical old man called Zouroku Kashimura, and takes a liking to him. While at first the feeling isn't mutual, but soon Zouroku and his granddaughter Sanae quickly bond with Sana, and the 3 pretty much become a family.''

I went into it expecting a comedy full-and-through. In reality, while it's still pretty funny, it's more Heartwarming. The first few episodes have a good amount of drama and action, but afterwards it's mostly about Sana adapting to normal life.

Zero kara Hajimeru Mahou no Sho (Grimoire of Zero)

A fantasy world where humans and witches have been at war for years, and the hate towards Witches is so strong that practically everything bad is pointed at them inmediately, and Witch Burnings are so commonplace they border on bread and circuses.

''A Beastfallen (humans infused with the spirit of an animal by a Witch) Mercenary, having faced discrimination and hate almost all his life, wishes to become human. One night, he meets a young Witch girl, called Zero, and makes an agreement with her: She will fulfill his wish and make him human, after he helps her find the "Grimoire of Zero" that was stolen from her.''

The story is not "amazing" for me, though I honestly think that if you replaced Witches with Faunus, it would portray the idea of "discrimination" far better than this show does, and it's a central, noticeable topic to the whole story. It's worth a watch, even if not a prize.

(Note: Nothing to do with Re:Zero)

Busou Shoujo Machiavellanism (Armed Girl's Machiavellanism)

''The Private Aiichi Symbiosis Academy was originally a high school for high-class girls. When it became co-ed, the girls, out of fear, asked to be permitted to bring weapons to school. When that was enforced, a five-member vigilante corps-like organization called the "Tenka Goken" (Supreme Five Swords) was also formed. While most girls carry batons, the Five Swords are the only ones allowed to carry real weapons.''

After many generations, the Five Swords eventually became a group which corrected problematic students, especially male ones, and the academy started proactively accepting such students in order to correct them.

''One such student is Fudo Nomura, sent there after participating in a huge brawl where he took down 40+ students. Though quickly after arriving, he finds out that male students are "corrected" mostly by being practically pushed into being as girly as possible (complete with make-up).''

''There, he has options: Be corrected like the other guys, or defeat the Five Swords and gain their stamps on a pass, which will allow him to basically go and leave as he pleases. He quickly takes the latter option.''

Now, the anime is based on a manga, and the author actually practiced and studied multiple martial arts. The show, as such, while still falling into the "unrealistic-but-awesome"ness of Shonen animes here and there, for the greater most part averts that, going for more realistic fights with more realistic, down-to-earth portrayals of styles, weapon techniques, and moves.

It's no Anime of the Year, the visuals are mediocre, the plot is not the best, and the animation is not the best either for the most part. The voice acting can hurt too. But, the author averts or subverts different Shonen tropes if not playing with them, and when combined with the more down-to-earth fights, gives it a more interesting style IMO.

Fukumenkei Noise (Anonymous Noise)

''Every day, a young girl wearing a mask stands by the beach and sings a nostalgic melody. After experiencing two sudden heart-wrenching partings when she was only a child, Nino Arisugawa has been singing her songs to the ocean, bound by a promise made with her two childhood friends — her first love, Momo Sakaki, and a boy who composed music, Kanade "Yuzu" Yuzuhira. Having never met each other, the boys both individually promised that if Nino was ever separated from them, her voice would be the beacon to reunite them once again.''

''Now in High School, Nino meets Yuzu again. At the same time, Momo is also attending the same school, though he avoids Nino. All the years that have passed since their departure from her life have changed them, and as Nino's old feelings resurface, a complicated, musical love triangle appears.''

....That's about it for the premise, trying my best to avoid surprises and spoilers. Now, as you should expect, it's music-focused, and said music is pretty good. I personally read the manga months before I found out it was getting an anime, so I skipped eps 1 and 2 since they were esentially the prologue.

I have no real idea if it's Shonen or Shoujo. The designs feels Shoujo-like, and it's got the ocasional melodrama, though regardless, I find the characters interesting, especially their feelings towards each other and how the story follows said feelings.

Re:CREATORS

Souta Mizushino is a high-school student who aspires to be a creator, by writing and ilustrating his own work, such as a light novel or an anime, though he has kind of a creative block.

One day, while watching an episode of the anime Symphony of Vogelchevalier, he finds himself transported into the anime, right in the middle of a fight between the protagonist Celestia Yupitilia riding her mecha Vogelchevalier and a mysterious woman dressed in a black military uniform commanding myriads of swords.

''Sota shortly returns to the real world, and quickly notices that Celestia somehow returned with him. After another skirmish with the "Military Uniform Princess", they find out more and more anime characters are appearing in the real world, from a fierce knight and a magical girl to a kid with a mecha and a girl who can warp reality with lies. Blurring the line between reality and fiction, they try to find out who's causing this, and what could happen if it continues.''

This one, is what I call THE best anime of this Season in a general sense, which should be expected given it has people like Rei Hiroe (Black Lagoon) and Ei Aoki (Fate/Zero, Aldnoah.Zero) behind it. Great music and visuals, good comedy, fantastic action, yet it's not mindless action, but rather leaning more towards a deconstruction of how different anime archetypes would act, if they suddenly appeared in the real world, complete with their powers.

The first 2-6 episodes are mostly exposition, which can be a chore, but the anime still feels amazing nonetheless, and while the characters are cliché at first, they gradually move out of it as they develop outside what their creators originally intended.

Shuumatsu Nani Shitemasuka Isogashii Desuka Sukutte Moratte Ii Desuka / Suka Suka

(What do you do at the end of the world? Are you busy? Will you save us? / World's End)

Five hundred years have passed since the humans went extinct at the hands of the fearsome and mysterious 'Beasts.' The surviving races now make their homes up on floating islands in the sky, out of reach of all but the most mobile of Beasts.

''Only a small group of young girls, the Leprechauns, can wield the ancient weapons needed to fend off invasions from these creatures. Into the girls' unstable and fleeting lives, where a call to certain death could come at any moment, enters an unlikely character: a young man who lost everything in his final battle five hundred years ago, the last living human awakened from a long, icy slumber.''

''Unable to fight any longer, Willem becomes the father that the girls never had, caring for and nurturing them even as he struggles to come to terms with his new life, in which he feels the pain of helplessly waiting for his loved ones to return home from battle that his 'Daughter' once felt for him so long ago. Together, Willem and the girls gradually come to understand what family means and what is truly worth protecting.''

An adaptation of what is usually called "one of the most tragic light novels ever", this is what I, by now, call THE best anime when it comes to the story. The visuals may not be as amazing as Re:CREATORS's, same with the music and action, but...the world feels interesting and creative even by modern standards, for me.

It's not action-packed, unlike what one would normally expect. It focuses more on Willem's relationship with the girls as they bond, and so far it does do a good job of living up to the novel's reputation. It's not "OMG she dead, so sad :C", thankfully enough, and it has a good number of things that just by themselves can easily bring tears. Willem's backstory alone can make you feel sad for him. 