Spring 2016 Anime Impressions: Part 1

I wasn’t planning on doing this until I’ve watched three episodes of each, but since most of them were two part episodes and I felt what each show was going for, I decided to write some early impressions. I picked up some more shows then I originally intended, so this is going to be a good season.

Please keep in my mind that these are my opinions and they are not meant to offend anybody.  Everybody has a right to feel how they want about anything, so don’t attack me if my opinion doesn’t line up with yours.

JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Diamond is not Crash:

Coming into this series, I knew what I was expecting.  I have recently marathoned parts one through three and I loved the insanity of the series.  Since this is part four and is known to be one of the better parts of JoJo.  My high expectations have been met so far.  The insanity of the series is here better than ever, the color palate and design was great, and the animation was even better then all three parts combined.  I was a little wary from the slight change of character designs, but I was able to recognize who people were from other series so no problem at all.  This series is off to a great start and I can’t wait for more.

Ushio and Tora: Season 2:

After watching and loving last season a while ago, I didn’t know what I was expecting when it came to this show.  I was blown completely out of the water by the first two episodes.  The animation was great, the basic amnesia plot was done better than I’ve ever seen it before, and the emotion behind was truly genuine and great.  This is not to mention that the amnesia plot was immediately resolved at all either.  There is still some impact from it after the end of the second episode.  I just love how nothing is easily resolved and everything leaves a mark.  This is peak 90’s shonen in new form and I couldn’t be happier about it.

My Hero Academia:

I was expecting some basic shonen plots from this show, but it executed in the best way possible.  This is a true underdog story and I am a sucker for those.  This is not to mention that the animation is stellar (it’s Studio Bones so no surprise there).  Not just the action scenes, but the character animations and everything else.  This is not to mention that is has a lot of western influence.  The main character’s rival is blond and has two goons following him around.  Harry Potter much?   I guess I don’t have to mention the Western influence of super heroes either, because that that is kind of obvious.  This show hits a lot of nostalgia factors for me put in new ways and I am completely down for that.

This is also a good example of fillers are not bad things, because the first episode apparently covered half a chapter and that would have been way too much content for one episode.  The small bit of filler added to the series was great.

Space Patrol Luluco:

This has Studio Trigger’s finger prints all over it.  All from the questionable animation to the insanely strange and fast paced humor.  I can’t usually stand how bombastic the humor is from them, but seven minutes at a time is easy enough to handle.

Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn RE:0096

Having seen and loved the ova, I didn’t mind watching small parts of this weekly.  I already know that the story and the characters are great, so I am in this to see how they cut the story for television broad cast and what extra scenes they add on.  Yes, I love this OVA so much that I am willing to do this.  Aside from the very questionable placement of the first scene of the entire series, I have no complaints so far.

The Lost Village:

This is my guilty pleasure watch of the season.  Honestly, this show is so bad that I have to watch it.  It’s already a bus wreck (spoilers), but I am waiting for it to be a train wreck.  This show has such questionable character decisions, like introducing all of them immediately in the first part of the first episode, the questionable way that each character interacts with each other, and just how the anime is going in general.   Mari Okada, you just wrote the solid: Gundam Iron Blooded Orphans.  How did this happen?

It reminds me of those cheesy 70’s and 80’s slasher flicks that I used to watch as a teenager, so I am on board with this show for probably the wrong reasons.

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I am in California until Thursday, so I am not sure when the next part of this preview will appear.  Please bear with me as I try to post some updates.