Autumn 2016 Anime: Thoughts So Far

It’s around the halfway point of 2016’s fourth and final anime season, so that means I’ll be sharing my thoughts on what I’ve been watching. I have been covering Magical Girl Raising Project, ViVid Strike!, FLIP FLAPPERS and Maho Girls PreCure! on here, but I will share a few words about each of them as well.
Well then, let’s see how this season of anime has been treating me so far.

Izetta: The Last Witch

Finé and Izetta aren’t exactly experts when it comes to disguises.

The scenes in which Izetta gets to show off her magic have been great – it’s a lot of fun watching the girl throw around tanks as if they were nothing. There’s some slice-of-life type stuff – as demonstrated in the image above – but that lends itself to some sillier moments. I’ve enjoyed what I’ve seen so far.

Magical Girl Raising Project

A cowgirl and a robot… the diverse range of character designs in Magical Girl Raising Project is great.

This took a few episodes to get started – it was when Swim Swim acted on advice she received in a dream where things really started to get interesting. Things then went on to become more violent, and poor Snow White has been subjected to some traumatic scenes.
Magical Girl Raising Project is up there as one of my favourites for this season – particularly now that things have started getting bloodier.

ViVid Strike!

Miura Rinaldi fights Rinne Berlinetta in the Winter Cup.

The Winter Cup tournament has started here, and I can only feel sorry for poor Miura after her match against Rinne. Before this point, we were shown Rinne’s past. It wasn’t a happy one, but watching Rinne get her own back against those who bullied her was cathartic and shocking at the same time. Unfortunately, that only caused more trouble for her, but it did also mean she got to meet Jill and start training in martial arts. Shame it caused such a change in her personality, though…
This show has a great soundtrack, and the battles between important characters have been fun to watch. Here’s hoping someone can give Rinne the beatdown she so thoroughly deserves.

Dragon Ball Super

Father and son Galick Gun

We’re rapidly approaching the climax of the Future Trunks arc, and it looks like it will be quite an event. However, I’m not here to look at upcoming episodes, but what I’ve watched so far.
There’s been some decent fight scenes in this arc, with both Zamasu and Black proving to be fearsome opponents. In fact, the past few episodes have been dedicated to the final battle: Goku, Vegeta & Future Trunks vs. Zamasu & Black. It might be more accurate to call it a build-up to the next episode, though…

One Piece

Sanji and Brook arrived on Zou ahead of Luffy.

The Straw Hats are on Zou, and we’re currently in the middle of a series of flashbacks showing us why they are currently missing a crew member. It hasn’t been too bad, but having read the manga and knowing what’s coming next, I’m eager to see Luffy and his companions make the trip to the next island. There’s certainly some interesting events coming up.

Show By Rock!!#

Cyan Hijirikawa

Sound Planet is under threat, but there’s plenty of time for festivals and visiting other planets. Maybe Cyan should’ve focused on writing a song instead of having fun…
Actually, it’s great seeing Plasmagica back together again and Show By Rock!! doesn’t have to be serious every episode. So we do get some sillier stuff (a visit to Moa’s home and the water festival being the stand out examples), but the threat of the new enemies is always there. It was the same in the first season – the first half was more general day-to-day stuff, and it was the second half where the plot actually kicked in. It appears the same will happen for this second season, too – and remember, the ‘#’ in the title distinguishes this as the second season.

Maho Girls PreCure!

Here’s Mirai, Riko, Kotoha and Mofurun after a busy day.

At this point, the Cures are working towards completing a magic circle for some reason, by having the Linkle Stone spirits recognise the qualities that earned them the Linkle Stones in the first place – or something like that. Considering how close we are to the end, I don’t see there being many more monsters of the week – rather, it seems likely that the enemy generals will fight the Cures themselves, before the inevitable final confrontation.
I’ve really liked what I’ve seen from this iteration of PreCure – the two different worlds, the different Styles and most importantly the relationships between the main characters. Once it ends, I will be adding it to my PreCure ranking – I think I’ve got a pretty good idea of where to place it, but the last few episodes could change my mind.

Scorching Ping Pong Girls

Hokuto isn’t in this picture because it’s from her point of view.

This one’s been a lot of fun. Agari started out a little too full of herself, but Koyori’s passion for table tennis helped shape her into a better person, thankfully. Koyori’s love of table tennis is great, and it’s easy to see why that passion is infectious for the other table tennis club members. Kiruka, the captain, is probably my favourite of the characters – the reason for this involves cat ears. I very much look forward to see her playing a full game of table tennis. Oh, and this is another show where the soundtrack is actually quite good.

Matoi the Sacred Slayer

…or maybe that should be Yuma-chin the Sacred Slayer.

I wasn’t too keen on Matoi the Sacred Slayer at the start, but it has won me around. I’m liking the Shinto twist they’ve given the magical girls here. Matoi, Yuma and Clarus are all characters I like, though I’d probably have to say that Yuma is my favourite due to her enthusiasm for being an exorcist girl. This doesn’t really stand out amongst the crowd, but it is proving to be fairly enjoyable nonetheless.

Mahou Shoujo Nante Mouiidesukara Second Season

For someone who’s not a fan of her outfit, Yuzuka seems to really be getting into the transformation sequence…

Cute magical girls doing cute things, with a dose of mascot abuse for good measure. There’s really not too much else to say here. It’s no worse than the first season, and maybe even a tiny bet better.

Nazotokine

Here’s Tokine after solving a puzzle

I picked this up solely to see what the puzzles were like, but it turns out I’m not too keen on it. As far as I’m concerned, this is just something to kill time whilst I wait for new episodes of Girlish Number, Sound! Euphonium 2 and Brave Witches on Wednesdays. I guess I will watch it to the end – perhaps it will stop being so formulaic. Not getting my hopes up, though.

Girlish number

Chitose Karasuma

I’ve enjoyed watching Chitose, particularly due to her personality. Her attitude has led her to have some realisations about herself, and that’s been tackled in this series which I thought was well done. There’s definitely some cynicism here, but it just goes to show that the anime industry isn’t as glamorous as Chitose believed it would be when she landed a lead role. Girlish number has been quite an interesting series so far.

Sound! Euphonium 2

Kumiko is less than impressed with Asuka

The performance in episode 5 might just be one of the best moments of this season of anime. With that out of the way, it sure feels like Kumiko is getting involved in everyone’s business – I’m sure we could still see all that drama unfold without her being present.
Though saying that, the resolution to conflicts that have arose have been some pretty good moments. We’ve also been treated to some KumiRei moments, but I don’t really expect much to come of them in the long run.
Still, this one’s been a pretty good watch so far.

Brave Witches

Georgette Lemare might just be my favourite of the Brave Witches.

Hikari Karibuchi is a very different person from Strike Witches‘ Yoshika Miyafuji – Yoshika had huge magical potential, whereas the only thing Hikari has going for her is her stamina. As such, Hikari has to put in far more work to keep up with the other Witches.
When it comes down to it though, it does just feel like more Strike Witches – though I suppose the characters are different enough to keep Brave Witches interesting.
Oddly enough, there’s less fanservice – the girls still don’t wear trousers, but we don’t really get much focus on that. There’s still plenty of characters who are yet to have a turn in the spotlight, so there’s still plenty of opportunity for Brave Witches to shine brighter.

MAGIC OF STELLA

Tama and Yumine at an exhibition sale

Arguably the cutest show I’m watching this season. Watching the shy Tama come out of her shell with encouragement from the other SNS Club members has been fun, and in their general interactions with each other has provided plenty of humorous moments. A fun and cute show.

FLIP FLAPPERS

Papika and Cocona made cookies.

I’ve loved every minute of FLIP FLAPPERS so far – Papika and Cocona are magical girls, but this series has dabbled in a few different genres. I never know what to expect next with this, and that’s part of why it appeals so much to me. Like I’ve already said, I’m covering this weekly, so check out those posts for my thoughts on each individual episode.

Regalia: The Three Sacred Stars

I quite like the designs of the mechs.

Regalia: The Three Sacred Stars is actually close to finishing, since it restarted airing in September after a delay due to the quality of the production – or something along those lines. Anyways, I’ve really liked the mecha battles we’ve seen, and I also enjoy the interactions between the main characters. It is an odd combination of the mecha and cute girls doing cute things genres, but I think it has managed to work quite well.

Keijo!!!!!!!!

Kazane, Non, Sayaka and Nozomi enjoy some free time.

Keijo!!!!!!!! – that’s eight exclamation marks, by the way – is ridiculous. That’s what I’m enjoying about it though. The sport of Keijo is a ridiculous idea, yet the characters are all deadly serious about it. The Keijo matches are fun to watch, and some of the techniques the girls use are plain silly. This is definitely a sports anime I can get behind.

Drifters

Shimazu Toyohisa

This has a similar tone to that of Hellsing– considering both works are by Kouta Hirano, that doesn’t come as much of a surprise. Historical figures are sent into a fantasy world, where they end up liberating oppressed Elves and fighting against ‘Ends’. They’re holding nothing back with the violence in this one, though we do also get some less serious moments, complete with art shift. I feel like anyone who enjoyed Hellsing Ultimate will probably like this as well.

JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Diamond is Unbreakable

Josuke confronts Terunosuke

This had a Stand user of the week type formula going for it, but the most recent episodes have had a few Stand users appear all at the same time. It definitely lives up to the ‘bizarre’ part of the title, as there are certainly some strange Stand abilities on show here. I’m also enjoying how some of the conflicts we see lead to the creation of various landmarks in Morioh.
Yoshikage Kira is a great antagonist, and arguably some of the best episodes involve him getting the focus in some way. If only Josuke and the others would let him lead a quiet life…

Lostorage incited WIXOSS

Chinatsu has endured a lot, but it really doesn’t give her a good excuse for the way she’s acting.

There’s been a fair amount of suffering in this one, and that has caused Chinatsu to decide to try and sever her bonds. I don’t think that will prove to be a wise choice when it comes down to it though…
Suzuko having no resolve to fight was getting pretty old rather quick, but it seems as of episode 6 that will thankfully change. I do hope she is able to restore the relationship she had with Chinatsu when they were younger, but this is WIXOSS, so things aren’t going to go that easily.
I also feel that there’s no risk to the coin bets – no matter the outcome of the match, the Selectors will always have one more or one less coin regardless of whether they bet one of their own or not.
This hasn’t been too bad so far, and hopefully things will start improving now that Suzuko has gained a little resolve.

Long Riders!

It’s a shame this one has been subject to a couple of delays.

Long Riders! has been fun so far – when we actually get episodes. I like the cast of characters, and their shared passion for cycling gives us some fun moments. It does feel like standard girls’ club fare, though, so it doesn’t exactly stand out. Regardless, I’ve enjoyed what I’ve seen so far.

It’s been quite an interesting season so far. I look forward to seeing what the second half brings us, and I’m certain it’s going to be quite a ride based on what I’ve seen so far.

Feel free to share your opinions on the shows you’ve been watching this season.