Which anime are you currently watching?

[Elin]

Last three episodes of Kyojin. Welp, that was... that. Probably done with the series now, I think, and I'm not sure I'll look into either the manga or the invariable second season of anime. It's quite good for what it is, but it's not what I thought it was going to be from its first however many episodes, all of which were great, and what it is just isn't that interesting to me personally. Was fun to watch the first series of and get a feel for, though!

Also joined the anime club here for extra Japanese practice. Though some of the people there seem pretty insufferable, so the verdict is out on whether I'll stick it out. :'D Anyway, we're watching Chihayafuru, Tokyo Magnitude 8.0, Nichijou and Psycho-Pass, all of which seem interesting enough~

[Sheras]

Last three episodes of Kyojin. Welp, that was... that. Probably done with the series now, I think, and I'm not sure I'll look into either the manga or the invariable second season of anime. It's quite good for what it is, but it's not what I thought it was going to be from its first however many episodes, all of which were great, and what it is just isn't that interesting to me personally. Was fun to watch the first series of and get a feel for, though!

Also joined the anime club here for extra Japanese practice. Though some of the people there seem pretty insufferable, so the verdict is out on whether I'll stick it out. :'D Anyway, we're watching Chihayafuru, Tokyo Magnitude 8.0, Nichijou and Psycho-Pass, all of which seem interesting enough~

SNK is GREAT. READ THE MANGA ELIN
still ongoing as well

Psycho-Pass is also amazing.

[Spose']

Finished SNK

[mikie]

black lagoon! its bloody stuff reminds me of 90s anime

[Colamisu]

Last three episodes of Kyojin. Welp, that was... that. Probably done with the series now, I think, and I'm not sure I'll look into either the manga or the invariable second season of anime. It's quite good for what it is, but it's not what I thought it was going to be from its first however many episodes, all of which were great, and what it is just isn't that interesting to me personally. Was fun to watch the first series of and get a feel for, though!

Also joined the anime club here for extra Japanese practice. Though some of the people there seem pretty insufferable, so the verdict is out on whether I'll stick it out. :'D Anyway, we're watching Chihayafuru, Tokyo Magnitude 8.0, Nichijou and Psycho-Pass, all of which seem interesting enough~

Chihayafuru is good. So good. Speaking of which, an OVA came out for it last week. If you finish both seasons and it's still not subbed, do me a solid.

Finished off Free!, Shingeki, and Watamote, and watched the OreGairu OVA today. Wasn't particularly impressed with any of them.

Seeing as how the next season of anime is starting soon, I suppose I'll just mention what I'm interested in watching:
Valvrave 2, because 1 had fantastical space vampires.
Magi 2, because 1 had delicious legs.
White Album 2, because you can't just watch half of something! Even if the first season was meh.
Golden Time, because I love rom-coms.
And I'll probably end up watching Arpeggio of Blue Steel, because my friends are hyping it a bit.

[Elin]

Chihayafuru is good. So good. Speaking of which, an OVA came out for it last week. If you finish both seasons and it's still not subbed, do me a solid.

Yeah, it seems cute. Interesting from a cultural perspective too. A writer trying to bring something with a long, long history in Japan to a new generation via the relatively modern medium of manga. It actually popped up as a topic of discussion in our Japanese Performing Arts seminar last week.

And we're only watching one episode a week, so I doubt I'll get there before someone else subs it. :'D If nobody does, though, then maybe~! Though I can't do anything except translate.

I still think EPFansubs should be a thing~

SNK is GREAT. READ THE MANGA ELIN
still ongoing as well

Psycho-Pass is also amazing.

I think it's good. Just not really the sort of thing that's that interesting to me, which is a shame, as it definitely seemed like it was at first.

Psycho-Pass seems neat, yeah. A friend is a big fan, so she was thrilled that I had started watching it. :'D

[Ikusagami]

I'm always happy to see people enjoy Psycho Pass. It's probably the only anime from this year I truly enjoyed, and I keep seeing people label it "pretentious".
It's certainly aimed at the nerdy, with its constant literary homage/parallels and quote dropping, and it spends more time critiquing society than developing its characters, but I'd really like to see MORE shows that dare to provide food for thought. . . lately, all the ones aimed at emotional impact have just fallen short.

And I guess I need to start Shingeki no Kyojin now that it's concluded.

[Elin]

I'm always happy to see people enjoy Psycho Pass. It's probably the only anime from this year I truly enjoyed, and I keep seeing people label it "pretentious".
It's certainly aimed at the nerdy, with its constant literary homage/parallels and quote dropping, and it spends more time critiquing society than developing its characters, but I'd really like to see MORE shows that dare to provide food for thought. . . lately, all the ones aimed at emotional impact have just fallen short.

Really? Six episodes in, and I can't say I'm seeing pretentious. The narrative seems relatively conventional and easy to follow so far, there's lots of glitz, style and cool technology to reel in even those who aren't into the more intellectual aspects of the show, and it's the sort of thing that I could see being appealing on some level to most audiences. I guess maybe it changes as it goes on, but at the moment, while it's certainly got more of a brain than many shows aimed at a similar audience, it feels very accessible and even mainstream to me, and pretentious is pretty much the last word I'd use to describe it.

Really liking it, anyway!

[Gare]

Really? Six episodes in, and I can't say I'm seeing pretentious. The narrative seems relatively conventional and easy to follow so far, there's lots of glitz, style and cool technology to reel in even those who aren't into the more intellectual aspects of the show, and it's the sort of thing that I could see being appealing on some level to most audiences. I guess maybe it changes as it goes on, but at the moment, while it's certainly got more of a brain than many shows aimed at a similar audience, it feels very accessible and even mainstream to me, and pretentious is pretty much the last word I'd use to describe it.

Really liking it, anyway!

He probably meant the later half of the series when the bad guy starts name dropping Foucault and such.

Anyway yeah, Psycho Pass was very good but I felt like a lot more could've been done with it, so even though I liked the ending it still left me a touch disappointed.

[Sheras]

I still think EPFansubs should be a thing~

The entire department would be you

Really? Six episodes in, and I can't say I'm seeing pretentious. The narrative seems relatively conventional and easy to follow so far, there's lots of glitz, style and cool technology to reel in even those who aren't into the more intellectual aspects of the show, and it's the sort of thing that I could see being appealing on some level to most audiences. I guess maybe it changes as it goes on, but at the moment, while it's certainly got more of a brain than many shows aimed at a similar audience, it feels very accessible and even mainstream to me, and pretentious is pretty much the last word I'd use to describe it.

Really liking it, anyway!

Good show, it was killing me watching it one week at a time

[Ikusagami]

He probably meant the later half of the series when the bad guy starts name dropping Foucault and such.

Don't forget Shakespeare, Kierkegaard, Rousseau, Pascal, and I think they even had a pseudo-retro dialectic of Max Weber vs. Jeremy Bentham! As a nerd, I really liked it--especially since I've never seen anybody other than me actually quote Kierkegaard.

Much as I hate to publicize this troll, here's a spoiler-free review which got Draconismarch a lot of ass-kissing on MAL (all his videos get more backlash than ass-kissing, but he deletes it all and blocks anybody who disagrees with him):

Basically, mouth breathers think that intelligent media is aimed at making them feel stupid. . . which makes it pretentious (I've seen that word lobbed at Ergo Proxy and Mamoru Oshii so many times it's disgusting).

Anyway yeah, Psycho Pass was very good but I felt like a lot more could've been done with it, so even though I liked the ending it still left me a touch disappointed.

One of the Powers That Be said in interview that they were working on a script for a follow-up, though it's unknown if it's a sequel, spin-off, or second season. Personally, I think it should be left where it was.
mild spoiler:I liked the open-ended cyclical conclusion, if only because it was so non-standard, and aimed, like most of the dialogue, at making you think, instead of tying everything up nicely.
But anyway, my favorite parts of the series were actually the politician's analysis of technological reliance and Makishima's critique on e-books. Both technically superfluous, but much deeper than the usual, "Let's fight to J-Pop for half an episode!"

[Gare]

I heard many react to the ending with a "wtf? that's it? nothing more?" but I liked it for its "coming full circle" implications, as well as the underlying message that the major change needed to reform society is gradual at best and simply cannot happen overnight, or in this case 20-something episodes. But there is still hope, as shown in Akane's speech at the end. So yeah that was neat.

I won't lie, I would love to see a full sequel/second season and I think the setting has enough potential in it, plus we still have a couple of surviving main characters. But they probably won't want to mess with the ending and will instead just go for episode tie-ins or prequels.

[Elin]

Kind of amazed that anyone could feel intimidated by a show like Psycho-Pass, to be honest. I mean... it's quite a smart, well-written anime, but it's not hugely challenging or anything, and is really pretty easy to watch. I guess maybe it gets more intellectual as it goes on, but right now I'd be inclined to say that if people feel dumb watching it, then that's probably just what they are. Add to that the guy in the video talking about how he liked the first episode because of guns and a "sweet gore shower", and my convictions to that effect are only strengthened. :'D

Also, judging from the level of surveillance everywhere in the show's setting, I think it stands to reason that you'd have to be more or less a genius to pull off any scheme that was really substantial and Machiavellian without getting caught. I don't think it's entirely beyond speculation that any bad guy who could do that would be fairly well-read and intelligent. Though I'll reserve judgement there until I've seen more of the show.

The entire department would be you

Like I say, I can only translate. :'D Though if other people want to step up to time / telesync / encode / edit, I'm game.

[Ikusagami]

"wtf? that's it? nothing more?"

I'm astounded at how many people thought that was "sequel baiting". A sequel would RUIN the ending.
I think people who just want anime to be an alternative to Disney can't really get around Urobuchi's style.
As for episode tie-ins and prequels, don't forget that completely out of place episode mid-way through. I really think they have to validate (and resolve) it SOMEHOW.

I don't think it's entirely beyond speculation that any bad guy who could do that would be fairly well-read and intelligent.

My thoughts exactly; what DM failed to note when bitching that the entire show was about Urobuchi showing off that he "reads stuff," is that the protagonist and her friends don't sit around spouting philosophy--the show's intellectuals are all labeled "psychos" who endanger their utopian society. And the "golds" in Plato's Republic Sybil System are actually the highest degree of psychos beyond social conformity of morality *cough* ubermensch *cough*.
As for it being deep, though, I think it depends on how you look at it, much like Animal Farm, Brave New World, or Lord of the Flies (totally emulating Makashima here! ).
I've talked to a couple people who loved the show, but still didn't think there was anything more to it than the surface story--whereas I think the themes stand out pretty cogently. Especially after one scene, a public murder, where witnesses just stand around and watch, taking pictures and such, which, when taken along with those seemingly extraneous social commentaries, practically spells the show out as social satire. Not particularly deep, as it's all been done already (by people referenced throughout the show), but more than people are used to in their anime.

--quick recommendation comes to mind for those who do like anime with a bit more substance: Death Billiards. Only a half hour long, and I put a good bit of thought into that ending.
. . .the fact it has a lower score on MAL than Little Witch Academia makes my insides hurt.

[Aeolus Aeneas]

Since I oddly found myself kind of enjoying Bakugan, I'm currently watching the sequel series, New Vestroia... and I'm currently kind of enjoying it as well. The biggest problem is the voices, because multiple characters DO NOT look like they should sound the way they do in the dub, especially the Sailor Moon homage that sounds like a 40 year old chain smoker trying to do her best Rouge impression from Sonic 2006.