Winter Anime 2018 Thread

[Deftscythe]

So watched all of Overlord over the weekend based on a friend's recommendation and the fact that it got a second season.

It's... fine? There are some interesting characters and some decent humor, but I find it tedious sometimes since MC has no emotions and is so OP that there's never any stakes for him.

[arus2001]

I wouldn't say there aren't any dangers for him in the world, it's just that until the Shalltear fight, he hadn't really encountered any. Haven't followed the source material at all, but I'm hoping they get over this lizard stuff sooner rather than later with the 2nd season. Wasting however many episodes building up some "good guys" just to squish them wouldn't be very entertaining to me.

[Deftscythe]

I wouldn't say there aren't any dangers for him in the world, it's just that until the Shalltear fight, he hadn't really encountered any. Haven't followed the source material at all, but I'm hoping they get over this lizard stuff sooner rather than later with the 2nd season. Wasting however many episodes building up some "good guys" just to squish them wouldn't be very entertaining to me.

Until they materialize on screen, the threats may as well not exist.

[Elcura]

Welcome to Isekai shows, no drama, no tension, no interesting characters, just the same plot and outline for all of them. To Overlord's credit it takes itself a bit more seriously with the world but there's nothing really substantial or unique about it.

Aside from decent animation and art at times I don't know what people see in it. Just watch Konosuba and call it a day for the genre.

[Deftscythe]

Welcome to Isekai shows, no drama, no tension, no interesting characters, just the same plot and outline for all of them. To Overlord's credit it takes itself a bit more seriously with the world but there's nothing really substantial or unique about it.

Aside from decent animation and art at times I don't know what people see in it. Just watch Konosuba and call it a day for the genre.

Woah woah, let's not act like Re: Zero doesn't exist.

[arus2001]

Dunno, I'd say you're downplaying him going undercover as an adventurer to basically scout the surrounding area. There's still a lot of potential mystery for him to encounter, among them whether or not there are other (OP) players out there. Otherwise, it's not his first game, he's not starting as a nooblet, the whole "die in the game, die in real life" trope hasn't been waved around, and it's not really like he's trying to Save The Day(tm) even though it occasionally happens to further his goals.

I can understand the gripe that the odds may seem too stacked in his favor, but to say there's nothing unique going on comes off as a relatively untrue claim. And unlike something like Log Horizon or even Konosuba, it doesn't have the benefit of as many episodes under its belt yet.

Not really like SAO where people got pissed at Kirito for being a beta tester as if that automatically made him godly. Bluntly, I doubt any of us ever heard the term "Beater" until then. At least there's context for Momonga's power.

[Elcura]

Woah woah, let's not act like Re: Zero doesn't exist.

Re:Zero is OK. Overrated as anything but I'd put it over 90% of Isekai shows which is probably why it does well. The most interesting parts of the show they basically say or do nothing about, it's all mystery box cock teasing with very little pay off other than the MC getting real sad.

[Deftscythe]

Dunno, I'd say you're downplaying him going undercover as an adventurer to basically scout the surrounding area. There's still a lot of potential mystery for him to encounter, among them whether or not there are other (OP) players out there. Otherwise, it's not his first game, he's not starting as a nooblet, the whole "die in the game, die in real life" trope hasn't been waved around, and it's not really like he's trying to Save The Day(tm) even though it occasionally happens to further his goals.

I can understand the gripe that the odds may seem too stacked in his favor, but to say there's nothing unique going on comes off as a relatively untrue claim. And unlike something like Log Horizon or even Konosuba, it doesn't have the benefit of as many episodes under its belt yet.

Not really like SAO where people got pissed at Kirito for being a beta tester as if that automatically made him godly. Bluntly, I doubt any of us ever heard the term "Beater" until then. At least there's context for Momonga's power.

I'm not saying his power doesn't make sense in the context of the story, I'm saying that power makes the story boring. Also, the potential for him to uncover mystery is not as exciting as actually having mystery.

Re:Zero is OK. Overrated as anything but I'd put it over 90% of Isekai shows which is probably why it does well. The most interesting parts of the show they basically say or do nothing about, it's all mystery box cock teasing with very little pay off other than the MC getting real sad.

Listen, I'm not going to defend Isekai as a genre since for the most part they're all the same and none are very interesting, but to complain there's no drama or interesting characters then denigrate Re:Zero while elevating Konosuba is pretty lolz.

[Elcura]

Listen, I'm not going to defend Isekai as a genre since for the most part they're all the same and none are very interesting, but to complain there's no drama or interesting characters then denigrate Re:Zero while elevating Konosuba is pretty lolz.

What?

I'm saying Re:Zero has other problems, not the usual Isekai ones, how is that hard to understand? I mean even so if you like melodrama Re:Zero has plenty of that, but aside from shock value there was only 1 scene that actually made an impact long term for me.

Also Konosuba has more interesting characters and drama than Re:Zero by a fucking mile while also being funnier and cuter.

[Deftscythe]

.Also Konosuba has more interesting characters and drama than Re:Zero by a fucking mile.

I love Konosuba, but fucking LOL.

[Elcura]

I love Konosuba, but fucking LOL.

In a contest of 1 dimensional characters and plot, Konosuba wins 10/10 times.

[Deftscythe]

In a contest of 1 dimensional characters and plot, Konosuba wins 10/10 times.

Okay. lol.

[dasva]

Woah woah, let's not act like Re: Zero doesn't exist.

Ditto LH

[dasva]

Also Konosuba has more interesting characters and drama than Re:Zero by a fucking mile while also being funnier and cuter.

Miss Kobayashi > Demi-chan. Fite me nerd

[Elcura]

Miss Kobayashi > Demi-chan. Fite me nerd

lol

Kobayashi has cuter characters for days, but that's about all it has. Also I think that 100% of that cuteness is Kanna and no one else (funnily enough the character with the least personality is also the least offensive). Demi-chan is a good mix of everything.

[dasva]

[Silenka]

Hmm.

I think Overlord is hilarious and I like the trend of OP main characters. It's such a good contrast from the beta shits we got all through the early/mid 2000s and allows for a storyline that isn't the same old "I must power up to over 9000!!!" shounen trope. I wanted it to get a second season pretty badly so I'm glad it has one (and they didn't pass it over to some other studio).

Re:zero is cool and fun to watch buuuuuutttt it's hardly an isekai show at all, aside from dude coming from another world as soon as he accepts and adjusts to his power it pretty much stops being an isekai show and starts being a "MC is an obnoxious waifu-loving twat" fantasy show. Which is fine with me for the most part, the focus on world and character development isn't taken away from by the isekai tropes as much.

Log Horizon, probably my favorite game-isekai show, kind of lost me in its 2nd season by changing the studio so the animation was different/worse and also the plot was weird in that half, but as far as isekai realism and character development I'm pretty sure it wins over every other isekai show...by a mile.

Konosuba is Konosuba, it's strictly a comedy/parody of isekai which works out really great but I don't watch it for world or substance, that's for sure.

[Elcura]

LH 2nd season was kinda ass as well as badly animated. I didn't like it as much as the first season but half the characters were kinda hard to watch even in the first season.

Re:Zero is basically what you said. It's fun to watch the first time just because the MC suffers, is a jackass and basically never learns from it. Falls in love with the first female that talks to him and spends time doing stupid shit instead of asking any interesting questions or doing anything interesting etc. Then it's just him trying to win over the most boring girl in the show (not that I cared for Rem, but anything other than the girl he chose would be better).

Overlord at least cares about world building but the pacing can be unbearable at times, and I dunno about the comedy since it's the same joke. As flawed as it was, .hack is the only show that's really gotten me interested, but I suppose they had the added benefit of actual games to go along with it.

[dasva]

Hmm.

I think Overlord is hilarious and I like the trend of OP main characters. It's such a good contrast from the beta shits we got all through the early/mid 2000s and allows for a storyline that isn't the same old "I must power up to over 9000!!!" shounen trope. I wanted it to get a second season pretty badly so I'm glad it has one (and they didn't pass it over to some other studio).

Re:zero is cool and fun to watch buuuuuutttt it's hardly an isekai show at all, aside from dude coming from another world as soon as he accepts and adjusts to his power it pretty much stops being an isekai show and starts being a "MC is an obnoxious waifu-loving twat" fantasy show. Which is fine with me for the most part, the focus on world and character development isn't taken away from by the isekai tropes as much.

Log Horizon, probably my favorite game-isekai show, kind of lost me in its 2nd season by changing the studio so the animation was different/worse and also the plot was weird in that half, but as far as isekai realism and character development I'm pretty sure it wins over every other isekai show...by a mile.

Konosuba is Konosuba, it's strictly a comedy/parody of isekai which works out really great but I don't watch it for world or substance, that's for sure.

It really depends on how it's done and well personally preferences. Pretty much any show has OP characters... they just have a seem to struggle a bit here and there. And it's generally assumed that's how you do things or there is no real interest outside of a few edgies that just kill the characters off. And yeah a lot of shows where the characters faceroll everything are done poorly largely because it translates into the rest of the show as well. Like say the Smartphone one... fucking Aizen planning things out for 100 years couldn't have made everything go more perfectly for the MC. Meanwhile something like OPM introduces how the character struggles with everyday life and often because of his strength.

Personally what I really liked about Overlord is yes him and his crew were super powerful, but they were thrown into this world that is similar but still different with powers he doesn't know about. For all he knows there are people that can challenge him or at the very least groups that can. And as such he goes about things cautiously. Learn about the world manipulating things even so far as taking weaker opponents semi-seriously and/or toying with them to learn more about this world and the powers while trying to hide the extent of his. And then there is the humor which was amusing but that's even more subjective.

I give Re:zero a pass partly for the same reason as you though also kind of dock it some for that. Too many Isekai shows are really fantasy shows where first 5 minutes the character gets thrown in and outside of sometimes wanting to go back it has little relevance after that. But also find his waifu loving much better done. Aside from the fact he actually sticks to a girl instead of trying to build a harem they actually give a reason why he fell for worst waifu. Girl literally saved him and he watched her die (multiple times) all relatively soon after coming to the world instead of the usually hey first pair of tits noice. And seeing how the MC changes from all the psychological damage even if it does make him somewhat annoying at times is refreshing compared to shows where the person either flat out is a crying bitch the entire time or ignores it like it's nothing

LH probably did actual RPG elements the best and at least first season introduced a lot of the world and plot threads to move forward with. Though seems I dodged a bullet on the 2nd season.

Kono can be funny with it's parody but yeah not really much in plot or world. And while I know it's part of the shtick and point sheer level of tropiness and exact same jokes for 2 seasons does wear thin at times especially when there is nothing else to support it

Honestly I think a lot of the stuff that isn't pretty much hated by everyone often has more to do with personal tastes and what just happened to click but a lot of people can't separate that from how "good" something is. A lot of times you see one show being built up/torn down over 1 point... that can be 100% applied to another similar show but isn't (or at least not by the same people) when it's often something else they don't like. Note how pretty much any show with enough ecchi elements to get the tag will definitely get lower ratings regardless of how good it is or similar to other shows but outside of the full on softcore ones people usually cite completely different reasons because typing too much tiddies looks bad. The funniest is when people hate on fanservice but vehemently defend manservice. Meanwhile I whole heartedly admit some of what I like is pure trash sometimes amazingly so lol.

[Elcura]

Konosuba does some joke recycling, the most obvious one being the toad encounter (still makes me laugh) but for the most part you're seeing solid, set in stone personalities and traits being thrown against various situations. Konosuba's characters are strong enough to do whatever they want and still entertain you, and when the characters are together the fun is multiplied for everything. It's the closest approximation to a sitcom I've seen in a long time that relies on actual characters having defined personalities. They actually grow closer to a group and more aware of each others flaws and even how to manipulate them. You get the feeling these are a group of dysfunctional friends, I've called this the anime version of Always Sunny, it's that good.

Overlord relies mostly on overly detailed explanations of action and intent, but it does follow through with most of it. The main problem is that 90% of the characters are a snooze fest and if you're talking about repeating jokes, horny demon is horny. Same situation, same people, same joke. Even the latest episodes with the lizard people is lizard guy likes lizard girl, girl gets embarrassed. Lizards see girl in bush, call her plant monster. But none of that actually bothers me, the thing that bugs me is that even though this is a game it doesn't slightly feel like it. The MC can pull whatever he wants out of his ass because there's no logical limit to his power that we've seen so there's 0 tension.

LH did that a lot better you got a better grasp on an individual's capability and the effects of teamwork, so I believed the situations and struggle.

Also you can like trash, it just helps if you recognize trash so that people won't laugh at you when you recommend it as the best thing ever.