Kill la Kill
I finished watching Kill la Kill some time ago but after another re watch i think i'm finally able to properly express my opinion on it. It was good. It was very enjoyable and for a first series from a newly formed studio it as quite a feat. The overall story does drag at a couple of points but i did still really enjoy it. The comedy felt like a progression from Trigger's web-series Inferno Cop (Which is the best show ever made and you should watch right now. No seriously go watch it right now) with episode 4 being the closest in terms of that sense of humor. It was really funny and unlike other fan-service shows it wasn't overtly creepy in the way that it uses fanservice but rather doesn't have the fanservice overshadow the goals of the main characters who are the subjects of it. In other words you won't be remembering the characters for the size of their breasts or how much their privates glow like in some of the other shows of this ilk but rather for their strong personalities and good character development with the best character in the show in my opinion being Satsuki who went through quite a change over the course of the show. We also have a pretty good protagonist in Ryuko and a fun sidekick in Mako. An excellent villain in Ragyo and overall you have a very good show.
On the animation front i am a little mixed however. The comedic episodes do use the smaller budgets to produce some of the most hilarious scenes i've seen in a while but the more serious episodes are somewhat hampered by some somewhat ill-conceived directional choices. The most egregious example was the thoroughly terrible CGI section of episode 3 after some pretty decent fighting that just breaks the immersion completely. Other examples were just some really choppy animation but the approach was pretty well thought out otherwise. While technically there wasn't a lot of really impressive animation, it had a style and it stuck to it. The comedy was low frame rate to maximize hilarity and the serious moments were well drawn and perfectly serviceable in the action department. If i were to rate the animation i'd give it a 2.5/5. While only occasionally technically impressive, it was pretty decent overall and not too distracting with still used for both comedic and awesome effect.
After this i'm pretty excited to see what Triggers next big project is because as they are they are one of my favourite studios simply because everything they do no matter how good the animation is, it feels like they are putting a lot of heart into it and that always shines through.
Fairy Tail (2014)
As far as the plot goes this new season of Fairy Tail is business as usual. Mashima always starts off with an interesting premise only to squander all he builds up i the end of the arc with a bullshit powerup. At this point i've simply grown tired of it but damn can he still get me into it again. Its a pretty simple but effect plot that he starts this season off with which builds on how the last series ended. But having read ahead i know i'll just wait for now till the anime reaches the interesting stuff later on then drop it again when the bullshit power up comes up again ... :P
On the animation front, the nicest thing i can say is that the character designs have improved. How they are rendered in the show is another story entirely. So this season A-1 has teamed up with Studio Bridge and Satelight are out for now. The best animation you'll see in the new season is in the opening and even then its a bit so-so. Unfortunately so far the animation has been lackluster at best. Characters are constantly off-model, animation is incredibly still, effects animation looks bad and the backgrounds look more simplistic than they did previously. The colour palette hasn't changed much but there is a slight difference in stuff like fire effects. Essentially so far while the old series had had a couple decent cuts by now the new show has none to speak of. It is incredibly limited. The storyboarding approach hasn't changed but it seems changing studios hasn't done the series any favours. Toshiharu Sugie who was the most prolific animator on the first series did a boring cut in the opening and nothing recognisably him in the the episodes themselves. I've been pretty disappointed with it so far hence my desire to wait. I don't hate the show but the animation being this distractingly bad i actively hampering my enjoyment at the moment. I'd give it a rating of 1.5/5 for now. Its as if they've never heard of a thing called quality control before. Every other cut has off-model and stiff animation with nothing interesting going on.
One interesting thing to note is that for some reason they chose to reanimate scenes from the previous series as flashbacks and the new scenes look significantly shittier than the previous show. It doesn't help that the scenes they chose to reanimate were some of the better looking sequences from the previous show. I's skip it for now if i were you.
On the animation front, the nicest thing i can say is that the character designs have improved. How they are rendered in the show is another story entirely. So this season A-1 has teamed up with Studio Bridge and Satelight are out for now. The best animation you'll see in the new season is in the opening and even then its a bit so-so. Unfortunately so far the animation has been lackluster at best. Characters are constantly off-model, animation is incredibly still, effects animation looks bad and the backgrounds look more simplistic than they did previously. The colour palette hasn't changed much but there is a slight difference in stuff like fire effects. Essentially so far while the old series had had a couple decent cuts by now the new show has none to speak of. It is incredibly limited. The storyboarding approach hasn't changed but it seems changing studios hasn't done the series any favours. Toshiharu Sugie who was the most prolific animator on the first series did a boring cut in the opening and nothing recognisably him in the the episodes themselves. I've been pretty disappointed with it so far hence my desire to wait. I don't hate the show but the animation being this distractingly bad i actively hampering my enjoyment at the moment. I'd give it a rating of 1.5/5 for now. Its as if they've never heard of a thing called quality control before. Every other cut has off-model and stiff animation with nothing interesting going on.
One interesting thing to note is that for some reason they chose to reanimate scenes from the previous series as flashbacks and the new scenes look significantly shittier than the previous show. It doesn't help that the scenes they chose to reanimate were some of the better looking sequences from the previous show. I's skip it for now if i were you.
Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders
Jojo' Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusader is one of those shows that one looks forward to with bated breath every week. Like the previous season its just a really fun watch and this time with the larger budget the animation isn't half bad either. The character designs are even more stylish courtesy of Masahiko Komino and a pretty fun plot. So far the adventure has most certainly been bizarre and i enjoy watching Jotaro and the gang continue their quest every week. Joseph Joestar who carries over from the previous season (now an old man) is just adorable as ever and Jotaro adds a sense of cool that the show didn't have before. The supporting cast is strong with Avdol being my favourite as his reaction shots can be uber funny. Polnaref is fun because he is always getting trolled by the villains and Kakyoin is just hilarious to watch when he goes in over-the-top mode.
On the animation front this season of Jojos is pretty consistent. The designs are rendered sharply and the backgrounds are stylish. The animation itself is generally good with action scenes being rendered pretty well. There's generally some pretty expressive animation each episode peppered between all the dialogue scenes and some pretty nice effects animation now and again. There's not much to really complain about here so i'd give the show a rating of 3.5/5. Not much else to say on that front.
So yeah, gonna keep watching and enjoying the show for the full year that it runs. Pretty happy with it. This is it for now guy, my next pot will be on The Boondocks season 4 seeing as i have quite a bit to say about that show right now. See you then.
On the animation front this season of Jojos is pretty consistent. The designs are rendered sharply and the backgrounds are stylish. The animation itself is generally good with action scenes being rendered pretty well. There's generally some pretty expressive animation each episode peppered between all the dialogue scenes and some pretty nice effects animation now and again. There's not much to really complain about here so i'd give the show a rating of 3.5/5. Not much else to say on that front.
So yeah, gonna keep watching and enjoying the show for the full year that it runs. Pretty happy with it. This is it for now guy, my next pot will be on The Boondocks season 4 seeing as i have quite a bit to say about that show right now. See you then.
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