Hey all,
Welcome to my episode 1 reviews for Fall 2015! (ß Thinly veiled Japanese propaganda campaign.) I didn’t mention it last time, but I’m using HorribleSubs as a source for subbed episodes. This set of reviews will more or less just be first impressions of the series, since the first episode of most shows is really just to introduce characters and set up plots. I’ll be focusing a lot on technical aspects like the audio and animation, just because without any prior knowledge of the series, it’s hard to give any real story review without any spoilers at all.
This week I’ll be doing a sort of analysis for the spoiler section rather than really reviewing, as I’d end up just covering the same stuff as in the non-spoiler review. I figure it might help convince someone to watch a show if they get a bit more of a sneak peek than the synopsis and PV. That’s why this is going to look like it’s a really big post. It takes a long time to do them like that, so from episode 2 onward, I won’t be going through the story points of each episode, and instead just writing what I thought about it. As a note, from episode 2 on, I still won’t spoil any plot points in the non-spoiler review section, but I will be expecting that the reader will have watched the previous episode, or at least the first one; this is just so I can use character names and refer to some of their traits explained in earlier episodes. Also I wanted to release this by this weekend, so I only did two of the analysis bits for now, I’ll work on them as I go whenever I finish the regular reviews for the episodes each week.

I get all of my info about the shows from Anilist. I'll try to use both the English and romaji names in all my titles, where they're available. I can also use the Japanese names if anyone wants them for some reason. Also, if I appear to have the power to see the future and write the name of a character who is yet to be named in the show, it’s because I read the character sections of some of the show’s websites.

Before I start, I'd just like to say that I often enjoy a lot of shows that others really hate, and I haven't read any of the source material or other reviews for any of these shows, so if you see any unpopular opinions, that's just me being a wierdo.

Anti-Magic Academy: The 35th Test Platoon / Taimadou Gakuen 35 Shiken Shoutai

Genres: Action, Ecchi, Fantasy, Harem, Military, School

Spoiler-free review

This show looks like it’s going to be a good time. The intro for this episode was really cool. They did a kind of montage of scenes with credit screens separating the scenes. It reminded me of intros to AAA movies and horror shows. It also had some dark tones, so that’s really nice.
As predicted in my Pre-Season review, the girls are real cute. The first one I noticed was the blonde girl from the cover picture. She wears a big bow, Shimakaze style, and it really completes an adorable innocent look. She has a really interesting scene right near the beginning of the episode proper that kind of dashes that innocent appearance though.
It kind of seems like the other characters in the show, especially background characters, really don’t like the MC much. He seems to be really good at what he does though. I don’t think he’ll turn out to be overpowered though, or at least not to the point of say Kirito from SAO. Also he’s got the best taste in grills. The harem is already full after just one episode.
The music is really engaging and it fits the mood of the scenes it’s used in. There is a lot of time without any music at all though. The sneaky music bits feel sneaky, and the action bits get you on the edge of your seat. Can’t really ask for much more out of anime BGM. They also use silence really well to emphasize important parts.
The animation is on par with what I expect from modern anime. I didn’t notice any big errors, and coming from the same studio as stuff like Watamote and Fate/kaleid, good animation was to be expected.
As for character voices, I really enjoy the voice of the purple haird girl, even though she doesn’t get much screen time this episode. Usagi (the blonde girl) also has a pretty voice.
The ED is a bit boring and stock, just some stills of the characters in frames with credits and a neato song.
Overall, this looks like it’ll be enjoyable for sure. MC isn’t too overpowered, cute grills, good tunes.

Spoiler and screenshot analysis/review

This episode started with a really cool intro reminiscent of horror or military films from the US. The scenes flash in and out with shaky credit screens intermixed. It looks like these are scenes from much later in the show, as Takeru and Ohtori are a bit beaten up and lying on the ground in what looks like some ruins. Lapis (the purple haired qt) is standing over Takeru and congratulates him, for some reason so far unknown. My guess is that Takeru is a bit different from the other students and he might be of some use to the witches. I’m assuming here that Lapis is a witch, based on her mannerisms and neato eyes.

What a qt, am I right?

We also get a first look at Usagi, who’s a sniper rifle user (we learn later she’s not very good at it).

Adorable, innocent, Usagi.
After the intro bit, we’re dropped into the school, where a few interesting things happen. First, we learn that Takeru is disliked by his fellow classmates, and they think he’s a bit of a loser for using a sword when everyone else is using guns. We also learn that Takeru’s platoon is known as the “small fry platoon.”

Poor Takeru.
Next, we find out that Usagi isn’t quite as innocent as might be imagined from her looks and voice.

Am I allowed to post this here?
She gets a little flustered when Takeru walks in on them filming something, and apparently this isn’t the first time either. We also meet Suginami in this scene, she’s a mechanic for the platoon, and handles field intelligence.
The third thing we learn is why Ohtori becomes assigned to this platoon of flunkies.

She was fired from the official inquisition for disobeying orders. We find out a bit more about what that entails later.
Ohtori is an amazing fighter, and she became an official inquisition officer in middle school, after just a year and a half, apparently quite the feat.
Anyways, the group is sent on a mission by Suginami, and we encounter a whole new qt: Nikaido Mari.

I think I’ll like her.
She’s kind of mysterious, and I think she might be working with the witches. The mission was to take out a deal involving magic items. Nikaido was part of the trade.
The motley crew show up, Usagi shoots in the wrong window, and Takeru bursts into a room full of big yakuza in suits. He goes a little mental when the make fun of his sword, and show off his power to slice bullets (slowing time?)

Apparently he can only do it when he’s stressed though.
All he needs to do is hear an impersonation of his little sister by Suginami and he calms down.

Beautiful, we need more siscon MCs.

At this point, Ohtori bursts in from the ceiling and hands out some punishment, taking down a giant robot a guy summoned using “instant magic.”

Pretty effects.
Takeru ”trips” into her for an anime classic right after she finishes the bowl cut dork off.

Best face 2015.
Don’t worry though, Takeru reaffirms her that he prefers flat chests anyways. Takeru, what a legend, always pulling at my heartstrings.
They return to the office, and after some dialogue with Ohtori telling off the other members and Takeru trying to bandage up Ohtori, who is hurt for some reason, they go out on another mission, this time to a storage facility. After taking out some guards, and Ohtori finding bodies, we find out why she got fired.

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Scary Ohtori.
Turns out she’s a bit crazy, and her family was killed by the witches. She wants to murder the prisoners, but Takeru manages to stop her. Then, we end with another shot of Lapis, who seems to be noticing Takeru.

Adorable.
The ED wasn’t very memorable, just some stills of the characters sliding around the screen with a neat song playing and credits rolling.
The music usage in this show is really effective, during the scene where Ohtori and Takeru were beating up yakuzas, the song they used was a nice action tune. It got me excited about the action.
All of the music in the episode has a mysterious feel, which I think really goes with the style of the show.
Animation is of good quality for something released these days, and the character designs are all pretty good. I don’t really like Suginami, but that might just be because she reminds me of the lass from Watamote for some reason. Lapis’ voice is awesome, even though we’ve only heard three words from her. She’s definitely my favorite character based on appearance as well.
Overall, a good quality show with good BGM, characters, and animation. Not outstanding in any area though. I’m looking forward to the release of the next episode.

Beautiful Bones -Sakurako's Investigation / Sakurako-san no Ashimoto ni wa Shitai ga Umatteiru

Genres: Mystery

Spoiler-free review

The first episode of Beautiful Bones cleared up a lot of what I was wondering based only on the synopsis. This show is narrated by the main character, and they used the narration during the intro really effectively. Right from the beginning I knew it was going to be a show with a really solid story.
The synopsis had mentioned that the MC showed off his girlfriend a bit, but after seeing this episode, that doesn’t seem to be the case at all. He actually seems like a pretty cool guy, and is pretty humble about his realationship.
Both characters are pretty interesting actually. She’s much older than the MC, who’s still in high school. The bones thing is because she studies them, but she also seems a little bit off mentally.
There are some other seemingly important characters, including one real qt that the MC meets at the school.
I didn’t really notice the music much while watching this show, but in my pre-season review, bushido-bob mentioned that the sound was mixed poorly and the soundtrack was inconsistent. On second watch to collect screenshots for the analysis, I did enjoy some of the songs but a lot of them are really out of place. Also a couple times I heard some weird stuff in the audio, like volume drops and sounds that just didn’t sound right.
The animation and art of the show is stellar, and made me remember the studio that made this. TROYCA was the studio that made ALDNOAH.ZERO, another show that I really liked. It had really pretty art and character, and they came through on this show as well.
They used a weird blur effect around the edges of the screen occasionally, and it’s a bit distracting at times. Also, liberal application of depth of field was used, and it was effective, but at times overpowering.
Overall, I’m excited to see where the story goes, and looks awesome, I just hope they can work on the audio for the rest of the series.

Spoiler and screenshot analysis/review

I was super excited when this show started with a white screen with text and a narrator. Those are typically sure fire indicators that you’re watching a show which focuses on the story. The rest of the episode also indicated that a story was involved, already seeding a few possible sub plots and key characters for the future. Right out of the gate, we learn that the main character, Shoutarou, is a compassionate guy when he goes through a group of his classmates to help give a kitten a proper burial.

This also gives a bit of insight into Shoutarou’s life, as it seems he’s almost unusually comfortable with seeing dead things. Also in the screenshot, we can see the excessive blur effect on the edges of the screen. It’s not so bad here, but in a few scenes, I think it really detracts. I don’t think I saw it in ALDNOAH.ZERO, another show produced by the same studio, so it might be experimental, but I don’t think it works really well.

Kougami Yuriko is a girl who helped Shoutarou with burying the cat, and she’s the real all-star here, obviously. I mean look at her, she’s adorable! Seriously though, because they made sure to introduce her, I’m sure she’ll be important in future episodes. Since Sakurako is kind of already taken, with a Fiance and all, Yuriko might turn out to be a love interest for Shoutarou down the road.

After helping out the kitty, Shoutarou heads to Sakurako’s house, and finds her under a cherry tree.
It seems like she’s often found here, from the way Shoutarou went directly there. There was some symbolism explained about how corpses are found under cherry trees, so that might be why Sakurako is always here (she’s a little crazy about dead things.) She was holding a skull when he found her, which is our first indication she’s a bit of a wierdo. Turns out she’s a bone collector and rebuilds the skeletons of dead animals and such. As such, she takes Shoutarou to a beach, where they comb for bones. At the promise of Alaskan shrimp, Shoutarou goes to work, digging and finding bones to show Sakurako. She’s generally unimpressed until Shoutarou finds something interesting.

This escalated quickly.
Apparently Sakurako really likes human skulls, and was fully intending on just taking it home until Shoutarou called the police. After explaining why this skull must have been from over a century ago, the two hop into the police car to bring the skull to the station for examination. On the way, they see the site of what was assumed a double suicide. Sakurako explains why she thinks it was actually a double homicide to the inspector, after a weird magical girl esque scene where she puts her gloves on.

Who knows why they decided to do this just to get her gloves on.
It’s revealed during the conversation that Sakurako’s uncle is an investigator who works with the police, and is quite well known.
Once back at the police station, the two are cleared, and Sakurako’s lack of common social skills is emphasized when she tries to sneak the skull out of the place.

After this, they return home to dinner as an apology for not getting shrimp after finding a bone. The ED was in the same style as A.Z, with white text scrolling up a black wall. I actually kind of like this type of ending, rather than something like in Anti-magic academy with character stills sliding around under the credits.
As I mentioned, the audio in this show is a bit lack luster. Some of the BGM songs are nice, but most times they don’t really seem to fit the scenes perfectly. Also, there were some weird bits where the background would lower volume suddenly, or a sound just didn’t seem to sound as natural as it should have. Hopefully this is an area worked on in future episodes.
The animation is really good, and the art is top tier. Being from the same place as A.Z, a show I really liked for its art, Beautiful Bones doesn’t disappoint. The only things I didn’t like visually were the blur around the edges in some scenes, and in some places the DOF effects were just really overpowering. I did like the use of DOF most of the time though, even if it might have been an excuse not to make proper backgrounds.
None of the character voices really stood out to me, but that’s also good because it means none of them were too terrible either.
In summary, Beautiful Bones is a really beautiful show thus far, with a neat concept. They just need to work on some audio issues and get rid of some of the post-processing effects where they don’t belong.

Chivalry of a Failed Knight / Rakudai Kishi no Eiyuutan

Genres: Action, Fantasy, Romance, School

Spoiler-free review

Another show that looks really promising. I was kind of expecting this not to be all that great, but I guess I was wrong. The main character starts out with explaining a bit of his past and the way the world works, and I think the writers did a good job of making this seem less forced than a lot of other series.
There’s also no lack of fan service right away, but I guess they managed to work it in reasonably well with the plot of the episode. The studio put a lot more work into making the characters look good without clothes than might have been necessary though, and that might have cause a bit of lack in the scenery department. I mean, don’t get me wrong, the scenery and backgrounds aren’t terrible, they just put a lot of work into making the MC look ripped.
Like in Beautiful Bones, I didn’t really notice the music much on my first watch. I think in this case though, it’s just because they did a terrific job of integrating it into the scenes. The sound effects were really cool, but just a little cheesy at points (the Schiing sword sound sounded straight out of the 90s.)
I didn’t notice any terrible defects in the animation during this episode, and overall it seemed quite smooth. Silver link did it, so I didn’t expect any problems, they’re a pretty good studio.
The story is already looking fairly typical, but there was at least one huge twist in just one episode, so I might be wrong about that one. One thing I don’t really like is the MC already seems pretty overpowered, especially since he was painted as such an underdog in both the synopsis and first half of the episode (not to mention the title, the Japanese more literally translates Failed Knight to the Worst One.)
I kind of like where this show is going, my only real gripe is that the MC is pretty much Kirito already.

Spoiler and screenshot analysis/review
Coming Soonish!

Comet Lucifer (also the romaji title)

Genres: Adventure, Fantasy, Mecha

Spoiler-free review

Aw man, this episode was awesome! It starts out with some ominous stuff and a poem of sorts, that I really liked. This is set in a sci-fi sort of universe in a big mining town, one of my favourite settings so far this season. At first I thought this show was just going to be about a collector who finds a girl he likes. I was wrong. This got right crazy near the end of this episode, and I’m in love with this series.
The normal OP was used in this episode, and although it wasn’t terribly memorable, the song was nice. It was a normal length, a bit on the short side actually, which is something I like; it wastes less time this way.
Music throughout the show was a bit boring to me, but a ton of sound effects were used so it didn’t really matter what the music was like, the scenes where conveyed well in the audio department. Speaking of sound effects, I think they were really well done, they convey the action very well when necessary without being overbearing.
8bit studios produced this, the same guys who made Fruit of Grisaia, so the animation was of really good quality. Something they did in FoG for some reason that I’m glad they didn’t replicate here was adding black bars to the top and bottom of the video, I guess to make it look cinematic.
The story is already looking really cool, as I mentioned. I hope it doesn’t become a typical man vs the government thing though. Unless he goes full villain, that’d be ultra coolio.
The ED for this show was animated and really pretty, with a cute song playing. This is probably my favourite style of ending, so it was good to see one.
Overall, it’s a pretty show with a lot of potential to be really awesome as long as it doesn’t get too typical.

Spoiler and screenshot analysis/review
Coming Soonish!

Dance with Devils was thinly veiled Diabolik Lovers, dropped so hard I got banned on MySpace. (and I don’t even have a MySpace.)

Heavy Object

Genres: Action, Mecha, Sci-Fi

Spoiler-free review

I’ll be honest, this one’s a bit out there in the whole realism side of things. It’s set in a time where a new invention has basically eliminated death from wars. The new invention is a kind of tank thing, but it looks really dumb. Basically a sphere covered in guns, apparently it can survive a nuclear blast and keep shooting. I’m no expert, but that just sounds unreasonable.
Aside from that, there’s two cute grills in this series, and they both have weird personalities, but they’re not unbearable.
They didn’t play any formal OP for this episode, and I wonder if they ever will have one, because they just overlaid some credits over the first few scenes. I liked it. The intro bit before the OP was weird, as I explained, but definitely really neat.
Music was once again not really memorable at all. Much like in Comet Lucifer, though, the music doesn’t seem terribly important in a show like this.
This show was made by J.C. Staff, so I wasn’t looking for extremely great animation and art, but it still meets what I expect out of a new anime.
The ED was the typical action show ED, with a bunch of action scenes and stuff with a heavy song over it, which I actually kind of liked.

Spoiler and screenshot analysis/review
Coming Soonish!

Lance N’ Masques

Genres: Fantasy

Spoiler-free review

Uhm, okay, so this was awfully weird. The beginning of this show made me think it was about seducing eight year olds. I’m still not sure if that isn’t the point. The MC has a weird tick where every time he saves someone as a knight with his lance, he has to give them a speech about how he’ll never let them be hurt again, then kiss their hand. I really don’t know why anyone thought this would be a normal thing to do for knights.
Don’t get me wrong, the loli is cute, but she’s like eight. The MC seems to be closer to eighteen. The other girls in the show are also all qts as well.
The opening was really cute, and I liked the song they used for it. It makes me think that the whole show is going to be about the eight year old, but I guess that’d be alright.
I liked some of the BGM songs, but none of them really stood out as particularly good for their scenes/the show. There was some Mexican sounding stuff in all of the action scenes which was kind of a weird choice. I guess they’re playing off the MC’s mask thing? But he’s a European style knight, like British kind it seems, so that wouldn’t make a whole lot of sense.
The animation is pretty much to the same quality as the other stuff the studio has done, like Nakaimo and Yuki Yuna is a Hero. It’s not terrible, but it seems a bit janky in some points, especially in the character mouth movements.
The ED was fun, one of those where they pan over an image, but they did it mostly in stills. I really like the ED song actually. They also made the preview for the next episode really adorable, there’s some chibis and they talk about stuff in the show, then explain what’ll happen next.
In summary, this show is awfully weird, but it might turn out to be really fun.

Spoiler and screenshot analysis/review
Coming Soonish!

Ore ga Ojou-sama Gakkou ni “Shomin Sample” Toshite Gets-Sareta Ken (Please Japan, shorten these things)

Genres: Comedy, Ecchi, Harem, Romance, School

Spoiler-free review

Oh lawd, what is this and why is the FBI trying to get me into a van? This has literally the weirdest premise, and probably the weirdest execution possible, but it was adorable, and I loved it. This right here, this is pure comedy gold.
Opening was normal enough, but they made the characters nude for some parts of it for unknown reasons. It had a neat song, and lots of muscle clad dudes, oddly enough.
Music during the episode was mostly some odd classical, which was kind of neat I guess, and it fit the show themes pretty well. They did an awesome job of fitting the music to the mood of the scenes. Some typical comedy stuff was used wherever the MC was panicking about his love for muscles but it was pretty effective nonetheless.
The dresses the girls wear are probably exactly as short as possible. Thus, the art was awesome. This is also by Silver Link, so once again the animation was pretty much flawless. I don’t think I saw any non-cute grills, which is impressive, because there are a butt load of them in this show.
The ED was pretty, I liked it quite a bit. They did some crayon art with chibi versions of a bunch of the characters dancing around and the MC climbing up to see all of them. The song was by the same artist as the OP, I think, it was coolio.
I don’t even know if they’ll manage to improve on this episode, I mean, it had pretty much everything. Cute grills, short dresses, practical jokes, a guy who really loves muscles, and maids. I highly suggest picing this one up if you haven’t and you like comedy shows.

Spoiler and screenshot analysis/review
Coming Soonish!

Seraph of the End: Battle in Nagoya (Season 2)

Genres: Drame, Shounen, Supernatural, Vampire

Spoiler-free review

I’ve been waiting for this season for a while, and I’m not only extremely happy its back, but also very impressed with the first new episode. I’m going to start by saying that if you haven’t seen the first season, and you like supernatural fighting shows, stop now and watch it. You’ll love it.
This episode was pretty cool, it focused a bit more on the politics of the human nation. After the finale last season, we learned about Yu’s special power, in this episode it was explained much more in detail how he really got it, but we still have no clue what it really is.
There was no OP in this episode, and I think it’d be cool if they didn’t ever make one, it adds more space for content. It was replaced with a really short recap of the events of the last episode’s fight, mostly just Yu’s part of it.
Music is always spot on in this show, no change here. The themes are always on point, and the songs are awesome. They use mostly epic type stuff, which I like because the show already has a kind of deep feel to it.
And Oh man, the art. This show is quite literally art. It’s unbelievably pretty, and those backgrounds are right beautiful. I honestly don’t know if they hand paint the backgrounds, but it looks like it, and it’s by far my favourite way. It’s by Wit Studio, who also did Rolling Girls and Attack on Titan.
Like the Opening, the Ending was also missing. It was just credits over the last couple scenes. Much like the missing OP, I like this ending because it leaves more room for content.
Yeah I’m kind of a Fanboy of this series. It’s just so pretty, and the pink haired girl is really cute, and I love the story. Also the fights are real cool. Like I said, if you haven’t seen the first season, I suggest it strongly. If you have, it looks like this season will be just as great.

Spoiler and screenshot analysis/review
Coming Soonish!

Star Mu

Genres: Music, School, Shoujo, Slice of Life

Spoiler-free review

There literally isn’t a single voiced female in this show. But that doesn’t mean there are no qts ;3 I don’t usually watch full out yaoi shows, but I really liked one of the characters from the cover picture (the blonde guy in the bottom left corner,) so I figured I’d give it a try. Turns out it was exactly what I figured, but I still love it. It really is a musical, the musical department has a theme song and everything. Also I was right, the blond guy is adorable.
Intro was pretty typical SOL type thing. A montage of the important characters with some credits. I’m not sure who sings the song they used for the intro, but I really like him. His voice is really smooth, even in the stressed bits of the song.
Music throughout the episode was pretty stellar, which I guess is to be expected from a literal musical. I don’t know if I’ve seen an anime that’s also a musical before. I mean, even K-ON! Isn’t really a full out musical. I thought the musical club theme song was pretty funny, it makes sense I suppose, but I’ve never heard of a music club making their own theme song.
As far as I know, this is the first show the studio has done (it’s called C-studio or something.) That said, the animation was just fine. The art style was pretty common, but also totally fine.
For the ending, they do something similar to the opening, montage of scenes, this time with some stills mixed in and panned over.
Like I said, this is really quite likely to be just full out yaoi, so if you’re not into that, I wouldn’t suggest it, but otherwise, it looks pretty good. I’m not usually a fan of music shows, but I like the songs in this one, so I’ll go with it.

Spoiler and screenshot analysis/review
Coming Soonish!

The Perfect Insider / Subete ga F ni Naru: The Perfect Insider

Genres: Drama, Mystery, Seinen

Spoiler-free review

I’ll be honest, this show went right over my head. Its got something about a doll, and there’s a scientist, or something. My lack of understanding might be because I was reading some stuff about oscilloscopes while I watched it, because it wasn’t really holding my interest. From the synopsis, it seems like it has a really neat premise, but I don’t think they managed to make the first episode exciting enough. That’s what the first episode is for, you gotta get people hooked on it.
I really liked the opening, it was super cool, and the song was awesome. I’ll probably find, and listen to some of their other music later. The OP video was outlines of the characters dancing around, and some other trippy stuff. It was neato.
Music throughout the episode was extremely sparse, but where it was used it was pretty effective. It sounds really typical though, almost like I’ve heard it in a bunch of shows before.
The art is really pretty, I think it’s one of A-1’s better looking shows. Some of the faces look a little weird though. I’m not sure about it, but I don’t think its actually set in Japan, so they might be trying to impersonate some other country with the faces. All of the animation was smooth, and I didn’t see any errors.
The ED was also super awesome. They used a bunch of mathematical visualizations, and formed shapes of faces and such with them. I like when the opening and ending are representative of the themes of a show rather than just showing what the characters look like.
Overall, I don’t think they did a very good job of making an engaging first episode, but I’m hopeful that some stuff is better explained, and more exciting later in the series.

Spoiler and screenshot analysis/review
Coming Soonish!

The Testament of Sister New Devil Burst

Genres: Action, Ecchi, Fantasy, Romance, Shounen

Spoiler-free review

Now I didn't think the first season of this show was very popular when it aired, but I might have been wrong. Obviously, it sold enough Blu-Rays that they thought a second season would be worth making. I don't exactly think great story, or art, or music when I think this series, but it doesn't fail horribly in any of those catagories either, not to mention it excels in the cute grill category. Loli succubus is best girl, but there seems to be a new loli in town, and she's adorable. I do remember there being some neat effects though, and that looks to have carried through. The fight at the beginning of this show was real coolio. Also there was a real weird scene like half way through this episode, and I loved it.
The OP was pretty boring, like the last season. It's different, but its got the same idea, just a bunch of action scenes with a heavy song over top. I'm not upset about that kind of intro, but I do prefer something a bit more creative.
Music isn't really a big part of this show, much like most of the other high action shows. Again though, they do manage to use appropriate songs for the feel of the scenes it is used in. I don't think I've heard any of the songs they used or BGM before, so that's good.
The animation and art are the same as last season. The art is average, just typical solid colours with a couple highlights, and a single shade roughly accurate shadow. The animation though is a bit choppy at points (it almost seems like they made like a quarter of the frames they should have,) which is too bad, it being an action show and all.
For some reason the ED had a bunch of scenery, but most of it was just panning over stills. That's cool, I guess. Kind of lame at this point to be honest though.
Overall, This show is fun if you're really into ecchi and action. The ecchi gets pretty insane at parts, so watch out for that. If you aren't really into those, I wouldn't really suggest watching the first season of this if you haven't. This season looks like it'll be more of the same, with more grills, and we get to see more of MC's dad, and from what I can tell, a qt trap demon.

Spoiler and screenshot analysis/review
Coming Soonish!

The Asterisk War / Gakusen Toshi Asterisk

Genres: Action, Ecchi, Fantasy, School, Sci-Fi, Shounen

Spoiler-free review

Well, this episode had pretty much the same story as the first episode of Chivalry of a Failed Knight. That’s alright, but I do hope they are a bit different as they go on. Mind you, I won’t be upset either way. I like this kind of show a lot. This one seems to have better production value though. Asterisk is about a group of schools competing for control of the center city through combat in the arena. Each school has a list of its highest ranked students, and they compete to see which school is best.
There was no OP for this episode, but there was a kind of intro that isn’t explained until later in the episode. The intro showed a bit of a fight in what I would assume is the main arena.
Despite being mainly an action show, there was BGM playing pretty much the whole way through. It was nice, though some of it seemed to be typical reused BGM stuff. For some reason the ecchi scenes in these shows always have really fun music.
This is another really pretty show from A-1. I really love the way they draw the characters. I’m not entirely sure what it is, but I think they used thicker lines on the outline, and shaded some of the lines to match the color of certain bits, only using black when either making a hard line, or changing colours. This has a name, but I really can’t remember it right now. Anyways, I like it. The animation was pretty well done. I think A-1 does a lot of their animation by hand, so that tends to eliminate any weird errors pretty well.
The ending was fun, I think A-1 does the same kind of ED a lot though. That’s alright, because I think its pretty coolio. The ED also shows some real qts that I didn’t see in the episode, so I’m looking forward to meeting them.
Overall, This show is looking like it’ll be fun, and it’s awfully pretty. I do hope it doesn’t have the same story as Chivalry though.

Spoiler and screenshot analysis/review
Coming Soonish!

Owarimonogatari

Genres: Mystery, Supernatural

Spoiler-free review

Yes please, more Monogatari, SHAFT-sama. This is probably my all-time favourite series, so I’m probably going to be full on fanboy about it all season (I literally bought a used yellow beatle as my commuting car because Araragi had one, also dat diesel mileage.) They made the first episode a double episode, 48 minutes long. I wish so much that this was common in anime. 48 minutes is just the perfect length for an episode, especially something like Monogatari. The first episode was pretty much confined to one room, so that was weird. But I still liked it a lot. Not sure how I feel about new girl, but she’s pretty cute.
Monogatari is pretty much known as legendary in the OP department. Once again SHAFT has made a beautiful OP, this one’s got a bunch of math stuff, which for some reason seems to be the focus of this new season.
Music is as always to tier in Monogatari. Always on point with the scenes, and always unique and interesting. I especially like the song they play whenever there’s a big mystery, I think around 37 minutes they play it in this episode, if you’re wondering what it is.
I mean, this is a show by SHAFT, so the animation and art are 10/10. SHAFT is one studio that gets body forms and positioning spot on. I realize that the one room thing in this episode probably meant huge animation savings, but it fit with the story, so I’m not mad about it.
The ED was adorable, they used pencil drawings of the characters, and they managed to make the ED tell a story of its own. The song they used was awesome.
Yep, I really like Monogatari. This season might not be the new Nise, but it looks like it’ll still be pretty stellar. I’m really happy they decided to go with another full 12 episode run rather than another movie type thing like the last few.

Spoiler and screenshot analysis/review
Coming Soonish!

Well, here we are, just under 7k words later. I hope this post isn’t too long for the forum. I put everything into spoiler tags so it didn’t load the whole wall of text all at once and make the thread un-navigable. I’ll be getting those missing analysis parts up slowly, and I’ll let you know in the new threads is I got any done during that week, and edit them onto this post. Also sorry for repetitive language >.< I don’t really have all that big of a vocabulary so I think I say “for some reason” and neat about eight trillion times in this post.

Please let me know what you think. I really enjoy doing this, and if you guys like it I’d love to keep writing these. As I said in the Pre-Season set, I’ll be reading the comments, and when I post the next set of reviews I’ll be adding edits to my reviews to reflect a more board broad opinion. Just as a reminder, please keep spoilers in spoiler tags, especially in the case of the season 2 shows. Also, if I made any spelling or grammar errors that I didn’t catch, don’t be afraid to let me know, I’ll love you for saving me the embarrassment.