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And a ton other stuff ended, wall of text incoming.

Ore Monogatari!!...leaves me feeling mixed. The fact that the main couple got together in the first few episodes was pretty refreshing, and it was entertaining for a while, but it just eventually got kind of dull. Too safe, too samey. As obnoxious as it is, there's a reason that most romance anime beat around the bush for extended periods of time, and that's the fact that once they're together there's not really that much to be seen. In OreMono this ended up meaning that a lot of the episodes, especially in the second half, were of the "let's see what some characters who aren't Takeo and Yamato are up to" or "oh no, someone else likes Takeo/Yamato!" variety, which is, you know, the exact same kind of plot you'd see in any other romance anime, except in this one the only difference is they were already together. It's just...it's not bad, but it got bland.

Himouto Umaru-chan leaves me much less mixed. I just didn't really like or care for it much. The main character was sort of obnoxious no matter what form she was in, and the supporting cast was hit (kirie, tsf sometimes) and miss (ebina, most everyone else). It just...was too generic a comedy, relied a whole lot on pop culture references, and simply...wasn't really fun. It tried to do quirky but it never really achieved it.

Classroom Crisis is just garbage. The..."plot" is a weird combination of a  generic "let's save the club/school/class" plot nested in a more "ambitious" and "intriguing" plot of, supposedly, company scandals and machinations and political shenanigans or something. Scare quotes because it's all useless tripe. The school side of the story is just incredibly dull. The class involved is a menagerie of side characters who exist for no reason but to fill up the time in between "relevant" stuff happening, none of them really matter, they get no development or fleshing out of any kind, and at the times when they do get any focus they squander it by being obnoxious. They don't do anything interesting. The more "interesting" plot for all it tries to do is hardly any less dull, since the characters involved still spend most of the anime involved in the school stuff. Eventually that plot thread just sort of peters out...and then gets a really jarring push, at which point it ditches the more ~sophisticated~ mind games or whatever clever thing it thought it was doing and just leads to a really unsatisfying life-or-death rescue mission...a mission that failed not only at creating the tension it wanted but especially at providing a proper climax.

Worst of all are probably the main character, though. Ignoring the boring generic hot-blooded protagonist teacher, there's one other dude involved in the "company's dark side" plot. He's probably the best character in the series, but his was still just a boring "friendless guy...GETS FRIENDS" story, and it sucked. Then there were the two main girls, who were largely static characters for the entire thing, one of them was dull, the other was obnoxious, and together, they were really boring. The annoying one got involved in an incredibly forced romance with the dude, until the last episode when the dull one decided she wanted in on that (equally forced) action. So the two best friends end the series by fighting over the dude. And that's the point where my opinion of this show went from disapproving indifference to unbridled disgust.

I was also unimpressed with the voice acting, art direction, music, and stiff attempts at humor. Just such a poor series.

It seems my reluctance to name Castle Town Dandelion as the worst thing I watched was well founded, because this anime was just ######.

Anyway.

Wooser's Hand to Mouth Life: Phantasmagoric Arc. Not bad. I wasn't exactly a super big fan of the first two seasons of Wooser, and this third one was twice as long (a mighty increase from 4 minutes an episode to almost 8) so I was wary. But it really wasn't bad. Still didn't exactly impress me, but it wasn't boring either. They were able to do some interesting stuff (like the "beach house" episode or the one with the sketchy art style where Wooser became the universe) and develop gags a bit more. Not much. But a little. It was entertaining enough.

The ed was a highlight of every week, as well. It was a good ed.

Charlotte was a mess of a series. It's like. The posterboy for messes of a series. The first half of the show was essentially wasted on a bunch of plots and characters who immediately stopped being relevant after the halfway point, and after that point, things get interesting for a few episodes (though it all got invalidated soon enough), but by the end stretch they just start piling new thing after new thing after new thing in. The last 3 or 4 episodes are just extremely dense in content, full of twists and developments, but it just...doesn't work. Nothing is given its proper time, it all comes across as rushed and lacking buildup, and SO MUCH happens that it makes the starting episodes feel that much more like fleeting, pointless distraction. The last episode itself had enough stuff to fill probably an entire season, but because it was just one dang episode, all the new things and development just feel jarring and...weird. One scene the main character is himself and the next he just...it's weird.

So many wasted one off characters too.

I still like...liked it. I guess. But jesus. What a mess.

DRRR!!x2 Ten was pretty alright. I didn't really like it as much as Shou. Instead of a lot of plot threads coming together for one big thing, Ten had like...a few smaller plots, with just the stuff with Mikado and the Blue Squares in the background. There was no big payoff and no real intermingling of plots too much...mainly it was set up. But it was pretty good set up, and the conclusion should be pretty cool.

Gatchaman Crowds insight was awesome. For a superhero show, Gatcha has always been more preoccupied with what it has to say than with flashy action sequences. insight itself has action scenes in less than half of its episodes. And it's pretty great. Instead it spends just, inordinate amounts of time doing social commentary about politics, public opinion, modern tendencies to just go with the flow, passive citizenship, media...it spends a lot of time developing its message, and I think it works wonders. Very nice, thought-provoking, topical plot and themes. And just pretty fun to watch in general. Berg-Katze, who I didn't care for in season 1, was even pretty enjoyable in insight.

If there's anything to criticize about insight, it's probably that it was so focused on its plot (and the two new characters that were central to the plot) that the characters just really fell by the wayside. Most of the Gatchaman (with the partial exception of Rui) didn't have anything to do for the entire season...even previous protagonist Hajime. She still got a fair bit of focus and got the chance to shine at the end, but like everyone else she didn't actually do much. Oddly enough, Jou, who was the one with the least focus in season 1, actually was featured a bit in insight, which worked well. I would have liked to have seen some more focus on Paiman, though, since leadership was such an important theme in this season.

Putting simulcasts aside for a bit, I also finished a couple of series recently.

I watched Suisei no Gargantia. I did not like it. Art style was pretty bad imo, I especially hated how the girls (and bebel i guess) were drawn. Didn't really care for the voice acting and Amy's voice irritated me. Amy irritated me. I really do not like Amy; not only was her appearance and voice grating, her character was a huge drag. Generic morality pet and boring romantic interest...meh. My favorite part of the series was how she was basically entirely absent from the last 4 episodes or so. My least favorite part was when she flew back in in the last episode. such a mood killer.  Other than Ledo and to some extent Pinion no character was really utilized that well. The plot itself was nothing particularly interesting, and the more action/conflict oriented climax sort of seemed to go against the themes of the show a bit. Didn't do much for me at all, honestly.

The soylent squid is people stuff was kind of interesting, but it didn't really like...go anywhere. Seemed like a move done mainly for shock, with little actual pay off.

Anyway yeah, meh. Still got the ovas to watch, doubt I'll enjoy them a whole lot though.

Anyway I also finished Selector Spread WIXOSS. I didn't like it as much as Infected. The explanation for the plot still doesn't really make any sense. Some characters just ended up dropped (aki lucky...) and the twists and turns didn't seem to have the same impact. Also wasn't super thrilled with Iona's development and her backstory just sort of came out of nowhere; meanwhile, Hitoe and Yuzuki were sorta just there. The latter was sort of annoying. (and i really wish her brother had taken the hanayo route instead...). Also, the op had Midoriko and Piruruk in it despite the fact that neither actually appeared, and it appeared to bill Futase as a major character despite the fact that she was in like, one episode. It's got nothing much to do with the actual anime, I guess, but dishonest ops are sort of annoying.

On the other hand, Spread had way more Chorizo and Eldora than Infected, and ultimately, isn't that what matters most? I'd argue that no, but I love those two, so it was definitely a nice bonus.

I still rather liked Spread, but it definitely didn't hold my attention like Infected did. Or perhaps more accurately, it did hold it (especially the stuff with akira and ulith was pretty nice old fashioned f'd up) but ended up sort of losing it towards the end when characters dropped off the map, stuff wasn't explained, and that whole deal with Hanayo that seemed to only work to push the series to a climax instead of naturally working up to it.

I'm looking forward to Destructed.

It's Decepticon-insignia-face! I have his toy, it's pretty rad.

I'm not sure how true or at least relevant the "but they would have gotten less money!" angle is. I mean, by that logic, wouldn't it have then been better to have eight Toa? Or ten? Or whatever? I don't think it's that simple, honestly (I assume that the number of six is something Lego arrived at through careful thinking and testing, but this being the era of haphazard business practices for the company, who can really say). Things would have definitely been different from a marketing and sales perspective if they had stuck with four, but I don't think it'd be as simplistic as to say they would have just lost a third of the money they made.

Especially considering that brown never really sold that well.

Definitely would have been pretty interesting, though.

There can be little doubt that whoever wears this mask would be almost as strong as they would be fashionable.

What is he holding?

His weapon is the Mango Punisher.

This mask is quite dapper, but has no wearer, kind of a waste.

Wait, no, someone's wearing a mask now.

It's a volcano. Looks. Pretty hot.

That's a very round Hau.

Very bulbous head. With like. Is that a nose?

That minifigure seems quite peeved. And wrinkled. Though it lacks skin, so it's weird.

I have switched from a spooky ghost, to a noble baron. Armored with the mighty power of mango.

~fight of hammer~

How the hat stays on is a perpetual mystery.

Maybe glue.

Quite a fancy Pakari, that.

Also, did anyone else find Basher's part weird? Here I was thinking that he was tough, being the match of Onua and the lieutenant of Grinder, but they knocked him out in a second. Even the Skull Scorpios had two episodes, for crying out loud!

Yeah...that's what happens when you have to tell a story in less than 14 minutes.

I've more or less stopped giving a hoot, honestly.

Is this topic really suggesting that a theme that's been back for a YEAR can be fairly compared to something that lasted FOUR TIMES that amount? Really? It's just not fair to start pointing the finger when we've only literally just started. Ask me again in 3 years, and then I'll be able to fairly answer this. 

No, she said "comparatively, year by year." Meaning, no matter which year of HF you compare it to (just one), then Bionicle is on the losing side. Which is still perhaps an unfair comparison with the latter years, but comparing 2010 HF to 2015 Bionicle seems perfectly fair, if you ask me.

It's also not a comparison I can make very well, since I haven't read the book. Or the yet unreleased ones. But I'd definitely say there's some truth to this. I've found the animations and the story found in them mostly underwhelming. HF certainly had flaws, but I know I enjoyed its story media in just the half year it got in 2010 far more than I've enjoyed Bionicle this time around.

 

Kaukau Mistika. 

 

*gets strapped down for a brain transplant* 

 

You must perish for your transgressions.

 

In all seriousness, though, does anyone actually like that mask?

 

I like it a fair bit, and I really have never been able to understand the hate it gets. It's a nice mask. Certainly a way better looking one than the original Kaukau Nuva. That thing sucked.

I've always really loved the great Huna and especially the Komau. Those are great masks.

Things are ending a whole lot lately. Or I guess, more like this week. But some stuff has already finished, so here are some final thoughts.

Shimoseka was definitely the highlight of the season and pretty close to being the highlight of the year so far. I'm not usually that big a fan of raunchy comedies, but this was exceptionally well done. The characters were great, their interactions were always fun, the jokes were funny, the censorship hilariously appropriate, the music perfectly fitting, the art and animation great, the voice acting superb...most importantly of all, I feel that it really took its subject matter and themes seriously, which seems counterintuitive for such a crazy show, but really isn't. Its themes and message were solid, even if wrapped in endless layers of redacted zany dirty antics. The characters and their interactions and the entire setting were completely able to carry the show with their comedic qualities, so the fact that the show as a whole was sorta serious only added to the experience. It was all really good. And despite the disproportionate amount of female to male characters, it wasn't a harem, so that was great.

Last episode was a bit underwhelming, and there is much that felt unresolved. Sort of hoping for something more eventually. Or at least that the novels get translated sometime. Show as a whole was great anyway.

Wakako-zake was...Hm. Short anime seem to be a tricky business to get right. I mean anime and all media really is tricky, but short anime has been really hit and miss in my experience. The shorter it is the trickier it gets as well. My first experience with a 2 minute show (ameiro cocoa) was pretty awful. It aimed too high, trying to have characters, interactions, a sliver of a plot and even a bit of a message to tell. It failed in every respect. Wakako-zake doesn't really get caught up in much. It's twelve episodes of Sawashiro Miyuki making pshuu noises for a minute and a half. It never aims to be anything more and succeeds at not being anything less. It is what it is, and I guess I can't fault it for that. It's sort of a pointless distraction, though at 2 minutes it's really not like it matters.

Castle Town Dandelion was just boring. Bland art style, passable animation, sub par character design, pointless superpowers attached to a menagerie of borderline-subtextually-incestous cliches trying to pass as characters...the story was boring, the focus on the huge cast was uneven, and it was just a generic slice of life with not a single original idea or thought to claim as its own....and I am just so tired of this wannabe coquettish "they're siblings but maybe they...like each other???" bull by this point. Japan's interest in incest has long since stopped being offensive and just started being mildly irritating and boring. Anyway yeah, this show was pretty much garbage. Classroom Crisis isn't over yet, but I'm almost ready to call this one as the worst anime I watched this season. (and then i remember ninja slayer, never mind).

This honestly raises a lot of questions. Why was the Mask of Creation just sitting there at the entrance to the City of the Mask Makers? Why then did it take Kulta so long to snatch it? The Skulls have been active for a long time, and they appear to originate from the city itself, so this doesn't make any sense to me. The Mask should have been destroyed ages ago. Hope some explanations are forthcoming...

There's also the "They call him Skull Grinder" thing and, uh, who exactly does that? Ekimu, you were in a dang coffin for thousands of years and the Skull gang doesn't look particularly talkative. Seriously. How would you even know what they call him, even if anyone was around to call him anything....unless Kulta was around back before the whole MOUP incident, which I guess would make sense since he was probs an alive dude at some point. Raises more questions though.

The second part about LEGO's partners also matters. Amazon is a trusted partner of LEGO. Previous leaks have not been so close.

 

Honestly, this whole thing is much ado about nothing. I don't understand why people are still making such a stink about it a month later.

 

I don't understand it either. Were people complaining this much when Target put up the Stars early back in 2009? Official retailers getting ahead of themselves and listing sets up earlier than intended is nothing new, but it's also never been something affected by the leaks policy. I guess some people are just a little incensed considering how long they weren't allowed to discuss leaks last year and are trying to stick it to the man by trying to point out a non-inconsistency but...eh.

Anyway, the stuff about Ryder is pretty cool. It really is interesting that the Protectors didn't really have characters or genders before he gave them some. Even if the names aren't the best, that was still a neat move. Since he gave them their genders, it actually would have been pretty cool if more than one could have been female. But he sounded surprised they let him have even just Korgot as a woman, so I guess it makes sense that he wouldn't try to push for more.

You mean leaks aren't terrible?

 

Heresy. 

I mean, they kind of are? I don't think "spoiling the surprise, forcing them to reveal something earlier" is actually a good thing. Can you imagine how great the NYCC reveal would have been if we didn't have leaks? Seeing all the new sets, the announcement itself in the first place, after 4 years, all at once...I think it would have been really amazing.

Instead leaks had already given it away months before and Lego kinda had to whip out a smaller "ok so i guess this is happening" announcement before NYCC, which left that as sort of a footnote instead of a huge impactful event. I mean it was still pretty great, especially for those that managed to go, but it was still not the best case scenario.

 

Phantoka and Mistika were great... why would they be guilty pleasures?

BECAUSE THEY HAVE GRAY AND THE MASKS AREN'T THE SAME !!!!1!!1111

 

To be fair, two of the Mistika Toa had backwards Piraka torsos, and That's Terrible.

But yeah considering that the original Nuva were garbage, the fact that the 2008 Toa don't look anything like them seems to me to be their strongest point. But eh. Opinions.

Probably the one that they didn't pull out of their butts just for some pointless drama when Rebooted started.

So there's only a few weeks left until summer season ends and fall starts, so it's about that time. How are your falls looking so far?

After a ridiculously heavy summer season (17 is too much) and year in general my fall seems to be shaping up to be my lightest season since spring of last year. I'm only watching:

-Go! Princess Precure (continuing from summer)

-Owarimonogatari (all the hype, all the time)

-Attack on Titan: Junior High (because i see no real reason not to)

-One-Punch Man (the manga is absolutely fantastic, i can not wait)

-Comet Lucifer (because the pv hooked me)

I guess I'm also keeping an eye on the World Trigger filler season, but I really don't see myself watching it. The actual season was drawn out and padded as it is. But beyond that, this is it. The idea of only watching five series is pretty refreshing, I gotta say.

Two aliens in dire need of a haircut.

Never really been a fan of the noble Mahiki or Komau. The noses and the entire look to them just feels kinda eh.

That being said, I'd say the competition fot the worst would end in a big ugly four way tie between all the Nuva masks that aren't the Miru, and, I suppose, the Hau. They are really pretty hideous.