24 October 2016: Autumn 2016 progress report: So far, so good
Do not question Shizuru's methods.
Bubuki Buranki: Hoshi no Kyojin leads the shows I'm watching this season. I was a bit skeptical about bringing Kaoruko back to the show after being absent for essentially all of the first season, but I think it works with her as a mouthy antagonist. I particularly hope we'll get to see her get stomped by Reoko.
Butt explosion.
Keijo!!!!!!!! is magnificent. The premise is absurd, but the show embraces it and has quite a bit of fun with typical sports anime and shounen jive tropes that you're more likely to encounter in shows that take themselves a lot more seriously than Keijo!!!!!!!! takes itself.
How do you know she is a witch?
Shūmatsu no Izetta really did not need the silly lesbian groping in episode four. Aside from that, it's a mostly interesting perspective on alternate history with witches, and the war-related matters are accurate enough to not annoy me, unlike the Valkyria Chronicles anime.
Never gonna happen, Reina.
I know everyone else is more interested in the pure-pure lesbian romances implied in the anime, but I'm frankly more interested in Reina's hopeless crush which is doomed to go nowhere and the willingness of the older band members to freeze out the penitent one simply to [SPOILERS]. This is silly band drama, but it works well.
That light cord is unnecessarily long.
Fune no Amu is okay, but I lost a bit of respect for Potato-san due to his incredible awkwardness. Also, he wears a full set of pajamas to sleep. It's unmanly.
War on Pants. War on Pants never changes.
I'm okay with Hikari in Brave Witches. She's pretty lousy, but in a way that feels natural. I at least like her better than I liked Miyafuji, and probably a little more than I liked Bucky from the Kantai Collection anime. Then again, maybe I'm just giving her a pass because she can run.
This is what happens if you don't show your little woman a little tenderness.
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Diamond Is Unbreakable continues to be about as good as you'd expect. It could use more Yukako, though.
I guess they had it coming.
Oh. So that's why Rinne became such a cunt. ViVid Strike! really took things up a notch in episode four. Who knew a show about magikal girls competing in mixed martial arts could be so violent? Episode four reminds us the show's Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha origins didn't pull many punches in its first season either. For the record, Rinne's childhood was pretty shitty, but Fate Testarossa still had it a lot worse. And she turned out okay.
Shitbags make things harder for everyone around them.
Girlish Number gets a lot of mileage out of its shitbag protagonist, but I'm also interested in Momoka and her simmering resentment of her mother and Not Chihaya's frustration at not being able to focus on serious singing acting.
There's a new swimmer in town.
Mahou Shoujo Ikusei Keikaku at least appreciates that it is operating in a post-Madoka environment and that comparisons are inevitable. In light of this, it has done some interesting things and introduced some twists I wasn't expecting. This at least gives me some hope it will climb out of the shallow "mahou shoujo except DARK" grave we all dug for it.
What, did you think I was going to use a picture of the fat old dude from TO BE HERO?
The only short I've dropped so far is Kaijū Musume. Most of the other ones continue to amuse me in anticipated ways. TO BE HERO is more creative than I was expecting, but it's also a little inconsistent. It's still early, though.
