Currently Watching (Summer 2012 Edition)

[Buckeye]

It's July, which means it's time for a brand new season of anime shows. The spring season had some very great shows, and the offerings for the summer season look pretty solid as well. So with that, here is the brand new thread to discuss what you are currently watching.

The link to the Spring 2012 Edition

Summer Anime Chart

Note
- change the title of your post to reflect the contents.
- do not use the Post Reply button; instead, click quote on the post you wish to reply to, or on this post if you're starting a new subthread.
- edit down the quoted section to the relevant bits, nobody needs to read someone's epic list of watched stuff twice.
- be nice to one another

Also, I'd like to add the following. The Currently Watching Thread is mainly meant for a general overview of how you're currently feeling about shows. It is not supposed to be a replacement for actual discussion threads. Try to keep heavier discussion (if possible) in the more specific discussion threads.

In addition, try to be careful of spoilers here. It's one thing if it's properly tagged and such. However, I don't want people to have to worry about someone randomly posting "Wow, X died in episode 17 of Y". Just a randomly made up example.

[Buckeye]

So with a new season, it is time I lay out my course of action for the season. Here is on my to-do list for this season:

• Infinite Stratos
• Princess Jellyfish
• K-On! Season 2
• Special A
• Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt
• Casshern Sins
• Rideback
• Squid Girl season 2
• Mushishi
• Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood OVAs
• FLCL
• Deadman Wonderman (from episode 7)
• Bleach (from episode 251)
• Pokemon Black and White (from episode 61)

As far as simulcasts go, I will be watching these since they are continuing:

• Accel World
• Eureka 7 AO
• Horizon in the Middle of Nowhere season 2

I will be trying these shows out:

• Muv-Luv Alternative: Total Eclipse
• Sword Art Online
• Natsuyuki Rendezvous
• Aesthetica of the Rogue Hero
• Kokoro Connect
• Dog Days'
• Arcana Famiglia
• Jinrui wa Suitai Shimashita
• Uta Koi
• Tari Tari
• Ambitions of Oda Nobuna

Right now, I am looking at eight simulcasts to follow, give or take a couple since I will have much more time during the summer to watch anime. This season is pretty loaded with titles that catch my interest. Up first is Infinite Stratos.

[Glamrgrl104]

Fushigi yuugi episodes 32-34- It starts up being an awesome series again. It kinda has slow parts then picks up with a really good episode.

Angel Beats-episode 1- An interesting concept. I love how it is the same style as Clannad. Could be a worthwhile anime.

[something]

2012/05/29 update

First cours are all done and I'm just starting summer, so let's update spring.

R2 import tier
(01)　　Hyouka - ◄0► - 11 eps - The Endroll arc really stepped up the complexity of the mystery, but Hyouka is not about the mysteries. Mysteries are just vehicles to explore the characters, and this show does that stunningly well. KyoAni have always been masters of brilliantly subtle character development, but usually that's come from Ishihara Tatsuya with Haruhi or the Key adaptations. Now Takemoto Yasuhiro is pulling it off just as well, even though his background as a lead director is more in the comedies (Lucky Star, Haruhi-chan/Churuya-san, Fumoffu) although he also did FMP TSR. [Import - Import - Importing now.]

(02)　　Saki: Achiga-hen - Episode of Side-A - ◄0► - 12 eps - The TV broadcast has concluded, so now we wait for distribution plans for the the bonus episodes. I suppose how one evaluates this series will depend a lot on what they wanted out of it. If you wanted the Achiga girls to be as developed as characters, and as built up as mahjong players, as the Kiyosumi girls, then you may be disappointed. Achiga-hen isn't so much about Achiga... the "Side A" part of the title is a lot more important. Achiga are just a narrative viewpoint (and often not even the main one) through which the non-Kiyosumi bracket of the Nationals is depicted. This show could have done some pretty remarkable things with them if it were two cour, because despite everything, I still really really like the Kiyosumi girls, particularly the Matsumi sisters. And while they played a bit part in the epic finale, the show did a really good job introducing them initially, which I think a lot of people have already forgotten. But Achiga aside, the other schools are amazing, with Senriyama being the obvious stand-outs, as well as Hanada Kirame (SUBARA!) who is just one of my favorite characters of the franchise now. Lots of cameos from the main series cast also delighted me. All in all I had an exceptionally good time with this show, love everyone in it, and have accepted its narrative weaknesses for what they are. Easily a top 10 of the year for me, currently somewhere between #3 and #6 of the shows that have aired so far. [Import - Import - Importing now.]

(03)　　Acchi Kocchi - ◄0► - 12 eps / complete - It's all about Tsumiki. I like everyone in the cast, but Tsumiki takes tsundere-cute (more dere than tsun, but mixed so well) to absolutely deadly levels. She's basically why I'm importing it and I don't regret it at all. This is easily one of the most harmlessly adorable and inoffensive shows in a long time. Final score, 9/10. [Import - Importing now.]


Second tier
(04)　　Nazo no Kanojo X - ▲6 - 13 eps / complete - Oka may have stolen the series, but hot damn Urabe is a godly kuudere. The drool stuff still makes me gag a smidge, but it's easy to look past. Final score, 8/10.

(05)　　Tasogare Otome x Amnesia - ◄0► - 12 eps / complete - Ah, the ending did a thing I kinda figured it would, and I feel as ambivalent as I knew I would, but all in all this is a damn good show. Episodes 10 and 11, particularly 10, are among the best and most intensely emotional of the year. Really brilliant stuff there. While Teiichi eventually wore out his welcome for me and just started to annoy, Yuuko was more than enough to carry the show and then some. She's clearly one of the top tier of characters this year. Final score, 8/10.

(06)　　Upotte!! - ▲3 - 10 eps / complete - Holy shit that final long running gun battle was brilliant, easily among the best I've seen in anime. The ending was a little strange, but no stranger than a show where the girls literally are guns. Really good all in all, too bad it's so short. Final score, 8/10.

(07)　　Sakamichi no Apollon - ▼3 - 12 eps / complete - Something of a weak ending, compared to what came before. The highlight was the school live, and parts of episode 11. Other than that, the handling of the romance got slightly clumsy, or just not to my tastes. I'll call this one an incompletely polished gem. It could have been better but it's still very good. Final score, 8/10.


The Others
(08)　　Uchuu Kyoudai - ◄0► - 14 eps - While the show had been dragging for a bit, the continuation of the selection exam has picked things up. I really really hope this goes at least 4 cour. I need as much Serika sexhair (with her Sawashiro sexvoice!) as I can get. Plus realistic space technology is just cool.

(09)　　Accel World - ▲5 - 12 eps - "It's getting better but I don't think I'll ever be in this for anything except Kuroyukihime and Chiyuri. Well, there is another girl being introduced at least.", I said last time. Well that girl is by far the best thing to happen to this show. I like her way better than Kuroyukihime (who I enjoy, but not as much as I expected) and so long as Niko is a major player. She singlehandedly saved the show entire and prevented me from dropping it, which I would have eventually if she didn't show up. I guess Haru being a bit less of a chore to watch helped a lot too. If Niko fades in importance, this is going to plummet.

(10)　　Kore wa Zombie Desu ka? of the Dead - ▲3 - 10 eps / complete - This show is what this show has always been... just fun. Final score, 8/10.

(11)　　Sankarea - ▼2 - 12 eps / complete - Haha um what was that ending? Pretty decent ending before the last scene, which I still haven't reached a conclusion on but obviously we're left hanging on getting all the important questions answered due to this surely being all we'll get animated. This season focused instead on the Sanka family's circumstances, and I don't think it did much good for my enjoyment, even if it was narratively required. On the balance this was a fun show, and worth my time, but it was definitely uneven. Chihiro, surprisingly, never bothered me too much as a male lead other than a few exceptions, and fuck yes Rea is amazing, as is Mero. And speaking of Mero, a spinoff show with her and her two friends would be incredible, way better than the main series. I can only dream. Final score, 7/10.

(12)　　Shining Hearts: Shiawase no Pan - ▼5 - 12 eps / complete - Kind of a lolwut ending but I can't say the show ever betrayed my expectations. Maybe because I had none. But last episode aside, this show always did things more competently than I expected, and never gave me a reason to complain much. Final score, 7/10.

(13)　　Sengoku Collection - ▼1 - 12 eps - I'm impressed by how much I enjoy most of these stories. Central narrative is totally on again off again but that doesn't bother me.

(14)　　Fate/Zero (2nd part) - ▼3 - 12 eps / complete - It was okay I guess. I never got hooked into the franchise as much as the vast majority of otakudom, but I liked it. Rider/Waver > All though, no question. The only other characters I liked anywhere near as much were Iri, Maaya and usually Kiritsugu. Well, and loli Rin of course but we don't see her much. Kiritsugu's backstory was probably the high point of the second cour, with it being mostly downhill from there except for the big Rider/Waver episode. The ending didn't do anything for me. Final score for this cour and the whole series, 7/10.

(15)　　Yurumates 3D - ◄0► - 13 eps - I really like this, and I'm glad it's continuing into another cour, but at only 3 minutes each it's kid of silly to compare it to full length anime. I'll just track it under the "Other" section going forward when I get a Summer post up.


OVAs, Specials, other oddities
Fairy Tail - 136 eps - The filler arc isn't bad at all when the fucking jiggle butt gang isn't around, oh my god I hate them more than I can put into words. But I don't even think I'd have known this was non-manga filler if I wasn't told. I do hope the next few episodes push things along a bit more though.
Hunter x Hunter (2011) - 37eps - Goddamnit this show is so fucking awesome sometimes. Amazing final fight in the Heavens' Arena arc. I dunno, I feel pretty confident in saying this is superior to the older anime. I just hope they skip through Greed Island as quickly as possible. >_> And stretch Yorknew out as long as possible! Also: Hisoka is one of the best villains ever.
Smile Precure - 19 eps - I thought Heartcatch was pretty awesome but holy shit I think this is going to be my favorite Precure (granted it's only the third I've seen). Show make me cry two weeks in a row, first with the relay race episode and then the Yayoi's father episode. Fucking awesome series and cast. Nao and Yayoi are the best. <3 <3 <3 And the enemies, while predictably pathetic, are leaps and bounds better and more tolerable than the idiots from Suite. At least there's some slight feeling of menace from them from time to time. ...Very slight.


Dropped:
Kidou Senshi Gundam AGE - 27 eps - Might as well just officially drop it.
Queen's Blade: Rebellion - 4 eps - I... don't think I'll get back to this. I'm not sure I want to dedicate the 8 episodes of time when that's not time I have, or time I could spend rewatching something I care a lot more about (like Mouretsu Pirates again!).
Medaka Box - 5 eps
AKB0048 - 4 eps
Haiyore! Nyaruko-san - 3 eps
Natsuiro Kiseki - 3 eps
Tsuritama - 2 eps
Eureka Seven AO - 1 ep
Lupin the Third: Mine Fujiko to Iu Onna - 1 ep


Still need/plan to try (may not have aired):
none


(Blah blah disclaimer, the number on a tier is not at all indicative of a show's absolute quality, merely its quality relative to the other shows on the list).

Not the strongest season in recent memory, definitely not as good as Spring 2011 (or this Winter for that matter, but this Winter was insanely good), and a pretty small import list from me at only 3 series, but a solid enough season anyway. It's one that gave me lots of enjoyment and that's all I ask.

Fair number of shows are continuing into Summer:
- Hyouka
- Saki (3 bonus episodes only)
- Uchuu Kyoudai
- Accel World
- Sengoku Collection

[HitokiriShadow]

Okay, I'm going to do one of these for the first time in 2-3 years. I kept telling myself "I'll do one this time" and it kept not happening. Part of the problem used to be the sheer number of shows, but I ended up dropping about half of what I was watching this season (beyond the initial drops of the first ~2 weeks), mostly due to other things sucking up my time.

And once again, I'm really annoyed at how late in the season AKB0048 started. I don't want to do a write up with a few episodes left to go in a one cour show, but I decide to wait until it finishes, I'll probably once again never actually get around to doing it. I probably would have done a write up last season if Mirrai Nikki didn't run several weeks into this season or I didn't make the mistake of deciding to wait until it finished.


---FANTASTIC---
Mouretsu Pirates (14-26, Finished)
The ending was technically inconclusive, but it wrapped up that ending arc well enough and we're getting a movie, which the unresolved bits of the last episode were clearly leading into it. Even if I didn't know if we were getting any more, that would be a minor issue. The final episode really hit it out of the park with an awesome major space battle and it was really just a perfect encapsulation of everything I love about this show. The second half was fantastic in general, with lots of focus on the yacht club girls overall, even if they were uninvolved in the conclusion. Kato Marika is quite likely my favorite lead character ever and is a model that all others (of comparable character types; obviously doesn't work for, say, Kiritsugu) regardless of sex. Also, episode 17. That kiss. It's technically a Winter show, but it was ultimately the most enjoyable, entertaining and just damn good show of the Spring season. It also became basically became my import show for Spring '12.




---Very Good---
Fate/Zero (14-25, Finished)
Well, it was what I was waiting for since the show began, it was more or less what I expected, and I think it did a pretty damn good job of doing it. But its also very much a set up for the F/SN story, so its kind of hard to judge or appreciate on its own; its the first half of a much bigger story. I'm really hoping for a Heaven's Feel anime in the near future. I bought the first set, but I'm unsure on the second set. I want it, but that desire is heavily dependent on that Heaven's Feel anime happening and it might just be harder to justify spending the money thanks to some other splurges I've made in past months.

AKB0048 (1-10, Ongoing)
I went into this expecting it to be, at best, an enjoyable trainwreck. Then the first episode surprised me by being genuinely good. The show somehow managed to take its completely ridiculous premise, treat it seriously and actually be good. I don't know that the show has quite lived up to that first episode, but its certainly continued to be damn good and one of my favorite new shows of the season. It's doing a really good job of balancing the cast. It doesn't give everyone equal focus, but that's a good thing and it made nice choices in who it chose to focus on and make a part of longer (and plot oriented) arcs. The main flaw is the godawful CG during some of the dance scenes, but that hasn't been a major issue since about episode 4.




---GOOD---
Smile Precure (9-19)
Hard to compare this to other Precure shows since it's only the third one I've seen and I only finished one of those previous ones (but I will finish Heartcatch someday.... really!). It's definitely the best though. The girls are kind of flat characters but that doesn't matter because they're so damn fun. None of the episodes of been dull, every one has been a lot of fun and its had a few truly brilliant moments. And it actually has non-terrible villains that are even occasionally actually funny (the witch in particular gets some good scenes, like the policebooth). The plot is pretty bare bones, so not much to say about that, but its not suffering from Suite's problem of recycling the same damn villain plan/episode concept (girls fall for obvious attempt to break up their friendship that only works because they instantly blame the other one and won't fucking talk to each other) or dragging out sub-plots a dozen episodes past their expiration date.

Sengoku Collection (1-12, Ongoing)
Well, this show has been.... unusual. It was not at all what I expected going in or what it appeared to be after the first episode. It's ended up being a serious of mostly one episode stories focusing on different characters. Every once in a while Nobunaga shows up and the show remembers the "collect the treasures" thing it introduced in episode 1. Those stories have been pretty varied in style and concept. One was a prison/revenge movie. One was Ocean's Eleven. One was... just really fucking weird. The quality and entertainment level varies a bit, but on the whole, its been a fun ride.

Accel World (1-12)
I'm enjoying this show quite a bit, but its not living up to its potential. I like Kuroyukihime a lot, but a show starring someone as wonderful as her should be a lot better than it has been. The recently introduced Niko is also fantastic and I'm not sure who I like more, though Niko benefits a bit from not being the main love interest. At least Haru is an actual character and not the cardboard cutout male lead that most shows have. This was an import consideration for a while but I ultimately decided against it. I really love Kuro and Niko, but the show's flaws outweigh and it seems unlikely that Kuro's amazing personality will be able to overcome light novel action/romance conventions and rules, as she's already clearly suffering from them. While some of the problems are related to the game world itself, most of the show's problems can be easily fixed (and all of them are fairly minor), so the show still has a lot of potential to become much better.

Saki: Achiga-hen (1-12, TV airing finished)
This was a pretty fun show and fairly good overall.... but also hugely disappointing. This will be strong contender for the Biggest Disappointment of the Year. Not because it was bad or even mediocre, but because it should have been sooooo much better than it was. Few shows so desperately needed an additional cour (for reasons other than simply continuing from where it ended) than this Achiga-hen does. I actually like the girls of Achiga-hen more than the main group of the original series, but the show is so crunched for time that the show just doesn't have time to do much of anything with them, at the mahjong table or away from it. Kuro is the only one who's matches get a remotely decent amount of time.... and she was mostly forgotten in the show's one epic mahjong match. I think there's a realistic chance that Achiga won't actually make it to the finals, which would narratively justify some things but not close to all of the show's problems. What a goddamn shame.




---DECENT---
Natsuiro Kiseki (1-12, Finished)
Fun little show overall, aside from one episode that just reeeeeally pissed me off, for several reasons. The show killed its shot at being an import with that episode, but it would have fallen off eventually anyway. The show was pleasant and decently entertaining, but ultimately, its pretty forgettable. It's just missing that special something and I'm not going to have any lingering attachment to the show. I'll probably pretty much forget about it by about halfway this season.

Hyouka (1-11, Ongoing)
The show is visually stunning, easily one of the best looking shows ever made. The show uses interesting visuals to present the discussion of its mysteries as well. It has a pretty good cast, Eru and Mayaka are great fun, Houtarou's a pretty good lead (and the show isn't a romance at all, which further helps) and Satoshi is pretty interesting, particularly some little hints about him in the second arc. It's a nice character piece and mysteries are usually interesting. It doesn't have any real flaws, but my interest level in it is just moderate. I'm just not as into it as most of the other shows I stuck with.

Queen's Blade Rebellion (1-12, Finished)
I was expecting to watch a few episodes of this and drop it. The first two seasons only had a couple characters I liked and they were relatively minor characters and the general story didn't have much going for it. Rebellion quickly showed itself to be vastly better than the first two seasons. It has a much better cast, with only about two characters I really didn't care for and they were among the less important characters. The story is much better and it actually did some decent drama. Here's hoping there's another season, since the ending was not at all conclusive. The show's biggest flaw was that I really, really, really hate what they did to a particular returning character, one of the few I really liked in the first season. Who the fuck thought that was a good idea?




Utter Abomination
Gundam AGE (25-37)
Good god, its truly impressive how horrible this show is. A few episodes manage passable levels of writing and are decent if the rest of the show is completely ignored, but most of the time it ranges between "bad" and "a seven year old's first creative writing assignment". Some episodes are rather spectacular in their abuse of their undiscerning target audience's intelligence, particularly the high school years of the second generation. And the show's dedication to its absolutely horrible handling of its female characters is something to behold. I'm long past the point where "because its Gundam" could keep me watching. I just need to know exactly what it does with its female characters, particularly one in this last generation that it seems to be attempting to actually do something resembling character development for.




---Dropped--- (In no particular order)
Haiyore! Nyaruko-san (1-7)
It made the mistake of taking the Nyarko/main character romance with the slightest bit of seriousness and reciprocity. I said from pretty much the beginning that that would be a huge problem, because they just shouldn't be used for anything other than a joke. This also made it much, much harder to put up with the way the two one-sided homosexual crushes were treated, and there was already an imbalance in the flow of violent/mean-spirited rejections due to there not being anyone to do that to the male lead. It also just never lived up to sheer insane fun of the first episode. None of the others were half as fun. So I dropped it the moment the show treated the the main characters' relationship as a plausible, reciprocal romance in the tiniest bit.

Nazo no Kanojo X (1-5)
It was cute in some ways and definitely unique and interesting. But while I wasn't particularly put off by the spit fetish stuff, it did present something of a barrier to getting invested in the relationship. There were also a few other things that irritated me a bit. The main reason I dropped it was simply due to my free time getting sucked up by Tales of Graces F and Atelier Meruru, making it a lot harder to get myself to watch the shows that I was not so into.

Uchuu Kyoudai (1-5)
Got a little dull when Mutta went to America, and astronaut stuff isn't of particular interest to me. I liked Mutta and what the show was, but I just couldn't pull myself away from my games to get back to this show.

Jormungand (1-4)
I actually really liked what I saw of this and this is, in fact, my kind of show. I'd really to like to finish it someday. But I think this just shows how integral the discussion has become to my anime viewing experience. There were also problems with availability and who was subbing it, which contributed to the lack of the people I normally discuss and read opinions of in the threads for this. And of the few bloggers I follow, only one was watching this, its one I'm not particularly fond of and his approach to this one was particularly irritating and not useful for me because he was familiar with the source material. Basically, there just wasn't anything for me to gain by watching it weekly and while its something that was of interest to me, its not something I watch for the usual reasons and there just wasn't any benefit to watching it weekly rather than, say, picking up a cheap R1 release in a few years. So when I already had less motivation than usual to keep up with shows.... yeah, dropped like a rock.

Medaka Box (1-4)
I actually think I might have watched the 5th episode but forgot to mark it on my chart. Whatever, don't care enough to check. This show was, for the most part, quite dull. There was only one character in the cast that I liked and found amusing on a regular basis. She was usually lucky to get 30 seconds of screentime. Medaka was boring, main guy was boring, and when it was time to add a new character and they chose the boring guy instead of the amusing sempai. In most cases, I probably would have stuck with it a bit longer to see if it improved, but manga readers were particularly vocal about this show's.... situation, so I had no reason to expect it to improve with the one cour it had. Well, a second cour has been announced, but I just don't care enough to watch any more in the hopes that the second season truly is good stuff.

Tsuritama (1)
Main guy had really, really obnoxious quirk, female cast was non-existent, premise did absolutely nothing for me.

Sakamichi no Apllon (1)
Not my thing, didn't look like the show was going to let its female characters do anything. I was amused by the yaoi undertones and might have actually continued if it was clearly a homosexual romance. That would have actually interested. But I have no attachment to the time period and don't care about jazz at all.

Zetman (1)
Decent concept, but its a one cour show based on a manga that's been going for nearly a decade and the execution was particularly horrible. Horrid pacing, horrible main character (though not for the usual reasons), utterly failed to make me give a shit about anyone or anything, and one sort-of fight scene had really awkward animation, so that didn't bode well for this even as a bad, cheesy, throughback to awful 90's grimdark OVAs.

Upotte!! (1)
Just didn't do much for me, had plenty else to watch.

Acchi Kocchi (1-5)
This was actually very cute and the show I most regret not finishing. The first half of the first episode nearly put me to sleep, but then it either got better or clicked with me/I got on the show's wavelength/however you want to put it, and I really liked it. It's a very cute show. But I just couldn't quite get myself to watch them when I was really into Tales of Graces, and I fell behind. Three episodes behind is usually my limit. If its more than that, that's almost always lethal to my ability to finish a show. That just leaves me too far removed from the discussion, the "experience" when I'm posting and reading things several weeks later.

Tasogare Otome x Amnesia (1-8)
I liked Yuuko and, um, the girl that couldn't see the ghosts was pretty amusing. But the male lead was Joe Generic which really hurt the character dynamic and became particularly problematic in the last two episodes I watched. And those two episodes came after another two parter (er, actually, I think it was single episode that should have been two) that I had other problems with. That made it really, really hard to give a damn and come back when the time suck issues interfered with my anime watching.

Sankarea (1-8)
Sanka was great and much of the show was really good in execution.... but I really tired of Sanka's horrible, horrible father. I really wish he had been shoved to the side and ignored until the very last episode. He was acceptable in the opening episodes but he's the kind of horrible person that is very, very.... draining to deal with on an ongoing basis. Especially since by being the main character's father, it was basically inevitable that he would eventually be redeemed which just DOES NOT WORK with people as utterly horrible as him. I don't even want to have to see him and I absolutely fucking do not want any sort of redemption from him. In any case, his excessive involvement in the show was hurting my enjoyment, so.... video games, lack of motivation, you get the idea.

Shining Hearts (1-4)
It was pleasant. The main girls were kinda bland, but Xiaomei was fantastic. She's the main reason I wish I kept with it. Plus I'm kind of curious how things played out. But it was just okay-ish overall, and I think there were availability issues (the group I was using seemed to drop it or fell way behind themselves), so it stood no chance against Graces/Meruru.

Kore wa Zombie Desu Ka? Of the Dead (1-5)
This is the other show I really wish I kept up with. Even after if finished and I was 5 episodes behind, I thought I might get around to finishing it a week or two ago. But then things happened (.... I started another game) and now its incredibly unlikely I'll ever finish it. This was as fun as the first season and I quite liked it, it was purely a victim of my time getting sucked up by those games.


.... Geez that took a long time to write. That's why I didn't do one of these for so long.

[EmperorBrandon]

Originally Posted by HitokiriShadow

Three episodes behind is usually my limit. If its more than that, that's almost always lethal to my ability to finish a show. That just leaves me too far removed from the discussion, the "experience" when I'm posting and reading things several weeks later.

I don't know. I do find being removed from the discussion can be a significant factor for some series (I'm certainly glad I kept current with things like Madoka Magica for instance), but for something that's just plotless fun like Acchi Kocchi I don't see how it would matter much. I was rather late catching up to it (because I find it easier to prioritize officially simulcast series), but I still enjoyed the heck out of it and don't feel like I missed anything. I'd recommend starting back up on KoreZom 2 if you get the chance too. I think it did a better job staying consistently fun than the first series did even.

[HitokiriShadow]

Originally Posted by EmperorBrandon

I don't know. I do find being removed from the discussion can be a significant factor for some series (I'm certainly glad I kept current with things like Madoka Magica for instance), but for something that's just plotless fun like Acchi Kocchi I don't see how it would matter much. I was rather late catching up to it (because I find it easier to prioritize officially simulcast series), but I still enjoyed the heck out of it and don't feel like I missed anything. I'd recommend starting back up on KoreZom 2 if you get the chance too. I think it did a better job staying consistently fun than the first series did even.

It's not necessarily a matter of plot speculation and that kind of thing (though that does make it an even bigger problem for those kinds of shows) and doesn't necessarily make any logical sense. It's an issue with feeling removed or disconnected from discussion. It's just how it is for me.

The other, probably bigger, problem for both of those shows is finding time. The new season is starting and its packed, and I have other things that aren't hobby-related that are reducing my freetime in the upcoming month or so. I may try to finish them at some point, particularly if I manage to have a day or two at some point in which I have a bunch of free time, few or no other shows to watch (I also still need to finish Heartcatch Precure and I want to get a Madoka Magica rewatch in sometime this year, so both shows would be competing with those for time), and I don't feel like starting up a game. But the farther away it gets from them, the harder its going to be for me to go back and finish them. Though in Zombie's case, there's supposed to be a movie or OVA coming out, so that might provide some motivation.

[something]

Originally Posted by HitokiriShadow

It's not necessarily a matter of plot speculation and that kind of thing (though that does make it an even bigger problem for those kinds of shows) and doesn't necessarily make any logical sense. It's an issue with feeling removed or disconnected from discussion. It's just how it is for me.

Pretty much the same. I bet I could count on one hand the number of shows from the past couple years that I've gone back to after getting 5 or more eps behind. 3 isn't so bad usually, but unless I'm enthusiastic about a show, 3 can sometimes be deadly too.

I do often get more behind than that on really long shows like HxH, Fairy Tail, or PreCure but it's not as much of a problem there.

Though in Zombie's case, there's supposed to be a movie or OVA coming out, so that might provide some motivation.

There's supposed to be another OAD if I remember correctly.

[HitokiriShadow]

Originally Posted by something

I do often get more behind than that on really long shows like HxH, Fairy Tail, or PreCure but it's not as much of a problem there.

What really killed me on Fairy Tail was the stupidly short availability of the episodes on Crunchyroll. Even when I fell 20-30 episodes behind (.... for the second time) I had some interest in catching up. But not enough to download them, particularly since it seems like torrents for some of the rip groups don't say alive for more than a few months. Even now, I regret falling behind and dropping Fairy Tail and still kind of want to catch up, but time is huge problem for being 50+ episodes behind and it really is a pain to have to download that much from that far back.

[EmperorBrandon]

Originally Posted by something

There's supposed to be another OAD if I remember correctly.

Yeah, it will be released on October 20th (Blu-ray with Vol. 6 of the manga).