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So basically my mates and I decided to do a showing of a show this season and we chose Schwarzesmarken.
It turned out to be a pretty interesting and exciting masterpiece about human behaviours studies and complicated human relationships.


Non-spoilerino summary: In an alternate version of the 1980s, the Cold War rages on even amidst an invasion of alien creatures. Set in communist East Germany, Schwarzesmarken tells the heroic tales of the country’s strongest mecha unit, The 666th TSF Squadron Schwarzesmarken (Black Marks), as it fights against the dreadful and looks-like-shit aliens, BETAs, and shows the West the superiority of communist doctrine and technology.


Story 10/10:
No ... perfect story exists without plotwists. People likes Urobuchi’s works/masterpieces/craps for this particular reason. While it appears on the surface to be just generic mecha+harem anime, Schwarzesmarken stands out from the crowd thanks to its setting.
It’s as much about the hell of living within a totalitarian communist state as it is breathing under immense war-stress as they are on to fight deadly aliens with giant robots. The people live in the fear of secret police, STASI, that a wrong word can send them to prison and get tortured as traitors. Thanks to this, you’re never sure which characters are trustworthy and which are informants, and this is the source of all the dramas later on.
Above that, Schwarzesmarken simulates the wartime psychology of military combatants during the Cold War Era with East German precision. Characters in this show are more prone to act out of control and without normal common sense, which is this show’s true beauty. The way the story is told is revolutionary as well. Focus of the show is always shifting from one to another thus a large amount of information is able to be conveyed to the viewers. Schwarzesmarken manages to take the viewers by surprise everytime as it displays hidden symbolisms in every singular frames.
On the other hand it shows a slight hint on the structural weakness of a non-democracy ruling institution. The secret police is fighting with the military and the politicians in front of a survival crisis—the invasion of BETAs. It just show communism won’t last and freedom to people is the ultimate solution to rule.


Characters 10/10:
The MC, Theodor Eberbach, is not the generic MC you can see in every show or justice-wannabe Shirou. He’s a normal dude like you and me who wants to go away from troubles. Though for sake of the plot he must save the world and get all the booties. He’s the most normal beings yet the most boring person in the show.

*Spoiler*
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Except he bangs his sister.
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*Spoiler*

The loli on the front cover, Katia, is nothing but a plot device. A defector from the West, believes that everyone can get along if they just sit down and talk, just your generic naïve character and moe trope. Annoying as hell as she starts speaking thanks to her VA, she literally does nothing and react to nothing. The female version of Raku from Nichijou, she is oblivious not to feelings but betrayal that will cost her life. She just exists because the story needs her to.

Irisdina is the Shirou and the punching bag of the show. Full of justice and regrets of killing her own brother when he was accused of treason to continue her living, she decided to fight the ugly BETAs. As the leader of the 666th TSF Schwarzesmarken, she owns great booty and convinced the MC to save the world. Should be the OTP with the MC.

And here comes the miracle that saves and carries the show, Lise. As Theodor’s step-sister, she joined the show before the climax. Because she is the climax of the show. Later revealed as a spy from the STASI, she ,as all other anime little sister, adores his onii-chan to a obsessive degree. She later shows her true colour and sell out the captain, Irisdina due to her jealousy. The rollercoaster she brings doesn’t stop here as she is the main force to stop her precious onii-chan to rescue his love. Lise also carries a heavy role as the leader of the divided fraction within STASI. Basically she is just a cute sister that wants to dominate the country and live with her precious onii-chan happily ever after. For that she paid a heavy price including selling out her friends and her body to STASI.

*Spoiler*
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-----Of course she offers her body to her precious onii-chan. Every 2D imouto’s ultimate tactical weapon it is.----
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*Spoiler*

Lise shows a conflicted and complicated personality that perfectly symbolise the twitched soul under communism supremacy. She performs numerous treacherous acts just to be with her precious onii-chan. She even sacrificed her purity so that she can secure a better future, just to be with her onii-chan.
Then she displays a truly brutal and violent behaviour that suits her yandere-imouto character seasmlessly. At the end she is just a tragedic little sister whose one-and-only wish is her onii-chan’s affection and love.


Art 6/10:
Looks miles better than that crap from Studio DEEN so it means Schwarzesmarken is a OK looking anime. Nothing to write home about it. Although the BETAs looks like utter craps, there is a scene where aliens that looks like balllsacks with eyelashes. Truly indecent yet not scary. RIP the mecha design, it’s just tin boxes moving around in this show.


Music 7/10:
Schwarzesmarken got Fripside to do a pretty decent opening song. It sounds like Black Bullet’s OP. The ending fits the show pretty well too. The sounds effects in the show that emphasizes on “Mai Fatherland” and “Go and Die you Capitalist Pigs” enhances the show’s viewing experience.


Overall 8/10:
Plotwist and marvellous storytelling with an emphasize on wartime PTSD that happens along with a forbidden incest love, what can you ask for more?
Schwarzesmarken may not be the most “hard-mecha” such as Gundam or “silly-romance mecha” such as Macross, but it is a mindbending show that involves viewers to rethink the possibility of communism and most of it, the weight of a little sister’s love.

As bad as the first season will be the simple conclusion for Return of Kings except the absence of Angela's OP.
No story indeed, Please help me to find one.
And the lines are keep repeating because there are too few lines and the plot is too thin.
K is still very beautiful and holds a lot of production value on it's own. The artstyle is distinctive yet pretty, the backgrounds are truly amazing.
No doubt its the best looking anime of the season(Winter 15).
The OP is terrible. They switched Angela out and used the seiyuu of Anna. What a mess. The ending is quite bland but manageable.
Soundtracks used ... are another shining point of the show. Perfect bland with the flow especially the battles. And sounds posh during normal scenes too along with the gorgeous visuals.
Everyone who stays for the show are here for the boys. And they're even better, just freaking resurrect my Mikoto already.
Characters own very strong personalities. Like they're the point of the show.
I found myself constantly skipping scenes especially with Yashiro repeating the same things or random craps. It's quite bad but on the same time Yukari is making me stay for the show, Munakata is shining bright for this season too.
As a conclusion, for fujoshi's or fudanshi's eyes only. No one will come for the story. In some sense quite alike with the Kancolle or the will-be-happening Touken anime, but way better looking.

#1: You need to watch Soukyuu no Fafner: Dead Aggressor to have a glimpse on what's happening ( either the TV series or the recap movie will do), and of course Exodus season 1.
#2: Must watch for those who have watched season 1 of Exodus.
#3: Good for fans of mecha and tragedy.

The show picks up after the 1st season of Exodus, where Kazuki and Soushi lead the Human Army side to the Promised Land, while the Island D's staffs try to fend off Festums and the increasingly potent assimilation effect.

While the last season seems to be interesting after the second half, the second season dropped ... this flaw and let the death train rolls.

*spoiler alert*
It starts of by showing the betrayal of the ally, Neo-UN and death of one of the pilot.
And one major character is assimilated to move the plot.
Another major character is half dead.
And the betrayal game is strong. Neo-UN is getting betrayed by their Mir.
*spoiler end*

The major strong point of 2nd season is the momentum. No drag. No stopping. The plot just develops and plot twists strike at any moment at will.
The scriptwriters have done a great job for not making loose ends.

Animation wise, Fafner is not a hand-drawn marvel from Sunrise, yet the CG is a level below the peak of CG mecha animation-Knights of Sidonia.
All the mecha and fight animations are animated decently, god knows where the budget comes from.
Fafner still keeps some of the artstyles from it's 00's TV series, characters aren't as good looking as modern animes as they still have those 90's-00's moe-huge-eyes. And characters look very similar to each other.
The Festums are still as ungodly disgusting as one could imagine. Can't help with it.

Character development is another spot 2nd season benefited from the 1st season. New characters need not to be introduced, old characters are developed.
And we see one of the old guy from the 00's TV series makes a comeback. Marvelous.
Other than that it's business as usual, you just sit back and pray your favourite character won't get killed.

The new OSTs are stellar. Angela's "DEAD OR ALIVE" is one of the best opening of the season and is getting people into the series. The ending, Horizon is creepy, but well suits the "everyone will die before arrival at the promised land" vibe.
The mecha battle tracks are marvelous too. Should be the same as 1st season where they use Angela's その時、蒼穹へ (Sono Toki, Soukyuu e).

Overall it's an exciting and unexpected season of Fafner. The 2nd season outperforms the 1st season and the 00's TV series by a big margin. The "plot seeds" that are planted in 1st season has given countless intense mecha fight and emotional trainwrecks in season 2.
Given how the plot is going, we're very likely to see a 3rd season, or 3rd coup for Exodus.
May the guys from Island D survive the attack of new Festums.

It's been a long time since an anime managed to trigger my sensation, and dedication.
Haikyuu may lacks the "kira kira" sides of characters and superpowers when compared to Kuroko no Basuke, but it gains an ultimate forte-realism.
Owing to a balanced plot, Haikyuu may contains a tonnes of shounen elements like other shounen titles, character developments make sense.

Development in characters, are viewed as growth, rather than power-ups given by the plot device.
I used the term growth cause the increase in ability for the characters is minimal.
What the plot does is let them growth and exploit their potential, and makes you feel that the characters have ... grown up, both their mentality and ability.
Characters are likable, or are your average anime boys, nothing special here.
Well the design is more to the kawaii side, which is an enjoyable thing to behold.
Feelings for the characters will develop overtime as the plot goes and audience discover the other sides of the characters.
And good rivals are required too. Haikyuu is one of a few rare titles where the rivals will push themselves harder when the main characters retaliate.
Shounen as it is, this in turn makes the main characters to give all of them and pump you and me up.

Biggest strength of the show is displayed on the volleyball matches.
Marvelous directing and well-placed slo-mo scenes manage to place the audience within the matches, and in turn feel the immense pressure and intensity.
You just can't take a breathe when the matches starts.
The production value is over-the-top, even just for the volleyball matches alone.

I'm not a fan for the two OPs and two EDs, they're quite decent and have the common shounen vibe.
Tho the soundtracks are marvelous. Especially the piano track that plays everytime a character is going to stand up and rise again from his failure.
the soundtracks helped to heat up the atmosphere and max the hype. That's the main job and I call it a job well done.

While I.G. has been taking blame for the poor Arise, their efforts in animating sport titles are widely recognised.
Among that, Haikyuu remains the best and purest to the shounen core, while manages to keep the audience motivated and passion for more.
Mou ikkai! Season 2 and beyond for us Production I.G.!

Made for mecha fans. Made for the old Fafner anime fans.
For newbies do watch the old prequels before watching this or you'll have a hard time Google-ing for details.
*the EXTENDED episode 1 is a must watch,further explanation makes everything in the first half more reasonable.

Basically it's about mecha fighting. The plot is a continuation of last season(the old sequel and the movie) , sacrifice and peace.
In the new season more people of the D Island have joined the pilot squad. They become stronger and gain new abilities to make them stand against the now-stronger silicon-liked monsters: Festum.
The duo are back on their Fafners to ... join the fight. And the old squad.
The main point of the plot is still the interaction with the outside world-the remnants of humanity. And all the tragedies happen during the interaction.
Just good-ol Fafner, if that's all you ask.

The start-up of the show is kind of slow. Too much introduction is spent on the new guys. But the new guys are bland, compare to the still awesome and kicking-ass old squad.
Little reference is made towards the prequels. Which is kind of good as it won't further stretch the thin and boring first half.
But the magnificent ending of the first half overturns everything. The awesomeness of Kazuki and Soushi/Mark Sein and Mark Nicht overwhelmingly saves the series.
The new Fafners are quite interesting on their own too. But what's more interesting is the price the new crew need to pay to pilot their uber-powerful Fafners to protect their Island.

Honestly the graphics looks dated. When compare to the old prequel, the HD-remake-feeling is real, but below than average when compare to the new series. The character design is kind of ugly when something in Aldnoah.Zero comes into mind.
The Fafners are still rocking well, it's just feeling old.
Guess that what you will get when try to continue something from ten years ago, or budget?

The soundtracks are awesome. Angela give their best again.
Is it better than the epic Shangri-La and Separation? Never.
Exist,the OP is typical Angela scream-Rock-and roll. Works everytime when the main guys are in action to kick some silicon arses. Just pure aweesomeness.
The ED is average. Sad and emotional.

Exodus is meant for fans of the original prequels.
I see no point in making a sequel after so long but Xebec made it. And it's brilliant when Kazuki uses Mark Sein again. So kudos to them.
And I don't think one should watch this before watching the old season 1 and Heaven and Earth movie. It's pointless as Exodus doesn't spend much time to explain the terminology and stuffs. Have fun Google-ing if you want to.
Anyway it is an enjoyful season. Hope for more awesomeness on the second part of Exodus.

Introduction: Shirobako is an anime about an anime crew working in an anime studio to produce anime ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
So it’s all about anime (｡◕‿‿◕｡)

Shirobako means white box in Japanese. In the anime industry, this refers to a video recording that is distributed to members of the production staff prior to airing. Nowadays they use discs for it.

Shirobako wasn’t popular until middle of first half (eps 5-6) where the plot started to shine and otakus (or anime enthusiasts) started to spread this anime around forums and blogs. And that was the time where I jumped onto the bandwagon and started to follow the series ... weekly.

The story is about anime production, and the CONFLICTS AND COMPLICATIONS in making an anime.
Life is hard when dealing with others,such as in real life and in Shirobako.
Too many arseholes around to make an easy job goes haywire.
Sometime it’s a studio,while the other time are the animators,or the production staffs who’re responsible for the project.
A normal anime cast comprises of at least half a hundred of people. And the seasonal nature of anime production means the crew for each anime for a studio won’t be the same.
That’s a perfect recipe for troubles and table-flipping.

Next is the time management issue in this anime. Each episode’s core is literally the race to meet the deadline.
The tension between people is animated fabulously well here, as compromises need to be made all of the time to finish the targets. Quarrels are not rare for this anime. Just like our life.
Humors are placed perfectly, with some very stupid but heart-warming scenes.
For example there’s a scene where the director need to go through a hell’s worth of obstacles just to meet someone important.
AND ALL THE DRIFTS INVOLVED DURING TRANSPORTATION OMG

Details of anime production are included in every episode. One will definitely be more informed about the production of anime for sure. And the characters in the show represents each side of it.

Miyamori,the protagonist is a production assistant whose dream is to make an anime with her friends in high school’s anime club. Her charm is outstanding and it’s what that maintain the flow of first half of Shirobako.
Then you got her friends. Ema, whose dream is to become an animator. Midori who would like to write scripts for anime. Shizuka has a seiyuu dream. Misa is a 3D renderer.
Each of them covers an aspect of anime production, which Miyamori being the one taking the leading role and coordinating in an anime studio.
OTOH,Hiraoka is an arsehole who keeps whining about everything BUT is one interesting character to move the plot in second half.

The characters are all moe-ly designed, as you can expect from P.A. Works that brings us Angel Beats and Nagi no Asukara.
And they are moe in a correct way. Even the big guys are cute =D
The characters are so important in a way that Shirobako is all about the interactions among all of them in making an anime.

One thing that makes Shirobako so unique,and special is the critique towards the anime industry.
The reuse, and recycle of assets are so frequent so that deadline can be met without the need to do a recap chapter.
*recap chapters happen when a studio can’t finish the required episodes in time,so well some editing will grant them an extra week of time :D
Then we got one of the most serious issue, the mediocrity of anime rendering quality, let it be key animations or 3D animations or both.
This happens when a big studio hires some random studios or animators to help with the animations and they have f***ed up.
Sounds familiar isn’t it?

Soundtracks wise is average. Perhaps its the only weak point of Shirobako. BUT the second ending,Platinum Jet,is staggeringly awesome.
Along with the art that showcases how a character is designed,coloured and applied into the background. And the’re six of them. Oh boy 10/10 for that.
The production value is beyond godlike. Every aspect from the opening until the ending is polished to make sure that the anime has an “anime-making” vibe.

Shirobako is just so lovely, and special, and unique in its on way.
I just hope P.A. Works got a sequel ready by now, or stretch the current one to 50 episodes or whatsoever.
Peeps who know me will know that I’m an anime hipster who opposes sequels, but for once in a while I just hope they do one for Shirobako.
Because Shirobako is a gem. One that I found myself feeling so enjoyable and satisfied for the first time since I started my weekly anime watching habit.

In an era where anime industry has bloomed and gained international recognition,the quality control has gone with the past, all it’s left is the swarm of mediocre adaptions for every season.
Current anime is just so generic and alike, shounen ones sure will have harem plot, harem ones will get some shounen plot because it’s mainstream.
All we can do is cross our fingers and hope for the best, and Shirobako S2 (づ｡◕‿‿◕｡)づ

Special.
That's the only word to describe Kids on the Slope.

Watanabe's works are always one of a kind. Better if Yoko Kanno is responsible for the soundtracks.
Jazz,or jaz-zi,is the backbone of the anime. So good that this is the first anime I watched while wearing my headphones all of the time.
It's just pure eargasm.
Watch it with a pair of good cans definitely will cure cancer and ebola.

The plot is full of twists, and emotional turns, as you can expect from a slice of life genre anime. Due to the pace of the anime ( Watanabe-sensei magic ) , everything just come and go, while leaving ... an impact in your heart.
Developments are there, but you won't feel the drag, which is a major flaw of the genre.

Characters are brilliantly designed. This anime is an adaption from a manga. So main characters and side characters shouldn't have any major flaws.
The plot is set in sixties, at the time where Beatles were still rolling and taking acids everyday.
So the characters might get a bit outdated, in the sense of conversations and actions. Which is great because the ACG industry doesn't give a lot of attention of details to the social status and environment when they try to make something that set in motion in other era other than modern times.

Art wise it follows the manga. So no mindbending eye candy instead of something you can imagine from the sixties. Again Watanabe-sensei's magic. YOU CAN EVEN SEE MINOR BLURRING ON THE SCREEN .
The artstyle fits the story perfectly. That's what I can say.

Watch it with a pair of good headphone. Or good hi-fi.
The random pop-out, or insertion of jazz is amazing and staggering.
These are a few of my favorite things~