#I know it looks kinda funny to post something wholesome when episode 7 looks super angsty AHAHAHAHHAVS💀💀

[bespectacled-panda]

after seeing dumpywoof’s post I was inspired to do a tier list of my own!!! and boy howdy do I have some hot takes of the century it turns out,,,

the seasons are more or less organized in descending order within the same row as well (e.g. MC 4 > MC 5). also, shamefully copying dumpywoof & putting a detailed & overly verbose explanation for each season:

S Tier

Terraria 3: For me, absolutely nothing compares to Terraria 3. No other season combines such perfect participant dynamics with such heart-wrenching drama—not to mention the existence of Team New Kids who make me cry on a daily basis, or the incredible fake twist ending. It would be a sin to put this season anywhere but alone at the very top. Also props for being the only (1 of 2) post-show that actually includes all of the cast.

 A Tier

Minecraft 4: This is the best season for shenanigans alone, hands-down. It’s largely just the participants shooting the shit together, especially in the latter half of the season when it gets down to just the four of them. & I have a huge soft spot for men being wholesomely foolish together I suppose, so here it goes fhdhfhd.

Minecraft 5: To be honest, I have not seen this season since it released, which is a crime, I know, I’m sorry :orb: But I remember it being very very good, & I cannot imagine my taste will have changed that dramatically in just a few years, so. in truth, this one might be actually better than MC 4, but as I have not seen it in many years I can’t say that for certain. Either way, though, it’s definitely one of the best seasons out there.

MineZ 1: To me, MineZ 1 is the reverse of MC 4: low on shenanigans & high on drama. It’s pre-Todd era, but the editing in this one is honestly Todd-level, I would say. It’s so incredibly tense, especially the scene with McJones & PBG trying to escape the caves, and I feel like the sheer stress of it all brought out a new side of a lot of the participants, most notably Dean—who sounded genuinely agonized at times. A very very quality season all around, IMO.

Terraria 2: This season probably objectively deserves to be B tier, but I am it giving A tier for personal bias. I just,,, love the dynamics okay. Jeff & McJones especially made for a killer duo. It was a rare instance of McJones being the funny man himself rather than being the straight man to someone else’s funny man; he was super uncharacteristically goofy & almost borderline flirtatious at times, it really made for some good moments fhdhfjd. Plus then you got McJones solo commentary at the end which I greatly enjoyed. Just,, a very enjoyable season, very mid-HC era, very light & easy to watch, all that good stuff.

Diablo II: Man,,,,this absolutely 100% does not deserve A tier, I know, I’m sorry, but I just can’t bring myself to put it lower. I have A tier love for it :orb: Admittedly, the game is horrendously ugly and confusing to watch, but the shenanigans + the cast dynamics win me over in the end. Paul especially was great in this, & I hope he makes a return someday. Loving fathers Paul & Jirard with their sorceress son McJones making their way through the end-game just cannot be beaten. (Anti-shoutouts to Ross though, I don’t know anything about him, I am sure he is a lovely man, but GOD. WHY DID HE KEEP RUNNING OFF ON HIS OWN & GETTING LOST BUT THEN FORCEFULLY REFUSING HELP,,, ROSS YOU ARE THE WORST DHDHFJDJD)

 B Tier

Minecraft 7: Boy,,, this is going to be a controversial take fhhfjdjf. I just don’t know how to explain it, but something about MC7 felt,,,, Very off. I don’t know what it was, just something about the season seemed very,,, almost like you could tell things were falling apart behind the scenes, & they were trying to pull it back together but weren’t quite succeeding. It’s not a bad season in any regards, of course, I just,, don’t enjoy it nearly as much as a lot of others,, it’s missing that crucial spark of life in my opinion,, also Dean leaving to go to work was kind of strange,, I get it, it’s probably difficult to work around his real-life job,, but it felt strange,, he got like temporary immunity. Nothing like that had ever happened before I don’t think. And also they never even explained why Dean wasn’t there for like three episodes fjdjfjhd,,

Minecraft 3: God I feel like I just keep digging myself into a deeper & deeper hole here fhsjfjd,,, but man, I did like MC3 to be honest. It wasn’t the best season, it kind of went nowhere, but I liked the cast & there was a lot of good funnymoments. Smooth & Shane were very good guests who I feel like really rounded out the season, & Jontron did not come off as terribly overbearing as I believe that he has in other seasons. Overall, pretty decent, I’d say.

 C Tier

Minecraft 2: MC 2 & MC 3 are very similar, but I think MC 2 is slightly worse, both in terms of entertainment & cast. NCS & Kyrak did not hit like Smooth & Shane did,,, and I feel like just everything that happened in this one was fairly forgettable. I was torn as to whether this should be a B or a C, but I put it here in the end just to drive home that I really don’t like it as much as MC 3, I don’t believe.

Minecraft 6: Oh lord, this is a nuclear take fhdjfjd. Again, this isn’t a bad season at all, it has its good moments, especially Chad & Dodger, they are angels & I love them & want them back. But boy,,, just. Many things went wrong here. None of the twists panned out like,, at all, which I know isn’t necessarily anyone’s fault, the concept of this twist & of twists in general is very good. But it fell so flat here, especially with the revival. There was,, no debate at all about what to do. They hyped it up like they had this big decision to make, but then nobody made any effort to dramatize it at all. It was basically just Dean deciding by himself and everyone just sitting back & letting him. For the record, I have no qualms with the fact that Dodger was revived, I fully agree that she deserved it over McJones, but it was not played well at all IMO,,,      I do have to admit, though, with a fair amount of sheepishness, that the thing that most sullies this season for me is McJones’s death. Just,,, his horrible, so so avoidable, insanely early death, coupled with his retirement shortly thereafter & him becoming so jaded with hc that he expressed borderline hostility & hatred towards it just,,, hurts. I kinda don’t wanna see the events of MC 6 now knowing the aftermath. I understand fully that this particular point is not something most people care about to say the least dhfhdjd, but,,, in all honesty, I really don’t have any desire to rewatch this one, as objectively good as it might be. It was a win but it felt like a loss, if that makes sense. Also the post-show lacked all three people I actually wanted to hear from fhdjfjd neither the two people who could’ve been revived nor the actual person who did the reviving were there to share their insight & perspectives on it :pensive: 

 D Tier

Starbound: man,,, starbound. This is a very mixed bag for me. On one hand, I disagree with people who say that it was boring or that nothing happened, I found it very tense, Todd’s editing had me on edge throughout every episode. But on the other hand,,, man. Very few memorable moments, what even happened in this one,, also I feel like the game mechanics/plot weren’t explained very well, I feel like I remember being vaguely confused all the time as to what was happening. Probably will not ever rewatch either.

 Have Not Seen

DayZ: I will not ever be watching this season both because I do not know anything about DayZ & because from what I’ve heard it was an absolute disaster, I’m just not interested in getting involved in that fhdhfjdk

Terraria 1: There’s not really a reason I haven’t watched this one. Just,, I haven’t made my way down to the earliest seasons yet. Although as mentioned before, I have seen a few clips of this season, & Jontron seems to be pretty obnoxious in this one, so I don’t how much I’ll enjoy the parts with him in it, but I definitely do want to watch it someday.

Minecraft 1: The same as Terraria 1, I just happen to not have seen this one by chance. But unlike T1, I am much more looking forward to actually watching it, it seems really good, I want to experience that legendary very first season at last dhdhfjd

MineZ 2: Man,,, many things about the behind-the-scenes of this season make me sort of uncomfortable honestly. Just,,, the visceral second-hand shame & embarrassment of someone in the hc fandom being so rude & bothersome to the cast,, somehow it makes me feel personally responsible even though I didn’t do anything fhdjfj,,, Also,, once again continuing with the trend of me being saddened by McJones expressing dislike for seasons fhdjfjd,, I do recall him saying, regarding this season, something like “I think it would’ve been better if we just never did this,” which,,, ow. That doesn’t make me particularly enthused to watch it fhdjfjd. I probably will end up watching this season someday to be honest, but I’m not looking forward to feeling the cast’s frustration & unhappiness with the situation,, (EDIT: I want to be clear that there is no actual drama surrounding minez 2!!! it is a perfectly fine season, there is nothing wrong with it, it just happens that I personally am bothered by the fact that there was a lot of like,,, frustration coming from the participants regarding the player who was stalking them. this in no way means that minez 2 is an objectively bad or problematic season!! if minez 2 is your favorite season I completely respect you, there is nothing wrong with that!! there is a lot to like about the season as a whole!!! I just personally care too much about mcjones having a bad time in seasons bc it’s what ultimately led to his retirement, & that makes me sad fjdhfjdjd. but it has come to my attention that my wording made it sound like there was drama about minez 2, which there never actually was, I am very very sorry for my unintentional yet poor choice of words.)

#私がポストしたもの #about time I have a 'my own posts' tag #I hardly make them but they do exist from time to time #also god. good lord this is so long. #get me talking about pbg hc & I just won't ever stop fhdhfhdh #shoutouts to anyone who actually reads this #also again. this is by no means my opinions on objective season quality. fhshfjdj #this is just my opinions on how much I personally like & would rewatch each season

[thejpfdude-blog]

Initial Impressions of the Summer 2017 Season

Well it’s that time of the year. Christmas The initial impressions of the season post! As always:

Every show I’ve watched has aired at least 3 episodes, so it’s the time to post what I think is good so far (”so far” being key: shows can get good in the middle/end, and good shows can drop off), complete with lists of random stuff!

Before I get into the rankings and awards, I want to talk about the season so far. It’s still really early to declare whether a season is good or not, but so far this season’s been looking pretty good. After the poor Spring season and the okay Winter season I’m hoping there’s at least one “great” show out there somewhere (solid 8 to 9). And to this point, there’s been a few shows that have the potential to be that. It’s interesting to see the people who declare this the worst season of the year: then again there’s always gonna be people like that, so whatever. And with that, here’s the rankings so far for the season, complete with initial scores and # of episodes watched so far as of the time this post was typed out, which is Friday (yes I know there were episodes I didn’t watch, but I’ll get to them):

Rankings:

1. New Game!! (8.5/10) [3/12]

2. Kakegurui (8/10) [4/12]

3. Princess Principal (7.5/10) [3/?]

4. Tsurezure Children (7.5/10) [4/?]

5. Boku no Hero Academia 2nd Season (7/10) [16/25]

6. Isekai Shokudou (6.5/10) [4/?]

7. Ballroom e Youkoso (6.5/10) [3/24]

8. Sakura Quest (6/10) [16/25]

9. Centaur no Nayami (5/10) [3/12]

10. Nana Maru San Batsu (5/10) [3/12]

Awards:

Best Anime: New Game!! (HM: Kakegurui)

Knock on wood, but (so far) this has been one of the few cases where one of my more hyped-up shows ends up being as good, if not better than I expected. We’re only a quarter of the way through the show, but New Game S2 has been one of the best airing shows I’ve seen in a while. The characters I love are back, and with the introductions already done in season 1, there’s more character development and interactions done in season 2 that are super fun to watch. From Hifumi (my best girl of 2016 and maybe 2017?) overcoming her social anxiety to Aoba learning to ways of the character designer, to the growing relationship between Nene and Umiko (I’ll let you decide how to take that statement), there’s a lot of depth for a show I’ve heard people dismiss as moe bait. The best part so far is the more serious scenes don’t take away from the funny moments, something that I feel like a lot of recent second seasons I’ve watched have struggled with. Though having said that it’s still way too early in the season to say these things conclusively, so take all of it with a grain of salt. And though there are still a million ways this show could go wrong (increased fanservice moments, too much drama, new characters suck), I’ll just be enjoying my Tuesdays with this show and a certain show about some love-struck children.

Shoutout to Kakegurui, the most creepy and disturbing show of the season, filled with some grotesque faces and insane people. Yet it works. When combining everything I mentioned before with gambling and high stakes, it works well. What normally would sound like a show I never would watch comes together to form an... experience. One that’s a whole lot of fun, albeit scary at times. And if last episode is anything to go off, it should get a whole lot crazier from here. This is something to look out for in the next few weeks.

Worst Anime: Nana Maru San Batsu (HM: Any of the shows I’ve dropped)

I mean unfortunately it had to get this award. I don’t really want to give this award to this show, but it’s how the cards fell. Not that it’s a bad show: if it was then I wouldn’t be watching it anymore. But Nana Maru San Batsu, in the nicest way possible, is a old-fashioned sports shounen. That means there’s a lot of shounen-y tropes, tropes I’m not really about. Stuff like the wimpy protagonist growing into a “man” thanks to the sport, the rival that’s a protege, the explanation for every little thing, etc. Not that the last point is unnecessary: especially for a show like this about a subject most people don’t know about (quiz bowl), it’s pretty interesting to learn about the intricacies of something I never really did during high school. But the characters could be a little more... unique? I don’t know, they’re not really anything to write home about. It’s more of the subject of quiz bowl that interests me about this show, and the reason why I plan on finishing this show in the next few weeks.

Also shoutouts to all 10-ish shows I dropped for being either boring, annoying, or just plain not my thing (cough cough Made in Abyss).

Best Surprise: Kakegurui and Princess Principal

Going into this season I didn’t have either of these shows on my plan to watch list. So you could say that I didn’t have any expectations for them. And after watching their first episodes, I was... intrigued. And after about 3 or so episodes of them, I can say they’ve both been wild rides so far. It was hard to decide between the two for this award, so I decided to just give it to both of them. After all, they’re both equally good, and they both came from equal standing in terms of expectations. So there you have it.

Worst Disappointment: Isekai Shokudou (HM: Sakura Quest)

This award was given to this show only because the second episode was great, but the last two episodes haven’t been up to par. The animation’s been questionable, and the stories have gotten more and more boring, to the point where even the food presentation is lackluster. Having said that this show’s still wholesome and nice to relax to, but at the end of the day I don’t think it’ll be anything more than that. Chalk this up to unrealistic expectations.

Shoutouts to a show from last season that hasn’t taken that extra step to greatness (for lack of a better term). It hasn’t stagnated: it’s just there. But if it doesn’t do something quick with the plot, I don’t think I’ll have good things to say when the end of season awards comes up in a few months.

Best Girl: Hifumi Takimoto (New Game!!) with HM to Ririko Oribe (Sakura Quest) and Nozomi Gokuraku (Centaur no Nayami)

Easiest. Award. Ever.

And the best part is that she’s gotten 10 times better in the second season. Her whole journey towards overcoming her social anxiety is pretty commendable, while also being too cute (serious look at this. LOOK AT IT).

Shoutouts to Ririko for still being the best grill in Sakura Quest for being relatable (yay introverts) and quirky. Also to Nozomi for being the tomboy character that makes Centaur no Nayami decently fun to watch. Just... less of the yuri undertones. Specifically undertones. Yuri’s fine I guess.

Best Guy: The Chef Dude (Isekai Shokudou)

Well this seems to be the hardest award to give during these awards, because unless a guy character is amazingly good, I usually don’t really care about them. So I had to dig deep to find somebody, and here he is. Chef Dude is a pretty Cool Dude. From being very welcoming towards new customers to taking in Aletta, he’s just seems like a nice person. Would hang out with to learn cooking tips.

Worst Girl: Yoshiko Hanabatake (Aho Girl) with HM to Hotaru Mizushina (Netsuzou TRap) and Akashi (Centaur no Nayami)

The sole reason why I dropped Aho Girl. Well that and the jokes came 100 miles per hour and actually gave me a headache. The funny thing is the manga isn’t that bad: I actually read some chapters after experiencing the anime, and I enjoyed it. I think having a voice for the character of Yoshiko really emphasizes the annoying, and I just couldn’t handle it. Just not my type of comedy apparently, and that’s cool. Can’t be for everybody.

Shoutouts to another character that made me drop a show, the girl who has questionable actions towards her “friend” and gives the show the famous NTR it’s known for. Also shoutout to Akashi, who besides her blackmailing is the teasing character I generally don’t like very much (Ami from Toradora comes vividly to mind).

Worst Guy: Touya Mochizuki (Isekai wa Smartphone to Tomo ni.)

One word: GENERIC. He just... doesn’t have any personality. It’s like KonoSuba, only if Kazuma got a lobotomy. That’s what this character and this show was like. He didn’t stand out at all other than his OP-ness, which wasn’t really that fun to watch anyway. Just thinking about his face puts a frown on my face. Meh.

Best OP: “STEP by STEP UP↑↑↑↑” (New Game!!) with HM to “The Other Side of the Wall“ (Princess Principal), “Aimai Moko“ (Tsurezure Children), “One In A Billion” (Isekai Shokudou) and “On My MiND“ (Nana Maru San Batsu)

So recently I made a chart of my 25 favorite OPs and EDs, all color coded and stuff (here). In the OP list is New Game’s OP, mainly because it was a really fun, colorful watch. But to this point of the season, I believe the second season’s opening is better. Song-wise they’re both equally good, but the visuals of the second season’s OP are a lot better. In particular, the scenes with the individual characters singing their parts. It’s really really well animated and my favorite part of the OP. All in all, the visuals just flow well and before I know it it’s already been 90 seconds and it’s time to start another episode.

Shoutouts to the following OPs:

Princess Principal’s OP being a close second for the epic song and the accompanying visuals that grab your attention and prepare you well for the journey that is the show.

Tsurezure Children’s OP, only because it’s the exact mood of the show. I don’t know how to further explain that, it’s just the song fits well with the love stories that the show features.

Isekai Shokudou’s OP mainly for the song (I’m fully in idol hell now), but also kinda for the food shots. Random side note: this was my favorite OP until the show fell off.

Nana Maru San Batsu’s OP only for the song: I love the violin in the song and the small pauses during the climax are a unique touch.

Best ED: “JUMPin' JUMP UP!!!!” (New Game!!) with HM to “Taiyou ga Kureta Kisetsu“ (Keppeki Danshi! Aoyama-kun) and “Datte Atashi no Hero.“ (Boku no Hero Academia 2nd Season)

This category is a bit more bare than the OPs, but there were still some decent EDs. In the end New Game!! also takes the ED crown for it’s chibi characters and cute song.

Shoutouts to Aoyama-kun’s ED for capturing the classic old-school anime OP/ED style and to BnHA’s 2nd ED for it’s fun RPG-style character visuals.

Bonus Awards:

The following three awards are for me to shill about my favorite series so far...

Best Animation: New Game!!

Best Art Style: New Game!!

Best Character Design: New Game!!

Credit Doga Kobo for continuing to add so much to this show. I’ve said before that the character design for this show is some of the best I’ve seen in anime, and they continue that with the new characters that they haven’t introduced yet (but are in the OP). And even beyond characters, the art style overall is super colorful and fun to the eyeballs. I’m not an expert in the fields of analysis of anime, but the vibrant colors sure do help make the show pop more and adds to its fun nature. And finally, the animation of this show is top-notch. I don’t see a single mistake with the characters or their movements or really anything. I’ve been trying to be more diligent with noticing animation recently, but if I actually notice anything that’s usually not a good sign seeing as how I’m still pretty inexperienced with this stuff. Doga Kobo’s pretty good with their animation though, and I’m glad that along with arranging the plot of the show well (adding new scenes that help make the show flow better), the animation staff is doing their part to make it an enjoyable watching experience. Good stuff.

Worst Character Design: Koi to Uso

FISH EYES. The only reason why I decided to drop this show. I mean, look at this. Even when I expect the big eyes, I still get scared opening the image. That’s something I can never get used to.

Best Guilty Pleasure: Kakegurui

I mean I wouldn’t tell a normal person I watch this show. I’m even kinda hesitant to tell people who watch anime that I watch this show. It’s wrong in so many ways. But it’s also fun in so many ways. Well at least it isn’t Eromanga-sensei levels of disturbing (damn unnecessary burn).

The TheJPFDude Happy Show of the Quarter-Season: Tsurezure Children

I’m a sucker for romance, so of course this show’s gonna get this award for being the happy show of the season. Isekai Shokudou was close, but this show’s just too much sometimes with the cute moments that some of the couples offers. Plus some of the couples (like the one I’ll talk about next award) have some pretty funny scenes to them. Excited for more couples and their stuff.

Best Couple in Tsurezure Children: Chiaki x Kana

There’s a lot of couples in this show, and out of all of them I’ve enjoyed this one the most so far. Their dynamic together was hilarious, and the latest episode with them was freaking glorious especially with the mom coming in not once but twice. They strike a nice balance between comedy and actually being in a relationship (unlike a certain couple with some misunderstandings...)

And that’s all! Thanks for reading all of that good stuff. It’s been a good season. I’m enjoying a lot of shows, and though most of them’ll honestly probably fall off within the next few weeks, at least we have some potential good ones.

Well, until next time, I’ll see you in the next post!