Time is seriously going by so fast lately. I feel like it was just yesterday when we did our last round of First Impressions for the summer season.
Well, no point in complaining, since I feel like this season surpasses the last one by far, especially in the yuri department! So here are our first impressions on some of the shows of this current anime season. Enjoy~
Gochuumon wa Usagi Desu ka??
Genre: Comedy, Slice of Life
Yes, yes, YES! I was waiting for this one for a long while, and it’s finally here!
Time to enjoy watching the daily lives of our favorite group of adorable cafe waitresses. The first episode alone already made me realize how much I was actually missing this show. It’s not only the characters, but the whole feeling that this one gives you while watching. Also, did I mention that I love their cute outfits and the whole town they live in. It’s so peaceful, it’s just calms me down.
Valkyrie Drive: Mermaid
Genre: Action, Ecchi, Fantasy
In great contrast, we have this show that I’m quite sure you all already know about.
Since I already wrote about my first encounter with this show, you can read the full version by clicking here.
Yuru Yuri San☆Hai!
Genre: Comedy, School, Slice of Life, Yuri
Awww, this season is quite something, don’t you think? We get a full yuri show, followed by a second season of Gochuumon wa Usagi Desu ka??, as well as another season of Yuru Yuri. Out of all shows I’ve started watching, this one is definitely my top pick when it comes to comedy. Screw One Punch Man, this one is true comedy gold in my eyes!
Well, maybe I’m a bit or quite a lot biased, thanks to the fact that I already love the characters, and especially the yuri subtext of this show. But anyway, the first few episodes were already pretty damn awesome. More please!
Hidan no Aria AA
Genre: Action, Adventure
I only picked this one up due to the yuri rumors surrounding it. Through two episodes, the rumors have largely proven to be true, yet I’m still underwhelmed by this show. Being a girls with guns anime, you’d hope the action would be really good, but compared to some of the other shows from this season, it seems average at best. As for the yuri, the main character idolizes Aria, her high school’s top butei (armed detective), and aims to be her protege.
That looks like it’ll be the eye of the yuri storm, going forward. There’s also been a yandere sighting, so that’s another positive. You can sense more yuri potential in this one, so it’ll be interesting to see how things unfold. Out of all the normal-length anime I’ve picked up this season, I have to admit that this is my least favorite thus far. If it didn’t have any yuri, I would definitely drop it, but early on, this looks like a mediocre anime with yuri being it’s saving grace.
Kagewani
Genre: Mystery, Supernatural
I grew up loving cryptozoology, so stuff like this is right in my wheelhouse. Kagewani is a lot like Yami Shibai, another short-form horror series that features kamishibai-style animation. Well, I wasn’t a fan of that one, and Kagewani doesn’t seem to be a huge improvement. Each episode features its own individual story, usually with some sort of creature terrorizing people. I say story, but how much can you really detail in 8 minutes time? The stories may be simple, but at least the settings have been diverse and have ranged from forests, to snowy mountaintops, to the sea. Overall, this isn’t that great, but I still like the subject matter, so I’ll see it through till the end.
Kowabon
Genre: Horror
Much like how Kagewani uses kamishibai, Kowabon uses a animation technique called rotoscoping to try to add to the spooky atmosphere. Personally, I’m not a real big fan of the implementation here. Sure, it looks different, but compared to Aku no Hana—another rotoscope anime—it just looks poor. Here, it looks hastily put together and as if someone just quickly used Mocha and After Effects to achieve the effect. The episodes are only 3 minutes long, so story is nonexistent, for all intents and purposes. And aside from the animation and duration, the scare tactics used are old and unoriginal. Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve likely seen the same techniques used in horror films, and used much more effectively. Horror anime are pretty rare, but I don’t think the two airing this season are really going to contribute much to the genre, unfortunately.
Noragami Aragoto
Genre: Action, Adventure, Supernatural
Season one of Noragami was one of my favorites back in the winter of 2014, and this season already looks to be every bit as good as that one, if not better. Yato is still an incompetent badass and is entertaining as ever, Yukino doesn’t have the same amount of screen time so far (which is a great thing), and Hiyori remains a good foil for Yato. Bishamon is a major focus, and having an attractive war god voiced by Miyuki Sawashiro play such a big role is predictably awesome. Story-wise, things are shaping up nicely, so let’s hope Aragoto can keep it going.
If you’re wanting an anime with a really good mix of action, comedy, and drama; this is a nice choice.
One Punch Man
Genre: Action, Comedy, Parody, Sci-Fi, Super Power, Supernatural
He’s the hero anime deserves, AND the one it needs right now. One Punch Man is one of those shows that comes along every now and then that just kind of knocks your socks off. The show is basically about an overpowered superhero who literally defeats his enemies with a single punch. Whether it’s the high-octane action, that despite ultimately being anticlimactic, doesn’t disappoint at all, or the dry humor from main character Saitama that fits him perfectly, there’s a whole lot to like about this anime. There are several pretty good shows this season, but this one has to be my favorite. As an action anime and comedy, I think One Punch Man has passed with flying colors so far. If it can maintain the same level of crazy action and deadpan comedy over the remaining episodes, there’s no telling how high it could climb up my list of all-time favorite anime.
Owari no Seraph: Nagoya Kessen-hen
Genre: Action, Drama, Supernatural, Vampire
Owari no Seraph was a pleasant surprise from earlier in the year, so it’s nice to have it back for another season. Well, things have started a little slowly for my liking, but I remain hopeful that business will pick up soon. This series shares some themes with Noragami Aragoto, but I’d have to give Noragami the edge in just about every category.
That said, I think the best is yet to come for this season of OnS. So until that arrives, I’ll be on the lookout for more of what made the first season so enjoyable, human on vampire violence and the familial drama between Yuu and Mika.
Sakurako-san no Ashimoto ni wa Shitai ga Umatteiru
Genre: Mystery
The description of this one didn’t sound that great to me, but I’m surprised by how much I like it so far. I don’t know how many of you are familar with the American TV series Bones, but this is a tiny bit like that. The two main characters (Sakurako, the eccentric bone-loving genius and her high schooler comrade, Shoutaro) somehow get involved in situations that require Sakurako’s quick-thinking and knowledge to get to the bottom of, which has given her plenty of time to shine as one of my favorite characters of the season. However, one thing I’m not a huge fan of so far is the fact that early on, the series has been episodic. As a result, while the cases have been good and interesting, they haven’t quite been great. Having only twenty-something minutes to build and solve a great mystery is practically impossible, but Sakurako-san does an admirable job, nevertheless.
Shingeki! Kyojin Chuugakkou
Genre: Comedy, Parody, School
When I first heard the premise for this show, I thought it was going to be terrible, but this is actually one of my favorites of the season so far. Everyone from SnK is back, but they’re all caricatures of themselves and have been moe-ified. For all the action and drama normally present in SnK, it’s nice to just relax and enjoy the personalities of the characters. Krista & Ymir have had a few nice moments in the first three episodes, so props to the creators for making it obvious to everyone else what we already knew about. Let’s hope for much more of them when season two arrives in 2016.
If you’ve seen Shingeki no Kyojin (and weren’t solely watching for the action/drama), you might find something to like here, especially if you’re into comedies. It’s not quite season two, but hey, it’s something.
YuriReviews and More 
On things mentioned above :
Gochuumon wa Usagi Desu ka?? – Hell Yeah ! It's still good, mayby even better. The first seconds, when Chino appeared on the screen, already made me smile. Nice to see them all again (+ cool that they are showing us girls family members, not showed before). And most important thing – Ending !! My God !! It's too much for me, my hngggg sense is tingling strongly ;D
Yuru Yuri San☆Hai! – Akkarinn ! Yeah, let's start with small disappointment. There is no “Yuru Yuri, hajimaru yo !” on the start anymore. I don't like it 😦 But love that show is back. It's still entertaining for me. Opening is inferior to old ones, but have more other characters in it, so i will live. Kyoko x Ayano and Sakurako x Himawari are strong in this one, waiting to see what more they can show us.
Noragami Aragoto – liked very much the first season and was hyped for this. After a few episodes – I'm loving it. Plot looks interesting. It's so good to see more of Bishamon (and I don't mean the 2 bath scenes almost every episode ;p ), I like her and her team. Yato is the boss like always. Till now, it's exciting, and i can't wait to see when “he” will be killed (fckin manipulating bastard, grr). But why they released OVA number 2 some time ago ? Looking at what is going on now, it's clear that this ova is set after present arc
One Punch Man – heard about this before, but not read anything, so i wasn't hyped as much as propably a lot of people. Even now, after 3 ep. I'm not crazy for this, but i like it. Can be hilarious often, so i'm happily watching it, and will be till the end.
Owari no Seraph: Nagoya Kessen-hen – hmm … first ep. of first season was interesting and made me courius about series. It wasn't bad, and wasn't super good, somewhere in the middle for me. Second started without any expectations, and it's not something special for me, but few things appear to be mayby interesting (internal affairs of vampires and humans, interspecies conspiracy).
Sakurako-san no Ashimoto ni wa Shitai ga Umatteiru – nice start, I like the female mc. Like you mentioned, it's a little bit like Bones, and I'm gonna add a bit of Sherlock too. Cases wasn't big or special in the two first ep., but something is propably building slowly, some hints about our mc was present. Gonna watch and expect something good from this (i hope).
Shingeki! Kyojin Chuugakkou – It's hilarious, good parody. Opening is gold. Laughing a lot. Ymir beeing so open with her thing for Krista is a huge + too.
LikeLike
So i see you are not watching the 2nd season of Haikyuu (and maybe even the first). I suggest you to watch Haikyuu if you are into shouneb genre. It has nice sports, volley, and the typical of short character who has short tempered *ehem remind you of some metal hand genius?*. Anyway compare to another sports anime, of 5 genius playing basketball with superpower, Haikyuu is a lot more rational and acceptable. (In terms of logic).
– Yuru-yuri san Hai! : i see that there are a lot of scenes which lost comedical impact in the third season. I find it as a pity. Surely Yuru Yuri was one of the anime which can make me barely breath bcs i'm too busy to laugh. Yes, was. I am laughing while reading the manga, and laughing even harder when i watched the same scene in the previous season. But not now. Yes i laugh, yes i enjoy the show, but i just feel like something's missing. And i found out that the studio handling the anime is different so maybe that's why. Idk. This is just my opinion though (○ٹ○)
– Gochuumon wa Usagi desu ka?? I seriously need to consult to my doctor about the diabetes that i just got.
– Sakurako-san : this one easily become one of my favorite. The mystery is possible and interesting. And there is no character who is a guy but far more cuter than the girls! Yeay. Not to mention the fabulous Sakurako and her fetish to bones! With a rare job background in the anime. I am falling for that badass lady. Hard
– Noragami : finally i can see the poorest god back in action again.
– Valkyrie : Hello boobies.
– Owari : i am conflicted with myself, whether i want to see more gay main characters or want to see the straight route of Yuu and Shinoa
– Snk Chuugakkou : i need more of Ymir hugging Historia
LikeLike
I know this what Im going to say have nothing about anime, but Life Is Strange IS BEST YURI VISUAL NOVEL I EVER PLAYED, I know this game isn't exactly a visual novel anime style and I know lesbian relationship isn't the focus in this game but THE TRULY LOVE IS, and you can do everything for the girl you LOVE in this game, this game is so awesome. I am in love with this game. If you like yuri visual novel play this game you won't regret
LikeLike
https://plus.google.com/u/0/109349132065458851107/posts/fkguhxeP7ma?pid=6208358405851764418&oid=109349132065458851107
LikeLike
Wow, your list looks so overwhelming, but I barely know any of the series xD
I'm only watching Yuru Yuri S3, Gochuumon wa Usagi Desu ka?? and Valkyrie Drive from your list, but am thinking about watching Hidan no Aria AA (haven't watched the main series though, so I'm quite unsure). I don't have much to watch on my train though, so maybe I'll pick this and HnA up.
Besides them, I'm also watching Utawarerumono because of dog ears…they're just too cute xD it's like an alternate version to the original series aired in 2006, but I don't now yet…while this series does have a male main character, it's one of the few series I'm enjoying. Well, I do enjoy every anime I'm picking up yet (which are only a few though). Watching so many like you (two?) do would end up in a dropping spree.
I was picking up Lance 'N Masques too (only because I have to have at least one Fantasy series per season)…but it seems a bit too childish (, also because of the lolified art).
LikeLike
sorry for my enthusiasm above, some time I lose control of myself, One Punch Man seems to be very promising.
😀
LikeLike
Let's be honest here. You don't really need to watch any more shows. Valkyrie Drive is absolutely enough for you, as you've already proved to me 😛
It also takes a lot of time if we take into account that you have to watch each and every episode a few times. First you watch the RAW version, then you wait for the first translation. After that you wait for a better translation and after that you watch the uncensored version 😀
LikeLike
Haha, don't worry about it 😀
I know this one already. Okay, seriously what yuri fan doesn't know about this one 😛
Since I have Steam now, I could even play it, but I'm not such a big fan of games like this.
Though, I saw their kissing scene 😉
LikeLike
Haikyuu? It sounds strangely familiar, but I haven't watched this show so far.
Though, for some reason I think Rock has seen it.
Since I know that you're stalking all my comments, you can answer this one and tell me if it's really that awesome 😉
LikeLike
Finally someone who understands me! I was missing the little start sequence of Yuru Yuri as well. And I have to admit, I don't like the new opening, nor do I like the ending.
Though, I still feel like this is way funnier than it was the past few seasons.
Well, maybe I was just in desperate need for some comedy.
LikeLike
I did everything to let them to be together, I sacrifice everything to make them together and I don't regret this, I never will. And I cry of happiness when I listen this music:
“Syd Matters Obstacles”
LikeLike
Tch. I get every single comment on the blog, just like you do. 😛
And I need to look at every single one, just to make sure they're not spam and to add them to the YRDB afterwards. 😛
I don't really like volleyball, so I haven't seen it~
LikeLike
I can survive this season of anime from just watching Yuru Yuri and Gochuumon, well maybe not. Those Endings are cute enough to kill a full grown man.
I do miss my “Yuru Yuri Hajimaru yo”.
LikeLike
holy shiet how worse did my reputation go down? 😀 No, it's absolute enough to watch the RAWs with separate subtitle files as they're the fastest 😉
and you can't tell me I should watch Valkyrie Drive 4 times a day on my train ride (2 on each ride), so I need the other puffer animes which even have male protagonists so people won't think weirdly of me 😀
LikeLike
Had forgotten when the new Yuru Yuri series would start. I will wait until there's at least six episodes, though.
LikeLike
Lena is easy to learn germany? I mean the idiom. I from Brazil, I had try learn japanese but I give up when I began to see Kanji, but Germany is more similar grammatically to Portuguese or English? I know even English I'm not good enough but well why not try learn more than one foreign idiom? Its funny 😀
LikeLike
POSSIBLE 2016 YURI ANIME!!!!!!!!
It's titled: Manaria Friends Shingeki no Bahamut (マナリアフレンズ 神撃のバハムート)
Youtube Teaser Movie Here
Adapted from a online game, teaser trailer depicts two female characters that seem to be LEADS?! OMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGFINALLYAVIRTUALANIMEWITHGIRLLEADSIHOPEMYHYPEISNTINVAIN
LikeLike
I lied. Animated PV that was made two years ago: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCdaxvGmu0M
LikeLike
Your image still isn't restored just yet miss lewd 😛
Aber du weißt ja Mai, lewd ist gut 😉
LikeLike
Well, you can also start watching some yuri hentai, you know which one I mean 😉
LikeLike
Wouldn't it be better then to just wait for it to finish so you can watch it all in one go?
LikeLike
A lot of people say that German is one very tough language. I can't really say whether it is similar to Portuguese, since I don't know anything about this language, but it's certainly not very similar to English. Also, compared to English, German is like 10 times harder to learn, so yeah… 😛
LikeLike
I remember you sending me this link already, but you said it was a mere VN pv, and that's exactly what it looks like. You also said we can' be certain about the yuri 😛
LikeLike
I'm too impatient for that. But I still want to watch a nice amount at once 😀
LikeLike
This comment has been removed by the author.
LikeLike
yesh, I posted this before the tweet 😛
I'm convinced there will be subtext however. Unlesssss this thing ends up fairly portraying “girl girl Friendship” without romantic elements. that would be revolutionary in its own way.
LikeLike
yesh, I posted this before the tweet 😛
I'm convinced there will be subtext however. Unlesssss this thing ends up fairly portraying “girl girl Friendship” without romantic elements. that would be revolutionary in its own way.
LikeLike
Shet just got real. Finally a JPN drama I can watch and like because it's actually explicit.
Spread word ok~ Yuri just got “real”hahahahaha.oh bad puns.
http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2015/10/22/Japan-television-to-air-first-drama-about-lesbian-couple/8061445536598/
LikeLike
But for you Japanese is hard? What makes me give up to Japanese was the written, because if you say to me that Japanese is hard that means German wont be so scared than I thought but if you say that Japanese is easy well then I will be scared XD
LikeLike
I think German is actually the hardest of the three languages (if we add in English as well). Buuuut, what really makes Japanese hard is the Kanji.
Everything else is… well, manageable. I started learning the language too, but I had to stop because of my sudden lack of spare time.
If I had actually continued, I would probably be able to communicate just fine with Japanese people. Oh well, work sucks 😛
LikeLike
Now that you noticed that I'm not fast enough to reply to the 100 comments you left on the VN post, you start posting everything somewhere else. That's clever, I must admit 😛
LikeLike
😀 eh but this isn't a VN I was talking about~and I talk more than just VNs~
this opening sequence is from Yuri game tho~, not VN format: has w/ yuri kiss scene. VD Bhikkuni's
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPiX3o8EAU4
LikeLike
This was so gonna happen: http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2015-10-26/new-game-manga-about-game-studio-gets-tv-anime/.94644
LikeLike