User blog comment:Miskos3/Fairy Tail Wiki in Anime: Fall 2016 Edition/@comment-4449950-20161231023134

Okay, I'm still 6 episodes from the end of Bungou with no real drive to catch up any time soon, so I'ma just type up my thoughts on what I did watch. Granted, it wasn't much at all simply because this season started when I went into my final weeks of uni/exams/hell/justkillme so I only watched a handful of shows I could be stuffed keeping up with and didn't give anything else a chance. There are some I plan to go back and watch (or continue watching *glaces at Bungou*) but for now:

Anime of the Season (and possibly the year, for me): [https://myanimelist.net/anime.php?id=32995 Yuri!!! On Ice]

Prepared for an essay?? Because if I were to type out everything this anime means to me and so many people I know, I could publish a fucking book. So, instead, I'm going to dotpoint some of the many reasons this show is great: are some of my favourites :)
 * Obvious up first: it portrays a homosexual relationship between people of two very different nationalities that is lovely and moving.
 * The main character has a mental disorder that is never put down or used solely to "make him different from everyone else". His anxiety and at times near panic-attacks are portrayed realistically, and even if he does evolve and grow he is never seen magically overcoming them; rather, he learns how to cope and still has to deal with his issues all the way through the story. There's no silly "now that I have love and confidence all my problems are gone!" writing - thank God.
 * The story is centred in reality, with places from all over the world (and real places at that - fans play a game where they go to the real life locations and hold up screen shots of YoI in front of the actual buildings. The creators flew all over the world to scout real locations to use.) being seen and experienced. The characters discuss how they like visiting places, they shop and look at real tourist attractions - heck, one of them even complains about the state of the Euro XD
 * Social media exists and plays a rather large part in the actual story.
 * IT'S NOT SET IN FUCKING HIGH SCHOOL! NO HIGH SCHOOL IS EVEN MENTIONED!
 * On this note, the cast is a variety of ages and personality types not stereotypical of their home country. Fans from all over the world have been so happy to see their country mentioned (Otabek from Kazakhstan was a real hit in his home country apparently, and don't even get me started on the Canadians XD) The American skater, for example, is Latino. His debut occurred the day after Trump took office - what a lucky and strong coincidence.
 * The music in this anime is GORGEOUS! I bought the OST album - it's so lovely and reflects all of the skaters and their personalities. Here
 * The subtle hints made throughout the anime that strengthened the motives and ideas of the characters and the overall message of YoI. For example, Victor's very first skate song, Stammi Vicino, is about a person who feels lost and scared to love and hating those who love, before putting trust in another. A small fact that would go over the heads of many is that the song is sung by a man using masculine pronouns for his lover: in short, it's a song about a homosexual love. On a similar note, Phichit's (the Thai skater's) song "The Skater and I" is a spoof on the movie "The King and I" which was banned in Thailand because of social reasons. In the alternate, no-discrimination world of YoI Phichit skates to it because it represents love between cultures and love for his own culture. Note the song is also about a male skater and the King of Thailand - make of that what you will. Victor is seen in flashbacks and posters as wearing the real-life costumes of homosexual figure skaters. These are just 3 of many, MANY references and dropped easter eggs, not all of which are about homosexuality.
 * The story introduces all of the skaters and tries to make you like them. I can genuinely say I adored all of the side characters bar one, who was horribly written. I let you figure out who XD
 * Said side character's stories are used as foils for the main pair, teaching lessons to both.
 * The story is happy to portray some characters as problematic and allow them to grow. Problematic characters also don't get the "they're bad so down they go" treatment. Even if they fall they never fall too much. They are shown to have people who love them and that they are nice people despite their flaws.
 * The females in this show are lovely, even if they aren't shown enough.
 * The show has been recognised outside the anime community by people all over the world including the professional skating community. Two famous skaters (one Japanese, one Swiss) even cameo'd in the final episodes. Famous skaters have cosplayed characters, tweeted excitement over what was happening, and gotten excited to see themselves paid homage to through little things in the show.
 * The director not only paid homage to heaps of skaters in the show, but also to animators and artists from other countries.

Honestly, I could go on, but the main point I want to highlight is that YoI is about love. Love between partners, family, friends, competitors. Love for pets and country and person. Just... love. Yes, YoI is set in an everything-is-the-same-except universe where discrimination doesn't exist, but I think that's what we all want to see. Japanese fans have been raving about how happy they were about Victor and Yuuri's relationship. People have gotten into figure skating (watching or otherwise) because of this show. It's an amazing mix of fiction and real life. The relationship just between Victuuri is also handled maturely, having soooooo many places it could turn melodramatic, but avoiding them by showing what people would ACTUALLY do in those situations (WHICH IS FUCKING TALK BELIEVE IT OR NOT) and doing it well. God, I'm looking at you episode 7.

So, a 10/10 right? Well, no. The show definitely has faults, and they're easy to spot. The first is of course the animation. With over 25 unique skating routines to animate, the quality quickly drops and slumps the most around episodes 5 and 6. Transition is messy, characters are waaaay off-model at times and it's not always great to look at. I've seen improvement in the BRDVD (and heck, even as the show progressed they went back and cleaned up some of the routines for the GPF) but it is messy and any watchers will have to put up with it. It's so ambitious though, never backing down from doing what it wants. See the linked article above for more on the issue.

The final episodes are also so rushed, I can't even. I feel bad for the writer here because in an interview she expressed that she had to cut so much of her script down. For the first episodes she said she had around 70 pages of manga-like product that was converted. This fit nicely into the 20-ish minute slot. By the last episode, she said she had 130 pages. Just with this I think you can imagine how cut and rushed the ending was. Was it bad? No. I liked it. But it was so "Bam, okay next scene and point - Bam, okay next scene and point - Bam, okay next scene and point" that I felt there was no climax. They did what they needed to, but I felt that there was no time to breathe. And this impacted the characters. Everything in YoI is great, it's what they didn't include that can be faulted. Characters were introduced and then had stories wrapped up that felt incomplete because we got no middle. Backgrounds (some of which the writer later talked about) had to be cut entirely due to time. Heck, the scene in the ED with Yuri and Victor on the beach and play fighting under the showers was originally a scene written for episode 4 (I think it's that one?) that was cut because of time. The writer liked it so much though that she asked for it to be included somewhere. This cutting left and right left much to be desired. What's there is great, but I can tell there could have been so much more.

So, typically I would give YoI around a 7/8, but I find I can't. This anime was a shot in the dark - a dangerous gamble by passionate creators. It had no manga to fall back onto, it didn't pander to cliche tropes to draw in niche watchers, it features a gay couple and a sport that turns many away, it did things that could be controversial (lol, I didn't even touch on the 'male skates as a female because he says he thinks he can embody a story better as a female character than a male one' scene), it took risks, and I loved it for that. It also made so many people happy. I've seen many questioning why this anime is so popular, and here's my reasoning: apart from the above that I've mentioned, this anime is about love and life. Happiness and passion. In a year filled with death and separation, things like Brexit and Trump, people were very down. Then this lovely story comes along about a down-on-himself figure skater and his love for a sport and it just lifted everyone's spirits. It made people happy. And right now, I think that's so important.

It made me happy too. So very happy. I was excited every morning a new episode came out. Episode 7 (which is by far the best of the show) had me smiling for days with joy. I loved the characters (Yuri takes my 'Male of the Season' award for being so amazing and realistic and damn relateable) and the story (heck, I didn't even mention yet that episode 10 drops a plot point so out there that it completely re-contextualises the entire series up 'til that point) and the obvious love for skating I could see oozing out of this series. It's by no means perfect, but for me it came at the right time and made me so happy I can't give it anything less than my top pick of this season and very likely this year.

Final Score: 8.8/10

'''Honourable Mention 1: [https://myanimelist.net/anime.php?id=32935 Haikyuu! S3]'''

What can I say anymore about Haikyuu?? It's animation is great, the characters are great, the games are intense. I love it.

The only thing that kept this season down for me was the competitors :/ Typically with Haikyuu I get sad because I want both sides to win - the characters are all so likeable and that's fantastic.

But here? I hated Shiratorizawa. There was not one player I liked, and that took away from the magic a little. I also didn't get the feeling as a result that Karasuno would lose. I just knew they had to win, and hoped that they would. For some this might be a fine way of thinking, but for me (one who barracks for every side in Haikyuu) I was a bit meh .-.

But, still, this was a great continuation, and I liked it so, so much :)

Final Score: 8.7/10 Honourable Mention 2: AkaYona OAD 3

This came out just a little while ago and I loved it. The AkaYona OADs have been great, but the last two really step outside of "silly side-story" territory. I can't recommend them to anyone thinking about starting the manga because they spoil SO MUCH of the later story, but as a manga reader I can happily say they were adapted as faithfully as the main series was, and that was great to see :)

If you want to watch, go ahead, but be aware that OADs 2 and 3 tell a story not revealed in the manga until chapter 100+ (for comparison, the anyme stop around chapter 40).

Final Score: 8.5/10

Worst Anime of the Season: [https://myanimelist.net/anime/32930/Fairy_Tail_OVA_2016 Fairy Tail OVAs... what are we up to now??]

I... didn't even finish these. I started Natsu v Mavis and got 5 minutes in before quitting and I tried the Christmas one and ended up skipping to the Jerza part and watching nothing else.

I don't know how, but the anime team always manages to take Mashima's well-contained short stories and drag them out into abysmal shit that is not funny, not well animated and quite frankly an embarrassment to the source material. I feel my own age reading the omakes... I feel 5 watching the OADs. Sorry, but it's true and I have no plans to give them another (and any potential future OADs) and chance.

Final Score: N/A/10 because I don't rate things I drop/don't complete. Though, if I was to based on what I saw, it'd be around a 3/10.

Honourable Mention: Hibike S2

Gah... *sighs* I loved Hibike S1 (9/10 from me on MAL) but I could not find the same magic here. What I loved about S1 was that it had drama and intrigue, but it was never blown out of proportion or padded out to waste time. The issues were personal and made sense for the club whilst also not being black and white: our only tenor saxophone player is struggling grades-wise and thinks she should quit to focus on studies. Do we support her decision or try and convince her that she can do both so we don't lose her prowess even if it means she doesn't do as well at school?? We have a trumpet solo in this piece and our first year plays it better than our third year. Do we give it to the better player which will help us win the competitions or let the third year have it because she's a lovely person and this is her last chance to play??

Things like this are quite deep and interesting. And, again, they make sense. Here's where the second season of Hibike failed though: the issues were silly, didn't need to happen and were even insulting at times.

The season has three main arcs:
 * The first involves a simple misunderstanding blown so out of proportion that I was shocked at the final conclusion. Band members are upset and crying, ignoring others, acting like bitches, talking about becoming psychically sick in the presence of others, and the entire conflict boils down to a shy girl finding out her friend quit the band and assuming (she didn't even ask - they never spoke) that it was because of her FOR NO REASON. She then becomes physically ill when the girl asks to rejoin, and with the way everyone was behaving you'd think WWIII was about to start. Surprise, surprise, the two finally talk after like 4-5 episodes of nonsense and clear the issue up in a matter of minutes.
 * Second arc is better but is about a character I did not care for, which likely didn't help.
 * Final arc was about one of the students' misplaced and frankly creepy love for her teacher, which was treated in a serious manner, and not just a small crush. I was grossed out to say the least.

Throw in the yuri-bait that went nowhere and the fact that two of my favourite characters got barely any screen time outside comic foil and I was not impressed. This being said though the animation is still FUCKING AMAZING, the scores gorgeous and the few concerts we got were standouts for the entire season let alone the anime itself. The ending was also heartwarming and bittersweet, almost as if trying to mask what the rest of the season was about. It did tug heartstrings, but I'm the sort of person who can't ignore what happens in an anime just because the team finally decides to do something great for the last 10 minutes.

I thought this could be my anime of the season (I rewatched all of S1 a day before it premiered I was so excited) alas, I was let down :( Kumiko however takes my 'Lady of the Season' title, because even if everything around her was a mess, she shone as always. Kudos to her VA too - she did a fantastic job ^ ^

Final Score: 6.6/10

Best OP and ED easily go to Yuri!!! On Ice for me. Hot damn, the OP is gorgeous and inspiring, whilst the ED has a kick-ass song and some lovely, modern visuals to go along with it. I loved both.

ED honourable mentions to Haikyuu! (what a fun song! I like it a lot ^ ^) and Hibike (it's cute, but I have to admit the S1 ending was a lot better).

Aaaaaand... that's all I have to say. Hopefully soon I can find the want to properly sit down and finish Bungou and some other series I skipped and want to go back to (such as Flip Flappers). Only reason I haven't is because it's fucking hot here right now and sitting in a hot room with a hot laptop on my legs is not a nice experience.

As for next season... well, hehe, I have no idea at this stage XD Guess we'll see what happens~