Funomenal Overview: Anime Half-season Winter 2016 – Part I

To no surprise for this aniblogger, anime is alive and well in 2016, and has shown to still have a couple of aces down its sleeve, even if a few of them were misplayed during this still ongoing match. Rather unsurprisingly. the collective crowd has already crowned their champion of the season, despite being just halfway into Winter 2016, leaving behind straggling titles who were overlooked for their limited appeal in subject matters, but were no less intelligent and artistic in their ability to captivate the more observational consumers and gem miners.

Let us delve into the Winter season through my eyes, as I glance back into the 7 weeks that has just passed.

Hilarity Reactions: Haruchika Episode 1 | So a Trio of H’s and a Triangle Sat in a Bar…

(SPOILERS! It’s a bloody reaction post, sir, do try to notice the flipping obvious…)

Let me steal a bit from my own previous publication: Haruchika shares waaayyyyy too much incidental similarities with BOTH Hibike! Euphonium AND Hyouka. And for me to just…ignore it, is simply injustice.

Well, after watching one episode, the overlapping just increased a notch. After identifying that Haruchika is about a mystery-solving brass instrument band club…with a name that ALSO starts with an ‘H’, P.A. Works’ latest NOVEL adaptation also introduces another certain dynamic, one which also plays in an eerily similar manner to Hibike’s romantic situations…

Funomena Previews: Anime Winter 2016 Opening Watchlist

I believe in the practice of casting a wide net from the get go, to reel in the best catch. Granted, I will have to deal with a multitude of indigestible garbage and an occasional shopping cart or human carcass, but this way, I can taste-test a wide range of shows, before settling with what to follow, drop or slot into my watchlist.

It’s because of this practice, that I usually start the season running with a dozen shows at least, before it dwindles into 3 or 4 shows I will still be following weekly after 5 or 6 rounds. The shows I stopped following and my reasoning vary, from ‘It’s not my type of show’ to ‘this will look great on 1080p BD’… or ‘This is too epic to NOT marathon’. There’s also added dilemma in what shows work better with a English dub. Then there’s the always fascinating slew of Funimation broadcast dubs. We are definitely in the future.