Watch These Shows – 2016 Winter Anime

So the 2016 winter anime season is a week in and everything has at least one episode out. Last season I don’t even think I did a list of what I was going to watch, mostly I attribute it to a bad season, but it’s no excuse. This time I am proud to say that I watched at least 18 new shows and won’t even be talking about half of them. Because this article isn’t about those meh or bad shows, this is about those shows that you should go blindly watch because I am telling you to. Just kidding of course, I’ll at least give some explanation about why I chose what I chose.

Dimension W

Dimension W is like a very attractive person you see walking down the hall and then they trip over nothing. They don’t fall down or lose their balance for long, they just rub it off and continue walking as if nothing happen. And you don’t really notice it because they’re so hot. But then they do it again…

Now the material here is really solid. Mostly because it keeps the premise tight and simple leaving you free to get swept up in the environment (and soon the characters). Even though its simple the first episode focuses on the setting and really only plays with its characters for a couple of minutes but the scenario evolved so naturally, I felt like I was already a part of whats happening. I can only hope that it continues to weave context and story as nice as it did in this first episode. Awesome character art/character design almost reminiscent of the late and great bandai shows like Bebop, Champloo, and Ghost In The Shell (yeah I know GITS is production IG). And while watching this I was getting those same kind of feelings in an updated way. Sure is a big shoe to step into but I totally think it can fill it. The only thing it has going against it is the direction. The director doesn’t seem like they know how to cut and layout an action series. Some of the framing and scene layout seemed off-putting but it will probably improve as the show goes on. Even if it doesn’t it’s not enough to hurt the show. Dimension W is going to be a strong show, just how strong is yet to be seen.

Dimension W is streaming in Funimation.com

Erased

It’s hard to say some good things about Erased that haven’t already been said. From the first episode I can see that its going to be a super strong show and everyone is already set to love this no matter how it goes. On the other hand, it’s a mystery show, so no matter how well everything is executed (which is awesomely by the way) the mystery itself could ruin it. But that’s only speculation so lets talk about what we’ve seen so far. The mood or moods are amazing. It keeps jerking you back and forth between a few emotional states and every time it does it feels natural and intense. Its letting the atmosphere tell a lot about its characters and giving them a lot of life without ever hearing their feeling. This gives us a lot of time to be able to interpret motivation from characters which is essential in a “good” mystery. Basically what I’m saying is everyone just doesn’t spout out how they feel and I like that.

As for the story itself, it could go a number of places and the fun will be trying to figure that out, how it approaches things and why we should care about whats going on. Certainly a show that I’ll be watching every week as soon as it comes out.

Erased is streaming on Crunchyroll.com

Active Raid

If you don’t know who Goro Tanaguchi is I don’t blame you. He’s the guy mainly known for making the anime Code Geass such a big hit with his amazing directing skills. While Active Raid has all the nice scene transitions and editing that you would expect from a master director, there are a few things that directing can’t fix. Mainly its the setting, Active Raid has a very bad way of delivering its complicated police structure in the first episode. It basically devolves into characters explaining things to each other even though they already know whats going on. A lot of shows do this and it drives me crazy every time. So while I may not be as invested in this one as the other two, which had much simpler setting and scenarios, I feel like whats its trying to express is worth investing into. Clearly this show has something to say about the way the police system works or should work. But the first episode is so filled with so much jargon that I couldn’t enjoy the cool aesthetics nor take the fight scenes all that seriously. Same goes with the characters, most of them were just exposition robots so i’ll have to wait an episode to see if they’re likable or even fit there roles. But I did see a lot of bad arch-typing so its a toss up. It’s a show that certainly may be more ambitious and have more to say than others this season, which is why its on this list. Plus theres a purple haired mascot hologram girl that I have yet to see, but she shows up on the promo, so she must be important.

Active Raid is streaming on Crunchyroll.com

Dagashi Kashi

Okay so this show is mainly on here for the share fact that its insane, and we just don’t get enough insane shows. And I mean purely insane, I don’t mean insane/echii shows. I mean stupid and dumb and insane. Dagashi Kashi will not be the show you watch because you are interested in story, character, development, not even romance. It’ll be a show that you watch for how insane it is and you’ll just want to see how long our main character will be able to handle said craziness. You might get a little disturbed but that okay, as long as you find it funny, who cares. Immaturity and obliviousness at its best and will surely be the most polarizing thing on this list. So just watch it for the chance that you might be able to rage about how stupid it is (which is kinda the point). Before you start it though I’m not going to lie, this show will have a lot of things that go over your head if you’re not Japan keen. But mostly the visuals and absurd delivery is what will make the show and the jokes hit so you shouldn’t really have a problem. Sure I’m biased because I love everything about the main heroine as a character.She’s the personification of the most annoying person you’ve ever met and seeing her reek mayhem on this town will be a nice treat. Dagashi Kashi will do exactly what its suppose to do and whats wrong with that?

Dagashi Kashi is streaming on Funimation.com and Crunchyroll.com depending on your region