Monthly Update August 2016 - Movies, Series and Animes

Here we go again in terms of update of how well this last month went for me in term of watching shows and such.

Movies

Well, I didn't watch any this month... but....


Series
As I've said it was it was a great month to me... I finish watching Containment; Wayward Pines (Season 2); Scream TV Series (Season 2) and Stranger Things.

All of them are good series. Reviews are above but let me say a couple of things...

• If you want a Mystery series that will make you wonder who is the killer then Scream is for you BUT you must watch season one or else it will suck big time... 7.5/10
• If you want a series to watch while you wait for X-Files and you enjoy post apocalyptic scenarios and suspense? Then Wayward Pines - Another series that need watching season one - Overall - season 1 and 2 - I would give an 8/10. But only season 2 I would give 5/10
•  If you want a medical apocalyptic scenario mix with politics and no pain no gain people then I would watch Containment. The series were cancelled but they are self-contain (no pun intended). I really enjoy it. But there wasn't room for more. Very sad story... 7.5/10
• If you want a story that takes you back into the 80's sci-fi geeky mix with X-Files Monster-hunter world then Stranger Things is for you. It's awesome. One of my favourite series of my life... 10/10

What I am watching now..

Gorgeous... but that's not the reason I am watching this series... It's awesome... Reality Grip

• Lucifer (I am watching it with my wife, so it will take a while to finish the season - I really enjoy the black comedy / mystery thing)
• Thunderbolt Fantasy - I am on the third episode - Enjoying the fantasy china-feel puppeteer show.
• Zoo (Season 2) - I am watching as the episodes come out so I am now at the tenth episode out of 13.
• The 100 (Season 1) - I start watching last year but stopped. I will be returning. I am now at episode 8 out of 13.
• 35-sai no Koukousei (No Dropping Out: Back to School at 35) - Is a japanese drama focusing on bullying and the life of students in Japan. I am hooked with it. It's an excellent show.

After this series I will as they come. I start watching Slasher, Braindead, The Expanse & Colony so I think this will be next. Killjoys & Dark Matter as well.

But there a couple of shows returning in the fall of 2016 like Z Nation which I will pick up as they come out. There are other series I am interested....

Anime

In terms of Anime it was also a good month. Of course watching a season of 12 episodes of anime is not the same as TV Series. 

I ended watching Hundred, ReLife, Tokyo Magnitude 8.0, KonoSuba: God's Blessing on This Wonderful World!, Ajin, Planetarian: The Dream of Small Star

They are quite different all of them... 

• Hundred is a futuristic feeling of battle warriors with power armour battling big alien mechas. It's also a Harem with a bit of Romance. Not the best show to watch... 4.5/10
• Re-Life This is was anime is all about. A slow pacing anime dealing with school life but mix with criticism with japanese society. In a way is very similar to 35-sai no Koukousei - The only difference is that in this case the character is given a pill and his body of 27 now looks like 17. He has many flashbacks of his adult life and compare with the life the students have nowadays. It doesn't focus on bullying (there aren't any on that show) - but nevertheless is a good show. Hoping for a season two 8/10
• Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 - This show is sad. Watching every episode is like having a ninja chopping onions right in front of your eyes. I give 9/10 because of all the feelings it brought to me. But beware, it's slow pace... The first couple of episodes are not that good but the rest? Awesome...
• KonoSuba: God's Blessing on This Wonderful World! - When a person dies, what happens to them? In this case they were given a choice - either go to a fantasy world with all your memories or be re-incarnated in your own world. It's funny, fantasy harem feel (but never being) with nice twists and battles. Really enjoy it. I am hoping for a second season. It doesn't end in a cliffhanger but supposedly this world has a bad guy with a dozen generals and they only defeated a few... I want to learn more about this world.  7.5/10
• Ajin -Well this is tricky. This anime has a very interesting dark fantasy story but the animation put me so off that I couldn't watch two episodes in a row. But if you want character development and unique story - this is it. There is a season two coming out in the fall 7/10
• Planetarian: The Dream of Small Star - This is a small anime with only 5 episodes. Each episode had from 10 to 20 minutes. This is set in a apocalyptic world that most humanity have perished. After a long journey a guy arrives and takes shelter in a planetarian where he meets a strange robot. Good story but sad. If you could ask me I would tell you, yeah, watch it in one go - 1 hour of your life. 6/10

What I am going to watch or I am watching

• Joker Game - An excelent story of spies set in WW2. I am truly enjoying but each episode feels disconneted to a grand plot... I hope I am wrong or this will be a deception...
• Days - Still watching as the episodes come out. A football anime focus on one character that has a will of iron but not that good. Despise his flaws is hardwork makes other players to train more and be better. I am truly enjoying it.
• 91 Days - An anime focusing on gangsters but with a Venetian republic feel... Only watch one episode.
• Dimension W / Handa-Kun / Dimension W / Parasyte (Keseijuu) - The Maxim are the next big four...

TV Series Review: Stranger Things

So Stranger Things... so much have been said about it.. The series draw elements from several films from the 80's but mainly a couple of movies - Jaws, ET, Alien and The Goonies. There are also references to a dozen Stephen King novels, Predator and even an anime called Elfen Lied.

But before everything - I trully trully enjoy this series. So nostalgic to a person who was born in 1980 (things appear in Portugal couple years later eheh)... I Trully love this series. I didn't felt this way for a long time...

And another thing.. Did you know the Brothers try this script with other fifteen companies and they all turn it down?? FVCK THEM.. Netflix did it and $$$ enter their account. It also reminds of some movie, well book... DUNE by Frank Herbert. Reject fifty times and now it's the most important ecological sci-fi novel of all times.

The Characters

Mike, Dustin and Lucas are based on The Goonies and mix it with ET characters.  In the start of the series they are playing D&D like in ET - I remember one line Steve said like when his mom asks him how do they win he says something like "There's no winning, it's like life, you don't win in life..." - Awesome...

Only Mike's parents appear in this show (Lucas's appear but only at the funeral) and they are like all parents in the world... oblivous of everything.

I will talk about Will in a bit...

Winona Ryder plays Will's mother - Joyce. She is a single mother with two boys. In ET it's the same, and coincidentally both are roughly the same age as in this show. Joyce is the first feel something was not right. She reminds me, at times, with Carol from Poltergeist  with Stephen King's character Jack in The Shinning (the all axe wielding thing and both see things that to others feel like they are going crazy but they are real supernatural phenomena). Winona is an excelent actress, well here she was - vulnerable and strong. In poltergeist both mothers say they can feel the presence of their son (daughter in poltergeist) and nobody believes them at first.

Jonathan Byers is Will's brother and from the start he is trying to find his son. He is an outsider in school (quiet - hearing not that main stream music and such). Also in The Groonies there is a character He loves Nancy Wheeler. He is part of something in the last episode that made me laugh. I will get back to it...

Nancy Wheeler - is Mike's sister. She is always fighting with her brother. She fells for the jockey and the most looking guy in school (like most movies of the 80's) but then something happened that I will be back to it.

Steve is the cool guy in school and recently seduced Nancy Wheeler...

Now about this trio... Usually in this kind of stories we've got the cool guy seducing the angelic figurine and then act like a beast and making the girl cry and at same time the other misunderstood boy (or possible best friend that loved her since forever)  confort them and they would be together. Until episode 7 everyone would ship them together - Nancy & Jonathan but the last episode the producers said "fvck this, we are doing a homage to the 80's but we want something ours" and in the last episode we saw Steve redeeming himself - being a hero and Nancy staying with him in the end. How cool is that? AWESOME guys. Truly mindblowing... I bet noone saw that coming. We all thought, yeah they are going to kill off Steve and so Nancy will be with Jonathan but no... Mindblowing I tell... But who knows what happenned in season 2. Nancy still cares about Jonathan.

Barbara - Tragic girl and totally inspired in a girl from the Goonies (Stef) Look her up here

Now lets go to Chief Hopper - another great character. So good... He is undoubty based on Chief Brody from jaws... (big city cops who go to a small village, both have beasts to fight, both  have problems with high authorities, both beasts are drawn to blood, both are protecting their children (one of the interesting addons is the small people complaining in the background about absurd non-related plot things)

Eleven or El... WOW - She is a mix of several characters. First of all Stephen king's main protagonist in Firestarter & Carrie (powers and such), then we've got Elfen Lied an anime, you should check this scene here - it's 1.14... Awesome 

- What are the similarities you ask? 
a) They both are young girls with psychic abilities,
b) both were experimented on, 
c) both have father figures (that abused them - in the experiments) 
d) they can both killed with their mind - (The scene with Elfen Lied escape is truly awesome.. 
e) Both have a boy who trust her and other friends do not.... 
f) They are both weirdos & unstables
g) The name - Elfen - Eleven (Btw, did you know El means deity(god?) - interesting no?

There is some similarities with ET, even the dressing up costume... but in ET the main boy say gross and here he says - pretty....

And Will he only appears in a couple of episodes but it's one of the central characters and probably our main character from season 2 which leads us to the first couple of minutes of season 1 episode 1

From the beginning we are introduced to D&D and we understand that those first few minutes  are a image to what will happened in the series....

Is Will's turn and  Demogorgon appears. He decides to launch a fireball and missing. Later on he is attacked by the creature (which they later will call it Demogorgon) and he also fires a rifle and misses. They  say that the Demogorgon is drawn by blood which it's the same as Shark in Jaws

A bit of fluff. The Demogorgon, in D&D, is a powerful demon prince. He is known as the Prince of Demons, a self-proclaimed title he holds by virtue of his power and influence, which, in turn, is a title acknowledged by both mortals and his fellow demons. Demogorgon was also named as one of the greatest villains in D&D. His title as Prince of Demons is contested and somewhat misleading in that in the chaos of the Abyss there are no official titles and positions. He holds this title through sheer power and the fact no other demon has been able to prove themselves his superior and wrest the name from him. Demogorgon is also known as Lord of All That Swims in Darkness (Swims = Water = Eleven?)

Talking about the beast itself... He is a Xenomorph from Alien (the egg and probably the way he reproduces - Will), Predator (his body), Freddy Krugger (coming from other dimension and the moving walls - which can also be from Poltergeist) Tremor (look at his face by god... tulip-shaped head) & Jaws (drawn by blood). IT reminds me as well as a monster of the week from x-files (The Host)

And we can't forget the other more evil guys who experimented on El... MK-Ultra it existed from the 50's until the 70's... Much of it was destroyed by CIA. CIA was conducting in four objectives:

(1)   discover a means of conditioning personnel to prevent unauthorized extraction of information from them by known means
(2)   investigate the possibility of control of an individual by application of special interrogation techniques
(3)   investigate memory enhancement

(4)   establish defensive means for preventing hostile control of agency personnel


They are the true evil of this series and they will return for season 2 undoubtedly.


The Story itself

Again this is basically a mash-up of several stories... Nightmare in Elm Street and ET and the Groonies (a bunch of boys must confront an evil and nobody believes them).


Remember the scene where they are being chased in the bikes? It happened in ET as well. But in ET he makes the bikes fly and in the Stranger Things the van flew. 

The story changes a lot also for Jonathan, Nancy and Steve. It's almost two series in one... first the teeneage movie of cheesy scenes and then the arm themselves to catch a monster. 

Chief Hopper is another character who has so much development. From the beginning we know that he had a child who died and in the last episodes he is so obessed to find Will as he wants to do that for him because he couldn't do for his own child. The last episode when Will comes to life he is seeing flashbacks it's almost as a curse being lifted from him.  But there are something as well - When he is playing with his child she was looking at somewhere and was scared shit? What was she looking at? This is something probably will see in Season 2... I even think that she is not dead at all...


Talking about the Upside Down. What a heck is that place? They say it's like a interdimensional place but I got some doubts the origin... First I thought it was the future because, in the last episode we saw Hopper and Joyce looking for Will and I don't know but it felt it was the future after some cataclysm or else everything would be the same. If a building would fall in our world how would it behave in that Upside Down?

Then I thought more about it and it's either an alternate reality where things went out of hand or some imaginary placed created by Eleven psychic powers - after all it was her who created the portal and before that she only saw this beast in a black place with water... I really think that in some way that place is Eleven's creation...

Oh, Demongorgon could be Eleven again because in the fluff of D&D demongorgon had two heads and they hated each other and at war. One head is destructive and the other is deceptive and clever but could not live one without the other. In this movie we've got Eleven and Demogorgon and they both disappear at the same time... At some point when they are battling they both raise their hands one at each other and she even says... "I am the monster".

The place itself reminds me of Silent Hill (the movie) and Insidious - an horror movie from the 2010 and the video game Last of Us. - The metal rope they used to send the guy through the gate? - There is one in Poltergeist (and Jaws).

The Ending

The comic Will won from Dustin was June 134 of X-Men which was about rising of the Dark Phoenix - which reminds us of what? Jean Grey who has the same abilities as Eleven. Both have some bad men who lied to said girl and want to use her for nefarious purposes; and a monster has been awakened because the men tampered with her mind. - Curiosity. One of Mike Trophies in second episode his a... Phoenix statue - oh yeah

And the end of this story is Jean decides to kill the monster by sacrificing herself, because she knows that every minute she continues to live is a risk to innocent lives. She dies in front of her love, Cyclops - With Eleven is of course different but she also sacrifice herself. Like Jean, she knows the monster she’s brought into this world won’t stop killing. She’s the only person who can stop it. So she has to kill it. She wants to protect her friends ... even if it means killing herself and breaking Mike’s heart...

ET guys playing D&D

After seeing Eleven pwoers and reading the comic X-Men No. 137 which I search and read it - Uatu the Watcher — a cosmic character in charge of watching our world — makes a keen observation. He tells us that Jean’s Eleven sacrifice is what makes us all human. Both characters could have moved on with their lives and started anew. But that would have meant abandoning the people who showed them love. "Jean Grey could have lived to become a god," Uatu says. "But it was more important to her that she die … a human." The same could be said of Eleven no?

Oh about that sling shot in the end is the same idea the kids on Stephen King's book called IT had.

In the same line, Grey return so Eleven will too... ( I Hope)


After the Ending
There is some interesting bits of it... first of all

First, the boys are yet again in a D&D marathon - 
- The monster Thessalhydra - Very interesting... new creature? - Or an indication that if you cut a head of a hydra two will come out?
- It was a campaign too short - for us it was too short...
- About lost knight? - Sherrif Hopper (In the end we see that he leaves food for El and previously we saw him enter a car with some Goverment guys - so he is still a very interesting light+dark character)
- About the proud princess? Eleven reference, no doubt
- Weird flowers in the cave? The eggs they found out in the Upside Down (plus the slugs Will is vomiting - Alien yeah...)

Then we've got Will

1. He was found out with something in his mouth (Alien reference) and he later wakes up in the hospital and the first thing he notices... his brother was cut in his hand which was a bit hidden... (Smelling blood mayhaps?)
2. At Dinner time Will vomits a slug (and he doesn't look that preocuppied - I would be freak out by it) and for a second or two he goes to the Upside Down returning to the table like nothing had happened... So what a heck? Is he a monster controlled freak? Or is he changing into a new beast? A vessel... mayhaps?

And we never later understand what happened to Eleven and who the monster was... Was he a previous test subject? Evil side of Eleven? Doctor Brennan was not that worried when El tells him he met a monster... He knew it was there...

What about the portal? Is it there? What a heck... Too much questions...

The Nostalagia Feeling

1. The Poster is Star Wars (Jedi anyone?
2. Title Sequence is a heavy 80's synthesizers and B-Horror movies (and Stephen Kings novels at the time)
3. Each Chapter reminds of Choose your own Adventure kind (like Fight & Fantasy)
4. Each character is a hero in Dungeon and Dragons
5. Bikes from the 80's...
6. Should I stay or Should I go (says something... go hear the music from the Clash)
7. The Levi's jackets
8. The vintage nike sneekers
9. The dial rotary phones..
10. Puffy vests so Michael J Fox in Back to the Future
11. The posters with the movies Evil Dead or The Thing
12. The Tom Cruise poster (I bet nobody has those nowadays...)
13. The Junk food...

References to movies 

(besides the ones I previous talk about - taken from one website I watch )

Under The Skin (2013)

In Under the Skin, Scarlett Johansson plays an alien who masquerades as a human, using her feminine wiles to lure  men to their doom. Whenever she lures a man into her van, the film shifts to an abstract “black room” where the victims are consumed in a liquid darkness. Stranger Things puts Eleven in a similar netherspace whenever she’s dunked into the sensory-deprivation tank. She, too, is supposed to be used as a weapon against men — in this case, Soviet targets in the Cold War — but the mission backfires

The Last Starfighter (1984)
I've watch this movie on youtube (yeah sue me) and it's about a guy who uses his geek and over the top ability to play videogames to go into interstellar warfare. I think this kids are the same. They even mention as Upside Down as The Vale of Shadows in D&D. 
Geek Power!

Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
I've watch this movie so much time ago but one of the few things I remember was the blinking lights on the farmacy and I remember Joyce Ouija board on the wall.. Its the same thing. 

Ranting
This review took three of four hours but it was worth it. Probably only a couple of people will see it but most important I will see it... This series is truly awesome. Thank you Duffer Brothers

This is series are going to be there in 50's years as the great of this decade...

Stranger Things - Prequel to the actual Review

First of all... 

Let me talk about something personal and why this show is probably the best one I saw in ten years. Bear in mind that I am 35 and so, I was born in the 1980.

After watching this movie I was a little sad... well I was more than a little sad. I was really sad - nostalgic is the right word I think. This show made me realize that my childhood and until 19/20 I did nothing you could call interesting... This is not a self-piety bear in mind but a realization that my country until the coming of the internet was mostly backward existence... 

We only had 2 channels on TV and so we had some cartoons in the morning (1 hour or so) and then one hour in the afternoon. The series were always at night and we weren't allowed to see them. In the weekend we would see series like Macgyver, A-Team, Michael Knight and Kit and other similar shows. 

Magic & D&D and other cool stuff were very very limited. So limited that I only heard of them when I was 18 - I think the first store to opened was in late 90's... or something like that. We learn about stuff because the friend of the friend saw in other country...

We didn't knew what was anime. We watch some japanese looking cartoons but we didn't called it anime. That word wasn't known... Only with Fnac opening we learn that there were things called Anime and so much different cartoons and magazines...  

Horror movies? What? My first recollection is watching Jaws when I was 8/9 - damn nightmares I had... In the portuguese TV were very rare to pass a Horror movie, or fantasy or Sci-Fi... From time to time....

But moving a bit backwards... I still remember that the first book I have ever read (besides those for school) was one my brother came home with from school (never learn how he did it) called "Citadela do Caos" - The Citadel of Chaos. We played it with dice and stuff. I remember I was 9/10. Awesome book. Still have it. Made my grandmother buy one Goosebumps, or Fighting & Fantasy (if available) or one Portuguese series called "Uma Aventure" like those English or american "The Five". From 8/9 until I was 14/15 this was all I knew... then for a while I was only interested in playing videogames in my friend's house... Until I was 18/19 when I got my first computer with a 48K internet... yeah pretty quick. 

But besides all interesting I knew nothing of Fantasy worlds of Sci-Fi novels per se... Only when I got  21/22 I was study in lisbon and went to Bertrand, Fnac and other stores and I bought and read my first fantasy novel from Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman called Dragons of Autumn Twilight (Dragonlance) and from that moment on I learn there were more things. I bought Tolkien and other Portuguese translated stuff.  Later on I got dissapointed to Portuguese translation so I learn of a store we could get the books in english and thus my current 3200 plus books library exist...

All because of Dragonlance and mostly because of Raistlin Majere. My favorite character of all time. 

Nowadays, after reading a thousand books, watched dozen of animes, hundreds of series and films I still feel a bit incomplete and thus I try harder to see more or to read more.

I recently discover board games, which again, have been around for decades which is very lame.. 

My final thoughts come to this conclusion... technology and internet are good. Make us know more and more... but of course all those things can be bad as well. When I was eight, nine I would go to the streets to play and nobody thought about anything bad but nowadays we know pedophiles are out there, gangs, drugs - there is such insecurity thanks to our knowledge as well... Ignorance is bliss?

Well, these last few sentences are a bit of rambling of my mind... What I wanted to say is that this movie make me think and there aren't that many who make me think. In the top 3 of all times... There are classics that will stay up there but I know they suck nowadays.. Macgygver, A-Team and the rest are slow pacing, nothing bad happenend (do you remember any of these shows being a dead person?) Yeah I can't remember either...  When death appeared it would be meaningful...

Space Battleship Yamato

I remember watching dozen of cartoon series in TV... most of them american. Good guys vs bad guys - spoiler alert - good guys ALWAYS won.


Then one day I start watching on "Channel 2" at 14:00 (2:00PM) I remember so vividly, I was 12 or 13 or something like that, and watching a anime, which I didn't knew it was called anime, of a battleship travelling towards another galaxy.. It was called Space Battleship Yamato. In these show good guys suffer a lot - they died for Pete's sake. That was so strange... To these days I talk about that show changed my perspective on good or evil and there was something inbetween... the grey. And that good guys could do evil deeds and vice versa... Nowadays are way common grey characters. There aren't that many Light or Dark characters in good shows... They are always grey. When a character is perfect being of light people feel disconnected to them - it happened with Superman. Again sidetracked...

This is a rambling and I hope you could understand something I was talking about... This show made me remember things and made me talk about it which is not that often.

Space Battleship Yamato - Crew

My next post will be the actual review...

TV Series: Fall 2016

Fall 2016 is coming around the corner and with it a couple of series I want to watch...

Top 5

Z Nation (Season 3) - I am a big fan of Z Nation and I've watched the first two seasons as the episodes came out. No reason not to do it now... Coming in 16 September 2016

Three years after the zombie virus has gutted the United States of America a team of everyday heroes must transport the only known survivor of the plague from New York to California, where the last functioning viral lab waits for his blood.

Westworld (Season 1) - This is another one that I am really looking forward. I love the movie and the actors are all good... what can it go wrong? - 2 October 2016

A series inspired by the 1973 film of the same title written by Michael Crichton about a futuristic theme park populated by artificial beings.

MacGyver (Season 1) - New series based on young MacGyver. I only hope is good.

Young Angus "Mac" MacGyver creates a clandestine organization within the U.S. government, relying on his unconventional problem-solving skills to save lives. A remake of the popular 1980s TV series.

The Strain (Season 3) - I've not watch the Season 2 but I am going to make it (I am 15 episodes behind... no biggie) - I've read the books and I was eagearly waiting the series but they dissapointed me because they got away from the novels... but I will return

A mysterious viral outbreak with hallmarks of an ancient and evil strain of vampirism ravages the city of New York.

Van Helsing (Season 1) - Don't know if it will be good but I like the premises Friday, September 23

Vanessa Helsing, distant relative of famous vampire hunter Abraham Van Helsing, is resurrected only to find that vampires have taken over the world. She is humanity's last hope to lead an offensive to take back what has been lost.

Hope I get the time to see as well...

American Horror Story (Season 6) - I am yet to see a single pisode but I really want it... Maybe this is the time? 

An anthology series that centers on different characters and locations, including a house with a murderous past, an insane asylum, a witch coven, a freak show, and an enigmatic hotel.

Legends of Tomorrow (Season 2) October 13- I will watch the first season but so far everything seems great...

Focuses on time-traveling rogue Rip Hunter, who has to recruit a rag-tag team of heroes and villains to help prevent an apocalypse that could impact not only Earth, but all of time.

To see with My Wife 

Gothan (Season 3) - Another series like the Strain. Start watching and then stop. I've watch it with my wife.I will do it in the following months

Big Bang Theory - Another great series that I watch as they come out with my Wife (with Modern Family & Lucifer and Gothan are the only series I Watch with her)

Modern Family - Another great comedy series...

Anime: Winter 2015

Winter 2015 was before I was seeing anime. I've only watched Isuca (not that good) Let me start with top five

Kuroko no Basket 3rd Season

(Kuroko's Basketball 3)

Rating: 8.64 - 96,521 - Ranked 51 overall

Episodes: 25

Studio: Production I.G

Genres: Comedy, School, Shounen, Sports

- Kuroko no Basket 2nd Season & Kuroko no Basket

Lys: I've no interest in basketball anime... But sure those japanese enjoy animes about sports - volleyball, basketball, football. baseball, cycle and soon a rugby anime. 

Following their triumph against Yousen High, Seirin's basketball team has reached the semifinals of the Winter Cup along with Kaijou, Rakuzan, and Shuutoku. Each of these teams possesses a member of the Generation of Miracles, and Seirin prepares to face the largest obstacles on their path to winning the Winter Cup.

In the final season of Kuroko no Basket, Kuroko goes head-to-head with his old teammates once more as he attempts to show them that individual skill is not the only way to play basketball. His firm belief that his form of basketball, team play, is the right way to play the sport will clash with the talents of a perfect copy and an absolute authority.

While Kuroko tries to prove that his basketball is "right," he and the rest of Seirin High ultimately have one goal: to win the Winter Cup and overcome the strength of the Generation of Miracles, who have long dominated the scene of middle and high school basketball.

Death Parade

Rating:  8.35 - 201,463 users

Episodes: 12

Studio: Madhouse

Genres: Drama, Game, Mystery, Psychological, Thriller

After death, there is no heaven or hell, only a bar that stands between reincarnation and oblivion. There the attendant will, one after another, challenge pairs of the recently deceased to a random game in which their fate of either ascending into reincarnation or falling into the void will be wagered. Whether it's bowling, darts, air hockey, or anything in between, each person's true nature will be revealed in a ghastly parade of death and memories, dancing to the whims of the bar's master. Welcome to Quindecim, where Decim, arbiter of the afterlife, awaits!

Death Parade expands upon the original one-shot intended to train young animators. It follows yet more people receiving judgment—until a strange, black-haired guest causes Decim to begin questioning his own rulings.

Kamisama Hajimemashita◎

Rating:  8.28 - 42,997 users

Episodes: 12

Studio: TMS Entertainment 

Genres: Comedy, Demons, Fantasy, Romance, Shoujo, Supernatural

Kamisama Hajimemashita (First Season - Fall 2012)

After the events following the first season, Nanami is filled with new challenges as the Land God of the Shrine. She faces these challenges with her two familiars Tomoe and Mizuki. Along these challenges, Tomoe begins to realize his true feelings for Nanami.

Nanami Momozono dreams of living a normal life, just like any other average high school girl. Instead, she must cope with the fact that her deadbeat father accumulated a bunch of gambling debts and abandoned her. And since she can't afford to pay the rent, she's now homeless. Despite this unfortunate turn of events, Nanami still maintains a kind heart.

One day in the park, she saves a poor man from a vicious attack, and in a perfect example of how good deeds are rewarded, the man thanks her by giving her his home. The offer sounds suspicious, but beggars can't be choosers. When Nanami arrives at the man's home, however, she discovers it isn't a house at all. It's a shrine. She learns that the man she saved was actually a god and that by giving her his home, she has now assumed his godhood and all of the duties that go along with it.

The role seems daunting but it turns out that the previous god had a familiar named Tomoe. A powerful and skilled fox demon, Tomoe should be able to help Nanami transition into her new role as a deity... if the two of them don't kill each other first, that is. Kamisama Hajimemashita follows Nanami's life as a human god, her quest to win Tomoe's trust, and the romantic feelings she develops for him along the way.

Ansatsu Kyoushitsu (TV) - First Season

Rating:  8.19 - 138,222 users

Episodes: 22

Studio: Lerche

Genres: Action, Comedy, School, Shounen

When a mysterious creature chops the moon down to a permanent crescent, the students of class 3-E of Kunugigaoka Middle School find themselves confronted with an enormous task: assassinate the creature responsible for the disaster before Earth suffers a similar fate. However, the monster, dubbed Koro-sensei (the indestructible teacher), is able to fly at speeds of up to Mach 20, which he demonstrates freely, leaving any attempt to subdue him in his extraterrestrial dust. Furthermore, the misfits of 3-E soon find that the strange, tentacled beast is more than just indomitable—he is the best teacher they have ever had!

Adapted from the humorous hit manga by Yuusei Matsui, Ansatsu Kyoushitsu tells the story of these junior high pupils as they polish their assassination skills and grow in order to stand strong against the oppressive school system, their own life problems, and one day, Koro-sensei.

Durarara!!x2 Shou

Rating:  8.16 - 87,536 users

Episodes: 12

Studio: Shuka

Genres: Action, Mystery, Supernatural

First Season - Durarara!!

Half a year after the turmoil that rocked the entire city of Ikebukuro, peace has once again returned to the city, and people are living each day normally. The high school students enjoy their days of youth as the strongest and most dangerous man of Ikebukuro works diligently. The informant plots (or plans) a new scheme and the headless rider is pursued by the cops as she rides through the night... But soon this normal will be cut short by the abnormal. Slowly but surely, the unknown will seize the city and face an all new storm.

This ones I am really looking forward (Death Parade from the above), Ansatsu Kyoushitsu also seems interestings, Tokyo Ghoul √A (Sequel from Tokyo Ghoul)

In Tokyo Ghoul √A, monsters live among humans, looking like them while craving their flesh. That is the world Ken Kaneki has struggled to navigate ever since a first date went horrifically awry and transformed him into a half-human, half-ghoul. For months, he has fought against his new cannibalistic hunger and violent tendencies. But after being captured and tortured by a sadistic ghoul, Kaneki has accepted his darker half as his only means for survival.  His choice could not be more timely. Tokyo has become a battleground between humans and ghouls. The CCG, a government agency created to deal with the perceived ghoul threat, has ramped up its efforts to eradicate the inhuman monsters. In response, the terrorist ghoul organization, Aogiri Tree, has made destroying the CCG its priority. And throughout it all, the ghouls who frequent the coffee shop Anteiku merely want to live a peaceful life. But Kaneki, who worked at Anteiku while he attempted to reconcile his human and ghoul halves, makes a shocking decision: he joins Aogiri Tree. Even as his choice sends shockwaves through his newfound friends, many more questions are raised. What is Aogiri Tree's true purpose? Will the CCG triumph over the ghouls? And has Kaneki truly betrayed his friends and everything that Anteiku stands for?

2150 AD. The battle against the silicon-based Festums from outer space reaches a new phase. Fragments of the North Pole Mir were scattered throughout the world. Eventually, they began to act on their own as independent Mirs. Most hated humanity and attacked them, but some chose to coexist with mankind. Some with the same way of thinking existed within the human race, as well: those who were both human and Festum. They added to the chaos of the battle and brought about even more hatred. 

Maria is a powerful young witch living with her two familiars in medieval France during the Hundred Years' War against England. As the war rages on and the innocent get caught in its destruction, Maria becomes fed up with the situation and begins using her magic to try and prevent further conflict in hopes of maintaining peace. However, her constant intervention soon attracts the attention of the heavens, and the archangel Michael is sent to keep her from meddling in human affairs. The divine being confronts Maria, and he forbids her from using her powers, issuing a decree that her magic will be taken if she loses her virginity. Though she is now labeled a heretic, Maria adamantly refuses to heed Michael's warning and continues to disrupt the war between the two nations. But as the Church begins plotting to take away the witch's power and put a stop to Maria's interference once and for all, her peacemaking may soon come to an end.

Aldnoah.Zero 2nd Season (Aldnoah.Zero)

Seeking revenge, Count Saazbaum, a Martian, attacked the Earth. Later on, the war between the Terrans and Martians ended with Earth's Terrans gaining the victory. However, nineteen months later, the battle between them continues. Martians still continue to invade the Earth and the Terrans continue to protect it.

Seiken Tsukai no World Break takes place at Akane Private Academy where students who possess memories of their previous lives are being trained to use Ancestral Arts so that they can serve as defenders against monsters, called Metaphysicals, who randomly attack. Known as saviors, the students are broken up into two categories: the kurogane who are able to use their prana to summon offensive weapons and the kuroma who are able to use magic.

The story begins six months prior to the major climax of the series during the opening ceremonies on the first day of the school year. After the ceremony is over, the main character, Moroha Haimura, meets a girl named Satsuki Ranjou who reveals that she was Moroha's little sister in a past life where Moroha was a heroic prince capable of slaying entire armies with his sword skills. Soon afterwards he meets another girl, Shizuno Urushibara, who eventually reveals that she also knew Moroha in an entirely different past life where he was a dark lord capable of using destructive magic but saved her from a life of slavery. Can those whose minds live in both the present and the past truly reach a bright future? Delve into the complex world of Seiken Tsukai no World Break to find out!

Anime: Spring 2015

I've only watched one anime fromSpring 2015 (Owari of Seraph) but there a couple of them I am really looking forward...

About the top 5 (in terms of score) were:
I don't put here series that already started on other seasons...


Shokugeki no Souma

(Food Wars)

8.63 - 171,283 useres

Episodes: 24

Genres: Ecchi, School, Shounen

Studios: J.C.Staff

Lys: I Drop this anime after watching one episode but after soo many good critics I must watch a couple more to understand why the hype...

Ever since he was a child, fifteen-year-old Souma Yukihira has helped his father by working as the sous chef in the restaurant his father runs and owns. Throughout the years, Souma developed a passion for entertaining his customers with his creative, skilled, and daring culinary creations. His dream is to someday own his family's restaurant as its head chef.

Yet when his father suddenly decides to close the restaurant to test his cooking abilities in restaurants around the world, he sends Souma to Tootsuki Culinary Academy, an elite cooking school where only 10 percent of the students graduate. The institution is famous for its "Shokugeki" or "food wars," where students face off in intense, high-stakes cooking showdowns.

As Souma and his new schoolmates struggle to survive the extreme lifestyle of Tootsuki, more and greater challenges await him, putting his years of learning under his father to the test.

Yahari Ore no Seishun Love Comedy wa Machigatteiru. Zoku

My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU TOO!

8.31 - 122.672 users

Episodes: 13

Genres: Comedy, Drama, Romance, School

Studios: feel.

Yahari Ore no Seishun Love Comedy wa Machigatteiru. Zoku picks up immediately after the events of the first season, continuing the adventures of the Volunteer Service Club—the dispassionate Hachiman Hikigaya, the cheerful Yui Yuigahama, and the competitive Yukino Yukinoshita—as it dedicates itself to helping any student with issues that they may face. 

With the rift among his own group widening, Hachiman begins to realize that his knack for quickly getting to the root of other people's troubles is a double-edged sword: sometimes the best solution is not necessarily the most appropriate one.

Dungeon ni Deai wo Motomeru no wa Machigatteiru Darou ka

(Is it wrong to pick up girls in a dungeon?)

7.89 -  183,829 users

Episodes: 13

Genres: Action, Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy, Romance

Studios: J.C.Staff

Lys: I have this one on plan to watch. Really enjoy the premises...

Commonly known as the "Dungeon", the city of Orario possesses a huge labyrinth in the underground. Its strange name attracts excitement, illusions of honor, and hopes of romance with a pretty girl. In this city of dreams and desires, new adventurer Bell Cranel has his fateful encounter with the tiny Goddess Hestia.

Thus begins the story of a boy striving to become the best adventurer and a lonely goddess searching for followers both working together to fulfill their goals.

Owari no Seraph

(Seraph of the End: Vampire Reign (First Season)

7.65 - 156,010 users

Episodes: 12

Studios: Wit Studio

Genres: Action, Drama, Shounen, Supernatural, Vampire

Lys: I've watch this anime and I really enjoy it. It was one of my first... Review here

With the appearance of a mysterious virus that kills everyone above the age of 13, mankind becomes enslaved by previously hidden, power-hungry vampires who emerge in order to subjugate society with the promise of protecting the survivors, in exchange for donations of their blood.

Among these survivors are Yuuichirou and Mikaela Hyakuya, two young boys who are taken captive from an orphanage, along with other children whom they consider family. Discontent with being treated like livestock under the vampires' cruel reign, Mikaela hatches a rebellious escape plan that is ultimately doomed to fail. The only survivor to come out on the other side is Yuuichirou, who is found by the Moon Demon Company, a military unit dedicated to exterminating the vampires in Japan.

Many years later, now a member of the Japanese Imperial Demon Army, Yuuichirou is determined to take revenge on the creatures that slaughtered his family, but at what cost?

Owari no Seraph is a post-apocalyptic supernatural shounen anime that follows a young man's search for retribution, all the while battling for friendship and loyalty against seemingly impossible odds.

Kekkai Sensen

(Blood Blockade Battlefront)

7.76 - 86216 users

Episodes: 12

Genres: Action, Fantasy, Shounen, Super Power, Supernatural, Vampire

Studios: Bones

Lys: One of those on my checklist. Looks awesome and at the same time strange...

Supersonic monkeys, vampires, talking fishmen, and all sorts of different supernatural monsters living alongside humans—this has been part of daily life in Hellsalem's Lot, formerly known as New York City, for some time now. When a gateway between Earth and the Beyond opened three years ago, New Yorkers and creatures from the other dimension alike were trapped in an impenetrable bubble and were forced to live together. Libra is a secret organization composed of eccentrics and superhumans, tasked with keeping order in the city and making sure that chaos doesn't spread to the rest of the world.

Pursuing photography as a hobby, Leonardo Watch is living a normal life with his parents and sister. But when he obtains the "All-seeing Eyes of the Gods" at the expense of his sister's eyesight, he goes to Hellsalem's Lot in order to help her by finding answers about the mysterious powers he received. He soon runs into Libra, and when Leo unexpectedly joins their ranks, he gets more than what he bargained for. Kekkai Sensen follows Leo's misadventures in the strangest place on Earth with his equally strange comrades—as the ordinary boy unwittingly sees his life take a turn for the extraordinary.

What I want to watch

Grisaia no Rakuen begins right at the end of the previous installment, Grisaia no Meikyuu. Kazami Yuuji is arrested under suspicion for terrorism. A video showing apparently concrete proof that Yuuji committed these acts, and he is held in custody by Ichigaya.

Ichigaya knows full well that Yuuji didn't commit the crimes he has been accused of. But he did fail to assassinate Heath Oslo, who is the leader of the terrorist organization with an extremely devastating weapon in their possession. In fact, Ichigaya have their own plans for Yuuji... 

But all may not be lost for Yuuji. The girls of the Mihama Academy are not about to let Yuuji be used for political gain, and neither may the mysterious new figure which appears before them.

(There is a prequel as well)

Knights of Sidonia (2) It was in the year 3394. The solar system was long destroyed by a strange alien race called Gauna. Now humans are barely maintaining population in their "seed ships" - the ones they also used to escape a thousand years ago. After several years of drifting though space, Sidonia, a seed ship with a population of over 500,000 people, is once again threatened by Gauna. Follow Nagate Tanikaze, a mysterious young man from the deep corners of the ship, and his friends as they try to strike back against these gigantic creatures and at the same time learn what they really are for the sake of humanity's survival!

(This is the sequel to Knights of Sidonia)

 

 Eighteen-year-old Tsukasa Mizugaki has failed his college entrance exams, but after pulling some strings, he manages to land a job at the Sion Artificial Intelligence Corporation. SAI Corp is responsible for the creation of "Giftias"—highly advanced androids which are almost indiscernible from normal humans. However, unlike humans, Giftias have a maximum lifespan of 81,920 hours, or around nine years and four months. Terminal Service One, the station Tsukasa was assigned to, is responsible for collecting Giftias that have met their expiration date, before they lose their memories and become hostile.

Promptly after joining Terminal Service One, Tsukasa is partnered with a beautiful Giftia named Isla. She is a Terminal Service veteran and considered the best in Giftia retrievals, contrary to her petite figure and placid nature. Time is fleeting though, and Tsukasa must come to terms with his feelings for Isla before her time is up. No matter how much someone desires it, nothing lasts forever.

Some academic geniuses suffer from burnout. Others simply lose all interest in their studies and want to focus on other things. Junichirou Kagami falls into the latter category. He was once a teenage physics genius whose papers were published in Nature, Science, and other prestigious research journals. Unfortunately, upon graduating from college, he left the science field and became a shut-in whose life motto is "I can only do things I want to do."

These days, Kagami spends all of his time watching anime, reading manga, collecting figures, and updating his blog. He seems satisfied with not having a job, but his younger sister, Suzune, cannot stand the thought of her brother being an unemployed loser for the rest of his life. She goes behind his back and gets him a job as a substitute teacher at his old high school. What lucky timing that the regular physics teacher had to go on maternity leave! And good thing his alma mater remembers him as that teenage genius! But can a hardcore otaku actually teach a bunch of high school students anything important and useful?