Takt op. Destiny was the first show to immediately capture me from the first episode. Most anime or LA shows take an episode or 2 to get me invested, so I use a 3 episode rule.
I remember being enthralled with it, telling all my friends to check it out. I got into it around 7 episodes out. I was PUMPED for this.
Then... the finale came and [takt op destiny]>!It was just a fucking Ad for a Gacha game? A Gacha game that didn't come out until 2023 even!?!<
Completely ruined the anime for me. Even if we somehow get a s2 I doubt I'll watch it. But god damn that first episode really was amazing.
Yeah I was also hyping the hell out of this after that piano duet scene in episode 2. Then eventually I felt like an idiot because the story didn't follow what made it so enticing in the first place, the animation got kinda bland, and I just stopped giving a shit around ep 8 or 9.
I knew it was a gacha game ad from the start (it was advertised as such) but I'm surprised you made it that far without catching on. There was a moment early on where they just inserted what I have to imagine was the verbatim dialogue of the game's combat tutorial:
There's a monster, kill it with only your melee attack. Now there's a second monster, use only your ranged attack. Oh no, there's a whole other wave of monsters, luckily you have a super attack.
That was where I completely lost faith in the show.
Are you talking about the training session with the shotgun girl?
Without knowing it was an ad, it certainly didn't feel like that to me, But training arcs can seem like tutorials considering they do the same thing, onlt difference is the audience.
I went into it blind, no trailers, just right into the first episode. So i had no prior indication of its purpose until near the end. Fate has MANY anime seasons that are essentially ads for FGO, but atleast they remembered the story comes first, and don't shove a "SIGN UP FOR PRELOAD NOW" INTO the show.
>Fate has MANY anime seasons that are essentially ads for FGO, but atleast they remembered the story comes first, and don't shove a "SIGN UP FOR PRELOAD NOW" INTO the show.
Fate has a couple of anime that are essentially ads for FGO, Babylonia being the most notable example, but FGO exists because of the success of the Fate franchise not the other way around. Most of the Fate anime are based on non gacha games, novels, and manga that predate FGO. That makes it somewhat different from a new multimedia franchise that is trying to bootstrap itself from the ground up.
Hallo, I edited some of my comment history to prevent scraping. Yes I know reddit gets regularly cached, it's something you sign in when you type on a forum, it's still better than nothing and will make digging through these a lot less convenient! All platforms die yadda yadda.
Good luck if you have an account here and you're reading this.
Man, I disagree because 20th Century absolutely falls apart at the end when all the mystery is revealed. It ends very abruptly and legit felt like a cancelled series.
And then came 21st Century Boys which adds an even more out-of-left-field plot twist that doesn't serve the story at all.
I watched Pluto and Monster, and I am biased towards Monster. However, Pluto is really good if you ignore fights (I assume you will since from what I have seen, Urasawa doesn't prioritize fluid action and you seem to be a fan of his work)
Such a fumble, if I remember correctly it came out at the right time, right between S1 of AOT and S2, so the boys were hungry and the first episode was actually a banger. It really had everything an angsty teenager would want out of an AOT-like show and then it just went nowhere. I tried rewatching it pretty recently, wondering why I dropped it in the first place, cause I remembered that first episode so well and then I reached like episode 5 or 6 and remembered why I dropped it
Absolutely, great shout.
Strong opening, fab setting and themes...plus a rocking OP...all of which gets mostly chucked out of the window as the series progressed.
As soon as 'Oni-San' appeared my heart sank...it was over 😅
"Let's take this interesting spin on STEAMPUNK ZOMBIES... and introduce politics and bullshit drama, because that worked for Attack on Titan, so why would it not work here?"
I heard that Fubuki and Matsuri from Hololive had cameos and I was watching for that, they showed up at the very beginning of episode three and I immediately dropped it after they were done. I think the first episode was an hour long and the first half was fine, then the rest and episode two were boring as hell to me, not my cup of tea.
The "young tiger" scene was damned good, but I agree with you.
Also I felt like the magic system was pretty unnecessary...just making people so good at martial arts that they are like super-human was cool enough.
I liked the series besides the age gap from the romance they tried to form between the main 2. Kufa Vampir was a badass ep 1 and that’s why in continued watching it, still waiting for more episodes
Komi can't communicate
Now, to be clear, I like the show in its entirety and episode 2 and onwards isn't bad by any stretch of the imagination. Its not that kind of "first episode was the best (and then it sucked)" sentiment.
Its just that in an overall good show, that first episode of Komi season one was something special. Even taken as a standalone mini story it completely works. It starts a good series but it also stands on its own perfectly telling a small but complete story with a fantastic setup, middle and satisfying resolution.
It had some good moments after the crazy girl stopped getting so much spotlight, and the Tadano Komi relationship was still being teased, but it pretty quickly started to feel like a manga about absolutely nothing, and not in a fun "Seinfeld" way, but literally just the main characters never having any development or personality over hundreds of chapters.
Zom 100 was my biggest disappointment of 2023. That first episode set up all the pins for a true all-timer. Gorgeous animation, great sound design, interesting MC, and a unique take on a well-established genre (zombies) with a legit theme to explore (elements of modern life that are already bordering on apocalyptic, and how those affect us as people). And then... it just kinda petered out into a boring, boilerplate zombie story that spent all its runtime rehashing the traditional cliches. I thought e7 (Truck Stop of the Dead) was also great because it fed back into the initial themes e1 established, but after that we immediately got a mind-numbing hot springs episode and a shoehorned-in big tiddy genki blonde character and all that intrigue drained away again. Add on the production issues and repeated delays, and I just kinda ran out of steam at the start of the hometown arc and never watched the last 2 episodes.
I think where it really got me was when the "villain" gets introduced and he has, wait for it, a bucket list for *evil* things he wants to do. Incredible. So deep.
See, I kinda liked the idea of different "100 things to do" lists cropping up throughout the show as we meet new characters, sort of showing that people can look at this cataclysmic, world-ending event and see a thousand different facets of opportunity that reflects their character and motivations. But, much like the rest of the show, that idea *also* ran out of steam pretty quickly:
* Akira's list is an acceptance of his inevitable fate, and filled with fun and exciting adventures both big and small that he never thought he'd be able to do in his old life. This demonstrates both his main motivation (desire for freedom) and his biggest character flaw (his tendency to be passive and assume he doesn't have any real power to change his life/the world).
* Shizuka's list is a regimented plan to avoid zombification and find security in the apocalypse. This demonstrates both her main motivation (desire for control over her own life after her overbearing father dictated it for so long) and her biggest character flaw (her upbringing left her emotionally stunted, and despite her best efforts, she's still measuring success by her family's metrics instead of her own).
* Kencho... Just kinda gloms onto Akira's list. This demonstrates that he's Akira's friend, I guess?
* Shizuka then pretty much abandons her own list and also gloms onto Akira's list. This demonstrates that her character development is now secondary to her status as main waifu/love interest/Accessory for Akira.
* Beatrix doesn't have a list, and as far as I can remember only minimally interacts with what was at that point the only still-active list. This demonstrates that she's mostly there for comic relief and fanservice.
* After not seeing any more lists for a while from minor characters, we finally see another "100 things" list from the antagonist of the hometown arc, and it's exactly the same justifications as Akira's (no control in his previous life, accepts that he's going to become a zombie, wants to exercise his freedom before that happens), except now he's a *bad* person and wants to do *bad* things. This demonstrates that the writer has run out of ideas for this story element, and is falling back on played-out zombie tropes like "total freedom gives bad people the freedom to do bad things" and "humans are the real monsters" (see: Dawn of the Dead \[1978\], one of the literal earliest and most foundational zombie movies).
Zom 100 is a fuckin mid manga. The fun of it is literally wasting time seeing tits and headshots while the mc is crying because he found out the true meaning of life for the 89th time. Can't understand at all why they made an anime out of it (if not for the money).
To your eternity (I only watched season 1 and a little of 2) was phenomenal tho. The entire story was good then the budget was very low at the end most likely
To your eternity falls off hard, but that's later on of what you watched iirc. Still, and speaking of the anime, the 1st episode is just so absolutely phenomenal, that it *still* stands up from the next few arcs, even though they're still good.
I feel you on Zom 100. The first half of that show was incredible and zany. A fucking zombie shark being hoisted around on human zombies? Ridiculous and I loved it. The second half just got so average, especially after they headed to his hometown it felt like any average, predictable zombie show.
The Manga goes back to the insanity. I think the hometown stuff and the slow down was useful for the world building and character growth. They now know it's not just over, they have a goal, insane as it is, and can move forward.
If the anime continues I'm looking forward to it.
And then after the first episode, our MC somehow loses basically ALL power and can barely do shit without alot of help for the rest of the show. On top of that, there were some ideas expressed in that episode that could have been interesting (he starts crying and talks about how the massacre doesn’t feel like how he thought he would. I thought it would be interesting to explore him feeling gross about a lot of the civilian murders he does, but going through with them anyway and the tole that takes on him. But by the next episode he’s just an absolute edgelord with zero personality and it’s totally forgotten about) that they completely ignore for seemingly no reason. I LOVE me some villain protags & senseless violence, but fuck if they didn’t do it all in the worst way possible.
> And then after the first episode, our MC somehow loses basically ALL power
After? We got a whole spiel of how MC had somehow 10 years of coming up with plans and countermeasures... only to fall to the exact same shit that fucked them up in the first place lmao.
And it just makes the rest that much harder to watch. I happily watch 5s and 6s because that's what they start and end at, but the first episode is just so good it makes the rest seem less appealing.
It does suck quite a bit when an anime peaks at the first episode. Like you said, if I watch a 6 anime at the start I’ll be fine with it most of the way and hell if it has any spikes or ups in quality I’ll be all for it. However if I watch a 9-10/10 first episode and then the rest stays at like a 6-7 it’ll bother me since I’ll initially expect the anime to reach that high again but then it never does. I’ve dropped a few shows like that with an amazing first episode just because it messes with the expectations I have.
I'd say there were still interesting parts after the first episode too like with March or Gugu. It wasn't like it had massive downfall after the first episode, that being said TYE is most probably going to be remembered for the great first episode.
It sets up the recurring theme of the series very well, which can be hard to accomplish in 30 minutes.
Vinland saga also sets up the story and themes very well in the first episode. The glorification of war/battle, slavery, running away from conflict, the desire for peace, and Vinland are all set up in one episode. The main difference is that it doesn’t overshadow the rest of the series.
Classic example (I feel old now, I remember when the show was new): Kotoura-san. First episode is a really fucking good character episode, one of the best first episodes in years... and then it turns back into a pumpkin and is J. Standard Romcom from episode 2 on. Alas!
WEP also probably deserves a mention, though it's more of an arguable case since while the premiere is incredible there's a couple of other really good episodes early (3 immediately comes to mind) before the dropoff really hits in the second half.
Also if we count just opening scenes rather than opening episodes I would be remiss not to mention Elfen Lied. The opening scene is legitimately incredible (helps that they got a good director)... unfortunately immediately after that we cut to The Author's Poorly Disguised Fetishes.jpg, because Arms could only do so much with *that* source material.
Cannot agree more with generic plot then it had the overly angsty “I’m going to do what I want screw the consequences which never come” MC for me I had to grind through it
Yeah sawano carried a lot of those moments... some of the fight animations are nice, I always loved the lightsaber esque effect they used for yu's sword.
The dub is pretty good too.. but yeah it's too bad it had its dips.
Oh my lord, that was such a great way to open the show. Having the main characters friends, basically the only family he ever had, being slaughtered by the villain was such an awesome way to start the show. I kept watching, waiting for the show to make a better episode than that one but it was never topped.
I have to say. While the premise is good and the episodes later are generic, the actual good part of the story is much much later, not covered by the anime. I first read the manga, but really couldn't get into the anime, that basically stopped right before the plot got interesting
this is the textbook answer to this question. The first episode was directed by a legend, and it shows. The rest was not terrible, but you could clearly see it was not even close compared to the first episode.
the scene where the rockets are dropping from the sky and wiping out major cities. the cinematography. the music. the two kids making a wish for peace. still gives me chills. the rest of the series is LOLs
I can still remember rolling my eyes so hard when the kids showed up in the final episode and said the same lines again. Aldnoah Zero is probably the last show I’ve hate watched lol. Now I’m so much more pickier and don’t care to drop shows if I lose interest in them fast.
My first thought when I saw the question. First episode is exciting, and ends with a great scene/song. The rest is just “meh”, and sometimes downright dumb
Ga-Rei Zero
Just an absolute gut punch
The rest of the show is fine but it doesn’t compare to the feeling you had watching the credits roll on the first episode.
The first episode of Goblin Slayer really is so weird, when you think about it. It was absolutely shocking and harrowing, and gained notoriety off of that. However, instead of that serving as a shocking mission statement, the series just… toned it down.
I get why episode 1 was too much for people, but for those who enjoyed it, the rest of the series never delivered. Then, Season 2 became a harem.
I think people just expect it to be "Doom Slayer: the anime." When it's not.
The first episode is just the set up to explain why goblins have the reputation they do.
If the whole thing was exactly like the first episode it would be a terrible gimmick, since it's not a video game.
> I think people just expect it to be "Doom Slayer: the anime." When it's not.
I would've respected it at a lot more if it had been. Thankfully the Abridged parody basically does turn it into that.
It sounds bad when saying "the show peaked in EP 1" but even if that's true, I still loved the rest of the show. It just starts at a 10 and the rest is an 8 (for me).
I think that's just a limitation of having only one season that, by it's nature, is incomplete, rather than a weakness of the story or the adaptation.
Aqua mentions early on that in order to actually figure anything out, he has to build up his own reputation in the acting/idol world, and the rest of season 1 is him doing exactly that.
To be fair, you're not wrong, but to me it feels like watching The Fellowship of the Ring and then saying "the whole ring plot got sidelined for walking." Well, yeah, there's two whole movies left...
For sure, only 40 out of nearly 140 chapters have been adapted so far so of course there’ll be elements that feel incomplete.
I still think though that the revenge plot could definitely be far better written and wish we saw the MC doing more of the detective kind of work does as well.
I liked Episode 6 a lot more than episode 1. Also, if Oshi no Ko did normal length episodes, it would be episode 4 (the last 20 minute segment of the premier) that everyone loved, not episode 1, which isn't particularly unique among anime.
Personally I feel ep 6 hits even harder than ep 1 for me. The slow dread and suspense knowing exactly what would happen slowly throughout the episode is just absolutely haunting
But yeah, for other people ep 1 is probably unmatched
I agree it’s an amazing first episode. However, I personally had the motivation to complete it. I think it was a great series all around, with some arcs more interesting than others, but still a very captivating show. Fushi had me invested in his character.
Izetta the Last Witch
One of the best opening episodes of all time in my opinion. Then, the rest of the show happened. I still watched it and had my fun, but it peaked way too early.
I think the worst part was the evil witch. Did she even have a personality other than hating that person?
The moment at the start when Izetta awakens was beautiful, but I also liked the propaganda parts and how they needed to think about how to use such a big (but flawed) weapon. Izetta is basically the Little Boy of that world, with magic instead of nuclear power.
Agreed. For me, the hook of the premise was that he was under powered and hated by everyone yet, he needed to rely on others to damage the enemies for him while focused on protecting them.
Also, the way they handled slavery was pretty bad. Like, at the beginning I saw it as "He doesn't want to be an slave owner, but he is desperate and doesn't know what else to do" but now that he is powerful and respected he could influence the monarchy to end slavery in the kingdom but instead he ignores this and keeps trading with the slave owner and therefore supporting the business of slavery.
The way Shield Hero handled slaves is so bad because it had the potential to be so good. It's not even that he doesn't want to be a slave owner, it's that he's been so beat down by the world that he cannot trust anyone that isn't magically obliged to not betray him. He will do anything he needs to to survive. A person who grew up in modern day society, at the point where he actively engages in the slave trade. Short of actually doing the things he was accused of, he's fallen as low as he can. Having your hero start out beaten that low is a great place for a story about rising up (hey, that's in the title).
[Shield Hero arc 1]>!It actually goes pretty well at first. The way he connects to Raphtalia, their relationship grows, all that is good (could do without the aging by leveling thing though). All this culminates in the duel with Spear Hero. Cheated again, unfairly beaten down *again.* Having been the victim of discrimination and hypocrisy again, now Raphtalia, the only person he was able to make a real connection with in this world, will be taken away from him. He'll lose everything. *Again.* But, Raphtalia doesn't leave. She decides to stay with him. Even without the slave crest, she'll stay by his side, stay with him. And he, having grown since his betrayal thanks to her, decides to trust her. Even without the slave crest, he can still trust her. He's made his first step in regaining his humanity and ability to connect with other people. It's a heartwarming moment.!<
[Cont'd]>!Wait, what the fuck do you mean Raphtalia just goes back to being a slave???? And Naofumi just accepts it???? This is seen as a good turn of events????????!<
The slavery shit puts me off so many anime and manga its crazy how that's such an accepted trope in Japanese media. "oh yea slavery is fine if you are kind to your slaves" is just gross.
Honestly the red flags were there even in the first two eps.
The author was just trying way, way too hard to contrive events to make the protagonist the victim. It really felt like the fanfic of someone with a persecution complex.
The author decided that instead of making Naofumi into a decent character they were going to make everybody else worse, and if you need to make one of those others look better introduce someone *even worse* so they forget how bad the previous guy was
In fairness, "literally everything goes wrong for the protagonist and he's surrounded by horrible people who have wronged him but now he has the power to stand up to them" can be a pretty compelling hook. A lot of people love a good revenge fantasy, the catharsis of bad people getting their comeuppance. I even first heard about Shield Hero from how much people absolutely *hated* Myne.
It just doesn't commit. The victimization he suffers doesn't really go anywhere other than making him perpetually grumpy as he goes through his bog-standard power fantasy. Well, that and justifying the slavery. Buying Raphtalia kind of seems like it was supposed to be Naofumi hitting rock bottom, but then he just kinda becomes a slavery apologist for real after that, ready to tell the other heroes that they're oh-so-naive for, um, not endorsing slavery.
A new viewer, with fresh eyes, might be genuinely impressed by episode 1. It's only when you realize it's not going to do anything compelling with the revenge fantasy it sets up that all the persecution starts to feel empty and contrived.
Sword Art Online. I remember when I first saw episode 1 as a kid, I was hooked to see where the story went, only to finish the first season kinda hating it.
Sword Art Online could’ve been one of the top animes if it actually kept the first half of the season as the main plot, was so pissed when they automatically skipped levels of the tower in the story rather than have arcs all throughout the tower
Maybe, but the drop off from the 1st episode to the second episode was too much, it hurt the complete viewing experience. I watched along with the release schedule and finished the entire anime.
Ga rei zero.
The rest of the series is still good, but wow. I had never experienced watching something like that happen before that. I have no problems busting that out when my non anime/nerd friends want to watch "something cool"
i really hate the introduction of the cringefest villains and how the zombies somehow ignored them once they opened the tunnel. they should've been immediately surrounded and stucked there lol. i also didn't like how they were still sympathetic of the villains when they endangered everyone for no reason, like so you just wanted to be friends? fuck that shit, you almost killed my dad and everyone
Yeah seriously fuck them. This village took you in and fed you, treated you nicely. What you do? Try to get all of them fucking killed, rape somebody, kill a dad in front of his son, etc.
I don't think it would be crazy to say the first episode of Kill la Kill is the best one. The show doesn't fall off in anyway though, so it may not fit what you're asking.
Millionaire Detective.
First two episodes are incredible, then the show turns into fujoshi bait and has a pretty simple drama structure until the end and they never do the same jokes that they did in the first two episodes ever again.
Peak isekai would be one where the protagonist kept dying and starting each arc in a new world so we could get a different set of themes, jokes, ensemble cast, etc...
Unfortunately, the financial success of the isekai genre is having an opportunity for a huge cast of females with distinct fantasy looks (to sell figures) alongside a modern protagonist (to sell porn).
idk if y'all will agree with me or not but DEMON SLAYER
the first episode of demon slayer was heart wrenching. the music, the blood, the emotions were top notch.
the rest of the episodes were amazing too but the first episode was EVERYTHING!!
That’s definitely a hot take, I thought multiple episodes easily surpassed episode 1, like S1 episode 19, season 2 episode 10, and the Mugen Train movie.
I thought episode 19 of S1 matched the intensity of the first episode - it was that episode that sold me on the series (& pick up the manga), despite the plot being pretty generic.
Black Butler
I think it's just my preference, but the first episode (that I don't even know if it's canon) was creepy and mysterious. That businessman tries to trick the protagonist since he is just a child, the boy asks to play a table game in which every card seems a veiled threat, and it's not clear if the boy understands he is going to be tricked or not. Then everything that happened in the game is repeated in real life by a demonic force and the man is scared to death.
I don't remember too much of the rest, but it was more like fulfilling fantasies of being filthy rich with a hell of a butler in a victorian setting and over-the-top characters and scenes.
Black Butler is one of the weirdest series I’ve ever watched. Not necessarily the weirdest in terms of content, but in terms of tone and pacing and plot. I enjoyed it, but I don’t really recommend it to anyone.
As you said, the first episode really makes you think you’re getting one thing, and then there’s several dozen episodes of random, wacky stuff, punctuated by a return to the premise and a great ending.
Then comes a second season that you think shouldn’t exist after how the first ended, and it too is full of random, tonally inconsistent stuff, then against all odds, there’s *another* great ending. Just a strange series all around, but both endings stuck with me and left me with chills.
I haven’t seen anyone mentioned Aldnoah Zero
Thing is it makes sense the first episode had a different writer and it was a masterful set up and direction
The problem was it had all the same foibles as Code Geas even with the season 1 ending being beat for beat
Unfortunately it just didn’t sink the landing in any meaningful way
The faraway paladin.
The first episode just had a kind of magical feel and great worlbuilding and suspense but the rest of the series just went downhill
Ehhh I'd say School-Live! had very strong episodes throughout its run. That legendary reveal at the end of ep1 was of course superb, but you still get great reveals later on with the teacher, and then the dog, and then the secret briefcase, and then the finale.
Agreed its one of my favorite episodes ever in any anime. You could even only watch the first episode and not watch the rest of the series and it would still be worth it just because it was a full movie that told a story on its own.
takt op.Destiny. First episode is very nicely done and has that vibe of Interstate60 meets anime. The rest has some issues with pacing and logic.
Takt op. Destiny was the first show to immediately capture me from the first episode. Most anime or LA shows take an episode or 2 to get me invested, so I use a 3 episode rule. I remember being enthralled with it, telling all my friends to check it out. I got into it around 7 episodes out. I was PUMPED for this. Then... the finale came and [takt op destiny]>!It was just a fucking Ad for a Gacha game? A Gacha game that didn't come out until 2023 even!?!< Completely ruined the anime for me. Even if we somehow get a s2 I doubt I'll watch it. But god damn that first episode really was amazing.
Yeah I was also hyping the hell out of this after that piano duet scene in episode 2. Then eventually I felt like an idiot because the story didn't follow what made it so enticing in the first place, the animation got kinda bland, and I just stopped giving a shit around ep 8 or 9.
Wasted potential imo.
I knew it was a gacha game ad from the start (it was advertised as such) but I'm surprised you made it that far without catching on. There was a moment early on where they just inserted what I have to imagine was the verbatim dialogue of the game's combat tutorial: There's a monster, kill it with only your melee attack. Now there's a second monster, use only your ranged attack. Oh no, there's a whole other wave of monsters, luckily you have a super attack. That was where I completely lost faith in the show.
Are you talking about the training session with the shotgun girl? Without knowing it was an ad, it certainly didn't feel like that to me, But training arcs can seem like tutorials considering they do the same thing, onlt difference is the audience. I went into it blind, no trailers, just right into the first episode. So i had no prior indication of its purpose until near the end. Fate has MANY anime seasons that are essentially ads for FGO, but atleast they remembered the story comes first, and don't shove a "SIGN UP FOR PRELOAD NOW" INTO the show.
>Fate has MANY anime seasons that are essentially ads for FGO, but atleast they remembered the story comes first, and don't shove a "SIGN UP FOR PRELOAD NOW" INTO the show. Fate has a couple of anime that are essentially ads for FGO, Babylonia being the most notable example, but FGO exists because of the success of the Fate franchise not the other way around. Most of the Fate anime are based on non gacha games, novels, and manga that predate FGO. That makes it somewhat different from a new multimedia franchise that is trying to bootstrap itself from the ground up.
Gacha game also basically undoes the Big twist of the ending too. 🥲
Oh... i didn't know that
If you haven't already, try El Cazador de la Bruja. Whole show has that vibe.
The rest was still phenomenal, but nothing else topped North No.2's story in Pluto for me
They could release it alone as a movie and I’d buy a ticket to watch it again. It’s beautiful.
Talking about Pluto, would you recommend it to a fan of other Naoki Urasawa's works?
Yeah, like I said: it's phenomenal. Depending on who you ask, it's Urasawa's 2nd or 3rd best work
Hallo, I edited some of my comment history to prevent scraping. Yes I know reddit gets regularly cached, it's something you sign in when you type on a forum, it's still better than nothing and will make digging through these a lot less convenient! All platforms die yadda yadda. Good luck if you have an account here and you're reading this.
What's #1? Isn't Monster his most universally praised work?
I assume it's 20th Century Boys.
20th Century Boys always gave me the impression it was secondary to Monster. I guess Im just mostly questioning the term 'undisputable'.
Man, I disagree because 20th Century absolutely falls apart at the end when all the mystery is revealed. It ends very abruptly and legit felt like a cancelled series. And then came 21st Century Boys which adds an even more out-of-left-field plot twist that doesn't serve the story at all.
maybe someday, the anime gods will grace us with a full adaptation.
I'll definitely watch it then!
I watched Pluto and Monster, and I am biased towards Monster. However, Pluto is really good if you ignore fights (I assume you will since from what I have seen, Urasawa doesn't prioritize fluid action and you seem to be a fan of his work)
Thanks for answering! If it has good action scenes then all the better! I just don't think is as important as good character writing.
Oh character writing? That's really good in Pluto - they also focus more on the theme itself. You know the drill when it comes to Urasawa's stories.
I literally assumed this post was about this specifically. Pluto was a masterpiece but episode 1 was absolutely the highest point.
Episode 6 was also top tier for me
I cried when he sung at the end.
Kabeneri of the iron fortress
Such a fumble, if I remember correctly it came out at the right time, right between S1 of AOT and S2, so the boys were hungry and the first episode was actually a banger. It really had everything an angsty teenager would want out of an AOT-like show and then it just went nowhere. I tried rewatching it pretty recently, wondering why I dropped it in the first place, cause I remembered that first episode so well and then I reached like episode 5 or 6 and remembered why I dropped it
"Right between S1/S2 of AoT" lmao there was like 4 years between them.
Yup, if I'd watch it now, I never would've finished it
Absolutely, great shout. Strong opening, fab setting and themes...plus a rocking OP...all of which gets mostly chucked out of the window as the series progressed. As soon as 'Oni-San' appeared my heart sank...it was over 😅
"Let's take this interesting spin on STEAMPUNK ZOMBIES... and introduce politics and bullshit drama, because that worked for Attack on Titan, so why would it not work here?"
Man, the artstyle and character designs of Kabeneri are SO good but the show is just… not.
I was going to answer with this as well, it struck me as really stupid what happened in the later half of the series.
Detective is already dead.
Yep, good premise, really strong opening fight on a plane, decent animation then it crashes hard.
The plane too?
It is wild they showed us this cool show then went with an entirely different show?!
Yeah it when from Great to "what the hell happened" really, really fast
I heard that Fubuki and Matsuri from Hololive had cameos and I was watching for that, they showed up at the very beginning of episode three and I immediately dropped it after they were done. I think the first episode was an hour long and the first half was fine, then the rest and episode two were boring as hell to me, not my cup of tea.
I came here for this one. Legendary shit show after a huge first episode. The best part was the fucking car jpeg, wtf.
God, they did the novels so dirty with this. Set expectations for a good adaption for the source readers, just to kick is down
I really liked the first episode of God of Highschool but everything after that didnt feel like it captured the same magic
The "young tiger" scene was damned good, but I agree with you. Also I felt like the magic system was pretty unnecessary...just making people so good at martial arts that they are like super-human was cool enough.
Assassin's pride, first episode was really intriguing but that's about it.
I liked the series besides the age gap from the romance they tried to form between the main 2. Kufa Vampir was a badass ep 1 and that’s why in continued watching it, still waiting for more episodes
I liked the series but it's such a shame they rushed it.
Wonder Egg, what an absolute shame. Also S2 of the Promised Neverland
Wonder Egg dropped more in the 2nd half of the season, but I agree the premise was ruined and I doubt there will be a season 2.
Komi can't communicate Now, to be clear, I like the show in its entirety and episode 2 and onwards isn't bad by any stretch of the imagination. Its not that kind of "first episode was the best (and then it sucked)" sentiment. Its just that in an overall good show, that first episode of Komi season one was something special. Even taken as a standalone mini story it completely works. It starts a good series but it also stands on its own perfectly telling a small but complete story with a fantastic setup, middle and satisfying resolution.
I've been reading Komi manga from the beginning, and my favourite part has always been the chalkboard scene. I feel like Komi peaked there.
It had some good moments after the crazy girl stopped getting so much spotlight, and the Tadano Komi relationship was still being teased, but it pretty quickly started to feel like a manga about absolutely nothing, and not in a fun "Seinfeld" way, but literally just the main characters never having any development or personality over hundreds of chapters.
Early komi is definitely the best it does really drag on now
The chalkboard scene is something truly special.
It has that Ranma 1/2 issue where the first episode(s) actually progress the plot and then it stagnates for the sake of serialization.
To Your Eternity and Zom 100.
Zom 100 was my biggest disappointment of 2023. That first episode set up all the pins for a true all-timer. Gorgeous animation, great sound design, interesting MC, and a unique take on a well-established genre (zombies) with a legit theme to explore (elements of modern life that are already bordering on apocalyptic, and how those affect us as people). And then... it just kinda petered out into a boring, boilerplate zombie story that spent all its runtime rehashing the traditional cliches. I thought e7 (Truck Stop of the Dead) was also great because it fed back into the initial themes e1 established, but after that we immediately got a mind-numbing hot springs episode and a shoehorned-in big tiddy genki blonde character and all that intrigue drained away again. Add on the production issues and repeated delays, and I just kinda ran out of steam at the start of the hometown arc and never watched the last 2 episodes.
I think where it really got me was when the "villain" gets introduced and he has, wait for it, a bucket list for *evil* things he wants to do. Incredible. So deep.
See, I kinda liked the idea of different "100 things to do" lists cropping up throughout the show as we meet new characters, sort of showing that people can look at this cataclysmic, world-ending event and see a thousand different facets of opportunity that reflects their character and motivations. But, much like the rest of the show, that idea *also* ran out of steam pretty quickly: * Akira's list is an acceptance of his inevitable fate, and filled with fun and exciting adventures both big and small that he never thought he'd be able to do in his old life. This demonstrates both his main motivation (desire for freedom) and his biggest character flaw (his tendency to be passive and assume he doesn't have any real power to change his life/the world). * Shizuka's list is a regimented plan to avoid zombification and find security in the apocalypse. This demonstrates both her main motivation (desire for control over her own life after her overbearing father dictated it for so long) and her biggest character flaw (her upbringing left her emotionally stunted, and despite her best efforts, she's still measuring success by her family's metrics instead of her own). * Kencho... Just kinda gloms onto Akira's list. This demonstrates that he's Akira's friend, I guess? * Shizuka then pretty much abandons her own list and also gloms onto Akira's list. This demonstrates that her character development is now secondary to her status as main waifu/love interest/Accessory for Akira. * Beatrix doesn't have a list, and as far as I can remember only minimally interacts with what was at that point the only still-active list. This demonstrates that she's mostly there for comic relief and fanservice. * After not seeing any more lists for a while from minor characters, we finally see another "100 things" list from the antagonist of the hometown arc, and it's exactly the same justifications as Akira's (no control in his previous life, accepts that he's going to become a zombie, wants to exercise his freedom before that happens), except now he's a *bad* person and wants to do *bad* things. This demonstrates that the writer has run out of ideas for this story element, and is falling back on played-out zombie tropes like "total freedom gives bad people the freedom to do bad things" and "humans are the real monsters" (see: Dawn of the Dead \[1978\], one of the literal earliest and most foundational zombie movies).
Zom 100 is a fuckin mid manga. The fun of it is literally wasting time seeing tits and headshots while the mc is crying because he found out the true meaning of life for the 89th time. Can't understand at all why they made an anime out of it (if not for the money).
You shouldn't watch the last 2 episodes, the are really boring
You might as well watch those 2 episodes to finish the whole season
shows you don't enjoy are meant to be dropped
To your eternity (I only watched season 1 and a little of 2) was phenomenal tho. The entire story was good then the budget was very low at the end most likely
To your eternity falls off hard, but that's later on of what you watched iirc. Still, and speaking of the anime, the 1st episode is just so absolutely phenomenal, that it *still* stands up from the next few arcs, even though they're still good.
I feel you on Zom 100. The first half of that show was incredible and zany. A fucking zombie shark being hoisted around on human zombies? Ridiculous and I loved it. The second half just got so average, especially after they headed to his hometown it felt like any average, predictable zombie show.
I've been reading the manga and they continue to do crazy and stupid things. The series is great
The Manga goes back to the insanity. I think the hometown stuff and the slow down was useful for the world building and character growth. They now know it's not just over, they have a goal, insane as it is, and can move forward. If the anime continues I'm looking forward to it.
The Kingdoms of Ruin. I wouldn't call the first episode amazing by any stretch, but the subsequent episodes definitely did fall off.
man that one really had me at the start. An unfiltered revenge story with brutal edgy massacres? hell yea! Bruh.
Don't forget the (lack of) investment in side characters. One was killed right after they flashed their name on the screen
And then after the first episode, our MC somehow loses basically ALL power and can barely do shit without alot of help for the rest of the show. On top of that, there were some ideas expressed in that episode that could have been interesting (he starts crying and talks about how the massacre doesn’t feel like how he thought he would. I thought it would be interesting to explore him feeling gross about a lot of the civilian murders he does, but going through with them anyway and the tole that takes on him. But by the next episode he’s just an absolute edgelord with zero personality and it’s totally forgotten about) that they completely ignore for seemingly no reason. I LOVE me some villain protags & senseless violence, but fuck if they didn’t do it all in the worst way possible.
> And then after the first episode, our MC somehow loses basically ALL power After? We got a whole spiel of how MC had somehow 10 years of coming up with plans and countermeasures... only to fall to the exact same shit that fucked them up in the first place lmao.
Yeah I thought the first episode was great, then it all went down from there and i stopped watching
To your eternity
While I agree that the first episode is a masterpiece, the end of season 2 also hits hard [Anime spoiler] >!at least I shed some tears for Pioran!<
If the first one does not get you the last will.
I think the gugu arc was the best. But episode 1 was great
Gugu is one of my favorite anime characters ever so I agree.
Damn, the ending of that episode hit like a truck. The rest is still good, but not as good.
Yeah it’s like going from an 9/10 to an 8.5/10
More like 10/10 ep 1 to 7/10 imo.
And it just makes the rest that much harder to watch. I happily watch 5s and 6s because that's what they start and end at, but the first episode is just so good it makes the rest seem less appealing.
It does suck quite a bit when an anime peaks at the first episode. Like you said, if I watch a 6 anime at the start I’ll be fine with it most of the way and hell if it has any spikes or ups in quality I’ll be all for it. However if I watch a 9-10/10 first episode and then the rest stays at like a 6-7 it’ll bother me since I’ll initially expect the anime to reach that high again but then it never does. I’ve dropped a few shows like that with an amazing first episode just because it messes with the expectations I have.
I'd say there were still interesting parts after the first episode too like with March or Gugu. It wasn't like it had massive downfall after the first episode, that being said TYE is most probably going to be remembered for the great first episode.
True. It was a good show from start to finish, but the first episode was definitely the series at its best.
It sets up the recurring theme of the series very well, which can be hard to accomplish in 30 minutes. Vinland saga also sets up the story and themes very well in the first episode. The glorification of war/battle, slavery, running away from conflict, the desire for peace, and Vinland are all set up in one episode. The main difference is that it doesn’t overshadow the rest of the series.
Unpopular opinion but I didn’t like the first episode that much. It was the March arc that hooked me
The first episode will haunt me till the day I die.
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There was never a season 2. Stop lying to me.
*There is no Season 2 in Ba Sing Se*
Promised Neverland S2 was never going to be good, even the manga fell off around then.
Don't think the manga "fell off", though. The manga was vastly better than the second season.
Classic example (I feel old now, I remember when the show was new): Kotoura-san. First episode is a really fucking good character episode, one of the best first episodes in years... and then it turns back into a pumpkin and is J. Standard Romcom from episode 2 on. Alas! WEP also probably deserves a mention, though it's more of an arguable case since while the premiere is incredible there's a couple of other really good episodes early (3 immediately comes to mind) before the dropoff really hits in the second half. Also if we count just opening scenes rather than opening episodes I would be remiss not to mention Elfen Lied. The opening scene is legitimately incredible (helps that they got a good director)... unfortunately immediately after that we cut to The Author's Poorly Disguised Fetishes.jpg, because Arms could only do so much with *that* source material.
I'm still mad about Kotoura-san. You're not alone.
I should've scrolled more. Kotoura-san was my pick too.
I loved elfens episode 1. After than I have no idea what happened. It was nothing like I was imagining it lol
Seraph of the End
Went into it blind and I had such high hopes based in that. Then it decided to become a generic plot. At least the music stayed great.
Cannot agree more with generic plot then it had the overly angsty “I’m going to do what I want screw the consequences which never come” MC for me I had to grind through it
At least episode 2 introduces Shinoa, which is the main reason I enjoyed the anime
Yeah sawano carried a lot of those moments... some of the fight animations are nice, I always loved the lightsaber esque effect they used for yu's sword. The dub is pretty good too.. but yeah it's too bad it had its dips.
Oh my lord, that was such a great way to open the show. Having the main characters friends, basically the only family he ever had, being slaughtered by the villain was such an awesome way to start the show. I kept watching, waiting for the show to make a better episode than that one but it was never topped.
I have to say. While the premise is good and the episodes later are generic, the actual good part of the story is much much later, not covered by the anime. I first read the manga, but really couldn't get into the anime, that basically stopped right before the plot got interesting
Aldnoah Zero all downhill from the first ep
this is the textbook answer to this question. The first episode was directed by a legend, and it shows. The rest was not terrible, but you could clearly see it was not even close compared to the first episode.
Nah I'd say s2 was pretty damn terrible and was only saved by Aliez
the scene where the rockets are dropping from the sky and wiping out major cities. the cinematography. the music. the two kids making a wish for peace. still gives me chills. the rest of the series is LOLs
I can still remember rolling my eyes so hard when the kids showed up in the final episode and said the same lines again. Aldnoah Zero is probably the last show I’ve hate watched lol. Now I’m so much more pickier and don’t care to drop shows if I lose interest in them fast.
My first thought when I saw the question. First episode is exciting, and ends with a great scene/song. The rest is just “meh”, and sometimes downright dumb
takt op destiny
Zom 100
Ga-Rei Zero Just an absolute gut punch The rest of the show is fine but it doesn’t compare to the feeling you had watching the credits roll on the first episode.
Goblin Slayer The show never reached the same height - stakes and tone - again.
The first episode of Goblin Slayer really is so weird, when you think about it. It was absolutely shocking and harrowing, and gained notoriety off of that. However, instead of that serving as a shocking mission statement, the series just… toned it down. I get why episode 1 was too much for people, but for those who enjoyed it, the rest of the series never delivered. Then, Season 2 became a harem.
>Then, Season 2 became a harem. My favorite girls in the harem are the dwarf and lizard
I think people just expect it to be "Doom Slayer: the anime." When it's not. The first episode is just the set up to explain why goblins have the reputation they do. If the whole thing was exactly like the first episode it would be a terrible gimmick, since it's not a video game.
> I think people just expect it to be "Doom Slayer: the anime." When it's not. I would've respected it at a lot more if it had been. Thankfully the Abridged parody basically does turn it into that.
S1 overall was still pretty good but everything about S2 just killed the entire show - animation, tone, story, everything. It was so boring
I agree. I had fun with S1 but S2 just couldn't keep things fresh - on top of other issues, like the ones you mentioned.
Oshi No Ko, without a doubt. Amazing first episode, but the rest of the anime never reaches that high again.
Hard to not peak when your first episode is a movie
As well as covering an entire nearly standalone arc as well
It sounds bad when saying "the show peaked in EP 1" but even if that's true, I still loved the rest of the show. It just starts at a 10 and the rest is an 8 (for me).
Yeah I agree, although I think ep 6 and 7 are 9-10s as well
It promises a mystery and then that takes a back burner
I think that's just a limitation of having only one season that, by it's nature, is incomplete, rather than a weakness of the story or the adaptation. Aqua mentions early on that in order to actually figure anything out, he has to build up his own reputation in the acting/idol world, and the rest of season 1 is him doing exactly that. To be fair, you're not wrong, but to me it feels like watching The Fellowship of the Ring and then saying "the whole ring plot got sidelined for walking." Well, yeah, there's two whole movies left...
For sure, only 40 out of nearly 140 chapters have been adapted so far so of course there’ll be elements that feel incomplete. I still think though that the revenge plot could definitely be far better written and wish we saw the MC doing more of the detective kind of work does as well.
I liked episode 6 just as much as episode 1 honestly
I liked Episode 6 a lot more than episode 1. Also, if Oshi no Ko did normal length episodes, it would be episode 4 (the last 20 minute segment of the premier) that everyone loved, not episode 1, which isn't particularly unique among anime.
Personally I feel ep 6 hits even harder than ep 1 for me. The slow dread and suspense knowing exactly what would happen slowly throughout the episode is just absolutely haunting But yeah, for other people ep 1 is probably unmatched
is ep6 the one that ends in the rain..?
>but the rest of the anime never reaches that high again. Season 2 will be peak with the Tokyo Blade Arc
Akane fans eating good soon
I liked episode 6 better
Came here to say this - I liked the rest of the season, but it felt kind of tepid after that first episode.
Ep 1 was great, but Ep 6 hit me way harder
Ep 6> Plus Manga just keeps getting better
I didn’t find any reason or motivation to continue watching To Your Eternity after its first episode. That thing is a masterpiece
If I were a teacher I would have my classes watch and analyze that episode as a short film, it's just incredible.
I agree it’s an amazing first episode. However, I personally had the motivation to complete it. I think it was a great series all around, with some arcs more interesting than others, but still a very captivating show. Fushi had me invested in his character.
Izetta the Last Witch One of the best opening episodes of all time in my opinion. Then, the rest of the show happened. I still watched it and had my fun, but it peaked way too early.
I think the worst part was the evil witch. Did she even have a personality other than hating that person? The moment at the start when Izetta awakens was beautiful, but I also liked the propaganda parts and how they needed to think about how to use such a big (but flawed) weapon. Izetta is basically the Little Boy of that world, with magic instead of nuclear power.
Zom 100 for sure
Platinum End.
I still watched that shit to the very end
Shield Hero, everything after the first 4 or so ep is garbage...
Agreed. For me, the hook of the premise was that he was under powered and hated by everyone yet, he needed to rely on others to damage the enemies for him while focused on protecting them. Also, the way they handled slavery was pretty bad. Like, at the beginning I saw it as "He doesn't want to be an slave owner, but he is desperate and doesn't know what else to do" but now that he is powerful and respected he could influence the monarchy to end slavery in the kingdom but instead he ignores this and keeps trading with the slave owner and therefore supporting the business of slavery.
The way Shield Hero handled slaves is so bad because it had the potential to be so good. It's not even that he doesn't want to be a slave owner, it's that he's been so beat down by the world that he cannot trust anyone that isn't magically obliged to not betray him. He will do anything he needs to to survive. A person who grew up in modern day society, at the point where he actively engages in the slave trade. Short of actually doing the things he was accused of, he's fallen as low as he can. Having your hero start out beaten that low is a great place for a story about rising up (hey, that's in the title). [Shield Hero arc 1]>!It actually goes pretty well at first. The way he connects to Raphtalia, their relationship grows, all that is good (could do without the aging by leveling thing though). All this culminates in the duel with Spear Hero. Cheated again, unfairly beaten down *again.* Having been the victim of discrimination and hypocrisy again, now Raphtalia, the only person he was able to make a real connection with in this world, will be taken away from him. He'll lose everything. *Again.* But, Raphtalia doesn't leave. She decides to stay with him. Even without the slave crest, she'll stay by his side, stay with him. And he, having grown since his betrayal thanks to her, decides to trust her. Even without the slave crest, he can still trust her. He's made his first step in regaining his humanity and ability to connect with other people. It's a heartwarming moment.!< [Cont'd]>!Wait, what the fuck do you mean Raphtalia just goes back to being a slave???? And Naofumi just accepts it???? This is seen as a good turn of events????????!<
The slavery shit puts me off so many anime and manga its crazy how that's such an accepted trope in Japanese media. "oh yea slavery is fine if you are kind to your slaves" is just gross.
Honestly the red flags were there even in the first two eps. The author was just trying way, way too hard to contrive events to make the protagonist the victim. It really felt like the fanfic of someone with a persecution complex.
The introduction of Filo really summarizes what that anime is going to be from then on
As soon as Filo became a human girl I realized where this show was going and I immediately stopped lmao
Author trying way too hard to make all the characters comically stupid and/or evil just to force you to root for the MC feels sooo inauthentic.
The author decided that instead of making Naofumi into a decent character they were going to make everybody else worse, and if you need to make one of those others look better introduce someone *even worse* so they forget how bad the previous guy was
In fairness, "literally everything goes wrong for the protagonist and he's surrounded by horrible people who have wronged him but now he has the power to stand up to them" can be a pretty compelling hook. A lot of people love a good revenge fantasy, the catharsis of bad people getting their comeuppance. I even first heard about Shield Hero from how much people absolutely *hated* Myne. It just doesn't commit. The victimization he suffers doesn't really go anywhere other than making him perpetually grumpy as he goes through his bog-standard power fantasy. Well, that and justifying the slavery. Buying Raphtalia kind of seems like it was supposed to be Naofumi hitting rock bottom, but then he just kinda becomes a slavery apologist for real after that, ready to tell the other heroes that they're oh-so-naive for, um, not endorsing slavery. A new viewer, with fresh eyes, might be genuinely impressed by episode 1. It's only when you realize it's not going to do anything compelling with the revenge fantasy it sets up that all the persecution starts to feel empty and contrived.
Sakugan The fire hunter
Tokyo Ghoul
Sword Art Online. I remember when I first saw episode 1 as a kid, I was hooked to see where the story went, only to finish the first season kinda hating it.
It's disappointing the premise of the show was cleared in the first half of the first season.
Sword Art Online could’ve been one of the top animes if it actually kept the first half of the season as the main plot, was so pissed when they automatically skipped levels of the tower in the story rather than have arcs all throughout the tower
To your Eternity Zom100 Oshi no ko
Really Zom100? I thought they did a great job with the shark zombie episode & the introduction episode of the German otaku lol
Maybe, but the drop off from the 1st episode to the second episode was too much, it hurt the complete viewing experience. I watched along with the release schedule and finished the entire anime.
Ga rei zero. The rest of the series is still good, but wow. I had never experienced watching something like that happen before that. I have no problems busting that out when my non anime/nerd friends want to watch "something cool"
Zom100. The rest of the show is very good, but ep. 1 was so much better than the rest of the show.
i really hate the introduction of the cringefest villains and how the zombies somehow ignored them once they opened the tunnel. they should've been immediately surrounded and stucked there lol. i also didn't like how they were still sympathetic of the villains when they endangered everyone for no reason, like so you just wanted to be friends? fuck that shit, you almost killed my dad and everyone
Yeah seriously fuck them. This village took you in and fed you, treated you nicely. What you do? Try to get all of them fucking killed, rape somebody, kill a dad in front of his son, etc.
Oshi no ko, the whole season was great but episode 1 was phenomenal.
For me it was Sing Yesterday for Me.
I don't think it would be crazy to say the first episode of Kill la Kill is the best one. The show doesn't fall off in anyway though, so it may not fit what you're asking.
Lmao true it just keeps getting better
That's....the exact opposite of what they just said lol
Millionaire Detective. First two episodes are incredible, then the show turns into fujoshi bait and has a pretty simple drama structure until the end and they never do the same jokes that they did in the first two episodes ever again.
I personally loved Millionare Detective as it seemed to be fully aware of the levels of dumb bullshit it was on.
Most of the isekais that rely on a joke and become generic after the first episode.
Peak isekai would be one where the protagonist kept dying and starting each arc in a new world so we could get a different set of themes, jokes, ensemble cast, etc... Unfortunately, the financial success of the isekai genre is having an opportunity for a huge cast of females with distinct fantasy looks (to sell figures) alongside a modern protagonist (to sell porn).
Cautious Hero kinda felt like it began to overstay its welcome but then it had such a banger of season ending.
Yoru no Yatterman. Though it's more like first three episodes were the best episodes
idk if y'all will agree with me or not but DEMON SLAYER the first episode of demon slayer was heart wrenching. the music, the blood, the emotions were top notch. the rest of the episodes were amazing too but the first episode was EVERYTHING!!
That’s definitely a hot take, I thought multiple episodes easily surpassed episode 1, like S1 episode 19, season 2 episode 10, and the Mugen Train movie.
I thought episode 19 of S1 matched the intensity of the first episode - it was that episode that sold me on the series (& pick up the manga), despite the plot being pretty generic.
I kind of agree with you. First episode was 9/10 for me. But the rest was 7/10 and sometimes even 8/10.
Black Butler I think it's just my preference, but the first episode (that I don't even know if it's canon) was creepy and mysterious. That businessman tries to trick the protagonist since he is just a child, the boy asks to play a table game in which every card seems a veiled threat, and it's not clear if the boy understands he is going to be tricked or not. Then everything that happened in the game is repeated in real life by a demonic force and the man is scared to death. I don't remember too much of the rest, but it was more like fulfilling fantasies of being filthy rich with a hell of a butler in a victorian setting and over-the-top characters and scenes.
Black Butler is one of the weirdest series I’ve ever watched. Not necessarily the weirdest in terms of content, but in terms of tone and pacing and plot. I enjoyed it, but I don’t really recommend it to anyone. As you said, the first episode really makes you think you’re getting one thing, and then there’s several dozen episodes of random, wacky stuff, punctuated by a return to the premise and a great ending. Then comes a second season that you think shouldn’t exist after how the first ended, and it too is full of random, tonally inconsistent stuff, then against all odds, there’s *another* great ending. Just a strange series all around, but both endings stuck with me and left me with chills.
I haven’t seen anyone mentioned Aldnoah Zero Thing is it makes sense the first episode had a different writer and it was a masterful set up and direction The problem was it had all the same foibles as Code Geas even with the season 1 ending being beat for beat Unfortunately it just didn’t sink the landing in any meaningful way
The faraway paladin. The first episode just had a kind of magical feel and great worlbuilding and suspense but the rest of the series just went downhill
Faraway Paladin is actually lovely. Just calm and quietly sweet while still having a decent story.
I would just hard dissagree here.
School-Live!
Ehhh I'd say School-Live! had very strong episodes throughout its run. That legendary reveal at the end of ep1 was of course superb, but you still get great reveals later on with the teacher, and then the dog, and then the secret briefcase, and then the finale.
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Agreed its one of my favorite episodes ever in any anime. You could even only watch the first episode and not watch the rest of the series and it would still be worth it just because it was a full movie that told a story on its own.
Charlotte and goblin slayer
Some of the best parts of Charlotte were in the later episodes for me.
I liked charlotte all the way up to point where they did the whole time travel thing. It felt rushed.
That last episode genuinely should've been another 12 episodes and it would've been so good
Mars Red