Demonbane (episodes 1-12, complete)
I remember seeing this thing years and years ago, and I've been wanting to actually watch it since then. Now, I've finally accomplished my desire, thanks to Crunchyroll.
(A small aside: I'm starting to really like Crunchyroll. I'm even thinking of signing up for a paid account, to support their efforts. I've been using their free app on my iPad. This is in stark contrast to Hulu, which for a while wouldn't work with Chrome and now refuses to work on my iPad, at all. It keeps telling me to pay or go for a free trial. Yeah, right. I was going to give Hulu another try, to watch Legend of Korra, but then it was only on Hulu+. Hahah, no. I'm going to watch Irresponsible Captain Tyler, which I've also wanted for a long time, and then I'm going to forsake you, Hulu.)
Anyway, Demonbane. It was surprisingly nice.
It's based on an eroge visual novel. It's only twelve episodes. Going by that, I assume they only adapted one branch. You can tell that a few things were left out -- in the first episode, there is a white figure (Metatron, I think) watching Demonbane appear for the first time, that is never seen again. Also, there is a man in one of the group shots in the ED that never actually appears (Ryuuga/Sandalphon). The two of them had their arcs cut (since they only appear in Leica/Raika's route, I guess.)
There are also some other things that didn't make it in -- for example, Ruri's grandfather is actually Kurou from another timeline.
Still, I didn't actually read or understand much about the plot before I watched it, but things still mostly made sense. The looping time thing wraps up as much as can be expected, though of course the final part of the ending is... well, who knows.
The episodes are also surprisingly all important. Even the apparently disconnected episodes in the beginning ultimately work out to be pretty important to the greater plot. There are obviously things left unexplained, but those are mostly details rather than vital plot points in themselves. Overall, it was... easy to watch, actually. I didn't have any problems going through all twelve episodes. Al's absence was pretty well done, especially! She was obviously not dead, but she was gone long enough for her "death" to be relevant. And I also liked that Kurou and Al admitted their love very clearly and with only a little teenage fumbling (during the beach episode).
I did feel a bit like... I'd seen these plot points before. There are a lot of similarities to Fate/Stay Night in particular, but maybe a bit to BlazBlue too. I'm not saying they have the same plot, or anything, but the pieces are familiar. I guess it's like with JRPGs. They might shuffle the points, but ultimately, there are some very tried and true things they do, and after you've played enough of them, you can start to guess what's going on way before you finish.
Also, the animation was a bit wonky in many places. Well, it's a bit old anyway. And there were panty shots of nowhere. It was weird! Like, Ruri would be casting, and her skirt would fly up. Or Al's dying and we see her panties as she collapses. The color of them really makes them stand out (not matching their outfits at all), but there isn't really attention drawn to them either. It's strange. On the other hand, it's much better than Strike the Blood.
(By the way, I watched episode 2 of Strike the Blood, and I have to say, I still have no idea what to think. I guess the problem is that Himeragi does absolutely nothing for me. I can't work up even a shred of any kind of feeling toward her now that I'm not raging over her panty shot related bullshit. And since we're clearly supposed to by into her -- since there's not much else to buy into -- that really leaves me just kind of drifting along. Very strange.)
(A small aside: I'm starting to really like Crunchyroll. I'm even thinking of signing up for a paid account, to support their efforts. I've been using their free app on my iPad. This is in stark contrast to Hulu, which for a while wouldn't work with Chrome and now refuses to work on my iPad, at all. It keeps telling me to pay or go for a free trial. Yeah, right. I was going to give Hulu another try, to watch Legend of Korra, but then it was only on Hulu+. Hahah, no. I'm going to watch Irresponsible Captain Tyler, which I've also wanted for a long time, and then I'm going to forsake you, Hulu.)
Anyway, Demonbane. It was surprisingly nice.
It's based on an eroge visual novel. It's only twelve episodes. Going by that, I assume they only adapted one branch. You can tell that a few things were left out -- in the first episode, there is a white figure (Metatron, I think) watching Demonbane appear for the first time, that is never seen again. Also, there is a man in one of the group shots in the ED that never actually appears (Ryuuga/Sandalphon). The two of them had their arcs cut (since they only appear in Leica/Raika's route, I guess.)
There are also some other things that didn't make it in -- for example, Ruri's grandfather is actually Kurou from another timeline.
Still, I didn't actually read or understand much about the plot before I watched it, but things still mostly made sense. The looping time thing wraps up as much as can be expected, though of course the final part of the ending is... well, who knows.
The episodes are also surprisingly all important. Even the apparently disconnected episodes in the beginning ultimately work out to be pretty important to the greater plot. There are obviously things left unexplained, but those are mostly details rather than vital plot points in themselves. Overall, it was... easy to watch, actually. I didn't have any problems going through all twelve episodes. Al's absence was pretty well done, especially! She was obviously not dead, but she was gone long enough for her "death" to be relevant. And I also liked that Kurou and Al admitted their love very clearly and with only a little teenage fumbling (during the beach episode).
I did feel a bit like... I'd seen these plot points before. There are a lot of similarities to Fate/Stay Night in particular, but maybe a bit to BlazBlue too. I'm not saying they have the same plot, or anything, but the pieces are familiar. I guess it's like with JRPGs. They might shuffle the points, but ultimately, there are some very tried and true things they do, and after you've played enough of them, you can start to guess what's going on way before you finish.
Also, the animation was a bit wonky in many places. Well, it's a bit old anyway. And there were panty shots of nowhere. It was weird! Like, Ruri would be casting, and her skirt would fly up. Or Al's dying and we see her panties as she collapses. The color of them really makes them stand out (not matching their outfits at all), but there isn't really attention drawn to them either. It's strange. On the other hand, it's much better than Strike the Blood.
(By the way, I watched episode 2 of Strike the Blood, and I have to say, I still have no idea what to think. I guess the problem is that Himeragi does absolutely nothing for me. I can't work up even a shred of any kind of feeling toward her now that I'm not raging over her panty shot related bullshit. And since we're clearly supposed to by into her -- since there's not much else to buy into -- that really leaves me just kind of drifting along. Very strange.)