Who wants to watch some TV with me?

Quick fact about me: I ADORE animation. It will always be my favorite art form. One day I want to produce and direct animated features. I know I have a long way to go before I can command that kind of project, but I figure the best place to start is to study animation to death.

So as part of my ongoing study, I have decided to challenge myself to watch as many pilots to as many unique animated TV shows as possible in 2017. I would love to watch 365 unique shows, but my absolute minimum goal is 100.

Anyone want to join me? You can set your own goal--you can watch 10 episodes, 100, or all 356. You can watch any kind of animated TV (anime counts!). The only rules are:

--You can only count an episode once.
--Only the pilot episode (Season One, Episode One) counts. The first episode of subsequent seasons does not count.

Keep track of your watched episodes however you like. For the purposes of study, I am keeping a spreadsheet listing the specs of each TV show (country of origin, year it aired, etc.). You can see my ongoing spreadsheet here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ ... sp=sharing

Later on in the year I might run additional challenges (i.e., watch a show from a specific year, watch shows from three different countries outside the US, etc.), if there's interest. Maybe we'll have some prizes and bribery.

Anyone want to join me?

I'm too busy right at the moment but I might be inclined (in the future) toward a more specific challenge, maybe. Or a watch-along with discussion? I tend to prefer anime though I really haven't seen much in years. And I tend to binge shows I like.

We just finally saw all 3 seasons of Avatar over the summer (We'd only managed the first season earlier) and we just bought the Korra set so we can finally finish that one, too. (Not liking it nearly as much, though - Korra's just such a brat!) I've seen random episodes of MLP over the years and got daughter to agree to a sequential rewatch with me last week so we're working on that, too.

It'd be fun to share/compare favorites, too.

I will probably do some specific challenges later in the year, to force myself to watch a good variety of shows.

So far the most surprising one I've discovered is Lolirock. It's throwaway children's TV, but it's animated nicely, the costumes are cool, the plot is decently interesting, and all in all it's secretly addicting to me.

Daughter's watching that one right this minute. Looks interesting.

Watched (S1:E1):

Ajin: Demi-Human (2016) ... not recommended

Woohoo, more people to play in the sandbox!

Why don't you recommend it?

Animation quality was fair. Backgrounds might even be good, but character movement was poor ... on a par with the old 'Speed Racer' cartoons. I found the world view too hyper-Japanese with the focus on education-standing-appearances over any innate characteristics of morality or humanity and most of the plot predictable with unfeeling government bureaucracy and incompetent adults vs too clever youth. Overall it felt like it was made to separate a target market from their money and for no other purpose.

The litmus test is would I watch S1E2?
In this case, the answer was no ... I want those 20 minutes of my life back.

Watched (S1:E1): Planetes (2003)

I really liked this one ... enough to watch the whole series. Unique backgrounds for the space based portions caught my eye. While there was still a heavy dose of Japanese culture (for a setting that is not really supposed to be in Japan), I found the characters instantly likable. They had personal strengths and flaws, like real people. As the series progresses, you get to discover deeper who they are as people.

Ooh, space! I think I might like this one.

I'm still watching more episodes of Lolirock instead of watching new pilots like I'm supposed to. *welp*

What about TV pilots you've seen in the past prior to the challenge?

I watched some Digimon with daughter before school this morning. Or was it Pokemon... She alternates between the two so often I can barely keep them straight!

For the challenge, you have to watch them again in 2017, but it's okay if you've seen them before. You just have to watch them sometime during 2017 to count.

Watched Black Butler S1 E1.

I saw the topic about it here and decided to check it out. I loved the background and the realistic animation ... the transition to more cartoonish characters were a bit of a distraction. I am not really a fan of the horror genre so I probably would not watch the whole series, but it seemed a well done example of that genre.

*waits for Abi to appear at the mention of Black Butler*

I keep watching more Lolirock instead of watching new pilots. What is wrong with me.

Watched the first couple episodes of Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir on Netflix last night. It is very cute and daughter and I intend to binge the 1st season and watch the Christmas movie asap. Daughter finds the "love triangle" exceptionally hilarious (of Marinette liking Adrien who's not interested because his alter-ego Cat Noir likes Ladybug who's not interested since her normal self Marinette likes Adrien).

That sounds unbelievably fantastic and I am definitely checking that out.

Another one to add: Mia & Me (if it counts)
The show has live-action openings/closings but the majority of it is animated. It's a unique one: Italian/German/Canadian production, filmed in Florence but in English.

Winx Club is another wildly popular show that originated overseas in Italy.

Some more to contribute!

The Devil is a Part-Timer - anime. It only has 13 episodes and at 20 minutes each, we ended up watching the whole thing in a few days. It was cute but nothing epic. Slightly bloody (I got nervous and had to watch ahead for my daughter but ended up deciding it was ok. We're pretty careful when it comes to violent content, though.) Definitely shonen but pretty light on the fan service and nothing very hentai.

After the first 4-5 episodes, I thought it was hinting at some deeper themes (what makes good/evil - the being or the choices, etc.) but it never quite went there. Turns out the anime is based on a series of light novels which isn't finished yet (though it goes much, much farther than the anime - the anime essentially covers books 1 & 2). And sounds like it goes somewhat cliche (scientific/magical experimentation being the cause of all the badness).

Also saw the first episode of The World is Still Beautiful - anime. It was very cute and daughter and I are looking forward to the next episode. I get the feeling it'll be a fluffier story mixed with political intrique (definitely seems more shoujo to me) but we'll see. There has been a touch of fan service but not bad and some non-scary bad guys implied they were planning to rape/molest a character but that got stopped before it started.

Those titles though! Those both sound fun.

I have been bad about this, but yesterday hubby and I started binge-watching Madeline, the original series. Ahh, my childhood.

"In an old house in Paris that was covered in vines, lived twelve little girls in two straight lines" Madeline? I don't know if I ever saw the cartoons for that. But I never really cared for the books either. (Sacrilege, I know.)

I honestly can't remember reading the books, but the old cartoons from the early 90s were darling. So very French, too.

So there's a new Family-Guy-style animated TV show that was recently added to Netflix called BORDERTOWN. It's definitely an adult TV show (TV-14 level; a lot of innuendo), but it's a biting social commentary. Not exactly "comfortable," but funny. It's about a town on the Mexican border, where an old white border agent lives next to a successful immigrant family. Again, it's by no means a kid's show, and it's not one of those shows where you're likely to agree with all their stances, but I would still recommend it for adults who want some brutal, irreverent social commentary.

GUYS, THEY PUT CLASSIC MAGIC SCHOOL BUS ON NETFLIX. MY INNER CHILD IS FREAKING OUT.

I still have half of them memorized, I discovered, haha.

Daughter recently discovered those on Netflix. And Sofia the First (I'll admit, for a little kid's show, it's surprisingly cute and not extremely little-kiddish.)

I ended up deciding I don't like The World is Still Beautiful. I've got two episodes left and I just don't care to finish it. They try to give it some depth but to me, it's a overall shallow, boring story. And I really dislike the constant tiny bits of innuendo. I'm used to some innuendo/crudity in anime but I've less patience for it in recent years and this anime doesn't have enough other going for it to make it worthwhile.

Watched the first few episodes of Fairy Tail, the anime a few weeks ago. Daughter is hooked and she and her cousin are binging it. I liked it and wouldn't mind watching more but Asian dramas rule my life right now so...

*laughs* I hear those things are addictive...

I haven't been able to watch much TV this year... too much schoolwork! But I guess that's a good problem to have?

You have to check out Owlegories. Don't be fooled by the web-animated look; the budget went into the content. It's a particularly well-produced show that teaches theology at a level that children understand, and it is amazing!

And you can (legally) watch the first episode here for free:

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That animation looks adorable, actually! I'll have to check it out.

Okay, well, I feel like I have to chime in because I have watched a lot of animated TV this year so far. If they're anime, I watch subbed, btw. In no particular order:

Black Butler (First six episodes. Weird.)
Blue Exorcist (complete+movie. Interesting.)
Castlevania (S1. Super dark and bloody, but aside from its penchant for casting the Church as the villain, also fascinating.)
Chromeshell Regios (First three episodes, color me intrigued)
Cowboy Bebop (12ish episodes? I haven't finished it yet. Fascinating.)
Fate: Stay Night (soooo dry. Even though I love the characters, I only made it to s2e9 before giving up)
Ghost in the Shell: Arise (Very cool and thinky.)
Gravity Falls (Complete. Excellent.)
HTTYD Race to the Edge (half of the first season)
One Punch Man (Complete. Excellent.)
Star Wars the Clone Wars (up to S3E8. Kinda boring, but it's Star Wars, so...)
Star Wars Rebels (S3. So much fun.)

That's all I can remember for now. Definitely looking forward to the releases of season two for Blue Exorcist, One Punch Man, and Attack on Titan.

You should be doing this challenge instead of me, bro.

Wow. That's quite a list!

*laughs* it looks daunting, but all told it's not that much. Especially considering how little I've watched of some of these.