The State of Anime Today

[Kim]

Latest flip flappers is amazing. Manages to be creepy as fuck while still being fun and light-hearted.

i really love this show its amazing i just wish it didnt put me into dissociative, depressive spirals about how its queerbaity as fuck

[Solid Snake]

Man does soul eater suddenly hit a slump 2/3 of the way through. Forced large conflicts are boring and don't make sense with the rest of the story. Arachne's a boring character. She doesn't have any affect or personality; Medusa is way better (and seems to be returning to the plot.)

Like this series started off really strong and toally plummeted. I hope it recovers itself.

I highly doubt I actually got two-thirds of the way through Soul Eater before reaching that same point you're at now, but I remember having a similar reaction overall to the Soul Eater anime as we watched it here on NPF chat; I was thoroughly engrossed at first but lost interest as the series seemed to fall flat on its face and failed to capitalize on its strong initial premise.

[Gregness]

I know RE:Zero was generally well-liked around here, so lest you all miss this:

IuyxcKsFWhI

"Does suffering count as 'plot'?"

[shiney]

Having just finished up a binge re-watch of Re:Zero, I can confidently state it's excellent the second time through and arguably makes a lot more sense this time through. The throwaway lines that you don't catch the first time through are so much more informative.

It's an excellently done job.

[MuMu]

Done with another

Boku Wa Mari No Naka (https://myanimelist.net/manga.php?id=36267)
http://i.imgur.com/McDR5H8.png

"Komori Isao is a hikikomori whose only true happiness is going to a certain convenience store where his "angel", Yoshizaki Mari, shops every night. One day he decides to follow her but before he can say a word he pass out. The next day he wakes up and much to his surprise, he is inside Mari's body. "

Now, this isn't one of those fetishistic, otaku pandering gender bender. This is a dramatic, serious story about someone who finds themselves completely lost and alone in a life they don't understand and try their best to carry on. Unfortunately, there is some occasional fanservice, but nothing too grating as the focus of the story is how Komori deals with being in a strangers life and the secrets that the real Mari kept to herself.

[MuMu]

The Voynich Hotel (https://myanimelist.net/manga/25250/Voynich_Hotel)
http://i.imgur.com/o3YveFi.png
http://i.imgur.com/rjtnrUo.png
http://i.imgur.com/edohENv.png

Ex-Yakuza members, a Luchador manager, mysterious maids, hired killers, mangakas, android detectives and more, all taking residence in the southern rural island where the Voynich Hotel resides. A mystery story that mixes light hearted humor and a cutesy artstyle with violent outbursts and gory murders.

If you're interested in more, also check out Nickelodeon (https://myanimelist.net/manga/35673/Nickelodeon) by the same author, a collection of one-shots about pop culture, secrets, love and other things, often with a nice dose of humor.

[Gregness]

So, Izetta the Last Witch's show website has apparently been posting one-page comics about the previous weeks' episodes, and a dude on reddit took a shot at translating them. (https://imgur.com/a/Gt0L7)

Those girls need a couple of parachutes.

[Solid Snake]

I know RE:Zero was generally well-liked around here, so lest you all miss this:


So what I garnered from this video is: It's basically the same plot as Konosuba, except slightly less satirical and more serious?
It seems to me like "Modern-day regular Joe Schmoe gets sucked into a fantasy JRPG universe inundated with fantasy JRPG tropes, initially thinks he's hit the jackpot, only to realize that life in the new universe isn't exactly all he hoped it would be" is a surprisingly popular anime plotline these days

[Kim]

oh yeah 'voynich hotel' fucking rules. 'nickelodeon' is also good, and its not finished yet but 'oddman 11' is a must read its so good.

will warn that one character in 'voynich hotel' is very loli lookin and you see her naked cuz she and another character bang so like if that ruins your interest heads up about that.

i'll warn about some particular things by the author. specifically 'sexual instinct and the hydrogen bomb war' and its sequel. they're mostly comedy porn and there's chapters that deal with pedophilia. there's some futa stuff mixed in. probably rape stuff too now and then iirc. if you're curious dynasty-scans tends to tag shit pretty effectively so you can avoid the worst of it but yeah.

also 'suicide parabellum' is a oneshot by the same author that has a caricature of a drag queen that could also be read as a caricature of a trans woman but i dont believe is intended as a trans woman. idk. just, warning about that.

[MuMu]

I was going to post only when I finished a series but I've been enjoying this one so much I'll whip something now

Holyland (https://myanimelist.net/manga/3285/Holyland)
https://i.imgur.com/uk9umIo.jpg
The manga follows Kamishiro Yuu, a student who was bullied in middle school and now lives a lonely life. Wanting to purge himself of emotions and become numb, he begins wandering the streets of dangerous areas at night and ends up involved in street fights.
http://i.imgur.com/FnwttkX.png

I was looking for something a little more action-y than my previous reads, but not one of those shonen mangas where they have pretty techniques and special abilities. In Holyland they fight dirty and quick, the faster they can to take down an opponent. Yuu at first can barely do an one-two to take down someone but as time passes he begins to assimilate more moves. Also, it seems his opponent will be masters of different arts as so far there's been a Judo man and a Karate man.
http://i.imgur.com/dX9zyH5.png http://i.imgur.com/HUURKst.png

Another cool thing: Remember in Burn Notice when Michael would explain what he was doing, in a way that sounded completely reasonable and realistic and maybe something that you could even try at home? The same is done here, both by the mangaka and by an experienced fighter that watches Yuu fights:
http://i.imgur.com/TAMFtod.png http://i.imgur.com/WrfYXJ3.png

Simple put, if you're looking for something with neat, down-to-earth brawls, look no further.

[shiney]

Remember in Burn Notice when Michael would explain what he was doing, in a way that sounded completely reasonable and realistic and maybe something that you could even try at home?

Fiona, I know it's the nth time in a row that my battle will culminate in an impossibly complex fight with the most recent criminal mastermind behind my being burned, and I know every other time I got into serious shit and more or less fucked everything up because I didn't have any help, but I have to do this alone.

[Tev]

If I toss up our Crunchyroll Queue, can you guys help me figure out what to prioritize for watching later?

Watched and waiting for new episodes:
Digimon Adventure Tri
Food Wars! Shokugeki no Soma
KONOSUBA
Re: ZERO
Keijo!!!!!!!!!
Magical Girl Raising Project
RWBY

In Queue:
Kamigami no Asobi
Is the Order a Rabbit?
Yamada-kun and the Seven Witches
Humanity Has Declined
Zettai Boei Leviatan
The Fruit of Grissaia
Nanana'a Buried Treasure
Comet Lucifer
Wizard Barristers
My Mental Choices are Completely Interfering My Life
Sunday Without God
A Dark Rabbit has Seven Lives
Garakowa - Restore the World
Black Bullet
She and Her Cat - Everything Flows
When Supernatural Battles Became Commonplace
New Game!
The Testament of Sister New Devil
Twin Star Exorcists
Kill la Kill
AOKANA: Four Rhythm Across the Blue
Yuri!!! On Ice
FLIP FLAPPERS
Show by Rock

Note that most of this queue was the result of my wife skimming around adding things that sounded fun or had pretty art. We've seen a few episode 1's here and there among thus list, but don't really have a direct we want to plunge next. I'm really starving for a new mech anime that isn't Gundam related. I've seen both Broken Blade and Nobunaga the Fool recently.

[Krylo]

Add Mob Psycho 100 to your queue and then put it at the top.

[Karrrrrrrrrrrresche]

List lacks Thunderbolt Fantasy.

[Tev]

Add Mob Psycho 100 to your queue and then put it at the top.Isn't that the psychic One Punch Man anime?

---------- Post added at 03:04 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:03 PM ----------

List lacks Thunderbolt Fantasy.Wait....the puppet one?

[MuMu]

Your wife added KillLaKill to the queue? Someone is getting extra lucky soon:dance:

[phil_]

Humanity has Declined is weird sci-fi dressed up as weird fantasy dressed up as anime.

Is the Order a Rabbit is terrific Cute Girls doing Cute Things. If you like the genre, you'll love it.

Leviathan is forgettable garbage that goes nowhere. I like it, hence the sleeping Bahamut avatar. I'd suggest watching pretty much anything else on your list first.

[pochercoaster]

Well, I'm struggling to maintain interest in Soul Eater nearing the end.

So far the most annoying thing is how they build up how the Kishin will drive the world into chaos but as yet the only person actually affected by it was Stein.

In fact, we don't really see any of the world except the DWMA and Arachnophobia. It takes the drama away. Who the hell is DWMA protecting? No one, really.

Does Maka's mother care about maybe helping save the world? Nawww. Cause so far the sky is red and everything else in the rest of the world is normal cause Soul Eater's storytelling is kind of shit and is relying on the viewer to fill in the holes so it can show you another stupid fight between Mifune and Blackstar or Mosquito and the chainsaw dude fighting.

[MuMu]

So now I'm pretty glad I gave up on the Soul Eater anime early on and never spent any money on the manga.

Here's the lesson kids, you'll never be disappointed if you never do anything.

[phil_]

The world gets very chaos-y and bizarre near the end of the manga, but if chainsaw dude fighting isn't reason enough to enjoy Soul Eater then there's no way I'm going to even imply you should waste your time reading it because it will be a waste of your time.

[Karrrrrrrrrrrresche]

Wait....the puppet one?

The puppet one.
Watch the puppet one.
You'd be a fool not to watch the puppet one.

[Krylo]

Isn't that the psychic One Punch Man anime?

---------- Post added at 03:04 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:03 PM ----------

Wait....the puppet one?

Yes, and yes.

And just do it.

[Kim]

I'm re-reading Majyo to Houki to Kurobuchi Megane because it is good and I'm trash

http://puu.sh/siKan/a995111f42.jpg

bless this mess

[Tev]

Anyone happen to know when the heck this is from?

http://vampireapologist.tumblr.com/post/153199548718/i-feelpersonally-targeted-by-this-entire

[Malek]

https://myanimelist.net/anime/32899/Watashi_ga_Motete_Dousunda

[pochercoaster]

Well, I was using my sister's Hulu account to watch Soul Eater because she forgot to log out after using it at my house. It finally expired the other day and I can't finish it now.

I was so close to finishing it but now that it's inconvenient for me to do so, I might just forget about it forever. Meh.

Though it was cool how Lord Death just started moving Death City.

Some other anime recommendations:

Has anyone mentioned Kuroko's Basketball? Because it's amazing. I've watched a little bit of Haikyuu and while it's good I think Kuroko's Basketball is better. The characters are OP in Kuroko, but the show is consistent with its own internal logic. The non-OP characters get better and if you're like me and have never really watched basketball before, you actually learn a little bit from it. The "jerk" characters are really only jerks in that they are competitive (except for one side character who's not around for very long.) And the ending is very satisfying.

Also, Lovely Muco. Just trust me.

Oh, and is anyone else watching Gundam: Iron Blooded Orphans? I haven't started the second season yet but found the first one highly entertaining.

[Tev]

https://myanimelist.net/anime/32899/Watashi_ga_Motete_DousundaAaand added to queue...

---------- Post added at 02:52 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:50 PM ----------


Oh, and is anyone else watching Gundam: Iron Blooded Orphans? I haven't started the second season yet but found the first one highly entertaining.
I'm Gundam'd out. While I'm still kinda starving for a good mech anime, I just have no desire to entrench myself any further into Gundam anything.

[_mike]

I'm hoping that Gundam ends with Mika and Orga getting some kind of comeuppance for all their horrible actions. You know, like all the adults keep warning them will happen? But I know they'll get at worst a bitter-sweet end, unlike the Gatsby end they deserve.

Still, it's fun to watch a stone cold, unapologetic murderer pilot a gundam.

[Sithdarth]

Has anyone mentioned Kuroko's Basketball? Because it's amazing. I've watched a little bit of Haikyuu and while it's good I think Kuroko's Basketball is better. The characters are OP in Kuroko, but the show is consistent with its own internal logic. The non-OP characters get better and if you're like me and have never really watched basketball before, you actually learn a little bit from it. The "jerk" characters are really only jerks in that they are competitive (except for one side character who's not around for very long.) And the ending is very satisfying.


Kuroko's Basketball was pretty good (not that I really know anything about basketball). I do seem to like sports anime in general so I might be a bit biased.

[Aerozord]

A few things. So did more anime watching and stopped Digimon Tri because, well I just grew up with the dub so I want to watch the dub.

Phoenix Wright, it looked like it was just an anime of the game and subbed I don't get the puns so that hurts it.

RE:Zero, on episode three and I don't get the hype. Its ok but I'm not especially invested in it either.

Actually what I've been watching the most of is Dragonball Super. I know I know its hardly the best but its just fun. Part of it is probably nostalgia but I even found my self giving a legitimate chuckle and the action holds my interest. Its real popcorn watching. Something to just kick back and check out

[Solid Snake]

RE:Zero, on episode three and I don't get the hype. Its ok but I'm not especially invested in it either.

Oh, Aero.
Oh, Aero.
I didn't get the hype after Episode 3 either.
Here's some free advice: Save yourself do NOT keep watching

[Sithdarth]

Oh, Aero.
Oh, Aero.
I didn't get the hype after Episode 3 either.
Here's some free advice: Save yourself do NOT keep watching

But the best part of RE:Zero is sharing the soul shattering experience.

[Gregness]

I love it when shows play absurd premises completely straight. (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/feature/2016-11-18/how-keijo-won-the-gold-in-fanservice/.108970)

[MuMu]

Orange (https://myanimelist.net/manga/35573/Orange)

One morning, Naho Takamiya receives a letter in the mail claiming to be from herself 10 years in the future. The letter reveals a series of events that are supposed to take place that day. At first, Naho thinks it's just a prank; but when the letter mentions a transfer student named Kakeru Naruse, who really ends up transferring into her class later that day, she is forced to believe in its contents.

As Naho continues to read the letter, her future self mentions several regrets, urging Naho to take the right decisions now. Somehow these regrets all seem to be connected to Kakeru, and with the burden of the knowledge that the boy wouldn't be with her and her friends in the future, will Naho be able to make the perfect choices that will alter what seems to be fate?

http://i.imgur.com/i313k2i.png

Despite the fact that time travel and past regrets are involved, this is not another dark take on learning how to fix your mistakes. In fact, it is a very much optimistic manga and the cutesy art surely helps set the mood. At it's core, it's a story about friendship, sacrifice, love, fate and, ultimately, feelings. It also tackles the sensitive subject of Depression seriously and objectively but without turning the story into despair porn. A short story, only 5 Volumes long, it is still enough to make you care about the main characters and their struggles without tuning into a soap opera. A very much reccomended story if you want something sweet and short.

[Tev]

zMHsS8i4_Qc

http://68.media.tumblr.com/43e671209fd92d137e24ad21d1f18e92/tumblr_nxeojvhS261u5xxmto1_500.gif

[Fenris]

Watch Haikyuu!!.

[synkr0nized]

Maybe this is the right thread.

I watched the 10 episodes of Yuri on Ice that are available, and I really liked them. It's a rather nice slice-of-life style story with a realistic romance, charming character development, and neat details and facts about figure skating I didn't expect to learn while watching. The animation and designs are really good quality, too. It's been a real gem of a show, and probably one of the best shows I've watched in the past few years.

Episode 10 really brings many things into a new, or rather more revealing, light, as well! Be sure to watch the special ending for that episode!

---------- Post added at 09:18 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:12 PM ----------

@phil: Ah, k.

Man does soul eater suddenly hit a slump 2/3 of the way through. Forced large conflicts are boring and don't make sense with the rest of the story. Arachne's a boring character. She doesn't have any affect or personality; Medusa is way better (and seems to be returning to the plot.)

Like this series started off really strong and toally plummeted. I hope it recovers itself.

Super late, so maybe this isn't even a relevant comment anymore

But this is because the anime diverged from the manga around there. I don't think one is clearly better than the other -- they both have things I rolled my eyes at. Arachne is pretty wasted as a character in the anime, but even in the manga she doesn't compare to Medusa (my favourite character, so I may be biased). FWIW if you ended up not liking how the anime ends the manga rockets off into the fairly absurd.

[Gregness]

I don't remember if KonoSuba went over well here or not, but there's a new preview (https://streamable.com/wfux) up of the next season.



Edit: Also, funimation's started in on a Mob Psycho 100 dub:

MWVyfPJvqEw

If you didn't catch the show while it was airing, it's well worth your time.

[Tev]

Maybe this is the right thread.

I watched the 10 episodes of Yuri on Ice that are available, and I really liked them. It's a rather nice slice-of-life style story with a realistic romance, charming character development, and neat details and facts about figure skating I didn't expect to learn while watching. The animation and designs are really good quality, too. It's been a real gem of a show, and probably one of the best shows I've watched in the past few years.

Episode 10 really brings many things into a new, or rather more revealing, light, as well! Be sure to watch the special ending for that episode!I'm still holding out for "Yaoi on Fire!!!!" a cute slice of life anime about two female Polynesian fire dancers (one of which named Yaoi) who love each other and spend time wistfully talking about the future as they walk hand in hand along the beaches of the resort town they call home. Then one day, a cirque du soleil producer sees them and offers one or both of them a spot on a Vegas show if they can step up their fire dancing game to compete with other world athletes.

I really think I got something here (some of which I shamelessly stole from a witty idea from Tumblr).

[Gregness]

Huh, Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress seems to be getting a season 2 (https://twitter.com/anime_kabaneri/status/809372471111524352) in a year and a half. It was a cool show with a lot of potential that didn't quite stick the landing, but if the new season can be more like the first half, and less like the second, I'm all in.

Of course, this (http://imgur.com/gallery/Ff2bToX) was in the second half if I'm remembering right, so even in the worst case it won't be all bad. ::V:

[MuMu]

Koe No Katachi (https://myanimelist.net/manga.php?id=56805)
http://i.imgur.com/bzj6ToK.png

Shouya Ishida always tries to beat boredom. With his little group of friends he engineers "courage tests" everyday to avoid spending a single second of tedium. Enter Shouko Nishimiya

http://i.imgur.com/PpCWRPw.png

Deaf, Nishimiya communicates through a notebook and frequently needs the help of her classmates. Irked, Ishida begins to tease her, but as her necessities become more frequent, so does the intensity of his bullying

http://i.imgur.com/cqeUZoQ.png

During months Ishida mercilessly provokes Nishimiya until it reaches the point where adult intervention is necessary, resulting on the girl transfering schools. When confronted with what happened, the rest class blames Ishida and begin to bully him instead. For the next five years Ishida is shunned, to the point where he forgoes any kind of friendship and social contact. In his third year of High School, Ishida realizes he has no future worth living and decide to end his life but first he wants to find the girl he thoughtlessly attacked and look for redemption

http://i.imgur.com/ZDceYEl.png

But forgiveness is not that easy to achieve...


Now, this one is a heavy title. It proeminently deals with the disability of one character and the consequences of bullying and ostracizing, not only for the victim but also for those around them. The manga pulls absolutely no punches when considering just how much someone's life can be changed because of something that's often resumed as "playing around". It also explores the idea of making it up for past actions and changing yourself, meeting new people and facing old ones. Overall, a very emotional story.

I seriously need to read something happy next :crying:

[MuMu]

Ergo Proxy (https://myanimelist.net/anime/790/Ergo_Proxy)
http://i.imgur.com/Sc6jHEl.png

"In a post-apocalyptic world ravaged by an ecological disaster, lies the domed city of Romdeua, one of the last bastions of humanity. There, humans live with AutoReivs, intelligent androids created to aid them in their survival. But recently, the Cogito virus has been attacking the AutoReivs, granting them self-awareness which makes them break away from the ownership of humans.

In a secluded part of the city, an experiment goes wrong; a mysterious being know only as "Proxy" escapes, unleashing a series of events that will affect Re-l Mayer, the granddaughter of the current Regent, assigned to investigate the Cogito; Vincent Law, a foreigner tasked with bringing down violent AutoReivs; and Raul Creed, a power hungry bureacrat in charge of the Security Bureau, among others."

Now this one is an interesting title. I had tried the first three episodes earlier this year and enjoyed it very much but for ~reasons~ I put it off until recently. Now that I actually watched it in it's entirety, what stuck with me the hardest is how it went in a completely different direction than I was expecting.

It begins with a cyberpunk-ish story, with Re-L investigating what is affecting the AutoReivs and what this Proxy could be, but soon enough the plot shifts from this to Re-L, Vincent and Pino travelling around the world, the Cogito plot and Romdeua almost forgotten until the last few episodes. Despite being one of the main characters, Re-L also isn't the Strong Female Protagonist she may look like from the previews, being constantly kidnapped, poisoned, injured, and generally needing to be saved by others. In fact, after a while it becomes clear that the true protagonist of the story, and major focus of the series, is actually Vincent Law.

Still, it's not a bad series, and despite it getting a bit too JRPG-ish, I reccomend it if you're looking for a mature anime.

[MuMu]

Spirit Circle (https://myanimelist.net/manga.php?id=38071)
http://i.imgur.com/CdJWDja.png

"Fuuta Okeya is a normal teenager - excepting his ability to see spirits. When Kouko Ishigame transfer to his class, he is at first lovestruck but after being coldly shot down, he notices someone else tagging along with her

http://i.imgur.com/eMQoKQJ.png

Despite that, he still makes an effort and, along with his group of friends, manages to get closer to Kouko - Until he accidentally reveals that he can see East. Her attitude immediatelly changes, even more so after removing a bandage Fuuta has on his cheek and seeing his birthmark

http://i.imgur.com/r0OEryE.png

She reveals that Fuuta and herself are intertwined by destiny, and over several past lives have encountered and hurt each other in some way. Aware and tired of this cycle of suffering, Kouko aims to end it all - by killing and erasing Fuuta from existence. She summons the Spirit Circle, charges and strikes Fuuta and then...he sees one of his past lives.

http://i.imgur.com/R9cgfEz.png

Kouko aims to make Fuuta remember their past sufferings and then eliminate him and Fuuta wants to understand their conflict and cease the cycle of revenge - and avoid his own death too, of course. Thus begins his journey through his past lives."



Now, looking at the mangaka's past works, you might notice he is the same author of Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer; however, aside from both being lighthearted shonens, there aren't many similarities. While Lucifer was an action packed romp that culminates in a bombastic climax, Circle focus on emotions and it's action scenes aren't as drawn out. It's a story about revenge, forgiveness, love and hate, that doesn't get too sappy but also doesn't venture too deep. It's still very much a shonen aimed at teenagers so expect the usual comical beats - there is even one ( completely unnecessary) panty shot so you know what you're getting into. Still, much like Lucifer, it has a lot of heart which makes it distinguishable enough to warrant a read.

Warning: There are titties in a couple of parts.

[Gregness]

Most of the time, I love Netflix, but right now I kind of hate Netflix. Little Witch Academia started airing yesterday, and despite being the only legal western streamer for the show, they're not going to be posting the episodes weekly as they air. Rather, they're going to be uploading them all as a batch at the end of the season.

Which sucks, because all indications are that the show is every bit as good as the OVAs were. At the very least, there continues to be great material for reaction images.

http://i.imgur.com/oDGCzCq.jpg

[Gregness]

Crunchyroll tried to have an anime awards show, but there's been backlash as due to the format it ended up being largely a popularity contest (moreso than these things usually are, anyway) which means that Yuri on Ice won basically everything and some really good, but niche shows got snubbed (most loudly, Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju in the drama category)

Gigguk summarizes (there's blink-and-you-miss-it spoilers for Erased. If you care, tune out when he talks about the 'best villain' category):

E5BqcPG5Anw

[The Artist Formerly Known as Hawk]

I just finished watching Akame Ga Kill. Now I has a sad. :(

[Gregness]

I just finished watching Akame Ga Kill. Now I has a sad. :(

Was the sad that you watched Akame Ga Kill? ::V:

[The Artist Formerly Known as Hawk]

Was the sad that you watched Akame Ga Kill? ::V:

In retrospect, yeah. Though I'm on a roll now it seems, since I also just got through Evangelion (yes, I am even more behind than Mauve on certain shows).

Now I really need something to cheer me up.:(

[MuMu]

In retrospect, yeah. Though I'm on a roll now it seems, since I also just got through Evangelion (yes, I am even more behind than Mauve on certain shows).

Now I really need something to cheer me up.:(


Have you heard of this good thing called


Yuru Yuri?

[pochercoaster]

Gundam: Iron Blooded Orphans is still a great show. It's had a few pacing missteps, but the overall pace of the show is really good. It's a slow burn, but the build up and the moments pay off so much.

I just realized after watching the newest episode that it has a lot of cool female characters that throw down. They haven't revealed who all the special chosen Gundam pilots are yet (just Mikazuki, obvs) but it feels like they're building up Laffter to be one.

It seems like the show is subverting a lot of tropes. The princess seems like a MacGuffin at first but she actually does a lot of important shit and gets savvy. Also, the princess doesn't get together with the main gundam pilot and that actually makes more sense 'cause they got their own shit to do.

Also, the romances in this show aren't contrived, which is nice.

The masked man doesn't have a secret identity- it seems like the show creators just put the mask in almost as a joke.

I appreciate how Tekkadan operates like an actual paramilitary organization with a chain of command 'n shit. Though the characters make the show, the world is believable.

There's even an explanation for why Tekkadan is made up of mostly teenagers and kids. It's not just "oh, it's anime, therefore teenagers are going to be more competent and interesting than adults." And they still have adults in leadership positions that they listen to because, you know, that's how a paramilitary organization works.

I guess the Turbines are technically a harem, but they're not really and they don't make it gross like you'd expect a show to do. So that's alright.

So, Iron Blooded Orphans: A Good Show.

Edit: Oh, also, I really like Julieta. I'm not sure why. She drank the Gjallerhorn kool-aid and she's annoying and she's not as competent as she wishes she were, but she's also not an idiot and I think she has the capacity to change her position. I want to see her go off and do her own thing.

[_mike]

While we're on the subject of finishing series and being left with a sad, I just finished Sankarea. Not since One Manga was a thing have I just sat at my computer and read for hours like this. I've spent this afternoon kind of spaced out with no idea what to read next until the next volumes of School Live and Boku Hero come out. I've liked the Yuru Yuri anime so far, but not enough to catch up on 14 volumes of an ongoing series. I could catch up on Koukaku no Pandora, but then if there's a season two of the anime I might not enjoy it as much since I'll know what's coming:ohdear:.

Any suggestions for (finished) series to (binge) read next would be welcome.

[MuMu]

I try to only get into a series when it's done - and that's another reason to get miffed at RE:ZERO - but I've been posting about my readings in this thread so I can't comment much. I can, however, blindly reccomend manga that's on my wishlist and hope they aren't secretely bad. In no particular order:

•Blame! (https://myanimelist.net/manga/149/Blame?q=blmae)
•GTO (https://myanimelist.net/manga/336/GTO?q=gto)
•Claymore (https://myanimelist.net/manga/583/Claymore?q=clay)
•Tokyo Ghoul (https://myanimelist.net/manga/33327/Tokyo_Ghoul?q=ghoul)
•Akumetsu (https://myanimelist.net/manga/1101/Akumetsu?q=akum)
•Freesia (https://myanimelist.net/manga/1131/Freesia?q=frees)
Kongou Bancho (https://myanimelist.net/manga/11336/Kongou_Banchou?q=kong)
•Mirai Nikki (https://myanimelist.net/manga/584/Mirai_Nikki?q=mirai)
•Sidonia no Kishi (https://myanimelist.net/manga/13723/Sidonia_no_Kishi?q=sido)
•Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou (https://myanimelist.net/manga/4/Yokohama_Kaidashi_Kikou?q=yokoh)
•Teppuu (https://myanimelist.net/manga/11366/Teppuu?q=teppu)

[_mike]

Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou is definitely not secretly bad.
I don't know much about Akumetsu, Freesia, Kongou Bancho, or Teppuu, but judging by the covers and summary blurbs you linked to, it looks like they take themselves too seriously for my taste in "fight this guy then go over there and fight that other guy" manga. Phil pointed out your post about Orange from earlier, so I'm going to give that a shot. If I end up not liking it, at least it's short.

[MuMu]

This is a very short one, which makes it hard to properly reccomend without being deliberately vague or delving into spoilers territory so I'll do both!:dance:

Qualia The Purple (https://myanimelist.net/manga/51493/Murasakiiro_no_Qualia)

Marii Yukari has a unique way of seeing the world. Literally, as with her purple eyes she sees every human being as a robot, some with unique parts like sensors or thrusters, but all of them cold, steel machines.

http://i.imgur.com/3cknHwT.png

Hatou "Gaku", her best friend and - according to Yukari - an "All Model Robot" tries her best to help Yukarii at living a normal life despite her unusual condition

http://i.imgur.com/5eteMmO.png

But when you see the entire world as being populated by mechanical beings with clear moving parts, each with it's own purpose, would it be possible to fix a broken friend?

Now, that's a perfectly fine description and hook, but if you're still not convinced - or just don't care and wants to get to the point - then...

http://i.imgur.com/66I5GVa.png


Surely you can, but there are - as always - consequences. When Gaku's arm is severed in an attack, Yukari fixes it using a cellphone. The arm is indistinguishable from a normal one with the exception that it can still perform calls and what is even more unusual

http://i.imgur.com/CavZaZa.png

Gaku can now call herself from another parallel universe.

The incident attracts the attention of JAUNT: An american organization tasked with recruiting and researching beings gifted with abilities. Gaku, concerned over the safety of Yukari, convinces her to move to enroll at JAUNT. They keep contact until the day the unexpected occurs

http://i.imgur.com/Z8c0gw3.png

Yukari perishes. JAUNT keeps their secrecy over the matter, even from her family. Suffering, but furious, Gaku makes a decision: She will team up with her alternate selves from multiple universes all aimed at a single goal: Marii Yukari.

http://i.imgur.com/ztw8kJs.png

[Ryong]

I started watching Kobayashi San's Dragon Maid.

I regret nothing.

[Tev]

Having played the app game Chain Chronicle, I was really happy to get into the anime. It pretty much picks up right where the game's story ended, which may make it a little hard for for people who didn't play the game to get what's going on, but so far, it has been a blast to watch.

I also gave up on watching Gundam Unicorn. Each episode felt like 80% pretentious monologues, 10% crying, and 10% mech fights, which is not the percentages I was hoping for. I hear Iron Blooded Orphans has closer mech fighting percentages to Gundam Wing, which is what I was looking for.

The wife and I finished Izetta, the Last Witch over the weekend. We were sad that we got 13 episodes and Izetta and Fine didn't get an onscreen kiss. Overall, though, it was a good show that ended well. A lot of detail went into the horrors of war and the injuries it causes.

Season two of KONOSUBA is...I don't know, the spark is just not there anymore. Maybe it's because we watched RE: Zero, which was a million times better? There's just a whole lot going on in the first few episodes and most of it feels meaningless and hard to follow.

Started watching New Game! because a slice-of-life show about a girl that works in an all-girl game development studio that cranks out fairly games sounded cute. I'm two or three episodes deep so far and it seems nice, though in the back of my mind I know that it is in no way representative of an actual development studio.

Still waiting for more Digimon Adventure Tri to come out.....This whole "release three or for episodes every few months" thing they got going on is really annoying for such a good show.

Things on my queue that I haven't gotten to yet and not really sure where to start:

-Kamigami no Asobi: The wife and I saw the first episode of this reverse harem with gods from various pantheons. The sexy magical boy transformations really sold her on it, but we haven't really made time to watch this for real.

-Is the Order a Rabbit?: I'm not really sure what this is, it looks like a slice-of-life show?

-Zettai Boei Leviatan: Some sort of girl-group fantasy anime.

-A Dark Rabbit had Seven Lives: I think this is a high school romance anime of some kind?

-Black Bullet: I'm pretty sure the wife and I saw a clip form this on Youtube or something so now it's in our queue...

-Twin Star Exorcists: I know nothing about this show other than I recognize its name for some reason. (Is it because it sounds close to Blue Star Exorcist?)

-Kill la Kill: I was going to let this one slide, but the wife really wanted to see it and tossed it in our queue.

-AOKANA: Four Rhythm Across the Blue: I have no idea what this is. I'm guessing my wife added it.

-Show By Rock!! (season 2): The problem with this one is that we probably have to watch season one first. At least it seems to be on Youtube?

-Samurai Flamenco: Someone suggested this to me but I forget who and why.

-Space Patrol Luluco: This is another wife add. I know little to nothing about it.

-Flip Flappers: We're about three episodes deep in this one. Having watched FLCL in the past, I really appreciate what this show is going for and the abstract art looks pretty cool, but for some reason we just don't have the mental energy to binge this thing or make any real headway.

-Is this a Zombie: This is an odd little harem anime. We watched the first episode but haven't really gotten much further.

-Outbreak Company: This feels like it's going to be another KONOSUBA or Re: Zero. Anyone seen this yet?

[Solid Snake]

Season two of KONOSUBA is...I don't know, the spark is just not there anymore. Maybe it's because we watched RE: Zero, which was a million times better?

...
Heh...
Hahahaha...
Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

...Thanks, I desperately needed a good laugh today.

[Tev]

Thanks, I desperately needed a good laugh today.Any time Snake! ::V:

But no, really, I think RE: Zero changed my expectations of the "normal dude lost in a fantasy realm" anime genre.

[Sithdarth]

-Samurai Flamenco: Someone suggested this to me but I forget who and why.

I watched that awhile ago. It was pretty good. It's got some pretty good hidden subtleties with regards to what's realty and what's maybe not so much. Still not sure if it is actually a story about a guy slowly going insane or not. Definitely a good watch. Just a heads up it can get pretty nonsensical at points.

[Solid Snake]

Any time Snake! ::V:

But no, really, I think RE: Zero changed my expectations of the "normal dude lost in a fantasy realm" anime genre.

I respect your acceptance of my recent heel turn against Re:Zero.
I wish I shared your changed expectations, but for me personally, Re:Zero is the "normal dude lost in a fantasy realm" genre entrant who tantalized me with teases of upending stereotypes, only to play those tropes perfectly straight when all was said and done.

[pochercoaster]

I also gave up on watching Gundam Unicorn. Each episode felt like 80% pretentious monologues, 10% crying, and 10% mech fights, which is not the percentages I was hoping for. I hear Iron Blooded Orphans has closer mech fighting percentages to Gundam Wing, which is what I was looking for.


I tried to suffer through Unicorn and gave up.

Iron Blooded Orphans is 1000x better. I haven't seen wing so I don't know how it compares to that specifically, but there is a lot of action. It's not just mindless action though, which is good.

[MuMu]

-Samurai Flamenco: Someone suggested this to me but I forget who and why.

The first season is a nice parody of Sentai series but somewhere along they decided parodies are no fun and begun playing it straight. Reccomend watching all of Season 1 for closure.

I watched one ep of S2 and gave up.


edit: In fact, now that you peoeple brought it up, it does remind me of RE:ZERO; It begins as a different take in a played genre until, for no real reason, they go back and just do the same thing as every other iteration.

[_mike]

As a fan of the absurd, I actually enjoyed how SamFlam started off as a budget Batman-wannabe and then escalated and escalated until even Guren Lagan would be like "whoa buddy, tone it down a bit, kay?" It ends up going some interesting places in the end, but it's clear that this thing is more of an artifact made possible by government funding rather than a viable commercial work.

Dissenting edit: I think Kono Suba is still pretty funny. It's more of the same, but I like the doofy looking animation and running gags like "what will make Aqua cry this episode?"

[phil_]

Just some thoughts on the last page or so of the thread.

First off, Qualia was a neat read. Thanks for that, MuMu; I've been reading nothing but on-going manga for a while and it was nice to finish something. Plus, while the vocabulary and phrasing showed some misunderstandings of sub-atomic particle physics, the sci-fi was sci enough that I could actually accept it rather than just shaking my head and reminding myself that mangaka are usually mangaka because they aren't good at anything else. I think the author's notes from volume one implied that this was a manga based on a book, so perhaps that's the cause. In any case, that was more negative than I meant it to be. I dug it, teared up a little at the end.

Maid Dragon gets better each episode. Like, I didn't even really like episode one except for the casual mention of turning the city into a sea of flames as a special skill, but now I'm really looking forward to the next episode.

I'd like to address Tev's list, now. I'm leaving out Konosuba and RE:Zero, though, because I'd like to end this on my thoughts concerning those. So, in order:

Izetta was a really nice show. No one was an idiot, Izetta and FIne's relationship changed for better and worse in an interesting way, and the ending was, I think, mathematically formulated to contain the exact amount of ambiguity to leave what happened with Izetta as weighty and meaningful, but potentially not a completely bleak, "nothing good comes from doing good" ending.

New Game is cute. I'd watch another season, but I can't even remember the characters' names.

Is the Order a Rabbit? is, like, perfect cute girls doing cute things. Kei-on! trips over its premise with "if they're a band, why do they spend every episode chilling and eating cake?" Gochiusa is about chilling and eating cake coffee, so there's nothing in the way of just "Here are girls, you will want to be their friend and drink coffee with them. Isn't this delightful? How about you close that 'How to tie a noose' tab?" So, if you dig that kind of thing, it's really good. It isn't artistic like Hidamari Sketch, or wacky like Yuru Yuri, or saccharine sentimental like Aria, but it is, in a word, happy.

I would not describe Leviatan as "girl-group fantasy anime." It is stupid dragons screwing around for twelve episodes. There is fighting and magic, and the girls do go somewhere, but it's not Record of Lodoss War or even Slayers. There is a great evil that is destroying good and sacred things and will eventually destroy all life on the planet; the heros try to see how many cookies they can stuff in a fairy. So, there is a normal fantasy anime in the background, but it is very much in the background of their weird non-adventures. The characters are likable, but they aren't fleshed out very much; they exist as vehicles for gags. The story doesn't really go anywhere. Um, on a purely positive note, the music for the series was composed by the same person responsible for most of Hidamari's music, so there's that. All that said, and here's where I'm a terrible person, it has both Hayami Saori and Hanakana as main characters, and they laugh while another character almost drowns in a bog. The stupid ending song makes me want to go on an adventure. Something about this non-entity of a show struck a chord with me: I've watched it several times, I played the game (in Japanese) for a short period until it shut down, I have strong opinions on how certain character's names should be spelled (It's "Rage Law," I have it in print). So, you might want to skip it, because it's really not that good, but I really, really like it for reasons even I don't fully understand.

Black Bullet is a show about how humans should all just die. "Sexy little girls" is a major theme, so be prepared for that. It looks cool, and cool stuff happens, but way way more "this is totally not cool" stuff happens. If you want to be frustrated, this show will do it.

Kill la Kill I don't know where to start. It's a "Go here, fight this guy/girl, now fight the next one" show. There are some entertaining twists, the ending is acceptable, the fights are really fun to watch and there are a lot of them. I can solidly recommend it to anyone who can look at the stripper suits and only roll their eyes once, but it doesn't have much of a place in my heart.

Show by Rock has a weird setting, and a lot of it comes down to accepting that things just are how they are. After that is accomplished, it's a really funny show that I got a little obsessed with while the first season was airing. The songs are good (if you like anime music), the CG is good (hot opinions), and the ending is a little better than Bones's usual screw ups. The second season is, essentially, just more time with the characters, which you'll want if you liked the first season, and adding more characters from the game. Back to that obsession bit, I really was. I even floated the idea of, of all things, doing a SB69 RP here, to the point where I even had a simple RPG system put together. So I guess if it gets its hooks in you, they go deep. Or maybe I'm just weak to bright colors.

Sam Flam is what happens when a train derails, does a flip, then lands on another track and keeps going. It's not exactly a good thing, but it definitely could have ended up way worse and it's just impressive that it happened. I feel like it was worth my time to hang on and see where it went.

Luluco is Inferno Cop in slow motion. Watch it.

Flip Flappers should probably be watched at a one episode per week pace. Give yourself time to chew on each episode's particular weirdness before having a go at the next.

I remember nothing of Zombie Deskchair.

Outbreak Company, beyond the "Other world, normal guy" thing, is a completely different show than Konosuba and RE:Zero. I realize I sound like a tool when I claim that "A random guy goes to another world where there are dragons and stuff" can be part of a story and not define that story, but here I am, being a tool. I'm gonna keep it up below, when I get to discussing those other shows. Anyway, Outbreak Company is about exploiting fantasyland as a new market for anime, as well as all that other stuff that makes up Japanese culture. So, instead of freezing in a barn or dying every week, our hero makes political ties between a kingdom in fantasyland and Japan, builds a Japanese-style public school, and generally gets into cultural misunderstandings rather than fighting orcs. And then a bunch of women and girls throw themselves at him because of course they do. So, it's pretty much a normal comedy, except there are elves. I don't really remember much more specifics than that, but now I kinda want to re-watch it.

And now some crap I don't think anyone really wants to read. Konosuba and Re:Zero are completely different shows on opposite ends of the Comedy/Tragedy axis, and comparing them doesn't really make much sense. May as well not bury the lead (17 paragraphs in). Like I said up there, yeah, we refer to "Normal guy, fantasyland" as a genre, and in some ways that's a useful tool. There is usually some, non-complete overlap between shows that start like that in themes and characters, and it's very useful when you want to write off a work as being something the author is writing to feel better about themself/as wank material. Now that I think about it, using it to dismiss works is probably the most useful and most common application of the isekai genre. Dissing the author self-inset might have even been the seed of both Konosuba and RE:Zero (hey, look, overlap). But, beyond that, it's about as much of a genre as "anime." We could compare the themes of humankind's relationship to technology in Ghost in the Shell and Castle in the Sky, but it would be kind of silly to expect the same things of a movie about finding a killer who has become like a computer virus and a movie about kids flying to a magic robot castle, and even sillier to have one's appreciation of one movie flavored by the other. Even though they're both anime, even though they both have robots. Konosuba is a comedy. You want bad things to happen, because it's funny. There's no real sense of danger. Hell, after the first episode of this season of Konosuba, Darkness has only showed up in short scenes of implied sexual assault. But you know that isn't happening, because the actual genre (comedy) sets up your expectations that she's probably just being put into embarrassing outfits or doing chores (using sexual assault as the gotcha for this kind of joke I'll just quietly nudge into the corner). If you saw the same scenes, but it was Emilia instead, well WOW RE:Zero would have gone somewhere shitty but you'd take them at face value (and as something Subaru would have to die to correct) because it's a tragedy (or a horror show) before it's a "Normal guy, fantasyland" show. Like, surely there are exceptions, but most of the time "Normal guy, fantasyland" is just an easy in to a story that has nothing to do with the "Normal guy" part. Other than Subaru's ignorance of the state of the world, how much would change if he had just grown up there as some spoiled, rich child? Really, would anything change at all beyond the jersey if Kazuma had died in the same world he reincarnates into? So, here I am using the isekai genre to punch the authors for using a lazy crutch to get their stories started, but after they start, that similarity becomes fairly inconsequential.

So all that was me being a jerk and saying that it's really weird when you guys are like, "I can't like Konosuba because RE:Zero was better." It's like if you wrote "I can't like Kobayashi's Maid Dragon, Ikoku Meiro no Croisée was so much better." They're just really different stories about different things, beyond the presence or absence of dragons and witches.

Oh, and I really like Tekketsu Orphans. It's neat, in a Gundam show, for the grunts to still be Glaives after 40 episodes. And while it was pretty transparent how they set up sympathy for Naze right at the end, I can't say it wasn't effective. And, if we're comparing it to Wing, I like how Orphans manages to have no side be Definitely the Good Guys™ without just making every. single. character. such a broken psychopath that there's no way they could survive a day anywhere but Gundam Wing. And like pooch said earlier, that they have the princess one: not just realize that maybe she's a spoiled rich idealist who has to operate in the real world but two: actually have her use her political skills and connections to actually become a useful ally, rather than either languishing as the token useless chick or throwing away her original character to climb into the Gundam is just so damn impressive. It shouldn't be, but here we are. And like _mike said, Mikazuki is a much better broken psychopath than Hiro (that's Gundam Wing's psycho in charge). Like, I just laughed when Hiro chose every opportunity to jump from a tall place and land on his neck. I feel like Mika is more of a person, just a really different person from anyone I've met. He's fun to watch. Like, how he manages to be the super-practical, super-level headed murderer without he or the show shitting on his friends who are closer to functional beings but less than Superman in a robot fight is another really impressive part of his character and the show's writing.

So I guess I didn't end this on the isekai thing. Probably better like this.

[pochercoaster]

More Gundam thoughts:

1. Why can't they just (minor season 2 spoilers kind of) give Mikazuki a wheelchair? Carrying him around and dumping him on the ground is so mean, even if he doesn't seem to care. XD

2. What the hell happened to Kudelia's father?

3. Mikazuki is definitely a good character in that he's actually a person and not just a shallow representation of a sociopath.

4. (Major season 2 spoilers) LAFTER NOOOOOOOOOOO. I thought she was gonna be a super special gundam pilot and wreck shit. : (

5. It's pretty cool how they explain that the Turbines used to be girls/women doing dangerous/shitty work that men wouldn't do, because that has actual parallels in real life.

[MuMu]

Another short one. Warning: If children being harmed and/or abused isn't your cup of tea, avoid.

Boku dake ga Inai Machi (https://myanimelist.net/manga/39325/Boku_dake_ga_Inai_Machi?q=boku%20da) or Erased

"Satoru Fujinuma is a struggling mangaka who, to make ends meet, works part-time as a delivery man. He also possess a unique ability: The Revival/Rerun, a moment where time rewinds to the same spot until he figures it's cause, usually the death or injury of a nearby person.

http://i.imgur.com/SJ2kGyG.png

When his mother makes an unexpected visit, a dark subject is brought up: The kidnapping and murder of children that happened when Satoru was younger, including close friends of his; While taking a walk with his mother, a Revival/Rerun occurs and Satoru - unwittingly - stops a kidnapping from happening. Despite being 18 years since the two incidents, the question of whether these happenings could be connected is raised.

http://i.imgur.com/NkKtiP2.png

Unfortunately, the killer is also on Satoru's tail. They kill and frame him for the murder of a loved one and while on the run from the police, in a fit of despair, Satoru does a special Revival/Rerun that sends him far back

http://i.imgur.com/hMypz9t.png

To 1988, when he was still in school and the year where the original murders happened. Considering the nature of his ability, he reaches one conclusion

http://i.imgur.com/8IW03K9.png

That the reason he was sent to this specific time period was to stop the killings before they happened and apprehend the murderer."

Addendum: This series had an anime adaptation that follows the original story very closely so if you're the kind that prefers moving pictures, give it a try.

[shiney]

Been watching Little Witch Academia on the slightly less than thoroughly upstanding websites.

It's so endearing. I love this show.

[The Artist Formerly Known as Hawk]

Just started watching Death Note. Holy fucking crap why did I not watch this sooner? So good!

[_mike]

Next time on Kidou Senshi Gundam: Tekketsu Orphans
Erry body gonna die お楽しみに！

[Gregness]

So, people got a little salty with Crunchyroll's anime awards 'cause it ended up being more of a popularity contest than this kind of thing is even by default, and Yuri on Ice ended up winning way more stuff than it should have (so the complaints go). Not that it wasn't a great show (so I hear, haven't gotten around to watching it yet) but people were irritated that it won stuff like 'Best Animation' over stuff like Mob Psycho 100.

So, the anime subreddit guys decided to have their own awards, with blackjack and hookers. Here's an infographic with the results. (http://i.imgur.com/VVqttiK.jpg)

If nothing else, there was a more diverse crop of winners there.

[MuMu]

So, people got a little salty with Crunchyroll's anime awards 'cause it ended up being more of a popularity contest than this kind of thing is even by default, and Yuri on Ice ended up winning way more stuff than it should have (so the complaints go). Not that it wasn't a great show (so I hear, haven't gotten around to watching it yet) but people were irritated that it won stuff like 'Best Animation' over stuff like Mob Psycho 100.

So, the anime subreddit guys decided to have their own awards, with blackjack and hookers. Here's an infographic with the results. (http://i.imgur.com/VVqttiK.jpg)

If nothing else, there was a more diverse crop of winners there.

It's a good, diverse list, containing many series that flown past my radar and others that don't get talked much - the Drama and Thriller specially - in most anime circles. I've added several to my To Watch and To Read lists.

Thanks for sharing. :)

[Tev]

Yuri on Ice isn't bad; though I only made it in about four-ish episodes with my wife before we gave up. The circles I travel in on Tumblr really seemed to like it so I sorta kept up through various screen shots and gif sets.

[BB]

Simple question: anyone familiar with Milky Holmes able to recommend it?

Embarrassing elaboration: Having fallen hopelessly in love with Mimori Suzuko I'm immediately interested in anything she's in and they do a LOT of live broadcasts with the Milky Holmes crew that I've been devouring and it'd be nice to have some context, but the anime seems a bit pants from what very little I've seen of it.

But, gosh (http://babybahamut.tumblr.com/tagged/BB%27s-Mimorin-Tag). If it's not outrageously terrible it's probably worth it.

[phil_]

The first two seasons are wonderful, crude comedy. There are points where every frame is a new sight gag. If you like watching idiots destroy everything around them with their incompetence and gags about crippling poverty, then yeah, watch it.

After that, I dunno. They did some OVAs where the girls were the competent detectives from the original games, and then there was some third season where they had their powers and were only kinda dumb, maybe there's a movie? I stopped watching after it started to look like they couldn't be insane anymore because aidoru are above such things.

---------- Post added at 08:52 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:35 PM ----------

Meanwhile, this is what I've been doing the last two days. A twitter being whose lair exists here (https://twitter.com/Morita0126) posted a papercraft pattern to make a Japaribus. What's a Japaribus?

Well, this is the front part:
http://i.imgur.com/RXEXFOr.jpg

And here's the rest which I finished tonight:
http://i.imgur.com/7ww3QNW.jpg

Kemono Friends is under my skin pretty bad right now.

---------- Post added 02-26-2017 at 08:19 PM ---------- Previous post was 02-25-2017 at 08:52 PM ----------

Thoughts on this week's Iron-blooded Orphans:

Nice throw, Julieta. Real MVP move there, I'm sure it'll be on the highlight reel. I'm not mad at all.

[BB]

I'm still not sure what a Japaribus is, but it's cute.

[MuMu]

I actually googled Japaribus and got a bunch of latin/italian pages. But it is cute.


Glad to see I'm not the only one who doesn't take the stickers of my eletronics, tho.

[Gregness]

It's a good, diverse list, containing many series that flown past my radar and others that don't get talked much - the Drama and Thriller specially - in most anime circles. I've added several to my To Watch and To Read lists.

Thanks for sharing. :)

In the full reddit thread for their awards, one of the jurors (as the ranks on those infographics were determined by a jury for each category, and the community choices were determined by poll) said that Ajin's second season was kind of ass, but the first season was so good that it deserved the top spot anyway. That's not even unheard of, as the first season of Psycho Pass is generally very well regarded, and most people pretend S2 doesn't exist.

Rakugo Shinjuu was something that completely flew under my radar until some of the various anime youtubers started shilling for it in advance of the Crunchyroll anime awards (for all the good it did 'em), but it actually looks pretty interesting now that I've got a better idea what it's about. The main characters are Rakugo performers, which is supposedly a kind of mix between storytelling, and stand-up comedy, and the show's about some guys trying to learn the craft from an old hand.

[MuMu]

Solanin (https://myanimelist.net/manga/3731/Solanin)
https://i.imgur.com/Dr1J2gD.jpg

"A few years after graduating college, Inoue Meiko is living with her boyfriend and has a boring office job that offers no real future. Taneda Naruo works part time as a graphic designer and has a band with his former classmates that never took off. One day, Meiko decides she can't take it anymore and quits her job; with her savings, she has 1 year to decide what her future will be. Taneda, meanwhile, is determined to finally get into the music business for real."

This is another short one - only two volumes. Trying to summarize it without spoilers, it's a work about people in their mid/late twenties that still feel like they don't know what they should be doing, a " Quarter Life Crisis" as they're calling it nowadays. The manga circles around Inoue, Taneda and their friends, all trying different options but none really fitting in anything and the decision that brings them together. And if you read the description at MAL you'll notice that, yes, this is the same author as Oyasumi Punpun/Goodnight Punpun; trying - again - to not give spoilers, this isn't the INFINITE ABYSS OF ETERNAL SUFFERING that Punpun is, but you know what you're getting into. Also, as seems to be the case with Asano, it has gorgeous art

https://i.imgur.com/xmKm9kc.jpg

[Gregness]

I know you added it to your queue over the holidays, but I can't wait 'till you get to Claymore.

[MuMu]

I actually have read the first two arcs(Around 10 chapters?) already but I took a break because I'm trying an online subscription service and I wanted to read as many comics as I could before the trial period was over.

Solanin was different because I actually bought it and those get some priority. ::V:

[MuMu]

Claymore (https://myanimelist.net/manga/583/Claymore) (As Reccomended by Gregness)

"In a gritty, mysterious world, humans are constantly tormented by the gruesome Yoma; Monsters that can take human form but constantly hunger for the guts of the hapless peasants

http://i.imgur.com/K4o4ctd.png

Enter the Claymore; given this name by the commons due to the enormous swords they wield, they are an all-female, half-human half-yoma elite of warriors trained by the Organization to kill the Yoma in the world, in exchange for a wealthy sum

http://i.imgur.com/2aC34kI.png http://i.imgur.com/cO2c2Qn.png

Despite being strong enough to chump off the common Yoma, there are still more dangers out there; creatures known as Awakened Beings, former Claymores that lost control and let their Yoma side take over, also roam free and these are way beyond the abilities of a single warrior to deal with

http://i.imgur.com/g6Tktia.png

Not only that but it seems the Organization itself has been doing some shady business and the few Claymores that learn about it seem to disappear

In the middle of all this is Claire, an aloof Claymore on a personal quest of revenge, who gets involved in the conspiracies and machinations of the Organization."

This one was pretty interesting. It's bloody, gory, often grotesque but still a shonen. Lots of hyperfast battles, secret abilities, long drawn out battles and such. I gotta be honest, at first it does not look good. The first few arcs aren't very engaging and mostly involve the Claymore effortlessly dealing with common Yoma. But! After a backstory arc, the author introduces the Awakened Beings, which are always a treat to see as they get an opportunity to really splurge on the art

http://i.imgur.com/HKURd8s.jpg


http://i.imgur.com/PXtk3Jx.jpg


http://i.imgur.com/uuHgNMN.png


http://i.imgur.com/0aGQQOO.png



Each encounter with one of those is pretty fun as they are frequently overpowered and require a team of Claymores to be taken down; more characters are introduced and often get some time to shine and show off their special abilities; Claire too begins to grown as a warrior along with her new partners and the plot kicks off.

Overall it's a great action packed story and even though it is a bit long I still enjoyed it a lot. :dance:

[Gregness]

Hoo boy, I forgot how rough some of that early art looked. As evidenced by the awakened beings, it gets much better later on.


Overall it's a great action packed story and even though it is a bit long I still enjoyed it a lot. :dance:

This is really the most important part. Glad you liked it!

One thing I didn't see you mention at all, and was one of the strongest parts of the series for me was the supporting cast. I've got kind of a weakness for ensemble casts, and while Claymore doesn't quite have one and Clare is definitely the MC, there's so many fucking great supporting characters that it almost gets there regardless. Miriya and Jean were the two that resonated most with me. Miriya mostly because I'm a sucker for that sort of front-line commander mother-to-her-men schtick, on top of her being a stone-cold badass. Jean was interesting because the kind of wookie life debt thing she had going on really crystallized for me how refreshing the way Claymore handled its female characters was.

Also, did you check out the anime adaptation at all? I saw that version before I read the manga (one of only a few anime to inspire me to chase down the source material), and it was actually an incredibly faithful adaptation with the exception of the anime-only ending they tried to cobble together in the last few episodes (which I don't really hold against them). Clare hugging Teresa for the first time during that flashback made me tear up.

[MuMu]

You're right, I could've said something about the supporting cast. They don't shine as bright as the Awakened Beings but around 1/2 of the series the main group is formed and they make the entire thing way more lively.

And no, I didn't check the anime adaptation. Lately I've been avoiding anime and preferring the original manga; fillers, deviations and different endings are some of the reasons, although I've also grown fonder of the action on a page than in a low-budget animation.

I'm still open to OVAs, Movies and Non-Adapted Animes tho.

[Gregness]

Maaaan, I've got a couple of ideas for posts in this thread that just keep getting pushed back behind other priorities, but with the new season coming up, I've got a few rapid-fire opinions.

First thing: My Hero Academia and Attack on Titan season 2 were both fantastic (and MHA isn't even done yet - it's getting a full 24 episodes), but the real hype is that AoT had its next season announced for next year, and some people familiar with the manga got the impression it was going to be a full 24 episodes given what was teased in the trailer.

The other thing I'm hyped for is that season 4 of Symphogear starts on the 2nd. For those not familiar, the glib version is that Symphogear is about girls saving the world using magical power armor fueled by J-pop. The show has its flaws. For one thing, there's a bit of mood whiplash in the first few episodes (and does occasionally crop up later on) as it seems like they weren't really sure what kind of tone they were even going for, but they eventually settle for running on raw hype.

But goddamn the hype is real.

Here's a couple (https://track3.mixtape.moe/fwbwan.webm) examples (https://track3.mixtape.moe/jjgwte.webm) for people who don't mind spoilers.

Those clips pretty much encapsulate most of the show's appeal, but there's also a surprising amount of subtle characterization stuff that happens, even if the plot itself is kind of ridiculous at times.

I roped Sithdarth into starting on it a while back, and last I heard he was partway through second season. I don't think he was as high on this show as I am (I think it's great despite, and in some cases because of, its flaws), but he liked it enough to get that far so maybe he'll weigh in a bit.

[pochercoaster]

The studio that's producing Berserk needs to be fired because each episode looks like it was made by a kid who waited till the last minute to do their homework. It's atonishing how terrible the animation is.

Just imagine how fantastic post-Golden Age arc Berserk would be if it were properly animated. Actually just get the studio that makes Attack on Titan to make Berserk. It would be so good but it won't happen. ;_; (I still watch Berserk because they're still mostly sticking to the story though and that's enough for me.)

[phil_]

At this point, the anime forcing Miura to write new chapters for three months straight once a year is justification enough. And, yeah, the show looks bad most of the time, but they do use the cg well in some of the fights, and it's a handy way of toning down the violence enough to air on tv without actually making it any less violent. Plus the voice acting is good, and the direction isn't bad.

But the dream of an anime drawn as well as the comic sure is an appealing one.

[MuMu]

Everything I see about the Berserk anime is horrid which makes me glad I never jumped into that boat.

And since the Anime thread was revived, I guess I can post about whatever I'm reading! Too bad it's been months since this one and I already forgot most of what happens but whatever

This is a short one so I'll try to be brief
Bonnouji (https://myanimelist.net/manga/28226/Bonnouji)

Ozawa is having a weird night. After a drinking binge and a little accident, she ends at the doorstep of Oyamada and in need of a favor, which he promptly takes care of

http://i.imgur.com/4myYZ9E.png http://i.imgur.com/KY2jf4Q.png

But as she enter his apartment she notices somethign different

http://i.imgur.com/PNkxZI2.png

http://i.imgur.com/Dxh53pf.png http://i.imgur.com/1fk5por.png

It turns out as Oyamada's brother travels around the world in search of a purpose, he buys loads of stuff and when he doesn't need them anymore he just ships them to his brother's apartment. Noticing Ozawa's curiosity, Oyamada asks if she doesn't want to open one of the boxes, which she promptly does finding a bounty of fine alcohol. They drink it together, Ozawa opens up about her life while Oyamada is awestruck and they have a fun night together opening other boxes. When she decides it's time to head out, Oyamada tells her she's free to come back and open more boxes another day. And so begins a relationship that'll turn into something more.

http://i.imgur.com/LdQntAK.png

As you can see, this is a romance manga, but a bit atypical. First, the main characters don't spend 100 chapters wondering if they should hold hands or not - In fact the entire story is only 35 chapters long - both being adults. And second, despite being an adult comic it also is not a dark, pessimistic story - hell, it might be the most cheerful depiction of romance in a manga; both characters are adorable idiots, enough to get attached but not overboard to the point of being irritating. It is a simple, captivating story about newfound connections and well worth a read.

The only drawback I can point out is that there is a precarious depiction of passage of time - Not to give spoilers but it'll be obvious when you get to it. Perharps some "__ [time] later" indications could've helped but it's nothing that ruins the manga.

[Gregness]

Daaaammit!! I was looking forward to Enter the Ballroom this next season and it's gonna be an Amazon Strike exclusive. :argh:

[BB]

So, anyone at Anime Expo or Bushiroad Grand Festival this year?

Yeah, me either. I'm grumpy, too.

[Tev]

So...one of my favorite anime of all time, Irresponsible Captain Tylor, just got something of a.....revival(?) in the form of what appears to be several 2-3 minute long random clips stuffed to the brim with insanity and only the most tangential connection to the show I know and love.

I went from a hilariously comedic space opera about a lazy but well meaning guy who keeps accidentally failing forward until he averts a galactic war and brings peace to the galaxy...

http://68.media.tumblr.com/073ef5cf22a49fa14b65aad1b16372bb/tumblr_inline_nsp1xnriai1r0ahtf_500.jpg


To this......thing.....with an banjo.
https://68.media.tumblr.com/2ae5baa6a24b8f64f568ea6891eb1c4d/tumblr_otodyhUT3y1t39uilo1_540.jpg

And now I just....I just feel like Joe.
https://68.media.tumblr.com/a20d5ed88d6691fc084c1e762020b6a8/tumblr_oufjkqigkq1rubn31o1_540.png

[shiney]

Made In Abyss is pretty great.

[phil_]

Abyss does a good job of being just cutesy enough and just horrible enough that waiting for the other shoe to drop is a feeling of excited horror. If it leaned more in either way, it'd just feel kinda cynical, like "the world is awful and awful things happen and any kindness or joy is an aberration," kinda like Game of Thrones' central premise. As it is, you can get why people would be drawn to the Abyss the way the show presents it as a place of horror and opportunity. It's just too bad about having to register as a sex offender after you watch the first episode.

Galaxy Tylor is something I wouldn't watch if it were 30 seconds longer. You want 90's reboots, then Mahoujin Guru Guru is the way to go. It's the original story but sped up to, now that I think about it, roughly Avatar speeds in how much goes down in an episode. Some of the gags are a bit worn out (since they were good gags back then and thus have been repeated for twenty years), but it's still funny, Kukuri and Nike approach sneezing kitten levels of cuteness at times, and it has weird monsters so, you know, it speaks to me. I'd recommend it to anyone who likes cartoons. The subs suffer from terrible type-setting, but I can't hold that against it. I've seen worse, anyway. This season, even.

Said truly bad type-setting belongs to Action Heroine Cheer Fruits, which is about teenagers producing a live hero-show like you'd see on top of a department store or streamed on youtube. The animation and drawings are inconsistent, and the subs miss obvious jokes and sometimes get drawn outside the frame or waste screen space translating unimportant signs and banners. The translation just generally comes off as lacking effort or care. Still, more effort went into these subs than Fantasista Doll, which definitely deserved better. Bad subs and cheap production aside, the scenario is interesting, since it reminds me of my misspent youth following my friends around filming our own Camp Kill Yourself-style skate/fight/stunt videos; and there might be magic stuff happening but the show is so weird it might have just been a scene that they meant to cut but didn't. It's definitely interesting, and that counts for a lot with escapist TV.

I'm actually watching less anime this season; Splatoon's eating up a lot of cartoon time. Probably going to stop watching Vatican Miracle Investigators, as it is insufficiently delightful.

[RickZarber]

Oh hey, I can actually contribute to this thread for once. Despite the fact that I live with three other people who all watch way more anime than me, my tastes are pretty picky, so I don't usually have much interest in whatever they're watching. And when I do watch through something, I usually only see stuff years after the fact. But I'm watching a couple of things this current season, which is actually my very first time watching anything during broadcast since the second season of Haruhi almost ten years ago. (Take a wild guess why I might have been deterred...)

So, just from sitting in on a roommate's watch list, I'm now following Gamers!, Tsurezure Children, and Youkoso Jitsuryoku Shijou Shugi no Kyoushitsu e (which I've mostly just been referring to as, "the one that starts with a Y," because I can never fucking remember the title). The latter is definitely the one that I'm least into; more curious about, I guess. The other two are in the distinct category of Comedic Slice-of-Life Relationship Misunderstandings with Likeable Characters, which is far more my speed.

Anywho. ... Anime.

[phil_]

Rick, watch New Game!, then watch New Game!! Because I ain't watching any of those shows, and you'd like New Game. It's about making not-Tales of Etc, presented as if having a job isn't an offence to cultivating one's humanity (and everybody is a cute lady because the studio director isn't interested in dudes stealing away her talent). Alternatively, Aho Girl. It's about terrible children being terrible to each other.

[Tev]

I'm only about three or four episodes in to New Game!, but it has been absolutely adorable so far. I'm also about halfway through Assassination Classroom and it has been a really enjoyable watch.

[RickZarber]

I happened to walk in while a roommate was watching the latest episode of New Game!! and I'm kinda lukewarm on it. What I saw didn't seem all that interesting, but I won't dismiss it out of hand. Why does everyone look like a middle-schooler though? Roommate told me they were all high school grads and I was like. what.

[phil_]

Aoba (the one with twin-tails) is the only one working full-time for Eagle Jump who is a recent high-school graduate. The other main characters are in their twenties or older, though the studio head looks about the same age as her ancient cat. I guess the "why" is art style. I can get why you'd be lukewarm from one episode; it's one of those shows where the characters wheedle their way into your heart over time, and then you just enjoy watching them do stuff. The episode-by-episode plot stops mattering, though stuff does happen. It's just at the glacial pace of office work.