Media Anime and Manga Thread MK3 - Beware Spoilers

Cresselia~~

Junichi Masuda likes this!!
I'm late for watching Yuri On Ice now.
Never knew it was such a great anime until now.
I just kept noticing comments about Yuri On Ice on real life skating videos. After seeing the amount of Yuri on Ice comments on Nathan Chen's National Champion video, I decided to give it a go.

And I must say I quite like it. The art is amazing. I love the movements.
 

Martin

A monoid in the category of endofunctors
is a Smogon Discord Contributoris a Forum Moderator Alumnusis a Community Contributor Alumnusis a Contributor Alumnus
I had a big discussion post about Erased written but my computer crashed and I lost it all and can't remember what I wrote RIP

But yeah posts like this are good. Keep them coming.
 
3-gatsu no lion has no right going from how boring it was last week to how fucking amazing it was this week and it makes me furious
 

RODAN

Banned deucer.
Challenge 65 - Watch an anime using predictive search for your username - C: The Money of Soul and Possibility Control

This show is a lot better in theory than it is in execution. I don't have much to actually say, the show is really ugly, the fights are kinda cool. The plot is very similar to Selector Infected WIXOSS - in that losing causes your life to go down the shitter hole. Theres a really powerful reveal in episode 4, but thats the strongest the show sucks you in emotionally. Everything else is entirely mediocre, its only 11 eps so theres a lot worse shows you can watch.

4/10
 
I just finished hyouka. I loved it so much but I can't really put a finger on why it left such a large impression on me. I guess you could say that I am curious.
 
Challenge 4 - Watch a Music type Anime - Shelter:

Shelter is short, so I'm not going to dwell on it for too long. Nice visuals, okay song, cute main character with a tragic reason for being there. It was alright, but nothing particularly special.

Challenge 50 - Watch an anime tagged as Comedy, Harem, and/or School - Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun:

It takes one hell of a comedy anime to make me laugh really hard, and this one achieved it. The antics of the characters rarely ever went the way I expected, the comedy went in ways I didn't expect, each characters inner monologues just went to show how weird each character was, and what made them so good. Outside of the comedy, the characters all had great relationships with each other, with the conversations between Sakura, Nozaki, and the rest of the gang feeling like a real person's conversation. Fuck failed confessions though.

Shelter - 7/10
Nozaki-kun - 9/10
My review writing skills - 2/10
 
After a long but miserable hiatus from anime I'm about to dive back in and have decided to start with Death Note. I know real anime fans would have gobbled it up and digested it years ago so I hope I'm not inducing too much eye-rolling. For a series to get me back into anime I thought it would be a good place to start. I've only heard good things! (Older favourites include Neon Genesis Evangelion, Buccano, Full Metal Alchemist)
 
After a long but miserable hiatus from anime I'm about to dive back in and have decided to start with Death Note. I know real anime fans would have gobbled it up and digested it years ago so I hope I'm not inducing too much eye-rolling. For a series to get me back into anime I thought it would be a good place to start. I've only heard good things! (Older favourites include Neon Genesis Evangelion, Buccano, Full Metal Alchemist)
the people on this subforum tend to be pretty chill and nobody's gonna be a dick because of any "real anime fan" bullshit (I think). watch what you want to watch!

on an unrelated note, I can't decide whether I would prefer that Konosuba S2 actually look good or not. some part of me says that the choppy animation and stretched faces is what gives it a lot of its comedic charm, but another part of me really doesn't want to watch 10fps slideshows
 

RODAN

Banned deucer.
just watched this weeks LWA. it is honestly probably the best single episode I've seen in a very very long time. Everything about it appealed to my sensibilities, it was like if they combined space dandy flip flappers and luluco and put it all together in a insanely frenetic and crazy episode. Also the animation was mindblowingly good
 
One of the things that I really like about lwa is how each episode has at least one super memorable scene. Probably with the exclusion of episode 5 iirc. I think one of my favorite single scenes is when Ursula gives her big speech at the end of episode 7 about how much akko has progressed even if she isn't up to the standards of other witches. There is always some reason I want to watch each episode.

Just expanding on what I said before about Ursula's speech I think it is almost a criticism on the audience's common complaint that they are tired of akko being bad at magic. If you ever looked at reddit you tend to see this complaint every now and again. I think it points to unrealistic expectations we often have with a shows main character. Progress isn't this sort of switch that turns on and all of a sudden we are a master but rather progress is a slow tedious process that differs from person to person. It takes a while for akko to learn this and it finally sinks in in episode 6 when she learns that there is no fast track to skip the hard work.

Sorry if this came off as rambling this is just an idea that has been floating in my head.
 
the way that Akko is incompetent and oftentimes just worsens whatever situation she involves herself in (or if she does do any good, it comes completely accidentally) is annoying

but the real thing that bugs me about LWA is that they're trying to act like magic is dying out because it's irrelevant in this day and age, after showing magic capable of fixing things instantly that would probably take hours and all sorts of other crazy stuff, it's impossible to buy.

it's still a fun show and the last episode in particular was really good
 
Challenge 00 - Free Space - Yahari Ore no Seishun Love Comedy wa Machigatteiru S1
Overall rating: 7/10
(on MAL. mentally this is a mid-to-high 7, but not good enough to justify giving it an 8)

after seeing how much hype season 2 got, I had high expectations for this series - and it delivered on a few aspects and disappointed on a few others. Overall, S1 felt like one enormous rising action and not at all like a complete story on its own.

stuff I liked:
  • despite the generic setting and character archetypes (Yui is genki+slightly tsun, Yukino is a less interesting Senjougahara, Totsuka is used entirely for trap-based humor, etc), Oregairu manages to be pretty unique in what it tries to pull off. 8man carries the show entirely based off of how self-destructive he is. It's easy to compare him to Subaru from Re:Zero, but whereas Subaru fucked things up by accident because he's an ass, 8man actively but also subconsciously sabotages himself over the course of the first season, which is something very interesting to see, and makes him a compelling main character.
  • Episode 12 alone made me feel extremely uncomfortable at the end (when 8man is attacking Sagami for her bullshit) and that's worth praising. I would have liked if the entire show were as good as episode 12, honestly.
  • Oregairu really doesn't spoonfeed you anything; much of the character development is subtle and hidden behind layers of conversation that the show never goes out of its way to explain, and Hachiman's entire mindset - that he does hate himself and that he is seeking out ways to sabotage himself - is never shoved in the viewer's face, which is good. I've heard that S2 is a little too subtle about stuff, though, so I'll have to keep an eye out for that since I'm not the greatest at picking up on subtext in anime.
stuff I disliked:
  • the entire first half of the show sucked ass. It set up the characters but was incredibly boring and a chore to get through, at times. It literally took me 2 weeks to get through the first 6 episodes and then 2 days to watch the rest of the season.
  • 8man's mentality is interesting but some of the plans he thinks up also kinda suck: for example, him yelling at Sagami in the finale is true to his character but also does not solve the problem at hand (getting her to speak on stage) and runs counter to him trying to help Yukino with the festival in general. maybe this is intentional and he's so eager to sabotage himself that he doesn't even care about getting his job done, but I don't think that's the case and it generally puts a sour note on some of his actions.
  • some of the plot points seemed like they were glossed over a little too quickly, unless they were very subtly resolved in on-screen conversations that I just missed the subtext for. 8man tells Yui not to be friends with him out of guilt for getting him in that car accident, to which Yui is (rightfully) upset - but then next episode, they're friends again like nothing happened. 8man ditches Yui and Yukino because he's presumably still mad about Yukino's involvement in the accident and her silence afterwards, but then he pulls off the stunt the next day that brings him and Yukino back together again.

    for the latter, it's possible that 8man isn't mad at Yukino but is mad at himself for putting her on a pedestal, but I think the lack of explanation from the show is a negative here as opposed to a positive, since he has every right to be upset with Yukino and it's confusing to see the next day pass like their conflict was completely resolved. maybe I'm just dumb and can't read between the lines, idk.
  • I liked the last arc but Sagami's character as a villain is laughably one-dimensional and uninteresting. in general, Oregairu doesn't do a good job at making me want to watch more whenever there's a conflict on screen, mostly because the bad guys aren't that entertaining to watch. they're just kind of frustrating.
  • the main characters are fun to watch but everyone apart from 8man isn't too well developed, with the possible exception of Yukino, who is slightly more interesting than the rest because of her relationship with her sister
  • other minor stuff: none of the humor really landed for me, the soundtrack was forgettable, the animation was lackluster at best and terrible at worst (the song in episode 12), and I wasn't a huge fan of the OP or the ED.
overall, I definitely started to enjoy this show a lot more in the second half, and the finale had me debating whether to rate this a 7 or an 8. I've heard that S2 is stronger and focuses much more on the characters, so it's likely that I'll enjoy that more, whenever I get around to it.
 
Got some anime for the challenge out of the way and wanted to write some short thoughts. Sorry in advance for my half-assed review writing skills.

Challenge 43 - Watch an anime with a main character that is a professional in his field - Mushishi

This anime and its subsequent sequels are an absolute beauty to watch. It is incredible atmospherically and visually it looks terrific. The world building is very well done, and it's a very calming kind of series that has a high amount of intrigue to it. The anime is centered around Mushi, which take many different forms and most of the time end up bringing bad omens for people who end up having to deal with them but can also provide good things for them. For the cases where Mushi serves as a potential benefit, it serves as a way to really show how human nature kicks in, and whether or not the humans will let themselves get carried away. If they do, it usually ends up backfiring on them, creating unforeseen consequences. For the times in which they suffer from the Mushi, how they cope with those situations will illustrate if they will be able to endure the hardships in life or break. The main character, Ginko, is a Mushi-shi meant to discover the mysteries behind Mushi, and he goes around wandering from village to village trying to drive the Mushi's influences away. He cannot solve every case, and sometimes there are times in which the stubbornness of the client gets in the way of his work, something that he can't exactly fix easily. The anime itself does not follow a linear story but rather a number of stories, and it speaks to the strength of the series that I was never bored despite its rather slow and episodic nature. 9/10

Challenge 63 - Watch an anime that was recently reviewed - Yamada-kun to 7-nin no Majo

Yamada-kun and the Seven Witches is a rather interesting anime, where supernatural abilities reside in seven female students who are labeled as witches. It's kinda explained as to why they have these abilities, but not really in great detail. The trademark delinquent MC Yamada ends up being the harem protagonist that gets dragged into a situation where he body-swaps with the model female student, Shiraishi (who is one of the witches), and they figure out that this is activated with a kiss. They and a few other characters end up creating a Supernatural Studies club, and the MC is sent on a literal witch hunt to go and find the other 6 witches. It's a rather silly premise with cliche characters, but I liked it as it ended up leading to a bunch of pretty funny situations. It also has some pretty decent romantic progression, which can't be said for most harem anime *cough* Nisekoi *cough*. However, the pacing for the anime is pretty fast and ends up feeling a bit rushed at times, so it lost its appeal for me after a while due to a lack of fleshing out a number of "witch hunts". There is a final arc after he figures out all of the witches' identities which annoyed me quite a bit at times, but it ends pretty satisfactorily. Better than the average harem, but don't expect something too out of left field. 6/10

Challenge 54 - Watch an anime tagged as Mystery, Psychological and/or Thriller - Zankyou no Terror

I'll be blunt here, I don't like Zankyou no Terror. I have a sense of what the message of the anime is about, but I think it was executed in a rather poor and underwhelming way so by the time it was conveyed, I didn't really care anymore at that point. The anime doesn't explain itself in a clear manner until the final couple of episodes, so for most of the time, it's about a detective trying to solve these riddles the main characters, who are terrorists, so that the police can disarm the bombs. There is a ulterior motive as to why the main characters do this, which links back to their tragic past, and supposedly, they want to have the police put it all together for everyone to see. The characters themselves are lackluster and uninteresting because they aren't fleshed out very well and have personalities that don't stand out in any way. One of the characters, Five, is unlikable and ends up really being irrelevant in the grand scheme of things, trying to mess with the main characters due to her previous history with them and ending up taking a good chunk of plot away. The only positive things I can say are that it had really nice production values and a good OST, but in general, it's not a series I enjoyed. 4/10
 

RODAN

Banned deucer.
since the old thread is gone now. i think this would be a good time to post 3x3s again. I recently updated mine so this is as good a time as ever



Shows from top left: Tatami Galaxy, Digimon Tamers, Space Dandy, Sennen Joyuu, Gunbuster, Kekkai Sensen, End of Evangelion, Kemonozume, One Outs
 
So I started maid dragon and I have to say, I didn't expect the ost to be as stellar as it is. I am really digging it.
 

Mr.E

unban me from Discord
is a Two-Time Past SPL Champion
I have increased my anime finished count by 50% by watching Toradora the past two days.

Thoroughly enjoyed, was engrossed by the realism of the characters' relationships. That's not to say the show was realistic about everything but I mostly chalk that up to taking advantage of the medium (Taiga's excessive violence, teacher being so outward about her personal misery, etc.), 'cept maybe the weird pseudo-bro/sis-dad/kid relationship Ryuji and Taiga start out as which kinda stretches my willing suspension of disbelief. But Tiaga's softer side always leaked through a little bit even in the beginning. She's the bully that picks on people they like and simply doesn't understand her own feelings well enough to properly express them, a familiar concept well executed, with a bit of an inferiority complex thrown in. (And I'm a guy, so being short is all the worse here.) Every anime tsundere should be like her, not a hot-and-cold running faucet that can be dialed up and down to the extreme at a moment's notice.

Sometimes I just wish the characters would get over themselves and be outward and honest with one another, but real life rarely works like that either. It's difficult to muster up the courage to confess one's feelings for another, besides which they're still high schoolers (older ones at least, thank goodness) and going through the growing pains of learning about life, love, and imminent adulthood. Teenage drama is expected. Relationships weren't rushed nor drawn out forever, and I never got the sense that anything was unnatural about the characters' actions or that an event occured merely to push a certain plot or relationship. Everyone was friends to a varying degree, they all had such-and-such different feelings about one another. Everyone acted on different sets of incomplete information, trying to do right by one another, and all the while they're slowly figuring out how to handle their own emotions and circumstances. tl;dr It was organic and believable. By the end of the series I had probably rooted for literally every possible couple pairing at some point, besides maybe Minori/Yusaku.

Although a Dragon would absolutely kick a Tiger's ass and they are no way equal. Cuz, you know, Tigers are real and thus bound to real-world capabilities.

Now to go figuratively ball up in a tight space and cry about how I'm going to die alone. Next up based on two separate friend's recommendations, Gosick, which better just not give me any feels whatsoever. :mad:


THIGHHIGHS HNNNNNNNNNNNNG
 
Last edited:

Mr.E

unban me from Discord
is a Two-Time Past SPL Champion
It was rushed but it wasn't bad. Why she left (ermahgerd SPOILERS) was obvious. In fact, it was explained quite plainly in the show. You know she isn't gone forever and upon her return, her little outburst is quite in character. You have to be some sort of willful idiot BAKA not to understand. I can also see how much time is left in the video and didn't stop watching when the ED started rolling.


The only seeming ambiguity I'm left with is was she gone for just a couple months at the end of the then-current school year, or the entire next year? The potential time jump is a little jarring, but it doesn't bother me because it simply doesn't matter how long she was gone. It wasn't clear because it didn't need to be clear! (Or maybe it was explained and I missed it. Damn you untranslated letter, but I assume it was vague anyway by Ryuji's reaction toward it.) It was long enough to get the point she had something important to do that had to be done on her own, and she'll be back when the issue is resolved. I think it was the entire next year, cuz it wouldn't make much sense for Mr. Ero-Kawaii to be the next student council prez if he was graduating at the same time as Definitely Not Ami and we time jumped to the main cast's graduation, but yeah it honestly doesn't even matter.

And not an indictment against the ending per se but I reeeeeeeally want a taste of what happened after. Also the first OD and ED were better than the second ones. The latter are fine in their own right, and I suppose it signals the gradual shift of the show from more comedy to something a little more serious, but it feels like they were just trying to overplay up the drama. Plus, you know... *ahem* I could loop that thing for hours.
 
Last edited:
So I got to watch sao ordinal scale in theaters. It is definately just more sao. Sao drives me nuts, every time sao manages to sell me on its premise. The hooks are always strong, but then it just fails to deliver every time. This movie presented some really interesting ideas but failed on every account to really develop those ideas. The climax was a mess, I felt like they were just throwing random stuff at me and I just ended up getting confused by it all. Also this movie made me realize how uninteresting the fight scenes are. The sword fight choreography feels oddly static which bugs me even more knowing that it is a movie budget. I will have to say that I did enjoy going to the movie though. Watching an anime in theatres is not something that I have been able to experience before so it was exciting in that aspect.
 
The only real interesting setting SAO had was the first, everything since then has been "whoops, this was more popular than expected, better try and come up with a new arc somehow". Not that the first arc was even particularly good, like 2/3 of the episodes could probably be considered filler.
 

Users Who Are Viewing This Thread (Users: 1, Guests: 0)

Top