Media Anime and Manga Thread MK3 - Beware Spoilers

RODAN

Banned deucer.
i just finished REC. some old shaft romance. its super adorable, stressful at points but ultimately one of the most heartwarming shows ive seen probably. its a short (9 eps/13 mins per ep) so its pretty easy to bang out. highly highly recommend it. it's also incredibly grounded and feels super real. the main dude especially feels like a real person.

https://myanimelist.net/anime/710/Rec
 
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Tera Melos

Banned deucer.
Is anyone else for the upcoming Animated Godzilla movie? It takes place like, 200,000 years into the future and Godzilla and the planet have evolved.

Also, the new Netflix anime looks super interesting, I forget what it's called though.
 

Martin

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Caught up with any Made in Abyss that I'd missed (eps 5-10); it wasn't anything special before this week's episode, although it's by no means bad and has kept me interested throughout, but then this week... my god, that was hard to watch; it was really necessary, and it led to this week's episode being probably my favorite one of the show so far. Something which has continued consistently is the show's very strong soundtrack; I can't wait for the OST to be released just so I can hear that bit of vocal track that is inserted every now and again (it's grown on me hugely as I've heard it more), and throughout it is a big part of what helps maintain that sense of wonder that is attached to the show as I watch it. That isn't to say that it doesn't keep me engaged and with a sense of wonder outside of this, however. Made in Abyss' world is totally stellar; everything from the written language of the world (the curves of it loosely remind me of Gallifreyan, although it is ultimately very distinct from it) to the relics (and the secrets of said relics) to the creatures and landscapes which make up the various layers of the abyss is all fascinating, and the curse of the abyss is such a good world mechanic even if it was used as an excuse to give us some dumb "power of friendship" bull in episode 9. Outside of said "power of friendship" shit this is definitely the type of show that I like the most, and while I think they could have done so much more with the concepts which the first two or three episodes created it is still a solid show in my opinion and I am enjoying it as such.
 

Martin

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The Tale of Princess Kaguya
Enjoyment Rating: ★★★★★ (3x3)

The Tale of Princess Kaguya is excellent on a lot of fronts. Based on the tenth-century Japanese folk tale "The Bamboo Cutter's Tale" (the film opting to use its alternative title), this is better than any Ghibli movie I have seen to date by a very noticeable margin (granted that is only four if you include this (in order of watching: Spirited Away (4/5), Grave of the Fireflies (5/5), Howl's Moving Castle (3.5/5), Kaguya (5/5)), and Takahata really showed off how superb a director he is in this; in fact, I'd go as far as saying it's my favorite movie of all time, knocking The Grand Budapest Hotel off of its top spot.

I'd like to start out by saying that its art style is superb and the movie is gorgeously animated; movement is fluid at all speeds and every frame looks good between the good proportioning from the animators and the pure beauty of the art style itself, which just screams "Japan" and feels old-fashioned without feeling old. But its animation is only a small portion of what makes this film really stand out to me. The tale it tells is beautifully sad throughout, being a story which criticises noble culture of the time, and the devices that it uses throughout (the motif of her robes, representing sorrow and restriction when she puts them on and representing joy and freedom when she removes them–tying these concepts nicely to nobility and common life, respectively; using dreams to function as alternative timelines which show what could have been; the eerily beautiful warabe uta "Maware Maware") really increase the effectiveness with which it is able to tell its story. The film had reduced me to tears by the end (without telegraphing that I was meant to); the film is subtly sad with regards to the way it presents the society that Princess Kaguya lives in, and the way that the film ends (funnily enough, after another use of a robe for the same effect) just really pushes this sense of the injustice of it all. It puts across its themes excellently, and it presents Princess Kaguya's character in an equally superb fashion.

Fucking hell, this post reminded my of just how bad I am at reviewing things lol. I'm not very good at explaining why I like things, so all I can really say is go away and watch this if you haven't already.
 
Yeah, I'm liking Made in Abyss a lot. It reminds me a lot of Hunter x Hunter, between the child searching for parent plot point and the way that it stars children and has a strong sense of discovery and adventure while also getting really dark at times. That and it's also basically the Etrian Odyssey anime that I didn't realize I wanted. The downside is that it's only planned for a 1 cour run right now while it still feels like there's a lot of stuff left to explore, it's good enough that I might go into the manga if the anime never gets a continuation though.


Conversely, I couldn't stand Kaguya. Nothing to complain about visually, but the way the plot didn't seem to have any real direction (except being vaguely critical of the nobility of the time). None of the characters seem to have any real significant goals and so they just kind of plod onwards through life and there's very little in the way of lighter or enjoyable parts to break things up, and when the ending does come it's completely out of left field. While I don't envy her situation, Kaguya doesn't come off as particularly likable or sympathetic either. I guess most of this is more complaints with the original fable itself.

also afaik Princess Mononoke is generally considered the best Ghibli movie (and is my personal favorite as well) so definitely watch that

Something which has continued consistently is the show's very strong soundtrack; I can't wait for the OST to be released just so I can hear that bit of vocal track that is inserted every now and again (it's grown on me hugely as I've heard it more), and throughout it is a big part of what helps maintain that sense of wonder that is attached to the show as I watch it.
I know exactly what song you're referring to lol. According to a random post I saw the soundtrack comes out on Sept 27 so hopefully it'll be out soon.
 
Yeah, I'm liking Made in Abyss a lot. It reminds me a lot of Hunter x Hunter, between the child searching for parent plot point and the way that it stars children and has a strong sense of discovery and adventure while also getting really dark at times. That and it's also basically the Etrian Odyssey anime that I didn't realize I wanted. The downside is that it's only planned for a 1 cour run right now while it still feels like there's a lot of stuff left to explore, it's good enough that I might go into the manga if the anime never gets a continuation though.
there's not a lot of jump into because the web novel is still really early on, there's a reason it's only one cour (aside from market practices)
 
time for another monthly roundup post featuring a pretty lackluster season

Fate/Apocrypha
Overall rating: lol

I think RODAN described this one as "bad Fate fanfiction" and that's pretty much what it feels like, this is objectively a pretty bad show but it's dumb fun so I'm still watching it. it's only halfway done and I've heard it only gets dumber


Gabriel Dropout
Overall rating: 7.5/10

also pretty dumb fun but Doga Kobo produced my favorite show (nozaki-kun) so I have a soft spot for anything they produce that doesn't have umaru in it. dropout has the same jiggly art style that I like, the humor is hit or miss but was generally enjoyable, if not a bit repetitive by the end of the show. watched this one a season late because of the twitch anime stream, was fun.


JoJo's Bizarre Adventure (parts 1-3)
Overall rating: 7/10

part 1 was pretty bad, very slow and not many redeeming qualities apart from the meme cred
part 2 is my favorite part by far, Joseph is a great protagonist and is a ton of fun to watch and the Pillar Men are excellent villains. I was told to watch JoJo for over-the-top action and excessive masculinity, and Part 2 delivered on that in spades
part 3 was a big disappointment because it was way too "villain of the week" for me and virtually none of them were memorable; the strong points of part 3 were the D'Arby fights and everything from Vanilla Ice until the end, but the weak points were everything in between (looking at you, Oingo / Boingo). I'm a sucker for shounen training arcs and there was absolutely none of that in this part, so it feels like none of the characters grew in any meaningful way by the end of the series apart from maybe Polnareff. there were a few fun moments in part 3 but not nearly enough to save it, imo. I've been told that part 4 is much better, though, so I'm looking forward to that


Tsurezure Children
Overall rating: 8/10

genuinely one of the best feel-good fluffy SoL romcoms out there, would highly recommend to anyone who deals with their depression about being single by watching fictional anime couples fall in love
some of the schticks between couples feel like they might get old after too much repetition, but the show was only 12 episodes and each episode was only 12 minutes so it was just long enough for me not to get burnt out on any particular couple.


didn't watch too much this season but would easily recommend tsurezure children over anything else on this list. I've also heard a bunch of comparisons between it and tsuki ga kirei, which has gotten pretty universal praise, so I'll be watching that too next season probably.
 

Mr.E

unban me from Discord
is a Two-Time Past SPL Champion
so I should watch tsundere kids, tsun ga dere kids, and gamers got it; the latter not because of the above post but because of /r/VNfags and a particular extremely-work-unsafe tweet

also, like, I guess New Game!! is on the menu sooner than later thanks to twitch showing S1 and all
 
This is a bit late but Owarimonogatari was fantastic. Really nice to see a series that's been running on and off since 2009 get a proper conclusion too, when so many just end up being fancy advertisements for manga/LNs.

Martin
(whoops, didn't get the time in the link, but the song in question is the one at 45:57)
 
Any shows to look forward to this fall other than Kekkai Sensen 2?
Mahoutsukai no Yome looks pretty interesting, apparently the source for it is well received and popular so that's the one I'm mostly keeping an eye out for. For sequels, there's 3-gatsu no lion S2 and Shokugeki no Souma S3. New Kino's Journey should be sweet too. Worth mentioning Black Clover and Dies Irae, even though I don't think either one really appeals to me based on premise, I'd imagine they'll be popular as well. Also another season of Gintama airs this fall and will take another spot in MAL's top 10, so that's worth mentioning.
 

Martin

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A show that I'm gonna be watching that starts airing in October is Inazuma Eleven Ares. Because it is set in an alternative timeline where the events of the Aelia Gakuen arc never happened, I've decided to rewatch seasons 1-3 (adaptation of the original trilogy of video games) before I watch the 'Inazuma Eleven: Outer Code' ONA (which I aparrently need to watch these before I move onto Ares). Anyway, I finished the Aelia Gakuen arc the other day and the FFI arc is pretty long (episodes 68-127), so I'm gonna talk about my thoughts on the first two arcs before I forget.

Before I start, I'd like to say that the show's OST is extremely good, and I don't mean "good OPs/EDs and average everything else" good: I like almost every track across all three OST discs, OPs/EDs included. The OPs of this show are among some of my favorites from a musical standpoint (even if their accompanying animations basically spoil the majority of the players who actually end up being on the teams throughout the series as well as the affiliation of Aphrodi, Zeus' captain, in the first arc), with special mentions from the original trilogy's anime going to 'Maji de Kansha', 'Katte Nakou ze', and 'GOOD Kita' ('T-Pistonz+KMC' is a great band, and they were formed to do the OPs of this show). Anyway, with that out of the way, onto my thoughts on the arcs.

Key:
★ = full star
☆ = half-star

Arc 1: Football Frontier (episodes 1-26)
Enjoyment rating: ★★★
The first arc is really weird; it's entertaining as all hell, but it can be tiring to watch at times as well just due to a number of factors. I'll talk about what it does well first though. The first scene is one of the strongest first scenes of any anime I have watched; this isn't because it's got any amazing direction or anything like that, but rather because it sets the tone for the entire first arc of the show by normalising the show's absurdity, presenting us with both the main antagonist of the show (Kageyama Reiji), and leaving a lasting impact on me with its dark tone (in a literal sense) being backed up by the impactful OST track of 'Mortal Battle with Teikoku Gakuen'. The tone of the show is managed well when it needs to be, and it presents a number of interesting plot points, some of which set up plot points in arcs 2 and 3. However, I do take issue with both the way that the team go about solving issues and the presentation of the managers in this first arc. Basically all the problem solving that happens in these first 26 episodes boils down to "power of friendship" and "never give up" bullshit, which honestly gets insanely tiring after you've seen it three or four times, and it just fails to address much in the way of themes which would be actually consequential to the target audience of the show, being kids. As for the managers, it's honestly so rare for them to be presented in a light which doesn't seem to reflect on gender roles in some way or another (outside of the two-three episodes which are spent focusing on Ichinose, Domon, and Aki), and honestly seeing lines like "I wish I was a boy so that I could talk about football with everyone" and stuff like that just strikes a nerve a bit, especially when you consider that it is a kids show and that, concequentially, it shouldn't be putting forward concepts like that anyway. Maybe it's just something which reflects on Japanese culture in 2008–I don't know honestly–but as a left-leaning western viewer it does piss me off a little.

Arc 2: War vs Aelia Gakuen (episodes 27-67)
Enjoyment rating: ★★★★☆
The second arc takes the direction of writing in a totally different direction (in a good way); it pumps up the absurdity threefold, it starts beefing up its range of characters in preparation for the third arc, and it starts addressing not-useless themes. The entire concept of waging a war with aliens using football is totally ludicrous and stupid, but in this case that isn't a bad thing; it makes for a thoroughly enjoyable watching experience which feels oddly not-out-of-place in the universe that the first season set up, where you have people who will destroy school buildings after defeating said schools teams and who are willing to kill an entire team of middle-schoolers by having metal beams fall on their head for the sake of dominating a sport in order to destroy it (in case you can't tell, these are both the same person). Season 2 introduces Fubuki Shirou, who honestly has a really interesting character concepts (watch the show or look him up if you haven't seen the show; I'm not delve into it here), and increases its range of themes to include things that actual, real-life children will be able to actually relate to, such as the importance of familial/psuedo-familial figures in the development of trust (see: Otonashi being the first person to get through to Kogure). The execution just overall feels a lot better, and the strategies of some of the newer teams (recognition/manipulation of rhythm, 'key player'-centric football etc.) are generally more interesting/realistic/grounded in actual logic than the ones you see in the first season, which basically boil down to themes (jungle football, perfect-data football, ninja football and god football being notable examples). The fact that the show begins to touch certain aspects of actual footballing theory (even if it is only at a very basic level) which simply weren't present in the first arc (even managing to bring the concept of a libero to the table, which is something that a lot of football fanatics don't even realise exists if they don't read up on theory) is a massive improvement when you consider that the show is about football. That said, there were still a few episodes which I did feel were kinda poorly executed (with the match vs The Genesis being particularly irritating because it was another match which basically boiled down to overwhelming the opponent with the power of friendship, which negatively defied all the expectations that the entire arc's worth of buildup created) and some of the filler is pretty crap too, meanwhile it waits until after the match vs The Genesis before we find out anything about the key antagonist's motivations and past, which just meant that he was having his entire character development forced into the space of half an episode. Overall though, I feel that the arc's positives definitely outweigh its negatives.

Martin
(whoops, didn't get the time in the link, but the song in question is the one at 45:57)
Well, that's my music listening for today covered. Thanks for the tag bro :)
 
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Martin

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Ajin: Demi-Human (Season 2)
Enjoyment rating: ★★★★★

Ajin was already an extremely good show after its first season, and the second season is actively better than its first season imo. The CGI has improved noticeably to the point where the characters and their movements actually look not-awful and where the IBMs (Ajin's ghosts) are genuinely really awesome to look at. It's well animated and the action choreography (both human and IBM) is extremely good. As for the actual writing, it apparrently diverges from the source material pretty heavily due to the fact that a large amount of the source material was behind the stage of production which the anime was in, but as someone who hasn't read what of the source material has been published I have to say that it was a thoroughly enjoyable watch, especially later on in the series when it was reaching "endgame" stage (for lack of a better word) where I found myself on the edge of my seat at the end of every episode.
Satou actually succeeding in his execution game was definitely a good writing decision because it allowed for his subordinates' doubts which had been building throughout the series to have some kind of conclusion rather than just being... kinda there, and also it allowed for a non-artificial extension to the plot; Satou is always a step ahead of Nagai and co, and right when you reach what you think is a conclusion he displays a different level of depth to his ability to plan ahead, leaving your heart pumping and adrenaline levels high.
The only time I ever really picked up on the music in the background was when the Ajin Main Theme was playing in the background, but that track is extremely sick so it gets a thumbs up from me. I wish that the ED was as good as the season 1 ED, and the second S2 OP blows chunks musically, but the first S2 OP really grew on me as I heard it more and takes a totally different direction than the season 1 OP even if the animation is remarkably similar.
 

RODAN

Banned deucer.
Garo -Vanishing Line- is the most excited i've ever been for a series after a single episode. the sakuga is INSANITY. the ost is amazing. the aesthetic is so good. everything rules. watch this shit!!!
 
late (thanks hurricane) post season wrap-up

Gamers!: 8/10. Really fun romantic comedy about misunderstandings and not actually about video games.

Classroom of the Elite: 5/10. This show was super pretentious and not nearly as smart as it thought it was, best summarized by the episode where it opened with a philosophical quote (every episode actually) and then cut to boobs. Not a terrible experience, though the last arc was pretty weak.

Made in Abyss: 7.5/10, already posted about this above.

New Game s2: 7.5/10. First season was solid but this was a further improvement, it did a good job of keeping things light and fun while managing to work in a surprising amount of development, Nene in particular is a character I was lukewarm on in s1 but who really came into her own this season.

Restaurant to Another World: 6.5/10. Pretty chill show. Not on par with something like Soma when it comes to food porn, but working together the fantasy setting and contemporary cooking works well enough.

Smartphone: I only watched 1.5 episodes but this was kind of hilarious. It was basically the crystallized essence of isekai and wish fulfillment fantasy in general, where a generic guy is sent to another world, given absurd magical powers, a phone with internet access to the real world, and god's phone number just in case he happens to need it, so there's zero tension or any real conflict. And of course he has a harem and polygamy is legal in the fantasy world so there's not even any conflict there. It's almost art in a way.

Owarimonogatari: 9.5/10. A fantastic conclusion to a long-running saga that wraps up basically everything neatly. Hopefully Juuni Taisen lives up to the Nisio reputation.

Hero Academia s2: 7/10. Solid shonen still kinda held back by slow pacing. Nothing stood out to me quite as much as the fight near the end of s1 where You Say Run plays and I guess it lacked a "big" arc in terms of stakes, but it left me hype enough for s3.

Re:Creators: 5/10. Lots of wasted potential, Sawano's grandoise soundtrack adds a lot to the fight scenes and production on the whole is decent enough, but the pacing is too slow and writing is too dry and even when stuff is happening it doesn't really amaze.

Sakura Quest: 6/10. This was supposed to be a show about working life ala Shirobako (at least according to the marketing), but the goal of re-establishing the tourism industry in a small country town was difficult to really get invested in.
 

RODAN

Banned deucer.
shows i didnt drop after one episode listed from favourite to least favourite

garo: vanishing line - read last post by me

kekkai sensen s2 - its the same shit as s1, even with the massive staff changes its still good. blessed.

blend s - dont judge me, this show is cute and also appeals to the degenerate in me

shoujo shuumatsu ryokou - cute, interesting, high potential to become boring later on

just because - decent start to a romance series. feels like euphonium meets battery (remember battery??)

WUG S2 - Based WUG

Evil or Live - This show is a blatant attack on me and my ideals, but the show is surprisingly pretty good. especially for china. worst anime title of all time though

juuni taisen - edgelord as fuck. the designs are really awful, except the rooster. fun though.

ousama game - this show is so insanely bad that it loops around to being funny as fuck

urahara - very ambitious, but also kind of hard to sit through. feels like all style no substance. rolling girls 2

umaru chan s2 - BETRAYED
 

Lemonade

WOOPAGGING
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urahara - very ambitious, but also kind of hard to sit through. feels like all style no substance. rolling girls 2
man I literally thought the exact same thing lol

juuni taisen, it looks like the whole city is the fighting arena? I'm hoping for some tactical fights instead of just gory brawling.

black clover, read a bit of the manga, pretty standard shounen. The mc's voice does not fit his look sadly. The beginning had some really jarring CG, but the rest of the ep seemed fine. Edit: OK episode 2 is insanely bad. Flashback that lasted 20 minutes longer than it should have, and the essence was already captured in ep 1. Oml

expecting super and boruto to be the only shows i watch weekly, again
 
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breh

強いだね
I didn't watch much of netoge no yome but netojuu no susume seems to be on a similar tone just genderswapped and the mc is a washed out OL instead of a nerd. either way, it's half-depressing but half-cute.

also I have the feeling that nobody on the show has ever played an mmo for more than a minute. the girl mentions the game's "beautiful scenery" and they get drunk in a video game.

I find that whenever the mmo story starts I just want it to end and get to the irl story
 
i like that Juuni Taisen doesn't restrict its stupid-looking fanservice outfits by gender. Still kinda hard to get a read on it but I'm a fan of Nisio so I feel relatively confident I'll enjoy it.

Netojuu no Susume was pretty neat, like that other show that involved playing MMOs if it was about real people instead of a high school harem

Ancient Magus Bride seems good maybe? Still not sure if it's creepy. I mean, it is about a giant guy with a goat skull for a face who's probably hundreds of years old buying a slave girl to marry, but the first episode felt more about helping someone who's been abused and lost the will to live to stand on their own two feet again. Then he refers to Chise as his puppy and I have to start questioning it again.

Shoujou Shuumatsu Ryoukou was pretty nice and chill, I find myself wanting to mentally associate it with Made in Abyss for no real reason other than both feature two big-headed protagonists (and aren't on Crunchy).



feels like there were an unusual amount of bad shows, Shobitch (really unfunny), Black Clover (would be average at best if the MC didn't desperately need a ball gag), Dies Irae (let's start with a confusing chuu2 prologue featuring too many characters, most of whom won't show up for ages), Ousama game (Mayoiga 2.0 but less unintentionally funny and worse looking), and Evil or Live (awful mc, bizarre tone and weird propaganda), and Imouto (ok i kinda liked this one)

Kujira/Children of the Whale was one I liked the concept of but the writing felt kinda off, I'm not confident it'll hold up.
 

Lemonade

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This Black Clover adaptation is pretty terrible, like they spend 3 episodes repeating everything 5 times??? The mc keeps asking this nun to marry him and keeps saying he will become the Hokage. Literally a quarter of every episode dedicated to these things. To put the pace in perspective, they aren't even at the second chapter of the Manga yet. And the first chapter is only like 50 pages!!! Episode 3 was the mc and his brother training by cutting wood and then walking to the capital...wtf. Literally only 1 interesting thing has happened in 3 episodes of this show what are they doing????
 

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