Media Anime and Manga Thread MK3 - Beware Spoilers

[Martin]

I’m probably gonna export later and maintain both at once.

They’ve seriously improved the look of their list since I migrated back to MAL from it, but its database sucking by comparison+a number of issues with its functionality for people who want to use an integer /10 scale as opposed to its other three or four scoring options (namely lack of exportability for things like the OP guessing game+when you want to move somewhere else, but also the need to go to anime’s pages to add them to the list combined with the user profiles being worse and the database pages straight up sucking in terms of both the amount of info on them and the UI) mean that I don’t wanna have it as an exclusive thing that I use. Also IIRC it was really buggy when it came to list ordering (didn’t list shows within a score bracket alphabetically), but maybe that’s just because I changed from an /10 decimal scale to an /5 integer scale and it just never corrected itself.

 

[Lemonade]

What's the difference between 100 and 10 with decimal, lol (all their systems are bad anyway)

 

[Martin]

There is none except that /10 decimal looks nicer.

Anyway the /5 system was good when I still had sub-120 shows but beyond that I just didn’t think it offered enough differentition; /100 (or /10 decimal) are mostly kinda arbitrary+i found that out the hard way.

 

[Da Letter El]

https://anilist.co/user/stoptheviolins/

this is me

my mal has the same name

i'm still undecided where I'm gonna stay but I'm updating both in the meantime ho hum

 

[Mr.E]

more like

 

[Fishin]

http://jojo-animation.com/

the JJBA train continues on. Starts this Fall too

 

[Pilo]

https://anilist.co/user/piloooo/

 

[vonFiedler]

Back when I first realized anime was a thing and became convinced that it was the greatest art ever one of my main arguments was that anime had actual continuity, that it was interested in telling stories with a clear beginning, middle, and end. Now lots of American shows do that, while many top rated shows are monster of the week fare.

That's to say that Mushishi does what it does really well (low-key body horror), I could even recommend it to a friend who likes that sort of stuff. But it's not what I want out of anime.

Haikyuu is probably fine? It takes a long ass time to become even a little exciting. I have to watch a LOT of sports anime for this list, and if I like none of them (besides boxing, which is cheating), that's probably on me. But at the same time, in 25 episodes, Haikyuu has a whole tournament arc that is waaaaay worse than Hajime no Ippo's.

Made in Abyss is absolutely fantastic. Another one I recommended to all my friends. Putting children in dangerous situations isn't even subversive anymore, but spending the first three episodes hammering into your head the absolute certainty of the main character's death does wonders for the feelings the show gives off. It does give me mixed feelings though about the fact that the show isn't over yet. I don't want to wait however many years with that hanging over my head, but I sure do want to see more.

Your Lie in April is Sangatsu no Lion, but with a manic pixie dream girl. "Oh no, I can't hear music notes because my mom beat me when I got A minuses". How is anyone in the world supposed to relate to this garbage? It was pretty fucking stupid before the halfway point, but when they tried to excuse the abusive mom's actions, it becomes absolute trash. I'm not done yet, so I'm pretty much just waiting for the girl to get stuffed into a fridge to really tie this travesty together.

Whenever I watch a new episode of Serial Experiments Lain, I struggle to remember what, if anything, happened in the last one.

Hunter x Hunter's second real arc (the fight tower one) is even worse than the first, by a lot. No, nen is not interesting at all, nor is an arc about beating up cripples. Also Leorio is missing. I don't see how the show gets better if he's really this unimportant. The story really isn't maximizing its potential here. Like, imagine Leorio being, "I sure hate those guys, I want to beat them up so bad." And then Krappyka says, "Leorio, don't be pathetic, they're cripples." Slide whistle.

I've only seen three episodes of Nisemonogatari and it's easy to see why it's a black sheep. What a waste of time so far. Stylistically it even falls a little below Bakemonogatari. Also, it only took one scene to develop Senjougahara into a really abusive character. The show avoids typical harem shit by locking down the main character really quickly, but with a girl who realistically is only interested in him because she can easily exert power over him. I mean, this is actually a really realistic depiction of an abusive relationship (even down to a few sweet moments coloring the judgement of the abused), and in a good show that would be addressed, characters would grow, and they probably wouldn't stay together. But I don't think the show knows all this, because it covers everything under a rug by incorrectly invoking the tsundere trope every time she's on screen. And that's especially strange coming from the kind of 2006 story that was stealing a lot of stuff from Nasu at the time, when co-dependent relationships are played right twice in FSN.

So far (good to bad):
3-Gatsu no Lion
Made in Abyss
LotGH
Clannad
Monogatari
Mushishi
Haikyuu
Hunter X Hunter
Gintama
Your Lie in April

Coming up:
My Hero Academia
Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju
Welcome to the NHK

 

[RODAN]

your lie in april uses the fucking underwater piano motif in like eevery episode and it pisses me off thinkibg about it

 

[Martin]

Hunter x Hunter's second real arc (the fight tower one) is even worse than the first, by a lot. No, nen is not interesting at all, nor is an arc about beating up cripples. Also Leorio is missing. I don't see how the show gets better if he's really this unimportant. The story really isn't maximizing its potential here. Like, imagine Leorio being, "I sure hate those guys, I want to beat them up so bad." And then Krappyka says, "Leorio, don't be pathetic, they're cripples." Slide whistle.

Yeah the heaven’s arena arc is uh… definitely real boring. I think nen is a great mechanic but at the same time the way the show decides to introduce it is utterly awful. Anyway the series does definitely get better from here on out and Leorio’s back for the next arc; dude’s a legend. You’ve still got the Yorknew Auction arc, Chimera Ant arc and Election Arc to look forward to, and they’re all a huge amount better than the first two arcs so yeah; if you don’t like Yorknew tho ur probably not gonna particularly like the rest of the show because that’s really the first time the show gets genuinely great imo and is arguably the peak of the series outside of Chimera Ant.

Also you’re in for a treat with NHK and Rakugo Shinjuu; both shows r utterly superb in their own ways. Also don’t skip the OP on either ‘cuz both fucking own.

 

[Soul Fly]

I for one enjoyed heaven's arena quite a lot. The buildup to the hisoka fight and the hisoka fight itself was well done and imo. it's a good thing they got the majority of the nen exposition out of the way in one go. The cripples are a smart way of showing how dramatically nen mastery improves your capabilities. I hate the anime habit of every fight being seemingly suspended in time as bystanders explain the abilities and their nuances. Even though not the show's finest showing. the amount of narrative burden it takes off the greed island and subsequent arcs is quite underappreciated.

 

[breh]

Speaking of chimera ant arc I'm still in the middle of it and it's waaaaaay too fucking drawn out and full of random annoyances

They dangle fights in front of your nose and then suddenly Oops! No fights!

I got to the explosive point in the arc and I'm kind of disappointed lol

I thought the cripples were funny in hindsight because I didn't realize they were all disabled until some episodes after and it's funnier that they introduce another inept (albeit significantly more badass) amputee later

 

[Epikhairz]

for me the explosive point in the chimera ant arc was the very end, i had similar grievances with the arc while watching but after finishing it and letting it sink in for a few days it all just clicked and looking back at it shit is no less than brilliant. i advise you to keep pushing through and at the end just really think about what just went down and also what the show is trying to convey especially with its characters.

although i do understand that not everyone will end up liking chimera ant arc even with all that being said, shit is HxH's most polarizing arc by far for a reason.

 

[tcr]

hunter x hunter from beginning to the tower arc is all worldbuilding

character building starts happening rapidly after tower arc and they learn nen i suggest you stick with it

 

[Martin]

I liked Chimera Ant a lot because despite one hour of action being spread out across 3 cours because the way that you see how every single decision works on a micro scale is honestly utterly stunning. I also love the dynamic between Meruem+Komugi; it genuinely made that arc for me tbh. That said I do agree that there the result is a really painful early stage of the arc, but past about episode 3 of the Chimera Ant War it’s imo not that jarring because it figures out how to pace the very in-depth look at the battles properly, with the result being very hype.

 

[Mr.E]

Alright I hate to break up your hunter2 ******* party folks but I finally got my ass back to finishing Gosick and I thought it'd be neat to do an episode-by-episode stream of consciousness sort of writeup for it as I went along. I hit the first five episodes a couple months ago when I last posted and mentioned it, then lollygagged for like three weeks up to Ep10, then went almost all of June before finally getting back to finishing the whole rest of the thing (of 24) the past few days.

Not that I hate mystery stuff necessarily but Gosick isn't something I'd have chosen to watch for myself. I'm long overdue off the recommendation of two of my best Internet buds who shall remain nameless. More or less spoils the whole thing, of course, if you haven't seen it, albeit not in any great detail.

Gosick

Episode 1: They speak FRENCH HON HON BAGUETTE OMELETTE DU FROMAGE! This teacher does not act at all like an adult or an authority figure. What is Grevil's relationship to Victorique? Why does she not leave the conservatory? Actually, my entire perception of this show has been warped by the idea that she's actually the same age as everyone else and not, like, an eight-year-old... Although she acts like one.

God damn the ED is a banger.

I actually watched this episode twice, both subbed and dubbed to determine how I would watch the rest of the series. Dub won, sorry filthy degenerates.

Episode 2: Alright, the first interesting, and spoopy, thing. OHOHOHOHOHOHO! Hold up, how is Victorique a wine expert? Whose idea was it to put guns all over a boat, do they know what happens when you poke holes in a boat? I'm already getting aggravated with Kazuya's PROTECC and THIRD SON OF AN IMPERIAL SOLDIER nonsense. This Julie chick is bae.

Episode 3: Oh hey, they revised the subtitltes in the OP. Julie is... best girl? Oh shit, Kazuya did something useful! OH SHIT JULIE REALLY IS BEST GIRL. Oh, well... she's still best girl okay? Tragic though. Aha, we alternate history boiz. Grevil is onii-chan. Fucking sidemouth.

Episode 4: Avril's a real card, and suspiciously forward with our boy Kazuya. It feels like they're trying so hard to paint her as some sort of evil mastermind that it's an obvious misdirection, but I suppose I'll see when the story gets there. DEUS VULT! Hmm, do they really need to call the popo to investigate a skeleton?

Episode 5: "If I take off my glasses, I can't see the danger therefore it doesn't exist." "Mmm, dog poop." And so the mystery of Avril was solved, as she was simultaneously an evil mastermind (because she was) and not an evil mastermind (because she was a fraud) after all. Wait, how long was the real Avril tied up anyway? If not dead, she should've at least been extremely unconscious.

Episode 6: And now for something completely different. What is this village, who are these new characters? I'm really confused, but I guess I'll roll with it.

Episode 7: I'm still trying to make heads or tails of all the new shit but I'm slowly getting there, I think. Halfway through, they flashback to something I haven't seen. Oh! Fuck. I just realized why I'm so confused. I accidentally skipped Episode 6. Good job me!

Actually Episode 6 this time: Okay, now shit actually makes sense. And it's nice to see this show is finally going somewhere. Literally, because they left the school KEK... I'm sorry. Alright, well I've already watched the entirety of Ep7, so I guess I'll restart Ep8.

Episode 8: NIGGA STANDING ON A BURNING BRIDGE LISTENING TO THE PSYCHO BABBLE ON IS NOT A GOOD IDEA. Aww man, I like where they were going with Victorique's words to Kazuya, really sweet, but then they kinda ruined the moment by making Ambrose explicitly explain everything instead of forcing small-brained viewers to actually think a little.

Episode 9: Yo, where did the giant hedge maze and dollhouse come from? Kazuya you fool, you can't just walk up to criminals and accuse them of being criminals with the popo in tow behind you. You think they're just gonna be like "yeah you got me man, go ahead and arrest me?" Probably shouldn't be walking around in plain sight shortly thereafter either, you're asking for it bro. And you got it.

Episode 10: Oh boy, things have taken a decidedly dark turn. Thankfully, the day was saved by Gay Luigi.

Episode 11: Backstory episode, whew. Why dad, why? :(

Episode 12: VICTORIQUE WHY CAN'T YOU JUST TELL YOUR BOY KAZUYA YOU WANT THE D MORE THAN AVRIL? "THIRD SON OF AN IMPERIAL SOLDIER" returns, much to my dismay. SIDEMOOOOOOOOOUTH. Oh FFS, Kazuya's dad is a shit too? Why does anime hate fathers? Victorique when viewed from above is a melting blob. DOUBLE RAINBOW, WHAT DOES IT MEAN? I hope it means we've weathered the storm of bad relationship melodrama.

Episode 13: OP subtitles are bad to the old ones, k. RUNNING IN HEELS! KICKING DOWN DOORS IN HEELS! I feel for you, Avril. Leviathan blew up a kid's organs and turned them to gold? Bring back the first ED, this new one sucks.

Episode 14: "IMPUDENT FOOL!" God, Kazuya's singing physically hurts me. AVRIL PROVING HERSELF TO BE BEST GIRL BY LACK OF SIDEMOUTH!

Episode 15: We truly historical piece now boiz. STOP WITH THE SINGING. Aww, they made Leviathan a sympathetic figure... and daddy all the worse. Damn.

Episode 16: BEELZEBUB'S SKULL. Kazuya's classmates are fucking dicks. Old Beardy is awfully suspicious. HEY RANDOM NUN, LET ME TELL YOU ALL ABOUT MY SECRET PLANS FOR COMING HERE! Brian Roscoe is now Exposition-san. You know, Victorique kinda reminds me of Rapunzel, what with the whole being locked up in towers deal and the ridiculously long blonde hair. Mom makes her appearance, and good to see she hasn't been left too traumatized by her horrific past?

Episode 17: Minor characters take the spotlight once more. So does magic actually exist in this world after all, or is the "magic lantern" also really an antiair cannon or something? Ah, Old Beardy is not such a minor character after all. Psst... Kazuya... You realize he already told you to take her with you, right? You're not exactly being strong and defiant by doing so. Hat-kun no. :(

Episode 18: \m/ SLIPKNOT. \m/ Spoopy murder train episode. IS ANYONE HERE A MARINE BIOLOGIST? I just now noticed everyone's bangs wooshing about beneath their static eyebrows and I am amused.

Episode 19: Fuck, sidemouth is back. I've come to the realization they only seem to sidemouth the main characters (i.e. Kazuya and Victorique) at this point. Seems backwards to devote the laziest artwork to the characters with the most screentime, but I suppose $$$$$. Oh hey, mom has some PTSD after all. "Victorique's kindness is without parallel," you say? Hold your horses there, writers, WWII ain't supposed to start for another 14 years!

Episode 20: Kazuya once again teaches us the fine art of stealth and subtlety. KAZUYA YOU'VE ALREADY SEEN THAT PHOTO BEFORE. Aww damn, now Cecile has been infected with sidemouth. I'm sure 20-year-old eyewitness accounts are reliable, guys. STOP RIGHT THERE, CRIMINAL SCUM! Gotta say, I'm not convinced doing literally exactly what the evil man wants is a sound plan. Just according to keikaku?

Episode 21: "LET'S DO THIS!" LEEROOOOOOOY MMMJEEEEENKIIIIIIINS! Wow, Sophie is actually kind of being a rude loudmouth in the theater. The final mystery seems to be rather obvious compared to the others, probably because it's not a total asspull I imagine because the mystery isn't the focal point of the story this time but how our protagonists deal with the overarching situation. WTF there's two Brians. I suppose that's a staple of many stage magician illusions.

Episode 22: Is this Christmas or Halloween? MFW Avril didn't describe her story as "fairy" romantic. (She's still hot though.) WHY WON'T SENPAI NOTICE ME? It's okay Avril, I notice you. "Are you Mr. Kazuya Kujo?" I woulda went with, "Nope." Nice to see the return of Gay Luigi and what's-her-face Grevil's crush.

Episode 23: Dudes we've been over this, it's way too early to begin WWII! CLASS IS CANCELLED CECILE. Allying with Germany? Boy, lemme tell you how that goes... ALBERT DE MIKE TYSON. Why yes, I agree Victorique, Kazuya is about as useless as the Black Knight. The Monty Python one, not the Fire Emblem one who is very much not useless. "I don't have a job anymore." THIRD SON OF AN IMPERIAL SOLDIER. Yo, where'd the king go that they're suddenly appointing a prime minister? Oh shit, mom's a fucking ninja.

Oh... shit. So this was the real love story after all, a mother's love for her daughter. Cordelia never could escape tragedy. Also, it's not lost on me that Albert's plan basically went exactly as he wanted as Victorique and Kazuya, despite knowing everything, didn't actually make any attempt to foil him. Mom going Kill Bill on his ass is all that saved the day in the end.

Hmm, I'm also left wondering exactly why the Grey Wolves' Village let Brian back in to modernize them with electricity, if he was apparently shunned and exiled himself (or themselves) for not being of pure blood. Did he come like Victorique and Kazuya did from an invite to an open event, did he just show up one day with his credentials and nobody stopped to think about it, did he just wave enough money in their faces to hush them up?

Episode 24: Oh, hey, Brian #2 lives. (Although not for long.) Really Grevil, you searched the brothels for your 15-year-old sister? Oh, hey, there's the king. So mom got freaky with both Brians? I swear if they kill off Kazuya unceremoniously in the middle of nowhere to drive home a "war is bad" message I'm going to be pissed. Actually, I wouldn't be pissed at all because it'd be kinda refreshing to deny the happy ending like that, but I would be really sad. So he better be on this damn boat at the end... Phew. Damn girl, that's some strong hair dye. Hold up, gotta check if her hair was white in the OP because that'd have been some slick foreshadowing. Aww, it isn't.

So what exactly did the war actually accomplish for those involved? I suppose nothing was mentioned because it doesn't matter to our characters.

Fin.

I'd round it up to an 8/10. It's a bit of a slow burn I think, wasn't super interested until Ep6 albeit I wasn't totally turned off before then. That's when the best characters get introduced, nevermind the first episode Avril is somewhat involved in, and the show finally starts going somewhere with the overarching plot instead of being pseudo-episodic Sherlock Holmes 2009 schlock (much as that still easily amuses me). The last third was really good once Cordelia and Brian's roles started to make themselves known.

Best girl: Cordelia.

 

[Ada]

this is also the mango thread right?

so, lately I've been really into 'Sachiiro no one room'. it's really rare for manga to get into my eyes these days, but this one in particular caught my eye. the title doesn't really sound promising, and I admit, I also overlooked it at first... but, after reading the summary, I decided to give it a try.

well, although I say that, the title isn't nearly bad as those lengthier ones, I'm living together with my super kawaii imouto, who couldn't possibly be any cuter, and fsr my parents are away or, My whole class transported to another world to become heroes, and I'm the only one without cheat??? (although I'm still op because I'm the mc). most manga adapted from LNs are trash though; and the title length is a dead giveaway

anyway, back to the main point. it reminds me a bit of 'taiyou no ie' and 'Last Game', it's a bit more sad but also bittersweet with some funny moments, that kind of story. if you don't know what I'm talking about that's fine, it's not something to really recommend to anyone, but the art is amazing and the characters are really cute. so, just to say, I'm hooked.

anyways, I'll be rooting for Sachi's happiness!~

 

[Cresselia~~]

This anime is about how cells work in our bodies. It was aimed to be educational.
And it's very detailed from an academic point of view.
The artwork and character designs are of good quality.
But also so freaking funny!!

I wish we could have educational stuff this funny (and of this quality) for other topics as well.
Back then when I was young, Educational videos were so lame and boring.



Episode 1:
http://www.animefreak.tv/watchon/hataraku-saibou-tv-episode-1-online

The first episode was about how a new red blood cell got quite lost when she was trying to deliver oxygen into the alveoli.
She was interrupted by some germs called pneumococci , and that's how she met a particular white blood cell.
====================

My opinion is that I love how detailed and creative it is:
Capillaries are being reimagined into roads.
White blood cells can pass through capillaries, so in the anime, white blood cells can break through the capillary roads.
Capillaries in the lungs are very thin, so only one red blood cell should pass at a time.
Mucus is being reimagined into a capsule
A sneeze is being reimagined into launching a rocket.

 

[Rugi]

https://anilist.co/user/Rugi/

 

[asshole]

https://anilist.co/user/Rugi/

Uhhhh ngl, I've never heard of anilist. I've only used MAL for like, years.
Ehh it is what it is though. Anyway to stay on subject, I just hit the midway point of Jojo's Bizarre Adventure Part 3. Figured I might as well give this show a shot, and honestly it's not so bad. It's horribly boring watching them fight all the stands back to back like this, but, I hear Part 4 kicks up. And Part 5 is confirmed, so there's that, too.

Also are you guys keeping up with Steins;Gate 0? I've been watching it and man, I'm kind of disappointed with it so far. It's so incredibly slow. Sure, you could argue the first season was too, but it wasn't like this. This is just grinding on and on and I hope it starts to pick up now that we're at the midway point. We don't have much time left to get it poppin'.

stronger than all, tuturu~

 

[Blue_Tornado]

Also are you guys keeping up with Steins;Gate 0? I've been watching it and man, I'm kind of disappointed with it so far. It's so incredibly slow. Sure, you could argue the first season was too, but it wasn't like this. This is just grinding on and on and I hope it starts to pick up now that we're at the midway point. We don't have much time left to get it poppin'.

The steins gate anime had a really good staff list, this one not so much.

 

[asshole]

The steins gate anime had a really good staff list, this one not so much.

Really? That's a shame, that show has so much potential and has an amazing, unique story. They should've went all out like the did before. Is it not the same studio?

 

[Blue_Tornado]

Really? That's a shame, that show has so much potential and has an amazing, unique story. They should've went all out like the did before. Is it not the same studio?

Same studio, different staff.

 

[asshole]

Same studio, different staff.

Oh, fantastic. Truly. Well, I guess all we can do now is hope it works out for the best. Also, I've been considering giving Tokyo Ghoul a shot. Have you seen it yet?

 

[Blue_Tornado]

Oh, fantastic. Truly. Well, I guess all we can do now is hope it works out for the best. Also, I've been considering giving Tokyo Ghoul a shot. Have you seen it yet?

I've seen the first season and it was decent, some interesting stuff there. The second season Root A was memed to death about how bad it was compared to the first season. Maybe just watch the first, might be worth it.