The Anime / Manga Thread (MK2) | Beware Spoilers

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like how do you go about making time for it if that makes any sense?
You gotta remember the kind of demographic that inhabits smogon (late teen-early twenties, predominatly male) and the amount of time they would have. Most people here have time in-between studying (most users here are studying not working full time from what I understand) to watch 20 minutes of anime or so a day. Thats what I usually find for myself works well, hence why I tend to complete between 5-7 series each season. Mind you my viewing fluctuates pretty much with how busy my life gets, last season I only completed 2 series because I had my first 'important' exams of my life, as well as a large spike in party's and nights out to coincide with the end of my year levels time at high school. But now that whirlwind is over and I've smashed out like 38 episodes of yu yu hakusho in a fortnight lol.

each ep is 20 mins, and if ur watching 20 shows a week thats like 8 hours a week only

im extremely bad at math

'only' 8 hours :toast:


whilst im here i've watched so far phatom world, active raid, dimension w and erased and all seem worth continuing so far, is there any real thoughts on dagashi kashi though? Its been hyped around placed I check out and I can't figure out why and whether or not it is worth picking up (for the record i generally consider anime focused purely on comedy to be weak, too much usually lost in translation, generally the side snippets of humour in series is much better imo than it being the focus, but I've been proven wrong in the past (nozaki-kun))
 
first impressions

Boku dake ga Inai Machi: it's going to end up being the "best" anime this season, and i'm looking forward to the next episode. the main character seemed really unlikable at the beginning but by the end of the episode i liked pretty much everyone

Dagashi Kashi: if you're watching this show for the comedy, you're doing it wrong

Koukaku no Pandora: terrible animation and terrible plot but i really really enjoyed it. the characters and fanservice are awesome and as long as it doesn't take itself too seriously i'll continue to love this show

Luck & Logic: i only watched this because it was by dogakobo, my favorite studio, but it seemed pretty average. i felt sorta hyped during the transformation scene so i'll stick around and watch it i guess

Musaigen no Phantom World: great visuals as always but i'm not a fan of big boobs. it is very sad that kyoani choose to adapt this stuff instead novels with actual depth but i will still keep watching because it's kyoani

Utawarerumono: after a whole season of fucking around something is actually happening, holy fuck
 
hopping on the first impressions bandwagon

Active Raid: fun. Buddy cop (in the future, with robots) with is a good way of summing the show up.

Bubuki Buranki: CGI in anime has come a long way, this looks passable but I'd still take a traditionally animated show any day and it's fairly forgettable otherwise.

Dimension W: very vague vibes of Darker than Black or Cowboy Bebop, seems like it'll turn out well.

Divine Gate: I'm like 90% sure this show is bad. Scroll up to RODAN's screenshot for more information

Dagashi Kashi: Hotaru is pretty fun, idk if she'll be enough to carry the show though. The parts with the the cafe girl were boring.

Grimgar: Forms a funny parallel to other recent trapped in MMO anime by having the protagonists be pathetically incompentent. Was a bit slow but it's nice looking, definitely has potential.

Musaigen no Phantom World: Kyoani doing a pretty generic LN adaption. That's enough to make it worth watching, I guess.

Erased/Boku Dake ga Inai Machi: Hard to judge too much from the first episode alone since the others will likely be different, but this was a solid start.

Haruchika: eh. Off-brand Euphonium with some dull mystery thrown in, probably a drop

Koukaku no Pandora: I'm not sure what I was expecting from another work by the Ghost in the Shell guy but it wasn't lesbian loli robots. Actually had a couple decent moments though, might turn out alright.

Prince of Stride: not my cup of tea. Seems decent enough for what it is though.

Luck and Logic: I'm not actually sure why I liked this as much as I did. It's an original but the premise is pretty LN (also has CGI, but decently done and only in fight sequences). The art is nice and it has a bunch of seiyuu I like and it's Dogakobo so eh

Schwarzmarken: thankfully this wasn't complete garbage like Total Eclipse. Pretty decent start so far, hopefully it stays that way.

Bahamut: sadly this wasn't complete garbage despite having the same premise as Asterisk/Rakudai. Just regular LN bad.

Shouwa Genroku etc: Rakugo is really boring and the fact that this was double-length doesn't help.

Shoujo-tachi wa Kouya wo Mezasu: pretty hyped for this one since Romeo is writing it. Like Erased, first episode was mostly setup though so hard to judge too much.
 
For all the people who wanted to know why Dagashi Kashi got hyped: Hotaru carries the manga, and people thought there'd be ecchi shenanigans involved... I guess. Or it really is because the character designs are gorgeous; one look at the PV will tell you that. Feel's A-game is pretty good.

Also the OP -did- remind me of Nozaki-kun, but the chorus gave me music whiplash because it's so generic jpop-anime-style while the beginning and end of the song were chill. I don't know.

So right now I have like 5 shows that I think might be good but have no idea how to rank. Waiting it out for a few more weeks is clearly the right choice.
 
so The Devil is a Part-Timer was actually a lot better than I was expecting it to be, I was thinking it would be average and so it actually being pretty damn good surprised me

also as my avatar might tell you my weakness for stupid slice-of-life bullshit led me to really enjoy d-frag
 
Watched a few of the season's first episides, so I might as well give my first impressions:

Aokana: This was a pleasant surprise. The concept of flying shoes and airbourne sports is hardly anything new, but honestly I'm getting a similar kind of vibe to the very early episodes of both Angel Beats and Toradora with this while still feeling completely different from it. I'll try to give a basic synopsis of the episode (there will be spoilers, but honestly the plot of this episode is so minor due to it just introducing the world and characters that idk if it really matters). Asuka Kurashina has just transferred to a new school on the four islands that she often visited when she was little. There are these inventions called "Grav-Shoes" which allow you to fly from place to place using the imaginatively named 'anti-gravity technology.' The main character is incompetent with them on her first two days trying them and then challenges a player from another school to a match of 'Flying Circus' in order to regain the first syllable of the word "Institute" in her schools name. Anyway, she's never played or even heard of it before and continues to show incompitence until the last moment when - surprise surprise - she's somehow mastered an advanced technique on the spot. Anyway, that's the gist of the episode. Admittedly it was kinda clichéd and atypical of this kind of show, but honestly I enjoyed it and will keep watching to see if it meets my expectations.

Active Raid: I'm not really feeling it with this one tbh. I'll see if it improves, but if I'm still not feeling it by the end of the third episode I'll probably drop it. It is a mecha cop show about someone who's been transferred to a team of oddball cops with the aim of improving the unit (although officially it is just observation). Anyway its kinda clichéd in that the unit torns out to be very capable and can see through the plans of the perpetrators, reading them like a book. All in all, the action feels kinda uninteresting and the plot gives the impression that it won't be particularly interesting. EP 2 airs in one day and I'll watch it, but honestly I don't have my hopes up for this.

Myriad Colours Phantom World: I'll refer to this as MCPW cause im lazy. MCPW feels like its gonna be a good time waster. It is a very promising concept of phantoms - which originated from human brains like an illusion as the line between fantasy and reality started blurring due to a virus - and so far I have found it entertaining. It uses a large amount of subtle humour and it doen't take itself 100% seriously. I get the feelingthat one of the main characters is gonna be very much focused on fanservice though, with it already showing that she needs to be in various suggestive positions to perform any magic (I'll call it that for now as idk what its called) and having her rack be her biggest obstacle v.s. the utility post spirits. Then there is Reina Izumi, who eems like she'll be the obvious pairing for the main character due to it going through the sequence of shocking meeting, sexually-based embarrasment during first encounter ("I swear I didn't see blue and white stripes" (paraphrased)), forgiving on the following day and suddenly becoming chummy with the main guy. Cluchéd, but doesn't feel forced. I think I'll probably enjoy this, and I look forward to ep 2.

Also looking foreward to ERASED as it looks like it'll be nice and depressing. A different tone to stuff i've watched recently and hopefully it will be dark like Madoka, Fate/Zero and WIXOSS.
 
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so The Devil is a Part-Timer was actually a lot better than I was expecting it to be, I was thinking it would be average and so it actually being pretty damn good surprised me


The Manga is actually quite good as well, athough I haven't watched the show. I'm not sure if the manga diverges from the plot of the show (iirc it's based off of a Light Novel), so idk where the cutoff point is, but imo fun show overall (altho I'm kinda not liking that it becomes almost harem-y what with the hero and all but w/e). If you want something similar in concept but different in execution, Maoyuu Maou Yuusha: 'Kono Watashi no Mono to Nare, Yuusha yo' 'Kotowaru!' is great (it translates into Maoyu: Archenemy and Hero "Become mine, Hero" "I refuse!" - which is quite the mouthful of a title if spoken outloud). Don't watch the anime tho, it's apparently wayyyyyy more fanservicey and poorer in execution than the Manga. imperfectluck hooked me up with it and I've been enjoying reading it whenever the translations are released online.


Also I use a lot of parenthesis, sorry for that.
 
I watched ep 1 of ERASED earlier and it exceeded my expectations. I was expecting it to be good, but damn I didn't expect it to descend into what it did as early as the first episode. Usually TV shows take their time to explain the universe, but it seemed to start developing the key characters right from the get-go with little explanation of how the anime differs from reality beyond a handful of scenes where the we are shown the ability that Fujinuma Satoru, the main character, has - when something bad is about to happen (the cases we've seen so far were related to death and kidnapping), a butterfly appears and he gets transported back in time to try and find what caused him to travel back and stop it from happening. It seems to reference an event from Fujinuma's childhood a lot, and from what I have found about the manga its an adaptation of it seems like that event is going to be key to the plot. It shows a lot of promise and I definitely recommend you check it out if you haven't already.
 
Shirayuki-hime Season 2: Like GATE a somewhat relaxing way to get back to the series. What I hope for in this season is for the romance to progress a least a tiny bit.

Kono Subarashii Sekai ni Shukufuku wo!: I actually liked this one. Its still Studio DEEN and its not original in the slightest but for what it was I liked it.

Also watched HaruChika episode 2 and I fear that this will become a copy of Beautiful Bones. (Unlike others in this thread I don't hate Beautiful Bones (its alright and I like the main girl), but I think one episodic mystery is enough for me (Though I think it will be a seasonly trend for a while))
 
Recently started reading Inuyashiki. Holy fuck is it insane. It's also very good (I'm only on chapter 18). If you like oddball manga that has some pretty realistic visuals in terms of artwork, this one is one to pick up. It's about an old dude who basically gets killed by aliens and reconstituted into the same outward appearance, but inside he's basically a walking weapon+computer robot thing. It's actually quite deep, and I hope any of you manga readers that don't mind a bit of gore/mature stuff will pick this one up. Inuyashiki is a gem worth reading (and the protagonist is at least freaking 70 years old, how often do you get a protagonist that's an old man???).
 
Kono Subarashii Sekai ni Shukufuku wo! was pretty fun. Too bad it had to be DEEN, it looked like crap even in the first episode.

is Gate that type of show which targets the hardcore japanese anime fans with the MC they can relate to and a bunch of magical cute girls?

if that doesn't make sense, is Gate like NGNL?

it has a competent adult protagonist as opposed to an indecisive high schooler, but it still does plenty of otaku pandering (as well as some political agenda pushing, weirdly for anime)
 
Okay, uh, no, I wasn't sure at first but Erased is pretty good. Really nice second episode. Kinda can't believe A-1 Pictures is doing a show I can like again.
 
Hey so what does everyone think of Schwarzesmarken? Its definitely showing promise with its first episode, being a definite watch for me. I like the cold-war setting that it uses as it just helps with the atmosphere of the show a lot. Its a kinda pleasent surprise to see an earth-based anime that isn't set in Japan for a change, and I feel that the first episode has conveyed what the anime is gonna be very well. I have a hunch that it is going to get much darker than it currently is (tbh its already pretty dark) and the double cliffhanger (you miss the second one if you don't watch past the credits)it has left us on is making me very eager for when the next episode releases. Who was the man seen executing a room full of people towards the end, and what role is he going to play in the future episodes? Who is Alfred Strachwitz, and why is Katia looking for him? So many questions left to be answered, and I'm on the edge of my seat out of expectation.

This isn't to say that I don't have some knitpicks with it though. These are all minor, but I might as well mention them. Firstly, while it is very solid in terms of concept, I can't help but notice that it shares a number of similarities to AoT. Between the whole "humanity's existence is under threat from a new, previously impossible, so it must fight for our survival" concept (while not unique to this and AoT, it feels like the execution was much more similar to the latter than it is to other shows both in and out of anime that I've seen), the dark undertones, the military setting, the non-human antagonist race and the European setting (Attack on Titan's location is most likely based on Europe wheras this is set in cold war Germany), it is definitely showing a large number of similarities which I'm struggling to ignore when watching. Secondly, the presence of mechs is kinda jarring considering that this is 1977 and it is far more likely that the war would have halted their development as opposed to accelerating it to the high-performance ones seen in the anime. It kinda kills the atmosphere at times as a result. Finally, the character design and voiceover seem kinda off. The designs of a handful of the characters (most noticably Kaita's design) seems very anime-y, feeling very much out of place given the European setting, and I feel like having the voice acting in german and utilising kanji subtitles that would be displayed when airing/viewing in Japan would have been far more appropriate given the setting. While the latter is kinda excusable due to the fact that this is a Japanese medium, I feel that both of these do have an effect on the experience that I have of watching the show and take away from the feel of authenticity - especialy when combined with the presence of mechs. Like I said befor thoughe, these are mostly minor and don't have a large effect on my opinion of the show, so do give it a watch as it looks like it will be a good seies.
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Episode 2 of ERASED came out and I'm happy to say that it is on an upward trajectory from its already-amazing start. The plot/concept feels unique and it is being executed in a very mature and well-considered fashion; it is showing its dark tone without completely depressing the viewer (which is brilliant execution to say the least) and it seems to be lacking any clichés or immaturity thus far without showing any signs of heading down such a route. Additionally, it isn't rushing through character development or the thoughts of the main character for the sake of advancing the plot, which mens that after just two episodes we already have a large amount of visible character development.

The characters of Fujinuma Satoru and Hinazuki Kayo are complex and already showing signs of layering after us knowing them both for just two and one episode(s), respectively, and their relationship feels like it is well thought-out and showing a deep complexity which is already beginning to rival the levels that most shows take four to six episodes to reach, and I am personally looking forward to seeing it fleshed out even more. If I'm honest, their relationship has a vaigue resemblance to that of Taiga and Ryuuji from Toradora! at this very early stage in that the two characters are polar opposites in many ways while being direct parallels in others, to the point of reluctantly clicking after a reasonably low level of character interraction, and this leads to me having high expectations for future interractions.

Not gona say anything final cuz its super early, butI can definitely say that this has the potential to become AotS if it continues on its upward trajectory, and if I'll be honest and say that I am sad about having to wait another week to see the next chapter in this story. I am trying to avoid reading the manga so as to not spoil any of the anime, but I wouldn't be surprised if I end up succumbing to the urge to read on past the point which the anime has reached at some point.
 
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im fucking done i did it i watched every first episode holy shit is this what the blacks felt like when they were released from slavery

also check out the following: ERASED, Active Raid, Dagashi Kashi, Dimension W, Bubuki Buranki, Grimgar, Schwartzenegger

also Sekkou Boys, Marshmallow and Gaiko-chan for shorts

everything else isnt rly noteworthy
 
On Bubuki Buranki:
It's been awhile since I've seen an anime go from somewhat confusing, but at least it was interesting in the first episode to I have no ideal what the fuck is going on now in the second.
 
Nothing is interesting me right now except for Dimension W and maybe Prince of Stride. Dimension W had a pretty great opening episode and PoS is just cute. Admittedly I haven't looked at the season too thoroughly. Divine Gate seems up my alley but I tried watching the first episode and I got bored, maybe it will get better. I try not to judge too much on the first ep but you know. Will probably end up watching more if I hear especially good things about any of the other shows as the season progresses.
 
So far I've seen Erased, Dimension W, Stride, and Dagashi. The first two are pretty good while I could hardly care less about the latter. There's a lot more I need to cover, though...
 
episode 2 of grimgar was absolutely 100% beautiful. it was about as close to perfect as you can get in an anime episode IMO
 
I might take a break from seasonal to finally watch some old stuff. I haven't watched most Ghibli films, pretty much anything Satoshi Kon, you get the picture.

I'm really posting because I just watched Kiki's Delivery Service and I loved it to heck.
 
This is a thing. Who knew that even Mein Kampf would get a manga...

The comments are great tho:

"[Art]-10/10
Legend has it that the artist who drew this was Picasso himself. And the paint used was mixed with holy water from a nearby catholic church.

The art is truly a masterpiece just like the entire manga is.

[Sound]-11/10
Although there was no sound in the manga, I found out that if you listened to Wrecking Ball as you read the manga, it makes it a million times better."
 
the more i think abt it the more i realise i enjoy lots of anime and manga on a rlly shallow level... if it looks good and makes me feel something then i like it. is that a good thing or a bad thing, do you think?
 
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