It’s time for a new general discussion thread! Hot takes, recommendations, questions, cautionary tales, all of it is welcome here.
As always, remember to be mindful of spoilers. If you want to know more about how to handle spoilers in this community, check the guide here (also linked in the sidebar).
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Some quick thoughts on what I watched this past week:
- Dan Da Dan - Continues to be the standout of the season. Lots of intense and unpredictable fun.
- Orb - More amazing drama this past week. More people should watch this. Hopefully after getting lots of praise in the recent Gigguk Nutshell video, more Western audiences will check it out.
- Tower of God - I am up through episode 18 and it has not been great, even after the start of the workshop battles. Maybe it will get better after the early rounds? Right? Right? Please…
- Appraisal Isekai - I have continued to enjoy my time with this show. It has done enough to keep my attention though I wouldn’t call it a standout in any particular way.
- Loner Isekai - This is my guilty pleasure for the season. It’s pretty dumb and super tropey, but if you turn your brain off, it is fun to laugh along with the stupidness.
- NegaPosi Angler - Really great episode this past week. We seem to be just starting to scratch the surface of the more serious thematic elements of this show.
- Villainess in History - Another stupid fun show. If you are able to either laugh at or look past the skeeviness of the prince courting a child, then this is a pretty humorous villainess series.
Non-seasonals:
- Look Back - A visually beautiful and touching movie that is worth checking out now that it is globally released. At only ~1 hour long, it isn’t too much of a commitment and it justifies every minute of its runtime with beautiful animation and an excellent soundtrack. The story might not connect with everybody, but I enjoyed my time with this movie.
- Trigun (1998) - Just finished the series this past week with my wife. I haven’t read the manga, but based on the show, the end is…alright. Overall, the show is really kind of split into two parts. The first half of it is basically all goofy villain of the week episodes. Then, after we meet the character of Legato, the whole story transitions into a serious sci-fi story about humanity’s role and place as it explores the stars and the human will to survive (trying to avoid spoilers). The two parts of the show just felt disjointed.
The last thing I wanted to write about this week is that there is a new community for sharing anime videos, !avid@ani.social, founded by @kiri@ani.social. There have been a couple videos posted already, so make sure to check them out and contribute if you have anything you want to share. I have added a link to the community in the sidebar of this community as well. In an effort to help out, I will be crossposting at least the next several clips that I make for this community over there as well.
I haven’t read the manga, but based on the show, the end is…alright.
The Trigun Maximum manga wasn’t finished at the time the series aired, so their endings are unrelated. The last 4-5 episodes of the anime are complete originals. (There were two different manga series, and I think the original Trigun manga had more of the goofy-villain-of-the-week stuff, while Maximum, which picked up where the first series left off, was more serious.)
Things make so much more sense now. It all kind of lines up with where the shifts happened. Thanks for the explanation! Those old days where anime would blaze ahead of the source material were sure interesting sometimes.
Completed season 2 of Attack on Titan.
Just like @ReluctantZen@feddit.nl, I found season 2 to be way better than season 1 based on just the plot alone.
The flaws that I pointed out previously are still present, but I felt that there have been improvements e.g. less narration and exposition, reduced recaps (no recap for some episodes).
I like it a lot, so I’m closing one eye to its flaws and giving it a 10 / 10.
Also watched Look Back. It’s good.
It being only 1 hour long makes it an easy watch too.
I found season 2 to be way better than season 1 just based on the plot alone.
Awesome!
I had similar criticisms of AoT season 1 and dropped it. I might have to find time to pick it back up again sometime in the future.
We’re about midway the season. I’m still not too stoked with what we got but oh well.
I’m still watching since the start of the season:
- Dandadan: great anime. Love the style and chemistry between characters.
- Acro trip: fun little anime that’s like Gushing Over Magical Girls, but wholesome (and imo, not gross)
- 365 Days Till Wedding: comfy adult romance. Like it a lot except last episode, which was weird… Hopefully not a trend…
- Negative Positive Angler: oddly wholesome fishing anime with a terminal MC. I like the character dynamics.
- Demon Lord 2099: took a while to get somewhere, but it’s somewhere now. It’s fine, but not much more.
- 2.5D Seduction: ongoing from previous season. Good fun still.
Picked up later on:
- Do-over Damsel: it’s interesting enough to keep my attention, but is a little… uncomfortable at times, which keeps me in a state of ‘to drop or not to drop’.
- Mecha-Ude: 3 eps in. Feels a little overhyped so far, seemingly just because the studio has a nice underdog-ish story, because the anime itself isn’t that great. Bad organisation is bad because the anime says so? Like, little to no reason is given to believe so. So far the good guys don’t seem to be so good either. Doesn’t feel like that’s supposed to be on purpose. Feels like they forgot to give reasons. Also, what point do the Mecha-Ude serve? This also doesn’t feel like it’s purposefully withheld to leave suspense. Setting is futuristic, but like, this has only really impacted the look, not much else. So far it’s like a less developed and less angsty Tokyo Ghoul, but the kagune/quinque’s are mechs.
On hold:
- Re:Zero S3: just couldn’t get into it for some reason. Will probably wait and binge.
I’ve dropped a fair few, more than usual:
- Yakuza Fiancé: only watched one ep, but I didn’t like the characters at all. I like the idea of the FMC kicking the MMC down, but no way that’s actually going to happen. She’s just giving him what he wants. Not interested in watching this insane people romance. Not in this form anyway.
- Nina the Starry Bride: yeah uh, not a fan of them kidnapping a girl from the slums only to never address that fact again and the FMC behaving as if she went along (semi-)willingly. Dropped after 4 eps.
- SAO GGO Alternative 2: liked the 1st season, but the 2nd season gives no reason to care. There are no stakes or mysteries. But not in a SoL way where it’s fun to watch. No fun strategies, no new character dynamics. The special rule could’ve been interesting, but it sucks and would suck in the type of game it is too if it a were real game, contrary to the last season. Dropped after 5 eps.
- Villainess Who Goes Down In History: animation is wonky and so is the pacing. I prefer the manga. Dropped after 3 eps.
Hearing a lot of good things about Orb, so will probably check that one out if I can.
Hearing a lot of good things about Orb
Give it three episodes and see what you think. The first three episodes provide a nice little arc and set things up for the future. Next to Dan Da Dan, Orb has been my favorite of the season.
Mecha-Ude
This one is weird to me. When it’s trying to be funny or charming I think it almost always succeeds. When it’s trying to be cool or edgy (most of the time unfortunately) it almost always fails.
It almost gives off the vibes of a 20th-century Western-made Saturday morning cartoon (except that for some reason the MC’s relationship with his mecha-ude reminds me of the one between the lead in Kill La Kill and her seifuku). I’m not quite sure why—maybe it’s the lack of any real moral ambiguity? Anyway, many of those could not do cool or edgy to save their lives.
Agreed, I enjoy the fun stuff. Serious stuff less so
I think Re:Zero is following the same episode structure as last season, where Subaru is thrown down the pit of despair into a seemingly insurmountable problem, and then he’ll find some way to get out of it.
That’s why it’s really hard to watch right now, and honestly it’s about the same time when I quit watching last season. I haven’t even watched how that ended, but it looks like he survived the rabbits okay.
Yeah, maybe take a break from torturing yourself, then wait until all the episodes are out and find out how he survives this time…
No, I don’t think that’s why I can’t get into it this season. The pit of dispair didn’t happen yet when I stopped watching (ep 3 or 4).
It just hasn’t really managed to intrigue me yet.
My midseason tierlist (after 6-7 episodes)
S Tier
- Raise wa Tanin ga Ii/Yakuza Fiance - Still good.
- Dan Da Dan - If this anime season had a 1st place champion, it would be this show.
A Tier
- Shangri-La Frontier - Sunraku’s attempts to cheeze the game mechanics are still fun to watch.
- Re Zero - I think this season is following the same pattern as last season where Subaru is falling into a seemingly insurmountable tangle of problems, and he’ll have to figure things out later somehow. This makes it really hard to watch right now. I can’t argue with the understated production values though.
- Blue Lock (+1 tier) - Okay, back to the action! Powerpoint animation and crazy exaggerated footballing powers go!
- MF Ghost (+1 tier) - It’s stupid unrealistic car racing, but it’s fun! Playing weekly new eurobeat soundtracks in the background helps. Similar to Blue Lock, it doesn’t have great animation or depth, but it manages to be hype nonetheless.
B Tier
- Wajutsushi (-1 tier) - Annoying assassin bimbo sidekick isn’t working for me. Lead character not making enough morally questionable decisions. Leading me to question what is the point of this show…
- Maou 2099 (-1 tier) - The whipsawing between being a streamer, and combat, was notable. MC Demon Lord Veltol is making intelligent decisions by enlisting the help of his former foe, The Hero, but the story feels predictable.
- Acro Trip - Hugh the “real” villain mastermind was fun, but I feel like they’re running out of ideas because things are getting somewhat random.
- Trillion Game - This is somewhat difficult to watch. The crazy MC’s antics to get ahead are borderline unethical, in fact, their team gets disqualified for cheating, but I do find myself wondering what he’s going to come up with next.
- Chi - Chikyuu no Undou ni Tsuite - Still hard to watch. The subject is very relevant and I want to keep watching this, but…
C Tier
- Tower Of God (-1 tier) - Incomprehensible story, poor animation are putting this series on the brink for me. I loved S1, and I feel like there’s a decent story in there somewhere, but this… I dunno. I don’t know whether it’s a problem that’s in the source manhwa, or a rushed production, or what, but the net result is not good.
F Tier (dropped)
- Magilumiere (-2 tiers) - Stopped watching this because of a busy schedule, and I don’t miss it
- Negaposi Angler - I actually did watch 2 episodes of this, but I’m not feeling compelled to continue.
- SAO GGO2
- Danmachi S5
- Ranma 1/2
I feel like I should be watching:
- Villainess Who Goes Down In History
- Dragonball Daima
Watching randomly:
- Kengan Ashura S2 - I hate Netflix bombing me with a whole season all at once.
Acro Trip - Hugh the “real” villain mastermind was fun, but I feel like they’re running out of ideas because things are getting somewhat random.
Yeah, I feel this. Started off quite good, but now it’s kinda bumbling around
Weekly ranking roundup:
- Anime Corner - Full Results - Weekly Winner: Bleach TYBW
- Reddit Karma - Weekly Winner: Dan Da Dan
Credit to /u/Abysswatcherbel for making the chart for reddit karma and /u/Nooble5 for the Anime Trending chart.
Lots of karma drops on the reddit chart this past week. I am glad to see Orb still gaining karma. Hopefully that is a sign that more people are picking up the series and catching up. It also doesn’t surprise me that Villainess in History gained karma this past week as the episode was a lot between the antics of the heroine and the prince.
