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Cake day: November 12th, 2023

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  • RottcoddtoManga[Discussion] Renge to Naruto! - Ch. 25
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    1 day ago

    I think this is the first time it was made clear that he’s a custodian (the mop was a solid giveaway), but I had picked up that he was some sort of invisible maintenance worker.

    I’m not sure what’s up with the librarian - getting mixed signals from her. Not just the stereotype of a librarian - it sometimes seems like she genuinely is shy and awkward. But then it also seems sometimes that she’s at least a sort of sadistic troll, and potentially heading to full-blown yandere.

    I guess we’ll see…


  • RottcoddtoAnimeHoney Lemon Soda - Episode 5 discussion
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    1 day ago

    Another nice episode for this oddly compelling series.

    In a way, I think this actually does a better job of communicating the story and the themes and especially the characters than any of the more vivid and interesting series I’ve seen cover more or less the same ground. It’s just simple and heartfelt and earnest, and to its credit. Much like Uka herself.

    The only real issue I might take with it is that it rushes through to settling conflicts too quickly and easily. Like in this one, Serina opened up to Uka too quickly, reacted to her entourage’s bullying too forcefully and too quickly, and they made up with her, and then with Uka, too easily and too quickly. In the real world, those sorts of dramas and shifting alliances and grudges and reconciliations would be long and drawn-out and messy.

    But they wouldn’t fit in a half hour anime episode, and they are done well anyway, all things considered, so that’s okay.

    I wonder what the backstory’s going to be berween Kai and Serina…


  • No - it was meant for you, and you sort of answered my question then.

    I initially read everything that was on Mangadex, which ended shortly after the showdown with the scientist villain on the train.

    Granted that there were still a lot of unrevealed details, it still felt to me then that the story was originally meant to end there, but then since it was a success, they decided to keep milking it instead, so were in the process of introducing a mostly new arc. And that’s the point at which the Mangadex chapters stopped.

    So when I saw that there were more chapters, I was sort of ambivalent about reading them, since I’d first have to reread at least part of the ones I already read to refresh myself in the story, and I thought there was at least a chance that the newer chapters would turn out to not be worth it anyway.

    Thus the question…



  • Okay - I just finished this – 83 chapters basically straight through – and it’s wonderful. I can’t recommend it enough.

    Don’t let the erotica tag throw you - it’s sort of a fake-out. There’s a gimmick behind it. The mains both work for a company that manufactures condoms, and the FMC specifically works in product development and testing. So she necessarily spends a certain amount of time putting condoms on (fake) penises, intently studying (fake) penises, stroking (fake) penises, etc. It’s actually all entirely innocent and just a part of her work, but it also can’t help but be erotic - a fact that’s not lost on the extremely kindhearted and considerate and awkward MMC.

    That aside, it’s just a very satisfying rom-com between two shy, awkward and earnest people. And I loved it.


  • I just finished Asoko de Hataraku Musubu-san and it was absolutely wonderful.

    It spun off from this post and my reaction as detailed in the thread - I first noticed it because she’s just breathtakingly beautiful, and then I sorted out who the mangaka is and connected to past works of his that I liked, and I was sold.

    I ended up reading 83 chapters basically straight through, with only a few breaks to eat, take the dog out, etc. And I loved everything about it.

    Ignore the erotica tag - it’s sort of a fake-out. What it is, mostly, is that the two adorable, shy, awkward and endearing main characters work at a company that manufactures condoms. And she specifically works in product development and testing. So there are occasional scenes of her putting condoms on (fake) penises, intently studying (fake) penises, stroking (fake) penises, etc It’s not gratuitous – it’s all entirely innocent and perfectly appropriate in the context of her work. But of course it can’t help but be erotic anyway, and really flusters the kindhearted and considerate MMC.

    Aside from that gimmick, which is actually very well-employed, it’s just straightforward rom-com between two awkward, shy and earnest people who deserve each other, and it’s wonderful. You WILL cheer them on – I guarantee it.


  • What did you think?

    I saw that other sites had more chapters, but I would need to refresh myself on what I’ve already read first, and it seemed that the most notable parts of the original story had been pretty well wrapped up, so I thought there was a possibility that the additional chapters would be less satisfying than the original main story. So I haven’t been able to work up the initiative to actually do it yet.


  • I’m actually up to chapter 27 already, and loving it.😄

    I’ve always had a soft spot for Kyou no Asuka Show just because it somehow manages to be both ecchi and wholesome. There’s this surface layer of ecchi, but underneath that, it’s actually sweet and charming and inspiring and funny and even philosophical. That’s a rare and impressive balancing act.

    And this is shaping up to be an even better and more subtle version of the same sort of balancing act, and an adorable rom-com to boot.

    I have no doubt that I’ll end up reading straight through it.





  • Well, first then, of the ones that I’m watching, the only ones that really stand out to me are the OP and ED for Guild Receptionist (which switched places two episodes back). The current OP is gorgeous and the ED is adorable. Of the ones I browsed for the thread, the only ones that really stood out to me were the Apothecary Diaries OP, which is excellent, and the Aquarion: Myth of Emotions ED, which is awful.

    So I started off the past week with the rest of An Explosion on This Wonderful World - Megumin’s KonoSuba spin-off - and loved everything about it. It’s just solid - good animation, voice acting and music, engaging characters, interesting stories, and laugh-out-loud funny.

    Megumin, or more precisely her hat, regularly reminds me of an obscure one that’s been on my TBW list for years – Majimoji Rurumo, so I finally sat down to watch it, and it was mostly disappointing. Rurumo herself is a decent character, and the tropish Disciplinary Committee chief/tsundere childhood friend is at least better than might be expected, and… that’s about it. Most notably, the MMC is not only one of those intensely annoying harem protagonists who’s mostly in perpetual cringey horndog overdrive except when the plot demands that he set it aside entirely and become preternaturally noble, generous and wise for exactly as long as it takes to settle the current crisis, but is easily the worst version of that I’ve ever seen.

    Then I knocked around for a bit, catching up with the current season series I was watching and adding another one, and bouncing off of a few things.

    Honey Lemon Soda is still unremarkable but satisfying, and that’s fine. It doesn’t really need to be more than that. And Guild Receptionist is still on track to be awesome. And I caught up with Zenshu, which is… I don’t know. It started off great - the genre mix of an isekai animator with a mahou shoujo transformation scene was brilliant and the animation in particular has been stellar. But then the story did an abrupt faceplant in the last episode and didn’t really recover much in the most recent one. It’s possible that it’s just in a bit of a slog as it sets up drama to come, but it’s also possible that it just went sideways and isn’t going to recover. We’ll see…

    Then, in what I thought was a stroke of brilliance, I remembered a series that’s been on my TBW for over a decade, and is generally considered something of a cult classic - Arakawa Under the Bridge But here I am, two days later and seven episodes in, and I’m pretty sure I’ve dropped it. I just have no interest in watching it any more.

    The basic concept is great and the cast is great, with one glaring exception - Rec/Kou is just as much of an insufferable and stupidly pig-headed jackass as he was the first moment he appeared. Even after all the time he’s spent on the riverbank and all the experiences he’s had, his character growth remains at zero. And I just can’t tolerate him any longer.

    Not sure what’s next…



  • RottcoddtoAnimeZENSHU • Zenshuu. - Episode 5 discussion
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    4 days ago

    Interesting episode.

    It gives me hope after the unsatisfying conclusion to last week’s episode. I was hoping that that ass-pull that supposedly resolved the last crisis was going to be treated as an unsatisfying ass-pull in-universe, and though they didn’t address that one specifically, that was the broad concept in this episode. Basically, Natsuko was coasting on hubris and unwarranted confidence (not coincidentally just like she apparently was in the real world), and now it’s blowing up in her face.

    And Justice looks to be an interesting addition.

    Looking forward to the next episode






  • RottcoddtoManga[DISC] Furumapura - Chapter 14
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    5 days ago

    I just saw that a new chapter had gone up and came here to post this. I didn’t even consider the possibility that someone else would - I thought I was the only one. 😲

    There was a period there, after the success of Ojojojo, when it seemed like Cool Kyoushinsha had a dozen different series all running simultaneously. This was one of my favorites of the lot of them.

    I don’t remember a Shiori before in this one. She has the same character design as the MC of Komori-san wa Kotowarenai, who’s also Shiori, and I expected her to be the same character (IIRC he did a lot of crossovers between his various series). She seems to have a completely different personality though.