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What have you been watching / reading this month? (Anime/Manga)
What have you been watching and reading this month? You don't need to give us a whole essay if you don't want to, but please write something! Feel free to talk about something you saw that was cool, something that was bad, ask for recommendations, or anything else you can think of.
If you want to, feel free to find the thing you're talking about and link to its pages on Anilist, MAL, or any other database you use!
I started watching Psychopass Season 3 this week. I rewatched the first two seasons earlier this year, as I really enjoy the genre of show (psychological/philosophical dystopian future, kinda like Ghost in the Shell). But I didn't know there was a Season 3. I'm like 4 episodes in and it's enjoyable so far. One of the main characters comes off as a Mary Sue (or I guess Wesley Crusher), so I'm definitely hoping that gets explained.
I checked out of the show when a friend watched season two,
season two SPOILER, I think?
and IIRC he told me, cackling, that the villain just straight up kills a dog at one point? Which I found so laughably on the nose that I just never wanted to spend time giving it a chance... Not sure how accurate that is, but it pops up in my head whenever I think about the show.I did enjoy season one - the point where the villain kills off one of the MC's friends came across pretty legitimately vile and not as a cheap throwaway point, I remember being impressed with how it handled it. But it sometimes just felt like it was teetering on the edge at all times of turning into an edgelord schlockfest with some random Foucault references peppered in. Never quite got there, but I kinda want to keep it that way in my head.
The new seasons of Mushoku Tensei and JJK. Also keeping up with OPM manga. I'm hoping the new season of Fire Force drops this year. Binged that last year and they announced a new season. So hopefully I don't have to wait much longer
I started watching the new season of Mushoku Tensei and then read the manga to see where it was going because it started off well enough and then, I felt, took a real turn for the worse rather quickly (episode 3, I think). I then dropped the season from my watchlist.
If you're interested in why, slight spoilers...
This entire season will become dedicated to him trying to cure his erectile dysfunction. Although the root cause is obviously his heartbreak from Eris leaving him suddenly, they don't really address that specific issue. He's literally trying to find someone who will give him a boner who he can then have sex with. He does eventually work through what happened with Eris, but it feels rushed and secondary to him finding someone that can give him an erection.
He goes to a school of magic to find the person who will supposedly cure his ED and instead of actually learning more about magic or discovering more about the gods or Orsted or anything, the entire thing becomes a high school slice of life romcom in a fantasy setting. He's better and stronger than literally everyone at the school and is allowed to just do whatever and ignore classes.
He does eventually progress the story, but it again feels secondary to the romcom high school slice of life adventure that the manga had become.
It's disappointing because the first season absolutely killed it. Not a prototypical isekai, even though some of the usual tropes existed. It stood on its own with a good plotline, great pacing, stellar action, and engaging character development. Season 2, based on what the manga does, will throw out all of that to become a generic isekai romcom, and that's incredibly sad in my opinion.
Loving JJK though. And although it's not executed quite as well as other similar anime, LasTame has been unexpectedly fun to watch.
Without spoilers that sounds disappointing. But I'll give it shot and see how this season develops.
JJK has been great. Can't wait for the next cour to start
I just finished watching all of The Fire Hunter. It's a really mixed bag. The story is interesting, the art generally looks great, but it's pretty clear the studio is having a hard time with the production. The CG looks pretty bad whenever it's in motion, and the animation in action scenes can be really bad. Animation Magic flying-around-the-screen bad. The season ended abruptly on episode 10 with no closure, just the same kinds of cliffhangers they've been using pretty much every episode. And one episode roughly 2/3rd in is full of scenes that were particularly poorly drawn, including one character who is briefly crosseyed and the derpiest looking dog I've seen in a long time (which I'm absolutely going to use for an avatar from now on).
Overall it's good though. I'm the kind of person who will let a good story carry me through just about anything. I really like the steampunk aesthetic and the mysteries the plot has presented.
Nearly at the end of FMA:B, which I've been watching since last month. It certainly picked up in the latter half, once I got used to the new characters and characterizations. I don't think the ending is gonna hit me as hard as the original anime did, but anything is possible. I still think the original series made a stronger decision re: Winry's parents, and I prefer its take on the origin of homunculi, along with the fact that they waited until about two thirds of the way through the series to reveal who the big bad evil guy actually is, instead of showing us on like the 13th episode.
So far, 8/10, but it still has time to get those extra two points out of me
Finished. I think 8/10 is fair. Overall, I still prefer the '03 series, but I gotta say the ending of Brotherhood is so much easier to watch. Not that '03's ending was bad, it was just heartbreaking, especially the movie. I'm happy to leave the series behind me on this note, and I don't think I'll be rewatching either series anytime soon. Now to find out whether the next show I watch is something from my list, or something I haven't heard of yet
I've also been watching Death Parade on occasion with my flatmate. It really should have been on my list from the beginning, it fits right in with what I like to watch. I really like atmosphere of the show. Another 8/10 because I can't say it's better than Fullmetal Alchemist.
After Death Parade it's my turn to pick a show. Do I respond with Mushishi, to keep the calm atmosphere thing going, do I choose Gurren Lagann because it's the best anime, or do I choose something else? It needs to be something good to watch while we eat dinner right before one of us goes to bed, since that's really the only time we watch TV together
I had been watching Cheeky Angel back in the Spring but had to put it down when things got busy; betting back into it now and events are ramping up! Can't say what, exactly, as it'd be spoilers, but I'm really glad this series isn't just doing a status quo episodic teen shenanigans for 40 episodes, they're actually pushing the story forward in most episodes while also continuing the light social commentary. It's great.
Does the live action One Piece count? I'm about 6 episodes in now and really enjoying it.
Mangaplus is doing a revival publish of Dragon Ball, and I had forgotten just how tight and snappy the manga was, versus a lot of modern shonen and the DBZ anime. Like, most of the pre oozaru Vegeta fight is resolved within 2 14 page chapters. Not a wasted panel. Really enjoying it more than I thought I would.
By contrast, I was reading the Bleach revival at the same time, and I've stopped. I can't do this to myself again.
Rurouni Kenshin is going strong. It's a nostalgia trip for me. I bought all the manga when I was a kid (on a whim really) and this adaptation is so faithful that I almost know word for word what they're going to say. It's a lot better than the 1996 version with great animation this time round.
It's relatively slow by adapting a chapter or two per episode at best but that works really well for this series. Anime has a tendency to be slow, especially older style anime, but this one doesn't fall into that trap and that's because the manga has great dialogue already.
Just to touch on the elephant in the room, the author being an "unrepentant pedophile" as someone who broke the news to me put it, I'm not too worried about pirating the stuff.
Ten episodes in and I can't wait for the Shishio arc to start.