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What have you been watching / reading this week? (Anime/Manga)
What have you been watching and reading this week? 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!
Chainsaw Man. What the fuck
If you've seen it, you know exactly what I'm talking about, I'm not even going to say the episode because I consider that a spoiler
Jesus...
That's when the show stopped being just a normal shonen and started being its own horror anime. I can't wait to see where it goes next season - I've heard that it hasn't hit its stride in Season 1
Yeah I sat on Chainsaw Man because the beginning definitely gives off those normal shonen vibes, I'm glad I chose to finally catch up and wow, I can't believe next season will be even more.
I saw about the MAPPA controversy and feel bad for the animators, but I can't deny this is one of the most exciting series in recent years
I gave up on the show after the second episode and the main character saying something along the lines of “I’m going to live for boobies!” - As much as I love the medium, I can’t stand anime tropes and is an instant off for me (needless to say I rarely watch any anymore)
It’s good to hear it does change from normal shonen. Does it become “horror anime with tropes” (eg what I saw of Parasyte), or does it become “horror that’s done in the anime medium” (dating myself, but eg Boogiepop Phantom)? Because if it’s the later, I’ll definitely need to try it out again
I'm wary of overselling it, so I have to say yeah, it's an anime with tropes, it may even feel like a "normal shonen" to some people. They might even say "what's the fuss about, it's so predictable"
What's most impressive to me is how they keep the high bar of animation and action over the course of the season, and maybe do a few unexpected things storywise, but not necessarily like groundbreaking never-before-seen-in-anime level
Over the twelve episodes I went from oh okay typical shonen play this in the background, to I better put down what I'm doing or else I'll miss something, if that says anything
You can't judge it based on the first three episodes, and I'm saying that as someone who originally did, and put down the show, only to finish it a year after it aired and very glad I did
It does! I appreciate the breakdown. I will give it a few more episodes now - it does look interesting and I know there are a lot of people who love it.
Nice! By the way, I watched an episode of Boogiepop Phantom since you mentioned it, that one is definitely more cerebral than what I'm used to these days, but it's a refreshing change of pace. I'll keep it on my anime rotation, and thanks for mentioning it.
Glad you liked it! It, Serial Experiment Lain, and Shigurui are my favorite animes of all time (basically all have amazing visuals and cinematography with messed up plots lol).
I will say the story is unfortunately not entirely comprehensible in the anime - it's been a long time, but IIRC the anime is based off a light novel that's a sequel in the series...so since it's missing context from initial light novel, it can be a bit confusing as the plot unravels.
But to me it's not just about the story - the general atmosphere/vibe/etc is just so visceral with how the story is presented (Looooove the bleak coloring. And the sound editing!). Which, honestly, the fact the story isn't entirely comprehensible and leaves a lot of "wait, wtf?" moments adds to that visceralness and uncomfortableness to me. For me watching it is not meant to be understood, it's meant to be experienced - and part of that experience is being left not fully understanding what was even just seen. It feels like being a character in the show, basically.
It's definitely not for everybody though with the issues it does have. Like I said though, those issues just add to it to me.
The best way I've heard it put was by the youtube analyst Mother's Basement when he was comparing Jujutsu Kaisen (one of the biggest current shonen animes) with Chainsaw Man. Very early on, both shows have their protagonists fight a monster who is able to trap the heroes in an infinitely large (or, in the case of Chainsaw Man, infinitely-looping) labyrinth. Jujutsu Kaisen, being a shonen anime with horror themes, has its heroes outsmart the problem by separating as far as possible until the labyrinth's power cannot be sustained anymore and dissipates. Chainsaw Man, being a horror comedy anime told through the lens and with the tropes of a shonen anime, tackles the problem head-on by having Chainsaw Man find the Infinity Devil in the labyrinth and commit to cutting him up with chainsaws for all of eternity, replenishing his strength with the Infinity Devil's blood until the Infinity Devil gives up. And he kept it up for so long that the rest of the party was visibly bored with the fight instead of scared of the Infinity Devil (https://youtu.be/fUWIUB7JS0I?t=2973). All that being said, Chainsaw Man still includes comedy elements (hence Denji's choice to make touching a boob and later to have sex before he dies his goal for his miserable life), so whether you'll want to keep watching will come down to whether you're looking for a pure horror anime or not. Dark Gathering might be something to look for if you just want horror (I only started the show but I've heard great things about where its going), but if not just know that Chainsaw Man isn't afraid to kill off characters and it's writer is adept at not only subverting expectations but also fucking with the audience's whole perception of what's going on in the story.
I will say as a big fan of the manga and the anime, it can be off putting that Denji is as horny as he is, but he is a teenage boy that has never known love. He has a very warped perception of relationships and does quite a bit of growing.
It took me over a month, but I finally finished both seasons of Last Exile. No spoilers, I'm just casting Compress Text with a 5th level spell slot.
I loved Last Exile
I didn't like the second season at first, but it definitely grew on me. I'm gonna give both of them a 10/10.
I can't exactly describe why, but they hit exactly the right chord with my taste in media. The strong aesthetic. The world just existing, and us seeing a story happening in it. It's like my favorite parts of Haibane Renmei, Cowboy Bebop, and Redline put together. I love a show that has its own unique vibe.
At first it annoyed me that we didn't find out what "Exile" even meant until like 22 episodes in, but now I really appreciate the fact that the show isn't stopping every ten seconds to explain everything. You know exactly what a vanship is the moment you see one. You know what claudia is the moment they say that ships run on it. You might not understand the role the Guild plays at first, but you'll get it if you just pay attention. You know what you need to know when you need to know it. Just enjoy the ride and try to piece together what you can until it gets explained in further detail.
The Silvana and the Urbanis have taken the number 1 and 2 spots in my list of favorite fictional ships.
Maybe as time goes on and my memories of this show fade, Moya and Serenity will climb back up, but for now I'm all in on these two. They're so damn cool. They don't even go in space and I'm still pretty sure either one could beat the Normandy in a fight.
I really like the english dub's voice acting.
I think Jad Saxton sounds more natural as Fam than her original Japanese voice does. Some of the recasts in the second season don't quite sound like their first season counterparts, but for the most part they're great, and who knows what claudia vapor does to your voice after 4 years of flying vanships? I do have to address the accents in the second season. Honestly hated them at first, but by the end the only character whose voice I don't love is Teddy. I stand by my belief that english dubs should utilize accents more. Maybe just have actual british people voicing british characters.
Also, the scene with Alvis finding the goat doll is so damn cute
This one has minor spoilers
BOY lemme tell you the shout I released when I saw the Silvana join the fight at the end of the second season maybe woke my damn neighbors.
The whole time watching Fam, I was wondering where Claus and Lavie were, then it's revealed in the last episode that Claus is in a wheelchair now! I guess that's fair enough, him being in this season would be a bit like Superman showing up to handle Calendar Man. The season would be like six episodes long, and most of that would be dedicated to Claus wiping the sky with everyone else in the Grand Race.
I really like that the main character of the second season wasn't the best pilot in the world. The crew from the first season is still the best, this season just wasn't about them. Fam is interesting enough being the fifth best vanship pilot. Cred to Dio for winning without a navi, even if that was against the rules
I really wanna know how Claus got injured. Maybe in 2029 we'll get a new movie about it.
Witch Hunter Robin
I couldn't possibly tell you why Witch Hunter Robin was on my list, nor for how long, but after Last Exile I needed another show, and the dice landed on this. I'm only two episodes in, so I can't get a real estimate on its score, but I'm guessing this will be the first show in a while that I won't have strong feelings about. Then again, I thought that about Last Exile, and it ended up being one of my favorites, so who knows?
And just like that I'm back in an anime mood! I haven't watched any for at least 6 months. I started both Overtake and Trigun this weekend. I'm four eps into Overtake and it's wonderful. It's about a Japanese formula 4 team and thus far it's pretty faithful to actual racing. I'm only one episode into Trigun, but the first was entertaining and I'm looking forward to finally watching it!