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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!
I finished My Dress-up Darling in a day, this week. It was a very good romance and I hope to see more good romances animated this way.
I'm also following Solo Leveling and Frieren, both are fantastic, although my viewing experiences are different. I have read the full Solo Leveling LN and manhwa and have enjoyed both of them. It is the first anime I've seen of which I have read the source material, the experience is amazing! The animators really do it justice.
As for Frieren, it's just fantastic all around. It's weird when you watch an anime and think "if this goes on, this is going to be among the best animes of all time" and watch it unfold week after week. The writing is absolutely solid, I really give it a 10/10, even with 2 episodes remaining.
I can't believe there's only going to be 2 more episodes of Frieren..... I totally agree with you, it's incredible and going to be one of the GOAT. How do you want the series to end? Are you going to read the manga once the season is over? There's just so many adorable things about the series....like Eisen and Heiter's friendship, esp this scene where they play with pretty pretty flowers together
My Dress Up Darling was another adorable one as well :D Marin so pretty. Definitely one of the better Manic Pixie Dream Girls.
I detest my dress up darling. The idea that a woman would be into a loser artist guy after seeing his work is exceptionally hilarious considering my own experience as that loser “artist” guy has been the complete opposite. I get that it’s supposed to be wish fulfillment, but it feels more like I’m being mocked more than anything. Credit where credit is due though, the artwork and animation is beautiful. The only way I can stomach watching it is if I turn off the sound and admire the pretty pictures.
That sounds painful I'm sorry. I haven't seen Dress Up Darling, so I don't exactly have a point of comparison, but I'm curious if there's a romance story that clicked better with you?
No spoilers ahead
Boogiepop Phantom
https://myanimelist.net/anime/369/Boogiepop_wa_Warawanai
What a strange one. Both the story, and the entire situation surrounding the anime and the LN. So Phantom is a noncanonical sequel to the first novel, and tied in with a live action movie adaptation of that novel released during the show's run in 2000. Then 19 years later, five of the first six novels (they skipped #4) were adapted into an anime series. The first three episodes of that series adapt the first novel, hence the common recommendation to watch the first three episodes of it before Phantom.
I don't think it would be too confusing if I hadn't seen the first arc, but I'm glad I did–while it reveals a bit of the mystery ahead of time, it freed up my mind to focus on the story elements unique to Phantom. This show bears rewatching like a dozen times. I'm glad my friend's copy has a commentary track, I can't wait to watch it again listening to that.
The sound design was awesome, the effects they put on the vocals helped to sell both the out of order timeline and the unreality of the supernatural characters. The vignette over the visuals goes a long way towards setting the tone, though it was a bit too heavy at first. That and the explicitly stated exposition at certain points brings it down to a 9/10 from me.
After I finish Boogiepop 2019, I'm gonna burn through these novels faster than I did Land of the Lustrous. Unfortunately it seems like I'll be limited to 6 official translations, and then the next 3 from fan translations, and at the rate the fans are able to translate novels, I'll be in my late 30s by the time I'm caught up with where japanese readers are today.
Next up is the rest of the 2019 series, unless I can find the live action film at some point today.
ETA: I found the live action film at some point today. Turns out it's on youtube! It's alright. I mean, it's a low budget live action adaptation of a light novel. The big action sequence at the end is very "1999 low budget film," it's about as hard to follow as Phantom was, but overall I liked it.
That's helpful that you followed up and mapped out how Boogiepop's production was done, it makes me want to continue!
When you say it's down to a 9/10, with the visuals, does that mean they try a little too hard with the artsy presentation? By explicitly stated exposition, do you mean how some storytellers reveal the mystery, but then say it out loud? They break the "show, don't tell" rule? If they do that, I see how that would mar the overall package
I'm glad my review was of some use!
For the first few episodes, the color is extremely desaturated and there's a heavy vignette that makes it hard for me to watch. You'll know what I mean if you watch the first episode. This has an explanation in the narrative, and it slowly dissipates throughout the series until the last episode has no color filters at all, but it's hard to get used to.
And yeah, there's at least two points where the antagonists unironically do an "As You Know."
None of these really ruin my viewing of the series, but I'm trying to be more nitpicky because I tend to give 9s and 10s to everything I watch, and I feel like it dilutes the 10s. 10 is supposed to be a "masterpiece," and there are only a few shows that I think deserve that commendation.
If you do watch it, just know that it has a very anachronic timeline–it's hard to keep track of what's happening and when. I don't want this to dissuade you from watching it, and it doesn't detract from the show, just be aware that not every scene takes place immediately after the last.
Been watching Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2 with a friend and damn, I'm really enjoying it. Animation is super good, love the fight scenes and the power interactions are interesting.
I binged Attack on Titan third season, I like the twist and the direction the story takes, it was totally surprising to me, but it also feels believable somehow. Now that I'm on the final season, and I see it's 30 episodes, I need a break. One of these days I'll finish one of the dozen plus shows I started lol