8
votes
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 started watching the Ace Attorney anime last week. I just wanted something to watch that was kinda mindless. I've also played all the mainline Ace Attorney games, and the anime is exactly the same storylines from the games. So it's perfect for that mindless, need some background noise, kinda watch. I've been watching the dubbed version -- I know, I'm awful -- and it's definitely less than stellar. But it fulfills my needs at this time.
I stumbled upon a series called Nichijou last night. A YouTube Short of it popped up in my feed, and it looked funny and entertaining. I think I'll give that a try.
Nichijou is a classic :) some of the skits will live rent free in your brain forevermore.
Reading Nisekoi on the jump app since I caught up with Blue Box. Would love to find more romcom stuff.
Keeping up with Mashle, Frieren, Solo Leveling, and Apothecary Diaries. Finishing Summertime Rendering, which is pretty good and I’m glad I waited to start it until it was finished.
I was pleasantly surprised by Apothecary Diaries. I thought I knew the genre and knew the story but nevertheless it's quite refreshing and enjoyable.
Overlord, based on these light novels:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overlord_(novel_series)
It might be the nerdiest of the issekai series in that the characters are much more characters from a RPG like Dungeons and Dragons than they are like characters from a high fantasy novel. The protagonist finds himself trapped in “another world” after he fails to log out before an MMORPG game he plays. His fortress has been transplanted to a new area and, much more powerful than anyone else in this world, sets out to make a name for himself.
I usually watch anime that I found out about because people make fan art of it. His right-hand demoness Albedo is popular among illustrators but I really like the design of the protagonist (a lich who’ll be really offended if you mistake him for a skeleton) and many of the other characters. There’s a continuous theme of Albedo being head-over-heels in love with the protagonist who doesn’t reciprocate which becomes the main focus for fanservice in the series.
Overlord is fast-paced to a fault. The story from the light novel has been greatly condensed and there are aspects of the story that you'll probably miss or be confused by if you watch it only once or if you don't read the light novel or watch YouTube videos by people who have read the light novels. On the other hand, it is worth watching twice and I really found it a treat to share some of the best episodes with friends afterwards. At the very beginning the protagonist tells us that he's lost his human morality but it's a process that takes a while to really perceive because early on you see him being kind to his subordinates and allies (instead of "you have failed me for the last time" he'll send a subordinate back with some magic items and a new plan) but over time you see him get dragged along with the evil impulses of his subordinates.
With 4 seasons of 13 ordinary episodes plus a number of shorts and OVAs in a more cartoony style this is a good-sized series. The light novel has progressed well past the anime so anyone who cares where the story goes afterwards has a place to follow up. I’m not sure if everyone will like it but I do. The end of the visual novel has been announced as well as a 5th season which I am looking forward to.