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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!
Mashle: Magic and Muscles has been my entertainment this last week and holy crap. I've thought nearly every episode that they'd mined the absolute depths of absurdity, but almost every episode proved me wrong. That show is something else. I don't know how much longer they can keep this up, but I'm reasonably sold on sticking around to find out.
The music is also the best there's been in any anime for years. Bling, bang, bang, born is so good that I'm listening to it absent the show and I've never done that outside of Tank from Cowboy Bebop.
The creme puffs song at the ending credits gets me every time.
I get that they have to change things up on season breaks, and I'm thankful for what it did for the opening credits song, but you're right, I would have held onto Chou Cream Funk like grim death, it's so good and a perfect match for the mania of the show itself.
Noooo did they remove it for Season 2? I've only finished Season 1 so far but that song legitimately was my favorite part of the whole anime.
Sadly, yeah. New opening and closing tracks for season 2. The opener is a straight upgrade, while the closer is a downgrade, IMO.
I listen to the .hack//SIGN soundtrack on the regular.
You've got me to add .hack to my watch list. I remember watching it as a kid on TV and being fascinated by it since I was playing RuneScape and WoW at that time.
Would you say it holds up?
You should be aware that it is part of a multimedia franchise and doesn’t make a ton of sense by itself. I’d only watch it if you’re also playing the original .hack trilogy of games at the same time.
Thanks for the heads up. I don't think I watched the show in its entirety back in the day so I'll put it on my list very far down then. I don't think I'll have time to try for a multimedia franchise for at least the next decade.
Very thankful for emulation so I can revisit those titles when I do get around to it
I haven't watched it in a while, but most people seem to think it doesn't. It's very slow and drawn out more than it needed. The studio that produced it, Bee Train, was founded as sort of a hospital for animators. Animation quality was lax over there, to allow animators to not overwork while still collecting a pay.
Does this also have a Yuki Kajiura soundtrack? I might watch it just for the music.
Yes.
I just finished Dead Dead Demon's DeDeDeDe Destruction and loved it. A sci fi slice of life, following a group of high school girls dealing with daily life under the shadow of a gigantic alien mothership that pretty much just hangs silently in the Tokyo sky. At times funny, at times horrifying, always poignant. Brilliant manga.
I am still following Train to the end of the world, but not as invested as I was when it was happier and randomer. Still generally a bright spot of the week. You just never regret watching an episode of this.
There are two series I might be watching soon. Rewatch Seirei no Moribito or starting Yuru Camp. I should probably start Camp anyway so I can have something chill to watch.
If you like Yuru Camp, you can follow up with Yama no Susume (you can safely skip season 1, all gets reused for season 2) and if you still hunger for more, Super Cub has your back.
Also, don't miss out on the Yuru Camp movie. Though it's a little bit more eventful than the series, so not as chill.
In any case, if you are ready to come back to work but still want to keep it mostly testosterone-free, Shirobako is the best show for working young adults made in the past 20 years.
I'm watching Girls Band Cry. It grabbed me with the rather expressive 3D animation, but I stayed for the core cast's interactions. As of episode 8, it's really picking up. Shame it isn't on any official streaming site in English, but the fansubs are decent and the series is a hard recommend from me.
I got to episode 13 of Rise of the Shield Hero before I stopped.
To me, the show is just poorly written. The main antagonist doesn't execute her schemes based on her own talents and abilities, she gets away with it because every supporting character in the show is absolutely braindead. The supporting characters do not learn from their experiences, ever.
So I started watching That Time I was Reincarnated as a Slime, and it's 10x better, and very cute and wholesome.