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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!
So I've been reading the most recent volume of Touge Oni. It's a series that pretty much only exists in a volume format, as the fan scanlators use the Japanese volume releases. It's a great series that mixes Shinto mythology with science fiction concepts.
My slow watch through of Taiyou no Kiba Dagram continues! I've watched through episode 37 so far. Don't worry my handful of readers, I'm still planning on finishing this series eventually. My new job and some changes in my personal life had me fairly busy but I'm hoping I can watch more regularly once things settle down.
Episode 36 involved the gang attempting to make progress to the mountain fastness (an iron mine) that is supposed to allow them to hide effectively from federation forces. Something to do with jurisdiction/property rights but that was several episodes (and more than a month past IRL). They ran into a mine field that was laid unmarked on the road and had to get a minesweeper and fight off an attack before proceeding further.
I had thought minefields needed to be marked and it turns out while this show was airing the modern Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons had just finished up in 1980 and was set to go into effect in 1983. This included a section regarding the regulation of land mines in armed conflicts. I didn't find if this included requiring minefields to have signs denoting where they are located in my brief look but it is something to look into. This was amended in 1996 with further restrictions so this anime is going to end up sending me down a rabbit hole of international military law. That all being said this is the future and who knows what the rules of war are now.
Episode 37 dealt with the group needing to cross one of two bridges over a ravine. It has more interactions with side characters and honestly made me think about how little the male MC has been doing on screen lately besides looking pensive, being quiet, and occasionally fighting other mechs as their pilot. Heckle (the mechanic) has had more screen time than him over the last few episodes and was even instrumental in saving Crinn in the previous episode.
All in all I'm still enjoying the show. I'm hoping to continue providing my thoughts and hope that you guys will consider joining in and watching this obscure but important show in the mecha genre.
Handyman Saitou in Another World: Been binging this for the past two days. It's a fantasy/comedy anime in which a few short stories play out each episode. It's quite fun/cute, reminds me of Dungeon Meshi.
Dandadan: New anime this season, only one episode so far. It's like someone imagined a rom-com while having a fever dream. Definitely worth watching if the rest of the season is as good as the first episode.
Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World- Season 3
It's back! And with a 1.5h first episode!! Even better, there are rumors that the season is going to have 38 episodes!!!
That was a hell of an episode. I've been itching for some more royal race and witch cult content and it delivered. We met two sin archbishops in one episode and there's talk of third. Thank god Reinhard is there as the crew definitely is going to need him.
The Beatrice-Subaru relationship is really quite cute. Apparently there's an in-anime year between S2 and S3, so a lot more bonding must have happened off-screen.
Considering Subaru befriended the songstress, we're definitely seeing Puck return this season. The crew needs him with the threat looming on the horizon.
That was a spectacular and unexpected ending. The episode was peaceful, so I was quite surprised when Wrath came up and massacred the whole town square in one of the most unsettling way possible(with even Subaru playing along!). The fact that the save point is only one hour away from the massacre is also brutal, I'm looking forward to seeing how Subaru gets himself out of this pickle.
Dandadan has been touted as being incredible for a while and I never really knew what it was about. I don't particularly read manga so I never got around to reading into what it actually is, I tend to enjoy anime more, but
holy.
shit.
That episode was incredible. I was slackjawed the entire episode because everything about that episode was flawless. I mean that in the truest sense of the word. I couldn't think of anything wrong with that episode. From the animation to the bizarre story to the voice acting. What a ride from start to finish.
I haven't been this hooked on a first episode in forever and if they can keep up the quality it'll be anime of the year (or at least a very very very strong contender). Even if they can't keep it up, I'm really digging the animation style too. It's crisp, outspoken, and unique.
Wow.
The new season is looking pretty sweet overall. Sorely needed after a mediocre (in my opinion) year, save for a few exceptions.
I watched it with my husband and he put it on the dub. And I’ve got to say it is the best anime dub I have seen in years.
But damn, that animation. When I heard Science Saru was involved I knew it would be a must-watch, and I was not disappointed.
While I generally prefer Japanese dubs, Netflix takes dubbing seriously and consistently delivers great English and Spain Spanish dubs at least (those are the only three languages I have experience with).
Anime dubs have come a long way, and I really appreciate them expanding the anime audience!
Dandadan ep1 was so cool! I feel like people have been hyping the show for a while before it came out, and I see why
Re:Re:Zero
I quite enjoyed the wild ride that was the first season, but I never did pick up season 2 because it was just so much suffering. My strategy is the same as what I did for Boku No Hero Academia: wait until the completely finish, see how much joy and hope there is at the end, and then go back. Thanks for the summary and I super skimmed it; not yet.
If you even sort of enjoyed season 1, consider giving season 2 a shot! My wife and I were both tepid on the series, but season 2 really delivers in spades. While Subaru still dies and has to retry a few times, season 2 is really about Subaru learning to value his life and friends! It has some episodes that really struck me on a personal level.
I super enjoyed season 1, and that's why I'm shying away :'( I'm looking forward to its final conclusion, and if Subaru and Emilia can survive somewhat happily, and if Ram and Rem come out halfway alright, which I'll even include dying without mental anguish as somewhat happily, I'm on board.
There are a few positive things that stuck with me probably for life:
Season 1 Episode 16, "The Greed Of A Pig", where Subaru went to plead with the haughty princess person for aid, and she flat out refused. Why should she. And how dare he come with nothing but emotional / moral blackmail to ask for something that puts her people and her personal stakes at risk. I still think about that a lot. How can I do a bit more work to bring value to a transaction and or relationship, and if I'm just being lazy depending upon "you gotta help me".
When Puck was enraged about Subaru letting Emilia die and froze the world. It seems to be a theme in the anime that one oftens suffer consequences of circumstances we know nothing about.
I just watched a movie on YouTube in all of its ultra-compressed glory. 1995’s Junkers Come Here.
It’s a fantastic film. The character designs are very simplistic but the attention on animation is fantastic. The ways that they capture body language to convey meaning is perhaps some of the best I’ve ever seen in any animated film. I am particularly impressed with how well they captured the movements and shape of the titular dog character as most anime doesn’t tend to animate real animals that realistically. The film has a lot of aesthetic that is specific to the hand-drawn techniques of the times and uses a good amount of expensive techniques at times like airbrushing and the like.
It’s a silly movie about a talking dog, and like every animated movie from 1995 there is even a fat lady who sings soprano for no apparent reason. But behind it is actually a very tender drama that I found to be very affecting. The main character is actually the dog’s owner who learns the importance of communicating her feelings.
I really can’t express why this film is so good without talking for hours and hours. Go look it up and watch it. It is well worth the time.
Manga:
Read a completed romcom manga, 8 volumes and ends very satisfyingly. Short and sweet, it doesn't overstay its welcome nor drag on with side characters or dumb misunderstandings. Very sex positive -- probably the most wholesome romcom manga I've never encountered dealing with teenage sex. Enthusiastic consent ahoy! Female climax team goal! Emotional intimacy and growth yes! The series takes place on a planet where teenagers have hormones and easy access to pornography is a real thing to overcome (tips hat), where parents want to be supportive but are scared as well. Three adjectives to describe the series: (1) loud (2) fun (3) raunchy. Extremely straightforward Boyfriend Girlfriend (do chokkyu karashi x kanojo) 8.5/10 (scale - where I"S is 10/10 and Ichigo 100% is 3/10.)
Also
Yay a new Frieren episode!
Watched the second episode of Uzumaki. And compared to last week, it's... Different.
Uzumaki Episode 2 Spoilers
The episode started out pretty good, I figured they'd show the Jack-in-the-Box kid and then Kirie seeing the lovers from Twisted Souls was also really nice. It made the events of Uzumaki feel more cohesive in a way, with multiple things unfolding at once.But the overall pacing was too frantic. I know there's four episodes, but they crammed too much into this one. I would've preferred that Kirie's hair episode didn't overlap with the snail people showing up, seeing her with the wild hair in front of Katayama's pen right before the "showdown" just felt out of place and almost silly. Honestly, everything with the snail people was just too rushed. Having the climax/end of Medusa, Snail and Twisted Souls all in one day was too much.
Though I did like using the Twisted Souls scene to cut to the lighthouse turning on... Well, conceptually. The lighting effect used for the lighthouse's light turning on at the end of that scene felt really weird and out of place, a corner of the screen just faded/flashed to white. The scene cutting away to show the lighthouse before commercial was cool. I'm okay with how the Black Lighthouse was shortened.
Animation was also a bit bad. The chase scene on the beach in particular felt just lazy, and I noticed them cutting a lot of corners. This episode apparently used a different studio and director from the last one based on comments on Reddit, so fingers crossed next episode is better.
Overall though? I'd say it's still pretty okay and has a lot of the atmosphere of the manga. It's just too much happening at once, which removes a lot of the tension.
One last thing: did they just skip Jack-in-the-Box and turn it into a jumpscare at the end?? The chase sequence was one of the scariest scenes in the manga!
No spoilers, just compressed
Eat-Man
As I was watching Eat-Man, I didn't enjoy it at all. The animation is middling at best, often hanging on or repeating frames in what appears to be an attempt at cinematography, but ends up just padding episode time. The story is absolutely opaque, inscrutable in a way that lacks the charm of other shows that don't waste time explaining themselves. It's like someone else is watching something in the same room as you, and you're occasionally glancing at the screen—you never get a full story. The only thing I liked about it was the music.
Eat-Man '98 was much better in most regards. I still didn't think it was very good, it's still a disjointed jumbled mess of sci-fi and fantasy, but at least the plotlines largely made sense.
All that being said, now that I've moved past it, I can't help but be fond of it. It reminds me of the various attempts I've made at D&D campaigns, a haphazard scattering of concepts and storylines that are never fully realized, and are probably better off left half-baked in the forgotten archives of my notepad.
I wouldn't recommend it, and I likely wouldn't watch it again, but I'm not upset that I did. I do adore Bolt Crank. Both series get 5/10.
Blue Box ep1, it's a sports show that's really pretty? I feel like there aren't many sports anime that focus so much on the art, it's great, and looking forward to more!