12
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 have started properly watching Nichijou (2011) and started reading City (2016), both by Arawii Keiichi. These series probably don't need any introductions lol. I've watched many clips of Nichijou over the years and have laughed but I've never seen the whole thing so I thought I'd finally do so. Absolutely love how over the top the animators make regular day-to-day things look.
City has also been enjoyable and I thought I'd try getting into it after the anime announcement recently. It's definitely more on the surreal side of things compared to Nichijou but it's still really enjoyable. Really look forward to the anime adaptation of it.
The adorable charm of Sakamoto! >v< what a joy of a series!
I absolutely love all the scenes with Hakase, Nano and Sakamoto, never fails to make me laugh
I tend to avoid the high seas with anime so there's a lot I miss out on. Wife wants Netflix so I'm watching Delicious in Dungeon. Crazy to think Sony might acquire Kadokawa.
Waiting patiently for every Thursday for Dandadan. Acrobatic Silky was rough but absolutely entertaining!
DAN DA DAN had, from episode 1, been the anime most resembling FLCL of the early naughts to me: so stylish, so confident in being its own thing, so fluid and eye popping with characters immediately likable and memorable.
The stories have all been really tough for me.
Click to expand spoiler - text mentions of SA .
Initially, I really disliked the part in episode 1 where Momo was very nearly SA'd by aliens. But after watching all the released episodes so far, I respect the creators' choice and will even defend that it was important to the narrative.
The story opens with Momo's worthless boyfriend retaliating with a kick that sent Momo flying and reeling from pain. Our protagonist walks it off like a champ, and I initially chalked it up to anime people being made of resilient plastic. In light of the back story of Acrobatic Silky, and their classmate dying from action on screen, though, I had to recalibrate: Momo's ex would have dealt enough damage to have seriously injure any other regular girl.
The scene with the aliens was terrifying and brutal: Momo just to happened to have a gift, AND an adult figure who trained her, AND a magic warping boy/Baba combo in her favour. Any other regular girl in their universe would have ended up missing, dead, or worse.
The tunnel crab girls. The girls Baba visited outside of the tunnel before she stopped travelling. Acrobatic Silky. Silky's very young daughter.
They live in a brutal world full of violence and danger to women. Episode 1's alien scene was deeply upsetting, but I feel, necessary to contrast with how unlikely it was for Momo to escape with a good outcome.
I look forward to more episodes with trepidation. I hope they find Silky's daughter, and that very little trauma/danger had befallen her in the intervening years.
I've been slowly reading my way through One Piece. Just got through the Thriller Bark arc and I am hopeful the next arc will be more interesting. I got hella bored and staled on Thriller Bark for months, it was a grind.
Thriller Bark is a smaller arc sorta wedge between two larger overarching sagas. I like it, and think there is some really good moments in it, but I think a lot of people view it as one of the lesser arcs.
The next arc absolutely picks up though. As it feeds into what a lot of people consider one of the highest points of the series.
There are parts of Thriller Park that to me are cooler in hindsight after learning more about the setting. I agree it can be a bit slower of an arc, but I also binged through it when I reread One Piece to get caught back up after taking a ~5 year break from reading it.
Oh, you're in for a treat. Next story beats slap for sure. Enjoy!
I do agree when following it weekly, Thriller Bark was a bit painful.
Ahh… a day late (but not a dollar short for this one)
Advised by CPTBlueBear's suggestion one month ago, I've been watching Dan Da Dan, and it is good. I have personal notes on my favorite bits (These weren't written to be shared, so any incongruities in thought or structure you see—kindly disregard) :
spoilers - DanDaDan
I erupted in a burst of laughter at this (above), replaying the snippet a few more times before continuing.
This next one is just a good quote. It has earned a permanent spot in my Sententiae book:
I've watched as much JoJo's Bizarre Adventure as I could in a sitting (show recommended by Pekt.) The motivations for the characters are wild, and it becomes obvious to me I know little about the customs and etiquette of Japan (or even more simply— the Jojo family themselves). I'm not sure if I'm a fan of the changing storylines yet, but I'll give it a chance.
I also cruised through One-Punch Man, but that feels like cheating (I binged and didn't really absorb the material).
Sadly, I somewhat-recently returned from a sabbatical, so I have little time these days for anime-watching. I've got recommendations lined up that should last me into the new year, though!
I'm glad you gave JoJo's a try! It is certainly bizarre and I've had friends who loved it or bounce off it.
There are some story arcs that I've enjoyed less, but it's been overall a fun experience. I still need to get around to finishing the latest arc on my own since I won't be able to watch it with my friends anytime soon.
I hope you enjoy it and enjoy exploring more anime!
Thank you! I will take your encouragement with me as I explore the landscape of the genre.
I read the Shounen Jump weeklies so nothing super interesting there. Always interesting to guess which series is getting axed soon. Akane-banashi has a flashback which is great. For sure, once there's enough runway, this thing is getting animated and I will be so hyped for it. I'm also so happy Hunter x Hunter is back but it also made me realize how much reading is involved in a single chapter. We could probably just switch to a light novel format at this point and fans would be happy. At least for this arc...
I haven't read Hajime no Ippo or Berserk in a while so it was good to be able to binge some chapters. I actually finished my migration from Tachiyomi to Mihon since a few data sources weren't updating correctly, which I blamed on not migrating (whether rightfully so or not, unsure, haha).
Finally finished Sakura: Of Rice and Ruin after watching the first episode all the way back when it aired. The CG style is surprisingly immersive (Kokorowa aside) and I wasn't expecting to get choked up at
the dog's "death".
Caught up on Dan Da Dan; I can see why there was a massive spike in ratings for episode 7. That was a very well done
vignette, even if it (oddly?) didn't hit me nearly as hard as the aforementioned Sakuna scene.
Watched Mob Psycho 100, having initially dropped it after the first episode aired as I was under the impression that it was just a less entertaining OPM — which was wrong. The main cast brims with depth, the simple themes are handled maturely & with nuance, and the animation is obviously beautiful.
TsumaSho is a fresh take on the reincarnation trope and its twists, but the comedic interludes are more jarring than they are comic relief.
Picked up Ga-Rei-Zero as a "go in blind" recommendation. It shows its age and was fairly derivative even for its time, but the style holds up well and the characters are unexpectedly three-dimensional.
Reincarnated Aristocrat and Notorious "Talker" have degraded from guilty pleasures to downright mediocrity.