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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!
Vinland Saga has finally come to a close, and while it might not have had the most satisfying finale, it's a fitting one for the theme of the story, and doesn't really leave any cliffhangers or loose plot points. It did get so slow with updates or story progression at some points that I wondered if we would end up with another Vagabond situation, but fortunately that wasn't the case and us readers can rest easy knowing that at least one seinen protagonist seeking peace really did find it in the end, at least partially. Now it's just down to the team behind Berserk (rest in peace Miura you legend) to put a bow on the sad strong seinen main character trio.
As for all the people that haven't read Vinland Saga and have no idea what I'm talking about, if you're into stories that are focused more on introspection and slower paced character building over action and violence (though there are moments where there's a lot of that, especially in the beginning), I strongly recommend you give it a try. I know the pace slows down a whole lot after the story enters what we jokingly call the "farmland saga" arc, but it's genuinely good stuff all the way through.
Good to hear that they held the course!
I fell behind on reading this around
spoilers
when they go to America,but I always thought the deliberate shift in focus from action to introspection and development as a human being / finding purpose in life was pretty gutsy. It's not uncommon to have a series where the protagonist starts out as a strong character and then decides to hang up their sword, but inevitably they have to then come out of retirement and start kicking butt again (Rurouni Kenshin and The Fable come to mind, and Vagabond might end up going the same way if it ever actually continues), so I have to hand it to this series for really sticking with the premise.
Sounds like it's time to finally see how it ends. I've enjoyed what I read of the series, but have other life things that take away a lot of my reading time, and I find reading a book I'm able to pick it up and put it down a bit easier than manga.
I stopped reading a bit after @Well_known_bear, and I remember the plot well enough to not need to do a full reread, but I might just at some point, since I enjoyed it immensely.
I found following the character development to be something that really resinated with me. I first started reading it while I was in high school and wanted more gritty, violent manga. When I was younger I was wondering if there was going to be a point where the main character stopped with his non-violence if there would be something that pushed him over the edge, but now I'm glad that he stuck to it.
Watched Bocchi the Rock. As a musician with real bad social anxiety, it hit different. Very funny, really well animated, great characters, I highly recommend!
Secrets of the Silent Witch which is airing this season is making me think back to this show a lot (although I think Bocchi the Rock is definitely the better show)! Feels like we're in a bit of a "socially awkward heroine" boom at the moment (see also SHY, Komi-san wa komyushou desu, etc).
Have you thought about appearing at music social events wearing a garbage can? at Classical events one could maybe wear...... Powdered Wigs? Painted faces? Haha
Also, have you seen Your Lie In April? A very different piano/violin duet type of music anime.
Casually suggesting heartbreak when talking about Bocchi the Rock to sneak it in is diabolical.
Lol I said different. But yes its one of the sadder ones
Fun fact, the octopus cracker shop at Enoshima Island has a little display case with some Bocchi the Rock merch, which implies that the one episode where they visit Enoshima noticeably boosted tourism there. Which is great, because Enoshima is a nice place to visit. I totally didn't visit there because it was in the show, that was just a fun surprise.
...I did buy a t-shirt with Bocchi's signature though, just not at Enoshima. I like this show.
I finished reading Evangelion. I have watched the anime many years ago (mid-2000s). I was confused enough back then to warrant a re-visit and see if my adult brain got more out of it than my student brain. The answer is "kinda?". I liked the manga more than the anime, I can say that much. Much easier to pause and reflect on some things. However, in general, it still feels like there is too much in there. Too many metaphors and symbols, the whole blend of Christian/Biblical stuff with psychology (Freud/Jung). I still liked it, the artwork is very good, but some stuff feels very rushed and i have to fill in the gaps on my own. I can appreciate a more mature piece of fiction, where you are not being spoon-fed every explanation. I can read between the lines. I just think I had to do that a lot for this one. I'd still recommend it for anyone who hasn't seen it or read it. It is a classic.
EVA is a weird piece of art. I think that the anime and the manga are two seperate pieces, with the anime only really finally finishing with 3.0+1.0 Trice Upon A Time. I would agree with you that it's a classic, but also that the missing gaps isn't what makes it mature. For me, it's a mature piece of art because of the revisits, the retelling, and the maturation of the story tellers themselves.
I finished reading Helck.
My kid came upon the manga in the library, then we all sat down to watch the anime. The beginning episodes are extremely carefree, and quite the departure in tone from the rest of the series. There's more torture, despair and violence in it than I'd like, but since the kid already read it, I felt some responsibility to finish as well. I'm glad I did, overall B+ series, good art, very likeable characters, some adorable monsters/masots, and wraps up fairly well. I would have liked more epilogue and further background on a few things, but then again I have an endless thirst for endless epilogue.
The anime ends abruptly, with little chance of getting a final season 2, sadly.
Overall recommend 8/10.
It's not an epilogue, but Völundio: Divergent Sword Saga* is set in the same universe if you're looking for more. There was very little direct crossover up to the point I've read, as I believe they take place in different parts of the world (I'm a few years behind now, can't say for sure.)
Unfortunately the official English version is by a web-only publisher, so you won't be able to grab it from a local library.
*MangaUpdates, MyAnimeList, AniList, MangaBaka
Oh cool! I want more Piwi ;_; but more in their world is welcome news, thank you
I love Helck in a B movie sort of way. It's like a platonic ideal of a shonen series. It's nothing but tropes, but they are all used correctly. Just a nice simple 8/10.
Which is I guess pretty fitting, as Helck would rate himself 8/10 at best. This series is good proof that "it's okay" not being the best.
in the end:
Helck is content to live in the self prescribed shadow of the Classical Hero, Cless, the new king everyone loves and adores; we never learn much about Piwi; Uria is another hero who died young but it's his legacy of friendship which lives on; Vermilio is only just beginning on her journey; Kenros "the Swift" might be actually the most fearsome of the land with no ambition at all.
It's also wonderful to see male - female friendship (Helck + Vermilio) that doesn't feel compelled to turn romantic at the end.
Spoilers
Yeah, the Helck Vermilio friendship is great. I think it hits a rare combo, because not only does it not turn romantic, but it also feels like the "culture" agrees with that decision. There are a few series that end in with male female friendship, that the fans almost entirely ignore, I'm even guilty of it myself, but basically everyone seems to be on board with Helck and Vermilio just being friends.Haikyuu!! My partner wanted to check out a sports anime and heard this one was quite good. I ended up getting hooked watching it in the background. Neither of us care for sports but they make volleyball exciting and get us to care about not just the individuals but the whole team dynamic and competition between rivals and teams. Part of its critical acclaim is how accurately they portray volleyball and advanced techniques, although I'm sure at some point they're starting to take shounen liberties in the name of rule of cool.
So I highly recommend it if you're looking for some fun shounen. Be warned that the anime is not finished, the second to last arc is split between the final season and two movies with the last in production, no word on if the final arc will be adapted (though that one seems like more an epilogue arc from the summary I read).
Part of the fun in Haikyuu is that our main protagonist is almost second fiddle to the rest of the cast. The entire squad is fairly well established with personalities but even more interesting is that the other squads also have well established characters. There are entire spinoffs for the other teams that are not the Crows.
Good show for non sports anime fans too!
Next? For a finished sports manga, I'd like to recommend Chihayafuru. (The anime isn't finished) It's a classical poetry card game, which is as not sports as it gets, but it totally is a sport, and the spirit of it is very infectious and uplifting :)