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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!
Happy second-to-last week of the season!
This is usually when I check out next season's lineup and decide what to watch:
One Punch Man S3
Yeah, it's still JC Staff instead of Madhouse, so the animation is not going to be up to the stratospheric standards of S1. Still a good show to watch with your brain switched off.
Boku no Hero Academia Final Season
This final arc has dragged on for way longer than necessary, but I'm on board if they wrap it up for real this time.
Fumetsu no Anata e S3
Loved the first 2 seasons of this show. Truly weird and original character-driven fantasy which isn't just lifted straight from Tolkien and JRPGs.
For anyone on the fence, check out the first episode in S1. Really sets the mood for the series and had me hooked.
3-nen Z-gumi Ginpachi-sensei
Gintama spin-off based on the dumb school skits. I have no doubt this will be unwatchable for anyone not already a fan of the original show.
Honorary mentions for stuff which will probably be good but which I won't be watching since I read the manga:
Spy X Family S3
No idea where the anime is at, but the manga is still great.
Kind of surprising how few other series there are with a setting like post-WW2 spy vs spy Berlin. The closest I can think of is Princess Principal.
Ranma 1/2 S2
Hands down my favourite Takahashi series. Just the perfect blend of action, drama and comedy.
Shuumatsu Touring
Slice of life series about a girl and her android companion who emerge from a shelter after an apocalyptic event and tour across a ruined Japan on a motorbike in search of survivors. Close to a travel / camping manga in terms of vibe (think Yuru Camp) and not grim at all.
I've been catching up on Frieren and read through the Golden Land and Goddess'Monument arcs, so just have volume 14 to read (probably this weekend) and then I'll be up to date on the published volumes.
Dandadan - pretty entertaining little sci-fi/fantasy/modern world anime about two kids and their hijinks.
Alright, so I just saw the first Kimetsu no Yaiba: Infinity Castle movie. I've been anime only on this with my partner, and decided to not read the manga and ending since she does not really read manga. One thing that kind of came out of nowhere for her and I was....
Movie Spoilers
The Kaigaku plot with Zenitsu. I've been doing some searching around to see if anyone else was confused, and I'm trying my best to not spoil past where the movie ends, and I see a lot of hate around him. I haven't seen the early episodes in a long time (since they first aired).So..this felt like it was supposed to be some big emotional fight and growth moment for Zenitsu, but it just kind of fell flat for me? From what I gathered he showed up twice in the anime before this? Once in a really early flashback with Zenitsu, but we dont see his face, and I guess he was that kid in Gyomei's flashback that stomped out the incense protecting those kids?
So like? What? Was the manga the same way, or was it more rewarding? Am I totally missing something here, forgetting some major plot point, or what?
Umamusume: Pretty Derby
The video game made a bit of a splash when it was released in English this year. I don't normally play free-to-play games, but a friend convinced me to try this one, and it's actually a shockingly good sports management game. So after getting really into the game and being home sick with what may have been whooping cough, I decided to give the anime a go as well, and ended up binging all three seasons.
Honestly I got more invested in it than I've ever been in a TV show before. Video games tend to get me more invested in characters than TV shows do, and when those same characters showed up in the show, I was immediately into it. (It may also have helped that I was in a weird emotional state after 4 nights with almost no sleep when I started watching.) Also maybe I've finally found my niche with sports anime. I may have to give some others a try.
It's set in an alternate universe where horse girls exist, and they inherit the names and attributes of famous racehorses from our world. (No horse boys exist. If a horse lady gets pregnant, the child appears to always be a horse girl. You may be familiar with that one meme, but the line never appears in the show, which never gets into details about this other than some vague references to the three goddesses and the chosen girls.) The most talented horse girls are enrolled in academies training them as racers, which appears to be one of the most popular sports on the planet. (Oh and after each race there's a concert where the top 3 finishers perform a song for the audience. It comes up now and then but isn't very important to the plot.)
Season 1 is a fairly straightforward story about a girl from the countryside who comes to the big city to become a professional racer and make her mom proud. I think every single episode of season 1 culminates in an exciting race (and just almost every episode of season 2 and 3). There are predictably some ups and downs, but of course (spoiler warning) she comes out on top.
Season 2 is about a highly talented girl who struggles with repeated injuries, and how she has to give up on her goals, find new meaning in her life, and overcome impossible odds to get back on the level of her friend/rival. The animation looks a bit cheaper, and the first half of the season feels a bit unfocused, but it was a real emotional rollercoaster.
Season 3 focuses on two new students who were recurring characters as fans of season 2's protagonist, who are now enrolled in the academy. One of them especially has to overcome a gruelling training regime to achieve her dreams, only to later realise that she's already hit her peak as a racer and wanting to end her brief career on a high note. This season has the best animated races, and the budget is clearly higher than season 2.
So clearly I had a great time watching this, but I'm not sure if it's actually considered a quality show. I'd recommend giving the game a try, and checking out the anime if you like the game. I'll maybe look into some other sports anime and see if they have the same effect on me.
I'm watching Steins;Gate with my 14yo. It was super weird and slow to get started, but now we're about half way through and I can see why it always gets related to Attack on Titan. 🤯