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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!
Ended up watching six episodes of Violet Evergarden! It's very nice and heartfelt, and the animation is also beautiful. I'm sure plenty of people have raved about it already. (Though I want to express my shock that she is FOURTEEN. I thought she'd be 16/17!!)
Anyways, this comment is going to be about the Dub vs Sub.
I can be picky about the version not because of the voices or acting, but because of how dubs can change the dialogue. Minor changes in word choice can really alter a character's personality or the meaning of their words. So I decided to first try English with subtitles for Violet Evergarden, and was happily surprised to find that the dub was VERY close to the subtitles. I even thought the subtitles were just captions at first before someone finally said a different line. So I was happy to watch it with dub voices, but I kept the subtitles on just to see minor differences (had fun doing that with Erased a couple years back).
That is how I got to notice a funny detail: the English dub avoids mentioning Charlotte and Damian's ages.
When Alberta first mentions Damian, the subtitles explicitly said he was 24 while the dub said he was 10 years older. I thought that was a bit odd, but didn't clue into the intention until Charlotte talks about her tenth birthday party. The dub makes a point to NEVER say her age, just a vague "when I came of age" instead. Subtitles meanwhile even have her mention how "10 is considered of age for marriage in the royal family", but the dub just keeps it vague.
On the one hand, I get why they don't want to openly point out this is a romance between a 14-year-old and a 24-year-old. That is genuinely icky, and a lot of people would get stuck on that age gap.
On the other hand, I know that such age gaps and underage brides were historically very common in royal marriages. If anything, I was happy to see a fictional one where the bride was happy and liked her partner, and he liked her back. Usually fictional royal romances are between people of the same age, or are very unhappy since it's arranged, so this one felt a bit more "realistic" than most. The marriage was for political reasons and there's an age gap, but the two have long-term compatibility from what we see.
Still. When I realized the dub was avoiding any references to Charlotte's age, I actually laughed. In part because she does look more like a 14-year-old to me than Violet. Seriously still in shock about that! Most shocking part of the series so far!!
Another big example of small word changes making a big difference on a characters personality can be found in Attack on Titan, with there being a distinct difference between Warriors and Soldiers that the dubs gloss over and blanket refer to as Soldiers everytime. The reasons that difference matters are pretty late game reveals so Ill refrain from spoiling and settle for if you know, you know.
Beyond that though, I have found dubs have improved so much since I was a kid/teen first watching anime that my first watch through of most of the newer shows have often been dubs. Usually this is followed by reading the source material then switching to subs if im craving a rewatch even after running through the story twice. But in general, I think localization and VA direction has gotten much better, and/or stays closer to home to the point where at the very least most lines match the subtitles 1-1, like with Violet Evergarden. In general it's far less common for me to find those kinds of discrepancies, which makes it even harder to ignore when they do pop up. Especially when you compare to when i was a kid hearing anime characters say one thing and seeing the subs say something completely different, which was fairly ubiquitous.
I have finished Scrapped Princess.
After a few days, I feel like the series didn't have much impact on me, while it was still enjoyable. Not sure I'd ever revisit it unless it was airing on TV. The ending was enjoyable, but at the same time it felt rushed [explained in the spoiler box].
After watching it all I feel like all the things I like are how the characters are, their immediate personality, and the things I would talk about more in-depth are all complaints.
Click mostly for complaining.
That whole ordeal of Pacifica losing her memory for a few episodes at the end was so pointless. This is when her character should be undergoing some maturing or transformation, or gathering resolve for the end and it is mostly wasted on building a relationship she will not remember. The fact she holds onto a feeling that someone is missing by the end doesn't sell it for me.She could've been killed at any moment. Raquel doesn't let her know she is under hot persecution and lets just enjoy life by herself in the enemy's capital city where she can be attacked at any time.
Shannon goes around looking for Pacifica while sulking and being a cunt to Zephiris and most everyone else. He is accompanied by Cz, whose previous human emotions never pay off much. I first missed the fact she was destroyed while intentionally dropping her guard. It's too bad that she couldn't develop more previously.
The alien race humanity has been bound by seems to be long gone. Their control system lasts millennia, and they didn't need to be there, but it left me curious and no wiser by the time the curtains dropped.
Another problem I have is with the very dysfunctional human kingdom we have. The king is a moron, and quick to kill family members. However, his military is running things. and they decide that the 1 mile tall beings that shoot death lasers can be contained and negotiated with if they use as hostage a person every pacifier wants dead. I don't get what possible leverage that could give them.
On the whole I liked the story and the elements of lore they worked into the series, but I tend to dislike their execution. I have complained a lot, yet it's only because I cared enough about the characters and the world. I would still recommend this series to people who wish for a fantasy action show.
Hibike! Euphonium S2
Kyoto Animation's epic length band kids anime (the one that doesn't start with K).
This season concludes the first major arc of the story and took me about a year and a half to get through watching on-and-off. It's kind of in a weird spot where it's too tense to be a slice of life show that I can just watch after work and relax to, but it's also not high impact enough for me to lock in and watch through it in one go. Although the writing is much more mature, there's a kind of looseness to the series composition that makes me think of Love Live (no doubt due to the same director being at the helm) where the show just keeps jumping from one person's problem to another when the whole team needs to be pulling together so they can win the big competition. If there was a more consistent focus on a single main story thread, I'd probably not have watched it in bits and pieces.
Having said that:
it's Kyoto Animation, so the animation itself is strong enough to carry the show; and
the protagonist in particular feels quite well written, being soft spoken without being submissive and caring without being unrealistically passionate. Just like her instrument, she's not flashy with "main character energy" but plays an important part in supporting the band and its members.
There are 3 movies / specials and 2 seasons (including S4 which is airing shortly) left to go, so I expect it'll be like 2028 by the time I get through the whole thing.
Fate/Stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works
Just finished binging this. I really liked the world and conflict presented. I thought the story was pretty good. I had an issue with one of the character's development or lack thereof. It did suck me in though. I'm going to continue the series based on the subreddit's recommended watch order for Anime Only. So Heavan's Fate is next for me.
Complaint
So when I watched the Prologue, I thought Toshaka was our protagonist. She's this badass, but capable young woman. Still a teenager and acts like one. But definitely an interesting character who can handle her own.
Then the series starts and you're introduced to Emiya. Kind of a tropey Shonen MC. Not super talented or smart. Has a tragic backstory, some heart, grit, and stubborn ideals. I don't care for him, but it's whatever.
Slowly Emiya becomes the one and Toshaka becomes a love struck damsel in distress who can plan. She has her moments in the end, but it basically comes down to Emiya with her support.
So it was really disappointing for me. I get that was just my faulty expectations from the prologue. It still sucks though.
The Demon King's daugther is too kind!
This another one where I caught memes of on social media. I enjoyed them so much, that I had to try the series. I have been loving it!. It's just a really cute, funny, and kinda wholesome kinda show. There's a bit of a narrative, but it's mostly just different adventures with the MC. It puts a smile on my face. It's a refreshing break from Shonens and the like.