1
vote
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!
Been putting this off because I didn't want to have to write about FLCL.
FLCL and sequels
Started the year off with FLCL. The first season was weird and confusing and I sorta liked it. Everything else was weird and confusing and I hated it. I gave it a solid chance on account of how much I liked the poorly recieved sequel series to Last Exile and the extremely polarizing Eureka Seven movies, but it just never gets better or more interesting. If anything, it gets more confusing even as the animation style gets less surreal throughout the seasons (Grunge notwithstanding). The music remains solid throughout. I've been fond of The Pillows for years, before I ever knew their association with FLCL, and watching this series hasn't affected that at all.
I can see how the original series influenced animation across the industry when it first came out. Confusing as the show is, it is absolutely gorgeous. It earns the first show a 7/10 from me. Progressive was the only sequel series I really paid attention to. 6.5. By Alternative, I was ready to watch something else. 5/10.
Grunge and Shoegaze threatened my four and a half year daily watching streak more than anything else ever has. It took real effort to stay awake through these shows, let alone working up the desire to turn it on every day in the first place. Grunge gets a 3/10 from me because of how hard it is to look at, and Shoegaze gets a N/A from me because I genuinely slept through most of it.
I so rarely regret putting a show on my list, but this series actually damaged my interest in anime while I was watching.
So I didn't like FLCL after the first season. I needed something to get me back into anime, fast.
Death Note
I liked Death Note. It got me back into anime fast. I couldn't possibly have guessed where the show would end up. Sad to see my favorite character dead, infurating seeing everyone ignore the timing of his death, but the show was entertaining all the way through. It seems a lot of people really don't like the show after the 25th episode, but I really liked Mello and Near. Obviously they aren't as cool as L, but I think they offer Light interesting challenges anyway.
Besides the fact that I liked the latter half of the series, there isn't really a lot I can say that hasn't been said already. I liked the OST a lot. L's theme SLAPS. Basically all of the background music rules. 9/10, though I'm not really sure what they could have done differently to earn that last point. It just isn't quite good enough for me to give it a 10.
I like anime again! Next up is Carole and Tuesday. I'm only a few episodes in, but if Death Note hadn't reinforced my daily watching streak, this would have. It's delightful. Plus I prefer dubs, so the songs being in English helps my viewing experience tremendously.