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What have you been watching/reading this week? (Anime/Manga)
Picking these threads up from @Cleb after talking to her about it :)
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 watching Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, as per recommendations on what to watch after Avatar: The Last Airbender. Usually watch 1-2 eps a day, just watched ep 17 earlier. Damn this show is good :).
Glad you're enjoying it! Do you have an idea of what you want to watch afterwards?
Not sure, I'm quite new to anime. Well, apart from Dragonball Z/Gt/Super. Do you have any suggestions?
I'm a different person than the person you were replying to but, depending on what you want, there's a lot of different stuff that's pretty good out there, especially for someone who's new to anime in general.
Since you're pretty new, I think you might like to check out Kimi no Na wa aka Your Name, It's a great movie that isn't too hard for someone who isn't fully in depth with the anime scene to appreciate.
That's just one movie but if you could give me some examples of what sort of genres you like in other media, I'd be happy to help you with finding an anime that you could appreciate.
Thanks. This looks good :)
As to what I like, I know it's not an anime but I really like Avatar: The Last Airbender. It's so fun. It's also really wholesome, and that is exactly the thing I love with Fullmetal! Other than that I like fantasy/adventure. I'm into things like Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, and A Song of Ice & Fire.
You might also then be interested in Little Witch Academia, there's both an OVA (Original Video Animation) that came out first, then a full series that came out later. The OVA isn't necessary viewing but if you're going to watch it watch it first.
Little Witch Academia is a magic show about a group of girls going to a magic academy, it came out like 2 years ago and it's on Netflix iirc.
Little Witch is one of many shows by Trigger, a production company that's generally very well renowned within the anime community, while LWA isn't considered their best show by any means, it's still pretty good. If you enjoy the style of the show and highlight moments, you might want to check out some of their other shows such as Gurren Lagaan (Most normalish), Fooly Cooly(FLCL)(Less normalish, extremely fast paced but has a lot of depth) and Kill La Kill (This one is definitely stranger and probably more uncomfortable from a concept standpoint, but it's still considered a really good show even by the standards of people pretty new to the genre.)
Those will hopefully keep you occupied, at least for a bit. If you have anything else to say just let me know. I hope you enjoy the shows I suggested.
Looking at your other posts, it looks like you like things that are wholesome, or things that are fantasy/adventure, so I'd totally check out any movies by Hayo Miyazaki (Spirited Away; Howl's Moving Castle; Ponyo; etc.). The world building in them and the depth of emotions conveyed are top-tier.
In terms of shows, I'd suggest a few:
-Cowboy Bebop - a good mix of action with drama involving very unique characters that have very visible flaws, often causing them to lose, yet enjoyable to watch. It's a bit older but one of my top favorites. The soundtrack is also one of the best.
-I feel bad suggesting something that's so long, but One Piece is my favorite series of all time. The humor, camaraderie, the lore, and the drama are all amazing to get sucked into and the creator, Oda, is a master of storytelling craft.
-You might dig things that are overly cute or the sub-genre, moe. The classic example is the anime K-on, which is just an anime about high school girls forming a band and doing cute things. That's pretty much the entire synopsis.
-If you dig more of the action/drama in FMA, you could check out Attack on Titan or possible Sword Art Online.
First couple episodes of B: The Beginning were pretty good, high production values and tight direction. Not sure if it's completely pulled me in yet, maybe due to the characters being more mysterious than immediately likable, but I'll probably stick with it to see how the mystery unravels.
Baki (first half) was great, love how it's almost zero filler. Tons of violence. Can't wait for the second half to come out on Netflix this year.
Liking Magical Girl Spec Ops Asuka so far, takes a couple episodes to get going but then has decent action. I really like Sacchuu (the cat). I like how the series is aware of Madoka Magica and is reminiscent of it in some ways, yet avoids feeling like a ripoff.
Glad I started following Mob Psycho 2, thanks to a recommendation here, since it's definitely better than season 1 IMO. Better character development, less comedy that sometimes wore thin in season 1.
Dropped Kemono Friends 2 pretty hard after one episode, because all the yelling and uninteresting characters felt like they took out all the good parts of the original and left the worst parts.
Thanks for picking up the thread! And also big thanks to @Cleb for keeping it going so long!
Nope haven't seen Magical Girl Site. Looks like it's not licensed anywhere in the West? Guess I'll have to go with fansubs then, looks like HorribleSubs did that one. Thanks for the recommendation!
Spec Ops Asuka has some grittiness, but it's a military special ops anti-terrorism setting, with bits of sci-fi occasionally. Site looks like horror? So will feel significantly different I bet.
Binged Inuyashiki. Honestly, I don't know what to think. Certain parts were really great but it also felt rushed - story wise and production wise.
Also, this is probably a very typical complaint, but looking at a half naked 50 year old isn't my cup of tea. The artstyle certainly didn't help.
Another one I watched recently is Black Lagoon. Really liked it, this kind of self aware edginess is great. Though it felt like the plot went nowhere, not that that just establishing the city and telling disconnected stories about it is bad - just felt like there could have been more there.
I would 100% second the Gantz manga over the anime.
Vinland Saga is one of the few manga that I keep up with (One Piece, Berserk, Vinland Saga, Tower of God (webtoon but still)). It's so so so good on an art level, an action level, but also on a human level. It gets very philosophical and complex at times, but if that's not your thing, just keep powering through anyway.
Hell yeah!! Glad you're enjoying it.
I used to follow Claymore when it was still releasing, but somewhere along its delays the story lost me a bit. I still finished it and enjoyed it, but I felt like if I could sit down now and re-read it all as a whole I'd like it a lot better.
Kingdom is one that I also want to find the time to start, along with Vagabond, but just haven't gotten around to them yet. I've heard good things about MHA from multiple people, but it's just lower on my priority list at the moment compared to the other two I listed.
Tower of God is one that I've been reading for over 6 years now and I've only seen it get better and better in terms of art, storyline, and world building. It's got One Piece levels of weird theories behind characters and motives that has been a blast to follow. I've felt some emotional pain having to wait another week for the following chapter before...
Mostly switched to reading manga after getting impatient with episode releases. Caught up and waiting for new chapters for [The Last Human], [Ajin: Demihuman] (Which if you've watch the show, you need to read the manga. SO much more information.), [World Customize Creator], [That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime], and [So I'm a Spider, So What?] just to name a popular handful. Mainly into isekai manga/LN right now.
Also waiting on [Chaotic Sword God] LN to update a few hundred more chapters before I get back into it. Stopped reading that on chapter 1300. Same with [Tales of Demons and Gods].
Watching - I've been binging Dororo, Kakegurui, and GEN:LOCK. I've been reading Baki.
Dororo is beautiful and sad and engaging, Kakegurui is just bizarre and a great popcorn show, and GEN:LOCK is a major surprise. I assumed it would be knockoff Voltron, but its far more than that. It has a really interesting story and it has Michael B Jordan, David Tennnant, Dakota Fanning, and Maisie Williams. Despite it being CGI, it actually looks really nice.
I have basically marathoned through the manga of Baki. I recently read Kengan Asura and loved it, so I was looking for something similar. Baki definitely scratched that itch. Its juts a bunch of muscley super resilient people beating each other up for hundreds of chapters.
I'm in the middle of Kengan Ashura and am enjoying it! The story is definitely lacking but it's interesting to see a series that is so unabashedly about fights....and only fights.
Does anyone have recommendations for a good series (ideally completed) that has both action and romance? I've heard Pandora Hearts is good, but the characters seem a little....juvenile?
Started watching Naoki Urasawa's "Monster" recently. Not completely hooked yet but liking it.
Currently on episode 17 of Steins Gate 0 and chapter 12 of Mahou Gyoushounin Roma
It's been a long time since watching Steins Gate so it's been great to finally have more to watch :)
It's also been a long time since I watched Stein's;gate -- would you suggest re-watching before watching Stein's;Gate 0?
Eh, I could go either way on that. I personally dislike rewatching in general as it just doesn't have the same appeal as the first time around which drops my personal opinion of the series.
With Steins Gate 0 I felt out of the loop for an episode or two and then it started clicking again with what all was going down; for me that's acceptable.
I was on that same episode last night, currently on 21.that show just keeps getting better and better.
Caught up to episode 18 of Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: Golden Wind (Vento Aureo). Debating on whether or not to read the part 7 manga again since I kinda blazed through it last time.
3/4 of the way through SSSS Gridman. Like it a lot. It has packaged obvious nods to other shows into a story with a consistent tone and pace. It does so many little things right, with so many uniquely Japanese flourishes, that it reminds me why, as an adult, I still watch anime.
SSSS Gridman was a very welcome surprise after Trigger fumbled with Darling in the Franxx and others before. I feel Trigger's biggest weakness is their poor pacing. They could cut out half of each series and be better off.
Let's see: Franxx, entire first half unnecessary. Witch Academia TV circled around the main plot spoiler too long; I never finished it (but the TV series seems geared toward kids so maybe give it a pass). Kill la Kill Osaka arc. Kiznaiver, don't remember the plot well enough, but I remember half of each episode was slow and boring.
And then out of nowhere, Gridman was fantastic all the way through. (Okay maybe aside from episode 1 which I found boring, but maybe that's intentional)
I would err on the side of intentional. Episode 1 had great pacing — just in my opinion, of course — on a couple of levels: first, the slow build to the burst of action was a huge pay-off; second, it plugged into a vibe like Neon Genesis Evangelion, letting us know that this wasn't just going to be a mecha show.
Japanese shows are willing to go slow, be quiet, linger on scenes much more than American telly — and definitely so with animation. It's something I really appreciate, and so appreciated episode 1.
Cant believe it's the same people who did Darling in the Franxx! I dropped that one after 4 or 5 episodes. Maybe it was headed towards a subtler point with it, but I can't stand fan service and women as objects, etc... in anime
(Minor Darling in the Franxx spoilers ahead)
The message by the end of Franxx is something like: adolescence is beautiful; giving kids the opportunity to make mistakes and explore is what makes their life theirs; friendships and rivalries are equally important, equally messy, and part of life.
As a generous interpretation, the sexualization is there to contrast with the sexless "adults" who live a sterile life, intentionally cutting away all the messy parts, and forget what being human is about.
It sounds nice enough summarized in a couple sentences, but I agree with you that having that stuff shoved in your face for much of the series is pretty unnecessary to get that message across, yet the studio somehow decided to make that a focus of the show.