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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!
Yeah, Golden Time is adapted from the work of the same original author as Toradora!. They've got very different things going on, but they're both wonderful in their own right.
For other romcoms at similar levels of quality, I'd suggest Ano Natsu de Matteru and Chuunibyou, the second season of which is something truly special. Though I'd say for the typical anime romcom with some melodrama thrown in, it doesn't get better than the two you mentioned. Also going to throw in a rec for Yagate Kimi ni Naru...I haven't seen the anime but it looks like a decent adaptation of the manga, which is one of the best yuri romances I've come across.
And Taiga broke into Ryuji's house and attacked him...I get why it would turn someone off (and that's valid!), but it kinda comes with the territory. For what it's worth, it does not just let those things slide without commentary or change.
Yeah, I can see that. In a lot of ways it tries to tackle that and gets into how to manage and move past that kind of obsession into healthier attachment (and the difficulty of finding that!) but that might be a little much for some people to want to deal with in their romances, and that's fine too.
To me, both of them feel like they're in the same area where (especially early on) they're framed as uncomfortable and wrong (but still a little over the top) but as they go on, the weird elements are moved into healthier areas where you can imagine that some couples would be okay with it. Taiga's still Taiga by the end, but it's more just silly fun between people who are very close than genuine aggression and anger.
Both firmly in the area where I can't blame anyone for not being cool with it but also where getting good things out of them is still plenty reasonable.
I finished Golden Time recently and it had a lot of similar positive parts around character relationships, but the central focus of the main character's whole arc just bothered me on some level.
I have a few dozen recommendations for romance anime overall, could try to cut that down or just dump the entire thing depending on what you're looking for.
My general romance recommendation list, very opinionated and roughly ordered by how much I like them:
Spice and Wolf — A traveling merchant in a medieval land is joined by an ancient wolf spirit and they roam together.
Crest of the Stars — A noble in training joins an aspiring spacecraft pilot in the military on the way to the imperial capital until they get swept up in a war.
Cross Game — A slice-of-sports journey through love and life, pursuing a dream of the biggest stage in high school baseball.
Princess Tutu — A story about fairy tales and a duck who dreamed she was a girl.
Honey and Clover — A group of students at an art college try to figure out their lives going forward.
Planetes — A glimpse at the near future of space travel as humanity attempts to reach farther into the cosmos.
NANA — Sex, drugs, and rock and roll: the story of two women that become friends after a chance encounter.
Bloom Into You — An introspective study on what the concept of romance and relationships mean to different people.
Wandering Son (Hourou Musuko) — A pair of kids struggle with gender identity while under pressure from others.
White Album 2 — A trio of flawed high schoolers form an unexpected band for a school festival amid high emotions and drama.
Asagao to Kase-san — A track star and a girl into gardening face challenges while dating in high school.
Aoi Hana — Childhood friends are reconnected years later as they enter separate nearby high schools.
I Can't Understand What My Husband is Saying — Short comedic series about a married couple where the guy's an otaku while his wife is the one supporting them with a job.
Otona Joshi no Anime Time — Four short stories about adult women in different stages of life.
Tsuki ga Kirei — Two awkward teenagers slowly begin exploring their first relationship together.
Tsurezure Children — Brief scenes of multiples couples being cute a few minutes at a time.
Honobono Log — Brief scenes from the lives of (usually) couples. Each episode is only a couple of minutes long, so it's short and sweet.
Snow White with the Red Hair (Akagami no Shirayuki-hime) — Independent girl in a medieval land finds her prince and decides to work her way up to him.
Nodame Cantabile — College students studying classical music, mostly comedic but has its serious moments.
Nagi no Asukara — Four childhood friends living in an underwater village try to integrate with a school on the surface.
Eureka Seven — A boy joins a band of outlaws doing odd jobs in a world with an alien environment.
Rose of Versailles — Set in the French royal court in the period leading up to the French Revolution.
The Night is Short, Walk on Girl — A one-night romp with interweaving adventures through life in a unique visual style. Shared supporting characters with The Tatami Galaxy.
Hotarubi no Mori e — A sweet film about a first love between two people whose paths should have never crossed.
Kuzu no Honkai — An exploration of various kinds of one-sided relationships where everyone is miserable and horny.
Wotakoi (Love is Hard for Otaku) — A geeky pair of former childhood friends are reunited in the workplace.
Mysterious Girlfriend X — An odd but sweet story about a couple that share a special bond.
Paradise Kiss — A high-school girl joins some strange characters as she gets swept up in the world of fashion.
Koi Kaze — A thoughtful take on the uncomfortable taboo of love between siblings.
Emma: A Victorian Romance — A maid and a member of the gentry meet in Victorian London.
Aura: Maryuuin Kouga Saigo no Tatakai — A high school girl with fantastical delusions is brought back to reality by a boy with former experience in the same.
High Score Girl — An arcade gamer growing up in the early 90s finds that the only rival that can beat him is a silent girl at his school.
Rec — Young adults trying to find their way in the world, one of them as a voice actress.
His and Her Circumstances (Kareshi Kanojo no Jijou/KareKano) — A classic high school romance that spends a lot of time exploring the characters' insecurities and moving forward together.
Just Because — In the final semester of high school, a boy moves back and rejoins old friends.
Soredemo Sekai wa Utsukushii — A girl with the power to control the wind and rain is married off to a young king with a cruel reputation.
Lovely★Complex — High school romantic comedy where a tall girl and a short guy find issues with their heights and like to bicker at each other.
Kemonozume — An action series with a unique style that pits a couple against an organization of monster-hunters.
Zutto Mae kara Suki deshita + Suki ni Naru Sono Shunkan wo + Itsudatte Bokura no Koi wa 10 cm Datta — Two movies and a show that are mostly several high schoolers worrying about their crushes.
Kimi ni Todoke — A sweet, innocent high school girl gains friends and eventually a love interest.
Amagami SS — Mixed mood high school romances. Instead of a harem, this one has an omnibus format where every girl gets her own happy ending every few episodes.
Someday's Dreamers II: Summer Skies — A girl goes to a school in Tokyo to learn to become a mage and help society.
Tasogare Otome x Amnesia — A school club for the paranormal is haunted by the ghost of a girl.
Tokyo Marble Chocolate — A two-part OVA about a couple that are both unlucky in love, told from each of their perspectives.
Boys Over Flowers (Hana Yori Dango) — A poor but strong-willed girl attracts the attention of two of the most popular, powerful, and rich guys at school.
Kokoro Connect — Five teens in a school club find themselves abruptly swapping bodies.
Kiznaiver — A group of teenagers are linked together mentally in a forced experiment.
Nijiiro Days — Multi-perspective slice of high school life with a number of potential couples and one already dating at the start of the series.
Ao Haru Ride — A girl is reconnected in high school with a boy she had known years earlier.
Koitabi: True Tours Nanto — Very short trio of separate romances that get straight to the point.
Momokuri — A couple of very cute and easily flustered teenagers start dating in a light and fluffy slice of life.
ef: A Tale of Memories. — Interweaving tales of developing relationships as quirky characters pursue their own goals.
ReLIFE — An unemployed man gets a second chance at a high school life.
Shuumatsu Nani Shitemasu ka? Isogashii desu ka? Sukutte Moratte Ii desu ka? — A lost relic of a human joins a group of fairies being trained as weapons to defend the world from beasts.
Orange — A girl receives a letter supposedly from herself about the new transfer student she hasn't met yet.
Kyoukai no Kanata — Mixed action/romance with a blend of high school life and fantasy.
Video Girl Ai — Teenage boy summons a girl through a video cassette. Odd premise but there's some solid relationship building.
Hanbun no Tsuki ga Noboru Sora — Two teenagers confined to a hospital start spending time together.
Natsuyuki Rendezvous — Adults working in a flower shop, dealing with a loss and moving on afterward. Has a supernatural/fairy tale aspect as well.
Ore Monogatari!! — Very light, sweet series about a giant guy that falls in love with a small, cute girl.
Say "I Love You" (Sukitte Ii na yo) — An unsociable girl gets the attention of one of the most popular guys at school and form a bond after an encounter.
Vision of Escaflowne — A high school girl gets whisked away to a fantasy land with mecha and warring kingdoms.
Sakura Trick — Cute girls kissing. No, really, that's most of the series. Mostly lighthearted slice of life in high school with a good amount of yuri.
Fukumenkei Noise — A girl joins a band in pursuit of a childhood friend she lost contact with.
Pet Girl of Sakurasou (Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo) — Guy moves into dorm of misfits and they band together.
Plastic Memories — A guy partners up with a robotic girl to help retrieve other robots at the end of their lives.
Kimi ga Nozomu Eien — Tragedy strikes in high school, young adults deal with the fallout years later.
Ano Natsu de Matteru — High school summer slice of life and making a movie, contains a giant love polygon.
Mashiro-iro Symphony: The Color of Lovers — Guy ends up in what had formerly been an all-girls school and tries to keep everyone happy.
Lamune — Alternates between flashbacks showing a pair of childhood friends as kids and their life in the present.
Kimi no Iru Machi — Teen boy chases after his first love from the countryside to Tokyo.
True Tears — School drama with a number of conflicting crushes between characters.
Koi to Uso — In a society where everyone's assigned their spouse, one boy confesses to his crush.
Tada Never Falls in Love (Tada-kun wa Koi wo Shinai) — An elegant foreign transfer student joins the school photography club.
Fuuka — A boy has a run-in with an energetic girl who wants to start a band at their school.
She, the Ultimate Weapon (Saishuu Heiki Kanojo/SaiKano) — A clumsy, shy high school girl is turned into a military experiment just as she begins dating a boy.
Maoyuu Maou Yuusha — The Hero arrives to fight the Demon Lord... and then they start working together.
My Little Monster (Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun) — A cold, studious girl runs into a violent troublemaker that immediately wants to befriend her.
Kaichou wa Maid-sama! — A hardworking model student's secret job at a maid cafe is discovered by the only guy at school that can best her.
Myself; Yourself — A teen boy returns to his childhood home and friends after leaving for years.
Ayashi no Ceres — A girl is hunted for being the chosen descendant of a celestial being. Lots of action with supernatural powers.
Citrus — Step-sisters with radically different personalities find a strange attraction to each other.
Less of a focus on romance:
Kids on the Slope (Sakamichi no Apollon) — Drama and jazz, a coming-of-age story set in the 60s.
Ouran High School Host Club — A tomboy accidentally gets pulled in to hijinks working as a host for girls at an elite academy.
Your Lie in April (Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso) — Young classical musicians struggling with life issues.
The Garden of Words — Fairly short film about a pair of people taking shelter from the rain together.
Kaiba — An unusual sci-fi tale where memories and bodies can be bought and sold.
Koi wa Ameagari no You ni — A teen girl is drawn toward the middle-aged manager at her job.
Tamako Market + Tamako Love Story — A slice of life series about a high school girl in a warm, loving community that sets up a cute romance in the movie.
Clannad — A guy meets and helps various girls in the school with their problems, becoming more focused on family in After Story.
I am probably the only guy who hates Toradora. Aisaka killed the entire series for me and characters felt "unlikeable" as hell.
It's not that I dislike Tsundere but Aisaka's character really rubbed me off the wrong way.
I'm making a concerted effort to start watching anime again. I'm still really new to all of this, so I may be asking for suggestions soon. I just watched the first Ghost in the Shell movie, and I'm going to watch all of Cowboy Bebop this time. I have some other things I want to give a rewatch, including Serial Experiments: Lain. I also have a request in at my library for Spirited Away, so I'll be watching that when it comes in.
GitS left me feeling like I was missing something important, and upon talking with a more knowledgeable friend, I learned that it's based on several non-consecutive parts of a manga assembled into a film. So I was feeling that I'm missing something because I am, so eventually I'll want to get to the GitS manga. That said, I have quite a backlog of content to get through, so will start there. :D
edit: a word
I'd be surprised if the GitS manga filled anything in for you. It's certainly more straightforward, but it's going for a completely different thing and the elements which make the film unique and impressive are either original or heavily tweaked.
I'd say rewatches, if you're interested enough, are the way to go...as well as reading / talking about it. It takes a while to soak in...the payoff isn't in plot, really, and the philosophical stuff is abstract rather than something that can directly be taken as an interesting point or something to mull over. You kinda just have to feel it, and that usually doesn't come on the first viewing.
That's good to know, thank you. I'll have to keep that in mind when I get to the manga. Thank you for the info. :)
Really? It seemed really obvious and direct to me, especially as a lot of it was directly stated in the dialog. Then again, a lot of what it covers is pretty familiar stuff to me, so that might be part of it? I was thinking while watching it that it was pretty familiar, but then I remembered just how old GitS is and that helped contextualize it for me. All of the stuff about identity and experience has been covered rather thoroughly since GitS's publication, so it's pretty well-established in my head.
Or am I missing something deeper?
That's sort of what I mean by it not being a super interesting point to mull over. Certainly it's historically important for that, but what I get from how it presents those ideas isn't something isn't something that could be written down and summarized like the bits about identity.
Being so immaterial and abstract, it's sorta hard to talk about, but as you unravel the way that it's convoluted, that haze starts to warp the way those ideas about interconnectedness and identity...feel. The idea, on paper, is a bit overdone, but I think engaging with it further might give you a chance of having a similar experience. It's one of those things where if I wanted to communicate how those things work in my head, I'd tell someone to watch GitS because I couldn't explain it beyond that obvious and direct message. Embrace that chaos, the point doesn't start and end with the puppet master's speech.
I apologize if that all sounds a bit silly, but it's hard to discuss things that are notable primarily for the way they can't be discussed :P
I think the GitS "watch order" list from this video by Beyond Ghibli is a good order to follow: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LdhCv8_GdB0
So I finished Fate/Stay Night Unlimited Blade Works this week. Was an absolutely wonderful watch throughout, and while I really can't say much because of spoilers, it actually managed to be better than Fate Zero, which I had as a 7.8/10 on my AniList. Actually I think I ended up giving UBW a 8.5/10. Now to watch the Studio DEEN 2006 Fate/Stay Night adaptation before moving on to Heaven's Feel Part I.
Finally, a Fate watcher.
I have a Question... how exactly should I start watching the Fate series? What's the order?
The order following the VN is Fate, Unlimited Blade Works, then Heaven's Feel. That's the original story. From there you can then go to Fate/Zero, which is a prequel, and the others in pretty much any order.
Of course since Fate/Zero anime is all released, while Heaven's Feel movies are not, it's fine to watch FZ right after UBW.
But from what I've seen and heard, the other non-FateStayNight Fate anime are mostly not very good, like Apocrypha which had pretty poor pacing and lack of character development. I've heard good things about the Emiya Family Cooking anime though.
Looking forward to the upcoming Fate Grand Order series, since they cover some of the more interesting/popular arcs of the mobile game, unlike the already-released FGO season, which covers the boring throwaway stories before they got serious about writing.
thanks man
I'd start with Fate/Zero (it's the ultimate prequel). Then go to Fate/Stay Night 2006 (the series by Studio DEEN). Follow that up by moving on to Fate/Stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works, and then on to the Heaven's Feel movies (Part II releases 14 March).
Thank you
No problem. Heaven's Feel Part II was incredible, by the way. Easily one of the best anime films of the past several years.
Current watching Kaguya-sama: Love is War on Crunchy. Great series for a fluffy love story and laugh-out-loud comedy!
I finished Ajin last week and I think it's probably my favorite manga yet (I'm pretty newish to them). I tried finding something that night scratch the same itch as Ajin and started Deadman Wonderland but that wasn't quite it (it was good, just not what I wanted "taste-wise" right now). Now I'm reading Tokyo Ghoul and enjoying that a lot more so far.
I just finished watching Devilman Crybaby for the second time. I'm a sucker for "bad" endings. I'm thinking about reading the original manga now.
I've been rewatching the Legend of Korra. So much nostalgia and it still holds up for me. I'm planning on reading the comics after I finish book 4 this time.
I finished watching Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 after binging all 11 episodes on Sunday. I've always loved Anime that was more on the sad side and this one definitely gave me some tears. Really recommend it.
Watched one episode of Kishuku Gakkou no Juliet and I am loving it. Other than that, I am downloading Neon Genesis Evangelion because of the classic status the series has gained over the years.
Where are you downloading NGE? I'm imagining from a torrent somewhere, but I'm interested in a legitimate source.
If you're in North America, no legitimate source until Netflix brings it back this spring. Last release was DVD in 2005. Source
Because neither the legitimate streaming sites nor the DVDs are available in my country. I hope that the Netflix release is made available in my country too.
It's gonna be a worldwide release if I recall correctly.
cool. I have two more debit cards that I can use to activate free subscription on netflix xD
Nice!
That was up there for my fall Anime of the Season along with Goblin Slayer. Kayanon absolutely nails her role as Juliet.
I'm in the midst of rewatching Crest of the Stars, one of the anime that got me into the whole thing more than 15 years ago. The last time I saw it was just before I really dove into anime again a few years back, so now I'm coming at it again with the extra context of a few hundred other shows for comparison. It's impossible to separate my nostalgia when it comes to how I feel about it, but I have a more seasoned eye when it comes to picking out aspects of production and direction so it's interesting to look at from that perspective.