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What Anime are you watching now?


Ryoji

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On 12/02/2019 at 8:10 AM, Plk_Lesiak said:

On the other hand, I'm now more than half-way through A Place Further Than the Universe and it might be my first 10/10 rating. I mean, can you really do better with kind of slice-of-life/adventure anime? With how likeable and believable the characters are, how good and usually subtle the humour is, how genuine the drama feels... I definitely won't try to claim that it's the best anime ever, but in its own category it feels like pure excellence. At least, if it can keep up the quality until the end. I'll probably finish it around the weekend, as I have some more-urgent things in the next few days and this series deserves taking your time and paying proper attention to it.

It's a brilliant series, but save a box of tissues for later on...

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On 2/11/2019 at 4:10 PM, Plk_Lesiak said:

I don't think it's THAT fantastic, as it's practically recycling one joke over and over again through the whole season.

A big part of what made the series so engaging to me was its interesting take on the removal of conflict, and how Saitama reacts to it. In OPM, our protagonist doesn't get any kind satisfaction from his hobby, and that's because he's too damn good at it. Not to mention, the contrast between the protagonist's lackluster motivation and everyone else's does make for an interesting parody setup. The anime spends more time developing the side characters than it does Saitama, and to me that just makes for a much more interesting story when all their hard work and motivation is trumped by the mundane (especially with their ridiculous reactions, lol).

I do see where you're coming from on the repetition, though. I don't particularly mind it myself since it does serve to reinforce a point that is used later on to magnify the final battle. But the thing about OPM that probably doesn't suit all audiences is its frequent depletion of of catharsis through a conveniently-placed super hero. It seems that every time OPM is about to hit a climax scene--one with a lot of potential for high emotional payoff--Saitama shows up and completely ruins the mood. This can be especially off-putting if you find yourself growing attached to and sympathizing with the characters this story spends time developing. There is a reason why Deus Ex Machinas are such a dreadful concept for most entertainment consumers, and most authors are forced to either avoid it like the plague or bury it in distracting/emotional details as much as possible (the SAO LN comes to mind). But OPM fully embraces this storytelling convention in the most blatant manor, and that's something I actually really like about it.

But what interests me especially is the portrayal of a character whose life is completely devoid of conflict. It highlights the importance of conflict and its relationship with happiness. In the anime, Saitama isn't just a horrendously overpowered character that spoils the moment; he's a horrendously overpowered character who is on the brink of insanity. The one recurring theme we see throughout the series is how bad it is to have it easy. Every time Saitama finishes a battle, he always comes out of it completely disappointed because there is no room for growth through conflict. Human beings cannot be happy if they aren't growing, so for him to have reached his threshold of performance must have been a serious blow to his motivation.

 

So yeah, I get this isn't an anime for everyone. Though I do appreciate the anime's abuse of conflict spoilers, I can understand that it's really just part of my preference. Or maybe the hype just lead to heightened expectations? I wouldn't disagree with that either; hype really can be a bother. But due to my less-than-ideal experience with FMAB, I've learned to take fan hype with a grain of salt and go in with regular expectations. One strategy I've adopted to counteract the affects of hype is to wait for my own excitement to dissipate before I watch or read anything.

That said, I do think the anime is a bit overhyped (and this is coming from someone who has the anime in his top 5%). I do happen to think it's a fantastic anime with a refreshing and unique experience, but the reactions to it do seem a bit absurd. It might have something to do with the massive confirmation bias fans get from big-name anitubers praising the anime (especially Super Eyepatch Wolf).

On 2/11/2019 at 4:10 PM, Plk_Lesiak said:

I think Mob Psycho 100 is a way better series - it uses some similar themes, like the absurdly OP and unassuming protagonist, but does much more interesting things with them.

Oh, that's really interesting. I've heard about Mob Psycho on several occasions, but never actually knew what actually made up the series (I like to go into things with minimal investigation). Thanks for the rec!

Edited by Kenshin_sama
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OPM bored me stupid and I gave up without finishing the series. Again the author hates his protagonist so that even though he's more powerful than anyone and will never lose any battles, he gets treated like dirt continuously. That part of the joke really grates for me, and it's the major premise for its comedy.

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1 hour ago, Kenshin_sama said:

So yeah, I get this isn't an anime for everyone. Though I do appreciate the anime's abuse of conflict spoilers, I can understand that it's really just part of my preference. Or maybe the hype just lead to heightened expectations? I wouldn't disagree with that either; hype really can be a bother. But due to my less-than-ideal experience with FMAB, I've learned to take fan hype with a grain of salt and go in with regular expectations. One strategy I've adopted to counteract the affects of hype is to wait for my own excitement to dissipate before I watch or read anything.

Yeah, I wouldn't disagree with any of the points you made, that is why I still rate it highly. I guess I just hoped for it to genuinely surprise me in some ways and after it established its formula, there wasn't anything truly new or different happening with it. It's all well-crafted and fun, but I feel it'd need a lot more to be a serious contender for a 10/10 rating, which so many people give to it.

------

And switching to an exclusively positive topic, A Place Further Than the Universe was extremely solid till the very end and is, in my opinion, a genuine 10/10 SoL anime. Really touching, but not overly sappy or melodramatic, funny but not through forced/dumb gags, with flawed characters that simply feel human and relatable. Excellently paced and wonderfully produced. I was seriously searching for anything negative to say about it and I couldn't. There were definitely shows I've enjoyed more in particular moments/episodes, but this one still left me super-impressed with just how wholesome and consistent it was. We need more of that in anime. :3

Edited by Plk_Lesiak
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1 hour ago, ittaku said:

OPM bored me stupid and I gave up without finishing the series. Again the author hates his protagonist so that even though he's more powerful than anyone and will never lose any battles, he gets treated like dirt continuously. That part of the joke really grates for me, and it's the major premise for its comedy.

Huh, that's a peculiar viewpoint. I feel that the author wrote the story like that to keep Saitama's character humble and relatable despite his absurd level of power. Because, seriously, while I don't particularly dislike Goku in DBZ, I do feel a bit detached from him because of how frequently celebrated he is by just about everyone. Plus, it further drives home the point that society is mostly superficial. I don't think the author hates him as much as you might think he does.

57 minutes ago, Plk_Lesiak said:

I guess I just hoped for it to genuinely surprise me in some ways and after it established its formula, there wasn't anything truly new or different happening with it.

Oh, I see what you're getting at here. Yeah, you're right. I don't particularly dislike that about OPM mostly because I value presentability, depth, and intent above everything else. But yeah, it doesn't really add much in the way of novelty in the later episodes.

Edited by Kenshin_sama
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3 hours ago, Kenshin_sama said:

Huh, that's a peculiar viewpoint. I feel that the author wrote the story like that to keep Saitama's character humble and relatable despite his absurd level of power. Because, seriously, while I don't particularly dislike Goku in DBZ, I do feel a bit detached from him because of how frequently celebrated he is by just about everyone. Plus, it further drives home the point that society is mostly superficial. I don't think the author hates him as much as you might think he does.

Saitama's core theme is literally about finding meaning and happiness in a life devoid of it. There's a current of thinking (and I believe some Japanese philosopher actually wrote on it) which argues that a lack of challenges and difficulties will rob mankind of its ability to find joy in life. Saitama's character is someone who's been robbed of any challenge at all, and consequently finds himself in complete apathy.

I don't know to which degree ONE tries to explore this idea, but considering the general subversive themes of the show as a parody, I'm inclines to believe he's put some thought there. I do feel like ittaku has misinterpreted the author here. Saitama only gets treated like crap by the "public", kind of as a denouncement of the superhero culture and society. Again, OPM really isn't some super deep woke show, but it certainly has a bunch of interesting messages and ideas (and Saitama gets treated very nicely by those around him).

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Actually, now that I think about it, Goku also wasn't terribly popular with the people of Earth, either, as is showcased in his fight against Kid Buu. In the end, he had to rely on Hercule in order to get the energy he needed to win the fight.

6 minutes ago, Jun Inoue said:

Saitama only gets treated like crap by the "public", kind of as a denouncement of the superhero culture and society.

Yeah, I think you've got a better interpretation of the public opinion aspect than I do. One other detail I picked up from SEW's video (at 23:35) is that the author might actually have a real connection to the protagonist due to how his art might have been received (before Murata started drawing it, that is).

22 minutes ago, Jun Inoue said:

Again, OPM really isn't some super deep woke show, but it certainly has a bunch of interesting messages and ideas (and Saitama gets treated very nicely by those around him).

Yeah, I don't disagree with you here. OPM isn't a shallow anime, but it's not the most thought-provoking either. The reason I cherish this anime as much as I do is that it hits all the right cords with me.

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7 hours ago, Kenshin_sama said:

Yeah, I think you've got a better interpretation of the public opinion aspect than I do. One other detail I picked up from SEW's video (at 23:35) is that the author might actually have a real connection to the protagonist due to how his art might have been received (before Murata started drawing it, that is).

That would make sense. I know I probably wouldn't be above passing over his original work due to the art.

7 hours ago, Kenshin_sama said:

Yeah, I don't disagree with you here. OPM isn't a shallow anime, but it's not the most thought-provoking either. The reason I cherish this anime as much as I do is that it hits all the right cords with me.

Same. I believe I have it on an 8/10 on MAL purely because of its amazing polish (especially the animation), how entertaining it is and the couple strong messages/themes it has going for it. It falls short of excellence as it's also a short anime and can't explore much more, and doesn't even try to do that to begin with. But there's certainly a reason it's catalogued as a seinen, and not a shonen.

13 hours ago, Plk_Lesiak said:

Yeah, I wouldn't disagree with any of the points you made, that is why I still rate it highly. I guess I just hoped for it to genuinely surprise me in some ways and after it established its formula, there wasn't anything truly new or different happening with it. It's all well-crafted and fun, but I feel it'd need a lot more to be a serious contender for a 10/10 rating, which so many people give to it.

People are just horrible at rating anime (/anything). OPM was a hype machine from beginning to end, so people just gave it a 10/10 because "man, it's soooo awesome".

Edited by Jun Inoue
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I just finished both seasons of Chuunibyou demo koi ga shitai, now there's movie left - I'll probably watch it today.

For now I have to say, that I absolutely loved first season, and while second was a bit weaker, it certainly wasn't a disaster some reviewers made it out to be.

Edited by adamstan
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Today I watched Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai! Movie: Take On Me, thus completing the show. @ittaku was 100% right - it gives very nice conclusion to the series, and definitely puts the whole show on the list of "anime with satisfying endings". Very nice tale about love and growing up. I liked it about as much as Toradora! - which it resembled to me a bit.

9/10

(1st season - 9, 2nd season - 8, movie - 9 - and when considered as a whole - 9)

 

 

Edited by adamstan
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So, today I'm going all oldschool again (although this time I jump into '90s, not '80s), and starting Magic Knight Rayearth:D

 

I don't think it will be able to surpass Sailor Moon, but should be fun nevertheless. I've already listened to soundtrack many times, and it's one of my anime OST favorites (together with aforementioned SM ;))

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I watched Sukitte Ii Na yo - Say I love you. This was a little gem of a romance that somehow had flown under my radar till now. It was clearly shoujo romance which seems to always be more satisfying than anything written for boys. The latter half wasn't quite as good as the first half, with lots of convenient stereotypical resolutions to the various dramas but it was still a delight to watch and ultimately satisfying. 8/10

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8 hours ago, ittaku said:

I watched Sukitte Ii Na yo - Say I love you. This was a little gem of a romance that somehow had flown under my radar till now. It was clearly shoujo romance which seems to always be more satisfying than anything written for boys. The latter half wasn't quite as good as the first half, with lots of convenient stereotypical resolutions to the various dramas but it was still a delight to watch and ultimately satisfying. 8/10

I don't remember a lot of detail of this show, but I do remember thoroughly enjoying it back when I watched it. It had a pretty different feel from most stuff I'd seen before, but in retrospect, that may have been because I just wasn't exposed to much shoujo romance at the time. But regardless, it was good stuff. Also, I'm 100% with you on shoujo romance being more satisfying than boy-targeted stuff. I should really go out of my way to watch more shoujo stuff...

Me, I've been watching Kill La Kill recently, and I'm sorely disappointed in all the people who thought it was cool to hate on a fantastic show like this back in the day, since they managed to scare me away from watching it for a long time, until a friend asked me to watch it with him while he's rewatching it. We're currently a little over halfway through and both having a wonderful time with it. It's chock-full of exactly the right kind of insanity to push my buttons, from the premise to the plot to the execution. I definitely would not have enjoyed watching something this unapologetically horny a few years ago, and I can't help wondering if I wouldn't have been right there on the "eww" train with people, but today, I am absolutely here for the whole package Kill La Kill has to offer.

Also worth mentioning is that Kill La Kill has literally the best subs I've ever seen (the official ones on crunchyroll). They are consistent, and consistently delightful, full of fun and spirit and a little edge of sauciness. I can't get enough of them. I dream of doing work this good.

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57 minutes ago, Fred the Barber said:

Me, I've been watching Kill La Kill recently, and I'm sorely disappointed in all the people who thought it was cool to hate on a fantastic show like this back in the day, since they managed to scare me away from watching it for a long time, until a friend asked me to watch it with him while he's rewatching it. We're currently a little over halfway through and both having a wonderful time with it. It's chock-full of exactly the right kind of insanity to push my buttons, from the premise to the plot to the execution. I definitely would not have enjoyed watching something this unapologetically horny a few years ago, and I can't help wondering if I wouldn't have been right there on the "eww" train with people, but today, I am absolutely here for the whole package Kill La Kill has to offer.

Also worth mentioning is that Kill La Kill has literally the best subs I've ever seen (the official ones on crunchyroll). They are consistent, and consistently delightful, full of fun and spirit and a little edge of sauciness. I can't get enough of them. I dream of doing work this good.

Hmm I seriously need to rewatch it. I haven't watched it since it first aired and don't remember much except it being insane and enjoying it.

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On 2/27/2019 at 11:45 PM, Fred the Barber said:

Me, I've been watching Kill La Kill recently, and I'm sorely disappointed in all the people who thought it was cool to hate on a fantastic show like this back in the day, since they managed to scare me away from watching it for a long time, until a friend asked me to watch it with him while he's rewatching it. We're currently a little over halfway through and both having a wonderful time with it. It's chock-full of exactly the right kind of insanity to push my buttons, from the premise to the plot to the execution. I definitely would not have enjoyed watching something this unapologetically horny a few years ago, and I can't help wondering if I wouldn't have been right there on the "eww" train with people, but today, I am absolutely here for the whole package Kill La Kill has to offer.

Going off my own experience and what I've heard from friends, I think it mostly boils down to expectations. I had the misfortune of going in when the anime first started airing, and it was my greatest pre-season anticipation at the time due to the staff having worked on TTGL. It's been a while since I last watched it, so I can't really recall what it was that put me off, but I remember there being a few annoying quirks that put me in a sour mood.

But who knows, maybe I was being a little harsh at the time. Thinking back, it did have a few standout elements that got me hooked early on, so maybe I'll give it another go eventually. It might help if I judge it by its own merits rather than expecting a TTGL v2. :P

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  • 4 weeks later...

Other than STPC in which currently at the ninth episode, I binged Daitoshokan at Youtube seeing that we finally got the patch released (Or rather leaked). As for the anime, now that I play the VN a bit farther I can see that the writer did arrange some of the scenes from the VN differently in the anime. Also the ending was quite inconclusive with Kakei didn't get to ended up with one of the girls, but I guess we better leave that for the VN here. In summary, the anime is good if you didn't want to play the VN because at least it describe the baseline of the story. If anything, at least the ending is not as ridiculous as Yoake's anime version in which the MC dead and resurrected by the alien (Not to mention rebellion plot in which it didn't exist in the VN, and no I didn't make this up about the alien).

Edited by littleshogun
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Aaand, before I ever knew it, I finished second season of MKR :o (全部を見てしまった , I guess? ;) )

While most reviews rate it lower than the first, for me actually it scored higher. While with first season I went at pretty slow pace, due to its episodic nature (except for the final 4 or 5 episodes), almost every episode of second season ended with a some kind of cliffhanger, so I just HAD to see what happens next. It was quite intense, and much darker than most of the first season. Of course, it's still pretty, how to say it, naive? But I'm OK with it.

 

Loved the music - actually you can see the tape I made with selected songs from it in my avatar (alongside with Sailor Moon and Slayers ones).

And combination of isekai, magical girls and mecha fights was rather interesting one :)

Overally - I'm certainly not disappointed. I'd still put SM a bit higher, but this was good too.

 

I think that next I'm going for some romcom again ;) LovelyComplex maybe?

 

EDIT:

I just found out that Chizeta twin princessess were voiced by my two favourite seiyuu - Kikuko Inoue and Aya Hisakawa. I knew they sounded familiar - especially Tatra, voiced by "onee-chan" :D

Edited by adamstan
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I feel weird writing third post in a row, but whatever... :P

Yesterday I finished watching Lovely★Complex.

It was great - my first thought was "a bit like Toradora! but reversed" ;) But that's only when it comes to characters' height - and inital premise.

Comedic parts were really funny, at least for me, and romance aspect was interesting as well - about difficult transition from friends to lovers.

Beginning was hilarious, it sagged a bit in the middle, but then regained traction around ep 16-17, and ran towards quite satisfying ending.

Art was, well, wouldn't call it beautiful, but it worked.

8/10, very enjoyable.

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1 hour ago, adamstan said:

I feel weird writing third post in a row, but whatever... :P

It simply means this is an exclusive thread, only for the best among Fuwans. The fact the dirty masses don't post in it only makes it that much better. You should be proud of your contributions. :meguface:

---------------------------------

Anyway, looking for mindless entertainment after a particularly tedious week I've started watching Kore wa Zombie Desu ka and uhhhmmm... Well, if surely excels in being random, but I'm not sure if any anime I've seen so far managed to do this little when it goes to plot. Authors apparently assumed that being wacky is enough for a comedy harem anime, and any kind of substance is optional....

...and considering how relatively high the MAL rating for it is, I guess they were right. But I really enjoy these shows a lot more if they add some kind of stakes or at least consistent worldbuilding to the mix. Even utter-trash shows like the Smartphone isekai had a bit of that. You could argue this just aims to be a pure parody anime, spoofing fantasy action shows... But I don't find it funny enough to accept that as a proper justification. But, maybe I'm just weird. 6/10.

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 4/9/2019 at 9:48 AM, Plk_Lesiak said:

Anyway, looking for mindless entertainment after a particularly tedious week I've started watching Kore wa Zombie Desu ka and uhhhmmm... Well, if surely excels in being random, but I'm not sure if any anime I've seen so far managed to do this little when it goes to plot. Authors apparently assumed that being wacky is enough for a comedy harem anime, and any kind of substance is optional....

...and considering how relatively high the MAL rating for it is, I guess they were right. But I really enjoy these shows a lot more if they add some kind of stakes or at least consistent worldbuilding to the mix. Even utter-trash shows like the Smartphone isekai had a bit of that. You could argue this just aims to be a pure parody anime, spoofing fantasy action shows... But I don't find it funny enough to accept that as a proper justification. But, maybe I'm just weird. 6/10.

Eh, a 7.5 isn't that high for MAL. I'd say the high bar for that site would be more in the 8-8.5 range. And yeah, you're score is not that far off from mine, either. I enjoyed what it had going for it, but it could do with better writing. There is one episode in the sequel that had me nearly dying of laughter though, and I will always appreciate the series for that. :)

Oh and don't bother watching the OVAs unless you're really in the mood for a fanservice shitfest. These OVAs have even less substance than the TV series.

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