What are you reading/watching? AKA Anime/Manga General

[Mcjon01]

It’s an American comic book why compare it to anime

[Deathhappens]

Call me childish but the constant f-bombs and other tryhard no-no words had me on the floor.

I don't think they overdid it in that regard at all, at least not compared to shit like... idk, DmC. Trevor swore occasionally but he didn't say fuck every other word and I honestly got a laugh whenever the supposedly aloof Alucard got drawn in and swore at him. That middle finger salute at the end had me rolling. Sure, it wasn't exactly period-accurate dialogue, but I'll take Modern Liberated Vampire Carmilla dropping an f-bomb occasionally over yet another butchering of thees and thous. In that, as well as visually and in the writing of characters and situations Castlevania felt very reminiscent of the classic
animated series Gargoyles, and as I was a fan of that series you won't hear me complaining. The animation remained top notch 'till the end (special props to whoever got stuck with choreographing and animating Trevor's whip fighting scenes, they did an amazing job), and the characterisation surprisingly led me to actually care about the protagonist trio, as clichè as they might otherwise have been. The only real complaint I can put forward is that in another unfortunate similarity with Gargoyles, the plot ended up meandering a bit towards the end, as a much-planned and foreshadowed betrayal ended up getting completely hijacked by the heroic trio for their solo fight with Dracula, effectively leaving the real villain of the second half stranded outside the climax. If this was meant to be a sequel hook (as the epilogue seems to indicate) it was really hamfistedly done.

Overall though, I give it a solid 7, it was short, sweet and entertaining enough to watch in one go. Worth checking out if you happen to come across it.

[weeblord]

They already greenlit a third season so yeah it probs was meant to be a sequel hook.

[SpoonyViking]

"Gargoyles" was superbly written and acted. "Castlevania", for the most part, isn't, to put it mildly.
Great fight scenes, though.

[Sandstorm77]

Ok i‘m really intrigued with fire force now. With that moon there and the chapter title of ‘death and flame’, i don’t know how much is it is just ohkubo’s style carrying over or wheter it’s actually an attempt to put a connection between the two series.

[Laserman]

I finished Attack on Titan Season 3 Part 2 and it was amazing. I don't know which part I like more though. There was so much that happened that changed everything, way too much talk about everything.

Spoiler:

I like Armin, but I don't think they should have chosen him over Erwin. He was one of my favorite characters in the series, and it's shame he died before seeing what was in the basement.

I just want to watch Attack on Titan: No Regrets. I read the manga, but I want to watch Levi's story. The trailers for it were awesome.

[RoydGolden]

Been watching Dororo on Amazon Prime lately. It's a great show but hoo boy can the tragic elements be hard-hitting at times. I'm just at episode 6 now and the way the whole plotline with Mio ended was absolutely heartbreaking. Goes to show that even in a world full of demons and monsters, some of the most heartless acts can be carried out by human beings...

I still am liking the show a lot though. Hyakkimaru's disabilities make him a really interesting protagonist, and I like that each part of himself he gets back from the demons doesn't always make him unequivocally "stronger" in the sense of a typical Shonen power-up. Whereas at first Hyakkimaru was practically an emotionless, fearless demon-killing machine, getting back his senses of pain and especially hearing have made him more human but also much more vulnerable. Well of course, vulnerability is a large part of being human. But that very vulnerability lets you see things you'd be blind to from a more "impartial" standpoint.

Like, would Hyakkimaru still have killed Tanosuke (demon sword guy from episode 4) if he could hear Osushi pleading with him not to, or could he have managed to find a better way of disarming him again without killing him? It's all up in the air, but at the very least, him being able to hear Osushi's sorrowful cries at the loss of her beloved brother gave him an emotional perspective he was missing before.

[Mattias]

Like, would Hyakkimaru still have killed Tanosuke (demon sword guy from episode 4) if he could hear Osushi pleading with him not to, or could he have managed to find a better way of disarming him again without killing him? It's all up in the air, but at the very least, him being able to hear Osushi's sorrowful cries at the loss of her beloved brother gave him an emotional perspective he was missing before.

You'll get the answer to that question later in the show. It becomes a bit of a thing in the later half.

[Nikiri]

Mahoutsukai Taisetsu na Koto: Natsu no Sora, a story in the almost same setting like the previous one (Mahoutsukai Taisetsu na Koto).

Another country girl - Suzuki Sora from Biei in Hokkaido - travels to Tokyo and her teacher/instructor is Emiya Kiritsugu Hara Seiichirou... actually, this time the focus is very different, the instructor has a minor role compared to the previous story.

This time, the trainees actually attends to the class, where they learn theory, history, etc. and midday they with their instructor would go fulfil various request from people.

If I said that the previous one was a slow SoL, this is a much slower one with a strong emphasis on just ordinary (very ordinary), plain and simple life during the period of one month of training, from the start to the graduation and a small epilogue. Story of Suzuki Sora meeting new friends, learning about magic, falling in love, and a little bittersweet twist...

The way it was presented was really unusual, with the slow pace, very often you will just see the background panning into another background. Ah yes, the background. It's real life photos with slight "anime-fication" (or something along those lines), and it maybe look strange, with anime charas but I liked it.

Is it boring? I guess it is. But to me, it was boring in a good way, it kept me interested despite that there was nothing to see. Nostalgic, reminiscence of the simple (school) life.



ok, i'm writing this for over half an hour trying to convey something, or some kind of feeling but i'm not good with words, this show was simple and good in its own way, i like it much more than the previous one, end

[Spartacus]

Not sure I was watching Zi-O or Decade Season 2.

[Mattias]

So, I'm watching the Konosuba dub and all of a sudden Darkness shows up speaking with Velvet Crowe's voice. It's hilarious, especially when the succubus episode rolls around.

[R.Lock]

Symphogear G.

I'm on so many different levels of what, right now.

[Mattias]

I bounced off symphogear when it first aired. First episode was amazing but the next few bored me. Should I give it another shot?

[Deathhappens]

YES YES YES YES

*Ahem*

If you liked the crazy mecha-style transformation and the battle at the start of episode 1, absolutely. Symphogear's battles and transformations improve by light years as the seasons go on.
Other than that, Season 1 is kind of a weird representative Symphogear as a whole because it really struggled to decide what it wanted to be at first. If you like it for a serious, even edgy, take on mahou shoujo with technological trappings...well, that doesn't last. If you liked the sheer absurdity of singing to fight weird technicolor monsters with utterly impractical weaponry and a mostly feel-good shounen plot, this is your jam. It still has its dramatic moments and character motivations always play a large (sometimes disproportionately large) part in the plot... but the fights and the story itself only get more wonderfully absurd and beautiful.

- - - Updated - - -

Symphogear G.

I'm on so many different levels of what, right now.

G is an amazing rollercoaster of emotions all the way to the end.

[Laserman]

I started watch Kill La Kill and I finished episode today. I liked it, it was awesome and I'll definitely keep watching it.

[Wandering Swordwoman]

I'm watching Non Non Biyori

So cute

[RoydGolden]

Saw episode 15 of Dororo this afternoon. I've heard this episode was somewhat infamous for its poor animation quality compared to the rest and honestly I don't really see it. Apart from the one admittedly goofy scene of Hyakkimaru running up the hill, none of the animation struck me as egregious enough to jolt me out of enjoying the show. And the scene of the giant moth-demon rising out of the water at the end was outright gorgeous.

Then again, I didn't mind the "infamous" fourth episode of Gurren Lagann either, so maybe this kind of animation just doesn't bother me as much as others. One thing I am surprised by is that the moth-girl demon got killed so quickly. I thought for sure she was going to survive and end up a more major antagonist, since she even gets a dedicated shot in the OP. She only even showed her human form once...

[Deathhappens]

People also trashed Apocrypha's episode 16 animation whereas Sakugabooru had an entire article devoted to it. I never got past a couple episodes in Dororo but animation quality can be... very subjective, sometimes.

[hayate]

Finished JJBA: Stardust Crusaders.

Curiosity satiated. I think I'll stop right there.

Good thing Hamon didn't disappear in Part 3 even though they said that it was only used on 3 episodes. Maybe they counted it wrong as Hamon is still playing an active role in why Dio looked imposingly stronger in Stardust Crusaders than Phantom Blood and why Dio cannot adjust to the new body that he had.

[weeblord]

People also trashed Apocrypha's episode 16 animation whereas Sakugabooru had an entire article devoted to it. I never got past a couple episodes in Dororo but animation quality can be... very subjective, sometimes.

With apocrypha it often boiled down to the fact that apo used lots of webgen animation where often the characters appear undetailed for the sake of flashy animation. Many animefans are very confused when talking about animation, people cant seem to realize animation, artstyle, and sometimes even video resolution at worst lmfao are different things. So these people look at a scene with crazy animation but the characters are simplified and go “this has low budget”. Then theyll watch an episode of early JoJo where the animation was mostly welldrawn stillshots, and go “omg that crazy animation!!!”. Lots of anime fans treat going offmodel for the sake of animation as “low budget”, and would rather take the stiffest of animations if it meant the character stays perfectly on model. For sakugawankers its the opposite, stillshots have no animation so theres no wank to be had.

i mean, its not wrong to have preferences but when the preferences come hand in hand with a bunch of ignorant comments its a little disheartening.