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

[Mattias]

Right, that was the explanation for that. I'd completely forgotten.

[Rafflesiac]

Dr. Stone: Very spooky petrification. Amaryllis is funny.
Yuusha ga Shinda: Perverts, perverts everywhere. New girl looks promising.

[BladeOfEden]

Jikoguraku is pretty good so far.

Vinland Saga S2 is finally starting to pick up.

The Megumin Konosuba spin-off has been a bit of a let down.

Kimetsu no Yaiba S3 is okay, not great but not horrible either.

Read Shin Sekai Yori (the novel) recently and loved it. If it doesn’t get officially translated in the next few years I’m going to just get a custom book made of the fan translation.

[Nikiri]

finished kimi ni todoke s2, and while the ending was satisfying enough, it actually covered a44 chapters out of 123 from the manga

so there is more, huh... a lot more

[RoydGolden]

Finished Symphogear G. Pretty good continuation. Heroines are still likeable and Chris' development was well-done. Seeing the reticent and aggressive girl from S1 slowly adjust to having a home she can go back to (while still retaining some of her tough-edged nature) was sweet. Dr. Ver (disappointed the show never brings up his apparently canon name of John Wayne Vercingetorix) was an amazingly hammy villain who lights up pretty much any scene he's in. I like that Maria's group actually came came away impressed with the heroes' strength in their first encounter. It subverts the constant power escalation common in these kinds of stories, and fits given Hibiki's gang literally saved the world last season, so it makes sense they'd be more powerful than some random new group of Gear users.

Spoiler:

Some plot-points came off as weak or awkward however. Fine (the organization)'s motivations were rather vague. I don't get how declaring war on the world helped their plan at all, which amounted to "get a hold of Frontier and hope it has something that can stop the falling moon". "Villain who takes ruthless means to achieve their idealistic goal" is a classic archetype, but it felt like the writers just had them with a good goal and then randomly do evil shit along the way without setting a clear throughline.

And while the Miku Symphogear twist made for a cool pathos-laden confrontation, the setup was incredibly contrived. Not only does Maria randomly save Miku from the collapsing tower but then Dr. Ver somehow(!) knows her connection to Hibiki and that they can exploit her relationship drama for power. And Miku herself was sidelined for most of the season compared to S1, which makes her sudden yandere turn even more abrupt. I do have to admire the show for making her the one to ultimately save the world with Solomon's Cane though. Symphogear feels pretty consistent with its "power of bonds" message in that the final victory actually comes from the main girls all working together, rather than just Hibiki beating up the bad guy while screaming about her friends giving her strength or what have you.

Overall I'd say the climaxes were emotionally well-done and stand up at least as well as the first season's, but the steps to get there were pretty iffy a lot of the time.

[LegalLoliLover]

Summertime Render is really consistent in it's monsters though, with the only curve ball being the Enforcer for reasons that are explaned away very clearly later on. heck the MC's power is more unexplained than any of the villains in that show.

More like, how does Hiruko's species survive regularly? On Earth, she lived for 300 years before hitting menopause, but how long was she floating in space? Also, while she can make Shadows, aren't those Shadows incapable of making long lasting Shadows themselves? Obviously, I'm not talking about half-Shadows, like Shide.

[bassgs435]

Finished Symphogear G. Pretty good continuation. Heroines are still likeable and Chris' development was well-done. Seeing the reticent and aggressive girl from S1 slowly adjust to having a home she can go back to (while still retaining some of her tough-edged nature) was sweet. Dr. Ver (disappointed the show never brings up his apparently canon name of John Wayne Vercingetorix) was an amazingly hammy villain who lights up pretty much any scene he's in. I like that Maria's group actually came came away impressed with the heroes' strength in their first encounter. It subverts the constant power escalation common in these kinds of stories, and fits given Hibiki's gang literally saved the world last season, so it makes sense they'd be more powerful than some random new group of Gear users.

Spoiler:

Some plot-points came off as weak or awkward however. Fine (the organization)'s motivations were rather vague. I don't get how declaring war on the world helped their plan at all, which amounted to "get a hold of Frontier and hope it has something that can stop the falling moon". "Villain who takes ruthless means to achieve their idealistic goal" is a classic archetype, but it felt like the writers just had them with a good goal and then randomly do evil shit along the way without setting a clear throughline.

And while the Miku Symphogear twist made for a cool pathos-laden confrontation, the setup was incredibly contrived. Not only does Maria randomly save Miku from the collapsing tower but then Dr. Ver somehow(!) knows her connection to Hibiki and that they can exploit her relationship drama for power. And Miku herself was sidelined for most of the season compared to S1, which makes her sudden yandere turn even more abrupt. I do have to admire the show for making her the one to ultimately save the world with Solomon's Cane though. Symphogear feels pretty consistent with its "power of bonds" message in that the final victory actually comes from the main girls all working together, rather than just Hibiki beating up the bad guy while screaming about her friends giving her strength or what have you.

Overall I'd say the climaxes were emotionally well-done and stand up at least as well as the first season's, but the steps to get there were pretty iffy a lot of the time.

Remember to watch the BD specials (Zesshoushinai or something like that) after each season starting with G. They're canon and expand on the characters and stuff. I'd even say some of them should've been in the TV episodes.

[bassgs435]

Melody of Oblivion/Boukyaku no Senritsu
Pretty great and surreal show. Characters are great. Fanservice is hot. Setting is pretty weird and interesting. Great direction makes for a really unique atmosphere. OST is great too. Lots to think about. Hidden gem

[Mattias]

It's always fun to be at an anime con and walk into a room showing something like Harlock, and half the people who walk in have no idea what the hell it is and start asking why it looks so basic.

[Rafflesiac]

I've finished reading Baby Steps.

What a fantastic, beautiful series. How long has it even been since I started reading it? I used to want to be a tennis player as a kid, and Baby Steps scratched that itch even more than Prince of Tennis did. From baby steps to giant strides, we follow Ei-chan's journey from a complete rookie to an incredibly skilled pro player. It's incredibly satisfying to read and watch. Every setback he faces just makes the triumphs all the sweeter. The tennis matches themselves are fantastic too! Baby Steps captures the mental back and forth and the intensity of the sport perfectly, all without resorting to anime superpowers. The characters are all fun and likable, and the central romance is sweet and refreshing as well. 455 chapters just isn't enough; I could easily read a thousand more.

I'll miss this series. In the meantime, I'll pray for a physical release and look up the BDs.

[Rafflesiac]

God I love it when Ranger Reject goes hard.

[Mattias]

So I'm continuing my watch of Eminence in Shadow now that the dubs complete. And they just dropped the stupidest character name in the most dramtic way and I lost it. No one else would have the balls to call their character Perv Asshat. Everyone else would try to be subtle about this thing, use the name of some historical leches. Not Eminence though.

Big titty goth demon lord is a cutie though.

[TomPen94]

Been watching Eureka Seven with my buddies over the last 8 months.
Availability was a recurring problem but we made it through.
I'm thinking of rewatching it by myself since the long times between sessions weren't rly that good for my memory of the plot and lore.

That being said, I burst out laughing when I saw this:

Spoiler:

That was certainly an ending.

[bassgs435]

TenSura Guren no Kizuna
Pretty cool movie. Animation was great, plot was decent and new characters were good. More Rimuru and pals is always good

[bassgs435]

SAO Progressive movie 2.
Quite a cool movie. Love seeing the bond beetween Kirito and Asuna, and Mito's development. Vassago's sudden appearance at the end was good too. Also, I personally like the animation. Good stuff

[Nikiri]

watched mahou sensei negima, it's been 11 years since the manga finished

i think it does follow manga closely with few differences (not sure) and probably much much less fanservice. still pretty fun

the original anime ending was a surprise, bit messy, but overall not horrible


gonna watch the rest of negima animated series, then maybe I will reread original manga before even thinking of touching UQ holder manga

- - - Updated - - -

but man, i love those silly latin incantations

[RoydGolden]

Finished Symphogear GX. Definitely the best season so far for me. G rose higher than the first in terms of spectacle but had weaker plotting, while this does a good job with both. Carol is my favorite Symphogear villain. Rather than having a sympathetic backstory/characterization added at the last moment like Fine, or almost wholly evil like Dr. Ver, her backstory and reason for acting as she does are made part of her character from the beginning. Wanting to dissect the world for knowledge is a unique villain goal, and the context of misinterpreting her father's dying wish adds some good pathos.

For our heroines Hibiki's abrupt turn to pacifism wasn't very well-explained and just as quickly resolved, making it kind of pointless IMO. The arc with her estranged dad was better though. Yuri-wise I love how by this stage it's basically not subtle at all the leads are girlfriends. Hibiki just short of points it out when she sees Shirabe and Kirika holding hands, and Miku gets in on it to the point Chris blushingly chides them both to "keep that kind of stuff at home". I did notice at this point not all the characters' songs were subbed. For a series where so much of the meaning is conveyed through music that's a fairly glaring omission, and one I can't see any explanation for. For instance I'd like to know what Carol was singing in the final fight, but it wasn't translated at all.

[Rafflesiac]

What the hell, Magilumiere? You can't just take away the happy ending like that!

[TomPen94]

Oshi no Ko 122

BROOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Never expected Aqua to out himself. I thought he'd figure it out but keep it hidden for the moment.
Even into this chapter I kept thinking that, and thought the argument between Ruby and Aqua would erupt over Aqua's hypocrisy of asking Ruby not to be consumed by revenge while being completely willing to fuck his own life over for that purpose.
That shift was so good tho. Very good way to make this plot point pay off.

And this shit right here:


AUGH

Bravo Akasaka, bravo!

[Rafflesiac]

Good chapter. I'd have been shocked if it hadn't gone this way. The first read-through left me dry, but the second got my eyes watering. Ruby deserved this.