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

[Skull]

Finally got around to watching the second season of "Thunderbolt Fantasy".

An excellent continuation of the original show. Good to get some direct answers to the mysteries surrounding Xi-You that were teased in the first season. Perhaps it's just my imagination but the budget seemed to increase as we got better and more frequent battle sequences - especially ones with multiple fighters on screen at once. I liked pretty much all the new characters, just a shame that this being Urobuchi that most of them died off. My only real nitpick would be that due to the success of the first season, the show is a lot more cavalier about leaving some plot threads hanging for the (then) inevitable next season and so this season didn't quite have the same full sense of closure that the first had but it's fine really.

But yeah, looking forward to watching season 3 whenever I get around to it~

[bassgs435]

Gunslinger Girl S1 done. Honestly, pretty good. You don't have much of an overarching plot and it feels more like an episodic SoL than I expected (it¡'s just instead of focusing on the lives of normal students, it is on the lives of girls conditioned and modified to be government assassins, and the psychological and physical problems that arise), but it's good as this allows a lot of focus on the different characters, which makes the more dramatic and tragic parts effectively hit.

[Laserman]

Tiger & Bunny Season 2 Part 2 Episode 14: A new ending but no new opening yet. Maybe, the next episode will have it.

Spoiler:

Kotetsu and Barnaby haven't been able to work since the last fight they were in, and the other hero teams have gone up in the ranking without them even in the list because of it. But, they were eventually cleared to go to back to work and they and the Hero TV crew were planning on making a big surprise out of it.

Unfortunately, when Origami Cyclone used his powers to pass on a button to Agnes, he saw the schedule and passed on the news that Tiger & Barnaby would be returning to the other heroes, ruining the surprise for them. So they had to pretend that they were surprised by Koutetsu's bad acting about not being to work anyone when they stopped by before the show.

But before their big debut, they got a call for deployment from Director Petrov. A group of NEXT were ramping in the city, and all the heroes had to leave right before Kotetsu and Barnaby appeared on stage.

They were able to stop most of them, but they noticed that the people wrecking stuff weren't responding to them. With good teamwork they managed to stop a good number of them, but there were still more just destroying things, which left them wondering what the hell is going on.


A little girl was with her father when he became part of that group of NEXTs just acting wildly. And at the end we see the criminal from the first part walking away with what's probably the same case of power enchancing drugs.

Other things to note are Mattia trying to find a way to stop the drug he accidentally created, Dragon Kid and Magical Cat living together to deepen their partnership, the cool trick that Subaru was going to do but failed at, and how Barnaby's knee acted up I guess? That last one was something I was afraid of, I don't want them to push themselves to go back to work if they're not ready.

It's a nice start for part 2 of season 2, and I'm really excited for this.

[Laserman]

Tiger & Bunny Season 2 Part 2 Episode 15:

Spoiler:

Spoiler:

The people who went crazy with their powers from the last episode still haven't went back to normal and had to sedated to even try to begin to try them.
After asking Blue Rose for advice about how to help Barnaby, Kotetsu and her go out to eat.

But in the middle of it, there's another incident with NEXT going out of control, but in the big group of them, it turned out that this time, one of them was faking it.
The woman just wanted her ex to notice her, and decided to take the opportunity in the middle of the chaos.
I like that Blue Rose talked to her about how wrong what she did was and what she should do with those feelings instead.

Which ties into how she feels about Kotetsu. She fell in love with him because he's a old-fashioned superhero that loves his family and if he fell for her, he wouldn't be the same guy. So she decides to instead focus on being the best hero she can be.
I didn't expect what happened to Golden Ryan to still affect him that badly. I thought he was over it, but he still has nightmares that make him wake up screaming about when his powers went out of control.

He's the kind of person that's so sure himself and lets everyone know it, so to hear that from him was pretty shocking.

Barnaby's leg is still having trouble for sure, there's no denying it now.
Yuri's mother is delusional, she's under the impression that her dead husband, Mr.Legend, is still active as a hero, which is so sad considering what he did to his family.

What is Subaru doing at the end there? They literally told him not to respond to people's messages and it looks like he did exactly that. And there's the escaped criminal from before enjoying himself too. What's he going to do next?
It was another great episode.

[bassgs435]

Finished Gunslinger Girl Il Teatrino. Why the fuck did they change the seiyuus? Other changes I can understand, but the seiyuus? It was onyl 4 years after S1. Pretty rare that they recast everyone with such a short time gap beetween seasons. It wasn't bad once I got used to the changes. The main TV show offers good development for the SWA cast, but also we get to see some Padania characters explored, which is nice and makes the scenes of conflict much more interesting rather than the fratellos shooting at generic undeveloped enemies. This is one thing I'll give Ill Teatrino: the enemies felt better explored
The OVAa were nice too. Overall, good stuff

[Five_X]

I'm glad you liked the season that the GSG fandom tends to despise. The first forum I was ever really active on was dedicated to Gunslinger Girl, so it will always have a very special place in my heart. I highly recommend you check out the manga, if only to see how things all end.

[Laserman]

Tiger & Bunny Season 2 Part 2 Episode 16:

Spoiler:

I like when they ask Thomas what his motto is he goes with what L.L. Audun, the person that admired said, and they tell him that's bad because he was a dangerous vigilante. But because of how he grew up, that motto of "Only trust in your strength", is what he lived by. Which is sad considering that I had hoped that he had gotten better with trusting people.

Spoiler:

It turns out the girl Subaru was with was Thomas' sister, Ruby. She had reached to him since Thomas doesn't read the letters he gets sent and the two of them get caught
up in another attack that the heroes get sent to. They managed to stop the NEXT and Thomas and Ruby meet again for the first time in years.

Thomas asked Subaru why he did it for him in the first place and Subaru said at first it was because he wanted to try to make up for how he messed up chasing a bad guy before. But he also saw how much Thomas was suffering so... It's a very touching moment, I'm happy for them all.

The escapee is working with Ouroboros, he's not causing the incidents for no reason.
While they were trying to stop the next, Barnaby experienced pain in his leg again when he used Hundred Power and him going to the doctor confirmed what I feared.
The pain only happens when he uses his power, so until they can figure what to do, he shouldn't use it all. I just knew he wasn't all better.
It was another great episode.

[Laserman]

Tiger & Bunny Season 2 Part 2 Episode 17:

Spoiler:

292 NEXT have gone berserk since those attacks have started and public opinion and discrimination towards NEXT has become so horrible.

The amount of potential power and influence that Ouroboros has is staggering. Like Maverick going down like he did before, letting everyone think that that was the end of Ouroboros was great for them. They've been having that criminal use his power, which has been amplified by the drug he stole, to make NEXT go crazy. I have no idea exactly how it works, but he's doing it. And to nearly 300 people which was way more than I thought there would be.

To combat that, the city's mayor said that all the NEXT in th city would be sent away for a few days, and that the heroes wouldn't be able to work either. They had to turn in their communicators and suits.

The heroes not being active also made the crime rate go up, and of course, the police can't keep up with it. It's all just a big mess.

I liked the part where Yuri imagined his father asking him why he hasn't gone back out as Lunatic yet, since he'll never the man his mother wants to be.

I didn't expect the criminal to register himself so he could go into one of the places that they're keeping the NEXT, which are basically internment camps.

Like I don't know how else to describe it, they're freaking internment camps.

[Laserman]

I watched My Hero Academia World Heroes Mission the other day.

Spoiler:

I understand why so many people like Rhodey, he's very relatable and you can't help but feel sorry for him.
I can't believe they really fought against a cult, cult though. Like when that lady decided to jump rather than be captured, that's when I knew for sure.
I have no idea how Bakugo survived his fight in the end. He got stabbed and cut so many times and still managed to win, it was crazy.
Oh, I hate how they advertised the 3 of them wearing those costumes only for it to be a big fake out and to never wear them again. Why did they even bother doing that?
Flect's motivation for Humarize was to free people from the pain of Quirks, because he suffered because of his.
I didn't expect his Quirk to be what it was though.
I do like how in the final fight, Midoriya just overpowers his reflection with multiple hits since he has to have a limit to what he can reflect, just like when All Might fought that Noumu.

It was a good movie, but my favorite of the 3 is the first one and I'd put the second one over this one.

[Rafflesiac]

Why did they even bother doing that?

[Mattias]

Starting up my normal Christmas Eve anime marathon. Since my computers on the verge of dying, I'm sticking to stuff on Crunchyroll, so it's KnK this year. Maybe I can get farther than Hollow Shrine this year? Damn, those opening notes of Thanatos hit hard every time. I don't know if it's my favourite Yuki Kajiura score, but it's the most memorable. No Singing in the Rain though...

It's really weird how the Fujino scene has better breast physics than any hentai I've seen. You'd figure that they'd try and get that stuff down pat. At least the one's that are more better than a flash animation on loop.

Stupid sexy Touko, stop distracting me with your hair down look.

I forgot just how weird Paradox Spiral is. Who decides movie 5/8 is the point where you decide to get all experimental, and then you go right back to standard right after?

[WorldForgot]

Watched KnK for the first time around Easter earlier this year and loved it. I've been wondering if I should show my family (they dig Evangelion and GitS, Appleseed, but haven't seen much other anime) Paradox Spiral as a standalone movie. Deep down I know I just want an excuse to rewatch it on a bigger screen.

[Mattias]

I wouldn't. The movie is light enough on explanations for what's happening inside of it, and that's without having to take time to explain all the previous events that are touched on but get no explanation of their own.

[Laserman]

Tiger & Bunny Season 2 Part 2 Episode 18:

Spoiler:

Since the situation is getting in Sternbild, Thomas is going to work as a hero in Pleiades. It's also where Ruby lives so, he'd be able to see her more often. Subaru tells him to go be with his sister, but, he's obviously sad about it. Things were starting to look up when it came to their partnership, and then the whole "X" quarantine thing started up.
The culprit, Gregory Sunshine went into one of the evacuation sites and made a NEXT go out of control, and poor Kaede and her grandmother got caught up it in.
Ouroboros even have the man directly under the city mayor on their side and he's making sure that the mayor is going to make the evacuation go through.
Even when Kotetsu and Barnaby get the information that Gregory is responsible for the incidents, the mayor refuses to have them look into it any further.
The other's heroes know about Barnaby's leg now, and they want him to sit back and let them handle the search that they have to go do it themselves now.
And right when they should have had Gregory corned, they only find his hideout abandoned.
He got a tip the heroes were coming and managed to escape before hand.
What happened to Mattia though? He was the one who helped confirm Gregory's identity in the first place.

[bassgs435]

Infinite Ryvius done
Really good show. Pacing was good. The different characters were interesting, good animations and some decent character designs for a Hirai show and I loved how the internal conflics affect the external conflicts. Decent ending too.

Fantasista Doll done
Pretty fun little show. Nothing special, but it's got good characters, a decent plot, fun fights, some good drama and development and a nice ending. I like it
Funny trivia: I found out Taniguchi was involved in this show when looking at a list of staff and seiyuus. So without intending it, I ended up watching 2 Taniguchi shows (Fantasista and Ryvius). Funny coincidence

[Laserman]

Tiger & Bunny Season 2 Part 2 Episode 19:

Spoiler:

What happened in the last episode with Mattia turned out to be him being possessed by the one woman from before. It turns out she's a NEXT with the ability to take control of a person's body. By chance she figured out that Barnaby was Mattia's friend and had him give the heroes a recant of his statement about Gregory, and then make what they wanted to be his murder look like a suicide.

Thankfully, Barnaby and Kotetsu saved him in time and were able to figure out they he was being controlled. And they've figured out the connection to Hugan and Mugan, thought they don't know the Ouroboros connection yet. Still, they understand what those two and Gregory are trying to cause distrust and conflict between NEXt and non-NEXT.

On top of that, a very famous NEXT who's known for using her power to help the world is coming in Sternbild to solve the X crisis, so the pressure is on the Ouroboros people. But one of the biggest problems with the heroes not being active is, is that crime is become worse and the police can't keep up with it. Two particular criminals have been on a robbery and murder spree in the city. Just after talking on the phone with his mother, Yuri's mother and her caretaker were attacked and robbed by them. And just after Barnaby and Kotetsu took Mattia to Saito to keep him safe, they saw the guys driving away.
Even though they're not officially acting as heroes, they tried to chase them down, so when the police came, they weren't they're just for the criminals, they were there for them too.

After the credits, by the time Yuri gets to the hospital, while his mother's caretaker survived her gunshot wounds, his mother didn't. I just feel so sorry for that man, that was his only family left in the world and now she's gone.

Those robbers are dead. They are so dead, it's not even funny.

[Laserman]

Tiger & Bunny Season 2 Part 2 Episode 20:

Spoiler:

Yuri comforting his mother's helper after she woke up was a good scene. No one was to blame for what happened besides those guys.
Like I said before, Lunatic appeared right before those 2 men and killed them. Kotetsu and Barnaby tried to stop them, but Kotetsu already used his power and Barnaby's leg was causing him so much pain. The scene where the one guy drops the box with his mother's cookies and Yuri clenches his fist...

After that happened, all the heroes were forced by their companies to sign an agreement that if they acted as heroes without authorization again, they'd lose their hero contracts and have their licenses revoked immediately. They're also being monitored too until the evacuation so, they can't sneak out either.

After singing their's, Yuri finally reveals to Kotetsu and Barnaby that Mr.Legend, the hero who inspired Kotetsu to become Wild Tiger, was his father and what the lost of his powers did to him. I knew about the drinking, but he even set up fights to make himself look good. As it turned out, his powers weren't just declining, he lost them completely at the end. Yuri warns Kotetsu not to be so focused on his work as a hero, otherwise he could end up like Mr.Legend.

But of course, Kotetsu tells him that, that would never happen and that if his father had a friend like Barnaby, he might not have fell so far.
Either way, Kotetsu and Barnaby decided that even if they can't be heroes right now, even if they're having problems with their powers, they'd work hard in the future to be the Kings of the Buddy Heroes.

And finally, an imaginary Mr.Legend appears before Yuri at the end of the episode, but instead of tormenting him like he's been doing, he admits that what he did to him and his mother was all his fault, and that whatever kind of justice Yuri believes in, he approves of it.

Maybe, if his father had been able to let go of being a hero, or was able to take a good look at himself after he abused his family, Yuri might never have became Lunatic.

A burn mark also appeared on Yuri's face at the end. I have no idea if he's just been covering it up, but I thought that was interesting.

This was an amazing episode for sure.

[Laserman]

Tiger & Bunny Season 2 Part 2 Episode 21:

Spoiler:

Everyone is getting ready to evacuate even though they know what's responsible for X. If even one of them decides to act as rogue heroes it wouldn't just effect them, it would effect their partners too.

Spoiler:

Magical Cat's mother is still trying to tell her that Dragon Kid is keeping her from getting any attention, even now.
I figured that Ouroboros would plan to get rid of Gregory as soon as he stopped being useful to them, so that doesn't surprise me.
I'm happy that those kids weren't afraid of Barnaby, and at the very least, Thomas is happy to be together with Ruby again. It's a shame he left without saying goodbye though.


Gregory making a bunch of prisoners go crazy while the heroes can't do anything about it is the last part of Ouroboros' plan.
But of course, the heroes won't stand by and do nothing while that's, even if they lose their licenses.
So by using the excuse of a tv special, they were able to get their suits back.
But before they got suited up, Barnaby told Kotetsu the results of the test.
Not only has his leg pain gotten pain, but his results show that he's not fit to be a superhero anymore. I guess his power must have been getting weaker too.
I don't want Barnaby to not be able to be a superhero anymore. That happening to Kotetsu to one thing, but I don't want the both of them to not be able to work anymore.

[Skull]

I suddenly remembered that you can buy manga on Kindle as well so I dropped a few bucks and picked up all five volumes of "Yu-Gi-Oh: R" - the interquel penned by Takahashi's assistant, although the author's notes states that it was actually based on a scrapped arc intended to be in the original manga which is why I gave it a read despite my usual insistence on "if it isn't by the original author then it's non-canon and I don't care."

I mentioned it was an interquel (taking place just after Battle City but before the Shadow RPG), because hoo boy if you haven't read the original manga then you would be so lost as R explains virtually nothing and just takes it for granted that you're up to speed. So Pegasus' never before mentioned student Yako Tenma abducts Anzu and tells Yugi if he wants to save her then he has to duke it out with 13 of the world's best Duelists as he makes his way up the kaibaCorp building. For better or worse that is the complete gist as the plot really is one giant gauntlet for Yugi and Jonouchi to go through, with each enemy getting one or two chapters to strut their stuff before being one-and-done opponents as the heroes move on. It's fast paced and fun, but I can see why it was scrapped as it ultimately didn't add much to the overall story, but to it's credit the author mentioned R just exists for people who wanted a bit more of Yugi and friends after Takahashi was done with the original manga.

Given how the real life game has evolved, there are some things in R that are kinda hilarious in hindsight such as the characters freaking out that Summoner Monk lets you summon two monsters in a single turn instead of the usual one - when you watch a tournament match and people are basically just playing solitaire and summoning something like twenty monsters on the first turn. Similarly, Yako mocks Kaiba for having a Normal Monster as his ace card as Effect Monsters are the new hotness...I recall Jack Atlas saying something similar in the 5D's anime which is doubly hilarious that nowadays "Normal" has been changed to an official Monster Type and because of GenWun nostalgia the creators have been printing cards that specifically target and boost Normal monsters to make old school classics like Dark Magician and Blue-Eyes viable again.

Lastly, I never let a chance to trash talk Viz slide and I wanted to mention that reading the manga was painful at times because of two things Viz did. The first being inconsistent naming conventions such as them flip flopping between translations of what Yako's new god cards are called. Some volumes called them "Jashin" which is just a straight romanization of their JPN names while other volumes used the TCG's name of "Wicked Gods" instead. The more egregious problem was that the Yugioh manga iconically has the card of an important monster flash up on-screen whenever they are summoned, and R is no different. But when translating the card text, Viz elected to ignore what was directly written and word it based on how the real life TCG works instead...which creates an obvious problem when that starts contradicting what the audience is seeing happen on-screen, since y'know the TCG had to be actually balanced to be playable and follow a different set of rules compared to the original manga.

- - - Updated - - -

I forgot to mention but I really did enjoy R and if they were to do anything involving the original cast for the franchise's 30th anniversary, I would prefer them to adapt R into an OVA series or something rather than a "Yu-Gi-Oh Kai" or another crossover movie.

[Comun]

Yugioh R also has Duwang-style scans if you prefer that to Viz, but those only cover half the manga iirc.