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

[ResidentSeagull]

As for Trigger, I've tried two of their anime, TTGL and Kill la Kill, and I couldn't stay with either because of the art style. That, and in TTGL, Kamina and Simon seemingly never realized the priest was killing the people who were chosen to go to the surface. That ticked me off for some reason, and I could not keep going.

Just a small correction (and I really don't wanna come of as the pretentious 'umm akchually' prick) but TTGL was made by Gainax.

The impression I always got from Trigger was that the entire studio was founded on the premise of 'Hey you liked TTGL? Well here's more hype shit like that!'. Whether they succeeded delivering that with most of their shows is a point of contention within the larger community.

[Deathhappens]

Reminder "overrated" and "underrated" are meaningless terms that only truly "I care too much about the opinions of other people and am asshurt that most opinions I see disagree with me"
I'll use SAO as an example. Someone who dislikes it, maybe would see it as overrated because they think it doesn't deserve all the seasons, sales, and fan praise. Someone who likes it could see it as underrated because the fan thinks it doesn't deserve all the hate and complaints from youtubers and such. So, what is the truth? Why even care? Just say the show's great or shit or move on. Terms like underrated or overrated are meaningless and inherently attack to the opinions of those who disagree with you

That's a lot of words for saying "underrated" and "overrated" are subjective, a fact which should be readily self-apparent since it depends on what each individual believes a "fair" rating would be.
Which is why I said I personally considered it overrated.

- - - Updated - - -

This is not wrong on the level that all statements are fundamentally relative to their emitter- AKA, anything anyone says is purely subjective. However, we all care and interact with what others say, because that's the origin of any and all comunnication, collaboration, and coexistence. If people didn't actually get asshurt over other's opinions, we wouldn't have society as we know it. Not only that, it's rather useless to point this out.

- - - Updated - - -

Also, I love two works of studio Trigger to death, but I don't think I'd watch a show just because Trigger made it. Loved, absolutely fucking adored Gurren Lagann, and Kill la Kill was pretty fire too. I only accompanied Franxx because it was *the* talk of the town in 2018 anime communities, and you either kept up with it or you didn't understand shit. Still, talking to people about it and seeing the different reactions was rather fun. The anime itself though, pretty shit.

Gurren Lagann was NOT made by Trigger and I will personally shoot whoever keeps spreading that misinformation.

[bassgs435]

Just a small correction (and I really don't wanna come of as the pretentious 'umm akchually' prick) but TTGL was made by Gainax.

The impression I always got from Trigger was that the entire studio was founded on the premise of 'Hey you liked TTGL? Well here's more hype shit like that!'. Whether they succeeded delivering that with most of their shows is a point of contention within the larger community.

May have started like that. But they quickly stopped that mindset. I'd say only KlK and Promare feel like they're intentionally going for the TTGL audience. Other shows like Kiznaiver, LWA, BNA or the Gridman universe don't feel like they're going for that audience at all. If anything definies Trigger for me, it's the fact they do originals and their only adaptations are Inou-Battle and Ninja Slayer. With the anime industry big corpos greenlighting way too many adaptations and there not being enough people for all these adaptations, it's surprising Trigger hasn't made any adaptations since Ninja Slayer and they're allowed to do originals only. Few studios currently active in TV production can be allowed that luxury.

[ResidentSeagull]

That is true, but I feel like from how most people talk about them even in the present the whole 'TRIGGER IS GONNA SAVE ANIME!!!!' vibe has never fully left them, leaving a lot of their more high profile projects having unfair expectations set upon them.

[Laserman]

I watched Digimon Tri: Confession.

Spoiler:

Izzy wanted to keep the Digimon at his place to protect them from the infection. But when TK comes to visit Patamon, Patamon starts to show signs of the infection and actually bites TK. There was blood and everything, he really got bit. (No blood in Dragon Ball anymore despite all the times they should be bleeding, but in this sad moment? At least be consistent Toei.) Most of the movie has TK trying his best to keep Patamon's infection a secret from everyone else.

Most of the movie has TK trying his best to keep Patamon's infection a secret from everyone else.

And Meiko's just shutdown, which is understandable.

And Izzy's staying up pulling all nighters to try to solve this mess. It wasn't until Kari got possessed by something again and told the Digimon who told their partners little by little about the idea to reset the Digital World to stop the infection, which has been wreaking havoc in the real world too. But the reset wouldn't just affect the Digital World, the Digimon would be reset as well. Meaning they would lose their memories.
What about the other Digimon around the world? Did no one think of that? They would be affected by this too. And all the Digimon that they met in the original show and 02, they would lose their memories as well. Was there really no other way?

Gabumon asking Matt to play the harmonica like he did when he was younger, Joe talking about having his girlfriend meet Gomamon, (I still can't believe it until see it), Agumon just wanting to play with Tai, and T.K. just with Patamon who was showing signs of the infection got to me. Like their partners didn't know, but the Digimon knew that this would probably be the last time they would be able to spend time together.

After hearing about the reset, Izzy had the idea to back up their Digimon, since they're data, like you would backup files on a computer before you reboot it. He could get rid of the infected files from them that way and bring them back that way.

But Meicoomon showed up out of a distortion and almost everyone jumped in and got their Digimon to fight to push them back in...

TK was just holding back Patamon most of the time until Meicoomon Digivolved on her own to Meicrackmon. Patamon Digivolved to Angemon to back up the other Digimon, but succumbed to the virus inside him and went berserk. Then the other Digimon started to go berserk too and it left Tentomon the only one that could have went to the backup square. But he said it wasn't fair that he would be the only one saved and tried to get the others to come to go in with him. He Digivolved all the way to HerculesKabuterimon, reaching the Mega level for the first time. But it wasn't a cool moment like in Determination, his friends were attacking him up until the moment he pushed them back into the distortion up until the moment the reset happened. Just seeing WarGreymon like that, seeing all of them like that... They're not just any Digimon, they are the chosen Digi-Destined's Digimon, shouldn't they be immune to that crap. If only they were....

And it was all Meicoomon's doing somehow. The source of the infection is her for reasons I don't understand yet.

A week passes after that and the Digi-Destined, besides Meiko, decided to go the Digital World to find their Digimon their. When they do manage to find them, their Digimon have no memories of them. Like they might have stopped the infection, but the cost was too high.

Then it turns out, the Ken I've been seeing in the movies was actually Gennai, or least someone who looks like him. If that was a disguise, this could be one too, because Gennai is one of the good guys. He was helping all the way back in the original show, so why would he be against them now? Oh, and Himewaka was there too somehow. And that was the end of the movie.

I'm not happy about how it ended up. I hope there is someway that things get the way they were before. They always find a way to win in the end, but I'm particularly happy about how this ended up compared to the last two movies.

[SirGauoftheSquareTable]

Just a small correction (and I really don't wanna come of as the pretentious 'umm akchually' prick) but TTGL was made by Gainax.

The impression I always got from Trigger was that the entire studio was founded on the premise of 'Hey you liked TTGL? Well here's more hype shit like that!'. Whether they succeeded delivering that with most of their shows is a point of contention within the larger community.

Good to know. Does this mean Trigger was founded by former Gainax employees?

[Deathhappens]

Some former Gainax employees, yes, including TTGL's animation director Imaishi, but that does not lend them credit for Gainax's past work.

- - - Updated - - -

Worth noting that this is the same guy was also responsible for Gainax's biggest (and iirc, last project period) financial disaster, Panty&Stocking with Garterbelt. Make of that what you will.

[Mattias]

Some former Gainax employees, yes, including TTGL's animation director Imaishi, but that does not lend them credit for Gainax's past work.

- - - Updated - - -

Worth noting that this is the same guy was also responsible for Gainax's biggest (and iirc, last project period) financial disaster, Panty&Stocking with Garterbelt. Make of that what you will.

Panty and stocking was something like 2010, but they also did the Medeka Box adaptation in 2012 and C^3 in 2015. So definitely not the last thing they did. Plus I think they were doing support on the Rebuild movies for the last few years.

[Deathhappens]

Οh right, I completely forgot about C3bu: The Last Gainax Project. Shame on me.

- - - Updated - - -

Though that was Summer 2013, not '15. Trigger was already formed and KLK threads annoying me to death on /a/ by Spring '14 or '15.

EDIT: Ok, I looked it up and the Gainax/Trigger split actually happened back in 2011 (sometime after the PS&G fiasco). KLK actually aired Fall '13. Huh.

[Mattias]

Oops I must have read that wrong myself earlier, the last Gainax TV anime was Wish upon a Pleiades, which ran for 12 episodes in Spring 2015. Which started as a 4 part net anime but did actually have a TV run as well.

[bassgs435]

Burst Angel done. Despite the flaws, I had lots of fun with this show. I love the designs of the girls, mecha and monsters. Some cool fights even if the animation wasn't that great. Would've loved if Meg wasn't a damsel for Jo to rescue all the time. The end seemed to tease a sequel with a cooler Meg, so I would've loved to see that. Since Jo was also hinted to be alive, I would've loved to see Meg and Jo eventually reuniting and fighting together with their Djangos. Oh well. What I got was still fun, so it's OK

[ResidentSeagull]

I don't know if there are any fans of it here, but I have actually been having a marathon of the Macross franchise since this summer. It unexpectedly climbed up there as one of my favourite franchises, honestly. It is absolutely stupid in all the right ways, but also really endearing and heartfelt. The only things I skipped are Macross II, Macross 7 (yeah, yeah feel free to crucify me, I guess I'll get to it someday) and everything related to it, as well as the last 13 episodes of the OG show (imo it just kept spinning its wheels and everything after the First Space War just wasn't interesting or necessary). I also skipped some side stuff like the specials but that's just fluff anyways.

In any case, I wasn't really planning on talking about it here but after finishing Macross Delta I just have to vent my thoughts somewhere.
Overall I really liked it. It definitely isn't as strong as Frontier, but it is still an incredibly fun show and a pretty neat addition to the series. Satelight's 3D CGI is as good as always, so the fights are incredible. Music - I feel like Frontier's soundtrack had higher highs for me, but I liked the songs here as a whole a bit more. Characters are also very fun. Some episodes that just them interacting are some of my favourites.

Now to the more spoiler filled opinions I have:

Spoiler:

-while I have noticed that side characters in Macross usually don't get jack shit for character development, I honestly thought the Walkure girls other than Freyja would have a bit more - don't get me wrong, they are very fun, but I wish we got a bit more with them (Kaname going on with life after Messer's death, as well as Makina and Reina being girlfriends (and you can't convince me otherwise) are basically all we have of them)
-Windermere was an okay antagonist faction - you can get what they're fighting for and even agree to some extent, but they got royally fucked over by betrayal in the end
-while I at first thought that Roid's plan was just a rehash of Grace's, it's actually an interesting spin on it, as he wants to turn all of sentient life in the galaxy into a supercomputer so that Windermereans can experience much longer lives due to them having such short natural lives. It's a fascinating end goal for a villain
-I think Freyja is my favourite singer girl in the franchise and her and Hayate are the best fucking couple hands down. Absolutely loved their relationship
-damn the balls on Mirage to confess to Hayate right after Freyja did the same. Another entertaining love triangle in my book
-I think what they did with Mikumo was interesting, but felt that we should have gotten more scenes of her learning to be more than just a genetically engineered robot person who only wants to sing. I feel that her character development was getting to the good part just as the show ended
-I respect their decision to just say "yeah Freyja's gonna die pretty young but at least she's gonna be happy". That conclusion just made me hurt inside honestly. Like yeah, she probably wasn't gonna get past 30, but to think that the time she has is gonna get shorter every time she sings is heartwrenching to me

In conclusion, I have a weird feeling of emptiness after finishing the show. Maybe that's because this is the only Macross show where I would have felt much more satisfied if we simply got more. I think that some of the characters would really shine if we got to spend just a little bit more time with them.
And wouldn't you know it, turns out that a sequel movie came out just three days ago. I just have the most impeccable timing sometimes. Very excited to see more of these characters in any case.

If anyone's interested about my opinions on the rest of the franchise or specific thoughts on more of Delta's elements, please feel free to ask! I'd love to talk more about the series.

[Mattias]

Ah, but have you really finished the show if you still have those parts you skipped? Something to look forward to. Or do what I did when I hit Victory in my Gundam marathon, get shitfaced and MST that shit.


Damnit, I still have to make time to watch the first part of Hathaway.

[SirGauoftheSquareTable]

I'm actually rereading Bleach just because, and man, I must say early Kubo was fresh as hell. I'm hoping to get to the Thousand Year Blood War arc soon to read it with a fresh pair of eyes and see if I still think it was a trash fire. I mean, even reading early Bleach, I can see that Kubo never actually forgot most of the early concepts and has at some point looped them back into the plot.

[Mattias]

I was fatigued with Bleach right around the end of the Aizen arc, so once they gave that obvious ending I bailed before the Fullbringer arc could happen. From what I've heard, I made the right choice. Unless you enjoy watching something good slowly fall apart. Like the runner who turns around at the finish line to taunt and falls on his ass.

[SirGauoftheSquareTable]

I know I disliked the way the Fullbringer Arc was handled, but the fatigue didn't settle in until the Thousand Year Blood Arc. That's when those goddamn SS guys wouldn't fucking die. Still, I last read it 5 years ago, and I was a very different person back then. Also, I intend to read the post-canon light novels because some plot points left hanging in the manga are apparently resolved there.

[ResidentSeagull]

Ah, but have you really finished the show if you still have those parts you skipped? Something to look forward to. Or do what I did when I hit Victory in my Gundam marathon, get shitfaced and MST that shit.


Damnit, I still have to make time to watch the first part of Hathaway.

Idk man, considering they didn't even show/retconned that part of the show in 'Do you remember love?' I feel sort of justified in my decision.
In all seriousness that might not be a bad idea. Mayhaps some day...

[Mattias]

Maybe it's just me, but I always find curated watch lists to be way too subjective. Sure they cut down watch time and avoid rough patches to keep the less dedicated engaged, but they also inevitably miss great things too. Going back to Gundam, I've seen watch lists that cut out over 50% of the content. "Just watch the UC stuff minus ZZ, Victory and F91." All so that you reach Unicorn sooner, but ignoring the fact one of the best characters there is a direct continuation from the events of ZZ.

[pinetree]

On the other hand, I've been stuck on ZZ for months because it's so awful, so maybe some stuff is worth missing out on.
Not that I'd ever skip anything myself, but that's just how I am.

[ResidentSeagull]

Maybe it's just me, but I always find curated watch lists to be way too subjective. Sure they cut down watch time and avoid rough patches to keep the less dedicated engaged, but they also inevitably miss great things too. Going back to Gundam, I've seen watch lists that cut out over 50% of the content. "Just watch the UC stuff minus ZZ, Victory and F91." All so that you reach Unicorn sooner, but ignoring the fact one of the best characters there is a direct continuation from the events of ZZ.

The thing is with this kind of stuff I find it best to just watch whatever shows you want. You shouldn't force yourself to watch something you don't like/aren't interested in, but you also have to have a somewhat solid grasp on what you miss when you skip stuff. To illustrate, I still haven't watched JoJo parts 1 and 2. Their quality doesn't really matter, they just don't really interest me all that much, but I at least know the broad strokes of what happened in them. I don't expect part 3 Joseph to have a lot of character development because part 2 was his story.

To continue to Gundam, my first show was IBO. My first UC show was Unicorn. I really wanted to specifically watch it, but also tried to understand that it was a sort of culmination of the UC and that I simply wasn't gonna the full experience if I watched it before any other UC shows.

I feel with long-running franchises you can start anywhere that you think you might like, but knowing the context and importance of the show where you start is something you should take effort to learn.