Fun Stuff > ENJOY
Anime anyone?
pwhodges:
I've been neglecting this thread (I get much more anime discussion elsewhere). But I thought I should make a brief report.
Last season was pretty thin. Basically I watched the continuation of My Hero Academia, which continued to be superb (as does the manga which has gone twice as far - though the present arc is being drawn out to a somewhat uncomfortable extent) Highly recommended in either form.
This season has the anticipated re-make of Kino's Journey. It's OK so far, but that's all. Actually, I'm quite seriously disappointed. It misses both the charm and the maturity of the previous series - Kino simply comes across as disconnected from what she experiences, rather than standing apart from it and thinking about the ramifications. Kino's character design is also ugly and childish to my eyes, and instead of dark and moody scenery we get colourful but somewhat sketchy backgrounds. The original is long out of print, and is only streamed by Amazon in dub - so for people who don't know the original this may be an acceptable introduction. But if you do, prepare to be disappointed.
By far the best new show is The Ancient Magus' Bride - stylish and intriguing. Not perhaps a deep story, but certainly worth following (the introductory 3-part OVA was largely flashback, as you might expect, but also contained flashbacks within the flashback). There are also dragons, of much varied design, which turn into trees when they die. Hard to describe, but easy to enjoy.
I tried the first episode of Recovery of an MMO Junkie (not an accurate translation of the Japanese title). By the end of the first episode we have a mature woman (the MC) playing a dashing man in an MMO, who flirts with a woman (in the MMO) played by a real-life man. Neither realises; and we see that they also, unknowingly, shop at the same grocery store. This could lead to an intelligent exploration of sexuality, or it could be played for cheap sexist thrills. I have no idea where it has in fact taken it, because I was pretty bored anyway and decided to drop it without finding out.
Finally, I am watching Black Clover, to my slight surprise. Standard shōnen stuff, with an MC who has no magic powers in a world where everyone has them, but who is determined to become the Wizard King (as is his non-identical twin brother who is by contrast unusually talented). The MC says (or rather, screams - he screams continuously throughout every episode, it feels like) "Not giving up is my magic", and goes a long way towards proving that. However, he also has a demonic grimoire which they've spent five episodes hinting is a "bad thing"™ without going any further with. It's not as good as My Hero Academia, for sure, but it's quite fun at the moment - though if it shows signs of being designed to stretch out over 500 episodes like the main-stream shōnen shows I'll drop it quick enough.
Finally, a film; watch A Silent Voice. It's a brilliant story about a boy who bullies a deaf class-mate, and then gets bullied in turn, who years later meets her again and manages, with difficulty, to forge a friendship with her. There's a nice manga, too (only 7 volumes) which gives a further conclusion to the story (more clearly than the film which only hints at it).
pwhodges:
Another update...
The Ancient Magus' Bride was as good as I hoped. I guess some more of it will appear in due course.
My Hero Academia was also fine, and a new season is under way which I'm happy with so far.
I didn't bother to finish Kino's Journey - it's not a patch on the original.
Black Clover continues, and is my guilty pleasure. It's complete nonsense, but really quite fun...
On to new stuff. I watched March comes in like a Lion, a story about a schoolboy who is also a professional shogi player (shogi is a game somewhat like chess). We are shown his progression, along with family and friendship issues, and a gentle hint of romance. There have been two seasons so far, and the story calls for more. Recommended.
Approaching its climax is Darling in the FranXX. I didn't start this when it appeared, because I saw poor reports of it, but later I was persuaded by a friend to catch up on it. Well, after a slow start, it gets to be quite a lot of fun, BUT... First let's get the perceived fan service out of the way: the FranXX (robots, if that's what they are - it's turning out they may be more like Evangelions) have proportions like exaggerated female bodies, and can only be piloted by a male/female pair, with the design of the cockpit placing them in a relationship which looks exploitative - but this is in the eye of the beholder, and it's up to you whether to find it offensive or satirical; there are hints at pilots trying gender reversal (worked) and two of the same gender (failed). But anything suggestive in this is trivial in the context of the whole, in my view. Anyway, the latest episode has just turned everything upside-down, and lays the whole series open to being accused of some of the worst pacing in recent memory, as well as some really dubious plot decisions, and excessively crudely inserted exposition. I shall watch the last four episodes, just to see, but on the basis of how things are at the moment, I have to say that I can't recommend this one.
The Piano Forest (Piano no mori - the Wonderful World of Kai) is a manga that ran from about 2004 to 2016. In 2009 there was an animated film of the first seven volumes (of 26 eventually). This film was superb, with magnificent animation, even of serious keyboard playing. An anime adaptation is currently running, and is nearly halfway through; it's been licensed by NetFlix, so won't be available in the West until completed, i.e. in the autumn. The story follows a boy, Kai, the son of a prostitute in a "red light" district, who has taught himself to play a grand piano abandoned in the forest behind his house. We start in when he is eleven, and another boy, Shūhei, transfers into his school and turns out to be a talented player, the son of a famous pianist. The boys become friends, and their friendship causes them to discover that their music teacher was once a famous pianist whose hand was injured in a car crash. Kai is shown to be a true prodigy, and the teacher takes him on as a pupil. The story is about the boys' rivalry, both in a school-level competition (where the film ends), and subsequently six years later in the Chopin Competition in Warsaw. There is a lot of serious thought about the nature of performance, competition, and rivalry; also about judging in competitions and the ways in which the result might get distorted (all the way up to pressure from international sponsors). The manga (also never licensed in English) is a compelling read, though some of the more extended descriptions of individual performances could be described as the graphic equivalent of purple prose! The film, I can obviously recommend. The anime is doing OK, but the animation simply isn't up to the level of the film; it'll do, though. They are, inevitably, leaving out some bits of the manga (they seem to have excised Kai's girlfriend and how they met entirely), which leaves me to wonder how they're going to fill out all the episodes with sensible pacing - but I'm hopeful they'll get it worked out. Recommended.
Blue Kitty:
Thanks to Amazon Prime I was able to stream the first season of Pop Team Epic and it's as random and off the walls as the manga was, sometimes converting some of the jokes from the manga straight into the anime
LeeC:
I've been seeing a lot of "Goblin Slayer" on imgur and the memes got me interested. I signed up for crunchy roll (with ads) and watched the first 2 episodes. I was prepared for the brutality of the first episode (see trigger warning) thanks to the fair warnings from imgur. Not only is the brutality from the trigger warning involved but its just straight up brutal violence too. I do find it interesting that the concept of the story comes from MMOs where an inexperienced party pulls too many adds and it destroys the party. The same sort of thing happens. Its also interesting just how many goblin extermination jobs there are and yet all the experienced adventures avoid goblin jobs since they see its beneath them. The only ones going after the goblins are the rookies (that usually end up dead or worse) and goblin slayer. Since no one is taking the goblin jobs, the goblins are becoming a real problem that no one wants to deal with. He's looked down on by the other veterans as his gear looks dirty and crappy but the first episode illustrates that its all practical and perfect for goblin slaying and fighting in tight caves. Goblin Slayer doesn't care though. He just wants to kill goblins. He's essentially DOOM guy but in a fantasy setting. Never removing his armor let alone helmet. Even his introduction moment has doom like music. I'm only on episode 2 but from the memes on imgur I know that he also attracts a harem of women, but its a harem subversion (so far) as he's not interested or flustered by the women. He's only concerned about killing goblins and finding new ways to kill goblins. Also fair warning there is a bit of TnA to titillate viewers. Its very pandering at times, especially with Goblin Slayer's childhood friend that he stays with. Expect physics defying bounces. :roll:
(click to show/hide)The first episode depicts a rape scene. Anytime goblins and female captives are involved rape is implied. That is how the goblins reproduce in this world. Its the main reason why goblin slayer is so dedicated to killing goblins.
LeeC:
Watching more goblin slayer. It looks like Goblin Slayer was trained by Bilbo Baggins. :-D
//www.youtube.com/watch?v=3OnFgqRaGR8
The next episode is called "There and Back Again" I am willing to bet we'll see more memories regarding the Burglar of Bag End
Admittedly he looks a bit goblin or rat like, but he's a halfling thief.
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