Board 8 > Anime and Manga Topic 178: Now with more Shonen

(+) Yeah! (+)

As somebody who think Haruhi is the worst Haruhi character the spinoff is probably more my kind of thing aside from Yuki wearing glasses all the time

The Nagato spinoff has tolerable art, too. Gone are the pig disgusting designs of Kyoani's dark days.
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Violet Evergarden PV4 subbed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPvglXN4W-w

"Streaming to The World on Netflix!"

Japan: January 2018

The World: April 2018

lol
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za warudo toki wo tomare
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On the bright side the show looks pretty good!

Note to self: If I'm going to decide a show looks dumb maybe I should at least finish reading the synopsis before making that decision.
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It does look good. That's why I spent $21 on a phone to TV adapter.

pyresword posted...

Note to self: If I'm going to decide a show looks dumb maybe I should at least finish reading the synopsis before making that decision.

What's that in regards to?
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Whatever synopsis of Violet Evergarden I read made it sound like it was a dumb action series. The explanation I came up with was that I read the first half of the MAL synopsis and then decided I'd had enough.
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I'm sure the dozens of people, videos, and articles that typo'd it as "Violent Evergarden" didn't help.
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Shonen brings all the posts to the yard
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Berserk 352 beated

it looks like Miura's editor is forcing him to continue

he needs to get a chapter out every other issue which means we will get 6 issues for next year if he doesn't quit

this is an improvement over the 5 issues we get when he needs to promote the anime!
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Who was it that wanted people to watch Scum's Wish? Because I just watched all of Scum's Wish. To summarize my thoughts, there were a lot of things I really didn't like but at the same time I'm glad I watched it.

I'm left with this weird feeling where I'm stressed out and kind of angry, but at the same time I still weirdly enjoyed it. I appreciated it most early on while trying to keep track of all the relationships and new lines just kept getting added to the graph. Then I thought it would turn into Hanabi vs Akane trying to destroy each other and I was hyped for that. Then... it kind of fell apart and never recovered. Akane never getting any comeuppance whatsoever pisses me off. Everyone became a moron whenever they got within ten feet of her and absolutely none of it was earned. She was a horrific person and at no point did anyone bother to point that out. The story even played out like it expected me to agree that she wasn't a horrific person and... I can't. I'm sorry. When Narumi asked Hanabi to come to the wedding I wanted her to giggle, say 'fuck no you're marrying a monster' and then walk away while flipping him off with both hands. Akane's random-ass happy ending was not appreciated and honestly it kind of ruined the whole anime for me. My only solace is imagining all the ways that marriage probably spectacularly imploded within a month.

So, yeah. Scum's Wish.
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I loved Akane. She was probably my favorite character in the series. Sad in a way that I read it instead of watching it because I'm sure her voice acting was delicious. I often enjoy characters like that though.
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scum's wish

the entire point of the series is that love doesn't conquer all. hanabi doesn't find happiness with narumi or even mugi but instead with herself. you're supposed to hate akane and you're definitely supposed to think their marriage is doomed but at the same time, it's out of hanabi's hands. she lets go.

I guess I can see why you think it's unsatisfying but I think the message is beautiful and loved the ending.
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LapisLazuli posted...

"Streaming to The World on Netflix!"

Japan: January 2018

The World: April 2018

You were saying?
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....did they back down? That trailer is 2 days old.

I think it's more likely that's an error.
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TexasZea posted...

scum's wish

the entire point of the series is that love doesn't conquer all. hanabi doesn't find happiness with narumi or even mugi but instead with herself.

I understood that, and this aspect of the story was fine. Hanabi and Mugi saying they didn't want it to end yet still saying goodbye was a powerful moment that showed how far they had come. Just... it would have meant to much more of Mugi reached that moment by spurning Akane somehow. I can't get past the fact that she never suffered even a tiny fraction of a setback. She was in total control the entire time, always getting what she wanted (or at least what she wanted at the time) and in the end she found whole new ways of being happy without losing any of the old ones or suffering any retribution whatsoever for her attitude. It became absurd.

I thought they were setting something up when she admitted that a guy choosing another girl over her might bother her ('but it never happened LOL' come on how is that not foreshadowing) so it would have been nice if Mugi decided to leave her rather than the other way around. The way I pictured it was her saying 'I'm marrying this doofus but we can still have lots of sex' and then Mugi would say 'no thanks' and leave her with the tiniest of rejections to reflect on. It didn't need to be anything big, and he didn't need to end up with Hanabi afterwards. I just needed something. Instead Akane never, ever lost (she even reconciled with Hanabi at the end somehow???) and I just can't rationalize the rest of the plot without this piece of it. Her plot made her a flat, unsatisfying character who, by the end, was a black hole of terribleness that dragged everything else about the anime down.

Anyway that's enough of my whining about Scum's Wish, I know opinions will differ and we'll probably never convince each other but, man, it bugged me.
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You had like two back and forths I don't think you need to conclude that you can't affect each other's opinions yet!
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I just always feel weird when I'm being negative about things. I still enjoy the discussion but I'm afraid it comes off like I'm trying to convince someone to dislike a thing that they like.
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hey it looks like Domestic na Kanojo got picked up by Kodansha USA

finally I can read more pseudo incest
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Robazoid posted...

TexasZea posted...

scum's wish

the entire point of the series is that love doesn't conquer all. hanabi doesn't find happiness with narumi or even mugi but instead with herself.

I understood that, and this aspect of the story was fine. Hanabi and Mugi saying they didn't want it to end yet still saying goodbye was a powerful moment that showed how far they had come. Just... it would have meant to much more of Mugi reached that moment by spurning Akane somehow. I can't get past the fact that she never suffered even a tiny fraction of a setback. She was in total control the entire time, always getting what she wanted (or at least what she wanted at the time) and in the end she found whole new ways of being happy without losing any of the old ones or suffering any retribution whatsoever for her attitude. It became absurd.

I thought they were setting something up when she admitted that a guy choosing another girl over her might bother her ('but it never happened LOL' come on how is that not foreshadowing) so it would have been nice if Mugi decided to leave her rather than the other way around. The way I pictured it was her saying 'I'm marrying this doofus but we can still have lots of sex' and then Mugi would say 'no thanks' and leave her with the tiniest of rejections to reflect on. It didn't need to be anything big, and he didn't need to end up with Hanabi afterwards. I just needed something. Instead Akane never, ever lost (she even reconciled with Hanabi at the end somehow???) and I just can't rationalize the rest of the plot without this piece of it. Her plot made her a flat, unsatisfying character who, by the end, was a black hole of terribleness that dragged everything else about the anime down.

Anyway that's enough of my whining about Scum's Wish, I know opinions will differ and we'll probably never convince each other but, man, it bugged me.

I guess I can see that. I can't really disagree with that. I think you're ultimately supposed to think mugi is kind of pathetic too though so that part didn't bother me.

also I really don't care to argue intensely about anime or whatever on the internet so no big deal dude
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but we used to have intense arguments about anime/waifu a long time ago
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Finished Recovery of an MMO Junkie. It was a'ight. Moving on to Made in Abyss now. Hoping I have time to watch both this and Re:Creators before the votes for the awards topic are due but uh we'll see.

Not gonna lie there's a significant part of me that's expecting to be disappointed by Made in Abyss because that's what always happens when the anime community hypes up a show this much. Hoping that ends up not the case though. (Partially because of hype backlash but also partly because I think the things that hype up the anime community at large aren't the same things that hype me up.)
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Okay one final thought about Scum's Wish

I would have been okay with the ending if it addressed Akane's desire to hurt other women. The sex is fine, whatever, that's between her and any guy who wants to marry her, but Akane explicitly isn't in it just for the sex. She chooses her partners solely to maximize the pain caused in others. The fact that this not only went unpunished, even to the slightest degree, but was seemingly vindicated as good by her happy ending in the story... I just can't get past that. I hate it.
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I actually quite like it when villains win.
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I accidentally clicked that and now know never to ever watch that show

I hate it when villains win!
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That's not really a totally accurate representation beyond a relatively minor plot point in the show, but sure.
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Yeah this is me whining about a single aspect of Scum's Wish. I actually enjoyed it for the most part, it's just this one thing that's leaving me with pure rage that's slowly overshadowing all else

I'd say anyone who seems intrigued by the premise should still try it, despite my personal dislike. Scum's Wish definitely accomplished what it was trying to do.
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Oh, okay. False alarm then

Meanwhile I really wish Monster had more than one OP but my good amigo Eddv says it wasn't too financially successful

And I'm not quite feeling Space Battleship Yamato so far
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I watched Yamato with a friend and we basically just made fun of it the whole time.
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I didn't think I'd be so happy to see Erina put Bitch Mode on again
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No subs for the phone messages in the last episode of Just Because.

Amazon suuuuuuucks.
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Mac Arrowny posted...

I watched Yamato with a friend and we basically just made fun of it the whole time.

I'm beginning to think this may be what I need in order to make this work

Too bad Cooper Midnight still lives in Florida and I do not

I guess next time I see Leon we can sprint it
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pjbasis posted...

I didn't think I'd be so happy to see Erina put Bitch Mode on again

It's literally the best part of her character, so I'm thrilled about it.
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Great show.

Supremely annoying how awful Amazon is.
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Amazon would google translate their releases if they could get away with it
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I guess I should appreciate the irony that Sanji is tsun to the first girl who's actually swooning for him.

wow Kalifa got to show up in a color spread
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I'm still figuring out what 2017 anime I should try and watch before the award deadline and I'm unsure about a few if anyone has a minute. There are others I already plan to watch (especially if the deadline gets extended) but after Scum I need a break from seriousness so I was thinking one of these two might be nice next.

All I knew about Kemono Friends was that a real life penguin (R.I.P.) found a waifu from it but now that I read a bit about it I have mixed feelings. It seems like there's a lot to look past due to the budget or something, and I'm not sure if this is a show actually intended for children or if it's more like LWA that most ages could enjoy.

The other under immediate consideration is My Girlfriend is Shobitch. I know nothing about this but that is an awesome title. MAL doesn't have it ranked very highly, though.
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I liked Kemono Friends a lot. It's definitely all ages, not a kids show. Made me smile and has cool lore.
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Definitely do not watch Shobitch.

Mind posting what you've seen from this year?
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LapisLazuli posted...

Mind posting what you've seen from this year?

Girls' Last Tour
Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid
Little Witch Academia
Made in Abyss
Anime-Gataris
Land of the Lustrous
New Game!!
Recovery of an MMO Junkie
The Ancient Magus' Bride (ongoing)
Scum's Wish

I still need to finish Attack on Titan to reach S2 and I'm going to finish A Sister's All You Need at some point.
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I dropped Shobitch and I have a very high tolerance for bad anime.

It's basically about this girl that likes to imagine her boyfriend as a sexual deviant and tries to live up to his expectations. The twist is the guy just wants to date her for innocent reasons.
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Blend S is the only show this season I haven't heard people talk about good or bad

Give both Blend S and Shobitch a shot if you really want to stretch it, you can always drop them after one episode.

Also give Eromanga-sensei a try if you want something this year but not this season
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Eh, you'll see good-ish comments about Blend S when I finish the season. Only Apocrypha left.
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I'm halfway through Blend S, but I don't think it's very good.

Proof why you should not add males in a would be Cute Girls Doing Cute Things anime.
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Blend-S looks promising. Eromanga Sensei sounds really similar to A Sister's All You Need based on the description, which isn't necessarily a bad thing but I'm already committed to watching Sister.
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Eromanga is just inferior in the end comparing the two. Never did watch A Sister's All You Need, but from what I've seen in pictures... yeah.
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Well, guess I'll post about a few anime I finished since some of them are coming up.

Blend S is not so good. The first episode shows promise with a few fun gimmicks and unconventional ideas, but it doesn't really use those to the fullest. Instead of coming up with no jokes based on those gimmicks, it just makes the same joke almost every time. It basically just gets less funny as it goes along, sadly. The new characters are nice, especially Hideri, but they don't get nearly enough focus. I guess the author couldn't think of any jokes for them either, so they just decided to use the old characters they had no new jokes for. Don't watch this show.

A Sister's All You Need is a bit of a weird show. It's oddly similar to Eromanga Sensei, but not quite as good. It has some great episodes, especially the one with Ashley. Nayu is always entertaining. The board games are a neat gimmick for the show, and they can be pretty funny. I like that the show doesn't feel the need to advance the story all the time, and playing board games or going on random vacations is much better than just playing to typical genre conventions. I really like that it doesn't feel the need to introduce new main characters as it goes along - Muramasa was the worst thing about EMS. Miyako is still lame as a love interest, but they don't push that aspect as hard as they could, so it's not that bad. Male friend is way better here than in EMS too. Tsukasa is a weird character and I don't know why they made him a girl. What is even the point? So yeah, the show's generally pretty funny, the serious parts are mostly interesting, and it has a fairly good cast. The main thing that ticked me off about it is the MC's reason for not dating Nayu. Just...ugh. What a terrible thing. I wish more authors had the confidence to just put their characters in relationships. There are popular series where this works! EMS was the better show in the end.

I don't really know if Kino's Journey is better or worse than the original series, since it's been a long time since I watched that one, though the original definitely had more of an effect on me. I think the difference might be that the new one only had one all-time classic story, and it was one that had already been adapted in the original, while the original had three that I loved. Still, pretty much every episode was entertaining. Focusing so much on Kino being a huge asshole was pretty amusing, since I always felt her to be one in the original series. Good stuff.

For a while I felt like Animegataris was falling short of its true potential, but around episode 8 or 9 it got really great. The first episode was a lot of fun too, but after that it felt like everything was a bit too straightforward? Like things would happen, but the characters never did anything particularly interesting. It was all too predictable, like it wasn't even trying to be great. Thankfully it decided to go off the deep end in the final third. Episodes 8 and 9 were pretty good, and then 10 and 11 were awesome. 11's among my favorite anime episodes this season. Sadly 12 tones things down, though it was still solid. The nicest general strength of the show was that the five MCs were all good characters, and the OP was great.
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Yuki Yuna is a Hero: The Washio Sumi Chapter might've actually been an improvement from the original in some ways? I hated the slice of life fun parts of the original because they meshed so poorly with the overall plot and were placed in random parts of the show so they screwed up the pacing, but they felt much more organic here (the fanservice scenes were still shitty though). Episode 3 was a lot of fun! The serious parts probably weren't as good overall, but I liked that there were actually permanent consequences, and the main three form a better bond than the five from the original series I think. Most importantly, it doesn't have a fucking terrible ending. I mean, the original's ending still makes this show worse in general, but eh. It works at the time. Final episode was good stuff.

Land of the Lustrous was an interesting one. The setting was neat, and it was cool how the show changed its feel completely every couple episodes. It's neat how the Lunarians look so unnatural because they're drawn in 2D rather than CG. The CG was really good for this show - way better than anything else I've seen, though apparently that has something to do with the long dev cycle? Still, this blows away Expelled from Paradise, despite that being a movie. The action scenes were awesome. I do think that the cast was a bit too big, but the show handled it pretty deftly so it never felt overwhelming. A few people here said it got way better in the second half of the show, and while that's true, I don't feel that it's to that huge of an extent. The biggest strength of the show is Phos's development. She goes from being fairly annoying to a really good protagonist. She was my favorite character by the end. Dia was cool too. Not sure who I'd have third... Cinnabar was fun at first, but her lack of screentime really hurt her a lot. Antarcticite was cool too. It would've been nice to have a more conclusive ending - this is a show that really left me wanting more.

Girls' Last Tour interested me from the start due to its amazing premise. A post-apocalyptic setting where the only survivors are a couple of girls going around having happy fun times on a ruined planet? Sign me up! It mostly delivered, too. At least half the episodes in the series had great stories, and most of the others were good. The best ones were incredible. The last episode was by far the best finale of any show I watched this season. Not quite the best this year (MiA's final episode too strong), but a wonderful experience. The setting has really neat designs, and there are a lot of cool ideas here that you wouldn't normally think of. The problem with the show is the cast. If you're going to have a two-person series, they'd damn well better be great characters, and these two...aren't. Chito is fine as a protagonist, but definitely lags behind the higher tier slice of life protagonists. Yuuri had the potential to be great - she feels a lot like Miyako from Hidamari Sketch, who is one of the greatest slice of life characters, but she's way too mean-spirited. I think a lot of what she does is supposed to be funny, and it often is, but it annoyed me at least as often. She had her share of great scenes, so I can't quite say I hated her by the end, but man, I wish she were better. Thankfully the chemistry between the two is awesome, which is most important for making the show good. Still, if I'd like the main cast more, this easily would've been my favorite anime of the year and maybe even my favorite anime ever. At least Nuko was great.

I think that's all I've watched from Fall for now? Will probably finish Fate/Apocrypha tomorrow, and spoilers, I like it a lot. Watching Blood Blockade Battlefront and Beyond now, which for some reason has gotten zero discussion in these topics, but it's excellent. The original was fantastic until the shitty filler ending, and this seems like it'll be all fantastic no filler.
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Current Fall Rankings:

Girls' Last Tour
Recovery of an MMO Junkie
Land of the Lustrous
Kino's Journey
Yuki Yuna Washio Sumi
Sister's All You Need
Animegataris
Konohana Kitan
Blend S

BBB&B and F/A will probably go somewhere about LotL. I gave the top two 9s, the next two 8s, the next four 7s, and the bottom one a 4. A solid season I guess, especially since there was nothing that was complete trash that I watched, but probably the worst of the year at this point? Better than Winter probably at least.
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Man, I just don't see it. This years has been a bunch of weak seasons with one or two standouts, this is the first season with a bunch of solid shows.
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