Board 8 > Anime & Manga Discussion Topic 183: No senpai, this is our topic!

(+) Yeah! (+)

Kokkoku got rid of the screaming thing for the commercial break and I've never been so sad to see something so horrifying go.
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https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2018-02-21/anime-music-composer-yuki-kajiura-leaves-agency-after-25-years/.128069

This is awful.

I mean, good for her career probably, all the best, but to just straight up say Kalafina is basically over...

This is a legend in anime music ending.
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https://t.co/2RrXL4UM17?amp=1

...well, fingers crossed. She was more than Kalafina, though.
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I've been catching up on shows and I'm almost up to date again. I am still working though (notably I've been saving violet evergarden and ancient magus bride for the last two). But here's what I think of the other shows at the half way mark.

Darling in the Franxx
-Overall I still really like this show, but I don't think it's extraordinary on really any front besides like the animation and overall look and feel of the show. I will say though that 02 is terrific and really stands out from the rest of the cast. I do think overall a lot of them are kind of too simple minded... or at the very least... promote their character trait way too much. Like I can see changes in their attitude over the course of the few episodes we've gotten too... but I'm not sure it feels earned if that makes sense.

Death March
-There's a lot I like about this anime, like all the achievements and such the guy gets. I think the overall stuff that makes it feel like a game world but at the same time a typical Isekai. I mean there is the thing where the show is not really going anywhere though and the main guy voice acting is questionable. I think the female cast though is mostly adorable (especially the slave girls). But, the only one who really has a chance to standout is Arisa and among the females this season she has some tough competition.

Skilled Teaser Takagi-san
-If I told you I thought this was going to be one of my favorite shows at the start of the season... I'd be lying. But I really think this is a good show. It's just so adorable and the banter between the two characters is top notch. Takagi though is a girl of the season candidate. Really, Nishikata's reactions to her are probably among the most perfect things too, because like everything in the show seems very authentic. Like I can tell he's annoyed, but I can also see there's no way he'd trade his time with her away for anything.

After the Rain
-Still not sure how to take this. I think this is decent but I don't really feel like the anime has built up that emotional level of connection I think something like this needs to be great nor does it have enough comedy that other shows like this can rely on either. Like I still don't really know enough about the two mains and honestly, neither of their personalities stand out.

Kokkoku
-Out of all the shows this one has gained the most stock and I now consider it to be one of the best airing shows this season. Juri is a complete badass. I think that this anime has some of the best characterization of any this season too. If you only watched like one new show I'd be hard pressed to say to pass this one up.

Yuru Camp
-I think as far as a comedy point goes this is the best show in terms of laughs. Nadeshiko is fucking hilarious. However, I can only call it a good (maybe even bordering on great) show... but I don't think it manages to carry over the hump to reach into other slice of life comedies that have become my favorites.
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Grancrest Senki
-So, this is an incredibly generic show where like... nothing out of the ordinary really happens. So it's... become kind of average overall. That said, execution wise it's sound and no one in the anime really bothers me.

A Place Further Than The Universe
-I like this show, but I do feel like some parts of it can be kinda dumb? Like I think it struggles to balance the comedy and drama in a way where they feel like its natural for them to be in the show together.

Killing Bites
-This show is lewd. Man, I am so glad Hitomi is there to tell me what Killing Bites is all about and how to win at it. I do think some things might push the boundaries in what I really want to watch in an anime and I am kinda annoyed that there is less focus on her midriff now, but I guess panty shots are nice too. Also, there are been no more boobs shown yet (that I remember). Really now, you had one job.

The Ryuo's Work is Never Done!
-Brace yourselves, I think this a good show. What I think this one is doing very well is I really buy the characters emotional investment and such in this anime. I also think it really got good when the second girl was added in.

Gakuen Babysitters
-This is a cute show that I like but that's it? I don't know.

Mitsuboshi Colors
-So, blue girl is amazing. But she's not enough to carry this show. The animation is awful and the comedy is average at best. There are just so many shows within this genre that are a lot better.

How to keep a mummy
-In terms of like being cute this is the show of the season, and it's not moe girls... it's weird creatures. Like, overall I'm not sure there's a lot to write home about this anime but it cashes in on the one thing its selling so well.

Slow Start
-I think in terms of like the best slice of life of the season though this is the best one. First, the animation and art is amazing... almost too good. But like I think the cast has some amazing chemistry with each other. Another thing I really like too is how Hana has naturally been easing into the group instead of like feeling naturally at home with everyone right from the start.

Mrchen Mdchen
-This is another anime airing that I like quite a bit. It's fairly simple basically being a battle girls type show... or something. But like as simple as the characters and message of it is... I can't help but be like really happy for the girl when something good happens to her and feel that the simple message that the anime is giving out is something needed now.

Takunomi.
-A show about drinking alcohol. Watchable because it's short.
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Yeah that sure is a KA list, lol.

I wonder if our thoughts will ever line up on more than, like, two shows a season.
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I read the manga I sold my life for ten thousand yen per year. since I saw it had a pretty ludicrously high MAL ranking. Was mostly pretty good. There was something early on that really annoyed me the girl losing 40 years of her life due to her mother's debt.. Stuff like that always seems lame. It was also weird that his family was never mentioned throughout the entire series. Could've even been brushed off in a single line, but we didn't even get one. Other than that I liked it though, and it definitely got much better as it went along. The last few chapters were pretty great. Good manga overall.
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Man the fight in ep 7 of Zaregoto was stylish as all hell.
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This is super old, but I'm just seeing the Chio-chan PV for the first time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZq0vgt5F_0

Maybe we will survive without Poptepic.
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Black Clover (Cover/Lead CP)
Dr. Stone
Kimetsu no Yaiba
We Never Learn
My Hero Academia
The Promised Neverland
Haikyuu!!
Hunter x Hunter
The Disastrous Life of Saiki K (CP, 26p)
Act-Age
Bozebeats
Kishibe Rohan wa Ugokanai (Oneshot by Hirohiko Araki, CP)
Spring Weapon No. 1
Boruto (CP)
Hinomaru Zumo
Shokugeki no Soma
Gintama
Yuuna and the Haunted Hot Springs
Robot x Laserbeam
Tomatoypoo no Lycopene

- Full Drive and Golem Hearts actually ended last week. The new race for the bottom is on!
- Bozebeats and Act-Age, the two newest series, are still doing ok! Which means some veterans are feeling the heat.
- Ugh I wish Spring Weapon would do worse.
- Damn we never learn is killing yuuna.
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Robot X Laserbeam trying to bring some of that Kuroko flair to golf lately, maybe in an attempt to save the series.
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I started watching these The Garden of Sinners/Kara no Kyoukai movies (just finished the second one) and... I'm going to quote a guy from the Crunchyroll comments of the second one because it's good to know I'm not alone:

"I have absolutely no idea what is going on."

The music and art style is really good, and from what I can follow of the stories on a most basic level it has cool ideas. There's clearly a greater whole beyond all of that, though, and... I feel like I'm failing to grasp it. Part of me wonders if that has to do with the quality of the subtitles (the first movie made a big deal about flying vs floating that I kind of understood but then the significance of the dream about the dragonfly and the butterfly went completely over my head). Ah well. I'll watch the others over the next little while and maybe it'll all come together once I have the complete picture.
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Robazoid posted...

I'll watch the others over the next little while and maybe it'll all come together once I have the complete picture.

Yep.
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All you really need to know in the first couple movies is that Ryougi is awesome
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Best girl, general statement, no qualifiers.
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can I watch the movies just by themselves or is this one of those FSN situations where I need to play/read something else to get the full picture first?
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Ufotable is pretty bad at making cohesive stories. The only one worth watching can mostly be enjoyed as a standalone product.
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KnK is its own thing entirely
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For what it's worth I do think the way KnK presents its story is actually a noticeable problem. As far as I've been able to tell even after watching (part of) the series twice, there's no artistic value to the order it presents events other than being hard to understand just for the sake of it.

Chronological order >>>>>> Release order
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The thing about release order in KnK's case is that it's also the order the novels were released and intended to be read in, so it's Nasu being Nasu.

I also disagree with chronological order being more enjoyable on a first watch. 4 in particular would be garbage if 2 was the only thing you'd seen prior.
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Having just watched it a few nights ago, agreed.
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I always watch things in release order
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that feel when there's only 4 more episodes left of the season and I still haven't even caught up with half of the shows I'm watching

feelsbadman.jpg
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I havent even started Gabriel Dropout yet or even thought of watching it since mentioned it would probably be my next 2017 anime. I dunno why I dont really seem to care much about watching anything. I still like anime, but I havent really been invested in it for like 3~ years now I think

I've slowed down on anime since 2016. Just couldn't ever really watch more than 2 shows all the way through a season. I'll eventually finish stuff but it's never on time as the seasons end like I used to.
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I cant ever seem to balance hobbies. Its like I go all in on one when I could just do both. I do have less free time recently, but nothing was stopping me from watching for like the last year. Like Im hype for S3 of Hero Academia, but Im still gonna wait for it to be done before watching any of it

Yea I tend to go all in on one thing

Right now it's Monster Hunter and anime has to take a backseat
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I've given up on all anime save for evergarden to concentrate on Super.

I'll catch up on the rest eventually, but Super is fun to talk to about with some people.
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I've got a few games on my plate: Tokyo Xanadu, Bayonetta 2, Inquisition, and replaying Berseria. A couple of anime are taking a hit because of it, but I'm keeping up with the important stuff: Antartica, Rain, Franxx, Sins, Fate, Kokkoku, Citrus, and Poptepic.

A.I.C.O and B: The Beginning drop on Netflix in 2 and 3 weeks respectively, which is a whole other wrench in the formula.
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Overwatch is all my free time lately until I get those last two event skins. Then Im probably going back to DB FighterZ. I wish the Super anime dub was like more available on stuff. Probably gonna have to watch it the same way I did Kai

GranzonEx posted...

I always watch things in release order

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I've noticed that I'm having difficulty keeping up with twenty ongoing shows. Not so much the time investment (I'm also the type to go all-in on one hobby at a time and right now that's anime) but I think I just prefer binging. With a few shows I feel like I'm missing nuances or having trouble keeping characters straight. Fitting in a bunch of new episodes also makes it harder to binge other things.

Next season I'll probably just watch a selection of five or six, then catch up on the rest once they finish.
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swordz9 posted...

Overwatch is all my free time lately until I get those last two event skins. Then Im probably going back to DB FighterZ. I wish the Super anime dub was like more available on stuff. Probably gonna have to watch it the same way I did Kai

Does your family have cable?

If so you can watch the dub on Toonamis site after it airs on TV. They keep the last 5-10 eps available compared to last aired ep at a time.

And the rest are on Funis streaming service
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I always see people say Funi has Super, but I can never find the dub on their site. I could never find the Kai dub on there either. Starting to think its locked behind a paid subscription since whenever I go to their site they never have any videos for it

You can't actually stream Kai, probably never will be able to. That's why it doesn't show up in the apps.
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Mobilezoid posted...

I've noticed that I'm having difficulty keeping up with twenty ongoing shows. Not so much the time investment (I'm also the type to go all-in on one hobby at a time and right now that's anime) but I think I just prefer binging. With a few shows I feel like I'm missing nuances or having trouble keeping characters straight. Fitting in a bunch of new episodes also makes it harder to binge other things.

Next season I'll probably just watch a selection of five or six, then catch up on the rest once they finish.

Yeah I usually just try to watch episodic/SoL shows as they air then catch up on other stuff after the season finishes. Feel like it usually works out pretty well.
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Mobilezoid posted...

I've noticed that I'm having difficulty keeping up with twenty ongoing shows. Not so much the time investment (I'm also the type to go all-in on one hobby at a time and right now that's anime) but I think I just prefer binging. With a few shows I feel like I'm missing nuances or having trouble keeping characters straight. Fitting in a bunch of new episodes also makes it harder to binge other things.

twenty!? yeesh

I struggled to keep on top of five shows
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man, I think at this point I've been in this weird anime ambivalence mode longer than I was ever in my diehard anime phase. feels bad man.

I doubt I'll ever get really back into it. my MAL obsession basically destroyed it. it's the only hobby I can't just enjoy for what it is. I can enjoy specific shows but once I start to watch multiple in quick succession, I almost immediately get pathological and become obsessed with just raising my "completed" series on MAL more than actually being able to enjoy the specific anime for what they are...

I honestly didn't think I would have this problem once I was a legit adult but welp
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this is Roba's first season so it's understandable

I stuck with 15+ per season for at least a year when I started so I can certainly see where his enthusiasm comes form
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FranXX episode 6

Guess my BOLD PREDIX was just a fleeting dream.
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Actually, I guess I was technically kinda right.
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I think I've topped out around 10 per season. Always preferred marathon style.
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I'm still obsessed with padding my list

One day I'll catch up to Mac
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I probably should have stayed away from MAL after THE FINAL DELETION I did a million years ago

fuck that god damn site
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I enjoy watching things weekly but I can only do about 5 max, if I try doing anymore they slowly fall through the cracks and I fall behind on all of them

been a while since I binged through something, Kaiji I think
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list padding dumb stuff
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I too am trying to pad my anime list. I've almost completed fifty! I don't think it's a problem, though (not until I epically burn myself out, anyway). Setting goals and keeping track of an ongoing ranking is half the fun for me.
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Next season might not be the season to cut back. Just a hunch...
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Mobilezoid posted...

I too am trying to pad my anime list. I've almost completed fifty! I don't think it's a problem, though (not until I epically burn myself out, anyway). Setting goals and keeping track of an ongoing ranking is half the fun for me.

here you go Roba, a 6 minute padding gift

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzQ6gRAEoy0
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Why would anyone try to pad their MAL by watching series? Movies and shorts are so much quicker to watch and are usually better anyway.
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