Poll of the Day > Anime, Manga, VN, JRPG, Related Things Discussion Topic XCVII

(+) Yeah! (+)

Mkay, so I'm through the 7th palace and the deadline is up in like 3 days. Already sent the calling card and beat up Shido. Currently in mementos, since I've got three targets. Been working on leveling confidants and I've made some good progress on that front. As for Maruki, Akechi, and Kasumi, they're at 10/10/5. I think Yusuke is my lowest at level 5, but I've got quite a few done and my social stats are finally maxed. My save file is over 140 hours I think at this point lol.

good

https://youtu.be/78WIYzX_m98

fuckin a right

By the way, people who pick AotY on some bizzaire film critic perspective are cringy af.
Also Arcane is not an anime.

labels don't really bother me so eh

86 actually aired an episode this week and it's still pretty great. It's wild that I have 3 episodes left this late in the season.

Faraway paladin continues to be fine.

World trigger season 3 cannot possibly conclude everything next week so I don't know wtf they are gonna do. They left on a real cliffhanger this episode.

Youkai,

Since you like mushoku tensei have you read the beggining after the end? It seems similar in some ways andyou might like it.

wolfy42 posted...

Youkai,

Since you like mushoku tensei have you read the beggining after the end? It seems similar in some ways andyou might like it.

I hadn't heard of it before but it looks interesting. I'm checking it out now. Glad to see it's in full color.

jfc, plamos are even more expensive than I remembered. I saw Koto's Megami Device series on ebay, and thought the prices were aftermarket but I I just checked some normal retailers and the line seems to be around $70. The designs are kinda neat, but plamos felt overpriced at $40 or $50. I remember when you could get something like a gunpla for $20 (although maybe you still can, and these lines are outliers)

Zeus posted...

I remember when you could get something like a gunpla for $20 (although maybe you still can, and these lines are outliers)

I actually got a Gunpla game Steam key but it has region locks. -_-

I've had Will Stetson's cover of Snow Halation on repeat on and off for the past couple of days:

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

Mushoku tensei finished up this season. I'm sad to see it go. Also sad it didn't end with a S2 announcement. I'm hoping we don't have to wait too long for it. I know the anime is very popular in japan so theres no reason to think there won't be another season but I'm hoping it's not like 2 years away.

Judgmenl posted...

By the way, people who pick AotY on some bizzaire film critic perspective are cringy af.
Also Arcane is not an anime.

Arcane is derived from League of Legends.

League of Legends is cancer.

Therefore, Arcane is cancer ... though the reviews for it have been positive.

I_Abibde posted...

Arcane is derived from League of Legends.

League of Legends is cancer.

Therefore, Arcane is cancer ... though the reviews for it have been positive.

Good I think we're on the same page.
Still surprises me that the IP continues to exist. I don't know who is playing that game or any of its derivatives.

millions of people

Judgmenl posted...

Good I think we're on the same page.
Still surprises me that the IP continues to exist. I don't know who is playing that game or any of its derivatives.

Friend of mine works in an IT department at a college and all of em play it every day.

Hiyori is my favorite vtuber these days. Mainly does singing streams and has some of the best English out of Japanese vtubers I've watched. Posting this to remind me to listen on Christmas Eve morning

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWTedWKeR4s

Got myself an ending in Persona 5, but I'm not done yet. I took the easy way out ending, where everyone lives in Maruki's fantasy land, but I'm going to do the other ending later.

Also, I finished Mushoku Tensei and I need more of it. S2 was good, but ends kind of on a down note and then next animated part can't get here fast enough.

I_Abibde posted...

Therefore, Arcane is cancer ... though the reviews for it have been positive.

Yo arcane is really good. Pretty much everything in the league of legends IP that isn't league itself is great. Even within league, their media department has always done very well.

And another anime in my backlog
https://anilist.co/anime/2986/Bamboo-Blade/

DeltaBladeX posted...

And another anime in my backlog
https://anilist.co/anime/2986/Bamboo-Blade/

Art looks pretty solid, and it's not a terrible premise.

Zeus posted...

Art looks pretty solid, and it's not a terrible premise.

It was also only NZ$14 for a 26 episode set. Dirt cheap. :P

smtv is $35 on walmart, amazon, and gamestop

give or take a dollar, i think gamestop has it a few bucks more

Bulbasaur posted...

smtv is $35 on walmart, amazon, and gamestop

I wish I could like smt more. Something about the demons and the worlds just don't do it for me.

DeltaBladeX posted...

It was also only NZ$14 for a 26 episode set. Dirt cheap. :P

Which is under $10 USD? Pretty cheap for a new copy.

Finished up assassin isekai and it was fine. I'll watch a season 2 if there is one. This is one case where I wish the isekai would actually lean MORE into it's gimmick. The supporting characters are all boring IMO and even lugh isn't very interesting aside from being an assassin but the idea of trying to assassinate an overpowered hero is exciting and we basically don't see any of that at all in the first season. Also a little weird I see rudy getting flack for perving on underage girls in mushoku tensei but no one bats an eye at this like 70 year old man romancing his 14 year old cousin.

Oh right, I also read whats out of beginning after the end webtoon/manwha/whatever it is (not the book). It's pretty solid although not to the same level as mushoku tensei IMO. The characters do have some depth to them but they just aren't as interesting so far. Still, I'll probably keep reading it (by which I mean, forget about it for a year or two and then catch up). I do like that worlds magic system with augmenters and conjurers and core colors. The beast will thing is a bit much and static void is a bit TOO broken IMO. I also like how it focuses a fair bit on skill and application of power rather than just raw power. Art is typically at a lower core level than the people he is massively overpowering but it's because he has a solid understanding of physics and mana application. That's a nice touch. I do feel like the show leans a bit too far into the corrupt noble thing. Like, every two seconds Art stumbles into some asshole corrupt noble about to permanently maim or kill some innocent person and these characters have no depth or logic and exist just to be defeated by our just protagonist.

I'm a bit behind on Komi because it's just not really grabbing me. Of all the recent big name manga that would never get an anime but finally did actually get one, nagatoro is the only one I get the hype for. So while Komi is watchable, I can't help but be disappointed. I think part of the issue is that Komi isn't actually making friends with anybody except main guy and the childhood friend of uncertain gender. She isn't actually forging any kind of connection with those other people and for the most part can't even communicate with them. I also feel like a lot of the comedy is just the same punchline but again. Like oh wow, look how crazy all the students are, aren't they crazy, they are so crazy, it's just crazy how crazy and quirky everyone is. So yeah, I really don't understand why the manga for this was so hyped. It's not that funny, the romance doesn't progress, Komi is like B tier cute at best, and half of every episode is just awkward silence.

YoukaiSlayer posted...

I'm a bit behind on Komi because it's just not really grabbing me. Of all the recent big name manga that would never get an anime but finally did actually get one, nagatoro is the only one I get the hype for. So while Komi is watchable, I can't help but be disappointed. I think part of the issue is that Komi isn't actually making friends with anybody except main guy and the childhood friend of uncertain gender. She isn't actually forging any kind of connection with those other people and for the most part can't even communicate with them. I also feel like a lot of the comedy is just the same punchline but again. Like oh wow, look how crazy all the students are, aren't they crazy, they are so crazy, it's just crazy how crazy and quirky everyone is. So yeah, I really don't understand why the manga for this was so hyped. It's not that funny, the romance doesn't progress, Komi is like B tier cute at best, and half of every episode is just awkward silence.

The awkaward silence is what is funny. It's a slice of life, there's not supposed to be any meaningful plot.

I liked Bamboo Blade. Tamaki is adorable.

YoukaiSlayer posted...

Finished up assassin isekai and it was fine. I'll watch a season 2 if there is one. This is one case where I wish the isekai would actually lean MORE into it's gimmick. The supporting characters are all boring IMO and even lugh isn't very interesting aside from being an assassin but the idea of trying to assassinate an overpowered hero is exciting and we basically don't see any of that at all in the first season. Also a little weird I see rudy getting flack for perving on underage girls in mushoku tensei but no one bats an eye at this like 70 year old man romancing his 14 year old cousin.

That an interesting discussion. For a second I will try to get into the the heads of these people and try to address this seriously. If for real, a 70 year old was reborn, from the moment of their new birth would they truly be expected to only romantically pursue other people who are also 70+ years old? Sounds ridiculous to try to picture a teen guy going after 70+ fossils or even older women because he is still being depicted as a teen. But we have to remember this is fantasy and this could never happen.

So if we are to maintain the angle that we need to be disturbed by this, whats the author's angle? That they are trying to appeal to an audience of 70 year old men who want to sleep with teen girls? That also sound improbable and it isnt even the key focus of the story. I think its more likely the author thought that it would be cool to have a veteran assassin reborn in a fantasy setting. Romance is something that is bound to come up in a reborn life. It would be rather boring to write a story about an abstinent asexual protagonist.

These people who are offended by this always seem to be incensed about things like this but never bat an eye at other things such as homicide, theft, or any other immoral acts commonly executed in fiction. Its already been proven that when media is consumed, it doesnt make the consumers act these things out in real life. So in my opinion, I think we need to remember at the end of the day its just fiction.

PS
The amount of lulzy in further increased when we remember these are just cartoons and not even live actors.

There's also Mai and Trunks in Dragon Ball Super. I've never felt comfortable with the old lady going after a ~10 year old. On the other hand, looking at the way she and the others act, both in the normal timeline and the bad future, their mental ages may have been regressed as well. I havent seen any confirmation on that one way or another.

keyblader1985 posted...

There's also Mai and Trunks in Dragon Ball Super. I've never felt comfortable with the old lady going after a ~10 year old. On the other hand, looking at the way she and the others act, both in the normal timeline and the bad future, their mental ages may have been regressed as well. I havent seen any confirmation on that one way or another.

I always thought that was super cute lol. The fact she was an old lady never crossed my mind.

keyblader1985 posted...

There's also Mai and Trunks in Dragon Ball Super. I've never felt comfortable with the old lady going after a ~10 year old. On the other hand, looking at the way she and the others act, both in the normal timeline and the bad future, their mental ages may have been regressed as well. I havent seen any confirmation on that one way or another.

didn't kid trunks lust after adult mai though?

and then when mai was turned into a kid she started liking trunks but trunks wanted adult mai and didn't know that she was the kid now

keyblader1985 posted...

There's also Mai and Trunks in Dragon Ball Super. I've never felt comfortable with the old lady going after a ~10 year old. On the other hand, looking at the way she and the others act, both in the normal timeline and the bad future, their mental ages may have been regressed as well. I havent seen any confirmation on that one way or another.

It's definitely a weird situation.

Bruh, wtf is this ending in Persona? I beat the final boss and was still playing the damn game like 45 minutes after. I'm still not fucking done. I just saved it when it let me and I've still got to go back to it. I dunno who's dumb idea it was to place that much story after you beat the final boss, but it's been annoying. I just want my completed save file, in case I ever want to play the game again. That's been one of my biggest complaints with the game, too much fluff in spots.

Judgmenl posted... The awkaward silence is what is funny.
It's not though, especially not the 50th time they do it. Comedy is generally about subverting expectations but the expectation is that there will be awkward silences so it's just, well, awkward, instead of funny. And it's always the same. Like even with the painful cringe of watamote, we see main girl in that end up in a bunch of fundamentally different awkward situations and embarrass herself in all new ways and if watamote had the hype behind that Komi did I'd have been confused there as well.

dioxxys posted...

So if we are to maintain the angle that we need to be disturbed by this, whats the author's angle? That they are trying to appeal to an audience of 70 year old men who want to sleep with teen girls?

I think older person reincarnating and getting young girls doesn't necessarily target the exact age of the older person.

I do think it's a somewhat interesting topic. Like, if an adult is isekai'd, is he basically just never going to get romance? That's probably how it'd actually work out. Even by the time you are 20 or so, you've got two lifetimes of wisdom and maturity so some 20 year old is probably going to be hard to form any real romantic connection with, but the hormones in your body are going to make you fairly disgusted by 70 year old women. You'd be in this shitty middleground where your physical and mental attraction are completely at odds.

I also think assassin isekai could easily have done without the romance, in fact, the romance all around was boring. It's like 3 girls going "i know you only view me as a tool and emotionally manipulated me into feeling total devotion to you, but I don't care because I'm totally devoted to you". And then he's just like "yeah". And thats it.

Also, I've been watching evolution fruit isekai. It's not great or anything, but it's watchable.

Yay, done with Persona 5 Royal and I got my platinum trophy for it. Was only missing two after it was over, so I loaded an old save and got them.

Not sure what I'm going to play next, but I'll leave that decision for future me. Probably just gonna finish up evolution fruit now.

fuck yea

now to wait a few weeks to see if you get the email for the dynamic themes

certain achievements unlock dynamic themes, getting platinum gives them all. one for each character

im using futaba

YoukaiSlayer posted...

Comedy is generally about subverting expectations

Considering that's almost impossible to do... it's often more people cracking up when they already expect things to go one way.

Zeus posted... Considering that's almost impossible to do... it's often more people cracking up when they already expect things to go one way.

Thats not remotely impossible to do. Even with Komi, the awkward silence is a subversion of expectations the first time. You expect the beautiful ice queen Komi to have a refined or dominating response and then that is subverted when instead she says nothing, further subverted when you realize it's because she is too awkward to speak and isn't actually this cool beauty she appears to be at first glance. That's the joke and it lands well the first time. But the second time we see it, we already know all those things, it's no longer subverting any expectation, it is the expectation. The show tells the exact same joke 5 times an episode, every episode.

There's also Komi's classmates. Initially they seem a bit obsessive over Komi but otherwise like elite students at this elite school and then it's revealed in situations that actually, everyone at this school is completely insane. The expectation was setup and then subverted and it was funny. Once. The second time it happens, we already know everyone is crazy, it's not a surprise.

The show tells both of these same jokes over and over and over again.

That's not to say the show is never funny, but they run these 2 gags into the ground. When it tells other jokes, sometimes it's still funny. Like in the last episode I watched, they switched to their summer uniforms and we see one at a time each person freaking out over how cute Komi looks in her summer uniform until it gets to the "dog" girl who is chubby and she is just looking with dismay at the now visible flab on her own arms instead, subverting the expectation that she too would gawk at how cute Komi is.

Those moments are too few and far between though.

YoukaiSlayer posted...

Thats not remotely impossible to do. Even with Komi, the awkward silence is a subversion of expectations the first time. You expect the beautiful ice queen Komi to have a refined or dominating response and then that is subverted when instead she says nothing, further subverted when you realize it's because she is too awkward to speak and isn't actually this cool beauty she appears to be at first glance. That's the joke and it lands well the first time. But the second time we see it, we already know all those things, it's no longer subverting any expectation, it is the expectation. The show tells the exact same joke 5 times an episode, every episode.

There's also Komi's classmates. Initially they seem a bit obsessive over Komi but otherwise like elite students at this elite school and then it's revealed in situations that actually, everyone at this school is completely insane. The expectation was setup and then subverted and it was funny. Once. The second time it happens, we already know everyone is crazy, it's not a surprise.

The show tells both of these same jokes over and over and over again.

That's not to say the show is never funny, but they run these 2 gags into the ground. When it tells other jokes, sometimes it's still funny. Like in the last episode I watched, they switched to their summer uniforms and we see one at a time each person freaking out over how cute Komi looks in her summer uniform until it gets to the "dog" girl who is chubby and she is just looking with dismay at the now visible flab on her own arms instead, subverting the expectation that she too would gawk at how cute Komi is.

Those moments are too few and far between though.

Recurring gags are a huge thing in 4koma and they tend to hit pretty reliably, with the exception of series that just aren't that funny (Uramichi Oniisan, for instance). A lot of it just comes down to how the supporting characters sell their reaction. And you can get a lot of mileage out of a reaction. It's why the straight man in a comedy duo is often the workhorse.

So with the anime season finally concluded (except for Komi-san) I think the clear winner here for anime of the season is... Komi-san. It does the slice of life genre well, and is the only anime to air this season that I'd consider reading the manga for. My issue with reading the manga is t hat it's way too long. Runner up would be Aquatope.

For me the clear winner is mushoku tensei and then 2nd place by a mile is 86. In order I'd say this season is like this for me.

1. Mushoku Tensei
2. 86
3. Ranking of Kings
4. Blue Period
5. World Trigger S3
6. Demon Slayer Train Arc
7. Faraway Paladin
8. Assassin Isekai
9. Komi
10. Evolution Fruit
11. Mieruko-chan (dropped)
12. AMAIM (dropped)
13. Takt Op (dropped)
14. Muv Luv (dropped)
15. Platinum End (dropped)
16. Shikizakura (dropped)

I consider aquatope to be from last season but I dropped that as well. Mushoku Tensei easy anime of the year, 86 2nd place for the year as well.

I kinda just want to make a tier list for isekai
XD

YoukaiSlayer posted...

Mieruko-chan (dropped)

Is it not a great adaptation or were you not a fan of the original?

Zeus posted...

Is it not a great adaptation or were you not a fan of the original?

It was probably a good adaptation although I heard they really made it a lot more ecchi than the source. I just don't really like horror. It was for sure a better show than evo fruit and probably Komi as well. Before starting it I thought it would be more comedy than it was but it was genuinely pretty spooky.

YoukaiSlayer posted...

It was probably a good adaptation although I heard they really made it a lot more ecchi than the source. I just don't really like horror. It was for sure a better show than evo fruit and probably Komi as well. Before starting it I thought it would be more comedy than it was but it was genuinely pretty spooky.

If it was very ecchi at all, it's a lot more ecchi than the source material. =x Other than the chicks being cute, I don't remember there being much lewd stuff in it. And while it's very comedic, the comedy revolves around spooky shit

Zeus posted...

Is it not a great adaptation or were you not a fan of the original?

The ending is apparently different.

Extremely close to having my hands on Super Robot Wars 30 for Steam. I received enough Steam gift cards to cover the price of the game, but ... not enough to cover the tax, too. D'oh. Going to go get one more card in order to cover that and the Deluxe Version DLC (Season Pass included), but I am not going to go so far as to pay for the Full Sound Version.

Was very tempted to get Baldr Sky, too, as that is currently down to half price, but ... not yet.

Because we have a week break from the seasonal anime grind, I've decided to finally continue watching my backlog on Love Live. Currently going through Nijigasaki as season 2 is coming out in 2022.