Board 8 > Anime & Manga Discussion Topic 300: The Meaning of Anime

(+) Yeah! (+)

No "maybe" about it. Season 2 next year

SockoressKnight posted...

No "maybe" about it. Season 2 next year

Oh, that's good at least. I waited until the end of the credits hoping for an announcement but I didn't see one. No S2 on MAL yet either. Glad it'll continue after the last episodes non-ending, but it was still a lame way to end a season imo

https://x.com/onepiecenetflix/status/1806311540225724706?t=F2XaQl40rqXpWZz30XpBqw&s=19

I can't even imagine live action Wapol

Suicide Squad has an English dub, but it isn't available in the US lol.

How do you botch stuff like this?

It's one of those barely comprehensible Asian English dubs. It'll get a real one later (though it really should've had one at launch).

The tournament arc was great! When the chinese style dude fought that pretty boy, i was like "damn, this show just got good." The choreography was always very good but that was when the characters started actually doing some emotional work.

I wasn't even aware that multi English dubbing was still a thing!

I guess if it turns out they actually got Cena for Peacemaker then it's well worth the wait.

CoolCly posted...

The tournament arc was great! When the chinese style dude fought that pretty boy, i was like "damn, this show just got good." The choreography was always very good but that was when the characters started actually doing some emotional work.

Agreed, I thought the fights in Wind Breaker looked excellent, and the payoff was strong. Pacing feels slow if you back up and look at it, but it didn't really bother me on the moment. That's what good directing will get you. Going into the last episode now!

The visual novel for Atri is on sale on Steam and it's apparently only about ten hours long. I think I'm going to play through it ahead of the anime adaptation next season.

Wind Breaker finished. That chase in the hallway looked wild.

Good final episode to end off a season for a show like this, means season 2 is going t to start with a real bang. Already said a bit earlier, but this was just a really solid Shounen. Clean, no wacky attacks, good visceral action that doesn't rely on a million layers of post processing special effects to make the attacks hit.

This season has been pretty stuffed in general, but Wind Breaker actually couldn't have had better timing. I've heard middling to bad things about nearly every action show this season. People are down on Slime, little buzz for MHA (which, maybe the manga ending is overshadowing the anime talk I suppose), and people seem to have COMPLETELY turned on Demon Slayer, which is wild because people already seemed to be turning on it during it's last season, and now it's all gonna be movies? What a fall from grace.

All that just to say that I think Wind Breaker did manage to push through here and get recognition, and I highly anticipate the next season. It's not getting the same push as Kaiju No 8, but it certainly seems to deserve it.

Jellyfish
Konosuba S3
Wind Breaker
Spice
---
Mysterious Disappearances
Train
Voice Actor Radio

And with that, we're rushing into the weekend, and both Juuki Hanada shows are ending (save for a hopeful S2 reveal on GBC).

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/8/8c258ce7.jpg

At least we have Atri next season which he's spearheading, which makes me more hopeful that it doesn't fall to the VN adaptation curse.

What service is wind breaker on?

Crunchy

Maniac64 posted...

What service is wind breaker on?

It's on Crunchy

And in response to others loving it, even I agree the fights looked great and so on. I just couldnt get into that tournament arc. It could've been edited down to half the length imo and then maybe this season wouldn't have ended in the middle of an arc.

I think Slime has been fine, though it's probably true that many of the viewers go into it with different expectations than I have. I love reading the comments where half of them are complaints that nothing is happening and the other half are (sarcastically) praising the episode for having 4(!!) different rooms in which meetings were held.

Season 2 first half > Season 1 first half > Season 3 first half > Season 2 second half > Season 1 second half imo

Edit: I will say it is probably true that the biggest dropoff is between S1 first half and S3 first half

Weird that Crunchyroll hasn't suggested that one to me or shown it at all when I'm on there.

Crunchy was too busy really really pushing Kaiju No. 8 for some reason. They even had countdowns to new episodes, I've never seen them do that for any other anime.

That and annoyingly recommending me all the shows I've already watched.

Yes Crunchyroll, I also think I would like One Piece. That's probably why I am watching it every week.

Crunchy has had a definite "chosen" for the past few seasons that gets the push. It's very rare that anything that's not the current jump hit or coproduction marketing darling shows up on that top banner. That Kaiju banner is always covering the whole screen when I log in, SOMETIMES switching to Demon Slayer.

The Top Picks For You is also nonsense.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/0/00762db0.jpg

One of these shows I am already watching and have on my watchlist. The rest are......completely random? I know a few of these are Crunchy coproduction, so maybe all of them are, and it's a totally artificial list that isn't based on your view history at all. Maybe if I actually rated shows in the app, that would affect this algorithm?

It has to be sort of curated. I started watching Saki and it started recommending me a Saki spinoff.

Mobilezoid posted...

I started watching Saki

I'm so sorry

It's quite a good series but I watched it fifteen years ago and it's still not done for no real reason

Also the author is uhhhhhhhhhh, let's just say definitely enjoys drawing boobs, much to my annoyance.

Reg posted...

I'm so sorry

It's quite a good series but I watched it fifteen years ago and it's still not done for no real reason

Also the author is uhhhhhhhhhh, let's just say definitely enjoys drawing boobs, much to my annoyance.

I'm definitely noticing the boob thing lol. Someone wanted to interview one of the girls and meanwhile the photographer is focused squarely on this underage girl's breasts, ugh. I've watched enough anime to just look past stuff like that most of the time, though!

I'm only four episodes in, but my biggest problem so far has been that I do not understand mahjong at all. I'm just kinda going with the flow, haha.

Saki Side-A is so good.

I think each mainline season is worst than the last, though.

Like, One Piece seems like the obvious source, but Saki S3 might be what actually activated my traumatic obsession with pacing.

Side-A is definitely my favorite Saki season.

Saki was nothing to write home about but would 100% watch more if it ever got made for some reason.

It's a good thing this came up actually because I assumed Side A was a spinoff but I guess I'm supposed to watch them both before Nationals, which is S3? Sometimes anime can be needlessly hard to follow

Side A is technically a spinoff that runs concurrent to the main story focusing on a different cast.

I would say that watching it before or after the Nationals anime is not that a big deal as long as you watch it either way. It did air beforehand though, and most people would say to watch it before.

UshiromiyaEva posted...

Saki Side-A is so good.

I think each mainline season is worst than the last, though.

Like, One Piece seems like the obvious source, but Saki S3 might be what actually activated my traumatic obsession with pacing.

Also this is true. If Saki gets a new season, it will have some hype moments, but it won't be good overall. The pacing of the series is a mess, and the inconsistent release schedule for the manga hurts that a ton.

Especially at this point, the series is basically just best viewed as a collection of hype moments interspersed with not much other than some attempts at characterization, more than anything. It's trying to have a plot going on, but it does a pretty mediocre (being generous) job of it.

Please someone tell me if I'm remembering incorrectly for The Nationals

They play a *single game* of Mahjong that season and don't even actually finish it, right?

UshiromiyaEva posted...

Please someone tell me if I'm remembering incorrectly for The Nationals

They play a *single game* of Mahjong that season and don't even actually finish it, right?

The Nationals covers the National Tournament Quarter-finals in its entirety.

On a completely unrelated note that's only really a potential spoiler for Roba, the most recent chapter of the manga kicked off the Captain's Match of the National Finals. My recollection is that, when The Nationals finished airing, the Semifinals were in their 2nd or 3rd match, but I could be misremembering. It has been a long time.

UshiromiyaEva posted...

I'm going to buy every GBC fig that comes out over here officially, so for my wallet's sake this stuff better stay in Japan.

https://www.amiami.com/eng/detail/?gcode=FIGURE-172179

Around $150 US and there will be 5 of them. So keep that in mind!

But I don't know what you mean by "comes out over here officially".

First of all, it's very rare for there to be a "US edition" when it's the same box and figure all around.
And second, do you want to pay a higher price from a US-based shop?

If you want to know what I mean, just compare the prices of this Shiki Ryougi figure.

AmiAmi (very reputable import shop) - Around $115
https://www.amiami.com/eng/detail/?gcode=FIGURE-170872

Koto US (US-based shop) - $200
https://www.kotous.com/the-garden-of-sinners-shiki-ryougi.html

So yeah, much better to take advantage of the weaker yen! And I should add, even with taking import shipping cost in mind, it'll still end up less even if you pick the most premium shipping rate.

....Amiami counts. I really meant anything where I don't have to jump through hoops to actually pay and order the thing.

Fuck.

It'd be nice if I could take advantage of the weak yen, but the Canadian dollar is equally weak.

For months now I've been debating on a figure and it's so depressing when I do the USD to CAD conversion

5 minutes into Suicide Squad, sub

"...Why does Amanda Waller sound like Frieza?"

*Checks VA*

Oh nevermind she's Orochimaru.

I blame this topic for bringing up the subject of figures because I'd been doing a good job resisting this, but I finally pre-ordered a $160 USD Yuffie Kisaragi figure.

Bruh that's around $220 CAD. That sounds like a lot for what's essentially a fancy action figure!

....There, would saying that make you reconsider buying it?

No really, if it's the one I'm looking at, I genuinely think you could do better (and possibly cheaper) if you wait it out. Unless you're like desperate to have a figure of Yuffie in that form.

WhiteLens posted...

Bruh that's around $220 CAD. That sounds like a lot for what's essentially a fancy action figure!

....There, would saying that make you reconsider buying it?

No really, if it's the one I'm looking at, I genuinely think you could do better (and possibly cheaper) if you wait it out. Unless you're like desperate to have a figure of Yuffie in that form.

Yuffie is worth the price!

If by better you mean a different Yuffie figure, according to the myfigurecollection website, she hasn't had that many figures over the years (and a lot of them are pretty ugly imo). Besides, the Rebirth Play Arts Kai one will be a good partner to the Lightning one I already have.

If by better you mean I could've gotten it cheaper elsewhere, perhaps. It's only 115 USD on Amiami, for instance. But I made an Amiami account for a different figure a few years ago and did the math and somehow it worked out to about the same price as TOM (who I've always used) after import fees and shipping. It's easier (and lazier) to just go with the site I know.

Watched all 3 episode out of Suicide Squad: Ice Queendom

Not gonna lie, despite all the talent in the team both in the animation and writing side, Injustice defaulted to low expectations on this. However, man, this is really damn fun! I don't pretend I'm not a DC Stan, but I think even without that you can have a good time watching this. They knocked it out of the park with the VAs, and the dialogue is good. Don't know how the actual main narrative is going to shake out here, but we've still got time. It's got way more of a collection of dumbasses vibe who just happen to be effective criminal killers.

From the beginning I thought making this an Isekai was a waste, and the first half of episode 1 did have me bemoan this not being a regular Suicide Squad show, but they're having lots of fun with it. I just need more Amanda Waller. Clayface from the announcement has seemed like an odd inclusion here, he's not traditionally a Suicide Squad character, but they've justified it with an entirely new take on the character's personality which works

I'm surprised at how much work WIT has put in here. It's odd, the production is super inconsistent, but it never looks bad or anything. It's more like they cobbled together a ton of cuts from a ton of different animations for all the action scenes, and from what I'm seeing on Twitter that's kind of exactly what happened. There are several that have looked quite good, but for completely different reasons. The vibe of this show isn't exactly screaming for a need for consistently, though, I'm not complaining or anything. The chaos works.

Hopefully it can keep it up!

Patiently waiting for GBC subs as usual

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/d/d8fa6faf.jpg

Lol

Theyve been saying for the last week or so that an S2 is possible depending on stuff like reception and merch sales, but nothing confirmed yet. The volume 1 Blu-ray releases at #1 in sales for home video in Japan this week so I don't think merch sales are going to be a problem.

UshiromiyaEva posted...

Theyve been saying for the last week or so that an S2 is possible depending on stuff like reception and merch sales, but nothing confirmed yet. The volume 1 Blu-ray releases at #1 in sales for home video in Japan this week so I don't think merch sales are going to be a problem.

How long did it take to make S1? 3 years? It'd be quite a while to make S2 I'd think.

Also most modern anime makes a large percentage of its revenue from selling overseas streaming rights, lol...

They've GOTTA actually get that thing over here at some point, right? Like, they KNOW. They haven't made a single social media post without people asking, including high profile Japanese users who want it getting more exposure. They even started messing out merch sales in English. They're still releasing all the songs with English subs baked in.

I mean I know it's Toei, but they can't be that dumb, right?

.....Right??

There's one thing I'm not gonna miss.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/0/0fd05a1b.jpg

Girls Band Cry finished.

Without a doubt one of the best original anime I have ever seen. An excellent ending that serves as a completely satisfying conclusion even without tying up every bow, and that can easily continue if they decide to.

I don't think I really need to say much here, since I've been talking about this show constantly for 3 months. I think the one thing that maybe would get pushback from some is that I think them going with the actual band members for the VAs was an INCREDIBLY good decision. It fits the vibe of the show perfectly and means that the VA work is completely unique to these characters. They did a great job.

Girls Band Cry
Jellyfish
Konosuba S3
Wind Breaker
Spice
---
Mysterious Disappearances
Train
Voice Actor Radio

In any other season, there wouldn't be any questions that GBC was keeping this top spot. However, we have Hanada's other show right over the horizon with a last minute twist, and depending on how it ends Eupho could be getting it's Return of the King moment. I kind of don't want it to! We'll see how that cards fall.

Huh. I mean, GBC was a great show, no question about that. I do feel like it ran out of steam a bit though in the latter half. I certainly hope for more.

EDIT: Or, if it didn't run out of steam, that the edges got sanded off. The tone definitely seemed to shift.

The last 2 episodes were absolutely a cooldown and reality check for the characters after the true climax that is episode 11, and that very much felt intentional. Just excellent emotion all around.

That stretch from episodes 8 to 11 is some of the best anime I've ever seen.

Where do you watch Girls Band Cry?

I just watch stuff on Crunchyroll and Hidive these days...

CoolCly posted...

Where do you watch Girls Band Cry?

I just watch stuff on Crunchyroll and Hidive these days...

You would have to torrent it. It has not been licensed.

Can't link obviously, but just Google anime cat site and you'll get what you need.

Unless you live in Indonesia, nowhere. Not legally that is.

I think Taiwan got the English subs too now.

And France has had French subs since day 1.

Man, I did not like that GBC finale at all. Felt incredibly rushed, like there were five episodes of content I missed. By far the worst ep of the series. Focusing on Hina probably hurt it some too - it's never made sense to me that became DD's lead singer. Felt way too pat, especially since she would've had to drop out of school to do it too...

Edit: oh right, and the yuri was bait after all. Surprise.

Strongly disagree, the character focus here greatly elevated it for me, this was super important for Nina's character!

Of course I'm coming off of tens of thousands of words of me discussing this with my discord group today as I do every week, so I've gone through a lot of motions here lol.

If more episodes do come, these episodes will be invaluable, if they don't then it was a bittersweet sendoff and Nameless Name could go anywhere from here. Even the ED itself has confirmed to have taken place shortly after episode 13. The girls are gonna be alright.

MacArrowny posted...

Edit: oh right, and the yuri was bait after all. Surprise.

Naw.

Gonna directly paste my take here from an earlier conversation in my group.

Re: the confession, I'm actually kind of...relieved? Obviously I've got that part of me that's screaming GIVE ME THE YURI, but REALLY, in this non-romance show, would there have been anything to be gained from them putting romantic content on the docket as well? Nina confessed her love, and likely didn't expect an answer. Not every confessions ends in a relationship in the real world. There's are several moments past episode 8 where Momoka is looking fondly or in amazement at Nina in a way she didn't before, thinking of it in the back of her mind. There are so many little hints in the small character acting that show stuff bubbling under the surface, but it's just not what the show is *about*.

If Nina and Momoka started making out I would have CHEERED, sure, but the show isn't worse for it not having happened. There's nothing I would have removed to include this subplot here. I'm not gonna call this bait just because they didn't end up making out on a rooftop. Nina did confess to Momoka and nothing is gonna change that.

I do wanna bounce off that to make a other comment about Jellyfish, though, which I kind of didn't want to do but, you know.

I do think Jellyfish did drop the ball by not actually sealing the deal on screen, because I do think that show is presented as a romance. The director and writer have made it pretty clear that it's meant to end up romantic in post mortems over the last few days, and we got a LOT of good scenes on that front, but this show should have gone more explicit. If you're going to have some much insinuation and blatant relationship establishment, and are going as far as to say their relationship will evolve after the ending, then just do it. It's not exactly bait either, but in a way it's worse because it's someone telling you there's a full course meal that you're allowed to look at but not touch. I still think Jellyfish is good and the LGBT content within it is good, but it could have been more. Kano has pride pins on her backpack for God's sake.