@wjs018@ani.social seems busy tonight (or today depending on your timezone) so I’ll be filling in for today! :P
Hot takes, recommendations, questions, cautionary tales, all of it is welcome here.
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Hey, I’m back online. I am not fully caught up on shows from this past week, but here are some thoughts on the past week of anime:
- 100 Girlfriends - This past week’s baseball game was incredible. Iku as played by Takahashi Rie is a lot of fun.
- Welcome to Japan, Miss Elf - Such a nice, comforting show. This has become my feel-good show of the season.
- Bureaucrat to Villainess - I think they have struck a better balance between the two POVs this episode. Still really enjoying this.
- My Happy Marriage - I’ve been really enjoying this season. I am hoping they can keep it going through the rest of the season.
Started off the week with Noragami, which was really pretty good all in all, and I’m not quite clear on why. On paper, it doesn’t seem particularly promising, and there’s nothing that really stands out about it, but it was still good, in a sort of quiet, slow-burn way. I suspect part of it is that the characters are well developed and mesh notably well and the story unfolds at a natural pace - it doesn’t seem particularly forced or contrived. It was just solid if unexceptional.
I wasn’t inspired enough to watch the second season though, and ended up finally tackling DanMachi III. I watched the second season of it a few years ago and was so exhausted that I just couldn’t steel my resolve to watch any more then, mostly because I didn’t want to go through another round of some utterly loathsome villain being utterly loathsome while Bell indulges in another round of being sad and weepy and weak. But I like the series and especially the characters overall, so it had to be done sooner or later.
And this one followed that same pattern, so it reached the point at which he was just schlepping around with his head hanging, tearfully going, “Boku wa… Boku wa…” and I wanted to reach in the screen and kick his ass, but it… somehow it wasn’t quite so bad this time. I think he didn’t collapse quite as much and recovered a bit more quickly and surely, and potentially the ever-expanding cast served both to help him and to spread the focus of the story out a bit. However it was, while it was still irritating and I still wanted to kick his ass in the middle of it all, it wasn’t as frustrating and exhausting as season II. And it did seem to make some pretty good progress on the overarching story of Orario and the gods and the dungeon and the point of it all.
Then I knocked around for a bit and bounced off a few things and caught up with the current series I’m following (Honey Lemon Soda, which is still charming and satisfying if unexceptional, Guild Receptionist, which is still on track to be awesome, and Zenshu, which seems to be pulling out of its recent nosedive), then ended up, to my own surprise, starting DanMachi IV. I’ve just started it, but it already feels better than the past seasons. I suspect it wasn’t an accident that it started out with Bell leveling up, plus the focus is much more spread out than it was in the past, since he’s now surrounded by a substantial, diverse and interesting party. Hopefully it’ll hold together…
Past Seasons
I watched two movies over the past week: Promare and Redline
The animation and art style of Gurren Lagann and Kill la Kill aren’t my cup of tea, but when it gets shortened into a movie - Promare - it’s palatable for me.
I’d say Promare’s animation is very dynamic, very energetic, but not overdone. Story-wise, it is yet another Gundam-like with themes of genocide / discrimination, mechs and mild LGTBQ+. Personally, my favourite thing from the movie is its catchy soundtracks, especially Kakusei by Superfly. Apparently some verses are gibberish, but given that I don’t understand Japanese, it’s all the same to me.
I also like
Promare spoiler
how their semi-final mech is named Deus ex Machina.
Overall, I’d say it’s pretty good. My only complaints are that:
- the rest of the firefighting team got kind of sidelined (but I guess that’s inevitable with a short runtime)
- Kray and his minions did not face any consequences for the death and suffering of the Burnish
I would give it a solid 8 / 10
I’ve seen somewhere before that Redline is another Gundam-like but with cars instead of mechs, which is probably why I added it to my watchlist. I can definitely see the similarities, though it’s a stretch to consider it Gundam-like as it is.
My main gripe with the movie is that we didn’t get more world-building and see more of the politics, but that’s probably because of the short runtime too.
My secondary gripe is that the male and female leads are conventionally attractive, but all the other characters aren’t even human.
Otherwise, the story is okay. The story and characters feel kind of shallow, so I’m guessing its target demographic is shounen (but there was some nudity, so I’m not too sure).
Given that it is well-produced, I’m giving it a 7 / 10
Current Season
Dropped
Due to a lack of time, I dropped the following anime:
- I May Be a Guild Receptionist, but I’ll Solo Any Boss to Clock Out on Time
- I Left My A-Rank Party to Help My Former Students Reach the Dungeon Depths!
- From Bureaucrat to Villainess: Dad’s Been Reincarnated!
They aren’t bad. In fact, they are decent IMO, which why I stuck around as long as I did. Unfortunately, they don’t really offer anything unique enough to sustain my attention.
At Risk
Sakamoto Days - It is decent, but that’s all. The latest arc looks promising though. Looks like we get to see Shin’s backstory
Zenshu - I was this close to dropping it, but the latest episode saved it. We finally get some backstory on Natsuko instead of their usual shenanigans with the Voids.
Continuing
Re:Zero Season 3 - I enjoy watching suspense shows without the suspense, so I’ll be saving this for later (or maybe watch one short arc at a time).
Apothecary Diaries Season 2 - Just like with Re:Zero, I’d rather not wait in suspense. Also, it doesn’t help that I’ve read ahead of the manga and know how the upcoming mysteries get resolved.
100 Girlfriends Season 2 - This one is hard-carrying the season for me. There is a serious lack of over-the-top comedies like Konosuba and Cautious Hero, but thankfully 100 GF is here to fill the gap. Perhaps it’s time I start on Gintama…
I’ve seen somewhere before that Redline is another Gundam-like but with cars instead of mechs
I have no idea why anyone would say this. Gundam is about socio-political issues relating to space colonization and the horrors of war. Redline is about doing whatever is coolest at every moment. I cannot think of a single thing Redline has in common with Gundam, other than that the characters spend a lot of time sitting in cool machines. Anyways, I loved that movie. Redline is what showed me that it’s possible for a movie to be excellent while having the most basic plot imaginable.
Does anyone have any recommendations? I haven’t watched much of the new stuff aside from delicious and frieren.
Spirited Away
Jujutsu Kaisen
Bocchi the Rock
Cowboy Bebop
A Silent Voice
Hunter x Hunter (2011)
Spy x Family
Howl’s Moving Castle
Chainsaw Man
Konosuba
Your Name
It really depends on what you like, but these have been my favorites from the last couple years:
- The Apothecary Diaries - Drama about a girl who gets kidnapped and becomes a lady-in-waiting for a high-ranking concubine, but really she just wants to make drugs. A hint of mystery and romance.
- Dan Da Dan - Sometimes it’s absolutely crazy paranormal combat involving yokai and aliens, sometimes it’s a well-written romance. Sometimes it’s both.
- The Elusive Samurai - A lot of other people didn’t care for this one because they didn’t care for a show that can rapidly switch between silly comedy stuff and brutal medieval Japanese history. It has amazing animation though, and I personally didn’t find the tonal shifts off-putting.
- Chainsaw Man - The perfect show for someone who wants to watch a teenage boy have a bad time. Lots of insane action and insane people.
- LOOK BACK - This one is a movie. It follows a pair of young artists, and is a bit of a heartwrencher. Same author as Chainsaw Man. Probably the best thing I saw in 2024, and that includes Delicious in Dungeon and Frieren.
- Bang Brave Bang Bravern! - Really funny action show about the gayest robot you’ll ever see.
- The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, REALLY Love You - Honestly you probably know from the title if this is for you. If you like harem stuff, well, this is one of the craziest and best-written harem things out there.
- Skip and Loafer - This is the only TV show on this list I liked as much as I liked LOOK BACK. It follows a young girl who leaves her rural town to go to a fancy high-school in Tokyo. Equal parts coming of age, romance, and slice of life. The thing that really sets Skip and Loafer apart, at least to me, is the characters. This is the only anime I can think of where the characters feel like people rather than cartoon caricatures of people. Don’t get me wrong, I love my goofy anime goobers, but there’s something refreshing about watching a show that follows normal people who have normal problems and react to those problems in normal ways. Now that I’ve written it out like that I have no idea how the mangaka made such a thing interesting to watch/read but it works well. Season 2 airs later this year btw.
- BOCCHI THE ROCK! - An asocial guitarist joins a band. Probably my favorite “cute girls doing cute things” anime, though I also liked “A Place Further Than the Universe”.
- Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury - This works as an entry point to the Gundam franchise, if you’re interested in giving that a try. Some students get drawn into corporate conflicts as they do their best to develop piloting and mechanical skills. This one really felt like it was originally meant to be 36 episodes but got cut down to 24; the second half is somewhat rushed unfortunately.
The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, REALLY Love You
If you like harem stuff, well, this is one of the craziest and best-written harem things out there
I’d argue that you would like this one if you dislike the typical harem stuff.
Btw, you’ve got good taste. We have a lot of overlaps in favourites.
I’d argue that you would like this one if you dislike the typical harem stuff.
To an extent, yes. If what you dislike about harem stuff is the ecchiness of it though this definitely isn’t going to be a fun ride.
Btw, you’ve got good taste. We have a lot of overlaps in favourites.
It’s a small community so I’m glad that sort of overlap is there!
I don’t know your tastes, but Dan da Dan was excellent from start to finish.
That’s not anime, but did you read “Ashigei Shoujo Komura-san”? Looks like your type) Concerning anime, I think you might like “Sakamichi no Apollon”.
Thanks to some winter weather, I lost power and am on mobile atm, so thanks for filling in. I should be back soon!
Stay safe!
Thanks to some winter weather, I lost power
Are you also in Texas?
I’m in the Boston area. We had a very icy and windy day yesterday, the perfect weather to blow some heavily laden trees into power lines.
Stay safe!
I didn’t really get to watch anything last week as I’ve been studying for exams. I’m thinking of watching Angel Beats for this week though because my friend said it was the only anime that made him cry.
I mean, that’s a choice if you want to hate life for a while. Angel Beats is absolutely depressing, for more reasons than one. It’s theonly show of which I’m aware that had a cour cut during its broadcast window (i.e., while it was airing, the second cour was cut; this destroyed the pacing). But that aside, the story itself is indeed sad.
I mean, that’s a choice if you want to hate life for a while.
Now I’m really curious. I’m going in completely blind then. I think I’ll start the first episode tomorrow morning.
I should clarify. The show is good. It’s just sad.
Angel Beats is a classic tear jerker and very silly.
