No.66
>>65I only watched up through part two and lost interest in whatever came afterwards but Joseph was a great protagonist
No.150
>>149>aged poorlyWait didn't this only come out like, 2 years ago? Or am I in for another rude awakening about how fast time is moving these days?
No.151
>>150I think it came out in '18 or '17 yeah but at the same time the whole 'heh I'm a NEET gamer just like you' thing was a fad that I feel like overstayed its welcome around the time it came out.
No.164
I recently finished the 3D Houseki no Kuni and I gotta say that was a perfect adaption. Miles better than the source material.
I really like the story but the manga is just so badly drawn how am I meant to know which gem is which.
No.167
>>164So many people skipping on Houseki no Kuni just because it's 3D.
It's amazing, easily one of the best series I've seen.
No.168
>>167Putting up with overused CGI is pretty difficult you know. I tried keeping an open mind for Houseki no Kuni but, well, I couldn't. It's just too much for me.
No.169
>>168Yeah, I know. It's really good CGI, though, not something like Ajin.
No.170
I'm not the biggest fan of CG but with Houseki no Kuni I didn't even notice it as a negative, and in retrospect I think the show is actually even better for it, they did a fantastic job using CG as a strength and making it look actually good.
No.171
>>170It's because it's CGI, but it kind of looks like drawn. Besides, you can imagine the gems being 3D (just as you see crystals IRL), so it actually ends up being an advantage.
No.172
>>171>Besides, you can imagine the gems being 3DYeah I think they did a very nice thing with all the transparency and shininess effects, and I think those would be really hard to translate into 2D. It's probably the only show I've seen where I was like "yeah, CGI works here."
No.173
>>171Oh, transparency, that's what I had ony my mind when I wrote about crystals and diamonds. You nailed it, yup, agreed.
No.191
I'm halfway through the third season of Gintama and I'm glad I started it. Easily a 9/10 for me.
No.197
Still haven't watched the Anzio OVA because I wanted to post screenshots while I watched, but I guess that's not happening now that we're on sushigirl…
No.220
>>197Why can't you? I'm still waiting to hear your impressions of it you know.
>>219Who was your fave aidoru?
No.221
>>220My favorite aidoru is Makoto, I really liked her cool moments in the show.
Second fave would be Yayoi the Rooster-aidoru, always got a chuckle out of those noises.
Likewise, who was your favorite aidoru?
No.325
>>324I've been meaning to watch this for ages. No better time than now I guess.
No.326
>>325Give it a shot, it'd be fun to have someone to bounce opinions off of.
No.328
>>327>that gifOh! my heart…
No.395
>>384>I guess there's something attractive about competency.There's something attractive about her ED outfit too…
No.443
>>384Vigne is a monster in bed you just know it
No.465
>>443I was trying to focus but now my head is filled with impure thoughts about Vigne.
You better take responsibility for this post.
No.491
>>476Finished yesterday but too busy to make a proper post about it.
Just from the sound design, OST and comedic timing I get the feeling almost the exact same people who worked on yuru yuri worked on this too (yes I realize both were made by doga kobo but a studio has lots of people maybe I guess).
No.494
>>493I honestly found her really annoying
She was the weakest link in the comedy
No.504
Almost done rewatching Akame ga Kill. I knew it was edgy, but maybe because I know how it ends I've found the rewatch to be pretty funny instead of dark and serious like it seemed on my first watch. I do enjoy how the Jaegers get fleshed out just as much as Nightraid. Some of the background or scenery shots are really pretty too! Eventually I might read the manga to see how the endings differ and maybe even Zero after that.
>>468I got caught up with the official English release of the GabDro manga recently. I watched the anime as it was airing and now I want to rewatch it! I could still hear their voices in my head as I was reading. Tap-chan got a fair amount of attention in the last couple volumes and it's always fun to watch her not believe Vigne is a demon.
>>494She doesn't contribute much, I agree. Her bra not holding out and the scene where she tries to make Satania lick her foot for the melon pan are the only comedic bits of hers that I really remember. She's still really hot though.
No.544
>>476I just got to the episode this screencap is from and it was my favorite one yet. I was alternating between a stupid smile and actual laughter the entire time. The gag of Satania not remembering what Christmas is about while Vigne aggressively enforced her vision of a Christmas party really got me, as did Satania's retardedly brazen attempt to enter heaven. Oh and seeing Gab drunk on Amazake was adorable too.
No.555
>>493Raphi is the hottest, I agree.
>>468I don't understand why it's assumed Vigne is a bad demon. She feels like the accountant devil type, always privy on the little details, who'll tell you with a pouty face that you knew exactly what it meant to sell your soul for fame and fortune, ruthless in her bureaucratic naivete: the regulations say it's time to collect, so she will.
No.556
>>555It's not just assumed, there's an episode where Hell threatens to stop sending her money unless she starts demon-ing better. So it's explicitly csushi roll that she's bad at being a demon.
also nice get No.559
>>556>csushi rollluv me word filters
No.563
>>556"Assumed" was definitely the wrong word. I understand that even hell considers her a bad demon, I just disagree with the point entirely.
No.564
Finished GabDrop. Great show, had me chuckling right up to the end. It definitely deserves its popularity and representation in reaction images and gifs. You can tell a lot of fun was had with the facial expressions, animation, voice acting, and character interactions. Vigne is still best girl but I ended up liking everyone a lot.
I'm sad there are so few doujinshi translated for it>>555I can't say I wouldn't sell my soul to Vigne if she asked in the right way…
>why doesn't she have a haloMaybe she's too much of a pervert?
No.599
>>598There's always the possibility to re-watch it on later dates if you'll so want to.
No.600
I got too hooked on black clover and 28 episodes later my hard drive is running out of space.
There's a couple of pacing issues and it feels like some characters go through their arcs too quickly, but I guess that's something to expect in a shounen manga/anime's early stages as the author has to juggle wanting to tell his story properly and showing as much as possible before getting canceled. It's not egregious but it's easy to notice when this happens. A great example of this comes from comparing the first episode of the anime with the first chapter of the manga. What fits in one chapter is stretched into two or three episodes without it feeling like late one piece. The anime has been connecting every arc seamlessly, because I've been telling myself I'll jump to the manga after finishing an arc in the anime but then I notice I'm two arcs past the arc I've set as the limit.
World building is nothing too special but it's clear the author has a grasp of what he wants to do. Everything makes sense as far meta is concerned and the story has a pretty good hook. It's nice to see an Imagine Breaker-type character with actual stakes and neatly incorporated in his world.
While there are two protagonists, so far the story has been focusing more on Asuta (the one with the shounen hero phenotype). He is the titular character after all. Still, Yuno gets his fair share of screen time. Asuta's side is much more typically shounen while Yuno's has a little more intrigue. I can only conclude the author's forte lies in shounen fluff only because it beats the intrigue portion in terms of volume, since both sides are competently written. It could be the case that the author decides to focus on shounen exactly because this is shounen.
The anime itself is a product of its time. There's some 3DCG here and there and common airtime extending trickery pops out on occasion (like repeating 2 or 3 minutes of the anime before it went to commercial break) but I'm overall impressed with the quality of the sakuga. I don't follow these things and I'm certainly no sakugabooru dicksucker but I've heard studio pierot does some pretty good stuff and it shows here. Even though 3DCG is present, I don't feel cheated by its use like I do with ufotable. When the animators get really serious, the outlines becomes thinner and the presentation assumes this ethereal feeling that really brings out a magical mood.
Also, there's lots of cute girls. I took loads of screenshots of Charmy, the cutest most moe girl of the bunch, which I will dump now.
No.604
>>600I forgot to mention that I love the consistency of some little details, like the group leader casually kicking the door out of every room he walks into. The comedy bits are really hyper and the mood and personalities of Asuta's magic knight division play off each other wonderfully. If I were an expert I'd say comedy and character individuality carry a shounen manga more than story or battles. Black clover has all these bases very well covered.
Also there's lesbians.
No.605
>>598Sometimes I use dice to decide on a random episode of Hidamari Sketch
or Yuru Yuri to rewatch
No.606
>>603cute 5head
>>604cute brown girl
No.630
>>605I'll have to try that. Seems like every time I want to rewatch a random episode of a series I pick either 3 or 7 for some reason.
No.636
>>604Really glad you're enjoying the show, sushi! It's one of my favourite recent anime.
Also Charmy is the most powerful being in the universe and she gets some interesting development later.
No.639
>>636Is that so? Different sushi roll here, I just started this one and I'm getting normalized to the screaming of the MC Asta.
I'm like still 1/4 of the total released episodes.
No.642
>>639Everyone screams a lot, it's crazy.
They even lampshade it a few times too.
No.643
>>639HIS SCREAMING DOESN'T BOTHER ME BUT IT TOOK ME TIME TO GET USED TO HIS SEIYUU, IT DIDN'T FEEL LIKE HE MATCHED THE CHARACTER AT FIRST BUT HE GREW ON ME
>>642EVERYONE SHOULD SCREAM, THE MORE A SHOUNEN'S CHARACTERS SCREAM THE BETTER IT IS
No.645
>>643I think I'm getting used to it as I watch more of it.
I'm at episode 41 and I'm starting to like Asta despite his screaming. Also Noelle's development has been slow and gradual which makes me like her.
And no, not everyone should scream!
No.649
>>646I'll DECIDE IF I WANT TO SCREAM OR NOT!
Though I'll be watching the anime one sushi roll reccomended me earlier. Hope you had fun watching this show.
No.650
been watching texhnolye, its great
No.651
>>650Hey I watched that not too long ago. Great show, I really loved it. My only complaint really was the plot got a little convoluted in some not very interesting ways regarding the rival gangs. But aside from that it was super cool. I did feel like I needed to watch some moe SoL or something afterwards though lol.
No.654
>>651Triangle Staff have felt the same way after completing Texhnolyze, so they did Niea_7 next. You could follow their steps and watch it next.
No.657
>>654Niea_7 was made as a light-hearted project after finishing Lain, not Texhnolyze.
No.659
I finally recovered two of my old hard drives loaded with anime
Now I can rewatch some of my older shows yay
More importantly I can actually download new anime if I reorganize shit across all the drives because I'm out of space AGAIN for new seasonal shit
No.772
>>769Yuuki is insufferable but I suppose she's the best character in the first season unless I'm forgetting one of the minor characters. Teru used to be the best character for me until Ritz went absolutely insane.
Mahjong isn't that hard to learn the actual rules and terminology of, though playing it is a different matter entirely. If you want to play I believe tenhou is still considered the go-to for online playing, sort of like chess or lichess for, well, chess.
No.775
>>772You say insufferable but I have a soft spot for dumb hyperactive genki characters
>until Ritz went absolutely insane.Did the manga go off the deep end or something? I was just planning on watching the anime adaptations.
No.776
>>775Ritz is just a lazy bastard who makes her manga release every other month in a bimonthly magazine with 13 pages of which only 2 are colored
Also made Teru just seem incredibly sad and pathetic which is kind of annoying
Anime adaptions are fine though
No.780
>>769MajSoul has a tutorial in english
https://mahjongsoul.game.yo-star.com (it's currently undergoing a maintenance but it should be back to normal within a few hours)
And you can learn the rest here:
https://youtu.be/hlnC2rgIPrc No.789
>>769Once you learn the yaku and want to get into basic strategy read this:
https://dainachiba.github.io/RiichiBooks/ No.805
>>804I finished it fairly recently as well and also enjoyed it. I do agree with your criticisms though,
and would add that I also disliked a lot of the general characterization of the Sister in the latter half. Her being so emotive, frightened of everything and more of a liability than anything bugged me a bit. They're basically trained soldiers and have all "been through" much worse that that, I would have appreciated her holding her own a bit more. Bit of a bummer for me because I love the Sisters and especially like watching them and Accelerator work together. I also didn't care much about the "villains" personally but that's a more minor complaint.But like I said, I liked it overall, it still had most of the things that make science-side Raildex fun
No.806
>>804I think the big problem is Anti-Skill is very much foot soldiers. They're Academy City foot soldiers and that means obviously they annhilate basically anyone else, but Anti-Skill is in some sense there to deal with rogue level 2s and 3s. Anyone capable of pulling out firepower on the level of the baddies that Accel has to personally step in for is way out of their league, it's like berating the city guard for dying horribly to the dragon.
No.821
>>820Accelerator is a special case, though, and I'm still convinced that he's just underusing them. Absolutely nothing stops him from simply changing something's position vector. Vectors are a mathematical construct not inherently tied to velocity. Some of the powers of level 4/5 are just too versatile when used by someone who knows what they're doing. What do you do against Misaka railgunning a metal brick at you or Mugino making quantum physics up wholesale to use her death beams?
No.827
>>821>MisakaEasy to deal with if you use rubber bullets or even pepper balls, keep your distance and stay mobile.
>MuginoSee above. She has the maneuverability of a tank. You don't even need anti-skill for them, a certain demolition's expert with terrain advantage is enough.
>Absolutely nothing stops him from simply changing something's position vector.All the times we've seen him use his power it involved using speed/intensity vectors. He's never once even used his power to teleport. I'd say that's the kind of thing he'd unlock at level 6.
No.830
>>827>Easy to deal with if you use rubber bullets or even pepper balls, keep your distance and stay mobile.There are voltages and magnetic field strengths at which these things don't work. A magnetar's field strength is strong enough to dissolve chemical bonds thousands of kilometers out by distorting electron clouds. Clearly Misaka doesn't have that kind of power, but the power to constantly have a tornado of iron sand around you to vaporize anything that tries to get close is clearly possible. Also, since she has such control of magnetism, she should be able to fly.
>keep mobileThat's mostly on Mugino being a retard though because nothing stops her from just firing off huge lasers in kill arcs.
>He's never once even used his power to teleportYeah I know, but I'm mostly blaming Kamachi for that. I mean from a pure mathematical standpoint he could technically just assign random numbers like <number of bullets remaining in your gun, my penis size in inches, your body weight in tons> and use that as a vector but that's just omnipotence and clearly he isn't allowed to do that.
No.834
>>830Look if you're going to assume all those things about how each lvl5 would use their power then I'll assume anti-skill can do even more based on their superior knowledge of tactics given they're an organized unit of adults fighting teenagers with a with a big case of the chuu2. We're considering a scenario where an anti-skill squad is called to a location and briefed on what they might run into. Optimal results come with 100% accurate and complete knowledge of espers, abilities, location and objectives, of course.
We could end it right off the bat for all espers save accelerator and Gunha with capacity down, but I don't recall who exactly owns that piece of tech so I'll assume it's not anti-skill.
>MisakaShe has not shown to have that level of fine control over chemical bonds or the like. That's only something you might expect at lvl6. The closest she has come to flying is using her powers to wall-run and that still requires metal foundations to work. As for a tornado of iron sand, what makes you believe an engagement would occur in the kind of deserted area where Misaka would find no issue using that kind of power? She's hot-headed but she doesn't ever involve innocent people. One could argue she's actually the type you could negotiate with. But let's assume she has the terrain advantage. How long do you think she can maintain that thing going? If she's using as a defensive measure, she's not attacking. If she's not attacking, let her exhaust herself. If she's able to extend "mini-tornadoes" out to attack, then keep your distance and play the waiting game. She's most likely the lvl5 with the most available info of the bunch so knowledge of her AIM field's reach and intensity (which is sure to decrease with distance) must be a given.
>MuginoLet's assume her personality did a complete 180 and she isn't the type who gets schooled by Shiage (yes I haven't seen raildex past S2 but I did my youtube homework). She's using her power to the best of her abilities. However, even assuming she has AIM stalker with her, she's fighting level 0s. She can't sense them. Engaging in an area with a lot of cover and hazards is ideal. Or divide your squad in two groups and harass her from opposite directions. She can only fire accurately at where she's looking so either running back and forth or firing lasers indiscriminately until she runs out of juice. Not to mention she has a delay in firing her lasers which also happen to leave a massive blind spot in front of her, so if circumstances are good you can end it with CQC.
Current accelerator can literally be beat by a quickdraw champion.
No.835
>>834I'm just largely under the impression that there is a point where fighting smart just doesn't beat fighting hard. Accel at one point takes the rotational power of the entire world and puts it into a chunk of material. Kamachi clearly didn't do the math since an impact like that should've taken off the entire piece of crust that the Windowless Building is standing on.
I'm not really arguing about whether or not they're really that strong, because Kamachi says one thing and has the level 5s do something else. However, you could argue the exact same for anti-skill, because they're supposed to be hardcore professionals but I'm struggling to think of instances when they don't get absolutely shit on.
No.864
I'd like to interject in this debate and point out the simple fact that I'd like for a hot crazy woman to stalk and call my name as intensely as Mugino calls for Hamazura.
No.867
>>864Mugino mellows out as soon as Hamazura basically kills her and then gives her the D so
No.892
>>891Yous should check out the manga too. It's pretty great and Hiroe has been slowly oozing out of hiatus over the past couple years.
No.896
Just finished watching Kaiji, the pachinko arch was filled with tons of crazy stuff but it was good
seeing him win in the end after Part 1's endingI also loved how they used Part 1's OP for the endingI'm kind of ashamed to say it but this is the first time an anime really caught me, I tried many others but ended up dropping them fairly quickly. The concept of someone who wants to score some cash on life and death situations relates to my antics with crypto a lot.
I'd really like something similar, but apparently you need to know mahjong for Akagi for example
On the other hand, I could try getting into Hellsing since I caught a stream on /bant/ and seemed great, or pick back up Evangelion since I got fascinated with third tier angels and their real forms, which according to youtube comments Eva presents accurately on the later archs
https://youtu.be/_A8IzlTOO18 No.899
>>896Only watched Kaiji S1 but the skyscraper crossing gave me a ton of vertigo. Pretty incredible how an anime that didn't have that much going in terms of sakuga managed to get that feeling out of me.
>AkagiI watched it without really understanding a lot of mahjong and I was still engaged. They explain the general rules in the beginning but, even then, there's lot of sideline characters' commentary to drive home the point of how important/desperate/advantageous each and every situation is. I highly recommend it.
No.905
>>904I don't know if the main character feels spiritual emptiness or unfulfillment but the way I actually understand his character is that Tanya is basically a straw nihilist, someone who imagines himself an Ubermensch but just isn't because, among other things, he really is just following what other people have done in the past and achieving success by following what other, more intelligent people have done.
There's also the plot point, which I think at this point has to be deliberate, that Tanya is utterly incapable of recognizing when his surroundings have changed and that what he learned on Earth does not apply. Atheism doesn't make sense in his case, when God now demonstrably exists. He makes the weak case that God is not worthy of worship and is in fact "being X", but this runs contrary to the profit-oriented mindset we see in him everywhere else; as Ando, Winders, and other writers have pointed out, worship of a deity doesn't necessarily mean approval of a deity but simply recognizes his very real power over your fate. His refusal to recognize that his tryhard sociopathy doesn't really work anymore manifests also in him seeing for himself that society is utterly different here but assuming it operates on the same logic as modern Japan, when even assuming it operated on the same logic as prewar Japan would've given him a much more accurate read. The dude is also weirdly concerned with social norms and what is and is not appropriate for someone who's been built up as a psychopath so I'm actually convinced he's a fedora tipper in the original, pseudointellectual edgelord sense of the word.
Also, a nitpick, I really hate how the show is a vehicle for the author to wax lyrical about the little he picked up from reading Clausewitz and Wikipedia and I hate even more the honestly shoddy thinking that's gone into the worldbuilding and strategy. You can blow it off with 'they're experimenting' but all of it that isn't lifted directly from actual warfare comes off as pretty absurd.
No.919
Maybe this kinda fits in here.
I've mostly run out of things in my toWatch-bucket, and been having trouble actually finding more to my taste. Would really appreciate any tips, including a sampler of my tastes to make it easier to rec. something in my direction. A taste compass if you will.
~Like~
Nichijou (except the robo/professor parts)
Asobi Asobase
Mob Psycho
Tonari no Seki-kun
Aku no Hana / Flowers of Evil
Berserk
Monogatari
LotGH
Errything Satoshi Kon
NGE
Serial Experiments Lain
Haibane Renmei
Great Teacher Onizuka
Battle Programmer Shirase
Jojo
Jinroh
Mushishi
Dennou Coil
Prison School
Saiki K
GITS (the movie)
~Dislike~
GITS (the series)
Psycho Pass
Ancient Magus Bride
Zankyou No Terror
Baccano
Black Lagoon
Yuru Camp
Enen no Shouboutai / Fire Force
Koyabashi Dragon Maid
Ghost Hound
FMA
Servant x Service
Food Wars
Macademia Hero
Subete ga F ni Naru / The Perfect Insider
Summer Wars
Shinsekai Yori
Rainbow: Nisha Rokubou no Shichinin
No.922
>>919Watch patlabor, oshii's movies for the more philosophical stuff and his OVA if you just like the characters.
No.923
>>922Seen the movies and liked them, the series wasn't my thing (not into mechs in general). Appreciate the effort though.
No.930
>>919How do you feel about Masaaki Yuasa's works? Stuff like Tatami Galaxy, Cat Soup, Kemonozume, etc
No.931
>>930Tatami Galaxy is actually one of the last things in my bucket, seen 2 eps a while back and really enjoyed it so I've been kinda saving it for the right occasion. Cat Soup was great. Think I've checked most of his other stuff and either wasn't in the right mode to appreciate it then or just wasn't my thing, should have a look over for things to recheck, thanks for reminding me!
No.933
>>905>the way I actually understand his character is that Tanya is basically a straw nihilist, someone who imagines himself an Ubermensch but just isn't because, among other things, he really is just following what other people have done in the past and achieving success by following what other, more intelligent people have doneNot exactly my interpretation. Tanya is, or tries to be, a staunch believer in human organizational structures and sees them as well kept, tried and true path to success. Tanya only ever derides people who act out of emotion than rational thought. S/he denies god's existence because it goes against everything s/he has come to believe. S/he goes to the military because it's the most suitable path thanks to high magic abilities and spends most of the time climbing through the ranks to try and get him/herself an easy do-nothing job away from the frontline. However, as the story progresses, s/he becomes a major player in the war effort, which itself turns into a struggle against being X. If s/he thought her/himself better than everyone, s/he wouldn't have followed the orders s/he was given in the final episodes. You could say s/he has killed his/her own individuality for the sake of the organization.
>There's also the plot point, which I think at this point has to be deliberate, that Tanya is utterly incapable of recognizing when his surroundings have changed and that what he learned on Earth does not apply.But there's demonstrative evidence that it does apply. S/he came up with a whole war plan based on how WW1 turned out which even led to the conquest of not!Paris a decade or two before scheduled.
>He makes the weak case that God is not worthy of worship and is in fact "being X", but this runs contrary to the profit-oriented mindset we see in him everywhere elseHe doesn't refuse to worship as s/he is downright forced to at one point. What s/he refuses to do is acknowledge Being X as god and it makes sense considering his "faith" lies somewhere else. Plus, seeing as there won't be another reincarnation after living as Tanya, there really is no profit to be had in worshiping Being X. It's just a fight between egos at that point and, ironically, Tanya is being "tested" for a different kind of faith.
>worldbuildingIs there any more to it than "WW1 but with magic"?
>strategyI like that Tanya's unit is essentially the first spec ops team in history. Are there any examples you can name of bad strategy? Most of it seemed pretty sound to me.
No.935
>>933>human organizational structures…emotion rather than rational thoughtThe issue here is that Tanya him/herself is commentary on an emotional rather than logical response when your worldview is challenged. He relies on human organization structures from postwar Japan to operate in what is essentially Imperial Germany, and seems utterly incapable of assimilating new information into the organizational structure. Someone as rigid as Tanya, seemingly totally oblivious to how other people feel and incapable of absorbing the fundamental values of their new homeland despite years living as a helpless infant, shouldn't even have made it to middle management in a company.
>it does applyI don't actually mean the war, which is just the author rattling off how smart he is for reading a basic history of WWI. With that being said, I'm struggling to think of a time when she actually used her experience in history to advantage in a way that wasn't stealing someone else's thunder. The man is 90% just reciting rote off actual geniuses; it's as if a Shakespeare student went back in time to Elizabethan England and wrote down King Lear by memory.
>downright forced toThat's brainwashing and clearly not of her own will. Realistically speaking it makes absolutely no sense to acknowledge being X as a god, because something that is supremely more powerful than you in every way and can decide your fate at the drop of a hat IS a god; his 'faith' in human social structures operates essentially the same way - it's so big and so vast that you will be crushed if you fight against it and rewarded if you follow its strictures. The rational (not emotional!) thing to do is to follow its strictures, because the rewards are potentially many, while refusing to follow being X leads directly to problems for Tanya such as Lt. Mary Sue existing.
>bad strategyFor one the launching of cannon is stupendously stupid, not least because operational headquarters during the first world war were no longer really concentrated near the frontlines without failsafes due to radio being a thing. Historically you had your operational headquarters concentrated because of difficulty of communication, but even by the Crimean War we see a dispersal of command begin. Decapitation strikes are always in the minds of commanders since it's the one way you can turn around a battle no matter the circumstance, and so people have tried to take precautions against just that whenever possible - the strongest bodyguards, a mobile command unit, and dispersed structures. More to the point, it's less that Tanya's strategies are bad and more that they rely heavily on the enemy being foolish, or else are lifted directly from history in a way that's the more specific equivalent of an isekai smartass introducing crop rotation.
/rant
No.947
Been watching Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann and I've been having a blast with it. I'm honestly surprised that Kamina is dead.
Though I'm getting a bit anxious because I want to get into Attack on Titan after finishing it, since the last season is getting released this year. Don't know exactly when though.
No.950
>>945ahhh Riko's too cute, I love her
Anyways, it came out in Japan it seems
https://nyaa.si/view/1283585 No.963
>>947Attack on Titan always struck me as normie anime. That's a super biased opinion 'cause the one guy I know who's into it is a cringy gymbro who thinks he's into anime because he likes My Hero Academia and Death Note, but I've never watched it so I can't really say.
>>950Thanks!
No.985
>>963You're welcome!
Have you read the manga or are you going into the movie blind?
No.990
>>985I got the manga in Japanese but I’m not good enough yet to read it in any sort of timely manner. I feel like resorting to scanlations would be giving up, so I’m kinda stuck. I’ll probably go into the movie blind. I hadn’t read the manga when I watched the series either.
No.1044
>>963>Attack on Titan always struck me as normie anime20 episodes in you're kinda right, I feel dead watching this. It kinda involves all the tropes of anime that put me off in the first place
>cheap animation>uninteresting characters>events take too much to happen>colours are flat and everything looks the sameI just hope it gets interesting enough later down the road. Also the second ED is shit. This is really ruining my hopes in anime after TTGL, maybe that set the bar a bit high?
No.1068
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>>928I finally got around to watching it. Overall I thought it was decent, although it didn't have the impact of the first season on me. For reference I haven't read the manga. I'm about to rant, so don't read if you really liked it and don't want to hear my criticism.
The whole time I kept thinking that passing Bonodorudo was only going to be a part of the movie, so the pacing felt way off to me, although that's my own fault. My main gripe is that it doesn't feel like the main three characters grew or changed at all. The first season brought the characters together and developed them and their relationships; there's a ton of character development. You learn intricate backstories for Riko and Nanachi, and watch Riko and Reg grow closer and closer over the course of the series. I didn't learn anything new or have my perception of the characters changed at all by the end of movie.The part where Reg goes to short out the base's power felt like it was going for something big, then simply dropped it. Riko sets up the idea that Reg might lose all his memories (like when they shocked him awake at the beginning of the series), and indeed when he gets electrocuted he goes "Mob 100%", and the whole time I'm thinking "holey shit, they actually did it, Reg lost his memories, how are they going to get them back?" I thought it was like a character death or something, but no, he just goes back to normal for more or less no reason. He isn't really any better at fighting in his "possessed form" either. When Mob explodes in Mob Psycho it's one of the most hype things I've ever seen, but I lost count of how many Bondorudo fights there were and this one didn't stand out. I ended up just wondering "what was the point?"Basically the whole movie felt like a container (hah, get it?) for Prushka's Mitty 2.0 arc. It was definitely gross; tragic; horrifying; and affecting, but honestly it made the same mistakes as Mitty's arc in that it introduces a character, gives her 10 minutes of backstory, and then she suffers a existentially horrifying death. I just didn't have time to get emotionally attached to this character who hasn't really done anything except love her dad and guide Riko up some stairs.Bondorudo is like a worse Thanos. He's willing to sacrifice everything in the pursuit of the greater good (in this case understanding the Abyss), but unlike Thanos he's so needlessly brutal that it's hard to say he's morally ambiguous. I do like Bondorudo, but I don't think he deserved nearly as much time as he got. I want to see what's at the bottom of the Abyss and how it affects Riko and Reg, so the whole movie felt like a filler side-story to me.It was all worth it for pic related No.1082
>>1068Nice nice, lots to talk about! I'm glad you at least found it decent.
> I'm about to rant, so don't read if you really liked it and don't want to hear my criticism.Discussion is always good, critical or not!
**
> I didn't learn anything new or have my perception of the characters changed at all by the end of movie.That's a fair criticism I think. It's definitely more of a long boss battle and lore dump than a story/character arc, especially if you don't care for Bondrewds "character". It's funny that you say you only expected Bondrewd to show up in passing, because believe it or not this actually felt compressed compared to the Idofront arc in the manga. I do wish they included the in depth explanations for his soul split machine and other relics but I get that they probably would have messed with the pacing even more
> He isn't really any better at fighting in his "possessed form" eitherHe is, though. It's more of a permanent power up than a super form though. He says something to the effect of "It felt like a bunch of people were inside me, and one took control" after the effects of the supercharge wears off, then while fighting he says "Someone made me remember how to be this agile". That's why he's able to do his crazy arm cable whirlwind after regaining his sanity, but he couldn't fight Bondrewd on that level beforehand. I think the implication is that rather than erase his memories or make him stronger, it just short circuited his ability to reason and unlocked some old skills/memories/personalities which let him fight better. So I guess while it isn't as "hype" as it could be as far as powerlevels go, it's certainly a significant thing in terms of lore implications (and it recharged his laser beam which is important as well)
> I just didn't have time to get emotionally attached to this character who hasn't really done anything except love her dad and guide Riko up some stairs.That's totally fair. I cry every time at Prushka, but she wasn't given a lot of time to develop in the manga, and she's given even less in the movie. (also I get emotional/attached to characters pretty easily personally) I could argue that it was more meant to hammer in how twisted Bondrewd is than to have you care for her, but that's kind of two sides of the same coin. For me the creativity and interesting lore around all the suffering makes it totally worth watching and showing, even though you can certainly argue that Tsukushi lays it on a little thick sometimes
> it made the same mistakes as Mitty's arc in that it introduces a character, gives her 10 minutes of backstory, and then she suffers a existentially horrifying death.I kinda disagree here though, because Mitty's character is more about Nanachi than Mitty. I think it's actually one of the best moments of character growth in the series when Reg puzzles out that Nanachi's plan is to kill herself after she solves the Mitty problem. She was so devoid of reasons to live and full of guilt after escaping Bondrewd that the only thing forcing her to go on was the hope of ending Mitty's suffering. So when Reg makes her promise not to die after he kills Mitty, it forces her to go and search for new meaning with the group.
>Bondorudo is like a worse Thanos. He's willing to sacrifice everything in the pursuit of the greater good (in this case understanding the Abyss), but unlike Thanos he's so needlessly brutal that it's hard to say he's morally ambiguous.I really don't think Bondrewd is supposed to be morally ambiguous so much as just obsessed with the concept of "progress" to the point of being completely unhinged and unfeeling. He's not even selfish, he has zero compassion for anyone and anything including himself, and the things he does to others and himself are supposed to be morally repugnant because he simply has no morals. He even has total apathy towards being defeated simply because the groups conception of "progress" was stronger than his. It's entirely possible I'm forgetting a line about him doing all this to "cure the curse", but even so I have trouble believing he really cares about that.
As far as being needlessly brutal, well, I'd argue that's more the fault of Tsukushi and the setting being edgy as heck than it is Bondrewd as a character. They mention that Idofront was already there when Bondrewd arrived, and that it was a "ritual site", so I don't think it's a far cry to speculate that the operations involving forcing people to take on the curse/blessing were already underway by whoever built the place, probably as a means to produce white whistles so that you can proceed further down. Bondrewd is doing anything "needlessly" brutal, the things he does are brutal out of necessity for maximum "progress", he's not doing them out of sadism.**
No.1083
>>1082Okay clearly I'm too dumb to spoiler things
Just don't read that wall of text if you haven't seen the movie pls
No.1087
>>1082>Glasses NanachiThanks for the nice reply! I probably would have been a lot more defensive if someone criticized something I liked to that degree.
>I do wish they included the in depth explanations for his soul split machine and other relicsSo that's what was going on. I thought maybe it was something more abstract like Bondrewd is an idea rather than person, and every time he dies another like-minded black whistle puts on the mask and becomes "Bondrewd."Thanks for explaining Reg's "power up" scene. I didn't realize the twirling arm thing was something he couldn't do before. Maybe it was clearer in the manga, but I didn't feel like the movie did a very good job showing me the cause and effect there. That could also be my fault for not being attentive enough.>and it recharged his laser beam which is important as wellThat was another thing I seriously misinterpreted. Nanachi tells Reg the symbols on his helmet display "the number of uses left before a relic becomes unusable. No exceptions" very much implying that Reg (being a relic) will become unusable (die) once he runs out of uses. I imagined this was setting up some major drama down the road in which Riko has to decide between dying or allowing Reg to sacrifice himself to save her or something like that, but it turns out he can just be recharged with electricity?! This relic that's "powerful enough to rewrite the rules of the Abyss" in Nanachi's own words can just be recharged like a battery? What's the point of telling us he has limited power if he can just be recharged whenever Akihito feels like writing in a generator or a thunderstorm? It feels like a random Naurto power that you have to keep track of on a spreadsheet, but it doesn't hold any narrative weight anymore. (Sorry, I wasn't going to rant anymore, lol)>I cry every time at PrushkaI mean, so did I. I should say I really loved the Mitty arc, so I enjoyed seeing more of what Akihito Tsukushi seems to do best.>I kinda disagree here though, because Mitty's character is more about Nanachi than Mitty. Man, you got me there. I agree 100%.I think your interpretation of Bondrewd's character is a good one! Makes more sense than mine did.Thanks for the discussion! I need to get some of this out since I just watched it the other night.
No.1306
Recently rewatched it – Dennou Coil is one of my favorite pieces of media, period. Aside from the other sushi roll that mentioned it in their list earlier up the thread, I've only met one other person that knows of it, and they were the one that introduced me to it in the first place.
The themes feel similar to Serial Experiments Lain, which is admittedly another one of my favorite shows, but while Lain leans significantly into the terror and isolation that arrives with the internet primarily, Dennou Coil takes a significantly more optimistic approach that treats those ideas with the same seriousness, but in a different way that makes it feel distinctly real. I could probably parse it out if I had more time, but suffice it to say that if you grew up with the internet as a kid, you will likely relate in some way to Dennou Coil personally.
The first time I watched it, I felt it may have had some pacing issues, but the second time through I didn't feel that way at all. Either way, I think it's a really amazing show. It was marketed for kids and there are a few childish scenarios and jokes, but it's never patronizing and the anime takes itself seriously.
No.1312
>>1306Dennou Coil is awesome, good taste sushi rollymous. It's been many years since I watched it and you made me want to see it again. I recall having a few moments where I thought to myself "can't they just take off the glasses", but aside from that I thought it was fantastic.
I really don't remember much about it though now that I think on it, so I do think a rewatch is in order
No.1315
>>1306Dennou Coil was optimistic in a way I doubt is really possible nowadays with the proliferation of an actual augmented (and distorted) reality in the form of smartphone-assisted social networks.
>I've only met one other person that knows of itIt's just kind of old. Not a lot of stuff from back then still gets discussed much. Might just be me but it feels like we used to talk about anime from the 90s a lot more in the 00s than we talk about anime from the 00s now.
No.1332
I've been watching more of black clover via stream because I'm poor as well as cheap and it's been one hell of a ride. There's this sense that everything has a purpose and everything has been building up to the current arc. Even things that seemed like filler at first. I'm tempted to check the manga to see how much of the anime is actually filler since everything has been neatly tied together with the "main" story.
It's been hard to stop myself from binge watching more than I already have, starting around the tournament arc's climax, or the first time the mage emperor fights (both moments blessed with some great fight choreography). However good the arc I'm at feels, though, there's a feeling of finality to it. Like where can they go from here? It's dealing with a theme whose resolution was the ending of a very popular long-running shounen. I've mentioned it before but, once again, it sort of feels like the author is rushing through yet another arc out of fear of getting axed before he gets to finish his story. This time the pacing doesn't look like it has a couple of awkward moments, though. The action is happening at a quickly but well structured. It's good unfiltered shounen. I'm drawn to the ideal of hard work paying off and black clover gets that across wonderfully. I'll be sad when the eventual reveal that the protagonists were children of destiny all along rears its ugly head, but I'll keep enjoying the ride.
Charmy still mega cute and the cuter she is the more mysterious she grows. She has some awesome overpowered abilities that she doesn't seem to be using at their full potential. I keep expecting her to show up and kick the shit out of everyone at the critical moment but she's always either involved in group efforts or conveniently absent. I might be reading too much into things but it makes me think the author has big things in store for her. Charmy as Julius' successor as mage emperor confirmed?!
No.1338
>>1337Leet post for leet girl!
About to watch episode 113. I've been pretty much non-stop watching since the tournament started but like I said, around episode 84 when
Yuno fights the aqua deer captain I started getting really hooked and by the episode
Licht kills the mage emperor which I think is episode 92 or 93 I've been watching it non-stop.
Speaking of which, the OPs have been pretty damn awesome but the ED themes are misses more times than they are hits with me. I love it when OPs change visuals along with the story progression and when one opening's visuals changed to
Licht fighting the mage emperor I was so damn hyped.
And also also, I was afraid the author had spent all his creativity on giving individuality to the squad captains but a couple of nice characters have been popping up all over.
Finally, I will continue praying that sister Lily wins.
No.1339
>>1338Damn I forgot to mention that I want to marry Mereoreona.
No.1346
>>1340This is why you don't fuck with Charmy's food.
No.1469
この勇者が俺TUEEEくせに慎重すぎる, Hepburn: Kono Yūsha ga Ore Tsuē Kuse ni Shinchō Sugiru
Action comedy how about an overpowered hero who is also over-cautious. Nice balance of comedy & serious with the emotional goddess guiding the coldly rational hero. I liked it although the pacing was slow at times even if it is made sense in the story.
Rating: B
No.1533
>>1510Episode 9 is my favorite so far, I started watching it after seeing some scenes, the context (or sometimes lack thereof) makes it all so much better
No.1615
>>1568That AMV makes the show seem cooler than it is, I love it.
>>1614>ending was weakI'm not surprised, like you I'm still having a good time with it though. It's a great pick-me-up after work because I know I won't get saddled with suffering like might be possible in other shows.
No.2058
I'm checking out Hellsing currently, tried to maybe a year or something like that ago before but didn't feel like something that resonated with me then so dropped it at first ep.
Doing both the first and Ultimate one at once for fun, interlacing them. Prefer the tone/pacing of the non-Ultimate one so far.
No.2061
>>1615>That AMV makes the show seem cooler than it is, I love it.This. I've been listening on loop everytime i see this thread.
No.2085
>>18I'm currenty watching Kaiba, and it's great! I really love the simpler style of animation, it really allows more movements and bolder camera shots.
Does anyone have recommendations for something similar to this ?
No.2086
>>2085Everything from Masaaki Yuasa (Kaiba's director) is great, especially Cat Soup and Tatami Galaxy
No.2087
>>2086Tatami Galaxy was great but I have never seen Cat Soup (didn't even know it existed). I try will watching it then, thank you for the recommendation!
No.2091
>>2087It's one my favorite manga and has a great anime BUT it is the antithesis of comfy, i'd recommend watching it with a good state of mind. The author was a very interesting but problematic person and Cat Soup tells a lot about her.
No.2334
My thoughts on the Berserk adaptations are provided below.
Aside from reading a small amount of the manga a very long time ago, my first encounter with Berserk was via the Ougon Jidai-hen movies sometime around 6 years ago. My memory of the movies is fading, which is what triggered my watching the original 1997 TV adaptation. I enjoyed the movies and rated them 7/10. I liked the story above all else.
Anyway, I watched the 1997 TV adaptation of Berserk much more recently, and here's what I have to say about that:
The original adaptation is better in terms of visuals and overall production quality, especially with consideration to production year. I much prefer the art style of the original adaptation. It also has a longer total runtime which is used effectively for greater character development and more plot detail. I would say it is better directed as well.
The story itself is very good, and the adaptation is well executed and well directed. Berserk's strongest characteristic is the writing, but in one respect it is also its greatest flaw from my perspective. My biggest issue with Berserk is the main character — Guts. He is poorly characterized and simply boring as a main character. The series would be much better if Griffith were the main character and Guts were a side character. Griffith is a far more compelling and interesting character than Guts. The same could even be said for Casca, albeit to a lesser degree. Although the 1997 adaptation does a much better job of exploring Casca's character arc than the movies. In any case, I wish that Guts hadn't soaked up so much screentime.
The setting is classic dark medieval fantasy. It is fairly immersive. It is complemented by the high level of visual detail, most notably in landscape frames and backgrounds.
The OST is suitable and pretty good overall (aside from the grating OP and ED songs). However, it would have been nice if there was more variety in the OST, considering the length of this series. Some songs, although they are good, are repeated quite frequently. Voice acting is good as well; the VAs are quite well matched for their character roles, and there's a wide range of voices among the cast.
My overall rating for the 1997 TV adaptation: 8/10
This is more of a personal problem rather than an artistic criticism, but I find Berserk to be overly grotesque and gruesome at times. It becomes uncomfortable to watch at certain points. I don't derive entertainment from shock value. The show is extremely dark and I needed to be in a dark mood to even find it palatable during some story arcs. Maybe this stirring of emotion within me, no matter how unpleasant, is an indication of artistic worth? In any case it didn't affect the appraisal of the anime I've written above, but still I thought it important to address this. Berserk isn't really the kind of anime I'd gravitate to naturally, but I felt compelled to watch it because of its cultural significance.
As for the more recent adaptation that began in 2016, I decided not to watch it because the consensus is that it's an abomination and I do not want to get spoiled on that part of the story via an inferior adaptation.
Lastly, in case this isn't obvious from what I've already written, I think that a newcomer to the Berserk franchise should initially watch the 1997 TV adaptation instead of the more-recent movies.
No.2433
>>2336the movies are garbage
No.2655
I just finished rewatching Toradora, which incidentally was one of the first series I watched when I was getting into anime. At first I was surprised by how much better it was than I remembered, but by the end I understood why I left feeling lukewarm after the first time.
The first 10 episodes were great; subtly building up Ryuuji and Taiga's relationship while they each think they're in love with someone else until episode 8 where Ryuuji almost drowns and Taiga flips out in front of everyone and screams that he's hers. The above mentioned dynamic is the soul of the show, but unfortunately from here there's virtually no progression until the finale.
After the beach house episodes the narrative progressions stalls horribly. The culture festival arc centers around the drama that Taiga's dad is coming for her. Ryuuji and Minorin have strong opinions about why that's a good or bad thing but don't explain it well to each other at all, resulting in the classic "misunderstanding drama" which is just annoying to watch. I don't even remember what else happens until the ski-resort episode near the end, and meanwhile Ryuuji and Taiga are both trying to help each other with their romantic endeavors and refusing to acknowledge their feelings for each other, just like the beach house 11 episodes prior. There were moments in the first half of the show where you almost think the Taiga and Ryuuji area awakening to their feelings, but it's almost like they've regressed since then. We could have cut all of that and all we would have lost was a lot of sad Minorin.
So I've been slogging through the second half of the series waiting for a couple of episodes of payoff, but it isn't until ONE episode before the finale they confess to each other (except it gets interrupted by a phone call for some reason so it's not even properly satisfying), then–despite only moments ago having admitted they have feelings for each other and not even having kissed yet–they decide to [i]runaway together and get married[/i] out of nowhere because Ryuuji had a very minor disagreement with his mom. They runaway together and have their first kiss (which was a really good scene), and after that Taiga leaves him without saying goodbye to attend another school, presumably to better herself for his sake. /fin WTF?!
I was so invested in the characters at first, but the show let my emotional connection fade with 13 fairly worthless episodes (there was some good stuff, but so much could have been cut), and then the forced drama of running away really alienated the characters for me. Finally the extremely bitter ending of Taiga leaving really crushed me, and further alienated me from the characters decision making.
It's a super popular show, so I know there are people that like the aspects of if I hate, and I'd be curious to hear from them.