Topic: Anime & Manga (NO SPOILERS PLEASE)

March comes in like a lion is the actual name of an anime.

Watched the first episode, liked it, but concerned I might grow to hate it. Feel like the comedy could become really grating, especially since it partially killed the GREAT atmosphere the first half of the episode had (which might be the point, to be fair).

Oh hey! Despite my business & trouble finding time to watch anime, I actually found enough time to watch Toonami this past Saturday! Since I'm at college now I got cable with my dorm room, and I've actually never had it before. Thus, I've decided to start watching Toonami when/if I can! That Jojo was premiering for the first time on American TV was a big factor in deciding to watch, but I also got to rewatch some nice old HxH & OP episodes and also saw One-Punch Man for the first time! (Since it was episode 1, I decided to keep watching when OPM came on)

I skipped out on MSG Iron Blooded Orphans, both because it was an episode late in the series & I'm still making my way through a completely unrelated Gundam. Also skipped out on Naruto because, well, I don't care for it lol. Caught the tail end of DBZ as I prepared for Jojo, and it was just as baffling and boring as I thought it would be lol. I've never tried to watch DBZ and as I've said before I have no plans to. Hundreds of episodes moving at a glacial pace, with little plot to begin with? No thanks haha. I'm sure it holds a special place in the heart for many for good-ish reason, but I'm just not interested.

So, now that we're 3 weeks in, how's the Autumn season treating everyone?

Hooked:

the Drifters - In a fantasy world, humanity is under threat from a monstrous army led by the mysterious Black King, and it's only hope is a ragtag group of famous historical figures from throughout our history who have ventured into their world (all who had met their ends before their time, or so we thought). Anyhow, when a couple of Old West outlaws from the Wild Bunch are gunning down goblins with a Gatling Gun while a Zero is having an arial battle with a group of dragons, it's as insane as it sounds (I'm assuming the pilot is considered noteworthy in Japanese history). Anyhow, there are also a number of figures from the Sengoku Jidai (including Nobunaga & Toyohisa), and even a few who have joined the Black King, such as the famed Russian princess Anastasia (who has ice powers), and Joan of Arc, for some reason (who has fire powers). Anyhow, it's made by the same studio behind Hellsing Ultimate, so it has their trademark bold artstyle, with an abundance of gore.

Flip Flappers - On the other end of the spectrum you have this brightly colored adventure, in which a couple of girls take a break from their lives in the real world to explore the fantasy world of Pure Illusion, which consists of a variety of bizarrely unique locales. Third episode jumped the gun a bit, as after just getting used to exploring this world in the first 2, they can now transform into magical girls (this didn't seem to be a surprise to them, for some reason), and are introduced to a rival group of the same (who have a shocking member), but it's certainly no dealbreaker. Going into it I wasn't expecting much action, but It actually has some very fluid, intense fights (which aren't on the bloody side at all, from what I've noticed).

the Last Witch Izetta - In the battlefields of WWII Europe (with some nation name changing to various degrees), a small country in the Alps (called Elydstat) finds it's savior from a "Germanian" invasion in a young witch who decides to fight on their behalf simply because the nation's princess was the only person who was kind to her as a kid (you know anime & the power of friendship). Another one a bit on the colorful side, it actually has some great animation. The war machinery looks fantastic (tanks, planes, etc.), and the action is done very well. Izetta is surprisingly quite the badbutt on the battlefield, and honestly, how can you not like a show where the main character flies around on a magically infused anti-air rifle.

Like:

Ping Pong Girls - My first attempt at a sports anime. Everything is bright & peppy to the extreme, but the table tennis action is actually quite intense & exciting. Only not higher because I'm still not quite sure how far the premise will keep my interest, but I'm liking it so far.

Matoi the Sacred Slayer - My first attempt at a magical girl series (well, until Flip Flappers dropped the MG bomb on me this week, lol). It's been good so far. The character models are off (a bit too angular, and look a little shabby, IMO), there are a few off color jokes/gags, and I'm not even a big fan of the monster design, but it's not outright bad by any means, and I do enjoy the whole miko theming, which gives it that uniquely Japanese vibe.

Decent:

Soul Buster - A series wherein modern day people can summon & battle with the spirits of warriors from China's Romance of the Three Kingdoms era. It's absolutely average in every way (they even use all sorts of odd filters to hide the averageness of it, such as these "paint blobs" that spray the screen when any sort of action takes place. It's not, just, blood as they come in all sorts of colors, and they're definitely not a censorship effort either, as they're see through, the show's action is not graphic whatsoever, and they even cover the screen during power ups). Anyhow, the episodes are only 13 minutes long, and it pairs decently enough with the Drifters I suppose, so I see no reason to drop it yet.

Dropped:

Nazotokine - Only watched this out of curiosity because it didn't have a trailer before launch. Looked really cheap, and could have been a tie in to a mobile game or something (episodes were only 5 minutes long or something, I only watched the first one).

Time Bokan 24 - I knew it was more of a kid's show going in, but I figured I could enjoy it in a Saturday morning cartoon sort of way. I watched the first few episodes, and while I suppose it's probably okay for what it is, I personally see no reason to continue with it.

@Rocko52, just so you know, that's the Kai variant of DBZ, which cuts out most of the fluff, so it sticks to manga relavent content to flow better and is only around 100 episodes I believe. Toonami is entering the final battle of the current arc, so yeah, it's probably not the best place to start it.

Only watching two (new) shows at the moment.

Kiss Him, Not Me - It's as stupid, offensive, and funny as the original manga thus far.

Keijo!!!!!!!! - It's surprisingly decent for a fanservice show where girls fight with their boobs and butts. It has a lot of elements you'd find in a traditional sports anime, but the concept makes the show laugh-out-loud funny. There's seriously a class called "Asstronomy" in this show.

Also watching some older stuff.

Diabolik Lovers - Basically, it's "Misogyny: The Anime." Sexy vampires constantly act rapey and abusive toward the main character. Almost impossible to watch on my own. I guess I'm not the show's target demographic. It's fun to make fun of it with friends, though.

Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day - I get the feeling this is trying to be a tear-jerker, but a friend and I have just been cracking up over how melodramatic it is at times. She told me Clannad is even better (or worse) in this regard.

Now that I'm done with my Netflix superhero binge (Supergirl season 1, Marvel's Luke Cage season 1, Arrow season 4, the Flash season 2, & DC's Legends of Tomorrow season 1), I've decided to go ahead and add a bit more anime to my diet.

Started out with Burn Up! W, a 4 episode OVA series I watched in the past couple days. It was a pretty decent fanservicy sci-fi police action comedy series. I liked the 90's character designs, and I got a kick out of the giant robot in episode 2 that was a blatant copy of Shinji's Eva, lol. They never did contend with the main villain, but it also consists of two other, longer series, so I assume they deal with her in one of those.

I've missed out on all of this this season's anime, due to the unfortunate position of, err... being in Japan. It's probably possible to load things up on a smartphone, but it feels a bit wrong for some reason.

Anyway, I saw some promotional stuff in a shop window for Long Ride, which I was intrigued by, but it looks more heavily moe-ed up than I was hoping. I guess being advertised in Akihabara that shouldn't come as much of a surprise.

Sad to be missing Haikyuu. The first episode of the new series was a bit iffy, and I think they've hit the series arc where they can only really afford to show matches, but I was quite an avid follower, so I'm missing it.

I've come down with the snuffles, so I might spent the day trying to load up Haikyuu videos and not get hammered by using a streaming site on a smartphone without an ad blocker...

@Maxz, you can get ad blocker working on Android, it's just that you have to turn on acceptence of unverified app downloads (so you can download apps off the internet) just long enough to download it from their site.

@RR529 I'm on iOS unfortunately. However, I've given b9dm a shot and it seems to be working without being too ad-pushy. When I've tried other sites, often the video would get interrupted halfway through and replaced with an ad link, which is a obviously pain on a smartphone/tablet.

Oh boy do I hope I'm wrong...

As I've mentioned before, the concept of Drifters is that real world historical figures are arriving in a fantasy world and involving themselves in that world's war. The two warring factions are humanity (led by a magician's guild called the Octobrists), and an army of monsters bent on the eradication of humanity (led by the mysterious "Black King"). Historical figures that join the fight for humanity are referred to as Drifters, while those that side with the monsters are referred to as Ends.

The problem is, I think the "Black King" is Jesus. I can ignore a lot, I really don't have much of a problem with Evangelion's symbolism, for example, but this may end up being just too much for me, if my theory is correct. His identity up until this point has been a secret since he's been covered by a robe (hood obscuring his face), but in this latest episode he mentioned how he once tried to save humanity, but was rejected, so now he will eradicate humanity and save monsters. In addition, he healed the injured monsters in his army with the touch of his hand, which had a circular scar in it's palm...

@RR529 TBH, I wouldn't put it past the author, seeing as he penned Hellsing, which IIRC didn't hold back on its criticisms of Christianity. At the very least, I wouldn't go into any Japanese work with historical figures expecting to see a respectful depiction of Christianity, especially when that work in question is from the same guy that decided "English Protestant Church vs. Vatican Catholics vs. Vampire Nazis" would be a good setup for his Vampire Sex Demon Masturbation Fantasy Action-Adventure manga.

@CanisWolfred, yeah, I already know going into anime (or any Japanese media, for that matter) that it won't always have an accurate and/or positive portrayal of the religion, and most often accept it due to the cultural differences (again, I don't think twice about Evangelion's symbolism, and every other JRPG has some sort of corrupt religious organisation, obviously mirroring Western religion). It's just that this particular instance looks to be too blatant for my tastes is all.

I'll still give it some more time to see if that's indeed where they're going with it though. Otherwise it's been one of the two or three most interesting shows of the season for me, so I'd be a bit disappointed if I had to drop it.

I've finally reached the end of Death Note. I felt that some of the characters' personalities changed too quickly, yet at other parts the story seemed to drag on too slowly. Plus it occasionally gets rather depressing, and I almost quit it at one point because of that. But overall, I thought it was very good and liked how different it felt to anything else I've seen.

I'm not sure what I'll watch next. Something much more lighthearted and less about fighting and death will probably be good for me.

Yeah, I know I'm probably the only one around here who plays one of these, but I figured it might be worth mentioning that Namco Bandai is holding a cross event between two of their F2P mobile titles, Dragon Ball Z: Dokkan Battle & One Piece: Treasure Cruise.

Dokkan Battle players have a special mission where they can face off against One Piece's Doflamingo, while Treasure Cruise players face off against Dragon Ball's Frieza.

The more times players collectively defeat the villains, they get rewards exclusive to their game (characters & other helpful items). So, it's a good time to download either game, as you'll get a huge starting boost, thanks to all the rewards players are earning for everyone (heck, in Dokkan Battle, you get 30 Dragon Stones during your first log in during the event, and they're holding a special summon event where you can summon 10 characters for that exact same amount, one of which is guaranteed to be SSR rank, the highest rank that can be summoned).

At the very least, I think we can safely say that would be the ideal situation, yes.

Yeah, I know, I know.

I find the key is to find one you're interested in (especially if it has an IP or theme you're fond of), and just stick with that one game, and no others (though tempted, I've avoided downloading both the Kingdom Hearts & Tales F2P games).

With Dokkan Battle, I've been playing it for just over a year (have only ever $1 on it, which was leftovers on my account after buying something else), and I finally have enough stamina to play it for pretty much as long as I want to, with a team completely composed of UR class characters.

Honestly it's very good with it's difficulty curves, and is completely playable free. The only thing about it admittedly cheap are the final levels of Dokkan Events, but they aren't something you'd find usefull until you have a full UR team anyways.

Yay! I ordered the Strike Witches movie! I can finally see it! -w- lol

@Joeynator3000 BTW, you seen any o' this yet?

http://www.crunchyroll.com/brave-witches

...A Strike Witches spin-off, in case you can't tell.

I heard about it, but i prefer dubs, so...it'll be a while till I actually watch that series. :c

@Joeynator3000 'Kay.

So, apparently Toonami is going to be showing an anime film this Saturday called Children Who Chase Lost Voices.

It's going to be one long night! In addition to an extra hour being added to the middle of the block for the night (Daylight Savings Time is starting, and what programming they'll be showing during that hour is still unknown), the film isn't going to be shown until AFTER the regular lineup airs (when they usually show a movie, it replaces the normal lineup).