Topic: Anime & Manga (NO SPOILERS PLEASE)

The important part is that they're not Eureka 7 AO.

Even though i've been a huge fan of animation and comics as a whole from a young age i'll admit I never cared for most anime & manga. Anime may often look good visually but I generally find the actual content can be fairly off putting pretty easily. And certain genres (I.E. Shonen) have even more problematic, over done &/or cliche elements then even U.S. superhero comics.

That said I do enjoy a good all-ages series. I find that like with most media anime aimed at kids/all-ages like Pokemon and Pretty Cure (especially in recent seasons) is actually more progressive and more well written then a good chunk of stuff aimed at teens/adults.

That said I do enjoy older content like Revolutionary Girl, Utena, Sailor Moon, Cardcaptor Sakura, Magic Knight Rayearth, Cowboy Bebop, and the Stuido Ghibli films. I kind of miss when the medium had a more "girl power" slant to it, as a lot of anime in the 21st century has seemed fairly misogynistic as if that side of the animation/comic coin is moving backwards instead of forwards.

Though I have noticed things improving a bit as of late as we've gotten series like FLCL Alternative that had a fat character that wasn't just there to be a joke and on the manga side we've had some more interment (somewhat biographical?) Series like My Lesbian Experience With Loneliness/My Solo Exchange Diary, Sakoto & Nadia, and The Bride Was A Boy, etc. Which are all solid slice of life series about diverse life experiences and don't just use varying groups of people solely for fan-service titillation like many other series do.

@LilDoggo48 Always remember that they're shows stemming from a different cultural mindet, though tbh, I've heard similar co,mplaints about mysogny in regards to anime from people living in Japan, so you're not entirely off-base. Anime itself happens to be feuled by its own, often highly-insular otaku sub-culture, as well - both in terms of target audience, and the people working in the shows/manga.

But hey, Pretty Cure's still dominating the Magical Girl scene, while a few others show up from time to time. We have have the benefit of hindsight, but series like Revolutionary Girl Utena & Cardcaptor Sakura were rare gems even in their day.

I'm not exactly well-versed in more modern shows for girls that uh...trandscend the standard mold, I guess? But I do know that at least a few years back, there were Yuri Kuma Arashi, Michiko & Hatchin, Lupin the Third: The Woman Called Fujiko Mine, and Puella Madoka Magica. Oh yeah, and I remember Princess Jellyfish was poular for a hot minute back in 2010. I never saw the appeal in it, but it did go quite a bit against the grain for its genre, to say the least.

Not to mention Cardcaptor Sakura of all things got a modern sequel last year! I know you were talking about more than just Magical Girl shows, but damnit, I'm still shocked it happened! Really seemed like last year was the "year of the nostalgic throwbacks." Honestly, I couldn't be happier, once I got over the fact that nothing that was trying to be new last year appeal to me except for Double Decker and something from the Winter season whose name I forgot...

Apparently Rumiko Takahashi has a new (manga) series premiering in the spring, so I'm pretty excited for that.

Not much in the way of anime for me recently, though. Due to my current work schedule I really can't keep up with Toonami (I'm off on the weekends, but because I work mornings I'm generally ready for bed by 11:00 on any given day, lol), and haven't happened to watch any on Netflix recently, either (I mean I'm currently watching season 2 of Castlevania, but that's not really anime...).

@Xploder9825 Comedy is extremely difficult to translate, so you're right on the money, most don't get localized, and a lot that due often have to have jokes reworked to appeal to non-Japanese audience. I know I could never really get into any of the more authentic ones without viewing them more as a curiousity than a comedy.

A lot of sports and SoL shows do get licensed, though, at least through Crunchyroll's simulcasts. Old ones rarely get picked up, so you're SOL if you're looking for more vintage sports anime via legal channels. Obviously I don't know how many are of high quility or might appeal to your tastes, since I have a very strict action-only diet in regards to the media I consume, but I do try to keep an eye on anime as a whole, for the sake of easy conversation.

@GyroZeppeli Jojo Part 5 being good isn't a spoiler. Also, why wouldn't they do part 6? That's the one I've been looking forward to the most since they started this adaption.

@CanisWolfred I really don’t know why I put that under spoiler tags . I only think part 6 won’t be animated because of (real spoilers this time) all of the main characters dying except for Emporio. I get that they are rebirthed in the new universe, but it’s not really a happy ending, unlike DIU. I’d honestly prefer them to do SBR first because of how much they could do with it (but also because it’s my favorite).

Guys, if you aren't watching "That Time I was reincarnated as a Slime" and "The Rising of the Shield Hero" you are literally living your lives incorrectly.

My goodness they are some of the best anime I have ever seen, and I watch a LOT!!!

Beg to differ 🧐.

Exhibit A: Your signature.
I just have bad taste. I think I’ve been a little burn out bc of marathoning One Piece.

If you guys want to read manga for free online, I would recommend MangaDex. It has no ads and has a pretty simple user interface, plus there’s no problems with panels being out of order. I read colored SBR on there and it was great.

@GyroZeppeli
How about anime?
I wanna watch some Sailor Moon, Free Iwatobi, Prince Tennis episodes.

@Anti-Matter I don’t know of any legal site that has ad free anime. You could try Crunchyroll or Funimation with a free trial of premium, which removes ads and unlocks more options.
I know that Free!, Sailor Moon Crystal, and Prince Of Tennis are on Crunchyroll.

I was interested in Shield Hero, but after doing some research on the source material (both the LN and the Manga), I don't think I'm into how mean it can be, for lack of a better word? I don't want to rant about it, but the titular hero offends me, everyone seems like a jerk, I don't know who to root for, and I don't appreciate how slavery is portrayed in this series.

The slime one looks cool, and I might be wrong, but I got a Slayers vibe when I watched a few clips and trailers. I'm more just worried that the story might end abruptly like so many LN adaptions before it, as far back as the the mid-00's. I know that's a risk with any adaptation, but its especially frustrating here since I honestly could only find 5 complete anime adaptations of Light Novels, 3 of which weren't your typical seasonal release, either. I don't really want to get into a season or two of it, only to be told that I gotta get the novel if I want the rest of the story. Screw that noise.

But yeah, it looks cool, and I watch it, but I've been burned too many times to let my guard down just yet.

Also, I'm busy watching Jojo, while we're on the subject...

What episode are you on?

Part 3, episode 15. I took a break for a few years, because...the first 10 episodes of Part 3 are a major downshift in terms of pacing compared to the previous parts, IMO. The plot has picked up, in that each episode seems to lead into the next instead of feeling entirely disconected like 3-9 did, so I'm having a much better time and will hopefully be able to catch up within the foreseeable future instead of being left with a roadblock that stretches as far as the Sahara...

I almost quit watching last year because of Phantom Blood. Easily my least favorite part, even though it introduced Dio. Part 2 is really what kept me start enjoying it a lot and parts 3 and beyond are what made me a weeb.

@CanisWolfred I am not sure what you read about Shield Hero, but he is very much a victim, not mean in his own right. He does lash out after having been backstabbed several times, but... well spoilers. Just trust me, it's a powerful and beautiful anime thus far. If you are worried about not being able to root for anyone, just don't be. I can't imagine anyone watching this show and not feeling bad for this guy and rooting for him. You'd have to be quite sadistic. The most recent episode blew me away. It was the most emotionally powerful episode of an anime I have seen since Rem's confession in Re:Zero, and before that since Angel Beats. And it is only the 4th episode.

That Time I was Reincarnated as a Slime is very much going to stop before the story finishes. But I think it is very likely to get another season, unlike many light novel adaptations. The production quality is just much much higher than the average anime. The music and sound direction are really way above average seasonal anime, and the animation is almost feature film quality. The writing is so good. It takes itself just serious enough that it hits a nearly perfect blend of character development, humor and story telling. It values its story as much as its action, and that is a balance I rarely see.

I still don't approve of that in my anime heroes the same way I don't approve of that in people I encounter in real life. Be the change you want to see, don't lash out at the people who you feel have wronged you, it only belittles yourself. But I am aware of the spoiler you're talking about, and I don't think it'll change my mind on the matter. I know anime tastes are subjective, I was only interested at first because I heard it had detailed world-building, which I always appreciate...but in retrospect, a lot of LN adaptions have detailed world-building, including most of the ones I didn't like. I guess I shouldn't have gotten excited based solely on that.

As for Slime, I don't doubt that it'll be enjoyable, but I'll wait until it's finished. I don't handle disappointment well when it comes to having a story remain incomplete. Even if it has to rush out an original ending, I just want to feel like the story has stopped rather than being left hanging for over a decade, if not indefinitely.

Let’s just leave this politics crap out of here. We don’t want to turn this into BlueOcean’s last thread.

Wait, what? Did I miss something? Or was my last post somehow politically charged?