Topic: Anime & Manga (NO SPOILERS PLEASE)

Looks like we got our first look at YashaHime's English logo (looks a lot like how I imagined).

Funnily enough, even though they're expecting people to vote for their favorite Inuyasha/Kagome centric episodes to re-air (to the point that there's going to be live commentary from their Japanese VA's), as of right now people (particularly English language voters) are flooding it with Sesshomaru/Rin centric episode requests (it's technically open to all 167 episodes of the original series).

3 episodes in Kaguya-sama season 2 is even better than the first season. I'm really loving it.

3 episodes in BNA unfortunately seems like a lesser tier Trigger anime. Still good by most standards, but not something I'm super invested in either so far. Feels like it might get screwed over in terms of popularity regardless by being the less critically acclaimed current anime about anthropomorphic animals that will be compared constantly to Zootopia that is exclusively on Netflix.

We've finally got Re:Zero season 2 this season! The first episode is immediately despair inducing - though somewhat less so, if you saw the director's cut of the first season you already knew how it was gonna start. Still the first episode was really good and it was a solid 28 minutes of actual show. Most anime these days are about 22 minutes show and 2 minutes opening/recap/credits/preview. Seems like a small difference, but it's actually quite noticeable. I wonder if they are just not going to have an opening this season, of if just for the first episode it was cut to avoid some of the typical spoilers that are in opening sequences. The original opening of Re:Zero is one of my all time favorites and I think would be hard for them to top.

Fire Force is pleasingly already back with its second season far sooner than I would have guessed, but it looks every bit as ridiculous as the previous season - in good ways of course!

Sword Art Online is back from its delay and predictably as controversial as ever. I don't think people would be as upset had this episode aired when it should have, in the middle of a story arc, but because of where they cut the season, starting with that kind of scene is always going to upset the crowd of self-righteous haters who still follow the series around. Personally though I liked it, a bad character did something really bad, and once the protagonist got free, carried out some sweet sweet justice! Overall, I'm pleased it's back! I don't think there's anyone left to decide, at this point you either enjoy SAO or you don't and nothing any of us say to one another will change each other's opinions. I like it, and I don't care if you don't.

Those are the big 3 this season for me. But Demon Misfit Academy looks like all the right kinds of trash. By no means does it look good but it looks pleasingly stupid. I'll watch it, have fun, and forget about it.

Deca-Dence looks really interesting so far. Big Gurren Lagann and Darling in the Franxx vibes - but it's not Trigger. For some folks, that might be a good thing, but I love Trigger's style. I really liked the first episode and the fact that this show is original and not based on a manga or LN gives me hope for the rare case of an anime that actually finishes properly.

Watching some older anime I had missed too.

Cop Craft is quite literally western 90s cop drama meets iisekai anime and I freaking love it! You have your gruff, hard smoking, hard drinking American cop who just lost his partner, and he gets stuck working with an elf knight from the fantasy world to hunt down the illegal immigrant mage responsible for it. It has both the cop show tropes and the fantasy/iisekai anime tropes and I slammed through like 6 episodes of it yesterday! The world building is dripping with potential and I know when it ends I'm gonna be upset that there isn't more, as well as other shows set in that universe. It's a setting begging for a whole series of shows covering different things.

Fairy Gone is another interesting one. This one is kinda a mix of historic fiction and fantasy. It's set in a world similar to real world 1910s but with some magical stuff thrown in and all fictitious locations. The story is alright but held back by too many fictional locations that have no contextual meaning. However where it shines is some downright fantastic action scenes! Really, if you only are looking for a quick action show with some unique fights, this is a good one to check out!

I'm really enjoying Carol & Tuesday at the moment however I'm a bit disappointed with the music as it doesn't hit the same high standards of Shinichirō Watanabe's other shows like Kids On The Slope or Cowboy Bebop etc.

I'm hoping as I'm only a few episodes in they were saving some of the better songs for later.

I am still a gigantic fan of One Piece, and whew boy did the latest chapter, Chapter 985 (damn, we're getting really close to the big 1000), hit it out of the park. No spoilers, but both for the arc we're currently in and the trajectory of events larger, feels like a bit of a gamechanger. Though knowing One Piece it'll be AT LEAST five years before we reach it, the last several arcs have made clear we're finally approaching/in the build-up to the endgame. This recent chapter of Wano just screams "the One Piece is near". Now, near in the fact that it'll again still be years away haha, but the finish line for becoming Pirate King is so, so much closer now. It has been really since Zou in 2015, but every arc since has just furthered the intensity. To say nothing of the recent Gold Roger flashback which got us the closest we ever have been to "the answer to all the mysteries of the world."

InuYasha (anime) - Recently finished up a rewatch of it. As I recently did a huge write up of the manga, I'll largely just cover the differences the anime made. This 167 episode series encompasses roughly the first 360 chapters of the manga, covering "the Beginning" arc through the "Last Shard" arc (though it actually ends just as the "Moryarmaru" arc is beginning).

• As for changes made to "the Beginning" arc, graphic content was drastically toned down compared to the manga (as I mentioned in my last write up), as well as the shuffling of a few stories (some of which is related to the cutting of graphic content). The most baffling changes made to the anime here are the complete omission of the moment InuYasha asked Kagome to be in a relationship, and the related deep conversation they have after Kikyo's second appearance (the latter was changed to nothing more than a joke regarding him contemplating being with both women). Still, despite that these early episodes are still some of my favorites, and it's mostly a great adaptation.
• As for the "Naraku's Castle" arc, it starts out as a pretty straightforward adaptation, largely just toning down some of the graphic content as per usual, however near it's tail end they pepper in some filler episodes (including adding some filler to canonical storylines), which can be hit or miss but I do enjoy the 3 episode panther demon filler arc (most filler in the series is comic relief, but this was one of the few instances of a more dramatic filler story, and it's the best of those, as they get worse from here on). I found myself really enjoying the series still at this point, and I liked that some of the later filler episodes (placed inbetween this arc & the next) gave InuYasha & Kagome some extra moments as this was the part of the series in the manga where development of their relationship started taking a backseat.
• Next up is the "Band of Seven/Mt. Hakurei" arc, which is a pretty straightforward adaptation other than again the toning down of a few of the more graphic moments (in fact, I believe it even begins to be a little toned down compared to earlier episodes as well, though it can still get bloody when it needs to). This is also when the series switched from traditional cell animation to digital animation, and I preferred the slightly grittier look of previous arcs. They also gave. Otherwise not much to complain about here, other than the fact they gave the Band of Seven's leader demonic powers he didn't have in the manga, making him just another enemy InuYasha overpowers with the Backlash Wave (the point in the manga was to show how he had grown as a fighter technically).
• Finally is the "Last Shard" arc which is padded out with a few filler episodes as well (this is where things felt like they started to meander along in the manga a bit, so the filler doesn't do this any favors). I have no issues with the core of the arc itself, though the filler is hit and miss (I again enjoy that they bother to give InuYasha & Kagome more romantic moments which were slowing down in the manga, however this is also the part of the series that contains the 4 episode "Naginata of Kenkon" filler arc, which is widely considered to be the worst story in the series, filler or otherwise. I could go on a rant about it, but this is getting too long as it is).
• The final 3 episodes are taken from the beginning of the "Moryomaru" arc, but there's not much to say here as other than the fact they speed things up a bit as they wanted to end the anime on a specific romantic moment between the two leads.

Overall it did start to drag a bit as it went on (and is a reminder of why I don't really follow long running series these days), but it was a nice trip down memory lane. Despite some issues I think the earlier episodes are my favorite overall, and while I think the manga handled the early arcs better, I think I prefer how the later arcs are depicted in the anime (and I'm including the Final Act in this statement) compared to how they went down in the manga. The only other thing of note with the series is that it ends on a cliffhanger, but with the existence of the Final Act (which I'm currently watching), it's not the big deal it used to be.

My thought's on the manga should still just be a few posts ago, so if you haven't yet you can look at that as well.

Been watching BNA: Brand New Animal on Netflix, I just finished Episode 6 today and I'm enjoying it a lot. IDK what it is, but I always seem to be drawn in by racial allegories. Maybe it's coincidence (it does help that both shows have a cute animal girl as one of the main characters) or maybe I just don't like the way society is handling racism, but there's been several shows featuring racism as a major theme that I've been liking (primarily this and Shield Hero). Anyway, as far as the show itself, this is definitely a more realistic take on racism than some of the shows I've seen that tackle the issue. This show is literally what would happen if furries were real (and more extreme version of what we already see towards the furry community even when furries aren't real), with all of the violence and discrimination and profiteering from both sides and just how pervasive the conflict seems to be. There's a lot of shady characters engaging in questionable acts and Michiru always seems to end up mixed up in it. Less realistic but still interesting is also the mystery behind the "beastman-itis" and the story behind that. It's just really entertaining to watch Michiru find her place in the world while fighting against the criminal dealings going on in Anima City. Can't wait to see the rest of this season and hopefully more!

InuYasha: the Final Act - The second anime in the franchise that picks up where the original left off. Designed to wrap things up, it adapts the last 200 chapters of the manga into a mere 26 episodes (for contrast, the original series covered the first 360 chapters over 167 episodes, about 30-40 of which were filler). Since I've covered the main beats of the series with my manga writeup, I'm mainly going to cover how the anime changed things up.

"Moryarmaru Arc" - The first anime ended just as this arc had begun, so most of this 100 chapter arc is adapted into the first 6 episodes of TFA, and as you can imagine it causes this section of the show to feel more like a live summary (with many cuts & reworks) than anything else, as 4-6 story threads are going along during any given episode. Granted, this arc was by far the most drawn out and boring part of the manga IMO, so some trimming isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it feels like they trimmed a bit too much.

"Resolutions Arc" - the last 20 episodes cover the last 100 chapters, and things flow much better as a result. You can feel things are a bit rushed in places, but most episodes have a singular story thread (with the climax spread out over the last 6-7 episodes, matching the pace of the manga pretty well). Also, there's some slight (but important) changes/additions to the ending that make me prefer it to the manga version (which I covered in my writeup of the manga).

Otherwise it was nice to see the series transitioned to HD (releasing in 2009/10, I wasn't yet sure how many anime had made the jump at that point), and it's interesting that as a whole (including the original series) it started out with traditional cell animation, transitioned to digital animation during the early 00's, and made the jump to HD with TFA, resulting in 3 distinct vibes (I liked the traditional animation of the early series best, as I think the grittier look gelled well with the edge the early series had that was toned down as it went on, but TFA is certainly lovely looking, especially it's 1st & 3rd ending animations which are gorgeous, and it still looks pretty modern).

Content Guide

Nudity/Sex (Mild) - The only moment of note that I can think of is when a pervy/drunk old man archetype briefly flits up the front of Kagome's skirt as a distraction (the camera is behind her, so you see nothing). Miroku (the group's pervy member) is on remarkably good behavior during TFA (probably due to him being more committed to Sango because late series, and the fact that the writers probably had to cut out a good deal of unimportant fluff such as his pervy gags due to the series' short length), with his only infraction being when he briefly flirts with some hostesses at an inn (which doesn't feature anything suggestive as far as I remember).

Blood/Gore (Medium) - It's not a particularly gory series, but it does feature it's share of the stuff, such as a brief spurt or a clothes stain whenever someone is cut. The instances that stick out the most to me is a scene where Miroku coughs up blood (and has some spill from his eyes) when poisoned, an episode where the villain makes his victim cry blood, and an episode where a villain makes a magic circle using Kagome's blood after slashing her arms.

Language (Mild) - Just typical PG-13 stuff as usual.

I'd like to thank anyone who actually spent their time actually reading all these overly long posts of mine about this 20 year old franchise I probably care way too much about, lol.

First Yashahime trailer dropped today!

Looks like they're going to animate the manga's special epilogue chapter (it's where all the footage of the old characters is from), and retool it to be the background for the sequel's narrative.

High School of the Dead (Hulu) - a series with tons of over the top action & fanservice that follows a small group of high schoolers (and the school nurse) as they struggle to survive a zombie apocalypse.

The Good

• It's not going to win any awards, but I was impressed with how seriously it took it's core narrative (most other harem/ecchi series rarely even have one). Sure, there was the occasional "down time" episode where the gang got to rest and indulge in extra nonsensical fanservice silliness (and it can get gratuitous even during the action sequences), but for the vast majority of the time they find themselves in tight spots, fighting to survive. I also really like that it took the time to showcase how authorities at various levels (whether it be the police on the ground, up to even the US military/president) were collapsing while trying to keep things under control (it's a level of world building I absolutely wasn't expecting from this). I do wish they had set up some more time to elaborate on the history of the relationship between the MC & Rei before things went to pot though (they clearly have a strained past, but they barely set it up before all heck breaks loose). Other than that there are a couple moments that are just there for shock value which can be uncomfortable, but for the most part I was impressed in the story aspect. Also, I was glad to see that there's another male character (and honestly one I liked more than the MC) who seemed to be winning over one of the girls.
• The animation quality too is really good for the genre (and I'd say it's good looking in general). They really pull out all the stops for the action sequences which are often kinetic & visceral, and they pay equal attention to the quality of the fanservice moments (the two even often intertwine, such as a scene where the MC shoots a rifle & in slow-mo Matrix fashion the bullet passes inbetween Saeko's cleavage on it's way to it's target).

The Neutral

• The fanservice itself. While I certainly have no issue with it on principle (otherwise I wouldn't have even watched this), I understand it's a divisive issue. It's very over the top, and while most of it is in silly good fun, there is the occasional shock value moment (as I mentioned before), such as an instance where a hoodlum violently gropes Rei's chest (he's clearly an @**hole from the moment he's on screen & is dealt with promptly, and while making you uncomfortable is clearly the point, I can understand why'd you may want to shy away).

The Bad

• It's one of those 12 episode series that ends just as it feels like it's getting started. It clearly doesn't have a resolution and at nearly 10 years old it's probably not getting a conclusion at this point.
• I watched the dub, where there's quite a few Americanisms I'm sure probably weren't there in the Japanese original. Things like name drops of Walmart, PetSmart, the NRA, & Sarah Palin are more obvious, but there's probably a few more subtle ones as well, and it's just a pet peeve of mine when it comes to series' clearly set in Japan that localizers don't go overboard with that kind of thing.

Overall

• While I'm disappointed that it'll likely be forever unresolved, I enjoyed my time with this one despite some minor complaints.

Content Guide:

Sex/Nudity (Heavy) - Should go without saying, but all the female characters have improbably large chests that have minds of their own, plus plenty of panty shots galore. There's surprisingly not much actual nudity though, with only a couple shots of a single character's bare breasts during a bath scene about halfway through (otherwise any nudity is obscured by something in the environment).

Blood/Gore (Heavy) - Again, this should be no surprise. Gratuitous blood spray & splatter is the order of the day. Not one for the faint of heart.

Language (Heavy) - F-Bombs galore, on top of the PG-13 level fare you usually get in anime.

Blue Submarine No. 6 (Amazon Prime Video) - Anime miniseries set in a sort of apocalyptic waterworld where jaded seaman for hire Hayami is recruited by international military organization "Blue Fleet", with which he has history, in order to help them put down a band of aquatic mutants and the mad scientist responsible for their creation (as well as the world's flooding).

The Good:

• The animation is quite good, given that it's an OVA. There is a lot of CGI war machinery that looks like something out of a PS2 cutscene (it came out in the late 90's), but call me crazy but I thought that gave it a kind of certain charm, lol.

The Neutral:

• It has an interesting world setting & I've liked other series that focus on a crew of a ship to various degrees (such as Cowboy Bebop, Eureka 7, & Macross), however due to it's blazingly fast runtime you don't actually get a good feel for all of this (they particularly spend a disappointingly small time with the crew of "Blue 6", even if it's present in all episodes).

The Bad:

• As has been touched on before, the quick runtime, as it only has 4 episodes (granted, the last one is almost double length, but still)! Despite some touching moments & heavy theming I never got to the point where I actually cared for any of the characters. Also, a lot of the sciency technobabble explained in the last episode never really stuck with me (I'm still not sure how exactly the mutants came to be, or if their creation was intended or not).

Overall:

• I thought it was okay. I liked the world, some of the tech, and thought it had potential, but it just didn't have the time necessary to really expand on any of it.

Content Guide:

• Sex/Nudity (High) - There are lots of "mermaids" present that almost always have their breasts exposed (granted, they're not really presented in a sexual way, it's just how they are). The most (really only) sexually graphic moment occurs when one of the mutant leaders is heavily implied to have assaulted one of the mermaids (he's jealous that she has the scent of a human male on her, as she was saved by Hayami earlier), and he gets grabby, licking & nibbling on her ears before the scene cuts away.
• Blood/Gore (Medium) - It's mostly not that bloody of a series, and although there is some in earlier episodes, the most notable is a moment in the final episode where Hayami gets his face busted up really badly, which is quite graphic.
• Language (Mild) - Typical PG-13 stuff, as far as I recall.

Has anyone seen How Heavy Are the Dumbbells You Lift? It seems like such a bizarre show idea I may give it a try.

So for the past month I've rewatched two of my top 5 favorite anime, and watched two sequel anime from this year that are also really high up there for me. (Welcome to the NHK, The World God Only Knows, Re:Zero season 2 and Kaguya-sama season 2, if you must know)

So much amazing anime, I love it.

Aggretsuko is back!

@jump Bit late on the reply, but I watched that show a few months back and really enjoyed it. Aside from a few self-aware saucy jokes here and there, it doesn't really indulge in fanservice, and a lot of the character interactions are humorous. And it's actually quite educational in some respects!

@Ralizah Ta for the response! I've added it to my watchlist as I'm trying to finish some other shows off first.

I am loving Re:ZERO season 2 so far. The latest episode was probably the best in the entire series for me. There's not much other shows this season I'm interested in. GOH is really uninteresting for me and I just can't get into Rent A Girlfriend no matter how much I try.

Ooh, they have just announced a Shenmue anime series.

Since it was free with my Prime subscription I read the first volume of Fairy Tail.

While it's large enough that I've heard of it before, this was my first experience with the franchise. While the theme is different, in terms of style & humor it reminded me a lot of One Piece (which is another series I'm not super into, but am more familiar with). It a fun enough read, and the first 20 volumes are available for free if you have a Kindle Unlimited subscription, so if I ever shell out for that I'll probably check it out further.

I can't believe YashaHime premiers this weekend! I've never made it a point to simulcast any anime ever before, but there's a first time for everything (luckily it's going to be on Hulu too, so I won't have to get any new subscriptions).

So I've used Crunchyroll for many years now, and honestly the site and their apps have gotten a good bit better over the years. But Funimation has the license for several shows that CR doesn't, and so I have an account over there too. But the difference is the Funimation's site and apps are just so much worse! Once you get into the videos, it's fine, even good. The video quality is on par with CR. But you can't, as far as I can determine, set your preferred language. It will always default to the English dub if they have it. Which annoys the crap out of me. I don't even need the subtitles, I speak Japanese! But every episode I have to change it. On CR you can simply choose the language. And CR has subs in more languages as well, for people other than English and Japanese speakers. But Funi only seems to have English and Japanese. Sucks for the rest of ya I guess.

Funimation can't even keep track of what episode your on properly. More than half the time I watch and episode and it doesn't actually register as watch. It's 2020 and Funimation feels like a video site from 2009, only in HD.

Still, it's way better than it was when I was in high school. I'm glad there's a legal way for me to watch anime without having to spend hundreds of dollars buying DVD or pirate streaming it from sketchy websites covered in porn ads. I'll take Funimation's obsolete website over 30 dollars for 3 episodes at a time - if I can even find the DVD.