Topic: Anime & Manga (NO SPOILERS PLEASE)

Just watched the first 5 episodes of Sword Art Online last night. I’m already loving it! The series has really good characters so far. Managed to make me happy and sad multiple times throughout. Also, I’m hoping Silica comes back at some time. 🤞

Thought I would ask what everyone’s been watching lately since you guys have been pretty quiet😂. I’m currently almost halfway through SOA2 and I just watched the first episode of Inuyasha, after those are over I’ll probably watch Spice & Wolf and maybe Fullmetal Alchemist.

Lately I've been watching AoT, Rising of the Shield Hero and I re-watched Toradora. Binged the Kaguya-Sama: Love is War manga and have been having a blast, I highly recommend it after the anime. I need to watch The Promised Neverland before Season 2 comes out though.

I've been watching a handful of series but been basically bracing for the horror of this season's anime. I only watch two, maybe three new anime per season, this one has like FIVE sequels to anime I've watched. Madness.

Though despite looking forward to them, I'm most looking forward to the Zombieland Saga sequel coming next season. The original was fantastic.

The only thing I'm watching is YashaHime, which is okay, though not surprisingly not living up to expectations.

I think it's biggest problem is that it wants to be a mystery (none of the core cast of the original, or Sesshomaru, were around to raise their kids, and where they are now is a big question mark), but it's not executed well (many of the supporting characters like Kaede, Kohaku, & Myoga are accounted for & it's clear they have their memories intact, but they don't seem to question at all that the various kids don't know their parents. Just basic conversation that's not happening not for believable plot reasons, but because the writers aren't ready to give answers). Also, despite the fact that the mystery of the parents is a topic they want the audience to care about (as they're constantly referencing or teasing them), it's made very clear that the kids themselves don't give two s**** about them.

Then there's the fact that they made the baffling decision to center the story around Sesshomaru's twin children (you know that series that was known for it's various romantic narratives? How 'bout we make a sequel to that & center the story around the kids of the one character who wasn't involved in one? Brilliant!).

At least the last episode reintroduced Miroku & Sango, so we could finally get some answers... or not. He's apparently in the middle of a years long training regimen in response to losing to some uber powerful demon (who is probably a relevant entity, but goes unnamed for no particular reason), and that's really about it. Of course they found a way to sideline Moroha (InuYasha & Kagome's daughter) from events so she wouldn't meet Miroku & Sango (this seems to be part of a longer running gag where she's been getting sidelined from events, or one-shotted, so the Sessho-twins can take center stage, much to the chargin of the fan base). The only thing we did learn is that Miroku put a spiritual seal on Setsuna (one of the Sessho-twins) at some point in the past, so her demon blood wouldn't overwhelm her.

Rant over.

@RR529 I had no idea this even existed😂. Guess I’ll have to watch it after I’m finished with Inuyasha!

I've been rewatching the Studio Ghibli films at the moment mainly as I've seen them before so I can put them on for background noise whilst it also being sorta new now as I'm watching the dubbed versions this time. I've just found out there's two English dubs of Arrietty, one is British and the other is American. However the British one seems to have a lot more star power to it despite Disney doing the American dub.

I've also failed at my third attempt of watching Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, it's just too similar to the first one so I struggle to watch past the early episodes.

It's worth getting past them but those early episodes are really bad. They only exist to be a worse version of what the original anime did (and not just because of the much worse pacing of that compared to the rest of the series) for the sake of calling it a complete adaptation.

@kkslider5552000 Yeah I heard it picks up once you're past the early episodes, they are still a chore to get through though. I may just skip them entirely and start watching from when it deviates from the other show.

Like you said they are just a worse version of what was already done, so that combined with me liking but not loving the original is why I'm struggling with it. I just keep thinking to myself I could start watching something new instead or I can multi-task and read whilst the early episodes are on but then I just forgot to keep watching the show.

Re:Zero continues to utterly blow me away. It's a level of production quality that simply incomparable. I've watched literally hundreds of anime over the last 2 decades. There's simply nothing that has so consistently blown me away like this show has.

I feel that trying to describe the plot of the show, to anyone who hasn't seen it, is doing the show a disservice. There's so much to this show that summarizing it is like eating at a world renown restaurant where the head chef personally dedicates himself to serving his absolute best and saying "I had a steak, it was tasty and the waiter was nice!" But even worse.

I feel like Re:Zero might actually change the whole industry too. The way they are pushing the absolute limits of what is normal in seasonal anime, the way they aren't wasting any time on opening and ending themes, recaps and previews every episode. The massively higher production quality in sound, animation, everything is so much higher than almost anything else around. There is a level of detail in this show that is astounding. The way the music and sound effects are so expertly woven into each scene, the small detail work on the characters, the fluid animations... Watching an episode of it and then watching most anything else currently airing is almost jarring sometimes. And that's not me being harsh toward other shows. It's not that other stuff airing is bad, it's that Re:Zero has been consistently going above and beyond. The show obviously has a much higher budget than the average show. It simply has to. I hope other studios start following White Fox's lead. I don't imagine it's even possible to match the writing of Re:Zero on a consistent basis, but upping the production quality should be possible. Simply spending more time on actual show and less time on recaps, previews, openings and endings each episode would go a long away. Especially with how rushed seasonal anime tends to be.

@Heavyarms55 I plan on watching it after I finish one of the 5 anime in my watchlist. Nichijou, SOA2, Inuyasha, Spice & Wolf, & Clannad. Happy to hear it’s good. Can’t wait to watch it!

Re:Zero is my favorite anime I've seen in the past few years, so that checks out. Though I actually think its merely one of a number of high quality shows in terms of the actual animation and art quality of it, its more a sign of just how incredible anime has become in that regard. Re:Zero would've been the best looking anime series if it came out in 2010 I assume, but there's like half a dozen anime at least coming out just this month that also just look incredible.

Just saw the first episode of Wonder Egg Priority. All I’m gonna say is, it’s good! WATCH IT NOW

Whoever is into maybe a bit more seinen Stuff and enjoys thriller then i can really recommend my Home Hero. It is not finished yet but really keeps me on the edge of my seat all the time. @Blooper987 Also, did that and this seems really promising!

Around October I got a little burned out after completing around 30 RPGs and VNs last year (I get obsessed and want to try everything). I hadn’t watched much anime apart from Ghibli films. I tried Steins Gate and Death Note and now I’m hooked. At least until Persona 5 Strikers comes out.

Recently I’ve discovered Masaaki Yuasa and I’ve been working through his rich catalogue. I especially loved Tatami Galaxy and Eizouken so far.

@Heavyarms55 @kkslider5552000 I recently watched the first season of Re Zero and it was great. Too easy to binge.

I’m planning to start on season 2 soon.

@JoeDiddley Fair warning, if you don't like cliffhangers, season 2 is worse it's torture waiting for each episode!

@Heavyarms55 ha, thanks for the fair warning. It’ll be the first currently running anime I’m watching, so hopefully that will make it a memorable suspenseful experience.

To immediately contradict myself I am dabbling with Dragon Quest Adventure Of Dai too as I love the games which is also currently running I guess, but I’m not caught up on that to have to wait.

Excuse me, but I gotta talk about all these shows I’ve been watching real quick😂

I just finished Nichijou, and it is just the best thing I’ve ever seen! It’s pure joy for all the senses. There’s not a single character I dislike and they could be put into any situation and it would work perfectly. It’s weird wacky and all over the place in the best ways. Truly a piece of art.

Now right when I finished Nichijou I looked up anime like it, and Toradora popped up. Let’s just say I’m almost done with it and I’ve been watching it for only two days. The show perfectly captures the awkwardness of teen romance, and uses it in places I never expect it to go. I’m not finished with it yet but it’s absolutely amazing so far.

Spice & Wolf is weird. It’s a show that is kinda educational, kinda a romance, and kinda a fantasy. Holo and Lawrence are amazing characters, with amazing chemistry. And the economical parts of the show are very well balanced with the rest of it. Pretty good.

I can’t decide if I like Wonder Egg Priority or not. First episode was absolutely amazing. Second episode was just ok. It’s kinda all over the place and playing with dark subject matter in a somewhat iffy way. We’ll see how it goes on.

I’ve only watched 2 episodes of CLANNAD, but I already know I’m gonna like it. It’s very much like Toradora, but not as funny. Can’t wait to watch more.

@Blooper987 CLANNAD I’m looking forward to getting to at some point. It’d be good to hear your thoughts as you get further in. I hear it’s very sad?