Topic: Anime & Manga (NO SPOILERS PLEASE)

Oh wow, I completely forgot about the new season until earlier today. Hopefully I can get to them tomorrow - I basically skipped this season since the only show I had an interest in I just...wasn't really in the mood for. I needed something more stimulating, so I stuck to games.

With that said, I already know that BNA and Appare-Ranman! are right up my alley, so I'm looking forward to those (BNA is Netflix, apparently, so...I guess I gotta wait before I can watch it?).

Tower of God looks visually interesting, at least, so I might give that a shot.

I thought Gleipnir was gonna be interesting until I finally saw some clips of it and...nopenopenopenope not touching that with a ten-foot pole.

Apparently there's a remake of Digimon Adventure? What? Wow, I've been in the mood for Digimon lately, so this works out perfectly. I'll definitely give that a watch.

I guess I should give the new Sakura Wars anime a shot, but honestly, I'd rather be playing the story rather than watching it. Maybe once the game I've played the game I'll watch it, but not before.

Oh, and there's a new season of Kingdom? What?! I mean, I guess it's not as old as Full Metal Panic, but it definitely still feels like this continuation came out of left field. Who here even remembers this show? I'll give it a watch, but I'm gonna have get through the first two seasons, since it's been 7+ years.

@kkslider5552000 Naw, I actually think that Konosuba has great comedic writing and is an awesome parody. Princess Connect seems to be shamelessly cute girls doing cute things with no semblance of plot and an MC who is literally just a prop.

@CanisWolfred I did hear about the Digimon remake but I don't know if it's out yet. I know about it because I have a couple friends who enjoy it. I never got into it myself though - not out of dislike just never got around to it. I have Sakura Wars on Steam, I think. My friend bought it for me at some point. Another notch in the backlog. I don't know anything about BNA and Appare-Ranman!. And I passed on Gleipnir too. Doesn't sound like my taste.

There is supposed to be the next season of Sword Art Online this season too. Starting this week. But who knows if that will happen or if it will be delayed. Lots of rumors floating around due to COVID-19. There was going to be the new season of Re:Zero as well, which is why they just aired the Director's Cut last season but that was delayed too.

I saw some rumors about the second half of Railgun being delayed due to the virus too, but again, just rumors.

@Heavyarms55 Yeah, the remake's been airing all month. I guess I kept thinking it was the original.

Personally, I don't watch shows based on Light Novels as a general rule, so all those delays don't really bother me.

However, I do want to note that Railgun was one of the few exceptions I made that I didn't regret, mostly because I tried it before the LN floodgates burst open. But then they brought it back along with more Index, new spin-offs, movies, etc. and I just couldn't keep up with it anymore, nor do I really care enough to bother at this point. If they're just gonna milk it, I'll watch something else.

In the same way that Konosuba shamelessly has fanservice. shrugs

I mean, I've not seen season 2 of Konosuba but I don't remember a ton of plot in season 1. (I mean unless you mean a different type of "plot" lol)

Joining Re:Zero and Sword Art Online, the second half of A Certain Scientific Railgun T (season 3) has been postponed due to COVID-19. I completely understand why, but I would be lying if I said I wasn't very disappointed. In a way Railgun getting postponed is worse, because it is mid season, right smack dab in the middle of a major story event. And after the sister shows Accelerator and Index were both letdowns, Railgun having been so good this season was a reminder of why I like that fictional universe so much!

I do understand, but I am very bummed regardless.

I guess this would be a good time to watch stuff from your backlog...

I've actually delayed starting Kaguya season 2 just in case it also gets delayed btw.

After digging around their catalog, I decided to start a 30 day free trial of Amazon Prime Video, to check out the anime films & cheesy 80's B-Movie fantasy & horror films they have (mostly stuff I wouldn't have bought anyways, in fact some of it isn't even available in HD, but who knows, maybe I'll uncover some gems). Naturally, I've already made use of it this morning.

Urusei Yatsura: Beautiful Dreamer (Amazon Prime Video) - Mid 80's anime film based on the slapstick shonen comedy manga, Urusei Yatsura, which was mangaka Rumiko Takahashi's breakout hit (she'd later go on to produce other popular series such as Ranma 1/2 & InuYasha).

I was quite impressed by the film. While it expectedly had it's fair share of comedy, it was surprisingly deep too. While getting ready for a school festival, some members of the cast come to the realization that they're living the same day over and over again, and the further they get to the truth, the more people vanish (to the point it's just the core cast left) & the more dilapidated their town becomes. The effect of the mystery is heightened by the seriousness they handle it with, and the fact that the film has absolutely stunning animation & detail, resulting in some impressive imagery, particularly the almost haunting lighting effects during nighttime scenes (it's in HD too, which is a plus). The biggest barrier to entry would probably be the fact that you'd need some pre-existing knowledge of the series to fully appreciate it (luckily, being a big fan of Ms. Takahashi's later works, I had read some of a fan translation of the manga a number of years ago, so I was already somewhat acquainted with the core players), but overall it was a pleasant surprise.

I'm just stunned that I've seen multiple people reference Urusei Yatsura in the past 24 hours. What a bizarre coincidence.

^It's definitely had a lasting impact, that's for sure - not hard to see why, it's Rumiko Takahashi's best comedy series, IMO. I didn't realize Beautiful Dreamers was on Amazon Video. That was a pretty good one, IIRC. I could go for a bit of nostalgia right about now...

Project A-Ko (Amazon Prime Video) - 80's anime film that sees two high school girls (the cheerful A-Ko, whom has inhuman super strength, & C-Ko, who has a childlike cuteness & demeanor) transferring to a new school, and acclimating isn't easy, largely due to the schemes of B-Ko, spoiled rich & a genius, she's quickly enamored with C-Ko & devises many plans to defeat A-Ko & take C-Ko for herself. All this while an alien invasion is brewing on the horizon, seemingly linked to a mysterious object that crashed to Earth 16 years prior, of which our cast's city is built on top of.

It's largely a parody of anime of the time (with A-Ko, B-Ko, & C-Ko being named for their personality stereotypes, rather than having actual names, I believe), with nods to franchises such as Macross, Captain Harlock, & Fist of the North Star (I'm sure someone more well versed in anime culture of the time could find more). I actually first watched it a number of years ago after I randomly ran across it on YouTube (there was a channel long since taken down that had posted a bunch of the old Central Park Media stuff, and maybe some stuff from some other defunct localization outfits), and I remember liking it at the time so I decided to check it out again (and in more official capacity) since it's on Amazon. It's not a must watch classic, but I enjoyed it for what it was. Just keep in mind it's from an early era in dubbing, and it's in need of a remaster (quality was consistent, but SD).

Re:Zero The Frozen Bond just dropped on Crunchyroll. We might have had season 2 delayed but this is a full movie covering the story of how Emilia met Puck. It's a great watch for that alone but it also goes a huge way toward world building in the series and massive character development for Emilia and Puck.

If you liked Re:Zero you really gotta give it a watch!

Yeah, I'm definitely watching that soon.

I'm sure this was planned beforehand, but considering the delay happened, this feels like a very nice treat for fans in the meanwhile.

I recently got in an Amazon Fire HD 10 tablet, mainly to use as a streaming device when I don't have the TV, so I should start being able to watch more anime again.

Most of the stuff Amazon has is older (like 80's through the mid 00's) and mostly not as prominent, but most other anime streaming services are available too (Crunchyroll, Funimation Now, HiDive, Netflix, & Toku), so I can try some of them down the line once I want to move on from Amazon's catalog.

Currently watching Super Dimension Flying Fortress Macross (which, after getting used to the dated presentation, has become really gripping), and UFO Ultramaiden Valkyrie (by the numbers early-mid 00's harem). Will post full thoughts whenever I get around to finishing something.

I’ve been watching a whole bunch of Studio Ghibli movies on Netflix and I’m enjoying most of them way more than I thought I would. Just finished watching Castle in the sky and I gotta say, there are definitely some ghibli influences in BOTW, I think I even read something about that?

Anyway the highlight for me was Lupin 3 :The Castle Of Cagliostro. I sooo much enjoyed that. Great humor and style. Any Lupin watchers here? I know there is a anime/manga of Lupin 3, is it anywhere near as good as this movie? Or is this a one off? Because it’ a special collaboration with ghibli? I get the animation won’t be anywhere near as good but if the characters are the same and the style is similar, then I’m in for a new series!

@Spanjard, Lupin ranges wildly in terms of tone, as far as I know.

I believe the original manga was very adult in terms of violence & nudity, but was toned down to be more comedic when adapted into an anime (Lupin the 3rd parts 1,2, & 3, which aired in the 70's & 80's), with Cagliostro being more similar to the TV series in tone (a Ghibli film, it may have been even more tame, as I remember the TV series had PG-13 levels of swearing & sexual innuendo).

More recently, you have Lupin the 3rd parts 4 & 5 and a new CGI movie which are as tame as the old anime (the movie may be even more family friendly), but you also have A Woman Called Fujiko Mine & a few movies that are tonally much closer to the original manga (with more serious storylines full of adult material).

Not sure if it's still the case, but I believe a new Lupin movie/special used to release annually (in the toned down style), and they even had a crossover with Detective Conan (not sure how easy to come by some of that stuff is, though).

I remember liking the old 70's/80's series', which used to air on Adult Swim way back when, but that's been a long time ago.

The new Ghost In The Shell is a bit rubbish, which is a shame as I loved the Oshii movies, manga and Stand Alone Complex. The CGI does nothing for me, it's too clean and round whilst the story is standard stuff.

@RR529 Thanks for the info, did not know about that. Also I like Detective Conan , so that crossover sounds like something I need to watch. I see it's on Crunchy roll, hopefully also in my country. Definitely something for me to consider.

That character from Demon Slayer still isn't a pervert, based off of season 1 anyway. I actually don't get why people call him a pervert because he made a perverted comment once? Do y'all watch anime? If he was supposed to be the perverted character, they would've given him multiple lines PER EPISODE HE APPEARS IN, to remind of it to the point of being the lamest, most obnoxious thing in the world. They are not subtle enough to only give him one line to tell you he's a pervert. They have to HAMMER. IT. HOME. CONSTANTLY. If they aren't, that's just not what the character is about.

i dunno, it'd be like if a really nice character said a mean thing once, and you defined him as a jerk because of it, that's not how this works

UFO Ultramaiden Valkyrie (Amazon Prime Video) - Early 00's harem anime that centers around high schooler Kazuto, whom is running his grandparent's bath house (a bit of a passion project, as it's not very profitable in today's world). His world is thrown upside down whenever Valkyrie (an alien princess on the run) crashes into the place killing him. After giving him half her soul he finds himself looking after her (the process de-aged her into a child, though she's able to briefly transform back into an adult via a kiss), and soon a variety of other women come into his life as well (such as a jealous childhood friend, and a Valkyrie's sisters, hunting her down).

It's a pretty run of the mill, typical harem of the era, but I remember liking shows like Dear S & Girls Bravo way back when (though the excitement of sneaking them in late at night on the family computer as a teen probably played a part), so I figured I'd give it a try. I liked the quintessentially Japanese setting of the bath house, but otherwise it's pretty unremarkable though it elicited a few chuckles along the way. Luckily it managed to avoid representing her child form in a reprehensible way (which I was a bit worried about going in), so I guess it gets credit for that. Amazon only has season 1 on Prime, but I don't feel like I'm particularly missing out on much not having part 2.

Content Guide:

Sex/Nudity (High) - All the princesses have a transformation sequence of some sort (I'm pretty sure Valkyrie's adult transformation plays at least once per episode) where their clothes disappear during the metamorphosis, which is the source of like 80-90% of the show's nudity. The other 10-20% is just a scenery shot of random women in the bath house that's replayed ocassionally.

Violence/Blood (Mild) - There's some slapstick stuff, but as a comedy there's nothing heavy (even a big space battle or two during the climax is relatively low impact, with a group of space pirates successfully fleeing their hideout before it explodes, for example). The bloody nose trope that tends to show up in this genre a lot is even totally absent.

Language (Mild) - Just the PG/PG-13 level stuff you hear in your average Shonen series.

It's actually happening!
https://www.viz.com/blog/posts/announcing-yashahime-princess-...

I'm shocked as I honestly never thought it'd happen (I've read interviews where Takahashi's said she doesn't like going back to series she's completed, and Urusei Yatsura & Ranma have never had follow ups), but excited all the same, even if a bit worried (don't want them ruining the happy ending of the original to create the drama for the sequel, similar to what happened with Eureka 7).