Topic: Anime & Manga (NO SPOILERS PLEASE)

@Ralizah Yeah avoiding it becoming silly seems like too much of a task, whilst it's not a live action Dragonball Z which would require loads of super-poweredness the style and tone will still be hard to do. One of the things I liked about this anime was how well done the facial expressions of making the pretty characters ugly when revealing their motivations/true selves so it's that specific aspect is what I'm gonna be looking for when I do watch it.

Whilst I've yet to see a live action anime that really works it can be done, I mean Scott Pilgrim and Survive Style 5+ are basically live action anime and are great flicks.

@jump Just finished Haibane, and, well, I'm deeply unimpressed with it. We watched the extras on the DVD to get some answers, and I think we actually did. One of those extras was an interview with the creators, and they pretty much straight up said at one point that there was no background work done on the setting or concepts in the show, and it was "ad libbed" from beginning to end.

So, there's no larger mystery to it. Everything is fluff, and the metaphors are all very surface-y. It's the anime equivalent of writing a confusing, free verse poem for english class because you put off the assignment to the last minute and didn't want to embarrass yourself.

@Ralizah I'm surprised you went to the effort of watching the extras, I don't even watch the making of/extras of shows I do like let alone was bored by.

That sounds about right as there's lots of they could have done at the early stages for structure and pacing which seems to have been missed. I watched it years ago so maybe I'm remembering it wrong but are there symbolic clues as to how the girls killed themselves or is that something I heard people say so now it's in my head as fact?

@jump Well, the lack of worldbuilding or much in the way of storytelling was kind of frustrating, so we wanted to see if there was something obvious we missed.

The only real clue that the Haibane might have been killed at all was in the last few episodes with Reki. The dream she had about the train. The weird metaphorical train on Reki's final day with the Haibane, which I presume represented a greater spiritual doom. Reki's name basically meaning "one who was torn asunder," or something like that. They weren't particularly subtle.

I doubt there's much in the way of symbolism otherwise. The show wasn't planned out. Yoshitoshi Abe literally said writing the script was instinctual, like a form of automatic writing. And, as you point out, the early episodes are effectively a waste, like the world's most boring slice of life anime.

@JustMe I found it the other way round with the series being filled with the empty symbolism of Christ imagery and the last episode's psychobabble actually ties out the narrative theme of the show. The last episodes working or not is a different matter though.

The real reason the last episodes were the way they were is because they were behind schedule and over budget rather than for the sake of pretentiousness.

I watched a few anime films over the weekend as well as finishing off Beastars and Mob Psycho 100 II.

Perfect Blue was really good, a bit disturbing but in a good way. Something that will leave an impression and I will keep thinking about.

Dead Leaves - NSFW or for the easily offended. It had so much energy, like the whole thing was sakuga. I needed a bit of respite after this so the next film was very different.

I Want To Eat Your Pancreas - it was okay. Like Anohana it didn’t really impact me emotionally so maybe I didn’t get as much out of it. I’m chasing something to like as much as A Silent Voice but it didn’t quite get there. Any recommendations welcome.

I’m now giving March Comes In Like A Lion a go before Persona 5 Strikes comes out.

Did anyone check out the crunchy roll awards. I know none of y’all prolly care, but I’ve never heard of Jujutsu Kaijen. Child should’ve won over Kaguya tbh.

And Love Is War won best comedy. Which it completely deserved! Amazing show.

Bubblegum Crisis (Retro Crush)

1980's sci-fi OVA series comprised of 8 episodes that follows the exploits of the Knight Sabers, a (nearly) all female vigilante group that uses advanced power suits (think a more anime take on Iron Man) to take on Genon, an overly powerful robotics corporation that is illegally developing weapons grade "Boomers" (series terminology for humanoid androids).

While the first three episodes form a sort of connected story, overall there's no narrative end point, with each episode (most of which are 40-50 minutes long) feeling like a little self contained movie of sorts, each chronicling the events of a different case the group gets involved in. It's definitely from an interesting era of sci-fi anime (definitely the kind of series that influenced the vibe of Astral Chain) with an attention to detail to the sci-fi machinery & vehicles (unfortunately it looks like it hasn't had much if any of a visual upgrade, with a VHS like quality to the image. I think it'd look phenomenal restored in HD), and the impact of Blade Runner on the medium can definitely be felt. Worth a look if you have an interest in vintage anime, which can feel VERY different to the medium in it's current form.

Content Guide:

Language - Average (Mostly PG-13 level stuff, but I wouldn't rule out an F-Bomb or two that MAY have flown by me).

Violence - High (While it can get quite bloody when it needs to, I mean there's one episode that centers around a mysterious "vampire" draining people of the stuff, it's not constantly drenched with it, and a couple episodes don't feature any as far as I recall, unless you count this yellow fluid/oil that acts as a Boomer's "blood" when it gets ripped apart. Just be aware it can get high impact when it needs to).

Nudity/Sex - Average (really just for the few scenes of bare breasts it features during the occasional shower or changing scene. Like maybe four brief scenes total. Otherwise it's not really fanservicy in any way. The female characters don't have exaggerated body proportions, I don't recall any noticeable jiggle physics, and their outfits always seem appropriate for whatever situation they're currently in. The only other thing that would go here is a bit of a running gag where the brother of one of the girls seems oddly interested in seeing her specifically in a state of undress, but it's dropped after the first few episodes).

My friends and I have gone back to watching Yu-Gi-Oh, partly just for the lulz. I have thoughts.

First of all, the 4kids dub is hilarious. There were moments when I was rolling on the floor laughing because of the ridiculousness of what was said.

Secondly, Kaiba is extra AF in both the sub and the dub, and it’s great. My new favorite quote from him is “I transcend what can be done in this game”

Finally, the names for the Ishtar family are all over the place. Malik is Arabic/Hebrew, Isis is Antient egyptian/Greek, and Ishtar is ancient Babylonian.

Question: I’ve seen Danganronpa 3, and none of the gory parts made me quesy or anything. The first killing game in it kinda did but it overall was fine. Is Another that much worse or what? I’ve seen some clips and I’m very interested but I’ve heard it’s extremely gory and disturbing. Thanks to anyone who can answer

AD Police Files (Retro Crush)

A three episode prequel to Bubblegum Crisis (which I've recently watched as well) that follows Leon (a supporting character from the original) during his rookie year within the AD Police (short for "Advanced Police"), well before the Knight Sabers first appeared.

Like the original, each episode is more or less a stand alone story within the world rather than having any sort of overarching narrative. However It's a much grittier take on the world (which makes since given that the Knight Sabers haven't started to clean things up yet), and they take the chance to tackle some deeper themes (such as the line between humanity & machine in a world where artificial body enhancement & advanced humanoid androids run rampant), and this is even reflected in the art direction, which strikes a more realistic tone (especially the first episode, the second two look a bit more like the original). The VHS video quality persists too however, as it clearly hasn't had any sort of enhanced re-release. Still, an interesting sci-fi watch, especially if you can handle the grittier content.

Content Guide:

Language (Average) - Typical PG-13 stuff.

Violence (Extreme) - People routinely get mutilated & ripped asunder with blood spraying everywhere.

Sex/Nudity (Extreme) - Nudity & Sex are pretty common as well. I mean the first episode centers around an artificial prostitute, & the second deals with the murder of prostitutes, so you can guess at the prevalence.

A fair noob here when it comes to Anime. I've watched the main ones I guess: Naruto (&Shippuden), Bleach, Death Note, Hunter X Hunter, Full Metal Alchemist etc.. This was all a long time ago though and now I feel so nostalgic that I want to pick up Naruto again.

So question: Where do you guys fix your anime?

I've tried Crunchyroll, but apparently Naruto is not available in my area (Russia). Same goes for Netflix and other popular streaming services.
Would be great to have an app on the phone that gives me access, but I'm also good with any web browser.
Additionally, I'm aware there are probably a lot of pirate-wesbites which are overrun with advertisements. I wouldn't actually mind to pay a fair sum to get rid of them, so feel free to advise Quality > Price.

Thanks in advance for the recommendations!

@Bankaj I don’t know what everyone else thinks of this app cause it’s free and uses ads to run but I find that KATSU works pretty well. My friend suggested it to me and it has pretty much everything I’ve wanted to watch. There are short ads after every episode after you watch for a while, but it’s not that bad. I got it on the App Store for IPhones, but I’m not certain if it’s available for Android.

I've recently watched a few anime films in the form of A 10,000 Year Time Slip: Prime Rose, Ninja Scroll, & Lupin the 3rd: Legend of the Gold of Babylon, and have written extensively about them in the movie thread.

@Bankaj, I'm not sure what's available in your country, but I use:

Hulu - They carry some simulcasts of ongoing shows, and carry some big names as well, such as Akira, Ninja Scroll, InuYasha, & Ranma 1/2, Cowboy Bebop, FMA, Rurouni Kenshin, Attack on Titan, etc.

Retro Crush - A (legal) free service that focuses on niche vintage anime, which can be interesting to check out, plus they carry things like the 90's Street Fighter & Fatal Fury movies, and some Lupin III stuff.

Amazon Prime - Most of their anime that's free with their subscription service is also on Retro Crush (so I watch it there instead), but they're also a digital marketplace, so I've bought films like Ghost in the Shell, Summer Wars, the InuYasha movies, & the new Dragon Ball Broly movie to stream whenever I want.

@Blooper987, as far as I can tell after looking it up, Katsu is definitely a pirate app, or at the very least links to sites that illegally host anime. Just looking at the photos on it's app store page, it's interface is a dead ringer for some of the pirate sites I used to use (they all pretty much look the same), and they outright show a list of obviously sketchy video links from sources such as "4anime", "GoGoAnime", etc.

I'm not making a judgement call as I've definitely streamed my fair share of anime through sketchy sites in the past, just letting you know in case you don't want to support such things.

@RR529 yeah that’s kinda what I thought. I’ll still use it though, cause If I don’t there isn’t any way for me to really watch everything I want. I don’t have any money and my parents certainly wouldn’t pay for a streaming membership for anything other than Disney +.

Medabots (Retro Crush)

Kids' anime released at the height of the original Pokemon craze, this turn of the millennium show features collecting & battling with robots called "Medabots". Of course there's something special with our main character Ikki's outdated "Metabee" model thanks to a strange medal (this acts as the brain/soul of a Metabot) he found in the river, and soon the pair are one of the hottest "Robattling" pairs in school, gaining the attention of the "Rubber Robo Gang" (goofy criminal syndicate like Team Rocket) & "the Phantom Renegade" (mysterious medal thief who rides the line between friend & foe).

It's been a long time since I've watched anything like this (I caught a couple episodes as a kid, but for whatever reason was never in a position to follow it more closely), and I had a pretty fun time with it. I really liked the smart"butt" characterization of Metabee, as well as seeing where the match referee would pop out next. You can tell it was definitely from an era with heavier localization (not 4Kids levels of bad, as it didn't generally hide the fact that it took place in Japan, & still referenced death), with the biggest notable example being when they referred to a tengu as Pinocchio (which I'll let slide as even most adults in the US wouldn't know what a tengu is). There were a few story threads left open by the end, meaning either Retro Crush doesn't have further seasons (or they were never brought to the US in the first place), but overall it was a fun show if you like Pokemon likes.

Content Guide:

Language (None) - Other than offensively bad wordplay like "Holy Metaroly", "I'm gonna' give you a Meta Be-Boppin'", & "Your Bot is mine!", Which you'll hear a lot, lol.

Violence (Mild) - low impact robot fights. Think Pokemon in terms of fighting.

Sex/Nudity (None) - Nothing to note here.

Medabots is the one kid's anime I saw back in the day that I wish I watched more of. Like looking back on it, I just really like how it looks and is animated and I remember it being a bit more I guess...clever(?) than most of the anime I grew up on.

@RR529 & @blooper987 - thanks for the input, appreciated! Turns out Russia is not a popular region to grant access to.

Found an appropraite site via Russian search engines. The audio is original with Russian subtitles. Good opportunity to increase my language level while I'm at it.

First 5 episodes rewatched. What a hit of nostalgia and already an emotional impact how they start of so oblivious to the adventures that lie ahead! It's awesome to rewatch the beginning again.

This week I’ve been watching Fruits Basket (2019, season 1) and Devilman Crybaby.

They are quite different so it was jarring at first, but they counterbalanced each other nicely.

Devilman Crybaby I had left to late in exploring Masaaki Yuasa’s works, and I think I enjoyed it a lot more for that. It’s a bit in your face, so I’d probably have just found it crude dipping into it. I’d been warned the ending wasn’t great, so I didn’t have any expectations there. Although I prefer his other stuff, the variety makes me love him even more.

I keep waking up early, and Fruits Basket with a cup of coffee is a nice way to ease into the working day.

I’ve been left underwhelmed by the second season of Re Zero. I found it a bit slow and I don’t like any of the new characters as much. But this weeks episode was absolutely fantastic.

Wonder Egg Priority I’m keeping up with too.

Only one episode of YashaHime left, and at this point I hope it gets a second season not because it's good (it's been disappointing), but as a hope that they might fix at least some of it's many issues.

Literally one episode until the end and they're still introducing new plot threads, so there's still at least 4 or 5 things left unresolved, and so far they've completely ignored the original cast (Miroku is the only one who is involved enough to barely even be considered a supporting character). In all honesty it's reminding me of the myriad of Tenchi Muyo sequels & spinoffs that give Tenchi 5 minutes of screentime if you're lucky (and at least those have the excuse of focusing on acquaintances of his, rather than his own children like YashaHime).