Topic: Anime & Manga (NO SPOILERS PLEASE)

@RR529
Thanks! Nice pickups!
I think Paprika is pretty fantastic too.
I remember being a bit weirded out by the cgi in Freedom combined with Katsuhiro Otomo's(Akira) style, but i ended up really enjoying it a lot.

Began Please Behave, My Wife only to discover the series had been cancelled.

Anime I've picked up over the past couple months.

Belladonna of Sadness 4K - By far the oldest anime I've bought (an early 70's film), but also one of the more unique (stylistically it doesn't even really resemble what you'd call "anime" by today's standards). Definitely a bit of an acquired taste, but worth a look if you like horror, and something that may be worth rewatching around Halloween.

Heaven's Lost Property - Raunchy harem show centered around robot space angels. It's nothing special, but a fun time if you like the genre.

Heaven's Lost Property Forte - Sequel to the above. Pretty much the same assessment too, though it does get narratively a bit more interesting in the back half.

Heaven's Lost Property the Movie: Angeloid of Clockwork - Film that follows the events of Forte. Still a few fun moments to be had, but dampened a bit by the fact that the first half is an abridged recap of the TV series', and it feels more like a sidestep rather than an advancement narratively.

Kenichi the Mightiest Disciple: the Attack of Darkness - I remember reading through the manga on a scanlation site a number of years ago (if you go far enough back in here I probably posted about it), but I didn't know it had an anime adaptation! This little OVA series starts a few arcs in (apparently there was a preceding TV anime that started at the beginning), and it was nice to be reintroduced to this world in a new way. Can't say I'm super eager to get to the earlier seasons (partially because the anime never got a proper ending), but this was a nice watch in an of itself.

Kiss X Sis - Just no. I mean, I do enjoy raunchy comedies, but this just wasn't it man. A blind buy & not a very wise one (will definitely be tucked away in a little corner of shame, lol).

Mobile Suit Gundam: the 08th MS Team - This on the other hand was pretty fantastic. The Gundam franchise is one that was always a bit hit & miss with me growing up, but since this one was only 12 episodes long I decided to give it a shot and am glad I did. Easily up there with the best 90's anime like Cowboy Bebop, Evangelion, & Outlaw Star, IMO.

Ocean Waves - Fantastic little coming of age/romance drama from Ghibli. I've really been digging their more grounded movies more than their fantastical stuff, and this was another hit with me.

Ranma 1/2 Sets 5 & 6 - Still working my way through this and wow does it have a lot more episodes than I remember (I'm starting to think I've never been through the whole thing before). At this point all the main players have been established so it's kinda getting pretty long in the tooth at points, but there's definitely still gold to be found as well. Nice comfort food anime, and I can never get enough Nabiki.

The Wind Rises - Another fantastic more grounded Ghibli film, that presents a (fictionalized) biography of the man who designed the "Zero" fighter plane. I can definitely understand feeling a bit iffy on this one since it kinda only gives lip service to Japan's role in WWII, but that out of the way it was a really engrossing drama.

I was originally going to watch Tower of God season 2 but the first episode really put into perspective what a downgrade the look of the anime was. So I decided to wait and I've heard...mixed things about the season so...guess not. I switched to the VTuber anime, which is the most realistic premise for an anime ever. If you don't know vtubers, the concept that a vtuber would forget to turn their stream off, get drunk and say the most off the cuff horny stuff about her fellow vtuber peers and become the talk of the internet (positive), sounds like insane rambling at best, but...yeah that's Vtubers. That's exactly what would happen, every step of it, they nailed it perfectly, it could be non-fiction for all I know.

That's like 80% of the appeal of the show tbh so I would recommend it to literally zero people on Earth who aren't into vtubers.

Also Oshi ni Ko, which is in fact, peak fiction.

Huh, surprised I didn't come by this thread to post what I've watched! Here I go:

Wonder Egg Priority - It is a psychological horror anime that was a bit popular a few years ago, but I only watched it for the first time back in March. It is a bit of a magical girl anime, which is a pretty interesting genre to combine with psychological horror, and I saw it being compared to other magical girl anime like Madoka Magica. I had heard of Wonder Egg having a bad ending, but I didn't know what it really was for years. I chose to give the show a try and see if they were right...and they were unfortunately.
It is pretty dark and I think it did a good job handling mature themes, and the magical girl elements were my favorite (especially with the gigantic weapons the main characters used and their animal companions), the visuals and animation was splendid, the four main characters were really likable, and the writing was good right up until later.

I would go on more about it if I could, but because the OP of the thread requested for no spoilers, I'm just going to say that the show really drops in its writing quality much later on (a lot of people say its in the 7th episode) and alongside that some characters are depicted and treated questionably, they try to introduce and explain concepts that don't fit the anime at all and are thrown in right in at the last minute, and the four main characters are given very disappointing endings to their struggles and arcs. The special episode they released after the final episode is maybe the worst of Wonder Egg. In fact, I would say that the show doesn't even have a finished story with how the special episode ended, and with how bad the show's production was, it probably isn't going to even get an ending or a continuation. It makes me sad, because I thought the concept and ideas the anime had were interesting and I got hooked on its story. I'd say that this is the most disappointing anime I have watched ever.

Jujutsu Kaisen - Had also heard of this and the original manga for a while and listened to the opening and ending song before, so I chose to watch it out of curiosity and I really loved it! I think the themes the show has are really important, and I also loved so many of the characters in there. The final fight of the season was so freaking cool, and the supernatural and horror elements combined with the action are a standout. The comedy bits they included were also a nice addition. All episodes end with a segment called "Juju Sanpo," and those were absolutely hysterical. There is a second season and film, but I have yet to watch those.

Chainsaw Man - Also an anime and manga I had heard of before and watched it out of curiosity too. Pretty gory (unsurprisingly) and sometimes a tad bit too suggestive, but some of the games I have played are gory and suggestive, so that sort of prepared me for the material in this. Love the presentation of the show and the animation, and the combination of some goofiness, horror, and action all blended in make this a pretty stellar anime; its deep, a bit creepy and serious, but also sometimes funny and irreverent. There were at least two episodes that I did skip small parts of because I had heard beforehand of some of the stuff that they show in that and thought that it sounded super disgusting to watch, but it didn't remove my understanding and context for what was happening in the anime. One cool thing is that each episode has different ending songs, and a lot of them are bangers and have become some of my favorite songs, and I absolutely LOVE some of the different animation styles and visuals they choose for each ending. I don't think the anime is super far in adapting the story of the manga, but I heard that there is an anime film that will be adapting a full story arc from the manga, though I don't think I'll watch that. Good anime, but don't watch if you can't handle lots of gore.

Danganronpa: The Animation - I never played the games this is based on, but I did watch a stage play and I do know how some of the story does play out. I didn't get to finishing this, but it was okay from the first few episodes I saw, but apparently the show removed a few details and story from the game, so this show sounds super underwhelming if you have played the games and are a fan of them.

Toilet-Bound Hanako-kun - I only watched the first episode, but I remember it being funny and I really loved the yokai folklore they included in it, given that I have heard a lot of Japanese myths and yokai entities in the Yokai Watch games and read extensively on yokai folklore for a story I was trying to write years ago. I need to finish the anime at some point, maybe later this month.

Going to watch the first season of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure tonight. I had heard today that Japanese voice actress Atsuko Tanaka (who voiced an important character in later episodes of the first season) passed away unfortunately, and I’m going to watch JoJo as a tribute. I do know a few spoilers for the show from the clips I watched, but I don’t really mind.

I am familiar with JoJo and I was pretty obsessed with it two to three years ago after I listened to all the intro songs. I would watch clips of it online and read extensively on the characters and story on a big wiki dedicated to it even though I never watched or read the anime or manga. However, I watched a pretty obscure 90s OVA they made for the third part prior to the TV anime, but I heard that it only covered a later half of the story and was unfaithful to the source material by cutting some characters and changing parts of the story. I don’t know if I’ll watch the rest after I finish the first season, however there might be a chance I will, but the fifth season is stuck on Netflix and our household doesn’t have that anymore…

I just want to say these people are wrong, episode 7 was the best episode of Wonder Egg Priority

@kkslider5552000 I think the writing sort of becomes worse when they decide to write Momoe out of the remainder of story at the end of episode 10 (plus a lot of people also took issue with how they chose to end her character arc since I heard a lot of people found Momoe’s struggles to be relatable) and I also took issue with them choosing to write out Rika (the idol girl) and I found their reasoning for doing it to be so stupid. They tried justifying it by going ”oh, she’s blinded by anger and rage so she can’t come back to the dream world ever again” when her pet companion literally got brutally killed right in front of her face by some creepy schoolgirl. Wouldn’t being super upset be an appropriate reaction to something extremely devastating and violent like that?

I thought episode 7 was good, I think the worst of the show is the special episode with how half of the episode is wasted on a recap no one needed and the remaining minutes of the episode not even giving the show a true ending. If the show had gone on for more than 12 episodes plus the special episode, maybe a single season with a 24 episode count and a rewritten special episode, then I think the story they were telling could have been written and told better and given a satisfying conclusion, but it sadly never happened.

Aside from them writing two major characters out almost near the end of the anime, it also has to be the fact that they introduce concepts (including the weird introduction of parallel worlds in the 12th episode) and even characters (in episode 11 with Frill) right at the last minute and try to explain it all, but some of the concepts don’t fit the show at all and seem to be more fitting in a sci-fi anime, and the new addition of Frill should have been done earlier in the story and not just as the series is about to end, plus a lot took issue with the ending of a subplot between two other characters involved in Ai’s character arc especially after all those hints and buildup.

I thought the premise of a magical girl-esque anime with four girls entering dream worlds to protect deceased victims against monsters using oversized weapons and animal companions in order to have the chance to revive their deceased friends was interesting and unique, combined with the psychological horror elements and dark themes alongside the character arcs it had for its heroines. It’s an anime that I am more disappointed with than angry with, since it had so much potential to become a memorable anime dealing with mature and triggering themes uncommon and usually not depicted in most anime, but the unfortunately poor developments and rushed production that happened behind the scenes likely played a role in the quality taking a dip, and it’s sad to see, cuz it’s not even remembered anymore and only mentioned when people in forums ask the question of “what anime started off well but ended terribly?”

I was so crushed when I got to the end of the credits in the special episode and heard the voice cast go “the end!”, which just tells me that they have no intention to continue the story or complete it.

Latest additions to the collection.

Heaven's Lost Property Final - What a load of crock. Even by anime standards of ending before being caught up with the source manga, this was terribly mismanaged and nigh incomprehensible. Starts out in the middle of the final climax with little to no context as to what is going on, goes on to have a flashback that doesn't even try to bridge the narrative gaps (said flashback is like 90% of the film, BTW), when it finally decides to return to "present events" it just abruptly ends as our protag arrives at the big bad's stronghold, nothing explained or resolved.

Ranma 1/2 Set 7 - It was a delight revisiting this series. It started to retread ground many sets ago (I think the Principal was the last recurring character introduced, and that was in like set 3 or 4), but the cast is so likeable that it never really got boring. Also, many of these episodes I'm positive I've never seen before (I must have dropped it at some point back when I was watching it ages ago), which was a nice surprise.

Ranma 1/2 OVA & Movie Set - Really looking forward to watching these, as I know I've never seen any of them before (except maybe a Christmas one). I didn't even know the series had any movies.

Urusei Yatsura OVA Collection - Currently watching through this. It's really nice watching some UY content with pretty high grade animation (some of the TV episodes could look nice, but others not so much. Definitely a product of it's time), and it's nice revisiting this world. I do like how surreal the series can be, but overall I do think I prefer Ranma as I think it definitely refined the formula a bit.

I think Ranma & Urusei Yatsura will be the last long running series I collect though (like stuff over 100 episodes) until I one day decide to invest in DBZ. I don't have unlimited space, and these long running shows just have too many sets (especially once you start figuring in movies & the like, which are sometimes sold individually).

Just started watching JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure and finished the first episode, and now I’m starting the second episode. Pretty good! I’m watching it while I draw. Freaking love the animation and the opening intro, but my gosh Crunchyroll ads made it take so long to finish the first one. Some ads would finish but then others would keep pausing every second. It was so annoying…

I recently started reading One Piece, and I have never watched the anime. I have watched a few Studio Ghibli movies and the Pokemon Anime. I also have read every Akira Himekawa Zelda Manga.

Still haven’t finished watching the first season of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, but I’ve finished the episodes covering Phantom Blood and that was great, the ending was super bittersweet and I got super sad during the final minutes of episode 9. Loved Jonathan and Dio a lot, and so many of the fight scenes were crazy with the insane and outlandish tricks and techniques the characters use to win, I heard that Phantom Blood is one of the less popular and liked parts of JoJo, plus a lot of people don’t find Jonathan interesting as a character (I think from his personality and how he loses almost all the time) but I thought it was a great part, and I like how much of a kind gentleman he is throughout the part. I do find it pretty rare to see protagonists in media who act super kind and gentle almost all the time, even toward their worst enemies.

Now I am moving onto episode 10, which starts adapting Battle Tendency. I only have seen a few minutes of the episode since I need to go to bed now, but I think from what I’ve seen so far I’m gonna love it! I’m liking Joseph from the few minutes I’ve seen so far. Good anime so far, but it’s also a bit gory.

Jojo's pretty cool, but I didn't love it until at least halfway into Stardust Crusaders personally.

I've been watching the Dragon Quest anime, largely because I wanted to finish it after watching half of it while it was airing a couple of years ago. I'm about a dozen episodes away from completion and then I'm never watching another long runner again. Like even if I watch an anime with multiple completed seasons already out, I'm likely to take a break between seasons (especially longer seasons).

@kkslider5552000 I do know that a lot of people think the first part is the weakest and also the second part (though I’ve heard people discuss it more favorably) but I can’t judge or give my opinion on that yet since I’m not far into it yet and haven’t seen the next seasons. Crunchyroll stupidly locks the next three seasons behind a subscription and the fifth and most recent season is on a streaming service I don’t have, so I’ll have to get a sub for the remaining seasons. I did like Phantom Blood, and I just finished the first episode adapting Battle Tendency.

Still binge watching JoJo and now I am on the 11th episode. Haven’t finished it yet because Crunchyroll is taking FOREVER to load ads, plus it’s doing a bad job at timing the subtitles right.

So far Joseph is so funny and so insane at the same time with the techniques he uses to win, it’s so hilarious. I think the best part of the show so far is the unthinkable, insane and outlandish techniques a lot of the characters use in battle against their enemies, and a lot of the exaggeration makes it so interesting and somewhat hilarious. The battles are so much more interesting with the creative ideas and fighting techniques the characters use to win battles. haven’t gotten onto the exciting stuff yet since I only just started, but after I finish the first season, I can tell Joseph is probably going to end up being one of my favorite characters in the show.

@Pastellioli this is a common crunchyroll problem unfortunately. It’s why I eventually resorted to straight up buying the actual animes, a much cleaner experience for sure.

@Yousef- a lot of people have expressed distaste for Crunchyroll, like with how they shut down Funimation and it having issues with loading stuff even when you have good internet. I’d love to buy the actual JoJo anime sets so I don’t have to do that (plus they have one for the fifth season, which means I don’t need to get Netflix for it) but I sadly don’t have a disc player for it and I do not think they have English subs…

@Pastellioli I don’t buy anime physically. Mainly due to lack of availability. I buy most of my anime on Xbox’s store. Come to think of it, there’s a sale going on.

@Yousef- oh yeah, I forgot that Xbox has anime available in their store, I was randomly scrolling in the anime section for fun once and I did see a listing for the fifth season of JoJo there, but I don’t know if purchasing episodes is cheap…

Oh and a question, have you watched all seasons of JoJo and have read the manga? I’m just curious! I know that there are about three other parts that they haven’t adapted into anime yet.

@Pastellioli how silly that you ask me that, given that jojo has been a part of me my whole life 😆 course I seen it all and read everything, what made you think otherwise? 😛 Better yet, why would I be recommending it so strongly and call it one of the best written stories ever made. Pardon me teasing you like this, just found it… bizarre that you asked me I was like “why would ask me that of all people?” xD. Definitely felt a bit weird to have my knowledge questioned when I’ve been a fan longer than some people have been alive. But it’s all in jest, don’t fret.
Silly stuff aside, I don’t usually do “buyer’s beware” stuff but you may wanna ONLY buy anime on Xbox when it’s on sale. The sales are usually universal, so you don’t need to wait for specific series to get discounted. Animes on Xbox are a wheeee bit overpriced.