Topic: Anime & Manga (NO SPOILERS PLEASE)

Oh, and I can’t believe I forgot to say it, but I absolutely LOVE the color palettes JoJo uses during fight scenes, especially being someone who loves drawing and color. The color choices the anime uses are bright, funky and showy, and so pleasing to look at, and it’s just so cool. I heard that JoJo is very well known for its use of color, since the original creator often makes artworks of his characters with bright and funky color palettes and combinations that change in every artwork for aesthetic reasons, plus I also heard the seen that the color schemes for the characters tend to change several times depending on the piece of JoJo media. His artworks are so cool, and he is so skilled at using colors in his art.

One piece did eventually get added here but by the time that happened, I have already lost interest in the anime and winded up picking up the manga instead.

Also based on your description and other people’s comments after yours, crunchy crunch looks like it’s becoming borderline unusable.

@Pastellioli it’s awesome you’re enjoying that. Also my above comment was directed at you but I didn’t ping you because…. I just woke up, my brain is 5% functional right now.

@Yousef- it’s fine! I could tell.

I should have also brought up the opening intros in JoJo. They are so well animated and use CGI fantastically. Usually, I hear a lot of people say anime uses CGI poorly and it looks super cheap and unprofessional (with a few exceptions, like Studio Orange) but it’s done so well in JoJo’s opening animations. I think it’s the fact that the CGI animation and models are stylized instead of being plain CGI, and how the art style used there is supposed to resemble Araki’s art style used in the manga and to make it look drawn.

Way before I actually watched the anime, I had actually had watched a 1993 OVA adapting Stardust Crusaders, just for fun when I was in my JoJo obsession phase years ago, but fans say that it skipped over the first half and only did the second half, and it cut out several fights and characters, so I had no knowledge of what was going on, and I didn’t feel connected to the characters because of the fact it completely skipped over the first parts and didn’t tell the viewers anything about the characters and their motivations. The OVA did release more episodes adapting the first half, but I haven’t seen it. But, the anime luckily avoids doing that and actually goes in correct order, so I can’t wait to see the second season. I heard the OVA is super unfaithful to the source material. I also read that the same studio that did the Stardust Crusaders OVA did a Phantom Blood film too, but a fun fact about that is that film is actually lost media! Also heard it was inaccurate to the source material too though.

Crunchyroll is okay, but I think some of the issues, like the awful ads scattered throughout episodes, them buying competition just to close them, and the whole thing that happened with My Deer Friend Nokotan’s English subs being a mess (which I did read an article on) and the two anime’s getting review bombed so much by users, the service isn’t amazing at all. The one good thing is that it can be used for free, but they lock animes behind subscriptions.

@Pastellioli CGI in an anime is a surprisingly more sophisticated and much more nuanced issue than just “it looks bad lol” especially when we have great CGI animation like HnK and JOJO as you mentioned, it’s kinda due to the misuse of it. Having a CGI sequence to connect two 2D shots is a fine idea in theory, but a low quality model can create a jarring stylistic clash.

The phantom blood movie is lost media. Don’t get your hopes up.

You’ve been misinformed. The OVA was not intended as a simple adaptation, but something for hardcore fans only. It wasn’t meant as a newcomer’s experience, hence why it was, Y’know, an OVA. Something you buy, basically merch. And not something that airs on tv to lure in new people. OVAs as a whole are a misunderstood medium with people falsely lumping them with tv-aired anime. OVAs do air on tv sometimes, but that is an exception and not the standard. Same goes for ONAs.

You didn’t feel connected because it wasn’t meant for newcomers. I hope so called “fans” will stop unfairly bashing it. It’s a fantastic piece of animation, and one of the greatest jojo medias out there and deserves high degrees of respect from true fans.
It didn’t tell you a lot because you’re supposed to know that from the manga. It’s a supplementary medium, unlike the anime which can stand on its own. (Pun intended).
The OVA doesn’t go in “incorrect order” as you word it, you’re misinformed. “Incorrect” implies an honest mistake or naïveté, but they were intentionally adapting the most popular arc in the most popular part to give fans a special treat. But later on decided to complete the experience because the first half is still great.

Neither the SC OVA nor the phantom blood movie are “unfaithful” as you put it. Don’t be misinformed by people who aren’t willing to give those a chance. I gave a chance because I’m a true fan, and I see their beauty for what they are. Love letters to the mangas they adapt, with beautiful colors and incredibly detailed animation. People have a one-track mind about faithfulness and what they consider good always relies on really shallow standards that ignore nuance and creator intents, never letting creators express their own unique artistic expressions is a crime imo, and people should not be encouraged to discourage artists from doing their own thing if they have faith in their vision. That’s not how art works.

Moving on the Stardust Crusaders, it’s a cool piece. I’ve watched it a lot back when there was no jojo anime. The final fight is done better in the OVA, with some really phenomenal voice acting.

@Yousef- Oh, misinformation, sorry, I fell for it again…I feel terrible now.

I think another anime I watched, Chainsaw Man, did use CGI for the character models during parts of the fight scenes. Didn’t look bad, I thought it blended in well, but I recall a lot of people complaining about it when the CGI is very minor and wasn’t even used a ton in the show. I think there were maybe two instances of them using it and that was it. I think there was an ending animation for the show that had the characters animated in CGI and I really liked the look, plus the song playing was a banger too! The CGI I have come across in a few of the animes hasn’t been bad, it’s well done and not excessively used. Some animes, usually comedies, have bad CGI intentionally, I came across a clip for an anime that intentionally used CGI poorly for comedic effect. Can’t remember what the name of the show was. Though there was a show called Ex-Arm that was done fully in CGI and if you see the trailer and clips for it, you could tell it was misused…it’s shows like that that sort of give CGI a bad name in anime and why a lot of people just resort to bashing it and calling it cheap whenever no 2D animation is on screen and is in CGI for a few seconds, when there are several anime out there that do CGI very well.

Oh, I know it’s lost media. I just wanted to mention it since we are discussing JoJo. I did see a restored pilot animation trailer for it today and the animation was beautiful. Too bad that no one will be able to watch it though. All that hard work the studio put into the film and just having it vanish is disappointing. Apparently Shueisha (the company that owns publishing rights to JoJo) is keeping assets and material related to the movie but no one knows the reason why it’s lost media or why it never was released onto home video. It’s interesting, cuz people are trying to still find the movie in full but haven’t found it. There were reports that it was apparently airing in airlines a few years ago, but no media or photos came out of it, so it was pretty much fake.

I didn’t actually hate the OVA, but I do get it. I also did like the animation and the 80s-90s look the characters had. I think the art styles of the OVA and that lost film, as well as the modern anime adaptation are both amazing. Dio was also intimidating there as well! I don’t actually hate any art styles at all, I love them all! A lot of people also critique the OVA for not looking “JoJo-esque” with its art style and stuff, but I don’t get those criticisms at all, I really loved the way it looked. I know that the way I felt toward it wasn’t because of bad writing, but probably because I didn’t even know before that they had adapted the first part too, gosh I feel stupid. It was only after I watched the first part of the OVA that I learned that they did adapt the full story, so I didn’t get any of it. It’s insane I didn’t even know any of that because I extensively read info about JoJo on a giant wiki and learned about its animated media before watching it. Other people also didn’t say that you should only watch it if you are a “hardcore” fan. Guess that’s me again stupidly following what fans say and not forming my own opinions. I’m such a hypocrite.

Sorry if what I said may have upset you or annoyed you significantly. I am very new to it and it shows…I feel very dumb right now, and I feel terrible when I spread misinformation.

@Pastellioli no need to feel bad about it at all! It’s an honest common error that comes primarily from a common misunderstanding people have of OVAs, which are meant to be purchased as physical videos rather than being seen online without context. Since the latter is much easier these days, it’s not impossible to think they’re just straightforward adaptations when the only exceptions to this are Golden Boy and HxH Greed Arc, the latter of which was adapted to continue the 1999 HxH anime.

I honestly don’t remember what I was gonna write after this, my battery died this morning And lost a lot of my thoughts so you’re gonna see a somewhat different version of what I was gonna write. This was supposed to be sent 30 minutes after you typed your message, now I’m late by several hours.

I’m actually not looking forward to the CSM anime due to how short it is, I might read it instead. But I still plan to get into it and JJK whenever the chance arises.

I also wanted to get into a similar manga called Undead + Unluck, the intention was to get into it before the anime came out… I was too late. But I’ll probably still read it anyways.

@Yousef- Oh, I see. Sorry, I just reacted badly. I feel very bad when I accidentally spread misinformation. Makes me feel like I’m spreading a lie since that’s what misinformation basically is. Aaaand I just woke up and realized I fell asleep with my phone on and it’s nearly dead.

Yeah, I think for Chainsaw Man you should read it instead of waiting years for them to adapt later parts of the story. They are making an anime film for it, but it’s adapting an early part of the story. A lot of people say that the later parts of it are the best, but the anime has not gotten to adapting those yet, and I think it’s going to take a while, given that it’s been nearly two years since the anime released. I liked the Chainsaw Man anime, but I don’t think I’ll read it. I’m sort of fine just watching one season and that’s it.

With Jujutsu Kaisen, do you plan to just read the manga or watch the anime? I hear the manga is actually set to end next month, and the anime I hear is only midway through adapting the story. I watched it, but only the first season. There’s a second season and movie that I have not watched because Crunchyroll locks them behind a subscription.

I have heard of Undead Unluck before, but I don’t exactly know what happens in it besides the premise. I wonder if a lot of people like it. Probably! I have heard of a few other anime and manga recently but I haven’t read any info on it.

@Pastellioli yeah, it’s hard to keep up with JUMP’s output. U+U looks interesting, but it’s not turning any heads right now. I’ll still read it since I have a weak spot for muscle-y men. Always had.
There’s another 2020s JUMP manga about a Harry Potter ish bowlcut dude, I know nothing about it so someone else will have to fill me in.

I apologize for being unclear, I was trying to say that I’m interested in watching JJK given its higher episode count, however if I felt like reading it would be better for me, I’ll just do that instead.

CSM being a two parter is interesting. Because the second protagonist is apparently female, and that’s a bit rare in JUMP’s lineup of battle shonen where it’s a bit more male dominated, that I personally mind but some change in pace can quite healthy.

I’ll reply to your chit-chat comment when I find the time. I’ve just woken up myself.

@Yousef- I don’t keep up with JUMP’s output, plus they have a lot of magazines and I don’t read any of their manga series or magazines, but I sometimes read a Wikipedia article that lists all of the manga series run in Weekly Shōnen Jump over the years and Shōnen Jump+. I think the only animes I have watched that have been based on mangas ran in JUMP is JoJo and Spy x Family. I was watching the latter with my cousin and siblings, but we never finished the rest of season 1 and never got onto the second season, so it’s been a year or two since I last seen it.

I think the manga you are talking about is called Mashle: Magic and Muscles. I saw the main character everywhere online for a while cuz the opening song went viral online. I also don’t know anything about it either.

For Jujutsu Kaisen, there’s about 47 episodes, 24 in season 1 and 23 in season 2. Alongside that there is an anime film adapting its prequel manga Jujutsu Kaisen 0, but I’m not a manga reader so I don’t know how far the anime is in adapting the story.

The Chainsaw Man anime is pretty short, they only did 12 episodes and it’s unclear when they are going to release more episodes for it and the anime movie doesn’t have a release date yet. I heard that both are super early into adapting the story. I think what people expected was them to have 24 episodes and splitting the releases into cours, which is common for a lot of anime, but they didn’t go that route. I did also hear the second part having a female protagonist as well. That’s cool, and I also don’t see a lot of shōnen manga’s having female protagonists or having two protagonists. I heard for JoJo, they had a female protagonist once.

@Pastellioli JJK, CSM, JOJO and SxF being your only proper exposure to JUMP IPs is a pretty unique combo, never seen that before.

If you need help getting properly into JUMP’s plethora of IPs, be sure to drop me a word.

Mashle is what i was thinking of, yes. Sadly I got a lot on my plate, not just Shonen JUMP, but even Shonen SUNDAY and Shonen MAGAZINE are on the table for me.

I can’t say Spy x Family was ever my thing, however I’m into a wide variety of JUMP series. I can confidently out of the vast library in Shueisha’s backlog, all the romcoms and the battle shonen I’ve read, I’ve not dislike not one single JUMP series…. well except one.

@Yousef- Oh yeah, forgot to say JJK and CSM were also some of the few animes I watched that were based on JUMP manga. I did want to watch One Piece one time when I had Netflix, but I did not, plus I think Netflix doesn’t have all the endless amounts of seasons and episodes. It would take me a while to catch up on the newest episodes, but sometimes I would randomly watch clips taken from the episodes on YouTube years ago. The JUMP animes I’ve watched are great, but I don’t read their mangas and I’ve not caught up on Spy x Family and JJK animes. It would probably take me a long time if I read any of the mangas, since JJK is a few chapters away from ending and JoJo has 9 parts! I don’t buy manga or really read any, I did have at least three, but they were all based on video games and weren’t JUMP mangas.

I am curious about JUMP’s IPs, I know super famous ones already, but are there a few ones that are critically acclaimed but not well known?

Oh yeah, I also do know several other Shōnen magazines out there too! I also think they carry other well-known manga series too.

I don’t think I’ve ever really heard of any JUMP mangas that are super hated or bad, but what is that one series you disliked a lot? I’m super curious about that too.

Trying out some new mecha.

Full Metal Panic! - This has been pretty good so far. Set in a pretty contemporary Japan (for the 2000's) except that militaries have mechs. Pretty much an independent military group sends our protagonists undercover in a Japanese high school to protect a girl who is being targeted by terrorists & foreign government agencies (as she has some sort of secret ability/knowledge that hasn't been fully explained yet), and she sort of gets caught up in their world/battles.

Patlabor: the Mobile Police - 7 episode OVA series from the 80's. Wasn't really long enough for any deep narratives, but the cast grew on me, and it was cool getting a police procedural in anime form (we need more police anime!). I'll be looking up the other entries in the franchise eventually.

Ok, after taking a too long break from JoJo, I’ve finished up episode 14 and 15. My gosh, super amazing episodes. The Pillar Men’s entrance in episode 14 just completely shocked me, and Joseph is so smart with his tricks and techniques. I’m on the episode where they introduce Lisa Lisa, but I need to get through an ad break first. Crunchyroll liters the episodes with so many annoying ads.

@Pastellioli I hope you’re ready to finding out Joseph’s secret technique.

I found that Hulu has one of my favorite anime series of all time available to stream, Ranma 1/2. It's been at least 15 years since I have seen it so I decided to start watching it.

@Tasuki, hope you enjoy rewatching it. Coincidentally I just finished revisiting it myself (though I bought the Blu-Rays) and it was a good time (though I think the earlier episodes are a bit better than most of the latter ones, though the OVAs are good too).

Literally just finished watching the second movie this morning, which was the last bit I had left to see (liked it quite a bit more than the first movie).

Are you planning on checking out the Netflix remake coming out in a month or so?

@RR529 It's been years since I saw it and I am still enjoying it. I agree with you where the early season were the best. I had alot of them on VHS years ago but got rid of them since I had no way of watching them. I also remember staying up late when I was a teenager every night to watch the Sci-Fi channel when they would run a block of anime from 12AM to 4am which one of them was Ranma 1/2 back when they were the only channel you can get Japanese Anime on in the US.

I do plan on checking out the Netflix remake hopefully it stays true to the original. I have suspicion that they will tone down the nudity but hopefully they don't change it too much.

Time to hop back into JoJo! I was a few minutes into the 20th episode I believe. I think I only have 6 left until I need to buy a sub to watch the rest of the seasons.

Finished episode 20 and gosh that was depressing. Caesar was so close to winning the fight against Wamuu and seeing that he lost and died after makes me so upset! He had all the UV lights on Wamuu and was so ready to finish him but accidentally forgot that jumping in front of him would temporarily block the lights on him, and then seeing Joseph and Lisa Lisa trying to deny that he died and then crying after seeing Caesar’s blood spill out from under the cross-shaped rock and accepting that he was dead was so sad. Probably the most impactful and sad death scene I’ve seen in an anime ever.