The Anime/Manga/Related Merchandise Thread

I really need to watch it, I'm waiting till all out then watch in one go then cancel my sub but as I've not watched any for anime for ages could be second seasons etc of shows I was watching now on the service.

I think the world in general is a bit too bleak for me to deal with AoT right now.

Instead, as Moyles knows, we're watching Jojo's Bizarre Adventure!  Part one is tripe, due to the main character being tripe and the supporting cast being... euphemistically interesting, shall we say; but part two is already much better.  They've just climbed the oily tower (behave), and so far we have a hero with some personality, an actual black character, a female character who actually does things, and... well, a slightly too sympathetic view of a Nazi for my liking.  Every silver lining, eh?

I'm gonna check out AoT when the new series has all aired I think, and then binge it in a few sessions. Really enjoyed the rest of the show.

I've been watching a lot of Fate stuff recently. Namely, Fate Stay Night shows and films, since I've already seen Zero. And I played the VN so I've been a bit obsessed.

Unlimited Blade Works was really good. It particularly starts of strong and has some gorgeous animation. It does a good job of filling in gaps from the story they adapted from the VN, and makes some things make more sense or flow better. Also does a better job at actually showing Saber being competent, so as to actually match her description as the best servant.

Some things are not built up to as well, like Shirou's projection ability, but for the most part it seems like an improvement. Will say that one of the fights/exposition dumps later on drags on a bit though, and did bring the experience down a bit, but then it picks up again with a great finale. This is my fave Fate show.

Then I watched Fate Stay Night 2006 which I heard was crap but I was curious anyway. Actually did watch a few episodes of this beforehand before stopping, since it would spoil parts of the VN, and I was enjoying it. The quality though drops off harder than in UBW. It's not like it's even a particularly good looking show either, even for the time. It features a mish mash of stuff from all the different VN routes with mixed results, but it does mainly adapt a route that no other anime adaption has done, so I do feel it was worth watching.

Also I decided to watch the shows dubbed, which was unfortunate in 2006's case as a lot of the voice acting is pretty subpar/bad.

Now I've begun watching the Heaven's Feel film trilogy, having finished the first two. Not seen the last one as it has only seen a theatrical release in Japan so far. The pros are, since they're feature films and are newer, they look great - better than the rest so far.

The problem is the pacing is kind of shot, as it jumps around a lot and just skips stuff they really shouldn't. It's understandable in some cases, since Heaven's Feel, while not a sequel, is the route that is supposed to be explored after Unlimited Blade Works and the Fate route, so some stuff is repeated. But it's not completely excusable, and they even added some new scenes so it's not like they didn't have the room.

That said, I have been enjoying it a lot. Heaven's Feel was my least favourite route to read in the VN so I would say they've improved a lot about the story despite the weird pacing and cuts. There were a lot of cool moments and stuff that I wanted to see animated, and for the most part they deliver well. And thanks to the film format, they can get away with things they couldn't do if it was a TV show.

I've no idea where to begin with Fate. It's not exactly the easier series to jump into.

Balladeer wrote:

Instead, as Moyles knows, we're watching Jojo's Bizarre Adventure!  Part one is tripe, due to the main character being tripe and the supporting cast being... euphemistically interesting, shall we say; but part two is already much better.  They've just climbed the oily tower (behave), and so far we have a hero with some personality, an actual black character, a female character who actually does things, and... well, a slightly too sympathetic view of a Nazi for my liking.  Every silver lining, eh?

Oh lord, I forgot about Stroheim. I think I forgot about him on purpose, actually. But yeah, Part 2 is my favourite so far. I'll be interested to see your takes on Part 3 when you get to it as I feel a lot differently to the general consensus about that part.

JayMoyles wrote:

I've no idea where to begin with Fate. It's not exactly the easier series to jump into.

imo, it's best to bite the bullet and go with Fate/Zero. It is a prequel story that 'spoils' some twists in Fate Stay Night, but there really isn't a much better entry point.

FSN: Unlimited Blade Works (tv show) is the best representation of the original story - or at least one side of it - but it's written like it's a sequel to Fate/Zero as it's not very subtle about certain things. I don't think this would be too bad a starting place either though. I would just say definitely don't start with the Heaven's Feel films.

I decided to read the VN before watching most of the shows but I can understand why most people wouldn't want to bother with that, and the VN has its own problems anyway.

Oh look, Jojo's gone full fan-service and Stroheim is back.

I watched what I think was the original Fate/Stay Night series way back and hated it. It was painfully obvious that it was carried over from an eroge, what with the dull-as-mud protagonist and Queen Arthur fawning over him despite him having done nothing to earn it. Probably put me off the franchise TBH.

I'm assuming we're talking lewd fan-service here and I have zero memory of that in JoJo's.

Is anyone up to date with the My Hero Academia manga? I really want to gush about it with someone.

Lisa Lisa in the bathtub.

Oh. Yep, I forgot about that. For what it's worth, I think that is literally the only bit of "fan-service" material in JoJo's, at least that I can recall.

It's looking like it'll be a packed season of anime for me again as there's about ninety different sequels all launching at the same time.

Here's what's on my plate this season:

AoT The Final Season
Re:Zero Season 2 Part Two
Quintessential Quintuplets S2
That Time I Was Reincarnated as a Slime S2
Cells at Work S2
Cells at Work Black
The Promised Neverland S2

And I'm sure I'm forgetting more. I'll probably check out a couple of new shows too. It feels good to have a ton of seasonal anime to watch again!

Is Cells at Work literally about blood cells? That might be one that a student was trying to describe to me.

I need to catch up on AoT, at least the manga even if I don't have time for the anime.

There's a live action TPNL in the theater here right now. I'm sure it's gash.

I know what I'm doing on my week off soon

Buskalilly wrote:

Is Cells at Work literally about blood cells? That might be one that a student was trying to describe to me.

Yes mate, it's amazing. It's really charming and well worth checking out. Although, I think Cells at Work Black isn't meant to be charming at all as it takes place inside the body of someone who doesn't take care of themselves at all, like smoking and drugs and whatnot, so it's a darker watch.

masofdas wrote:

I know what I'm doing on my week off soon

Get on AoT, this season has been bloody phenomenal so far.

I will

On Cells Black, like in work we do corn fed extra special chicken's and it's like yellow compared to other chickens.

Clearly they've eaten different things, but would think most animals for farming eat the same and taste the same

But what about us like does a vegan taste super different to someone that smokes & does drugs? I know they made a human tasting burger but wonder if any of that was taken into account

Almost certainly we do. I've met people I'm convinced would taste awful, and others whom I'd quite like to gobble up.

I spent a long time watching cartoons about the immune system when I was small, but I'm imagining Cells at Work is a bit less edutainment.

I finished Jojo season 1 by the way. It's bloody ridiculous. Still a bit uncomfortable about how they forget all about how Stroheim's an awful awful person (and a Nazi) after the first few episodes with him in, but overall I enjoyed it!

Human tasting burger, y'say?

I do say

Back to anime, had a wee look on funimation see they have most of the current season of AoT up, Slime not yet and same with Quintuplets but all of Season 2 of Fruits Basket is up

Anything that I may have missed though? like I've seen DECA DANCE is in a few of the categories in the Crunchyroll year end vote

I'll get on AoT at some point. Wasn't super into the directions it went after season 1 but I'll give it the benefit of the doubt before finishing it. That's no to say I think it's bad after season 1, I just don't like it as much but it was always going to be difficult to follow such a strong first act!

I finished Space Dandy recently. It's a show I've watched on and off for the past couple of years, viewing 3 episodes here and then nothing for months. It's a wacky good time for the most part so would recommend if people haven't seen it. It's a very imaginative and silly show but might require a bit of perseverance because not all the jokes land in the early going.

The first season had that phenomenal sense of dread with this immeasurable force outside the walls. That couldn't last forever, so I like the weirder twists later on.

The Walking Dead's publisher was right. The plot should have actually gone somewhere, like aliens.

Season 1 had that stretch of episodes beyond the walls that was just perfection

masofdas wrote:

I will

On Cells Black, like in work we do corn fed extra special chicken's and it's like yellow compared to other chickens.

Clearly they've eaten different things, but would think most animals for farming eat the same and taste the same

But what about us like does a vegan taste super different to someone that smokes & does drugs? I know they made a human tasting burger but wonder if any of that was taken into account

Balladeer wrote:

I spent a long time watching cartoons about the immune system when I was small, but I'm imagining Cells at Work is a bit less edutainment.

I finished Jojo season 1 by the way.  It's bloody ridiculous.  Still a bit uncomfortable about how they forget all about how Stroheim's an awful awful person (and a Nazi) after the first few episodes with him in, but overall I enjoyed it!

Cells at Work is not edutainment, no, but it's definitely enhanced if you know a bit about human biology. So I guess it could encourage education?

And yes, I also agree with how they handled Stroheim. I guess the bonkers finale with Kars helped me forget about all that at least. Planning to start the Jotaro arc next?

Buskalilly wrote:

The first season had that phenomenal sense of dread with this immeasurable force outside the walls. That couldn't last forever, so I like the weirder twists later on.

Yeah, the direction they've taken the show is absolutely brilliant. This current season has absolutely blown me away with the animation and performances. They're really doing the manga justice.

As for other shows this season, I've been keeping up with Re:Zero Season Two Part Two and it's been a much better watch than the first part. There was a 15 minute one-on-one dialogue scene that flew past in what seemed like a much shorter time thanks to the great voice-acting and writing. Really enjoying it.

I also started Slime Season Two and it's fine. It's such a formulaic isekai and it really pales in comparison to Re:Zero. I really dislike the fanservicey character designs too and the way it leans into every character obsessing over the protagonist, which again is a flaw with isekai anime in general.

JayMoyles wrote:

Balladeer wrote:

I finished Jojo season 1 by the way.  It's bloody ridiculous.  Still a bit uncomfortable about how they forget all about how Stroheim's an awful awful person (and a Nazi) after the first few episodes with him in, but overall I enjoyed it!

And yes, I also agree with how they handled Stroheim. I guess the bonkers finale with Kars helped me forget about all that at least. Planning to start the Jotaro arc next?

...so this is people's favourite season is it? Can I ask why? We're only a few episodes in, but it's so clear that Joseph is still the best/only compelling character (at this stage). Meanwhile Jotaro is sodding awful.

Also this show has a reeeeeeeeal problem with women, and this season in particular. The only decent female character has been LisaLisa and she gets undermined with the dumb fanservice scene.

Balladeer wrote:

Also this show has a reeeeeeeeal problem with women, and this season in particular.  The only decent female character has been LisaLisa and she gets undermined with the dumb fanservice scene.

This might be a rare occassion where the "it goes both ways" defence is justified. The only awareness I have of Jojo is that it features a lot of sexy men. The vast majority of merchandise, advertising, figurines and stuff seems to focus on them.