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swiftdraw

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  • #5,123
    Been watching Frieren and it is rather enjoyable. My biggest annoyance is they seem to have taken the tact of grabbing a German word and making it a name. Everything else has been pretty good and I find it funny that the title character is such a loot goblin. It’s also a nice change from some recent stuff I’ve been reading/watching in that the Demons are Demons. They aren’t misunderstood or desperate or simply don’t know better, it’s that they are sociopathic predators whose favorite prey are people. They simply don’t care about anything weaker than themselves.
     
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    Crackhead Johny

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  • #5,126
    So I was guessing 3 years until people can use online AI to flood Youtube with shonen fighting anime so terrible that they cannot even be imagined currently.
    Then they announced AI that can make video.. I wonder if 3 years is still on track? Seems the self-insert Mary Sue future of shonen may be much closer.. not that it wasn't heavily that to begin with. With that much youtube scrapings Crunchy can become even worse..
     
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    UrbanSlayer

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  • #5,129
    I've just finished the Girlfriend, Girlfriend (Kanojo Mo Kanojo) manga (seen most of the anime as well) - don't judge me. Utterly ridiculous, but I haven't laughed so much in ages, it is insane.

    Maybe that is why it is 'good'. It doesn't take itself seriously, so embraces the utter madness and is just very funny for it. Whereas I don't really think 'The 100 Girlfriends who really love you' is that funny because it takes itself too seriously.

    Team Shino FTW
     
    Demento

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  • #5,131
    Lying in bed sick today. Decided that I would try something I'd ignored for years for being cheezy and full of fan service. I'm watching Food Wars.

    Okay, yeah, everyone gets naked for no apparent reasons. But I'm appreciating the cheeze while I recover. There's no way I could follow anything with a serious plot today, so it's pretty good in that regard. And it's not so bad. I feel bad for ignoring it for so long.
     
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    HunteR7411

    HunteR7411

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  • #5,132
    Demento said:
    Lying in bed sick today. Decided that I would try something I'd ignored for years for being cheezy and full of fan service. I'm watching Food Wars.

    Okay, yeah, everyone gets naked for no apparent reasons. But I'm appreciating the cheeze while I recover. There's no way I could follow anything with a serious plot today, so it's pretty good in that regard. And it's not so bad. I feel bad for ignoring it for so long.
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    Food wars is great and hilarious! Also the food concepts have real world application too IMO!
     
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    HiroTheProtagonist

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  • #5,133
    swiftdraw said:
    I just learned Frieren’s anime was done by Studio Madhouse, which explains a part of why I found it so enjoyable. But now I fear season 2 will be a disappointment when it is inevitably done by a cheaper studio -_-
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    I'm willing to give season 2 the benefit of the doubt regardless of studio. The animation of S1 was really good, but the writing is really where the show shines, and even if the animation isn't Madhouse quality it'll still be an enjoyable season.

    For comparison, Konosuba was animated by Studio Deen, which up until that show had a pretty terrible reputation for animation. But the strength of the writing managed to make the show a smash hit with 3 seasons, a spinoff and a feature film.
     
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    abj

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  • #5,134
    HiroTheProtagonist said:
    For comparison, Konosuba was animated by Studio Deen, which up until that show had a pretty terrible reputation for animation. But the strength of the writing managed to make the show a smash hit with 3 seasons, a spinoff and a feature film.
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    Even if they did use all of their animation budget on hand gestures .
     
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    swiftdraw

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  • #5,135
    HiroTheProtagonist said:
    I'm willing to give season 2 the benefit of the doubt regardless of studio. The animation of S1 was really good, but the writing is really where the show shines, and even if the animation isn't Madhouse quality it'll still be an enjoyable season.

    For comparison, Konosuba was animated by Studio Deen, which up until that show had a pretty terrible reputation for animation. But the strength of the writing managed to make the show a smash hit with 3 seasons, a spinoff and a feature film.
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    One Punch Man Season 2. The animation in that was so bad it was distracting. It was depressing after such an amazing first season.
     
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    HiroTheProtagonist

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  • #5,136
    Another "things I have recently watched" post:

    -Vinland Saga: Got to the part where Thorfinn's father gets killed by the mercenaries, loving it so far, definitely waited too long to get started
    -Trigun Stampede: Watched it on simulcast last year but watched it again with a friend who liked the old Trigun. Definitely ramps up the edge factor, but the animation and backgrounds are beautiful, the music is great, and Johnny Young Bosch still does a great Vash dub
    -Dragonball: never watched the series when I was younger, figured I'd give it a shot in the wake of Toriyama passing, made it a couple episodes before moving on. Not bad per se, but it feels like something I need to be in the right mood for
    -Mashle S2: the schtick has worn thin, probably won't finish it
    -High School DxD : God help me this show is 2008 Internet incarnate, but I can't stop watching. It's a bad show and I know it's bad, but much like Domestic Girlfriend it's a trainwreck that never stops

    That said, Mushoku Tensei and Konosuba are back, so it's time once again to dive back into isekai brainrot.
     
    Ecmaster76

    Ecmaster76

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  • #5,137
    HiroTheProtagonist said:
    Dragonball: never watched the series when I was younger, figured I'd give it a shot in the wake of Toriyama passing, made it a couple episodes before moving on. Not bad per se, but it feels like something I need to be in the right mood for
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    The first arc or two have strong kid show vibes but the later ones are up there with the best parts of Z, IMO
     
    Nekojin

    Nekojin

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  • #5,138
    Dragonball (not Z) is a great manga/show. It's a little shallow and a little crude* at times, but that's to be expected since it's a shonen manga - practically the genre-defining shonen manga. Virtually all monkey king expy manga/anime ends up imitating Dragonball in some way. But Dragonball is still a better overall story than Dragonball Z, and better than a lot of newer shonen shows.

    * By crude, I mean lots of teenager sex jokes, mostly around either Master Roshi's pervy-ness or Goku's cluelessness. Also a fair number of pervy comments from Oolong.
     
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    swiftdraw

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  • #5,139
    So I guess Spice and Wolf is back. I found the original manga rather dry when I read it in ‘08 or around then. I came in expecting a kind of an medieval fantasy adventure series and instead got a lesson in medieval economics. That’s my memory of it anyway, that was… does quick math 16 or so years ago. Fuck. Anyhow, it wasn’t bad, but didn’t inspire me to stick with the series after the first 4 or so books. I have Discord acquaintances that are going gaga over it though.
     
    kenada

    kenada

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  • #5,140
    HiroTheProtagonist said:
    -High School DxD : God help me this show is 2008 Internet incarnate, but I can't stop watching. It's a bad show and I know it's bad, but much like Domestic Girlfriend it's a trainwreck that never stops
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    I thought the first season could be pretty funny at times, but Issei’s schtick started wearing thin after a while.
     
    Scifigod

    Scifigod

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  • #5,143
    dredphul said:
    "Suzume" is on Netflix.

    It feels very much like a Studio Ghibli production but it isn't (the evil cat and a talking chair are wonderful characters). Very beautiful backgrounds and (like Studio Ghibli) you are dropped into world you don't know what's going on at first.
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    If there's one thing Makoto Shinkai can do it's backgrounds going clear back to his "voices of a distant star" days. This looked pretty amazing on my TV but I'm sure it would have been even prettier on a theater screen.
     
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    Scifigod

    Scifigod

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  • #5,144
    Started "Go Go, loser ranger!" two episodes in it'll probably be one I stick with as the idea is good enough.

    A Sentai squad defeated the alien invaders ten years ago killing all the head monsters but left the trash combatants alive to stage fake attacks and be constantly defeated. One of the combatants "fighter D" has had enough of his people's virtual enslavement and sets out take down the Sentai squads organization from the inside.

    It's going to be interesting how this plays out as fighter D is incredibly fragile, a firm handshake or a tight hug is enough to crack his facade.

    And in episode 2 he's already been found out but the person offers to work with him to take out the rangers. No hints as to why yet.
     
    Scifigod

    Scifigod

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  • #5,146
    Went to the Spy Family movie today and it was fine. Like most specials it's just a side story that doesn't do anything to advance any plot. Gets a bit ridiculous with Yor basically fighting a Terminator. There's a long running sequence of Anya trying not to use the bathroom that ends with her hallucinating the "god of poop" that completely wears out its welcome.

    I also started Fable, three episodes in and I still don't know what to think about it. The premise is good, a hitman is too successful so him and his assistant are sent to lay low in Okinawa for a year. Living only as a hitman he has to try and adapt at fitting in to civilian life while being constantly goaded by the local Yakuza. It sits in that perfect valley of either taking itself too seriously or not serious enough.
     
    Scifigod

    Scifigod

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  • #5,148
    Nekojin said:
    Andara and I are 8 or 9 episodes into Spy X Family. I have to ask - is there ever any overarching plot advancement or character development, or is the entire show episodic action/comedy?
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    I would say there's plot advancement but it's pretty minor over the course of the season. Mostly just introducing all the characters and how they interact with each other. Haven't read being the second volume of the manga to know if that keeps up or it settles into a plot or not
     
    Scifigod

    Scifigod

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  • #5,149
    Scifigod said:
    Trailer for the new live action city hunter show looks pretty good.

    View: https://youtu.be/7Bol3Oz1qNc?si=Ku857HldLdsC7Xvu
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    This was actually really good for an updated live action adaptation. Managed to work in just about every aspect of the show you can think of while appropriately toning down Ryo's penchant for random groping and the tired AF jokes about Kaori being a boy .They even worked in the mallet .
     
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    Crackhead Johny

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  • #5,150
    Nekojin said:
    Andara and I are 8 or 9 episodes into Spy X Family. I have to ask - is there ever any overarching plot advancement or character development, or is the entire show episodic action/comedy as all three keep trying to hide their secret from the others?
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    No development in the first 2 seasons. I'm not sure if there will be any and it will have a Ranma 1/2 "thanks for watching" conclusion after a pile of seasons or if they will be willing to do development and change the dynamic. Most anime "writers" like to stick to what they have read/watched.

    Does the City Hunter show include the 100t hammer? I'm not seeing it in the trailer so I'm betting on "Garbage live action conversion". The doing anime as live action has generally be a stupid thing. As IIRC Mamoru Oshii said when asked about choosing between animating and live action "If I get a good budget I animate, If I get a bad budget I do live action.". So the live action conversion process often takes beloved anime and makes a shit version. again and again and again. I can't think of a good one. There have been some good manga/manwha to live conversions like Old Boy, All You Need is Kill, Etc but if they have the superior anime version already out there then smart odds say failure is what will happen. Same for rebooting cel animation classics to modern garbage CGI features. The greatest anime of all time get to retain their titles, most likely forever.
     
    Nekojin

    Nekojin

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  • #5,151
    Crackhead Johny said:
    Does the City Hunter show include the 100t hammer? I'm not seeing it in the trailer so I'm betting on "Garbage live action conversion". The doing anime as live action has generally be a stupid thing. As IIRC Mamoru Oshii said when asked about choosing between animating and live action "If I get a good budget I animate, If I get a bad budget I do live action.". So the live action conversion process often takes beloved anime and makes a shit version. again and again and again. I can't think of a good one. There have been some good manga/manwha to live conversions like Old Boy, All You Need is Kill, Etc but if they have the superior anime version already out there then smart odds say failure is what will happen. Same for rebooting cel animation classics to modern garbage CGI features. The greatest anime of all time get to retain their titles, most likely forever.
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    I watched it tonight. The hammer does make an appearance that makes sense in the context. As someone who loved City Hunter when it was new, I'm happy to say that it's a serviceable conversion and update, given that technology has changed so much since it was new (cell phones alone make a major change to everything). Ryo is just as much of a perv as he always was, and the fight scenes have some ridiculously anime-ish John Wick-like actions of choreographed precision.

    Will this satisfy you? I can't say. One of the most well-known scenes from anime/manga was not done here, but it might be saved for a second movie. It is more or less what I would expect for a live-action movie in 2024 of a manga originally written in the 1980s. It can't possibly be perfectly true to the source material, but I think they did as good of a job as can be expected.
     
    Nekojin

    Nekojin

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  • #5,154
    Crackhead Johny said:
    Serviceable.. So you are holding out for a live action Mad Bull 34?
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    I mean, the ideal live action City Hunter, in my mind, would fully embrace the late-80s atmosphere, complete with all the good and bad that brings with it. I know that such a movie would be far more expensive to make than what we got, so... shrug Probably the best that could be done here. I have no real complaints. The show drops, or only brushes up against, some of the sitcom tropes* that City Hunter lives on, and I'm fine with that.

    I'd cringe at anyone trying to do a Ranma 1/2 or Project A-Ko, but I'd be comfortable with live-action renditions of, say, Gunsmith Cats, Riding Bean, Nausicaa, or even Super Dimension Fortress Macross. Or even Maison Ikkoku, although Akemi would be a tiny bit problematic. Generally, anime comedy, particularly the sort of over-the-top sitcom comedy that anime does so well, doesn't translate well to live action, while drama and action can if done well.

    * like Ryo teasing Kaori about her tomboyish appearance. The live action never dips to that joke, but does have Kaori appear very tomboyish for at least the first half of the movie.
     
    Wheels Of Confusion

    Wheels Of Confusion

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  • #5,157
    Passing along from a non-sub:

    Anyway, I was going to post this:

    Anime Studio Gainax Files for Bankruptcy

    After Gainax revamped its management team in February 2020, the company stated it began reviewing documents to fully understand its situation, alongside the studio Khara as a creditor. The companies discovered large amounts of borrowing from financial institutions, defaults on debts to companies in the animation industry, and the sales and transfers of intellectual property and production materials to other companies and individuals without the permission of the original rights holders.

    Gainax stated its management worked with Khara and other companies and production committees to confirm the rights of the works and "properly manage" the IP and scattered materials.

    However, Gainax stated it has been unable to resolve its large amount of debt, and after it was sued by a debt collection company in May, the company decided it could no longer continue as a business, and filed for bankruptcy.
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    The King is dead! Long live the King!
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