Damn that there's no page for Mr. Villain's Day Off.
Seeing the second episode of Bravern and I definitely got vibes Lewis and Bravern are connected, potentially even the same person. Especially as he acted as if he knew Isami in the first episode and thus the idea he needed to reintroduce himself never crossed his mind till Isami makes clear he doesn’t know him.
Also Bravern adding more trauma to Isami by making him naked when they win a fight. After he was only tortured less than an hour ago.
Edited by OmegaRadiance on Jan 22nd 2024 at 7:02:02 AM
Every accusation by the GOP is ALWAYS a confession.
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=17023864770A89491000&page=2#comment-31
Anyone who wants to see the Bravern PV for the third episode can jump here on the URL.
MahoAko, episode 4: Jesus Christ, this show is bad.
Just look at the utterly pedestrian direction/animation in the scene where Magia Baiser and Magia Magenta meet in the park for the first time.
In the manga, the first panel looks up at Magenta, who gasps dramatically like she's on the deck of a battleship and just spotted an enemy submarine. The next panel is a shot from over her shoulder, looking across the park like it's a duel at high noon, with motion lines drawing our eye to Baiser at the other end while a dozen kids stand in the middle, shocked at the newcomer's presence. The final panel is Magenta twisting energetically atop the playground equipment to urge the kids to run, while in the foreground kids run towards the "camera", giving the panel a sense of energy and three-dimensionality.
In the anime, the same sequence is just flat, lifeless medium shots of Magenta, staged in such a way they can recycle the same background art. Aside from her lip flaps, Magenta barely moves. And at the end, they pan down to show the crowd running sideways (rather than at the viewer) with the cheapest-looking run cycles possible.
Do Asahi Production plan to put any sakuga in their sakuga action show?
I'm fascinated by how much of a trainwreck this series is (on an animation level). The way the characters slide across frame is giving me serious "Poochie died on the way back to his home planet" vibes.
Edited by WarriorsGate on Jan 24th 2024 at 11:28:20 AM
INITIAL REACTIONS
- Frieren: Beyond Journey's End is back! I didn't talk about Lawine and Kanne the last thread, but DAMN are they really promising characters. Super super hyped for what's to come with the test. Absolutely continuing
- Urusei Yatsura, everyone's favorite outdated '80s marriage tropes anime, is back! Why not
- Solo Leveling was something my friends told me I should absolutely watch when it gets an anime. And...I'm liking it a lot! The first two episodes sold me. Very excited to see what comes of this. Continuing
- Dungeon Meshi. Ahh, Dungeon Meshi. This show is phenomenal. I LOVE the idea that even monsters can be edible if cooked right, and the way that the anime shows how stuff like Living Armor works. I found out about this show through clips and gifs of Marcille being a failgirl, and it looks like I was right about her being the funniest specimen in the show. Super continuing
I don't think I'll pick up anything else this season, but I'm happy with what I have already!
Clear prop!
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=17062768380A50740700&page=1#1
Got the Witch and the Beast.
For some reason, I was pretty sure Dungeon Meshi had already had an anime years ago…
Caught up on Blue Exorcist. After I got used to the updated look of the characters to match the manga current style more I definitely enjoy this arc being animated more than I did the previous one.
Bucchigiri: Yeah after Mahoro literally screams a sound wave to make Asamine let go of her I now know for sure she’s the Jafar of the story. Sticking with the original influences more too where the Sorceror had a sibling.
Now her and the other villain are setting up chaos between the Delinquent Squads while Senya is unsubtle that the tattoo above Arajins butt isn’t a good thing and will serve his plans.
Every accusation by the GOP is ALWAYS a confession.
Season Update
- The Demon Prince of Momochi House: It's alright. Worth watching if you need all the shojo you can get. Me, I have a couple shows that I think are better for getting my romance fix from.
- Delusional Monthly Magazine: Don't get me wrong, I'm entertained by the sheer silliness of a weretiger spontaneously bursting into a Bollywood dance number. If there was more of that kind of stuff, I'd consider continuing. But nah we mostly see this one guy whining about getting a sugar mommy.
- Gekai Elise: The nurses knew about the concept of disinfectants, but were still amazed by Elise's "innovative" practice of keeping the hospital wards clean. Huh. There were so many niggles like that, which broke my suspension of disbelief. Would have continued watching it purely to Cinema-Sins it, but eh, time is limited.
- Hokkaido Gals Are Super Adorable!: The guy mostly exists to get flustered at the fanservice of the gals, and the gals mostly exist to fluster the guy with their bosoms. Okay, I might have waxed a tad hyperbolic, but that's how shallow I feel this anime is. In my opinion, an interesting relationship starts with interesting people, and boy did this fumble at the start line.
- Isekai de Mofumofu Nadenade suru Tame ni Ganbattemasu: Honestly what I can only remember is a vague blend of scenes of the MC being underestimated, then proving the naysayers wrong as she cuddles with the monster of the week. Happy she got the floof, but I need more than floof to latch on to.
- Majo to Yajuu: You'd think that a basic buddy-cop plot would be hard to mess up, but somehow this anime did it. The main duo is drop-dead boring, one's a berserk meathead and the other pretends to be smart and mysterious by saying a lot of things very vaguely. The fights seem like they should be stylish but instead resort to awkward cuts. The curses of the witch aren't even all that interesting, they've all just been excuses for wanton gore so far. Meh.
- Mr. Villain's Day Off: Easiest drop in the list. Repeated the same joke with the same structure, and the sentai theming hardly mattered.
- Tales of Wedding Rings: It's missing the great art of the manga and I don't think I'm getting anything in exchange, so I've been catching up to the manga instead. The story is pretty fun for what it is.
- Ao no Exorcist: Shimane Illuminati-hen
- The Apothecary Diaries
- Bang Brave Bang Bravern
- The Dangers in my Heart S2
- Dungeon Meshi
- Firefighter Daigo
- Frieren
- High Card S2
- Hikari no Ou S2
- Ishura
- Metallic Rouge
- Sasaki and Peeps
- Shangri-la Frontier
- Solo Leveling
- Synduality Noir S2
- Undead Unluck
- Urusei Yatsura S2
- 30-sai made Doutei da to Mahou Tsukai ni Narerurashii: My pet peeve about BL anime is one of the guys being too, uhh, forceful. I like my romances more wholesome. However, I think this anime does the forceful thing right, because Kurosawa only makes those advances when he gets overexcited about Adachi returning his affections. In fact, he does notice when he's being too pushy and can pull back. Our two main chaps are still feeling things out, and that awkwardness is very charming.
- 7th Time Loop: Still waiting for more details about the mystery behind Arnold starting a war in the future, but for now I'm having a grand time watching Rishe confuse and impress everyone with her hypercompetence. Arnold certainly enjoys her unpredictability.
- Akuyaku Reijou Level 99: It's cool that we got past the "discrimination against the black-haired liar" phase rather quickly. So now we witness the much more entertaining "everyone wants a piece of Yumiella" show, especially because Yumiella just wants to be left alone. Honestly, just bail and leave the country. Assume a new identity. You are the literally the strongest being in your universe, no one can stop you.
- Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki-kun 2nd Stage: Still a little cringy with the way it presents the intricacies of social interactions, but I'm digging the current plot with Tomozaki becoming Tama's mentor in the ways of socialization. It not only shows how much Tomozaki has grown, but also a significant point of conflict with Aoi. This ordeal around the bullying has shown the cracks in Aoi's methodical approach to the high school life, and that's exactly the sort of thing I want this anime to delve into.
- Bucchigiri: Oozes style out of every pore. The graffiti-punk is probably my favorite color palette of this season, and MAPPA delivers its usual high-class fight animations. It's a shame that the leading man is really, really annoying. And dumb. We need more chaps to punch some sense into him. It's also a little interesting how the djinn whose name I forget is implied to be pushing for more fights not only because he's a fight junkie, but because he might be able to steal MC's body if they synchronize enough. I might be reading too much into it...
- Classroom of the Elite S3: What a master strategist that girl with the cane is, capitalizing on the idiocy of this one side character. Sarcasm aside, I would hardly call the schemes being hatched cunning, or devious. COTE continues pretending to be smart, and I'm like, yeah, sure. Whatever.
- Mahou Shoujo ni Akogarete: Kicked up a storm because of its degeneracy, and know what, that degeneracy works in it favor, because Hiiragi's primary character arc is breaking out of her shell via discovering her kinks. The bawdy humor is enhanced by keen comedic timing and the inventiveness of the scenarios. And even putting aside its applications for ecchi shenanigans, Hiiragi's ability to create monsters out of everyday objects is wicked.
- Hime-sama “Goumon” no Jikan desu: Could be a little better in stitching its skits together, but it's still amusing. Well, less funny, and more grin-inducing cute. The princess is basically living a childhood she never had, and that's heartwarming. Also damn the food looks good. Mr. Magical Sword can't blame his wielder for buckling to the temptation.
- Meiji Gekken: 1874: No strong feelings about this samurai-centered period piece, but it's solid.
- Oroka na Tenshi wa Akuma to Odoru: Even dumber than I thought it would be, which actually works in its favor. Just a good ol' romcom with lots of romantic tension and shitpost slapstick.
- Pon to Michi: No, I still don't know how to play mahjong, but I've been enjoying this. Usually with these cute girl quartets you get a mix of the bright and grounded personalities, but here everyone is chipper and weird. One girl starts shouting attack names for her moves and everyone else just rides along. Feels like a super casual take on the hobby, and I appreciate it.
- Saijaku Tamer wa Gomi Hiroi no Tabi wo Hajimemashita: This story is basking in the warm water of slow cooker. Okay. I can respect a story that wants to take its time. With Ivy's backstory properly revealed in the third episode, then it is perhaps time for the story to pick up the pace. Still need to see more to see what this show is about.
- Sengoku Youko: So far, so good! I'm still a bit nervous about whether Sengoku Youko can break the Satoshi Mizukami curse, but this is perhaps the most confident I'd ever been. The anime-only additions enhance the story being told, and keeps the pacing breezy. Looking forward to our group traveling to the Rock Village.
- Snack Basue: Hands down the best comedy of the season for me. I was literally clutching my gut in laughter as I watched a job interview go wrong because of a mugger... with the mugger being mistaken for a job applicant and completely failing to threaten anyone. Or the entire sketch with the hostess and the customer engaging in a flirting duel using dating self-help books.
- Tsukimichi Moonlit Fantasy S2: Turns out that these first few episodes of the second season are basically side story content they couldn't fit in the first one. So yeah, that explains why I felt the timeline was jumping around a lot. Not sure why we had to get a full introduction to the two other heroes, but I digress. It's time to finally get back to where we left off.
- The Wrong Way to Use Healing Magic: For some reason I'm digging this more than I did the manga. I guess I've watched so much crappy isekai that getting one that avoids the usual pitfalls is all the more refreshing. For example, the protagonist is still on good terms with his classmates who've become heroes. That might seem like an odd thing to compliment, but tell that to all the other isekai that has the classmates lording the superiority of their almighty skills.
- Yubisaki to Renren: Wow, I did not expect the cadence of this love story to be so fast. Sometimes it moves a little too fast for my tastes, but hey, Yuki and Itsu are obviously interested in each other, they both know it, and they're going for it. I can respect that. The portrayal of deafness and sign language in this anime is excellent as well; there's even a deliberate contrast between Itsu's caring for Yuki's condition and Oushi's mollycoddling. Oh, and everyone in this anime is so pretty. I'd be willing to take any of the characters out on a date.
Edited by fillerdude on Jan 30th 2024 at 9:49:28 AM
I think the season 5 of Kingdom doesn't look as bad as the first ones. Nothing to write home about, but still better.
(I don't know at what moment the animation of Kingdom may have improved, I've been reading the manga mostly).
It is now the middle of the season, so here are some Mid-Season Reactions!:
Shangri-La Frontier 2nd cour: The Wethermon arc has been pretty intense! I wonder if next episode ends it...
MofuNade: All cute things come to Nema (and most conflict gets chased away in the process)!
Kyuujitsu no Warumono-san: A relaxing comedy for Sunday late nights!
HIGH CARD S2: Getting WAYYY intense recently with major stuff unfolding so soon!
Tsukimichi S2: Still left hanging on some parts, but there is one thing that immediately caught my eye: them bringing back Aa Jinsei ni Namida Ari again as the 1st EP's ED!
Himesama Goumon: The torture is getting into one repetitive cycle, but nonetheless, it's wholesome!
Akuyaku Reijou LVL 99: Warming up to Patrick; meanwhile, as for the plot, I think I would wanna see something big unfold...
YouJitsu S3: As usual, the intrigue is as tense as usual...
MahoAko: Incredibly cursed and filled with degeneracy... I love it!
Cherry Mahou: AHHHHHH I LOVE IT!! Though I've come to realize that the drama kinda adapted this with pretty slow pacing...
METALLIC ROUGE: I like the ED, the fights, and the dynamic between Rouge & Naomi! The rest? If only I can process it well...
Sengoku Youko: Loving the supernatural action here, and the theme's pretty straight forward.
Edited by thuse on Feb 7th 2024 at 6:04:00 PM
More Mid-Season Reactions to liven up the place:
Dungeon Meshi: AHH, DUNGEON MESHI!! So far, it's been pretty interesting to see all the food that the dungeons can provide. Now I wonder when something major will happen...
Gekkan Mousou Kagaku: Formulaic and furry... The dance sequence a la Bollywood got me though!
Sokushi Cheat: Mostly "go commit die" but in fantasy... It's prolefeed with nothing more, but I might as well see how this ends.
Majo to Yajuu: Liking the aesthetic, though since episode 1, it's been in a bit of a lull...
Sasaki to Pii-chan: An interesting mash of genres here, though the twist from episode 1 is starting to wear off a bit.
Saijaku Tamer: Of all the isekai/fantasy I'm taking up this cour, this one's my pick, mainly because I'm familiar with MajoTabi, which is close...
Nozumanu Fushi no Boukensha: Not much here, but the ED is lovely!
Momochi-san: Actually tolerable for me since the supernatural elements here help make the romance swallowable.
Chiyu Mahou: Love the OP and Usato!
Frieren 2nd cour: The first part of the exam was pretty interesting! Now what about the second exam...
Undead Unluck: Billy's betrayal really got me there! I'd say that's where I get hooked to this series.
Edited by thuse on Feb 11th 2024 at 12:28:34 AM
Forgot to mention that I'm also still watching Ragna Crimson, and I know it's weird to levy this complaint at this show, but I kinda wish Ragna was a little less angry haha. Fight scenes have been decent though which is nice.
Also: great to see Sengoku Youko trucking along nicely, especially after I found out about the shitshow behind the production of the Biscuit Hammer anime.
Edited by fillerdude on Feb 10th 2024 at 11:12:51 AM
Undead Adventurer Ep. 6
I was bummed this episode skipped a few things which is a bit of a shame as they do some lifting for World Building as well as character stuff.
Not sure if it'll be brought up later so spoiler marking it, but do recommend reading.
The orc meat Rentt acquired can be gathered one of two ways. Either you hunt orcs out in the wild which is much harder due to their greater experience and knowledge OR you go into the Dungeon of the New Moon(same as the exam is being held) where one of the floors is full on forest biome(Think the Nokron/Siofra River areas in Elden Ring, the Chalice Dungeons from Bloodborne, or some of the Sword Trial floors in Breath of the Wild) and hunt the respawning ones there that haven't had time to gain more experience and knowledge.
This also veered into an explanation about dungeons. The dominant theory is that they are created using spatial magic to create sort of pocket dimensions biomes, but nobody knows who or how they were made as the mana requirements are astronomical. The monsters in them also operate in a sort of respawn mechanic similar to what you see in the aforementioned games(Elden Ring and Bot W) in that after a period of time, the monsters respawn from the coagulation of the mana. The monsters DO need culling from time to time as being left unchecked can lead them to becoming a horde wave.
They also skipped the trip to the dungeon where Rentt pesters the carriage driver about directions to the dungeon as well as Lola and Raiz discussing if they can trust the mysterious masked stranger with them.
I'm not watching much this season (but I still have my two favourite shows from the last one, so not a big deal) but will do a mid-season upgrade.
Metallic Rouge is hard to judge. It has great production but the script is just all over the place. Also, Naomi looks like a way more interesting character than Rouge but gets sidelined every time.
Sasaki to Pii-chan has way worse production but at least it is intriguing with how many things it tries to mix up in one show but still doing a decent job. At least I am staying intrigued (though, authors preference for loli-type heroines is odd). At least Shizuka is a pretty interesting (and legal).
Youkoso Jitsuryoku Shijou Shugi no Kyoushitsu e 3. It is funny how most of the heroines in the setting are either good but pretty dumb or total bitches. This is why Kei looks the best of them so far being neither (to bad Kiyopon only viewes her as a useful tool). The pace is a bit odd again but I do want to see how their first year ends.
Carryovers from the previous season:
Sousou no Frieren I understand why this show is the most popular now. I get why some fans of more "serious" anime hate it. I understand why people who like it but don't want to look casual shyly put it in top 3 but not the best. For me it is #2 personally because I genuenly like the show below way more but I don't care if someone calls me casual. Still bothered, though, that that show is way less popular in the West.
As for the show itself. I do not mind that we got typical shounenish "exam arc". It has interesting characters, good action and a change of pace. The only minus is that no Sein anymore and Stark got sidelined due to the plot.
Kusuriya no Hitorigoto is my favourite show of the season (and of the last year). I may be biased as it is my favourite LN at the moment. But it is not dumb, has a well-tought plot and intersting characters (especially MC). To bad we won't see the best parts unless they announce more seasons. But hey, official L Ns translation is catching up with JP releases so I can always read more. Just feel pity for the guys who don't want to get into L Ns as manga is only 1-cour and a bit ahead of the anime.
P.S.: I am thinking of starting watching Boku Yaba but as always I spend more time trying to convince myself to do something than it takes to actully do the thing. 
Edited by Nachtwandler on Feb 10th 2024 at 2:04:18 AM
Enyojing Dungeon Meshi, Frieren, Apothecary Diaries and Boku Yaba this season. Have been seasons with more shows more spread out, but also many seasons that have been worse.
![[up]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_up.png "[up]"){kind=icon}
In regards to Boku Yaba, if you try it I would advise to give it at least a few eps, the tone and character changes a bit in a way lots of people think is for the better.
Mid-Season Reactions
Megumi no Daigo: Kyuukoku no Orange 2nd cour: As usual, it's rescues and firefighter heroism all around.
Bucchigiri!?: What if Aladdin but with gangs. I like Matakara, and I hope for his happiness. Meanwhile, I wish that Arajin would just let Mahoro be, but I can't blame hormones...
MASHLE S2: As typical of Mashle, the comedy stemming from Mash is great! Also ended up falling for Carpaccio because I have a soft spot for emo-esque boys.
Blue Exorcist S3: It's nice to be back! Ok, Izumo's backstory was really fucked up...
Ragna Crimson 2nd cour: As usual, the action is what sells this to me, especially when Voltekamui came out of nowhere and Ragna, already tired from slaying Taratectora, had to fight him ON THE SPOT!!
Kusuriya no Hitorigoto 2nd cour: The mysteries thankfully didn't stop, though the revelations keep coming. I wonder to where this is leading...
Saikyou Tank: Typical fantasy with nothing much to say...
First episode impressions for a latecomer, Ninja Kamui: The esteemed Sunghoo Park is back with an anime-original seemingly designed to make the most out of the man's talent for insane fight choreography. It's a boilerplate tale of revenge, but it's a great excuse for bloody, frenetic sakuga. I'll hazard a guess that we haven't begun to touch on the full extent of the mayhem. Hopefully this show doesn't take its foot off the gas.
Must say for Bucchigiri!?! Im pretty much finding Arajin to be insufferable and how divorced from the plot he is. Mahoro simping for her brother is much easier to digest since she actually has goals and is pretty much doing nothing to hide her obvious contempt for Arajin. Matakara needs a reality check on Arajin too since it’s clear he wants to see the good in Arajin when he’s made clear by this point there’s nothing like that in him and I’m hoping the other Genie will do so since the OP has been strongly implying he’ll get him at some point.
Edited by OmegaRadiance on Feb 18th 2024 at 4:53:37 AM
Every accusation by the GOP is ALWAYS a confession.
I'm with you there. The kicker was that Arajin ends up jumping into the fray not from the baddie beating him up, and not from Matakara getting beaten up, but from Mahoro getting beat up. Then after he punches his way to victory, he sort of makes up with Matakara as though Matakara was his impetus for fighting in the first place?
This reminds me of how I always disliked the Rin-Haru situation in season 1 of Free! where Rin made it all about him and how he was all alone and had no one in Australia, and then the later seasons they just kept revealing he had plenty of people including the family that he lived with being close with him, he was just being a whiny teen cause none of those people were into swimming.
Edited by OmegaRadiance on Feb 18th 2024 at 6:51:37 AM
Every accusation by the GOP is ALWAYS a confession.
Strongest Tank: So based on how people keep reacting to our protagonist, either 99% of tanks really are just loads, or there's a severe lack of decent tacticians who know how to use tanks in a party.
It's a pretty common tropes in Japanese fiction about video games. Basically everyone want to be the DPS and no one want to be the tank or healer, thus create this stereotype that tank and healers are either useless classes or suboptimal classes because no one want to play them. It not helping that many JRPG don't have tanks and healers usually got swap out of the party pretty early on unless they can do damage too.
E.T technically is a Isekai movie
Tanks do tend to be useless in JRPGs (most have no meaningful aggro mechanics), but, uh, you need healers. Only the easiest of games are built to let you bulldoze everything with damage-dealers alone
I think a lot of writers just don't play the sort of games they're writing about? Like, a lot of those stories where everyone treats tanks as useless are supposed to be set in an MMORPG, which is a genre where tanks are usually 100% mandatory
I’ve only seen one episode of Bravern so far but I saw THAT scene from episode 2 where Bravern talks about being piloted. This is definitely a love triangle between a two guys and a mecha. Isami creeped out that this giant sentient robot knows his name and everything when rescuing him + scared as shit by the invasion.
Even got a chuckle when a friend linked me to the character designers twitter where they joke about how a yuri artbook they want to make would get labeled “Brought to you by the artist of Bang Brave Bang Bravern” on it after people saw what Bravern is like in 02.
Edited by OmegaRadiance on Jan 22nd 2024 at 1:23:48 AM
Every accusation by the GOP is ALWAYS a confession.