Chatterbox - Anime & Manga

AT&T was who owned Crunchyroll before Sony? I did not know that.

I know I already yapped about this once on the previous page, but has there ever been any particular reason given they decided to have Funimation merge into Crunchyroll, and not the other way around?

Edited by diddyknux on Feb 10th 2024 at 7:46:52 AM

Crunchyroll got more popular, I think.

Also, since we have less than two months before the Funimation content is fully integrated into the Crunchyroll platform and things could change as Crunchyroll is an ever-expanding service, I think we should keep an eye on the news.

Edited by gjjones on Feb 11th 2024 at 2:06:26 PM

I think there's a simpler explanation of Aniplex's US branch and Crunchyroll are both located in California while Funimation is in Texas so Sony picked the former because logistics are just easier that way.

Edited by Nouct on Feb 11th 2024 at 4:55:41 AM

I just found why 4kids was hated more than other hack dub companies back then: was merely the most visible, and one of the last holdovers of this idea that you should take a foreign series as a cheap way to make an American one. It was a particular focus of by anime fans because it was visibly antiquated even in it's era, and symbolic of how backwards that perspective was.

From the creator of Chainsaw Man comes the movie adaptation of one of his one-shots: Look Back, coming on June 28th to Japanese cinemas.

Edited by thuse on Feb 14th 2024 at 12:54:49 AM

Did you guys heard of the latest development of Uzaki-chan Wants to Hangout?

Nope,you'll have to at least elaborate

Basically, Shinichi finally proposes a marriage with Hana... and get funky all day long till dusk.

It's been building up to that for a while now.

It's going to be the climax of season 3.

Oh, there will be a climax all right...

What's better is that Take implied he may draw a Doujinshi of their funky time in all its uncut glory once he finished drawing the manga!

I decided to sit down and watch the entirety of the Ghost in the Shell franchise. I had seen the first season of Stand Alone Complex on TV when it was still new, and I had seen the original movie as well, but that's about it. Ghost in the Shell has three basic continuities, the original movie and its sequel, Arise which is sort of a prequel, not because it is in its own continuity, but it is set earlier in the timeline, showing how the Major forms her team, though here they make a point of showing that this is her team and they're not technically part of Section 9, like in every other continuity, and then the Stand Alone Complex continuity, which was made up of 2 26 episode seasons and a movie. The Arise continuity is four ovas, which then got turned into eight episodes of a series, with two new episodes being made as well, followed by a movie to wrap things up. The entire Arise continuity is essentially one big story, where everything is connected, and it gets kind of complex. After that I watched the two movies. I liked the original movie, though I didn't care much for the dub version of the Major. So wooden. Then was the sequel Innocence and I really did not care for this one. I'm just getting started with Stand Alone Complex and already I find myself finding this to be my favourite continuity of the three. I have memories of this version of the Major being very strict and humourless, but it seems I was just misremembering, because she's not that bad at all. Stand Alone Complex has a bunch of episodes that are stand alone, and are self contained, and a bunch that push forward the central plot about the hacker called the Laughing Man, and I find the balance between the two types to be really good. You do get a story arc, but it's also not all Laughing Man all the time.

I heard good things about this Frieren: Beyond Journey's End series. Can anyone give more information about it?

Post demon king slaying adventure, the long lived elf mage of the group basically goes on a journey of closure after the death of the hero makes her realize how her long life made her underestimate just how much she'd taken for granted how little time humans have in comparison to her. Despite that premise it's not an awfully melancholic series past the first like 2 episodes, it's more of a chill adventure as Frieren retraces her steps with a new team comprising of the disciples of two of her former party members but without the overall worry about having to defeat the demon king.

I have kind of lukewarm feelings towards the show but it's very beautifully animated and easy to like.

You ever see an anime and know you have to get it?

I just had that experience with a show called Death Parade. It reminds me of a mix of Yu-Gi-Oh! and Haibane Renmei where people that don't know they're dead play games for their 'life', and the main character is a soul judge who finds a conundrum with a soul that seems impossible to judge.

Death Parade is a great watch, and has one of the best opening and ending themes I've heard in a long time.

I recently finished the manga of Planetes. It's a very engaging read, lots of interesting characters and examinations of how living and working in space can affect people on multiple levels. The art style reminded me a bit of Monster.

Posted this on other forums, but I might as well do so here as well.

Good, gosh, I forgot just how much of a mess the second season of Valvrave the Liberator was. From how it crapped all over Saki Rukino, how Haruto's whole development was stymied due to focusing on his relationships with Shouko and L-Elf, Shouko's stupid betrayal, the Rune Memory Retcon, and just in general, not living up to the potential that the first half showed.

If the rumors are true that they intended for it to go on more seasons and had to cut it short, then that explains a lot. But it still doesn't make for a very compelling watch.

I would love for them to return to this series, or even do it all over via recap movies or such, if only to give it another chance. And it is still somewhat popular in Japan, what with it getting a rather popular Pachinko machine and Blu-Ray box set a few years ago.

That said, should it get a continuation, I doubt it'll actually be good. They'll probably just end up pandering to the most vocal and active members of the Japanese fanbase. Which just so happens to be the fujoshis who ship L-Elf and Haruto, alongside the group that ships A-Drei and Saki (the latter ship being one I can't stand). Seriously, that's pretty much all the new content the Japanese fans produce for it, and Sunrise is doing nothing but catering to them, especially the former (no offense to any fujoshi out there, you do you).

It makes me sad to think that the series never got to see its true potential, and any continuation will no doubt be filled with pandering as opposed to a true attempt to fix the series .

Heck, it ticked me off so much that I actually decided to, in a first for me, attempt my own rewrite of the latter half of the second season.

Want me to elaborate on that? Also, do you also feel similarly about it, or did you still think the show was good all the way through?

Edited by LDragon2 on Mar 4th 2024 at 8:55:54 AM

You might want to clarify that you're talking about Valvrave.

Fixed it. And my questions still stand.

Edited by LDragon2 on Mar 4th 2024 at 8:56:23 AM

First: you might want to post your query in the series thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=13657172150A43200100&page=1

Second: I would have to refresh my memory on Valvrave, but I broadly agree that the second season was a mess, and I'd read whatever rewrite you have in mind.

@L Dragon 2: There was always intentional homoeroticism between L-Elf and Haruto, to the point side materials revealed the entire reason L-Elf’s descendant looks like their love child is literally due to Rune genetics altering L-Elf’s genes and mixing them with Harutos whenever he fed in L-Elf’s blood(Which is also sex for the species natch).

It’s pretty obvious to see it coming when you know Okouchi was a writer for Valrave, just as he’s been for series like Devilman Crybaby, Code Geass, Sk 8 the Infinity, Witch From Mercury, etc. Okouchi was well known for his homoerotic subtext even before Valrave, Crybaby, Sk 8, or Witch From Mercury(where it was just text).

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In other news a bunch of anime won’t be streamable anymore when Funimations services end(they won’t be added to Crunchyroll). Anime News Network has a number of choices of shows for people to watch before they’re gone. including some like Tenchi Universe, Visions of Escaflowne, Code Geass: Alito the Exiled, Samurai Flamenco, Slayers, Eureka Seven, etc.

Edited by OmegaRadiance on Mar 4th 2024 at 10:18:57 AM

I think its also worth noting is that the shows that are on Crunchyroll are not always the uncut version. So if you have a few favorites that you know had changes from the simulcast to uncut release, better double check how uncut the Crunchyroll version is, if you care about that sort of thing.

Honestly, that subtext wasn't really a problem. Heck, the end with L-Elf finally calling Haruto his friend was a good moment I thought. I just wish that Haruto grew to become less reliant on him all the time.

In fact, let's talk about his relationships with the two female leads.

A huge problem I felt that kept Haruto from growing as a character was his relationship with Shouko. To me, that ship was doomed the instant he became a Valvrave pilot, given his inhuman nature meaning that he'll inevitably see her wither and die. But fine, I'm all for seeing tragic romances. Unfortunately, all it really did was stifle any growth he could've had. His refusal to tell her the truth about him really felt like he was trying to hold onto whatever he could. Okay, I get it. But as it went on, this really started to get on my nerves, especially once Saki entered the fray.

Rukino Saki. My favorite character in that show, and one who I still think is one of Sunrise's best heroines. Sure, she may have started out with less than stellar reasons for being a pilot, but she was unique in the cast in that she actually got character development and had more layers to her compared to the rest (L-Elf and Akira were the other ones that got that as well). Throughout the show, she showed that she was willing to always be there for Haruto. As controversial as the most infamous moment was, it still showed that she cared so much for him that she didn't hold it against him, saying it was the curse, not him.

Moreover, she was someone who shared his inhuman nature, and again I stress, never blamed him for anything she went through. And that even included how she was completely screwed over by the writers in the second half (abandonment, torture, public execution, all of which angered me to see). Heck, even though she loved him, she was willing to allow him to be with Shouko, despite her admitting that him losing his memories of Shouko meant that she may have had a chance.

But no, Haruto doesn't see what's right in front of him, and instead still chooses Shouko. Saki doesn't even appear in many of the memory runes that are lost, even the one that featured the other pilots (a stupid Ass Pull in my opinion), with the majority still being that of Shouko. Shouko this, Shouko that.

The thing is though, the fact that he didn't want to share his true nature with Shouko for fear of how she would react (along with feeling that he didn't have the right to have feelings) just says to me that it wasn't going to work. Relationships have to be built on trust, and if you don't have enough faith that they'll still accept you, then how are you going to function as a couple?

It didn't even work on Shouko's end either. She has a responsibility to do what is best for the new citizens that she now governs as PM, and trying to hold onto a childhood crush that now has his own responsibilities as a Valvrave pilot, and unknown to her, is also not human anymore is just begging for trouble. They just simply clash too much, all of which culminates in the infamous betrayal once she learns the truth. And to be frank, I kind of see why she was so upset, at least in terms of him not trusting her with the truth. But getting upset that he forgot the childhood promise. Girl, you've got bigger things to worry about than that right now.

Again, it just shows how I feel that holding on to this relationship really prevented either character from maturing. Why they decided to make this the main one is beyond me, unless it was because of melodrama. All I could think was why in the world Haruto didn't get together with Saki, as I felt both characters grew thanks to it, which I much prefer seeing in a relationship.

TL;DR: Valvrave really is screwed up when it comes to which pairings to focus on.