Chatterbox - Anime & Manga

Just starting watching the recent Animated Adaptation (two episodes released so far) of Cells at Work! (which woefully has just its first chapter fan-translated). Screw the minor biology errors, I love all the action and hilarity and fluffy cuteness and Mundane Made Awesome that I'm seeing. It's like my childhood memories of Once Upon a Time... The Human Body being played all over again, only a 100 times better!

Edited by MarqFJA on Jul 17th 2018 at 6:28:45 PM

Just finished Houshin Engi manga... It was an interesting one to say at least and i felt that this is pretty underrated

So, I have only two episodes of Golden Kamuy left. I really liked episode 10. Watching Tanigaki fight against the traitors of the 7th division and learning more about who Nopperabo was great. I'm really gonna miss this show.

Besides that, I have three episodes of Ai Yori Aoshi left and nine episodes of Tactics left.

Edited by pointless233 on Jul 18th 2018 at 11:31:02 AM

dont worry.... It will have a second season in fall so thats something to consider

I finally dropped Princess Nine. Episode 24 went from everyone in the love triangle being stupid to keep this thing going, to just complete scattering of disbelieve. Ryou won't even be exactly wrong about this one, but I can't treat this as a character decision.

The team is all at least fine when the show's about baseball. It was nice to see the team come together as friends. Even Takasugi is likeable when he isn't forced to say things like "it's nothing".

I was going to overlook the plot stupity and give it a 7 or a 6, but that last minute took it to a 3.

So, I've started Watching Lupin the 3rd: The Woman Called Fujiko Mine. I watched the first episode last night and the second one this evening. I have to say, I like it so far. The art is quite distinct and Fujiko is an interesting protagonist. I also really like the opening. I'm currently watching the English dub.

So, I just finished Golden Kamuy a few minutes ago. Overall, I found it to be a good anime. The action was pretty good and I found the comedy to be hilarious at times. The characters were fun to watch and I really liked their interactions with each other. I think Hijikata is one of the most interesting villains in anime. If there's a few gripes I have about this anime, it's that the animation isn't amazing. It does its job but it could be better. I also found the CGI not all that great. Lastly, it could hard to follow the different characters and their motivations at times. However, those are small flaws and I found Golden Kamuy to be a great anime from this year. I can't wait for season two.

Hinna Hinna

Edited by pointless233 on Jul 24th 2018 at 6:19:00 AM

Sorry to double post, but I just wanted to say that I finished Ai Yori Aoshi last night. I find it to be a decent romance anime. The art and animation still look pretty good for a show from 2002. The characters were decent(I found Mayu to be annoying, though). The show had some pretty heartwarming moments and a few moments where I was laughing my ass off. The ending was genuinely nice to watch.

I do have a few complaints, though. The comedy could be pretty hit or miss. Some jokes worked while some fell flat. Mayu, as mentioned before, was annoying and probably the only character in the show I didn't care for. Also, the relationship between Kaoru and Aoi could border on Tastes Like Diabetes at times. Besides that, I found AYA to be decent. Not a classic, but a nice show you can check out.

One more thing. I really liked the OP and ED of the anime.

Edited by pointless233 on Jul 24th 2018 at 6:51:49 AM

Aoi wasn't a terribly engaging heroine, so I wasn't invested in the relationship. And given that there was only a harem because she and the protagonist couldn't just come out and admit their relationship and therefore no one else had any chance whatsoever it kind of made the whole thing seem pointless. Doesn't help that even in the PSP or whatever version there's still no chance to go with the other girls.

But man, I have to say, I'm surprised anyone would still want to watch a show that old and unexceptional. Same kind of reaction I'd have to a sudden new Onegai Teacher craze.

'Unexceptional'? I mean, my impression is that it did quite a lot to codify the harem genre in the early 2000s. (I watched it for the first time in...uh...2016, I guess.)

Even if true, that wouldn't make it an actually good show.

I personally think Ai Yori Aoshi was a good enough show. Not really all that bad.

Edited by pointless233 on Jul 24th 2018 at 10:10:31 AM

It's not exceptional for being good, it's exceptional for its historical value.

Historical value to a subgenre that's dying/died out? And was never very good in its own right? And actually differs strongly from most things that followed by making it clear right from the start what the main pairing was and that no one else would ever have a chance?

I'm not being critical here. I mean, I am, but that's not my main point. I just find it surprising that of all things someone could choose to watch they pick a show that isn't particularly good or bad in its own right and whose effect on modern anime is tenuous at best.

Are harems really all that dead? I count at least four harem anime airing this season, most of which trace their relationship structure back to shows like AYA, and one of which is a direct throwback to that era.

They’ve become ingrained enough in the language of anime that the harem is rarely the sole draw any more, but the way that harem is typically set up was definitely shaped by AYA and shows like it.

Subsumed may be a better word. Like it's not gone and it's a big part of wish fulfillment in isekai stories and whatever but those stories are generally about something other than the MC getting a girlfriend, which is instead mostly just a subplot. Or that's my understanding of it anyway. From that standpoint you can see why I don't think Ai Yori Aoshi is a particularly meaningful starting position, right?

Yeah, I think you hit the nail on the head Arha - nothing's a harem anime anymore but there are plenty of harems in anime.

High School Dx D is all about the main character becoming a harem king.

There's even legitamate polyamory in it as well, something that most harem series seem to not want to do.

It was a Harem that evolved into a shonen where it becomes more about the awesome battles he has with his ever growing number of male rivals.

And he gets all his greatest powerups from love, friendship, and his love of boobs.

It started out that but went Shonen, the harem elements are almost completely gone outside of a cheering section and the occasional boob.

Your wrong. Considering the EX novels show that Issei will have over 10 wives in the future and at least one kid from each of them, the idea that the Harem element is gone is hilariously wrong.

There's more plot as it goes on but there is still PLOT. Which animewise means they have to focus more on the battle aspect and not enough time for the PLOT. Whereas early on it had all tthe time for PLOT.

20+ if you consider one kid per wife.

Edited by OmegaRadiance on Jul 24th 2018 at 7:20:05 AM

The other day I finished Kazemakase Tsukikage Ran. It was a decent little show. Very much a parody of samurai movies; instead of seeking justice, revenge, or some form of closure, the elite swordfighter travels around in search of booze and relaxation. The show was very episodic, but not in a bad way like Rosario + Vampire. It didn't pretend to have any overarching story, and just focused on the comedy and theme of each episode. The comedy was quite good, if not up to the standards of Azumanga Daioh. The main two characters (and the only ones who appear for more than a single episode) were pretty fun, and reflected the show's vintage, from an era before the modern roster of character archetypes was fully codified. The art style showed its age, and the animation quality was generally pretty low, although to Madhouse's credit they did bump it way up for the fight scenes. Overall, I liked the show and I'm glad I watched it, although I wish there had been a little more variety and better production value.

Next up is Dragon Crisis. Apparently this is some kind of harem trash featuring Rie Kugimiya, and everyone has to watch some harem trash once in a while.

Anybody here followed Sirius the Jaeger and Phantom in the Twilight? Made a thread dedicated to them btw.

So, I finished watching Tactics several hours ago. Overall, I found it to be a pretty okay show. The characters were okay(I thought Suzu was pretty useless, although I liked the final episode that involved her), the art wasn't bad(although it could get wonky at times) and I thought the last few episodes were quite good. While it wasn't a bad show, it did have filler and I thought that the comedy could be pretty hit or miss. Compared to other supernatural anime like Mushishi, Natsume Yuujinchou or the Monogatari series, it's not as good but it's a watchable show. I remember seeing this anime a long time ago on Sci-Fi back when they had animondays. That's what made me check this out.