N/A
Edited by SarenApologist on Sep 27th 2024 at 10:40:10 AM
Here's my home address, social media, and bank account!The other day I finished watching 3x3 Eyes. This is the oldest anime series I've watched by a significant margin, almost three years. (By complete coincidence it's also now the first anime series I've watched in alphabetical order.) The art style changes somewhat between the first and second parts, not in a bad way, but I do prefer a show to keep its art style consistent. The first part was definitely dated, and I can see how some of the visual language of modern anime was already there, but hadn't been fully developed into what we're used to now.
Considering its age, there's a lot of creativity and substantial amounts of graphic horror. I can see the influence this had on many later animes; the tone is something like Fate/Stay Night, the 'revived as a superpowered undead' trope shows up in Shakugan no Shana and Princess Resurrection, and the 'cute vs badass split personality' trope appears prominently in Elfen Lied and Rosario + Vampire. However, I also feel like the whole thing kinda wastes its own ideas, like the creators didn't realize the value in what they had and took it in the wrong direction. It's not just the rampant deathism inherent in the plot (although that does annoy me). The sanjiyan seems like the most intriguing character, and yet barely gets any screentime and her relationship with Pai and Yakumo is never developed in any interesting way. Likewise, the various servant monsters and magical techniques and devices that show up are mostly just there without being explained or leveraged for the benefit of the plot. While a lot of animes have problems with wasted potential, I feel like modern shows are more sensible about what they choose to do and squeeze more plot and emotional value out of their ideas. (In particular, Shakugan no Shana takes some very similar concepts and assembles them into a much more complete narrative.) As for the production quality, the animation in 3x3 Eyes is kinda hit-and-miss, with some impressively fluid scenes interspersed with other relatively static shots; but the music at least is well done and adds to the wild/ancient atmosphere of the show's mythology, and I wish it had a better story to justify it.
(Yes, I know there's a very long manga that continued years after the anime was made, but I don't think I'll be undertaking to read it anytime soon.)
Join my forum game!Finished Komada Jouryuusho e Youkoso movie yesterday. It was pretty good, in vain of typical P. A. Works "working" anime but about whiskey making this time. For me it was both entertaining, emotional and a bit educational.
Funny thing that despite the western screenings there is still no way to find it with English subs. Thankfully it was purchased by one streaming site a month or so ago, so I was at least able to watch it with subs on a language I am familiar with.
Edited by Nachtwandler on Oct 13th 2024 at 11:38:14 AM
Looks like US anime distributor GKIDS is being bought by Toho. Here’s the press release from the former:
You’re Gonna Carry That Weight.Short movie will be released next year to promote Full Metal Panic! sequel novels. The news came out via publishers official twitter
recently. But for some reason no anime news site has it yet.
Edited by Nachtwandler on Oct 16th 2024 at 9:18:12 AM
Apparently a UN human rights committee
has reported on the anime industry and warns that it may collapse if it does not reform.
Just finished watching Gakuen Utopia Manabi Straight.
It's a ridiculously cute and inoffensive show about a squad of moeblobs who take over their high school student council in order to inject more fun into school life. Seems to be pretty unknown, other than for the term 'Manabi line' and a couple of meme screenshots that don't really relate anything about the show itself. Set in the near future (2035, which by now is actually closer than the show's 2007 release date), it could be considered social sci-fi providing commentary on Japan's narrowing population pyramid, and a sort of lament on the innocence of youth. There are a few actual sci-fi technologies (the hoverboard and the holographic displays), but they aren't the focus at all, and other technology remains bizarrely stuck in the past (music is apparently still released on CDs). The characters are fairly generic for this type of show, with Mika seemingly being the main focus of character development even though Manami is the title character. The story is pretty watery even for the show's relatively short length, and feels like it regards itself as more than it is. However, there's some interesting music, the animation is fairly well done (this was an early effort by ufotable before they got involved in making Fate stuff), and some of the comedy and cinematography are surprisingly clever given the disarmingly adorable aesthetics. It basically has the cuteness of Strawberry Marshmallow without the sadistic humor. There's some decent voice talent as well, with Yui Horie voicing Manami and Aya Hirano voicing Mei (I guess she was signed on to do this before her popularity exploded with the Haruhi Suzumiya franchise).
Edited by Meklar on Oct 19th 2024 at 10:59:04 AM
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That anime inspired at least one meme. And it is a pretty good So L in nearest future setting overall.
Edited by Nachtwandler on Oct 20th 2024 at 5:14:27 AM
Watching MF Ghost, a show about racing, and one of the "tracks" (they drive on public roads) is partially covered in ash, apparently from Mount Fuji. Does Fuji spew out ash periodically? I'm not all that familiar with the particulars. Can a volcano spew ash and not be considered active, in the sense the it could erupt at any time?
Edited by WillKeaton on Oct 20th 2024 at 8:10:25 AM
The Vatican has unveiled its own anime girl mascot character ahead of the 2025 Jubilee. Source is the Catholic News Agency.
Again, not something they can have control over.
Anyway, I don't necessarily see this as cringe, but it is a bit superficial. If you want to "evolve with the times" and "stay modern" do something real like openly support LGBT+ (I know, that's a big ask, at least to them)
Edited by diddyknux on Oct 29th 2024 at 4:57:59 AM

Just finished watching Momo Kyun Sword.
For the most part it's exactly the shallow ecchi fantasy show it looks like from the outside. There are some redeeming features: The art style is nice; the soundtrack is decent; and the jokes are shared generously with the viewer and don't overstay their welcome, making for comedy that is less awkwardly forced than in some anime of this kind. Also, the story kinda shifts gear in the last four episodes, which I found stronger and more enjoyable than the earlier parts of the show, even if the plot is still pretty simplistic in terms of what fantasy action anime were doing by 2014. Absolutely nothing in this show is subtle or profound. Sadly, the animation quality is patchy for an action show, with a lot of fight scenes consisting more of still frames and flashes than properly animated movement. Thankfully the action budget is a bit higher for the last few episodes where it matters more. Overall, I find it a bit hard to recommend this show, but it's not offensively bad (the budgeted action animation did more to annoy me than any other single element) and I've seen most of what it does done worse in other anime.
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