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Iaboo, Youaboo, Weallaboo for Anime!

Johnny Unusual

(He/Him)
Whew aside from two latecomers, I've finally caught up with most of the anime I decided to try for the season.

"Deji" Meets Girl
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The Premise:
A girl working in a hotel in Okinawa meets a boy renting a room... who is surrounded by fish.
It Gud?
This is so short, there's not really a lot to judge here. It's not bad. It's watchable enough. But at two minutes, it is quite slight.

The Night Beyond the Tricornered Window

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The Premise:
A guy can see ghosts and another guy tells him they can use their combined psychic powers to exorcise them by hitting his spiritual cum button.
It Gud?
Look, I've seen psychic Boy's Love series before. It's not perfect, but Pet was a pretty good series about a guy trapped in a toxic relationship among a psychic gangster war. But this one is kind of a mix of hilariously ridiculous and unfortunately problematic. Let's start with the problematic element; that the series starts with a character kind of forcing his psychic power on the co-lead in a non-consensual metaphor for sex. Once they are more or less both in it's a little better but clearly one of the members still more dominant and forceful towards the other so that's not so cool. Yes, there was that element with the aforementioned Pet but that also was very much about agency.

One thing I did like is that it doesn't beat around the bush very long. What starts as a very clear metaphor... well, the metaphor quickly fades away. They describe their psychic union as "erotic" and it is clear both of them are getting pleasure from touching their souls. It becomes just plain text and I kind of appreciate that it isn't dancing around it with saucy analogies, especially because if this was a better show, it feels likes it could simply start talking about the characters relationship and sex used to process horror. Of course, this isn't an entirely healthy relationship (it's definitely implied one of the two is a little less trustworthy than the other) but it doesn't necessarily need to be to explore. But unfortunately, I think the show might be more interested in the sexiness of their spiritual orgasms.

And finally, there's a lot of elements that are hilarious, though not by intent (I think). The title is certainly silly and self-important but beyond that there's the fact that early in the series, the manager of a book store IMMEDIATELY buys into the series mythos as it is explained to him with no evidence. "I'm a psychic and your employee can see ghosts". "Oh, wow, cool." It's ridiculous and I kind of love it. The blond guy also has a weird laugh in one scene and while I think it is supposed to show he's slightly off, it just comes off as hilarious. The show is not to be recommended and whatever interesting ideas it has are kind of pushed aside by it's negatives but the sillier elements were memorable, at least.

Puraore! Pride of Orange
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The Premise:
An embroidery club decides to try ice hockey, unaware that the coach of the would be team also wants to make them an idol group.
It Gud?
Going into this one, I was not prepared for the idol group angle. Boy was that introduction where they win the finals between themselves and Canada then smash cut to idol number a left turn. More so when it turns out that... we just watched what I assume is the end of the series? I get starting at the last game but not necessarily the win plus a pop song. Don't you save that for later? Then the series slows it's role and starts at the embroidery club.

I'll say about half way in, I liked the show a bit more after a while. It establishes a lot of stuff that doesn't seem particularly important and feels like it could be done down the line. But once the premise is "coach wants to shoe horn an idol group angle into her hockey team", there's a little more fun, particularly during a "stretch" scene that's kind of cute. And I will say, the actual hockey playing animation looks good despite the fact that most of the series looks rather modest.

In the end, though, my problem with this series is my problem with a lot of "cute girls doing cute things" shows... the girls go into their lives but none of them seem to have particularly distinct personalities. One is slightly outgoing, one... looks at her friends and is happy (as if in the next scene she is about to die tragically), and one... has pig tales and is slightly less smiley. One of the things I like a lot about sports series are people with different personalities and outlooks coming together but there's not a lot of tension or chemistry here and I don't have a strong reason to continue. If you just want a light sports show, this isn't bad, but it lacks something to make me interested in returning to this world.
Tesla Note
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The Premise:
A girl trained from birth to be a ninja spy discovers that she is needed to hunt down the "Shards of Tesla" after an incident causes a train to crash from a portal in the sky. She teams up with an arrogant mail spy and the two must solves mysteries and help people.
It Gud?
Look, I feel like I'm kinder than a lot of anime viewers towards CG anime. Some of them look quite good. Drifting Dragons, Beastars, Batman Ninja, I like them quite a bit and thing the animation is actually quite good. So it is amazing that there are so many shows like Ex-Arm, that one Ghost in the Shell show and Berserk that look like such hot messes, it is ridiculous. Tesla Note is pretty bad all across the board. It's a show that on occasion uses cheap flat animation but most of it use CG and neither look good.


Tesla Note looks like a PS2 cute scene without the charm. It looks like they asked a VTuber to make an entire animated series all by themselves. This feels like the cheap modern equivalent of roto-scoping without the charm of those wonky looking 80s movies where they did that. And worse, the source material is not doing the show any favours. The comedy is unfunny, the characters lack charm and I don't care for the "shards of Tesla" element. I'm sure there is someone who likes Tesla Note and I feel sorry for them. I don't think I would like any adaptation but I feel like the bad animation and direction hurts the series even more, meaning people who would enjoy this get to see the series they like turned into a nightmare of a show.

My favourite accidentally hilarious moment is at the very end when we see some mystery man make a grand proclamation which is obscured by the fact that at the exact same time a narrator spouts whatever words appear beside him, making a complete aural mess and a perfect symbol for the complete mess this show is.

Rumble Garanndoll
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The Premise:
In the near future, Japan has been conquered by the True Japan Faction and their giant robots. Those standing against them in Akihabara; a giant robot. But not just anyone can pilot it... only a NERD can give it the proper power it needs. And that nerd is a host club worker who doesn't want to admit to his nerdly tastes.
It Gud?
Nah. There are things I like about it and things I don't but I'm definitely leaning to the latter on this one. It is a series that seems to be keeping the nature of what happened to the world unclear, save that nerd stuff is not illegal and only nerds can save the day. Overall, I tend to be nervous about such pandering, much in the same way that so many current isekai's are about shut in otakus who finally get to live again by dying. Though there aren't many specific references, it goes very much in the same direction.

I will say to it's benefit, I wouldn't call it's attitude smug, which I feel like it easily could have been. Clearly, whoever made this does want to say "loving a thing is fun but we get more out of it when we love it together", which I kind of like. But overall, I find the majority of the humour didn't work for me and while the animation isn't bad, it didn't stick with me. I do like that they went with a "cuter" feel for the robots (the bad guy bots look like they came out of Samurai Pizza Cats). But overall, I think I bounced off more than I liked.

I also think it's not the best sign when the only female heroine (so far, I'm sure the bad guy in the ep defects at some point, simply by virtue of character design and attitude) is a "battery girl" who... can't control the robot very well and is limited to powering the robot by getting pumped up about nerd stuff. Again, I like the idea of messaging that says "like what you like and don't let others make you feel less for it," but it also puts the female co-lead in a kind of cheerleader position rather than someone providing a more active role in the series.

Muteking the Dancing Hero
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The Premise
In Neo San Francisco, a new kid named Muteki comes to town in time to see a popular company called Octinq debuting new products such as Taco Taco, the octopus taco shop. But a DJ named DJ tells him to stay away and soon learns Octinq is using it's power to turn people into inky goo. The only way to turn them back? Turning into a dancing superhero!
It Gud?
It... I think I won't keep up with it but I also think it's good. Muteking is actually a (somewhat loose, I think) reboot of an older kids show of a similar name.
I can't speak to the original but this is clearly a show aimed at a somewhat younger audience with monsters of the week and a transformation sequence and elements that feel merchandisable. But this isn't Mazica Party, a similar type of show I had a hard time tolerating. Muteking, on the other hand, is doing a lot of things right. I like the look and character designs a lot. I can understand someone feeling blinded by the ultra-colorful look but this is a series that feels indebted to the 80s but is about now, more or less. In fact, there's so much 80s that the episode's first scene has Plastic Love playing on the radio! (nice touch). But it never feels obnoxious in trying to feel of an era and actually creates a nice looks.

I like the designs of the characters a lot, a nice mix of American culture and classic anime, and there are a lot of jokes that legit work, including a sweet-hearted waitress who only seems to know how to serve cream sodas. I like that the main character's best friend implies that he's fucking the main character's aunt (I'm sure it's more innocent but I hope they don't spell it out because my headcanon is they fuck). The villain, a CEO named Ceo Eight, is fun. This show exudes fun. Even the end credits might be my favourite of the season, styled as an 80s comic book.

And yet, despite my glowing review... I don't think I want to continue. I liked what I saw but I feel like the shine might wear off for me. I don't dislike formula (I still love the shonen formulas) but I feel like a monster of the week show is something I'm less interested in now. But if you aren't, I'm going to say give this one a try. This show is doing a lot of stuff I like and if you think it's going to maintain your interest for the run, all the more reason!

Blue Period
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The Premise
A young man with good grades and good friends seems to have it all. But his ties to his friends and homework require a lot of effort and not letting them who he really is. When he sees a painting in the art room, he's moved by it and begins to consider art and find value in it as he becomes drawn to expressing himself.
It Gud?
I love series about a process and Blue Period is very much about that. It's why I like sports series, as they are often about developing strength and techniques and figuring them out. But Blue Period also does a great job developing it's lead. He isn't the most showy character with a supremely unique personality but there's a lot going on in his story. There are a lot of shows about "guy great at everything" that rub me the wrong way but here we have someone who wants to be great at everything, puts in the work and does it but finds it hollow. He loves his friends and puts effort into maintaining his friendship but he never expresses his real self, instead just going on with what he wants to do. He works himself to the bone with his homework so he can get into a good university but wonders what it is for.

His journey is about the value of self-expression and when it comes to that, he does have some skill and is thoughtful but has a long way to go. This is the character I like but I feel like it is treated with a level of quiet thoughtfulness not often found in those stories. And I also think the series does a good job illustrating the world he wants to express as he becomes interested in showing how he can share his vision with the world.

This is one of the first series that Netflix seems to be doing weekly, a thing they should have been doing for a while now. Yeah, it's a couple weeks behind but frankly I can live with that. But more than that, it's definitely one of the stronger series they are producing and the kind I would like to see more of. I want to see this characters journey and learning different techniques and most importantly, the joy of sharing something in a way he can't simply through talking. This is probably tied for show I'm most looking forward to continuing this season. Here's the other one.

The Heike Story

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The Premise
In old Japan, the Heike clan is implanted itself into the highest positions of governmental power and are the most influential. But one member of the family is not so cocksure of the family's standing, in part due to his humanity but also due to his ability to see the dead. When he meets a young girl, he discovers two things; his family is responsible for her father's death and that she can see the future. Deciding to take responsibility for her, he brings her into his own family. Meanwhile, he is also hoping he can convince her to use her future vision to help his clan avoid tragedy, which she is understandably unwilling to do.


It Gud?
The Heike Story promises to be an epic in probably the best possible way: we are introduced to a lot of characters and there is likely to be a lot of moving parts and characters and trickery. But it zeroes in on two characters to tell a very human story; a father who feels the need to protect his clan despite the fact they they have a solipsistic world view and are shits. But the show still manages to sell him as someone we like, even if is plans are in favour of continuing a toxic status quo.

Meanwhile, Biwa, the female co-lead, is finding as awful as the family is, there are good people in it and some worth saving, which is likely to make for some great drama down the line. The entire thing feels like a traditional Japanese drama but goosed in a way to keep it lively. It's got this driving rock soundtrack along with it's traditionalist music and I feel like the storytelling is working the same way. It's antiquity and political nature doesn't distance us from the humanity and story telling that is actually fairly easy to follow in the broad sense, even if there are specifics that are likely to be lost on me.

I've yet to be disappointed with a Science Saru joint and this is one that might be one of their best looking series yet. I feel it's look actually lacks a little of the uniqueness of some of the other series, but it still isn't conventionally and definitely feels like it following it's own path in telling what I assume is a well known story. And I feel like a lot of tales work better from being told again and again, as there can be new ideas to be found. And I feel like whatever I've missed from previous tellings that this isn't a retread, this is something fresh and fascinating.

 
Aside from somehow getting into Digimon: Ghost Game, the only other show I'm actually enjoying is The Fruit of Evolution: Before I Knew It, My Life Had It Made. Now, the premise is straight out of the isekai handbook: A group of kids get sucked into a fantasy world and they have to defeat the demon king. And like others, our hero Seiichi is separated from the rest and has to survive on his own. Of course, Seiichi is an overweight, smelly guy who was bullied, which his BO turns out to his advantage as the first monster that tries to kill him dies due to his stench. He then survives five months by himself by eating 10 fruits of evolution (see what they did there?) and evolving into a perfect human. Oh and he meets a giant red gorilla named Saria, who happens to be a female and evolves herself into a buxom lady. As we can see from the opening and closing, Seiichi eventually winds up with a harem and this story is how he gets it.

So, is it good? Mostly. It's an isekai that is aware enough that it knows it's mostly silly and leans into that. It reminds me of Arifureta, only I'm not getting into a frothing rage when I watch it. It helps that Seiichi isn't an asshole and is a decent enough guy. Also, not having a "she's really hundreds of years old so it's ok" loli is a plus.
 
In this week's episode, it's nice for the uninitiated that Heike Monogatari is spelling out a few of its themes a little more directly, but it's fascinating, enthralling, and simultaneously heart breaking to see these characters - many simply born in the wrong eras - grapple with the slow dissolvement of the Imperial Court and all the pleasantries of polite society as the dawn of the Feudal Era in Japan brings the Bushi class to the forefront of Japanese politics as its main drivers. My Japanese history is a little rusty, but a lot of the personal characterizations of historical figures are also fascinating. For example, it's interesting to see Minamoto no Yoritomo being characterized as sort of dim and already a patsy to his Tojo retainers.
 

Octopus Prime

Mysterious Contraption
(He/Him)
I’m not sure there’s any show in the history of the television medium where “Skip Intro” was more of a threat than Cowboy Bebop.
 

Rosewood

The metal babble flees!
(she/her)
1st ep of Komi Can't Communicate: sweet and touching, and it seems nicely animated, and I appreciate that social anxiety is handled in a sensitive way. Though I can't help but wonder what this story might be like if Komi weren't the most gorgeous girl in school.
 

FelixSH

(He/Him)
A few days ago, I found out about Les Miserables: Shoujo Cossette, the Anime version of Les Miserable. I never read the book (still intending to do so), but really wanted to give the show a try. Watched the first two episodes, they were excellent. I don't know how it compares to the book, of course, but it feels like a faithful adaptation. I only wished it wouldn't follow the trope of making the good people handsome and the bad people ugly. But that's really my only complaint.
 

Johnny Unusual

(He/Him)
I meant to wait until I had TWO more show to talk about but it's too long

Ranking of Kings
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The Premise:
Due to being born deaf and being quite small, Prince Booji, next in line to the thrown, is seen as a poor inheritor to the thrown of his father, a literal giant of a man. But Booji is also kind, gentle and a little more observant than he lets on. Though he keeps a brave face, he knows he is seen as an object of mockery and derision from the people of the kingdom. But despite this, he presses on, making friends with a prickly shadow creature who just wants him for his lavish clothes. But perhaps he's been underestimated too much, because he has a strength and ability few people know about.
It Gud?
Ranking of Kings might be the most emotionally invested I am with a series this season. I really like the low key drama of Blue Period and the epic yet intimate ambition of The Heike Story, but Ranking of Kings had me very early on. I had hopes when I watched the trailer, expecting a sweet fairy tale and that is in there. What I wasn't expecting is it soon becomes clear that this is a shounen. No, there's no "chi" powers (yet) or exposition heavy info dumps about how the world works but with its giant dad (who is ranked as #7), sword fighting, characters with unique abilities (shadow body, snake control), it's clear the kind of road it's going down.

And yet, while it feels in line with the shounen adventure formula, it also feels like it's own thing. It's not deeply quirky or anything, but rather it feels gentler, with a softer look but also a deeply emotional story about a boy wanting to overcome his limitations and the ableist views of the kingdom. Even the people who love him have little faith in him, like his sword master. So seeing him has a moment of victory by the episodes end feels really earned on an emotional level. It's a series that in the telling of it's story sells a tale that I feel in many ways has been sold before.

It's definitely nice to see representation of the deaf in a shounen series. I feel like blindness isn't uncommon for a side character given Daredevil-like abilities but hearing impairment feels less so and to have a protagonist who communicates with sign language is a nice change. But it wouldn't work if the story wasn't effective and it definitely has drawn me in. I'm very much looking forward to seeing Booji and his weird shadow friend come closer together and help prove himself to be a worthy king.

I'm also going to say it's light poppy opening has been stuck in my head lately.

 

Zef

Find Your Reason
(He/Him)
Has anyone else encountered issues with the Funi site lately? I went to add some of this season's better offerings, but clicking on the + sign to add to Queue just blinked the page and did nothing. And I tried this with multiple browsers.
 

JBear

Internet's foremost Bertolli cosplayer
(He/Him)
I've always found Funimation's queue to be a bit of a garbage fire (I added a bunch of stuff a year or two ago and it just hasn't ever worked since), and haven't really used it much. I just keep a separate tab for each Funi show that I'm watching. That said, I did notice that they switched to a new player recently, so perhaps they've changed the queue as well and it introduced a bug?

FWIW, I think their mobile app is supposed to be better (it can't be worse!), so perhaps you'd have better luck adding your shows there?
 
That said, I did notice that they switched to a new player recently
Will confirm Funi’s website is historically trash. But the new player at least fixes most of my playback issues I used to have, including episodes never registering as finished and then repeating itself instead of just ending or switching to the new episode.
 

Johnny Unusual

(He/Him)
A bit late but here's my last review of the season

Komi Can't Communicate
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The Premise
A young boy starts going to a prestigious school and decides he wants to keep his head down and stay out of trouble. He soon finds himself seated next to the most popular girl in school, Komi, who is considered to be an aloof, unapproachable beauty. But the boy, Tadako, realizes there's something off about Komi and realizes she isn't aloof, she's petrified. He realizes she suffers from social anxiety and has trouble talking with people. Realizing she wants to make friends, he decides to help her work through her issues after getting to know her and becomes her first friend.
It Gud?
I'm going to start with the negative. I personally don't find the jokes to be funny. They aren't actively unfunny. They don't elicit eye rolls or a groan of impatience. I'm not unhappy when they happen. It's just that the big laugh moments don't have the desired effect on me. That sounds like a huge strike against it, since it is a comedy series. But somehow, it is only a really small one to me.

That's because the rest of the first episode is actually amazing in every other respect. It's well-directed and acted but more than everything, I feel like it's a triumph of production across the board. For a teen comedy, it risks being over directed but somehow it works and it knows when to downplay things. The sound design is noticeably good, particularly a very quiet moment where we have to hear a lot of chalk (which is my favourite section of the show). JBear pointed out Netflix threw a lot of money at this thing (notably something that didn't happen with the also beloved Way of the Househusband, a show I think is still good but unfortunately loses a lot in translation) but it's not just a rich looking show. I've seen a lot of pieces of shit that look really expensive. This properly allocates all of it's productions to the right elements and it works.

And in terms of character, I can see why the source material was popular. The two leads aren't the most unique but I feel like the characters are completely sold in it's last act, where it's wackiness gives way to a sweeter story, well told. There are shows I like better this season but I'm not upset at all if Komi overshadows it simply because it is one of the most well-put together first episodes. After seeing the missteps that Netflix have made with it's anime (Shaman King was never that good but that's animation is shockingly weak and generic for a comeback of a loved property), it's nice that one of it's first weekly series is this well made.
 
Time for some random thoughts on animes I'm watching or have watched! Because why not? I'll try to hide spoilers for those that care.

Faraway Paladin felt like it finished up after only 5 episodes. I know it hasn't, as there at least 7 more, but they let Blood and Mary die and now Will is off to explore the world. Which feels like a natural stopping point for a season, as they haven't even touched on the world as a whole. I'm going to keep watching, but I'm not sure I'm that interested in seeing where the story goes.

World Finest Assassin also keeps going. I think I'm getting burned out on the overpowered isekai bullshit as I watch the show, but I don't really care what happens other than to find out that this goddess who keeps reincarnating warriors from our world is actually evil or good.

The OP Isekai burnout is not happening with The Fruit of Evolution! Mainly because it has its tongue firmly in cheek about the whole thing and doesn't take itself too seriously.

Takt Op. Destiny and Digimon Ghost Game have surprisingly pulled me in. Takt Op got me with it's second episode showing us the main characters' creation as a fighting group. It helps that Destiny and Takt's infighting keeps me giggling. Digimon got me with its monster of the week not always being something that doesn't need beating up.

As for shows that have ended, Fena: The Pirate Princess feels like a show that should have been 24 episodes and not 12. The ending was...not great, with a lot of things that needed much more development for it to feel like a good ending. I still recommend it though, just go in with open eyes. If My Next Life as a Villainess doesn't get a third season, I will go to Japan and start breaking legs. That's how much I liked the second season. Sure, most of it felt like it was kind of filler, but it was fun filler that did nudge the story forward a little bit.
 

Johnny Unusual

(He/Him)
As for shows that have ended, Fena: The Pirate Princess feels like a show that should have been 24 episodes and not 12. The ending was...not great, with a lot of things that needed much more development for it to feel like a good ending. I still recommend it though, just go in with open eyes.
I was planning to post about this but got distracted but yeah, every episode of Fena felt like it was losing it more and more and the last two are a mess of nonsense. I mean, I had problems with NOT including Fena's family servants as her pirate crew in place of some serviceable but less interesting ninjas but then they killed off that cool antagonist lady circus pirate crew. Then it was downhill.

The last episode feels like it was aping an anime plot I feel like I've seen in other shows in which the main character must assess humanity's worth and decide whether they live or die. I can't remember when this actually worked for me but I feel usually this happens to a protagonist who may have a reason to hate humanity and then come to the conclusion that they are alright. So setting this up at Fena's feet makes no fucking sense because her "dilemma" is an easy slam dunk. Fucking save humanity. Don't, I dunno, drown all the fucking babies because you would like to live on a giant boat with her boyfriend. It's all completely unearned and uninteresting.

But yeah, there is so much that adds up to nothing. Like the guy who they imply will hunt down and kill the main character showing up for a hot second at the end or some of the pirate ladies being alive and like "great" but also "why and how?"
Yeah, it needed more time but in general it needed to be better. Fena started promising as a mid-tier show but I wish it managed to make it's characters more interesting and also maybe she gets to do at least a little fighting considering everyone was training her at every weapon, which doesn't pay off. I guess there's the point of growing closer to the crew except they never got to be particularly interesting.

Ranking of Kings is doing a great job threatening Oddtaxi as my show of the year. The main advantage Oddtaxi holds onto is that it tells a complete story and Ranking will probably end with the promise of more to come. And that's great, I will wait with baited breath but there's something to be said for a shorter work where it gets to show it sticks the landing and gives us satisfaction. But Ranking of Kings is a deceptively complex show, one in the broadest strokes is told simply but has a lot of implied weirdness and complexity in the mythos that ties in to this theme that a lot of the characters are willing to rationalize some bad shit with some misguided hope that it is in favor of something better. Its twisty and turny and I anticipate each episode the way I do Golden Kamuy, so that counts for a lot.

Meanwhile, The Heike Story is also impressive. Yeah, there's definitely stuff I'm not following from time to time but it's themes and characters shine through very clearly, a tragedy of a family that should fall and has done evil as a whole but has good people in it who are going to pay for the family's sins. There's a great (if a little on the nose) exchange in the latest where some of the good "kids" have to accept their family did some evil shit and shouldn't be expecting the kind of loyalty and honour they never extended to anyone. One advantage of not knowing the source material is not knowing where this story is going... except it's not going to have a happy ending for the Heike.

My Senpai is Annoying is a nice little comfort food show. It's not challenging but it's nice and sweet. And with the weather getting colder, I tend to gravitate towards the feel good in the winter months (especially since it will be another pandemic Christmas).

Blue Period is still quite good and I think should be checked out. Komi Can't Communicate is... alright and it make me laugh genuinely and loudly once in the previous episode but I could do without Komi's new mega-horny friend. Probably what the show about the nice girl trying to overcome her social anxiety doesn't need is a sex pest friend who can't take a hint.
 

Mr Bean

Chief Detective
Blue Period is still quite good and I think should be checked out. Komi Can't Communicate is... alright and it make me laugh genuinely and loudly once in the previous episode but I could do without Komi's new mega-horny friend. Probably what the show about the nice girl trying to overcome her social anxiety doesn't need is a sex pest friend who can't take a hint.

I want to do an effort post on Komi since the manga has been one of my pandemic comfort foods, but at least know that she gets phased out as the story goes on. It'll be a little bit though - towards the end of the first school year. Agari becomes their foodie friend as opposed to Komi's puppy and Yamai just goes away almost entirely.
 

Johnny Unusual

(He/Him)
Takt Op got me with it's second episode showing us the main characters' creation as a fighting group.
It's gotten a little more run of the mill as it's gone on but I have been impressed with the first three episodes considering it's based on a game and usually that's a bad sign. I tend to like the show when it slows down, like in the last episode that's about visiting a sort of open-secret speakeasy for music.
 
I think one of the things that has drawn me in to Takt Op is the piano playing. They could simply cheat and hide Takt's hands when he's playing and we would all be fine with it or just show a side shot of his hands moving up and down would be just as good. But no, they have to have someone play the piece as they record it so that they can later animate it. It's a stupidly nice touch by those crazy people at MAPPA and Madhouse.

And yeah, I would love just a road trip series with the occasional fight. I know it's going to go to some bonkers place because of anime, but I'll take what I can get.
 

FelixSH

(He/Him)
Just watched In this Corner of the World. With the wetter starting to get cold, I wanted to watch something nice and enjoyable, and found this on my Netflix watchlist, assuming it would be a nice anime. Didn't know anything about it, and if I had been more attentive at the start, I might have realized that, while excellent, it wasn't at all what I was looking for. It's about a girl, that grows up in Japan during WW II, who is born in Hiroshima, but moves away soon to her family in law. As mentioned, it was excellent, but also horribly hard to watch, at times.
 
MAPPA tends to do great work for animation quality.
It really depends. I wouldn't put them as anywhere close to the kinds of consistency of some of the other major studios. They tend to be very ambitious in both the plans for their shows, as well as how many shows they're willing to make at any given time. The results are often mixed. Sometimes they make incredible stuff. Sometimes, their works come up painfully short. Other times, they've made complete disasters. A lot of this boils down to the studio biting off more than it can chew on a regular basis and overworking their staff and relying almost entirely on freelance work.

Just watched In this Corner of the World. ... As mentioned, it was excellent, but also horribly hard to watch, at times.
Glad you enjoyed it, even if it wasn't what you were looking for. It's one of my favorites, a 10/10 masterpiece. And as a friendly reminder, always read the genre tags for anime! Here's what Netflix has listed for that movie:

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Johnny Unusual

(He/Him)
It really depends. I wouldn't put them as anywhere close to the kinds of consistency of some of the other major studios. They tend to be very ambitious in both the plans for their shows, as well as how many shows they're willing to make at any given time. The results are often mixed. Sometimes they make incredible stuff. Sometimes, their works come up painfully short. Other times, they've made complete disasters. A lot of this boils down to the studio biting off more than it can chew on a regular basis and overworking their staff and relying almost entirely on freelance work.
Mostly I remember the positives which stick with me. I can't remember the ones that I've disliked (from an animation quality standpoint, that is). Some are definitely better than others for sure; Tact Op.Destiny looks great for the first few and now just looks pretty good in the last couple.

Doing research, there is one I didn't remember as MAPPA, which was a real shit show in quality; Dororo. Like, something bad must have happened behind the scenes because the show in the later stage often was a weird mix of very bad and quite good. I remember individual moments looking good but felt like they were plopped in the middle creating a strong sense of incongruity.

All the other ones I'm looking at that I've seen I remember as being well-animated.
 

Rosewood

The metal babble flees!
(she/her)
Just watched In this Corner of the World. With the wetter starting to get cold, I wanted to watch something nice and enjoyable, and found this on my Netflix watchlist, assuming it would be a nice anime. Didn't know anything about it, and if I had been more attentive at the start, I might have realized that, while excellent, it wasn't at all what I was looking for. It's about a girl, that grows up in Japan during WW II, who is born in Hiroshima, but moves away soon to her family in law. As mentioned, it was excellent, but also horribly hard to watch, at times.

I can't avoid comparing this one to Grave of the Fireflies (which if you hadn't watched In This Corner... already, would be a red flag of sorts).

I've watched Grave exactly once and will likely never watch it again before I die. Corner I've both watched the movie and read the translated manga of, and the idea of doing either again doesn't make me want to crawl in a corner forever. "Some of us will endure despite awful things happening" is easier to tolerate than "people are shit and they'd just as soon see you die," somehow.
 
I would not compare In This Corner of the World to Grave of the Fireflies. Grave is borderline misery porn. In This Corner, while heart wrenching at times, is one of the more life affirming and tender films I’ve ever watched.
 

Zef

Find Your Reason
(He/Him)
I mean, Grave is mostly autobiographical, and even the dramatized account acknowledges that the author is self-flagellating over the real-life events, so I'd feel awkward calling it "misery porn." And of course, the narratives of Grave and Corner end at vastly different places. But still, "I should have been on the right side" (paraphrased) it's still a devastating line during the most heart-rending animated sequence I've ever seen, and it's precisely because of the movie's tenderness and kindness that it hits so hard --as opposed to, say, realizing that the major conflict in Grave is caused by, or at least maintained by, pride.
 

FelixSH

(He/Him)
I actually thought of Grave of the Fireflies, at the end of Corner. I never watched that one, but read, uh, 20(?) years ago about it, and wanted to see it. When I remembered it, a few years ago, it seemed to grimm for me, from what I had heared, and therefore wasn't interested anymore. But I do remember, that it also is about the horrors of WW II for Japanese people.

Corner was pretty brutal, at times, but it also had so, so much slice of live stuff. Sure, hard stuff, about her mother in law being unnecessarily harsh, and how their lives just got harder and harder, due to dwindling ressources. But still, you see people enjoying life as good as they can, and carry on, maybe even have some fun together. It actually reminded me of Ghibli movies, in how slice-of-live it was (probably my favourite aspect of those movies). It never felt, like it showed misery for miseries sake, and just wanted to give you a real, true depiction of the situation, and I very much appreciate something like that. In the end, even during war, the civilians carry on as good as they can. It's a very human movie, which makes the intense stuff all the more brutal.
 
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