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Iaboo, Youaboo, Weallaboo for Anime!

gogglebob

The Goggles Do Nothing
(he/him)
Okay, I'm not going to do a deep dive into a movie I want to see in theatres within a month, so I ask this for assistance in an important matter:

My wife is not an "anime person", but is considering going to the showing with me. What is the elevator pitch for this movie for someone that isn't automatically excited by space battles?
 

Kirin

Summon for hire
(he/him)
Dang, that is shortly before and shortly after my wedding. And while I'm likely to be pretty immune assuming I recover nicely, we're probably not going to want to risk my partner picking up COVID from a theater right before we're supposed to get married, even if the chances are looking manageable with a good mask.
 
I'm finally checking out Made in Abyss. This looks adorable! I'm certain nothing horrible will happen to these children and they will have a fun and pleasant adventure.
 

Kirin

Summon for hire
(he/him)
I'm finally checking out Made in Abyss. This looks adorable! I'm certain nothing horrible will happen to these children and they will have a fun and pleasant adventure.

😬😬😬😬😬

I just looked this up though and it looks like a second season is supposed to be coming out soon? Though there's also a film I haven't seen that may come between the two (in addition to a couple compilation films).
 
The final two Gundam: Reconguista in G compilation films are going to come out very soon.


I cannot understate how incredible it is that these films are even getting made, never mind that they actually finished them. It's kind of a miracle. I haven't seen all of them, but the first two are really well done and much more easily approachable version of G-Reco for newcomers.
 

Johnny Unusual

(He/Him)
We are heading to the end of the season and some of the shows are ending.

Ascendence of a Bookworm - My take on this series is
High Fantasy = snore
Noble/Church intrigue = OK.
We makin' books = YES!

Overall, not enough book making but thankfully even though the season ends with "shooting light at each other", it's actually a fairly satisfying season that reinvigorated my enthusiasm got the series. Some major things actually happens and for some reason tries to do a fake out to make you think "no more show", probably so you breathe a sign of relief when it's like "JK to be continued". And I do want to see another season but I hope we get more book stuff, which is how it got it's foot in the door with me.

Dance Dance Danseur - I won't say this is my favourite series of the season but it's a STRONG season when this isn't. It's one of the most gorgeous series I've seen, even with a Studio Wit show in the mix. The series finds a great place to stop the series with a big change to the status quo (including some unexpected decisions) and some tearful goodbyes. It's not perfect, as it's most emotional element towards the end also has some questionable emotional manipulation for what is intended to be a good cause but, like I dunno. But while the ending is optimistic and hopeful, it's also tinged with tragedy as appropriate for a ballet tale. I loved this one.

Aharen-san wa Hakarenai - Despite relying a lot on the same gag, where Raido keeps imagining wild stuff for his bestie to be involved with, Aharen surprised me by not only being consistently charming and funny but actually getting a little bit of a direction. Not that it needed it, as it is a gag manga series but what could have remained a BBF situation escalates more than expected by seasons end. That said, the show is mostly about the gags and delivers. It's easy to see this as a goofier Komi Can't Communicate but it's really it's own series with it's own tone and was a fun little show.
 
We are heading to the end of the season and some of the shows are ending.
RDT_20220618_2014177063956432939814832.jpg
 

q 3

here to eat fish and erase the universe
(they/them)
I really liked Aharen-san. It was just super nice and chill. Everyone in it is secretly a dork. Like from the premise you'd expect the male lead to be yet another self-insert but he's arguably the biggest weirdo of them all (and a total himbo). Also, yeah, it ends up surprisingly bold regarding the rom in romcom by the end. And it's somehow one of the more queer friendly examples of a het romcom, too.

Estab Life was another show that was a lot of fun and sorely underappreciated. It starts off seeming like it might be a cheap knockoff of Princess Principal and while it does have a lot of similarities it's a lot funnier, a whole lot gayer (really!), and occasionally even more thoughtful. It's not going to sell anyone on 3DCG if they're predisposed to hate it, but it's also not one of the bad examples, just fine to above-average visually.
 

conchobhar

What's Shenmue?
Mononoke (the avant-garde TV show, not the Ghibli film) returns.


Anniversary project or no, I don't think anybody could have seen this coming. The teaser shows only the smallest of glimpses of new footage, but the prospect alone is exciting. I can't wait.
 

Bulgakov

Yes, that Russian author.
(He/Him)
Mononoke (the avant-garde TV show, not the Ghibli film) returns.


Anniversary project or no, I don't think anybody could have seen this coming. The teaser shows only the smallest of glimpses of new footage, but the prospect alone is exciting. I can't wait.
Wow, this looks wonderful. Is there a way to access this in the US?
 

Johnny Unusual

(He/Him)
Tonegawa-san: Middle Management Blues is some underrated office comedy about a guy whose work project is a death game to ruin the lives of debtors, but is really mostly about office goofs.

Early in the series, Tonegawa finds it hard to remember his employees name because work attire is 'men in black' and many of them have similar names and builds. Eventually he gets it figured out but after his men fuck up, they decide to show their contrition by shaving their heads. This does not help.


Also, top notch narrator.

 
I've been watching Nadesico for the first time. This show just really wants to be Evangelion, but never quite gets it. It is the most 90s anime thing I've seen in a long-ass time, for good and bad.
 

Johnny Unusual

(He/Him)
It's been a long time but that wasn't my read at all. And a lot of things certainly wanted to be (ugh, Fafner, tryin' so hard). It is definitely a deconstruction of genre but even though there is some big drama and some shocks from time to time (particularly when the 70s mecha otaku dies early on or when his assassin goes nuts and kills himself) towards the end, it's largely a lighter touch. I do agree that it's extremely 90s and the first anime that comes to mind for comparison for me is Full Metal Panic (particularly the fact that in both the mech stuff is the stuff I respond too least).

Great theme song.
 
Ok, maybe I should have elaborated a little. It's not like Xenogears or RahXephon that are carbon copies of Eva and covering the same basic plots and heavily focus on interweaving religion and big fighting robots. But it is spiritually very closely aligned. It has the same sense of humor, the editing and storyboarding is stylistically extremely close to Eva/Hideaki Anno's entire directorial style. The rapid emotional swings between humor and gravely serious bits are very similar. As is the focus on otaku-culture, how women are portrayed, obsession with 70s TV, etc. It feels a lot like the show Evangelion was in its first half before shit starts to hit the fan and it becomes a downward spiral into depression-ville. It feels like Eva in spirit more than most shows I've ever seen that were obviously influenced by it. That is what I meant.
 

Johnny Unusual

(He/Him)
Some other shows ended.

Fanfare of Adolescence got less interesting as it went on with its hideous CGI horses and uninteresting characters. One of it's weirder crimes is putting in a clear Boys Love angle in the first episode which is completely dropped for most of the series. Then in the last episode the audience is teased with it and it's sort of there in metaphor but it's some fucking weak sauce. Look, I'm not a big BL fan but I can think of two shows that turned out to be dull disappointments where the hope of a romantic angle promised to make it more interesting and it never delivered. I knew Fanfare wasn't going to pull the trigger but the nerve of them to pretend in a completely not tongue-in-cheek manner is the final insult. That said, in my head cannon, his "passing of the horse talking powers" (don't ask) means they fucked.

Deaimon ends on an inconclusive note but it's OK, it was thoroughly pleasant throughout. I won't go out of the way to plug this baking slice of life comedy but it has been a consistent source of pleasure this season, even if it never stood out strongly beyond being amiable. It did what it did well.

Heroines Run the Show was a disappointment and I hate the message that there is apparently NOTHING AT ALL WRONG with idol culture right now and it's OK for fans to expect to have their idols be completely chaste dedicated only to THEM and they must remain eternally faithful. It put a bad taste in an otherwise cute show. I wish the show was better because I like the lead, a bumpkin with chunky brows and a never-say-die attitude.

Love After World Domination hasn't been the strongest comedy of the season but it does have VERY stiff competition. It's not perfect... but it's pluses far outweigh its minuses and while on occasion it has a weaker section, it is largely funny and the co-leads are a winning couple, two thick-headed sweethearts navigating first love in a supportive and loving manner. The funny thing is it's a little horny from time to time but also mostly very wholesome... BUT then the penultimate episode goes full tilt "the creator really wants to get his kink off his chest" and the last episode tries to give us a bigger story but it's one of my least favourite, with the smaller stuff working better. Still, I hope we get a little more down the line.

The Executioner and Her Way of Life is a weird little journey. It starts off as an isekai show with a twist but the twist isn't revolutionary. All the same, it was interesting to keep going and I was all in at the halfway point. But one of the things I liked is that mostly it didn't feel the need to do edgy stuff and then in the last episode is a lot of visuals of an evil child mutilating herself and in all honesty, even that aside, I was a little less interested, though it has some interesting promise for later stories.

Ya Boy Kongming! ended it's 100,000 likes arc pretty well. I felt the build up was a little long for me but maybe that's because Kongming himself doesn't really scheme for a while. But the payoff is pretty good, and I like while we get a great, clever scheme, it all comes down to faith in the person you are supporting. I do hope we get more of this down the line, this show is a pleasure.

Spy x Family had an ending that really wasn't. Obviously, we weren't heading to a big end but even that, the series had no coda or big promise or last episode element to feel like a wrap up. Instead, it stayed the course and with the course being so good and it's popularity all but with a second season in the fall, that's fine. I will say that the two segments that make the episode due are well balanced. Both have spy and family but the first is more spy and the second is more family and it's all sweet.

Kaguya-Sama: Love is War will get a "new anime" though they haven't been clear if that means a new season or a movie or something else. As I understand it, the manga itself has a tonal shift from here on out. If they were to end it here, I actually would have been satisfied. The big question was if the show was going to chicken out on the promise of a confession or it finally will and we have our answer and it is mostly satisfying. There's an element of "the more things change" and the characters realize they haven't entirely gotten what they wanted but it's more than mere progress. But more than that, the show is still sweet and funny and it lets them be cool and complete hot messes all at once and I found it satisfying. I'm glad we are getting more in some format but this season might be, if not it's overall strongest, certainly it's most assuredly and ambitiously directed.

Meanwhile, I looked ahead for the next season and this summer.... it looks rough, to be honest. A few things I'm excited for but still. Even the Science Saru show preview left me a little cold (mostly because it's social media-inspired show feels a little on the nose but I'm sure it will look good and I'm definitely open to it surprising me). There is a new Shadows House season and a Dr. Stone special but most of the other sequels I don't care and this season has a surprising number of shows that feel like throwbacks to the late 90s/early 2000s horny and/or harem romantic comedy era. Heck, some of them seem to be bleeding into the isekai (yeah, some already had harem stuff but there is an element that feels distinctly old school about it now) creating a perfect storm of "not for me, thanks."
 

q 3

here to eat fish and erase the universe
(they/them)
Birdie Wing is to anime as biblically-accurate angels are to babies with wings. The sheer audacity. I don't know if I can wait six months for more, but Birdie Wing doesn't give a shit about what I need or want. It just is.
 
Meanwhile, I looked ahead for the next season and this summer.... it looks rough, to be honest. A few things I'm excited for but still. Even the Science Saru show preview left me a little cold
Summer has always been the most doldrums season for broadcasting anime. IMO if there are even 3 shows that are worth keeping up on that's a huge W.

Anichart tells me the Tatami Galaxy sequel film is getting edited into a 6 episode series that'll air on Disney+ before it hits theaters at the end of September, so I'll be watching that at the very least. That by itself is big dubs energy for me for this season.
 

Johnny Unusual

(He/Him)
Summer has always been the most doldrums season for broadcasting anime. IMO if there are even 3 shows that are worth keeping up on that's a huge W.

Anichart tells me the Tatami Galaxy sequel film is getting edited into a 6 episode series that'll air on Disney+ before it hits theaters at the end of September, so I'll be watching that at the very least. That by itself is big dubs energy for me for this season.
I didn't even mean that one. I won't be watching that simply because I haven't seen Tatami Galaxy yet. Yurei Deco, their other show, looms beautiful but "society where people are obessessed with likes" feels like it could get really heavy-handed. Still, I've liked all their stuff I've seen so far.

Birdie Wing is to anime as biblically-accurate angels are to babies with wings. The sheer audacity. I don't know if I can wait six months for more, but Birdie Wing doesn't give a shit about what I need or want. It just is.
It's a show that is so damn wild that when it turns out someone has a cyborg arm, you are like "yeah, ok"
 

Hilene

Loves "Friendly Girls"
(She/Her)
It's a show that is so damn wild that when it turns out someone has a cyborg arm, you are like "yeah, ok"
WHY DOES IT HAVE BONES IN IT????

Also, this week's episode was turbo gay. Eve spends basically the whole episode making moves on Aoi in order to motivate her to play better. This is where the show decided to place a mid-season break?????

unknown.png
 

Purple

(She/Her)
I am not filled with tremendous confidence that the reveal trailer is jumping right in with that plot thread, not showing anything involving the rest of the cast, or being aggressively guitar-heavy. Are they straight up doing a sequel series some arbitrary distance furher down the timeline here?
 
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