Leadup Aftermath - More Anime and Manga

[TMS]

I meant to post this earlier but decided to wait until I could post comments on two shows instead of one.

Cardcaptor Sakura
This was the first shojo anime I’ve watched, so I went in not really knowing what to expect. I was pleasantly surprised to find the show more entertaining than I had expected it to be. I watched through the entire first series (70 episodes), also watching the two movies and various specials. It’s the longest series I’ve completed so far, beating my previous record, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. The show was just a lot of fun all around. As I explained in an earlier post, I watched the series because I didn’t want to introduce myself to the “magical girl” genre with a parody. Funny enough, certain aspects of the show, such as all the jokes about costumes and special poses, seem somewhat satirical themselves. It was interesting to contrast it with a shonen show. There was action, though it was often of a less overtly violent nature, and probably the biggest difference was the focus on romantic stuff. I didn’t mind that aspect of it, although I found Yukito rather a colorless character. They found a way to make him interesting, though.

Spoiler

Speaking of which, I had a feeling that there would turn out to be something special about him, given the “tsuki” in his name and the fact that both Sakura and Shaoran had a “love at first sight” experience. I originally thought that Yukito and Shaoran must have had some previous connection, and learning that the first time we see them together really was their first meeting made me suspicious

. I had only a few minor issues with the show. One isn’t an actual flaw, but just a personal preference thing. It might be said that

Spoiler

the series has antagonists, but no villains. I was just a tiny bit disappointed that no one or nothing really evil ever showed up. The closest we get is probably the sorceress in the first movie, though even she is ultimately motivated by nothing darker than love. I suppose that’s another difference between this show and a shonen anime. I thought that maybe Eriol was having some rather sadistic fun in the process of aiding Sakura's magical development, but the skiing episode seemed to disprove that

. But anyway, to sum up, it was a good show, and I’ll be watching the sequel series eventually.

Ranma 1/2
I returned to this show again, watching the entire second season. The main cast was considerably expanded, Ranma having to deal with not one but two powerful and exasperating geriatric opponents who become mainstays. Happosai is fine in moderation but can get somewhat annoying to the viewer as well as the characters. I’m wondering if they’ll tone down his presence in later seasons. I think the only other specific comment I have to make is that it’s a shame Ukyou and Tsubasa didn’t work out. They have so many similarities.

Tonight I’m going to start watching my next series, the Persona 3 pseudo-sequel titled Persona: Trinity Soul. It wasn’t very strongly recommended to me, and I don’t know anything about the plot, so it should be an interesting experience.

 

[Unknown Neo]

Great. CCS is pretty good. The attempt at a dub was so weird but hey. Clear, the sequel, is pretty fun. I have a joke about it but I'm not sure if it would be a spoiler.

 

[TMS]

I've been meaning to post again for a while now, but computer problems have made things a little difficult. Here are the two things I've watched in recent weeks.

Persona: Trinity Soul
I went into this not knowing exactly what to expect. When I first brought up the idea of watching anime based on games related to the Megami Tensei series, this series was not highly recommended to me. Despite this, I liked it rather well. It's connected tangentially to Persona 3, and aired quite a bit before the Persona 3 film adaptations came out. I'm rather glad that I saw the later movies first, if only because that way I understood certain things like what the characters meant when they talk about things like "apathy." One minor shortcoming of the series, not really from a quality perspective but from my point of view, was that the names of the characters' personas are never mentioned. Again, there's no reason why people should announce what their personas are called, but it's a minor annoyance for someone like me who's interested in that sort of thing. I had to look the names up on the Megami Tensei wiki. The way the three brothers had the biblical brothers Cain, Abel, and Seth for personas was an interesting dynamic.

Spoiler

Of course, if you know the names you have to know from the start that Ryo and Shin will eventually wind up in conflict, but I also liked the way Seth fit well with Jun's unusual situation. According to rabbinic tradition, Seth was the only one of Adam and Eve's children who didn't have a twin, so it's rather fitting that the person with Seth as a persona is two twins in one

. I liked the atmosphere that the show had, and all the strangeness surrounding the "Whale" and its feathers, which gave off a vaguely Lovecraftian vibe. Now that I know the full plot, I kind of want to watch the series again to see if I can pick up on things I missed in the first viewing.

Highschool DxD: BorN
After a serious show like Trinity Soul I thought I'd revisit DxD again by watching its third season (together with its six specials and OVA). This series has never been a particular favorite of mine. While not as bad as something like Maken-Ki, the over-the-top focus on sex has never much appealed to me. The third season has a reputation for being more focused on action and drama, some say to its detriment, but I didn't mind. I do think that it could have been handled a little better, though. With the exception of the early battle with Loki and his children, most of the fights are rather underwhelming and end very quickly. Antagonists

Spoiler

that have fearsome reputations have a tendency to get curb-stomped. Although this is often due to extraordinary circumstances, it does make the fights feel anticlimactic at times. Diodora's minions give the protagonists a lot more trouble than either Diodora himself or the presumably more powerful Shalba and Creuserey do, and returning enemy Freed is disposed of with even less ceremony

. As always with DxD, the season has its moments, and we get to see a new (and at times incongruous) side to some of the established characters, but on the whole I wasn't too impressed. The specials, as expected, are nothing but sexiness, and therefore rather uninteresting, but I think the OVA was actually really fun. At no point did I learn what "BorN" is supposed to mean, though.

Lately anime and video games have been getting in the way of more important things like reading and my various creative projects, so I'm trying to cut back a little and stick to one form of Japanese entertainment at a time. Probably when I finally finish Cyber Sleuth I'll watch Puny Puny Poemi. Not sure what comes after that. I may play Hacker's Memory instead of watching more anime right away. Anyway, what's everyone else watching (or reading)?

 

[Idiysar Almond]

Things i'm watching this season:
- Boku no Hero Academia S3
- Food Wars S3 2nd cour
- Persona 5 Animation
- Captain Tsubasa 2018
- HS DxD Hero
- SAOAGGO
Can't really say about most of them since i won't really judge anime until it is finished (unless they gave strong impact, either good or bad). As you can see, all of them aren't "new", they are either sequel or spin-off of something i've watched before. So i might be watching them entirely just because of "obligatory sequel watching".
Nothing new much about BHA and SnS this season to me, BHA still feel like average shonen to me, on other hand SnS feels more shonen (than it as food anime) with its new arc. About P5A, it's actually the first Persona anime i'm trying to watch completely (i've watched some P4A before, but didn't bother to finish, maybe later since i don't really watch game adaptation anime i've never played or don't have access to play), so far it's alright as i've never played the game. Tsubasa is simply nostalgia, some scenes are changed, character design doesn't change too much from latest reboot (AFAIK, last one before this was 2002 reboot), what i'm glad is they didn't try to put bad CG like most nowaday anime. HS DXD is still entertaining, probably since it's still more action-packed compared to most harem/ecchi/school genre; what i don't like is new character design that's so dofferent from other season, Rias is especially odd with this new design since she lost her mature vibe. SAO spin-off has been good so far, no more ridiculous Mary Sue-ness, though new MC is kind of OP.

Continuing from earlier season:
- Saiki Kusuo no Psi Nan S2 (winter 2017)
- YuGiOh VRAINS (summer 2017)
- Darling in the FranXX (winter 2017)
SKPN is still one of the best comedy anime i've ever seen. Every episode since S1 has never failed to make me laugh. Maybe it's because the VAs are so good.
The only YuGiOh anime i've watched was the one woth Yugi in it, so this is kind of "new" to me. I like VRAiNS' MC, Yusaku, the asocial socially-awkward no-nonsense serious MC (and there's a reason why he's like that). Horrible thing about VRAINS is though, the number of recaps it has. VRAINS new arc is looking good, the MC finally have actual friend this time, though i can't help but see that new protagonist has more MC-vibe design-wise than Yusaku. I just hope this new arc won't have too many recaps like first arc.
DitF was one of the most popular and hyped anime last season. Watching first cour feels like a chore really, too much MotW episodes while there are few good episode. Second arc though, has been better so far. What i like about it is the exploration of sexuality, what's the use of sexual reproduction when it's inconvenient (this strike my existentialist mood so hard since recently the question of "why do organism bother to reproduce at all when it's not needed for their survivability) and what would happen to human in the future when we got more access to modify our body more (especially about artificial enjoyment). Anything else about this show feels like other mecha show do it better for me though.

 

[Rohan]

Persona: Trinity Soul

Ah, Trinity Soul... the black sheep of the animated Persona entries. I actually kinda like it, though I knew immediately that it was doomed to obsolescence then obscurity given the fact that it contradicts the very game it's adapted from. Such a shame as it had some interesting ideas. I still want a Persona 2 anime adaptation though, plz Atlus I will give you my money.

Anyway, what's everyone else watching (or reading)?

Been watching a bunch of stuff from this season of anime such as...

Persona 5 the Animation: Been real disappointed with this. I keep coming to the question, "who was this made for?" as I honestly can't tell. Game players will be disappointed with the sub-par adapting while newbies are unlikely to get the full awesomeness of the game's charm and thus less likely to then play the game. On the other hand....

Caligula: This completely took me by surprise. An anime adaptation from a little known (but liked by me) Vita game, the anime is an alternate interpretation of the game's plot playing fast and loose that creates plot twists that even game players will be shocked by. If I had to describe the story, it'd be Angel Beats meets Persona. Definitely my favourite adaptation of this season.

Megalo Box: A spiritual successor and celebration of the 50th year anniversary of the legendary boxing manga "Ashita no Joe" (Tomorrow's Joe). In a dystopian future, a nameless underground boxer known only as "Junk Dog" fights in rigged matches for a living. When he gets in trouble with the mob, he bets his life on winning the international boxing tournament Megalonia to pay back his loan sharks. Dark, gritty but full of heart, with a bunch of awesome fights. My favourite "anime original" show from this season.

Legend of the Galactic Heroes - Die Neue These: A second anime adaptation of the 80's Space Opera novel series. I'm a sucker for sci-fi and this was right up my alley. Much more political narrative of the struggle between an Imperial Empire and a Democratic Union than a straight up action series. Definitely gonna check out the original novels after this. <3

 

[TMS]

A couple nights ago, I felt like eating some popcorn, and I needed something to watch since my hands were occupied. I happened to have Puni Puni Poemi on hand, so I thought I'd go ahead and watch the first part of it. Last night I watched the other part, and now here I am.

Puni Puni Poemi
My feelings on this OVA are a little mixed. Since it was essentially a spinoff of Quack Experimental Animation Excel Saga, I didn't go into it with very high hopes. The first part was something of a pleasant surprise. This might be in part because when I was watching Excel Saga I was constantly comparing it unfavorably to the manga, and I didn't deal with that issue here. Also, while Poemi is a still a parody, it was a shorter series meant to parody a single genre, so it comes off as at least slightly less schizophrenic than the Excel Saga anime. I could pick out the similarities to Cardcaptor Sakura pretty easily, and I'm pretty sure Poemi murdered Sailor Moon in the opening sequence, but probably, like in the other show, there were a number of references that went over my head because of my general unfamiliarity with the "magical girl" genre. The second part of the OVA was a bit of a letdown for me, since it felt more like a reversion to type. The humor could be amusing occasionally, though the only things that really made me laugh were the Excel Saga-related Easter eggs (Rikdo Koshi as a reporter stands out in particular). On the whole, the show was a pleasant enough way to waste some time, but it was just mediocre. I think that for one thing they included so many jokes about how bad their show was that in the end it became... well, very much like a bad show.

Not sure what I'll watch next, or when I'll watch it. I really need to beat Cyber Sleuth one of these days, since I'm trying to stick to one video game or anime at a time. I may try something new next, like one of the recent Godzilla anime. Anyone else want to share?

 

[Rohan]

Currently watching Sweetness & Lightning, a cute lil' series about a single father trying to raise his kindergarten age daughter after his wife recently passed away. He fails miserably at trying to cook even basic meals and is in despair, until a student of his (he's a teacher btw) notices what's going on and offers to teach him if he helps out in her family restaurant that's on the way out. It's an interesting symbiotic relationship and a bunch of other wacky characters show up. There's something magical about having an actual child actor voicing a child. <3

Definitely would recommend...unless you're on an empty stomach.

 

[TMS]

Watching Puni Puni Poemy last month kind of whet my appetite for more anime, so I've been slowly working my way through several short things, most notably Magical Girl Pretty Sammy and Godzilla: Planet of Monsters.

Magical Girl Pretty Sammy
As I said in my last post, I meant to watch Godzilla first, but since some time was going to pass before I had time to watch it in one sitting, I filled in the gap with this. Funny enough, it belongs to the same rather specific genre as the last new thing I watched, being a parody of magical girl shows. For a long time I'd thought that Pretty Sammy was unavailable to me, but happened to stumble upon it while considering watching the fourth "season" of Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ouki. This is a pretty old OVA. Animation-wise, the only things preceding it in the franchise are the original Ryo-Ouki and the original Tenchi Muyo! TV series. As might be expected, Pretty Sammy is rather different from Poemy. The parodic elements are subtler, and for the most part it has the same comic feel as any Tenchi Muyo! entry. One thing I thought interesting was the way the OVA is divided into three lengthy "episodes" that stand on their own, but which are meant to give the impression that they are excerpts from a full-length series. The second and third episodes open with recaps of things we haven't seen, and there's nothing of finality about the ending. (Of course, Pretty Sammy did get a full TV series the next year. Not sure yet if I'll be able to track that down.) It was also fun and interesting to see the familiar characters in a new context, as "normal" people. I can see why they decided to make Tenchi Sasami's brother, though if they're biologically related the implications are a little... odd. At least they didn't make Tenchi and Ayeka related to each other. And you have the character of Tenchi and Sasami's mother, invented specially for the OVA. Tenchi's father, curiously, is entirely absent.

Godzilla: Planet of Monsters
This was something interesting. While I can see why some thought it moved a little slow, I wound up really enjoying it. The setting is very different from that of the live-action Godzilla movies, but I'm glad that they did something new with it. There were a number of nods to previous movies, such as the various kaiju we glimpse at the beginning of the film, and the alien race based on the simian builders of the 1970s Mechagodzilla. Not sure if the other alien race, the Exif, is an homage to anything in particular, though you can see parallels with the alien consciousness from Ghidorah the Three-Headed Monster. Godzilla himself they sort of took back to his roots as a malevolent natural force, playing up the sense of Godzilla as almost a divine punishment. Several times while watching I got the chills, as sometimes happens with the best Godzilla movies. I was wondering

Spoiler

if the movie's ending was going to be a complete downer, since I couldn't really see them successfully killing Godzilla (particularly as this is only the first movie in a series). I was very surprised when they actually did kill him, but then it turns out it was only Godzilla Jr., and the real thing shows up with a bunch of brand-new anime powers. Then we had our downer ending... at least until the post-credits scene

, which has me looking forward to the upcoming movies.

Azumanga Daioh Theater Short
The first of a few minor things I wanted to watch connected to shows I'm familiar with. Not much to say about this one, except that it had all the humor and cuteness you'd expect of Azumanga Daioh. It seemed vaguely familiar, though I don't think I'd seen it before. Maybe it was adapted from the manga.

Persona 4 Specials
First I watched the five "Mr. Experiment" shorts. I'm not sure, apart from the wordplay, that I really "got" them, and I have no idea what the connection is to Persona 4 proper. Possibly it's a reference to something in the game, in which case someone may be able to explain it to me. Then there was the "Brief Lesson on Izanami & Izanagi," which was expanded from a brief scene in the anime. There's not much to it, though the note it ends on, with Izanagi breaking the rules of the Underworld by lighting his torch to see by, ties in nicely with the series' theme of discovering the truth and facing reality.

Infinite Stratos 2: Infinite Wedding
This is a picture drama the length of a half-hour episode. It's been quite a while since I last watched Infinite Stratos, so I was a little worried about remembering who everyone was. It was easy enough, though, with the slight exception of the blue-haired sisters. Possibly this is because the show's characters are so memorable... and possibly it's because the show's characters all fit into distinct archetypes. The episode itself was mildly amusing.

With that, I'm just about caught up. Currently I'm in the process of watching Full Metal Panic! Invisible Victory, after which I'll probably watch the third season of Ranma. Until next time...

 

[TMS]

I'm back with some continuations and spinoffs I've watched lately.

Full Metal Panic! Invisible Victory
The fourth season of the Full Metal Panic! anime, which I enjoyed as much as I did the previous entries. One thing I found interesting, because it's not something a lot of shows have the guts to go for, is how

Spoiler

in this season the gloves finally come off and the antagonists target the good guys directly and efficiently. In a lot of shows you don't see that kind of relentless attack. Instead the heroes and villains just sort of have rumbles off and on here and there, which of course is how Full Metal Panic! was up until this point. It's refreshing and thrilling to see some bad guys actually get serious about eliminating the opposition

. I liked Kurama as a villain. Just as he said in the first episode, he was a change of pace after Gauron and Gates. Another way in which this season differed from the previous ones was

Spoiler

the ending, which is a cliffhanger of sorts. I wasn't really expecting it to return things to the status quo, though

. Hopefully it won't be long before the next entry comes out. I'll be very interested in seeing what role

Spoiler

Leonard's faction will adopt, now that it's broken off from Amalgam. Especially since they have one of the two main characters with them, as well as Mr. Kalium, whatever's really going on with him

.

Spoiler

Rest in peace, Nami

.

Ranma 1/2 (Season 3)
I think I enjoyed this season a little more than I did the last one. Except for a couple little arcs, the episodes were mostly standalone, and various characters got a chance to take the spotlight. Happosai lost some of the prominence he had in season 2, which I was hoping would happen. There was some pretty funny stuff in this season, too. My favorite exchange was in episode 52:

Ranma: There ain't any ghosts in this day and age.
Ukyou: You never know. The world has lots of strange things in it.
Akane: That's right! [Eyes narrow.] There are sex-changing weirdos right in front of us.
Ranma: Watch it.

There's only one new character of any consequence introduced this season, and for a character who had so much potential to be annoying, I really found myself liking the "Hawaiian" school principal. He's not a particularly great martial artist, at least when compared to Ranma and company, but he's so off the wall and random that I love him. And the way he talks is oddly fascinating. Maybe it's just the sunglasses, but he really puts me in mind of Etemon. I hope he gets a few more episodes to himself.

Ah! My Goddess! (The Movie)
I don't have much to say about this, except that I liked it. Not the most memorable thing I've watched, but a good way to kill some time, like most entries in the franchise.

Danmachi Side Story: Sword Oratoria
It was fun to return to the world of Danmachi prior to the second season of the main show coming out. I don't remember some of the details of what happened in the first season, so it would be interesting to go back and rewatch parts of it to see how well things line up with Oratoria. I have a vague recollection of a few Loki familia members in the former show (like Bete), but it's good to see them fleshed out a bit here. That also goes for Ais, who I don't remember having much of a personality before. One thing I found particularly interesting was the mystery aspect of the story, with the characters and viewer trying to figure out who's behind the strange goings on. By the end of the season we know

Spoiler

that the driving antagonistic force is actually Enyo (I give the show props for making the main villain a mythological figure I had to look up) rather than Uranos, Dionysus, or Freya, who seem to be involved in more conventional, less dangerous conspiracies.

The show ended with a lot of unanswered questions, so I assume there are plans for a continuation at some point. Among those questions, lthough it may not be particularly important, I think I'm most interested in learning more about Fels. I really like his (assuming Fels is a he) design, simple as it is.

And that gets the thread caught up with me. Going to start watching Food Battler Soma: The Third Plate next. Anyone else been watching anime?

 

[Rohan]

Just recently finished a re-watch of "Aura Battler Dunbine" an anime by the director who created Mobile Suit Gundam and also one of the oldest "Isekai" works in Japanese media.

The basic story is that after a motorcycle accident, Japanese teen Show Zama is thrown into the magical world of Byston Well - full of knights, fairies and giant robots. Show is told by the man who summoned him, Lord Drake of the House of Luft that Byston Well is locked in a civil war and that he needs Show to become an "Aura Battler" - a pilot of the mysterious new mechs that have started appearing across the various kingdoms in order to bring peace to all of Byston Well.

But Show will soon realise that he wasn't the only Earthling to be brought to Byston Well and the truth behind the Aura Machines will threaten to destroy all worlds...

So yeah, a really good anime that still holds up despite being from the early eighties. That fact that it's directed by Tomino means you feel constantly on edge as anyone could die at any second as well as the fact that most of the villains are just as likeable as the heroes so when somebody dies in battle you rarely get a cathartic feeling but instead the bitter taste of a war as both sides genuinely believe that they're in the right.

Definitely recommended if anyone likes Gundam or that sort of thing.

 

[TMS]

Figured I'd go ahead and update now instead of falling behind like last time.

Food Battler Soma: The Third Plate
Just finished watching this. I went ahead and watched both cours of the season, so any spoilers will be for The Third Plate as a whole. In a way it felt similar to the fourth season of Full Metal Panic!, which I watched not long ago. Here, as there, we have

Spoiler

a new antagonist introduced who ups the stakes considerably, which makes the show exciting to watch, but a little more nervewracking than it was previously. Azami has a pretty impressive presence for a guy who's just a glorified food snob (also, the way he refers to himself with "boku" kind of weirds me out)

. But anyway, I liked the season very much, and I'm interested to see where it goes next. I had predicted after the

Spoiler

Team Shokugeki was suggested that the rest of the season would be them finishing up the standard elimination rounds, but I'm glad that they decided to jump right into the Team Shokugeki. They didn't finish it though, of course, so now we're stuck waiting for the conclusion. I wonder, if the rebels win the contest, what comes next, or if anything comes next. Once you've overthrown Food Hitler you've kind of reached a peak, but on the other hand Soma's still only in his first year

. For now, it's farewell to Food Wars, until I can get hold of the latest OVA.

Next I guess I'll be watching the fourth season of High School DxD, even though it feels like I saw the third not that long ago. It's not my favorite show, but it'll do. By the way, I'm hoping to watch Persona 5: The Animation soon, and I was wondering... would people who have seen both that series and Persona 5: The Day Breakers recommend watching the former first or the latter? Or is it possible to slot Day Breakers in at some appropriate place in the main series?

 

[Rohan]

Depends really. Daybreakers is really just a glorified advert for the game which involves the crew tackling a side quest to give you an idea of what the game is about and some of the characters.

It's not required viewing at all to understand anything in The Animation but if you really do want to watch it regardless then it occurs sometime between the events of episodes 8-10 judging by who's in the party during the OVA.

 

[TMS]

I see. Thank you!

 

[TMS]

Alright, time for some more commentary on what I've watched. This time I'm going to try and avoid redacting most of what I say, but as usual, there will be spoiler tags in use.

High School DxD Hero
Apart from the usual gratuitous ecchi stuff, I liked this season fairly well. There is one other fault that I tend to find with the series as a whole, and that's the way that concepts, characters, and groups seem to be introduced in a somewhat haphazard fashion, only to drop off the radar not long afterward, until perhaps they show up at some other random point further along. I don't know if this was something inherent in the light novels that the anime was adapted from, or if it was caused by adapting things into television show format. But anyway, the action was good, and it was nice to see more mythological entities get anime-ized. Hades as a skeleton dude was kind of odd, but I get that they were going for a generic god of death sort of thing, and I hope that eventually we'll get to see him do something instead of being forgotten about. I wonder if there's ever been an anime version of Mictlantecuhtli, which is what I thought of when I saw this show's Hades. If not, they should do it sometime, if only because I bet hearing a Japanese person try to pronounce Mictlantecuhtli would be hilarious. By the way, it seems to me that

Spoiler

having Heracles in a humans-only organization is kind of cheating. I wonder if he and Sairaorg's Nemean Lion will ever meet in battle

.

Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card
This, of course, is the long-delayed sequel to the original Cardcaptor Sakura. I really enjoyed it, though with some reservations. I don't think that it's necessarily a decline in general quality from the original series, but in some ways it felt a little too close to its predecessor, so that some of the former charm of originality was gone. I felt also that a few of the early episodes suffered from the same issue I had with much of Appmon, where the stakes felt too low. The show definitely picked up in its second half, though. After sort of seeing a plot twist coming when I watched the first series, I was eager to see if I could replicate my success here, so I spent most of my time wondering whether the solution to the central mystery was as obvious as it appeared. I remember

Spoiler

hearing Akiho say that she was in Japan to find a certain book and thinking, "Does this book have cards in it, by any chance?" I wondered whether Akiho was a magician, with Kaito and Momo being her Yue/Ruby and Cerberus/Spinel familiars, respectively. I also kept waiting to see Akiho's creepy plush toy finally stir

. In the end I don't think I can really give myself props for anything. While watching, I wasn't aware that the Clear Card manga was still ongoing, and so was somewhat disappointed and somewhat relieved that the show didn't try and wrap up the plot already. I was wondering how they planned to address everything that needed explaining with so few episodes left. Here's hoping it doesn't take 18 years for the next continuation.

Summer Wars
I felt that as a Digimon fan I should watch this movie at some point, since it's so famous for being a non-Digimon reworking of Children's War Game. Seeing War Game didn't quite prepare me for this as well as I'd assumed it would. I knew that there would be a lot more worldbuilding in general, since the movie wasn't tied into an existing series. What did surprise me was how successful Hosoda was at taking the premise of a Digimon movie and turning it into actual art. It's a film I wouldn't mind watching with people like my parents who aren't really interested in anime. Apart from general quality, I was also surprised to find the movie as incredibly moving as I did. Maybe the fact that I'd been awake for 20 hours after a short night of sleep had something to do with it, but I actually cried at one point (when

Spoiler

Grandma's letter to her family was being read

, in case anyone's wondering). I get misty-eyed watching things now and again, but something I've watched hasn't truly made me cry for many, many years. Suffice it to say, I really loved the movie, and I'm considering watching more of Hosoda's work in future.

That gets me caught up. What's everyone else been watching/reading?

 

[McGann]

It really is a terrific film. I've actually bought it as a secret santa gift for a work colleague. (It was a toss-up between that, Isle of Dogs, or Wolf Children.)

It's the part where

Spoiler

everyone starts lending the family their accounts to beat Love Machine that always gets me choked up. Something about humanity banding together and showing it's heroic and caring side really gets me. Same in the original Digimon film. I think that's part of what makes the fusion scene so powerful.

And yeah, the rest of his catalogue is great too. Wolf Children is especially beautiful.
Though I think Summer Wars is my favourite, as it has a great balance of drama and action sequences.

 

[Unknown Neo]

Funny story, I actually saw Summer Wars on TV when it was also my birthday. Good movie.
Oh, can anyone talk about what they've seen recently? It's been 10 pages so I kind of forgot.

 

[TMS]

Yeah, anyone’s free to talk about what they’v been watching (or reading, in the case of manga).

 

[Unknown Neo]

OK. It's December so it's time to finish shows. Besides western shows:
I finished Blue Exorcist the Kyoto Chapter. Which was pretty much more of the series. Watch it if you liked the first.

I watched all available episodes of Double Decker Doug and Kirill. It's a buddy cop action comedy from the Tiger and Bunny people. If you liked that, watch this. It's somehow connected. Also much like the fire character in that, there's a few characters that are different then the "norm". At least in a backstory.

I also watched all of available eps of SSSS Gridman. Since I saw the US adaptation of Gridman and my twitter timeline really likes it. But except for the obvious river field trip, it's not as... Well the style of fanart is mostly due to the fans, not the show. Like usual.

So next? Not sure. Have to wait and see.

 

[messi14965]

I was simply clowning, however likely you realized that. At any rate, I'll have the capacity to frame my early introduction when I watch the principal couple scenes this evening. The previous evening I read another volume of Excel Saga rather, since I'd been disregarding it for some time. As of volume 13 (I love the manga nidome no jinsei wo isekai de.), its plot is beginning to kick into high apparatus, and various longstanding inquiries have started to be replied. Its likewise began to get more interesting again these last couple of volumes, in the wake of having hauled a bit the few preceding that.

 

[TMS]

This is a somewhat belated post to make to this thread. I've just recently come out of a significant period of not watching any anime (or reading any manga, for that matter), but before that hiatus I read through quite a few manga (or just two, depending on how you count them), and have recently finished the season of Ranma 1/2 that I started prior to the break.

The Legend of Zelda: Manga Box Set
I got this box set as a gift for Christmas. With the exception of the Skyward Sword one-shot in the Hyrule Historia and the Twilight Princess series, which is still being published, the set contains all of the Legend of Zelda manga adaptations by "Akira Himekawa." In order, it consists of Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask, Oracle of Seasons, Oracle of Ages, Four Swords (actually an adaptation of the game Four Swords Adventures), The Minish Cap, A Link to the Past, and Phantom Hourglass. Taken as a whole, I liked the series. It took a little while to get used to Link being so talkative, but it worked well. Each adaptation is only one or two volumes long, so the events of the games are necessarily rather condensed - dungeons are typically reduced to their boss fights, and so on. There are also scenes and even a few major characters not from the games, which made it more interesting to someone who's played most of them (I haven't played Four Swords Adventures, The Minish Cap, or Phantom Hourglass). I'd recommend these manga to anyone who's a fan of the game series, and plan to read Twilight Princess once it's complete. I only had a few nitpicks about some of the plot changes, the only significant one being

Spoiler

the ending of The Minish Cap, in which Vaati winds up reforming himself and reverting to a Minish, instead of remaining a demonic entity as depicted in both the games and the Four Swords manga

. I guess it's also kind of weird that there was an adaptation for Phantom Hourglass but not for Wind Waker, but whatever.

B.Ichi
Not sure how many people have heard of this, but it's the manga that Atsushi Okubo did before making it big with Soul Eater. I wouldn't have heard of it myself if I hadn't happened to buy some of the Japan-only Soul Eater artbooks and found art from this series in one of them. Since I'd liked Okubo's later series so much, and this one was only four volumes, I figured I might as well read it. While it wasn't quite Soul Eater, I did enjoy it, and it's a shame that the series was cancelled before being concluded. You can sort of see how Okubo was inadvertently "warming up" for Soul Eater. Artistically they're very similar, of course, and there are times when you see Soul Eater's characters peek out of B.Ichi's. There are a few direct references too that Okubo included in the former, like the phrase "law-abiding silver gun" and the distinctive sentient moon. For all the similarities between Okubo's two series, I also noticed a strong similarity between the special powers and psychotic personality of the character NoFix (a very fun villain, by the way) and the character Accelerator from A Certain Magical Index. Like I said, it's a pity the series was cancelled. It's been suggested that some of the main characters are a little one-dimensional, but I think that there was room for their development had the manga continued.

Ranma 1/2 (Season 4)
More Ranma! I'm over the hump, so to speak. This was a pretty fun season. A few new minor characters, some callbacks to earlier stuff, and a couple of two-parters. The funniest moment (and I know it was the funniest because it caused me to spit half-chewed popcorn all over my laptop) was a scene in the season's last episode.

Girl Ranma: Now, Mr. Panda will jump through a ring of fire! Cheer him on, will you?
[Kids cheer.]
Ranma: (pointing at flaming hoop on a stand) Go, Pop!
Panda Genma, standing on a rubber ball: (shakes head, holds up sign reading, "Too hot!")
Ranma: (Kicks ball.) Get going!
[Genma falls off ball and into flaming hoop.]
Little Girl: Oh no!
Little Boy: The panda's on fire!
[A burning Genma runs around in a panic. The audience of kids flees.]
Ranma: W-wait a minute! (Burning Genma still running in the background.) How about paying for the show!?"

It was that last line that got me.

I'm now in the process of watching Persona 5: The Animation.