Anime Discussion Thread

[vanguard333]

39 minutes ago, ciphertul said:

Well, I watched season 1 of One Punch, and well I was right on my thoughts overall  on the story. Was funnier then I thought thou. Outside of Mumin I really didn’t care much for the supporting cast.

Oh. Okay. Glad you found it funnier than you expected. Sad that you found the story a bit lacking. Though, I must ask, what did you at least think of the following moments:

Spoiler

Saitama vs Boros. Saitama finds the most powerful enemy the earth has ever seen: a galactic conqueror with a similar dilemma as Saitama, and who himself came to Earth because he was told he would finally meet an opponent that would make him have to give his all. The frankly amazing fight happens, and Boros really did find his opponent in Saitama, but Boros could not be that opponent for Saitama. 

As it turns out, Saitama, despite putting more effort into it than any other fight since he got his powers, was still holding back to give Boros the fight of his life; the very thing Saitama so desperately craves. Unlike every other fight, where Saitama just leaves and forgets the villain he fought, Saitama actually stuck around, and remembered Boros afterward. 

Spoiler

The meteor arc. Saitama obliterates the meteor that was going to destroy the city, but the debris still lands everywhere and destroys chunks of the city, leaving many angry at Saitama. Those two Tank-Top brothers decide to use the opportunity to try to rookie-crush Saitama, and Saitama delivers his speech about how he doesn't care if they hate him or not; he didn't become a hero for that, but because he wanted to. 

 

Anyway, I still highly recommend Violet Evergarden. It is a fantastic show. 

[ciphertul]

14 hours ago, vanguard333 said:

Oh. Okay. Glad you found it funnier than you expected. Sad that you found the story a bit lacking. Though, I must ask, what did you at least think of the following moments:

  Reveal hidden contents

Saitama vs Boros. Saitama finds the most powerful enemy the earth has ever seen: a galactic conqueror with a similar dilemma as Saitama, and who himself came to Earth because he was told he would finally meet an opponent that would make him have to give his all. The frankly amazing fight happens, and Boros really did find his opponent in Saitama, but Boros could not be that opponent for Saitama. 

As it turns out, Saitama, despite putting more effort into it than any other fight since he got his powers, was still holding back to give Boros the fight of his life; the very thing Saitama so desperately craves. Unlike every other fight, where Saitama just leaves and forgets the villain he fought, Saitama actually stuck around, and remembered Boros afterward. 

  Reveal hidden contents

The meteor arc. Saitama obliterates the meteor that was going to destroy the city, but the debris still lands everywhere and destroys chunks of the city, leaving many angry at Saitama. Those two Tank-Top brothers decide to use the opportunity to try to rookie-crush Saitama, and Saitama delivers his speech about how he doesn't care if they hate him or not; he didn't become a hero for that, but because he wanted to. 

 

Anyway, I still highly recommend Violet Evergarden. It is a fantastic show. 

On the first point: while it was a crazy fight scene the end of it still felt the same. More or less Saitama kinda just humored him. I did dislike the whole fact that they both not only have the same problem but then both has the same prophecy told to them.

Second point: a little to real to be honest, it shows  the true nature of humans. I did like the fact that Saitama plays the villain. Just like he does against the deep sea king. 

Edited April 19, 2020 by ciphertul

[marvell2k]

This quarantine has allowed me to watch the entire Naruto/Naruto Shippuden/and most of the Boruto series.  Of course I skipped the filler episodes but at 38 years old I can finally check Naruto off my list.

[vanguard333]

@ciphertul I just recently finished Record of Grancrest War. I can understand why you disliked it, but I have to say that I really enjoyed it; easily the best anime I've recently seen, though that's not saying much, as the other anime I've recently seen are Code Geass and season 1 of Fairy Tail. 

One thing that I particularly liked about it was that Theo Cornaro (the protagonist) and Siluca (the leading lady) are completely open and honest about their feelings towards each other, get together as early as episode 9, and stay together for the whole show with no forced relationship or any bs romantic-subplot clichés; instead just being a really sweet romance.

I had to double-check with people who know a lot more about anime than I do, and they all said that it's pretty much unheard of for an anime to do that. 

[ciphertul]

On 5/4/2020 at 8:37 AM, vanguard333 said:

@ciphertul I just recently finished Record of Grancrest War. I can understand why you disliked it, but I have to say that I really enjoyed it; easily the best anime I've recently seen, though that's not saying much, as the other anime I've recently seen are Code Geass and season 1 of Fairy Tail. 

One thing that I particularly liked about it was that Theo Cornaro (the protagonist) and Siluca (the leading lady) are completely open and honest about their feelings towards each other, get together as early as episode 9, and stay together for the whole show with no forced relationship or any bs romantic-subplot clichés; instead just being a really sweet romance.

I had to double-check with people who know a lot more about anime than I do, and they all said that it's pretty much unheard of for an anime to do that. 

All that matters is that you enjoyed it, I honestly didn’t like siluca. I have mostly jumped over to reading a few mangas. It’s sad that most of the shows on crunchyroll are female leads. While there isn’t anything wrong with that, as a guy, i prefer male leads

[vanguard333]

@ciphertul I was recently watching a brand new anime on Netflix called Drifting Dragons. The premise is a fantasy world where dragons are hunted using airships in a manner reminiscent of 18th-19th Century whaling. The story follows the crew of one of the last "Draking" ships that isn't owned by a company.

It's a surprisingly lighthearted fantasy slice-of-life story with a fun cast of characters, and the dragon hunting makes for some decent action. The animation is incredibly beautiful, especially for a fully-CG anime. It's a fun show to watch that I would recommend. 

Fair warning though: it's brand new. So far, there are only 12 episodes, and Netflix initially had to put in warnings to the viewers that the episodes couldn't be released all at once because of... current circumstances. 

EDIT: Another fair warning: whatever image comes to your mind when you hear the word, "dragons"; the dragons in this show do not look like whatever you're picturing at all. Though honestly, with how unique the designs are, and how they come in lots of different shapes and sizes, it doesn't matter. 

Edited May 15, 2020 by vanguard333

[ciphertul]

7 hours ago, vanguard333 said:

@ciphertul I was recently watching a brand new anime on Netflix called Drifting Dragons. The premise is a fantasy world where dragons are hunted using airships in a manner reminiscent of 17th-18th Century whaling. The story follows the crew of one of the last "Draking" ships that isn't owned by a company.

It's a surprisingly lighthearted fantasy slice-of-life story with a fun cast of characters, and the dragon hunting makes for some decent action. The animation is incredibly beautiful, especially for a fully-CG anime. It's a fun show to watch that I would recommend. 

Fair warning though: it's brand new. So far, there are only 12 episodes, and Netflix initially had to put in warnings to the viewers that the episodes couldn't be released all at once because of... current circumstances. 

EDIT: Another fair warning: whatever image comes to your mind when you hear the word, "dragons"; the dragons in this show do not look like whatever you're picturing at all. Though honestly, with how unique the designs are, and how they come in lots of different shapes and sizes, it doesn't matter. 

Well, after playing Dragon Star Varnir, I just think “dragon” might be a state of mind. I know there is a few mangas I’ve read that I would like to see an anime of. Hopefully these will come to pass.

[CWGameplay]

@ciphertul

Boy do I have suggestions,  Starting off, if you like romance and comedy, then I think Kaguya-Sama: Love is War would be perfect.  It was mentioned earlier in this thread, but it's just so good that I had to suggest it again.  It strikes the perfect balance between comedy and endearing, good romance.  The second season is currently airing, and every episode is even better than the last.  Another fantastic option is Hyouka.  It's a little more subtly romantic than a lot of other shows, and the romantic aspect isn't the focus of the show, but it does tell a very sweet story, and is beautiful to boot.  It's funny, sweet, and enjoyable watch!

Now I've just gotta throw in my favorite manga for the hell of it.  Houseki no Kuni, or Land of the Lustrous is by far my favorite manga, and the anime is just as amazing.  It's tough to explain what it is without going into detail, but it's more of an action show than anything.  It only has one season, but that season is a really good watch.  Something notable about it is that it's entirely 3D animated, but manages to use that to its advantage, going full minutes without any cuts or interruptions during action sequences.  The colors and textures of the show are just absolutely breathtaking, and it goes without saying that the story is a gripping one.  It may not seem like your cup of tea, but I'd definitely suggest giving it a shot!  I think it went way under the radar when it aired, and deserves a lot more credit.

Have fun watching some anime!

[aradii]

Finished episode 10 Uzaki-chan wa Asobitai, a pretty simple concept, but one that I really like, and this anime is another slice of life anime with beautiful moments and jokes along the way, if you want to relax while watching something that will make you laugh and think about life situations, then this anime is for you.

[SSbardock84]

I gave the Vinland Saga manga another try. I'm officially just going to drop it now. I went a little bit further because people said I wasn't far enough, but I just really hate it.

[ciphertul]

7 hours ago, SSbardock84 said:

I gave the Vinland Saga manga another try. I'm officially just going to drop it now. I went a little bit further because people said I wasn't far enough, but I just really hate it.

Yea, if you’re not enjoying no point in trying to keep going with it. I did that with the Air anime and just finished it out of the shear desire that it got better.... it didn’t.

[vanguard333]

@ciphertul You mentioned that you like romance anime. Normally, I don't watch romance (I've often said that I'm able to watch any genre except romance and horror and that it's usually more that I'll try something if I find the premise interesting), but I have recently been watching a show titled Tonikawa: Over the Moon For You (apparently also titled Fly Me to the Moon in Japan), and the reason I've been watching it is that I stumbled on a trailer for it online and the comments section was flooded with people saying, "This will be the most wholesome show you ever watched" and the description "wholesome" particularly stood out to me. 

I wouldn't be able to explain the premise very well, so I'll just leave the trailer for it below. What I can say is that, unlike basically any other romance anime (or really any other romance show in general) the two main characters get married about 15 minutes into the first episode. 

Quote

 

It's a Crunchyroll Original, so you would need Crunchyroll to watch it, and it's brand new, so it only has four episodes so far. But I do think it is absolutely worth watching: it's a really good, really wholesome show that manages to be creative, funny, heartwarming and entertaining. 

Edited October 27, 2020 by vanguard333

[ciphertul]

9 hours ago, vanguard333 said:

@ciphertul You mentioned that you like romance anime. Normally, I don't watch romance (I've often said that I'm able to watch any genre except romance and horror and that it's usually more that I'll try something if I find the premise interesting), but I have recently been watching a show titled Tonikawa: Over the Moon For You (apparently also titled Fly Me to the Moon in Japan), and the reason I've been watching it is that I stumbled on a trailer for it online and the comments section was flooded with people saying, "This will be the most wholesome show you ever watched" and the description "wholesome" particularly stood out to me. 

I wouldn't be able to explain the premise very well, so I'll just leave the trailer for it below. What I can say is that, unlike basically any other romance anime (or really any other romance show in general) the two main characters get married about 15 minutes into the first episode. 

It's a Crunchyroll Original, so you would need Crunchyroll to watch it, and it's brand new, so it only has four episodes so far. But I do think it is absolutely worth watching: it's a really good, really wholesome show that manages to be creative, funny, heartwarming and entertaining. 

Ahh, wholesome and heartwarming are pretty common in mangas, I do wish they would make some of them into animes thou, Once it gets more episode I'll probably check it out. I have to watch them in fairly quick session or I'll have to restart it.

[vanguard333]

59 minutes ago, ciphertul said:

Ahh, wholesome and heartwarming are pretty common in mangas, I do wish they would make some of them into animes thou, Once it gets more episode I'll probably check it out. I have to watch them in fairly quick session or I'll have to restart it.

Sounds good. I can completely understand wanting to wait until there are more episodes. I was watching Boruto some months back and watching multiple episodes at a time was fine, but one a week during the more recent arc became a slog. I'll get back to watching it at some point now that that arc is over. This show (Tonikawa), however, I have no problem watching one episode a week. 

[ciphertul]

7 hours ago, vanguard333 said:

Sounds good. I can completely understand wanting to wait until there are more episodes. I was watching Boruto some months back and watching multiple episodes at a time was fine, but one a week during the more recent arc became a slog. I'll get back to watching it at some point now that that arc is over. This show (Tonikawa), however, I have no problem watching one episode a week. 

It makes sense if it really isn’t your genre. Even show I know I like, I have to watch together. However if you don’t mind adult(Nudity) content, I would highly recommend Speed Grapher to you.

[fevermario]

I got my Friend into Fist Of The North Star, his favorite characters so far were Toki, Rei, and Juza, he just finished part 1 and is starting on part 2 now.

He also recommended to me, an OVA series called "Gunsmith Cat's" that I just finished the 3rd episode of.

[Tediz64]

I want to take this opportunity to promote MAL (my anime list) website. It is aggregate site with info compiled from hundreds of animes and manga with info on producers, studios, voice actors, and hosts a section for reviews, forums, and more.

They also partnered with two business (crunchyroll being one of them) so they even have videos provided for a limited amount of anime making them official and not just another pirated site. 

The biggest feature I love is that fact that after you create an account, you can manage multiple lists. You can have a "plan to watch", "on-hold", "completed", and more. This lets you keep track of what you've seen, what episode you left off on, rate the anime and review if you want.

It is one of the best official sites that supports the industry and helps you create a catalog of all the animes you want. Plus the sites search feature can be used to narrow down searches however you want. Based off year, studio, genre, voice actors, and more so that you can find something to watch.

I think that should about cover it. Now I'm done with the shameless advertisement lol.

Now as far as recommendations go....well if you had an account there I could share with you my list and show you hundreds of anime. I saw you listed one or Key's anime that also was a favorite of mine, Clannad. Great visual novel. Have you tried Kanon or Angel Beats!--? Those were great tear-jerkers im sure you'd love. A good idol anime I'd recommend would be Idol Masters or Love Live. 

Just in case you didn't hear (since I saw you mentioned it) Slime got the green light and has season two in production. Also Death March should definitely be added to your read list. The anime is great but I dunno about you, I am not patient and can't wait for season 2 and when I started reading it man was the story awesome. Satou really helps his side cast grow so much more in the manga and light novel. Lulu and Arisa are portrayed much more differently as the manga progresses. 

I saw Fairy Tail's named dropped but didn't read if you seen it in this forum. If not, it's also a pretty good fuzzy feeling anime with the occasional hint that Natsu x Lucy might have feelings for each other. If however, you can overcome that super annoying mascot character ironically named Happy. The fans go all out creating fan fics of Levy x Gajeel and also Gray x Juvia. 

There are loads of people active in the community on MAL. You can really have good discussions and gain new insight or perspectives into animes there. I highly recommend going there.

[Lyn]

I'm currently watching Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon. Planning to watch  Record of Grancrest War and Yona of the Dawn. 

[vanguard333]

1 hour ago, Lyn said:

I'm currently watching Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon. Planning to watch  Record of Grancrest War and Yona of the Dawn. 

Cool. The only one of those that I've seen is Record of Grancrest War. It's pretty good. I wouldn't mention it around ciphertul (the person who started this thread) though; he doesn't like it.

 

I'm currently watching a brand new mecha anime called 86 EIGHTY-SIX. The premise of it is that an expansionist empire has unleashed an army of drones called The Legion. In response, the Republic of San Magnolia moved much of its population into 85 districts behind a series of defensive walls, and the military tells these citizens that, outside the walls, The Legion is being repelled by the republic's own drones, resulting in zero-casualty warfare.

There's no such thing as zero-casualty warfare.

The republic's drones aren't actually drones; they're mechs that are piloted by the 86s: the people that were stripped of all rights and left outside the walls because they were part of marginalized groups within the republic.

It's a very interesting and compelling narrative with a ton of relevant social commentary about nations throwing marginalized groups of people under the bus during crises. Here's the trailer for it:

Quote

 

 

[ciphertul]

I haven’t watched anything new lately but I can’t wait for the SpyxFamily and Komi can’t communicate animes that are in the make.

[Lyn]

I'm rewatching Record of Lodoss War. 

[Fabulously Olivier]

I've recently got back into anime. Favorites of all time are FMA Brotherhood, Black Cat, Code Geass, Yu Yu Hakusho, and the (unfortunately unfinished) D.Gray-man.

 

Caught up on My Hero Academia. I'm not normally into the mainstream shounens, but this one hooked me with its unique setting and likeable cast. Deku as a protagonist finds a comfortable middle ground between your generic Shounen protagonists and your wimpy reluctant heroes like Shinji from Evangelion or pre-timeskip Simon from TTGL. He's well-written, sympathetic, understandable, and never really gets insufferable in either direction. I can't stand Shounen screamers like those of Naruto and Black Clover, and I have no love for the wimps either, so it is testament to good writing that they were able to competently craft a character who risks towing both lines.

 

Then watched Goblin Slayer. That was a uh... that was a thing. It could have done without the gratuitous nudity and themes, but I get why they went that direction. The core experience is worth watching, but the Adults Only nature of the show makes it a difficult recommendation.

 

Tried Demon Slayer and found it pretty mediocre, though I intend to go further. I certainly don't agree with the comparisons to Rurouni Kenshin beyond the samurai aesthetic, and Kenshin had a charisma that Tanjiro does not.

 

Rising of the Shield Hero was a lot of fun, even though I don't tend to like Isekai trash like SAO. It helps that the typical Isekai protagonists are the other heroes, while the main protagonist bucks the trend by being unfamiliar with the rules of the universe and being subjected to constant, unfair adversity. That helps him grow while the others realistically take their positions for granted and stagnate. It takes on aspects of more normal Isekai harem garbage as it progresses, but it also feels earned.

 

Now watching Dr. Stone, which has quickly become a favorite. Bill Nye the Stone Age Guy is a unique concept for an anime, and it's always refreshing seeing protagonists who are more inclined to solve problems mentally than physically. The comedy works and the fight scenes do to. And it throws the occassional emotional gut punch too.

 

I did try Grancrest. Deeply mediocre anime built to the brim on convenience and ass-pulls. It takes no time to acclimate you to the rules of its frankly unimmersive, video gamey universe, and the protagonist just seems to have everything set up for him by more competent characters. It is, without exaggeration, like watching a diet version of Rising of the Shield Hero.

Edited June 23, 2021 by Fabulously Olivier

[Etrurian emperor]

4 hours ago, Fabulously Olivier said:

I've recently got back into anime. Favorites of all time are FMA Brotherhood

FMA is still the best one out there. Next month they're supposed to have a big reveal to accompany its 20th birthday. 

[Fabulously Olivier]

2 hours ago, Etrurian emperor said:

FMA is still the best one out there. Next month they're supposed to have a big reveal to accompany its 20th birthday. 

FMA Warriors? Awww yea, boi!

 

In seriousness, whatever it is, I'm excited for it. FMAB really is the best anime of all time.

Edited June 23, 2021 by Fabulously Olivier

[vanguard333]

14 hours ago, Fabulously Olivier said:

I've recently got back into anime. Favorites of all time are FMA Brotherhood, Black Cat, Code Geass, Yu Yu Hakusho, and the (unfortunately unfinished) D.Gray-man.

I've only seen the first and third ones you listed (FMA:B and Code Geass). FMA:B is absolutely fantastic; one of the best shonen anime if not the best shonen anime. Code Geass… had some really interesting concepts; real shame how those concepts ended up in execution.

 

14 hours ago, Fabulously Olivier said:

Caught up on My Hero Academia. I'm not normally into the mainstream shounens, but this one hooked me with its unique setting and likeable cast. Deku as a protagonist finds a comfortable middle ground between your generic Shounen protagonists and your wimpy reluctant heroes like Shinji from Evangelion or pre-timeskip Simon from TTGL. He's well-written, sympathetic, understandable, and never really gets insufferable in either direction. I can't stand Shounen screamers like those of Naruto and Black Clover, and I have no love for the wimps either, so it is testament to good writing that they were able to competently craft a character who risks towing both lines.

My Hero Academia is definitely good, and Deku is definitely a good protagonist.

As for what you said about Black Clover, Asta only screams a lot in the first few episodes, and that was mainly because it was the voice actor's first ever role. After those first several episodes or so, the screaming gets seriously dialed back and the voice actor improves a lot. I know you're referring to the type of shonen protagonist rather than the screaming specifically, but I thought it was worth pointing out.

 

14 hours ago, Fabulously Olivier said:

I did try Grancrest. Deeply mediocre anime built to the brim on convenience and ass-pulls. It takes no time to acclimate you to the rules of its frankly unimmersive, video gamey universe, and the protagonist just seems to have everything set up for him by more competent characters. It is, without exaggeration, like watching a diet version of Rising of the Shield Hero.

Huh; I've heard people say Grancrest is good, I've heard people say Grancrest is bad, but I've never seen someone say it was mediocre before. That's new.

What conveniences and a**-pulls? I don't recall any such things except maybe Theo encountering Siluca, and that one I give a partial-pass to because: 1) it's right at the beginning, so there's some allowance there, and 2) Theo's basically a vagabond at the start of the show, so it's not implausible.

I agree about the show rushing from point a to b and not taking the time to properly introduce the viewer to the setting; that is absolutely one of its biggest problems. I wouldn't say that the setting is unimmersive though; it's fairly well-realized with the different factions and cultures as well as Chaos and the Crests and such. Funny that you describe it as "video gamey" since the original light novel was developed in parallel to a tabletop RPG.

I suppose that bit about the protagonist is true early on, but it quickly got deconstructed with characters beginning to suspect that Theo's just a puppet for Siluca, and when Siluca learns about that, she begins trying to avoid just setting everything up for him and Theo starts taking a lot more initiative, and I kind-of liked that and I thought it was an interesting way to develop their dynamic.

I haven't seen Shield Hero so I don't really understand the comparison.

 

By the way, given your list of anime includes stuff like Grancrest, FMA:B and Code Geass, I think you would really like 86 EIGHTY-SIX which I mentioned earlier in an earlier reply.

Edited June 24, 2021 by vanguard333