Anime - coasting on emotion rollers

[majestic]

5 minutes ago, ArtistFormerlyKnownasKP said:

Oh, and looks like Madoka is getting a sequel movie to Rebellion.

For real now? There was a proposed sequel that's been stuck in development hell for a while.

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

17 minutes ago, majestic said:

For real now? There was a proposed sequel that's been stuck in development hell for a while.

https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2021-04-25/madoka-magica-gets-new-anime-film-as-sequel-to-2013-rebellion-film/.172103

[LadyCrimson]

On 4/24/2021 at 2:11 AM, majestic said:

the slice of life parts

Those are the parts where if they're longer than 30 seconds or simply too frequent for what I'm expecting from a genre, I often start FFWD'ing, in anything.  Not that I don't like some dedicated slice of life films/series if done well, but more typically my reaction is like what I have for long cutscenes in video games. *skip*.   Edit: I was more patient/liked such more when I was younger tho, I think.  It's just all too predictable now and I go for vicarious thrills. 

Anyway, saw a review for the movie version of something called Demon Slayer, which the reviewer said one wouldn't get as much out of said film if you haven't seen the series.  The series is on Netflix, so I checked it out.  First episode started well enough.  Then two episodes of training prep type stuff, which wasn't done in a way that interested me much (repetitive, cliche, boring).  Then it started moving again.  I can't decide if I like it.  The animation style of faces/expression puts me off for some reason (rather flat even for anime), and the "camera" style often feels like playing a game at a FOV of, oh, say, 40 instead of 70-90.  It's distracting/restrictive feeling.  I'll give it a few more episodes (there's 26 I think) of where the chr. is actually doing "missions"/demon slaying more often.  I do like the overall story arc concept and the dynamic of the sister-turned-demon w/brother dedicated to finding a cure, is nicely sympathetic.

Edited April 25, 2021 by LadyCrimson

[InsaneCommander]

18 hours ago, ArtistFormerlyKnownasKP said:

3 weeks until the final season! What's next for you?

One Punch Man S2, episodes 1-4

 

Spoiler

I shouldn’t have waited so long to watch season 2. Several hilarious moments right in the first episodes, like the big fake hero who can’t even fight and only wants to date anime girls on video games or Saitama totally humiliating Blizzard (asking why she couldn’t become a class A hero was gold).

 

Damn it, I don't really remember everything from season 1. Not sure if any of the current plots started back then.

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

25 minutes ago, InsaneCommander said:

One Punch Man S2, episodes 1-4

 

  Hide contents

I shouldn’t have waited so long to watch season 2. Several hilarious moments right in the first episodes, like the big fake hero who can’t even fight and only wants to date anime girls on video games or Saitama totally humiliating Blizzard (asking why she couldn’t become a class A hero was gold).

 

Damn it, I don't really remember everything from season 1. Not sure if any of the current plots started back then.

Season 2 was really good, I watched it weekly and there are some parts that it was awful to wait. Wait until you meet the black gym god in a thong.

I hope Season 3 comes out soon.

Edited April 25, 2021 by ArtistFormerlyKnownasKP

[majestic]

2 hours ago, LadyCrimson said:

Those are the parts where if they're longer than 30 seconds or simply too frequent for what I'm expecting from a genre, I often start FFWD'ing, in anything.  Not that I don't like some dedicated slice of life films/series if done well, but more typically my reaction is like what I have for long cutscenes in video games. *skip*.   Edit: I was more patient/liked such more when I was younger tho, I think.  It's just all too predictable now and I go for vicarious thrills. 

There is a Sailor Moon version like this that came out in 2014 called Sailor Moon Crystal. It's Sailor Moon completely free of all filler parts. It was panned by critics and fans alike. It's bad with a capital B - and that is before we even get to the atrocious looks of the anime. Ugh. What a dumpster fire.

I don't know what you would expect from a super sentai / magical girl crossover shojo anime. 

And no, the scenes are usually a couple of minutes each. Like this one, where the Minako is looking expectantly gif is from:

 

Also, for everyone else, I just realized that this is I think the only shot we get from Makoto's home in the show. See, her liking plants in SuperS isn't totally out of the blue because it was forgotten to be mentioned in R. I mean... they did forget to talk about it, but Makoto's room sure is full of plants.

[Bartimaeus]

10 hours ago, majestic said:

First of all, let me ask you a question, would you really have liked more focus on Mamoru and Usagi as a couple? Because that is what Crystal does, and you know how that ended. There's a possibility that the original anime writers could have made something out of it, something interesting, but in reality they were barely capable of juggling all the threads and giving all the characters something to do. It's the fundamental limitation of writing an ensemble cast show by the seat of your pants.

What KP said: it *already* takes up a lot of time throughout the series (less so in S, not at all in Sailor Stars of course), it's just that...what's there is not good for a variety of reasons, . Maybe there's mercifully not as much of it as either the manga or Crystal, but still - don't need more of it, just needed what's already there to be better! But like you said, literally everything back then was completely written on the fly with no time to think about how it literally comes across or anything else, so the fact that they at least made it not completely creepy all the time like either Crystal or the manga is...something at least!

10 hours ago, majestic said:

Now for the together because they were together. In the manga, the girls also get their memories of their former lifetime back. Presumably that happens in the anime too, but they never really talk about it. Crystal adds a certain non-canon part to this that was Naoko Takeuchi's original intention that never really manifested because the manga's creation was under similar time constraints that the anime was, namely that Endymion's entourage were paired off with Serenity's.

In Crystal, at least, the girls not only get their memories back, but also their past feelings with them. In the manga, while that only happens to Mamoru and Usagi because the past romance was left out (and later changed for Rei to always have included a vow of dedication and celibacy to Serenity) it's at least very clear that their feelings for each other simply resume from where they left off in the past.

If we take the anime on its own, it's not at all clear. In the end, it looks like they stick together because they're supposed to, especially when you factor SuperS in. Which I would really argue that, beyond what happens in the power up episodes (for character development reasons), we really should not. The scene KP mentioned where Mamoru looks visibly uncomfortable justifying his relationship with Usagi to Fish-Eye were incredibly uncomfortable to watch, because there is no reason at all to deal with Usagi's nonsense in SuperS.

I very much prefer that they stick together not because of any past memories or lives, but because they actually like and want to be around each other. The whole "you gotta do this because your past life did as well" convention is an utterly lousy one at best, and way less strong than simply showcasing their current lives bonds (sadly, this also doesn't work for Usagi and Mamoru - who cares what happened thousands of years ago, what matters is the present that we've been seeing them 99% the time as). Based on the fact that they never recall memories of their past lives or helpful experiences from them or knowledge of their relationships or what it's like to be an adult (obviously), my assumption is that they're never given them in the anime anyways, which I am perfectly okay with.

10 hours ago, majestic said:

I think that the scene, written by Yoji Enokido*, who also worked on Neon Genesis Evangelion and Revolutionary Girl Utena, is also there to make Mamoru his AND the audience's stand in that is left in bewilderment at what they're actually having to write and watch in this season. Mamoru doesn't know why he's in a relationship with Usagi at this point any more than we, the audience, know why we're watching this dumpster fire, Mr. Enokido doesn't know why he's writing this (and ends up quitting at Toei).

The idea that this is basically him throwing up his hands in frustration with the garbage he's having to write is pretty funny. Might actually even be true, since as you said, he ended up leaving shortly after!

10 hours ago, majestic said:

And then there's her SuperS assault episode which is easily the worst of the core cast's. Not the worst episode, but the worst experience any of the five have to go through (even though the trophy for having the most horrific assault scenes goes to Unazuki and Reika, oh boy).

Did I skip that? I probably did. Don't remember it - it's for the best, .

6 hours ago, ArtistFormerlyKnownasKP said:

I watched a lot of Steven Universe last night, for only being 11 minutes it can pack in a lot of stuff.

I've always been amazed with the 11-minute format for cartoons, actually. The sheer amount of stuff you can pack into like an episode of even like SpongeBob without seeming like it's utter breakneck speed (well, at least for the first couple of seasons, before that show fell off the world's largest cliff) is pretty ludicrous, and shows just how tightly made some of these more time-constrained shows can be - have to be, actually. Writers and storyboarders really have to figure the exact most critical bits to making characters and plots work while discarding the rest. It's a feat.

Edited April 25, 2021 by Bartimaeus

[LadyCrimson]

Wait ... there's a One Punch Man ssn2?  It's not on Netflix, darnit.  How does one see it?

Also, to clarify a tad, it's not that I don't understand that even the most action-y show needs some characterization bits, backstory/lore, dialogues, human interest, confrontations to broaden relationships, or whatever you want to call them. I mean at minimum, that's why I love the Kirk/Spock/McCoy dynamic trio, right. I just prefer them to be brief/intense and not the fundamental or only draw of a show. Breaking Bad over Shameless, for example.

Remember you're talking to a spoiled woman-child who can binge-watch/play/read stuff 24/7 almost whenever they feel like it, for the past 15-20 years. It's easy/fast for me to become bored of media/fiction styles, very quickly    I've largely stopped watching most k-drama's (except crime or suspense) after only 5-6 years (?) because I've seen so many I can count the plot/chr beats and practically know what's going to come out of their mouths.

[Bartimaeus]

Just now, LadyCrimson said:

Remember you're talking to a spoiled woman-child who can binge-watch/play/read stuff 24/7 almost whenever they feel like it, for the past 15-20 years. It's easy/fast for me to become bored of media/fiction styles, very quickly    I've largely stopped watching most k-drama's (except crime or suspense) after only 5-6 years (?) because I've seen so many I can count the plot/chr beats and practically know what's going to come out of their mouths.

Hm...in a way, I guess it pays to be incredibly picky about what I like or even want to try to watch like I am: the stuff that actually works for me feels a lot more meaningful whenever I find it, .

[LadyCrimson]

10 minutes ago, Bartimaeus said:

Hm...in a way, I guess it pays to be incredibly picky about what I like or even want to try to watch like I am: the stuff that actually works for me feels a lot more meaningful whenever I find it, .

I became the same way with fantasy/sci-fi books, except that took me more like 30 years ... because I started when I was maybe eight and couldn't afford to buy very many at a time until much later. 

Games are becoming the same - although in that case it's that my game tastes re: styles and gameplay haven't changed all that much, but dev./marketing trends have.

Edit: also, I think I *am* very picky.  Otherwise I wouldn't grow bored so fast regardless.

Edited April 25, 2021 by LadyCrimson

[majestic]

5 minutes ago, Bartimaeus said:

What KP said: it *already* takes up a lot of time throughout the series (less so in S, not at all in Sailor Stars of course), it's just that...what's there is not good for a variety of reasons, . Maybe there's mercifully not as much of it as either the manga or Crystal, but still - don't need more of it, just needed what's already there to be better! But like you said, literally everything back then was completely written on the fly with no time to think about how it literally comes across or anything else, so the fact that they at least made it not completely creepy all the time like either Crystal or the manga is...something at least!

I'm always uncertain if I shoud let how much I am nowadays in awe of how good the anime was in spite of the many issues they must have ran into while adapting the manga factor into talking about the more problematic bits of the show or not. Putting Usagi in a situation where Mamoru breaks up with her because he seemingly doesn't think their past life matters enough to be carried over to the present (which is a perfectly understandable sentiment) so that her almost hate filled jealousy of a nine year old girl that is both suffering from trauma and all alone has at least some basis in reality and doesn't make her completely unlikable like the manga does - was that a good idea now, with the source material in mind, or was that bad because it establishes Usagi's emotional co-dependence on Mamoru?

Obviously it's bad insofar as it makes their relationship worse. But was it overall better to have her be more likeable, at least until Toei screwed everything up in SuperS? I'd like to say probably, but I'm really not sure.

Looking back at this the best solution would have probably been to make Usagi not behave like that towards Chibi-Usa at all, but how would you then justify the way the season ends? What reason would Chibi-Usa have to follow DEATH PHANTOM and become BRACK RADY if Usagi behaved like she should have towards her?

It's even worse when you realize that Usagi treats her enemies better than Chibi-Usa. In the manga, that's not an issue, for anime Usagi it sure would have been.

Should I be critical of that, or should I consider it excused as the best possible course of action given the circumstances? I... don't know.

20 minutes ago, Bartimaeus said:

I very much prefer that they stick together not because of any past memories or lives, but because they actually like and want to be around each other. The whole "you gotta do this because your past life did as well" convention is an utterly lousy one at best, and way less strong than simply showcasing their current lives bonds (sadly, this also doesn't work for Usagi and Mamoru - who cares what happened thousands of years ago, what matters is the present that we've been seeing them 99% the time as). Based on the fact that they never recall memories of their past lives or helpful experiences from them or knowledge of their relationships or what it's like to be an adult (obviously), my assumption is that they're never given them in the anime anyways, which I am perfectly okay with.

It's fine with me too. It's a concept that wasn't truly thought through anyway. Much of this comes from Naoko Takeuchi not expecting to make more than one story arc in Sailor Moon. That Chibi-Usa shows up at the end of the first arc was scribbled in to have a sequel hook. I might not have liked the initial arc of the manga, but it was a complete story that could have stood on its own. Like the first season of the anime. It could have ended the way it did, with the hopeful note of the two cats that they might reestablish their friendships even without their memories.

Could have also cut the end a bit to make it needlessly cruel, imagine if the entire anime would have ended directly after Usagi's ending narration without showing that her wish came true. Outer Limits couldn't have done that better.

25 minutes ago, Bartimaeus said:

The idea that this is basically him throwing up his hands in frustration with the garbage he's having to write is pretty funny. Might actually even be true, since as you said, he ended up leaving shortly after!

When you look at the episodes that he wrote for SuperS there is one thing that stands out. They're all without the incredibly stupid jealousy Usagi exhibits towards anyone who even looks at Mamoru (although she gets irritated by Fish-Eye the first time she sees him make a move on Mamoru she later just helps him, being confident that he's no match for her - not sure where she got that confidence from in this season, but uhm, yeah). He's also credited with the season development, and I think some parts of Sailor Stars might have been picked up from his story development documents.

He wrote that episode and this scene after... making the Fish-Eye episode where he wants the little football player to score a goal inside of him. Who wouldn't be frustrated as hell after having to write that?

9 minutes ago, LadyCrimson said:

Remember you're talking to a spoiled woman-child who can binge-watch/play/read stuff 24/7 almost whenever they feel like it, for the past 15-20 years. It's easy/fast for me to become bored of media/fiction styles, very quickly    I've largely stopped watching most k-drama's (except crime or suspense) after only 5-6 years (?) because I've seen so many I can count the plot/chr beats and practically know what's going to come out of their mouths.

While I'm not, I can understand the sentiment. I'd still say Sailor Moon holds up regardless, simply because its cast is different from what you'd expect from an anime like that, but I'm pretty sure by now that you'd most likely wouldn't enjoy it in the same way we did. Or I did, at least.

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

2 hours ago, LadyCrimson said:

Wait ... there's a One Punch Man ssn2?  It's not on Netflix, darnit.  How does one see it?

It's on Hulu last I looked.

[Bartimaeus]

2 minutes ago, majestic said:

Should I be critical of that, or should I consider it excused as the best possible course of action given the circumstances? I... don't know.

You could take my approach: do both! It's okay to be critical of and realize there are major flaws in your favorite things while still defending and loving them, particularly in light of their circumstances, . That's more or less what you've been doing anyways!

4 minutes ago, majestic said:

Obviously it's bad insofar as it makes their relationship worse. But was it overall better to have her be more likeable, at least until Toei screwed everything up in SuperS? I'd like to say probably, but I'm really not sure.

Well, it both makes her more sympathetic in regards to specifically Mamoru because what the actual hell is Mamoru thinking or doing and it kind of seems like he's almost emotionally manipulating her in a way...but it also makes her *less* sympathetic because she's treating this poor little girl who's even more messed up than her like garbage. So, eh.

7 minutes ago, majestic said:

Looking back at this the best solution would have probably been to make Usagi not behave like that towards Chibi-Usa at all, but how would you then justify the way the season ends? What reason would Chibi-Usa have to follow DEATH PHANTOM and become BRACK RADY if Usagi behaved like she should have towards her?

Hey, now that you mention it, then we could cut out Black Lady entirely (note for any other readers of this post who have not watched Sailor Moon: "Black Lady" is not what you think it is), and that's a plus in of itself, .

[majestic]

26 minutes ago, Bartimaeus said:

note for any other readers of this post who have not watched Sailor Moon: "Black Lady" is not what you think it is

Very quick reply because I need to try and catch some sleep now (more on the other points later):

You know what's really funny? If Chibi-Usa turning into Black Lady was some blackface related racist story beat it would have been less bad than what it actually was (at least in the manga/Crystal).

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

2 hours ago, majestic said:

If Chibi-Usa turning into Black Lady was some blackface related racist story beat it would have been less bad than what it actually was (at least in the manga/Crystal).

I don't know if I'd say that. More like just a different kind of bad.

More SU. Got to meet Bismuth. You can tell the fight was ripped from Sailor Moon.

[Bartimaeus]

KP got to Bismuth before I got to Galaxia, so I guess you finally got your answer, majestic. RIP me.

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

4 minutes ago, Bartimaeus said:

KP got to Bismuth before I got to Galaxia, so I guess you finally got your answer, majestic. RIP me.

If it's any consolation, some anime my fiance is watching had some stuff that was uncomfortably lewd.

[Bartimaeus]

how would that even be a consolation for me anyways lmao

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

Just now, Bartimaeus said:

how would that even be a consolation for me anyways lmao

The knowledge that speed has a price I guess, I dunno I just saw the fanservice meme and wanted topost jt. I'm mostly binging SU as fast as I am because I can't get into anything else and struggle to sleep. It is a really good show and I'm glad I started it, I now even like seeing Peridot do her Peri-plans and call everyone clods. Lmao

You're in for a slog where Usagi turns into Shinji, I hope the dub is less grating than the sub.

Speaking of which, I'm now into s4. It's really weird, the episodes just go by but they can feel like a lot happens. I'm liking it, but I think there's more to Pink Diamond than getting killed by Rose Quartz thousands of years ago. 

[Bartimaeus]

It definitely does. The faster you go, the sooner you'll have to find something else (probably something else that's not quite as good!) to occupy your time and brainspace... That's one of the very few benefits of the old style of weekly episodes - when you have to watch only an episode every week, it's much more of a long journey that sort of strengthens your bonds with the characters over time. If you watch three entire freaking seasons of a show in 3-4 days *COUGH*, man, I just don't know - that's such a compressed timespace to really let the characters, themes, story, etc. occupy your brain, . This is also probably why shows we watched as kids stuck with us a lot longer...I'm seeing with my own nieces with streaming and having shows downloaded that you can get through them so much faster and then you're just onto the next thing because there are piles of different shows, old and new, to watch - it's weird. "Luckily" for myself personally, I take so long to watch anything that this isn't a problem...and I definitely don't get OCD panic attacks and/or existential dread because my "movies and shows to watch" folder is now over 2 TB large with literally dozens of different things in it! No, not at all!

As for Peridot...well, that just makes sense: only the great and lovable Peridot can compare to Pearl, the greatest birdmom that ever was, anyways!

Also, you're going to be watching an episode called "Onion Gang" pretty soon, if you haven't already. I apologize in advance for its foul presence in season 4.

Edited April 26, 2021 by Bartimaeus

[majestic]

10 hours ago, Bartimaeus said:

You could take my approach: do both! It's okay to be critical of and realize there are major flaws in your favorite things while still defending and loving them, particularly in light of their circumstances, . That's more or less what you've been doing anyways!

But that is hard and requires effort. I want to unabashedly stan this anime and be as obnoxious as the people who do the same for the manga.

10 hours ago, Bartimaeus said:

Well, it both makes her more sympathetic in regards to specifically Mamoru because what the actual hell is Mamoru thinking or doing and it kind of seems like he's almost emotionally manipulating her in a way...but it also makes her *less* sympathetic because she's treating this poor little girl who's even more messed up than her like garbage. So, eh.

11 hours ago, majestic said:

Looking back at this the best solution would have probably been to make Usagi not behave like that towards Chibi-Usa at all, but how would you then justify the way the season ends? What reason would Chibi-Usa have to follow DEATH PHANTOM and become BRACK RADY if Usagi behaved like she should have towards her?

Hey, now that you mention it, then we could cut out Black Lady entirely (note for any other readers of this post who have not watched Sailor Moon: "Black Lady" is not what you think it is), and that's a plus in of itself, .

I was going to say no at first, but then I realized that Black Lady never really worked in the anime as much as she did in the manga - creepy stuff aside. Following Death Phantom makes sense insofar as Chibi-Usa wants nothing more than to finally grow up, then she blames herself for essentially ruining the world, killing her father and encasing her mother in a crystal sarcophagus. In the anime her age is never talked about, only that she blames herself for the destruction the Black Moon wrought on Earth (or Crystal Tokyo).

That's what the writers might even do if they had known where this went beforehand. You could replace the breakup plot with showing that Usagi matured a bit with her confrontation at the end of the first season, remove the (co)dependency issue, make everyone behave nicely to Chibi-Usa in the way they should while ALSO removing all the insane Electra complex stuff that is going on, then just cut Black Lady out and nothing of value would have been lost.

Because DEATH PHANTOM works... or doesn't work, that depends a lot on how much you like evil energy beings that want to destroy everything (as I have learned, there are people who find these sort of villains clever and interesting, oh dear me), with or without Black Lady.

7 hours ago, ArtistFormerlyKnownasKP said:

I don't know if I'd say that. More like just a different kind of bad.

In the context of an early 90ies Japanese animated series, given the circumstances and sensibilities of the aforementioned times, I'd - personally - find a racist issue to be "less" bad than a 9 year old in a grown up body that dominates the will of her father and turns him into her personal sex slave lover. In the same way I don't mind Uhura answering the space phone in Star Trek and think complaints about it are ridiculous. Especially in light of Star Trek: Enterprise that degraded the black guy on the crew to the token crewmember that's there but often doesn't even get lines to speak.

That's not to say that I would have liked it, and I'd probably sit here and complain about it as much as I do with the problems of Haruka sexually assaulting Usagi in the manga. I... hope that's clear. Maybe I am just a racist.

7 hours ago, ArtistFormerlyKnownasKP said:

More SU. Got to meet Bismuth. You can tell the fight was ripped from Sailor Moon.

 

6 hours ago, Bartimaeus said:

KP got to Bismuth before I got to Galaxia, so I guess you finally got your answer, majestic. RIP me.

SU spoilers, KP click on your own peril. Also contains SM finale spoilers.
 

Spoiler

 

You could still finish the finale before KP is done with Steven Universe and talk about how similar that is to the Steven Universe one, although given his speed he's probably finished by now. Because I was much more certain that the Bismuth appearance was inspired by and references Sailor Moon fighting Chaos Galaxia. The scene where Steven stabs her while trying to defend himself mimics the one in the Sailor Moon finale beat by beat, except for putting Steven on the left, while Usagi was on the right, what with the cultural differences in framing left and right handed sides.

Bismuth even talks about being bubbled (potentially again), while Chaos Galaxia says "So you intend to seal me away, just like she once did?" to Usagi.

Usagi at one point in the finale goes full Steven/Rose Quartz/Pink Diamond - or should we say, it was the other way around - by saying "I love this world, and every living thing in it. I don't want to lose anyone, and that includes you." to Galaxia.

KP wasn't so far off when he called Steven a male Usagi.

By the way, have we ever talked about how that incredibly silly Uncle Grandpa crossover episode spoiled the plot twist? Because he talks about how Steven should polish his gem, but quartzes aren't polished. Only diamonds are. I'm pretty sure that was intentional foreshadowing, even if nothing else was canon. That's waaaaaaaaaay to specific to be a Rossian happy accident.

 

But indeed, it's good to know that KP sees the similarities too. That makes Rebecca Sugar a fellow liker of Sailor Stars, which is fine by me. Maybe we should really update the Steven Universe wiki to include that.

6 hours ago, ArtistFormerlyKnownasKP said:

You're in for a slog where Usagi turns into Shinji, I hope the dub is less grating than the sub.

You know what? I'm almost done with Neon Genesis Evangelion (the original anime, that is) and Shinji has finally done something that made me really dislike him: Not even trying to console Misato after Ryoji's death. Because hey, Shinji, you're right that it wouldn't help any, but for the love of god, at least try. That is what matters, you waste of space.

I'm also pretty confident that Usagi would never do that.

Anyway, why do all these special organisations and secret societies have German names, other than "German sounds ominous"? Wait, I think I just answered my own question.

Thanks to the Netflix episode blurbs that I've seen I also expect Asuka will die soon. Why else would the description say that a fifth child will come to take over EVA-02. Good job Netflix.

5 hours ago, Bartimaeus said:

It definitely does. The faster you go, the sooner you'll have to find something else (probably something else that's not quite as good!) to occupy your time and brainspace... That's one of the very few benefits of the old style of weekly episodes - when you have to watch only an episode every week, it's much more of a long journey that sort of strengthens your bonds with the characters over time.

Sometimes the timeframes invovled are really scary. To think that there was a time where I followed Stargate SG-1 for 10 years is insane. On the other hand, the time investment is what keeps me away from watching shows that I think I would like, like Supernatural, which is on like its 200th season by now.

Character attachment isn't a factor for me when binging. Keeping the episodes apart is, but that is or isn't an issue. It kind of is when you spoil someone who cares for spoilers.

I mentioned it before, I think, but what I miss about weekly releases isn't the weekly release as much as the social component involved, and that's something that kind of died out for me anyway now that the family is scattered about a bit more than it used to be. Gone, just like our evening card games. I miss those too.

6 hours ago, Bartimaeus said:

This is also probably why shows we watched as kids stuck with us a lot longer...I'm seeing with my own nieces with streaming and having shows downloaded that you can get through them so much faster and then you're just onto the next thing because there are piles of different shows, old and new, to watch - it's weird. "Luckily" for myself personally, I take so long to watch anything that this isn't a problem...and I definitely don't get OCD panic attacks and/or existential dread because my "movies and shows to watch" folder is now over 2 TB large with literally dozens of different things in it! No, not at all!

I wonder about that sometimes. I have really fond memories of certain things I've watched as a kid, but when it comes to anime in particular, these were always daily shows. Because usually they were bought when they had finished their run, dubbed German and then aired with copius reruns for a while. It certainly made the shows look a lot longer than they actually were. Bismark for instance, in my memories that was a sprawling show that took AAAAAAAAAAAAAAGES to finish, and in reality it was like 50 episodes long.

It was also the first space western I've seen.

 

[majestic]

5 hours ago, majestic said:

Thanks to the Netflix episode blurbs that I've seen I also expect Asuka will die soon. Why else would the description say that a fifth child will come to take over EVA-02. Good job Netflix.

Well, that was wrong.

Spoiler

Not sure if Asuka turning into a more aggressive version of Shinji is better. On the other hand, I'll see what the fuzz about that final episode was real soon. Congratulations! xD

On the bright side, I wrestled access to the TV and my Switch away from my nephew, whose school opened as of today. Which means more JoJo to come soon. I hope.

I mean, I already saw the Cyborg, that was pretty much as glorious as I expected it to be.

[InsaneCommander]

 

23 hours ago, LadyCrimson said:

Wait ... there's a One Punch Man ssn2?  It's not on Netflix, darnit.  How does one see it?

I watch it on Crunchyroll.

 

On 4/25/2021 at 4:30 PM, ArtistFormerlyKnownasKP said:

Season 2 was really good, I watched it weekly and there are some parts that it was awful to wait. Wait until you meet the black gym god in a thong.

I hope Season 3 comes out soon.

I watched the rest of Season 2. There seems to be a lot of guys like that. Puri Puri prisoner and the tank top group, for example. The characters of this anime are just hilarious. Watch Dog, ****roach monster... There is even Super S, who would feel perfectly at home with the BDSM crowd in Sailor Moon Sailor Stars.

But the winner was:
 

Spoiler

 

Pig God eating a Marilith-like demon. Where was he when the huge centipede attacked?

And who would have thought that cooking monster cells give you diarrhea?

And this:

 

Edit: wait, it didn't end in the 10th episode. There are two more.

Edited April 26, 2021 by InsaneCommander

[Bartimaeus]

I kiiind of forgot that Chibi-Usa apparently brought a whole album of photoshopped photos with her when she brainwashed Usagi's family. Sort of clashes with that moment at the beginning of SuperS where Chibi-Usa had the sad realization that there weren't any photos of her with Usagi's family. Also...............it occurs to me that Chibi-Usa is Usagi's "cousin". This is really, really not good, guys. However, at least Usagi seeks to remedy this situation by turning Chibi-Usa into a fine red paste - very nice of her, very heroic.

2 hours ago, majestic said:

Well, that was wrong.

Well, you're in for something.

8 hours ago, majestic said:

I mentioned it before, I think, but what I miss about weekly releases isn't the weekly release as much as the social component involved, and that's something that kind of died out for me anyway now that the family is scattered about a bit more than it used to be. Gone, just like our evening card games. I miss those too.

It sometimes amazes me how large the U.S. is in terms of area. I was musing what the maximum distance in time that two people could be apart in Germany...and then I realized that Germany isn't really that significantly larger than just my own state, so that distance is probably only like 5 hours, which is a bit if that's the case...but not like literal several days' worth of hours such as it is in the U.S. overall. Europe is so much denser than the Americas, .

Edited April 26, 2021 by Bartimaeus

[majestic]

17 minutes ago, Bartimaeus said:

It sometimes amazes me how large the U.S. is in terms of area. I was musing what the maximum distance in time that two people could be apart in Germany...and then I realized that Germany isn't really that significantly larger than just my own state, so that distance is probably only like 5 hours, which is a bit if that's the case...but not like literal several days' worth of hours such as it is in the U.S. overall. Europe is so much denser than the Americas, .

Good thing you looked at Germany. That's at least much larger than Austria... uhm. *blink*

Every frame nation is so dense, there's so much going on. Hehehe. But yes, that's true. We're more people in a much smaller area, but nowhere near as bad as certain East Asian countries.

17 minutes ago, Bartimaeus said:

Well, you're in for something.

Considering how long it took me to realize that Asuka and Shinji have exactly the same problem with diametrically opposed coping mechanisms I'm kind of afraid I'll be left sitting bereft and in bewilderment of what's going on. At least I'll finally know what the memes were all about. I hope.

 

17 minutes ago, Bartimaeus said:

I kiiind of forgot that Chibi-Usa apparently brought a whole album of photoshopped photos with her when she brainwashed Usagi's family. Sort of clashes with that moment at the beginning of SuperS where Chibi-Usa had the sad realization that there weren't any photos of her with Usagi's family. Also...............it occurs to me that Chibi-Usa is Usagi's "cousin". This is really, really not good, guys. However, at least Usagi seeks to remedy this situation by turning Chibi-Usa into a fine red paste - very nice of her, very heroic.

That is one of the weirdest and quite frankly worst non-assault/non-pedophile scene in SuperS. First of all, given all the time Chibi-Usa was around, there should be plenty of pictures of her, then she has the faked pictures (although Luna claims they aren't fake, I think) and Chibi-Usa knows she's from the future and there wouldn't be any baby pictures of her, so why the hell is she wondering why there are none?

Why, SuperS, why?

Why not make at least one script revision? Seriously. What were you, a 90ies attempt at making Star Trek: Discovery?

Edited April 26, 2021 by majestic