Anime - Do you Understannnnnnndu?

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

8 minutes ago, majestic said:

I didn't expect HORU HOSU to meet a dignified end after the way he ran away last time, but that was kinda bad, even for him. Good job creepy old woman.

Polnareff will never use tiolets again.

[majestic]

36 minutes ago, KP the meanie zucchini said:

Polnareff will never use tiolets again.

I'm guessing that running gag will never end, right?

Currently watching episode 4 of Love Live! season two, and it was already more interesting than most of Clear Card. I think I'll just stop comparing the two, because that's pointless. I never expected to really like Love Live!, then I kind of liked the first season and thought the second one would be bad, but no. It's been pretty good so far. Shocking, I know.

Nozomi also stopped grabbing boobs. Could be she'll start again at some point, but for now that's fairly ok, all in all.

It's also always good for a chuckle or two. It could look better, but hey, what couldn't in this day and age.

edit:

Guess what Nozomi is doing to Nico right now? The hell show, I was just thinking you put that behind you. Sigh. Moments like these prevent me from actually recommending this to anyone. Really.

edit:

The episode is otherwise a riot. Nico acts weird, and the other girls find her little sister who keeps referring to them as Nico's background dancers. This is really some goofy fun, or would be without the boob fondling. Yeah well. No use complaining...

edit some moar:

Yep, that was actually a really nice, even heartwarming episode about the goofy "mascot" of the group that otherwise never really gets to shine, or contribute anything of note. She has two little sisters and a little brother called Kokoro, Kokoa and Kotaru, and she currently needs to take care of them.

Edited July 18, 2021 by majestic

[Bartimaeus]

Do the other characters ever even like yell at Nico to cut that crap out? I'm not really sure one would realistically want to keep being friends with someone that goes around assaulting other women...

7 hours ago, majestic said:

Episode 17 dealt with Jury and her falling out with her best friend. I might have no idea what's going on most of the time, and the both implied and somewhat explicit incest themes are pretty squicky (ugh, Anthy, why?) but the way Revolutionary Girl Utena ties the duels to more information about the characters is really well done.

Not sure why Saionji was expelled for an unsanctioned duel, but the brainwashed Black Rose zombies can challenge Utena nilly willy and not face any consequences. Granted, the show is certainly better off without Mr. Slaps-Anthy-For-Fun, but it could also do with less Toga, voiced by Dio or no. Hohumm.

Utena keeps giving the shadowplay characters advice. It's... baffling and hilarious.

Just finished watching up 'til then. My request for no more brothers and sisters (either literal or in spirit in the case of Juri and that other girl whose name I already forgot) has so far been completely and utterly ignored, and instead we have just gotten more and more. At least there was the hilarious Nanami episode where she turned into a literal cow to cheer us all up...although Nanami episodes almost feel like they take place in a different show from all the non-Nanami episodes.

The crazy shadowplay girls getting wackier all of the time while Utena actually talks to them is indeed a bit much for the senses, .

Edited July 19, 2021 by Bartimaeus

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

3 hours ago, majestic said:

I'm guessing that running gag will never end, right?

Kind of, later in the season one of the guys gets in trouble in a bathroom and says "bathroom disasters are Polnareff's thing".

The pig gag was the funniest.

[Sarex]

9 hours ago, KP the meanie zucchini said:

Is that the one where the protagonist regenerates and is constantly on fire?

Yup...

[Bartimaeus]

@majesticUtena sure is starting to feel a lot more Evangelion-influenced than anything Sailor Moon.

[majestic]

3 hours ago, Bartimaeus said:

@majesticUtena sure is starting to feel a lot more Evangelion-influenced than anything Sailor Moon.

Wouldn't be surprised, Utena's anime writer was part of the NGE team at Gainax after all.

Currently still only at episode 17. 

8 hours ago, Bartimaeus said:

Just finished watching up 'til then. My request for no more brothers and sisters (either literal or in spirit in the case of Juri and that other girl whose name I already forgot) has so far been completely and utterly ignored, and instead we have just gotten more and more. At least there was the hilarious Nanami episode where she turned into a literal cow to cheer us all up...although Nanami episodes almost feel like they take place in a different show from all the non-Nanami episodes.

The crazy shadowplay girls getting wackier all of the time while Utena actually talks to them is indeed a bit much for the senses, .

Nanami focused episodes seem to take place in a different universe all together. Except for the one where she challenges Utena to a duel, that one is part of the regular narrative, but the others? Not so much. Moooo. Moooooooooooo. Mooooooooooooooo!

8 hours ago, Bartimaeus said:

Do the other characters ever even like yell at Nico to cut that crap out? I'm not really sure one would realistically want to keep being friends with someone that goes around assaulting other women...

Nozomi is the one doing the assaulting, Nico (whose name is actually Nicocchi) was the one who was assaulted. And no, nobody comments on that. It seems to be somewhat uncomfortable for them, but it's passed off as fun. Or something.

It's meant as playful teasing or something like that, but it's totally... dunno. It's the worst thing in the show, by far, because she could just give others noogies or whatever else would not have a sexual assault connotation, really. That is really just there to have Nozomi fondle boobs because girls fondling breasts is hot. Or dunno. Really. The other fanservice I can deal with, but that thing regularily takes enjoyment out of the anime. 

Not that it would be great otherwise, but without that in particular it would be a fun experience. Most of the episodes are thankfully free of that. 

[Bartimaeus]

Studio Ghibli's Earwig and the Witch (2020). I watched this a couple of weeks back, but I'm pretty sure I forgot to ever mention it? Really weirdly constructed film. There are actually stretches of it that are well-made and flow together rather nicely, and so you think the film has finally settled into a nice rhythm where everything is starting to make sense...only for it to all suddenly go down in the drain due to some jarringly bad film-making and/or writing choices that take you right out of it. The conclusion of the film especially is incomprehensible pants that just suddenly happens for reasons I cannot understand even upon rewinding and watching it again, and like retroactively soured me on what I thought had a mostly decent second half. Really unfortunate, because there was a potentially quite nice film buried somewhere in there. As for Goro, I think From Up on Poppy Hill is actually solid (if pretty derivative of other Ghibli stuff), while Tales from Earthsea is irredeemably goshawful - I guess Earwig places as being roughly in between the two, though unfortunately probably closer to Tales from Earthsea than From Up on Poppy Hill.

I generally hate 3D animation, but this film actually looked decent enough...for the most part. Occasionally a weird expression (or an expression held for uncomfortably long) that didn't seem to quite work here and there, but the general style and aesthetic really wasn't half-bad. Also, I wouldn't even bother trying to watch the English dub - due to it being in 3D and having more specific mouth-movements for the original Japanese, they couldn't even try to have an English dub that matched them, and it makes it unwatchable IMO. Not only that, but they got the VA for the main character very wrong in the English dub - this terrible manipulative little girl should not have such a nice and cheerful voice that makes her sound alarmingly similar to the titular character from Netflix's Hilda.

Edited July 19, 2021 by Bartimaeus

[majestic]

I'm in half a mood to just read up what Revolutionary Girl Utena is about. It's not that the episodes are boring or uninteresting to watch (albeit a "bit" squicky recently), but it's not like I have any idea what the hell is happening. Knowing in advance would make zilch difference, would it?

@Bartimaeus was right, episode 18 does have a little Shinji and Asuka in it, although Nanami makes a bad Misato, really. Misato was mostly nice, but had no idea how to deal with Shinji. Or Asuka. Or her own life, really.

Wait, that doesn't make her all that different from Nanami. Except for being nice.

See? Con-fu-sing. I might need to go off and donate blood.

[majestic]

Look at that, episode 19 was decently constructed, and while completely mired in confusing dialogue, allegory and symbolism, it had a plot you could follow, decent foreshadowing and clear hints at what's going on. Even the shadowplay made "sense".

Spoiler

Poor Wakaba is also still in love with Saionji.

The rest of the episode is based upon not really being able to know what others feel unless they properly express it. The entire setup there, with Wakaba's real feelings, was to drive that home. Granted, Anthy's brother says as much.

Even the interview with the Mikage Seminar was nicely done. Butterfly stayed the same throughout the entire elevator ride, and nobody ever said "go deeper", and in the end Mikage shows up and just rejects the poor bastard because he's like the only normal character on the show.

Eh... the shadowplay was about buying tires to cook. That seems to make no sense at all, and Utena even says "Can you eat those?" but that's expectations and reality for you. At least... maybe.

edit:

It seems that whenever there is an episode that's not constructed around the duels, and therefore about the main plot (whatever that is), the episodes might still be weird as hell, but they make a whole lot more sense. Hum.

Edited July 19, 2021 by majestic

[Bartimaeus]

3 hours ago, majestic said:

It seems that whenever there is an episode that's not constructed around the duels, and therefore about the main plot (whatever that is), the episodes might still be weird as hell, but they make a whole lot more sense. Hum.

That's been my feeling as well...that, and they're much more enjoyable. Good luck with 20-23, .

[majestic]

12 hours ago, Bartimaeus said:

That's been my feeling as well...that, and they're much more enjoyable. Good luck with 20-23, .

Thanks, I have a feeling you'll leave me permanently in the dust this time around. Heh. I'm not sure if I'll be getting much viewing in this week.  

[Bartimaeus]

1 hour ago, majestic said:

Thanks, I have a feeling you'll leave me permanently in the dust this time around. Heh. I'm not sure if I'll be getting much viewing in this week.  

The power of feeling external pressure to make time and effort to watch something!

[InsaneCommander]

LOGH 41-54:

 

Finished the second season. These episodes actually have some pretty bad battles with things like people forgetting space is 3D and not being able to go around debris, for example.

 

They keep talking about how low the wages for soldiers are, even admirals. How bad is it? If even admirals don’t know if they can make ends meet, why is there so much military spending then?

 

Big spoilers below:

Spoiler

Impressive how the alliance screwed everything. Even with a reduced fleet, Yang Wenli fought as an equal and almost won. In fact, besides all the self sabotage from the government, they also ordered Wenli to surrender.

 

And it was quite funny seeing the empire fall for the supply line attack trick, just like the alliance did in the first season.

 

Finally after more than 50 episodes somebody understood Yang doesn’t want power.

 

In the end the alliance was almost a dictatorship, with soldiers attacking protesters and arresting them afterwards. The press was not free anymore, so being part of the empire is not that much of a difference.

 

It was interesting when Yang said that people don’t realise when they are the bad guys. Not a good example in this case, since the alliance citizens who want war don’t really have another option (the empire never wanted peace), but it applies perfectly to the real world today. But let’s not talk about any examples since this is not the political thread...

 

The way this season ended gives me the impression it will take quite a while for things to get interesting in the third season. So this is the perfect time to watch something else, like Violet Evergarden and Beastars.

 

[majestic]

20 minutes ago, InsaneCommander said:

like Violet Evergarden

I totally approve!

The 35 minutes OVA goes in between 4 and 5.

edit:

The 90 minute OVA goes after episode 13, and if you watch the movie, turn it off after Violet boards the ship near the end. The ending... I understand why it's there, but I thought the film kind of Miyazaki'ed out there. Too bad. 

Edited July 20, 2021 by majestic

[majestic]

What to watch while waiting for a clogged up data import to finish a day's worth of data?

Well, I guess I'll try the next Utena episode. Yay!

edit:

Wakaba has been hiding Saionji. Why do I get this feeling this will end with him returning to school and slapping her silly (or at least insulting) her for her trouble?

Why is Utena doing gymnastics while talking to Mr. Screws-His-Sister? What?

edit 2:

I guess him asking about Anthy counts as insulting to Wakaba, even if it wasn't intentional. Yay!

Or Anthy wearing her hair clip. How can this be so completely obtuse and predictable at the same time?  

Edited July 21, 2021 by majestic

[Bartimaeus]

a friend felt compelled to send this to me

Spoiler

poor jupes getting the half-shirt, at least the artist took a little creative liberty to sort of fix it

that wakaba episode ending up getting averted from the usual formula was a welcome reprieve

Edited July 21, 2021 by Bartimaeus

[Amentep]

Can't...unsee.... 

[Bartimaeus]

9 minutes ago, Amentep said:

Can't...unsee.... 

More like "can't look away", right?

I bet it sucks to be the only moderator who ever checks the anime thread,

Spoiler

...now that I think about it, are there moderators who actively check all of those game sections? Lord knows I could never be bothered...

 

Edited July 21, 2021 by Bartimaeus

[majestic]

1 hour ago, Bartimaeus said:

a friend felt compelled to send this to me

  Reveal hidden contents

poor jupes getting the half-shirt, at least the artist took a little creative liberty to sort of fix it

that wakaba episode ending up getting averted from the usual formula was a welcome reprieve

 

Still better than all of Crystal.  

[Bartimaeus]

38 minutes ago, majestic said:

 

Still better than all of Crystal.  

I think the Sailor Guardians legitimately wear those DBZ outfits really well (especially Usagi, Minako, and Rei - Makoto and Ami could use just some slight tweaking to get there as well). So I presume you actually mean that the Z Fighters look better in the Sailor Guardian outfits than the Crystal Sailor Guardians do, .

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

1 hour ago, Bartimaeus said:

a friend felt compelled to send this to me

  Reveal hidden contents

poor jupes getting the half-shirt, at least the artist took a little creative liberty to sort of fix it

that wakaba episode ending up getting averted from the usual formula was a welcome reprieve

1 hour ago, Bartimaeus said:

More like "can't look away", right?

I bet it sucks to be the only moderator who ever checks the anime thread,

It's not as bad as the political threads or food threads.

[Bartimaeus]

Indeed. Sometime last month, I finally created a uBlock filter that erases the Political series of threads from being seen by me, to remove all temptation of going in there and getting mad at people I shouldn't be getting mad at or saying stupid stuff.

Sailor Moon's Bizarre Adventure...I'd watch that. And probably like it more than the normal Jojo's, .

Edited July 21, 2021 by Bartimaeus

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

36 minutes ago, Bartimaeus said:

Indeed. Sometime last month, I finally created a uBlock filter that erases the Political series of threads from being seen by me, to remove all temptation of going in there and getting mad at people I shouldn't be getting mad at or saying stupid stuff.

Sailor Moon's Bizarre Adventure...I'd watch that. And probably like it more than the normal Jojo's, .

We've already got Diamond is Unbreakable which is a season of Sailor Moon anime filler (complete with JoJo 4 fighting a plate of spaghetti) and we've got Stone Ocean coming up where JoJo 6 is a girl and a bunhead to boot (though it's serious mode where JoJo fights DIO's exbf to stop him from going to heaven).

[majestic]

46 minutes ago, Bartimaeus said:

Sailor Moon's Bizarre Adventure...I'd watch that.

It's called Sailor Moon Eternal and is on Netflix.

Actually... things that happen in JoJo's are less random than the Dream arc's plot. Artemis transforming into a bishounen character is about as weird as anything you can get in JoJo's, just a lot more stupid than cars shooting gasoline bullets, apes with giants boat stands and old JoJo yelling OH NOOOOH! once every five minutes.

Spoiler

HORY SH1T!