Anime - Do you Understannnnnnndu?

[Sarex]

Did anyone here watch 'Your lie in April'? This one is a hard recommend. It's in my top 5 as far as drama Anime are concerned.

[majestic]

Netflix keeps suggesting me that, so I'll eventually end up watching it, I guess. Too much still to watch for now, though.

edit:

Thanks for the suggestion with Girls' Last Tour. Even if that should devolve into GIANT ROBOT MECH battles at the end it was still worth it. Done with episode 6 now. 5 was a little depressing even.

Edited August 2, 2021 by majestic

[Sarex]

40 minutes ago, majestic said:

Netflix keeps suggesting me that, so I'll eventually end up watching it, I guess. Too much still to watch for now, though.

edit:

Thanks for the suggestion with Girls' Last Tour. Even if that should devolve into GIANT ROBOT MECH battles at the end it was still worth it. Done with episode 6 now. 5 was a little depressing even.

You should and

Spoiler

it won't.

 

Edited August 2, 2021 by Sarex

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

2 hours ago, Sarex said:

You should and

  Reveal hidden contents

it won't.

 

Well that sucks.  

What doesn't suck is a musical anime by Shinichiro Watanabe (the director of Cowboy Bebop) called Carole & Tuesday. I watched it a while ago but don't think I've mentioned it here, I'll give it a recommendation if you're into watching anime featuring (young) women going through emotional trauma along with robots and washed up musicians turned managers.

[majestic]

8 hours ago, KP the meanie zucchini said:

Well that sucks.  

What doesn't suck is a musical anime by Shinichiro Watanabe (the director of Cowboy Bebop) called Carole & Tuesday. I watched it a while ago but don't think I've mentioned it here, I'll give it a recommendation if you're into watching anime featuring (young) women going through emotional trauma along with robots and washed up musicians turned managers.

Is that supposed to goad me into watching?

Hah.

Spoiler

You win, I guess.

 

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

7 hours ago, majestic said:

Is that supposed to goad me into watching?

 

[InsaneCommander]

Violet Evergarden 4-5:

Violet goes to Iris' hometown to help her write some letters.

Spoiler

Her sincerity ruins a birthday party, but in the end she writes an excellent letter and help repair some of the damage.

 

In the following episode she is supposed to write letters for a princess that is involved in a diplomatic wedding.
 

Spoiler

I feel guiltyI that I expected a disaster and the beginning of this world's version of WWII, but what ended up happening was the opposite: Violet's letters impressed the public and she even found a way to make the couple feel closer and more confident about the wedding.

Btw, Pedosus would love the couple!

 

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

29 minutes ago, InsaneCommander said:

Btw, Pedosus would love the couple!

 

[majestic]

47 minutes ago, InsaneCommander said:

Violet Evergarden 4-5:

Violet goes to Iris' hometown to help her write some letters.

  Reveal hidden contents

Her sincerity ruins a birthday party, but in the end she writes an excellent letter and help repair some of the damage.

 

In the following episode she is supposed to write letters for a princess that is involved in a diplomatic wedding.
 

  Reveal hidden contents

I feel guiltyI that I expected a disaster and the beginning of this world's version of WWII, but what ended up happening was the opposite: Violet's letters impressed the public and she even found a way to make the couple feel closer and more confident about the wedding.

Btw, Pedosus would love the couple!

 

This is why I suggested watching the 35 minute OVA between 4 and 5. While it came out after the 13 episodes of the series, it does bridge the time gap. If I remember correctly, the light novel begins with what is seen in episode 5.

You wouldn't expect her assignment to be a total disaster if you had seen the OVA, and... it actually explains why Violet got the job, of all people.

And nah, Princess Charlotte of Drossel is way too old for Pedosus.

Edited August 3, 2021 by majestic

[majestic]

Girls' Last Tour, episode 7.

Yuu and Chi find a former industrial bakery and leftover ingredients. They bake new rations with what they find.

And yeah, except for a bit of Chi and her fear of heights, this is actually all that happened in the episode. Oy, spoilers. Woops. Sorry!

Episode 5 had this song:

 

Spoiler

Really, honestly, so far, the only things I don't like about this are the character models and the, uhm, uncanny valley camera movements that happen. Luckily I somehow learned to live with it. It's not going to change, and this is pretty <I have no idea which adjective to use here, but something positive> to watch.

 

[majestic]

The way this anime flip flops between deeply philosophical and total nonsense is baffling, and I mean that in a positive way. At the end of espisode 8 they re-enact Usagi at parties.

Spoiler

They find three bottles with a yellow liquid called "beer" and accidentially end up being hilariously drunk, just after looting a graveyard (without realizing where they are at first) and later putting everything back in reverence of the dead and wondering if life is an endless spiral way where you simply spin around forever, with no real meaning and no true destination - this pretty much mirrors their own life at the moment, just wandering from one place to the next, living off whatever they can scavenge.

 

[Lexx]

Your Lie in April was great.

 

Didn't finish Girl's Last Tour, because I found it boring as hell and really couldn't get into that snooze fest.

[majestic]

53 minutes ago, Lexx said:

Didn't finish Girl's Last Tour, because I found it boring as hell and really couldn't get into that snooze fest.

[Lexx]

I only had 1 episode left and figured it wouldn't get any more exciting at this point.

[InsaneCommander]

Violet Evergarden 6:

Violet goes to an observatory to help transcribe some manuscripts. She smiles for the first time (?) and sees this amazing view of a comet and an aurora:

Episode 7:

Violet helps an author to finish a play. She cries for the first time.

Spoiler

And discover that the Major was never found. Bad news for her, but since it looked like he was dead, this is actually good news. There is hope.

 

[majestic]

1 hour ago, InsaneCommander said:

Violet helps an author to finish a play. She cries for the first time.

 

Spoiler

She doesn't cry for the first time per se, but the first time out of empathy. She feels just as bad for the playwright as we do, which makes this such a gut punch for her that leads to her feeling guilty for taking away "one day" wishes, promises or happy endings (varies wildely from translation to translation) from so many people and families in the war.

 

 

[majestic]

Girls' Last Tour Episode 9.

GIANT ROBOT! And a smaller one!

Spoiler

Aaaaaaaaaand the first instance of fanservice. The girls were taking baths before when they could wash for a change, but the scenes weren't like this. Meh. Otherwise fine episode where they end up destroying the GIANT ROBOT to save the smaller one, and a fish, and wondering what life really is. Can robots be alive?

 

[Bartimaeus]

Iczer One (1985). Watched the first part (of three) purely on the basis of seeing some HD shots from the bluray - 1980s anime in HD is always nice. Really mediocre to outright terrible everything else, though: do not recommend. Pretty bad writing, poor Japanese voice-casting, bad plot, really bad characters, uninteresting action sequences...and it doesn't even culminate in "it's so bad it's funny" - it was just boring. There are much more deserving works to get an HD transfer than this...of course, that's more dependent on which companies actually saved their original materials to be able to do so. Anyways, glad I'm not majestic, because I have no intent of ever finishing that.

A few more episodes of Miyu. Solid except for one, where some new guy became the protagonist for the episode and Miyu was barely in it...and he kind of came across as unintentionally borderline mentally handicapped on top of being completely unlikable to me.

Spoiler

At least he didn't survive the episode, which was nice, especially because this episode actually seemed to be heading for a happy ending, which doesn't happen too often...until it suddenly didn't.

 

Edited August 4, 2021 by Bartimaeus

[majestic]

8 minutes ago, Bartimaeus said:

Anyways, glad I'm not majestic, because I have no intent of ever finishing that.

Out of all the reasons why nobody should be like me, that's probably...

Spoiler

...the least problematic, really.

Speaking of Vampire Princess Miyu, I've decided to shelf Tsu... a hell, Shaoran Gaiden Show for the time being, or at least get an episode in every now and then, and instead begin with that.

[Bartimaeus]

5 minutes ago, majestic said:

Out of all the reasons why nobody should be like me, that's probably...

Perhaps...but if I were like you in that specific regard, I'd most likely never start any new show ever again out of abject fear of being forced to sit through the entire thing. Nothing longer than maybe ten episodes, anyways, .

Hope you like Miyu - I imagine it'll be primarily dependent on whether you like the titular character herself, . Will you be starting with the OVA or the show first? (I'd...probably recommend the show first, OVA second? The show is a bit more conventional.)

[majestic]

7 minutes ago, Bartimaeus said:

Perhaps...but if I were like you in that specific regard, I'd most likely never start any new show ever again out of abject fear of being forced to sit through the entire thing. Nothing longer than maybe ten episodes, anyways, .

It's not that bad.

No, that is a lie. It used to be not that bad, but nowadays even long established franchises that used to be great to to hell and I'm sitting here, watching them, and suddenly I'm sitting through 39 episodes and two movies of Sailor Moon Crystal.

Spoiler

Fun fact, when Lexx posted that he stopped Girls' Last Tour with only one episode left, I started to go over that in my head and came to the conclusion that that's just absolutely insane. How can anyone do that? It's just one last episode. How does anyone go on, deprived of its resolution like that?

Yeah, probably like every normal person does. Just go on. The thought makes my skin crawl (literally).

Spoiler

Speaking of being me, in the past few days at work I had to organize and lead through a couple of meetings for a company takeover and subsequent software and infrastructure integration, and it's really taken a toll that I can't even begin to explain to anyone, and it looks like it's a neverending horror show that won't go away.

The funniest part is, I'm not even on any of the teams that are responsible for takeovers, infrastructure or even software integration, and not even an application specialist for any of the applications involved. I'm just the guy who came up with a concept of how to do all that with the least amount of work based on a project I was involved in 10 years ago that I managed to create over a weekend because I - literally - remember every stupid little detail about it and regular people go about forgetting what they had for lunch yesterday.

Now everyone's bombarding me with questions about applications I don't know, can't access or login to, asks questions I can't answer and expects me to go look for them because "I know who to talk to" and... I really don't, and that's like the worst nightmare imaginable. Calling strangers to find the people responsible, then pack them into a meeting and try to figure out how to get them to work together.

I'm sure there are people who enjoy this sort of thing. I'm not among them.

Spoiler

By that I obviously mean this is giving me anxiety attacks. I'd be a complete wreck if it weren't for three weeks of vacation that'll start this weekend.

 

 

I wonder if I should count Clear Card amongst those. I mean I knew going in that Discovery and Picard were most likely going to be bad, so I expected nothing else. Same for Sailor Moon Crystal. But Clear Card? No, in some ways, while it's probably, objectively (as objective as one can be), the best of the shows I've hate watched in the past two or three years, it was inarguably the worst experience for me.

Because Crystal, Picard and Discovery at least made for fun forum posts. Clear Card... no, that's just sad. In terms of expectations and outcome, Clear Card was even worse than The Phantom Menace. There, I said it. I feel a bit lighter now.

30 minutes ago, Bartimaeus said:

Hope you like Miyu - I imagine it'll be primarily dependent on whether you like the titular character herself, . Will you be starting with the OVA or the show first? (I'd...probably recommend the show first, OVA second? The show is a bit more conventional.)

I'm already done with the first part of the OVA, but now it's time to sleep. I can say the first part was pretty good, but highly confusing. Seems like half of it went missing in editing (or more likely was never drawn in the first place). The music was pretty painfully 80ies at some points, but it does look a good deal better than Girls' Last Tour, as much as I like it in spite of its animation (except that one fanservicy part in the last episode).

[Bartimaeus]

23 minutes ago, majestic said:

I'm already done with the first part of the OVA, but now it's time to sleep. I can say the first part was pretty good, but highly confusing. Seems like half of it went missing in editing (or more likely was never drawn in the first place). The music was pretty painfully 80ies at some points, but it does look a good deal better than Girls' Last Tour, as much as I like it in spite of its animation (except that one fanservicy part in the last episode).

Not inaccurate - think I told KP that it was a bit wacky and all over the place. The final part is probably the most straightforward (and certainly my favorite part).

@Work: Example #523,785,129,816 proving that it basically never pays to overperform or reveal aptitude or talent for something outside of your job description...

What a fall for grace for Sakura, . It's always amazing what incredibly talented people are able to make...and then subsequently miss the mark so badly on when they try to continue it.

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

17 hours ago, Lexx said:

I only had 1 episode left and figured it wouldn't get any more exciting at this point.

1 episode left? I can see walking away because you don't like a show after a one or a few episodes but leaving just one episode left is worse than forcing yourself through something you hate.

4 minutes ago, Bartimaeus said:

@Work: Example #523,785,129,816 proving that it basically never pays to overperform or reveal aptitude or talent for something outside of your job description...

If I have learned one thing from thirteen years of working, it is that you should absolutely never do more than you are paid to do. You will not get paid more, you will not get promoted, you will not see any god damn benefit but your boss or manager will expect you to spend your own time doing more or doing something harder. **** that, if I'm not being paid I simply do not care.

[Bartimaeus]

I've heard legends of a rare kind of boss that can genuinely understand, appreciate, and even eventually reward those who go above and beyond...but they're only legends, .

Hey, speaking of Cardcaptor Sakura...more Eriko!

Spoiler

Sakura, Xiaolang, and the Sea of Sand. I used to think this intro kind of sucked, especially compared to the first one, but I'm starting come around a bit on it and now I actually want to sit through it each time. Sakura appears to cure all intolerances in me.

What in the actual hell is this method of choosing who will play what part...

Crazy stuff. I can only assume that Ms. Creepy can cheat it somehow. Yep, "magically" selected Sakura and Xiaolang, figures. Meiling continues to be quite crazy, as usual. ...Oh, wait, SAKURA is the prince? ...It's getting awfully Utena up in here.

lmao @ Sakura having three different alarm clocks all delayed from one another to help her wake up in rapid fire

Sakura and Xiaolang practicing Sleeping Beauty together is absolutely precious.

A few more episodes of Miyu, including a two-parter...

Spoiler

Miyu proves herself different from many of the demons she hunts, and that the "anti-magical girl" label I made up is thankfully, mercifully accurate.

 

Edited August 5, 2021 by Bartimaeus

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

22 minutes ago, Bartimaeus said:

I've heard legends of a rare kind of boss that can genuinely understand, appreciate, and even eventually reward those who go above and beyond...but they're only legends, .

Legends don't burn down villages!